The man next door || Hyunlix

Lingering

Jisung can't help but almost snort as he burst into laughter. "Oh man don't even remind me.. first, and last, time i will ever top. I think I still have scars on my areas." He says, emphasizing the words 'and, last, and ever'.

Felix actually does snort, which causes the both of them to laugh even harder. Felix hits the counter with his hand before he falls to the floor. Jisung makes a noise out of concern, but can't help himself as he leans back in his chair giggling.

They laugh like little kids, trying to hide the fact something is terribly wrong.

"Oh fuck.." Felix whines, getting back up. "That hurt." He chuckles a bit.

"Oh my god." Jisung says in english for emphasis.

"Jeesh.." Felix mutters.

There is a silence that flows through the room, as the two men just keep their own thoughts inside their minds. They both feel a bit off, considering everything that has been going on. Felix feels like the weird wall between them is eating him alive. 

He can't seem to place a finger on it, but something is off. Something that he will probably never be able to name, something that just lingers in the room. Almost like a mother, watching over her children at a park. The child knows she is there, but doesn't know where she is or when she wants to go. Or in this case, cause something.

"I think.." Jisung starts to talk, but pauses. "I don't even know." He shakes it off.

Felix turns his head to him, raising a brow. "What? What is it that you think?" He asks in a gentle voice, one that seems non-threatening. The voice he speaks in is the one that he has spent years mastering, one that makes you almost want to confess everything.

"I don't know.. I just feel kind of weird." He confesses. "I mean, it's almost like we forgot that there is a possible serial killer running around that we should be chasing after."

That's exactly it. That's the feeling that roams through the room. The guilty feeling of safety, the feeling that you should be doing more. Felix agrees completely. He cannot fathom the fact he kept getting sent home when there is a killer he could be capturing.

"I think everyone is just scared." Felix says. "I mean, Chan went protective mode and Minho is calling me every minute, they also feel the same. I think everyone is kind of just in a denial stage that this could be happening to us, to such a small town."

Jisung hums. "I guess so, but this is what he all went to school for. This is what we trained for, this is the life we chased. So now, when it comes times to actually do the job, everyone is scared?"

"We aren't ready." Felix says. "We aren't ready for something this big, and I don't think we ever were. This town hasn't had a big crime since the nineties, and we haven't expected a big one since ninety-one."

Jisung nods his head, sitting in silence. He isn't going to disagree or add anything, because enough has been said. He also, is a bit too deep into his mind to even think of a reply. He gets chills, wiggling weirdly as Felix looks away and fiddles with his sweater sleeve.

"Do you think we will be okay?" Jisung suddenly blurts. He seems to realize how severe what he just asked might be, and takes a breath in— getting ready to elaborate when the question of what he means by that is asked.

"In some ways, no." Felix says.

Jisung looks up at him, a growing feeling in his chest. He didn't expect a reply like that. Now he isn't the one who needs to elaborate. "W–what?" He awkwardly stutters out.

"Come on, we already are a bit fucked up." Felix chuckles. "If we play it safe, we won't get hurt physically. But there is no way to prevent the mental issues we might have to work through." He says.

Jisung sighs. "Your hitting a bit to close, Felix." He says. "I'm just scared for what the public will say. I mean, they still don't know there has been more murders. They only know of one, and they freaked at that."

Felix eyes widen as he bites his lip. "Shit, that reminds me."

"Oh god.." Jisung interrupts.

"We have a public announcement tomorrow." Felix says. "Just the two of us, everyone else is off until the next day."

Jisung frowns a bit. "Just us?"

"Well Caption Chan will be there of course." Felix says. "But yeah, just us. Chan said we look the most friendly and safe... since Minho kind of scares people."

Jisung sighs. "Public appearance. On how innocent people keep getting murdered because we haven't done anything to stop it yet. So sweet."