A/N Hello my lovelies! Here is chapter 18. I hope you enjoy. As always the comments you leave fuel my writing more than you will ever know and I thank you for them. This story is fiction, please treat it as such. I cross post here and on AO3. I am wrapping up Love is A Sneaky Bitch and am considering writing the Minsung companion piece to this telling the story of their connection. Let me know if you would be interested. For some reason my Minsung stories never get the love the other stories do. If you would like to be alerted when I update you can follow _eyes_wideshut on twitter. Have a great day!
Changbin woke up before Felix and Hyunjin and just watched the two sleeping. He couldn't believe how lucky he was to have these two beautiful, intelligent and kind men wanting to be with him. Part of him wished that he had looked at Felix that first day too so that he could have had the time to get to know him as Hyunjin had. Yes he could hear Felix's thoughts now but he felt slightly out of step because he didn't know Lix like Hyunjin did. They hadn't had the time before they met to share their lives and thoughts. Felix knew him a bit through Hyunjin but he knew little of the tiny man. He could tell already that his heart was the purest and most loving place that existed but he wanted to know more.
Felix was curled against him, thigh thrown across his legs, hair standing on end and face relaxed in sleep. Changbin didn't think he had ever seen a more adorable sight. He looked over at Hyunjin. His Jinnie was curled to his other side, hand holding Felix's thigh and head resting on Changbin's shoulder. He was always amazed by how young Hyunjin looked when he was sleeping. When awake Hyunjin always had something of a wall up; not with his brothers but he was somewhat more reserved. He was quick to love and to trust but he also somewhat held himself apart in anticipation of being hurt. He had been hurt a lot but he kept it very quiet. Changbin was actually excited about his connection to Hyunjin, he knew he would understand and love the man even more with the additional input.
Hyunjin's eyes slid open and met his. {H- Good morning.} Hyunjin's thoughts, like his voice would be, were rough with sleep. {C- Good morning. How'd you sleep?} {H-Mmm. Great.} He thought with a smile and stretched a bit. {C- You're beautiful you know.} Hyunjin's smile grew. {H- So are you hyung.} Changbin went back over his thoughts of the morning and Hyunjin moved closer. {H- If you need time alone with Lix you can have it.} {C- Wouldn't that make you jealous?} Hyunjin did him the courtesy of thinking about it. {H- I don't think so. Besides, we will learn to live with any emotions. You deserve a chance to get to know Felix like I have. Why don't you take him on a date today?} Changbin's eyes lit up. {C- Really? That would be amazing Jinnie!} {H- All three of us have been monogamous till now. Now we are a poly couple so we need to learn how to have time individually and together. We all have relationships with each other that need to be nurtured and the first part of that is the two of you learning each other.}
{C- You are amazing, Hyunjinnie. I love you.} Hyunjin smiled sweetly. {H- I love you too hyung}. Hyunjin blushed. {C- What do you think Lix would like to do? I'd love to take him to the studio and show him what we do but I doubt he would like that or at least it wouldn't be as interesting to him as it is to me.} {H- Felix will love anything you want to show him. He feels best when he is making those around him happy. But if you want to do things with him that he likes, he loves beautiful things, he loves sweets and he loves gaming and music.}
Felix gave the cutest stretch and blinked his eyes open. "Morning." He said, his voice deeper than the ocean. Both men smiled at him.
"Good morning, sunshine." Changbin said. "How'd you sleep?"
"Mmm. Great." Felix answered sleepily. He kissed Changbin's pecs. He grinned at Hyunjin as well.
"I was thinking you and I could go out today and I could show you around. Would you like that?"
Felix looked between the two questions. Hyunjin smiled and nodded that it was ok with him. Felix caught the memory of the conversation that had just happened. "Thank you." He quietly told Hyunjin, his voice full of sincerity. Then he turned to Changbin. "I would love to. It would be nice to get to know you better. I know we are together because of this." He tapped his head. "But I want to get to know this." He touched Changbin's chest over his heart. Changbin smiled at him in a somewhat shy smile.
"I'll go shower and we can get going. I have some ideas." He smiled at the tiny man. Felix grinned back.
Within an hour the two men were showered, shaved and dressed. Changbin took his hand and led Felix to the door. "I want to show you our studio. Producing is such a huge part of who I am so I wanted to show it to you."
Felix's eyes sparkled with joy. "That sounds amazing! I can't wait to see."
They decided to walk and enjoy the beautiful day. Changbin pointed out some of their favorite spots along the way. When they got to the company, the security didn't stop them since he was with Binnie. They took the elevator up and then into the studio. Chan had apparently snuck out to work and stood up with a blush when they came in. "Oi! Chan, I thought you guys were off." Felix said with a grin.
"Hey Lix, welcome to the studio." Chan said with a welcoming smile before turning to Changbin. "You showing Felix our home away from home?"
"Yeah. I wanted us to get to know each other a bit and this is a huge part of my life."
Chan nodded understandingly. "Want to hear what we are working on?" Chan offered and Felix nodded excitedly.
"Hell yes!"
Chan pressed a few buttons and a song started playing. He heard Jisung begin rapping and his smile grew huge. "Oh I like this one. I've heard Jinnie do a part or two for it I think." He listened to the song and lyrics and nodded his head along to the beat. "Bom digi digi bom bom bom bom." He half hummed to the beat. Within a beat the room went silent as Binnie hit the button to stop. Felix looked up in surprise and blushed when he realized both men were staring at him. "Oh." He said softly. "Sorry, I didn't mean to mess you up, I just like the beat." He looked down in embarrassment.
"No! Do that again!" Changbin said and hit the button to rewind it. The song started over and Felix closed his eyes to take off the pressure and let the music fill him again. When that part happened, Felix repeated his adlib softly. Both men nodded with huge grins, encouraging him. When the part came up again, Felix did it louder. When the song ended, Changbin looked at Chan with a raised eyebrow. Chan hesitated for a second and then nodded.
"Lix, would you be ok with recording that for us to add in to the song? We will credit you of course!" Chan added the last line in fast as if to forestall a denial. "We were needing something and we hadn't figured out what."
Felix blushed. "I don't know. I'm not a singer or anything."
"Please baby." Changbin implored him, "it was perfect."
Felix nervously followed Changbin over to the room next door. Changbin got him a stool and helped set him up. He squeezed Felix's hand and went back to join Chan in the booth. "Just relax and get into the music, baby." Changbin said over the microphone into the room. Felix nodded and wiped his sweaty palms on his jeans. He heard the music start. He closed his eyes so that he wouldn't focus on what he was doing and just tried to enjoy the music. When the part came he gave his adlib. The music stopped. "This is exactly what we needed. Can you go a little stronger, baby? It's just for us for now. If you aren't happy with it, we won't use it." Felix met his eyes and nodded.
The music started again and Felix lost himself in the music and this time when he felt inclined, he let the tune carry him and his voice came out deep and loud. He saw the two producers nodding happily and when the chorus came up again he sang it again. The two men on the other side of the glass looked like they were over the moon happy about it. "Perfect Felix!" Chan said happily. "Thank you so much!"
Felix grinned and took off the headphones, setting them on the stand. He went back into the other room and Changbin jumped up and kissed him. "That was amazing!" Felix melted into his arms, feeling at once safe and cared for in these strong arms. "Now, lets go take you somewhere else and let you enjoy the day."
"It's ok Binnie, if you want to stay here, we can or I can go back if you need to work some more." He chewed his lip, suddenly nervous. {C- Stop that, Lixie. I can work anytime. I want time with you. I just wanted to share the studio with you. I don't want to spend the day here. I have plans.} He grinned and Felix relaxed and smiled back.They said goodbye to Chan and headed back to the elevator.
Once on the street again, Changbin steered him to the bicycles to rent. He put the helmet on Felix's head and did the chin strap while Felix watched him in bemusement. {C- Shut up. It makes me happy to take care of you.} {F- Its cute Bin.} Changbin got on his own bike and they were off. They rode their bikes around the city before Changbin led him to a nearby park full of flowers. The joy on Felix's face made the trip more than worthwhile. They spent several hours walking around and chatting, getting to know each other. When they got tired of walking, Changbin got them drinks and they sat down beneath a tree to continue talking.
Felix talked about growing up in Australia and told about his family and his hobbies. He talked about his job and about Jacob. Changbin told Felix about his parent's and his sister. He told Felix the Stray Kids history from his point of view knowing Hyunjin had already told it from his. Changbin learned how much Felix loved gaming and how he gave his entire heart and soul to those he loved. While he had feelings for Felix prior to that day it was more superficial. Now he was falling for Felix as he got to know him better and saw how often his thoughts were pure and honest. Felix discovered how funny Changbin was. He was like a big kid. He loved to play and have fun and it made Felix laugh far more than he had thought he would. Hyunjin was fun and funny but in a different way. With Changbin he could almost be a bit immature without worry of anyone looking down on him. They could just play together happily.
Next Changbin took Felix to a store to pick out a stuffie to cuddle with when Changbin wasn't there. Jokingly Felix said a big pillow would be better. Changbin's eyes sparkled with laughter and with Felix giggling, ordered a king size pillow with his picture on it, putting Felix's address for delivery. Felix couldn't stop giggling and Changbin thought it was probably the happiest sound he had ever heard. They headed back to the dorms finally, content that they had a much better understanding of the other. They were relaxed and happy as they entered the dorm and smiled at Hyunjin who smiled at them from the couch. He had seen their whole day but did his best to stay quiet in their heads and let them have the time together. They were both so relaxed and happy that he felt relieved to have sent them. It made him happier than he would have believed to see them bonding as they had.
Felix practically bounced to him and threw his arms around Hyunjin. "Hey Jinnie!" He grinned and kissed the man, his excitement and happiness calming to a tender kiss. Changbin smiled at the two and then went to go wash up for dinner. Minho had obviously cooked up a feast for them, helped by Innie and Jisung. Changbin set the table as Felix babbled happily telling them all about their date. The others looked as enchanted with Felix as he and Hyunjin were. Dinner was a happy affair full of laughter and the love of each other within their group of eight.
"So I hear you ad libbed a line for Topline." Minho said. "I would like to hear it."
"How did you hear that?" Felix asked and Minho raised an eyebrow. Felix laughed.
"Sungie has been on pins and needles wanting to hear it." He replied. Knowing of their connection made the others wonder why they had never questioned all those times. It was so obvious now that they knew.
Chan went and got his laptop and pulled up the file and played the song. When Felix's line came up he blushed and ducked his face in Hyunjin's neck, hiding. He could feel the pride coming through their bond from both Changbin and Hyunjin. The others all loved his addition. Han got a look on his face and immediately went to grab his lyric notebook and started writing. Felix looked at him curiously. "He gets like this." Minho told him with a fond smile at Jisung. "Just let him write."
The group decided a movie night was the perfect way to round out the day and Felix perched between Changbin and Hyunjin, giving massages to both throughout the movie. Felix fell asleep towards the end and the others talked quietly as the movie ended. "Did you guys have fun?" Jeongin asked Changbin.
"Yeah. I took him to Dream Park. We walked around looking at flowers and just talking and getting to know each other better. He is everything Hyunnie has said." Changbin answered with a tender smile on his face.
"How are the three of you going to do this?" Seungmin asked. "I don't mean to make light of it but I imagine this is going to be very hard when he goes home."
"We don't know." Hyunjin answered honestly. "We are playing it by ear." He looked at Felix. "I think he is open to moving here because he knows we can't move there but it will depend on how the distance affects us I think. Besides, he is a bit nervous about how he will fit into our world. He is trying to keep those thoughts away but he is more scared than he wants to let on. He doesn't want to make any moves that hurt us and he knows from my memories and thoughts how inflexible the company may be about him living with us."
"He won't be able to live apart from you for long unless the connection is broken." Jisung said softly.
"It may be different from our connection, Jagi." Minho said gently.
Jisung looked at him and then back to the trio, Felix asleep in Hyunjin's lap with his legs up on Changbin's lap. "I don't think so." Jisung said. "I think it is different, yes. But I don't think it will allow him to live so far away for very long. You three really need to decide how this is going to work. It's better to have a plan in place just in case." He looked over at Minho. "Don't let yourselves be blindsided the way we were when Minho was cut. It about destroyed us both because we weren't ready." All the members could see the memory of pain in the duo's eyes.
"It was agony." Minho agreed. "Jagi is right. Even if you don't end up needing it, you need to start making plans in case. I don't want you three to go through what we did. It almost destroyed both of us."
"I'm still angry at you two for not sharing what you were going through with us." Chan said with an edge to his quiet tone. Minho acknowledged the anger with a nod.
"I know it makes you angry that we left you out, but I won't apologize for it. I was protecting my jagi who wasn't ready for anyone to know." He said. Changbin waved a hand at Chan to calm down.
"If I had found out before I connected to Felix and Hyunnie, I would feel the same but hyung, you don't get how this feels. I would do anything to protect them." He looked at Hyunjin and Felix. "Literally anything. If Felix wanted us to quit and move to him, we probably would." He added trying to impart the emotion attached in the connection. "He wouldn't want us to but I'm trying to tell you how strong the drive is to protect our connected." He looked at Minho and Jisung. "I understand." Minho nodded, knowing that Changbin was protective of his bonded the way he was of Jisung. Minho and Changbin were more of protectors than Jisung, Hyunjin and Felix were. The need and drive to protect their bonded from any harm was a driving force in a way he would not have understood prior.
"We are going to work on it together." Hyunjin soothed. "We will decide what needs to happen for the three of us." He looked at Chan. "Should we tell the company?"
Chan thought about it. "Not yet. I don't think." He said slowly. "I think it's better to have a plan in place and then tell them. They will balk at it but if we stand firm and together, I don't think they will fight too hard. Especially if we tell them the truth. They are more likely to publicize it for additional revenue off the novelty. Prepare Felix for that. Whenever it happens, it is going to get uncomfortable for him...and for you two so far from him." Everyone nodded in thought.
Changbin carried Felix to bed and tucked him in, this time; the two partners put Felix in the middle and cuddled up to him. {H- What if he doesn't want to move?} {C- Hyunnie, think about him. Felix would never let someone he cares about hurt. He would move even if he didn't want to.} {H- Thats the point. He would do it even if he didn't want to in order to protect us.} {C- So we won't let him do anything he doesn't actually want to do.} Hyunjin nodded. {H- I'm glad you two connected.} {C- Really?} Changbin thought in surprise. Hyunjin smiled. {H- Yeah. I think he needs us, both of us.} Changbin nodded his agreement. They had one more day with their sunshine boy. Neither was ready for it to be over. There would be some hard conversations coming over the next few days and weeks but for now, it was warm and safe in the bed, surrounded by love and each other.