Pairing: SKZ & Felix

Genre: Mafia AU

!!TW!! : development of possessive behavior, development of obsessive behavior, implied murders, minor character deaths, drug use, referenced kidnapping

(requested by @kaeconstellations)

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They never quite meant for things to turn out the way they did, but they certainly weren't about to complain.

Chan and the others had grown up together, their parents working for his, and all seven of them already aware of the future awaiting them: Chan would inherit his family's business, and the other six would become his confidents, his most trusted circle, his best footmen.

(The fact that they all became pretty much involved with each other over the years was a bit more of a surprise, but not a particularly shocking one.)

The only piece of the puzzle that didn't fit the perfect picture was Felix.

Little, sweet, innocent Felix, whose parents had had the bright idea of buying the beautiful house at the end of the street, never questioning why such a nice house had never been occupied in the first place.

It really wasn't that complicated: everyone with a sliver of basic common sense knew not to move into a neighborhood almost entirely occupied by one of the greatest mafia families in the entire world.

But Felix's parents were naïve and trusting – a trait they visibly passed down to their son – and took to their new living space like fishes to water, simply passing off the men in suits and the sketchy 2 AM meetings that happened every Sunday as their new neighbors just being a little quirky.

Felix had been seven when they moved from Australia. Chan had been twelve already – the oldest of their little group – and Jeongin had just turned eight. At first, they had all agreed to follow their parents' lead and simply not get involved with their new neighbors but, like any children, they eventually grew curious.

(Chan, already taking to his future role of leader, led their little group right up the freshly coated alleyway and, with encouraging nods from his friends, knocked. A moment later, the door opened—

"Oh, hello!"

—on the most adorable little thing any of them had ever seen. The boy was small, with fluffy blond hair and sun-kissed skin. There were dozens of freckles dotting his face, and the widest, brightest grin anyone had ever given them. His slightly squeaky voice and his strong accent only added to his charms.

The seven children knew, right there and then, that their all-planned future had just shifted.)

This was how Felix met Chan and his friends – Stray Kids, they started calling themselves, because it had a really cool ring to it and they all not-so-secretly adored when Felix said it with his Australian accent.

This was also how Felix gave up his entire life without even knowing it.

They became best of friends – inseparable. Outside of their respective training, the kids were always with Felix. Of course, their parents knew and weren't exactly fond of getting a civilian brat involved in their business but, if Felix ever posed a problem, they figured they could simply get rid of him.

But that was underestimating just how attached their children would become.

It started off simply enough.

Jeongin was always hugging him. Seungmin was helping him with his homework. Jisung always made up stupid jokes to make him laugh. Hyunjin was constantly found playing with his hair. Changbin would carry him all the time because he loved showing off and Felix enjoyed the free rides. Minho was busying himself with teaching him Korean and pretty much treating him like one of his cats any other time. And Chan... Chan would start skipping his training and his duties to hang out with him some more.

That was the first milestone, so to speak.

("This has been going on for long enough. If you do not start acting like the leader you are bound to become, then we will take action!"

"If I'm to be the leader, then why are you always telling me what to do!? It's not like I'm doing anything wrong, I'm just hanging out with my friends!"

"You and your friends are all getting distracted! You have a greater purpose than any of them but they, too, have duties to answer to! Shoes to fill! A responsibility toward you and our family's business! But Felix has nothing to do with any of this – you're wasting your time with him!"

"I'm building bonds and relations, like you've always taught me! How is that wasting my time!?"

"He's a civilian, Chan! You won't gain anything from building a bond with him, and useless bonds are meant to be severed!"

"... what's that supposed to mean."

"It's quite simple, really: either you get your head in the game and stop seeing Felix, either we make you stop by getting rid of the problem at the root.")

Two days following the rather heated argument, Mr. Bang and his wife were found dead in their bedroom – an unfortunate gas leak that poisoned them both in their sleep but which, thankfully, didn't spread to the rest of the house.

(If anyone noticed the locked window and the broken handle of the door, they never said anything.)

Chan thus inherited his family's business when he was barely fifteen. He now had to shoulder numerous responsibilities, but he trusted his friends to take care of Felix while the mafia group adapted to its new leadership.

It continued simply enough. Jeongin and Jisung would team up to keep the other children from school at bay, not wanting Felix to have friends outside of them. Seungmin and Minho started conversing with him in English, saying he wouldn't need to know Korean so long as he had them. Changbin and Hyunjin would constantly pick up the boy, encouraging him to eat a little less so it'd be easier for them to carry him around.

And Chan... Chan started planning.

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A little before Felix turned thirteen, an unexpected house fire burned his home to the ground, and his parents with it. He had been spending the night at Jisung's place, a sleepover, so he had been fortunate enough not to die too, but the abrupt loss had definitely taken its toll on his mind.

(The firefighters who came to the scene would later on wonder how the family never noticed how weak the house's foundations were – explaining why it had collapsed so easily – and why they had been stupid enough to store their gas cylinders for the barbecue right next to the heater.)

Felix didn't have any family left, be it in Australia or in South Korea and, still a minor, child services were already on his case. Fortunately enough, Chan had just turned eighteen, meaning he was an adult who could take in Felix and, since he already knew the boy, it only helped stack the deck in his favor.

(Some well-placed bribery also helped move his name right up to the top of the list of eligible legal guardians.)

Everyone did their best to help Felix through his grief, and it took a while for the naturally cheerful back to return to his usual sunshine self.

Also, now that he lived with Chan, it became a little harder to hide what they were really doing in their free time while he was at school, but Felix wasn't the type to snoop around and get all up in someone else's business, so they were fine.

That is, until Felix hit puberty.

They all knew, on a technical level, that it was a part of growth that everyone went through at that age. However, what none of them expected was for their cute little pixie to suddenly turn into a miniature adult.

His features became sharper, more defined. There were less freckles than before, and they were paler too. He started growing taller, too, naturally bulking up a bit and eating more because of his faster metabolism.

But the worse of it all... the worse of it all was his voice. Where it used to be all high and squeaky, it was now as deep as the fucking ocean. And, while they had all been quite amused to hear his voice crack constantly, they didn't find his demon-voice quite as funny.

Where had their adorable little ball of sunshine gone?

He started refusing to hang out, claiming he had made new friends at school. He stopped cuddling up to them, stopped demanding attention and affection, stopped asking them for help... He just stopped.

He sometimes got in arguments with Jeongin and Jisung, telling them to back off and stop trying to control his every movements. He always answered Seungmin and Minho in Korean with that stupidly deep voice, losing more and more his Australian accent because he insisted he didn't want to rely on them anymore. He often rejected Hyunjin and Changbin's hugs altogether, getting annoyed whenever they tried to pick him up like they always used to. Hell, he even started snapping at Chan when the leader started questioning him a little too much about his outings with his "friends".

Felix was becoming rebellious, seeking independence – Chan didn't like it. Hell, none of them liked it.

Felix was supposed to be theirs. Felix was supposed to need them. Felix was supposed to stay with them and be happy with it, and eventually become a part of that future that had shifted to welcome him in its midst the first time he opened that damned door and gave them that damned smile—

"I'm going back to Australia next summer."

Next summer. Next summer, Felix would be eighteen – a legal adult, perfectly capable of making his own decisions and legally able to do as he pleased.

Chan frowned. "No you're not."

Felix sighed, running a hand through his hair – which he had dyed black, and which every single one of them positively hated, because they liked his naturally blond strands better.

"Hyung, I'll be eighteen by then. I've already been accepted at a University for a special dance program, and I think I might have found a nice apartment, too, not too far from campus."

"Felix, this is crazy. You don't have the means—"

"My parents left me a lot of money in their will – a sum I'll be able to claim by my next birthday. So, money won't be a problem."

"Felix, this is your home—"

"Hyung, I love you, I really do," cut Felix – he did that a lot, nowadays. Cutting Chan off whenever he spoke. Chan really hated it. "But I think it's about time I get out of your hair, at least for a bit. This is my home... but so is Australia. I miss it. I want to visit my parents' grave, too, since they requested in their will to be buried over there."

"Then you can go, and come back here to continue your studies in Korea," insisted Chan, not liking where this was going.

"Chan-hyung, I just told you I was accepted into the University of my dreams! To become a professional dancer, like I've always wanted! Why can't you be happy for me?"

"How can I be happy when you're just planning on leaving us!?"

"I'd come back to visit! You're my best friends, my family! Of course—"

"Then stay!"

"No!" There were no traces of their little pixie left – the person standing before Chan now was a full-grown man, and Chan absolutely loathed the sight. "I love all of you guys, I really do, but you're becoming too much! It's about damn time I start living my life, hyung!" His traits softened just the slightest bit. "I'm grateful, hyung – for everything. But I can't keep living my life depending on you and everyone else. I want... I want to do what I love, build a life for myself, do something that I can be proud of. Not... not just live in your shadows all of the time, with you constantly hovering over my shoulders. You understand, right?"

No. No I don't understand.

"I do," said plainly Chan, leaning back in his chair. "Very well. Since you obviously won't budge on your decision... I suppose the only option left is to support you through it. Next summer, you said? That doesn't leave us with much time to prepare, but we'll get it done."

At that, Felix's furrowed face broke down into a smile. It was reminiscent of the first one he had given Chan, and it almost gave the leader whiplash.

"Thank you!!!"

(He didn't notice Chan's weird choice of words at all, completely blinded by his foolish dreams.)

Their adorable pixie was still in there, somewhere, Chan was now certain of it – it was simply a matter of bringing it back out, and keeping it there.

Chan started planning again.

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In the end, everything was a lot easier than expected – but, then again, it was Felix they were talking about. The poor boy was still just as naïve and trusting as when they first met, blindingly trusting them despite the small falling outs that occurred there and then.

He never saw it coming.

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"Goodbye, everyone! I'll miss you!" he waved, visibly excited.

The others waved back with distinctly faked cheerfulness, and the boy entered the private jet Chan's family owned. As he sat down in one of the luxurious leather seats and glanced by the window, he couldn't help but smile as he saw his friends still outside, obviously intending to see him off all the way.

"A drink, sir?"

Felix smiled brightly at the waiter. "Just water, thanks!"

The man nodded, going to prepare it, and Felix heaved out a sigh. Saying goodbye to the people he had spent almost his entire life with hadn't been easy, but he knew it was for the better.

"Your water, sir."

"Thank you!"

Felix didn't even think twice before chugging down half of the glass in almost one go, his throat incredibly dry after so many rounds of tearful goodbyes. Almost instantly, though, he was hit by an intense wave of dizziness, a tremor running down his arm and making his muscles cramp up.

The glass fell on the carpet, and Felix gasped, his head spinning and his vision blurring, doubling a bit on the edges. He tried to get up, but his body was already shutting down, and he couldn't ask for help because his tongue was filled with lead and his mouth was full of cotton and wait where did the waiter go—

A shadow loomed over him. In his hazy state, it took Felix a few seconds to recognize that shadow as Chan's.

"Sorry, little one," he murmured, gently stroking his cheek. "But you're not leaving us – ever."

On which darkness finally claimed him, and Felix completely collapsed in his seat, still unaware of the hell awaiting him.