The Hidden Card || NCT MAFIA

Chapter forty-nine: Sleeping Beauty

The infirmary was silent, Taeyong and Kun each focused on their own thoughts, almost forgetting about the world surrounding them.

When Doyoung entered the room, the sound of his steps brought them both back to reality. They turned around to face the man who had just come in, waiting for him to say something.

"Sorry I'm late," he apologized, taking off his stained coat.

"Yeah, we heard Ten got injured, is he alright?" Kun asked as Taeyong turned around to face Jaemin's bed again.

Doyoung scoffed, "He'll be fine, you know him..."

As if that was enough of an explanation, Kun nodded, a faint smile on his lips. He knew exactly what Doyoung meant.

"So, can we wake him up, now?" Taeyong asked, clearly eager to get this over with.

"Yes, I'll just give him a dose of this," Doyoung said as he grabbed a syringe filled with a transparent liquid, "and Sleeping Beauty should be up in ten minutes."

If Jaemin could move, he would have rolled his eyes at the nickname. He couldn't wait to be in full control of his body again. He had many things to talk about, and, more importantly, many questions to ask.

He heard a crinkly sound right next to him, and figured Doyoung had come closer in order to inject him with the contents of the syringe. Jaemin was right, because not even a second later, he felt a cold liquid spread in his veins.

"He should stay home for a couple of days, though," Doyoung said, addressing the two other men in the room. "The stab wound was pretty deep, and even if I made sure he'd get a lot of rest with the sedative, it would be better if he didn't move around as much."

"Yeah, of course," Kun agreed.

Taeyong didn't speak, his mind too preoccupied by his thoughts. He hoped that Jaemin still remembered what had happened in the alley, or else it would be way harder for them to find clues regarding the mercenaries' intentions with Iseul.

Taeyong needed Jaemin to remember and tell him about what he had seen and heard. What he didn't know, however, was that Jaemin had a lot of questions of his own.

"Why did you want him up so suddenly?" Doyoung asked unexpectedly.

Kun and Taeyong shared a brief knowing look.

"We'd like to know who attacked them in the alley," Kun replied without a blink.

He wasn't technically lying, anyway. He just didn't develop his answer so he could leave out the part where everything went back to Park, once again.

Only Doyoung was aware of the assault. Taeyong and Kun had only shared what he needed to know regarding Jaemin's wound in order to take care of it but hadn't given out any details about what had happened.

"But weren't you both there too?" Doyoung insisted as his eyes narrowed.

"We were almost too late, we might be missing information, so that's why we wanted to ask Jaemin," Taeyong replied, a lack of expression on his face.

"Oh, I see," Doyoung said, not really convinced.

He knew better than to insist and figured it would be better for him not to ask questions.

"I hope you can catch the son of a bitch who did this, then," he spat, anger reflecting in his eyes. "Thankfully you guys were there when it happened, otherwise Nana would have been left alone to die in that alley."

Doyoung wasn't aware of the fact that Iseul had been with them as well, and it was better this way, according to Taeyong. The man was still wary of his members and couldn't afford trusting the wrong ones at the moment.

The less they knew, the better.

Just as Kun was about to ask Doyoung how much time was left before Jaemin woke up, the boy moved a little in his bed.

"Looks like he's waking up."

Jaemin laboriously managed to move his fingers a little, then his arm and lastly, when he was able to gather some strength, he finally opened his eyes.

The ceiling was still the same light blue color, and the yellow light coming from his right made him blink.

"Hello, there," Doyoung said, a playful smirk on his face.

Jaemin groaned in response, trying to cover his face with his upper arm to hide his sensitive eyes from the light. He hissed when a sharp pain in his ribs made him wince.

"Careful, buddy, your wound's still quite fresh."

When his eyes finally accustomed to the bright lightning, they immediately found their way to Taeyong's dark ones.

His leader didn't blink, despite being quite surprised by the intensity of Jaemin's gaze. Why was he staring at him like this?

"Doyoung," Kun called when he noticed the growing tension between the youngest member and Taeyong, "would you mind giving us a moment, please?"

The man was a bit startled by the sudden request, but nodded nonetheless before leaving the room.

When they were sure he was gone, Taeyong leaned in a little so he could rest his elbows on his knees, his hands joined under his chin as he observed Jaemin with fiery eyes.

"We need to talk," he spoke in a deep voice.

Without detaching his gaze from his, Jaemin replied, "Yes, we do."

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I had to re-upload the last chapter because I made a few horrible spelling mistakes! If you see any, please feel free to correct me :)