The Hidden Card || NCT MAFIA

Chapter fifty: Gone

Taeyong leaned back in his chair, still staring at Jaemin.

"What do you know?"

Jaemin scoffed, "Enough to know you've been lying to us this whole time," he said, his voice filled with anger.

Kun shot a furtive look at Taeyong to analyze his reaction. Nothing in his physical behavior seemed to indicate that he was angry.

But Kun knew him better than anyone, and he could pick up on details such as his clenched jaw and fists that he desperately tried to hide as he crossed his arms on his chest, or even the way that his eyes seemed to bury themselves into Jaemin's.

"How?" he managed to utter through gritted teeth.

"I could hear you while I was 'asleep' you know. Next time, be careful what secrets you spill while there are other people in the room."

Taeyong was about to reply, but before he had the chance, Jaemin spoke up again.

"Seriously, hyung, how could you do this? How could you lie to us like that? Lie to her? Are you out of your mind?"

His voice was growing louder, and Kun shot a worried look over his shoulder, scared that someone passing by would hear.

"Watch your tone," Taeyong growled, leaning in again. "What exactly did you hear?"

Jaemin took a deep breath to try and calm his nerves.

"I know about Park. I know that you lied, and that he's still alive."

Jaemin's voice became softer, his eyes suddenly looking away, "Are you working with him?"

Taeyong looked at Kun on his left, who nodded in encouragement.

"Not really... At least not willingly..."

Jaemin's eyes widened at the confession.

"What do you mean?"

Taeyong closed his eyes for a second, "Look, it's complicated, and the less you know, the better. The only thing you need to know right now is that I lied for a reason. Whether it's a good one or not will be for you to judge when I can finally come clean about this whole mess. In the meantime, I made a decision, and have to face the consequences. I just want you to keep this a secret, at least until I figure out what the fuck I'm going to do."

Jaemin frowned, not liking what Taeyong said.

"You want me to lie too?"

"I'm not asking you to lie," Taeyong said, "I just want you to keep your mouth shut for the moment."

"Hyung," Jaemin sighed, "that's the same thing."

Taeyong ran a hand through his messy hair, tiredness slowly making him lose the little patience he had left.

"I know I'm asking a lot-" he began, only to be cut off by Jaemin.

"I won't do that to the others. They deserve to know."

He frowned harder for a second, his brain finally making the connection.

"Wait," he exclaimed, "is Park behind the attack?"

Kun spoke up, scared that Taeyong would break if he kept talking, "We don't know," he said, "that's what we're trying to figure out. That's also why we wanted to ask you some questions."

Taeyong silently thanked Kun and his tact. Maybe they'd be able to get precious information out of Jaemin, after all.

"What do you want to know?" the young man asked.