when in time, nct dream

chapter forty-four

"I think Jiyoung and Donghyuck are in trouble."

Eight heads turned towards Jaemin immediately.

"Why do you think they're in trouble?" Nayeon asked, sitting up from Jeno's chest to look at her worried cousin.

Jaemin began pacing, raking his brain. "Okay so long story short, the police never caught Hyuna's mom and some random people showed up before we did. Hyuna was gone today and Jiyoung was suspicious because of something I saw the other day. Today, she was supposed to go meet up with Hyuna, right? So she shared her location with me at the mall and told me she would text me at exactly five on the dot to let me know she was coming over but it's not nearly right and she never did. Her GPS is turned off too."

Nayeon nodded, standing up as she walked over to Jaemin's side, reading his messages to make sure he hadn't missed anything.

"Has anyone talked to Donghyuck Hyung today?" Chenle asked, his heart beginning to beat faster remembering the conversation he and Jisung had a while ago.

"Hey, do you think it's a bit weird how she keeps asking all these questions too?" Jisung asked quietly once Chenle sat down.

The dark-haired boy nodded slightly, noticing Hyuna and Donghyuck had gone off into their own conversation once again. "I mean yeah but maybe she's just interested in our lives. She never met her sister before and now she's getting thrown into our friend group, must wonder what it's like or something."

Jisung bobbed his head up and down slowly, "well... yeah but," he trailed off, discreetly looking at his friend conversing with the new girl. "I don't know there's just something off, I can feel it."

"Are your feelings reliable?" Chenle asked, serious about the question even though it sounded like a mocking joke.

"Well, I'd hope so. It's more like my bending or something that can tell somethings wrong or off. They were right when that whole thing with Noona happened."

Chenle nodded, "let's just give it a bit. Maybe you're just cautious after what happened, like Jaemin Hyung."

Jisung nodded, looking over at Jaemin and Jiyoung dozing off slightly. "Just like Hyung..."

"Has anyone seen Hyuna?" Jisung asked, standing up from the couch.

The others looked around at each other, beginning to connect the dots. "We should head over to the mall to see if we can find their cars. They closed early today for some more repairing so it should be easier to find them," Sooyoung suggested.

Renjun nodded, "if they aren't there we can send out an alert for the other officers to help us find them. Until then we should wait, I doubt the public would be happy knowing two of the four councilmen are missing."

The others agreed, speeding out of the house in hopes to find their friends somewhere nearby, unhurt or injured.

Each of them pulled into the mall parking lot, the section having bushes and trees as outlining borders.

"Does anyone see them?" Jeno called out, using his phone flashlight to look inside Donghyuck's car window.

"Nothing over here," Mark commented pulling away from Jiyoung's car. He and the others walked towards the middle, everyone having worried faces.

"I'm gonna go contact Chief Lee," Sooyoung nodded, letting go of Renjun's hand as she turned away. She walked away quickly, getting into her car to call anyone available.

"How did Jiyoung know Donghyuck would be here too?"

Jaemin shook his head, "she didn't. Donghyuck didn't even get off until like three so he got here after her. Something led him here."

The others quieted as they began to come to a realization. "Hyuna..."

Before any of them could act, something rolled past their feet and into the middle circle. Before they could react it went off, making each of them begin coughing.

They heard sounds of people approaching from behind them but the gas was too much. And if they couldn't see, they couldn't bend, too afraid they'd hurt one another.

Each of them fell to the ground with groans, feeling what they assumed to be chi-blockers hitting different pressure points on their bodies.

It wasn't long before each of them fainted, the gas becoming too much to bear.

so what do y'all think is happening

currently working on a second trailer for shift. i keep getting distracted tho 👩🏽‍🦯