The Hidden Card || NCT MAFIA

Chapter seventy: Anger issues

"Did you really have to act like that?"

The voice came out muffled, as if Iseul was listening from underwater.

"Like what?"

"Like an asshole."

There was a screeching sound, like a chair scraping the floor.

"Watch your mouth, Doyoung."

Taeyong.

That was Taeyong's voice.

Iseul focused on it, trying to open her eyes. She listened carefully, holding on to his voice like some sort of lifeline to keep her from drowning. Slowly, Iseul came back to consciousness, letting herself time to adjust to her new environment.

She felt as if she was waking up from a very long and blurry dream, her memory was still a bit fuzzy.

The voices quieted down.

"Iseul?"

Doyoung almost whispered, knowing that she needed time to readjust.

Iseul opened her eyes, almost immediately regretting it. Taeyong was next to her, so close, even, that she could feel his heavy breath on her skin. He was inhaling deeply, almost as if he had trouble breathing.

Iseul recognized it as a sign of anger.
After the months they spent together, she had memorized every single one of his small displays of emotion, as he was not the most expressive person she had met.

She found it quite useful to quickly understand the mood he was in, like right now.

When she had first seen him, Iseul couldn't believe someone could be that cold and expressionless.

But she had learnt to analyze and interpret the slight changes on his face. The way his lips curled when he was preoccupied, the way his eyes sparkled whenever he wanted to show her he cared -even if this scenario rarely occurred- or even the way he bit the inside of his cheek when he was angry -that, she saw at multiple occasions.

The way his severe gaze fell on her when Iseul opened her eyes also was a sign of anger. It seemed like the old Taeyong was back and he felt nothing but fury toward her. She hated it.

It was as if all they shared had vanished overnight, and Iseul had no idea why.

Her heart broke when she dared to meet his eyes again. The hot anger she could feel boiling in his veins contrasted with the coldness of his eyes. Iseul felt like she was staring into an abyss, there was no warmth anymore.

On her right side, Doyoung was moving around, nervously checking then writing down his observations. His brows furrowed, but there was no worry in his eyes. Iseul assumed this was a good sign.

"You seem to be recovering quickly, Iseul," Doyoung said, confirming her thoughts. "I redid your stitches; it looks like I messed them up a little the first time..." he admitted with a sheepish smile.

"It's alright," Iseul smiled.

"How come?" Taeyong asked at the same time. His tone was harsher than Iseul's. "You never mess them up."

Doyoung swallowed, "Well having you on my back during the whole thing, looking over my shoulder like you did, didn't exactly help..."

Sensing tension build in the room again, and yet another fight coming between the two, Iseul intervened.

"It's fine, things like this can happen and I'm fine. Thank you, Doyoung."

Taeyong didn't say anything, but he clenched his jaw in annoyance.