Shall We? | NCT Lee Jeno ff

Chapter 32 - Hyun Nam

Hyun Nam saw the video the next day when she was going out for lunch with Ilsung. From tweets, they became Instagram posts, then onwards to Youtube videos. The video became harder to get because of the operators that keep on taking them down.

"Oh, my," Hyun Nam patted her chest, almost choking on her food.

"What is it? Are you okay?" Ilsung worriedly asked, dropping his utensils and giving water to his little sister. She nodded while drinking the water given to her.

"It's just a scandal."

"Oh, are you into K-pop like Jihyeon is?"

"Not really. I'm shocked because it's a... friend of mine that's involved," Hyun Nam replied. Ilsung's eyes peered at Hyun Nam. It was either he was suspicious or he just wanted to know how Hyun Nam knew a K-pop idol.

"What kind of scandal is it?"

Hyun Nam gulped.

"He... I mean she was involved in physical assault and based on the video, she was the perpetrator," Hyun Nam sighed and closed her phone, she wanted to cover up that she was friends with Jeno for some reason, she knew Ilsung wouldn't care to look into the scandal anyways. It was just after a while did they finish their meal before they stood up to head to Ilsung's car out front.

"Can you not drop me off at home? I want to visit my friend and ask if she's okay," Hyun Nam asked with a small smile on her face which Ilsung agreed to. The whole car ride to Jeno's dorms was full of worrying thoughts. Hyun Nam didn't know that it was actually Jeno or if it's just a lookalike. If it was, she couldn't imagine Jeno beating someone up. She didn't know how to feel about it, she needed answers from the person himself.

"This is it here?" Ilsung asked, stopping in front of an apartment. Hyun Nam has never been there before so she didn't know, all she saw was that it was the correct address and picture from what Jeno had sent to her a few weeks ago.

"Will you be alright? It's safe, right?" Ilsung asked before letting Hyun Nam out of the car. Hyun Nam smiled at her worrying older brother.

"Yes it is safe, I'll ask Mr. Jungho to come to pick me up. See you," Hyun Nam reassured her brother and hugged him before leaving his car. Hyun Nam was moved by the way Ilsung was worried about her and how he waited in the car to make sure Hyun Nam got in the building safely. She didn't have this type of sibling relationship for years, she missed it.

"Hello?" Hyun Nam knocked on the dorm's front door.

"Yes, who is it?" someone opened the door a bit, the guy was shorter than Jeno but he definitely looked like someone at Jeno's age. He wore a calm but intimidating look on his face that gave Hyun Nam the chills when she saw him.

"Is Jeno here? I'm his friend," Hyun Nam smiled.

"Jeno didn't mention anyone coming. Do you know how many people come here every day looking for us when they're actually just stalkers? I'm sorry, you failed. Please don't come back," the guy tensely said. Before he could close the door, another man appeared behind him, holding the door open.

"Who is it?" a familiar voice asked.

"I think it's just another sasaeng," the guy replied.

Then the other voice came into Hyun Nam's view. It was Jaemin and his face immediately lit up when he saw Hyun Nam.

"Please, Renjun. She's not a sasaeng. She's actually our friend," Jaemin laughed and opened the door wide for Hyun Nam to come in. The dorms weren't at all like what Hyun Nam pictured it would be like. She thought it would be loud and full of music but it was clean and empty.

"I saw what happened to Jeno," Hyun Nam said as she stepped into the dorms. Jaemin and Renjun proceeded to take some dirty plates to the kitchen sink before Hyun Nam could see them.

"He's at the agency. I'm going there in 15 minutes, you can come with me," Jaemin smiled and sat on the couch where he patted the space beside him for Hyun Nam to sit on.

"Hi, sorry for what I said at the door. I didn't mean to offend you. I'm just really protective of our privacy," Renjun sighed and brought a glass of water for Hyun Nam before sitting down on an armchair across Hyun Nam and Jaemin.

"It's okay, you didn't know and I came here unannounced too," Hyun Nam smiled at Renjun. She felt hurt a bit that Jeno never told them of her existence like she wasn't someone that important to talk about to his members (except Jaemin). Though she thought that she wasn't anyone that important to Jeno anyway.

"Nonsense, you have a pass to come here unannounced anytime," Jaemin smiled to Hyun Nam though, by his tone, she knew Jaemin was asking for permission from Renjun as well. They both turned to Renjun, one to ask permission and the other to see how Renjun would react. Renjun's eyes wandered between the both of them, feeling the pressure before a smile grew on his face.

"If Jaemin says you can have the pass then I will too. Anyone who is a friend of Jaemin and Jeno is a friend of NCT Dream," Renjun said which gave Hyun Nam a jolt of happiness through her nerves.

"Sorry, I haven't officially introduced myself to you. Hyun Nam," she said and reached her hand out to Renjun.

"Renjun. Is she the one..." Renjun drifted off while shaking hands with Hyun Nam. Jaemin pursed his lips and closed his eyes before opening them again, signing to Renjun to not say a word. Hyun Nam was curious. She wanted to know what they were talking about. What Jaemin or Jeno has said to the group about her. But she kept quiet, eager to ask Jeno later on.

"So can you tell me the actual story behind the video?" Hyun Nam asked and Jaemin started.

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It was Hyun Nam's first time riding in another private van beside the ones her family would use to go to events held by the company. It felt different to ride one without the endless phone calls Father would get, Mother telling the sisters of what news her friends shared with her, and the K-pop songs Jihyeon played in the background. Their dorms were close to the agency, it was only 10-15 minutes by car. As they arrived, they both saw the food truck with Jeno's name on it and torn merchandise on the sidewalk. It was totally crazy how a lot of fans (or haters) were so quick in wanting to kick Jeno out of NCT Dream.

"He's in the lounge right now. I advise you to be careful with him," his manager, who gave Hyun Nam a suspicious look, replied to Jaemin.

There he was sitting alone on a couch, legs extended and eyes locked on the traffic outside. When he turned around to see his two friends arrive, he had a look of embarrassment when he saw Hyun Nam was there. His smile was gone and what's left were his frown and his mourning eyes. Though he knew he didn't do anything wrong by defending someone else, the public didn't know that yet and the hate he was getting was endlessly draining him.

"Jeno, are you okay? I came as soon as I saw. Well not directly, I thought you were at your dorms so I went there before coming here," Hyun Nam said, kneeling down beside Jeno who had his eyes fixed on Hyun Nam. It was like he was on the verge of tears. The color in his face was gone and no joy was in it. Jeno was like a fragile vase. One wrong move or word would end up shattering him.

Silence was the only thing in the room. Hyun Nam wanted to hold Jeno but she was scared to do so, thinking it would hurt Jeno more and because they were in front of employees walking around. He didn't say a word before placing Hyun Nam's hand in his cold hand and hiding them in his coat's pocket for no one else to see but for only them to share. 

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