Shall We? | NCT Lee Jeno ff

Chapter 36 - Hyun Nam

As she watched Jeno sit quietly in front of the judge, Hyun Nam thought of how Jeno was feeling and if this hearing was going in a good way. The tension Jeno felt must've not lessened because the people attending the hearing had to go through the crowd of paparazzi. Hyun Nam was led inside from a different door but she couldn't miss the mob she passed in her car. She wore a pair of sunglasses and a mask, scared that someone was going to secretly take pictures of Jeno and have her accidentally shot in the photo, too. Different from Jeno, she wasn't hiding from the paparazzi, she was hiding from her father.

The hearing was faster than what Hyun Nam thought it would be. Jeno's lawyer provided all the solid evidence and by the look on the judge's face, this was going well. When the judge announced Jeno's innocence under an hour (because it was a case of minor assault), Hyun Nam's heart raced as she smiled widely under her mask. From her dark view, she could see the defendant's head glancing at her, giving her a bright smile which left her to smile wider than before.

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"Finally free," Hyun Nam exclaimed and pulled Jeno into a hug. They were safe from the paparazzi in the waiting room. Jeno was waiting for more paperwork to sign before he could go home. He accepted her hug with his arms carefully placed around her waist, a wide smile on his face.

"I want to cry, I'm so happy for you. Really..." Hyun Nam said, pulling away from the hug and looking into Jeno's glowing eyes. While gazing at him, for a moment she thought of herself and Jeno. She thought about how this wasn't a dream. How she was holding his face in her hands. It was just them. Them. Us.

"We have to go, Jeno," his manager knocked on the door, asking Jeno to come out. Hyun Nam's thoughts came back to the real world, where they were in a waiting room and hundreds of people were waiting for Jeno outside. "You can go out first. I'll wait until the site's clear," Hyun Nam let go of Jeno. His manager opened the door to check on Jeno and gave a simple nod to the bodyguards to get ready. "Will you be okay?" Jeno asked worriedly. Hyun Nam smiled at Jeno's question and nodded to reassure him. The group of people left the waiting room and she could hear screams outside of the building, notifying her that he was outside of the building already. For almost 30 minutes, Hyun Nam waited in the dull waiting room until Mr. Jungho called to say that the coast was clear.

The building was empty, no paparazzi or fans were spotted. In under 30 minutes, they were gone. It astonished Hyun Nam how they came and went out so fast. She only had another task to finish before she was free to meet Jeno. A meeting with her sisters and Ilsung, which she always looked forward to because she loved seeing the sight of her 3 older siblings together. Their 3 pair of eyes staring at each other as one speaks about the plan. Hyun Nam would add her own ideas sometimes but she mostly left the more difficult parts to Eunkyung.

As she read the final plan Ilsung sent them, she was proud of what her siblings have done. A hint of guilt rose through her but she tried hard to push it down, thinking of all the horrible things Father had done to them and Mother. They've been meeting at Ilsung's hotel room, not the usual lunch/dinner meetings. His huge hotel room was completed with a dining room and a gorgeous kitchen which felt like they were eating at a luxurious restaurant either way.

When she arrived at the hotel, Hyun Nam was surprised to see it more crowded than usual. It felt like the paparazzi from Jeno's hearing moved to this hotel. Curious about what the commotion was all about, she tiptoed to see the people the paparazzi were trying to get to but they had gone inside already. Hyun Nam entered the lobby, leaving Mr. Jungho in the car to wait until her meeting finished. She anticipated hearing what Ilsung had to say on their last meeting before their plan launched. She was the last one to come so she hurried to the elevator.

The elevator came down from the top floor, Hyun Nam waited patiently for it but it felt like it would never stop. Until it did and Hyun Nam regretted ever thinking that the elevator was too slow. She wanted time to stop then and there.

"Hyun Nam?" Father asked with a surprised look on his face. She was stunned and froze in place.

"How did you know I was here? Or did you not know? Why are you here exactly?" Father asked suspiciously as he stepped out of the elevator with his entourage. She had to be quick and slick with her reasons, Father was already raising his eyebrows.

"I was scouting for hotels that have the potential for my next birthday party, Dad. This was a coincidence, but glad you're back home," Hyun Nam put on her best smile and hugged her father.

"Well, I won't be here for long. After this meeting with one of the ministers, I'll be heading out of the country again. So sorry I can't be home much, my dearest. Good luck on your hotel scouting, tell me when you have one in mind," Father smiled.

He left giving Hyun Nam a simple smile and headed to the restaurants. Knowing that he was meeting with one of the ministers, she guessed that the paparazzi was for that man. She couldn't wait to meet her siblings and tell them all about her unexpected meeting with their father. One she thought would haunt her dreams tonight.

"No way. This feels like a movie. That coincidence is just... wow," Jihyeon said as she hugged Hyun Nam, knowing how scared her younger sister might've been to encounter their father unexpectedly.

"That was very dangerous. Happy you were able to go through that," Ilsung smiled proudly at Hyun Nam, giving her a pat on the back.

"Seeing that Dad's heading out again. We're safe to launch," Eunkyung smiled.

"Let's go, then," Ilsung smiled back at her, turning his head to eye the suitcases ready by his bed.

"Tomorrow. Meet me at the airport at 3 am," Ilsung said finally, concluding their last meeting before their flight to Tokyo tomorrow. "Be careful, okay?" Ilsung said to his sisters but his eyes fell on his only younger sibling, Hyun Nam, who he gave a more worried look than to his older sisters. 

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Author: If you enjoyed the chapter, don't forget to vote! Leave any comments/DMs for feedback, I would very much appreciate them. Thank you once again <3 (Shall We has almost reached the 3/4 mark!)