FIRE DRILL. / lee haechan

forty-four

"so you're telling me that all this time, they've been here all along?!" doyoung was seething at what the male intruder, jay, just stated.

all along, deathless' headquarters was located a few kilometers from nct's place. they have been searching for it for the last three years around the whole country and it was just here all along. taeyong just closed his eyes tight at the frustration building up on him.

on the other hand, sungchan— that was standing at the side— cannot comprehend anything that they are talking about. he looks at the older guys before he spoke the question that had been lingering around his mind.

he clears his throat, "shouldn't we call the cops for help?" he prompts.

doyoung lifts his eyes and sets it on sungchan. "deathless is nct's job so that cops can't help. but don't worry, they are on their way."

sungchan tilts his head. "they..? who? and what's a deathless?"

doyoung looks at jaehyun for a second before he answered. "as much as i wanna explain things, i can't. we can't waste time."

"but for your sake, nct is a secret organization who aims to protect peace and eliminate those who threatens to destroy it. we're suppose to deal with gangs and other syndicates. we also help the cops sometimes if we have time."

sungchan blinks his eyes. "uh... i see... so deathless' a gang?"

doyoung nods. "yepp, a big one. the biggest pain in our asses. it's been three years since we almost got them and they're still on the loose so we assume they have someone who protects them. someone powerful and holds authority. we still don't have any leads though."

"doyoung, can you call johnny again?" taeyong demanded as jaehyun was still having a conversation with jay.

the male nodded as he slipped his phone out of his pocket. "that's all i can offer as of now, i guess, sungchan." then he brings his phone into his ears.

a few moments after he grinned. "they're here."

"who..?" sungchan questioned again.

"nct."

▰▰▰

seri had her eyes locked on mark's knuckes that were bleeding heavily as he throws another punch on donghyuck— who is now off his chains, standing while two other men where holding him. another man is standing on the door but lee minhun is now nowhere inside the room.

another punch. it made the male throw up blood. seri closed her eyes as her vision grew blurry each second. fuck mark lee, seri says on her mind. the first time seri met mark was through dongsook and the male did not have a good impression on her. but as time passed by, seri had grew to like mark and now this happened.

seri shook her head. that's not the main problem right now. they need to do something. she needs to do something to save themselves, to save donghyuck. the sunkissed male had saved her a lot of times and now, maybe it's time for her to return the favor.

mark took a step back from donghyuck. then he told the men to let donghyuck kneel. seri thought that he was going to kick him but no. he just stood there while looking at his hand.

seri toom the chance to look around, hoping to find something useful. two cctv cameras were found inside the room. maybe mark's old man is watching them through that right now.

seri cannot figure out a way to escape but she won't give up.

mark gave seri a quick glance before he took a few steps back. then he kicked donghyuck. donghyuck threw up again but he didn't say anything. he haven't said anything since mark started treating him like a punching bag.

"mark lee!" seri shouted furiously. "stop it! stop!" she pleaded as he kicked again. "torture me instead, dickhead! isn't it me? you son of a dick wanted me, right? since jaehyun killed whoever that was. stop pestering hyuck and face me!"

with that, mark stops and looks at her.

"n-no..." hyuck wanted to shout yet his voice failed him.

mark took a step closer to seri. "whoever? that was my brother, seri. well, half-brother since we don't have the same mother, but nevertheless, he is still family."

mark crouched down to seri's level. "like father said, the neos would probably get here and try to save you. jaehyun will be here so father can take his revenge for the death of his favorite son and the whole nct would be killed. nct would no longer threaten father's businesses.. father would feel at ease at last."

seri gritted," father father, it's all for your father?"

"yes, after all he is the only family i have."

"family?" seri scoffed, "you trembled at the sight of him and he is family? that's not how a father should be, mark."

mark looked away and stood up. "then how should a father be, seri?" then he faced hyuck. "oh.. why don't we ask this pretty boy. donghyuck, how's your father treating you, dude?"

mark lowered down to donghyuck's level and grinned. "donghyuck?"

hyuck glared at him and quicked spit on his face. mark immediately threw another heavy punch.

"fuck you!" seri yelled, "how can you even do that?! he looks exactly as dongsook! did you even treat her right?! was everything a lie for your stupid father, mark?!"

mark sighed. "just shut up seri."

then the lights suddenly went out for a split second. the men in black all became more alert. mark looked at the cctv camera and gritted his teeth. "so they're here huh."

mark quickly wiped off the blood on his hand before he got his phone from his pocket. but before he can even unlock it, the door opened and the man standing infront of it fell down.

hyuck took the chance to quickly knock off mark while he had his eyes on the door by kicking him on the back of his head with all the strength he had left.

then the two men holding hyuck's arms fell down the floor. a second after it, a familiar guy walked in with a gun on his hand.

"it's been a while," he says and fired the gun  aiming on seri's chains to set her free.

seri and hyuck blinked, taken aback from his presence. "you are now back, renjun.."