A Fox That Tricks The Wolf

FOURTEEN

the first thing xinlong felt was warm. it was almost a burning sensation over his entire body, the more he came to his senses the hotter it became. his head pounded and thumped, like a pulse shaking his entire body. he groaned, throat dry and scratchy as the burning was slowly replaced with an aching pain that covered him all over.

slowly, his senses came back, he could hear the shuffling around him, along with hushed voices and croaked words. there was a hand gently placed against his arm, slowly moving him to sit up before he could even open his eyes. another groan forced itself from his throat, he would have fought the gesture if it wasnt for the pain in his body.

"be careful with him." a voice said from near him, xinlong head still pounding with every thought. he finally cracked his eyes open, feeling almost as if the light was stinging against them. he was met with the worried face of the second youngest, whos hands lightly guided his arm.

"ge! what hurts? just relax, we got you, do you need anything? are you comfortable here? should i-" mingrui began to ramble in a panic, frantically looking around. the words began to make xinlongs head spin, the sounds coming out in some kind of distorted mess, barely able to see straight. 

"gou, calm down. your freaking him out." a crackled voice said from the next couch over. xinlongs eyes moved to the sound, finding a bloodied leader with bandages wrapped around his arm and torso. zihao sat next to him in a similar condition, an ice pack held in his hand, pressed against hanyus temple lightly. xinlong stared in awe at the eldests state, before his eyes fell onto zeyu.

the boy sat on a chair, leg propped up on a stool with a bandage newly wrapped around the previously injured spot. his jaw clenched in pain as he fought the urge to hold onto his leg which likely stung in pain. he stared at the pained boy in concern, before he finally turned to look back to mingrui. he took a moment, looking around their base. the room was next to destoryed, furniture flipped, small bullet holes littlering the walls, blood dripped onto the floor. it was as if the place was torn apart. xinlongs breathing got heavier, turning to look at mingrui. 

"what.. what the fuck happened?" he questioned, suddenly regaining his ability to talk. there were a few looks shared around the room, before a sigh came from zihao.

"NCT." he said quietly, biting his lip. xinlongs head tilted, looking towards the others in confusion.

"they ambushed us. they- they fucking found us and attacked. i dont even know how the hell they got here they-!" the eldest spoke, throwing a hand in the air dramatically, before bringing it down with a pained hiss. zihao mumbled something as he lightly rubbed the elders arm. xinlongs chest rose and fell as he breathed heavily. his eyes darted around the room, before he shot up from the couch, head becoming light and dizzy.

"wheres shuyang?" he questioned, hand coming up to hold his forehead as he fell back onto the couch, mingruis hands attempting to steady him. no one spoke, only giving xinlong looks from the corner of their eye. "wheres shuyang?!" he asked again, louder.

"they took him."

the rushed words came from zeyu, whose eyes were screwed shut and didnt meet xinlongs gaze. xinlong stared, eyes wide as he looked to the others for confirmation. hanyu had his lips pressed together thinly, fists clenched.

"they fucking what?" he mumbled breathlessly, feeling as if his heart stopped. his head raced a mile a minute, his stomach sank and his throat closed up. he wasnt sure when he started, but at some point he started panic rambling. word-vomit spewed out of his mouth as he stood up once again, barely registering the spin in his head as he began pacing.

"xinlong hey- hey your going to hurt yourself-" he heard hanyu, almost as if he were a room away. his rambling didnt cease, still marching around the room with his head in his hands, going on and on about something he couldnt even hear. he heard hanyus voice again, and again, before his shoulders were grabbed. he as forced to face hanyu, who held onto him tightly. "xinlong! calm the fuck down!"

"calm down?! shuyangs out there with some.. some fucking crazy gang and we dont even know where he is! dont tell me to calm down!" xinlong shouted back, attempting to wiggle from hanyus hands.

"sitting here, yelling and running around isnt finding him, xinlong." the elder, hands still firm on his shoulders pulled him back to the couch, forcing him to sit down. xinlongs breath laboured, mingrui gently hugging his arm as he looked at the boy in concern. it seemed as if all eyes in the room were on him after his meltdown, he wasnt able to care. hanyu kneeled onto the floor in front of xinlong, gently cupping the boys face. "we can find him. we'll help him, but you need to calm down. the longer we stay fighting and panicking, the longer shuyang is with nct. understand?"

xinlong gulped, nodding frantically as he took deep breaths. hanyu took his hands away from xinlongs face, and instead taking a seat next to him. he wrapped an arm around the youngers shoulders, comfortingly rubbing his arm whilst xinlong attempted to calm himself. the five boys sat in silence for a few moments, almost as if trying to hold themselves together.

"we need.. to find NCT." zeyu breathed out, words shaky. as the boys all nodded in response.

"how? they're huge. theres no way we'll just find theyre location out of nothing." mingrui stressed, rubbing his head with a worried look on his face. there was another bout of silence, before their leader spoke.

"we'll have to find someway around it. there has to be a way." he said, leg bouncing as he tried to think. the boys threw out ideas ever few seconds, only to discover holes and problems with theyre thinking. it wasnt until almost thirty minutes later, with the boys all having moved around that hanyu jumped up from his spot next to zeyu, eyes glued to zihao. "fuck, okay i got it."

the others looked towards him, hopeful looks cover the four boys faces. "thank god, im out of ideas." zeyu sighed.

hanyu took in a deep breath, looking over to the boys, "we arent going to find out from them, thats clear." he started, the boys giving him 'duh' looks from around the room. "so.. we wont find it from them." he nodded in thought. "we'll find it from someone else." he earned confused looks.

"i.. dont know where your going with this." xinlong mumbled, arms leaned against his legs with a stress headache coming on.

"NCT has fucked over so many people, close people. people they worked with." hanyu continued. finally, he turned to zihao. "you still close with Red Velvet?" zihaos eyes widened at the question, before his lips quirked up slightly, before hanyu mirrored the expression. "we dont have a lot of time." he pointed towards the second eldest. "give me an hour, get ready to go out."