Family (Mafia Stray Kids AU)

I Think Shooting Them Was a Good Call

Even though Stray Kids had allowed Dae to continue going outside and socializing, Dae decided to put her adventures on an indefinite hiatus. Instead, she puts her ankle recovery as a top priority, having daily physical therapy sessions with Jeongin.

It's the two-week mark since the controversy with Jinyoung, and it is today that Dae is finally removing the cast off her ankle.

"Dae please sit still, I don't want any accidents," Jeongin instructed, sighing. The noise of the cast saw almost drowning out his sound. Turning off the device, he then used the cast sheers to cut away the rest of the mold on Dae's ankle.

"It stinks," Dae whined, plugging her nose. "Throw it away."

"This is your smell," Jeongin teased, but nonetheless, he discarded the cast quickly, silently agreeing that it stank.

Jeongin helped Dae sit up on the examination table, even if Dae could have done it all by herself.

"How does it feel?" He questioned, grabbing his laptop from his desk.

"Like nothing," Dae confessed lightheartedly attempting to stretch her ankle but failing.

Jeongin peered up at his daughter, a light scowl on his face. "I need detail, Dae."

"No, I'm being honest. It didn't feel like anything."

Jeongin took a nervous breath, setting down his computer. "Nothing? Not sore, or stiff, or at least a little pain?"

Dae shook her head. "I've never broken anything in my leg before, is that normal?"

Jeongin shook his head, his expression growing more worried by the second. "It's not at all." He approached Dae, gesturing for her to lie down again. "I'm going to roll your ankle around slightly. If you feel any pain, let me know."

Dae nodded, staring at the bright ceiling. She said nothing, only letting her mind wander.

"Are you going to start?" Dae questioned after about thirty seconds of nothing.

Jeongin paused his actions, wide-eyed. "I've been going since you nodded."

Dae sat up abruptly, her expression matching her father's. "You're joking, right?"

"I would never joke about something so serious in my examination room." Jeongin dropped her leg, walking back to his laptop. He spent the next few minutes typing vigorously in what Dae assumed was her file.

Dae however, spent the time trying to move her injured ankle at least a centimeter with no victory. She let out a frustrated huff, focusing on the muscles she once never had to think about moving. The action reminded of her when she was about seven, when she would stare intensely at random objects, hoping to move them with her mind. Similarly to the random objects, her ankle never moved with her mind.

Jeongin diagnosed after a lengthy examination that the way BigBang's Taeyang broke Dae's ankle, made it so that it would be paralyzed for years to come. The paralysis was only the Achilles tendon and down, meaning she would still essentially walk, but it would be many physical therapy sessions before it became natural.

Dae found herself curled up in her room crying once Jeongin had dismissed her, feeling as if she had failed Stray Kids and the mafia world entirely.

"Hey, Jeongin told me what's going on," Hyunjin quietly announced, opening her door slowly.

Dae looked up from her fetal position before shoving her head back between her knees, crying harder.

"I'm sorry," She sobbed out. "I didn't want to fail you."

"Fail me?" Hyunjin began, sitting at the foot of her bed. "You haven't failed us, Dae."