Profit Margin (Criminal AU) (WayV x Reader)

Pre-Show Decorating

Chapter warnings: Mild language, intense themes, heavy violence

Word count: 1600

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"Y/N..." She heard a voice very faintly in the distance. Where was it coming from? It almost felt like it was surrounding her, just the wind from the clouds in the sky above her. She didn't want to respond to it- she liked it here. It was quiet, and peaceful, and she didn't have to remember anything she didn't want to. "Y/N!"

Startled out of her sleep, Y/N sat up straight, just barely jostling the still-asleep Xiaojun beside her. She glanced over to find that the source of the whisper-shout was YangYang, hand still near her shoulder from trying to shake her awake. It took her a few seconds to realize what was going on. He was looking at her intently as she realized what it must look like.

"I'm not-" She started stammering, gesturing to Xiaojun, "We're not- this isn't-"

"What?" The man looked confused. "Oh, no, we know, it's fine. We came down to check on him when he didn't come to the bedrooms. Anyway, we have more important things to worry about." He quickly moved on from the subject. Apparently at least some of the others were completely aware of his situation. "There's some new information, but, uh... you're not gonna like it. I've been told to invite you to the meeting, but trust me, you don't wanna s-"

"I'm coming." She said, swinging her legs to get out of the bed. "Should we wake up Xiaojun?"

"No, he had to deal with Lucas himself, he must be tired. We can fill him in later." Himself- had he told them that he did all the work alone? Granted, he was the one with actual medical capabilities, but that was a little underhanded. Still, she worried that if she corrected him, he'd wake the man up, and she wanted to let him rest. Worse, YangYang could force her to stay, seeing as how he didn't think she should be in the meeting to begin with. Silently agreeing, she followed him to the board room.

She hadn't been there since she had first been taken to Kun for evaluation. It hadn't changed except for the fact that there were now people seated at the chairs. Kun sat at the head, of course. The seat to his right was empty, and to his left sat Ten. WinWin sat next to the first empty seat, while YangYang moved to sit next to Ten, but leaving a space in between. She knew why there were so many empty seats, but it was a bit strange to see. She wondered which space belonged to each of the absent.

"Y/N, if you could, sit next to YangYang." She was grateful for this, both because she needed the direction on what her place was, as well as the relief of not having to have a reason not to sit next to Ten. "Now, if you'd direct your attention to the screen above the doorway." As she looked in that direction, she realized that there was indeed a television situated over the entryway. She hadn't noticed it before. Evidently, it must have been connected to the laptop and remote that were in Kun's possession.

Suddenly, the screen was lit up with a news story. She couldn't tell what website it was on, or if it was just a document that he had compiled himself from other sources. There were a lot of words, but she didn't get a chance to read the screen before he clicked on the picture to the right. As it filled up the television, she froze in horror. She saw the front of a stadium with people being held back behind police tape, as well as something tied to the overhang with a dark stain beneath it.

Switching images so that just the main focus was visible, she saw that it was actually several things rather than one. Each was a young woman, tied around their underarms, somehow affixed with the rope to the overhang of the venue. That meant that the stain beneath them must have been... blood.