23 guns | nct mafia

21

— chapter twenty one: happiness —

the next morning donghyuck had given himself some privacy by retreating onto the mansion's balcony. even though big it was barely used except by renjun who had started a painting. donghyuck however ignored the easel and just leaned onto the railing which stopped him from falling down into the garden. it was still so early that a slight breeze was enough to make donghyuck shiver but he didn't mind.

as he watched the sun go up and in the process lit the sky in warm colours he started thinking. of course he didn't regret choosing the mafia over his father. but he still came to think of what to do now. sure, he had his room here which he shared with the people closest to him but what if that room was needed? nct could always get new members and donghyuck wouldn't want to take up their space just because he decided to rebel against his father. but somehow he didn't want to leave either. these people made him feel at peace, at home.

he remembered yesterday evening where taeil had handed him another gun. it was almost the exact same to the one donghyuck had been using before except that now his gun had its own number and donghyuck's name engraved on it as well as of course nct's logo like every gun. his gun had the number seventeen. when donghyuck asked taeil what the numbers meant, the man had explained that each member had a number on their gun. they were arranged according to age with taeil being first. until now they were nineteen guns since neither renjun and jeno nor jisung and chenle owned one. taeil joked though that the youngest two had been very vocal about wanting a gun too, especially jisung who had been clear with his wish to join the mafia.

this little incident had donghyuck thinking now. taeil had said that the two youngest and renjun and jeno didn't possess a gun because they weren't part of the mafia. but donghyuck did possess a gun, did that mean he was part of the mafia? as weird as it sounded but donghyuck didn't mind. actually he felt good when thinking about himself as a nct member. it sounded completely right in his head.

he made a mental note to ask taeyong about the possibility of him becoming a member officially. he could be useful with his business connections maybe? at least that's what he hoped since he couldn't offer much besides the basics mark and jaehyun had taught him.

over the next few days taeyong and donghyuck worked together to figure out on how to bail mark out. during these times donghyuck desperately wanted to adress his issue to taeyong but he was too shy and saw that taeyong also had other things on his mind.

"i did it." the leader told him one evening. it had been a week or so and donghyuck knew what he meant. he had bailed him out.

"really?!" donghyuck asked surprised as he hadn't expected the process to be done this fast.

"yup. again thank you donghyuck. can i repay you somehow?" taeyong asked. donghyuck gulped. maybe this was the opportunity he had been waiting for.

"actually yes hyung." donghyuck said. taeyong looked at him in interest and nodded his head for the younger man to go on.

"i know you might be weirded out a bit but," he took a deep breath and then mumbled, "i would like to join nct if that's possible. i know i can't offer much but i'm willing to learn! i just-"

"shhh." taeyong mumbled as he interrupted donghyuck's ranting. donghyuck looked up to him and to his relief the older male had a smile on his lips.

"if that's your wish, i would be happy to have you as a new member of nct." taeyong said which made donghyuck yell out a squeal. he quickly apologised "i'm sorry." as taeyong laughed at his cute reaction.

"don't be. but remember that once you join nct it'll be very hard for you to leave again. all members, including me, will be counting on you, your loyalty and your skill." taeyong replied. but donghyuck just carelessly nodded, he wasn't really listening anymore. taeyong had said yes and that was all he wanted to hear.