𝐌𝐀𝐃 𝐂𝐈𝐓𝐘 [𝐍𝐂𝐓 𝐆𝐀𝐍𝐆 𝐀𝐔]

𝟗

"𝐈𝐦𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞

𝐒𝐮𝐝𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐥𝐲, 𝐈'𝐦 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐝

𝐘𝐨𝐮'𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐜𝐤

𝐈𝐦𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞"

Yoon Oh glanced at the door as he saw Johnny carry an unconscious Chenle downstairs. He ran after them, briefly nodding to Dongyoung before following Johnny to the living room.

Johnny gently set Chenle down on the couch before sitting on a sectional across the room. He leaned his head back against the leather and let out a relieved sigh. For some reason, rescuing Chenle stressed him out more than killing an enemy.

"Did he get jumped?" Yoon Oh questioned, leaning over Chenle and inspecting his face, specifically the splashes of purple and blue that adorned it.

"Yeah," Johnny replied, closing his eyes and running his hands through his hair.

"And did you fuckin' kill 'em?"

"No, just roughed 'em up."

"Since when have you had a moral compass?" Yoon Oh scoffed.

Johnny shrugged. He didn't know why he'd spared their lives either, but he wasn't going to waste his time figuring out why.

Johnny's eyes wandered to Chenle and memories flooded his head. Chenle had always been an optimist, even from the beginning. Johnny wouldn't be surprised if the kid woke up and pretended like nothing happened. He'd shrink back into a portrayal of himself and shield anyone else from his pain.

"I won't push it then," Yoon Oh replied, sitting down next to him and pulling a cigarette out of his pocket. He fumbled with a lighter before Johnny knocked it out of his hand and onto the floor.

"I'll kill you," Yoon Oh threatened, half-joking, half-serious.

"And those will kill you," Johnny rebounded, pulling a small nicotine patch out of his coat. "Here," he said, tossing it to Yoon Oh.

Yoon Oh opened up the packet and slapped the patch on his arm. "Why do you have these, though?"

Johnny gave him a sly smile. "Because I have the same problem."

"Yeah, it's disgusting," said a voice, its relieving tone coming from the couch.

"Chenle!" Shouted Johnny and Yoon Oh in unison. They both rushed over to their injured friend.

"What're you trying to do, give yourself lung cancer?" The teen weakly coughed, slowly sitting up before wincing in pain and clutching his abdomen.

Johnny gently helped him back down. "Woah, slow down. You've probably broken a few ribs."

"Doubtful. I'm practically superhuman."

Johnny snorted. "Doubtful, didn't you lose to Haechan yesterday in a spar?"

Chenle rolled his eyes and directed his attention to Yoon Oh, who was still staring at him with concern. Seeing him here alone made him wonder where Taeyong was. The two always traveled together, so it was unusual to see one without the other. Chenle was tempted to ask, but resisted the idea. He felt an uneasy, tense presence in the air, and could sense the reason behind it was unrelated to his scuffle.

"Where's everyone else?" Chenle questioned, looking over at Johnny, who'd sat back down.

"Scouting for information about Wang Fudo."