"T-Taeyong?" she asked, still in his arms.
The young man didn't seem to want to let go of her. The attacker's body lay down on the ground, his blood forming a pool on the pavement. Taeyong had put a bullet right through his skull before he had time to hurt Iseul.
Chaewon's mouth hung open, the scream she had tried to let out never passing through her lips. Her eyes were wide open in terror, and she couldn't take them away from the dead body next to her.
"Are you alright?" Taeyong asked as he moved away a little to look at Iseul more closely. His large hands framed her face carefully, his eyes roaming her skin looking for any sign of an injury.
Iseul delicately placed her cold hands on top of his, "I'm alright," she spoke softly, not looking away from his worried gaze.
"But they're not," someone spoke from behind them.
Once Taeyong was sure Iseul was fine, he turned around to meet Kun, who was already crouching down next to Jaemin's unmoving body. Chaewon seemed to have lost her ability to speak as she simply looked around her with fear.
Taeyong didn't ask any questions, he just helped Kun with Jaemin while Iseul slowly approached her friend. To say that she was terrified was an understatement, the poor girl was absolutely traumatized.
"Chae...?" Iseul asked, trying to catch her friend's eyes. She spoke as softly as possible, scared that any abrupt gesture would make Chaewon lose the little calm she had left in her.
The girl slowly looked up, unable to speak.
"It's alright," Iseul soothed as she gently embraced her in a hug, "you're alright."
Chaewon leaned in, the numbness of the shock slowly fading. "It's over," Iseul whispered in her ear, "you're alright and it's over," she repeated again and again until Chaewon's breathing calmly went back to normal.
"Iseul," Taeyong spoke. "Let's go, we have to take care of Jaemin."
The girl got up, helping Chaewon to get back on her feet as well.
"What about Chaewon?" she asked.
"I'm sure she can find her way home, she's a big girl," he said, already walking away with Kun, both of them carrying the unconscious boy.
Iseul froze, not believing her ears.
"You have to be kidding," she said loudly, her words echoing around them. Taeyong stopped walking and slightly turned around to look at the two girls who hadn't moved an inch.
"Excuse me?" he asked, his tone harsh. Iseul frowned.
Looking at Taeyong and the way he spoke, it seemed as if he was back to the cold, heartless man she had first met months ago.
"We can't leave her here!" she exclaimed, gripping her friend's arm protectively.
"Yes, we can," Taeyong responded cruelly, his eyes as cold as ice. "It's her fault in the first place if you almost got killed, and I'm not letting any stranger near our house, especially not now-" he stopped himself, realizing that Iseul wasn't aware of that part of the story.
Luckily for him, the girl didn't pick it up, too shocked by his attitude.
"It's not her fault, she had nothing to do with this!" Iseul fought back. "If anything, I'm the one responsible for dragging her into this, the man that attacked us was after me!"
Her last words seemed to take Taeyong aback, and he frowned for a second, looking at Kun.
"She's right," he spoke, looking at his leader in the eye. "We can't let her friend here; the poor girl is clearly traumatized. Besides, we need to know what she saw if we want to get to the bottom of this. See her as some kind of witness or something, but letting her out here isn't a good idea," Kun said.
Taeyong took a deep breath, closing his eyes.
"Fine," he surrendered, "but we're blindfolding her on the way back."
His voice as still harsh, showing that he wasn't pleased with the idea, but right now, his priority was Jaemin; they had to go back home as fast as possible so Doyoung could treat his wounds.
Iseul didn't say anything, she simply took Chaewon's shaky hand in her own as they retraced their steps to reach the main street. As they walked past the body of their first attacker that Kun had eliminated, Chawon closed her eyes, while Iseul's gaze lingered on a shiny card in his hand.
A scale was drawn in green ink on a pitch-black background. NCT's signature.
Do not mess with NCT.
More than a signature, it was a message.
To whoever attacked them, they'll pay the price.
"Whoever sent him after you will try to look for his body," Kun explained when he noticed Iseul looking at the card. "They'll get the message."
Who knew mafia members had a thing for creativity?
"Come on," she cleared her throat, taking Chaewon away from the body, "let's go home."
—-
So sorry I disappeared, I had personal issues to deal with but I'm back!
Hope you like it
YOU ARE READING
The Hidden Card || NCT MAFIA
Fanfiction| SEQUEL TO HOUSE OF CARDS | Now that the House of Cards is finally stabilized, everyone thinks the game is over. Wrong. The game has just begun, and the Hidden Card is about to join the party.
