Stronger || NCT mafia au

Chapter 70 | "nightmare"

"Ok what happened back there?" Taeyong said once the two had sat down across from him. "What went wrong? Ten said that Seventeen set this up as a trap but how did they get ahold of both of you and what did they do to you?"

"Yoobeom knew me the whole time. He must've contacted the others once he recognized me." Jihyun said bitterly. "By the time Ten warned me, I was too far from the door. I didn't have my gun on me so I hid behind a table. I was going to leave when they drugged me, then I woke up in the room with Jaemin."

"How did you get there, Jaemin? They shouldn't know you at all." Taeyong said, turning to the boy.

"Jeno and I may have had a little...disagreement over who was supposed to make Yoobeom jealous. He must've noticed because as I ran out of the club, I was also drugged. I woke up a few minutes before Jihyun did."

"Well that's dumb. You guys should know better than that. The mission has to come before your own emotions." Taeyong replied sternly, "but you've already gone through enough without needing me to yell at you more. What else happened?"

"It was only Yoobeom who hurt us. He stabbed me in the arm before Ji told him to go after her instead..." Jaemin trailed off, guilt written all over his face. Taeyong turned to look at her, a mix of frustration and concern in his eyes.

"Jihyun?"

"He cut me. A lot. He stabbed my thigh pretty bad too."

"Anything else?"

She remained silent, desperately trying to stop her tears from falling as she felt panic rise in her chest. Jaemin noticed her discomfort and softly grabbed hold of her hand under the table, slightly shaking his head at Taeyong.

"Jaemin, can I see you in the hall for a moment?" Taeyong asked, standing. Jaemin squeezed her hand one last time before following Taeyong out.

"Ok Jaemin," Taeyong whispered once the door had shut, "I need you to be straight with me right now. Did he...?"

"Y-yes. He cut her up and then...he... touched her." Jaemin said with a frown on his face.

"I'm gonna kill him." Taeyong seethed, anger overtaking his whole body.

"Believe me, I would've killed him right on the spot if I could." Jaemin replied, tears of frustration welling in his eyes.

"It's alright Jaemin, you did good. You were there for her when she needed you most. She's obviously only comfortable around you right now, so please be there for her until she heals." Taeyong said, patting the younger boy on the back.

"Of course"

Taeyong turned away from him, walking back into the office and shutting the door. Jihyun turned to face him, standing from her seat and opening her mouth to say something.

"You don't need to say anything, Ji. I know." She shut her mouth, tears silently streaming down her face.

"Oh Jihyun...."

Taeyong was practically lost for words. She had already been through so much in her life, but this was something else. He didn't know how to comfort her.

She simply walked over to him, resting her head against his chest as she cried. He slowly wrapped his arms around her, careful not to trigger her as he rubbed soothing circles on her back.

"You're safe here okay? I know it's going to take time but I promise the flashbacks will fade. I can't say that you're going to forget it, but you'll be able to move past it, I promise. We'll do what we can to help you." Taeyong whispered out, resting his chin on her head.

"Thank you, Tae. I think I'm just gonna go to sleep now. I'll talk to the boys in the morning, goodnight."

"Goodnight"

- - -

Jihyun was lying on her bed when the door to her room flew open.

"Hello?" She called to the dark figure now making its war towards her.

"Hello, Jihyun."

"Y-Yoobeom" she breathed out as she recognized the figure looming over her.

"I hope you didn't think I was done with you" he smirked at her with a dark glint in his eyes. His hands went to grip her thighs again, pushing up her shorts.

"No! NO! STOP! LEAVE ME ALONE!"

"Jihyun! Wake up! Jihyun!" Her eyes shot open, breathing heavily as she looked around wildly.

She was back in her room, but Yoobeom was nowhere to be found. The main lights were off, her room only illuminated by the small lamp on her nightstand. Jaemin was there next to her, trying to calm her down as her whole body was shaking from panic.

"It was only a nightmare, Ji. He's not here. It was only a nightmare." Jaemin gripped her hand tightly, rubbing circles on the back with his thumb.

"Breathe Jihyun, breathe. Look at me." He gently turned her face to meet his eyes. "Just follow me okay? Focus on me."

He started taking deep breaths, her following his rhythm as she felt her heart rate begin to slow and the panic fade from her body.

"You just had a nightmare. It's not real. None of it was real." He repeated soothingly, a reassuring smile on his face. "Are you okay now?"

She nodded her head in response, feeling a calm spread throughout her body. He squeezed her hand before standing up and turning to the door.

"Wait." She gripped onto his hand, "please don't go. Just for tonight... can you stay? I-I need you." She stuttered out, her voice barely a whisper. He looked at the small girl with a soft gaze.

"Of course I'll stay with you. Whatever you need, like I said, I'm here if you want me here."

He climbed into bed with her, gently pulling her into his chest and wrapping her in his embrace. She relaxed as she listened to the steady beating of his heart, letting it pull her back into a peaceful sleep.

———
Wow, there's less than 10 chapters left in this book!

Once I'm done I'll also publish an epilogue and.. big news, I've already started working on my second book.
The next one will be Mark Lee focused and will start being published a day or two after the epilogue, so keep an eye out for that!