Insouciant | Mark Lee

42~ The Calm Before The Storm

Everything was going in peace and harmony for NCT.  

Mark and Aera were happy in their own little world, Taeyong was happy as he had his family back and Seventeen? It was as if they went underground. No update on them at all. The silence was too deafening. Too deafening for their liking.

NCT still trained themselves and continued the search for Seventeen. 

Taeyong was in his office watching over the mission the younger team was on including Aera. It was a simple arms deal. The mission was a success and the team was on their way back to the base.  Ten entered the leader's room. "Oh Ten? What brings you here? Any update on Seventeen?" the leader asked. 

"About that, Seventeen is nowhere to be found Taeyong. It's as if they disappeared from the face of the earth. No information or update about them. Even the chip we entered in Dino's phone is not giving us any update," the latter informed. "They must have found out about the chip," Taeyong said. 

"I was thinking that we can narrow down the search a bit on them so we can focus on our other deals and missions. But that doesn't mean we will stop our search. They are out there so it's still a danger for us," Ten said as Taeyong nodded his head in agreement. "Okay, let's do that then. I'll talk about this with the members during the meeting." 

"Fine then, I'll soon come up with a strategy to get information about them with Renjun and Doyoung's help." Ten stated. "Fine by me." The leader retorted as Ten left his room. 

~TIME SKIP~

The members were now in the meeting room as they got the order from their leader. All 23 members were now seated on the chairs waiting for the meeting to start. 

"So..." Taeyong started talking, gaining their attention. "... we are having some change in plans. I'll let Ten explain the rest." As on the que, Ten took over the meeting and started elaborating. 

"So basically the change in plans is that, we will reduce the amount of time we use to hunt Seventeen and use it on our other rivals. But that doesn't mean we will stop our chase for them. We will be searching for them in batches. Batches means not all the hackers and spies will be working, only 1 spy and 1 hacker will be working on the pursuit each day. If we don't do this then the other gangs will end being a threat for us. I hope everyone agrees to it. Any suggestions are always welcome!" 

 The members nodded, agreeing to Ten's plan. No one raised their hand to disagree with the new plan. 

"So that's it then. No one objects so we will carry on with it. The meeting comes to an end then. The hackers and spies, discuss and come up with a schedule for the chase." Taeyong instructed as the named teams nodded at the command. 

One by one the members started leaving the meeting room. 

Mark and Aera came back to Mark's room. Plopping herself down on his bed, she blankly kept staring at the ceiling. Not long after Mark joined her in the bed. Aera shifted and laid her head on his chest, listening to his heartbeat. Mark's hand brushed through her hair, "What are you thinking about so deeply?" he asked in a soft voice. 

Aera hummed in response. She moved her head and rested her chin on his chest, looking towards him. "I don't know. I'm having this unsettling feeling inside me. The silence is very deafening. I hate to admit it but I'm scared Mark. I finally have everything, I don't want to lose it." Aera spoke as she stared right into his eyes. 

Mark could see the fear and restlessness in her eyes. He bent down and planted a kiss on her forehead. "I'm here princess. I won't let anything happen to you and neither will the boys. You're precious to us. Taeyong hyung will not hesitate to skin people alive even if they think about hurting you," Mark stated causing a hearty chuckle leave Aera's lips. 

An odd sense of relief washed over him as he heard her chuckle. The boy was head over heels in love with her. Even a small smile of hers was enough to lighten up his dark world. Even her small gestures and complete dorky behavior brought a smile on his face. 

The night went by with small conversations and laying in each others arms. Little did they know, the silence which they said was deafening was just; 

The calm before the storm...

A/N : Hello beautiful people. I am back. Sorry for making y'all wait so long. I am finally done with my exams and free to update the book.