BLACK DAISIES ↠ NCT OT23

Cp 2 :Overture

"Your weakness is going to be your downfall. I have told you this again and again."

The girl balled her fists on top of her lap, the folds of her skirt barely covering her knuckles that have gone white. She bit her tongue back and tried to keep her face emotionless.

"What do you have to say for yourself?"

"I just wanted to hang out with my friends-"

"They are not your friends."

The man sitting behind the oak table didn't need to raise his voice to cut her off. He enunciated each word with a clipped tone that could make even the most domineering men shiver in their shoes. The girl in front of him barely moved, however, her eyes silently cast on the fur rug across from where she was sitting.

"Do I make myself clear? One more time that I see yourself associating with them and you'll know what will happen."

Silence.

"Answer."

"Yes... Father."

My eyes cracked open with a slight squint. Above me, the harsh glare of overhead light caused me to frown, one hand reaching up to cover my eyes from the brightness. Before I could do anything to block the offending light, however, a face peered over my line of vision wearing a soft smile.

"Hey, sleepyhead."

I bolted from my position on the couch with a slight jump, a gasp falling from my lips.

"Taeyong! You're here!"

The man sat back on his knees and flashed me a grin. "Just got back." Below him, I could hear voices and noises overlapping with each other. It's obvious the crowd of six boys has more company now.
I returned his smile as a hand reached out to smoothen my hair. I didn't even realize I fell asleep or how long I was out for that matter. Judging from the dullness I could feel from my temples though, it's been a couple of hours at the very least.

"Are the rest of you back? Where's the cargo?"

Taeyong scrunched his nose slightly at my question, his lips forming a pout.

"I was gone for two months and work is the first thing you ask from me?"

I rolled my eyes and swung my legs to the side of the couch, a smile tugging at the corners of my lips.

"You look fine. You guys never fuck up a mission anyway."

"Still."

He gave a short laugh as he finally picked himself up from his crouch and sat beside me.

"The goods are okay. We dropped them off in Beijing on the way here. WayV will be taking care of the actual shipment since we need a special kind of cargo for it."

"Oh. That's great then."

Silence fell over us and I looked up to see him studying me silently. I tried holding his gaze for a bit but faltered soon after when he never broke eye contact. Lee Taeyong knows how heavy his stare can be. Unfortunately for me, I somehow find myself on the receiving end of it more often than I would prefer. I softly cleared my throat to break the silence and moved to pull my hair back into a ponytail again for the sake of doing something.

"Did the kids give you a hard time?"

"Huh? No. They were great. Haechan and Renjun sometimes go at each other's throats but that's normal. None of them are dead at least,"

I shrugged as I heard Haechan's voice ring out from the first floor. He's probably attacking Mark or some other member as usual. Taeyong chuckled beside me, mildly amused.

"Yeah. Mark was bummed out that he didn't get to be there on your last mission. I heard you ransacked the Peninsula."

I grinned at that, giving him a smug look.

"Yes, we did. It was fun. Jaemin did great cleaning off those safes. You wouldn't believe what was inside all of them. The dirty old man sure had a lot of things going on."

Taeyong simply gave a soft hum of acknowledgment, his eyes drilling on me again. My smile faltered a bit until it finally morphed into a slight frown.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

"You look like you're enjoying yourself,"

he answered plainly, not even flinching. His words, however, felt loaded with meaning.
A few heartbeats passed before I was finally able to collect myself.

"I am. I like what I'm doing."

He had already opened his mouth to answer when a voice called out from the top of the stairs, making the two of us turn towards it.

"Am I interrupting something?"

My heart skipped a few beats at the figure standing there. The man was clad in a simple pair of black pants and a white shirt, his hair almost covering his eyes from how much it has grown. His face was placid at first before his lips finally quirked into a smile directed towards me.

"Johnny."

"Hey. This guy's giving you a hard time?"

he asked, playfully pointing a finger at the man beside me. I gave a scoff as a reply and slightly nudged Taeyong on the ribs. Deep inside, I was grateful Johnny appeared to break whatever weird tension was going on between me and the other boy.

"When is he not bothering me?"

Beside me, Taeyong gave a defensive "yah..." which made Johnny and I crack up into giggles.
...Who am I kidding though? I'm thankful for him for more than just breaking the ice earlier. As my gaze drifted back towards him, I couldn't help but notice how my stomach slightly flipped at the way he laughed without care, his eyes turning slightly into half-moons. And those lips...
I quickly gave myself a hard mental slap before my thoughts could explore places they definitely should NOT go ever. Thankfully, none of the two seemed to have noticed my zoning out.
"I wasn't expecting all of you to go straight to the headquarters though. You've had a long day-or week. You should have stopped by the dorms first."
"Yeah... About that. We'll spend the night here," Johnny said carefully, glancing to Taeyong as if he was expecting the other to continue what he was trying to say. I frowned, finding it a little odd.
"Why?"
"We...just got a message after landing. It said the Don might drop by anytime between tonight or tomorrow morning. Urgent and highly important from the tone of the order. We can't afford to be late for the head of the family..."
I felt my palms turn cold at the news. The room felt still, the air so thick it can be cleanly cut by a knife.
"Oh...I didn't know... Well, I guess I can go. I'm sure it's only for the Capos and Soldiers..." I trailed off as I picked myself up from my seat. Before I can make another move though, the clacking sound of heels froze the three of us on the spot. On the head of the staircase stood a woman in a blood-red silk dress that perfectly matched the rouge on her lips. Her sharp eyes landed on me and she smiled, slowly but deliberately.
"I think you should stay, my dear. In fact, I insist that you do."
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