Trigger - NCT Mafia

Chapter 1

Aera'a POV:

"Hey, can you close up the cafe for me? I have a few errands to run." asked Jae. I nod in response and mumble a small 'sure'. He smiles and sets the keys on the counter. "Thanks Aera!"

I hear the door jingle and close. I let out a soft sigh and continued cleaning the counter. I didn't mind closing the store but it was becoming too frequent. I'll remind him once I get home.

After cleaning all the counters and sorting out the sweets, I lock the front door and grab the trash. I left through the back door, checking twice to make sure I locked it, and headed towards the trash bins.

I dropped off the trash and started to make my way through the dark alleyways of Seoul. It wasn't as safe as the well lit streets, but something about walking alone in the moonlight gave me comfort.

As I was walking, I heard a sudden scream, followed by a loud thud. Curious, I slowly walked, trying to determine where the sound came from. After making a few turns, the sounds became louder. I could hear voices.

I turned the corner and saw a man being pinned to the wall by three other people. I quickly hid behind the wall, far enough away so that I could follow their conversation, but they wouldn't be able to see me. I stared closely at the man. He had bruises all over his face, and blood was gushing out from his leg. The other three men wore black, each holding a gun in their hands. I couldn't see the three men very clearly, so I took a few steps closer, still far enough away so that they couldn't see me.

"Where is it?" one of the men snarled. "I... don't have it" whispered the man. "Liar." The same guy punched him again in the nose echoing a crack. The bleeding man took a deep breath before responding. "F-fine I'll tell you. He has it."

One of the men watching closed his eyes and let out an angry sigh. "I swear I don't have it. He-" Before he could finish, one of the men shot him in his head, over and over again, until the gun ran out of bullets. He grabbed another gun but before he could shoot, another man sighed and pushed his arm down. "I know you're frustrated Winwin hyung, but doing that won't change anything. We need to stay calm for Taeyong hyung."

"I know Jisung but we're running out of time. We need to..."

They lowered their voices and I couldn't hear them anymore. I took a few steps closer, focusing more on their conversation than the surroundings around me. I tripped over a crack in the sidewalk, and accidentally kicked a rock. Immediately one of them looks towards my direction and I quickly step back behind the wall.

After a few seconds, I looked over the edge of the wall and saw the men kneeling down next to the body. I don't think they noticed me. I squinted my eyes and saw the men looking into the dead man's jacket, frantically searching for something. I think they were looking for "it," whatever "it" was. The man named Jisung let out yet another sigh before he said, "He doesn't have the crystal on him, Mark hyung." So that's what "it" was. A crystal.

Mark closed his eyes and pinched his nose bridge counting to ten. "Well this piece of shit says that he has it so we might as well go there and check." Jisung nods and takes out his phone. "I'll call the team to get this sorted," he said as he gestured towards the body. He stepped away from them to make the phone call and the other two followed.

"Jisung, Winwin, you guys go ahead. I need to check something out real quick," said Mark. The other two nodded and continued walking. Mark turned the corner, and watched the body from a nearby wall.

Once I made sure that the three men were gone, I made my way towards the body. I gently kicked the body just to make sure he was dead. I kneeled down and observed the body, from head to toe. His leg was bloody, and he had scars all over. He had several bruises all along his arms and face and he was still bleeding from the several gunshot wounds on his forehead. He looked so lifeless, it reminded me of... I sighed.

I looked around to make sure no one was watching, and then I took off the man's watch and stuffed it in my pocket. I reached into his jacket pocket, and found his wallet as well as other valuables. I stuffed as much as I could into my pocket and jacket.

From behind the wall, Mark was watching the girl quietly. He scoffed. To be so desperate, that someone would take advantage of a dead body without even feeling an ounce of remorse. How bad off could you be that you needed to steal from a dead man?

I continued searching the man to see what else I could find. In his inner jacket pocket, I found a gun. I raised an eyebrow as I studied it carefully. It was the first time I had held one, but it felt so natural. I raised my hand towards the wall, as I pressed my hand on the trigger. There was a loud bang, followed by the wall crumbling to the ground.

"So this thing does work." I muttered to myself. I placed the gun in my bag and turned back towards the man. I closed his open eyes and muttered a small prayer under my breath for him. I stood back up as I stared at the man, almost feeling pity for him.

I took the gun back out of my bag. I didn't have much experience with guns but something seemed off about this one. When I shot it at the wall, there was a strange sound that came from the gun. It wasn't the sound of the metal bullets, but something else. I unloaded the gun and saw something. I took it out of the gun and closely examined it. It was light green, and almost see through. I threw the rock up in the air and catched it as I walked. After a few seconds I realised it wasn't just a rock. It was the crystal that those three men were looking for. I looked back down at the crystal in my hands, contemplating what I should do with it. Should I go find those men and give it to them? Should I keep it? Or should I just pretend I didn't see anything, and leave it where it was?

I came to the conclusion that this crystal could sell for a lot, so I decided to keep it. I was about to put it into my bag, when in the corner of my eye I saw a shadow. It was a man. He was following me.

Suddenly I saw the shadow move closer towards me, but before I could turn around, I fell to the ground. My vision blurred, but right before my eyes closed, I saw the man kneel down next to me and take the crystal from my hands. "Who are you?" I managed to ask. But before I could hear his response, the world went black.