Mr. No || NCT || Completed

64 - Where Renjun reconsiders his plan

Renjun stared at the messages, unable to move or breathe. His grip on the phone tightened and he couldn't move his gaze even when the screen turned off.

They had Chaewon. The Yun family and doctor An were behind everything, they had Chaewon, and he had no clue what they were going to do to her or what they wanted from him.

There was no space for anything else in his head.

"- happen, Jun-Jun?" grandmother's confused voice was almost illegible in his ears. How quickly his wishes had changed from hoping to hear back from Chaewon to wishing that her phone wouldn't have been used to contact him at all.

'See you at the gala.'

They wanted him to meet them in the annual winter gala in a few hours. He swallowed. Were they planning to take Chaewon there as well to, what, force him to negotiate with them? Why would they play such a risky move? The gala was one of the biggest social events of the year and it would be covered all over the media, so it would be easy for Renjun to expose them. Perhaps Mr. Yun had lost it and was planning for some grande finale.

Renjun's jaw clenched. No matter what they were planning, he wouldn't let them get away with taking Chaewon and trying to use her as a bait.

"Tell me right now, Huang Renjun!" grandmother raised her voice, startling him. Renjun had no clue how long she had tried to capture his attention. "What happened? Why do you suddenly look like that?"

He lifted his eyes from the black screen of his phone to look at his grandmother. The truth was playing on his tongue. The Yun family is behind this all and it is possible that they had something to do with uncle Wenyin's death as well. They've taken Chaewon and want me to meet them at the gala. Help me, grandmother.

Instead, he remained quiet.

The messages had made it clear that he shouldn't tell anyone about the situation to anyone and, considering how they had been tailing him and Chaewon for who knows how long, it was difficult for him to deduce how much information and how quickly they could gather about his actions. He was reminded of the two men following them in Jeju as well as the one who had followed him home from the subway station on the previous night. If he were to tell his grandmother or pack about what had happened, would something bad happen to Chaewon? He couldn't afford to take any risks. The wolf started stalking back and forth in the back of his mind. It was a pack animal and wanted to be on top of the situation so the feeling of being trapped angered it.

"Don't worry about it, grandmother", he said absent-mindedly, still squeezing his phone as if it might've disappeared if he loosened his grip. "I will handle it."

I will handle it, Chaewon. No matter what it takes.

***

"Please try to smile a little bit once we are inside, Jun-Jun", Renjun's mother whispered while fixing his bow tie outside the MMCA. A constant stream of socialites, politicians and celebrities sauntered past them towards the entrance of the museum, and the crisp night breeze wafted the faint sound of classical music from the building. Even though he would've wanted to enter the event already, Renjun, his mother and grandmother were waiting for his father who had stepped to the side to take a call after their ride to the museum.

Renjun had no clear recollection of the car ride. All he knew was that he needed to get in and find the Yun family so that he could ensure Chaewon's safety. Nothing else mattered.

"No promises", he answered, eyeing everyone walking past them with growing suspicion. They hadn't even entered the gala, yet he could already tell that the place was packed with people. The front of the museum was busy as well, as the wide, open area surrounding the building was filled with paparazzi and groups of fans who were waiting for their favorite celebrities to make an appearance.