Thieves and Thrones: An NCT Mafia Story

Off the Record

    "I think you are misunderstanding the situation," Johnny walks behind Taeyong, still wearing his pink sweatsuit even though he's had ample time to change.

    Taeyong is seated at his frosted glass desk, the remnants of his quick and dirty operation evident on his shirt.

    The office is bright and inviting with high ceilings, light amber stained wood floors, and a large bookcase of trinkets displayed behind his desk.

    Kun is sitting across the pair in a dark gray tufted leather chair with a cold expression.

    "What am I misunderstanding?" Kun asks, crossing one leg over the other and leaning back. "Your subordinates invited a stray into your compound without your approval. Seems as though you run things pretty fast and loose here if that was a reasonable choice for them to make."

    Taeyong smirks, raising a perfectly shaped brow. "I do not have subordinates. We all have a role to play in this family—

    "A family I have cause to question what with the sensitive nature of our tentative arrangement," Kun iterates.

    Johnny comes around the desk and takes a seat next to Kun, leaning into his space as though the two are in confidence with one another. "You have a very tight-knit family and trust them and their judgment implicitly, correct?"

    Kun looks away from Taeyong to Johnny's disarming stare. "I do not mean to say your family is without good judgment within the boundaries of what works for your circle. I am suggesting that if we were to work together, everyone—even us—would need to know their place and the hierarchy. It is a simple matter of security."

    "Speaking of security," Taeyong's eyes travel above Kun's head to Jungwoo.

    His head is poking through the open door. "Sorry. You said to come as soon as I found anything."

    "Yes," Johnny waves Jungwoo in.

    Jungwoo's stately frame glides across the room, clad in a white sweater and fitted khakis. He stops next to Taeyong's desk and turns so that he can address the three men.

    "I don't have a lot to report other than the fact that her name is Nara, she's 23, local, works over at the Lily Club and is late on her cellphone bill. It's the lack of information that really bothers me. I mean, it looked average enough until I uncovered a police record."

    "The girl has a record?" Kun asks. "Of what?"

    "Her record is sealed," Jungwoo says, "Usually I can see if it's a juvenile record or not, which is the most common reason a police record is sealed. But there's no indication when or what her record may be for. I can dig deeper, of course. I'll just need more time."

    "Is there any reason to suspect her record has been falsified or who may have done so?" Johnny asks.

    "Not yet," Jungwoo says, slipping his hands in his pockets. "But my initial thought is that she's not to be trusted until we know more."

    "Obviously," Kun agrees with a scoff.

    "I think we have to consider why she would have been there in the first place," Johnny says.

    "Which is why her being here has given me cause for concern," Kun replies, noting the eyes of all three of the other men resting upon him.

    "Oh please. What would I have to gain from spying on some low-level deal," Kun waves them off.

    Taeyong folds his arms across the top of the table, interlacing his hands. "Assuming she is a spy. Anything is possible."

    "She's a pretty shitty spy to get shot in the open like that," Johnny says.

    Taeyong and Jungwoo turn their attention from Kun.

    Johnny shrugs. "I'm just saying that if she was a spy, which is a legitimate concern, either she really is not very good, or she got shot on purpose."

    Silence blankets the room as the men each contemplate Johnny's words.

    "And if she's not a spy?" Jungwoo suggests.

    "Then we take care of this in the most reasonable way we can and send her on her way," Taeyong replies, a trace of doubt limning his eyes.

    "It's not going to be that simple, Taeyong. I appreciate that you have a moral compass here, but she cannot simply walk away after all of this," Kun reasons.

    Taeyong doesn't respond, seemingly lost in thought while the tension continues to thread through the room.

    Finally, he meets Kun's eyes. "I have very serious doubts that it was on purpose. She is still at risk of sepsis and injury to her internal organs. I am not a trained doctor. All I did was remove the bullet and patch up the hole," Taeyong remarks, running his fingers across his chin. "Speculation at this point is useless until we know more about her."

    "We need to entertain the real possibility that she's an agent and we're all at risk with her here," Johnny voices as he gracefully gets to his feet. "That's how I would infiltrate a syndicate if it were me."

    "That's quite a move, potentially sacrificing an agent like that," Taeyong replies.

    "I don't think we're the experts on espionage here. Which brings us to a point." Taeyong clears his throat. "I think the families need to get together and figure this out. In my experience, too many coincidences are not coincidences at all."

    Taeyong pulls out his cellphone and quickly starts tapping away at his screen.

    "Doyoung?" Johnny asks.

    Taeyong nods. "He has good relationships with the Kkum family."

    "Ten," Kun has his phone up to his ear as he stands and walks toward the floor to ceiling windows, "I need you to gather who is available and get them to the house by tomorrow."

    "You can't just make that decision," Johnny interjects.

    "We're not meeting here under the same roof as her, so yes I can," Kun rebukes, oozing authority as he turns his back on the men.

—

    Intense, chocolate brown eyes watch the fitful rise and fall of Nara's chest. The room is half in shadow, the forest green drapes letting in a sliver of moonlight. He offered to sit here and take watch, but did not expect her to be under this long. The thought that she might not wake up has crossed his mind more than a few times in the last two hours.

    That would be bad.

    For too many reasons to count.

    He admires the woman's soft lips and long eyelashes. She's beautiful even on the brink of death. Still, she shouldn't even be here. He'd be sharing words with Mark and Yuta about this. It would have been better to just drop her at the door of the ER than put so many things at risk like this, but Mark was always better than the rest of them in that way. And Yuta would do anything for Mark.

    He understood why and a part of him was intrigued by what her presence would do, but that didn't change how annoyed he was having to sit here and babysit.

    After he complains internally over several long minutes, his silent diatribe is halted mid-thought when he sees the woman slowly turn her head toward him.

    She blinks a few times, as if she isn't sure of what she is seeing.

    "Jaehyun?" she whispers.

    "Hi, Nara."