■ C . 2

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Taeyong arched an eyebrow, his voice tinged with curiosity and caution

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Taeyong arched an eyebrow, his voice tinged with curiosity and caution. "A girl?" he pressed, hoping for more clarity. Yet the perplexed look on Jaehyun's face only thickened the air of uncertainty.

Jaehyun's gaze drifted to the blank wall ahead, his shoulders heavy with tension. He exhaled a long, drawn-out sigh. "What if she saw what I did?" he murmured, the weight of the possibility sinking in. His thoughts churned restlessly, the potential consequences unravelling in his mind.

Taeyong leaned back, his sharp eyes fixed on Jaehyun, absorbing his words carefully. "Maybe that's why she took a photo of me," Jaehyun continued, his tone low, as if saying it aloud made the scenario more tangible.

Pondering the idea, Taeyong nodded, the edges of suspicion creeping into his expression. "Or," he ventured, voice steady but probing, "perhaps she's from a rival gang." His suggestion hung in the air, casting a shadow of doubt over an already murky situation.

Jaehyun shook his head, scepticism etched across his features. "Unlikely," he murmured, his voice steady but laced with doubt. "If she were involved, she would've been more careful, more calculated." His gaze drifted as he mulled over the memory, a faint crease forming between his brows. After a pause, he hummed thoughtfully. "Her behaviour it was just like any ordinary teenage girl."

At that, Taeyong's brow furrowed deeply, his sharp gaze snapping to Jaehyun. "Teenage girl?" he repeated, his tone coloured with disbelief. The words lingered between them, thick with unspoken questions.

Jaehyun nodded slowly, his voice steady but tinged with uncertainty. "Yeah, she looked like she was wearing a school uniform," he explained, as though trying to convince himself as much as Taeyong. "I'm not completely sure, but she definitely had a backpack."

The weight of his statement hung in the air, and for a moment, silence enveloped them both as they wrestled with the implications.

Taeyong's mind raced, fragments of the situation snapping together in a chaotic puzzle. His thoughts churned as he tried to make sense of the unknown girl and the circumstances Jaehyun had unwittingly drawn them into. Why had she taken a photo? What could her motive be? And most pressing of all: who was she?

The questions pressed heavily on the air between them. Yet one realization began to crystallize with unsettling clarity. If, by some grim twist of fate, this girl had witnessed Jaehyun's actions that night, the consequences could be catastrophic. A single piece of damning evidence in the wrong hands could not only paint Jaehyun as the prime suspect in a murder investigation but also draw unwanted attention to NCT. The group's carefully constructed operations could unravel in an instant.

The stakes loomed high, the weight of the situation settling heavily on both their shoulders.

Taeyong's jaw tightened, the tension radiating from him as he reached a grim conclusion. His voice was cold, edged with finality. "We need to silence her," he stated, each word deliberate and weighted.

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