Sound of Silence

Chapter 0.0: Prologue

song of the chapter: Sound of Silence by Disturbed

word count: 4787

warning(s): violence, death, mentions of alcohol

a/n: this series will be slow burn. just about all of the songs are slow and sad, some are angstier than others but yeah. this is the prologue and it's going to be kind of show/describe how the members came to join the mafia. some members have flashbacks and some don't.

Chenle

~Hello darkness, my old friend / I've come to talk with you again~

He flipped through the leather bound journal on his desk. Laughing softly at some of the memories and thoughts that he wrote down; some were written down years ago, others were written down a few days ago. But he laughed as if they all happened just minutes ago.

As he looked up at the corkboard that was placed haphazardly and hung a little crooked, he had a sad smile on his face looking at the pictures. The bright smiles and happy memories seemed faint and tattered in his mind. The people in the pictures looked less familiar but felt too close for comfort. He didn't like the foreign feeling of his throat becoming tight and a burning sensation brimming his eyes.

It's been years since he's seen his family. Not since the attack when he volunteered to leave on the one condition that by no means was his family to get hurt in any way. The only thing to remind him of anything about his family was the thick envelope holding the handwritten letters from each member of his family labeled 'Chenle' in grandmother's handwriting and wishing him safety.

"What am I doing? I shouldn't be thinking about this; I have a task to do," without another word, he stood up and walked out of his room, leaving the journal open and the letters in the top right drawer of the desk.

Taeil

~Because a vision softly creeping / Left its seeds while I was sleeping~

"Hey, I know you are ignoring my calls at this point but can you answer? Please? I know you're a part of something illegal. I'm not sure what yet- but do you think that's what mom would have wanted for you? Don't you remember how and who killed her? Taeil, I ne-"

Everything was coming back. He went eight years without thinking of it but that one voicemail made everything creep back. It started a few days ago when he got a call that he needed to handle business and he had a momentary flashback to his mother's unfinished shriek. Each night it got worse. All the buried fear and anxiety crawled it's way back into his daily life.

Last night though, everything hit him all at once. He remembered what exactly happened and what he didn't know would be his last time seeing his mother let along giving her a hug and kiss.

"Taeil? Taeil?" He couldn't overlook the tremble in his mother's voice as he walked towards the kitchen, "I need you to do a big favor for me. Take Taekyeon to your treehouse with this," he hesitated to take the cooler from his mother's hands as he looked in her eyes, "Bring clothes and some stuff to keep you entertained. Do not move from the treehouse once you're up there unless it's an emergency."

"Mom, what's going on?"

"Just do as you're told. I love you," Taeil knew something was wrong once his mom pulled him into a bone crushing hug and kissed him on the cheek, both of which he returned. And with careful steps, he walked towards his younger brother's room and peeked in to see him sound asleep. Taeil walked in and shook his brother awake telling him to pack some clothes and do what he needs to do before shuffling to his own room to get ready. Taeil refused to answer Taekyeon's questions when he didn't know the answer to them.