𝗿𝘂𝗻𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝘂 || 𝗻𝗰𝘁𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗸

dix-huit.

as the four got back to the dorm, jaehyun immediately noticed the glum look on the chinese member's faces. he walked over towards them, looking at the four in concern.

"hey, you guys okay? normally, the second ten steps foot in the dorm, he would've screamed something like 'we're back, losers!' or something along those lines." he scrunched his eyebrows.

ten shook his head and walked towards the living room with the others in tow. they all sat down in silence which concerned jaehyun immediately. 'did something bad happen?...no...they couldn't have. sajangnim wouldn't...' the male thought to himself.

"actually, we have good news...and maybe even a bad one. it depends on how the rest of you will take it." kun spoke, looking down at his fingers. he couldn't imagine being far from his other brothers. they were all pretty much attached to the hip now.

"do you want me to call the others?" jaehyun asked, softly.

the others just nodded while the male got up and called everyone from their rooms, contacting one of the dreamies as well to come to their dorm.

and soon enough, their living room was now cramped with all seventeen (⏤right here xD) members with the exception of their leader.

"where's taeyong hyung?" sicheng asked, softly as he realized a certain redhead wasn't present. taeil, the eldest of the group sat on the arm of the couch next to sicheng.

"he has a scheduled recording for a single he's preparing for. do you guys want to wait until he gets back?" the eldest asked, resting a hand on the tall chinese male's back.

kun sighed and pursed his lips in thought. he wanted everyone to be there when he brings the news but he didn't want to keep them in the dark for long. after all, they didn't have time to wait. they were asked by lee sooman himself to pack their stuff as they were already scheduled to leave in two days.

"we'll tell him when he gets here but uhm...lucas, ten, sicheng and i...sajangnim told us we'd be debuting in a group soon⏤"

before kun could finish with his response, the room was now filled with screams and pats on the back as well as hugs but taeil, jaehyun and johnny knew there was something else to it so the three pulled the other members away and shushed them.

"well...we're happy too but...we're not debuting here." ten continued for kun.

the room was now in pure silence until jisung spoke.

"wait...what do you guys mean you won't be debuting here. s-sajangnim didn't fire you guys, did he?"

the four shook their heads in unison.

"sajangnim decided that putting the four of us in a chinese group will give us the chance to debut. he told us we'd have to start preparing for it as soon as possible. so...in two days, we have to leave for china." kun explained. it ached his heart to be the one to bear the news to the group of boys he had grown to love and care about like a family.

"y-you guys will be back soon though right?" chenle asked with a sad tone, making the four's hearts ache especially lucas'. he had grown closer to chenle and so leaving him was devastating enough for the taller male.

"we will...we'll just be away for a while." lucas replied to him, avoiding chenle's eyes as he gazed down at his intertwined hands.

⋅︓︒︑∘∗✧∘︑︒⚬∙︓⋅⠄✯∘⠄✧⠄

"i'm glad you actually made time to have lunch with me." lee sooman teasingly said as he sat down across his grandson.

"i can't risk anyone from the company knowing, grandpa. you know that." the boy replied, grabbing his glass of water and taking a small sip from it.

"i know, my grandson. but don't you think you owe your friends the truth? you can't keep this secret forever. they'll find out eventually." the older man uttered as he grabbed the menu from the table and began to skim through it.

"not right now. i don't think it's the right time to tell them." the younger sighed.

"whatever you think is right. i trust your judgement. after all, nct china was your idea. this will help save our company." lee sooman paused as he looked up at his grandson.

"they're all leaving in two days to start preparing for their debut in china. shouldn't you be spending time with them before they leave, taeyong?"

lee taeyong, the leader of nct, is lee sooman's grandson. no one knew the fact that they were related ever since taeyong decided to pursue a music career. he was originally going to be the heir of sm but he knew he was no business man like his grandfather. he didn't want anyone to know of his relation to the ceo because he wanted everyone to treat him like any other person under the company. he didn't want to achieve his dream using his grandfather. that was one of the things taeyong felt so proud of. he knew his secrecy would eventually ruin his relationships with his group but he felt that it wasn't the right time for them to know...especially now that he did a terrible thing. he knew no one could ever forgive him for what he had done out of love.

the younger stayed still in his seat. he tried to justify what he did by mentally encouraging himself that he's doing it for his members and not out of selfish reasons. he wanted to change his mind. he wanted to tell his grandfather that he would make other plans for the four to debut in korea with the rest of the group...but he couldn't. he didn't find the courage to say anything. that's why he chose to be with his grandfather at that moment, rather than getting home and pretending he didn't know about the news. he wouldn't be able to face them. all taeyong knew was that he messed up. he was slowly becoming his old self again—the horrible person that he was before he became a trainee.

"i don't think i'd be able to face them, grandpa." the male responded, softly with a sigh.

(A/N: DUN DUN DUN! Bet yall didn't expect that. 😂 I need a little bit of something to the story so I figured why not make taeyong sm's secret grandchild or smth lol. Anyway, no hate to our yongie. I just wanted to make the plotline a little bit more interesting. I know he would never do anything bad to his children. We all know how much he loves them 🥺. I'm really sorry this took a long time to update. I was busy with university and so many things being due every week. RIP 😭. Don't worry. I haven't forgotten this story and especially you guys. Sorry I kept you waiting for the next update 😭)