House Of Cards || NCT Mafia

Chapter thirty-nine : Your own demons have a voice

Blood pulsing in her ears, Iseul closed her eyes so she wouldn't have to look through Taeyong's burning ones.

"Shut up, shut up, shut up," she pleaded, trying to escape his words.

"Think about it, Iseul," God, she hated how her name sounded in his mouth, "what happened when your father told you about Jeno? I'm guessing he must have asked you if you knew him, correct? What did you tell him?"

Iseul shook her head, desperately wanting him to shut up. Taeyong took her chin between his fingers to make her stop moving. His grip wasn't too harsh, but still firm enough to hold her face in place.

"Look at me, Iseul," he uttered. "What did you tell your dad?"

Jeno was torn, a part of him wanted to beg his leader to stop mentally torturing his friend, but another part wanted to hear her answer.

"Answer me," Taeyong demanded.

"I told him I didn't know who Jeno was..." she finally let out.

Taeyong let go of her chin and chuckled.

"Ah, you protected him, I see. You lied to your own father. Now tell me why."

As she didn't answer, he swiftly grabbed her chin again, "Answer," he spat.

"Because I knew he was being serious when he said he'd get rid of him," she cried, exhausted by the emotional rollercoaster.

Taeyong let go once again, dusted his pants and got up, satisfied with her answer.

"See, I told you. You knew your father was rotten to the core, you just didn't want to admit it," he looked down at her.

Iseul couldn't help herself but to fight back.

"Oh, right, because you guys are so much better!" she snapped.

The boys stiffened, shocked by Iseul's voice, filled with rage. If one of NCT's members dared to speak back or even just raise their voice at the leader, he would make them regret it for the rest of the decade. The boys didn't want to see what was going to happen now that Iseul had done both in less than a minute.

Taeyong was walking back to the door to leave but spun around to face the girl, rage spreading on her normally soft features.

"I never said we were angels, far from that," he began, his voice deeper than ever. "But don't you dare compare us to that scumbag you have for a father," he growled. "Unlike him, we have values, things we stand for. We might not do things whatever's above us would approve of, but I can guarantee you that our conscience is clear. I'm not so sure he can say the same," he spat.

"I want to leave," Iseul stated, tired of it all.

Taeyong laughed, sending chills down her back. He looked crazy, like a madman. Who knew what he was capable of? She didn't want to spend a second longer in this place, with them.

"You're not going anywhere, sweetheart," Taeyong said and she froze. "But it's really sweet and innocent of you to think you could," he laughed at her. "Another proof that you could have never been a part of the mafia world, you're way too pure for this mess. You wouldn't last a minute."

He looked at Jaemin and Jeno.

"You boys were right; I owe you an apology. This girl's definitely not mafia material. I should have listened to you from the beginning, would have wasted less time."

"So what am I supposed to do, exactly?" Iseul spoke. "Stay here? I don't think so."

"Oh, but I'm not asking you to think, little girl," Taeyong replied.

"I'm not a little girl. And what you're doing is called kidnapping. It's punished by the Law."

Taeyong laughed again. This girl really was funny. Her innocence amused him; it had been years since he found something that could distract him. Keeping her would definitely be entertaining.

"Sweetie, do I need to remind you who we are? As a gang, breaking the law is kind of our daily job," he said. "Trust me, we've done things far worse than 'kidnapping' as you call it. Besides you should be grateful," he added. "We're treating you way better than those we actually kidnap. For instance, you still have your fingers." He smirked when he noticed the fear in the girl's eyes.

Oh, yes. Taeyong was definitely enjoying this.

"But, hyung, she's kind of right, though..." Jaemin spoke. "I mean, we might not live by their laws, but we have another one," he said, referring to the State's Law. "She's still a civilian and we can't keep- "

"Was," Taeyong cut. "She was a civilian. Turns out the Council approved of my request. Iseul's officially not under the State's protection anymore, even though I was wrong, which means we can do what we want of her," he explained.

Iseul didn't understand what was being said, but she was pretty sure that wasn't good for her.

"I don't want to stay," she uttered.

Taeyong looked at her.

"We'll make you want to stay, trust me."

He backed away from her, and made his way to the door, before addressing his younger members.

"Boys, you can keep her company if you like, but be on time for dinner," he instructed, closing the door behind him.

"What am I, a dog?" Iseul scoffed. She let her head fall back against the cold wall, tired.

Not baring the awkward silence that replaced the tension in the room, she spoke up again.

"Well, your brother doesn't like me very much."

"You're still alive, aren't you?" Jaemin replied, letting himself slide against the opposite wall.

Jeno nudged him with his elbow. Something in his voice told Iseul he wasn't joking, and fear started to rise in her. Truth was, the fear had been there for a while now, actually since she had seen Taeyong's face, to be exact. But she had buried it deep inside, letting anger cover it, as a defense mechanism. But now, her anger was starting to fade, letting the fear take control of her, and she let out quiet sobs without even realizing it.

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It's almost 2am and I can't stop writing, send help.