House Of Cards || NCT Mafia

Chapter forty-seven : To each player, a card

After passing by a lot of doors, Iseul had noticed something. On each and every one of them, the same thing: a card. Always black, but with different symbols on every single one. 

Every door had one or two of them drawn in its center, and she couldn't figure out their meaning. They seemed familiar, though.

"Uhh... Mark?" she called. The boy in front of her spun around. "Yes?"

"What are those?" she pointed at the cards on the door to their right.

"Oh," Mark said. "It's... uh... how can I put it?" he frowned.

"They're our signature, our identity," a voice from behind them spoke.

Iseul turned around and was met by a rather tall man.

"Ah, Iseul, this is Winwin" Mark said.

The man she now knew as Winwin smiled at them shyly. "Nice to meet you", he spoke. "You can call me Sicheng."

Iseul smiled back, nodding. He seemed nice.

"You said they were your... identity?" she asked, talking about the cards.

"Ah, yes," he replied. "Every on of us has his own card. It's kind of like our role in NCT. We always leave one after a mission as well, so our targets know who attacked them, that's why they're also our signature," he explained.

Iseul listened carefully, finding the idea rather... original. They were creative criminals, at least.

"Can I ask you what's yours?"

He smiled again, "I'm the sorcerer."

Iseul's eyes widened. "The sorcerer?" she repeated. "Are you like... a magician or something?"

Mark and Sicheng laughed at her words, "No," he replied, smiling at her "I just have a great intuition. And technically, my card's the King of Swords," he explained. 

"Oh," Iseul said, feeling stupid for actually thinking he could have been a real sorcerer. Of course that was just a symbol, an image. She smiled sheepishly, and turned to Mark.

"What about you?" she asked. For some reason she liked this whole concept.

He tapped the door behind him, showing her the card that was in its center.

"The Ace?" Iseul guessed, observing the dark card.

He smiled and nodded, "Yes."

"That's nice," she said. "It might sound weird, but I feel like I've seen one somewhere before, I just can't remember..." she trailed off.

Sicheng and Mark shared a look.

"We left one after the fire that destroyed your father's company," Mark said. "You probably saw it somewhere around your house, even though I'm quite surprised Kang would have kept it," he frowned.

Iseul hummed, remembering the card.

"You're right, I saw it on my dad's desk, once. It was... a balance if I recall correctly?" she tilted her head to the side, trying to imagine the symbol in her mind.

"Yes, it means judgment," Sicheng explained.

Iseul scoffed, "Well he clearly hasn't learnt the lesson."

"Thank you," the man spoke, startling her.

"What for?" she asked.

"Thank you for helping us, I'm sure going against your own blood must not be an easy thing do to," he said, sounding genuine.

"I'm deeply sorry for all the wrong my father has caused, and if I can help put an end to it, I will," she sadly smiled.

"So, uhm, maybe I should show you your room?" Mark spoke, feeling awkward. Sicheng excused himself, and it was now just the two of them again. The boy made her take the stairs to reach the first floor, and led her to the last door of the corridor.

As expected, no card was drawn on it, and mark let her in. The room wasn't too big, but wasn't small either, it was really simple and only had a bed, a closet, and a large window that gave her a great view of the woods behind the house.

"I hope you like it," Mark spoke from behind her. "It's not much, but it isn't that bad, you'll see. Also, the door right here is your own bathroom," he said, showing her the access.

He scratched the back of his neck, realizing the girl didn't have any spare clothes, or any toiletries. "I'll try to convince Taeyong to take you shopping, you can't possibly stay here if you don't have anything to change into," he noted. "I'll get some of the guys to lend you some of their clothes until we can get you new ones."

Iseul felt a bit uncomfortable at the idea to wear clothes that weren't hers, especially if they belonged to guys she barely knew, but didn't have much of a choice.

"Thanks," she said. "But I don't think Taeyong will let me out that easily," she sighed.

"He's not that bad, you know," Mark spoke after a while. "He's... well, wacky, I'll give you that, but I swear he's not that bad."

Iseul smiled, but she was far from convinced by his words.

"I'll let you rest a bit, I'm sure the annex must not have been the most comfortable room," he smiled.

The girl thanked him and let herself fall onto the bed, appreciating the soft material on her skin. She stood up a couple seconds after, realizing she really needed a shower. Jaemin stopped by at the same time, to give her a couple shirts and sweatpants for her to change into.

He was still in his stripped pajamas, and Iseul smiled seeing him so disheveled.

"If you need anything, my room's right next to yours," Jaemin offered as he handed her the clothes.

"Thanks," she said, closing the door once he had left.

The hot water running down her body made her feel at ease for the first time since she got here, and she closed her eyes, trying not to get distracted by her thoughts.

Most of the members she had met had been nice to her, so she felt a bit better about this whole situation.
Iseul then laid in the bed, letting her tiredness take her to dreamland as she felt the warm light of the sun on her skin.

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