HIDEOUT: LEE TAEYONG

25

soyoung

"do really think this is a good idea?" i tiptoed and whispered inside taeyong's pierced ear, the apprehensive expression pasted on his face screamed the word no. "i don't think so, they should shut up and go away. (i had to)." taeyong replied as we both looked forward to see an abundance of boisterous men, petrified that they might cause the walker's attention since they were making blare noises.

today taeyong had decided to invite and do his duties with some members, some members that wouldn't be so good at it. the only one left in the hideout were doyoung, jaehyun, donghyuck, dahye and somin. obviously those two girls.

sicheng who stopped his tracks, but continued as soon as he was able to amble beside me. "i prefer a quiet crowd than a noisy one." he explained.

"hey you guys stop being fucking loud and keep your voice down!" taeyong whisper shouted relentlessly, the group in front of us turned around and was aghast at the leader's behaviour. luckily the loud noises they created ebbed.

"and then i was like boom! and we pretty much like laughed, it was like so funny like pretty much the most hilarious moment!" mark lee, of course it was him being the loudest. "for fuck sake, i have to take care of that. i will be right back." taeyong's tongue rolled over his teeth in annoyance and jogged his way to the rowdy people.

there was a brief silence.

i looked up at sicheng and beamed a tiny smile, he wasn't looking but he smiled back since he could feel a smile on my lips.

"do you remember that time when everyone was anxious about the walker you killed?" he inquired and i gave him a nod as a reply.

"the reason why they were, was because they thought it was a warning from stray kids." sicheng explanation was not explicit enough. "and it seemed like it was their warning, so far they have given us two warnings."

"what do you mean about stray kids?"

"sorry for not being clear, but the men who harmed donghyuck are a mafia and they call themselves stray kids." sicheng said, his eyes not leaving the path forward and mine were focused on his.

"oh.. stray kids." i blinked, not really sure how to react. "what about yours? what is your mafia's name?" the sudden questioned surprised sicheng, so shocked his eyes dilated as it finally made connection with mine. "how did you know i was a part of a mafia?" his voice was shaking, probably worried that i couldn't be trusted or i knew everyone's deepest secret.

"taeyong told me."

"oh." sicheng sighed in relief. "we never had a name, taeyong was too idle to come up with one but a lot of members really liked the name NCT." sicheng said with proudness inside his tone, maybe he was the one who came up with the idea.

"ah, so stray kids and nct are enemies?" my question made the chinese boy nod his head. "exactly, though we're 10 and they're only 8... they still come out super strong. they are ruthless, especially their leader."

"taeyong and their leader have the most severe and big hatred towards each other, i don't even think one of them can survive if their in the same room." sicheng sounded apprehensive, he must be serious. "do you know why?"

"the cause of that is very personal, i think it's best if taeyong says it... or maybe just don't mention about it." sicheng suggestion was difficult, i wanted to but after he told me it was best to not mention it, it must be really personal so i am following his recommendation.

"do you think stray kids would do their next move?" i wanted sicheng to calm me down with a no, being honest was probably best for him to do now though. "yes, that's why we all should keep our eyes open and stay safe."

there was a long pause, a long silence between me and sicheng.

"hey soyoung! i'm so happy i get to be outside and do taeyong's work, i'll show him an old man like me can still catch up!" taeil cheerfully said, joining the two of us and i could tell sicheng was not happy about it at all.