House Of Cards || NCT Mafia

Chapter seventy-five : Listen to your gut feeling

After a whole day of practice, Iseul was pretty sure she'd never be able to get up ever again. Her entire body was aching, her muscles were sore, and she was surprised she was even alive.

"Great job, Iseul," Sicheng congratulated her. "Not only are you a great fighter, but you also learn really fast."

After so many efforts, Iseul smiled, accepting the compliment.

"Can I ask you something?" she spoke while getting up with difficulty. Winwin nodded.

"Why are we practicing? I mean, not that I don't like you teaching me how to get better, but... I don't really understand why we're doing this..."

"Don't worry, we don't either," Mark replied, embarrassed. "To be honest with you, it was Taeyong-hyung's idea."

Iseul frowned. Taeyong had asked them to train her? What for?

"You should ask him about it," Sicheng shrugged.

Iseul grimaced at the idea. She didn't really want to see Taeyong right now... after their conversation yesterday, she didn't know how the man would react, and she wasn't sure she wanted to find out.

But it seemed like fate wasn't on her side as she bumped into the man as soon as she reached the first floor. They shared an awkward look for a second, before Mark appeared behind them, completely oblivious to the tensed atmosphere.

"Oh, hyung!" he exclaimed. "You come at the right time, Iseul wanted to see you."

Taeyong detached his eyes from the boy to fix them on the girl, raising an eyebrow, "Oh, is that so?"

Iseul cleared her throat, "I was wondering why you asked them to teach me how to fight."

"So you could go out without me having to worry about assigning you to a member in case something happens," he truthfully admitted and she was taken aback.

Was he really implying that he would let her go out?

"Does that mean you're starting to trust me?" she smiled, happy to see that, maybe, their talk the night before actually made them grow closer. Her expectations soon faded away, however, when Taeyong scoffed.

"No, I don't," he said in a harsh tone. "But I trust my members. I know they'll train you well, and I know they'll keep an eye on you in case you try to do something."

Iseul scowled at his words. When would he finally warm up to her? She was already missing their conversation from the night before.

"Actually," Winwin spoke, "Iseul's better than I expected. And Taeil told me he needed some material for his computers, same for Yuta and his car..."

"Where are you going with this?" Taeyong sighed.

"I was thinking maybe Iseul could go with some of the boys to go buy what they need? I don't think it's risky, and she can already defend herself. We just need to work on how she can improve, but she clearly has the basics."

Iseul shot him a thankful smile and looked at Taeyong expectantly. The man seemed to think about it for a second.

"Fine," he finally agreed, and the others cheered. "You'll go with Dream since they seem to enjoy your company so much for some reason."

At his words, Donghyuck frowned, "Not all of us do," he mumbled.

Jaemin and Jeno, however, had the brightest smile on their faces.

"I'll talk to the others to see what they need," Sicheng offered and Taeyong nodded.

While Winwin went around the house asking for the members if they needed anything, Iseul joined the Dreamies in her room.

"Is it true we get to go out with you?" Chenle asked Iseul with a large smile.

She nodded, and he cheered, high-fiving Jisung who just grinned shyly. Soon enough, Sicheng was back with a list of different stuff for them to go buy, and he turned to Mark, "Taeyong-hyung said you were the one in charge, and that, I quote, "you should keep a close eye on Iseul" even though we know that it's not necessary," he rolled his eyes and a few of them chuckled.

"Don't worry, hyung, I will," Mark replied while looking at Iseul with a smile.

"Alright, then, let's go," Jeno said as he got up.

"Leaving without me?" Renjun spoke as he made his way in the room. "That hurts."

"We didn't forget about you Renjunie," Jaemin smiled as he hugged the boy who just pushed him off, "we were gonna come and get you."

"Can we just go already?" Donghyuck sighed.

"Look, if you don't want to come, no one's forcing you," Mark said.

"No, I'm coming," he said with a pout, and he started to head for the door.

Mark rolled his eyes and smiled at his behavior and gestured for everyone to follow him.

"Wait," Jisung spoke. "How are we going to go to the store if it's just us...?" he noted. 

Mark put a hand on the back of his neck, biting his lip, "Ah, I didn't think of that..."

"You'll go on foot," Taeyong said when he saw them in the hall. "A bit of exercise can't hurt."

"Oh," he added, "and I want you all back for dinner or else I'll let you starve until morning, is that clear?"

Everyone nodded, and Chenle opened the front door, already sulking because he didn't want to walk, and he mumbled about how the older members always had "privileges". 

The walk to the store was quite long, but everyone enjoyed it. Iseul was laughing with the boys, except for Donghyuck who stayed behind. They all laughed at Mark when he fell after trying to imitate Taeyong without looking where he was going, and it even made Haechan smile a little. Renjun stayed silent most of the time, but he was secretly enjoying the time they all spent together.

It's only after a thirty minutes' walk that they finally reached the store, and Mark took out the piece of paper Sicheng had given him out of his pocket.

At the same time back at the house, the young man was barging in Taeyong's office.

"Hyung, I have a bad feeling about this."