House Of Cards || NCT Mafia

Chapter seventy-six : Always be aware of your surroundings

Taeyong let down the pen he was holding, looking at Sicheng. Oh, how he hated to hear those words. Every time he did, something went wrong, exactly like Winwin had predicted. He had this great intuition and always happened to be right. No one knew how he did it, he just... did. He wasn't the Sorcerer for nothing. Taeyong was rather skeptical at first, but with time, he had learnt to take his warnings seriously.

"What is it?" he asked, a frown immediately forming on his face.

"You know I don't have details, I'm no psychic, I just... have the feeling something's gonna go down somehow. The Dreamies are in danger."

"And Iseul," Taeyong mumbled. "We need to go there, now!"

Iseul and the Dreamies were walking around the store, trying to find the items requested by the other members. There were not many people at this hour, it was the end of the day, and it wouldn't be long until the sun would be replaced by the moon.

Only a couple of people were in the store, a little boy and his grandmother, as well as a middle-aged woman. The owner, who was behind the cashier, seemed bored out of his mind, but still put on a genuine smile when one of the customers asked him for advice.

As the girl was approaching the snacks area, someone brutally put a hand on her shoulder, making her jump and she covered her mouth to muffle her scream.

"Jeno!" she exclaimed while slightly hitting the boy on the shoulder as he just shot her his best eye smile.

"You know, you're a great fighter but you're so jumpy it's funny," he laughed at her and she scowled.

"What's so 'funny'?" Jaemin asked when he approached the two.

"Nothing," Jeno replied.

"Can I talk to you?"

Jeno frowned at the request but nodded.

"Let's go outside," Jaemin said and they both smiled at Iseul.

"Oh, I'll catch you guys later, then," she spoke while walking away.

"What is it?" Jeno asked, his arms crossed on his chest as he eyed his brother up and down once they were outside.

"Since when are you and Iseul so close?"

Jeno scoffed, "Seriously, Jaemin? That's what you want to talk about? Give me a break," he pushed his shoulder with his own to make him move out of his way as he tried to go back inside the store.

But Jaemin didn't let him and he grabbed his arm, making the boy face him again.

"Don't walk away from me, I'm not done talking."

"Damn, Jaemin, do you even hear yourself? You only talk about Iseul, we don't even have our own conversations anymore. And if I want to be close to her, I will. You're not gonna stop me. Either step up and be honest, or leave me alone," he scoffed.

"What are you talking about?"

"You like her! It's so obvious it's like it's written on your forehead!"

"No, I don't!" Jaemin yelled.

"Then why do you care so much if we get close or if I like her?"

"Wait," Jaemin frowned, "so you do like her!"

"What if I do? Heck, Jaemin do you realize how ridiculous this whole conversation is?"

"I just... I don't like seeing you two so close," Jaemin admitted. "I get this weird feeling inside me whenever I do and it's really unpleasant."

Jeno sneered and put a hand on his shoulder, "Pretty sure that's called jealousy, brother."

While the two were talking, too absorbed in their conversation, they didn't notice the group of men making their way to the store by the back door.

Iseul, who was slowly walking away from the others to go to the back of the store, was suddenly intrigued by the sound of a door being pushed open.

Instinctively, she raised her head, only to see a bunch of men, covered with masks and dressed in black outfits make their way in the store. Iseul was partly hidden behind the last alley, and luckily none of them saw her, because as her eyes slowly went down their outfits, they stopped at their belts.

One of the men reached for it, grabbing the object attached to it, and Iseul's eyes widen.

"Everybody, get down!" she yelled as loud as she could.

In the span of a second, her head turned to the Dreamies, who were getting on their knees like she had said, as well as the other customers and the owner. It's like everything was happening in slow-motion, time was like frozen.
Everyone one was on the ground. Everyone except one person. Donghyuck had a pair of headphones on his ears, completely oblivious to the scene taking place around him.

Still stuck in this never-ending minute, Iseul now looked at the man who had grabbed his gun, only to see that he was now pointing it at the boy. She felt her blood rush through her veins, and before she could even think about it, she was running to Haechan.

The second the man pressed his finger on the trigger, Iseul reached Donghyuck, pushing him with all her strength. In his fall, he instinctively grabbed her arms, taking her down with him. They both hit the ground, their bodies aching from the contact with the solid floor.

The booming sound of gunshot rang through their ears, and for a second, they felt as if they were deaf, their heads spinning around.