House Of Cards || NCT Mafia

Chapter ninety : Unfinished business (1)

Taeyong was looking down at Iseul, his hands still keeping her up against the wall. He was debating with himself. Was she really trying to help Jeno?

"Let me go," she asked rather coldly.

"Or else what?" he murmured, a hint of boldness in his tone.

"Or else I'll kick your ass like last time."

Taeyong laughed, and he was so close to her that she felt his body against hers, sending vibrations in her stomach.

"I'd like to see you tr- "

He couldn't even finish his sentence, because her knee strongly hit his stomach, making him step back while putting a hand where Iseul had kicked him. She took advantage of the fact that he had finally let go of his grip on her to grab his collar and slap him hard.

The sound resonated in the cell, and Taeyong's eyes widen in shock as he held his burning cheek.

"What the hell was that for?" he groaned, getting closer to her.

"That was for doubting me, again!" she fought back. "For insulting, and for hurting me! I'm getting tired of your bullshit! I tried to be patient with you, I really did, but I can't take it anymore!"

She raised her arm to hit him again, out of pure anger, but this time, Taeyong saw her move coming and didn't let her take him by surprise. He swiftly grabbed her arm, holding it up while he buried his eyes in hers.

"I think that's enough for now, tiger," his tone was softer now.

The nickname echoed in her mind, reminding her of Jeno. She gently let her arm down, but didn't notice that Taeyong still had his hand on her forearm.

"I don't know why you think I betrayed you," she spoke, "but I swear I didn't."

Taeyong let out a sigh. "I guess I shouldn't have assumed that you stabbed us in the back right away..." he admitted while looking at her.

Her skin was warm against his cold palms, and the heat spread to the rest of his body. It felt nice to feel something else than just ice through his veins for once.

"I was lying to my father so I could get more information and help Jeno out."

"And did you find something?" he asked.

She shook her head soflty, "Not really," she sadly admitted, "but I know he has Jeno's phone and mine. They're in his office."

Taeyong scratched the back of his head with his free hand, "Yeah, I kinda knew that already."

Iseul shot him a questioning look and he explained to her how that the rest of NCT also listened to her conversation with her father.

"Oh, god, they don't believe I betrayed them too, do they?" the panic in her voice made Taeyong's blood rush for some reason.

"Why do you care if they do?" he mumbled.

Iseul frowned, "Probable because they're my friends...?"

"Yeah well I'm sure they stood by your side like always," the leader replied, but Iseul noticed his attitude changed.

"The Dreamies must have been scared to see that Jeno and I were gone. I hope they're alright... We should go, now, Doyoung and Renjun need to treat Jeno's wounds, my father really hit him hard..." she trailed off and her face expressed her worry.

"He'll be fine," Taeyong snarled. "Let's just get your things and go."

Iseul was about to lead the way but she was held back by Taeyong's hand still on her arm. She shot him an insistent look, and the man let go of her before mumbling a quick "Sorry."

"That's my father's office," she pointed at the white double door on their right.

"I'll get the phones, is there anything you want to take with you before we go...?"

He hoped she understood what he was trying to imply: that she wouldn't be coming back in this house any time soon, if ever. Iseul looked at him deeply, as if she was waiting for him to add something.

"You, uhm...," he coughed nervously, "You're welcome to stay with us... I mean if you want to, of course...." he trailed off as he put a hand on his nape.

Iseul smiled, and it was the first time one of her smiles were directly addressed to him. Taeyong felt something he hadn't felt in years, and this warm and weird feeling started to spread to his chest. He would only feel like this when he had a good time with his members, but it didn't happen in such a long time, he had forgotten what it was like. To feel good.

Iseul was surprised, she didn't really think he'd say it. It was a rare thing to see Taeyong so nervous. In fact, it had never happened before.

"So, do you need anything you need to bring back...?" he stopped himself when he realized he was going to say 'home'.

Iseul quickly shook her head to get rid of her thoughts, "Um, yeah, I'll be right back."

The girl ran back to her room, and Taeyong let out a breath he didn't know he was holding, and proceeded to retrieve Jeno's and Iseul's phones. He also tried to find some interesting documents and was able to find quite a few things. On Taeil's instructions, Taeyong also typed a few things in Kang's computer, not really understanding what he was doing but he trusted his hacker.

When Iseul came back down, he was just finishing in her father's office and she waited for him in the hallway.

"Where's your father, by the way?" Taeyong suddenly asked, taking her off guard.

"Oh, I don't know, I just waited for him to leave so I could go see Jeno, but I have no idea where he went."

The man nodded and walked to the door to meet the others who were still waiting at the car.

As Iseul was putting her bag in the truck, Taeil's voice echoed through the members' earpieces, "Guys, I have some news. Someone sent a untraceable message through our system."

They all stopped moving to listen carefully, "What does it say?" Taeyong pressed.

Iseul was just looking at them, unaware of what was being said, confused.

"I think it's from Kang," Taeil continued. "He still thinks that Jeno is in his cell, and he's asking to see Taeyong in person for an exchange."

All eyes turned to the leader, who remained impassive, "when and where?" his voice showed determination.

"In fifteen minutes, I'm sending you the address."

—-
Wow, ninety chapters already!
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