𝙳𝙴𝙲𝙴𝙸𝚅𝙴𝙳 |ᶰʲᵐ

Chapter 7

Shinrae sat down on her bed as he studied the boy shuffling through her drawers in her room. She didn't know what was happening, all he did was dragging her into her room and here she is, looking at Jaemin looking through her drawers.

"hey no not there!" she raised her voice as Jaemin was reaching for the second shelf of her drawers. She went up to him, now standing right in front of him and pushed him lightly on the chest.

"what are you looking for?" she asked.

"bandage and ointment," he said making the girl face palmed herself as she walked away from him, approaching her nightstand. She opened it and grabbed the things Jaemin needed.

"here," she said, handing them to him but he pushed it away from him.

"its for you," he said.

"wha-"

"I'll do it," he said.

-

"the members get injuries all the time. You remind me of jisung, the youngest in the group," he chuckles. The two of them were in the living room, both sitting across from each other. Shinrae stared down at him, its the first time she's seen him laugh. Jaemin was too focused on applying ointment towards the bruise on her wrist.

"he's the clumsy one, small and fragile. He's just 15 after all," he continues.

"you really miss them do you?" she spoke. Jaemin looked up as the two make eye contact. He sighed and looked down towards the floor. Shinrae grabs a hold his hand.

"its not too late you know, to get back," she said as she looked down to face him.

"i hate it there," he simply said. Her hands travelled its way towards his face lifting it up to look at her.

"then tell me,"

The sound of the front door rattles which instantly alerted the two. Shinrae quickly got up and sprinted her way upstairs to her room. Jaemin can't help but laugh at what he just witnessed and made himself comfortable on the couch.

"we're home!" Hyunjae's voice echoed the whole house. Both Mr and Mrs Shin entered the house, Hyunjae skipped his way to Jaemin holding a mini basketball.

"Hyung play with me!" the little dragged him outside.

Shinrae sat down on her bed and stared at her hands. She smiled to herself as she motioned her finger around the bandage Jaemin has applied for her. She snapped out of her thoughts and recalled what she just did.

"why the fuck did i do that?" she shrieked, covering her face with both hands. She huffed as she got out of bed to finally freshen up.

Jaemin and Hyunjae were playing catch right outside by the backyard. It was a simple game, Hyunjae is just four years old after all. 

"Hyung watch out!" the little boy yells. Jaemin was too off guard about something he was to late to react making the ball hit his forehead. The impact made him stumble and dramatically landed on the floor. He had his eyes shut, holding in his laugh.

Panicking, Hyunjae ran his way to Jaemin as he kneeled down and shook him. Jaemin took a peek and smiled.

"yah!" he yelled making the little boy startle as he stepped back. Jaemin let out a chuckle, the little boy pouts and lightly pushed him. He felt quite salty after what Jaemin did.

With both of them still on the ground, Jaemin opened his arms welcoming Hyunjae for a hug. The little boy furrowed his eyebrows staring up at his hyung. It was too cute to handle, jaemin scooted further to hug the little boy.

"im so sorry jaejae," he said. He ruffled his hair making him giggle.

"forgive me?" jaemin pouted. Hyunjae gave him a quite energetic nod and smiled widely, hugging his hyung once more.

"boys! dinner is ready!" Ms.Shin calls out from a far. Jaemin stood up first, brushing off his outfit and picked up Hyunjae as they made their way inside.

-

"he what?!" Ms.Na raised her voice. She looked at his husband with an upset look on her face.

Jaemin's parents were now seated in the CEO's office with Taeyong, Mark and NCT's manager Kim present in the room. Taeyong and Mark had their heads laid low, they couldn't face his parents after lying to them shamelessly.

Ms.Na had tears in her eyes and her husband was trying to calm her down. Soo Man stood up as he explains to them on what had happened. He bowed down as he apologized to them.

"how could this happen? Did you not give him enough care?" Mr.Na turned to Soo Man as he raised his voice at him. Mark flinched in his seat as Jaemin's father spats the word "care". That clicked to him on that same night, where Jaemin was complaining how the company treats them.

He now understands why he left. He couldn't take the pressure thats been given to them, and the sort of treatment too. Mark did agree by what his friend told him that day, but he was scared also. He wants to succeed but at the same time he thought, how could he succeed without the presence of all the members.

Mark felt that he should take the blame to Jaemin's disappearance, if he could've done something, none of this would've happened in the first place. Taeyong, who was sitting right next to Mark noticed his behavior. Mark was a bit shaky, and he was currently fidgeting his fingers. Taeyong put out a hand to pat his back, he suddenly flinched as the argument between the three adults started to heat up.

"Ms.Kang , can you please bring Ms.Na to the cafe and buy her something to calm herself?" SooMan instructed his assistant. She agreed and did what she was told and carefully led Ms.Na out of the room.

The office went silent. Jaemin's father gave SooMan a look, he was calm but it was pretty obvious that he was angry.

"so what are you gonna do about this?" he spoke.

"i have reported this to the police, i have also gone through the list of recent deaths around Seoul and thankfully your son isn't there," SooMan started.

"-he is still out there somewhere and we are putting up a private search to get him back but in the mean time-" Soo Man paused as he looked up, making eye contact with Mr.Na. Taeyong and Mark looked at him as well, waiting for him to speak up.

"what?"

"As NCT Dream is having a comeback soon, i would like to ask for your permission to look into this," Soo Man gave him a file. Looking confused, Jaemin's father took the file from his hands and opened the file and started to read.

Taeyong, Mark and Manager Kim looked at eachother then back to the man who was still reading through the documents. They don't know what's about to come, the CEO never discussed about this to any of them.

"you want to put out fake news about my son? are you serious?! I am not-" he was furious as he huffed with the document now crumbled in his hands. Manager Kim went up to him, trying as much as possible to calm him down.

Taeyong thought how wicked this man is into trying to deceive the public about Jaemin.

"think thoroughly about it Mr.Na, this is about your son's career. The public will think he is on health break," he said with a mischievous smile on his face as he stepped forward.

"agree to this and your son will still become an idol under this company, doesn't matter how long he's gone," he said with a smirk on his face.

"if not then okay, spread the news that he ran away but his contract to this company is terminated," he continued his sentence with a laugh, a very sarcastic laugh.

The three looked at their boss with wide eyes. They never thought he would ever do such a thing, this man is evil. Their eyes travelled to Jaemin's father who was trembling with the file, now reshaped and studied it once more.

"so what do you say?" he said as he raised an eyebrow.

"do it," Mr.Na responds. SooMan sighed in relief and laughed hysterically. His hands on his desk, he leaned forward.

"excellent choice Mr.Na, i promise we will get your son back here safe and well as soon as possible,"