| Dream | NCT DREAM |

16

The day continued in awkward silence, no one wanted to say anything, trying to walk on thin ice around their new captain, Jaemin had come back after an hour refusing to tell anyone anything while Jaehyun had gone to talk to the chief about the circumstances and it was only when the team were about to pack up for the day that the door opened making everyone's head turn instantly.

The chief walked in an unsettling look on his face, Jaehyun walked slowly in behind him, all of a sudden the laces on her shoes seemed quite interesting, the officers all stood up about to throw questions at her when the Chief had cleared his throat.

"Listen up boys, so I'm assuming you know why I'm here?" The chief said eyebrow raised, he wasn't stupid, he knew something was up, the boys looked between each other and nodded.

" Lieutenant Lee over here is telling me that she feels like she can't captain anymore and although I am strongly against it, I can't refuse her wishes, so I'm here to appoint a new Lieutenant" The chief said and Jaehyun stared down at her feet, she could feel all eyes on her and she was afraid that if she looked up she would start crying again.

"So without further ado congratulations Lee Jeno you are now the Lieutenant" The chief had spoke and Jeno felt everyone stare at him, well glare at him really, his head fell and he knew he didn't want anything other than right now but stayed silent.

The rooms silence was slowly cut short when the sound of faint clapping was heard from behind the chief, Jaehyun had looked up slightly looking down towards the rest of the boys but not directly at them and started clapping, the boys all followed suit while the chief just rolled his eyes mentally and did the same before excusing himself and leaving the room while Jaehyun just continued to stare at nothing, Jeno stared at her and didn't expect her to lock eyes with him so easily.

"Are you happy now?"Jaehyun asked him and Jeno felt sick once more wanting to run away and throw up somewhere on the way then keep on running.

"I'm-

"Just a little tip for next time ....... Stop worrying about being second place, just run your race and let it be" Jaehyun said and then left the room again not bothering to let him finish his sentence.

-sorry"

...

The next day was beyond awkward and Jeno found it hard to stay focused, he should be happy right? He finally was able to do the things he wanted to once Mark left, he should be over the moon that he was finally promoted to the only thing he thought he was good at right?

So why did he feel bad when Jaehyun had walked in sporting her new lower ranking uniform that the rest of them wore, why did he feel so out of place standing at the top of the desks giving out the brief for their mission, why did it feel so wrong to have the thing you wanted most when you had to hurt someone to be able to get it? Jeno didn't know but what he did know was that now was not the time to dwell on it while they were inside their undercover abandoned food truck watching cameras that were pre placed.

The room was quiet as they waited for a sign, Jeno was sweating profusely while the others all sat in silence, he could feel Jaemins eyes on him but every time he looked at him he pretended to talk to Jaehyun who gave short answers and small remarks while Jeno tried to ignore it.

The clock that was hung on one side of the walls ticked slowly and Jeno couldn't find it in him to wait any longer, the time already being 3 hours passed the meeting time, he was about to signal their departure but was cut off when the sound of a motorcycle had entered the audio system making the whole truck stand up taking a look.

The motorcycle came zooming in and almost a minute after a second set of cars came rushing in, filling the area with the sounds of engines and loud revving, the team looked amongst each other already knowing what was about to go down.

"The thermal screening is detecting 20 or more people and the second party isn't even here yet" Renjun thought out loud and the room all let out noises of recognition and agreement watching the scene unfold.

A couple minutes later another set of cars pulled up to the scene, everyone had left their cars and Renjun was able to do an exact screening of how many people were there.

"47" Jaehyun had thought out loud having counted before anyone had said anything, the room turned to her and she ignored the stares and looked over at Jeno waiting for his next command.

...

"Don't you think you were a little harsh the other day?"

Jeno turned around to see Haechan had followed him, Jeno had told the group to split up into teams of two and to surround the situation, maybe if they all came from different points they might think there was more than six of them he thought.

Jeno rolled his eyes.

"Really right now?" Jeno whisper/yelled towards Haechan who only shrugged, the two continued to make it towards their designated spot when Haechan couldn't help but say something.

"I'm just saying, she didn't exactly deserve the way you treated her, even if she did assault her last boss you weren't involved so that was none of your business" Haechan mumbled turning around to watch their back and Jeno grunted in response telling him to shut up.

"He is right ya know"

Jeno's eyebrows furrowed and for a second he forgot that they were all wired and that the whole team had mic attached to them, ones that broadcasted their words to the others, Jeno frowned and stopped walking eventually causing Haechan who was walking backwards to bump into him.

"Look guys, we can talk about this later right now is not really the right time"Jaemin butted in and Jaehyun agreed hoping that later would never happen, Jeno felt a wave of guilt splash over him and drench his whole body, Haechan brushed himself off and Jeno did the same before throwing a glare at the boy before finally making it to their position.

"Everyone in positions?" Jeno called.

"Yes Cap"