The Hidden Card || NCT MAFIA

Chapter four: Demons in your head

Taeyong's hands were firmly gripping Taeil's chair as his eyes were glued to the small TV screen in front of them.

"Kang & Co. to have a new CEO; Kang Min-Ju becomes the head of the famous company after the tragic passing of her husband."

Taeil turned the TV off after the news, and looked at the leader, waiting for orders.

"What do we do?"

Taeyong gulped as his knuckles turned white. Truth was, he had no idea what to do. While Iseul didn't choose her father, her mother, on the other hand, had chosen her husband. Mark seemed to guess what was on Taeyong's mind, because he put a friendly hand on his shoulder with a small smile.

"Hyung, maybe you should talk to Iseul about it... It's her mother, after all."

The leader nodded. They had a lot to talk about, anyway. He was about to close the door behind him when he turned around to look at the two, "Keep this information to yourselves for now."

They both nodded and their leader left, walking back to Iseul. He went back to the library, thinking he'd find her there, at the exact same spot he had left her earlier, but her usual seat was empty. Knitting his brows, Taeyong checked the other rooms without much success.

It was nighttime now, and he grew worried when he realized that Iseul's room was also empty. Where could she be at this hour? Most of the members were back in their own rooms by now.

In reality, Iseul was down in the basement, violently punching the bag in front of her. She had been doing this for a while now, and it became a habit of hers to go down there to let go of all the frustration and pain she was feeling inside.

Since that day, she hadn't been able to sleep, and when she did get a few minutes of rest, her mind was soon turning into a dark place, where nightmares brought tears in her eyes and sweat down her spine. The only way she had found to express herself was through violence. She kept on hitting the punching bag fiercely, to the point where her fists were red and sore.

What was she feeling anyways? Was it anger, guilt, sadness, sorrow? Maybe all at once. But it didn't matter, actually, the thing was; her feelings were starting to consume her from the inside, and she was trapped in her own mind.

She had killed her own father.

The picture of his dead body bathing in a pool of blood was enough to make her sick to her stomach, and she had to run to the bathroom to throw up.

The same image kept popping in her mind at all times, along with the word 'killer'.

"Iseul?"

The sound of a male's voice brought the girl back to reality, and she quickly dried the tears that were running down her cheeks. She hadn't even realized she was crying.

"What's wrong?"

Jeno slowly approached her, as if he was afraid to scare her. Iseul didn't reply, and avoided the eyes of her friend, ashamed to be breaking down in front of him. Understanding she didn't want to talk about it, Jeno didn't say a word, and gently wrapped his arms around her small frame.

After a few seconds without moving, Iseul eventually hugged him back, appreciating his presence next to her.

After looking in every single room in the large house, Taeyong decided to go check the basement, almost sure he wouldn't find her there. But he was wrong, and he was greeted with the sight of Jeno hugging Iseul.

It didn't take long for the blood in his veins to start to boil. He knew how Jeno had felt about her.

"Iseul."

Taeyong's stern voice echoed in the room, and the two moved away from each other, scared by the sudden appearance of the gang's leader.

The man took large steps and was in front of them in a second, a fierce look in his eyes. Jeno looked down, knowing that it was never good to share an eye contact with his leader when he seemed angry.

"Sorry to interrupt," he snarled, "but we need to talk."

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Yeah, not that good, sorry