The Hidden Card || NCT MAFIA

Chapter ten: Think before you speak

Blood literally rushing through his veins, Ten was frantically looking around like a lost puppy on the streets. His eyes swiftly traveled around him, analyzing each face carefully, looking for Iseul's soft brown eyes in the now crowded street.

His brows furrowed, he took large steps, completely forgetting about his ice cream which was now slowly melting in his hand, leaving a trail of white vanilla drip on the sidewalk. Too busy trying to look around, Ten almost tripped on a puppy that was licking the sweet dessert off the ground, and he let out a curse as he dropped his ice cream in the nearest trash.

Don't panic, he tried to calm himself down. You're a hunter for fuck's sake, finding people who disappeared is literally your job. You can do this, focus.

And so he did, he closed his eyes for a second and took a deep breath, and when he opened them again, it was with a new determination shining in his dark orbs.

Ten walked a few meters to reach to the place the girls were at a few minutes ago, and looked around, trying to find something that could lead him to them.

If Taeyong was to find out that he screwed up, that'd be his last time walking in daylight. The man would have his head on a spike if he didn't bring her back home safely.

Little did he know that at the exact same time he thought about his leader's reaction, the sound of glass breaking echoed in Taeyong's office.

"Taeyong?" Johnny's worried voice could be heard from behind the wooden material of his door.

The tall man didn't wait for his leader to let him in and almost kicked the door open only to find Taeyong standing, his chair on the ground behind him as he angrily stared at the wall in front of him. Judging by the pieces of broken glass on the floor, Taeyong had probably let his anger take control, once again.

"Did you just break another glass again?" Johnny sighed, his voice free of any judgment. He knew better than to yell at his leader, and he was also aware of the fact that getting rid of anger issues wasn't something one did overnight.

As he expected, Taeyong didn't reply, his eyes still burning holes in the wall, but a quick glance at the man was enough for Johnny to notice the blood that started to slowly run down his slender fingers.

Johnny didn't utter a word, and was about to quickly grab the emergency kit from Doyoung's room when Taeyong's swift move stopped him. His leader was holding him by the wrist and his eyes were now buried in his.

"Chittaphon lost her," he growled.

Johnny's eyes widened. Ten never lost his prey. That's why he was the best at his job. There was no way Iseul escaped him.

"He'll find her sooner than you can say his name," Johnny tired to joke, but his leader's face remained expressionless.

"You don't get it," he replied as his grip on the taller male tightened, "He has her."

Taeyong gulped. "Park. He has Iseul."

"Wait, let's not overreact, here. What are you talking about?"

Taeyong eventually let go of his wrist and walked back to his desk where he reached for his phone. After entering his password, he showed the screen to Johnny.

"Because he sent me this," Taeyong spoke.

The picture wasn't even blurry. It was perfectly clear, and the quality was more than good enough to be able to recognize the people on it.

Iseul was in the center, her face showing nothing but disgust. Or was it fear? Taeyong didn't really know, he had never been good at reading people. Even when they would be the most straightforward, he'd still struggle to get the hint. He wasn't good with people.

"Taeyong, this picture doesn't mean anything..." Johnny tried to resonate. "I mean, yeah we see Iseul on the streets making a weird face, but that's it. She's not harmed, she's not tied."

"No, but that's only a matter of time! They're in public, even Park isn't stupid enough to make a move in front of people. But this just proves that he's following her close, and that Chittaphon didn't do his job right."

"We don't know that," Johnny argued, trying to defend his friend.

"If he did, he would've called me to inform me that Park's men were after her. But he didn't, so I assume he didn't even notice, he probably even lost her, and they're going to take advantage of the fact that she's alone."

"Taeyong, you're being paranoid."

"Am I?" He yelled, completely losing the little composure he had left.

"You've been talking about Park for ten minutes."

"Yes, thank you for paying attention," Taeyong spat, sarcasm filling his already poisonous tone.

Johnny just let out a sigh.

"Taeyong," he spoke in a low voice. "The man's dead."

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If you're wondering what the hell I'm doing with this story, I don't know either