cherry bomb › nct

51 | you said my name

NEO CULTURE TECHNOLOGY
MAD CITY BASE
3:17 AM, SUNDAY

3RD PERSONS VIEW。

"Taeil, I'm here to– Oh..." as Keiko walked into the clinic to change her bandages, Taeil wasn't really alone. Xiaojun was on the medical bed, looking distressed as he stared up at the ceiling.

Taeil was wearing his usual snow-white lab coat, however, this was the first time she's seen him doing other work than stitch them up or cure them. He had safety goggles on, a beaker on each of his hand filled with some sort of chemical mixture.

"Is that you, Keiko?" Taeil questions, back faced her as he gently swirled the beaker in his hand.

"Yeah, I'm here to get my bandages changed," she replied, still standing by the doorway.

"Oh, I'm kinda busy. Xiaojun? Can you do it for me?"

The male who laid back raised a brow and sat up to look at her. With just a split second of eye contact, his heart already went pounding, the stomach-churning feeling like a kaleidoscope of butterflies swarmed inside him.

Huffing, he stood up, adjusting the lab coat he had on before gesturing towards the bed, "Take a seat."

Keiko hesitantly sat on the white clinic bed, her feet slightly off the ground as she did. Tongue running through the bottoms of her teeth, feeling the brackets of her braces. She didn't know why she was feeling unusual, she wouldn't have cared but at the moment she did.

Xiaojun stood in front of her, his eyes darted on her injury as he unwrapped the gauze. Cleaning her wound gently before wrapping it again in a fresh gauze before securing it with the pin.

"Are you gonna keep on spying me with that pin?" she questions suddenly, looking up at Xiaojun.

The boy pursed his lips, shrugging as he now looked at her, "It's there for a reason."

Keiko was about to speak when someone's phone began to ring. Taeil shot a look at his phone that was vibrating with Taeyong's name displayed flashing on the screen. He reluctantly answered, pressing the phone up to his ear, "Yes, Taeyong? What– the potion's not ready yet! Yah do take note I'm older than you! No... I haven't test- of course it'll work! Ugh fine."

Gritting his teeth, he poured the green-colored chemical vile into a small tube, securing it with a cork on top before removing his safety goggles.

"They're asking for it now?" Xiaojun questioned the older and Taeil nodded with a sigh. "Will it even work?"

Shrugging, Taeil scrunched his face, quite annoyed, "I don't know– hopefully? I mean, it's not perfect so there could be side effects– but we'll find out now." he chuckled before leaving the medical room.

Keiko tilts her head, analyzing their words again in her mind before squinting eyes at Xiaojun, "What was that about?"

"None of your business, Keiko."

Jerking back a bit in shock, Keiko reached out to pone his cheek repeatedly, "Are you okay? You're not sick are you?"

Xiaojun flinched at her touch, ears turning bright red as he gulped, "What the fuck are you doing, Keiko? I am fine–"

"You said it again!"

"Said what?!" he furrowed his eyebrows.

"My name! You usually call me a brat, so it's odd." she reasoned and leaned closer to Xiaojun making him cower back. "Are you sure you're Xiaojun?"

Xiaojun stifled a laugh and held her face, "Brat, of course, I am."

"Just making sure," she shrugs and hops off the bed. Walking towards Taeil's side of the lab, "Are all of these drugs or something?"

Xiaojun nodded with a hum, "Yeah, he's always working on new experiments. I mean, he was a doctor, someone who was an ace at chemistry."

"He was?" she glances back and Xiaojun tucks his hand into his lab coat's pocket.

"We all had a different life before entering the mafia, Cherrie."

"And you?" she raises a brow.

Xiaojun scoffed lightly, "I came from China. Well, most of us were. Kun was the one who found me. I was a medical student who also did a lot of stage-plays."

"Woah, you? An actor?" she chuckles, "I guess that explains why you're an undercover."

"Yeah, whatever." Xiaojun shook his head, looking down. He sometimes wondered what it was like if Kun never found him, if he was still back in China, working hours as a slave to that theater just to pay his school fees.

Taking a deep breath, he shot a look at Keiko, "You need to rest, you've already been attacked today."

"Is there something going on?"

"What do you mean?" Xiaojun averts his gaze on the girl.

Keiko smiled at him, shaking her head, "Nothing. Forget what I said." she muttered before turning around and walked towards the door.

Xiaojun grabbed her hand, preventing her from going out, "Wait–"

"What?"

"I- uhh..." he trailed off, cursing himself in his mind as he had forgotten what to say. Just the fact that he was holding her hand was enough.

Xiaojun pressed his lips together, forming a small smile, "That pin isn't a tracker anymore. I made sure of it."

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