The Hidden Card || NCT MAFIA

Chapter thirteen: Achilles Heel

"So?"

Chaewon hadn't moved an inch, her closed eyes covered by cucumber slices, enjoying being pampered.

"Wasn't this supposed to be a mani-pedi?" Iseul spoke, ignoring her friend's question.

Chaewon simply shrugged, "I've been stressed out lately, I need the full package."

Iseul chuckled and sat back on the massage chair next to her.

"So?"

"So what?"

"What did the guy want?" Chaewon insisted, saying it like it was obvious.

"Oh, hum, nothing, he took me for someone else."

Chaewon hummed in response, but she didn't believe a word of what Iseul had just said. She knew her too much, and she was a terrible liar. Besides, the way that man had been looking so intensely at Iseul, there was no way he had thought it was somebody else.

But she just let it slide, not wanting to discuss about it anymore.

"You said you were stressed," Iseul spoke as it was her turn to put on cucumber slices on her tired eyes. "Why's that?"

Chaewon smiled. Iseul, no matter what her own problems were – and Chaewon was convinced that no matter how hard Iseul tried to hide it, she wasn't alright- she always took the time to listen to her friends' troubles. She would always be an understanding and careful listener.

"I have a date..." Chaewon sighed.

"Isn't that supposed to be a good thing...?" Iseul asked.

It wasn't unusual for Chaewon to have dates, but she normally was more cheerful about it. She couldn't see her friend's face, so Iseul focused on the sound of her voice. Maybe her hearing wasn't as great as it used to be -she had been living in a mansion with twenty-one very loud boys for weeks after all-, but she thought she heard... was it disappointment? 

"I know, that's the problem... I can't seem to enjoy any of the dates I've been on for the past few weeks..."

"Why's that? Weren't the guys nice?"

"Oh, they were. The problem isn't them. It's me."

"What do you mean?"

"Can I ask you a question, Iseul? And promise me to answer truthfully."

"Of course."

Chaewon kept quiet for a second, biting her lip.

"I know it's going to sound really silly, especially coming from me, but... Do you believe in love at first sight? I mean, did it ever happen to you? You saw the guy and you were like... I'm going to marry him?"

Iseul almost chocked on her saliva. She didn't know why, but her mind had immediately drifted to Taeyong, his face imprinted in her brain for a second.

"No. I mean, it's not that I don't believe in it, just that it never happened to me."

That was an understatement. She had hated Taeyong the first she had met him, and still to this day, her feelings towards him were... well, confusing, to say the least.

Wait, she thought, why am I thinking about him again, we're not a thing.

Iseul didn't know why, but that simple thought alone made her heart ache for a second, before she forced herself to get her attention back to Chaewon.

"Oh," she replied, "I see."

"Why do you ask, though?"

"Well... don't make fun of me, alright? I just... I happen to have met a guy a while ago, and ever since, I haven't been able to get him off my mind. The thing is, I don't know him that well..."

"Then why don't you? Get to know him, I mean. You're not the type to just sit here and wait for the guy to make the first move."

Chaewon chuckled at Iseul's statement. It was true, she was a bold girl and usually made the first move. Iseul admired her for that, she wished she had her friend's confidence.

"I know, right?" she laughed. "Seriously, though, sometimes you just have to take the matter into you own hands to get where you want to go. Don't wait and see. Act."

Chaewon had said it like it was the most natural and easiest thing to do, but her words hit Iseul right in the heart. Her friend was right. If she wanted things to get better with Taeyong, she had to confront him about it.

Chaewon didn't realize it, but she always seemed to have the right words for everything.

"Anyways, I can't do anything with that guy, because you see... he kind of disappeared?"

Iseul frowned, and the cucumber slice on her left eye almost fell.

"What do you mean, he 'disappeared'?"

"I don't know, I just don't see him on campus anymore..."

Please, Iseul pleaded silently when realization hit her. Please let it not be Mark.

"Maybe you remember him, it's Mark, one of the Dream's brothers."

Iseul's head fell back with a thud. Oh, come on, she thought, I really didn't need that.

"Ah, yes I remember... That's weird..."

"I guess I'll just have to forget about him..." Chaewon sighed, disappointment filling her tone.

Trust me, Iseul thought, it's better this way. His lifestyle is way too dangerous.

"It's too dangerous!"

At the exact same time, Taeyong was yelling through his phone, and his loud rough voice echoed in the room.

"You know the rules, brother...." Park taunted. "You can't say anything..."

"It's just a matter of time before they find out! You're not exactly helping me help you!"

"Ah!" Park exclaimed, "So you do admit that you're helping me..."

"I'm not," Taeyong sternly replied. "But if you want to keep the fact that you're still alive and breathing a secret, you might want to lay low for a while! You keep killing people on the streets with your own signature, and you expect my members, the best in their field, to not make the connection with you? What do you think they are, dumb?"

"Calm down, Yongie..."

The old nickname made Taeyong's jaw clench.

"I will keep your secret and protect it from the rest of the world, but only if you let me tell my members."

"So they could come and kill me for you? I don't think so. I'm not dumb either, no matter what you seem to think about me."

"Then at least stay away from Iseul, she has nothing to do with it!"

"Oh, but on the contrary, brother. She has everything to do with it." His tone was low but Taeyong could still hear him loud and clear in his ear, like a demon on his shoulder, the sound of his voice echoing in his mind.

"She's the key to my success, and the one to your downfall. She's your weakness, your weak spot. Iseul is your Achilles heel."

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