𝗿𝘂𝗻𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝘂 || 𝗻𝗰𝘁𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗸

vingt et un.

taeyong knew what kun wanted to talk about. it was making him even more guilty sitting there and pretending he had no idea about what was going on. he tried to convince himself that he was doing it for their sake...so they could finally have their chance to shine and that he never did it for a selfish reason. he considered telling them that he talked to the ceo himself. that he already knew about their debut plans and about sm sending them off to china so they can debut there but nothing seems to come out of taeyong's mouth. he couldn't find the courage somehow. he was supposed to be a strong leader. he was supposed to be the blunt one, unafraid of telling his fellow members anything because the whole foundation of their bond consisted of trust, respect and understanding. in this case, he had betrayed them.

the nct leader knew nothing could be kept forever. he knew that they would eventually know. he wasn't sure if they were going to be mad at him and leave or if they would understand and forgive him.

taeyong kept his head down as kun continued on. he couldn't look the man in the eyes. in fact, he couldn't look at anyone in the eyes. he felt arms wrap around him. he knew that familiar scent. he could tell who it was without even looking up. his heart quenched in guilt even more. at any moment, taeyong felt like he could explode. his hands started to feel all clammy and his heart was beating so fast.

'i don't deserve you. i don't deserve all of you. i wanted to believe i did this for you...i wanted to believe that i did all of this to help you. but who am i fooling? i am a man in love. a selfish man in love.'

taeyong uttered those words in his head. words that he could never admit out loud. he knew that what he did will slowly eat at him. there was a part of him that wanted to go back in time and take back what he had said.

‿︵‿︵‿︵୨˚̣̣̣͙୧ - - - - - ୨˚̣̣̣͙୧‿︵‿︵‿︵

after everyone had comforted each other, they realized that they didn't want to spend the rest of their time with the 4 members in sadness. it was a great opportunity for them. it wasn't like they weren't going to see each other again. they were going to come back. they just have to be away for awhile to debut and promote in china.

the whole dorm was back in its chaotic mess once again. there were the dreamies running around the dorm chasing donghyuck with the rest of the nct members conversing with each other about random things.

ten looked down at his phone as he heard it chime. bambam had texted him asking if he wanted to come and hang out. he smiled, softly. the thai male responded before getting up from the couch.

"okay, as much as i want to spend more time with you weirdos, i've gotten tired of seeing ya'll faces everyday. i need to see my other friends. sayonara, suckers! if anyone needs me...please don't." ten gave them a peace sign before quickly heading out but not after making sure he had his wallet and keys with him.

the other members only shook their head before returning to whatever they were doing.

‿︵‿︵‿︵୨˚̣̣̣͙୧ - - - - - ୨˚̣̣̣͙୧‿︵‿︵‿︵

the night went by and ten found himself singing off-key. the others were giggling and taking videos of ten. they had a little bit too much to drink as it was jackson's idea to order alcohol since all of them were of age.

more people had come to hang out. dokyeom, mingyu and minghao of seventeen arrived a little after ten did. the great cha eunwoo showed up as well as much to the girls' delight. lisa's heart almost exploded at how good looking eunwoo was in person. the last person to arrive was jeon jungkook of bts.