That night was agitated. Thunder was rumbling outside, the storm getting louder by the minute, and Taeyong frowned in his sleep.
His mind was as troubled as the night sky, and he kept on moving around, unable to find peace in his bad dream.It had been a while since he last had a nightmare, and just as his heartbeat was increasing a little bit too much, the roaring sound of thunder woke him up.
Taeyong gulped, his mouth dry as he tried to calm himself down. The sudden and soft movement right next to him almost made him jump, until he realized it was only Iseul's small body lying next to him. Her proximity seemed to be enough to slow his heavy breathing down, and he let out a sigh.
A flash of lightening made him blink, the short light hitting her skin for a second before leaving Taeyong in the dark again. Taking a deep breath, he carefully got up, trying not to wake Iseul.
As he was about to walk thought the door after making sure that the girl was sleeping well, he almost ran into the person that was already in the corridor.
"Hyung!" The voice complained, as surprised as Taeyong.
"Jeno?"
The leader squinted his eyes, slowly adjusting to the darkness of the house.
"What are you doing up?" Taeyong whispered.
"I wanted to talk to you."
"Right now?"
"Well... yeah, I couldn't sleep, and I know you barely do too, so I thought we could do this now..." Jeno said, putting a hand on his nape.
Taeyong turned around a little, shooting a nervous glance at Iseul in his bed. He took a step forward to fully stand in the corridor, and tried to close the door, but Jeno frowned.
"Is there someone in there?" he asked, suspicious.
"Someone? Where?"
"In your room, hyung."
Jeno's voice was stern, and he crossed his arms on his chest.
"Don't be stupid, I never bring anyone over, now let's go talk like you wanted," Taeyong defended, eager to put some distance between the both of them and the sleeping girl in his bed.
"Why can't we do this in there? That's usually where we have serious conversations, right?"
It was too dark for Jeno to see, but Taeyong rolled his eyes, annoyed.
"Because I want to get myself a cup of coffee, so let's go to the kitchen."
Jeno stared at the now closed door while Taeyong was already walking away, before following his leader to the other room.
"So," the oldest began, drinking from his cup as Jeno sat on a chair, "What did you want to talk about?"
"Iseul."
Taeyong almost spat back his coffee. Of course Jeno wanted to talk about the girl.
"What about her, now?" he asked, not even trying to hide his irritation anymore.
"I know that something's up about her, and I know that you're trying to hide it from us, but I'm not stupid."
"And what would I be hiding, Jeno?"
Taeyong's eyes were buried in his, but the youngest didn't budge.
"I don't know yet, but I'm going to find out. Unless you tell me first...?"
The leader scoffed, "You're not going to find out anything, because I'm not hiding things from you. Now if that's all you wanted to talk to me about, I have bigger problems to take care of."
As Taeyong was about to reach the door, Jeno spoke up again.
"We all saw it, you know. The news about Iseul's mother being back and taking over the company. What are you going to do about that?"
Taeyong's back was facing Jeno, but the boy had noticed how tensed his leader was.
"That's not for you to worry about."
This time, it was Jeno's time to scoff, "Yeah, like you're going to say that I shouldn't worry about a bunch of Iseul's belongings being sent to this specific address?"
He seemed to finally get Taeyong's attention, because he turned around to face the boy.
"How do you know about that?"
"Does it matter?" Jeno asked. "What's important is that Iseul might be in danger, and you're not doing anything about it."
"We don't know that," Taeyong spat, now clearly angry. "And you have no clue what I'm doing so you better watch your mouth."
His eyes were as menacing as the thunder rumbling outside, and Jeno tried his hardest not to look away. Maybe he had taken things a bit too far this time, but it's like he couldn't help himself.
"I don't know what has gotten into you lately, Jeno, but you better watch it because I'm not having any of it. Now go back to your room or you'll sleep in the woods."
Without another word, Jeno got up and did as he was told, fire burning through his veins. As he was about to pass by Taeyong, the leader grabbed his arm, sternly starring at him.
"I mean it, Jeno. Let me do my job, and worry about doing yours."
The younger male nodded and walked away, leaving Taeyong alone in the kitchen.
Once he was sure that Donghyuck was asleep, mumbling about Mark, Jeno kneeled next to his bed. Taeyong might be his leader, that didn't stop Jeno from doing what he wanted, even if he shouldn't. Taeyong wasn't the only one who was getting annoyed by his behavior, Jeno had had enough of his as well, and for a long time.
He wanted to talk to him, not only about his friend, but also about the way that he had been acting lately. He didn't understand why Taeyong seemed to get better since Iseul stayed with them, only to go back to his old ways by being an even bigger asshole.
But once again, the leader didn't even let him finish and he had cut him off before Jeno could speak up his mind.
Well if that's how he wants to do things, he thought, bitter, then so be it.
Without a sound, Jeno slowly got a box out from under his bed, carefully opening it. He had meant to tell Taeyong earlier, but Jeno had seen the box with Iseul's belongings under their porch long before Kun found it.
Except Jeno took something from it before Kun brought it inside.
There was something else with the box.
A note.
A note that Jeno was currently holding with a shaky hand, because it was written in a red ink that strangely looked like blood.
A note that could maybe help his brothers find out who the person who sent it was.
But Jeno had decided to keep it to himself.If Taeyong wanted to play solo, he was going to do the same.
But at what price?
—-
Hi sorry for being so inactive I wish I could write more but work's literally sucking all of my energy 😔
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The Hidden Card || NCT MAFIA
Fanfiction| SEQUEL TO HOUSE OF CARDS | Now that the House of Cards is finally stabilized, everyone thinks the game is over. Wrong. The game has just begun, and the Hidden Card is about to join the party.