cherry bomb › nct

64 | one of us

NEO CULTURE TECHNOLOGY
MAD CITY BASE
7:56 PM, THURSDAY

"You really just left the milk box, just like that?" Jisung deadpanned at Jeno who sheepishly smiled back at him, rubbing his nape awkwardly as they both sat in the files office; where practically every physical copy of any confidential information they had was stored.

The files office was basically Jeno's haven – the main reasons why he wasn't present often, and was rarely put on missions was because of this. He was a bookkeeper, the one who protected their files.

"Let's just forget I left the milk carton, okay?" Jeno murmured and neatly stacked the folders on top of his desk.

Drumming his fingers onto the armrests, Jisung drew his eyes lazily around the bookcases, falling slowly onto the numbered drawers. "Your job is tiring." He bluntly uttered out, looking back at Jeno who scrunched his nose at his words.

"You could say I protect these information more than I protect myself." Jeno shrugged, taking of his glasses, letting his bangs fall loose on his forehead after raking them back with his fingers.

Jisung nodded, "I know..." he trailed off before reaching out to grab the folder they have been discussing about awhile ago. So far, the plan Taeyong was talking about was only between him, Jeno, and Taeyong himself – which was quite shocking.

"Have you heard from Jaemin? Apparently, Daniel has gone missing." The younger boy sniggered, ridiculing the whole thought that was brought up earlier. "Where'd you think he went?"

"I don't know, maybe they killed him." Jeno replied nonchalantly, not one bit concerned for the boy.

Jisung stifled a laugh, "Killed him already? Why? Because he was no use after all? As expected from Taeyong-hyung's dad."

"I don't know, Jisung. We're not sure- not that I care if he dies anyway."

A knock on the door disrupts their conversation, the two boys craned their heads to see who it was. Coming in was Sicheng, holding a few files in his hand before tossing it gently onto Jeno's desk.

"What are these?" Jisung asked curiously, peeking at the file name.

"These are some of the official guests, most of them are... well, of course, nobles, government officials, associates, relative mafia families– the usual." Jeno listed followed by a dry chuckle upon seeing the names. Most were familiar to him, looking past a few he noticed their names included on the list as well.

"A secret gathering, huh?" Jisung hummed, waving at Sicheng who left after delivering the files.

A smirk crept up Jeno's face, "What do you think will happen?"

"I don't knoooow," Jisung dragged his words, head tilted back as he stared up at the plain ceiling with the dim light glowering above them. "Shit always happens at gatherings- you can't expect good things to happen when the party has two rival families."

Jeno broke into a small laughter, but soon died down when Jisung spoke up again. "Will he really do it? Is he really going to kill...I- I mean... I'd never think he would actually but-" Jisung stopped, gulping down the lump forming up the back of his throat out of anxiety.

"I don't know Jisung... but if he did then maybe Keiko will be free. Don't you want her to be free?" Jeno glanced over at the boy, falling silent as he pondered about it.

"Kei-noona deserves better. A life away from us, and a life with a family that would understand her."

. . .

PANDORA'S BOX
10:23 PM, SATURDAY

"Wow, her bar is really pretty, Jungwoo." Lucas commented, dark brown orbs roaming around the busy place. "Isn't it, Woo?" He glances at the male beside him who hummed solely in response to his question.

With bored eyes and lips pinched shut, Jungwoo only stared down at his drink, not bothering to entertain his friend.

Lucas scowled, "Yah, is something wrong?"

Jungwoo shifted in his seat, eyebrows knitting together as he shot him a look, "Nothing. Just- thinking. That's all."

Keiko sauntered towards them, rolling her sleeves up, instantly revealing the tattoos inked on her arms. Jungwoo raised an eyebrow, gaze docking steady on her forearms. "For a Mikami you sure have a lot of tattoos."

Lucas nudged Jungwoo, shaking his head in disagreement, "Keiko's not a Mikami anymore- she's, well, one of us now."

"One of you?" Keiko blinked repeatedly, not sure if she heard it right. Stifling a laugh as she ridiculed Lucas' statement, "I'm not."

Lucas waved his hand, disagreeing with Keiko this time. "You're apart of the family now, Kei. Well, at least for me- though we're not really close."

Keiko felt her heart lighten up at Lucas' words, finding it warm and comforting.

Jungwoo rolled his eyes, resting his chin on the palm of his hand, propping his elbow on top of the bar counter. "Right, you're not a Mikami anymore. Have you even seen your grandfather recently?"

Keiko pursed her lips, the thought of her grandparents running into her mind. Though she hadn't been in contact with them recently, her grandmother did send her a few messages a few weeks back. Most texts were purely just telling her to eat well and take care of herself, as well as to sleep early knowing how time different her shifts were.

"Nah, I'll see him soon anyways."

"Soon? Oh right, the party." Lucas nodded, a grin creeping up his lips, "Man, the last party we went to ended up so bad. Remember when it literally rained blood?" He turned to Jungwoo, "The event was a disaster- well, what happens, happens."

Keiko squinted her eyes at Lucas as he kept talking about the past events they had. It was sure enough something bad will happen at the party– a lot of things happen in parties anyway.

By a lot of things that mean't everything.

—

wow took me time to update this 😪

hmm should keiko warm up to one of the boys? if so, who and like why