all the stars | nct dream

t w e n t y - s e v e n

"What?" Jisung and Chenle said in unison.

Jaemin only nodded slowly in response.

"But what- why?" Jisung stuttered, still in slight disbelief.

As far as Jisung could remember, the night of the fire had been nothing but a blur of events for him and no doubt the same for all of the other dreamies as well. Meeting up at the tree and completely forgetting about the fact that the seven of them hadn't seen each other in ten years just so happened to bring them all back together again.

The seven of them had watched the police cars and ambulances that were parked in the parking lot of the orphanage as police walked in and out of the yellow caution tape that had been taped up around the ruined building.

When the fire had been dismissed as an accident, Jisung hadn't thought anything else of it and let the matter go as he watched his hyungs fall asleep under the tree.

And as the summer progressed, Jisung had not been reminded of the fire until now that Jaemin suggested it was not an accident.

"It's a long story," Jaemin said, "I didn't realize until now, but it's so obvious now that I think about it. I don't know why I didn't notice earlier."

Chenle gave him a concerned look, but urged him to continue.

"The family that adopted me... they aren't exactly the best people. Even saying that is understating the things they've done," Jaemin said, refusing to meet any of their eyes.

Jisung listened as he then went on listing just a few of the things they could be held accountable for. They were bad, to say the least. Starting from theft, and going as far as forms of assault. Jisung thought he saw a look of shame pass on Jaemin's face as he spoke.

"Why didn't you turn them in?" Jisung asked.

"It's not that simple," Jaemin said, shaking his head slowly. "They know that I know what they've done. They've always held some sort of threat against me, I guess. Most of the time they're just empty threats and it never ends up as anything serious."

"Long story short, I figured something out the day before the fire that my adoptive parents... didn't want me to know."

Jisung was tempted to ask what, but seeing as Jaemin's face had become a twisted expression of uneasiness, he didn't, and turned his head to look at Jeno who Jaemin had given a slight side glance. The boy was currently staring down, shifting from one foot to the other.

"Well we can turn them in now! We're all here with you, it'll be easier." Chenle suggested.

Jaemin didn't say anything, nor did he nod or shake his head. Just stood there, still.

"Jaemin, its okay to be scared, but this is something that the police should really be aware of," Mark said to him, placing an arm on his back, almost as if to give him a sense of security.

It was at that moment that Renjun walked back inside, a doctor walking in behind him. Renjun seemed to know exactly what was going on as soon as he walked in, quickly observing everyone's solemn expressions. He walked straight up to Jaemin and Jeno's side, slipping one of his hands into each of theirs.

The doctor looked at the seven of them skeptically, most likely surprised that so many of them were in the room at the same time. "I'm just going to have to ask a few of you to leave," he informed them, "you can come back in a few minutes."

Mark nodded, and led everyone except for Jisung and Chenle out of the room. Donghyuck made sure to give Chenle an encouraging smile before they walked back into the hallway.

When the five of them were back to sitting in the waiting room, a silence engulfed them. Hyuck observed Jaemin closely, wondering what he could say to break the silence.

"So..." he started.

"I'm gonna turn them in," Jaemin interrupted. He spoke with a quiet, but determined tone, as if he was trying to force down the part of him that was scared.

Everyone looked at him. "Really?" Hyuck asked.

Jaemin nodded. Half to provide an answer and half to send a silent confirmation to himself.

Renjun managed a soft smile, quickly pulling Jaemin into a hug.

It was a few minutes later that Jisung walked into the room. "Chenle has to stay for a couple more days I think. Jaemin have you-"

The five of them nodded and Jisung smiled. "That's... good. You guys should go do that, I can stay here with Chenle," he suggested.

Mark got up first, followed by the others, each one of them giving their youngest a soft hug, knowing exactly how much this was for him to handle. The smile on Jisung's face stayed, and he watched as his five hyungs walked out of the waiting room.

The fresh air engulfed them as soon as they got out of the building. Renjun stepped up behind Jeno, linking their hands once again. "This is hard for you too isn't it?" he asked.

Jeno only shrugged in response, knowing how his parents had been somewhat of a target for one of Jaemin's adoptive parents'... crimes.

"Are you okay with it?" Renjun asked again.

Jeno nodded. "Yeah. It'll be good for him," he said, glancing at Jaemin who was walking by himself somewhere between the four of them. "It'll probably be good for all of us too."

Renjun smiled and gave Jeno's hand a soft squeeze before letting go and running towards Jaemin's side. He did the same thing. Slipped his hand softly into Jaemin's and smiled. Jaemin looked surprised, but quickly got over the shock as he saw Renjun's smiling face next to him.

"Are you okay?" Renjun asked.

"Yeah."

It was easy to read through him. Jaemin's face was pale and his entire body seemed stiff. Alongside all of that, his hand was holding Renjun's so limply and he could've sworn that Jaemin didn't even realize.

Instead of saying anything much, Renjun squeezed his hand. "We're here with you, everything will be fine, I promise."

Jaemin smiled.

Yes, everything would be okay.

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hi... yes... so... why i decided to take a break two chapters before finishing this story?? idk, but im backkk (please forgive me) and the last chapter will be posted tmrw :))