Stronger || NCT mafia au

Chapter 11 | "never lose focus"

Jihyun's face started to turn red as they stared at one another. Quickly snapping out of it, she backed away from him, clearing her throat and turning away to take a deep breath. She walked over to the nearby bench and grabbed a bottle of water before turning back to him. He was staring at her, watching her every move with an intensity in his eyes and a small smile on his face.

"i-if you can, um, do that next week, you'll, uh, you'll have no problems." she stuttered out, tossing a bottle at him, which he caught, dipping his head towards her before taking a big gulp.

"thanks, Miss Jang, I-"

"Jihyun" she interrupts him.

"What?"

"You can call me Jihyun." she shyly smiles at him.

"does that mean we're friends now?" he asks with a quiet voice, fixing her with a curious stare. She pauses before responding, sighing to herself.

"I guess so, if you want to be? I've never really made a friend before, it's always just been other gang members." she laughs out before pausing. "But please don't be my friend out of fear. I won't take it to heart if you don't want to, I'm not the most likable person." She trails off.

"Sure you are. You might come off as cold, but I know that underneath that mafia girl is a person worth getting to know... if you'll let me." He looks at her with a kind smile and pleading eyes.

"You swear you're not doing this out of fear? I'm well aware that basically all of my....acquaintances, only tolerate me because they're too scared to do anything else." She trails off, nervously biting on her lip.

"Well, if I'm remembering correctly, I asked you to be friends, not acquaintances. Friends aren't fake, and, uh, actually like one another for their personality you know." He lets out a light laugh, causing a smile to pull at the corners of her lips as she quickly nods her head.

He takes a step away from her, moving so that they're directly facing one another before plastering a big smile on his face.

"Hi, my name is Na Jaemin and it's a pleasure to meet you." He says in a proper tone, dipping his head towards her.

"It's very nice to meet you too, Na Jaemin. You can call me Jihyun, I hope we can become great friends." She matches his tone and action, the two of them laughing.

"Well then," Jaemin straightens up and walks over to her, extending his hand. She places her smaller hand in his, causing him to grip it firmly and shake it. "consider me your first real friend, it's truly an honor." he jokes, dramatically bowing in the process. The two laugh before he straightens up to look at her.

"So, Jihyun, thank you for your help. Maybe I'll actually get to live longer than I thought." He smiles, a hint of nervousness in his voice. She looks at him in pity, placing a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

She knows he wants her to tell him that he'll live, but she can't. The strength and future of the gang always comes first, no weak links. Even if it was a friend.

"Why don't we move on to something else? What are you best at, I want to see you in your element." She quickly changes the subject before the atmosphere becomes too tense.

"My strength is combat. Hongjoong says that I'm one of the best of the level 1's right now. I'm the only one who's been able to pin San for more than 10 seconds." He smiles with pride. Jihyun's eyes widen at his words, San is the best combat fighter in Ateez.

"You pinned San? For more than 10 seconds?" She asks in astonishment. He nods his head vigorously as she looks at him with a new sense of curiosity.