The Hidden Card || NCT MAFIA

Chapter thirty-six: Betrayal never comes from an enemy

The loud sound of Taeyong's determined steps echoed through the hall, soon covered by Taeil's voice, "We have a problem," he stated, leading the two men into his office.

Taeyong took a deep breath, mentally preparing himself for whatever Taeil was about to tell him.

"I was re-watching the video surveillance, and I noticed something."

The eldest sat at his desk, facing the multiple screens. As he was typing on his keyboard, the biggest one went black, only to show what seemed to be the front gate of the property a second later.

"I'm not sure what we're supposed to be looking at," Sicheng spoke, his tone expressing his confusion.

"Yeah," Taeyong agreed, "I don't see anything."

Taeil leaned back in his chair, facing the two men standing.

"Precisely. There's nothing going on here."

Winwin frowned, "I don't get it."

"That's not normal," Taeyong whispered once realization hit him.

Taeil turned to him, nodding his head, "No, it's not. We should at least see a couple of cars pass by, or something. But instead, it's just this," he gestured for the screen where the streets were empty.

"Somebody tampered with our security system... Again?"

"Yes," Taeil sighed. "The clip you see is from two days ago."

"When the box filled with Iseul's stuff was delivered..." Taeyong whispered under his breath, as if he was talking to himself.

"But that's not all..."

Winwin and Taeyong shared a look.

"After what happened last time, I made sure to reinforce our security system, and no one could have messed with it from the outside."

"Hyung, what are you trying to say?" Sicheng asked, even though a part of him already knew the answer. He just hoped he was wrong, and so did Taeyong because he had come to the same conclusion.

No matter what the two of them were imagining, they still let Taeil explain, out of respect.

"You guys already know what I mean..."

He took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

"It's been done from the inside. Someone came in here to delete the original footage of the surveillance camera."

Sicheng immediately glanced at Taeyong, worried about his reaction. To his surprise, he didn't throw anything that was in his reach onto the nearest wall, but cracked his knuckles out of frustration instead, as if he still felt the need to break something.

"Are you sure?" he managed to ask Taeil, his voice rumbling like thunder.

The technical engineer nodded gravely.

"I wouldn't have told you about it if I wasn't."

Taeyong ran a hand through his hair, clenching his jaw.

"Then, that can either be one of two things..." he began, pacing around the small room, "either someone somehow managed to pass by our multiple layers of physical and material security without being seen, or..."

"Or this "someone", is already in," Sicheng finished for him, his eyes turning dark.

It was a very rare sight to witness Winwin get angry, but treason and backstabbing were things he did not handle well.

"What's the plan?" Taeil asked, looking at their leader with a hint of discomfort in his eyes.

Taeyong did not reply right away. He took a second to try and put his murdering thoughts to the side, and clear his mind of everything that his body, through every muscle, every nerve, screamed to do. He had always used violence to deal with his emotions. He had never known better. But not this time. He had to try and see the bigger picture.

"For now," he finally spoke, his voice hoarse, "we don't do anything."

Taeil and Sicheng looked at each other, confused and wondering if they had heard him correctly.

"What?"

"I said we don't do anything for now," Taeyong repeated, with more confidence this time. "You don't talk to anybody about this until I say so, you hear me?"

They both nodded, their eyes wide open. Taeyong, the man they were so used to see lose his temper every single chance he got, was talking to them, and not screaming. He also hadn't broken a thing, Sicheng nodded, even though he had noticed how shaky his leader's hands seemed to be, as if asking to break, to destroy.

Taeyong clenched his fists to stop the shaking, and looked at the men he considered his brothers in the eye.

"As of now," he uttered with difficulty, "we don't trust anyone."

The words hurt him more than he would ever admit, and his thoughts were even darker. Because the truth was, Taeyong didn't even know if he could trust Taeil and Sicheng. He wanted to, more than anything, but if anyone in the house was a suspect, so were they.

Without saying another word, Taeyong left the room, feeling the sudden urge to breathe some fresh air. By the time he reached the backyard, he felt as if his lungs were on fire, and he gladly welcomed the fresh air on his face.

As though dealing with his personal demons wasn't enough work, he also had to take care of the ones in his own house. To say that he was lost was an understatement.

"Hyung?"

The sudden voice didn't even startle him. Taeyong kept his eyes closed, not wanting to face reality yet again.

"What is it?" he sighed.

Kun stepped forward to stand in front of him, eventually blocking the light of the sun. When Taeyong realized the warmth of the sun was no longer hitting his skin, he opened his eyes.

"I heard."

Taeyong frowned, "What?"

"I heard you, Taeil-hyung and Winwin," Kun explained.

Taeyong let out a curse under his breath.

"I know you," he added, "I know you're going to second guess everything and everyone, including yourself. Including me."

Taeyong wasn't blind. He saw how Kun was hurting when he uttered the last past of the sentence.

"You're not going to trust anyone anymore, and maybe you shouldn't. Trust me-"he stopped himself, letting out a dry chuckle. He had just realized how those two words were literally the last ones Taeyong would listen to. "I mean... listen to me when I say that you need to see the bigger picture."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean a lot of things happened in the span of a couple of days. If I were you... I would try and take some time to think things through. Put everything into perspective and list everything I know so far. Try to get a clearer view of what is really going on..."

Taeyong sadly smiled at his dearest friend. He had noticed how careful Kun was with his words. He always was, of course, but this time, it was different. It was as if he knew Taeyong wouldn't listen to him, and that hurt. That hurt terribly.

"Do what you will with this piece of advice, I guess," Kun sadly smiled back.

Without adding anything else, he passed by his leader. As he was putting a hand on the doorknob to walk back inside, Taeyong turned around.

"Kun- "

"Don't worry," his counselor cut him off, and the look he gave Taeyong failed to hide the pain behind his eyes "I won't say a word. Trust me."

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Did I fall asleep before publishing this chapter last night? Yes, yes I did.