Stronger || NCT mafia au

Chapter 39 | "hold on"

Jaehyun takes off down the hallway, Jaemin close on his heels. All the members follow one after another, sprinting blindly down the hallway. Taeyong takes one last look at Jihyun, standing there helpless. A single tear slides down his face but he quickly wipes it away, turning to follow down the hallway, bringing up the rear.

"Where are we going?" Jaemin yells out to Jaehyun.

"This passage leads us into a hideout room on the other end of the building. It won't be sealed shut so if she can stall, we might be able to make it back in time." Jaehyun says, panting as he pushes himself to run faster.

Jaemin continues to run, clutching his gun tightly.

"Please Jihyun, hold on." He mutters to himself quietly.

Jeno runs right behind him, a darkness in his eyes as he clicks the safety off of his gun. He silently pushes on, keeping a straight face, but internally he's dying. His heart is beating erratically and his stomach's in knots as he runs behind Jaemin.

"Ten!" Jaehyun yells out, not tuning around and still running, "update!"

Ten, who is a few people back, looks at the small device in his hand, showing surveillance of the main arena. He quickly scans through the different cameras, seeing Jihyun in the middle talking with Renjun.

"She's stalling" he calls back. He notices Johnny getting increasingly frustrated, a worried look coming onto Ten's face. "I don't know how long it'll last though"

"It'll last." Jaehyun breathes out, all of them pushing themselves to run faster. "It'll have to last."

- - -

"Kill her"

Jihyun's eyes widen when the words leave Johnny's mouth. Her blood runs cold as she sees Renjun pull his gun out of his waistband with a trembling hand and slowly begin walking towards her.

"Renjun, you don't have to do this." She calls out with a shaky voice, trying her best to get through to her friend.

"Yes he does, Jihyun. You've lost. Shut up already." Johnny calls from behind the younger boy.

"If I'm going to die, can't I at least have closure? As my brother, don't you owe me that much?" She calls back, blinking away the tears.

"Fine, to hell with it, nothing will change your fate anyway." Johnny scoffs out.

"Renjun how did this happen?" She says softly, looking at her friend in disbelief. "Has this been your plan all along?"

"No." Renjun says, shaking his head. "I-I had no idea."

He lowered his gun, tears brimming his eyes as he looked at his once friend and mentor. She stared at the boy who she had so deeply trusted and felt a pang in her heart.

"Then how...?" She trails off, her voice breaking.

"It started as extra training. He told me he would help me get good enough to join NCT. How dumb would I be to reject the extra help." Renjun mutters out, scoffing at his own actions. He raises his eyes but immediately looks away, unable to look at the hurt on her face.

"It was only three nights ago when I found out. The same night you texted us. He showed up and told me about this plan." Renjun continues quietly.

"The cuts in your face...those were from him, weren't they?" Jihyun breathes out in realization. Renjun nods.

"Yeah. He told me that it was the perfect chance. Following him meant I would live, and be allowed to join NCT." He responds. "I didn't have a choice."

"You always have a choice, You could've made it on your own if you tried." She says carefully, not wanting to upset him.

"I figured that you'd notice I wasn't trying. The one condition was that i had to do whatever Johnny told me, leading up to this I guess." Renjun says sadly.

He takes a deep breath, looking at her with his best attempt at a cold expression and raising the gun towards her again. Her eyes widen in panic as she quickly thinks of something to say.

"W-what about the guys?" She says quickly, internally praying that there's help on the way. Renjun lowers the gun as pain flashes in his eyes.

"Aren't you going to miss them? Can you really go through with doing this to them?"

"They won't be killed as long as they're obedient." He responds, but she hears the shake in his voice.

"Do you really believe that?" She asks with a whisper. Renjun stares into her eyes, a fear lingering in his gaze as he starts to put the gun down.

"Alright, enough talking kid, let's go." Johnny shouts out, walking to stand behind the boy, noticing his hesitance. "You know what'll happen if you disobey my orders" he whispers, then turning to walk back to his spot.

"I'm sorry, Jihyun." Renjun takes a deep breath, closing his eyes tightly for a moment. When he opens them, they're blank and emotionless. He raises the gun, pushing the barrel against her head.

She takes a deep breath, closing her eyes, a single tear falling down her face.

A loud bang echos throughout the room followed by the subtle thump of a body hitting the floor.

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