Stronger || NCT mafia au

Chapter 58 | "right away"

They days turned into weeks and Jihyun still didn't wake up. It had been over 5 weeks now and she was still in a coma. The boys checked on her everyday, often having their own small conversations before the deafening silence overcame them.

"Morning Jeno." Yuta said, handing the younger a cup of coffee.

"Hi." he took the cup from Yuta, turning on his heel and walking out of the room.

"Hi Jaemin." Yuta said as he entered the kitchen.

"mmh" Jaemin walked past him and into the next room.

"Sungchan! Shotaro! How's it going?"

"Fine" "Alright" the two deadpanned, also walking straight past Yuta.

"Hey Jaehyun."

"Yuta." Jaehyun nodded to him, grabbing an apple from the counter and leaving.

"Hi Taeyong."

"Hi Yuta, how are you?" Taeyong responded quietly, a tiredness in his eyes that didn't go unnoticed Yuta.

"Better now that someone's actually decided to talk to me." Yuta said, slightly rolling his eyes and pushing a mug towards him.

"Don't stress about it, they don't mean it."

"I know. We're all a bit off without her, aren't we?"

"It seems so..."

The whole house seemed to have a heaviness to it. They continued to train and do their jobs as normal, but there was no joy in the house. Even when Yangyang and Donghyuck pulled their antics, there was no genuine fun or happiness behind it, rather it was simply a distraction so that they didn't need to face the sadness living in their hearts.

Jaehyun and Jeno became closer, both of them coped through training and they soon began to practice with one another. Jaehyun let out his guilt with each punch, still unable to forgive himself for almost letting her die. Jeno fought through his frustration, the feeling of helplessness was one that he wasn't so used to.

Jisung and Chenle spent most of their time in Ten's office together. The pair of best friends trying to cheer one another up in the peace of the older boy's office.

Sungchan and Sicheng began to take on more and more private hits. Each boy often left some time in the late night and came back hours later, a bit of blood on their faces and a bag of money in their hands. Taeyong noticed and was concerned but trusted their skills to keep them safe.

Speaking of Taeyong, he was slowly coming undone at the seams. He was trying so hard to stay strong as the leader but was just as broken as the other boys. He couldn't sleep at night, instead sitting in his office and staring into the darkness as his emotions consumed him.

Kun and Yuta noticed Taeyong's stress and tried to help out, watching over the younger members in a silent panic while trying to keep the house under control.

Jaemin simply sat in the middle of the chaos. It was as if the world was moving around him. He would visit her everyday, talking to her and giving her updates about how the gang was doing. He felt empty inside but going to see her made him feel sane. To hear the beeping of her heart machine and to know that she was still there was enough for him to make it to the next day.

"Hey guys, why don't we all do something together tonight, hmm?" Mark said, him and Donghyuck popping their heads into the training room where Jeno and Jaehyun currently were. Jeno nodded in response, offering a hand to Jaehyun as they stood up, sweat dripping from their faces.

"Go get cleaned up and meet us in the main room in 10." Mark and Donghyuck left the training room, walking over to the main area where the rest were gathered.

"Are they coming?" Jungwoo asked, taking a seat on the couch.

"Yeah, where's Sungchan?"

"Probably out taking another hit." Taeyong remarked, glancing down at his watch. 2am. "He left a few hours ago and should be back soon."

Jaehyun and Jeno made their way down the stairs, fresh clothes on as they plopped themselves down on the couch.

"Sungchan's out again?" Taeyong nodded in response to Jaehyun's question. "He really should be more careful going out alone, he's taking a lot of hits recently."

"Let the boy cope, if going on solo killing sprees is what he needs to do then so be it. It's not like he's killing innocents anyways." Ten remarks from the couch while scrolling through his phone.

The door slams open, all of the boys turning to see Sungchan walking in. He had a few cuts on his face and some blood on his shirt.

"Sungchan! Are you okay?" Sicheng asked, standing up to go and see the boy.

"Yeah I'm fine, here." He handed the chinese boy the bag in his hand, Sicheng's eyes widening when he looked at the amount of money inside.

"Who did you even kill for this much?"

"I don't even know. Just another toxic person gone from this earth." Sungchan responded dryly, no hint emotion on his face. Sicheng looked at him worriedly before backing off and putting the money down.

"Want to join us? We're watching something together." Taeyong said with a slight smile. Sungchan turned to look at him, a frown still etched onto his face.

"Do I have to?"

"Yes, actually, you do." Kun said, standing up. "It'll be good for you, for all of us. You've been coping in your own way and we've let you, but you're still part of this family, so join us." Sungchan sighed, slinging off his jacket and going to sit next to the chinese boy with a forced smile.

They were all sitting around the main room staring at the TV as Lucas flipped through the channels, trying to find something to watch and distract them. The ringing of Taeyong's phone finally broke the silence. He quickly grabbed it, walking to the side of the room to answer.

"Hello? Yes this is Lee Taeyong." The members listened in, still focused on the TV screen.

"Wait what? She what?" Everyone turned to stare at him now, nervousness written on all of their faces as they quickly realized who had called him.

"Yes, we'll be there right away. Thank you." Taeyong hung up the phone and walked back to the boys.

"We're going to the hospital right now." He paused, taking a deep breath before a smile appeared on his face.

"She's awake."