The Hidden Card || NCT MAFIA

Chapter forty-three: The seed is planted

The walk back to Taeyong's car was silent, the only sound filling the air being the pitapat of rain falling down and hitting the old pavement. Chaewon was still shivering, and Iseul put an arm around her shoulders in an attempt to calm her down.

Kun and Taeyong carefully seated Jaemin on the passenger seat, while Taeyong took the wheel. The black leather of the seats was shining in the night, but soon got dirty because of their blood-stained clothes. Iseul sat in the middle, between Kun and Chaewon.

Everyone was waiting for Taeyong to start the car, only he didn't move.

"Uh... hyung?" Kun asked, frowning as he shot a worried glance to Jaemin who was slowly getting paler.

Taeyong turned around, his piercing eyes burying themselves in Chaewon's.

"Blindfold," he uttered.

Iseul, not impressed at all by his attitude, simply rolled her eyes as she let out a heavy sigh.

"Seriously, Taeyong?" she complained. "Is that really necessa-"

Taeyong didn't have to open his mouth to reply, his severe eyes now pinning her down. He cocked an eyebrow, as if daring her to defy him. Iseul only sighed once again, before taking off her scarf.

She looked at Chaewon with an apologetic smile, and her friend slowly nodded before Iseul delicately covered her eyes with the soft material. Luckily, it didn't have any blood on it.

As soon as he was sure she couldn't see anything, Taeyong took off, not caring about the speed limit as he drove back to the house. The whole car ride was silent, and the heavy atmosphere made Iseul's heart clench.

Taeyong parked the car in the driveway and got out of the car before Iseul had the time to take her seatbelt off.

"Don't take the blindfold off," Taeyong instructed with a strict look as he easily helped Jaemin out of the car.

Iseul held back a groan, and gently helped her friend while Kun was assisting Taeyong with Jaemin. As they were about to enter the house, Taeyong turned around to look at the girls with an expressionless face.

"No matter who asks," he began, his jaw clenched, "do not say a word about what happened. To anyone."

Iseul frowned, confused, but before she could ask what he meant by that, he spoke again.

"Understood?"

Iseul nodded, the knot in her stomach getting bigger. No, she didn't understand. But she was pretty sure he wouldn't tell her even if she asked, so she didn't.
Something was wrong, she could feel it. Taeyong wasn't acting right, he was stressed about something, and it wasn't Jaemin. She could see it by the way his muscles tensed every second, how furtive his eyes were. There was something he wasn't telling her, and Iseul didn't like that.

So she turned to her only conscious ally; Kun. Unfortunately, he seemed to understand what she was silently asking, but shook his head in refusal. He obviously knew something too, as Taeyong's closest member, but he wouldn't tell her.

Iseul was very observant. She had noticed the little things both men tried to hide, like how their shoulders tensed up at the slightest sound, or even how distant they were acting with each other. When Taeyong had joined them in the alley, he hadn't even spared a glance at Kun. He hadn't seemed surprised to see him there, but he still didn't say a thing. In the car, Iseul had caught Taeyong sending briefs glances in the rear-view mirror at Kun, and she wasn't quite sure why.

Taeyong had led them to the back of the house, and Iseul frowned. Why were they using the back door?

"Get Jaemin to the infirmary, I'll go get Doyoung," Taeyong told Kun.

The other man nodded and got in, leaving the girls outside. Chaewon was holding tightly onto Iseul's hand, her eyes still blindfolded. Taeyong turned to face Iseul.

"Go to your room and take your friend with you," he instructed, "and don't make a sound. Try not to run into anyone and close the door behind you. Only once you're in will you take the blindfold off, do you hear me?"

"What's happening?" Iseul asked, unable to hide the worry in her tone.

"Nothing you need to worry about," he replied, avoiding the question. "Just do as I say."

Taeyong didn't give her a chance to contest as he gently pushed her inside, closing the door behind them.

Iseul guided Chaewon upstairs, making sure to be as discreet as possible. She had no idea why Taeyong was acting so weird, but she figured he had a reason, and decided to trust him. She'd need to have a talk with him later, though.

Just as they were about to get in Iseul's room, the girls heard footsteps coming closer. Iseul swiftly opened the door to her room and pushed Chaewon inside, right as Mark appeared at the end of the corridor.

"Oh, hey, Mark," Iseul said, faking a smile as she put a strand of loose hair behind her ear.

Mark smiled back, "Hey, Iseul."

He frowned as he noticed how Iseul stepped to the side so she could stand in front of her door, as if she was hiding something.

"Everything alright?" he asked.

She raised her eyebrows, "Huh? Oh yeah, yeah, everything's fine."

Mark hummed, brows still furrowed, but didn't comment on it.

"The guys and I are gonna have a movie night, you wanna join us?" he offered.

"Oh, uh, I would have loved to, but I'm a bit tired, I think I'll just head to bed, but thanks."

Mark seemed a bit disappointed but didn't object. As he was going back to his own room, Mark turned around.

"Hey, Iseul, you were with Jaemin this afternoon, weren't you? You wouldn't happen to know where he is, now, would you?"

Iseul's face turned pale, "Um, no, I don't, sorry," she lied.

Mark frowned once again, "Weird, he said he'd help me with something... If you see him, tell him I'm looking for him, will you?"

Iseul didn't trust herself and simply nodded as a response. She was a terrible liar and didn't want to risk Mark finding out that Jaemin was passed out on a bed downstairs after being stabbed.

When she was sure Mark was gone, Iseul let out a breath she didn't know she was holding and joined Chaewon in her room, closing the door behind her.

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Only one chapter tonight, finals week is already killing me, sorry. Any idea of what's gonna happen next ?