bad alive {dong sicheng}

34

keni walked into the cafe shop with winwin, her small hand clutching his in anxiety as she glanced around the seating area for the woman that was supposedly her mother.

she made eye contact with the beautiful but intimidating woman, she gulped and her hands shook nervously. 

winwin glanced down at the girl my his side and frowned, rubbing circles on her hand with his thumb in a soothing gesture. he kneeled down to look at her closely, "hey. it'll be okay." he kissed her forehead softly and stood back up, looking at the woman determinedly.

keni nodded slightly and together they crossed the room, hand in hand. they settled in the chairs across from the woman and both grimaced at the same time. 

keni took in her mother's appearance. chen liu was wearing a long and elegant dress the color of red wine, with a victorian lace neck. her makeup was bold and intimidating, the wing of her eyeliner was sharp enough to cut someone with her sharp gaze. 

however, the beauty of the woman was only surface level. 

if you looked closely, chen liu's eyes were a starking red and they almost bulged out of her face, giving her an appearance of a bug. 

when chen liu looked at keni, her mouth snarled up into an unpleasant smirk and keni's first impression was that her mother was not completely sane. 

keni glanced at winwin next to her, their hands still clasped together, but this time even winwin looked a little scared in face of the woman. 

"my daughter, i'm sorry," was the first thing that chen liu said and keni was slightly taken aback.

winwin spoke up, "sorry for what?"

chen liu gave winwin a glare that seemed to pierce his soul, "sorry for abandoning her back then. if i had known that she would end up living with a bunch of..... criminals, i wouldn't have let her go."

keni's face burned, "criminals?"

chen liu chuckled, "my dear, these gang members aren't good for you."

"you killed someone, i don't think you have a right to say that," keni pointed out.

"i only gave the order, you guys did the deed, " chen liu folded her arms together, smirking, "you're better off without these low-lives."

keni inhaled a sharp breath, eyes narrowing, forgetting her earlier anxiety of this meeting, "don't ever call them that."

chen liu raised an eyebrow, "if i didn't know any better, i'd say you actually had feelings for this boy right here."

keni paused for a bit, "what's it to you?" she replied, words dripping with hate.

"of course it's in my interest to know, you're my daughter after all," chen liu examined her perfectly manicured nails.

"why are we here? stop wasting our time," winwin spoke up after watching keni with adoration at how quickly she had come to his and the boys' defense.

chen liu looked winwin directly in his eyes, "you are welcome to leave, i had not intended on you being here anyways."

keni scoffed, holding up her hand, which was intertwined with winwin's, "he stays with me wherever i go."

"well he won't be going with you everywhere for much longer, move back with me to china my dear," chen liu proposed.

keni and winwin both searched the woman's face for any sign that she was joking. only she wasn't, she was fully serious.

keni was slightly taken aback, the woman that had thrown her away was now asking for her to come back and live with her, no doubt, in a life full of luxury.

but keni was no longer foreign to luxury. the nct boys were loaded and as a result she had everything she could possibly ever want without even having to ask. she wasn't fond of wealth and never knew how to really use it, which is why the boys basically had to drag her around and buy clothes for her.

nothing about her mother's proposition was appealing to her and as she winwin's thumb started rubbing circles on her hand again, she looked up at him, assuring him with one small smile that she knew that she was where she belonged. 

with him.

"no."

chen liu laughed humorlessly, "you can't possibly be turning your own mother down?"

keni stood up, tugging on winwin so that he would stand up to. 

she looked back at chen liu, "i don't have a mother."

before she could step away however, one of her mother's men held out a fancy envelope. keni took it in her free hand, staring at it.

"at least come to this. i would like to see you one last time before leaving for china," chen liu spoke.

an invitation to a ball at her mother's temporary mansion was the last thing that keni wanted. 

"he will be there," chen liu spoke.

"who?"

"your father?" the look on the woman's face was evil and even winwin shuddered.