cryptic | Mark Lee

7

Aera's POV

"This is what you call a family meeting?" Mark mumbles to me.

"This is the closest i've ever gotten to one." I shrug.

Our attention was then directed to Suho who was now speaking in front of all of EXO's members and the members of NCT 127.

We were seated on various couches and chairs with our attention faced to Suho speaking in the front. EXO and NCT were all mixed together, I took the furthest seat from everybody.

"So you're trying to tell me that not only do NCT know that Aera is Lay's little sister, but they also know that she's Cryptic?" he asks dumbfounded.

"They also know that she works as our hacker sometimes." Kai chirps in making me groan internally.

Ugh, i'm gonna get in so much trouble. The only rule they've ever given me was to lay low, and I broke it.

"Aera, you know what has to be done." Kyungsoo speaks up calmly.

I shoot him a 'dude wtf' look but he just stands there with a blank expression.

"No, there's no way she's joining." Chanyeol stands up from his seat. "Hyung were not putting her in danger like that, no way am I letting that happen."

I feel my ears get red, but I try to stop myself. Not the time or the place.

"I agree with him." I add on to what he said.

We make awkward eye contact before he takes his seat again and we stare at anything besides each other.

"Hyung seriously, how are they supposed to be in the same group? They can't even look at each other for more than 5 seconds." Baekhyun asks. "We already have a hacker too." he adds.

"Yeah, isn't that against the rules too." Sehun asks. "There's a reason why they haven't been in the same room in 5 months."

If I could melt into the floor right now I would. I feel NCT's eyes burning into me looking for an explanation.

"I don't care about who dated who, I care about Aera's safety." Suho says and I bury my face into my hands.

"Please don't bring it up, I will join 5 mafias just don't bring it up." I mumble and cover my face with my arms while bringing my knees up to my chest hoping I can shrink and get out of this situation.

Truth is, me and Chanyeol... we had a thing. It was never an official relationship, but we liked each other.

At first it was just an innocent crush, then we began to spend every hour of the day together. It didn't help that him, Sehun, Kai, and me were the main people that stayed in the apartment.

Thing didn't end up working out between us, and it left us very awkward in the end. With him moving to the main EXO house and me wanting nothing more than to never speak to him again, things never got smoothed out.

"She can join NCT." Taeyong speaks up and everyone's attention goes towards him. "She's a good hacker, and we have too many units to ever refuse good work."

Me? Being a member of NCT; the most notorious mafia in Korea, hell, even the world. I don't think so.

"Then it's settled." Suho declares standing from his chair and reaching over to Taeyong.

"Woah, don't I get a say in this?" I ask as the two of them shake hands.

"No, i'm in charge of you since Lay is in China and you're still a minor." Suho states simply.

"No, i'm not doing this." I stand up from my seat.

Haechan walks over to me but I storm to my room and lock my door. No one can convince me that this will end well.

I grab a bag and start stuffing it with things I need. I don't know where i'm going, but i'll figure it out. Maybe i'll go to my brother? Or maybe i'll go to my first home? Anywhere but here.

I shove clothes, toiletries, and of course my laptop as well as my other devices.

As I rummage through my drawers to find the items i'm looking for my door slowly opens.

"I definitely locked that." I turn to see Mark standing at my doorway with a bent paper clip in his hand.

Of course.

"You packing to come to our house, or to runaway?" he asks taking a seat on one of the chairs in my room.

He sits very comfortably just watching me as I ignore him and continue to stuff my bag full of my belongings.

"We're not that bad you know." he talks not waiting for my reply anymore. "We're like EXO, we're a family."

"I'll pass, my "family" just gave me away to another gang." I bitterly remind him. "They think I can't handle myself, but I can."

"Aera, you allowed a mafia to spend the night at your house." he rebuttals. "Youre trusting, that's a good thing for most people, but we're not most people. We're in a dangerous business, we can protect you."

He stands up and takes a step towards me.

"I'm not in any business! I retired, I haven't done any dirty work in years, I refuse to." I try to sound confident but the shakiness in my voice speaks louder than my words.

He takes another step towards me, gently taking the bag out of my hands and dropping it behind him. My head drops as tears threaten to escape.

He lifts my chin up and my eyes meet his.

"It wasn't your fault what happened, you can't blame yourself." he tries to comfort me.

"If I wasn't Cryptic he would still be here. I would have never messed up his life and my own if I wasn't Cryptic." a tear falls onto my cheek quickly being swiped away by Mark. "I wouldn't be branded for life by a symbol that I didn't even want."

He glances down at my arm which i quickly cover with my own hand.

"I can't turn back the clock to fix all those things, but if you trust me I can help you. Please just trust me."

"What if you get hurt?" I ask.

"I always am."