Doubler || NCT || Completed

59

Yujin froze. "What did you just say?"

"We could try to take down their system", Jeno repeated his suggestion.

Frown found Yujin's forehead as she leaned away from him so that she could look into his eyes. He had lowered his head slightly, meaning that Yujin didn't have to tilt hers much in order to face him even though they were still standing close to each other. Close enough that it would've been easy for her to ignore the rest of the world and just admire his features.

"How could we do something like that?" she asked.

Jeno shrugged but there was hopeful glint in his eyes when she didn't reject the idea immediately. "We have Jisung now, he must know at least something useful."

While his words sounded plausible, Yujin knew that it wouldn't be easy. She rubbed her neck, trying to gather her thoughts.

"So, you're planning to go back to the poachers' headquarters willingly?" she rephrased his idea a hint of disbelief in her voice. "Even after they injected me with that poison? They could have more of it, just waiting for us to do something reckless."

Jeno listened to her while turning around again.

His sudden silence confused Yujin. "After tonight, you all are already in their radar. I'm sure that now that Jisung left them, they'll be very careful and suspicious of our plans. Haven't your pack already been through enough?"

Her words received no reaction, as Jeno faced the mirror. He spread some ointment on the wound on his shoulder and Yujin tried her best not to stare at his well-defined shoulder blades and shoulders.

"Do you need help with that?" she asked softly, taking a few steps towards him so that she could point at his wounded shoulder. He remained silent, only shaking his head as an answer to her question while he finished up with the ointment and then put on a loose t-shirt.

"The ointment is going to smear your shirt", Yujin commented halfheartedly.

Jeno turned around again and Yujin saw his tired, sad eyes. She wanted to hug him but his sudden, dejected silence told her that it might not be well-received.

She looked around the room that was dimly lit with the lonely bedside lamp, and spotted the two forgotten noodle bowls on the table. "Aren't you hungry?" she asked, nodding towards the bowls. "You haven't eaten anything. You should eat before the food gets cold."

Before she could reach out for the food again, Jeno grasped her arm gently. She looked up, meeting his eyes, and her eyebrows lifted in a questioning manner.

"How long are you going to keep refusing our help?" he asked. Yujin blinked before turning her head to the side so that she didn't have to see his desperate eyes. Jeno sighed. "It would be easier for us to make a plan together instead of you doing your own thing secretly and then ending up in situations where we need to save you."

Yujin stiffened.

"It's normal to need others, noona", Jeno continued. "Had you been honest about your plans instead of lying to us, we could have figured out something together and maybe you wouldn't have ended up being kidnapped."

A lump got stuck in Yujin's throat. She swallowed, trying to get rid of it. Her mouth was dry.

"Deep inside you know it too - that there are times when you can't deal with the situation on your own and you need our help", Jeno's voice was serious but smooth.

Yujin shook her head.

"The rest of them will die just like your father did. While trying to protect something that's not worth it." The words from her nightmares echoed in her head, louder than before.