Trinity Six | NCT DREAM

020 QUIET DOWN

I made it back to the infirmary in a couple of minutes, stumbling through the house as I ran through the beautiful glass hallway, missing at the sun as it blinded my eyes, limping a bit on my right leg as it still hurt after Jaemin's little lesson. Recognizing the room, I quickly shut the door behind me as I shuffled into the infirmary, closing my eyes as I tried to cat my breath again. I leaned against the door as I took heavy breaths, wiping my hand across my sweaty forehead as I mumbled a series of profanities at Jaemin. That man brought out the absolute worst in me. Opening my eyes again, I was met with the sight of Porthos and Aramis standing in front of me, crowding the room as they took up the few seats that were scattered across the room and leaning against the walls, Jeno still lying unconscious on the bed. They all sent me different looks of curiosity and confusion as they looked me up and down, noticing how disheveled I looked. Clearing my throat as I straightened myself up, I opened my mouth to explain the station only to be interrupted by a loud banging on the door, Jaemin finally having caught up to me.

"Why are you blocking the door, y/n? Jisung asked, genuine confusion on his face as his beautiful doe-eyes took in my strange behavior. I just put on a tight-lipped smile and brushed off the question with a strained laugh, struggling to keep the door closed as I could now feel Jaemin grabbing the handle as well, pushing harder as I put my entire body weight on the door. One hard blow was all it took, though, and as the door flew open I was pushed further into the infirmary, scrambling away from the doorway and hiding behind Haechan as the group was met with the sight of Jaemin who was practically fuming, his hands shaking with anger. Looking around the room, his eyes locked on me as he stalked over to Haechan only to be stopped by Chenle, who had been looking at me for quite a while as he placed himself between us.

"Calm down, Jaemin," he began, holding up his hands as he tried to soothe the man in front of him, "What happened?" he asked, looking at the bloody nose from where the crimson red was still dripping onto the floor.

"Not your fucking business," Jaemin growled, trying to get past Chenle only to be stopped once again as the said made put both of his hands on his shoulders, standing his ground despite the harsh words of the elder.

"Actually, I believe it is our fucking business, Jaemin," Haechan said, grabbing my hand and giving it a reassuring squeeze as he stood up straight, covering my figure behind his own as the glared at Jaemin, "She's shaking, dude. What did you do?" he asked.

"What did I do?! What did I do? You ask," Jaemin yelled, raising his voice as he gestured wildly in my direction, glaring me down as I tried my best to stay hidden behind Haechan "Look what she did to my face!" He was yelling now, wiping a hand underneath the bloody nose and leaving and smearing the crimson red liquid across his cheek, making him look almost savage as he shook with anger. The other's heads turned in my direction at his words, and I felt even smaller at that moment, if possible.

"He hit me first," I mumbled, my voice was shaky and so low that no one expects Haechan would have been able to hear it, but he did. "What?" he asked, turning around to face me, "What did you say? he repeated, quickly looking me up and down as he searched for any obvious injuries, putting a hand on top of my shoulder and making me wince as he touched the part of my neck that Jaemin had his. His expression turned cold at my reaction, whipping around once again. "Did you hit her?" he sneered at Jaemin. A wave of shock passed through the others as they looked from Jaemin to me and back to Jaemin again, the room suddenly seeming colder as the atmosphere had taken on a serious tone, the feeling of hostility seemed to be everywhere, so clear that you could practically taste it.

"I was teaching her to fight," Jaemin said, crossing his arms over his chest as the same indifferent attitude from the gym came back. I felt tears well up in my eyes once again. He didn't even feel sorry. He was stronger than me, and now he was using his authority in the group to turn them against me, I thought. I couldn't help but let the tears fall as I began crying, quietly sniffling as I furiously wiped my eyes and tried to shake Haechan's hand off. But he held on, "Where are you hurt, y/n? Tell me, please," he asked me, his voice so soft that it made me break down right there and then. But no words came out. Chenle was the one to speak up instead, walking over to Jaemin and jabbing a finger at the elder's chest, "We don't mistreat women, Jaemin, you know that," he said, "We don't hit women, we don't fight women. We do not hurt women, goddammit Jaemin. It's one of our only principles and you know that." he said.

"If you go around and beat her up just because you blame her for Jeno's own decisions, then how does that make you any better than Taeyong, hm?" Haechan said, taking the word once again, "How does that make us any better from EXO, Jaemin?" A heavy silence followed, and as I wiped my eyes again, I looked past Haechan to face the group in front of me, all of them watching me carefully before Jisung's face turned into one of anger. Stalking over to Jaemin, he pulled his arm back before hitting the elder in the face, his head snapping back as his fist came in contact with his eye. My mouth fell open in shock, Renjun running over to stand in between the two of them as Jaemin lost his shit, lunging out for the younger.

As chaos broke out once again, I couldn't help but take a step back, hitting the foot of the bed with my back as I suddenly felt incredibly unsafe in the company of Trinity Six. This was exactly like the fight in front of the Heunginjimun, expect at that time they were fighting their enemies. Now they were fighting each other. And if they couldn't trust each other, how was I ever supposed to trust these men with my life if they couldn't deal with their problems in non-violent ways. In the middle of all the turmoil, loud noises ricochetting off of the walls, arguments filling the room, I almost overhead the moan that came from behind me. 

Whipping my head around, I scurried over to Jeno's side, the man still lying unconsciously on top of the bed. It must've been my imagination, I told myself, but then his eyebrowed furrowed as he scrunched his nose up, letting out another groan as he moved his hand to the bandaged wound on his chest. "QUIET DOWN, guys," he mumbled as he slowly opened his eyes, breathing heavily as if the simple task was occupying every last piece of energy in his body. I couldn't believe it, and the sight only made me cry even harder as I flew towards the man on the bed, throwing myself on top of him as I hugged him tightly, sobbing into the side of his neck. The others had heard him as well, standing completely frozen as they took in the scene in the middle of the room. The fight had come to a halt, as well. Jisung was hanging off of Haechan's back, arms holding the elder in a chokehold, and Chenle's hand was holding Jaemin's collar tightly, his knuckles completely white as his eyes darted over the group. Renjun was breathing heavily as well, looking towards the bed where I clung to Jeno's body, crying into his neck as the man stared back at the group with wide eyes, obviously confused about the situation that he had woken up to.

Everyone was quiet, and as no one offered him any explanation, he gently moved his hands to hold me, placing one of the small of my back and running the other one through my hair, his fingers softly coming through the filtered locks. "I'm so happy that you're alive, Jeno," I choked out. He said nothing as he simply continued stroking my back, mumbling soft words of comfort as he tried to silence my cries. Looking around the group who was now just staring at the two of us, he mouthed the words "What do I do," with wide-open eyes to which Renjun simply shook his head, mouthing back "Just hold her". Jeno pulled me closer as Jaemin let out a series of grumbles, complaining about the situation as he stormed out of the infirmary and slammed the door behind him.

In the silence that followed, the rest of Trinity Six moved out of the room as well, Haechan and Chenle both throwing me one last look before disappearing into the sun-lit hallway outside. I held Jeno even tighter as I tried to calm myself down, feeling incredibly relieved that he was alive at that moment. Feeling incredibly safe in his arms as he kept mumbling soft words of comfort in my ear. And finally, letting my exhaustion get the better of me, I fell asleep for the first time in days.

A/N:
If you enjoyed the story so far, please leave a vote on the little star in the corner. It would mean the world to me :)