Beautiful Deception

T W E N T Y O N E

word count: 3, 193
warnings: nct is a chaotic mess; rundown of the circumstance where mark was shot but it's just a brief recap, nothing graphic.
pages (paging mode): 20
note: for anyone who has been with this book from the beginning in april of 2018, im happy to inform you that i'm finally able to incorporate wayv into the plot! this was originally ot18 when i started writing it, but ive finally found a way to bring in ot21 :) keep an eye out for that in this part and the next!
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January 25th, 9:31 A.M
location: infirmary wing, NCT underground.
mae

I woke up with a start and fell from the side of Mark's bed when my watch beeped twice.

I was so on edge lately; but I only had myself to blame for that.

I was constantly afraid that Taeil or Ten would find out about the night before last. I didn't know what I would say to them if they knew, but even worse was that I didn't know what they'd think of me after they discovered what I'd done.

I brushed myself off and stood up, instantly checking Mark's drip. It was half full, so I figured the medicines weren't likely to wear off before the meeting was done.

Satisfied, I pressed a hurried kiss to his head and dashed out of the door, making my way from the infirmary wing to the planning room.

I skidded to a stop at the entrance and nearly plowed right in to Ten, who was precariously balancing a huge box of donuts in one arm. He hardly even stumbled and turned to me with a warm smile.

"Good morning, Mae," he greeted, "did you get any sleep last night? I know you were up late treating Mark, but I hope you were able to rest a bit."

I smiled back as he held the door open for me with the hand that wasn't holding donuts. "Thanks for asking, and yeah, I got a few hours in."

"I'm glad to hear that." He responded, following me inside. We took our seats around the table and Ten set the box down.

Within seconds, Haechan and Jaehyun had already cleared out all of the frosted ones with sprinkles, only giving one up to WinWin's pout. I sighed at their antics, wondering for the millionth time how these boys could possibly be considered deadly, seeing how goofy and sugar-crazed they always were.

They were lucky they weren't in the music industry- they'd never be able to eat any of the junk they feed themselves with here.

Taeyong was the last of us to stroll in.
He took up his place at the head of the table, and when the doors swung shut behind him, an odd sort of quiet settled over us as all eyes looked to Mark's empty chair.

You did well, Mae. I reminded myself in an effort to dispel my doubts. Mark is going to be perfectly fine. You'll see.

Clearing his throat, Taeyong wasted no time in addressing the elephant in the room. "So, it's pretty obvious that Mark won't be attending this meeting, or any others any time soon. But thanks to Mae's medical skills, we can be sure that he won't be gone long."

Haechan faked a frown while the rest wore smiles of relief. I felt a small surge of pride from the knowledge that I was able to bring them this relief; that I'd been able to take care of Mark. It was good to know I'd at least done that much.

"Anyways, I was able to type up a log from yesterday, which I've given to each of you although it's mostly for Mae. Go ahead and read it so we can discuss our next move."

Leaning back in his chair, Taeyong gestured to the copies in front of all of us from yesterday's mission log. I eagerly picked mine up and flipped through it, skimming all the details I'd missed while fixing up Mark.