Alone | NCT

Chapter 23

...

When Renjun woke up, he was lying on the floor, a dirt floor. His whole body was sore, probably from the fall down to Hell. He sighed before getting up, dusting his clothes off. Unfortunately, he had made the bold decision to wear all black, which he was now regretting as the dirt had covered his entire outfit.

Well this is a great welcome to Hell.

Once Renjun had decided that he had rid enough of the dirt, he made his way forward along the dirt path in front of him. The scenary around him was exactly how Jaehyun had described and simulated for him in the agency. The "sky" was dark, rocky mountains, which he had no desire to climb, surrounded him. There was no other being in sight, only the dirt path in front of him.

Eventually, the path had guided him to a river, where a boat and hooded figure waited for him. How cliché. As Renjun got closer, the figure turned towards him. As it turned around, Renjun realized that it had no face or body, it's "hands" wearing cloves, the robes going down to the floor, hiding its feet. It was holding a staff, three tiny skulls hanging on a chain around the top part of it.

"Who goes there?" The hooded figure boomed.

"Huang Renjun." Renjun said, hands on his hips. He was barely in Hell and he already hated it and wanted to leave as soon as possible.

"You're not dead." The figure pointed out. I sure hope I'm not.

"I'm here to see the Devil." Renjun told him. The figure seemed to nod before speaking again.

"Are you sure you want to enter the depths of Hell?" It asked him. Renjun desperately wanted to say no but knew he had no other choice.

"Yes."

"Very well then. Enter the boat where my collegue will take you to the otherside." The figure said, motioning to the boat. Renjun mumbled a thank you before getting on the boat, where another hooded figure waiting for him. This one was almost identical to the previous one, the only difference was that instead of a staff, this one held a long oar.

Once Renjun was seated, the figure began rowing, making the boat moved. Renjun looked down the river, noting that there seemed to be nothing in sight for a few miles.

This is going to be a long mission.

...

"Where are you going?" Rena asked the males standing in front of her. She was leaving Jaemin's room to return to her own for the night when she bumped into Jaehyun and Winwin.

"I'm going back to the agency. We're going to meet to discuss the solo missions." Jaehyun told her.

"Oh, alright." Rena replied, looking down at her hands. She didn't expect Jaehyun to be going back so soon.

"You have Jaemin and Jimin here anyways. You don't need me." Jaehyun said, giving Rena a small smile.

"Alright, have fun then." Rena said before turning around to head to her own room. Jaehyun turned back to look at the faerie behind him.

"Let's get going then." Jaehyun told him. Winwin opened the faerie door, stepping in. Jaehyun quickly followed behind him.

They excited inside the meeting room, to the surprise of the others. Taeil simply smirked as he leaned back into his chair. Taeil sat beside Taeyong, who had Doyoung on his other side. Winwin quickly left to get Johnny as Jaehyun took his seat beside Taeil.

"How was your winter break so far?" Taeyong asked him. Jaehyun shrugged.

"Nothing interesting." Jaehyun replied, fiddling with his fingers.

"Nothing?" Taeyong asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Seri's doing well, if that's what you wanted to hear." Taeil couldn't help but hold in a laugh at Jaehyun's words. Taeyong had balled his hands in fists. Jaehyun was ticking Taeyong off on purpose.

"If you wanted to hear about Sora's mother, you should have asked directly." Jaehyun said, making Doyoung's head pop up.

Suddenly, Winwin had returned, this time with Johnny. Johnny looked at the members inside, immediately sensing the tension.

"Geez, we haven't even started yet and you already want to kill each other." Johnny said, making Jaehyun scoff. Johnny and Winwin took their seats, signalling the start of the meeting

"Let's just get these updates over with." Taeyong said, leaning back to sleep. He looked towards Taeil.

"I dropped Haechan off at the building yesterday. Judging by the burns we had to heal, I can assume it's going smoothly." Taeil said.

"How do we know he's not going to actually help his brother?" Doyoung pointed out. Taeil let out a small chuckle.

"It's simple, we don't. But knowing Haechan, Dongwook will probably be back in the confinement building quite soon."

...

The Underground City. Haechan followed his brother as they walked through the streets of the marketplace, stopping at the familiar supernatural bar, Cerberus. Dongwook casually opened the doors, despite the sign out front saying that they we're closed. Haechan followed the elder male inside.

"We're closed." The girl at the bar said.

"Oh please, you're always opened for me." Dongwook said with a smirk. Upon hearing Dongwook's voice, the girl looked up, narrowing her eyes.

"What are you going here?" Aria exclaimed. Dongwook motioned to Haechan, so he stepped out from behind his brother.

"Haechan-"

"It's Donghyuck." Haechan said, correcting her. Aria stared at him before slowly nodding her head.

"Alright, Donghyuck." Aria said, not sounding too convinced. Does she know about my mission?

"What do you want from me?" Aria asked, pouring the two males drinks. Haechan watched as Dongwook sat at the bar, slowly sipping the drink before following suite.

"There were a few sirens that wanted to see me. Don't suppose you would know where to find them, would you?" Dongwook asked her. Aria shrugged her shoulders.

"You know I cut ties from the siren choir a long time ago." Aria told him. Dongwook rolled his eyes.

"Fine, what about faeries?"

"I'm a siren, what would I know about faeries?" Aria exclaimed as the cloth in her hands lit on fire, quickly dropping it. The cloth extinguished before it hit the grown, an evil grin on Dongwook's face.

"Whoops." Dongwook said with a chuckle. Aria clenched her teeth as she placed her now burnt hand in a glass of water, healing herself as she glared at Dongwook. "Try again, sweetheart."

"They'll be coming in later tonight. Stick around if you'd like." Aria said, pulling her hand out, drying it off. "Would you two like something to eat while you're here?" She added, looking straight at Haechan.

Haechan wasn't sure if he should answer or not but luckily, Dongwook was ahead of him.

"Two plates of nachos please." Dongwook said, waving his hand. Aria nodded before heading out.

"Oh, and don't you dare tell any of the agents we're here or else your hand won't be the only thing being burnt tonight.

I officially regret taking on this mission.

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Happy Birthday Seasonies!! <3

It honestly feels like such an honour to have the same birthday as the fandom cuz like nct is saying happy birthday to NCTzens and i'm just here like oh it's my actual birthday too hehehe

Super special day for all of us!!