The sun was shining brightly as Minji took a stroll down the main street. In the eye of the public, with tons of people and cars all over, she felt secure.
That was, until she noticed a figure pacing beside her, matching her every step. She slowly turned her head to take a look, a slight gasp leaving her mouth as her hands began to tremble.
"Shh, I'm not here to do anything bad." The boy said in a low voice. "I'm just here to talk."
"F-Felix." She stuttered out nervously.
"It's alright, remember we didn't want to hurt you." He warned, seeing her take a deep breath.
"What do you want?"
"To end this." He replied simply, shocking the small girl. "As you can tell, this wasn't our fight. I'm here to offer peace."
"Alright, what does that mean then?"
"NCT is a powerful gang and we don't want anymore trouble. We'll stop hunting you, stop hurting you, stop everything revolving around NCT if you can promise that your gang will not retaliate against Stray Kids for our actions this far." Felix said with a nod.
"So what? You just want me to say I promise you?"
"No, we are requesting a formal investigation. Here is the location, it's a neutral zone between our two territories. 7pm tomorrow. We can settle it all there and I assure you that Stray Kids will bring you no harm."
"Can I bring backup?" She asked.
"It's only natural for you to be afraid, so sure. No more than two other members though, as only 3 members of Stray Kids will be in attendance." He warned. "We don't want this to become a battle."
"Fine. I'll see you there."
Felix flashed her a smile, dipping his head politely before disappearing into the crowd of people and leaving her all alone.
- - -
"Are you kidding, Minji? Absolutely not. No way."
"Come on, Taeyong, we have to do this!" She argued back, a few of them gathered in the leader's office. "I want to be done with them, don't you?"
"It's too dangerous, how do we know we can trust them?" He argued.
"I already told you that they weren't the ones that hurt me, and they even said I could bring two other people for safety."
"She's got a point, Tae." Johnny piped up. "It would be nice to just have this done snd over with, don't you think?"
"If they're saying they want peace with us, we should just give it to them." Jaehyun agreed. "Hasn't this done enough damage already?"
Taeyong looked between the three of them, the encouraging nod from Kun being the final thing to push him over the edge. He let out a sigh, his shoulders dropping in defeat.
"Alright fine, but I'm going with you." He said.
"Yay!" Minji squealed. "Who else should go?"
"Well, who else do you trust the most? Who can you work the best with if worst comes to worst and you need to fight your way out?" Kun asked the girl.
"Haechan?"
"No way." Johnny said with a firm shake of his head. "He's far too unpredictable with you right now."
"Alright then Sungchan." She sighed. "Taeyong, Sungchan, and I."
The older boys exchanged glances, nodding their heads in approval.
"Okay, go and let him know." Taeyong said with a smile, the girl dipping her head to him and running out.
"Taeyong?"
"Have the gang on high alert. I want to be optimistic but we must be prepared for anything." He commanded the others.
"Do you want us to trail you then?"
"No. If this is a real peace offering, we cannot mess it up. Just have the gang ready to go at the base incase anything happens. I'll call for help if we need it."
- - -
"How you feeling?" Sungchan asked, tightening the gun holster on his hip.
"Ready to finally be done snd over with all of this." She sighed, taking the knifes Jaemin was holding out for her and slipping them into place. "I just want to move on with life."
"Yeah well let's hope this all goes well." Sungchan said with a nod, the two making their way to the garage.
"Are you not driving with us, Tae?" Minji asked as they saw him prepping his car.
"Not this time, I want to have two vehicles with us just incase."
Minji and Sungchan shared a glance, rolling their eyes at the leader's paranoia as they slid into her car. With a wave from Taeyong, they pulled out of the garage, following the older boy off of their property and into the night.
They pulled up to a dark building halfway between Stray Kids' and NCT's territory. Minji could make out two figures waiting for them, quickly realizing that it was Hyunjin and Felix.
"You came." Felix breathed a sigh of relief as Minji walked up to them with Taeyong and Sungchan.
"We did, and I'm trusting that you're going to make good on your word for peace." She said with a threatening bite to her tone.
"Of course." Felix said with a dip of his head. "Follow me."
He turned, walking into the building. Taeyong cast a reassuring look at Minji as they followed him down the dark hallway. She jumped slightly as Hyunjin shut the door behind them.
After leading down them what felt like a maze of hallways, Felix stopped outside a door where Chan was waiting.
"Chan."
"Taeyong."
The two leaders stared one another down as they approached.
"I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to stay with me while the other two continue."
"Why?" Taeyong growled lowly.
"It's best if the members negotiate without the authority of the leaders in the room. Don't worry, I won't be their either."
Taeyong turned to look at Sungchan and Minji, the two younger ones giving him firm nods. The older boy sighed, dipping his head and stepping aside.
With a nervous smile at their leader, Minji and Sungchan followed Felix to the next hallway, the heavy door slamming shut behind them.
- - -
Back at the house, the boys all gathered in the main room, fully suited up in case of an emergency. The atmosphere was tense, all of them counting down the seconds until they could be sure that the three of them were safe.
Haechan couldn't stop shaking, his leg relentlessly bouncing as Jeno and Renjun sat tensed next to him, ready to stop him incase he did anything impulsive. He was feeling restless and all he wanted was to know what was going on or something to distract him.
It seemed his prayers were answered when there was a knock at the door.
"I'll get it!" He yelled, shooting up from his seat before anyone had any time to react.
He made his way through the boys, clutching the gun at his side as he opened the door, hoping to see Minji standing there with a smile. It was not Minji, but who he did see only made him more confused.
"Hyunjin?"
Ahhh the end of the story is fast approaching! Only like 2 chapters left!