Eunbi was in one HQs hallways, having had been discovered trying to get Mark out of the warehouse by another NCT member who brought them back immediately. Mark was in an office with the medic and Eunbi felt to guilty to leave. He wouldn't have gotten shot if she didn't need rescuing. Her back was pressed up against the wall as she sat on the ground, head in her hands.
She was well aware of Taeyong standing at the end of the hallway, watching her as he talked with the member who had brought them back. Giving up on trying to act strong, she began to let her tears stream down her face, sobbing gently into her hands as she thought of all that had happened in the last week.
Noticing her tears Taeyong began to panic, looking to Yuta in desperation. "She's crying, what do we do?"
"Go comfort her" Yuta had barely ever seen Taeyong in such distress, seeing as he usually went to Johnny about these types of things. But, with Johnny currently operating on Mark Taeyong found himself discussing the events with Yuta.
"How do I do that?"
"Start with hugs" Taeyong has been looking at Eunbi as he spoke but at Yuta's words he suddenly turned back to him.
"With what?" Yuta had to control his laughter, knowing it would not help Taeyongs mindset.
"Go up to her and wrap your arms-"
"I know what hugs are Yuta" Taeyong interrupted the boy before looking at Eunbis shaking body and sighing. "Here goes nothing"
Eunbi could here footsteps and had mildly expected to be demanded to tell whoever it was everything about what had happened, but instead the person took a seat next to her and gently wrapped an arm around her shoulders. Feeling herself get pulled into a chest she got a little frightening and began to sob harder until a gentle voice began to shush her.
"It's okay, I understand, you did nothing wrong" Taeyong was surprising himself seeing as he had never really been good at comforting. After Eunbis sobs eased up and became sniffles he realised her, gently patting her head as he did so. Eunbi was equally as shocked to find out it had been Taeyong who hugged her, seeing as he seemed extremely cold.
"I would like to join you in acknowledging the difficulties of your life" And he was back to being awkward, but at least he got a small smile from the girl.
"That was the worst comforting attempt ever" Taeyongs eyes softened as Eunbi hiccuped slightly as she talked, finally meeting her tears filled eyes.
"I know, I'm not great at this whole scene"
A small silence followed until Eunbi asked what had been on her mind ever since her arriva at the HQ. "Why are you not making me tell you what happened?"
Taeyong let a small smile grace his lips before looking at the wall in front of him. "You are grieving, you lost your freedom and innocence due to something that was not at all your fault, so your well being comes before our needs for information."
Eunbi was shocked by his kind words. He was in a gang, a gang specifically known for its violence and ruthlessness, so why was he prioritising her over his own agenda? Seeing her wide eyes and confusion Taeyong spoke what he wished everyone could hear.
"We aren't as bad as people think, it's just sometimes we have to do bad things to get good results, and when that happens people tend to forget all the good you did" Thinking back to it, she had never seen anything good things written on the gang, but she had seen a lot of bad things written the people they had assassinated.
"Is that why you joined NCT? You wanted to do good?" It was a confusing concept, but it did kind of make sense.
"It's why I founded NCT" Shock overtook Eunbis face as she processed what he said. He had founded NCT? But he seemed so young.
"So you're the leader?"
"Yes"
Another silence ensued as the sat slumped against the wall staring at the one in front of them.
"How did you get people to join? I'm guessing they couldn't see the good in it straight away either" it was a simple attempt to keep the conversation running so her mind wouldn't drift back to the boy getting a bullet pulled from his shoulder.
"That was the easiest part I reckon" Eunbi watched as his expression changed to a soft look of adoration. "Everyone here had no where to go and no one that would care. We are the outcasts, the broken; but here we belong"
Despite her past fear for the man, Eunbi couldn't help but admire Taeyong. He did something hard, knowing of its consequences, to achieve good results and she could easily tell by his body language that NCT was like family to him. Her thoughts were interrupted as the door next to her flew open and the tall man that had been helping Mark walked out.
"Johnny, how did it go?" Taeyong laughed slightly as Johnny threw his hands in the air.
"I am a medical god so it went well, but the first thing he told me when we were done was that I forgot the anesthesia" Both Eunbi and Taeyongs mouths dropped wide open before Johnny started laughing. "I'm just kidding, but he did say that Eunbi was also injured"
With a thankful sigh that he had been kidding Eunbi allowed herself to finally remember her own injures. It was quite clear to anyone she had a few, but to her it wasn't that big of a deal compared to the bullet wound Mark had received. Holding up her wrist slightly with the support of her other hand Taeyongs mouth dropped open again.
"Now that is a broken wrist if I've ever seen one" And with that she followed Johnny into the room and sat down on the bench he told her too. It wasn't what she had imagined. It was on the first floor of the house and was in the middle of a hallway, but she had never imagined it would be like this. It looked like a hospital, very clean with large cabinets full of medical supplies. By the door there was a bench where she was sat and on the other side of the room was a series of beds, one with curtains drawn around it where she guessed Mark was.
When Johnny came back over he quickly got to work, cleaning the blood off the places where the rope had cut through her skin before gently bandaging them up and placing it in a splint. She got a little shy when it came time to work on her torso before realised she hadn't even seen her injures there and allowed him to check it out. There were a few gashes from the cane and plenty of bruises and a look of pity formed in Johnny's eyes as he wrapped bandages around her waist. Torture was never something to be taken lightly, and seeing the state of her body was definitely proof. Not only were there exterior injures galore, but her ribs were easily seen and eyes looked a little sunken in.
It was only after he finished that Johnny flashed her a smile before pointing at the closed curtain. "Marks in there, he should still be awake so feel free to say hi"
Sliding off the bench Eunbi did just that, walking over to the curtains and quietly saying she was coming in before pulling the curtain back, revealing Mark. He was sitting up in his bed, bandages wrapped around his shoulder very professionally as he smiled at her.
"You okay?" Marks words brought a smile to Eunbis face as a small laugh escaped her lips.
"Shouldn't I be asking you that?"
Their soft chatter lasted until Mark drifted into a sleep, but Eunbi couldn't bring herself to leave him by himself after all he had been through for her. Instead, she opted to sit back in the chair, drifting to sleep with her hand gently intertwined with his.