— chapter ten: meeting the youngest —
"taeyong?" mark asked. the man, who was currently busy devouring some grilled pork, hummed and looked at him.
"i have a deal today, can i take jaemin with me?" mark requested. taeyong nodded and said "of course but then take donghyuck with you as well. he hasn't left the house for a while."
"but it's a deal? me and jae are going to go with guns and stuff and so are our partners. it'll put him in danger." mark exclaimed.
"can i join?" another voice asked. donghyuck, who had been quiet this whole time, looked up to the man. he had seen him around before but didn't get his name or anything.
"sure, you can yuta. mark, how about this? yuta drives you and jaemin out. then him and donghyuck stay at chenle's while you and jaemin do whatever you do and done." taeyong suggested.
"but i want to see chenle and jisung too!" jaemin pouted. donghyuck chuckled as he saw renjun giving the man heart eyes.
"then you and mark join yuta and donghyuck after. but don't stay too long, the two have school tomorrow." taeyong sighed in resignation. jaemin clapped his hand excitedly and fist bumped yuta.
after dinner finished, donghyuck said goodnight to jeno and renjun since the two wouldn't be joining him. he managed to swiftly pull jeno to the side and whispered "talk to renjun man. just ask him, he's not going to reject you."
"but what if he does? i don't want to ruin what we have now." jeno questioned anxiously. donghyuck patted his back and replied "he won't, believe me! that boy is head over heels for you," the other nodded and then gave donghyuck a quick hug before leaving to his room.
since mark and donghyuck were both showered and mark was even already wearing his black leather jacket there was not much to do. donghyuck just got himself a jacket as well before joining mark in waiting at the front door. yuta arrived shortly after, giving both of them a curt nod. the rest of the waiting time for jaemin, the man passed his time by reading a book. donghyuck watched him and noticed that the book cover wasn't in korean but actually in japanese.
"you can read japanese?" he asked yuta curiously.
"oh uhm, yes i can. i am japanese." yuta responded and chuckled. donghyuck hummed. he felt stupid for not noticing earlier. the man's name was already telling him that he was foreign. but then again, it could be a fake name as well.
donghyuck questioned in his mind, from who he actually knew the real name. for all he knew, he could be calling everyone by their fake names and he wouldn't even know except for of course renjun and jeno. he obviously knew their actual names.
after a while jaemin arrived, all in black like everyone else. he had his hair styled up and a black mask under his chin. speaking of masks, he handed them all one as well. donghyuck took a look at it. it was black, of course, and in the upper corner on the inside the three letters nct were embroidered with neon green thread.
"wow, these look so cool." donghyuck said stunned. jaemin smiled at him sweetly and said "thank you. i did the embroidery."
"really?! that's so cool!" donghyuck exclaimed.
"enough, let's get going." mark interrupted them.
donghyuck rolled his eyes but followed the three men out of the building. a black car was already waiting for them. yuta got in on the driver's side. donghyuck wanted to get in in the back but jaemin held him back.
"you go in on the front. i need to talk with mark." he said.
"aren't you worried about you know.. me finding out the location?" donghyuck asked perplexed. with the sweet smile still on his lips jaemin replied "no i'm not. should i be?"
"no of course not." donghyuck responded and put his hands up in defence. suddenly yuta shouted "get in." so the two men obeyed. jaemin sat in the back and donghyuck in the front next to yuta.
"hold this." yuta ordered and gave donghyuck his book. donghyuck held it with interest, trying to decipher the meaning of the japanese characters on the front. the book's cover was all black with a white font which didn't gave any information about the book's content. donghyuck had no chance of guessing either since yuta took the book again, and stored it into his bag which was laying at donghyuck's feet.
"everyone has their seatbelts on?" the japanese questioned and they all said yes. "then let's go." yuta said and started driving.
during the drive donghyuck took interest in their surroundings. first they drove through a forest but not for long. after maybe twenty minutes they entered what seemed to be a small village at first. but the further they drove the more donghyuck realised that they were actually in seoul, just not in the part where he used to live and work at. more the exact opposite to be exact.
the north of seoul he had rarely visited so he couldn't recognise much of the surroundings. but he spotted a few store names as he knew the brands they were owned by. not that he would ever go grocery shopping himself but he went with jeno and renjun quite a few times.
"so this whole time we've actually been close to seoul?" donghyuck asked yuta. the man chuckled and nodded.
"yeah, still took them hours to get you to that building in gangnam though."
"to be fair, seoul is huge plus the traffic counts in as well." donghyuck said.
now that he was thinking about it, it made much sense. the mafia was off the radar but still close to the city so they could control whatever was going on.
after about forty minutes the car stopped in front of an empty looking warehouse. jaemin and mark got off, mark quickly exchanging a few hushed words. then yuta started the engine again.
"we're just going to leave them there?" donghyuck questioned. yuta nodded and then joked "yup. don't worry, they're both armed and big boys. they know how to handle themselves."
"so they won't get hurt?" donghyuck kept asking. he had to admit that some kind of worry was taking over him. he didn't want the two to get hurt or even worse.
"they won't. they do this every night. make some deals, go around the streets, checking out the smaller gangs in the different parts of the city. that's their job." yuta explained.
"they drive here every night? no wonder mark always sleeps until the afternoon." donghyuck noted. yuta chuckled and turned the car. they were now in a safer looking area with a lot of nice houses and some parks here or there.
"and we two-" yuta pointed at donghyuck and himself "we're going to visit our youngest 'members' now." he said. donghyuck felt a bit anxious as he asked "how young are they?"
"they're both nineteen. but don't worry, they're not actual members of the mafia, they're more like you." yuta said.
"i don't understand.." donghyuck mumbled confused.
"i'm sure they would love to explain to you themselves." yuta smiled and stopped the car.
donghyuck looked out the window. they were standing in front of a very nice looking house. it reminded donghyuck of the mafia mansion, just less hidden by trees.
"let's go." yuta called and donghyuck got out the car and followed the japanese man up the trail to the front door. yuta rang the bell and a minute later the door opened.
"hyung!" a boy called out and hugged yuta tightly.
"hi jisung! where's chenle?" yuta replied.
"right here!" another voice yelled and another male ran up to them. he as well hugged yuta before turning to donghyuck.
"hyung who's this?" he asked.
"chenle, this is donghyuck. donghyuck, these are chenle and jisung." yuta introduced them.
"nice to meet you, donghyuck." the boy called chenle said and happily dragged them into the house. while he, jisung and yuta were happily chatting, donghyuck looked around. it was a really nice house, big and simple still lively looking.
"you have a nice house." he said impressed.
"thanks but it's my parents house." chenle replied and guided them to the living room which was well lit. outside you could see a nice garden which was lit by the moonlight.
"how have you two been?" yuta asked the two. the boy called jisung answered "it's all good hyung. calculus still sucks though and not even chenle can explain it to me."
"ya! it's not my fault you're too stupid to understand." chenle yelled and hit jisung who cried out "ouch!" and rubbed his arm. looking at yuta he said "it's fine though. i don't need math for the mafia."
yuta sighed and leaned forward to look at jisung "are you still not over this? why do you want to become a member so badly? i don't understand. you have such a bright future and you can become anything you want, even an idol with your looks and dancing skills and yet you want to become a mafia member?" yuta asked. it was obvious that he wasn't big fan of jisung's idea.
"not just any mafia member, i want to become one of you, a member of the nct mafia. it already sounds so cool." jisung said, smiling.
"i don't understand. how did you two even get into contact? no offence but this house and you two don't seem to fot the whole mafia vibe." donghyuck noted. it was quiet for a while before chenle cleared his throat and looked at donghyuck.
"this is not 'our' house. as i already said it's my parents and they just let us live in here." he said.
"you don't have to tell him if you don't want to." yuta said, looking at jisung. the boy however made a dismissive hand gesture and said "no, it's fine." he looked somewhat sad, donghyuck thought.
"my parents died during a shooting on the streets and left me behind. when taeyong, i'm sure you have met him, cleaned up their mess he found me. i was twelve at that time and had no house, no parents, nothing. so taeyong took me in for a bit. obviously he couldn't raise a child while leading a mafia so he brought me to chenle. his parents are the owners of nct's lab in china so taeyong knows them well." the boy explained.
"ever since then, chenle and jisung are on nct's protection list just like you. except they're not in immediate danger, we just keep an eye on them as chenle's parents are in china most of the time." yuta added and chenle nodded along.
"wow." donghyuck hummed "i'm sorry for your loss." he said towards jisung who just dismissively waved his hand.
"it's been seven years, i've dealt with it and i'm really happy here." he said with a side-eye to chenle who was beaming with joy from jisung's words.
"have you eaten already?" the boy asked and both donghyuck and yuta nodded.
"ah damn it! me and jisung tried to make some pasta and it actually turned out alright." chenle said and grinned.
"i'm sure it tastes great but i'm really full." yuta smiled sweetly and nudged donghyuck who got the hint and bowed politely "uh me too. still thank you for the offer."
chenle nodded and trailed off to the kitchen.
"is mark also coming later?" jisung asked yuta who nodded in response "yes, him and jaemin will come in a few hours after they're done with their tasks. mark apparently has an important deal today as he insisted on jaemin joining him." yuta told him. they two kept on chatting, chenle joining in soon after with a bowl of weird smelling pasta.
donghyuck stayed quiet most of the time, just listening to them talking. it was nice ti finally just watch people interact again. most of his time recently he spent with jeno and renjun playing video games and even though it was nice it got repetitive after a while plus he was third wheeling most if the time.
he flinched a bit when chenle just cuddled into him but seeing as the other did it naturally and without making a big deal out if it he relaxed, playing with chenle's fluffy hair.
"i like you." chenle told him and donghyuck laughed.
"i'm glad you do. i like you too, you seem very fun with just the right amount of chaotic." donghyuck replied and waved chenle closer. the younger followed and neared his ear to donghyuck's mouth.
"i'm just like you actually but don't tell them." donghyuck whispered with a head tilt towards yuta and jisung.
"really? i don't believe you, you seem too quiet." chenle laughed. donghyuck scrunched his nose and asked "how can i prove you?"
"beat me in mario kart." chenle teased.
"challenge accepted." donghyuck replied and happily giggled as he watched chenle turn on his gaming console.
the two happily played round after round, later even forming teams with yuta and jisung. of course, chenle and yuta were a team and yuta and donghyuck were one. the two older men quickly bonded over their shared wins and loses with the second being definitely more frequent than the first.
after a while the door rang again and when chenle returned it was with jaemin and mark who both looked exhausted but fine otherwise.
"you're playing without me?" jaemin asked offended and donghyuck handed him his controlled so jaemin could play.
"do you want to play to?" yuta asked mark but the man shook his head.
"just watching for today." he replied. donghyuck kept on stealing looks at him and saw how mark's mouth kept on twitching while watching the others play. maybe, just maybe, mark did have a soft side in him, donghyuck thought.