“So you’re telling me that he just went off as a self sacrifice or some ?!” Jeno exclaimed as Renjun flinched from where he was seated in the row in front, next to Jaemin. Jeno saw Johnny nod grimly as Ten glared at the giant and heard Donghyuck let out an ugly sob that resulted in Jeno pulling the slightly younger male closer so that he could cry on Jeno’s shoulder while Jisung remained silent. “I am going to kill him next time I see him!”

“Why did Minhyung go?” Doyoung asked, trying his best to not let his obvious overflowing anger from affecting his driving skills. “Theoretically, he shouldn’t have the motive to-“

“Communications were off. Our devices weren’t getting through to Yuta-hyung which means that they wouldn’t be getting through to here, either,” Ten stated, eyes narrowing at Johnny in the row behind him before moving to glare at Taeyong in the passenger seat of the van. “You two wouldn’t have let us go in there if our communications didn’t work unless you knew his plan and I’m guessing that Yuta-hyung knew too since he’s the only one who can turn our devices off.”

“What? You knew?!” He heard Renjun exclaim, so much anger evident in the other’s voice that Jeno was grateful for Jaemin who had seized the opportunity to drape his arms around the smaller male in an attempt to calm him. Seeing red, Jeno tightened his hold on Donghyuck, knowing that the only thing he could do right now was making sure the other was okay since Jisung had drifted off to sleep a few minutes ago due to how emotionally taxing this whole situation was. “Why would you even let him think of that?! He…He’s gotten so many people out that it doesn’t make sense for him to want to go in!”

“Taeyong-hyung, you have a lot of explaining to do,” Doyoung forced out through gritted teeth before glaring at Johnny through the rearview mirror. “So do you, Johnny-hyung. You guys always said that we would never give one of our own but look at us now! Stray Kids are going to be laughing at how this whole ing thing turned out! They’ll demand everything back! Do you know how much negotiation I went through-”

“He had his reasons and we had ours,” Johnny replied stiffly, looking out the window to avoid all of the disappointed looks. “Sometimes, you have to let some things go because you don’t know if you can trust them.”

“Bull!” He screamed out, making Donghyuck bury his face in his shoulder even more as a silent warning to mind his volume that somehow calmed him down a tiny bit. “You listen to Mark-hyung’s explanation but not mine?! What, did you not trust me or something?! How can you trust Mark-hyung more than me?! You know what Donghae-hyung said he did?! He used to trade them!”

“Mark used logic whereas you used emotions!” Taeyong shot back from the passenger seat, tone commanding and final. “We’re not happy with this outcome but it was the best outcome out of all the others!” Jeno took a deep breath since he didn’t want to scare Donghyuck anymore who was now whimpering against him and he swore that he saw tears in Renjun’s eyes at all of the shouting that was happening in the van. 

“So you’re saying that Mark-hyung - no, Minhyung-hyung - isn’t necessary for NCT to succeed? So you’re saying that Minhyung-hyung isn’t vital to the gang? You’re saying that Minhyung-hyung isn’t someone special?!” He questioned, seeing Johnny’s eyes silently warn him as Taeyong’s were ignited with something that he couldn’t describe. “Because if that’s what you’re saying, then you’re just another copy of SUJU.” Luckily for him, Doyoung had arrived at the parking lot of the hotel, making Jeno stand up and position Donghyuck in a piggyback position on his back as Johnny picked up Jisung carefully, bridal-style. Wordlessly, he exited the van with Renjun who tightly held Jaemin’s hand once they were out and brought Donghyuck up to his room, ignoring the painful clenches that his heart gave whenever the slightly younger male would sniff. He isn’t crying for you and he would never cry for you. He doesn’t like you. Carefully, he opened the door to his room, ignoring Taeil’s questioning look along with Yuta’s guilty one that he had witnessed on the way, and gently placed Donghyuck down on the edge of his bed. He knelt down to pull off Donghyuck’s shoes and socks, the other male simply watching him and wiping away tears as he sniffed helplessly. 

“Jeno…he’ll be alright, right?” Donghyuck asked him tiredly, eyes drooping as the other struggled to stay awake due to the emotional strain that he must have experienced. Jeno couldn’t help but see the dark circles under the other’s eyes along with the obvious tear streaks and weight loss as he carefully pulled the blindfold off Donghyuck’s head. I will make sure Hayoung gets for this.

“Mark-hyung will find a way to get back to you,” He reassured the other while he undid the restraints on his hands, silently pleasing to whatever god out there that Mark was safe at that very moment. He better be ing safe or I’m going to go and give TRCNG heaps of -

“Jeno…