Mark POV

The night passed and it is now almost the afternoon; Yuta has yet to track the kidnappers. We told Dreamies to go to school and not worry about Taeyong hyung, but I can't stop worrying.

"! What the hell?!" I hear Yuta shouting from the security room.

"What's wrong?" I ask entering the room with other members.

"Someone's hacking into our system!" He yells.

"What?" Johnny shouts. "You're kidding!"

"I'm not!" Yuta yells back as red alerts pop up on his laptop screen.

"Well, do something about it." Jaehyun says.

"I am! Can't you see?" Yuta furiously types away at the keyboard.

"What's that?" Taeil asks pointing at the screen showing a folder with a loading bar.

"No. No. No. . . ! !" Yuta slams his hand on the table in frustration.

"What's happening?" Jungwoo asks as everything calms down.

"Are we ok now?" Doyoung questions.

"No. We're not ok." Yuta answers. "Whoever hacked into our system got what they wanted. I couldn't protect it."

"What the hell? Aren't you the best at this? Isn't that why you're in our group?" Ten asks.

"I'm sorry." Yuta apologizes.

"W-What's the worse case scenario?" I ask.

"They have all of the information on us." Yuta replies. "Now they know everything about us. Our identities, our history, our current business, our locations: the safe houses, the regular houses, the outposts. Everything."

"In other words...we're in deep ." Johnny said.

"Where's Lucas at this time?" WinWin asks.

"Obviously at the coffee shop." Taeil replies. "It's not like he can help make this situation any better anyways."

"First, it was the video threat and now someone kidnapped our leader and hacked into our system. Great." Doyoung growls. "Can it get any worse?"

"Don't jinx it." WinWin says.

"Ok. Everyone, let's all calm down. For now, let's not go anywhere alone." Jaehyun orders. "Lucas is hopefully with Kun at the coffee shop."

"Or not." I point to Lucas who is walking in through the door.

"What's up? Why are you all in here?" He asks.

We fill him in about what happened.

"Should I go back to the coffee shop to stay with Kun?"

"Ok, let's not worry about Kun. He's at an isolated coffee shop. Let's worry about Dreamies. They're in school." Jungwoo says. "What if they get kidnapped or attacked after they leave school campus?"

We all look at each other.

"I'll go wait for them after school." I report.

"I'll go with you." Johnny and Lucas offer in sync.

"Ok." I nod and suddenly we hear beeping sounds.

"What the?" Yuta's puzzled voice fills the room as he checks his laptop.

"What's up?" I ask.

"Someone just sent me a location. Maybe this is where Taeyong hyung is."

"Huh? That can't be." Ten says.

"Maybe it's a trap." WinWin states.

"Well, this is the only lead we have." Yuta argues. "I'll scout out the area."

**********

"Dreamies!" I shout as I see them walking towards the gate.

"Why are you guys here?" Jaemin asks.

"To pick you guys up, of course." Johnny replies.

"Oh, so you guys think we are not fully capable of going home alone? We're 18, not 8." Haechan says.

"That's not the reason why we're picking you guys up." I respond. "There's a huge crisis right now."

"How bad is it?" Renjun asks.

"Worse than Taeyong getting kidnapped." Lucas answers.

"Someone hacked into our system and Yuta couldn't stop it." I add. "The hacker has information on us."

"No way." Chenle gasps. "Does that mean...everyone in NCT is at risk right now?"

"Well, someone did send us Taeyong's location." Johnny says. "The problem is, we don't know if it's legit."

"Let's talk more at home." I order.

"Someone sent me something." Yuta opens the file. Taeyong hyung is still chained to the wall. The kidnappers punch him multiple times; however, all Taeyong hyung did was spit at the kidnappers earning another punch. They turn to the camera and show us a ransom on a piece of paper.

"30 million? How are we gonna get 30 million?" Doyoung asks.

"Do we have to ask the big boss?" Jungwoo wonders.

"No." I shake my head. "There will be no money involved."

"Are you saying we're not gonna rescue Taeyong?" Taeil asks.

"I didn't say that." I argue.

"Ok, calm down. I scouted the place." Yuta opens more files. "I got the map of the location. It's an old isolated building. I got the blueprint."

"Ok. Let's start on the rescue plan then." Jaehyun says.

"So...you're just gonna...blindly trust that info? Are you guys stupid?" Jisung asks.

"Yah." Renjun and Chenle nudges him.

"This is the only info we have." I say. "Do you have a better idea?" Jisung looks down in silence. "Don't worry. You aren't going."

"Eh? Why not?" Jeno asks.

"Just because we're younger than you guys does not mean we are useless." Haechan growls.

"That's not the reason why-"

"Oh, please enlighten me. Why aren't we included?"

"Jieun." I retort leading everyone, except Dreamies, into the conference room.

"Eh!" Dreamies shout after us. "You guys can't do this to us."

"Yes, I can!" I yell closing the door on them. They pound on the door and as ignore them and go over the rescue plan.

We point out different exit routes and come up with multiple plans incase the first one goes wrong. Suddenly there is a light knock at the door.

"No." I blurt out the moment I open the door.

"Huh?" Kun says.

"Uh...I thought you were Dreamies."

"They're pouting in the living room." I let Kun into the conference room. "What's going on?" We explain the situation to him. "I want to go too. I've spent a lot of time in the coffee shop as a spy. So far I did not do anything to help the group. I want to go."

"Sounds good." Johnny nods.

"Then what about the coffee shop? Won't they suspect you?" Jungwoo asks.

"No. I told them I'm having problems at home. They're willing to give me time off."

"I heard that too." Ten confirms. "Through the bug."

"Alright. Let's ambush them." Lucas cheers.

Anonymous POV

"We set this plan in motion. Tomorrow at midnight." Mark orders.

I take my earphones off with a smirk. Tomorrow at midnight.

Renjun POV

We nudge Haechan.

"Go." We whisper to him.

"He's not gonna talk to me. I annoy him too much." He shakes his head nudging the closest person to him, Jeno. "Someone else go."

"If I go, it's too suspicious." Jisung states.

"I'll go." I volunteer myself and turn to Haechan. "You go talk to Yuta hyung." I order, knocking on Ten hyung's door. I hear a low 'come in' before opening the door to reveal myself.

"Hey, Renjun." He says turning to me. "What's up?"

"What are you doing, hyung?"

"Just fixing up some gps and bugs. Again, what's up?"

"I was curious about something, and I thought, 'why not ask the expert himself'?"

Ten hyung chuckles. "What do you want to know?"

"Ten hyung, can you...listen in on someone else's bug?"

"What do you mean?"

"Let's say...Jisung bugs Haechan's room. Is there any way for me to listen in on Haechan, using Jisung's bug, without Jisung knowing?"

Ten hyung stares at me, considering my question for a bit, then nods. "You can. The process is a bit complicated though. It has to a bit to do with hacking. Why?"

"I've been thinking...if I'm gonna be a part of NCT, I should contribute somehow and bugging seems interesting enough." I nod.

Ten hyung smiles with open arms. "You've come to the right person."

"I have another question."

"Shoot."

"Can you...listen to the bug on a smaller device...like a cellphone?"

Ten hyung nods. "I can make that happen."

I smile. "Do you think I have potential to take after you?"

"With your curious mind and eagerness," Ten hyung smirks. "You can. In all honesty, anyone can learn it. The question is, are they willing to, and you seem willing to. I can teach you."

Haechan POV

"Yuta hyung?" I mutter, opening the security room door revealing Yuta - who is watching the cams and doing something - with his laptop. The moment he hears me call him, he turns to me with his usual bright smile.

"Hey, full sun. What's up?"

"Are you ok?"

"Haechan is worried about me? How weird." Yuta hyung chuckles. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"Are you depressed about the whole hacking thing?"

Yuta hyung loses his smile for a split second before his bright smile is plastered on his face again. "Not at all."

"Is hacking hard?"

"Mm." Yuta stares up at the ceiling, contemplative. "It's complicated." He nods. "But it's not hard. The hard part is decoding all the protection codes and protecting your information from other hackers."

"Like what happened earlier today?"

Yuta hyung lets out a defeated chuckle. "Yeah." He nods.

"Do you think...you can teach me a bit about hacking?"

Yuta blinks at me in surprise and I smile sheepishly at him. "Why the sudden interest?"

"I'm a part of NCT, aren't I?" I ask. "I'm not strong like Jeno, or seductive like Jaemin; I can't be subtle like Renjun, sneaky like Chenle or be the reckless 'only live for today' type like Jisung, so I thought, maybe I can help with the hacking?"

"But you're not smart-" Yuta hyung stops mid-sentence. "Out of all the Dreamies, if I had a choice, I would not pick you as a hacker."

"Rude."

"I'm sorry." Yuta chuckles. "But, I guess we can give it a shot. I'll be happy to teach you what you wanna know."

Kun POV

I wonder if the others are doing ok with the preparations. Do they need my help?

"-n. Kun!" I snap back to reality.

"Are you ok?"

"Yes. Why?" Jieun points to my hand. "Oh god!" I shout at the overflowing cup of coffee with way too much milk. I put the carton of milk down. "My apologies."

She chuckles. "It's ok, but I think you need to go home."

"No, it's fi-"

"Go home." She cuts me off. "You're clearly worried about something. Go home and take care of it. When you're ready to work, come back."

"My apologies and thank you." I bow to her and walk out the door.

When I return home, the others are still preparing the equipment. Everyone is checking their weapons and their earpieces.

"Kun, you're back!" Lucas shouts when he notices my presence.

"Yeah. Apparently, I wasn't functioning correctly so Jieun kicked me out."

"Ah, I should show my face so she doesn't suspect me."

"You just want to see her." Ten deadpans, earning a laugh from Lucas.

"Bingo! Bye." He waves at us walking out the door as we continue to prepare for what is to come tonight.

Lucas POV

"Do you know what my shirt is made of? Boyfriend material." I say the moment I stand in front of Jieun, who is behind the counter.

Jieun chuckles. "Good morning to you too, Lucas."

"I missed you."

"I saw you yesterday."

"I miss you every second that you're not by my side."

"Bleh." Jieun pretends to vomit and I chuckle. "Yah, are you sure you should be walking around? Are you ok? Does it hurt anywhere?"

"You're worried about me. Don't worry. I'm very strong." I flex my arm and hit my muscles.

"And yet you still got your beat."

I scoff. "If the cops didn't scare them off, I would've beat them."

"Sure~ Whatever you say~" She chirps.

"I'm serious."

"Ok." Jieun nods. "I believe you. But tell me honestly, are you gonna find them and get revenge?"

I furrow my brows in confusion. "Why would I do that?"

"Why would you not do that?"

"Because it was just a misunderstanding." I explain.

"But they hit you."

"They're just regular people, while I'm part of the mafia. They're not a threat to me." I shrug.

"Wow." Jieun breathes out. "Because you're part of the mafia, I thought that you would hunt them down. Y'know, cause of pride and stuff. I know I would, because I'm a bad person."

"You're not a bad person." I deny. "They're not worth it. Plus, I got you to treat my wounds, so I got lucky."

"Don't you think you're being too optimistic for a mafia member?"

"Not at all." I shake my head. "Why?"

"You kill people with that optimistic personality?" She asks, shocking me. "I mean, you're part of the mafia. It's only normal that you kill. How can you still be so optimistic after killing a person?"

A sad smile forms on my face and I make my way to sit down at a table. "I just live with it and hope that the person I killed was evil and they deserved it."

"Sorry, I didn't mean to. I'm such a terrible person."

"You're not." I assure her. "I am."

"Lucas, you're not a bad person." She assures me while sitting down next to me. "I think you're a great person. Better than me, anyways." We stare at each other and I lean in, gently pressing my lips against hers. I then, lightly her top lip. She didn't pull away, so I put my hand on the back of Jieun's neck to deepen the kiss. We pull away and she clears , walking away - behind the counter - with pink cheeks.

"If I follow you home, would you keep me?" I ask.

Jieun laughs. "I think NCT needs you more than I do."

"You're right." I nod. "I should go home now."

**********

"Stay." Mark orders Dreamies. He enters the car and we all drive out.

We all exit out of the car, quietly sneaking closer to the location that is holding Taeyong captive. "Everyone here?"

"Yep." An all too familiar voice rings out. We turn to the source. "What do we do?"

"How did you guys get here? You're not supposed to be here!" Mark hiss at Dreamies. "Jieun is gonna kill us!"

"We followed you. In a taxi." Haechan replies. "Plus, when have I ever listened to Jieun noona or you on these things?" Haechan smiles at Mark.

"Tsk. Don't get killed."

"I love you."

"You're really the devil." Mark whispers. "Don't leave my side." Mark turns to all of us. "We don't know if this is a trap or not. Be cautious."

"This is the only lead we have, so we're risking a whole lot here tonight." Yuta adds.

"We follow the plan. Fight, get Taeyong hyung and get the hell out of here." Johnny reiterates the plan.

"Will do." Everyone agrees.

We all get in position, kick down the door and rush into the building ready to shoot, but everyone was already on the floor. We all look at each other shocked. We check the bodies.

"Are they dead?" Renjun asks.

"Yeah." Ten answers. "They're dead."

Our eyes widen and we look towards Taeyong, running to him immediately.

"Taeyong hyung." Jaehyun calls out, checking his neck for a pulse. "He's alive."

We get him off of the chains and support him back to the house.

"This is so weird." Doyoung says.

"Someone sent Yuta hyung the location and when we arrived, everyone is already taken down." Ten murmurs.

"Are they helping us?" Jungwoo asks.

"Why would they do that?" Kun wonders.

"I pulled this off of Taeyong hyung's shirt." Jaehyun hands us a card.

"A Joker and Ace card?" I say confused, taking it from Jaehyun. "They're glued together, back to back."

"That can't be." Yuta whispers, shaking his head. "No way."

"What's wrong?" Mark asks.

"A glued Joker and Ace card." Yuta repeats.

"They're just two cards glued together." Haechan deadpans.

"What's so significant about the cards?" Jaemin asks.

"This card," Yuta starts. "Is related to underground work. Like us."

"They're from another mafia group?" Jeno asks.

"No. This is King. King is...this is impossible." Yuta walks out of the room.

"Yah! Tell us more about it!" I shout at him, but he is long gone.

We all walk to Taeyong's room.

"How is he?" Johnny asks.

"He's fine." WinWin says. "He is heavily injured by the punches, and there are no nerve damages, which is good. His face is mostly just bruised up from the beating. He does have a few broken ribs though. When he wakes up, there's gonna be a whole lot of pain."

Taeyong POV

I wake up with throbbing pain on my face and abdomen. My stirring around causes Johnny to wake up.

"How are you feeling?" Johnny yawns.

"Fine." I manage to croak out. "How long have I been out?"

"30 hrs." WinWin responds, entering the room. "Everyone is worried about you."

"I bet." I try to sit up. WinWin and Johnny rush to my side to assist me. "Thanks."

"No problem. Pain pill?" WinWin asks.

"Please." WinWin walks out, returning with a pill and a glass of water in his hand.

"The pill will work in approximately 15 minutes."

"Where's Mark?" I ask.

"Sleeping. It's 6 in the morning." Johnny points out. "You should go back to sleep too."

"I just woke up. How can I go back to sleep?"

"Easy. Just close your eyes and pretend to sleep. It works wonders."

I sigh and close my eyes. I wake up to the sound of birds chirping and leaves swaying in the soft breeze. I check the clock which now reads 10 am.

"Are you ok?" Mark asks, helping me sit up.

"Yeah." I nod. "All of you are here."

"Excluding Dreamies, who are in school, and Kun who is at the coffee shop, we're all here." Mark nods.

"Sorry we didn't save you." Jaehyun starts.

"When we arrived, the kidnappers were already dead." Ten adds.

"Were you conscious when your savior came to save you?" Lucas asks.

"I was kinda out of it." I state. "But..."

"What is it?" Doyoung asks.

"Taeyong?" Johnny calls out to me.

"It's nothing." I shake my head.

"What about the kidnappers?" Taeil asks. "Did you get any information from them?"

"They're looking for something. Someone."

"Who?" Jungwoo ask. "Who are they looking for? One of our members?"

"No. Something about..." I try to recall my memories. "Um...J-joker?"

"What? Did they really say Joker?" Yuta asks.

I nod. "They wanted to know where we're hiding Joker. They think Joker is our...boss?"

"Why is Joker suddenly involved with us?" Yuta mumbles to himself. "They shouldn't be. That can't be."

"You know who Joker is?" We ask him.

"I don't know them personally, but," Yuta starts, pulling out the glued card. "Joker belongs in King."

"Who is King?" Jungwoo asks.

"King...is legend!" Yuta exclaims. "King was a mysterious hitman duo. Joker and Ace were their alias, hence these two specific cards, being glued together. Rumor has it that no one has ever seen their faces before. They do not work like normal hitmen. They kill whoever they want, whenever they want. Everyone who was involved in the underground was afraid of King, fearing that they'll be King's next target. King was flawless with their kills and are the best of the best among hitmen."

"Why would someone think that, anonymous hitmen, are our bosses?" Johnny asks.

"I don't know, but word is that King died eight years ago, in a cross fire of two different mafia groups. It's impossible that people are looking for them." Yuta says.

"So, you're saying that they're looking for dead people?" WinWin asks.

"No." Mark shakes his head. "Yuta hyung said that they were the best of the best. They can still be alive."

"I don't know. It's been eight years; they disappeared before we, as NCT, officially joined the underground." Yuta says. "No one has spoken of King since then."

"Then why do you know about King if they disappeared before NCT existed?" Taeil asks.

"One, I'm a hacker - it's kinda what I do. Two, King is common knowledge for every hacker to ever exist because Joker was King's hacker - he was the best of the best in skills. I know that info because word circulates fast in the hacker community."

"So, what? Someone is using dead people's identities to attack...or in this case, save people?" Doyoung asks.

"I don't have an answer for that." Yuta answers.

"Hey, I'm safe. That's all that really matters. Don't worry." I assure the others.

"Taeyong, we actually have a bigger problem." Johnny says.

"While you were kidnapped..." Ten trails off nudging Yuta to speak up.

"Someone hacked into the system and I couldn't protect it. I'm sorry." Yuta looks down in regret.

"What kind of information was taken?"

"I don't know. I couldn't track the hacker down, so I don't know what information was taken, but we should assume the worst. I'm so sorry."

"Hey, it's ok." I cheer the others up. "We'll be ok. We'll have to travel in groups and not be alone. Have a weapon concealed on your body at all times when you leave the house, and have weapons in the house handy incase they attack us here."

"Ok." Everyone nods and leaves my room. I think back to what happened in the building.

"Taeyong." My savior calls out as their ankle sparkled with jewelry.

It kinda looked like the anklet I bought recently for Areum. I shake my head. That can't be. Areum is a very normal person.