Jieun POV

I slept with Jaemin in the basement of the coffee shop after yesterday's event, while Areum and the other Dreamies slept in the break room. I was startled awake by some noises from upstairs. I open a cabinet and reach all the way to the back, grabbing a gun. I sneak upstairs and met Areum. She puts her index finger to and we both sneak up to the intruder. He turns towards us and we point the gun to his head.

"Uh." He stares at the guns.

"It's fake." Areum and I say in sync putting it in back of us.

"You're here early, Kun."

He smiles. "Of course. I was hired. I have to be efficient at my job or I'll get fired, right?" The three of us share awkward smiles and start preparing for the day.

*******************************************************

"So?" I said with my arms crossed over my chest. In front of me, in the coffee shop, sat Taeyong. Behind him was the rest of the NCT members. 11 people for one negotiation."What the hell are you doing here?" Kun walks over and put a cup of coffee in front of me. He puts one in front of Taeyong. "Do not serve them coffee." Kun picks it up and hands it to Areum.

"We need to talk." Taeyong said.

"I have nothing to say other than, stay away from Dreamies."

"Let us intro-"

"No need. Just stay away from my Dreamies." I repeat.

"Jieun. Just hear them out." Areum said.

"...Talk."

"Since we all raised Dreamies together, in separate homes anyway, I believe it is better for us to all get along." Taeyong said.

"I don't want to."

Taeyong sighs. "Look, I know Jaemin being shot was a hard blow to you. It hurts us too. When I said that I'll protect them, I meant it."

"Then en act like it. You didn't protect !"

"Jieun. Let them finish." Areum said.

"Go on." I grumble.

"When I took them away from you, I thought that, that was the best way to keep them safe. To keep you safe. Really." Taeyong explains. I scoff and roll my eyes. Yeah, right.

"Believe it or not, Dreamies were under house arrest." Lucas said. "They snuck out."

I small smile forms on my lips. "That sounds like Dreamies."

Dreamies suddenly come out one by one rubbing their eyes. They eye someone up and down.

"Kun Ge?" Chenle said. My eyes flicker to Kun for a reaction.

"Jaemin!" The others shout in sync. I turn around and Jaemin was leaning against the door frame with Jeno and Renjun supporting him.

"Nana! You shouldn't be up yet!" I shout running over to him.

"I know. I just..." he trails off smiling weakly at me, then avert his eyes to look at NCT. "Good morning hyungs."

"Good morning." They reply to him.

"We told you, didn't we? That Jieun noona would never do anything to hurt us. So, please get along with each other." Jaemin said.

"Jeno. Renjun. Take Nana back to lay down."

"Ok." They both said.

"Wait, Jeno, Renjun." They stop in their tracks and Jaemin turns back to me. "Thank you for saving me noona."

"Don't thank me. Even if you don't want me to, I'll save you anyways, because I love you."

"I know." With that Jeno and Renjun take Jaemin back down to the basement.

"You heard Jaemin. He wants us to get along." Areum nudge me and I roll my eyes.

"Fine. But only because my Dreamy babies want us to."

"We'll introduce ourselves then." They all introduce themselves to me one by one. All 11 of them.

"I'm sorry that this happened. We'll keep a better eye on them next time." Taeyong said.

"I'm not letting Dreamies stay with you, so there won't be a next time."

"But we want to take care of them too. We always did when they have sleep overs." Taeyong said.

"Well, we're stopping that right now. You can't take care of them properly."

"Yes, I can." Taeyong argues making Areum laugh.

"What's so funny?" Taeyong and I say in sync.

"You two are acting like a divorced couple fighting over custody of the children." Areum said with a laugh. The others start laughing too.

"Ok, we'll do this." I said. "Let's live on like normal. Dreamies come home to me, and they can sleep over at your place whenever they want."

"Sounds good."

"But!" I add. "You must convince them to keep attending school too. They must not be working during school hours. I want them to at least graduate high school. And, I want to be a legal guardian of the remaining Dreamy babies. That way, when you're not available, I can help them."

"Deal." Taeyong agrees. We both shake hands to seal the deal. "Can I see the kids now?"

I nod and lead them down to the basement where Jaemin lays.

"Hey, Jaemin." They said surrounding the bed. "Are you ok?" He nods with his usual smile on his face.

"Yo, Haechan. Are you ok?" Johnny asks.

"Yeah." He nods.

"Yah, you think you look cool in a cast or something?" The others laugh and crowd around the two injured boys. The others start to ruffle Haechan's hair and give him harmless headlocks. From the side, I see Mark glaring at the others.

"Ahem!" Mark clears his throat making the others let go of Haechan. "Are you ok?" Mark asks Haechan while observing his broken arm. "Let me see."

"I'm fine." Haechan said pulling away from Mark with pink cheeks and hiding behind Johnny. I see Mark let out a small scoff and look away while pursing his lips annoyed.

"Honestly," I start. "I understand Haechan with the broken arm, but I don't understand why Jaemin was shot."

"What does that mean?!" Haechan shouts.

"With that personality of yours, you were bound to get your beat." I explain making Haechan gasp, offended at my words. "But Jaemin is one of the sweetest among you six, how did he get shot? What happened?"

"Was it Seventeen?" Taeyong asks. The boys shake their head. "Are you sure?"

"I know what Seventeen looks like." Jaemin said. "It wasn't them."

"I think it's just some gang wannabes." Jeno comments.

"We've never seen them before." Renjun states.

"What did they look like?" Mark asks. The boys recall details of the attackers.

"They look young, like our age." Chenle insisted.

"One of them had a tattoo of a rose on the inside of their wrist." Jisung adds. The boys continue to reveal details of their attackers. I nudge Areum and we left to give them their privacy.

After the visit, NCT returns home and I order Taeyong to take Haechan to see a doctor for his broken arm. Dreamies left with the other NCT members while Jaemin is left resting in the basement. I watch Kun clean up the shop and take care of the customers that come in.

"Jieun, I don't mean to eavesdrop, but you keep urging those kids to go to school. Were you a good student?"

"I was valedictorian of my whole graduation class."

"Nice. College must have been easy for you, huh? What did you study?"

"College is different from high school. It was a bit more challenging. What about you? You don't talk much about yourself." Kun just shrugs.

Areum sit in front of me and we both heave a sigh.

"I need a drink after all the drama." I said.

"I second that motion." Areum agrees with me.

"Whiplash is a good night club." Kun suggests.

Areum and I look at each other and break out into a smile.

"Can you look after the shop? And Jaemin? I'll be back before closing time. I swear." I said to Kun.

He chuckles. "Don't worry about it."

Areum POV

Jieun and I head to the nightclub Whiplash suggested by Kun. We got in and there were many colored lights going around. People were enjoying the music and dancing around having so much fun. We look at each other with a smirk and head straight to the bar. We start off with a light cocktail.

"Hey." Jieun said. "When NCT first visited, did they do anything to the shop?"

"No." I shake my head. "Not that I remember."

"They did walk around and touch a lot of things, right?"

"Mm. They did. Why?" I asks. Jieun just smiles and shakes her head to dismiss the topic.

After Jieun finishes three cocktails, she turns to me.

"I should head out."

"Already?"

She nods. "I can't leave Jaemin alone."

"He's with Kun."

"And we can't let Kun stay there all night."

"You don't trust Kun. And you don't completely trust NCT, do you." I comment more than question.

"It's mutual. They don't trust me either." Jieun said before leaving. I finish the last sip from my cocktail when someone sits next to me.

"Fancy seeing you here." Taeyong said ordering a drink.

"Your wife left." I said making Taeyong tilt his head in confusion. "Jieun."

"She's not my-"

I laugh. "I know. I just can't get over the image of you two fighting over Dreamies this morning."

"Joking around when she's not here. How long have you two known each other?"

"Drink with me and I'll answer." I order shots and we take them together.

"So? How long have you two known each other?" Taeyong asks again.

"20 years." I answer after taking four shots. "We met when we were eight."

"You two went to school together?" I nod at his statement. "Were you two always together?"

"I'm not lesbian."

"That's not what I-" I laugh making him sigh. "Answer me honestly."

"Let's dance!" I shout to him after we took multiple shots and drag him to the dance floor. Once in awhile, I go back for more shots and we both drink together. As time went by, Taeyong continues to ask questions regarding Jieun.

"Are you...in love with her?" I ask with too many drinks in my system.

"What? No." He denies staring at me. I raise my brows at him and suddenly he smash his lips against mine.