April, 16th, 2020 

The five boys stared back at Donghyuck's angry face for a moment, completely speechless. They all wished that Taeyong would magically appear and fix the damage that had happened, but the male was nowhere in sight and they knew that no matter how hard they prayed, he wouldn't be coming any time soon. 

"I hate all of you!" Donghyuck shouted. Jaemin moved sideways and away from Donghyuck's seething figure. And once he had done that, he locked eyes with Jeno and ran to the male, Jeno catching him in his arms. Renjun drifted closer in comfort. Donghyuck looked between the three of them and understanding flashed in his eyes. 

"I'm glad you're happy, Na Jaemin, because you made your own ing family miserable!" Donghyuck yelled in rage before turning and stomping away, his breaths rugged as he pushed past branches. Some of them flicked back in his face and scraped his skin, blood trickling down his cheek in a thin lines. It was almost like the blood was replacing his tears.

He knew that what he had seen days before was not a hallucination, but he had hoped it was because he couldn't go through that kind of betrayal of knowing Jaemin was alive and breathing yet he hadn't come back to Donghyuck and Jaehyun — his family. 

With an inwards sigh, Donghyuck shoved another branch out of the way before he stumbled into a clearing. And there in front of him was a huge  swimming pool, almost like it was abandoned. It was almost like it was calling for Donghyuck to relax and dive into the water. 

So, Donghyuck did what anyone would do when they were stressed; he stripped down to his boxers and dived straight into the water. 

He wondered how rich Taeyong and his gang had to be if they could afford the huge mansion and huge  backyard with a ing swimming pool at a random spot. Donghyuck dipped underneath the surface of the water for a moment, relishing in the flow of the water across his body. It made him feel calm and just a tiny bit alright. 

"He kept a huge secret from me." Donghyuck whispered, swimming to the other end of the pool before he repeated the action. He sighed, two voices in his head battling it out inside his mind. "But, what if he wanted to protect me?" Donghyuck asked himself and raised his head slightly, staring at the sky, pondering things in his head. 

"Do you always talk to yourself?" Donghyuck's head snapped to the male that had spoken. He was one of Taeyong's gang members, yet Donghyuck had never heard him speak before. 

"No, actually, but I'm finding it quite enjoyable right now." Donghyuck sniffed, watching the male's eyebrows lift in amusement as Donghyuck swum to the edge of the pool, eyes still locked on the male. 

"Sure thing, little one." Donghyuck was about to protest to that, but stopped short because his Appa used to call him that when he was younger. It brought back unwanted memories he didn't want to remember. "Anyways, I didn't think you'd be here; not many people know about this pool." He stated and Donghyuck frowned, brushing his wet bangs out of his eyes. 

"I was having some alone time." Donghyuck said and the male got to his feet — Donghyuck hadn't even realised he had sat down. He held a towel out — he hadn't noticed that either — and smiled softly at Donghyuck. 

"Come on; dry yourself off." He said and Donghyuck eyed him warily before turning around and pushing himself out of the water using the edge of the pool. "Here." Donghyuck happily excepted the towel and dried himself off. He pulled his clothes on, ignoring his wet hair and the male pulled Donghyuck down a small path. 

"So, what got you so hot and bothered that you had to take some alone time to calm yourself down?" The male asked and Donghyuck slung the towel around his neck, glancing at the male. 

"Why should I answer you? I don't even know your name." Donghyuck pointed out and the male smiled. 

"Si Cheng." He introduced. "Now, can you please answer my question?" He questioned, watching Donghyuck exhale slowly and look in the other direction. 

"Jaemin." Donghyuck simply said and Si Cheng made a sound of understanding. 

"Ah," He hummed. "So, you found out, did you? Jaemin's always been reckless and he was supposed to stay in his room until you had went." Si Cheng said like it didn't just crumble Donghyuck's whole world and the good side of NCT he was starting to like. Everything was crushed. 

"You knew? All of you?" He whispered and Si Cheng nodded. 

"Listen, little one, I'm not going to say sorry or anything for keeping this from you, but in your current state, you wouldn't have been able to handle it. Meeting you brother and ex is enough, but your supposed dead best friend? That's too much , little one. Even you couldn't handle it and act like you're okay." Si Cheng stated and he was so right that Donghyuck really wanted to punch something. 

Instead, he opted to staring at the floor until the trees cleared and the path widened; they were back at NCT's mansion. Si Cheng reached out and squeezed Donghyuck's hand once before letting go, ignoring Donghyuck's curious and questionable gaze. 

"You're going to get through whatever this is, little one." Si Cheng said, staring at Donghyuck with so much firmness that Donghyuck wondered if this had come from personal experiences. "You're strong and with a face like that, I'm sure others will be at you feet getting everything your heart desires." Si Cheng joked, making Donghyuck giggle softly. 

"Come on." Donghyuck said, before clinging onto Si Cheng's arm; Si Cheng reminded Donghyuck of his Appa — strong and handsome. "Thank you, Si Cheng." Donghyuck muttered quietly as they ascended the stairs. Si Cheng smiled. 

"Call me hyung, little one." He said and Donghyuck smiled, feeling his chest warm.

"Okay, then, thank you, hyung." Donghyuck cooed which made Si Cheng laugh as he shoved the door open and two walked into the house, being met with a group of people with worried eyes. 

"Oh my god, Donghyuck, you little !" Doyoung shouted and Donghyuck yelped as Doyoung grabbed him by his collar and pulled him close. "Don't ever scare me like that again, or I'm disowning you." Doyoung scolded and Donghyuck giggled. 

"Please do." He said and Doyoung let go of his collar, but smacked the male on the shoulder. 

"I'm glad you're okay. Who knows what you would do out there." Doyoung muttered and Donghyuck rolled his eyes and clung back onto Si Cheng's side, who smiled fondly at the younger. 

"Hyung?" Chen Le peaked out from behind Doyoung and Donghyuck saw Chen Le wince like he was in pain. "Earlier ..." He trailed off and Donghyuck's mood soured as his eyes wandered to where Chen Le was pointing. Jeno and Renjun were on both of Jaemin's sides, hands interlocked. The grin was wiped from his face. 

"Stop being so grumpy, little one." Si Cheng said lowly and Donghyuck spared another glance in Jaemin's direction once more before unlatching himself from Si Cheng's side. 

"I'm going to go train." Donghyuck said and started walking for the door, but before he could disappear, he turned and gave an unwavering glare to Taeyong. "And you, I want to have a word with you soon." He growled, turning and stalking off.

~~~~~~~~~~

"Why didn't you tell me?" Donghyuck shouted at Taeyong from where he was standing, hair dripping wet from the shower he had just had. He had trained until he was sweaty and then to cleanse himself, he had a long shower to relax his muscles. 

"I didn't think it was necessary." Taeyong said, calmly despite the fact that his brother was almost shouting in his face. Taeyong always seemed to be the calm one in these types of situations and it really annoyed Donghyuck as he couldn't get any reactions; it felt like everything was written in advance. Donghyuck frowned. 

"Jaemin was my best friend and my brother and you thought that keeping this from me was a good idea?" Donghyuck demanded, loudly and Taeyong gazed at him for a moment before sighing. 

"Do you know why Jaemin was shot? Do you know how he survived?" Donghyuck shook his head at Taeyong's question. "Jaemin was shot because he was too invested in NCT's life and what it stood for, Donghyuck. Just because we kill people doesn't mean we kill the innocent; only those that deserve to die get taken down by the hands of my men. Jaemin's a sweet kid and I'm not going to deny that maybe keeping this from you was a mistake, okay?" Taeyong said, watching the way Donghyuck eyed him warily across the room. 

"Why was he invested in your gang?" Donghyuck whispered and Taeyong glanced at him before sitting down in his seat, leaning backwards with a deep exhale of breath.

"Jaemin was a curious kid like you were, Donghyuck, and when Jaemin found out that I had been looking for you for so many years, he decided that he wanted to help. At first, it was small visits, light drop-in's to tell me how you were doing and what had happened since I had left. After that, it became more frequent and I thought it was because he wanted information to backstab us, but then ... then I found out that he was coming here to see Jeno and Renjun; I admit it surprised me. Renjun and Jeno are normally so closed off to outsiders, but it was like Jaemin was apart of our family." Taeyong said and Donghyuck stared at him in thought.

"So, Jaemin came here for those two? He fell in love?" Donghyuck whispered and Taeyong nodded. 

"Much like you and Mark." Taeyong stated, which made Donghyuck go a slight shade of pink. Taeyong smiled, amused at the sight of his flustered younger brother; he had never seen him act like this before. 

"Um," Donghyuck coughed and cleared his throat. Taeyong raised his eyebrows. "So, when Jeno attacked me in that alleyway ... Jaemin knew?" Donghyuck questioned, carefully, eyes flickering up to a frowning Taeyong. 

"Jeno attacked you? When?" Taeyong asked and Donghyuck blinked at him. 

"Two years ago, I was walking down an alleyway and Jeno randomly jumped out and started attacking me. I think he was trying to kidnap me, but I wasn't sure. Jaemin swooped in, took him down and whispered something in his ear and before Jeno could get up, Jaemin was already pulling me along." Donghyuck explained, cautiously watching Taeyong's frown get deeper. 

"I'm not sure if Jaemin already knew about that small attack on you, but I'm quite certain that Renjun was in fact, unaware, Donghyuck. Now that Jaemin and the duo have gotten together, they are joined at the hip and not even your small fit of rage can get them to seperate; guilt won't work and neither will nothing else. Trust me, my other gang members have tried." Taeyong stated. Donghyuck sunk to the floor, tired. 

"How did Jaemin survive?" Donghyuck muttered and Taeyong chuckled. 

"Jeno and Renjun do not like to admit this, but they dragged the dreamies to where you and Jaemin were doing that stake-out." At Donghyuck's confused look, Taeyong giggled. "The dreamies are Mark, Renjun, Jeno and Jisung ... at least at that time; now Jaemin is apart of that group." Taeyong explained, watching Donghyuck nod, unfazed at the mention of his friend being in a gang. 

"So, what happened?" Donghyuck asked and Taeyong took a deep breath, eyes getting cloudy as he remembered what had happened that day. 

"Well ..." 

~~~~~~~~~~

"Mark-hyung, this place is really cramped!" Jisung whined, shifting slightly from behind one of the crates Jeno had made them hide behind. Renjun had said he had a bad feeling about the stake out that Jaemin and his partners were on that he and Jeno had made the rest of the dreamies come along to supervise in a way. 

"Shush, they're coming." Renjun hissed, peaking around the crate he was hidden behind with Jeno. Jisung and Mark where hidden behind the other one just next to them. Mark twisted his body and peered at the familiar figure of Jaemin and his heart picked up when he saw another familiar back. 

"Lee Donghyuck?" Mark whispered and Jeno glanced at him, shuffling closer as a third male entered behind the two, the three immediately getting to work and searching crates. 

"You know Jaemin's partner?" Jeno asked and Mark blinked at Donghyuck; he still hadn't seen his face, but he was sure it was his first, last and only love. Mark nodded. 

"I knew him in high-school." Was all he said and Jeno, knowing Mark didn't want to elaborate, got the memo and shuffled back next to Renjun, taking his hand as the four watched the trio look through crates. 

"Oh my god, this is so boring!" Donghyuck groaned, jumping on a crate that he had put the lid on after ruffling through its contents. Jaemin laughed at him and grabbed a piece of his clothing to keep him from straying. 

"Come back here, Hyuckie, you're not going anywhere. Hyung, tell Hyuck to get back to work!" Jaemin whined and Jaehyun chuckled, grabbing Donghyuck by the legs and dragging him forward. Donghyuck yelped as his feet where pulled out from under him and he turned, catching himself on a piece of pipe before he could body-slam the floor. 

"Hyung!" Donghyuck shouted, kicking Jaehyun's hands away as Jaemin laughed off to the side, eyes crinkling like he was the happiest he could ever be; none of the four had seen him like this before and it surprised them. Jeno and Renjun shared a glance before focusing back on the scene. 

"You should have seen your face, Hyuckie!" Jaemin cackled and Donghyuck growled, diving at him. Jaemin side-stepped, sticking his foot out to make Donghyuck loose his balance, but Donghyuck was faster, rolling forward and swiping his legs in a fluid motion. Jaemin's feet were pulled out from under him and he grunted as his back hit the floor. 

"You should've seen your face, Nana." Donghyuck giggled, and Mark almost gasped at the sound; he hadn't heard it in years. He was happy to find out the sound still did things to him that he couldn't explain — clearly nothing had changed. Jaehyun snickered. Jaemin sighed and got to his feet, making Donghyuck straighten up. 

"You got me, Hyuck ~" Jaemin was interrupted by Donghyuck who blinked and shifted on his feet, ears perking up. 

"Did you hear that?" Donghyuck asked and Jaemin shook his head while Donghyuck whipped out two guns from his jacket, surprising the four hiding. Donghyuck closed his eyes, letting his ears adjust for a moment before they slid open and he turned around, a bullet flying from his gun before he could aim. A painful cry was heard and then Donghyuck was shouting. "Get down!" 

Jaemin stood frozen for a moment while Jaehyun dived behind one of the crates, bullets being pelted at the place he was previously standing. Donghyuck threw himself on one of the crates and aimed his guns at the place the bullets were coming from, pulling the triggers mercilessly. 

"Jaemin!" Donghyuck shouted from where he was standing after he had caught sight of his best friend frozen in place. "Get down!" He shrieked as a whistle of a bullet filled the air and Jaemin was flung back from the impact, a bullet in his gut. Donghyuck let loose a scream as he watched his friend bleed across the floor. 

"Jaemin ..." Renjun breathed, about to run forward and intervene when Mark caught him by the shoulder and shook his head. Renjun slumped against Jeno, tears pouring out of his eyes as he watched Donghyuck's face twist into many different emotions before Donghyuck leant down and pulled out a knife from his left boot. He spun it in his fingers. 

"You're going to all go to hell for that!" He bellowed, and with a quick flick of his wrist, the knife was flying through the air with scary accuracy. A painful scream spread through the air and it seemed like whoever Donghyuck had hit had been important for the whole warehouse was suddenly quiet. Donghyuck used the time to sprint to Jaemin, skidding to his side as he stripped off his jacket, pressing it to the wound. 

"Nana," Donghyuck choked, a burning feeling in the back of his throat. "Don't leave me ... you can't leave me. You promised." Donghyuck whispered. Jaemin chuckled, a thin line of blood falling down his chin. 

"I did." He rasped, hand coming to comb through Donghyuck's hair; red streaks appeared as soon as his skin made contact. "And I also promised to protect you. Hyung, get Hyuckie out of here, before they start shooting again." Jaemin said, weakly and Donghyuck screamed as Jaehyun grabbed him by the shoulders and hauled him back. 

"Jaemin, no! Nana — no, wait, you promised!" Donghyuck cried out and Jaemin breathed out as his blood soaked the floor, his eyes flickering to a particular spot behind the crates like he knew the four had been there the whole time. 

Renjun and Jaemin locked eyes. 

"And I never break a promise, Hyuckie." Jaemin whispered, eyes falling shut as Donghyuck was dragged out of the warehouse, his broken shouts being heard before they were silenced. Mark's face was unreadable, hardened into ice while Jisung looked like he was about to cry from what he had seen; Renjun was already crying with Jeno not far behind as they all ran to Jaemin's side. 

"Jeno, go and search the perimeter for any survivors." At Jeno's hard look, Mark growled. "Now! We need them for questioning, Jeno, or do you not want to find out who did this to Jaemin and get payback?" Mark demanded, while Renjun breathed in heavily. 

"Baby, listen to Mark. We'll get him to the car, so Taeil can patch him up." Renjun said and Jeno gave a broken look at Jaemin's figure before running out of the warehouse to search the perimeter. 

"Thanks, Renjun." Mark smiled, but Renjun didn't spare him a glance. 

"I'm not doing this for you and your leadership, Mark, I'm doing it for Jaemin." 

~~~~~~~~~~

When the dreamies burst into the medical room with a bleeding and dying Jaemin, Taeil gasped, but got right to work, looking for supplies. He glanced at Jaemin. 

"What happened?" Taeil asked and Renjun sighed. 

"Stake-out gone wrong. Jaemin was shot and he told his partners to leave him behind. He knew we were there and he didn't do anything," Renjun whispered. Taeil looked down sadly as he started to work on getting the bullet out. Jaemin whimpered in his sleep when the scalpel did it's work.

"You may want to leave, Injunnie. You don't like blood and Jeno's starting to panic. I would prefer if you both didn't puke all over my floors." Taeil said and Renjun and Jeno quickly exited the room, faces pale and a sick feeling in their stomachs.

Taeil got back to work.

~~~~~~~~~~

"Is he alright?" Renjun demanded as soon as Taeil walked into the living room, hands coloured red with Jaemin's blood. Taeil sent Renjun a small smile.

"He'll be fine; he'll make a full recovery." Taeil said, watching Renjun slump into Jeno in relief, eyes closing from exhaustion. 

~~~~~~~~~~

Donghyuck was left speechless. "You saved him." He whispered and Taeyong nodded. 

"Indeed they did." Taeyong stated and Donghyuck lowered his head into his hands, mind spinning from millions of different thoughts. He didn't know what to think or who to trust anymore.




I relate so much to Jaemin tbh. In the recent NCT World 2.0, he truly showed his introvert side and it makes me love him so much more for being confident to show his introvert side, because he's human too. I'm glad he feels as though he doesn't have to be constantly happy and act like a full blown crackhead ~ ahem, Lucas and Haechan, ahem ~ and be himself around everyone. And it's very valid because of how many people where in the athletic portion; there were so many camera's and people, that I felt my anxiety go through the roof, lol. And I wasn't even there, haha. 

Anyways, hope you enjoyed reading and I am back from the dead/the little break I had and am slowly getting back into writing and finding my way and what I wanna do as a writer. Thanks for all your patience!

Eummie.