It’s been two days and I avoided Johnny like a plague. Where he was at, I ran. Where he could be, I made sure I wasn’t around that area. What was important was the fact that Doctor Zhang was back and we stood there with him in the middle. He looked like he was about to faint like the four times he had done the past few day days.

“What exactly did you do?” Xiaozhan asked Doctor Zhang who seemed woozy. “You said you had an individual mission.”

“Yes… That is correct!” Doctor Zhang snapped his fingers before he sat up. “I have found an antidote for the Marvel drug! It reverses the effects and I have injected myself with it—thus the fainting spells. And I’m feeling it, I’m feeling it again.”

“I forgot he's a Seasonie too,” Jaehyun said from the side when Doctor Zhang finally toppled to the ground again. “The antidote must be having side effects on him, that’s why he’s always fainting. It might be actively trying to remove the effects from the brain. Oh, there he goes.”

“Thinking about it, I still have no idea what his skill is.” Sehun mused from the side as we all peered down at a sleeping Doctor Zhang. Xiaojun perked up at the question, answering the question.

“Lay-ge can see possibilities. They flash before his eyes and he is very accurate as to what decision to make but it makes his reaction time slower,” he explained and Jaehyun nodded.

“Is that why he stopped going into surgery? Because his reaction time slowed down?” Jaehyun asked, Xiaojun nodding. And with that, Doctor Zhang woke up, his hair sticking out places. “Welcome back—”

“I did not see that coming!” Doctor Zhang threw his hands in the air in a congratulatory motion. “It worked! I am a… free man!”

“Alright, someone get the fever patch for him. I think you need to focus on your recovery, Lay,” Xiaozhan said to Doctor Zhang and I found myself raising my hand and saying that I would be the one who’d go get it for him. There were too many people in the meeting room and I exited the room, entering the storage where they kept medical supplies.

I was getting used to where things were placed at and I looked up, realizing that the fever patches were on the top shelf. I looked up, hands on my hips when I felt a presence over my shoulder, someone reaching above my head to reach for the fever patch when I turned just to see that it was the one person I was avoiding.

He brought the fever patch down and I stared at him, taking two steps back before turning on my heel to go back to the meeting room. I made my way down the hall; hearing Johnny follow me from behind and my steps rapidly increased. I reached the meeting room to see that Doctor Zhang was in a deep conversation with Jaehyun when Xiaozhan asked me where the fever patch was.

“With Johnny,” I said, Johnny placing the item on the table. I moved away just to feel his hands wrap around my wrist to pull me back but I swatted it away. I glared at him and Johnny exhaled. My gaze did not linger and I finally moved to sit with Jeno, Jaemin, and Renjun when an alarm blared and an automated voice spoke through the speakers.

“Code Green. Code Green.”

Taeyong bolted up, looking around the room before he began to count to make sure everyone was around, Xiaozhan looking stricken by the alarm.

“What’s going on? Who’s hurt? Are we ambushed?” Taeyong asked Xiaozhan who shook his head.

“Not ambushed. Worse—” Xiaozhan managed to say when there was the sound of skidding footsteps and Luhan appeared by the doorway, looking disheveled. He looked like he just woke up and the male tried to catch his breath. “What hap—”

“He’s gone! The child is gone!” Luhan said, running a hand through his hair. “This happens once every blue moon, he must have sleep walked and went somewhere else. Xiaozhan, what if he went to the mines?”

“Luhan, calm down,” Xiaozhan said, looking around. “Boa, ask Tao to come from his bedroom. We need the people he’s used to looking for him. Lock the school down, we can’t scare him.”

“I hear something, but I’m not sure if it’s him,” Henry said and I could see that he had his earpieces off, the male pressing his fingers against the sides of his temple. “I hear him, I think.”

“Everyone should go back to their rooms. Doyoung and Taeyong, can I ask you to go to the other building to make sure the rest of the Seasonies are complying with the lockdown?” Xiaozhan asked and Luhan had already grabbed his coat. “Luhan, calm down. We’ll find him. It’s just one of those days.”

“I know. I know.” And even if Luhan knew, he seemed tense and before I knew it, we were all heading back into our rooms. I went into my room, closing the door behind me and hearing it slam. I heard it open once again and I thought it was Jisung but when I looked behind me, it was Johnny and I froze.

He stood there, his face expressionless and I blinked.

“What are you doing here?” I snapped at him and he sighed, raising two hands in the air to show me his palms.

“Dana, I just want to talk.”

“Talk?” I asked, scoffing. “I’ve been trying to talk to you for days, Johnny. I tried and you pushed me away, and now you want to talk? Well, guess what? I don’t want to talk.”

“Dana—”

“I was running after you, Johnny! All I wanted to do was make everything between us okay and all you had to do was reassure me that everything was fine but you downplayed everything!” I stopped when I saw him step closer and I stepped backwards, wagging a finger at him. “Do not come closer, Johnny! I’m still mad, I’m still very mad!”

“Okay, I’m not saying you’re not,” he said and I could see him move closer and I glowered at him. “Continue, I’m listening.”

“And then you said what we had was long gone—how is it long gone?” I demanded, blinking the tears back when I felt Johnny press a hand against my cheek. And just like, my heart twisted and emotions ran through me. “It was just a week, Johnny! It wasn’t even that long!”

He hummed, pulling me towards him, his arm dropped to wrap around my waist before he lifted me up and I clung onto him, my face pressing against his neck.

“Okay, Dana. I’m sorry—”

“Johnny, you ing ,” I said to him, sniffling and he chuckled. I let go of him and he stumbled, trying to handle the shift in weight. He grunted, moving to the bed to lower me down onto the bed. “You ing , Johnny.”

“Okay, Dana,” he said, sitting at the edge of the bed and I pouted at him. He reached up to wipe away the tears that had stained my cheeks before patting my cheek. A weight seemed to have lifted and I stared at him, Johnny puckering his lips at me.

“Give me a kiss.”

“No.”

“Give me kiss—”

“I hate you!” I growled, punching his shoulder before Johnny flipped me over and rubbed his nose against my cheek. “You don’t get to do this, Johnny! You don’t get to do this!”

“Speaking about it…” His voice trailed and he shifted beside me, leaning against the headboard and looking down on me. “Are we not going to talk about what you said?”

“And what is that?” I snapped.

“The ‘I can’t make you love me if you don’t’—”

“Johnny, my brain said it,” I quickly answered back, turning red when I realized what I said. Johnny didn’t seem like he believed me, the male dropping the conversation and pulling me against him so my head rested against his chest. “Stupid Johnny.”

“That, I am,” he said, pressing his lips against my forehead. “I’m sorry.”

“For what, Johnny? Say it—”

“For making you cry.”

“And for being an .”

“And for being an to you, Dana.”

“And then for ignoring me like a dip you are.”

“Well, to be fair, you and Luhan—”

“Say it, Johnny.”

Johnny sighed. “For ignoring you like a dip I am.”

“You know, I could have gotten Yuta who is nice but here I am with you, Johnny.”

“Yuta would probably murder Luhan if he ever was in my position. He’s not as nice as you think he is. Besides, you didn’t choose any of us.”

“Jisung is still the best—” I said, looking up at him and Johnny smiled back at me. He leaned down to peck my nose when the door opened and we both looked up to see Jisung standing there by the door. His eyes widened when he saw both of us.

“Oh,” was all he said, walking backwards before closing the door. There was a shuffle from the other side of the door and I heard Sehun’s voice ask Jisung why he didn’t call me over. The door opened up again and this time, I saw Sehun peek through the door, his eyes settling on me and Johnny.

“Oh,” Sehun said, closing the door and me and Johnny exchanged looks when we heard a vague whisper. “She’s with Johnny, Jeffrey. No, I’m serious. She’s with Johnny—”

And the door opened and I saw Jaehyun stick his head in just to stare at us before breaking into a smile.

“Nice.”

And he closed the door.

And right when we thought it was over, the door opened again and I saw Jaehyun’s hand stick in just to lock the door with a click and he pulled it shut. My jaw dropped open and I heard my brother on the other side of the door.

“Jeffrey, did you just lock the door?”

“Hyung, why are you so worried? It’s just Johnny—”

“Sehun hyung, I should go get my gun. We can shoot the lock open.” Jisung’s voice floated by and I heard Sehun give out a grunt.

“That’s a good idea, Jisung. You do that—” Sehun replied and suddenly he greeted someone in the background. “Nothing is wrong, Dana is inside with Johnny.”

“Nice.”

“Give me a moment,” I told Johnny, pushing myself off the bed. Each step closer towards the door, I could hear a mix of voices. I placed my hand on the doorknob, pressing my ear against the door just to hear a buzz of people talking when I turned the doorknob and the voices stopped.

I opened it and peered through the crack just to see all of NCT staring back at me, everyone frozen. Right when I opened it wider, there was a thud and everyone dispersed, running back towards their room. I saw Sehun and Jisung enter Jisung’s room and there stood only one person, Haechan standing awkwardly in the middle of the hall.

“Uh….” Haechan mumbled, his face suddenly going pale white when I felt Johnny stand behind me. “So… Nice to see you guys.” He squeaked, Haechan sliding backwards before bolting towards his room.

“You scared him again,” I told Johnny, the male rolling his eyes. “Oh, Johnny.”

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

I would be lying if I were to say Johnny didn’t try his hardest to make up for the tears he had made me shed. I, however, refused to spend nights at his room and Johnny was very vocal as to how I have changed. I was on his bed, listening to the music on the speakers with Johnny running through papers when I yawned. The moment I yawned, Johnny quickly put the papers down and splayed an arm across my body.

“No,” he said and I groaned, trying to push him away. “Dana—”

“I need to go back to my room, Johnny. I’m sleepy,” I told him, Johnny’s arm tightening around body before could feel him pout against my neck.

“You changed,” he said and I rolled my eyes for the nth time. I could usually tell what he would say by now. “You used to want to sleep with me all the time.” He complained and I knocked on his forehead. “Now, you come to me when you’re lonely and leave whenever you want to.”

“Oh my god, Johnny,” I managed to say, pounding a hand against his biceps, Johnny wincing. “It’s not even like you’re in love with me to want me to be with you all the time. Let go, I’m going to get water and head to bed. I have a monitoring shift tomorrow with Shotaro and I have to go for Seasonie training too.”

“How do you know?” he asked and I blinked. Know what? He sighed, his arm loosening around my body. “Fine.”

He was sulky and this was the first time I have ever seen sulky. Cold Johnny was what I was used to. Pouty and sulky Johnny was a new image and Johnny stood up, massaging his arms before looking down onto me.

“Well, aren’t you coming? You said you wanted to get water,” he said and I nodded slowly. It didn’t mean he had to go with me. But Johnny had already placed his arms around my shoulder and pushed me out the door. The moment we exited his door, we heard people cheering. Johnny and I exchanged looks, both of us heading to the kitchen just to see Xiaojun and Winwin arm wrestling on the dinner table. There was only one light on by the entrance and the kitchen was dimly lit.

Everyone had gathered around them and I saw that it was all of NCT. Chenle was cheering a little bit too loudly and everyone turned to look at us when they saw us by the entrance, Winwin getting distracted and Xiaojun taking it as an opportunity to slam Winwin’s hand down on the table.

“That’s not fair! I was distracted!” Winwin said and I raised my eyebrows at the chaos before moving to the refrigerator to grab a bottle of water. Jaehyun was sitting down, ticking off a list when it was Haechan and Mark who decided to give arm wrestling a go.

“I’m calling on Mark winning,” I said and Johnny placed a hand on Haechan's shoulder to show that he was supporting Haechan. I filled a glass with water to gulp it down and watched as Haechan and Mark began to battle it out when there was a shuffle and the lights went on.

Everyone froze once more and we all looked down to the ground to see One holding an empty glass.

“Hi,” he mumbled, his eyes on us. “What you doing?”

“Hi… One…” Everyone chorused, One shuffling into the kitchen. Jaehyun stood up as if he had been waiting for One, my best friend grabbing the glass and refilling it with milk. The moment he gave it to One, One thanked him and was about to leave when Jaehyun cleared his throat.

“No, One. You have to finish the milk here and go back,” he told the kid and we watched One turn around slowly. “Remember what Brother Luhan said?”

“One practicing separation,” One mumbled. “Brother Luhan said One has separation…. An-xi-ety.”

“Yes, One. It’s okay, drink the milk here and you can return to Brother Luhan,” Doyoung said in the background, One grumbling to himself as he shuffled to the dinner table to see Haechan and Mark still holding each other’s hand upright.

“Three minutes. Three minutes more than yesterday.” One panted to himself, lifting the glass to his lips and gulping down the milk. “What that?”

“We’re playing,” Mark said a little bit too conversationally. “Just to see who is stronger.”

“Stronger?” One asked. “One very strong. One play too.” One’s eyes ran over the number of people in the kitchen before his eyes settled on Johnny. “One choose…. Johnny.”

It wasn’t the fact that One chose Johnny, it was the way he said Johnny’s name with so much menace that even 6-foot-tall Johnny winced. I saw Haechan’s pupils dart back and forth nervously, One climbing onto the chair and gently putting the glass down after gulping down the milk. He his lips, his upper lip stained with a milk mustache before he wiggled a finger at Johnny.

“One use one finger. Fight with… Johnny,” he said and Johnny blinked.

“Oh, he really doesn’t like you,” Jaemin said from the side. “What to do, Johnny? What to do?

“Uh…”

“Come, Johnny. We play now,” One said, smiling an evil smile at Johnny. Johnny was about to sit down when there was a sound of Luhan’s voice from the door.

“One, what are you doing?” Luhan demanded but One did not look away from Johnny. “Are you done with your milk?

“One fight with Johnny,” One said simply, Luhan realizing what was going on. He gave Johnny a meek smile, quickly running towards One to carry him away. One stared at Johnny.

“We have to go to bed, One. Say goodnight to everyone now. Thank Brother Jeffrey for the milk.”

One leaned against Luhan’s shoulder, thanking Jaehyun before he began to say good night to the rest of NCT one by one.

“…. Goodnight, Brother Jaemin. Goodnight, Brother Renjun. And goodnight Sister Dana….” He stopped when it was Johnny’s turn. “And goodnight, Johnny.”

“Wow, he really doesn’t like you, dad,” Jisung said and Luhan began to retreat into the shadows.

“See you tonight, Johnny,” One sang and Johnny frowned.

“What does that mean?” Johnny asked me and I shrugged.

“Means he’s going to haunt you in your dreams, Johnny,” Jaemin said, making motions with his hands in front of Johnny’s face while making horror noises. “Ooh-lu-oooh-lu-ooh-lu….”

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

It was Operation-make-One-like-Johnny and it came into action because of Jaehyun who decided that other than One having to overcome his separation anxiety, he should also learn to get acquainted with people. But it was a mystery as to why One hated Johnny and I remember asking One why, the little kid telling me that it was because he was simply Johnny.

I had a shift with Shotaro the next day, Xiaozhan putting all of us to work with monitoring cases and plans and I came back from my shift just to see that Johnny was sitting in the kitchen with the six-year-old kid. I could see Luhan lean by the door, the male keeping a close eye on both of them. When I neared Luhan, the male lifted a hand up to his mouth to tell me to keep noise to the minimum.

I stood beside Luhan and I saw that the kitchen was once again, dimly lit. Johnny had a glass of whiskey beside him while One sat across from him with a glass of milk that was half empty. Johnny lifted the whiskey to his lips and sipped it, studying One while One stared him down. If I didn’t know any better, it seemed like One was his boss.

Or like they were on their first date.

“So… what do you do in your free time?” Johnny asked a bit too awkwardly and One sat back, his fingers gently tapping the table.

“One smash. What do you do, Johnny?”

“I… Uh… Act,” Johnny mumbled, a hand going to pour more whiskey. One moved the empty glass towards Johnny.

“More milk,” he ordered and Johnny blinked, nodding. He reached for the milk bottle to pour it into the glass and One sniffed the air, pointing at Johnny’s glass. “What that, Johnny? Smell not very nice.”

“Whiskey.”

“One try.”

“One, if you drink this, you’ll die.”

“Oh.” One paused, staring at Johnny. “Drink a lot, Johnny.”

Johnny fell silent, One still looking at Johnny before he spoke again.

“Why Brother Jisung call Johnny ‘Dad’?”

“Uh, just because, I guess. Why do you hate me?”

“Just because, I guess. Actually, no… One have good reason. One just no say. Johnny will forever wonder.” He paused. “Have Papa Xiaozhan. Many brother. I learn with Brother Luhan about family—”

“I can be your Uncle.”

“Then Johnny my only Uncle. Drunk Uncle no one like.”

“This is good, this is good,” I heard Luhan say from beside me. “This is him changing perspectives of people he doesn’t like—which is still a mystery but then again it’s One. He hated Sungchan and Shotaro before but he slowly got them to graduate by calling them ‘Brother’. We should step back and give them some privacy.”

And with that, Luhan and I moved backwards into the shadows and I found myself leaning against the wall asking where One went when he disappeared a day ago. He told me that One was found sleeping in the fountain and Luhan said that One constantly sleepwalked when his brain had to process a lot of things and when that happened, they would put him in a sleeping pod. Sadly, he wasn’t used to it so they had to make him practice separation. Our conversation was hushed when three minutes later, we heard One yell out for Luhan.

“He must need me now—”

“BROTHER LUHAN!” One screeched, jumping down from the chair. “One sleep with Uncle Johnny!”

We were stunned for a moment but Luhan quickly went into the kitchen and I followed him to see that One was holding Johnny’s little pinky. I raised an eyebrow at Johnny who shrugged.

“Tomorrow Uncle Johnny teach One ka-pow!” he squealed happily and I realized that as much as Luhan played with One, he never really allowed One to do anything that was too active. For good cause. “Uncle Johnny, what you think about rope?”

“Uh… How fun,” Johnny replied dryly and One massaged his fingers on one hand.

“Tomorrow, Uncle Johnny no hair,” he said and Johnny blinked, Luhan chuckling and telling One to stop scaring his Uncle Johnny, One breaking into a grin. He finally let go of Johnny’s hand and grabbed Johnny around his leg, lifting him up happily. Johnny clamored for balance, the kid carrying him to his room. “Where Uncle Johnny room? Where?”

Needless to say, One’s sudden liking to Johnny was also a mystery but it was a good change, and the next day I woke up to see Johnny with One on his shoulders, One grabbing a fistful of Johnny’s hair, yelling out instructions to my friend.

Friend? I paused when the term popped up in my head and I shook my head.

Yes, friend.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

We were all called for a meeting and all of us gathered into the meeting room, Shotaro and Chenle’s hands gliding over the keyboard. They had become really good friends, bonding over their love for computers and hacking. I guessed it would be another one of those situational meetings where Xiaozhan would update us on what was happening when Shotaro pulled up a map. Xiaozhan came into the room and began to count all of us, Taeyong standing up and doing the same thing for the NCT members. Super Junior stood lazily at the side and Henry was once again with my brother.

“There has been movement,” Xiaozhan said, Shotaro motioning to the map on the screen. “Chenle, you want to do the honors?”

“There has been an influx of hotel and plane bookings to Germany the past three days. I thought it was nothing but then when I checked the names, a lot of those people are from the same families are those we have tried to take down.” Chenle said.

“What does a syndicate do when they find a pattern in events? They do what all organizations do—gather a meeting,” Kyungsoo said and I realized I haven’t heard from him for a while. But it seemed as if this meeting was going to be led by hi