Anyone ready for NCT C?

Thank you all so much for 5K - *sob
- , if I could come around and visit each and every one of you with food, I would. ♡

~

The days after his conversation with the silver haired male had been ones of fruitless attempts. He would find himself preparing to subtly question the elder, expression masked in one of indifference. Maybe it was the fear of doing something wrong, something that would perish the plan, of revealing too much.

For in his hands are two lives. Two lives that after a simple fatal shot cannot be brought back from the dead.

All it took was the wrong words and soon a duo of addition would be counted to the never-ending mount of death tolls in the country.

Whenever he was on the verge of being delivered an applicable answer of some sort, such terror would suddenly clasp around his tongue, ceasing him from saying anything further. It was one of the most frustrating sensations he had ever encountered. He would be so close, so, so close that it had him on the verge of tears before he leans back to breathe shakily and it was all too late.

It's one of those many moments currently, the couple on the way to the ice cream store after Taehyung's insistence of the sugary treat.

"Jeongguk?"

The said male hums from where he is seated, one hand curled languidly around the steering wheel and the other resting casually on the blond's thighs, finger nestled between it's tight wedge. It's rather usual of the elder to show such intimate affection when the two were together and hidden from prying eyes, although he didn't try hard to hide such actions in public either.

"Has anyone tried to you know...escape before?"he says inquisitively, eyes flickering momentarily to view the elder's reaction.

Taehyung notices the cease of gentle circles upon his inner thigh, the other's arm now slack against his skin. There's no facial sign of discomfort or animosity however, something that the blond isn't sure as to assign as satisfactory or terrible. Swallowing thickly, he pushes his shoulder backwards as if attempting to throw of the sudden tension that settles in the interior of the vehicle.

There's a soft tick as the raven haired male flicks the signal to the right, head turning to asses the blond with a calculating gaze. It's terrifying really, those hollow, charcoal eyes prying at the layers of barriers in his mind, unravelling him from the inside out. He fears that thick-eyelinered man's secret was now reflected clearly upon his orbs, exposed to the elder's gaze.

"Why do you ask?"Jeongguk murmurs, a twinge of warning in his tone.

He shrugs indifference as he averts his gaze towards the rugged road, fingers extending to thread themselves into the elder's hand, "Just curious."

The male seems doubtful but proceeds to the brush the younger's queer questions as to one of naive curiosity.

"Well yeah, the mafia doesn't go too well with some. The pressure and mental torture gets to them and soon enough they just can't take it any longer. So they try to get out but by then it's too late. They know too much to be allowed out. It'd be stupid to permit them to leave with that knowledge."

There's a brief pause as the male breathes sharply through his pursed lips, dark irises flickering warily towards his significant partner who watches with earnest.

"And then?"Taehyung quips, eyes wide and curious as he leans forward as if the other's words were not one to be vocalised too loudly.

If it had not been for the severity of the conversation, Jeongguk would've laughed at the childish twinge that laces the blond's vowels, his expression one of a child eager to know the ending of a fairytale.

"We find him or her, and it's either a ticket back or one to hell. Their pick."

Maybe it is the nonchalantly that flickers over his tone that creates the discomforting writhe of his stomach, Taehyung feeling increasingly distressed at the doom of the topic.

What if it were to be someone close?
Someone who'd you trusted with all your life at one point?
Still would you kill them mercilessly as if they were a mere stranger?

The query lingers at the tip of his tongue, dry and cracked as he parts his lips to vocalise his remaining attempt of accomplishment.

No. He thinks, frowning internally, the road thinning and thickening into various rivers of grey that curl at the edges of morbid green. It is too obvious.

And so yet again, he finds himself swallowing away the feeble rays of remaining support, instead opting to nod briefly and face the stretch of road that appears to come to no end.

&&&

It is near noon when the warning is given.

The blond is dining alone in the lunch room, slender fingers twisting the metal instrument in his hands as he picks uneasily at the pool of noddles upon his plate. He had no need to eat, nor did he feel as if he wanted to, the discomfort in his stomach much too large to accustom anything further.

With a heaving sigh, his shoulder drop as does his fork, the metal blaring in his ears as it the skims the walls. Scowling at the intensity of the sound, Taehyung moves to shove his way from the seat when abruptly he hears a stampede of hurried footsteps and uneven breathing.

"Taehyung!"

He's given a second to familiarise the silver head before him before his wrists are suddenly encircled into the other's tight grip.

"Hurry!"Jimin shrieks, pulling and tugging at the younger's bemused frame, irises light with fear, "They've left already! There is no time to waste!"

The blond isn't certain as to what is occurring as the elder tugs him out of the room and towards the basement, his heart pounding against his rib cage as their feet scramble down the crumbling steps.

Raising his head from the narrow steps that he had been carefully viewing in fear of tripping over in the midst of almost pitch black darkness, the blond is finally given a chance to view the room the elder had been so eager in taking him to.

The grip of his wrist is released but even still, Taehyung can very clearly feel the other's clammy fingers digging into his skin. The said boy was currently murmuring incoherent sentences under his breath as his fingers skim over the various weapons pinned safely to a wall.

The room is partially dark, misty black smothering the expanse of his cheeks as he allows his vision to flicker from the muttering lightbulbs to the solid four walls that enclose the room. The interior is large, no doubt, for it fits over hundreds of weapons - though Taehyung is sure that what he was seeing was most likely a mere amount compared to what the gang in whole, obtained -. Even in the limited light, there was no doubt that the glint of metal from every corner of the room were one of mounting costs.

Parting his lips to voice the inner turmoil of his mind, a light instrument is shoved into his hands and a belt strapped to his waist.

"S&W Shield, s'got single stack magazine so it's a lot easer to hide the beast. A pretty comfortable recoil so follow up shots won't be too hard, double taps will be a breeze."the elder murmurs rashly, eyes bouncing of the walls of the basement, "I'll get you some ammunition and weapons for your utility belt in a second."

What the silver haired male utters doesn't appear completely comprehensive to the the bemused younger, his mind whirring with inquisitive frustration.

"For what? What's going on hyung?"

Jimin halts, dark irises flashing with mild irritation that is smothered with fear of his haste, fingers dropping from the boy's belt to his wrists, curling over the tan skin as he stares anxiously into the other's eyes, "Jeongguk knows. He knows where he is."

~

Their concept photos are so pretty, my goodness. Their new hair colours amazing, they're rocking it so well >.<