NEO CULTURE TECHNOLOGY
MAD CITY BASE
11:45 PM, FRIDAY

3RD PERSONS VIEW。

"Your office is so dark, how do you even manage to work around here?" Keiko muttered as she sat on the chair in front of Taeyong's desk.

The male only hummed in response, eyes still casted on the stacks of paper he had in his grasp. Keiko watched as he worked in silence, nothing but the sound of the air conditioning whirring from afar. Taeyong seemed so much like a workaholic to Keiko, with him always by himself in his office, even if she now practically lives with them, she rarely see Taeyong unless it had something to do with work or meal time.

The pink haired mafia boss bit his bottom lip, his dyed bangs dangling low as it hovered above his sharp eyes. His fingers fidgeting the pen as he stared at his work.

Keiko glanced at him as the sound of him fidgeting gradually got louder. "Uh... Taeyong?"

"What?" he snapped, his fidgeting stop as he looked up at her.

She shook her head, "Sheesh, what's gotten you so grumpy."

"Wait... I'm sorry." he mumbled and gazed back down, now writing something down before sliding the paper to the side and working on another one.

"Are you okay?"

He chuckled, "Do you care?"

She grimaced, averting her gaze onto his velvet curtains. "Just asking." though deep inside, of course she had some bits of care for the mafia boss. After all, with what happened, he managed to teach her father a lesson. A lesson to stop.

Taeyong stopped working and eyed the silver haired girl, who was now mumbling incoherent words under her breath. A small smile ghosted his lips for a few seconds until it went back to his usual monotone look.

"I remember something, my father called you a former heir, was that true?" she suddenly asked, shifting to get comfortable in the chair.

Taeyong rested his chin on the palm of his hand for support as he raised a brow, "Yeah, why?"

"Nothing... it's just that, why give that up to be in the mafia?"

"Well, I started this mafia– and I didn't give up being a heir for nothing." he said simply, now running his fingers through his hair as he loosened his tie. "It's either become a slave under my father or become the leader of a now infamous underground mafia, tell me, which one sounds better?"

Keiko sniggered, "Definitely the second one."

"See? I just made a choice. I don't regret it anyways." he pointed out and stood up from his seat, "By the way, do you know Dasom?"

"Dasom? You mean... Rose? That pretty lady you used as bait or something in my bar?"

Taeyong nodded at her and she shrugged, "All I heard from Mark she's an associate."

"She is. She also works for my father." he sighed and was about to continued when Keiko raised a finger.

"Wait– why are you telling me this?" she chuckled awkwardly, "Why did you even call me here?"

"I heard you didn't have work today, I just thought... I need a proper talk with you." he stated, "Look, I trust you enough to tell you this. I know you hate us with your guts, but I didn't do this for no reason."

"And your reason is?" she cocked a brow.

"Dasom– she's from one of the noble families that are on business terms with my father. Honestly, I was shocked when she told me she wanted to be associates with NCT, turns out, my father was behind her." he grunted, thinking about the argument between him and his father around two years ago.

"Don't get me wrong, my father and I have a great bond with each other, but when it comes to business... it's just a mess."

"Okay," Keiko nodded, "I understand. But, what about Dasom? Mark seems to hate her a lot."

"About that–"

"Hyung! Your father is here." Jaemin bursted into the room making Taeyong scoff.

"Sorry Keiko, let's talk about this another time, I have to see my father." Taeyong approached her and she stood up, shaking her head to assure him it was fine. He held up her chin, leaning down making her sneer and look away, pushing him far.

"What do you want now?"

"Just." he now had a playful smirk, "I'm still waiting for you to promise me."

She rolled her eyes, arms folded in front of her, "Yeah, no."

Keiko thought that was all it, but no, Taeyong had to swiftly lean down and place a quick kiss on her forehead before exiting the room hastily.

"Yah! Lee Taeyong! What the fuck!?" she exclaimed, eyes gouging as her jaw dropped in an instant. Jaemin sniggered and tilted his head towards the door, "Let's go."

"Go where?" she huffed and left the room with Jaemin.

"Jisung wanted to talk to you, so we're going to the Dream unit."

She hummed, looking out the windows, seeing three familiar figures. It was Taeyong with Jaehyun and Doyoung. The trio was upfront as they greeted the visitor, which happened to be Lee Taehui, Taeyong's father.

Jaemin followed her gaze and just winced, knowing about what was gonna happen already judging by Taeyong's words earlier from their morning meeting.

. . .

"Keiko, are you okay?" Jisung questioned the female beside him as he typed furiously onto his keyboard. Glancing time to time towards the girl, he noticed how deep in thought she was. They were the only ones inside the Dream's hacker lounge as the others had some business to attend.

Soon, once he was done, he cracked some finger joints before leaning back onto the backrest of his swivel chair. Eye fawning onto the girl, he felt a bit nervous as he wasn't really the type to be talkative with girl, since he never really got associated with one during his time at the mafia.

Fiddling with his ear, his other hand stretched out to poke her upper arm. Keiko gave him a bored look, mind still preoccupied.

"Um, noona, did you know that," he pauses, "I know everything about you... wait, is that creepy? Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry– I meant, like- like you know! Argh seriously Park Jisung get a grip." he grunted, now lost in his own words.

Keiko chuckled and waved it off, "You're cute, don't you know that?"

A pink hue blushed upon the boy's cheeks, "N-No I'm not." he denied and crossed his arms.

"Do you really know everything about me?" she questioned, narrowing eyes at him and he pursed his lips together.

"Well– maybe? I had to do a lot of background checks on you, so pretty much? Can we not talk about it, I feel like I invaded your privacy." Jisung pouts, puffing out his cheeks.

Keiko crinkled her nose, "You kinda already did though?"

A whine escaped his lips, "Noona!"

"Okay, okay! Let's stop." she said, followed by a small chortle. Out of all the boys, so far Jisung seemed the the most softest and innocent one. With the way he would treat her, it seemed like he was really fond with having her around.

"Ah, noona!" he called out, remembering that he had something in mind for her. "Well, you see I talked to Taeyong-hyung yesterday, and I found out about Dasom."

She blinked, averted her gaze onto the young boy. That was exactly what's bothering her right now, her talk with Taeyong awhile ago. Her curiosity got the best of her, now she wanted to know more about what was actually going on and why they were fussing about Dasom lately.

"Yeah, and what about her?" she tilted her head.

Jisung clicked his tongue, "Taeyong and Dasom were supposed to get married two years ago."

"Wait– seriously?" her mouth went agape, staring at Jisung with a look of disbelief plastered on her face.

The boy sighed, rubbing his nape, "Shocking right? Taeyong disagreed with his father's decisions and that leads us today. After the marriage was cut off, Dasom was told to keep an eye on Taeyong, hence why she's one of NCT's associates."

"But," she spoke out, "I though she was with Jungwoo..."

Jisung chuckled, "That's the complicating part. Taeyong has been trying to get rid of Dasom as an associate, but Jungwoo... he sparked interest with her. Not a good interest, his mind is a bit twisted." he explained carefully, "Jungwoo's a major manipulator– would do anything to get what he wants. Quite similar to Taeyong, but there are differences."

"Why doesn't Taeyong want her anyways?" she questioned.

Jisung pinched her cheeks making her hiss, "Noona~ he wants you though?" he said innocently, a smile on his lips. With that simple smile, he could already fool a thousands. Keiko made a promise to herself, to not trust them easily, after all they were mafiosos.

Feigning a smile, she just shook her head, "Listen, Jisung." he raises a brow. "Taeyong wants me because he needs something, that's all."

Jisung squinted his eyes, something in him clicking. Like a code had been cracked. A bit shocked to hear that from her, his lips parted, "What do you mean?"

"You think I don't notice after you telling me what's going on with Taeyong and Dasom?" she chuckled, standing up from her seat, "Taeyong will use me to finally stop his father, that's why he wants me."

She made her way towards the door, twisting the knob open, "Doesn't that sound great to the Lee family anyways? Former heir, Lee Taeyong, wins the gamble of life against Mikami Keishin; claiming the once Mikami Keiko's life." she shook her head, locking eyes with Jisung, "You knew about that right?"

Pressing his lips together, the said boy looked away. "I said too much."

Keiko arched a brow, "I'm not a game piece to use. Tell that to the fucking player you call boss."

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