Caught in a lie
Find me when I was pure
I can't be free from this lie
Give me back my smile
Caught in a lie
________________

Jaehyun

Losing Taeyong was the most painful and worst thing that ever happened to him. He had trusted him and still couldn't believe it. When Lei held the picture of him and Taeyong in front of his face, he felt his heart break into a thousand pieces. Taeyong was his true love. He had given him his heart and it broke him to lose this love in such a brutal way. He loved Taeyong and he thought until recently that he loved him too. He never expected that Taeyong would cheat on him. He couldn't imagine that the boy he loved so much was capable of blackmailing anyone. However, Jaehyun knew about Taeyong's past and it was exactly this knowledge that made him feel insecure. But the picture was crucial. He didn't understand why Taeyong did this to him. He really thought that they both loved each other. When Lei told him everything, a world broke down for him and he was extremely grateful that Johnny was immediately at his side. He couldn't imagined a better friend. Johnny was there for him and that even though he didn't even know anything about the relationship. Taeyong always asked him not to tell anyone anything. Maybe this was the reason for that. Maybe he didn't wanted to tell anybody anything because he never loved and never meant it seriously with him. This imagination hurt Jaehyun extremely. Even now that Taeyong flew to America because he had appointments with SuperM, there was no other topic in the house and it annoyed him quite a bit. He didn't want to be confronted with his ex all the time. Johnny tried everything to distract him, but nothing helped. The pain was too deep and he missed him too much. Especially now that Taeyong and Mark were back from America, he suffered more and more from the separation. He didn't want to see Taeyong every day and remember all the beautiful moments, which had ended so abruptly. He was afraid that if he spent too much time with his ex he would immediately forgive him and throw himself into his arms, but Johnny promised him not to leave him alone with Taeyong.

A soft knock on his door, tore him away from his thoughts and he turned his eyes to the door where Johnny appeared. "Hey, we are going to have a little band meeting. Would you like to join us?" Johnny smiled softly at him while Jaehyun sighed slightly and stroked his hair. "And by band meeting you mean...?" Johnny nodded. "Yes, Taeyong is also asked to be present. You don't have to if you're too uncomfortable Jaehyun." He knew he could just refuse and stay in his room, but he couldn't avoid Taeyong all the time. They were just a band living together. "I'm coming with you." With these words he got up from bed and stretched himself extensively. Johnny immediately nodded contentedly and took his friend with him into the kitchen where the others, apart from Taeyong, were already sitting. With a slightly uncomfortable feeling he sat down next to Jungwoo, while Johnny took a seat next to him and Lei. It didn't take long until Taeyong entered the kitchen and looked at them in surprise. Probably he didn't known about the meeting.

Lei cleared his throat slightly. "Taeyong, we need to talk to you." Taeyong swallowed visibly uncomfortable and sat down at the head of the table where he nervously played with his fingers. Jaehyun seized his moment and let his gaze glide over him. Taeyong was unbelievably pale, his lips looked bitten and his cheekbones were slightly sticking out as he had lost quite a bit of weight recently. All in all, he just looked broken and exhausted. For a short moment he felt pity and wanted to pull his ex boyfriend to him and beg him to eat more, but he quickly fasted again when Lei started to talk. "We have something to tell you, Taeyong." Lei crossed his arms in front of his chest just like Johnny. "We all agree that you shouldn't be in the leader position anymore." Surprised, Jaehyun looked at Lei. He knew nothing of this. Taeyong, at the other end, also looked up immediately in shock and, if this was possible at all, became even paler. "W..what?" His voice was soft and shaky, yet you could hear his disbelief clearly. "You heard me. We have consulted among ourselves and we no longer consider you suitable for this position." Lei grinned slightly. "We even thought about who might replace you."Incredibly, Jaehyun looked at Lei He knew absolutely nothing about it and accordingly was not pleased or agreed with the situation. Taeyong lowered his gaze to the table while he said only a quiet 'oh'. "We've decided to make Johnny the leader, after all he'd already taken over most of your duties anyway."

Surprised, Jaehyun looked at his best friend. Why hadn't he told him? Johnny cleared his throat slightly. "I have a suggestion. I'd actually like to suggest you, Lei, as the new leader. All eyes were now on Johnny, also Lei looked at him surprised. Johnny smiled. "Without you, we would never have known the truth about a certain person." His eyes flitted briefly to Taeyong. "I think you're made for the role." Yuta and Taeil nodded in agreement while Johnny looked around. "Let's just vote this out. Who's for Lei to be the new leader?" All hands were raised except Jaehyuns, Taeyongs and Jungwoos, which definitely put the others in the majority. Lei smiled immediately. "Uh wow, I hadn't expected that. I don't know what to say." Johnny laughed slightly and patted his friend on the shoulder."Of course, we still have to clear it with management to make it official, but as far as we're concerned, as of today, you are the new leader of NCT." There was immediate cheering at the table and Jaehyun's gaze automatically turned to Taeyong. Taeyong had fixed his gaze on the table, but he seemed to feel Jaehyun's gaze as not a second later he raised his gaze and their eyes met. Jaehyun recognised the pain in them immediately. As they stared at each other, tears gathered in Taeyong's eyes, but before they could fall, he quickly left the room. Before Jaehyun could even think of following him, Johnny had already put an arm around his shoulder. "Will you come with us tonight? We are going to celebrate Lei's election." But Jaehyun shook his head. He was not in the mood to celebrate. Not at all.Moreover, he was absolutely against taking the leading position away from Taeyong and it slowly became all quite bizarre to him. Of course Taeyong had hurt him incredibly but was this a sufficient reason to hurt him that much? Jaehyun was torn. Of course he heard the rumors and Lie's stories about Taeyong, but he slowly began to doubt them.