"jisung! it's time to wake up!"

the youngest nct member groaned, keeping his eyes closed as he rolled on his bed, turning his back to the person that had just barged in his room way too early to wake him up.

just as he was about to go back into dreamland, something – more like someone – landed on top of him, making him.

"come on, wake up ji!" the person who was straddling him shook his shoulders in an attempt to wake him up. "we're going to the aquarium today!" 

this simple sentence had jisung sitting up and opening his eyes in an instant. "aquarium?!"

both boys froze after this single word was pronounced.

jisung was now sitting on his bed, and he could identify the person trying to wake him up as chenle. speaking of which, chenle was straddling jisung's hips, making him land on jisung's lap when the younger boy sat up. and now, both were frozen, with their faces centimetres apart.

"c-chenle...?!" jisung breathed out, his cheeks reddening at the sight of the older man so close to him. his sudden shyness was also the consequence of a full night of insomnia he had spent thinking about the chinese male that was currently straddling his lap.

"y-you should get up." chenle stuttered. "w-we need t-to go to the a-aquarium."

"oh, yeah."

chenle quickly climbed off jisung's lap, looking at the younger male getting out of his bed and stretching his limbs.

"i'll be... huh... living room." chenle declared before bolting away and disappearing from jisung's sight.

as soon as chenle had left his room, jisung let out a deep breath, placing a hand over his heart that was beating so unusually fast. seeing chenle straddling his lap first thing in the morning definitely wasn't something he had hated, and he wouldn't mind waking up to this sight every day. chenle was even cuter from up close, when he was squinting to look at jisung's nose which was almost touching his.

just imagining the day both him and chenle would spend together at the aquarium was making him so happy. he had already put his phone on silent and told the others the night before that he wasn't available today to make sure he wouldn't be disturbed by anything mafia-related during his day with chenle.

that's how important it was for him. and the worst part of it was that he couldn't recall when chenle had become this important to him...

in the living room, chenle was in a much more panicked state, sitting on the sofa with his knees pressed against his chest as his cheeks refused to go back to their normal colour.

"hello, chenle. is everything alright?" shotaro asked, stopping by the living room on his way to the kitchen.

"yeah, perfect, hyung!" the younger boy replied with a smile.

"your cheeks are red." the japanese stated.

chenle tried hiding his face behind his knees so that his cheeks weren't visible anymore. "n-no!"

god, jisung had so much effect on him... it wasn't healthy anymore.

having his and jisung's faces centimetres apart this early in the morning had completely messed with his mind.

he couldn't think straight anymore... how could jisung look this hot even when waking up?

the chinese male let out a sigh as he realised this was going to be a long day...

just jisung and him, at the aquarium, without any cameras or people to spy on them.

they would be themselves, not playing pretend like their managers sometimes asked them to. just themselves.

and chenle was a bit scared to be himself right now... because, what if he voiced his feelings out accidently?

⇄

"oh! look jisung! a dory!!" chenle exclaimed, running towards the huge glass separating them from the giant aquarium in which hundreds of fish were swimming around.

"it's called a blue tang." jisung informed, a smile appearing on his face at the sight of an over excited chenle gluing his face to the glass.

"it's sooooo beautiful..." the chinese boy declared, looking around.

"yeah..." jisung nodded, still a few steps behind chenle, having a perfect view of both the fish and the boy that had been on his mind all night long.

after long minutes of staring at the sea creatures swimming around and paying no mind to him, chenle unglued his face from the glass and walked towards the next room.

"oh my god, sharks!!" he exclaimed, running once again towards the giant fish tank.

jisung chuckled as some of the children that were visitng the place with their parents stared curiously at the loud 20-year-old chinese male who was currently acting like he was 5.

but chenle didn't seem to mind the stares he was receiving as he continued to giggle loudly.

"jisung, come with me!" chenle whined, turning his head to look at the older boy who had a smile on his face.

"i'm here, don't worry." jisung assured, taking a step towards him.

"but you can't see anything from there. you need to be next to me."

jisung rolled his eyes, heading closer to the glass until he was by chenle's side, their shoulders brushing together. chenle had lied, jisung almost saw the fish tank better from a few steps back, because when they were standing so close to the glass, it seemed like it deformed a bit their vision of the fish. plus, there was a reflect right in front of jisung's eyes which allowed him to see more what was happening behind him rather than in the fish tank.

"i love aquariums..." chenle declared in a much calmer state, leaning against jisung's side and placing his head on jisung's shoulder.

the mafia leader's heart beat madly in his chest. the reflect of the glass didn't matter to him anymore, he was too focused on the fuzzy feeling chenle's head on his shoulder created that he couldn't care less of not seeing the fish.

"sometimes, i'd like to be a fish. well, a mermaid. they look so pretty. and they can breathe underwater and communicate with fish, that's so cool. and when they get on land, they can grow legs and walk just like us." chenle continued blabbering. "if i was a mermaid, i'd like my tail to be purple. i love purple, and..."

jisung got lost halfway in chenle's monologue about mermaids.

he was so far away in his dreams, imagining chenle as a beautiful mermaid, purple shiny scales littering his slim waist and forming a long and pretty tail with translucid fins. he could see chenle swimming around freely and agilely, and laughing like a dolphin.

now that he came to think about it, chenle could actually be a mermaid seeing how he laughed.

anyway, jisung was no longer listening to chenle, and instead creating scenarios in his mind and making himself even more mesmerized by the younger male leaning on his shoulder.

sadly, he was cut off from his daydream by a loud cough.

blinking a few times, jisung looked through the curved glass of the tank in the reflect to find the person who had disturbed him. it was a man, looking like he was in his thirties, and wearing a huge jacket. jisung had already noticed him when they had started the visit; he was staring at him, but jisung had blamed it on the fact chenle was too loud for everyone else's liking.

but right now, jisung could clearly see in the reflect of the glass that the man was staring at them. his eyes wouldn't look around at the fish tanks or at the other visitors. they were stuck on chenle and him, and jisung's mafia leader senses couldn't help but think that something may be wrong.

"let's head to the next room?" jisung asked chenle, making the older nod.

chenle lifted his head from jisung's shoulder and walked away, jisung on his heels.

as chenle stepped into the next room, jisung kept an eye on the suspicious man who was now walking in the direction of the room they were in.

this man could be following them. but at the same time, it could be a big coincidence, jisung couldn't be sure.

looking around, jisung saw a small opening in the wall, leading towards one of the rooms him and chenle had already visited a while ago. there was this shortcut in the aquarium because the bathrooms were just around the corner, but jisung wanted to use it to confirm his suspicions.

"how about this room? it looks cool." he declared, walking towards the passage.

"but, we went there a while a-"

"woah! look at that!" jisung cut chenle, taking the chinese's hand in his and pulling the boy towards the room they had already visited.

jisung gulped when, after a minute of staring at a random tank, he located the man with the huge jacket standing a few meters away from them.

"you were right chenle, we already saw this room..." jisung informed, pulling chenle by his hand once again.

"t-t-told y-you..." chenle stuttered, his cheek flushing red as he stared at his and jisung's intertwined fingers. this made his heart beat so fast in his chest... jisung's large hand was so warm, and it fitted his own perfectly.

after a few seconds of walking, jisung stopped them in front of another random tank, and he let go of chenle's hand – making the smaller frown – but then wrapped his arm around the boy's shoulders and approached his face from his ear – making chenle's heart go mad again.

"someone is following us." jisung whispered. "please, don't panic and act as if everything was normal, okay?"

chenle's eyes widened, but he nodded anyway, trusting jisung.

"we're going to walk around, and you'll go to the bathroom. i want you to lock yourself in one of the stalls and not to come out until i come back and tell you to do so." jisung ordered, his voice suddenly serious as his mafia instincts kicked in.

"b-but, what a-about you...?" chenle whispered, his body trembling in fear.

"i'm going to call for help, don't worry. just stay in the bathroom and open to no one except me, okay?"

chenle nodded again, looking at jisung with worried eyes.

jisung got mesmerised in his deep brown eyes for a second, his heart breaking at the sight of them. they looked so lost and scared, but they were nothing like the eyes of his victims.

"are you ready to go?" jisung asked. "i'm walking you to the bathroom, don't worry."

"y-yes." chenle stuttered.

the younger nodded, allowing his hand to grab chenle's once again, feeling bad at the way chenle's finger trembled in his hold.

jisung walked in the opposite direction of the man wearing that huge jacket, and he made a quick turn towards the bathrooms. he made chenle silde inside and closed the door again before locating another door with a sign informing that it led to the top of the tanks, to feed the fish and clean the tanks.

jisung hid next to it, checking from time to time if the man was approaching.

thankfully, the man passed in front of jisung, looking around carefully – surely because he had lost sight of chenle and jisung for a while and he was searching for them. jisung was quick to act, he wrapped an arm around his neck, pulling him towards the door he had located and making both of them enter the room, not forgetting to lock the door behind his back.

the man that jisung was holding in a chokehold immediately struggled, trying to reach for something in the inside of his jacket. jisung let go of him when he pulled a knife from his jacket, making him widen his eyes for a second.

"don't try acting like a hero kid." the man chuckled, looking at jisung standing defenceless in front of him.

jisung looked around the room for something to fight back with.

they were in something looking like a fish pantry, full of little shellfish and various powders. there were even tanks filled with small shrimps that would be eaten by other fish.

as the man tried approaching jisung, the boy plunged his hand in a pot full of powder – a mixture of crushed algae and shellfish which smelled horrendous – and threw it in the man's direction, making some of it come in contact with his eyes.

"aghh!!" he exclaimed, rubbing his eyes with one of his hands.

jisung took this opportunity to kick the man hard in the hip, making him stumble and let go his blade.

the mafia leader then ran to the end of the room, where a flight of stairs led to the top of the tanks. he climbed them up three by three and walked on the small alley between tanks.

the other man followed him as well, his knife once again in his hand.

jisung looked around for something to help him, sadly, finding nothing.

he was standing at the end of a small alley, wide of half a meter only, and with no barrier not to fall in one of the huge tanks on each side of it, filled with a variety of sharks and venomous fish.

jisung gulped, searching for a way to get out of the shitty situation he had put himself into. there was no other way out than walking straight towards the man that was surely trying to kill him if he wanted to go back onto safe lands.

"nowhere to go, huh?" the man asked, looking at jisung with his red eyes – side effect of getting fish powder in the eyes. "i'll make a pleasure cutting you in pieces and serving you to sharks for dinner."

jisung wanted to hit himself hard for not considering taking his knife or his gun.

things like those would be very helpful in these situations.

sure, jisung knew how to fight without a weapon, and he also knew how to disarm someone, but let's say he was used to doing that on a flat and large surface. not on a small alley surrounded by two fish tanks full of deadly creatures.

the mafia leader looked around, trying to find a solution, but obviously finding none.

there was nothing that could help around, and jisung wasn't dumb enough to jump into the tank. jisung hadn't even worn a belt this morning, so he really had nothing to help while the other man was approaching him with a nasty smirk.

he was now a few steps away from jisung, and the boy needed to act right now.

he was young park for fuck's sake! he shouldn't be scared by a mere amateur with a knife.

he needed to get rid of him. for chenle's sake, this man had been following him and chenle around, and jisung wanted chenle safe. he needed to act. for chenle.

the sole though of the chinese male gave enough confidence for jisung to act.

the young boy ran towards the male, surprising him – he didn't expect for this boy to run straight into his arms when he was menacing him with a knife. this instant of surprise gave jisung the opportunity to tackle the man, making him fall on his back on the alley, with jisung on top of him.

a punch in the man's forearm was enough to make him drop the knife, sending the metallic object into the tank, and making it reach the bottom of it in a second because of its weight and density.

above the tanks, jisung and the man were wrestling, occasionally throwing each other punches. jisung had managed pinning the man to the ground on his stomach despite his struggles. the man kicked jisung's back, cutting his breathing for a second, but jisung stayed on his back, using one of his hands to pull down the collar of his jacket and his shirt to check something.

"oh fuck..." he let out when he noticed the familiar blue octopus tattooed between the man's shoulder blades: the tattoo of dark danger members.

the small instant of trance jisung had gave the opportunity to the dark danger member to invert their positions, making jisung land on his back with the other on top of him.

the man wrapped his hands around jisung's throat, constricting the flow of air and slowly killing him.

but he took jisung for an amateur...

jisung lifted his leg with force, hitting the man straight in the groin.

he pushed the man towards one of the tanks, making him land with his head just above it.

quickly, jisung sat on his back, blocking his hands and legs, and having one of his hands above the man's head, forcing it towards the water.

"why were you following me?" jisung asked, applying more pressure on his head.

"you may have beaten me, but you won't beat the others. stay out of this world kid." the man replied, struggling to keep his head up above the water.

"answer me!" jisung pushed forwards, making the man's head go underwater for a second before pulling it up again by his hair. "why were you fucking following me?!"

"and who says i was following you, egocentric bitch!" the man yelled, struggling in jisung's hold.

jisung pushed his head down under the water again, keeping it there for long seconds before pulling it out.

"who were you following and why?!" he asked.

"why do you even care?" the man scoffed.

"i could kill you, so you better answer, because i won't hesitate." jisung warned.

the man snorted loudly. "go back home kid, i'll accept letting you go without trying to kill you. this isn't your world."

"if you don't give me an answer in the next three seconds, you're dead." jisung informed.

"sure, i'd love to see that."

"three..." jisung counted. "two..." he continued as the man tried struggling to get jisung off him, but jisung had a good grip on him. "one." jisung spoke.

"last chance?" he raised a brow.

"see, you don't have the balls to- "

"zero." jisung said simply before forcing the man's head back underwater.

jisung made sure not to allow the man to breathe air again, and he soon felt the man panicking severely under his grip – surely when he realised that jisung was really going to kill him.

jisung didn't bulge though, he kept his hand pressed against the man's cranium, waiting for long seconds for the man to drown. even when the man stopped moving, sign that water had made its way into his lungs, jisung kept the man's face underwater for another seconds, just to make sure he was really dead and that it wasn't a trick.

when he was sure he had killed the man, jisung pulled him back fully on the small alley, searching in his pockets for his wallet and placing it in his own pocket.

jisung then recalled that he had left chenle in the bathroom, on his own, and that the man had informed him that there were other people following the same person that man was following.

the young male rushed downstairs, walking back into the aquarium and entering the bathrooms, only to be greeted with cries.

"chenle? chenle!" he called, knocking on the door. "it's jisung, please open."

the door was unlocked, and chenle jumped into jisung's arms hugging him tight as he trembled in his hold.

"i-i w-was s-so s-scared..." chenle cried.

"chenle, please, calm down. we need to go back to the dorms." jisung informed, wanting to get out of here quickly.

"i-i'm s-sorry jisung..." chenle stated, not moving espite jisung pulling onto his hand.

"chenle don't be sorry, we need to go." jisung warned.

"j-jisung..." chenle sobbed again. "t-there's something i-i d-didn't tell you..."

"it's not important right now, we need to leave the place." jisung repeated.

"i-i know w-who this m-man was."

jisung froze, his eyes widening as he looked at chenle curiously.

he was quick to lock the door leading to the bathroom and approach chenle again.

"what do you mean, you know who he was?" jisung asked.

"a-a few weeks ago... s-someone came to m-my house... he i-introduced h-himself as t-the leader of d-dark danger... t-the mafia... he s-said that their rivals, d-death park would t-try taking m-me to m-milk money from m-my parents... h-his mafia i-is protecting m-me, but i-i guess o-one of them m-managed to find me..."

jisung's mouth opened on his own as he could not contain the wave of shock that had just hit him.

dark danger had corrupted chenle's family. and not only that, but he had made him believe that death park was after chenle, when this was absolutely not true.

and now, dark danger was surely trying to attack chenle to scare him and make him believe that death parkwas really trying to harm him. chenle wasn't part of that world, so he wouldn't be able to make the difference between death park and dark danger anyway.

this was so fucked up.

"chenle, you told me someone came to your house. who was that man?" jisung asked once he had managed to calm himself down.

"t-the l-leader o-of d-dark danger..." chenle stuttered, wiping his cheeks.

"yes, but his name. do you have his name?" jisung questioned. this was an information that no one in their gang had. and if only jisung could get it form chenle... this would simplify everything.

"h-hu ilsung." chenle nodded slowly.

bingo.

death park now had the name of their leader.

and this only meant one thing: it would be the end of dark danger.