one day. 24 hours.

that's how long was left before donghyuck would be given back to his father.

taeyong hid his head under his pillow as the clock of his room strikes 12.

he couldn't sleep. why?

he felt guilty. he had never asked for anything.

he had created this gang, mark by his side, to help the children whose parents hadn't done what they should have. he wanted to help them, to provide them a family, a place where they could be happy and not think about their previous life. he wanted to teach them how to fight against those like their parents. those who abandon people, those who mistreat them...

nobody in nct had a good background.

all the boys that had joined were broken, troubled and not in a well state. if they were better now, it's all thanks to taeyong, who had, despite his own difficulties, treated the new people as his children, giving them the attention neither of their parents had done.

this gang wasn't meant to be an enemy to the government. only a help, but a hidden help. nct would never associate with the police to solve one of their cases. never. they wanted to help, in other words, to make justice in a dangerous world.

but that was until this day, when lee sooman had called taeyong.

he should never had answered it, and even if he had, he should never had accepted it.

lee sooman was one of the most famous businessmen of korea. everybody knew him, in the country and around the world.

he was suspected to be associated with some gangs, but none of these rumours had been proved. that's why when he had called, taeyong couldn't do anything else than accepting.

he had promised them money, actually, a lot of money. nct didn't need money though.

but for the sake of their reputation, they had accepted. after all, looking after a child who didn't even know who his parents were couldn't be that hard.

the idea of getting attached to this boy never crossed taeyong's mind. never.

they weren't supposed to be in contact with him, only 'watch from afar'.

that's why taeyong had sent jaemin and jeno to his school. to get more information about the boy, without being suspicious. after all, who would think two teenagers could be in a gang?

but then, everything changed. exo was after him, and nct had to take him in, to be sure they'll keep him safe.

but then, this cute and bubbly little boy had brought brightness to the gang's dark life. he made the house way more colourful and pleasant. but most important: he had changed mark, something no one had be able to do since taeyong had met him.

and now, the thought of abandoning donghyuck didn't seem right.

nct had taken the place of his parents. the boy had been raised as an orphan for as long as he could remember, but nct had been there for him. for taeyong, giving donghyuck back to sooman felt like abandoning your child, like most of nct gang member's parents had done with their sons.

it felt wrong. everything felt so wrong for taeyong.

but he couldn't do anything about it, so he would have to deal with it...

taeyong eventually fell asleep, after hours of thinking.

nothing seemed right, but the later he would go to bed, the lesser time with donghyuck he would get the next day...

XXXXXXXXXX

10:00pm.

only two hours left before donghyuck would be given back to lee sooman.

every body in the house knew about it. everybody except mark and donghyuck. and, right now, every single member had agreed that it was about time to tell mark.

donghyuck and mark were currently entangled on the living room couch, watching a random talk show. the important detail though was that donghyuck was fast asleep while mark wasn't.

lucas signalled the others to go to the meeting room while he approached the two boys on the couch.

"mark?"

the said boy looked in lucas' direction.

"can you come? it's kind of... important."

mark nodded and detangled himself from the sleeping boy, earning a whine and incoherent words. once on his feet, mark bent to lay a delicate kiss on donghyuck's temple and caress his hair softly, making donghyuck smile in his sleep. mark stood up again, and drifted his attention to lucas who was wiggling his brows at him.

"dare saying what i did to anyone, i swear i'll kill you with my own hands." mark growled, his aura changing to a dark and intimidating one.

"keep your cool man." lucas chuckled.

both boys headed to the meeting room and sat at their places when they entered it.

the atmosphere was tense, mark could feel it. he didn't question it though.

everybody had a blank face, even the most expressive. something was off, and mark had noticed it.

"mark. we have something to tell you." taeyong said simply, looking at mark dead in the eye.

"well, go on." mark answered.

"lee sooman wants donghyuck back, and we'll bring the boy to him."

mark's jaw clenched, but he didn't let it see. "when?" he was pissed. everybody could tell.

"in two hours."

mark's eyes widened at those three words. "two hours?" he said showing two fingers with his hand. "like... two? one, two?"

taeyong nodded.

mark looked around the room. "am i seriously the only one surprised here? why aren't you- no. don't tell me... you all knew about that?!" mark finished yelling.

all the gang members around the table lowered their head, except taeyong.

"why am i the last one to know about this?" mark spat, jumping to his feet. "i am supposed to be the second in command here. don't you remember?!" he continued, slamming his hand on the table.

"if we didn't tell you about this," taeyong answered very calmly, "it is because we didn't want you to overreact."

"overreact? seriously? how old do you think i am? twelve?! i can endure this kind of information! i am a gang member like all of you here!"

"mark, calm-"

"NO! don't tell me to calm down!" he yelled. if looks could kill, all the members around the table would have been dead. "i deserved to know. i am the one in charge of donghyuck's protection here! i should have been told about it!"

"well, now you are."

"and what do you intend to do with him?!" mark was still standing and yelling. his face had turned red because of anger.

"we will bring him to lee sooman, as he asked. the whole gang will go there to protect him." johnny explained.

"i don't want you to bring him back." mark stated, voice lower than before. "donghyuck will stay here, in this house."

"nobody asked for your permission, mark." taeyong said rubbing his temples.

"i am his PROTECTOR. i have my word to say. neither donghyuck, nor i will go to meet lee sooman!"

"see mark, that's why we didn't tell you." taeyong raised to his feet, glaring at mark who was fuming red. "if you knew before, you would have found a way to prevent us from bringing the boy to lee sooman. none of us here want to bring donghyuck to sooman, but none of us have our word to say in front of this powerful man." as he said that, taeyong walked towards mark, his glare intensifying at each step he made. "the real problem with you right now mark, it's that you don't object to this act because you're supposed to protect him. oh no... if it was the case, you would be the one leading us to sooman, to make sure he gets there safe and sound. you object this act because you want donghyuck to be with you. you caught feelings, mark." he finished his speech pressing his index against mark's chest, just on his heart.

"i-i'm not weak. i didn't catch feelings." mark answered. his body was shaking lightly, his lip was quivering, his fists were clenched, and his eyes were full of tears.

"yes, you did mark." taeyong said, pressing harder with his finger. "guys, departure in half an hour! get ready!"

all the members rose to their feet and exited the room, leaving taeyong and mark alone.

"i'm not coming." mark said once a tear had rolled down his cheek before crashing on the floor in between his feet.

"then don't." taeyong spat before stomping out of the room.

jaehyun was waiting for him behind the door, and as soon as the leader had opened it, he fell into jaehyun's muscular arms, crying as well.

"i-i was s-so harsh on him... he will n-never forgive m-me..." he cried as jaehyun rubbed his back.

"it was the only way for him not to break apart, taeyong. this way, he will think of him as weak and he'll forget about his attachment soon."

taeyong looked at jaehyun in the eyes.

"you did the right thing taeyong. and you did it perfectly." jaehyun said smiling and then plunging on his lover's lips to kiss them passionately, not caring about them being in the middle of a house where nobody knew about their relationship.

"go get ready now." jaehyun said once their lips were detached.