#nct dream superhuman au

[neonacity]

ARCANE | CH.13 | NCT DREAM X READER | END

Summary: When you decided to apply for a researcher post in an elusive institute, you already had the feeling that you’ll be getting yourself knee-deep into something out of the ordinary. But desperate needs require desperate measures, and so you embraced the invite, despite all the alarm signals urging you to run away. What you found out was nothing you’d ever expected.

Seven boys.

Seven human deviants granted with abilities tied to the legendary Arcana Cards.

Welcome to Project Dream.

Pairing: Various Dream Members x Reader

Trigger Warnings/Themes: violence, torture, trauma, very slight yandere themes, poly dynamics, suggestive themes, language, psychological, mystery, sci-fi. Romance will take a little bit of a backseat on this one since this is more of a suspense-driven plot, but it will still be threaded in the overall story. The concept of the tarot or Arcana cards will be loosely used throughout the series. Note that I am not a trained doctor so there may be some slips here and there about medical things. Again, this is a work of fiction and I am not implying any likeness between the characterization here of the boys to their real life counterparts. I also reserve the rights to all my work—I do not post anywhere else other than tumblr. Minors DNI.

> CH. 1 | CH. 2 | CH.3 | CH.4 | CH.5 | CH.6 | CH.7 | CH.8 | CH.9 | CH.10 | CH.11 | CH.12

Chapter Songs: You Should See Me In A Crown > Billie Eilish | Castle > Halsey | Super Villain  > Stileto | God Sent Me As Karma > Emlyn | Animal > Aurora

"Love? Look at me."

The soothing voice of someone brushed over the edges of your thoughts. The tone was soft and gentle, a warm balm into the otherwise still darkness that seems to be cloaking you under a veil. It whispered other things to you—words you didn’t catch the most of as they dipped here and there like a broken record. Other voices weaved together with the calming hum, all sounding distant and senseless, with you only catching fragments of the conversation here and there.

"...she hurt?"

"Vitals… okay…"

"She's in shock—can't hear… us,"

"Panic attack—"

"Jaemin, do something."

"Darling. You're okay."

That last phrase punctured through your thoughts and reeled you back in almost forcefully. All of a sudden you could hear and feel again as heaving sounds pressed against your ears. Sharp needles of pain suddenly shot up in your chest and you blinked, confused, as your sight came into focus. Jaemin's face leaned closer to yours as he reached out a hand to cup your cheek. The feel of his skin against yours made you realize that you were shaking, and that it was you who was making the gasping noises as you choked on air.

"Shh… Focus on me."

You stared at him wordlessly as you felt the sound of his voice almost physically wrap around you. It was a stark contrast to the confusing churn of emotions twisting in your chest, and it took you a moment to finally realize that he was pushing back against your meltdown with his ability. Slowly, you closed your eyes to submit and let him in. He obviously felt the change, because the artificial calm finally broke through your mental boundaries the moment you stopped resisting.

"Good girl… It's okay… You're okay."

Your shaking had gradually stopped all except for your fingers which, you realized upon opening your eyes again, were wrapped around the wrist of his hand still holding your face. Gently, you felt him move his thumb under your eye to wipe the tears brimming there.

"Papa… They have him."

The voice that came out of you didn't even sound like it was yours, but you still pushed out the first thing that your mind locked on as soon as the worst of your mental blackout had cleared. Jaemin's eyes slightly widened, surprised, before his brows furrowed in concern. Slight movements beside him finally made you look up. You have no idea how you got back to the bunker after that face off with Haneul, but the rest of the boys are huddled over you now, wearing similar expressions.

"Jeno too. They're—they're hurting both of them—"

Your voice broke as flashes of both scenes came rushing back to you. You folded on your seat as soon as they came, your arms going around yourself as the rest of Haneul's words came slamming against you like waves again. You barely felt the arm resting on your back, rubbing gentle circles on it, until you heard Renjun's voice beside you.

"Hey. Don't push yourself too hard. Tell us everything at your own pace and—"

"Who is IL Matto?"

Your question quickly cut him off. You didn't even need to look up to notice the shift in the room the moment the words left you. All of a sudden the air felt thick with tension as everyone froze. You looked up slowly, your gaze clashing with Mark's.

"Is she the girl you love? The one behind all of this?"

He didn't answer, but the look on his face was enough of the confirmation that you need. A knot started twisting and tightening in your stomach.

"They're after her. Haneul Lee… he wants her. They are about to start the last phase of their experiments with a new project—Project Vision and she's their subject."

If the room seemed tense earlier, then the choking silence has definitely escalated now to a new level. Everyone has gone so still that you could almost swear they’ve collectively stopped breathing. Renjun was the first one who broke the silence, his voice laced with an undercurrent of barely concealed fear when he spoke.

"What do you mean? Haneul knows who she is?"

You shook your head slightly.

"I don't know. But he did give orders to look for her after they—after they're done with whatever it is that they are doing with Jeno. He said he is going to hunt her down."

You were so focused on trying to recollect Haneul's exact words that you didn't even notice Mark crossing the distance to where you are. He had gone so still earlier that you gasped in surprise when you felt him suddenly grasp your wrist. His hold was tight, mirroring the desperation in his eyes.

"Does he know what she can do?"

You were shocked. You've never seen him act this way before.

"N-No… He didn't say anything. But he knows my mother and how she," you stopped, suddenly finding it hard to work through the tight lump in your throat. "How she was the former IL Matto. Haneul knew them. My parents."

You saw how the rest of the boys exchanged glances in your peripheral vision. Jaemin reached out to you silently again, this time weaving his fingers through yours. His warmth clashed with the cold that’s slowly seeping to the rest of your limbs.

"If he is after her… and he knows the Headmaster from before, then he might have an idea…" Haechan said, his voice thin. He exchanged a look with Renjun from over your head.

"Is there something else he told you?" Jaemin carefully asked now, probably in an effort to reel you back from the oncoming panic attack that he can feel from you again. You tried to focus on the sound of his voice to ground yourself.

"Kun… wanted me to join them. Haneul gave me eight hours to think about it."

Your words hung thick in the air. Chenle, who had been quiet from the start, finally broke his silence.

"They're going to kill us… In eight hours."

Nobody spoke. Nobody even dared react, knowing he was telling the truth.

"We have to get out of here…" Jisung said, eyes moving towards the others. You, however, turned your attention to Mark again.

"What can she do? IL Matto? Why do you think they want her?"

The boy in question didn't seem to want to answer at first. Though he has already let go of you after his whir of the moment reaction, you noticed the undercurrent of unexplained tension still buzzing around him. It was almost out of character for his usual personality that seems to always be in control of things. It took you a moment to read it, but when Mark finally met your gaze, the realization hit you hard.

He isn't afraid for himself and the prospect of dying. He isn't even afraid for his friends.

He is terrified… for her.

"IL Matto can change the nature of Arcana powers," he started slowly, eyes steady on yours. "Unlike the former mistress of the Arcana, your mother, she cannot possess the abilities of other masters. But she can magnify their Arcanas to levels that we cannot manage to do ourselves."

Your eyes widened. Renjun continued on beside you.

"Ability Amplification is how we call it. Arcana holders like us have limitations because we are still only human vessels given temporary mastery of these abilities. She can change it if she wills to, by unlocking ranges that taps to the real Arcana source."

Everything was falling into place. Your gaze started going out of focus as the realizations started coming one by one.

"Haneul and the machine he made can only copy abilities for a limited amount of time," you whispered, more to yourself than anyone else. "That's why she is the last phase of the project. Her Arcana will extend all the abilities they have copied so far and…"

"And will let him create exact, if not more powerful clones of us," Haechan finished grimly.

"We have to get to her," Mark's words made all of you turn towards him. There was a set look on his face that made a foreboding feeling start to grow in the pit of your stomach. "No matter what happens, we can't let Cypher get their hands on IL Matto."

You couldn't put your finger on it, but something about the way he said that made the knots of anxiety in your chest wound tighter. Before you even realized what you were doing, you were grabbing at his hand and gripping it tight. Your gaze sought for his, begging for his promise.

"Please. If we are going to leave, save my father too. With Jeno."

The way that he immediately didn't answer made your desperation grow.

"Mark," you whispered. "You promised…"

A shadow of something clouded over his eyes for a quick second. Before you could even process what it is, you felt gentle hands grab you by the shoulders again and pull you back to your seat.

"Hey… try to relax…" Jaemin said as he tried to soothe you.

"Mark—"

"I promise," the boy finally said, his words resting thickly in the tensed silence. You stared straight at his eyes, willing to see if he meant it, but you couldn't easily read him for once. A few more seconds passed before you finally allowed yourself to loosen your stance.

"You should try and rest. We'll… come up with something," Renjun took your hand and gave it a gentle tug. "We’ll talk again after. Do you want to lie down? I'll sit with you."

It took you a moment before you managed to give a small nod. With your response, Renjun finally stood up and guided you to do the same. You did, letting him steer you towards the direction of the bunkers after. You felt so drained and tired that you didn't even notice the loaded glance he exchanged with the rest of the boys before you both detached yourself from the group.

"Hyung… What do we do?" Jisung whispered in the silence that you and Renjun left when your pair finally disappeared at the other end of the room. Mark didn't immediately reply, wearing an expression that also sat in Jaemin and Haechan's faces. Everyone seemed to know what the answer is, but nobody wanted to say it out loud.

"We'll have to get Jeno and the Headmaster before we leave this place."

"How? We don't even know where they are," Chenle asked next.

"We'll follow the plan she talked to us about before. I think it might work."

"And if it doesn't? What if we run out of time?" Haechan finally asked the pressing question everyone wished they could jump over. Mark's jaw ticked, but he looked up after a while to give each boy a pointed glance.

"Then we leave this place with or without them…"

"No matter what happens, we choose IL Matto over everyone else."

*******

"Sir, the chambers are ready."

Kun didn't budge despite the notice fed to him on his earpiece. His eyes were set on a spot by the wall, face emotionless as he slowly turned over the mask he was holding in his hand. It was just an hour or two before the sun would rise outside, and yet the air clinging in the corridor was as grim and cold as the darkest of twilight. His fingers ran now on the plastic edges of the straps before he slowly raised them to press a button on his in-ear. 

"We're sure all air chambers are sealed shut?"

"Yes, sir."

"Any movements inside?"

"The heat sensors show nothing. They're all sleeping."

He didn't say anything else after that. Silently, he turned towards the dozen or  so men standing on alert beside him. Just like him, the crew was wearing thick hazmat suits and gas masks, with guns resting heavy on their hands. He nodded now towards the one closest to him—the chief of guard, though he made sure the rest of his words were clear enough to be heard by the rest of the group when he spoke.

"Try to move as silently as you can when you go inside. We don't want to wake up any of them. All seven of you who have the gas cans, make sure to throw them in the right direction. The poison is fast acting and will only take 15 seconds at most to work. The rest of you, don't move until I say so. We want to keep this as clean as possible."

The group gave a collective nod towards his orders. Kun finally moved to put on his own gas mask and pulled a small monitor from his pocket after—a handheld device showing what looked like a heat radar checker. Seven red dots were clustered on one of its sides, unmoving. He gave it one last check before finally nodding towards the small army behind him.

"Let's go."

Their unit moved like a shadow towards the metal doors of the bunker. With a set stare, he waited for the entrance to open in almost painful silence. The room was dark when the doors finally parted, but that didn't stop the trained men from slipping inside, silent like ghosts. Kun brought the rear of the group, making sure each one was in their right position before he walked over and raised his hand. The tension was palpable as the wards waited for his go signal. One second. Two seconds. Three seconds. His own heartbeat felt slow in his chest, as if death was after him itself.

Finally, he brought his hand down in one quick, smooth motion.

The sequence of the next actions that followed were quick and measured. Seven of the masked men moved forward, each holding a steel cylindrical container in both hands. The remaining men behind Kun raised their high-powered rifles in synchrony, the ends aimed at the direction of the beds. One by one, the men armed with the poison cans pressed the release button on the cylinders before letting them roll towards the same side of the room.

For a moment nothing moved in the silence. After a few seconds, however, thick white fumes started bursting from the canisters and quickly covered the room with smoke. Slight rustling can be heard from the direction of the beds as the sleeping occupants seemed to have finally realized what was happening. Soon enough, the noises were punctured with sounds of coughing, groans, and shouts as if people were struggling and trying to flail around.

"Nobody move until I say so."

Everyone in the room stayed still and followed his orders despite the ruckus. The smoke was so thick that Kun could barely see two feet from where he was standing and he waited for the fumes to disperse before making another move. After almost half a minute of painful waiting, the room finally cleared up a bit just as the struggling noises quieted down. His eyes fell on the small monitor on his hand, now dead of the seven traces of light from earlier.

"Control room, all heat sources are out. Can you confirm?"

A slight crackling sound from his earpiece followed after a beat of silence.

"Confirming zero feedback from the heat map. We need to have visual evidence of the bodies though."

At that, Kun slipped the device back to his pocket before finally taking a step deeper into the room. Silently, he moved past the vanguards who set off the poison gas, straight towards the end of the room. Splayed motionlessly on the beds and the floor next to them are seven figures—six boys and a girl.

He stopped next to the two bodies closest to him now, their faces partly covered by the way they fell on the floor. Kun swallowed back the uncomfortable feeling sitting at his tongue as he knelt in front of the one nearer him to turn its face up carefully…

He locked gazes with the glassy, bloodshot eyes of Haechan. The boy’s lips were slightly parted as if he froze in the middle of taking a deep breath. A small trail of foam trickled from the side of his mouth, the same one that you could also see now upon closer inspection of the girl lying down beside him. Half of her body was covered by the boy, as if in a protective stance, but there’s no mistaking the face of his former partner now, cold and frozen with death. 

His stomach turned. Without saying another word, he leaned over and pressed a finger to the side of the boy's neck.

"No pulse for Patient 01. 00 is showing the same signs of death," he said almost emotionlessly to his earpiece. "I’m sending feedback from my body camera. You can check for the visual."

A few soft clicks that only he could hear took over on the line. After a couple of seconds, the voice spoke again, this time with finality.

"Confirming time of death of 01 and 00. Check the others, and then we can move the bodies out of the room."

Kun didn't waste another second to pick himself up from his crouch. He gave a nod towards the men closest to him, who then moved forward to do exactly what the voice ordered. Finally, he motioned at the remaining group still waiting near the entrance with their guns.

"Help them with the corpses. We need to transport them to the morgue as soon as possible."

Without another glance back at the scene, he went out of the room to leave the others to take care of the mess. The moment that he was within safe distance, he immediately pulled his mask off and took a deep breath. Cold sweat stained the collar of his protective suit and he leaned towards the nearest wall, eyes closing as he tried to push back the nausea that was in danger of overcoming him. His head was spinning… and he was sure it wasn't because of the effects of the toxic gas.

He was still in the middle of trying to collect himself when a slight buzzing sound in his earpiece sounded again. At first he wanted to ignore it, having already provided the information the control room needed, but then the next voice that came on made him open his eyes again in surprise.

"Dr. Qian. Is it done?" Haneul Lee's low, steady tone asked.

Kun straightened himself and quickly tried to breathe in to keep his voice steady before answering.

"Yes, sir. The effect of the poison fumes was instant."

A pause.

"And the girl?"

Kun took seconds to answer.

"She's also dead, sir."

Silence followed his words. Just when he thought the man dropped the call, he spoke again.

"Transport the bodies to the cremation room instead. We'll burn them in one batch."

Kun couldn't have felt more thankful that the man can't see his expression at the moment.

"How about Lee Jeno?"

"We'll use another way. He might not be killed just as easily. I'll personally arrange something else for him."

Kun didn't know what that meant, but he was sure it wasn't anything good. Before he could even do or say anything else, the other was already closing off the conversation with his last words.

"I need you to update the system about the new developments. Move all the files to the right vaults and inform the network,"

"That Project Dream is over."

******* The man was the picture of stillness as he kept his gaze on the feedback on the screen. His private office was dark, with the only light coming from the monitors casting shadows over his features. Haneul Lee almost looked like a statue as he remained set on his seat, his usually sharp eyes now staring off blankly as he watched guards move out on the live video he was watching. A parade of seven body bags were being carried off by the group, all bound tightly to keep the poison clinging from their corpses sealed.

His gaze focused now on the last bag on the line which looks significantly smaller and lighter than the rest. As he stared at it, his thumb unconsciously ran over the face of the ornate-looking pocket watch in his hand. His fingers felt the groove of the pattern etched on its cover—an elaborate pattern reminiscent of the beauty of snowflakes.

"You'll be the godfather of my little princess, yes?"

Her voice sounded so alive to his ears still that it almost felt like she was just there, standing beside him again. He could perfectly see her smile in his mind's eye, the way her eyes crinkled at the side as they danced with happiness. In that slip of a moment, he wasn't sitting in his office anymore, but back in the old halls of Rosewood that he used to call his second home.

"Of course, he is. He's the only one we can trust to take care of her if ever something bad happens to us," a new voice, a baritone this time, joined in the conversation. The words echoed in his head as if someone shouted them at him. They were so clear… and so distinct, that he felt like he only needed to turn his head to the side to see his former best friend exchange a loving look with his wife.

His thumb stopped moving over the pocket watch now as he started feeling the memories start to get the most of him. He has always hated the way they come back to him in the most inconvenient of times, making him remember what once was and what will never be again in haunting flashes. Without even realizing it, his hold on the watch on his hand tightened, its edges digging against his skin. 

The flow of his thoughts only came to a halt when he saw the group he was watching finally stop in front of a pair of heavy-duty doors from his monitor. Willing himself to refocus, he pressed a button on his keyboard which quickly changed the view that he was seeing. From its former view from the outside, the screen now showed a wide capture of the room beyond the security door. He waited for the gates to open and watched closely as the guards hauled the body bags on the steel beds taking up the space of the area. With deathly stillness, he followed the movements of the man at the head of the group who reached out to the bag closest to him. He opened the seal and parted it… showing the pale and almost exact copy of the face of the woman in his memories just minutes prior. 

This time, he actually felt his heart stop for a moment. The words came rushing back again—the smiles, the memories, and then the promises.

He killed her. The daughter of the only woman she ever loved. The child he promised to protect at one point in time, before fate messed everything up.

"Darling. We're done with the boy."

The sound of a cold, lilting voice from the doorway of his office made Haneul tear his eyes away from the screen. Leaning on the threshold, arms crossed over her chest and looking like a beautiful ghostly vision against the brighter hallway, was Miyoung Lee.

His wife's piercing gaze finally cut through his thoughts. His face might not have given them away, but he knew, with the woman's piercing gaze, that she could pick up something. With practiced calm, he reigned in himself, stowing away the watch he had been holding into his coat pocket.

"Collection is over?" He smoothly asked in an almost emotionless tone. Miyoung barely moved from her spot, eyes still set on him.

"Mm. We're merging his Arcana with the others."

"And the boy's status?"

"Incredibly weak. If you're going to kill him, now is the best time to do it."

The way she said that lacked any traces of warmth and empathy. Miyoung’s inflection alone would be enough to send someone on their knees in fear, but for him, it was exactly what he needed to hear so he could finish the last thing he needed to do for the night. Silently, he picked himself up from his seat and put on his coat again. The warmth of the wayward memories that caught up with him was still buzzing at the back of his mind, but he consciously pushed them back now, latching on instead in the cold indifference his wife offered.  

"I'll take care of him. You better go to IL Giudizio. Make sure that he is ready for the assimilation."

"Are the rest dead?"

Haneul froze just a little bit just as he stepped back from his table. Miyoung was still looking at him with her penetrating gaze, though there was now a different fire burning subtly behind them. He stared back at her, looking disinterested.

"Yes. They are."

"And the girl?"

He paused. The woman slightly leaned her head to the side, her expression unreadable.

"She’s gone too."

It took a couple of seconds before any of them moved. It was like a silent war between the two of them, one that is loaded with meaning even without the need for any words. None of them wanted to give way and back down first, until finally, Miyoung broke the rising tension with a slow smile. Her eyes, once smouldering, now danced with glee.

"That's good news. If that's the case, then we can wrap this up."

Haneul didn't say anything else. His wife finally straightened up from leaning by the door, an obvious sign that she was finally satisfied with his answer. He was about to take his leave as well when he gave one last glance to his monitor. It was supposed to be a fleeting last look, but he suddenly paused when he caught something out of place there.

All seven body bags are open now, showing a glimpse of the faces inside of them. Instead of the kids he know, however, the lifeless bodies that reflected on the screen were that of strangers—men he assumed were part of the vanguard that did the silent assassination from earlier based on the peek of the blue protective suit peeking under their body bags. He looked up just in time at the guards standing over the corpses to catch one of them removing his mask.

The stranger stared straight at him from the camera as his features shifted and changed. Haneul caught up on what was happening just before the moment the transformation was complete.

Zhong Chenle smirked straight at him from the camera just as the remaining men around him took off their masks.

The last thing he saw before the feedback was cut off was a bright explosive ball going straight for his view.

******* "Poison gas. That's how they're going to kill us."

Six pairs of eyes turned towards you in silence. None of your party huddled at the table really looked surprised at your announcement, though there was an obvious tightness in the air that cloaked the room. Everyone seemed to share the same sense of tension that was growing every passing minute as you sat in silence.

“We’re sure about that?” Renjun asked quietly now from his seat. It took you a beat, but you nodded in confirmation and looked pointedly around the room.

“According to the layout of this place, that is how it looks like. You see the air vents there? They aren’t regular chutes. If you take a closer look, they’re designed to tightly seal upon command. There’s no need for them if they’re planning to attack using guns or anything that uses blunt force.”

“They won’t do that, since they know we can easily overpower them with our offenses,” Mark said. “Oxide poison makes the most sense, since we can’t fight and escape it physically.”

“And it’s the quickest method with the most minimal contact,” Haechan added lowly. You nodded. Beside him, Jaemin leveled you with his intense stare. 

“What’s the plan then? Without contact, the rest of us can’t easily use our Arcanas.”

“Are we going to try and escape from here before then? We don’t even know when they’ll come after us,” Jisung joined in, his voice sounding the most serious you’ve ever heard from him. 

Chenle shot him a grim look in answer. “But we can’t. We tried before, but this place is built like a monster. They intentionally weakened us to lower the chances of our Arcanas busting us out of this place.”

You frowned. “He’s right. I’ve seen the security level of this place when I first came in and I’m pretty sure it can only be opened from the outside. Trying to use your powers will just weaken you more and make it easier for them to kill,” you said. Beside you, Haechan started tapping his fingers lightly on the table in frustration.

“So we just let them slaughter us like that, huh?”

“Exactly.”

You knew it was a rhetorical question from him, so you weren’t surprised at all when everyone turned their heads towards you at your reply. You met each boy’s gaze unwaveringly, silently willing them to listen closely to what you were about to say. 

“That’s exactly what we’re going to do. We let them kill us, because there is no other way we can get out of this room other than have them move us out on their own.”

“I don’t understand…” Renjun trailed off.

“Poison gases are deadly, but their effects are not instant. At least from what I know, it can take a few seconds to minutes before they kill someone. That’s more than enough time for us to do something,” you moved your gaze towards Mark who was sitting on the head of the table. “Mark, you control all forms of matter and their structure. Do you think your Arcana can change the toxicity levels of vapor?”

The boy’s eyes slightly widened in surprise. You knew he was starting to catch up with what you were trying to say from the look on his face.

“If you mean changing poison into pure, harmless gas, then yes, I think I can do it…”

You nodded. “Then we have a chance. This is how we’re going to do it. First, on the day that they’re going to kill us, we need to convince Cypher that we are still inside this room, just in case they are still tracking our movements.”

“But we are… inside. There’s no way out,” Jaemin said, looking completely lost. You shook your head slightly. 

“Wrong. We can’t go out, but that doesn’t mean we can’t hide anywhere else,” you said pointedly as your gaze slowly moved to Haechan. The boy frowned at what you said before his lips parted slightly in realization. “I’m pretty sure no poison gas can get into those shadow dimensions,” you added, the second you knew he got it. You could feel everyone on the edge of their seats now so you continued.

“Here’s how we can pull it off—and I need everyone to listen because we all need to work together to make sure it works. Haechan creates illusions of us being in the room before the attack. Once that’s done, we’ll have to move and hide inside one of his dimension portals to wait things out. Mark, we need you and Chenle to stay behind. Do you think you can do something to make sure the gas doesn’t get to you and him first?”

The boy gave a tight nod. “I can shift the air in the room so that it creates a vacuum around us. We’ll be protected.”

“Good. You and Chenle will have to find a way to somehow overpower the men closest to you under the cover of the smoke. They’ll be wearing masks for sure, and you need to move quick to attack seven of them, no more no less. Once they are poisoned, you need to switch clothes with them as quickly as you can,” you turned now towards the younger boy who had been listening to you intently.

“Chenle, you’re very important for the next steps. Once the men are poisoned, Mark has to neutralize the gas so that it can be safe for us to come out of hiding. Nobody else in the room will notice this as long as we have casualties in the room. Once we’re back in the room, you need to transform the dead bodies to look exactly like us, and change us to take their appearances. We can get out of the room then, under the disguise of the guards once we move our ‘bodies’ out.”

Nobody spoke or even made the slightest sound for a good few seconds even when you finished speaking. Instead, the boys simply stared at you with varying looks of shock and disbelief. Haechan finally broke the silence, his tone hushed when he spoke.

“Holy shit… That’s genius.”

Renjun nodded slowly, his gaze unwavering on your face too. “That might work…”

You, on the other hand, faltered slightly. “You think so? It’s going to take a lot on all of you.”

Mark shook his head. “It probably will, but it’s not like we have any other choice. We’ll have to make it work.”

The rest of the boys exchanged silent looks between each other in confirmation. Finally, Chenle said what everyone else was thinking, his words sounding like a death sentence.

“Let’s all wait to die then.”

******* “Jisung, a little help here?!”

A bright ball of light zoomed over your head just as you ducked and got on your knees. The sensation enveloping you was one of the most uncomfortable you’ve ever felt, with your flesh moving and churning against your bones as if they have a mind of their own. Somewhere beyond you, you heard Haechan’s voice call out again just as one of Jisung’s energy explosives hit something and sent the floor rumbling. Mixed in with his voice are random shouts of voices from the guards who went into the room and were still in shock from the ruckus that was happening. With a last wince, you felt your body finally snap into place again as Chenle’s Arcana finally faded off. You turned your head to the side in time to see Jaemin shift back to his appearance at the same time, a displeased look obvious in his face.

“Hell, don’t ever make me look that ugly again,” he said through gritted teeth as he pulled off the heavy protective clothing that he used as a disguise. You felt his hand immediately shoot up towards you to pull you to an upright position, only for you to try and pull him back as a man suddenly charged towards your pair from out of nowhere, his gun pointed straight at your chests. Jaemin immediately realized what was happening and held on to you as he turned his head back. 

“Jaemin, watch out—!”

The boy only look slightly concerned at the danger. Expression not even changing, he looked the man straight in the eye, causing the latter to immediately stiffen in his spot. You only heard his next words as he pushed you a little behind him to cover your view with his back.

“Don’t even think about it. Shoot yourself.”

The sound of the gun going off was swallowed by the other sounds of explosion in the room. Before you could even process what happened, you felt another slight tug at your hand as you were once again pushed forward. Renjun and Haechan appeared on your side just as you tried to look around, the latter bringing the rear as he tried to push your group forward.  

“Mark-hyung! Chenle!”

The two boys in question were currently on the other side of the room, both engaged in fights of their own. You only caught glimpses of them as you moved, but you were sure you saw balls of fire from Mark’s hand and what look like ragged blades made of steel being thrown around by Chenle to the men closest to him. The older of the pair gave your group one quick look, before blasting another man off his way.

“Jisung, go with them! We’ll follow. Find Jeno and the headmaster!”

You swiveled your head to find Jisung at the head of the room, blue currents crackling in his hand just as he electrocuted a man he was in a lock of arms with. Without another word, he pushed the unconscious guard off him and started running towards your pack still being led by Jaemin. The latter’s eyes were swiveling everywhere, desperately searching for something. 

“Renjun, which one—”

“The man near the door. He knows where they are. He’s he head of guard,” the other boy quickly answered, his pupils dilated as he stared at the said guard. His eyes looked glassy but focused at the same time, and you knew, he had gotten into the man’s head, sifting through his memories. “I got it. I already know where they are, but we need him to open the door. Jeno’s closest to us.”

Jaemin didn’t waste any second to take action. Crossing the distance just as Jisung met your group, he barely even flinched when the man raised his gun and open fired towards your direction. You gasped, but the bullets flew off towards different directions as Jisung pulled up his energy shield around all of you at the nick of time. One bullet actually bounced back towards the guard, catching him on his thigh and making him double over in pain towards the floor. Jaemin caught before he even managed to catch his next breath though, his hand going over half of the man’s face. 

“Stand up. Bring us to Jeno,” he ordered, his voice low and commanding. The guard’s eyes glazed over, and like a puppet, stood up and started walking towards the door despite the heavy bleeding on his leg.

“Jisung, bring the front. I’ll take care of the defense,” Haechan’s voice sounded tense as your group finally stepped out of the room. The hallway that welcomed you was now flashing with red lights and you could hear sirens blaring in the distance. You ignored the growing painful stitch at your side as your unit started speeding down the corridors, following the hypnotized man at the head of your group. 

“We don’t have much time. We need to get to them fast,” you panted as you tried your best to keep up with everyone. A sudden bright flash of light almost made you trip in surprise as Jisung threw spears of light towards a group of men that suddenly appeared from around one of the bends you just passed. Behind you, Renjun quickly picked you up and pushed you forward again, his hand on your back. 

“We’re almost there. Jeno’s in the third hallway,” Renjun said urgently before his breath caught. Eyes widening, he suddenly turned around and shouted at Haechan who was just a few feet behind.

“Haechan, three guards incoming—”

He was barely able to finish his sentence when three men appeared just as he said, their guns set on your group. Before any of them could pull the trigger, however, a big gaping black hole opened behind them with monstrous jaws. One man almost screamed in surprise, but he was immediately cut off when it swallowed him and the rest of the guards, leaving nothing but their guns clattering on the floor. You gasped but Haechan barely even missed a beat as he continued to run behind your group.

“I swear, if we’re not even close yet—”

“We’re here!”

Jaemin’s voice cut through the noise as your group skidded to a halt in front of a double set of metal doors. Breaths heaving, you all watched as the hypnotized warden moved over like a puppet to unlock it in a trance. It took a moment before the said gates parted, but you felt yourself pushed inside as soon as you could slip between the crack. The rest of the boys followed behind shortly, just as the wayward sound of bullets came from the corridor you just left. You have barely caught your breaths and balance when you all collectively froze in shock at the scene that welcomed you.

Strapped in the bed in the middle of the room was Jeno, his eyes only half open as he stared at nothing in particular. Hovering above him, his hand pressed against his barely moving chest, was another boy who seemed to be surrounded by a dark force field. Your eyes widened just as the stranger looked up and locked gazes with yours. You almost stumbled backwards as you realized what you were looking at. Somebody caught you just in time before you lost your balance, Mark’s voice barely piercing through your fear as he spoke.

“What’s happening—”

The boy’s voice faded just as the monster with Jeno’s exact face twisted his lips into a smirk.

******* “What the fuck…”

Chenle’s shocked voice was like a shot of cold water that brought all of you back to your senses. Eyes still wide, you felt Mark’s arm pull you back urgently before he stepped in front of you. His stance was tight, but you could feel the slight tremors running through him as he kept you close. When the monster straightened up and stepped away from the bed, the rest of the boys around you fell back to defensive stances even with different levels of horror on their faces.

“Jeno-hyung,” Jisung mumbled, sounding equal parts lost and terrified. As if it heard him, the creature turned his head towards him before taking another step towards your group. There was something about the nature of its movement that seemed deeply unnatural and eerie, and you could see now how its eyes glowed black, the same way Jeno’s did back in the torture room. Unlike Jeno though, you knew this boy your were looking at is anything but human. 

“That’s not him,” Jaemin’s hollow voice barely pierced through your shock as he finally spoke beside you. A heavy weight settled at the pit of your stomach as Renjun finished what the other couldn’t say.

“That’s a clone.”

Renjun’s last word is what seemed to have triggered the spiral of events that followed. The shadow image of Jeno smirked wider at the sound of it, its eyes turning even darker as it regarded your group. Not a heartbeat after, black humanoid shadows burst out from the floor and caused tremors that threw all of you out of balance. A sound of pain was torn away from you forcefully as you were slammed back against the wall by the earthquake it caused. Your head spun, but you managed to open your eyes just in time to see the monsters start to move towards the direction of your group, their sizes growing with every step.

“Shit!”

“He has the same Arcana as him!”

“Watch out!

The shouts overlapped around you into a cacophony of mess. A growing ringing in your ears kept you from knowing who was shouting, but you did feel a force try to pick you up from the floor as you tried to blink away the spinning of your head. You focus and balance still off, you barely registered your body being shoved again into the wall. You blinked. Looking up, you saw Chenle’s hazy profile before you. There was a wall of rock covering the both of you from whatever force was pushing from the other side, and he gritted his teeth in pain as his hands pressed against the barrier. Your mind only snapped to clarity at what was happening when long, deep cracks ran around his summoned shield right in front of your eyes.

“Chenle—”

“Haechan-hyung! This isn’t gonna work! We need your shadow room!”

A deafening roar from somewhere made you instinctively grab the boy and throw both of you towards the floor. It was done just at the nick of time too, as a massive clawed arm finally broke through the rock shield Chenle was trying to hold up. Your first instinct was to roll away and drag your pair away as far as possible from the still raging monster now pounding at the ruined shield, but a different set of arms both lifted you from the floor before you could even do it. You barely caught a glimpse of Jaemin before he was dragging you towards the other end of the room, his eyes wild as he looked around. You gasped as you saw half of his face covered with blood, but you didn’t even have enough time to process that as another explosion made you unconsciously flinch and curl.

“Haechan! Do something! I have her!” the boy roared over the sounds of blasts and growls that has taken over the room. A rain of loose rocks and cement poured over your heads from the ceiling as another resounding bang tore through the air.

“I’m trying! Get out of the way!” Haechan’s voice shouted back from god knows where. You couldn’t see him in the ruckus that was happening, and you didn’t even have a chance to try and look for him, because the next thing you know, a black void opened in your peripheral vision. Jaemin started pushing you towards it without another word. 

“No! You need to come too!” You screamed in panic when you realized he and Chenle weren’t coming with you. You tried to reach out to both of them just as the void started to close, but both quickly stepped away before you could get your hands on them.

“We can’t. We need to get Jeno first. Mark and the others can’t do it on their own, just stay there and wait for us!”

That was the last you heard before the darkness finally swallowed you. All of a sudden the noise from the room cut off, and you were surrounded with nothing but the deafening silence of the room Haechan conjured with his chaos magic. Only the sound of your heaving breaths pressed against your ears as your knees finally gave way and you fell to the floor.

You didn’t know how long you stayed there as you tried to catch your breath. You weren’t sure if you are bleeding anywhere, but that was the least of your worries as you fought against the crashing emotions inside of you that made you almost choke in your own breath. There was a moment of silence as you tried to clutch on the floor of shadows in an effort to ground yourself, but it was short-lived as an unexpected tremor shook the very void you were in. You gasped and looked around wildly. The force felt like something of an attack from the outside, but you couldn’t confirm when it suddenly stopped just as soon as it came. At this point, you knew your nerves were frayed to their limit. The dead silence that followed was even more painful as you waited breathlessly for the next blow. 

Boom!

Your scream caught in your throat at the splitting sound that sliced the  silence enveloping you. All of a sudden, the darkness surrounding you was overcome by a sudden wash of light coming from a crack in the void. Before you could even wrap your head around what you were looking at, a monstrous arm reached out from the hole and wrapped its burning fingers around your neck. It pulled you back so hard and fast into the source of the light that the only thing that registered to you was the chilling sound of cracks that tore through your consciousness. The next thing you know you were staring at one of the shadow monsters as it held you in mid-air by your neck, its black glowing eyes drilling against you.

The blunt force must have broken something in you because you could feel nothing of the pain after. The shock of it all, however, is what really made you numb. It barely even registered to you how you were back in the real world, Haechan’s dimension seemingly torn into shreds by the beast alone. Your head was feeling heavy, and you’re convinced you are about to lose consciousness any time as more of your airflow was cut off. With the last of your energy, you tried to move your eyes across the room. Your sight had gone blurry by the edges, but you managed to register the bleeding face of Mark staring up at you in horror before you felt gravity started to pull you down. Slowly, the monster let go of its hold on your neck, only for your body to be caught again in mid-air… by its arm piercing through your stomach.

“No!”

“Mark! Stop!”

“Kun-ge!”

“Ten! Get to her first! I’ll get the others!”

Everything was just a blur of colors, shapes, and sounds after that. Your body hit the floor, but you didn’t feel any pain as the last of your breaths started to leave you. Your eyes were still open, but your mind was struggling to understand what you were seeing and what they mean. Even in the growing hollowness quickly swallowing you though, you saw the way the shadow monster stopped just before it was about to drive its last blow on your battered body, as if it was suddenly frozen in time. It was only a few seconds before you lost consciousness when a familiar face took over your dimmed line of sight, his face hovering over you as he made a motion to pick you up.

“Hey, you’re okay. Just stay still.”

Ten…?

“We’re getting out of here.”

******* The feeling was worse than what you hoped death would be like.

If limbo was a solid construct, it is exactly the sensation that was wrapping you right now. It was different from anything you have experienced before, with your consciousness caught between a wakeful state and a growing numbness that always seems to pull you under every time you were just about to break the surface. You have no idea where you are or even who you are, and yet there was one strand of thought that you were clinging desperately into as a lifeline.

You were fading into nothing. And it was terrifying.

"Love. Love, don't close your eyes. Don't go to sleep yet."

"We're losing her—no. No. We need to do something!"

"Renjun! Where are you!"

The sound of that name brought a mild undercurrent of shock over whatever trace of life was still left in you. You know that name… you've said it so many times before but you couldn't really remember why… Renjun… Renjun…

"Renjun?"

"Yes, noona?"

The way your vision snapped to focus almost knocked out the air from you. From floating in nothingness, you were all of a sudden back on your feet again, standing in the middle of a shadowed corridor. Turning your head to the side, your eyes ever so slightly widened when you saw Renjun beside you, his gaze set on something in front of him. You frowned. You didn't know what was happening, but at the same time, there was a part of you that seemed to exactly know the answers you are trying to grasp. You watched silently as the boy’s lips turned up into a soft smile as if he could hear your thoughts, before he finally turned to look at you.

"Where are we?"

He tilted his head a little to the side at your question. He seemed calm, a complete  contrast to the confusion swirling in your head at the moment. He gave you a look before turning away again and nodding his chin towards something. The action made you finally follow his gaze, only for your heart to drop at what you saw beyond.

"Where it all started. I think you know exactly where we are."

The white door from your dreams loomed in front of you like a ghost. It looks exactly like the real one you walked through back in Rosewood—the threshold to your father's office where you found his secrets. The only difference now is that the door you are looking at didn’t have its bronze knob burned and singed yet, and that there was no smoke coming from under its gap near the floor.

"Why are we…"

Your voice trailed off as you took in the sight in front of you. You were so lost that you didn't even notice the way Renjun had threaded his fingers on yours until you felt him squeeze your hand. The comfort the gesture brought grounded you just a little, numbing your mind before it went down a full spiral.

"It's time to open that door again."

He said those words so softly, and yet you could hear the urgency in them still. You hesitated. A part of you didn't want to move, afraid of what you might find on the other side of it, but there was also something unexplainable urging you to do the exact opposite. For a few more seconds you stood there, gauging your options, before finally raising your hand and reaching out to the knob. Beside you, Renjun gave you one final squeeze just as you turned and pushed it back.

The door parted slowly as if it had a life of its own. You weren't sure if you were still breathing in the first place, but your chest felt absolutely still as you waited for it to reveal what was behind it. When you finally caught glimpses of what's beyond, there was a brief moment when your mind started to figure out what you were seeing. Everything looked exactly the same from your father’s office back in the academy, but then your eyes moved down to its center... 

And landed on a girl lying on a table in the middle of the room. You couldn’t see her face at first since she had her head turned away from you so you took a silent step inside to try and see more. You have finally passed through the door when she finally moved, causing the light in the room to wash all over your features. You stopped, your breath freezing in your chest. Lying beyond was a woman....

With the exact same face as you. 

It felt like the floor was torn away from under your footing. You were confused, the feeling only growing as another table materialized next to where your doppelganger was. Your eyes widened in surprise. Resting on it was Renjun, his hair still long just like when he first came to Cypher. Quickly, you turned to look at the boy on your side. The Renjun who first came to your dreams was still there holding your hand. He was looking at both your duplicates beyond with an unreadable light in his eyes. 

“What’s happening?” you asked, your voice sounding thin and almost breaking at the edges. He squeezed your hand again but kept his sight trained straight at the scene in front of you. 

“Watch.” 

You did what you were told. The doppelgangers in front of you have barely moved since they came into focus, so your eyes bounced around the other details around them in the hopes of finding something that can make you better understand. When they finally focused on the tables they were lying on, a shocking realization hit you like a wave. They were the exact same desks you found in your father’s office—the ones you thought were so out of place when you first stumbled on them. 

That’s when it hit you. 

You're not looking at an illusion, nor was this just a dream. The girl you are looking at is not a copycat. 

But you…

"From a memory," Renjun whispered beside you as if he just heard your train of thought. At that moment, you saw the girl’s lips move, silently at first, before they finally formed words. 

"I trust you."

The sound of your own voice startled you. The moment you heard them, the scene changed as if someone had flipped it. This time, there were also others in the room, surrounding the table where you are. Mark, Jeno, Jaemin, Haechan, Jisung and Chenle were looking down on you and Renjun's doppelgangers, their faces unreadable. Renjun's double also turned his head towards the girl beside him before reaching out gently to her face. Above him, Jaemin moved over to hold him down while the rest hovered around you. You noticed how the boys seemed to take calculated positions, as if whatever was happening was already pre-arranged. Mark stood over to your left while Jeno hovered near your head. Jaemin, Chenle, and Haechan reached out to pin down your hands and legs. 

"This is going to hurt," Renjun vision whispered to yours. 

You nodded.

"I know."

"Close your eyes."

You flinched as you heard yourself scream in pain just as soon as she did what she was told. The moment was fleeting, however, as your view of the room suddenly spun out of control. The corridor melted and vanished, including Renjun and the whole slice of memory you have been watching, only for it to snap back at an entirely different place. That happened again and again, words jumping and scenes flipping as you jumped from one place to another. All throughout, you remained on your spot, unable to do anything but watch and listen to whatever it was presented in front of you. 

"You need to do it, Mark. It's the only way it will work."

"Make sure to give me a good dream, alright Haechan?"

"Chenle and Jisung… you'll help noona, right?"

"I'm sorry, Jaemin…"

"Give me this pendant at the right moment, Renjun. And a flower. A yellow daffodil will be nice."

"Jeno… Will you wait for me?"

You doubled over and clutched at the sides of your head as the noises, colors, smells, and sensations washed over you like a huge tidal wave. You could feel yourself splitting at the seams and being brought back together again and again. You were confused. In pain. Terrified. Lost.

"I'll leave my memories to your care."

Your own haunting voice echoed in your head. The words made you freeze, killing the screams you didn't even know were making. Eyes wide and pupils shaking, you looked up again only to find yourself in an entirely different room. Your gaze settled on another vision of you and the boys, though this time, everything was different.

Your eyes focused on an exact copy of you again lying down on a bed. Unlike the vision at Rosewood, however, this version of you looked pale and almost lifeless. Black marks decorated your neck, and half of your body from your stomach down was drenched in blood. Your chest was still… Except for the times it unnaturally gets lifted from Jisung's electric shocks. Your heart dropped to your chest as you realized what you were looking at.

This was not part of your dreams or even your memories.

This… was your present.

"She's losing a lot of blood. Chenle!" Haechan's high-pitched voice turned on the rest of the noises of the previously silent scene you were watching. He was holding what looked like a blood-soaked towel against the hole in your stomach, his own hands stained with the red liquid as he tried his best to plug your wound. Across from him, clutching your other side was Chenle, whose face was illuminated by a strange light coming from his hands pressed close to your flesh. He looked pale. Scared.

"I'm trying. Her muscles are binding slowly because her wound is severe. Jisung—"

"Her heart is not starting," the other boy, who was hovering over your upper half, answered in a trembling voice. You watched as he pressed his hands on your chest again before sending another jolt of electricity that sent your back arching up before falling limply on the bed. “We need her heartbeat to pick up faster. I can’t do it alone.” 

"Her pulse. It's fading," Mark sounded hollow as he clutched on to your hand. "We can't do this. Her life force is leaving faster than we can bring it back."

Jaemin, who was standing next to him, gritted his teeth in frustration. He was trying to hold up Renjun who was currently standing by your head with his hands pressed against your temples. "We need Jeno. Where are they?"

As soon as he said the name, a new movement from your peripheral vision made you tear your eyes away from the bloody scene. Appearing out of thin air was Ten trying to hold up Kun and Jeno on both his sides. Your lips parted in shock. Your surprise was mirrored by the other boys, though they were quicker to recover at the sight of the newcomers.

Renjun didn't waste another breath before calling out to the younger of the trio.

"Jeno, she's dying! You need to hold back her lifeforce from fading to give Chenle and Jisung more time to revive her."

You watched, stumped, as the boy in question pulled himself away from Ten and immediately tried to rush over to where you are. He looked disoriented and weak, but he managed to catch himself and grab on to your other free hand before he lost his balance. Just like Chenle, a glow came from his hand, weak but still lighting up your joined palms. You took in a breath as things finally started moving in your head. 

"I'm here. Come on. Fight it."

Jeno's raspy voice sounded close to your ears even as you watched him from the safe distance of where you stood. When you saw him press your other self's cold fingers against his lips, you felt a jolt in your chest that was mirrored by the slight movement of your other body across the room. The other boys caught it, Mark in particular who held on tighter to your other hand he was still holding.

"Her pulse is getting stronger. Chenle, Jisung, just a little bit more."

The two boys in question said something back, but you didn't catch any of it as your attention was caught by Renjun from the other side of the room. Unlike the others who seemed unaware of your detached presence in the scene, he looked right straight at you, his eyes piercing.

"Noona. It's time to remember."

The next sequence of events all happened in a matter of seconds. You were yanked back from the ground you were standing on as your consciousness was sucked into a void where blasts of colors and sounds clashed and melded with each other. Wounds closed and bones snapped back to their right places. Memories of the far and recent past melded together, forming a singular consciousness that grew and grew and grew until they consumed you. Everything was unbearably overwhelming, not until a voice pierced through the noise.

"Please. Come back to me."

Everything stilled to a sudden halt. The room was silent, the only sound you can hear being the calm thumps of your own heartbeat. Slowly, you opened your eyes and let your vision settle on the first thing you could see. Jeno's face came into focus, his gaze moving over the rest of your features quickly. The moment your eyes locked, you saw realization dawn behind his.

"Do you…"

You didn't answer. Instead, you reached out for his face, your thumb grazing his cheek.

"Can you help me up, love?" You whispered. He momentarily paused before he took a step back to gently guide you into a sitting position. Around you, the rest of the boys moved away from the bed to give you breathing space. Kun and Ten also stepped closer towards your line of vision from the other side of the room. They were wearing the same expression the rest had on their faces—a mixture of concern, wariness, and reverence. You touched every single face staring at you with your gaze, before your lips tipped into a slow smile.

"Hello, boys… Missed me?"

Nobody said a word at first. Finally, Kun gave a slight bow of his head in answer.

"Welcome back…"

"IL Matto."

AUTHOR’S NOTE: So... I may have half-lied about a couple of things. First, it is true that this is Arcane’s end. The catch, is that it is only the last chapter of the first book. I decided to split the plot into two parts, because I know so many things have happened in the story already and I needed a breather to gather more inspiration for the remaining half of the story. I would like to thank everyone who has been with this journey so far. I really wouldn’t have kept the torch up this long if not for all of your support. For now though, I need to take a quick rest. 

Book 2 may come a little later than my usual timeline of publishing updates, but as you’ve figured out from the end of the chapter, it will cover the rest of the story with a heavy focus on everything that has happened before the start of Arcane. For those of you who want to read it, I’ll be waiting for you again once it starts. 

Again, I’d like to express my appreciation to all of you who have showed loved for Arcane. Can’t wait to see you again at the start of a new journey. P.S. Congratulations to all those who came so close with the theories and thank you to those who took the time to think about them. You’re all starting to learn how to pick my brain. <3 ;)

Love, 

Sammy

-----

BOOK 2: Chapter 1

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[mistymark]

VIGILANTE/S V

part five // 4.0k words // superpowered!au // (sort of) gang!au // series masterlist

summary; in which you consider yourself somewhat of a vigilante.

warnings; swearing, mentions of death, weapons and killing, gang shit really

notes; this is just a filler bc the whole thing ended up being way too long but !! hope u like anyway <33

One week into living in the warehouse, you’ve got your own routine. You know what times to avoid the bathrooms, you know not to eat Chenle’s cereal – a tip from Donghyuck, who informed you that Chenle once set him on fire for doing just that – you know that Jaemin is the only one who cooks breakfast, and most of the meals eaten in the warehouse are from local takeout stores with shifty delivery guys. You know that 15 pizzas are ordered for one meal – because Jaemin eats at least 5 of them.

“My metabolism is crazy,” he explains to you on your third day there. “I’ll be hungry again in, like, 2 hours.” Mark had laughed and said that was normal for anyone here.

Donghyuck had whispered to you, “Jaemin carries around jellybeans all the time for his blood sugar. If you want to piss him off, call him Jelly Baby.”

You know that every time Jaemin is given an assignment, he brings a girl back to the warehouse, something you’d discovered when you saw Jeno sleeping on the couch in the main room the next day. You know the boy named Renjun doesn’t train, and hardly leaves his room. You know that Donghyuck sometimes snores in his sleep, now that you’re sharing his room, which actually hasn’t been so bad.

Jaehyun had you move in together the day after you met him, and he’d been really nice about it, moving half of his clothes from his wardrobe so you had space, and boxing up most of his stuff to allow more space for your things. He’d even offered to take down his sketches and drawings so you had some wall space. It was a sweet gesture, but you found his posters interesting, so you told him to keep them up.

Doyoung had gone with you to empty out your apartment – not that it had much in it – and convince your landlord to break your lease. “Your landlord has a very weak mind,” he’d said in a monotonous tone, when he was carrying a box to his car, a flashy black thing that certainly did not belong in your neighbourhood at all. The dilapidated, crumbling buildings surrounding you were brown and dirty, the streets grey and filled with potholes, the people who inhabited the area looking just as worn. Doyoung, on the other hand, was clean and sharp, wearing fitted black jeans and a clean white tee. His shoes were almost as shiny as his car, which made you feel slightly self-conscious when you noticed how much he stood out here.

“He’s pretty much given up on life,” you’d agreed, which earned you a smirk from him. It was true, your landlord was a chubby, pot-bellied man who wore nothing but baggy, ill-fitting jeans and old t-shirts with various food stains on them. You’ve never seen him leave the building, and you often wonder if he knows what a shithole the place is.

“I can’t believe you actually lived here,” he looked up at the building, at the brickwork that was being held together by mould rather than concrete, at the wooden window frames that were rotten and splitting apart, at a window that was recently broken, now being blocked by a curtain taped across the panel – at the place you once called home.

Well, not necessarily. It hadn’t felt like home since your dad had died, if you were being truthful.

“You live in a warehouse with criminals,” you reminded him.

“We live in a warehouse with criminals,” he cracked a smile at you, taking the box from your hands and placing it in the boot of his car.

“At least my roommate only kills himself,” you mumbled on the drive back.

“Donghyuck wouldn’t hurt a fly,” Doyoung laughed. “He’d probably kill himself if a fly started a fight with him, just so he wouldn’t have to fight it and win.”

You watched the buildings go by – Doyoung drove slower than the elderly, you were sure – and all the industrial warehouses with cute, bright signs advertising children’s toys and courier services, wondering how many of them were a front for another operation, like Jaehyun’s. “Do you think Donghyuck can die? For real?”

Doyoung was silent for a moment, then, slowly, he said, “We have our speculations. We can’t know for sure, though. And none of us really want to.” You gave a small smile to him, though he was too focused on the road ahead to see it. When you’d first come to the warehouse, you were sure no one liked him, since no one seemed devastated by the fact that he was dead. Now, you knew he was family to them.

“You have a cassette player?” Donghyuck was supposed to be helping you unload your stuff into your now shared room, but he was mostly just being nosy, going through your boxes and not actually putting anything away.

“Uh, yeah,” you throw a glance over your shoulder, seeing Donghyuck sitting on his bed, rifling through one of your boxes. “It was my dad’s.”

He nods, gently putting it on the bed. He doesn’t ask any questions about it, or your family, which you’re grateful for, but it makes you think he doesn’t have any family of his own.

You know Donghyuck is the most open out of all of the team, but you also know not to ask any personal questions.

You know a lot of things after living in the warehouse for a week. You know that Jaehyun drinks tea in the mornings and coffee at night, that Doyoung cannot access Chenle’s mind. You know that Donghyuck is definitely not a morning person, and that he exclusively wears black, as if he’s always ready for a funeral. Maybe that’s exactly the reason; some kind of sick joke surrounding his immortality.

Most importantly, you now know how to survive Johnny’s training sessions. You’ve trained with most of the team, mostly the Shields – Jeno, Jaemin, Mark and Chenle – as their powers manifest physically, and are easier to control, but Johnny has also been helping you use his ability. “You’re smaller and weaker than the rest of the team, and most Shields in general,” he’d said, eyes roaming your body. It was the first time anyone’s ever looked at you like that without making you feel objectified. “If I’m around, my ability may be the difference in whether you win or lose a fight. Try again, and focus on me.” As if you already weren’t.

He’d hunkered down and gestured for you to begin. With the other members around, you could take Johnny down in less than a minute now. Alone, it took you upwards of 10 minutes.

The day you officially move into the warehouse, you’re exempt from training with the Shields, but Donghyuck takes the opportunity to teach you gunmanship.

“I’ve used a gun before, you know,” you say, but after 10 shots you still haven’t managed to hit the target. The firing range isn’t small, located in the basement of the warehouse, which you didn’t even know existed, but you should have been able to at least hit the target once.

He laughs, picks up the gun and nails the target’s centre 5 times in a row, “So have I. Do you want to be able to actually hit your target, though?” The hole in the centre of the target looks about twice the width of the bullet, made from the bullets hitting basically in the same spot each time.

He puts a hand on your shoulder, adjusting the position of your shoulders, then places one on your lower back, adjusting your posture. You’re stiff, and you know it. He clears his throat and steps back, “Go.”

You brace yourself and shoot, the bullet going straight through the target’s stomach.

“Not too bad,” he nods in approval, holding his hand out for the gun and easily changing the clip in three quick motions. He offers the gun back to you, “Again.”

“You sound like Johnny,” you say when you take it from him. You deepen your voice as low as possible to mimic your trainer and the short, efficient way he speaks, “Again. Stop. Go. Try again. Up.”

Donghyuck lets out a loud laugh that immediately brings a smile to your face. “That was amazing.” He sits down and leans back, a hand pressed against his stomach as he laughs, mimicking your imitation. You join him on the floor, resting your back against the wall and leaning over to grab the bag of potato chips he’d brought down with you. “Have you ever shot someone?”

He reaches over and steals a few chips, as if it was the most normal question in the world. But, there’s a slight shake in his voice when he speaks, “Shot? Yes. Killed? No.”

“Who?” He shoots you a sideways glance and you lower your head, “Sorry.” No personal questions.

The heavy stench of awkward silence settles over you. He breaks it, “Johnny.”

You don’t know what to say except, “Shit.”

“Yeah,” he swallows thickly. “It was an accident. Obviously.”

You’re about to ask what happened when you’re interrupted by someone coming down the stairs. Neither of you had bothered to shut the door to the firing range, giving anyone going up or down the stairs a full view of what you were doing. Jaehyun stops when he sees you both, sitting on the floor of the firing range, sharing a bag of potato chips. He doesn’t look at you, focusing on Donghyuck. He clears his throat, “Are you training, Hyuck?”

Donghyuck’s eyes are wide and innocent when he answers, “Teaching Y/n how to shoot.”

Jaehyun’s eyes move from the two of you to the target and back again, but he doesn’t say anything about the lack of holes in it. “Johnny’s ordering Chinese – if you want anything, let him know. I’ll see you guys tomorrow.”

He continues and you turn to Donghyuck, “Where’s he going?”

“Garage,” Donghyuck says, through a handful of chips. “Do you want the rest of these?” He offers the bag to you. You shake your head.

“What else is down here?”

“Weapons vault, garage, the range,” he answers distractedly, too focused on getting the last of the flavouring from the bag. “The gym…” his voice trails off.

When he’s satisfied that the bag is indeed empty, he stands up, offering his hand out to you to pull you up, “Jaemin takes ten minutes to pick what he wants to eat, so if you have a preference, we should probably tell Johnny now.”

You take his hand and let him pull you up, reaching for the gun that lays on the ground, “Where-?”

“I’ll take it,” he takes it, quickly turning the safety on and reaches around to his back, tucking the weapon into the back of his black jeans.

Your second day of training was with Chenle, in the gym, which looked more like the inside of an asylum than anything. Everything was clean and a pale, almost-white shade of grey, and the entire ceiling was a cloudy glass panel that illuminated the room, giving the room a bright and energetic yet sterile feel. The equipment was state-of-the-art, a dark contrast to the overall lightness to the room, and floor to ceiling mirrors took up two of the walls. There was a stack of clean towels in the corner, and a few televisions across the room, visible from each machine. A smaller version of the Super fight ring was situated at one end of the long room. Yet, the thing that shocked you the most was the bright blue flooring, an odd design choice.

Chenle was the least helpful out of the Shields in the team, watching you train with his ability, critiquing your control and your movements with a stern eye. “Wrong. Try again. Make it hotter this time, or you’ll do no damage.” As if to gloat, he held a hand up, and a dangerous blue flame engulfed it. Your own flame, a measly bright orange, wavered.

The entire time you’d trained with him, he’d done nothing but glare and criticise you. You were sure he hated you, or maybe it was just the fact that he wasn’t the only one who had his ability anymore.

Yet, as he was leaving to eat, he’d nodded in approval at you, “Good. We’ll train together again soon, I’m sure.” It was the most he’d said to you. Actually, if you added up everything he has said to you, it would still be less words than were in that sentence.

Basically, he hadn’t spoken to you much all week.

Jaemin, however, was the opposite, and the person you’d trained with the day after Chenle. If anything, he was too kind and too understanding - he barely helped you.

“It’s okay if you can’t run as fast as me, yet,” he’d assured you with a smile, his hands on your shoulders. His smile was wide and encouraging, his eyes kind, and you instinctively knew he was a heartbreaker. No one with a smile like that has ever been heartbroken, you’d thought. His flirtatious manner was also a dead giveaway.

Your suspicions were only confirmed when he’d been sent on an assignment at the Den, and entered the kitchen the day after looking a little too happy. A girl had snuck out a few minutes later, looking only slightly embarrassed as she tried to pull her shoes on and find the exit at the same time. Jaemin had just stood in the kitchen and smiled at her as he ate his toast, not even bothering to show her out.

“You’ll have to eat a lot tonight,” he informed you at the end of your training. “And make sure you don’t have any training tomorrow morning, because you’ll be out for a while since this is your first time testing your stamina with my ability.”

He was right; you were exhausted after only two hours with him. When you’d told him just that, his smile widened and he winked at you. You laughed and shook your head at him, throwing your towel at him, “I’m going to shower.” He opened his mouth but you shot him a stern look, “Do not ask to join me.”

His easy-going smile remained on his face as he shrugged nonchalantly, “Worth a shot.” He bent down to pick up his drink bottle and began tidying up the gym as you left.

The person that surprised you the most was Jeno. His ability was easy enough to control, since you could control when you wanted the super strength, but he was happy to train you in preparation for your own training with Johnny.

“I guess it’s easy if you can control when you want to use someone’s ability, since your emotions don’t get in the way,” he’d said, as he wound his fist up with tape and gauze. “But if we’re not around, you need to be able to defend yourself with just your, uh, body.”

You nodded, but didn’t say anything.

“Keep a clear head and be logical. Johnny is the only one that can see what you’re about to do, so unless you’re fighting him, think about what you’re doing.” The intense look is back in his eyes when he looks up from his wrapped hands, checking to see if you’re listening, as you haven’t said anything. You can easily see why the others would hate fighting him – he’s smart and he’s dangerous. “If you don’t think, you’ll… you’ll get hurt.” Something in his voice has changed, but it’s gone when he speaks again, “You’re no use if you’re dead.” You quirk an eyebrow at him and he juts his chin up at you, “Hold out your hand.”

You do as he says and he steps forward and begins wrapping your hand delicately. It’s far neater than you’d expected.

“Were you a boxer?”

He lets out a humourless laugh, “No. I’ve just been in a fair few fights.” You try not to react, but he can see what you’re thinking when he looks up. “Relax, most of them walked away just fine.”

“Most?” He doesn’t respond, and you take the hint that he does not want to talk about it.

He’s actually quite a good trainer, you discover, and teaches you the strongest ways to take someone down. He’s less talkative than Jaemin, but his instructions are clear and easy to follow, and at the end of your session, you’re able to do basic sparring with him.

“It’s 6,” he says, looking up at the wall of the gym. Without even a goodbye, he grabs his drink bottle and gym bag, lightly jogging up the steps to head to his room.

That night, you ate dinner with Mark and Jaemin. Well, you ate while they played video games. Jaemin shared a room with Jeno, but you hadn’t seen him since your training session. Empty pizza boxes were stacked by the door, and you counted at least 5. Your own box was sitting beside you on Jeno’s bed, while Jaemin and Mark sat side by side on Jaemin’s bed, their eyes glued to the TV screen that hung on one wall. Their room was a lot more… normal than you’d expected. Donghyuck’s was a giveaway that he was a Super – or a psychopath, either worked – with the blood and the diagrams and the journals and the weapons stacked in boxes around the room.

Jeno and Jaemin’s room was fitted out with their beds, desks, wardrobes, bean bag chairs, an old gaming console and a flatscreen TV. A few movie posters and celebrities were on the wall, and old photos. Only Jaemin had photos, and even so, there were only a few taped to the wall above his bed’s headboard. You couldn’t make out any details from where you were sitting.

Mark’s reflexes were no match for Jaemin’s, and he lost almost every round, making you wonder why he still agreed to play.

“Hey, should I save some of this for Jeno?” You asked, staring at the pizza still remaining in the box. There were only three left, and part of you wondered if it would even be enough. The other part of you thought it would at least be polite to offer.

“Nah, he won’t be back til tomorrow,” Jaemin doesn’t even turn around in his seat, his eyes frantically following his character as it moves across the screen.

“Huh. Okay,” you pick up another slice just as the game ends and Jaemin turns to throw another wide grin at you.

“That means my room’s free for the night, if that’s what you’re wondering.” He laughs at the look of exasperation on your face.

When his attention is away from you again, you say, “Jaehyun sure keeps you guys busy.” There’s only a little bit of bitterness in your voice; you’d been with the team for four days and the only time you’d left was to sort out your apartment. Apparently, you weren’t ready for any assignments yet.

“Huh? Jaehyun has him on an assignment?” Mark’s confusion gets your attention, as he turns to look at Jaemin with a furrowed brow. This was clearly unusual – or, at least, news to him.

Jaemin barely glances at you as he responds, “Nah, he’s visiting his girlfriend.”

“Jeno has a girlfriend?” You ask, only slightly shocked. It wasn’t like you’d thought about their love lives, but you’d just assumed everyone was single. It went with the job description.

“Yeah,” Jaemin nods. “She lives on the other side of the city somewhere. At one of the colleges. He normally goes after trainings on Fridays, since it’s the only night she’s not studying.”

Even without seeing your face, he can sense your surprise.

“Don’t ask him about it, though. He’s very reserved when it comes to her. Doesn’t want any of us to know much about her. I don’t even know her n-”

Mark laughs when he finally manages to kill Jaemin, and Jaemin pouts and rolls his eyes, insisting he was too focused on you to play. “You’re such a baby,” Mark laughs louder, and Jaemin swats at him. His hand moves so fast you barely even see it hit Mark’s arm. “Ow! Dude!”

“One more game, come on,” Jaemin insists, turning back to the screen. Then he raises his voice, “Anyway, Y/n, he won’t even tell us her name, let alone anything else about her. So don’t bring it up.”

“Or he’ll literally chokeslam you,” Mark adds, which, for some reason, makes them both laugh loudly.

You nod, despite the fact they can’t see you, and go back to eating your pizza, “I’ve got next game!”

Mark sighs in relief, “Gladly.” Jaemin’s competitiveness was beginning to wear him out.

The following day, Mark taught you the basics of shape shifting. He was the latest addition to the team – other than you – and his control was even worse than yours. “Shape shifting is really difficult,” he giggled, nervously. “If you’re not 100% imagining what you want to be, you’ll turn into something way different. But don’t panic, it will restrict your ability to change back.”

Over the course of the day, you’d shifted into birds, mice, elephants, leopards, any creature you could think of. Though, you had humiliated yourself when he went to get snacks during your break, greeting and talking to the large dog that came trotting down the stairs, as if it were Mark.

“What are you doing?” He’d laughed when he walked back into the gym, snacks in hand.

You’d been at a loss for words, your cheeks immediately becoming inflamed. “I- I thought that was you,” you pointed at the dog, which was panting as it sat down on the stack of towels in the corner of the room.

“That’s Bruce, Renjun’s dog,” Mark explained, tossing you a can of iced coffee. “Don’t tell Jaemin you drank his coffee.”

You paused, the opened can raised to your lips. You lowered it, slightly, “Why does Jaemin need coffee if he already operates at like 10 times the speed we do?”

“For after he crashes,” Mark shrugs. “Sometimes speed isn’t everything.” He laughs at his own joke, “If he doesn’t sleep enough, he’ll still be exhausted. Sometimes he can’t afford to sleep more than 12 hours, so he relies on coffee.” He cocks his head to the side as he examines his can.

Later, when you’re sitting on the floor after successfully shapeshifting into cockroaches, you ask, “Have you ever tried turning into other people? Can you do that?”

“Yes, but – I really have to know what the person looks like. Like, I can imagine a dog and turn into a dog because any small details that I remember incorrectly will go unnoticed by a human,” he gulps down his cola. “Humans are more complex – one small detail could make me look totally different to the person I’m trying to copy.”

“Change into me, then,” you sit up straighter. “If you can see me, surely you won’t have to rely on your memory, right?”

He shrugs and locks his eyes onto you. You’d seen him transfer from human to horse, from sheep to frog, but somehow seeing him change from himself to you was more disturbing. His skin ripples and his bones make disturbing popping noises as they change, and you wonder if it hurts, even though you had shape shifted multiple times and knew it didn’t hurt at all.

Within a few seconds, right before your eyes… is you. “Hello,” he says in your voice.

“Okay, fuck that, change back,” you tell him, looking away. “That’s so creepy. Brilliant, but creepy.”

When he laughs, it sounds like him again, and you let your eyes drift back to where was sitting. He smiles, and his eyes crinkle at the corners. His eyes, not your own.

You could have so much fun with this ability, reminding yourself to try it on Donghyuck later.

You tell Mark this as he tosses a piece of popcorn into his mouth, and you both stretch out on the gym floor, laughing at all the pranks you could easily pull on the other members of the team.

#nct #nct gang au #nct superhero au #nct mafia au #nct antihero au #nct superhuman au #nct superpower au #nct angst #nct dream #nct 127 #nct scenarios #nct drabbles #nct fluff #nct smut #nct suggestive #NCT Dream gang au #NCT Dream superhero au #NCT Dream angst #nct 127 angst #nct 127 fluff

[yeoli-tranbolie]

NCT +WayV (pt.2 of my haul)

#nct #nct angst #nct dream reactions #nct reactions #nct imagines #nct wayv #wayv imagines #wayv yangyang #wayv reactions #nct dream summer package #wayv summer package #nct 127 superhuman #nct 127 summer package #kpop #kpop collection #nct collection #wayv collection #nct au #wayv au #moon taeil #huang renjun

[chipoo505]

{2:18pm} 

You give AtomokinesisUser!Jaemin a kiss after he told you that he had a bad day, suddenly the sun is the brightest it has been all day.

#jaemin #jaemin imagines #timestamp #neowritingsnet #kpop time stamp #super powers #nct #nct dream #au #kpop imagines #kpop #nct imagines #nct dream imagines #na jaemin #jaemin fluff #blurb #superhuman #jaemin x reader

[babiesdreams]

Series Masterlist

23 nights w/ Nct

S3cr3t pr0ject

Dream in a dream

Superhuman

The hunger games AU

Advent calendar (on going)

[neocrush]

★ 𝐃𝐑𝐀𝐁𝐁𝐋𝐄 𝐌𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓

note: i only write for nct ! ( MAINLY dream )

🧸 - fluff

☁️ - angst

🥢 - smut

mark

none yet

renjun

body count ☁️ (superhuman!au)

how you like that? 🧸 (idol!au)

jeno

one last pic 🧸☁️ (demon!au)

i never stopped ☁️ (ex!au)

i'm sorry. ☁️🥢(boyfriend!au)

pretty please ☁️ (joker!au)

haechan

none yet

jaemin

one last pic ☁️ (crush!au)

best interest ☁️ (sidechick!au)

let you go ☁️(ex!au)

chenle 

knowing bros 🧸 (idol!au)

jisung

none yet

#masterlist #nct imagines #nct au #nct reactions #nct scenarios #nct dream au #nct dream smut #nct dream imagine #nct dream social media au #nct hogwarts au #nct sns au #nct dream social au #nct social media au #nct fics #nct fluff #nct smut #nct angst #nct dream fluff

[jenonctcity]

Loyalty

Zhong Chenle – Fluff, Angst

Boyfriend!Au, Idol!Au

Warnings: N/A

Word Count: 600

Request: Requested by anon - Reader and Chenle have been dating for 10 months. Readers ex-best friend is the reason why she had failed relationships in the past. She tries to steal Chenle but he’s loyal.

 It wasn’t often you got to experience parties with Chenle, especially parties of your own friends and not his. He was constantly busy with being an idol and you were worried if you took him to any parties then he would get swamped by crazy fans at the party. However, as you stood in the living room of someone’s house, the music loud and lights dimmed, you realised you’d much rather be spending time with Chenle in the comfort of you own home or his. He had his arm around your waist to keep you close, and you both nursed your own drinks slowly. You looked up at Chenle, smiling weakly in boredom.

“Hey we should g-”

“(Y/N)?” The high-pitched familiar voice made your eyes widen and stomach drop. You gulped as you cast your eyes on your ex best-friend, Jessica. Her hair curled, face looking stunning from all the makeup she had plastered onto her naturally beautiful face, and hot pink mini dress, showing off her slim long legs. “It’s been so long! How have you been?” She smiled a wide smile that you were pretty sure was fake. Before you could even answer her, she’d turned her attention to Chenle. “Who’s this? He looks familiar…wait aren’t you in NCT Dream?” Chenle looked uncomfortable, but he smiled none the less, nodding his head and answering her.

“I am yes…” He could tell you wanted nothing more than to disappear, his hand gripping at your waist tighter.

“Wow that’s so impressive!”

“Thanks…” He couldn’t have sounded more bored with the conversation even if he tried. You suppressed a giggle, gulping as you remembered how Jessica was the reason all of your previous boyfriends had left you. She didn’t like that you were capable of having a boyfriend and she would steal them from you easily, using her fake charms and good looks to her advantage. She reached out and placed her hand on his shoulder, stroking it down his arm with a seductive look in her eyes. She wasn’t even trying to be subtle about stealing your boyfriend this time, and it made your blood boil and heart sink.

“I really loved superhuman, it was such a good song!” This made you laugh in her face, a bubble of laughter bursting out with no control. Chenle laughed too, taking your hand in his own and downing his drink quickly.

“Thanks, not the right song but thanks.” He put his cup down on the nearest surface. “Drink up (Y/N) we’re leaving.” Jessica’s face fell, and her mouth opened and shut like a fish as she tried to form words.

“Wait don’t you want to stay and dance me for a while?” She was clearly addressing Chenle, not even sparing you a glance as she spoke.

“Hmm…no thank you.” He pulled your hand as a hint for you to go with him. You started to leave with him but smirked to yourself, stopping and tugging on his hand.

“Wait Chenle!” You turned back to Jessica, glancing at your half full cup of lemonade before throwing the liquid over her. “That’s for trying to steal my boyfriend.” You spun back around to Chenle. His mouth was popped open in surprise, his eyebrows raised in his amusement. Everyone around you had paused and was staring at Jessica, most of them sniggering underneath their own hands at her drenched state.

“That was so hot.” He laughed as you ran into his arms, the two of you escaping the party with no hesitation.

#Zhong chenle #nct #nct dream #nct fluff #nct dream fluff #nct scenarios #nct dream scenarios #Chenle fluff #Zhong chenle fluff #nct blurbs #nct dream blurbs #nct reactions #nct dream reactions

[neonacity]

ARCANE | CH.12 | NCT DREAM X READER

Summary: When you decided to apply for a researcher post in an elusive institute, you already had the feeling that you’ll be getting yourself knee-deep into something out of the ordinary. But desperate needs require desperate measures, and so you embraced the invite, despite all the alarm signals urging you to run away. What you found out was nothing you’d ever expected.

Seven boys.

Seven human deviants granted with abilities tied to the legendary Arcana Cards.

Welcome to Project Dream.

Pairing: Various Dream Members x Reader

Trigger Warnings/Themes: violence, torture, trauma, very slight yandere themes, poly dynamics, suggestive themes, language, psychological, mystery, sci-fi. Romance will take a little bit of a backseat on this one since this is more of a suspense-driven plot, but it will still be threaded in the overall story. The concept of the tarot or Arcana cards will be loosely used throughout the series. Note that I am not a trained doctor so there may be some slips here and there about medical things. Again, this is a work of fiction and I am not implying any likeness between the characterization here of the boys to their real life counterparts. I also reserve the rights to all my work—I do not post anywhere else other than tumblr. Minors DNI.

> CH. 1 | CH. 2 | CH.3 | CH.4 | CH.5 | CH.6 | CH.7 | CH.8 | CH.9 | CH.10 | CH.11

Chapter Song:

Beauty > Layto

You have no idea how death feels like.

You've never really given it much thought before, but you've always imagined it to be similar to the snuffing of a candle. Where there was once life, death comes and blows it away until it simply ceases to exist. There is no consciousness or memories. There is not even pain. What was something, simply turns to nothing.

You have no idea how death feels like, but if it is anything like the numb floating feeling that's cocooning you right now, then you'd prefer it over being alive.

"Hyung, I think she's waking up."

The voice sounded muffled and indistinguishable as they reached your ears. You could hear the words, but none of them were making any sense yet to your muddled brain. Taking a slow breath in, you blindly turned your head to the side in the hopes of blocking them out. You didn't really want to wake up, but your consciousness was slowly getting into focus, similar to how one would see the light above the water as they swim closer to its surface. The gentle hand wrapping around your wrist was the first sensation that really shocked you back to a more wakeful state. All of a sudden you could  breathe again, but at the cost of your veins firing up with pain. 

"Hey. Can you hear me?"

Your eyes slowly opened at the low voice that whispered to you. Things were still moving slowly in your head but you slightly frowned at the two faces that started to come into focus on your line of vision. Jisung and Mark were both peering at you with identical expressions of concern, their faces taut with worry.

"Noona. Thank god you're awake," the younger of the two finally said in obvious relief. "Do you need a nurse?"

You wanted to reply, but your throat felt too dry and tight so you simply shook your head. Mark fortunately noticed your struggle, and he promptly turned to Jisung to answer for you instead.

"I don't think it's a good idea to let the doctors see her this soon. Go tell the others and try not to alert the guards that she's awake."

Jisung still looked on edge but gave a nod towards the other's orders. With one last glance at you, he drew back from what you can assume is your bed and left the room. You heard the closing of a door in the distance soon after.

"Can you talk? It's fine if you can't. Just shake or nod your head. Are you in pain?"

Your eyes drew back to Mark. You weren't sure if it was just the stark lighting in the room you were in, but he looked a little thinner with shadows clinging to the curves of his face when you tried to focus on him. You felt him give your hand a squeeze when you slightly parted your lips to try and speak again. When no words came out, you settled for another shake of your head.

"That's good. I'll go get you a glass of water."

He was just about to stand up from his seat when you tried to hold him back with the little strength you can muster with your hand. The rest of your body still felt on fire but you pushed yourself to finally speak.

"W-Where am I?"

He immediately paused at your question. Mark looked like he was trying his best to control his expression but you could see the way the gears in his head tried to work fast for an answer. He was dreading to give you a reply… and you think you know why.

"Mark… What is this place…?" You asked again, this time with a slightly steadier voice. He slowly lowered himself back to his chair, his gaze looking everywhere but you. His silence gave way for the last memories you could remember to crawl back to you just then. They came in batches... Stumbling over one another. 

The glass room. The shocks. 

The torture. The pain.

And then the deaths.

"You're at Cypher," his voice rang loud in your ears despite his tone being low and soft. "Not at the Institute, but in the place where they first sent us for the experiments. After what happened, they all brought us back here again. You've been out for almost two days…"

The pain in your throat has intensified. Blindly, you turned your head to look around, your eyes roving around the place for the first time. Just as you expected, you were in what seemed like an infirmary setup, though it looked starkly different from Ten's room back at the Institute. The ceilings were unpainted, with thick steel rafters and reinforced metal crisscrossing across its expanse. Even the bed you were currently in felt roughly made, reminiscent of the ones in military camps than actual hospital wards. You swallowed. Beside you, Mark was silent as he closely watched your face. None of you could bear to say the obvious fact hanging thickly in the air at the moment, but you didn't really need words to confirm it.

You're now a prisoner of the Institute too… Just like them.

"Where are the others? Jeno… Is he…"

This time, you actually saw distress quickly flash through Mark's features. You felt your heart drop to your stomach at his expression.

"We're all here, though we've never seen Jeno since we were moved. We are sure he is here though. He's the reason why they had to ship us back to this fortress after all. Cypher knew they couldn't keep him at the Institute."

"What do you mean?"

For a moment, Mark looked torn. He pursed his lips, before carefully framing his next words.

"I don't think this is the right time to talk about this. You just woke up, you need to recover first," he reasoned, his gaze pointedly avoiding yours. You held on to him, fingers squeezing his this time.

"No. I want to know. Please," you insisted firmly despite your voice still being scratchy. He was right. You still felt like you could break at any moment, but you also couldn't bear to wait anymore. You have so many questions that you need to be answered. Not tomorrow, or even in the next hour—but right now. Mark still looked torn as you tried to keep his gaze locked with yours, and it felt like forever before he finally cracked and gave a defeated sigh. 

"You… saw what he could do… didn't you?" he started carefully. You didn’t answer but managed to give a slight nod in reply. To be honest, you were still terrified of the memories from that day at the torture room, but you tried your best not to let your emotions get the best of you right now. 

"That's not even half of what he can do," Mark continued. "You see, Masters of the Death Arcana are different from the rest of us. They do not fall within the category of users you already know. Jeno… he can cause physical damage like elemental users like me, but he can also control ether realms similar to how masters like Haechan can. He's a hybrid of both."

"So that thing that I saw… It's…"

"It came from a different dimension. This is going to sound complicated, but the universe that we know is made up of different layers. There's the aether, where the source of the Arcana powers are, the middle world—this plane that we and other regular humans live in—and the nether, the opposite of aether. People know it as—"

"The underworld…" you finished in a hushed whisper. Mark paused and gave you a silent  look of affirmation.

"Nether, just like the idea of death, is an abstract plane. It’s a life force that can flow through different dimensions. Jeno's powers are focused on the underworld, but he can also cause damage in the world of the living if he wanted to. If Cypher is looking for a trump card who can almost rival what the Arcana Triads can do, then it’s him."

You processed that slowly. A thought was forming in your head as you tried to piece things together… but you didn't exactly like where it was going.

"If he can control the different dimensions… then does that mean that he can access aether too?"

Mark didn't immediately answer. You wanted him to say no to your question, but his silence was already speaking volumes in itself.

"Theoretically… he can. It has always been a myth among the family, but none of the former Arcana masters of La Morte have been able to do it. He can, but he may need an external force to push his abilities to that level."

Your mind had started going numb again as you tried to process everything. If aether is where the source of all the Arcana are, then that means having access to it will give anyone ultimate control over all the abilities in their purest form, right? When that happens, Cypher doesn't even need any of the boys or even the other masters to have full control of the Arcana system.

"Do you think Cypher has figured it out?" You asked hesitantly. With the way Mark was looking at you, it seemed like he exactly knows what you were thinking.

"Possibly. If Haneul Lee is an Arcana holder and used to be a part of the family, then he might have an idea of what the other masters can do, except for the other two members of the Triad since their abilities evolve and shift every generation. But he got to your father… which means that he knows the ability of the Judgement Arcana. Your father never really told us anything about his relationship with him, so we can’t really know for sure what he knows and do not know."

"So he might also be aware of what The Fool can do."

Mark's jaw ticked.

"I'm hoping he doesn't… because then it will really be the end."

You were on the verge of asking again about the last Triad master, but then you stopped as you remembered what Jaemin said about sparing you from information you didn't really need to know at the moment. He is right. Especially after the torture that Cypher did to you, it would be better for you to be left unknowing of things you might be forced to betray.

"Cypher… created something to copy and duplicate Arcana powers with my father and Haneul's abilities… Do you think that machine and my father are being kept here too?"

Mark looked hesitant to answer but gave a nod anyway.

"We think so. This is where we were experimented on so the chances are high that this place is designed to hold other Arcana masters. You haven't found out what type of machine it was?"

You shook your head.

"No… they just called it a mimicry unit, nothing else. Did you notice any strange devices during your experiments? Have you seen any traces of my father or Haneul during the tests?"

"I… can't really tell. Our memories were always erased by Renjun's abilities so I'm not sure if they were in the same room while it was happening. What I'm sure of though is that they weren't just doing those sessions to study what we can do. They were 'harvesting' our abilities, that's why they were forcing us to show the maximum of what we can do."

"So they could copy and duplicate the most powerful forms of your Arcana with this monster they made.”

The two of you fell silent then. You were both lost in your thoughts for a while, until you finally felt Mark gently tug your hand for attention again. You looked at him, clueless at first, before the look on his face caught you off guard. Ever since you knew him, there were only a few times he’d ever let his mask slip. The way he stared at you now was so open and raw that you felt an unexplainable pain echo from deep in your chest.

"I'm sorry… for pulling you into this. I didn't know you would be hurt this much. If I did, I wouldn't have said yes to any of this."

It took you a moment to understand what he was talking about until it finally clicked. Of course he was doing all of this… for the girl he loves. The woman who was moving all the chess pieces against Cypher—including you.

"Does she know… that Cypher has my father all along?" You asked slowly, your voice barely above a whisper. "Is that why she chose me to be one of her pawns?"

Mark shook his head. "Yes. And No. She knew the Institute was after him, but she didn't really know why. That was part of the reason why she plotted all of this. To know what Cypher was planning with the Arcana and to get one of the Triads back. She wanted to believe that your father was alive and you… were the only one she trusted who could help."

"She's known me all along?"

Mark stopped. For a moment, he looked like he was about to say something he’s not allowed to share. 

"Yes. And you will meet her too. Soon."

You were about to ask him what that means when he cut you off gently again. This time, the tone of his voice was taut with urgency. Even the way he held your hand was tight, as if he was telling you to hang on to every word he was about to say.

"Listen, I should have told you this before, but your father did everything he could to hide you from the world. That was the reason why he was always gone and hid this part of his life from you—because he didn't want groups like Cypher to know who you are and use you against him. We've dragged you into this mess already, but I promise from now on, we'll try our best to protect you too."

You didn't know what to say. You weren't sure if you felt betrayed or used or made a fool of, if you’re going to be completely honest. All you were sure about, however, is that you wanted this to end.

"What's done has been done. I’m already involved just as much as you are, but if you're going to make a promise, can you do one thing instead?"  

Mark kept silent, waiting for your condition.

"...If we're going to get out of here, promise me that we'll never leave without my father."

He froze. The silence rang so loud in the room but you didn't let it deter you. The seconds felt long as you tried to hold his gaze, but you finally felt a wave of relief as you saw the light in his eyes change. 

"Yes. I promise."

*******

It took you five more days before you were officially released from the ward.

In that length of time, you've tried your best to try and get as much information as you can about this unknown place you were thrown in. It was hard given the restrictions, but you have been able to paint a basic picture of the predicament you are facing now. For one, you could assume from the way people treated you that you were here for the sake of being kept alive rather than actually being cared for. You were not allowed any access to anything in the outside world and you also have guards constantly stationed by the door of your quarters. Every time you tried to speak and ask someone, the people in the blue coats would either only glare at you or completely ignore you. At one point, you even tried to make a scene just to see how far you could push your luck, but no one ever really gave you attention regardless of what commotion you caused.

It was clear that you don't have a say about anything here, but at the same time, nobody really dared to blatantly hurt you too. In fact, there are times when you felt like people were dreading to get close to you or even look towards your direction. You haven't really seen any of the boys since you talked to Mark so you have no idea if they were being treated the same way, but you could only hope that they are also being spared now from any sort of torture or pain.

Today is obviously a little different from the routine of the past week. For the first time since you gained consciousness, you were actually allowed to be out of your ward room. Your sneakers squeaked now against the grey flooring of the corridor you were walking on, mixing with the heavier thuds of the boots of the guards flanking your sides. Other than the gruff instructions you were given when one of them threw you the black overalls you needed to change to today, they didn't really spare you another word on your way out. And so your eyes silently roamed the halls that you passed now, trying to take in clues, until your trio finally stopped at the end of the corridor.

You surreptitiously watched as the pair moved in unison towards the heavy-duty door that loomed in front of you. Now, you may not know a lot about security systems and other tech, but you know enough to pick up the level of access that you are seeing now. With a slight nod at each other, both men stepped closer at notches placed on both sides of the door. Their actions triggered a low beep before a thin strip of laser burst out from the portals. The blue light made a low hum as it scanned them from head to toe. You swallowed, watching the process of it all.

Eye and full body scans… Systems that are definitely harder to hack because of their unique IDs. You were right all along. This is no longer just a research and testing hub…

But a high-security prison.

You took in a slow, calming breath when the door finally started to part with a whirring sound after a moment. Keeping your eyes ahead, you waited with bated breath for it to reveal what was on the other side. Just as the gates parted enough for you to slip in, however, a sudden force in the middle of your back pushed you inside and sent you toppling forward in surprise. You gasped. Instead of impact, the air froze in your throat the next second as you felt a pair of arms catch you before you lost your balance and hit the floor.

Renjun wrapped his arms around you, his hands immediately going around your waist and upper back to keep you from falling over. You have barely recovered when you saw two figures move past where the boy kept you in place. Mark and Jaemin stopped in front of you, their towering backs covering you from the view of the guards who remained standing by the threshold. They were soon followed by Chenle and Jisung who both stepped in to flank your sides. Haechan silently brought the rear, his own withering gaze set on the door. You were at a loss for words. Everything happened so quickly, but it was enough to entirely shift the air buzzing in the room.

"You know the rules. Try anything funny and she gets a dose of what you get too," one of the men finally spoke to break the silence. You turned to face the door again just as you felt Renjun press you closer against his side. From what little you can see of Mark and Jaemin's profiles from where you stood, both were shooting ice cold glares at the wards in front, their silence radiating deadly intent.

"Big words coming from two apes who can't even take a step beyond the entrance. Balls shrunk so bad because of a bunch of kids?"

You didn't need to look at Haechan to recognize his taunting, lilting tone. Beyond, you saw both guards visibly pale in anger at the verbal attack, with one actually reaching out for what looks like a stun gun strapped to his belt.

"You freaks—"

"Try. I promise you'll regret it."

You felt a quick chill run down your spine when you heard Chenle say that from your side. Instead of his usual good natured humor, his voice seeped with barely concealed venom and threat. You gaped at him openly. You never thought you would ever hear him talk that way, but as it turns out, your shock was nothing compared to what followed. On your other side, small crackles of electricity started forming around Jisung's right hand, sizzling and churning in the air.

"I haven't tried, but I'm pretty sure I'm faster than electric guns…" he said softly in a voice that made the hairs at the back of your neck stand on end.

A short but highly tensed beat of silence followed—in which you could swear you almost stopped breathing—but it seemed like the guards got the message loud and clear just like you. Before anyone can make another move, the same mechanical whir filled the room again as the double doors started to close. You looked up just in time to catch the taller of the wardens lift his lips into a threatening leer before the gates sealed shut again.

"Enjoy while you still can. You don't have much time left anyway."

The echoes of the door's mechanical locks was like a death sentence that hung in the room. You were still frozen in your spot, trying to take in those last words when you felt your body all of a sudden being turned to the side. Your wide eyes met Renjun's worried gaze before it quickly went over the rest of you. Not once had he let you go during the tense exchange and his hands now grabbed at your forearms as if he was checking if you were real. Around you, the others finally loosened their stances—all except for Haechan who still seemed frozen in his spot.

"Are you okay? You're not hurt anywhere are you?" Renjun asked, his voice tense.

You blinked at him, still feeling a little disoriented. 

"I'm fine…"

"Did they touch you?" Jaemin quickly followed through as he also closed the distance towards you. You numbly shook your head.

"No. They didn't. I don't—Where are we?"

The boys briefly glanced at each other at your question. Mark was the one who finally offered an answer when nobody seemed willing to break the silence. 

"In one of Cypher's dungeons. We've been moved here recently from our individual cells."

His answer made your head snap up as you finally took a look around the place. It was a plain wide room, with double bunker beds stacked on the sides, a table set, and some spare seats smattered here and there. Calling it a dungeon was a fitting term, with its walls made of rough stone and a ceiling held out with steel and rock. You swallowed. When your eyes landed on Chenle, another realization hit you.

You were wearing the same clothes that they are.

"Jeno? Where is he?" You managed to ask despite the sudden tightness in your throat. The pause that followed didn't help lighten the situation at all.

"They… still have him," Jisung quietly answered. He exchanged a quick glance at Chenle who decided to explain the rest.

"We still haven't seen Hyung since that day he showed his Arcana. It's been a while since we've been called for tests but they haven't returned him to us yet."

His words made your gut twist. Blindly, your eyes grazed around the place again before settling on the sealed door. You've already accepted the fact that you are now one of Cypher's prisoners, but you would be lying if you say standing here now is not making you falter. Finally, the gravity of your helplessness is sinking into you in its full, morbid glory.

"You shouldn't be here…"

Haechan's distant voice was what finally snapped you from your thoughts and brought you back to focus. Looking up, you met his brown eyes still staring at you from a distance. He still hasn't taken a single step towards you, though his gaze told you everything you needed to know.

He was right… you shouldn't be here… but so are they. The thought made your mind set off into a different tangent, until it settled into an emotion you were shocked to recognize yourself. 

Yes you are terrified. Petrified even. 

But you're also very… very angry.

"No. I'm exactly where I need to be," you finally said, your jaw set. All of a sudden, the fear you were feeling was gone and your focus was back. Yes, you may be stuck in one of the worst situations you've ever found yourself in, but you're also exactly in the place you need to be in at this moment.

"Cypher has my father. If I want to get him out of here, the easiest way to do it is from the inside. We can work with this, all of us. Are there other things that have changed since you were sent to this room?"

"We're pretty sure there are no cameras here anymore," Renjun said as his eyes quickly bounced on the other faces in the room. "We are barely being watched or checked on. It's like they are doing the bare minimum to keep us alive."

"Which might not be for very long…" Mark continued and put into words what you couldn't say so yourself. All of you turned your heads urgently towards him as his words sunk in. He nodded towards the sealed door, his expression grim. "It's obvious that they've lost interest. Whatever it is that they need from us, they got it already. We need to get out of here soon."

"But not before we get Jeno and my father back," you interjected. "We also need to find the mimicry unit that Cypher created and break it."

"But how? This place is a labyrinth," Jaemin asked with a frown.

“He’s right. We tried busting ourselves out from this bunker, but they've studied our abilities enough to design this place to be mostly resistant to what we can do," Renjun said.

You tried to bite back your emotions before they even had a chance to make you falter. You were already thinking of a plan, but you'll have to sit on it first to make sure that it will work.

"If they're dead set on keeping us here, then I'm sure they've done everything to make sure that all routes of escape are blocked from the inside. We can't win against that no matter what we do at this point. Which only leaves us with one option…"

You set your jaw and fixed each boy with a pointed look.

"We'll have to make them open the doors for us ourselves."

*******

"Shouldn't you be sleeping already?"

Haechan's spine straightened in surprise as you called out to him softly in the darkness. You have no idea what time it was already, but you figured evening has finally come when the lighting in the room automatically dimmed an hour earlier. Around you, the other boys have already retreated into their assigned bunker beds, retiring for the day. You tried catching rest yourself, but your mind was being too noisy to give you peace.

You smiled a little now as you met his gaze from across the room. He was trying to read a book under the light of a small lamp which threw enough light and shadows on his face. From the moment you joined them earlier, he has barely said a word or even looked towards your direction... And you're convinced you know the reason why. You saw the way his eyes flickered with guilt and uncertainty now as he stared at you, though he did close the hardbound in his hands when you walked over to join him. You made sure to keep your noises to a minimum as you settled next to him, not wanting to wake up the others around you.

"You're still avoiding me… Didn't you want to see me again?" You asked carefully, your tone almost teasing to lighten up the air as you fixed him a small smile. His Adam's apple bobbed at your question before he looked away. It was obvious from his body language alone that he wanted to draw back from the interaction, but you were also set on fixing this tonight. You have to admit... It somehow worries you to see him this way, especially since he has always been so unapologetically forward towads you before. Haechan looked like he was trying his best to avoid looking at you, but then you leaned a little closer to peek at him better. He frowned before finally giving you a quick glance and a sigh.

"Of course I wanted to see you again. I thought it was you who didn't want to have anything to do with me anymore."

"Why would I want that?"

"Well. Because I hurt you."

"Mm… Yeah, that kinda sucked. Anything else?” 

He looked at you as if you’ve gone crazy. When he didn’t seem to be able  to offer you an answer, you shrugged and continued. 

“Look, I know you're still bothered about what happened, but I don't know... I’m looking at it as more of a wakeup call more than anything else if you ask me. I was terrified, I'll admit that, but I also kind of realized why my father chose all of you over me after I saw you what you did…" you explained, carefully choosing your words. He listened quietly, his eyes never leaving your face.

"What I'm saying is that... He may not be right for being an absent parent, but knowing what you can do—and how you can hurt yourselves or other people without a figure like him… I could see why he chose to raise you over me. It still sucks, but it gave me a new perspective."

Haechan was silent. You couldn’t really read what was going on in his head, but you knew he was turning over your words and trying to see your perspective. It took a while, but finally, you heard him give a soft sound similar to that of a scoff. You peeked at him, and sure enough, the boy was looking at you with a mixture of amusement and disbelief.

"Seriously. I butchered your shoulder and all you can think of was—oh okay, that makes sense. My dad abandoned me because he was raising monsters on the side. Understandable. How the hell does your head work, noona?"

That actually made you laugh. Haechan's lips quirked and that's when you knew the worst has finally passed. You reached out to knock your closed fist on top of his head then before pinching his ear. He jokingly gave a small yelp as he drew away and massaged it.

"That's your punishment for accidentally hurting me. Now that's done, will you stop avoiding me?"

He rolled his eyes at the comment but smirked after. "Why? Did you miss me running after you so much?"

This time, it was your time to scoff. You weren't going to admit anything to him, but maybe he was a little bit onto something.

"I'm just not used to you being so broody."

His smirk melted into a more casual smile as he briefly paused. You waited for him to say something, but he simply looked at you as if he was weighing something important in his head.

"For real though… I'm really sorry. I promised myself that I wouldn't hurt you again… and I still did."

His words made you stop slightly in confusion.

"What do you mean?"

Instead of answering, Haechan only quietly smiled. He angled his body a little sideways then in his seat so that he could properly face you before propping his head against his hand.

"You do know that I like you, right? Unironically."

Your eyes widened in surprise. You were so caught off guard by that curve ball that for a moment, you wondered if you actually heard him right. Your knee jerk response was to think that he was just being his usual teasing self, but you know from the way he was looking at you now that he was anything but. Your face obviously clearly showed your emotions because Haechan laughed seeing your expression.

"Oh come on, noona. I'm sure you're not clueless. I'm also sure you know that I'm not the only one."

You shot him a slightly guilty look before glancing away. Well, he is not wrong… Of course you've noticed things—your job is to read people for heaven's sake—but you haven't really paid much attention to it intentionally because of… well, more pressing things. Haechan obviously is the least subtle of all, but you honestly weren't expecting that he was serious enough to talk about this—now of all times. You tried to avoid his eyes now to try and think of an answer, but he simply dipped his head again to catch your gaze.

"Hey, what do you look so guilty for? Relax, I'm not expecting you to say anything back. You look like I'm trying to keep you hostage or something," he snickered.

"Haechan…"

"Ah, ah, ah. I already know what you're going to say. I know it's the least of your priorities right now and that's fine. I get it. I really just wanted to tell you, okay? Gotta be the first one to do it since those other simps can't. Also, who knows, we might be dead tomorrow, eh?" He said with a wink. You scowled at that last bit in reply.

"Don't say that. We are all getting out of here."

"Will you date me then after~?"

Your face burned.

"Yah. Lee Donghyuck."

The use of his birth name mixed with your obvious flustered expression made him throw his head back in laughter. Of course he is enjoying teasing the heck out of you again. While you don't particularly like it, there was also a part of you that let him enjoy it now, if it means you can see him amused and happy over being sad and distant. You hated the way your cheeks burned, but you also let him have his moment with a roll of your eyes.

"Hey."

"What?" You grunted.

"I do like this side of you too, princess. I really do."

That made you glance at him again. You leaned your head a little to the side as you fixed him with an amused gaze.

"I kinda like this side of you better too."

He raised his brow at you teasingly.

"Even if I can be a madman sometimes?"

You smiled.

"Yes... maybe even especially then."

*******

"Patient 00, step out of the room. Go to the door and wait for it to open."

You all looked up from the sudden female voice that echoed in the room. It was evening, just an hour or so before the lights in the bunker would be turned off again, and all of you were trying to busy yourselves doing random stuff to waste time. You have been sitting idly with Mark and Jaemin on the couch, absent-mindedly listening to their conversation, while Renjun and Haechan played a makeshift game of tic tac toe on your other side. Both Jisung and Chenle have already settled on their own beds, but they popped their heads out simultaneously from their corners when the voice repeated its message over the speaker.

"What the hell? They're giving orders now through that?" Jaemin whispered with a frown as he glared at a point in the ceiling where the sound was coming from. You looked at him, confused.

"This is the first time they did that?"

"They're limiting personal contact with us as much as they can…" Haechan observed from his seat. He scoffed. "Cowards."

"Patient 00. I repeat. Go to the door right this very moment."

"Noona! That's you."

You looked at Jisung in surprise just as he and Chenle walked over to join your little group. He was staring pointedly at something on your chest and you followed his line of sight in confusion. The moment your gaze finally took in what he was seeing, however, all the blood in your face slowly drained. You have never really paid much attention to your assigned clothes before this, but printed on the pocket of your overalls were two zeroes… similar to the patient codes also embroidered on the boys’ uniforms.

You were still trying to process what you were seeing and what it means when you suddenly felt a hand close around your wrist. You turned to see Mark staring at you urgently.

"You're not going anywhere."

Beside you, Renjun fixed his eyes on the door. "He's right. Nobody leaves this room. Don't move," he added lowly.

Well, it's not like you needed to be told twice about it. You don't have any idea what is happening, but the last thing you're going to let happen is to let Cypher's claws anywhere near you again. From the way the rest of the boys stiffened in their own positions and glared at the entrance, it was obvious that all of them were dead set on watching each others' backs too.

The tension in the room has thickened so much that it almost felt like it was going to break at some point. Just when you thought it couldn't get anymore worse… a new voice spoke from the speakers again that made your heart drop.

"Patient 00. You have 30 seconds to get out of the room. Do it...”

“Or Jeno suffers."

Your group gave a collective reaction of shock and surprise. Chenle, who was standing beside you, seemed to be the one to have received the brunt of it all. He looked confused, unsure… before his emotions finally turned into hurt and helplessness. He turned towards you, and you stared at him with the mirrored emotions he was going through. 

You thought you saw your own heart break in the boy’s eyes as he said his name.

"Kun-ge?"

*******

You felt numb as you let the guards guide you into a new room in dead silence. Other than the shaking of your hands that you tried to desperately keep steady, nothing else about you seemed responsive at all. You stood, immobile and silent, at the space, completely ignoring the table setup waiting for you on its center. Sitting behind it, wearing Cypher's blue uniform... was the man you swore you could have trusted your life with just a few weeks ago.

It didn’t make sense... and yet it all made sense at the same time too. 

Of course, it has always been Kun. 

For a few brief seconds after you first heard his voice from the speakers, your initial reaction was to try and conjure excuses for him and the situation. In your head, it's just impossible for any of this to be real... Kun, after all, was the one who was there with you from the beginning. He took care of you. Protected you. He made sure you were okay. Kun wasn’t just your partner. 

He was also your friend. 

All of your hopes dissolved now as you looked at him from where he was sitting, his expression cold and befitting of the blue uniform that you’ve grown to associate with the Institute’s evils. For the second time that day, you thought you heard your heart break in the deafening silence again. No matter how much you tried to look at him now, there was no longer the trace of the man you knew behind those eyes.

"You should come and sit."

The sound of his voice made you unconsciously flinch. You didn't move a muscle from where you were standing, your gaze remaining fixed on him instead. There were so many things bubbling to burst out of you and you croaked out the first thing that your lips managed to form.

"Why?"

It was one question, but the word still sat heavily in the room like a death sentence. Kun's expression barely changed, but you noticed a storm of something briefly pass through his brown gaze.

"Sit first and then we will tal—"

"I don't want to ever get close to you, you traitor!" You screamed before you could even try to control yourself. The rest of you has turned into a shaking mess now but you didn't care. It was like a floodgate of emotions were unlocked inside of you, this betrayal being the last of what you could take in before you finally, fully broke. Kun looked on as you chipped away, his mask impenetrable. God, it felt like you were screaming at a total stranger.

"I trusted you… Chenle… he trusted you."

The mention of the boy's name made his expression slip just a little. For a split second, you thought he actually looked pained, but the emotion was gone as soon as it came.

"I have to do it," he finally said. "I care for him. For you. But I also can't pass up the chance to do this. You will never understand, but this might be the only chance I will ever have in my life to be a part of something as big as this. Cypher gave me an opportunity and I simply made a choice."

You felt nauseous. So that was it? The only reason he decided to sell his soul to the devil? All for his ambition?

"Since when have you sided with them?" you asked coldly, your voice thin as you tried to process everything. Kun looked hesitant to answer at first but replied anyway.

"...Since you knew about Rosewood."

You gave a slow and shaky exhale. It all makes sense now… He was the only one who was with you when the boys showed the reach of their powers back at the test drill in the arena. He was the one who called you to Cypher the day Renjun was tortured and Haechan lost control. He knew about your plan to sneak in and meet Jeno the night the guard caught you. The random meetings with the head honchos… the consultations with Miyoung.

All throughout the time you thought he was on your side, he was selling you and the rest of the boys to the enemy.

"Oh my god," you whispered to yourself now, one hand going over your stomach as other realizations started flooding in. He let them hurt the boys and you, but that might not even be the worst of it. Ten and Winwin. Did he also rat them out? More than that… Your father… He knew everything about your connection to him too.

"I don't think she's considering changing your mind, Dr. Qian. Perhaps you need a little help?"

You were so caught up in the choking fear consuming you that you didn't even notice that another person had joined you and Kun in the room. Looking around, you felt ice in your veins at the sight of the man who silently stepped from the threshold. You've only seen him once—sitting behind his table in an office that seemed as cold as him—that it almost overwhelmed you now to have him towering over you.

Haneul Lee fixed you with his gaze, like a hawk eyeing his prey.

*******

It felt like having a stare down with the devil himself.

You stayed in your spot, frozen, as your gaze clashed with the man's stare. His eyes roamed your face carefully, before they slowly dipped to take in what you were wearing. Similar to the first time you met him, there was not an ounce of empathy in the way he regarded people. It was only now, however, that you finally realized what it was about him that you found unexplainably unsettling before. You can’t exactly capture it into words, but it was almost like there is an undercurrent of something malevolent that sizzles in the air around him… something that not even Jeno, Renjun, and the other ability users carry around with them. At the back of your mind, you knew exactly what it was.

The power of one of the Arcana's Triad.

"Please excuse us for the unsightly choice of clothing we've given you. My wife was adamant in letting you wear one," he said, finally breaking the silence as he fixed you again with his stare. At first you couldn’t understand what he was talking about, but then you saw the way his eyes briefly dropped to the patient number emblazoned on your chest. You stiffened. He noticed your reaction, and you knew from the way he drilled you with his gaze that he was trying to read you just as much as you were trying to pick him apart.

"Sir. I didn't know you were coming," Kun's tensed voice broke the rising tension in the room. You heard the scratching of his chair against the floor as he picked himself up from his seat.

"I wasn't supposed to, if you did your job well."

"I haven't talked to her about it fully yet. If you can just give me more time to try and convince her, I'll—"

"Time, I'm afraid, is something I do not have the privy of wasting too much," the older man said in a calm tone that effectively cut off the other’s words. Not once had he removed his stare on you during the exchange, and it was taking you everything not to look away and show any sign of weakness as you matched it with yours. If Miyoung is chaos and discord, Haneul is control and boundless power. Both land in different ends of the spectrum, but are equally terrifying on their own.

"What are you talking about?" You asked, addressing the question to him. Something flickered in his eyes at the sound of your voice.

"Your partner here is trying to do you a favor, doctor. He is convinced that he can encourage you to join and help us with our cause. Since he has worked hard to finally earn our favor, I wanted to trust him with his decision. After all, it was not just him, but the two of you, who have done a lot to get the research to where it is now."

You were stupefied. That was the last thing you were expecting to hear as the reason behind you being called here. You briefly glanced at your former friend now paused when you saw the look in his eyes. It's like there was something he was desperately trying to tell you when your gazes clashed, but you couldn’t entirely get hold of it just yet. It looked like a plea for consideration… or was it a warning instead?"

"And why would I do that…?" You asked slowly now, not taking your eyes off Kun. It was slight, but you saw the other's expression tighten, as if he was dreading the incoming answer.

"For a few reasons. You see my dear, I am a very ambitious person. I have a different way of looking at the world—a perspective that, lets just say, righteous people like you can't easily comprehend. But I don't think I am entirely evil. Or at least…" he stopped, only for his next words to make your heart do the same.

"...Not evil enough to kill my best friend's daughter."

*******

The shock that went over you as you heard his answer made you go numb all over. Your eyes snapped towards Haneul once more, disbelieving of the words he just said. The man, on the other hand, remained stoic as he silently watched you start to shut down right before his eyes.

"What... Are you talking about?"

"Aren’t you curious as to what really convinced us to welcome Dr. Qian into our fold? I don't have a shortage of talented people, Doctor… but I do value information more than anything else. It just so happens that he had something to sell to us that no one else can. Imagine my surprise when I found out that the Judgement's daughter herself is right under my nose."

It was like all air was knocked out of you then. You could feel the ice slowly climbing your veins, before sinking into your flesh like small knives.

"You... were his friend?"

The last word made the man's lips twist into an ironic, bitter smile.

"Was I his friend...? My dear, we were more than just that. We were brothers. At least until he left me with no choice but to do things he is too cowardly to deal with himself."

As if on signal, a sudden flicker of light from your side made you turn instinctively turn around. What you thought at first was only a plain black wall came to life now as a huge screen that ran one side of the room from ceiling to floor. At first you couldn't understand what you were looking at, but then your gaze focused on the video that made your lips part in a silent gasp. 

It was a  live feedback of an unconscious-looking Jeno strapped to a collection of machines crowding around him. Wires stuck out from different parts of his body, which then connected to what looked like small vials fixed to the wall. Before you could even make out what’s inside of them, however, the feedback on the screen changed again...

This time sending you reeling back with horror at what you saw. Lying in almost an exact copy of Jeno's room…

Was the unconscious form of your father.

You stared, petrified, at the blown up video in front of you. The man on the screen was almost unrecognizable with hair chopped close to his head and skin sticking close to his bones, but your eyes can never betray you on who used to be behind the almost empty husk you're seeing now. You will recognize that face anywhere… those kind set of brows that were either frowning at you with guilt or twitching in happiness, and those lips—now chapped and dry—that never failed to give you a goodnight kiss in the rare times that he was home when you were a child.

You were in pain, more pain than any physical anguish you've felt before, because this time, the torture doesn't seem to stop at all.

"I'm sorry."

Kun's voice barely broke through you as you remained frozen on your spot. You couldn't bear to look at him, or anything or anyone else.

"What have you done to him?" You whispered finally, your broken voice barely heard in the room.

Haneul was the one who answered your question.

"What did I do to him? I did him a favor is what… by making sure his ability doesn't go to waste."

For the first time ever since you've heard him, his voice actually sounded a little different than his usual stoic tone. His words came out harder, but for some reason, you felt more emotions from him when he spoke. The sound of it finally made you tear your eyes from the screen and sure enough, his stare burned differently when they met yours.

"Your father and I... go a long way back,” he started, his gaze stone cold as he rolled the other’s name in his tongue. “We were friends—two people who used to look at things the same way, especially when it came to the Arcana. We both believed that we can change the world with it if we wanted. We were both powerful… but not enough to actually turn our ideas into solid plans without the help of someone. Because even as members of the Triad, we pale in comparison to someone else."

"His wife."

All the blood drained from your face. Your breath stuttered, but you couldn't stop yourself from listening.

"You see, your mother was a very special woman. She’s the last of the Triad masters and the wielder of the powers of The Fool. As the trump card of the Arcana, her abilities surpassed any of the other users and ours. She could absorb powers, but unlike me who could only copy one for a time, she could keep them as hers if she borrows the life force of other masters. Magic Unification is how we called it, because she could wield multiple abilities all at once."

"She could have been unstoppable if she wanted to… but she made the stupid mistake of falling for your father, the man who did nothing but cage her. He was so afraid of her potential that he did everything to hold her back. When she could have had everything, he reduced her to nothing."

"What… do you mean…"

The way he stared you down almost made you taste his silent, controlled rage. He had not moved once from his spot, but everything about him seemed ready to combust.

"All users of the IL Matto are born special, even in the context of the Arcana's family of abilities. They are blessed with a different level power, but every single one of its masters are also born cursed. If the wielder of The Fool doesn't use their ability well, it can drive them mad. Your father held back your mother so much that she started going insane from the need to utilize her Arcana. He held her down, until the time came when she snapped and he could no longer control her."

Your vision was starting to spin. You threw a weak hand to hold on to the nearest edge you could reach to keep yourself from falling over.

"Do you ever wonder why all these Arcana masters you are trying to protect now are younglings, my dear? Arcana abilities get passed down to new people only when their masters die. Who do you think was behind the death of the former generation of users?"

Your breaths are starting to grow shallower by the second. You wanted to run just as fast as the pieces are falling into places in your head. You knew it was coming, but you still silently hoped he wouldn't say the answer you were expecting.

"Your mother. She wiped out every single one of them in a mad dash to consume their life force," Haneul said, no louder than his speaking voice. You shook your head in denial. He barely raised his tone, and yet the words echoed and bounced in your head as if he screamed them. You wanted to beg for him to stop, but instead he stepped closer to you, an action that caught you off guard that you stumbled back to get away from him. He was faster than you could move away though and he easily caught your wrist in a tight grip.

"And your father… killed her for it. With his own hands."

That was the last thing you could take before you finally lost feeling in your legs. He let go of his hold on you at the same time which sent you crashing straight to the floor. Your sight has gone blurry, and it was too late for you to realize you were blinded by your own tears. You were numb and in pain all at the same time. Your vision already started to blur at the edges, but you were forced to hold on to your consciousness when cold fingers gripped your chin and forced your drooping head to look up. You blinked, unseeing from the tears that spilled down your cheeks. 

"I can't sense any Arcana from you. Could it really be possible that you didn't get any from your parents?" Haneul's soft voice barely broke through the sobs wrecking through your body like tremors. You didn’t answer him—your mind too consumed by everything you just learned.

"We've checked on her thoroughly?"

Kun's voice sounded distant when he answered.

"Yes, sir. The machine she was put on was designed for Arcana holders. If she has any abilities, then they should have manifested already with the level of shocks she got…"

For a moment, Haneul didn't say anything at all. He simply stared at you as if he was trying to desperately look for something in your face. It took a long while before he finally let you go. Like a doll discarded, your fell down weakly again at the lack or forced support.

"What a shame. You look exactly just like her."

You felt his cold eyes drilling on the back of your head as he slowly straightened himself up from his crouch. You could almost taste the panic attack about to take over the rest of you, but you still managed to catch his last words.

"I'm giving you eight hours to change your mind and join us," he said quietly. "You may be powerless, but you're still a member of the Famiglia. I'm doing it for your mother."

You haven’t exactly wrapped your head around what he said yet when you heard him address Kun next.

"Are we almost done with La Morte?"

"Yes, sir. We'll close his case today."

"Then it's time to move on to the last phase of the project,” he ordered as you heard the sound of his footsteps start to finally retreat from where you were slumped on. He was already at the door when you heard him speak again, his order ringing clear like death bells.

“Tell the others that Project Vision is starting."

"It's time to hunt down the Master of The Fool."

CHAPTER 13

*******

A/N: I... really tried with this update. I really did. Also, this is going to be the second to the last chapter before this ends! Before that, I’d like to thank everyone who has supported this story until now. I have received so much support during its run. I truly appreciate all of you. <3

P.S. Some people won’t show up on my tags no matter how much I try. I hope you can all see this update despite tumblr acting up. T.T

Taglist [OPEN]:  @negincho, @jhornytrash, @aaasteroidsky, @huangberryyy, @marijmin, @ashkuuuu, @reluctantserpent-101, @huskyhunny, @domojoo, @anaveragefangirl, @lostlovesoul11, @dreamisfelix, @lomlwoo, @coconuttiez8d, @jaehyunenthusiastsworld, @shininginthemoonlight, @bettyschwallocksyee, @w3bqrl, @smolpeyy, @chenlejjang, @kunssouschef, @thesunsfullmoon, @kpopstanforlifeuwu, @chokopocky, @azzygongez, @tito-the-mermaid, @jakeshuneybby, @yutacchin, @baehaechannie, @thefoxsleeps, @caspervoid, @yongboksfreckles, @jaeyuuns​, @ssuungchans, @furryllamas​, @meiinumaki

#mark nct x reader #jeno x reader #renjun x reader #haechan x reader #jaemin x reader #kun wayv fic #mark nct fic #jeno fic #haechan fic #renjun fic #jaemin fic #nct 00 line x reader #nct dream 00 line imagines #nct dream imagines #nct dream x reader #jisung nct fic #chenle nct fic #nct imagines #nct dream reader insert #nct dream superhuman au #nct dream fantasy au #nct dream fantasy imagines

[neonacity]

ARCANE | CH.11 | NCT DREAM X READER

Summary: When you decided to apply for a researcher post in an elusive institute, you already had the feeling that you’ll be getting yourself knee-deep into something out of the ordinary. But desperate needs require desperate measures, and so you embraced the invite, despite all the alarm signals urging you to run away. What you found out was nothing you’d ever expected.

Seven boys.

Seven human deviants granted with abilities tied to the legendary Arcana Cards.

Welcome to Project Dream.

Pairing: Various Dream Members x Reader

Trigger Warnings/Themes: violence, torture, trauma, very slight yandere themes, poly dynamics, suggestive themes, language, psychological, mystery, sci-fi. Romance will take a little bit of a backseat on this one since this is more of a suspense-driven plot, but it will still be threaded in the overall story. The concept of the tarot or Arcana cards will be loosely used throughout the series. Note that I am not a trained doctor so there may be some slips here and there about medical things. Again, this is a work of fiction and I am not implying any likeness between the characterization here of the boys to their real life counterparts. I also reserve the rights to all my work—I do not post anywhere else other than tumblr. Minors DNI.

> CH. 1 | CH. 2 | CH.3 | CH.4 | CH.5 | CH.6 | CH.7 | CH.8 | CH.9 | CH.10

Chapter Song:

Run Boy Run > Woodkid

"Here… Have some water."

You blindly reached out for the glass that Ten pushed towards you from across the table. Numbly, you watched as your pale fingers wrapped around it, the cold seeping into your skin like painful pinpricks. The hubbub of the coffee shop around you sounded like white noise to your ears, a complete contrast of the deafening silence from the two men sitting in front of you now. Hell, you didn't even realize that you called them during the mess of everything that has happened in the last two hours, but here you are, staring numbly at nothing in particular as both waited for you to speak. 

"Hey… are you okay? You're not hurt anywhere are you?" Kun asked carefully after a few more seconds of silence. You flinched despite the gentleness of his voice and raised your eyes to finally meet his.

"It's okay. You don't need to talk first, we just wanted to make sure you aren't in pain or—"

"I think Cypher has my father."

You cut Ten off, your voice sounding hollow in your ears. You saw the way their expressions changed from surprise to utter confusion. It's obvious that it was the last thing they were expecting to hear from you. 

"Your father? Why would Cypher have him?"

The knot in the middle of your breastbone throbbed again. Briefly, you ran over Winwin's voice mail in your head. Your eyes felt unnaturally dry, as if you hadn't blinked for a long time, but the sting behind them was the least of your concerns.

"Because he is an Arcana user. He's a deviant. Just like them."

If Kun and Ten looked confused earlier, they definitely are thunderstruck now. Ten's lips parted in shock while Kun stared at you, eyes rounded. You shifted your gaze away from theirs before continuing.

"I lied. When I went to Rosewood, I found out that my father used to work with the boys. It was the reason why I suddenly stopped contact with all of you for a while—because I couldn't process that his disappearance months ago was connected to this mess. When I went there though, I stole a framed photo from his office and found a hidden memory card inside of it today," you stopped briefly before shakily taking out your phone. You pushed it towards the pair and both frowned at the screenshot plastered on its screen.

"Holy shit…" Ten mumbled under his breath as his eyes scanned through it. Kun, on the other hand, picked it up so he could read the details there better.

"It's a document of Arcana holders," he whispered, eyes moving across the screen. "Your father is—"

"The Judgement, the 20th of the Major Arcana masters," you answered, your voice not even sounding like yours in your ears. Kun's gaze flickered towards you momentarily in concern before going back to what he was reading.

"Why do you think Cypher has him?"

"Winwin. He was able to hack some hidden files," you swallowed the painful blockage in your throat. "My father is  a patient of Project Irregular."

You didn't need to turn towards the two to know the look in their faces. Ten silently reached out for your hand across the table and gave it a squeeze.

"You didn't have any idea that he is… just like them?"

You shook your head numbly. He didn't push through with the question and decided to go a different path after exchanging a glance with Kun.

"Was there something else you found out? You don't have to answer yet if you don't want to. This must be too much for you."

You hesitated. To be honest, everything was still a mess in your head, but maybe sharing things with them can offload some of what you've been struggling to process.

"There was another patient. The World."

"The 21st and the last in the Major Arcana," Kun said slowly as his eyes landed on the page he was reading. "According to this document, it is one of the three Arcana holders who fall under the third classification of users."

At that, Ten turned to look at him with a slight frown. 

"A third what?"

"We were correct with our research. There are different kinds of Arcana users. The physical element manipulators like Mark, Chenle, and Jisung, and the psychic ones like Renjun, Haechan, and Jaemin," Kun explained, reading off the file in front of him. "But there is also a third classification. The users who can control Arcana wielders with their abilities."

"The document is incomplete, but there are three cards tagged there. They call them the Triad. My father, The Judgement or IL Giudizio, The World, IL Mondo, and another one… The Fool, IL Matto."

"Those are the last three cards of a tarot deck  right?" Ten asked, leaning over to squint at your phone. Kun nodded in answer.

"The tarot numbering is basically a story that details the journey of humankind, represented by The Fool, through the cycle of life. It starts from awakening, to discord, and finally growth. Those three cards make up the end and completion of the journey. The Judgement is card 20, The World is card 21, and The Fool can either be tagged as card 22 or card 0. It can be the beginning…or the end."  

"But the capabilities of those three are not listed in this file. And there are no names for The World and The Fool," Ten observed.

"They have been burned off," you said, finally taking the phone from them. You zoomed in on the photo to highlight the scorch marks before showing it to them again.

"See? Those are burns on the pages. When I went to my father's office in Rosewood, I saw signs of things put on fire there. Whoever left this clue wanted to leave a trail, while also protecting the identity of the last two cards."

"So there is a possibility that whichever book this page came from does not exist anymore?"

"Probably. Or it is still hidden somewhere in Rosewood. The list we have is not even complete in the first place. Jeno and the others' names are not there. Somebody left this as an intentional clue to lead down a path."

"You think that someone is also working against Cypher?"

Kun's question made you pause. You've shared with them briefly before about the possibility of the boys being sent as insiders to the Institute by a mastermind pulling the strings from the outside. Right now, there is no doubt that you were correct in your hunch all along.

"You remember what I told you about the boys willingly sacrificing themselves to Cypher because of someone? I think it's her. Renjun, he gave me this," you pulled the locket from your pocket and showed it to the two. "It's what led me to that file. He said she wanted me to take it. I have no idea who she is, but with the way the boys are willing to move worlds for her, I assume she is also part of their family…"

Both Kun and Ten were silent as they stared at the pendant. Ten was the one who broke the silence first.

"If that woman is the one behind it… Then why is she using you to move things around? Unless…" he trailed off before his eyes slowly widened at his slow realization. The look you gave him confirmed that you are thinking of the same thing.

"Maybe she can't… because Cypher must be after her too."

Kun leaned back against his seat in shock. "She must be one of the Triad users."

For a moment, none of you really spoke, both lost in your own theories and questions. Outside of the cafe, a crackling sound of thunder clapped angrily and sent shocks of light across the horizon. You stared off into the glass and watched as streaks of rain started falling from the skies, staining the pavement black.

"We still can't know for sure. Winwin told me that he is still going to try and crack some files because it is impossible for a project like this to not have a trail. Until then, we need to do something to find out, at least, what the Triad can do. I think that's when we can really find out what Cypher is cooking up."

The pair in front of you remained silent even though you saw them exchange a look in your peripheral vision. Their unspoken words hang heavy in the air, almost suffocating you, but you tried your best to avoid their gaze, your eyes set instead on the wet pavement darkened by the unforgiving rain.

"Is that what you want to do?" Kun finally asked quietly across from you. Your heart clenched in your chest again and you took a while to answer, but you finally turned to look at him.

"Yes. Mark, Jeno and the others might be doing this for someone, but I'll be doing this for my father. I have no idea if he's even still alive… but I have to try. He only has me."

Kun and Ten met the calmness of your voice with determined looks of their own. Another clap of thunder outside tore the skies, as if foreboding a future none of you want. Ten finally gave a nod before moving his gaze to Kun then back at you.

"If that's the case, then there is one thing we must never screw up..."

"We can't let Cypher know that we are going after its evil ass."

*******

You waited in silence in the bare-looking room without trying to shift uncomfortably in your seat. Just outside of the door, visible on the edge of the glass panel that separates your interview area from the hallway were a set of guards manning the entrance like sentinels. You took one quick glance at their backs before bringing your gaze down again in a fake show of calmness. Any other day and you would have fought for your privacy with your sessions, but you honestly don't think that is up for discussion right now.

The mechanical hissing of the door made you look up again after a few more beats of silence. Unconsciously, you picked yourself up from your seat as a different pair of guards marched from the entrance, flanking a platinum-haired boy in their middle. The moment your eyes met, the corners of his lips lifted into a knowing smile.

"You asked for this one?"

The gruff voice of one of the men broke your eye contact with the other. You gave a calm nod in answer and trained your eyes on him in practiced control. One look and a few words in and you can obviously see the change of dynamics in the way the boys are being treated now, but hell be damned will you be blatantly intimidated by these monsters.

"Yes. This is him."

"You have fifteen minutes to talk to him. I will be moderating the session in person."

"I don't think that is necessary, sir."

"Protocol's changed now, doctor. You talk, we listen. Take it or leave it. It's for your own safety."

You were about to open your mouth to argue again when the man forced the boy he was holding by the arm into his seat. Before you could even say anything, the guard had already turned and started walking towards the other side of the room where he leaned, arms crossed, against the wall. The other slipped outside and joined the ones already stationed there. You shot the man left inside a look of disbelief before finally unfreezing on your spot and lowering yourself again on your seat.

"Makes you feel like you are in a prison, doesn't it? They even gave us ugly jail wards," the boy finally broke the silence as he leaned back on his seat. You brought your eyes back to him and tried to relax your spine in an effort to bring yourself back to focus.

"How are you, Jaemin?"

His expression didn't change but you noticed the way his eyes moved over you with intent. The guard was far enough for the both of you to get away with softer voices, but the pair of you are aware of how careful you should be with your movements. You couldn't give much, but you also couldn't give away too little and raise suspicions.

"I think I should be the one asking you that. Tell me if there is a reason I shouldn't have stopped myself from cutting off one of Haechan's hands?"

You knew the question was coming. Despite the high tension in the room, you managed to offer him the smallest of smiles.

"I'm doing so much better. Don't be too hard on him. I was the one who got in his way."

"Yeah. Because you're frustratingly nice. Try not to do that again next time?" He said with a raise of his brows. You sighed and gave a shrug.

"I didn't come here to be mothered." You paused and held his gaze. His back was on the man watching you both with a hawk-like glare, a setup that favored you because it kept him from seeing the way Jaemin's eyes glinted in understanding. When you spoke again, you made sure to keep your voice as even as possible.

"We need to catch up… on a lot of things."

"Now?" He asked in a low voice.

You gave a slight dip of your head.

"Yes… Now."

Barely a second after you said that, you felt an invisible force skim the edges of your consciousness. It was the same feeling you had back at the arena when he first showed his powers, the dizzy spell that made your focus momentarily swim. It was fleeting though, and before you could even take another breath, you saw the guard at the other end of the wall loosen his stance. There was a faraway look on his face as he stared off at the distance, confirming Jaemin's spell.

"We have ten more minutes. The others outside will notice if we take more than that," he said as he leaned closer towards the table. You tore your eyes away from the other man and swallowed.

"Are all of you okay? Are they still hurting you?" You asked the first question that you needed to get out of the way. His jaw tightened but he gave you a stiff nod in answer.

"We're holding up. The conditions are different now, but I don't think they're at that point yet where they are done with us. They can't kill us… yet."

You frowned in concern.

"What do you mean?"

"Jeno… Is holding them back. They've pretty much drawn their conclusions about our abilities but they still can't get rid of us since Jeno hasn't shown them his Arcana yet. They are keeping us just in case they need any of our powers to control him."

Your heart dropped at his words.

"Are they hurting him now too?"

"Yes. But they are still being careful with him."

"Can't you just tell me what he can do? Maybe I can help—"

Jaemin gave you a torn look from across the table.

"I can't. I trust you… but the less you know, the safer it is for you and us."

He didn't need to say that again for you to understand the implication behind his words. He's right. Who knows what lengths Cypher is willing to cross to get whatever it is that they need? If they can hurt them, they won't have any qualms about hurting anyone too. Besides, what Jeno can do is the least of what you need to know at the moment. However, there is one question you need Jaemin to clear up, no matter what it takes.

"I understand. But you need to answer my next question, Jaemin…" you asked now as you leaned closer towards the edge of the table. You met his gaze unwaveringly, your stare determined. 

"Tell me. What can my father do?"

His reaction was brief but instant. Jaemin's eyes rounded as surprise parted his lips.

"How did you…"

"I know everything now. He is an Arcana user just like you," your voice sounded thin as you answered. In your desperation, you reached out to squeeze his hand. "Jaemin, I know you have an idea of what he can do. I need you to tell me what it is because Cypher might be keeping him prisoner too."

The look that took over his features told you that this is one piece of information he wasn't expecting you to know.

"What do you mean Cypher has him too?"

You tried to desperately work through the words that are still so hard for you to voice out.

"This experiment that you're going through… It's just a piece of the puzzle. There was an earlier study that Cypher did called Project Irregular and my father was one of its subjects. There was another one with him, the Arcana Master of The World, but the identity of that person is still unknown. Jaemin, I know that you and the rest of your brothers are staying here because you want to figure out what Cypher is up to. This is it. If you tell me what my father and the other Arcana user can do, we can all solve this together and you can leave."

Jaemin pulled away from you, his expression torn. You knew he was trying to make a big decision in his head and you tried to bite back the urge to beg him to talk.

"I don't… I don't know much about The World. Ever since we were young, the identity of that person has always been kept away from the family. We didn't really know why, but we assumed he broke the code and was exiled or he left on his own. Your father might be the only one who knows him. He was the Head of the brotherhood and ran everything, that's why he also took care of us."

So IL Mondo wasn't the woman behind the clues but someone else…

"Was it also the same for… The Fool?"

His eyes snapped back at you urgently. You didn't falter, your voice low as you spoke.

"There are three of them, right? The third group of Arcana Masters."

Jaemin seemed pained as you said that. For a moment he looked like he was about to spill something but then he held back as he looked away.

"The Triad's identities have always been made private except to a select few through generations. They are kept under maximum protection, because they are the only ones who can affect other Arcana wielders like us. That means if ever they come under the control of the wrong people, even all of us combined can't do much to stop them," he explained slowly. "I cannot tell you where IL Matto is because they do not want to be found yet. It's better for that to remain that way, especially if you're saying now that Cypher got their hands on IL Giudizio and IL Mondo."

You tried to process that slowly. You leaned back on your seat momentarily just to try and sift through the new questions his answers bought.

"But my father… you at least know him. I know you do," you brought your gaze back at him, helplessness obvious in your features. Jaemin's jaw tightened and his hands locked tighter in front of him.

"I told you I'm going to help you, but please help me too. This is no longer just about you and your personal vendetta against the Institute. I'm not even sure if my father is still alive, but at least I need to know why they wanted him. This is about me too," you added.

The look he gave you was intense and yet you didn't look away. Finally, after what seemed like a long bout of silence, he spoke again. His voice was calm and controlled, and you knew he wanted you to take in every word he was about to say.

"The Judgement card is about balance. Good or evil, one force always has its matching energy, like the scales that should have equal parts of everything for the sake of order. Your father… can deflect and reflect Arcana powers aimed at him into something or someone else. If, lets say I try to use mine on him, he can bring it back to me with equal intensity. He has one of the rarest abilities, because he can hurt a fellow Arcana user with their own magic if he wanted to."

You took in a slow breath as you took his words in. Jaemin continued, his eyes never leaving your pale face.

"The Triad is also a different line of Arcana users. Unlike us who inherited the same powers from former masters, the abilities of their line shifts and changes every time they are passed down to a different user. So the skills of your father now will be different once they move to a new master. That's why I also can't help you with IL Mondo. None of us knew him, so we also don't know what he can do. The previous Masters who had his powers before can't even be used as a clue on what his abilities are now."  

You felt cold. There was one question that has lodged itself heavily on your throat.

"When do… Arcana powers get passed to a different master?" You asked slowly. The look Jaemin gave you confirmed your suspicions.

"When its former master dies."

A slight movement in your peripheral vision made you look up. One of the guards outside turned and peered into the room to check what was happening and your gaze slipped towards the one inside—who is still under Jaemin's hypnosis—in panic. Before you could even say anything,  however, you felt warmth wrap around your hand. Jaemin was staring at you with an intensity that made you snap your attention back to him.

"We have to move fast. I feel like Cypher is going to do something soon."

"We have to get you out of here… At the right time," you whispered. He nodded.

"Tell us what you need us to do."

A beeping on the door told you that your fifteen minutes were over. Jaemin gave you one last look before it slid open.

"Whatever happens, remember. We can't let them have all of the Triad members."

*******

The clicking sounds of the keyboard filled your small bedroom with a monotonous hum. Your eyes bounced around the three men currently stationed on various spots of your usable space, who, ironically, seem to be watching each other in their own surreptitious ways too. To be honest, you would have found the situation amusing if you all weren't working on something so serious, but right now, you can't really blame your guests for being wary of each other.

"So… How long have you been working for Cypher again, Sicheng?" You didn't know whether to feel relieved or nervous when Ten finally broke the suffocating silence from his spot by the floor. His expression looked casual, maybe slightly friendly even, but you still didn't miss the undercurrent of suspicion on his tone. Winwin looked up from his computer at his position on your study table and gave the other a wary glance. The poor boy has been trying his best to ignore the dagger stares he’s been getting for the last hour or so.

"Uh… for three years," he answered as he stole a look towards your direction. You shot him an apologetic smile from over the research files you have been reading.

"Three years… that means you pretty much have a hand in the Institute's core systems, right? What can you do with your access?" Kun was the one who asked this time. You winced. Unlike Ten, he was more blatant with his staring. It almost felt like he was giving an interrogation.

"I have database controls, access to cams, and overall security," Winwin replied as he turned his attention back to what he was doing. "Everything that Cypher endorses to the public, I can tap since the Institute relies too much on technology. It's a different case though for things they consciously keep a secret. I have to dig deeper for them."

"How hard is it to crack them?" You asked, finally deciding to join the conversation. Winwin momentarily frowned and ran a hand through his hair. He has been nothing but patient about this all throughout, but now you could clearly see his frustration even if it was just for a quick second.

"The kind of 'hard' you get from multiple firewalls, AES encryption, and other things. Seriously, it's not just the fact that they kept their files in another database that gives them away. The tech systems they used are the same ones that governments and intelligence organizations have. They definitely are hiding something they can't afford anyone to get their hands on."

Ten raised his brows and gave you an impressed glance. "He's good."

Kun, however, didn't look that much convinced yet. He finally closed the book he had been faking to read and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Sounds fancy. You think you can crack them then?"

You knew it was a rhetorical question, so you were surprised when Winwin politely returned the sass to the other. He turned on his seat to give him a look and nodded towards his computer screen with a satisfied look.

"Make that question a declarative. I just did."

Your eyes rounded. In an instant, you were flying out of your bed and going over to his side. It didn't take long for Kun and Ten to do the same.

"I think these are some of the last files of the research before they officially closed it and moved on to Project Dream," he said as he clicked on a sub-set of folders. Your eyes moved quickly over their labels before giving a nod towards the last one.

"Can you open that? It might have the summary of the study."

Winwin clicked on the said folder and typed in some code to unlock it. When the file finally opened, the text on it first looked like a mix of random shapes and letters. You watched as he typed a string of command on a smaller screen that slowly triggered each line to be coded into readable text. At that moment, all four of you fell into deep silence as you speed read over what was written there.

Researcher Notes:

06.06.2021.

The trial run ended successfully with both Arcana powers reflected and absorbed by the mimicry unit. The abilities of Patient 20, the Judgement, remains intact despite being in a coma. The deviant's  physical body, however, needs certain stimuli for his abilities to work and merge with Patient 21, The World's Arcana.

After a series of tests, both Arcanas have manifested successfully on the mimicry unit. A different set of input is needed to confirm the extent of adoption of both abilities.

Suggested next step of action: move to the second phase of the project.

You felt numb. The context of what you just read barely registered on you as you hyper focused on one detail.

Cypher does have your father.

He is alive… but in a state of coma.

"Go back to the other folders," you croaked as you tried to keep your wits on you. Kun looked at you worriedly from your other side and Winwin also seemed hesitant to move.

"Are you sure…"

"Just do it. Please."

The strain on your voice made the other three exchange quick glances. Finally, Winwin went back to the collection of folders in the root file. Your gaze fixated on one there and you pointed at it with your finger.

"Can you open that? The one labeled IL Mondo."

The boy did what he was told. Again, the four of you fell silent as you went through the page that opened. Unlike the first document with study notes, this one seemed like a patient profile. The moment the lines of code were translated by the system, your group gave a collective gasp at the photo that stared back at you from the screen. Under it were profile details typed in neo green font.

Patient 21.

Arcana Tag: The World / IL Mondo

Name: Haneul Lee

"Holy shit…"

Ten's whisper made you lean your hand at the back of Winwin's seat for support. The earlier numbness you felt was now mixed with a sickening dizziness as you tried to keep yourself from drawing back. You barely heard Kun's voice beside you as he spoke in an equally stressed tone.

"Scroll down. They have his Arcana ability listed there."

IL Mondo, The World, the last persona of the Arcana is representative of cycles and loops. Supernaturally, the patient possesses the ability to absorb Arcana powers of fellow masters and temporarily wield it as his own for a limited amount of time. As per test drill data, the subject can keep the absorption capacity to an average of 15 minutes.

Your mind felt like cotton. There was a part of it that was filled with noise, but there was also the side of you that was working to fit the pieces together. And they did fit. Almost too perfectly. You reached out to Kun now with a horrified look on your face, your hands squeezing his arm.

"I know what Cypher is planning to do."

"You—"

"My father's ability was to deflect Arcana powers. Whatever was sent towards him, he can reflect it on another target. Haneul can copy abilities from other masters. The last research notes mentioned a mimicry unit that was used to receive the abilities of both. Cypher combined and merged them in that unit. Haneul used his powers on my father, who then reflected it to the machine. They created something that can reflect a copied Arcana into someone else."

"Oh my god… and then Project Dream started," Ten whispered, his eyes wide. Winwin also caught on, looking pale in the face.

"The study where they got the set of different Arcana users."

You nodded.

"My father and Mr. Lee's abilities are useless unless there are other Arcana abilities involved. Project Irregular was the setup.  Project Dream was all about getting Arcana powers that can be absorbed by other people."

"That means… if Cypher successfully did it, they can create an army of Arcana users on their own," Kun said, his voice slightly trembling. All four of you looked at each other in shock. Everything Miyoung told you makes so much sense now.

She was trying to use the abilities of the boys for evil, but it was more than just weaponizing them. She must have known Cypher can never put them under total control so she… was going to make copies of them instead.

"What are we going to do now?" Ten asked after a moment of stunned silence. Your eyes found the photo of Haneul staring at you from the screen as you thought over the next step. Finally, you turned to Winwin, your face set.

"You said you have access to all the cameras and entrance portals of the Institute, right?"

He frowned. He looked unsure, as if he already knows your idea is a bad one.

"Yes. I can control them, but not for very long. Someone might notice if I do."

"That's good enough. Tonight's the perfect time. Can you smuggle me inside the Institute and make sure I don't get caught by any cameras?"

"But what are you planning to do?"

You set your lips determinedly at his question.

"I need to talk to someone."

*******

You tried to move as silently as possible in the deserted stark white corridors of the Institute. Despite being confident of Winwin's skills of blinding all the security cameras lining the halls, you can't help but throw furtive glances every now and then behind your back to make sure that nobody has taken notice of you yet. It was past midnight so the place is more or less bare, but that still didn't stop you from being hypersensitive on the slightest of noises.

You found the door you were looking for at a hallway you have not really ventured on before. You've only ever made your rounds on the places you were granted employee access, but you quickly tapped your hacked access card now on the slot by the entrance. With one last look at the shadowed hallway, you quietly slipped inside the room as the door parted with a mechanical hum.

"What the hell are you doing here?”

The moment you stepped inside, you felt your breath almost choked out of you as a pair of strong arms went over the half of your face and around your waist. The instinctual scream dissolved in your throat though as the iron grip hold on you suddenly loosened. Before you could even take your next breath, you felt yourself spun over to face your captor.

You looked shell-shocked at Jeno's equally stunned expression. The light in his room was dimmed, but you saw the way his eyes roamed down on you to check if you were alright. You were expecting him to let you go the moment he realized who you are, but instead his hands remained on your shoulders and unconsciously gave them a squeeze.

"I need to talk to you," you finally managed to gasp out. You saw his jaw tick as a frown of worry settled between his brows.

"You are not allowed to be here. It's dangerous—"

"I won't take long. Listen, Jeno, I found out what Cypher wants from all of you. You need to get out of here as soon as possible."

He looked confused. Finally, he lowered his hold on you though he kept the distance between you both. 

"My father. Cypher has him. They used his Arcana with the abilities of The World. We sneaked around the hidden files of the Institute and uncovered IL Mondo's identity and powers. He's Haneul Lee, the head of Cypher himself, and he can copy powers from other Arcana users like you."

Jeno froze in his spot as he processed your words. You continued, set on breaking down everything to him.

"They created a machine that combined both of my father and Haneul's abilities. Then they took all of you because they need your powers to be replicated. That's the reason why you are here. Cypher is not going to be using you, they will be creating clones of all of you. Do you see what I’m saying? You need to get out of here before they even unlock your abilities because they might kill all of you the moment you show it them. You are the only one keeping them from getting rid of the others."

This time, Jeno took a slight step back. He looked shocked by everything you just said, his eyes dark with questions.

"You've confirmed that your father is still being held by Cypher?"

You gave a tight nod and swallowed through the painful dryness of your throat.

"We can't just leave him here then. If we get out, he needs to go too. Do you have any idea what other things the Institute's machine can do?"

"No… they just said it has successfully combined both my father and Haneul's abilities."

"I doubt any advanced technology could entirely change and control abilities that do not belong to this world so I'm sure your father is still being kept alive. They need him close to supply his abilities to that machine. We have to get him out of their clutches—that might possibly pull out his powers from whatever monstrous thing they created."

For the first time since you found out that your father was being kept prisoner, you actually felt a glimmer of hope. You haven't even considered the possibility of what he said, admittedly having focused more on the overwhelming feeling of helplessness that you initially felt. You felt a sting at the back of your eyes now as you stared at the boy in front of you.

"You're… you're going to help me save him?"

It seemed like he wasn't at all expecting your question. He looked at you, a look of guilt and compassion taking over his features for a moment. In the middle of processing your own emotions, the warmth of his hand that touched your cheek almost made you break down to tears.

"Yes. You saved us. We're going to do the same for you."

You have barely parted your lips to answer when an electronic beeping from the entrance suddenly made the two of you freeze. Despite his instincts, Jeno was too late to do anything else other than hide you behind him when the door to his room opened. You silently gasped. A man clad in Cypher's warden uniform stepped inside and turned on the switch, filling the quarters with light.

"What is happening here?"

You flinched at the gruff voice that called out to your pair. In front of you, Jeno has turned into stone, his form still but tensed. Your heart was beating hard on your chest, but you fortunately still had enough sense for your quick thinking to kick in. Carefully, you stepped out of his cover and tried your best to meet the icy cold stare of the man in front of you.

"I'm his doctor. I was doing last minute rounds," you thanked years of training for the steady voice that came out of you. If not for the slight shaking of your hand as you lifted your ID, you would have easily come off as confident and calm.

The man gave one quick glance at your identification before training his eyes on your face again. You knew from his expression alone that he doesn't believe a single shit of what you just said, but that doesn't mean you're going down without a fight.

"At 1 AM in the morning."

You nodded. "I was going through something urgent with him so I rushed here. It is not out of rules for me to talk to my patients for emergency cases, is it not?"

The man didn't say anything, knowing what you were saying was true. Instead, he looked towards Jeno again who was still glaring at him from his spot.

"Emergency and unmoderated meetings are not being encouraged now. Whatever it is you need to talk about, you can discuss during assigned appointments. Let's go. I will escort you out."

You didn't like the idea of that. Before you could even say anything, however, Jeno stepped in front of you again.

"She's going to leave here on her own."

The man was not stupid enough not to catch the threatening tone in the other's voice. You watched, terrified, as the guard took a step closer towards him before giving him a malicious leer.

"I don't take orders from abnormals like you."

Jeno didn't seem fazed at all. Instead, he met the older man's glare with equal intensity, his jaw ticking.

"You try to put a finger on her and I swear this abnormal will make you regret it forever."

"You don't scare me, you fucking pretty boy. You don't even have the guts to show your powers," the man spat out, his face red. Veins have bulged on his temples now in anger and he had taken a step closer towards the younger male. You were terrified. In the middle of trying to calm yourself down, Jeno did something that made the blood in your veins freeze even more.

He smirked.

"I have news for you, old man. I can destroy you… even without using a drop of what I can do on you."

You held your breath. He said that in such relaxed calmness, and yet you felt a different kind of fear climb up your spine at the sound of his voice alone. You knew it wasn't just you who felt the eerie chill too, as the guard slowly paled and slightly leaned back. The man's eyes slipped towards you before going back to him.

"Go. Leave now." Jeno's voice broke through your stupor. He wasn't looking at you, his eyes still trained on the warden, and you took that as your chance to finally move. With one last look at him, you wordlessly walked away, your heartbeat eerily slow in your chest.

Jeno waited until the sounds of your footsteps fully disappeared before he let himself relax just a little. In front of him, the man continued to stare at him with an unreadable look in his face. He threw him one last glare before he turned and started walking towards his bed again. Jeno had every intention of ignoring him when the words of the guard momentarily made him stop.

"You know, she's right. Being here is technically not against the rules for her. But it makes you wonder…"

"How did your little girlfriend manage to enter a section restricted to her?"

*******

You tried to keep your nerves under control as you walked, once again, through the sprawling corridors of the Institute. Unlike the night before when you tried to move in secret, you made your way now in the well-lit halls of Cypher like you do on the regular. If you're going to be completely honest with yourself now, this is the last place you wanted to be in after the stand-off that happened last night, but you figured you will just cause more suspicion if you skip work today. And so here you are, your heels clacking against the floor, with the letter you found on your table this morning clutched in your hand.

Your grip unconsciously tightened around it now as you turned the corner. Unlike the first one you received from Mrs. Lee before, this one seems less personalized, with its sparse content printed in black ink. There was nothing much written on it, just a single line requesting you to attend a test session and a room number. You remember picking it up and glancing over Kun's table to check if he also got the same just like last time, but his desk seemed bare and it was obvious he hadn't even clocked in yet. Despite the odd feeling in your gut, you decided to come and find the room anyway, hoping whatever this is would be quick.

You have already found the designated corridor when your steps slowed down as a wave of realization gripped you. This isn't the first time you have been here. Looking around, you realized it was the same part of the floor where you found Renjun being subjected to Cypher's tests. An eerie chill slowly sank in your veins as a thought struck you. Are you here… to sit through one of those sessions again?

You didn't have time to entertain the thought as you found yourself standing right in front of the very door you were supposed to look for. You stared at it, stuck in the middle of feeling nervous and afraid, before you finally started reaching out for its handle. The door opened without you having to use your access card and you stared at the dark room beyond before carefully stepping inside. You weren't expecting that the lights would be out, but you could tell from the pitch dark of the room that it was mostly bare. Before you could even reach towards the wall to feel for a switch, the lights finally came on, momentarily blinding you. When you finally opened your eyes again, you found yourself staring at an odd view.

Seven pairs of eyes looked back at you in equal shock from the other side of the glass wall. It took you a few seconds to figure out what was off about the situation, but then it clicked and you felt your heart drop.

The boys were still in the viewing area… while you stood, alone, in the very space that Renjun was tortured in before.

You watched as some of them parted their lips in horror as they realized the same thing. Before any of you could do anything, a searing shock split your sides. You gave a scream before you felt your body toppling backwards.

Your consciousness left you before you even hit the floor.

*******

You woke up slowly and groggily. Head still stirring, the first thing that registered to you was the dull numbness on your side and a slight buzzing in your ears. Even as you finally opened your eyes, your mind still couldn't make sense of what you were seeing. That is, until your vision focused on the terrified look of the boy staring at you from a distance.

Mark…?

"You're awake now? Good. Let's get this over with."

A cold voice from beside you made you turn your head around. Standing behind the same machine that was used on Renjun before was a woman wearing a blue lab coat. She wasn't even looking at you, her focus set instead on the dashboard of controls connected to the unit she was tinkering with. Wires stuck out of it in a web and you followed their trail with your gaze in your half-awake state. They spread out across the room… stopping right on the seat you were currently strapped into.

And just like that, you jerked forward as realization finally hit you like a tidal wave. In your panic, you tried to stand up, only for you to realize that your hands and feet were bound in leather straps to a chair in the middle of the room. You started thrashing around in fear, the wires attached to you stirring with your movements.

"Stop fighting it. It's not like you can do anything about it anyway."

"Quiet down. You'll only make this harder for yourself," the woman answered. She had already seated herself behind the machine, half of her face now covered with protective glasses. You watched as she bent down on a small microphone that stuck out in front of her, her voice cold as she spoke to it.

A man's voice made you whip your head towards the other side of the room. You froze as you met the malicious stare of the same guard from last night. He slowly tipped his lips into a lopsided smile that made your stomach twist in knots.

"What the hell is going on! Let me go!"

"Ready to deploy round one in 15 seconds. Controls set to medium intensity."

Another voice cackled from the other end of the line. The moment it spoke its first word, your heart froze in your chest.

“Make sure it’s enough for a reaction, but don’t kill her. Yet.”

Miyoung Lee.

“Copy, Ma’m.”

That was the last you heard before you curled in on yourself in the next split second. The sensation that took over you was unlike anything you have experienced. There was a blinding flash of light that signaled the attack and then your veins felt like they were shocked with ice before an excruciating burning feeling took over them. It was not even close to the feeling of being electrocuted, with the pain lingering longer in currents buzzing under your skin. Half of your consciousness didn’t even register the way your body stiffened on your seat before slumping after. Your eyes were open as they stared, shell-shocked, on your hands which have turned into a ghastly white as they grabbed on the seat handles.

“STOP!”

You heard muffled shouts from the distance followed by a dull thumping from the other side of the room. You wanted to lift your head to look at whoever was screaming, but your body was still in shock from what you just went through.

“Her heart rate spiked but not to the maximum yet,” the woman dictated from the other side of the room.

“Give her another round.”

You parted your lips to say something, but your words were cut off when the same feeling gripped you again. This time, it took longer, the sensation lasting for a few more seconds before it subsided. You could hear a different set of screams, and you realized, with pained detachment, who was making it the moment you slumped back from the attack.

It was you.

“Her blood pressure is spiking, Ma’m.”

You blindly raised your head this time to lean it against the back of your seat. Your skin was starting to feel cold in some areas, but the back of your neck was tingling with prickles of heat. As you did, your eyes finally met the others at the other end of the room. You were almost half gone so you couldn’t fully process what you were seeing, but you were still alive enough to get an inkling of the situation outside. Mark, Haechan, and Renjun were pressed against the glass, their faces contorted with pain as they stared at you in horror. Behind them, barely visible, were Jaemin, Jisung, and Chenle. Your sight had started going blurry at the edges, but you thought you saw them try to hold back someone.

Jeno.

“Don’t they all look worried, dear?” Miyoung’s voice registered slowly as you heard her speak over the speaker in the room again. “Too bad they can’t do anything to save you. This room is designed to hold their abilities back, unless they do something extra special. You think you can take one more to give them the extra push, love?”

You couldn’t react, your eyes closing instead from the excruciating pain and exhaustion that lingered in your veins. Beside you, you heard the slight humming of the machine again as the lady in the lab coat tried to power it back.

“Give her another shot. Put it in maximum intensity this time.”

There was a slight pause.

“Ma’m, are you sure? That would be double of the last two.”

“You heard me.”

“But this machine isn’t designed for average humans—”

“Just do what I say.”

You would have steeled yourself after you heard that, but your consciousness was already leaving your body for you to manage. Slowly, you opened your eyes and stared at the light hanging above your head. You felt almost detached as you listened numbly at the beeping countdown of the torture machine in the room.

5. 4. 3. 2. 1.

And that’s when you heard it.

If the pain was excruciating earlier, then it has definitely gone beyond comprehension now as the shock sank its electric jaws on you once more. Your sense of sight had started to shut down too, your vision turning black for seconds even with your eyes wide open. It was painful… so painful that you wanted nothing more for it to end. You wanted it to stop. You wanted death.

A deafening boom filled the room, dull enough to assault your ears but still loud to make you realize that something else was happening. As soon as it came, the pain assaulting you stopped, only for your senses to focus on some manic screaming going on around you. Blindly, you tried to lift your head to see what was happening.

You have somehow managed to throw yourself on the floor, your body half a foot away from the seat you were once strapped on. Covering you like a dome was a semi-opaque shield that buzzed and ebbed like waves. It was the same one that Jisung created to protect you back at the arena, but this one seemed thicker and crackling with more energy. Before you could even fully take that in, another shrill scream tore your attention away. Your eyes widened with shock at what you saw beyond your safe field.

Except for the area you were currently slumped on, the rest of the room looked torn apart with cracks from the ground up to the ceiling. The glass wall that separated you from the other side is now gone and loose wiring and broken glasses dripped from the ceiling above. Those things, unfortunately, were not the worst of it. When your eyes finally scanned your immediate surroundings, you felt a sob of fear forcefully torn out of you.

The warden from earlier was screaming at the top of his lungs, his eyes wide and mouth gaping. Half of his face was black and burned and one of his arms seemed to be covered with blood. You watched with horror as he reached out his other arm towards you, but before you could even flinch, a black towering form rose from the ground behind him like smoke. It moved with targeted intention as it loomed over the man now and took hold of half of his body. The figure was human-like, but instead of a defined structure, its towering height seemed to be made of shadows, with yellow glowing eyes on top of its head. You were petrified. The man in front of you screamed and clawed at the floor, looking half-mad with terror.

“He–Help me—!”

You didn’t even realize that your screams had mingled with his at what you witnessed next. The shadow monster pulled at the warden’s legs before melting into the ground again in a blur of darkness. A sickening wet sound followed after as the man’s body was dragged deep under, leaving nothing but a trail of blood and flesh on his wake as he was sucked into oblivion. Beside the spot he just disappeared on was another blob of guts… and a blue lab coat stained with blood.

The next few seconds that followed felt too much for you to grasp. Blindly, you turned your head to the side and found the rest of the boys staring at the wreckage in front of them. Standing in the middle, his eyes glowing with the same black the shadow monster was made of… was Jeno.

You started losing consciousness when he turned his head towards you. Before you finally succumbed to the shock, you heard Miyoung’s voice again from the broken speaker in the room. It made her tone break in places, making her sound even more mad with glee as she spoke.

“Finally… It’s nice to meet you..."

"Master of the Death Arcana.”

CHAPTER 12

*******

A/N: Can I just say... Writing this took out a lot from me lmao. 

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[neonacity]

ARCANE | CH.9 | NCT DREAM X READER

Summary: When you decided to apply for a researcher post in an elusive institute, you already had the feeling that you’ll be getting yourself knee-deep into something out of the ordinary. But desperate needs require desperate measures, and so you embraced the invite, despite all the alarm signals urging you to run away. What you found out was nothing you’d ever expected.

Seven boys.

Seven human deviants granted with abilities tied to the legendary Arcana Cards.

Welcome to Project Dream.

Pairing: Various Dream Members x Reader

Trigger Warnings/Themes: violence, torture, trauma, very slight yandere themes, poly dynamics, suggestive themes, language, psychological, mystery, sci-fi. Romance will take a little bit of a backseat on this one since this is more of a suspense-driven plot, but it will still be threaded in the overall story. The concept of the tarot or Arcana cards will be loosely used throughout the series. Note that I am not a trained doctor so there may be some slips here and there about medical things. Again, this is a work of fiction and I am not implying any likeness between the characterization here of the boys to their real life counterparts. I also reserve the rights to all my work—I do not post anywhere else other than tumblr. Minors DNI.

> CH. 1 | CH. 2 | CH.3 | CH.4 | CH.5 | CH.6 | CH.7 | CH.8

Chapter Song:

Mad Hatter > Melanie Martinez | Middle Finger > Bohnes

The glow of your phone screen threw harsh shadows against the walls of your room. You’ve been sitting on your bed in the dark for god knows how long now, still wearing the same outdoor clothes and muddy boots from your trek to Rosewood. You barely have any idea what happened in the space of time after you've discovered the framed pictures in the strange room, but somehow, you've managed to haul yourself back home in one piece.

Well, maybe 'managed' is too far reaching for a word to use.

Ten and Kun have kept quiet for most of the ride, but you know both boys were able to catch onto something from the way your phone was blowing up at the moment from texts from both of them. You ignored everything, not only because you have questions you can’t answer yourself, but because you don’t think you have it in you anymore to convince them that you’ve only seen one lead during your search—the shot of the seven boys that proves they were indeed occupants of Rosewood. You just felt drained. Maybe even numb, except for that one seedling of emotion that has been slowly weighing down your chest every passing second.

You took a second to put a name on it, turning it in your head despite your focus trying to shut down on you.

It wasn’t surprise.

Not even desperation.

It was way worse.

It was betrayal.

The call tone of your phone fell on deaf ears as your hands tightened around your blankets. Your chest was hurting and the back of your eyes felt hot even though they remained dry. Before you even realized what you were doing, you hurled yourself up from your bed and grabbed your phone. Kun's name was flashing on it, but you quickly swiped the ignore button as you hurried to the door, hands grabbing your car keys and nothing else.

*******

Cypher looked even more ominous at night. With the lights dimmed down and the hallways almost empty, your hurried steps sounded louder and foreboding as they bounced against the pristine white walls of the Institute. While you would have come in here with a little bit more caution before, your eyes stared ahead now, your jaw set as you went down the corridor you’ve walked so many times in the past few months since you signed up to this mess. For some reason, you just know where to go, despite not even having the confirmation that you’ll find what you were looking for. Briefly, your conversation with Renjun back at the greenhouse flashed through your mind again as you made a turn at the corner.

“She knew what she was doing when she put you there as bait.”

“And I don’t understand why. Why me?”

“Maybe because we’re interested in you.”

“None of you even know me.”

“That’s debatable.”

You gritted your teeth now as the words echoed in your head. They didn’t make sense before, but they do now, like a sick punchline to a joke you were too late to realize was about you.

They know.

They’ve always known.

You stopped on your tracks at the far door at the end of hallway, the same one where you’ve first met them from behind the camera lens. Without wasting another second, you swiped your ID pass on it before pushing it open.

Seven pairs of eyes swiveled towards you in unison, their owners seemingly caught in the middle of conversation. Haechan and Mark were in the middle of a game of pool when they looked up while Jisung and Chenle were on the sidelines, fixing the billiard balls. Renjun was sitting with Jaemin on the bubble seats close to the pool table and next to them was Jeno who was leaning against the wall. Your eyes briefly went over each of their faces, your chest constricting as you took all of them in. Chenle, who was closest to where you are, gave you his usual beaming smile while the others looked on with the same pleasant surprise at your sudden barging.

“Noona. Why are you here? It’s the weekend—”

“Who are you. All of you.”

Your voice sounded hard and on edge when you cut him off. You didn’t even realize how your shoulders started to slightly shake, your hands balling on your sides as you tried to steady yourself. It didn’t even take them two seconds to get what you were talking about, the air in the room shifting as their smiles slowly bled from their faces.

You thought you heard your heart break in the silence that followed.

“Princess…”

“Don’t fucking call me that!” you finally snapped as you turned towards Haechan. The boy immediately stopped, but the look he gave you didn’t calm any of the emotions now threatening to pull you under. Instead, you turned towards Mark who you noticed just stepped a little closer to where you are. He kept his distance, but the way he held himself somehow told you he wanted to make another move. You shook your head at him.

“Why do you know my father?”

The moment you said that, you saw a look of guilt flash in his eyes. His jaw locked, as if he was looking for the right words to answer you with.

“You went to Rosewood…” Renjun filled up the momentary silence as he picked himself up from his seat. His gaze was full of understanding, and for a brief second you wondered if he was getting inside your head again. This time, however, you didn’t care. If anything, you wanted him to do it, just so he can spare you from trying to sift through all the questions that were almost making you feel numb.

“Yes. Like you planned to,” you said, your voice shaking. You reached out for your phone and showed it to them, the screen frozen on the photo you took of them with the man. All of their expressions changed—some with pain, others with guilt. “How do you know him?”

Mark finally decided to break the silence.

“He’s… the Headmaster of our school.”

His reply made you frown.

“Since when? Did you know him for a long time?”

He exchanged glances with Renjun before nodding.

“He was there… before we were even sent to the orphanage. He helped raise us. We knew him since we were kids.”

It felt like every fiber in your body lost its sense of feeling. You looked at him defeated, an expression he reflected back at you with the same look of guilt everyone else was wearing. It was the answer you were expecting, but also the one you were praying not to hear because it only proves one thing. All those nights he left you. All the days you grew up wanting nothing more but a parent…

He was being a father to them instead.

You’ve never hated the man. Even with all the holidays spent alone, the closed doors, and the story books never read, you never hated him, mostly because he wasn’t even there that much in your life for your relationship to breed such an intense emotion. At one point, you’ve trained yourself to live with the fact that your father has dedicated himself to his work. You didn’t exactly know what it is that he was doing, but you were able to convince yourself that he has submitted himself to a grand purpose. Maybe he was trying to save the world. Maybe what he was doing can change the lives of many for the better. Because what else can be more important than those kinds of lofty, heroic goals that can push someone to always put their own daughter—their only remaining family—in the back burner?

As it turns out, seven boys is all it takes. Them and probably others who have gotten the same care and attention from him that you haven’t had a taste of yourself.

“Did you know… that I am his daughter all along?”  

The air in the room has gotten so heavy that you could swear you were almost choking on it. Jaemin answered, his voice low and calm.

“Yes… We figured it out.”

“Where is he now? Do you know why he left?”

This time, nobody dared give you a reply. Nobody even looked up to meet your eyes. It was too much for you that after a while you actually crossed the room and reached out to Mark.

“Please. You don’t understand. He’s the only family I have. Give him back to me.”

Any other time and you would have flinched at the way your voice broke. After all, you’ve worked so hard to never to let anyone see inside of the walls you’ve painstakingly worked to build around yourself. But you couldn’t care this time, not even when the look Mark gave you told you that you wouldn’t like his answer. You could see it—how he was being torn from the inside too.

“I wish we could, but we don’t know where he is. He—your father… tried to protect us. Cypher was after him first because he knew everything about the Arcana holders. He went away to take them far away from us, and we haven’t seen him since.”

Your were convinced your heart had stopped beating for a moment as his words sunk in. You stared at him, hoping you could see any trace of lies in his face, only for you to be let down again. Nobody dared move or say anything in the room. You didn’t exactly know how long you just stood there, immobile, until you slowly took a step back.

“So he left… for all of you. Again.”

The corner of your lips tugged as you gave a nod. You didn’t even have the energy to look at them. Finally, you turned and started making your way out the door. You’ve only gone a few steps when you felt a gentle hand reach out for your arm. Blindingly, you turned around to come face to face with Jeno. For the first time since you met him, he looked at you without the unreadable mask he always keeps on whenever you got too close.

For the first time, he actually looked like he cares. 

“I told you… You’re only going to get hurt.”

You felt too numb to even react. You simply shook his hand off of you before you left the room in dead silence.

*******

Apparently, five days is the longest length of peace you can have until something blows up in your face again and pile over the things you've already been trying to avoid.

Granted, you cheated on having it by taking a sudden work leave, but for once, you felt liberated over breaking the rules. Since that night of confrontation back at Cypher, you filed for an indefinite absence and have turned off all possible channels you can be contacted on so you can focus on other things. You can't really say you're doing a great job at it though, not when you've been spending the last half hour staring at your screen trying to finish a page in your thesis. Sure, the last five days have been quiet, but as expected, silence doesn't necessarily equate to making your problems magically go away. 

You groaned softly now and removed your glasses to pinch the bridge of your nose. Maybe you shouldn't have turned down Mijeong's invitation for you to go party with her tonight, but of course you had to regret your decision too late. Mulling over it a bit, your eyes finally landed on your phone lying face down and looking very much abandoned on your desk. It was half-covered by your study notes now since you haven't touched it for days, but it still took you a good half minute to finally reach out for it. With a slight sigh, you finally turned it on, your eyes squinting a little bit at the glow of its screen.

It didn't even take ten seconds before the ringing sound of notifications assaulted your ears. You winced. Just as expected, you got dozens and dozens of messages and emails, some for work and the others mostly from Ten and Kun. You bit the inside of your cheek now in guilt. You haven't really reached out to them since you disappeared, which, now that you think of it, was a very asshole move. Before all the message alerts came in, you already opened Kun's contact so you can send him a message of apology.

You've barely even typed your first word in when the last of the texts finally registered on your screen. You froze when your gaze locked on the last one. You haven't even gone through the messages before it, but the one sentence alone resting on the foot of the chat window made your heart drop to your stomach. It was just eight words, but they were enough to make your blood run cold.

'You have to come. They are hurting them.'

*******

The sound of your sneakers thundered down the long hallways as you ran. You were heaving, but you didn't stop as you tried to call Kun for the hundredth time since you saw his message. He just sent it today, about an hour and a half ago, but that was still long enough for things to have gone south. You cursed under your breath. You didn't know where you were going, but when the line dropped again, you went to the first place that you knew he could have left a trace. You almost stumbled in front of the entrance of your office, fingers almost slipping on the knob as you hurriedly opened it.

Kun was not there, as you already expected, but a wave of relief went over you as you saw the light of the wall of monitors in the center of the room. He left every single one of them open to give you the clue you needed to trace the boys. A splitting pain was making your side hurt, but you ignored it, your eyes set instead on scanning every single screen in front of you.

You finally found it on the middle row, though the live feedback on the screen momentarily made you hold your breath. It was a view of an unknown room showing a top view of the boys staring off at something on the other side. You can't hear what any of them were saying, but you didn't have to…

Not when the look of horror and anger on their faces told you everything you needed to know.

Your eyes quickly scanned them, and then a second realization finally made you hit the ground running again.

Everyone was there.

Except for Renjun.

*******

It barely took you another minute to find the lab room, but it still felt like forever before you skidded to a halt before its doors. Your palms have gone sweaty by now that you had to try and steady your hand as you tried to scan your access card while fighting to catch your breath. At one point, you felt almost hopeless thinking you are not allowed access to the room, but then a small green light beeped to life before the mechanical doors started hissing as they parted. They have barely opened halfway when you slipped inside, your eyes wild as they went through the room.

The first thing that registered to you was the half glass wall that separated the space into two sections. It was unlike any that you’ve visited within the Institute before, this one looking more like the interrogation rooms one would see on police stations where people can observe from the other side. Your eyes landed on the six pale faces looking at you now with the same expression of urgency, but your attention was soon enough torn from the boys when you heard a muffled scream from beyond the glass wall before you.

It felt like all the blood in your body was drained when you realized what you were looking at.

The other side of the room was brighter than the section where you and the rest of the boys were standing, the harsh fluorescent lights only putting more emphasis on the sparse set-up that was laid out before your eyes. There was an odd-looking machine similar to an encephalogram unit on the side of the room, currently being manned by a gaunt looking woman in a blue lab coat. It has the same sigil that you have on your work uniform, though you knew you’ve never seen the lady before in the months that you’ve worked here. Briefly, you remembered what Kun said a long time ago about Cypher having its own circle of private doctors and researchers—a unit that was entirely separated from the regular research team of each project of the Institute. Back in a control panel before her, wires stuck from the machine down to the middle of the room...

Where Renjun was strapped on a seat, looking barely half-conscious.

“Oh my god.”

“Noona, please help him.”

You didn’t have to turn around to recognize Jisung’s voice. Instead, you quickly jumped to action, running close to the glass wall instead and looking for any slot you can use to pry it open. You knew the only way to reach the other side was through here because you didn’t see any other door before you came in. Your hands ran through the wall, but your palms were only met with the feel of the smooth, icy glass.

“There’s no entrance here. We tried. It must be a secret door on the other side,” Jaemin spoke this time, his voice sounding the most stressed than you’ve ever heard him before. “It’s bulletproof glass, too.”

His words made you curse under your breath. You turned to them abruptly, and for the first time, you realized some of them were also injured.

“Are you—Are you okay? What’s happening?”

“We were all picked up today and was put on different stress tests. They were—they wanted us to project our full abilities,” Mark answered. The look on your face must have been so severe because he immediately tried to follow-through before you can even utter another word. “We’re fine. But Renjun, he can’t take it. His body resistance is weaker than ours. We have to get him out of there.”

“How long has he been there?”

“Maybe fifteen minutes,” Chenle answered. There was a small cut under his eye that was already starting to swell. Jeno, who was beside him, closed his hands into fists.

“Long enough.”

Your knees felt weak as you turned towards the window again. Just as you did, a flash of bright light went off in the room beyond that made you flinch. It looked like a spark of electricity, and it was soon followed by Renjun’s anguished scream from the other side. His slumped body straightened like a rod from the shock before he curled in again on himself. The wires taped on his temples moved as his head hung low after the shock.

They’re… electrocuting him.

“Hey! Stop! Open the door! I’m his doctor! You’re hurting him!”

You screamed at the top of your lungs as your fists started banging on the glass in front of you. The lady turned to look at you briefly, her beady eyes seemingly checking for your identity. When she seemed to have confirmed that you weren’t part of whatever division she came from, she simply turned back to the machine again and pressed a button there.

This time, Renjun barely moved. He flinched, but other than his neck rolling back to rest against the chair, he seemed to have lost consciousness already. A small trail of blood trickled from his nose. Your arms stopped banging against the partition, your expression shell-shocked as you stared at him.

No…

“I’m going to fucking kill you.”

Whatever shock has frozen you in place snapped as you heard a low voice from the other side of the room. In the chaos that happened earlier, you barely even noticed Haechan who had said nothing since you came into the room, until now. One look at him sent a whole different kind of chill to spread over your body. He was so still, but the way he was standing told you that he was on the verge of snapping. Gone was the usual carefree air that he always seemed to carry before. Instead, he was almost expressionless… except for the rage burning in his eyes now staring at the woman.

“Haechan…” your voice sounded shaky when you called out to him. You took a furtive step towards him, but it didn’t seem like he heard you at all.

“...Touch him again and I’m going to rip her head off.”

You looked around in fear at the lady at the other side of the room. She was typing a set of commands on the small keyboard next to her machine, and you saw a small rounded countdown window show up on the monitor before her. She was powering it up. Gearing up for another round of shocks.

“Haechan, control yourself,” Mark’s voice made you turn back to the group. He is also looking at Haechan now, one of his palms held up in a placating manner. He was taking careful steps towards the boy and it took you a few seconds to realize why. The room was dim that you didn’t see it at first, but then you squinted and you noticed the way the air seemed to ripple around the other. It shifted and broke apart, similar to how broken pixels would look like. You stopped.

It wasn’t his illusions.

He was shifting the very dimension he was standing on instead.

“Haechan, don’t—!”

A soft buzzing sound started to come from the other side of the room. You didn’t have the heart to look at it, your wide eyes set on the boy before you, but it started picking up until it almost drowned the room with noise. You turned just in time to see the woman lift her hand, her finger moving towards the same button she had been pressing again and again. Lips parting, you started running towards Haechan, barely even noticing the huge black gaping void that burst behind him, its jaws open like a hungry monster. Mark shouted from somewhere you couldn’t really see and you thought you felt someone tried to pull you back as fingers grazed your arm. You slipped past them though, your hand closing around Haechan’s sleeve before they could even get a hold of you.

It happened all at once. The moment you touched him, there was a deafening shrill that pressed against your ears painfully as you seemed to have been lifted off the ground. It only lasted for seconds, but the next time you opened your eyes again, you were in an entirely different place.

You stumbled back a little and fell to the ground on your knees as your eyes tried to focus on what you were seeing. It was similar to the dark void that you were plunged in back at the arena, except this time, everything seemed to have been dissolved in darkness. No walls, no ground to stand on, even Mark and the others were gone, all except for you, Haechan, and an unconscious Renjun lying on the ground. A little ways from him, looking just as disoriented was the lady in the blue lab coat.

"Renjun!" You scrambled to your feet and ran towards the boy the second you were finally able to recover. Kneeling, you tried to cradle his head gently on your lap as you felt for a pulse. He has it, albeit weak, and you gently tilted his head back to keep his airways open.

"Where are we? What did you do?"

For the first time ever, you heard the scratchy voice of the woman who was pulled into this nether dimension with you. She sounded scared, and for good reason, as you saw Haechan step slowly towards her in your peripheral vision. Once again, a chill struck deep in your gut when you focused on his face. A small smile has pulled the corners of his lips again, but it wasn't anything like the playful ones he used to have before. Instead, he sized her up slowly, calculatingly, like a predator stalking his prey.

"Make a guess. You don't seem so mean now that your stupid machine is gone, huh?" He sneered. The woman tried to scuttle away backwards in her hands and feet, pale as a ghost.

"We asked you so many times to stop. Nicely too, but you didn't listen. Look what you've done to him, you stupid crone."

"Haechan… stop… We can go. Renjun is breathing," you tried to stay lowly, your voice barely above a whisper as you watched the boy continue to advance. He didn't even look at you, his lips pulling up instead in anger.

"Barely breathing. These stupid humans think they have control over us, when they’re not even worth dirt," he whispered, and you swear you haven't felt real fear until this moment. Everything about him screamed danger, a time bomb just in the fringes of blowing up everything in his way. Around him, the void started taking shapes, moving like bodiless shadows. They thrummed from barely held back energy, waiting for the command of their sorcerer.

"Keep away from me! You monster!"

The high-pitched scream of the woman only made Haechan give a breathy laugh. The temperature in the room had dropped so much that his breath even turned to vapor as he snickered. You unconsciously held on to Renjun, half of your body crouched over him as you watched the scene, terrified. You couldn't look away, not even with every fiber in your body telling you to run.

"Monster, hmm? I like the sound of that. Pretty big words to say so yourself after what you've done, but I'll take it," he shrugged as he finally stopped before her. The look he gave her was so withering that it actually made the woman give a soft whimper of fear. He smiled.

"Wanna guess what monsters do…?"

"They eat up weak people like you."

A shout of surprise was torn from you as a loud blasting noise split the air. The ground opened up, void-like branches springing from out of it to wrap around the woman's shaking form. They circled her arms, legs, and neck like vines before she was lifted into the air. She gave an ear-splitting scream before her own voice was choked off as the grip around her neck tightened.

"Haechan! Stop!"

The boy didn't even look your way, but a coughing, hacking noise came from the lady high up in the air as she was allowed to briefly breathe again. Haechan leaned his head a little bit to the side, as if deep in thought.

"Oh? Are you already giving up? Come on, you can't lose consciousness now. It wouldn't be half as fun if you can't feel what I'm about to do to you."

"No, no. You’re going to kill her—"

“That's the plan.”

"Not… real.”

Another scream sliced the air as the ropes of shadows that hoisted the lady up suddenly disappeared in thin air. She plunged back into the ground, her voice cut off at the sound of something cracking. The next few seconds that followed were silent, with you looking on with fear at the immobile form in front of you. Haechan remained still on his spot too, waiting for any sign of movement. His eyes had gone cold, emotionless.

Lost.

"Stand up. You can take more than that. I need to see what I can break next. Should I take your arms? Or maybe I can gauge your eyes out."

"Hmm? What's that?"

"This is not real. Illusions… you're just playing with my head."

For a moment, it seemed like time stopped as the weak gasping words of the woman hung in the air. Haechan simply stared at her, an unreadable expression in his face. The temperature around you shifted again, this time the cold completely taken over by heat. The air had gotten so thick, you could barely breathe.

And then he broke the silence again.

By throwing his head back and laughing.

"Ah, gosh. You really still think that I can only do illusions? I overestimated you ma'm. You're just not stupid. You're straight out dumb."

Your lips parted as you tried to wrap your head around what was happening. Haechan had started slowly moving again, this time with deadly intent in his gait. Things were starting to click in your head, as pinpricks started to climb your spine.

"Why do you think you're no longer behind the protection of that glass wall in your room, hmm?” he asked as light danced in his eyes. “It's because you're not even in that plane anymore… but in my world."

"Yes, mine. That means in here, I have my own rules. I can do anything. Which, again, only means one thing… Do you wanna guess what that is?"

Haechan smiled, and it was the most terrifyingly haunting thing you've seen. The realization hit you the same time his lips quirked into a smirk. He was never just a mage of illusions. He could shape dimensions, rip them apart and create new ones. 

He... is chaos himself.

"I can break you. No matter how many times I want to."

You moved before you even realized what you were doing. Scrambling from your spot where you were covering Renjun, you ran towards the woman just as the ropes of shadows sprang from nowhere again. This time though, they were shaped like spears, their ends pointed as they aimed for flesh. You managed to pull the lady by the arm to throw her to the other side of the room, but your limbs tangled together and made you trip. The last thing you could remember was a searing pain at your shoulder blade and the spears of darkness suddenly moving around to soften your fall as you toppled back.

And then everything went black.

*******

It felt like you were swimming back to the surface. Everything was so quiet and still that for a minute, you wished you could stay under the waves forever. You were floating idly in silence, body feeling weightless as your consciousness stayed in the middle of dreams and reality.

It didn't last long though. Just as you were about to drift into deep sleep again, a dull tint of orange started blooming behind your lids. The color started growing stronger and stronger until it finally made you frown and roll away. You wanted nothing more than for it to go but it persisted, like a small fire burning beyond your closed eyes. 

"I see you're still very responsive. Good girl."

The honey voice that sounded somewhere from your side made you open your eyes in a jolt. All of a sudden, the warm cocoon of sleep was torn away from you as you were finally pulled to the surface. You were still disoriented when you caught what looked like an IV line by your side but you managed to swivel your head towards the source of the voice. You locked eyes with its owner...

And found yourself freezing again.

Dr. Lee smiled at you, her perfect red lips tipped by the corners. They didn't quite match her stare, which was now trained at you with a mixture of barely concealed amusement and something much more… sinister.

"How are you feeling, darling?"

You couldn't quite wrap your head around what's happening at first. You could see and hear her… but none of the signals she was giving were still making sense in your head. You were trying… but before you could do anything, a throbbing pain by your right shoulder made you gasp. You almost sat up in shock at the feeling, but you were gently eased back into what you can assume is your hospital bed by her hands on your chest. You groaned.

"What happened?"

"There is a hole in your shoulder is the quickest way to explain it. I wouldn't recommend for you to move too much anytime soon."

That was all it took for you to go still again. As if a switch has been turned on, the last memories you had came flooding back to you in waves. You immediately turned your head towards the woman beside you who was now looking at you with an unreadable expression.

"Haechan and Renjun—"

"01 and 02 are being kept in a different facility. If you're wondering how they are, they're still alive. 02 sustained more… let's say, internal damage, but he is alive. 01 is unscathed, though he seems to need more treatment for mental distress after he hurt his favorite doctor."

The lilt in her voice made your stomach turn. The way he talked about the boys confirmed your suspicions as you read between the lines of her words and their undertones. You looked on to her, speechless at first. You felt hot and cold at the same time. Angry, but also terrified.

"You… were the one who ordered to give them the tests," you whispered. Her smile returned slowly as if she was relishing each word you said.

"I did, indeed. I had to make a couple of adjustments, but I believe I finally got to the sweet spot now… all thanks to you, honey."

You frowned in confusion. She crossed her legs in front of her and rested her manicured nails on her knee.

"You see, we have tried so many approaches just to tease those abilities out of those kids. At first there was the recommendation to use positive reinforcement on them so we could study their potential, but it became obvious after some time that it’s impossible to get their full trust. Sure, several of them did work with us but seriously… did they really think we believe that is all they can do?"

You stared at her in silent horror as you slowly processed her words. It was a good thing that you were lying down, because your head was already starting to swim. Whether she noticed your internal dilemma or not, you have no idea, because she simply went on with that same idle, satisfied smile on her lips.

"And then… you came and some of them actually started cooperating more. That's when we knew a different approach was needed. Maybe positive bribes aren't what's needed to crack them open, but another kind of motivation instead. After all, what pushes another person at their limit… than human emotions foolishly fixated on others?"

You wanted to retch. The random invite for the competitive drill back at the arena. The display of Renjun's torture in front of all of them. She had it all planned. All of it.

"You're hurting them…" you said in a tone that almost broke. Her smile widened and she leaned forward to run a finger down your cold cheek. The sharp edge of her nail barely grazed your skin, but it was enough to make your skin crawl.

"Well, yes. I needed to. I have to say… patience really isn't my strongest suit but I'm not going to break them entirely since I need them alive after all. Until they really show us what they can do though, we'll just have to do the same thing over and over again. Don't worry, their memories of the stress tests get erased when the mental trauma gets too much. We have the High Priestess to take care of that for us. We can't afford broken boys now, do we?"

Your breath hitched. Renjun can tap memories… which also means he can erase them too. Was that the reason why he was always sick? Because Cypher was using his Arcana on the others? Ten said that when the other boys started needing medical help, they couldn't even remember what happened to them. Their memories... were they being manipulated against their wills? 

"I decided to keep the Magician's memories of what he did to you though, just in case you want to know," your blood ran cold as you realized what she was talking about. "I think I like him better when he is a little… deranged. I've always thought that boy is special. Who would have even thought he was so so much more," she trained her brown eyes on you and you saw the way they sparkled with glee. "Chaos Magic. Disrupting dimensions… maybe even manipulating the very fabric of existence itself. With the right push, he can be more than what he can do right now."

"What do you want from them…" you managed to voice out despite the thundering sound of your heartbeat now pressing against your ears. At this point, you knew it was impossible to have a harmless reason behind the lengths she was pulling. Dr. Lee stopped as if she was mulling over your question.

"Have you ever wondered how it feels like to have the power to shape the world whichever way you wanted to? Not in the way money and influence can, no. But something greater than that."

Slowly, your eyes widened as you realized what she was trying to say. Your hands started feeling numb, the feeling starting to climb to your arms like frostbite.

"Jisung can power a whole country if he wanted to. Maybe even a nuclear project all on his own. Jaemin and Renjun are perfect for Intelligence use—no man can ever hide anything, nor say no to them. Chenle… Chenle can keep armies from collapsing, if he uses his ability to transform broken bodies back into their old selves. Haechan can turn everything to his favor if he wanted and Mark can be the perfect killing machine. Jeno has yet to show us what he can do, but I doubt it will take long for him to crack now."

You were speechless. You expected the worst, but not to this extent. You almost wanted to throw up seeing the look on her face. There was nothing on it but madness.

"You're going to weaponize them…" you choked out. Your words seemed to have triggered something in her, because she gave you her widest, wildest smile yet. Her hand hovered over your face again and it took you all you had not to flinch as she tucked a loose tendril of your hair behind your ear.

"Come on now, don't make it sound too bad. Maybe you're still too young to understand, but you'll get it soon," she locked gazes with you and your stomach turned at the chaos you could see in her eyes.

"After all, why be a savior if you can play god?"

*******

CHAPTER 10

A/N: Latest chapter is finally in after so long! Thank you so much for everyone who has tuned in to Arcane until now. I know the plot is really complicated so I appreciate all of you! As usual, enjoy! <3

PS. Let's all wish for Jeno and Chenle's speedy recovery from covid. 🥺

Taglist [OPEN]:  @negincho, @jhornytrash, @aaasteroidsky, @huangberryyy, @marijmin, @ashkuuuu, @reluctantserpent-101, @huskyhunny, @domojoo, @anaveragefangirl, @lostlovesoul11, @dreamisfelix, @lomlwoo, @coconuttiez8d, @jaehyunenthusiastsworld, @shininginthemoonlight, @bettyschwallocksyee, @w3bqrl, @smolpeyy, @chenlejjang, @kunssouschef, @thesunsfullmoon, @kpopstanforlifeuwu, @chokopocky, @azzygongez​, @tito-the-mermaid​, @jakeshuneybby​, @yutacchin​, @baehaechannie, @thefoxsleeps​

#mark nct fic #mark nct x reader #jeno x reader #haechan x reader #renjun x reader #jaemin x reader #nct dream imagines #nct dream #nct dream au #nct dream superhuman au #jeno fic #renjun fic #haechan fic #jaemin fic #chenle fic #jisung fic #kun wayv fic #nct dream suspense au #nct dream fic #nct dream yandere fic

[neonacity]

ARCANE | CH.10 | NCT DREAM X READER

Summary: When you decided to apply for a researcher post in an elusive institute, you already had the feeling that you’ll be getting yourself knee-deep into something out of the ordinary. But desperate needs require desperate measures, and so you embraced the invite, despite all the alarm signals urging you to run away. What you found out was nothing you’d ever expected.

Seven boys.

Seven human deviants granted with abilities tied to the legendary Arcana Cards.

Welcome to Project Dream.

Pairing: Various Dream Members x Reader

Trigger Warnings/Themes: violence, torture, trauma, very slight yandere themes, poly dynamics, suggestive themes, language, psychological, mystery, sci-fi. Romance will take a little bit of a backseat on this one since this is more of a suspense-driven plot, but it will still be threaded in the overall story. The concept of the tarot or Arcana cards will be loosely used throughout the series. Note that I am not a trained doctor so there may be some slips here and there about medical things. Again, this is a work of fiction and I am not implying any likeness between the characterization here of the boys to their real life counterparts. I also reserve the rights to all my work—I do not post anywhere else other than tumblr. Minors DNI.

> CH. 1 | CH. 2 | CH.3 | CH.4 | CH.5 | CH.6 | CH.7 | CH.8 | CH.9

Chapter Song:

Dynasty > MIIA

"Hey babe? Do you have a minute?

The white noise in your head was disrupted by the sound of a gentle, hesitant voice. Blinking, you tore your eyes away from the window and turned to see the worried face of your best friend peering at you from around your bedroom door. You didn’t have any idea how long she’s been standing there, but Mijeong smiled at you understandingly as you finally gave her your attention. You returned the gesture as you ever so slightly shifted the angle of your bandaged shoulder so you could look at her better. 

"Hi. Yes. What's up?"

She finally let herself inside of your room and settled on the edge of your bed. She still looked a little bit unsure, but you just know she’s been trying her hardest not to fuss over you too much. Mijeong glanced at you before unconsciously trying to fix the edges of the blanket that you had thrown over yourself. 

"I got a call from one of our family doctors. I got you an appointment with one of our therapists. He can help you with your shoulder injury. He is one of the best in the country."

That made you smile. In the past two weeks that Cypher has released you after your accident, the girl had never really left your side. You can still remember the look of worry in her face when you first got back, though you have to say... you’re even more thankful for her for giving you your space to recover. Mijeong is like your guardian angel and your soul sister in one... you knew she is aware that something’s been weighing you down, but she has also never asked questions to respect your privacy and silence. For you, that was more of what you needed at the moment while you try to sort things out in your head. 

"You didn't have to, but thank you, Jeongie. My shoulder's feeling better but I'll come and see him if that will make you worry less," you replied lightheartedly as you gently bumped your good arm against her. Your teasing made her slightly frown before a pout tugged at her lower lip.

"Yah. Don't try to lie to me. It must still hurt. And I'm really really worried."

Well… she is not exactly wrong, to be honest. While you have been recovering, you also noticed that you've been healing at a slower pace than normal. Your guess was because your injury was caused by something out of this world so your body was struggling harder to fix itself. It wasn’t easy, though truthfully, the physical pain was more of like just the secondary concern for you. 

"Can't you… just quit? You've paid all of your father's debts, haven't you?"

Mijeong's soft voice broke through your thoughts again before you could even speak. Glancing up, you can't help the flash of guilt that made your heart clench as you saw the look in her face. She sounded so hesitant that you just know she's been holding herself back in asking that question for so long. This time, the smile you've been trying so hard to keep really dropped a little. You knew she was waiting for an answer, but you also couldn't bring yourself to feed her an outright lie. She gave you one look before giving a soft sigh.

"You did. But you're still not leaving, aren’t you? Something else is making you stay…"

You tried to swallow the lump in your throat and avoided her gaze. You can't deny it. The past few quiet days that you've had have left you standing before a fork in the road. If there was any other time that you could decide to pursue or drop this, you knew in yourself that it would be now, right at this very moment. You started to throw yourself headfirst into this rabbit hole not knowing any better, but everything that has been revealed to you so far has also given you the free pass to stop if you wanted to. You can choose to go on with your life and live with the bliss of ignorance if you so choose. After all, you didn't need to save anyone. Not your father. Not the boys. Let alone the world.

That was how it should be. Any normal person with a sense of self-preservation would think that. But then again... what if it wasn't even the world that needed saving? What if it's people like Mijeong who does?

Your eyes found your best friend's face now as your fingers reached out for her hand. You don’t have any comforting words to say to her, but you knew deep in your heart that she is one of those you’ll be willing to fight fire with if you needed to. If Cypher turns everything upside down, it is going to be people like her who would also suffer. Maybe you can't turn the tables, but can you really live with the idea of not having tried at least?

"I'm sorry…" you managed to say now through the tightness of your throat. You couldn't offer anything else other than that, something she knew even with just a look as she studied you.

"Are you hurting too much though? Can I help?"

You shook your head and tried to give her your most convincing look. "I'm okay… I can live with it. I'm sorry if I can't… share anything with you."

She nodded. "It kills me, but I understand. I just want to let you know though, if you need me for anything, I'm here. You are my dearest friend."

Your heart clenched at her words. You probably looked pained and unsure because Mijeong intertwined your fingers together to give you comfort. You answered by giving her a brief smile.

"I need you to be safe. That's all you need to be right now."

The girl made a playful scoff. It’s obvious that she was still on edge about everything, but she was also trying her best to lighten up the mood for your sake. 

"Says the one who is currently in bed rest right now. For your information, I have been doing a swimmingly good job chasing your suitors away. Well, except for today. This one's really persistent."

The smile you had froze on your lips the moment she said that. 

"What do you mean?"

Mijeong shot you a slightly guilty look in reply before looking away and clearing her throat. 

"Well… Some visitors have been trying to see you in the past few days. They said they're from your work. I turned them all down because I knew you needed to be alone…"

Oh my god... 

Kun and Ten.

"They… And they're here now…?"

"Well, one of them. That's why I came. I wanted to ask if you wanted to talk because he really doesn't want to leave."

You leaned over and gave your best friend a quick hug with your good arm.

"Thank you, Mijeong. But it's fine. I think it's about time for me to talk to them again. I kind of left them hanging."

The girl gave a soft sigh before she drew back so she could stare at you at an arm's length.

"Fine. He's downstairs. If you need anything, I'll be in my room, okay?"

You shot your friend a smile and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek before swinging your legs over to the side of the bed. You made sure to pull on the closest cardigan you could reach to cover your arms and quickly breezed out of your room to head into the living room.

You found him standing next to the window, his back on you as he stared at some random photos of you and Mijeong resting above the fireplace. He did turn at the sound of your approaching footsteps, but it was you who was soon stopping dead on your tracks when he finally fully faced you.

"...Winwin?"

******* "How are you doing?"

You carefully placed the cup of tea you've been using as a distraction back to its coaster, your gaze looking at anything except for the boy in front of you. After the initial shock of finding out that it was him who was visiting, it didn’t take long for an undeniable and overwhelming sense of guilt to sink in to you. Honestly, you haven’t really thought much about reaching out to him in the past few messy weeks that you’ve had, which makes everything all the more worse now that he is personally here trying to check on you. Sure, you and Sicheng have never really gotten past a few dates, but it wasn't like you weren't interested in him—a message that, unfortunately, your flakiness must have sent across. 

"I'm doing so much better. I had to take a few weeks off because of something that happened at work."

"Were you… hurt?"

You hesitated before giving a slight nod.

"Yes. But I'm recovering now."

"That's… that's good to hear."

None of you really said anything for a while after he trailed off. Winwin looked relieved, but now that he seemed to have gotten his agenda off his chest, he looked a little bit unsure of what else to say. Another flash of guilt went through you as you studied him silently. After a brief moment, you sighed and decided to finally address the elephant in the room.

"Winwin, I'm really sorry… I shouldn't have flaked out on you like that. I know we only went out a few times, but I also left you hanging for a bit there. I really didn't mean to."

He gave you a slight smile as his shoulders slumped a little. He seemed to have already expected your words, but there was still a look of subtle disappointment in him as you addressed it.

"I mean, I wasn't really in a position to actually expect anything… but I was also concerned when things just seemed to have stopped. And then I heard that you got into a work accident so I got worried even more."

You held back the wince that almost took over you. It seemed like guilt was set on chewing your ass today, wasn’t it? How can he be so kind… after what you have and haven't done?

"Winwin…"

"It's fine. I understand so please don't look so guilty. I really just wanted to check on you," he said, managing a small laugh. You stared at him and finally reached out for his hand. He didn't move away and simply let you rest your fingers on top of his.

"Don't get me wrong. I really like you…" you started carefully. 

"But… you can't really focus on a relationship right now…" he added, finishing what you couldn't say. You looked at him, pained, but he only gave you an understanding look.

"I got it. I guess I just needed to hear it straight from you."

"Can we… Can we still be friends, at least?"

Your question finally made him move his hand that you have been holding. His fingers intertwined with yours to give them a comforting squeeze.

"Of course."

For the first time since he came, you were able to finally smile genuinely at him. You felt disappointed in yourself, but you also didn't want to string him along. With how kind he has been to you, Sicheng deserves more than what you can offer at the moment.

“Thank you.”

"So, since we are friends… I can expect you to always be honest with me, right?"

His question made you frown a little but you nodded anyway.

"Yes. Always."

"Good. So tell me, is your accident somehow connected to the experiments of Project Dream?"

In a split second, you found yourself freezing in his hold. You looked at him, shell-shocked and speechless, and he stared back at you steadily, waiting for an answer. You didn’t need him to speak to realize what was happening.

"I know that you went through some of my files…"

Your heart fell to the pit of your stomach.  He knows.

"I… Since when…?"

"Since after that date when you spent the night over. When we had dinner. I have a keystroke system that lets me see the action history in my computers," he said with a soft amused smile.

"Sicheng, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean t—"

"Don’t apologize. It's not like you really snooped around without my permission. I did show you what I was doing willingly at first. To be honest, I didn’t really think too much about it, until I heard about your work accident."

You held your breath, waiting for him to speak more.

"That’s when... I decided to take a look at the files myself and I sort of pieced things together."

"What were you able to see exactly?"

"Just the same ones that you already probably know about too. Technically, I have access to all the files as long as they are housed within Cypher’s database—it’s just that I haven’t really had a reason to actually do that before this. I’ve read everything that was being fed into the information system of Project Dream, some of which were from you."

You didn't really know how to react to that. Before you could say anything, you felt a gentle tug at your hand again. You met Winwin's concerned gaze once more.

"Are you in trouble?"

You kept silent. He didn't push through that question, having gotten the answer he needs. However, he was soon asking a new one that you couldn't entirely escape from.

"Is someone else in trouble then?"

You faltered. You shouldn't be pulling anyone else in this mess—hell, you even owe Kun and Ten for looping them in on this. Now Winwin is here and you're sure where the conversation is already headed if you don't do something.

"Don't worry about it—"

"I want to help."

You stared at him dumbfounded. He had such a determined look in him, one that told you he already had his mind set on this before he even asked. You slightly shook your head. 

"Why? It will only get you in trouble."

For a while Winwin looked like he was struggling to find the answer to that question himself. You could clearly read the emotions he was going through because they are the same ones you also have every time you’re about to make a life or death decision.

"I don't know. Probably the same reason you are doing this. I've worked for Cypher long enough to know that the Institute is dealing with shady things, but I didn't think they'd go this far. I've read enough to assume that a lot of people might get hurt if they get their way around this," he stopped and threw you a glance. "You already were."

You didn't give any reply to that. You didn’t really know what to say, not when you also have the same intentions. He took that silence to drive home his point by leaning towards you again.

"Look, I can't force you to trust me. But if you need me, I just want you to know that I'm willing to help. I can… you know… do things. I can be valuable."

You looked at him helplessly. 

"You might be disappointed, but it's not like we're pulling off anything sophisticated here. We’ve barely even pieced anything together."

"Well, maybe now you can. With a hacker,” he answered slowly but confidently. 

You paused. The implication of his words were moving slowly in your head, but then it clicked and you slightly widened your eyes at him. Winwin understood the look and raised his brows at you.

"So? What's my first assignment?"

******* "Let me see your shoulder. Now."

You gaped at the boy in front of you before glancing at the one standing beside him with a look of help. Kun, for once, seemed to take Ten's side and simply gave you a shrug. You groaned, a frown gathering at your forehead as you hesitantly started taking off your lab coat.

"What? You want me to take off my top?"

"You'll do it or do you want me to undress you myself?"

"Kun, please stop him. He's acting like a mom."

"Maybe he should, since you've been acting like a child."

Well that shut you up pretty fast. When you were dragged out of your will into the infirmary the moment you stepped into your office, you already knew something like this was going to happen. Swallowing back your words, you finally decided to undo the first few buttons of your top before pulling the sleeve covering your injured arm slightly. Ten immediately ducked over it and undid your bandages while Kun silently watched behind him. You sighed as you saw the former wince slightly at the sight of your wound. The harsh glare of the ward lights made your injury look even worse than usual, but you would admit, it’s still not a pretty sight.

"It's really not that bad…" you mumbled as you tried to pluck a loose thread from your skirt. Both Kun and Ten shot you a look that immediately made you shut up again.

"It's healing, so that's good. She's lucky that it's mostly a flesh wound. Her motor skills won't be affected since there were no tendons or ligaments that were hit," Ten said, mostly to himself. He started rummaging around his tray of tools to disinfect the wound again. "I'll have you take another x-ray again just to be sure though that everything is healing as they should.”

"Can you still remember what happened with Haechan? What exactly was it that attacked you?" It was Kun who asked this time. You turned your head away slightly in an effort to hide your expression. This is the first time you three have been together again, and you know it’s about time you will be asked to answer the questions you’ve tried to ignore for weeks. 

"Yes. I went to the Institute as soon as I saw your message and found Renjun and the rest. Haechan was… I think he simply lost control. We were sucked back into that bodiless dimension—almost the same as the one back at the arena, but he was controlling everything there like it was his own world. It wasn't just illusions. He was manipulating everything there, from the temperature down to the matter making up that place. I got injured when I tried to pull away the woman he wanted to hurt.”

Both boys silently listened to your words. After a while, you heard Kun sigh in disappointment. 

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have sent you that message. I didn't know things would turn out this way. I could have done something, but I felt like Cypher was already keeping a target on my back and I didn't want to risk them kicking me out. I… wasn't sure if you would come back so I had to fake it, or else the boys would be left with no one from the inside."

The weight of his words made you wince. You looked at both men now, guilt evident in your expression.

"I'm sorry… I shouldn't have left you two hanging. I was going through something, but that isn’t much of an excuse. That was very selfish of me and I apologize."

Kun and Ten exchanged glances. From the looks alone, you could tell that they've already gone through this conversation a couple of times between them. Ten was the one who answered as he finally finished changing your bandages.

"That's fine. You don't have to tell us what you don't want. But don't try to carry everything yourself too, okay? Well, at least for me, I'm the one who volunteered to help. So yeah, let's all finish this together."

That made you smile. Ten gave you a wink that lifted just a little bit of the weight from your chest.

"Do you have any news on the boys though? I tried logging into the report database while I was recovering, but I haven't seen any updates."

At that, it was like the air in the room suddenly shifted again. Ten shot Kun a glance before the latter shifted his eyes a bit. You watched the exchange carefully, nervousness creeping into you with every second they kept silent. The past few weeks went by in a blur that you've barely even had the energy to dig deeper for any updates. What has happened since then? 

"Kun…? Ten…?"

The former winced at the sound of his name. It was obvious that he was trying to find the best way to phrase what he was about to say.

"After what happened, all the boys were shipped into another place. Nobody knows where. I just came in one morning and was told that they will be gone for an indefinite amount of time. I wasn't given any context on why they were moved but they've been gone until yesterday when I was finally given the heads-up that they will return to Cypher."

You didn't know which part of what he said you wanted to pick apart first. You voiced out the most pressing thing gnawing at you though.

"Have you checked if they are okay?"

"I was given the order to keep away from them until I'm given permission," Ten answered the question. "They gave me their medical records during the time they disappeared, but I'm not dumb to take whatever's written on them as true until I see them myself. Renjun's the only one I'm allowed to check later."

"Oh my god…"

"That’s all about it from our end. Have you gotten any leads while you were gone?"

This time, it was you who shifted your eyes away. You did indeed. A couple of leads in fact. You pulled your blazer over you again to buy the time you needed to gather yourself before offering a reply. Where do you even start? 

"I did. I talked to Dr. Lee and she told me what she's planning to do with the boys," you paused for a second, and you could almost physically feel the tension that suddenly charged the air. You can’t stomach voicing out the next part of your story, but you braced yourself anyway. 

"She's going to weaponize them. Use their abilities for warfare. She's been putting them under distressing tests so that she can finally see the extent of what they could do. She's been using Renjun's ability to erase the boys' memories too so they wouldn't psychologically break."

"What the actual fuck…?"

You swallowed and pushed yourself to continue.

"The thing is, I know that's just the tip of the iceberg. I think studying the boys' powers was one of main goals of Project Dream, but it was already the second phase. There was also Project Irregular which started it all. Right now, we really can't know for sure what her actual plan is until we unlock what the pioneer study was about."

"But how do we do that?"

You gave both a look before offering an answer. "With some help."

Kun and Ten looked utterly confused. 

"I got someone to try and hack the locked files. Remember the boy I was going out with? It was a long story but he… kinda found out what was happening and said he wanted to help. He's the head programmer of Cypher."

Kun gaped at you while Ten’s brows rose in silent curiosity. 

"You—you're saying you told your boyfriend? How can you even be sure that he’s really here to help?" The former asked with a deep frown. You were already expecting this kind of reaction to be honest. You sighed as you tried to wave him off.

"There is no way I can be sure, but I trust him, okay? And he's not my boyfriend."

Ten looked a little unsure too, but he seems to be more open than the other boy at least.

"She's right. We can't know for sure. But it's not like we have any other way around our dead end other than him too. Now that I think about it though, I can't believe Dr. Lee even gave you a hint. Why would she even do that?"

Your jaw tightened at his question. That's one question that you have admittedly been turning again and again in your head, too. The woman is the personification of smart and cunning so there is no way she told you that on a whim, nor do you believe for a single minute that she fully trusts you. In fact, it is the opposite. She knows you are up to something, and she's exactly using that fact for her own plans. She wanted you to play at the palm of her hand… Which is a shame for her.

...Because play, you will. 

"She's using me… to get to them," you said now in a low voice. You felt Kun and Ten's confused gazes rest on you. There was a determined look in your eyes now, one that's the perfect opposite of the woman's icy stare.

"She doesn't trust me at all, that's why she told me. She wants me to play her game."

"And I'm going to give her exactly what she wants."

******* “You know you’ll hurt your legs if you stand there for a minute longer, right?”

Your hands stilled in the middle of fiddling the hospital curtain in front of you. It was late at night in the infirmary and everything else was dark except for the section that you were currently on. You didn’t know how long you have been standing there, hesitating, but you’re sure the only other occupant in the space have felt your presence the moment you stepped into the ward. You didn’t know what’s gotten into you, but all of a sudden, you felt so unsure about the prospect of facing the boy on the other side. Before you could even change your mind, you finally forced yourself to part the curtains and step inside the quarters.

Renjun smiled at you from his hospital bed, the yellow glow of the lamp beside him giving his skin an unnatural glow. The rest of him was bathed with shadows though and you had to step closer for your view of him to properly focus. You have just settled on the seat closest to his bed when your eyes fully caught sight of his face. He seemed to have noticed the expression because he gave you a slightly cheekier smile before you could even find your words. He looked tired and his cheeks seemed more hollowed than usual, but what really grabbed your attention was his close-cropped hair. Gone were his blonde highlights that used to perfectly frame his features. Instead, his dark locks barely grazed his forehead and the sides of his face.

“Renjun… Your hair…”

“Do you like it?” he asked, his voice sounding more thin than usual. It was as if he hadn’t used it for a long time. “I was kinda not into it at first, too, but it has sort of grown on me now.”

You wanted to give him a proper answer, but a malicious thought has started gnawing at you the moment that you saw it. You could tell that he was also following the same line of logic, though he tried to keep the air as light as he could despite the meaningful look you gave him.

“Why did you cut it…?” was your simple question. Renjun’s face fell a little as his hand unconsciously reached out to feel for the back of his head. Your heart constricted in your chest. When you asked Ten to let you meet him tonight, you were expecting the worst. Your look of relief upon seeing him uninjured was short-lived as you waited for his answer. What exactly have they done to him?

“It was getting on the way…”

He didn’t need to say anything more than that. You were speechless for a moment, and he was kind enough to pull you out of your seething emotions by reaching out for your hand. He gave it a comforting squeeze and you let it ground you.

“Hey… I’m fine. Don’t worry too much about it.”

There were a ton of things that wanted to spill out of you, but you tried your best to hold them back. Focusing your gaze on him, you tried to see again if he was hurt anywhere, though you knew that whatever it is that he might have gone through could not be seen by the naked eye. It was a hard pill to swallow, and it didn’t make you feel any better that it’s been a long time since you’ve actually checked if he was alright.

“I’m sorry I wasn’t there,” was the first phrase that slipped out of you after the prolonged silence. Your fingers finally wove around his as well and you silently took notice of how cold his palms felt. Unconsciously, you started running circles there with your thumb to lend him some of your warmth.

“Don’t apologize. It’s not not like anyone could have done anything anyway. Haechan barely snaps, but when he does, there is basically no one who can stop him.” 

The mention of the boy’s name made you momentarily pause. 

“How is he?”

 Renjun’s gaze shifted a little. “He’s okay. He’s trying to recover after what he has accidentally done to you. He’ll bounce back, if that’s what you are worried about. I think he just needs some time.” 

You wanted to ask more but you opted in giving a nod instead. You pretty much know Renjun by now. If he wants to tell you something, he’ll give it to you with good reason. The same thing applies, however, when he wants to keep silent about other things. 

“And the others? How are they? Ten and Kun said that you were moved somewhere else.” 

“If you want to know where they took us, I can’t really answer because I have no idea myself. As far as I know, all of us are still alive.  I haven’t really seen the others that much myself because I have been isolated, but I know that they are just a little worse for wear. I don’t think I need to go into detail about what exactly happened…” he trailed off and glanced at you again. “You already know, don’t you?”  

You felt nauseous but pushed the feeling back. At that moment, you didn’t really know what to say next, with so many questions and thoughts swirling in your head. Renjun once again tried to reign you in by tugging at your hand. You almost flinched at the look of guilt in his face. 

“I’m sorry... All of us are, for everything that has happened so far… We didn’t think it would go this far to be honest. If you want to ask me anything about your father, I’ll try my best to answer to the limits that I could. It’s the least we could do for you.”

His words were your undoing. You didn’t really have a set agenda when you came to him tonight, but you also know, deep inside of you, the questions you needed answers to. For some odd reason though, the thousands of things you wanted to ask seemed to have gone out of the window now, all except for one thing. You met Renjun’s gaze, your voice barely heard when you finally spoke up.

“Do you think… he cared about me?”

For a few quick seconds, Renjun’s emotions faltered. He moved his hand slowly and gently tucked a lock of your hair behind your ear. 

“He does. A lot. You might find it hard to believe, but he told us a lot of stories about you while we were growing up. Every little thing he found amazing about you, he made sure to share with us,” he smiled and you tried to blink off the strange dryness in your eyes. “It made us feel like we really knew you, even from a distance.”

“Why did he leave me then, if he cared?”

Renjun seemed torn on how to answer that. His eyes bounced on your features for a moment before he finally found his voice again.

“Your father… was a very special man, noona. But he was also involved with a lot of things that could hurt the people he loves. I can’t speak for him, but believe me when I say that I knew he loved you so much that he was willing to do everything to keep you safe.”

You were speechless. Another question was on the verge of spilling out of you, but you took your time before finally voicing it out.

“My father also tried his best to protect all of you… So why are you sacrificing everything by giving yourself to Cypher? When will this stop, Renjun?”

That made rendered him ultimately speechless. Slowly, he pulled away from you, drawing his hand back to himself.  It hurt you a little, but you knew it was him trying to curl back to himself for self-preservation. 

“We need to find out about Cypher’s plans about Arcana users like us. Right now, we are the only ones who can do that… by staying here.”

“Did you decide on that, or did ‘she’ tell you?”

You saw the quick storm of emotions that passed through his delicate features at your question. He didn’t answer and you took the chance to lean forward to urge him to look at you. 

“They’re going to use all of your abilities for evil, Renjun.”

“We know that. She knows that.”

“Then why?”

“Because we know that’s not just it that they want,” he answered, finally looking at you. “We’ve only ever had two choices. To run away and live a life with the Institute hunting us forever, or put a stop to it once and for all. Somebody had to do something and the best way around it is by infiltrating the very place that’s after our heads. You might not understand it, but if you’ve spent the rest of your life being chased, you’ll be willing to sacrifice things to finally be free.”

“But what is her plan? Look at you. All of you are suffering. Do you even know what she is up to? Is she even doing something to help out?”

Renjun kept quiet at first and simply stared at you. You couldn’t entirely read the emotions shifting under his eyes, but you have a feeling he was contemplating over something. You watched as he finally reached out to the pocket of his cardigan after a moment. You didn’t exactly know what he pulled out, but you soon felt a cold metallic sensation against your palm as he pressed something against it. You looked down in surprise and opened your hand to see a small silver locket attached on a thin chain resting there. It was round and only slightly larger than a coin, but the warm glow of the night lamp caught the intricate patterns carved on its face.

“I don’t. But you might… She told me to give you this. She says it will give you all the answers that we need.”

You shot him a confused look before bringing your gaze back at the locket. You have no idea what he was talking about, but it also didn’t seem like he was going to give you anything more than that. You turned the pendant once in your palm now before finally picking it up to open its face. There was no picture inside of it, but when you angled it better against the light, your gaze finally caught the sentence inside of it, engraved in script.

“In memories there is love.”

“In memories, there is power.”

******* You rushed to your bedroom and went straight to your dresser after turning on all the lights. Your drive from work was all a blur but you didn’t give yourself any time to take a breather as you tried to focus every shred of your concentration on that one thing that you know you have to do. 

You don't have any idea why that unknown woman decided to give the locket to you, but you are sure she is trying to tell you something that even the boys probably don’t even know how to decipher. Why she chose you and what exactly her message was were two questions you didn’t have any answers yet, but you’re convinced that the clue you need is just hiding in plain sight. It was the locket, for sure... but the phrase engraved on it made zero sense to you no matter how hard you thought it over. It took you almost three passed red lights during your drive for something to finally click in your head.

It was not the phrase in the pendant that was the clue… but the pattern on its face.

You quickly pulled your backpack now from the corner of your closet. The last time you touched it was when you went to Rosewood, after which you stashed it away from your sight in an effort to forget about it. You desperately tried to rummage on it now, however, your breath held back until you finally found what you were looking for in its inside compartment. Quickly, you pulled out the picture frame and went over to the side of your bed where you opened your study lamp for extra illumination.

You took in a shallow intake of breath as you clutched the photo in your hands and held it out into the light. It was the framed image of you that you found in your father's desk, the one of you as a child with half of the frame and the image of your face burnt off. The rest of the frame retained its original pattern, the ornate bronze woven with a design that looked similar to the complex beauty of snowflakes under a microscope. Swirls and spikes spread out like a sunburst from its center… 

Similar to the etched pattern on the locket.

You pulled the said jewelry now from your pocket and put the two close together just to be sure. There is no mistaking it… The gilded frame looked much more complex because of the interweaving designs, but there is no doubt that the separate patterns were the same as the one in the woman's pendant. Your eyes moved all over the photo now, trying to decipher what it must be that you should look at.

In memories there is love. In memories, there is power.

What does that mean? Other than your childhood photo, there is nothing else out of place that gives away anything that you need. What was she trying to tell you? Randomly, you tried to turn the frame on its back, your gaze now going over the hardwood backing to quickly check it.

That was when you found yourself stopping again at the sight of something on the lower left of the frame. It was small and surrounded by a border that separated it from the otherwise spare backing of the photo, but it caused your eyes to go round soon enough when you brought it closer to the light. Again, it was the same pattern that was engraved on the locket you received… the one that looked like a cross between a sunburst and a snowflake.

You tried your best to control your breathing now as you took it in. The logo was resting on the corner, right at the part you would lift if you wanted to open the back of the frame. You didn't exactly know why, but something told you to do just that, your shaky fingers undoing the clasps sealing the photo inside. Carefully, you lifted the edges, opening the frame slowly so as not to cause any damage.

The photo of you didn't budge as you did, but you noticed how the white of the back of its printed image has already yellowed with time. At its bottom, written in the same script you found in the locket was your name, birthday, and the same message engraved on the pendant. Your throat felt tight as you took those details in. You’ve barely let those details sink in when you turned the back of the frame only to freeze at the next moment. Taped against the wood was a small black memory card with the same pattern printed on its surface. 

You didn't know where you got the sense to do your next sequence of steps but the next thing you know, you’ve plucked the card from its hiding place and grabbed your laptop. You felt lightheaded as you inserted it on the slot, but you forced yourself not to blink as you waited for your computer to read it. After a long pause, a small window finally opened on your screen with a slight ding. 

You took in a shallow gasp of breath. It looked like a login portal, but there was only one entry space there asking for what seemed like a password. At this point, your heart had started picking up its pace in your chest, but you tried your best to focus by keying in the first thing that popped to mind for a possible passcode—your father's name.

Entry Denied.

You tried again, now using his birthday. The same error message showed up in sickly green font on the screen once more.

You were at a loss for leads, so then you started trying other combinations with the hopes of finding the right code. Your name. Your mother's. All your birthdays. From there, you moved on to random words. Winter. Snow. Sunburst. Pendant. Locket. Arcana. You even tried typing the phrase engraved on the pendant only to be met by the same error again and again.

You were on the verge of frustration when your gaze landed on the upturned childhood photo of yours still stuck on the frame. You took in every single detail there that wasn't burned off. Your animal pajamas… your favorite book in your hands….

You stopped.

The book in your hands.

Your eyes slipped into the locket next to it. And then it clicked.

The snow pattern. And the book you were holding. With bated breath, you typed the only thing that is currently making sense for you on the screen.

The Snow Queen.

You watched with a mixture of numbness and surprise as the welcome portal finally dissolved in the screen. Instead, it was replaced with a new one, a window that has a single folder in it. You moved your cursor over it now, your heart drumming painfully against your chest as you double-clicked it.

A new panel opened up on the side at your command, a long document that, upon closer inspection, looked like a scanned version of a physical page from a book. You slightly squinted at it to try and make out the words there, but before you could even fully focus, some of the names there already caught your attention. It felt like all the wind was knocked out of you when you finally realized what you were looking at.

Typed in neat rows were the names of Mark, Jisung, and Renjun together with others that you weren't familiar with. All had one similarity…

The Arcana labels tagged under their identification.

You felt cold. Your eyes moved upwards, right at the very top of the page, and silently read the bigger print there. The Italian words stared back at you, confirming your hunch. 

La Famiglia Arcana.

The Arcana Family. 

...Could you be staring at the database of all the Arcana users in existence?

You had to try your best to keep your attention from reeling then. Your eyes glazed over the rest of the page as you scrolled numbly until you caught one phrase that made you stop. The words echoed in your head as you started reading the random paragraph. 

"...And the third classification of Arcana users—the most elusive ones—as their abilities go beyond physical manifestations or psychic control. Their gifts stand on the fence, for they are not soldiers, nor are they defenders. What they have is so much more, an influence over assets only they can unlock.”

“Their fellow Arcana users."

The words jumbled in your head, both making sense and drawing more questions at the same time. Your eyes moved downwards, and that's when you really felt your mental walls start to close in on you.

Written after the block of text you just read was something that fully rendered you numb. Your father's name burned from the screen straight into your mind's eye, the label underneath it echoing in your head like screams.

Arcana Master 20.

Identity: The Judgement.

******* Winwin paced across the length of the darkened room as he tried to press the call button again for the dozenth time that evening. In front of him, his computer threw its harsh glare on what it could reach, panels after panels open on its screen. He had been working non-stop trying to crack something and he’d finally stumbled upon a significant piece of information. Hearing the line drop again, he cursed softly under his breath and finally decided to leave a message instead. He would have preferred to say this in a call, but it's not like he really has much choice at the moment. For some reason, he has a feeling this couldn’t wait for another more day. 

"Hey. This is Winwin. I've been trying to call. I think I found something," he said urgently now as he chose the option for voice mail. "I finally hacked the locked files of Project Irregular. It was on a different database so it took a while. Listen, I have no idea if this is important, but I think I got the names of the subjects of the research," he said as he went over to this computer again and squinted at the screen. The codes he were running had only loaded half of the file he had managed to snitch for now, but he can already see a name there. 

"I think these are aliases, but there seems to be only two of them. The first one is Patient 20, The Judgement. There is another one but I’m still waiting for it to load. Oh, there it is—”

He drew back and read out the bold words that stared at him from the screen. 

"It says Patient 21. Arcana User: The World.” 

CHAPTER 11

*******

A/N: Chapter 10 is out! There’s a lot of dialogues going on here but please bear with me since the reveals are rolling out little by little. Thank you so much to those who have left sweet messages, replies, and reblogs for Arcane. <3

Taglist [OPEN]:  @negincho, @jhornytrash, @aaasteroidsky, @huangberryyy, @marijmin, @ashkuuuu, @reluctantserpent-101, @huskyhunny, @domojoo, @anaveragefangirl, @lostlovesoul11, @dreamisfelix, @lomlwoo, @coconuttiez8d, @jaehyunenthusiastsworld, @shininginthemoonlight, @bettyschwallocksyee, @w3bqrl, @smolpeyy, @chenlejjang, @kunssouschef, @thesunsfullmoon, @kpopstanforlifeuwu, @chokopocky, @azzygongez, @tito-the-mermaid, @jakeshuneybby, @yutacchin, @baehaechannie, @thefoxsleeps, @caspervoid​

#jeno x reader #nct mark x reader #haechan x reader #renjun x reader #jaemin x reader #jeno nct fic #haechan nct fic #mark nct fic #renjun nct fic #jaemin nct fic #winwin fic #kun fic #ten fic #nct dream imagines #nct dream x reader #nct dream 00 line x reader #nct dream superhuman au #nct dream au #nct dream fic

[neonacity]

ARCANE | CH.7 | NCT DREAM X READER

Summary: When you decided to apply for a researcher post in an elusive institute, you already had the feeling that you’ll be getting yourself knee-deep into something out of the ordinary. But desperate needs require desperate measures, and so you embraced the invite, despite all the alarm signals urging you to run away. What you found out was nothing you’d ever expected.

Seven boys.

Seven human deviants granted with abilities tied to the legendary Arcana Cards.

Welcome to Project Dream.

Pairing: Various Dream Members x Reader

Trigger Warnings/Themes: violence, torture, trauma, very slight yandere themes, poly dynamics, suggestive themes, language, psychological, mystery, sci-fi. Romance will take a little bit of a backseat on this one since this is more of a suspense-driven plot, but it will still be threaded in the overall story. The concept of the tarot or Arcana cards will be loosely used throughout the series. Note that I am not a trained doctor so there may be some slips here and there about medical things. Again, this is a work of fiction and I am not implying any likeness between the characterization here of the boys to their real life counterparts. I also reserve the rights to all my work—I do not post anywhere else other than tumblr. Minors DNI.

> CH. 1 | CH. 2 | CH.3 | CH.4 | CH.5 | CH.6

Chapter Song: 

Can You Keep a Secret? > Ellise

The dreams have become a normal part of your nights by now.

You already know where you are before your vision even came into focus. The sprawling, endless walls, the carpeted floor half covered with smoke, and the sole white door with the burned bronze knob welcomed you with the familiarity similar to a home you've long left behind. You've grown so accustomed to this slice of scene so much that you’ve memorized every single detail about it—or at least the ones that remain the same every time you find yourself in this imagined world. 

That is probably one of the oddest things about your dreams. While you always end up in the spot you always find yourself in—within reach by the door you can never seem to open—the details around you also shifts every time in the slightest of ways. For every night you visit it, it becomes even more vivid with sharper details that weren’t there before: new cracks on the wall, a loose nail on the door frame, the sound of distant footsteps rushing on hallways you just can't see. It transforms little by little, coming into focus, almost as if this miniscule slice of moment is slowly shaping into reality right in front of your very eyes.

Today, it was the smell of something burning that you could clearly pick up.

"I don't think you should open it, noona."

You turned your head to the right to see Jisung standing by your side. This is the first time you actually had someone properly show up in your dream, though instead of being shocked by his presence, you regarded him calmly as if it was natural to see him there. In your head, there is no reason to panic or even question things. 

After all, none of these is real. 

"Why?" You asked the boy now as you quietly studied his profile. He didn’t look at you, his eyes set on the same white door, but you noticed how his gaze flickered at your question. He looked down as a torn expression skimmed his features.

"It's not time yet," he said simply.

"What are we waiting for exactly?"

"Nothing. And also everything."

You slightly frowned and turned your attention to the smoking door again.

"But someone on the other side might need our help," you reasoned out.

"They do. But we can't help them yet. Not right now."

The logical part of you knew that none of your conversation makes sense and yet you oddly accepted whatever Jisung was saying without another word. It was like you were trapped in a bubble that kept half of your usual emotions suppressed, giving you a false sense of security that made you accept things as they are at the moment. You did, however, turn to the boy beside you with a smile.

"Thank you for protecting me back then. You made sure I wouldn't get hurt during your drill…"

For the first time since he showed up, Jisung actually looked at you. He gave you a small shy smile, and you noted the slight flushing of his cheeks with amusement. How strange. If you're crazy, you'd actually think you were talking to the real him.

"It's okay. I wanted to do it. And I promised her."

You leaned your head slightly to the side in curiosity.

"Her? Who is ‘her’?"

The moment you asked that question, time seemed to have slowed down. Jisung's lips moved to give you a name, the sound of it making your lips part and your eyes round in shock. You heard it clearly, you were sure of it, but as soon as you did, it was dissolving in your memory as if an imaginary hand is forcing you to forget it. A ringing in your ears followed, starting first as a low hum before picking up in intensity until you had to throw your hands to cover the sides of your head to make it stop. You could barely hear yourself thinking and a splitting pain at the base of your neck made you squint in agony.

Ring! Ring!

The sudden intake of breath you sucked in knocked you out from your sleep. Eyes wide, it took you a few seconds to register where you are as you stared unseeingly at the ceiling above you. The ringing in your sleep was still there, but instead of it being in your head, it was coming from somewhere in your bed which, you realized, was half covered by stray papers and folders. Briefly, you remembered how you were trying to read some of the old test results from Project Dream's files last night before you obviously passed out judging from your awkward angle now against your headboard.

With a groan, you tried to sit yourself up on your bed to try and fish for the source of the sound. It almost took you a full minute before you finally managed to pull your phone from a pile of papers at the foot of your bed. You answered it without even looking at the caller ID.

"Hello?"

There was a brief two second silence before Kun's voice came on the line.

"You're still sleeping?"

You glanced at your clock now as you rubbed a hand over your eyes. It registered 6:30AM.

"Was. Why are you calling so early?"

"I'm at Brick and Beans. The coffee shop you said you always go to. Can you meet me here as soon as you can?"

The ache in your joints and the heaviness in your eyes were screaming for you to get more sleep, but there was something about the tone of his voice that made you swing your legs over from your bed groggily. 

"I can… uhh… get there in 30 minutes. I just need to get ready. Did something happen?"

"Jaemin revealed his Arcana last night."

You froze in the middle of getting up.

"What?"

"I saw the report. It was just filed, but apparently there was an unscheduled individual test drill that happened last night and he just… showed it."

A cold feeling washed over you. Stiffly, you grabbed what you needed in a rush and gave Kun a few quick words before cutting the call.

"I'll be there in 15 minutes."

******* "I don't understand why he would do this."

Your gaze didn’t waver from the file you were reading even as you heard Kun’s whispered question. Not even a fourth of the cafe is full with how early it is, but the two of you tried to make yourselves as invisible as possible by camping on the farthest corner booth in the room. You swallowed before tapping on the screen of the tablet you were holding to read through the case summary you’ve been going over for the last ten minutes since you arrived.

‘Na Jaemin, 22, one of the uncategorized patients of Project Dream has manifested his skills during a routine sensory drill. While no physical disturbances were registered in the test room, one of the assigned staff in the control booth showed signs of hypnosis and attacked a fellow employee. The closest trigger, as reviewed in the video recording, was the patient’s vocal orders.’

“Was anybody hurt?” you asked Kun now, your voice low. The pause he made before giving an answer was full of meaning.

“Just a black eye according to Ten. I checked with him this morning, it wasn’t anything serious. I think Jaemin really was just trying to show what he can do. He could have done something much worse.”

His last statement made a chill seep into your already cold palms. That’s the thing. He could have pulled off something bigger, or he could have done nothing at all. Ever since that unexpected meeting that you had with him a couple of days back, there is one thing that you've solidified in your head with no room for doubt or second guessing. 

Na Jaemin is dangerous—if not the most threatening of the group so far, for all the right and wrong reasons. 

While he may not be capable of causing physical harm like Mark, Jisung, or Chenle or get inside people’s heads like Renjun and Haechan, he can pull off one of the most nefarious things one can do to a fellow human: steal their self-agency and bend them to follow his bidding.

Briefly, flashbacks of that night with him came rushing into the forefront of your mind again.

*******

“Why are you doing this?” your voice was barely above a whisper as you tried to keep your ground in the darkened room. You didn’t know if it was his smile that was making you feel so heady or if he was actually trying to put you under his spell, but you gave everything you could so as not to fold under his stare. He was barely touching you, but it almost felt like he had his hands around your throat from the way you were trying to keep up with your breathing.

He, on the other hand, seemed to be enjoying every second of the moment. He looked more wickedly beautiful than ever under the limited light of the room, especially when his lips twitched at your question.

“Do what? Princess, I haven’t even done anything yet.”

“Don’t play mind games with me," you finally snapped from the tension. "I'm not stupid. You’re trying to threaten me.”

An unexplainable emotion flickered in his eyes at your words. For a quick moment, you actually thought he looked guilty… maybe even a little hurt, but the look was gone before you could entirely take it in. Was it a trick of light? Were the shadows simply playing games on you?

“You already know what we need from you… Don’t you?” he asked softly as he gently let go of the lock of your hair that he had been holding between his fingertips. Your heart stilled at the question. Renjun's tip. Of course he knew. 

“It’s hard for us to trust anybody, but they said you could do it," he continued, taking your silence as a confirmation to his question. He took a slight step back to give you more breathing space and you watched him unwaveringly as he seemed to contemplate his next words. "I wanted to believe that, but if you’re going to help us, you need to be careful of who you trust too."

Your eyes ever so slightly rounded in realization. Is that why he reacted that way about Winwin?

“What do I need to do?” your voice sounded steadier now as you tried to read the emotion stirring just underneath his brown eyes. “Tell me and I’ll try to–”

“I wish I could but there are questions I don’t know the answers myself. You’ll have to be the one to figure it out for all of us. That's why you're here.”

You frowned in confusion. Before you could even ask another question, however, he had already turned and started making his way to the door. You considered calling out to him, but then he stopped and looked back at you with a smile that made you pause. 

“I’m not a bad person. I just want to make sure you don’t get distracted, is all. You’re right though. I am jealous, but that’s because I’ve never been a big fan of sharing with strangers," he said with a lilt in his voice. You were just about to say something when he ever so gently cut you off again.

“Be careful of who you put your trust on, Princess. After all, the devil can make itself look like a friend.”

*******

“You knew, didn’t you?”

Kun’s voice snapped you back to reality. Glancing up at him, you quickly realized what he was talking about when you saw the look in his face. You quickly shifted your gaze away, your eyes landing instead on the second part of the report you’ve been reading. The words jumped there as if they had a life of their own.

Name: Na Jaemin Arcana No.: 15 Arcana Tag: The Devil | IL Diavolo Skill: Compulsion, Mind Control, and Manipulation

“Yes. I’ve figured it out for a while now," you replied quietly. "I’m sure you had an idea too. You saw what he did in the test drill after all.”

The look he gave you confirmed what he didn’t directly answer. He didn’t push you to explain why you decided to keep quiet about the information, and you did the same to him.

“You think he just slipped when he revealed his Arcana then?”

You shook your head confidently. “No. That’s impossible. Jaemin slipping about something is the last thing that could happen here. Do you remember what happened during the test drill? He can plant ideas in people’s heads. Make them believe things or forget something. He could have erased this from everyone’s memories if he wanted to so I’m sure he did this for a reason.”

“But what? And why now?”

You sighed before leaning slightly on the table. “Kun, what if he’s doing it because he knows we’re trying to help them? Maybe that’s the trigger that they’ve been waiting for–to look for someone they can trust within Cypher. You said it yourself, they only started acting up when…”

“When you came,” Kun finished what you couldn’t say. You simply stared at him, looking torn for a full few seconds, before you leaned back on your seat.

“I don’t think it’s specifically because of me. I think they really were just waiting for someone–anyone who they think would be willing to help.”

Kun shrugged and pulled his glasses off so he could pinch the bridge of his nose. “I don’t know. That still didn’t explain why Jaemin did it—how does showing his Arcana help us in any way? If anything, it works for Cypher’s favor.”

“We’ll just have to continue digging for the answers. You sure you couldn’t access any of their personal history?”

“Other than the fact that they were all brought in to the institute the same day, no. Other important records about them are locked from me, I even only got their date of arrival here by asking information from Ten because he had to give them a checkup on their first day. But that at least ups the possibility that they did come from only one place.”

You nodded slowly. “Well, at least we have a good start,” you said as you closed the tablet and grabbed for your bag to leave. “Let’s go. We have more work to do.”

Kun sighed loudly behind you but followed you out of the booth anyway.

“I’d use other adjectives for the start we have, but sure. Lead the way, Miss Sherlock.”

******* Your fingers skimmed over the spines of the books you passed by gently. Before today, you didn't even know that the section of this building has its very own library—let alone one with such an impressive collection. When you were informed that one of your sessions will be held here, you were expecting a haphazardly put together room with run-of-the-mill titles thrown together. The place you are in now, however, is no average study just from a glance of its books alone. Similar to Jisung's greenhouse, the space felt like there was some effort put into it, like a beloved, personal space of someone who poured all his interest in building it. 

"I got this room as a sort of gift."

You stopped in the middle of reading the titles at the classics section and turned to look at the boy leaning against the bookcase a little ways from you. Blinking, you briefly wondered if you were so focused that you entirely missed him standing there, but then he smiled and you completely forgot your train of thought. You turned to him fully now but remained on your spot just in case he wanted to keep his distance. Mark noticed, his eyes following the smallest of your movements as if he was trying to read you.

"What do you mean you got it as a gift?"

He pushed himself off the bookcase he was leaning on and actually tried to approach you. Compared to the first time you met him, there was something about the way he carries himself now that seems more at ease than his usual nature. It's as if some of his walls are actually down today, judging from how he stopped directly beside you. He reached to pull a book across from where you were standing then and flipped it open to its first page.

"When I first came here, I wasn't really the most cooperative of the bunch. The coats were following a different tactic then—bribe us with whatever it is we want so that we could cooperate better. They gave me this library. They even promised me that there will be zero cameras here."

You slowly took that in as you watched him flip over the pages of the hardbound in his hands. He seemed softer than usual today, his usual silent edge gone. You can't help but wonder if this is the real him beneath the front you usually see him wear as a shield.

"That's a little surprising."

He glanced up at you briefly.

"Me being uncooperative?"

"No. You loving books."

For a quick moment, Mark looked genuinely taken aback. He stared at you before a breathy laughter finally escaped him. Your own lips twitched into a small smile as you silently noted how genuine it sounded. You realized that ever since you met him, this is actually the first time you heard him laugh.

"I’ve always wanted to become a novelist,” he explained. “Also, I feel like you have a very distinct impression of me.”

You simply shrugged.

"You're nice, but you're not exactly a ray of sunshine either."

That made him stop and peer at you quietly from under his long lashes. He finally looked away and scratched the back of his neck a little guiltily.

"I guess I wasn't. Sorry if I seemed a little aloof. It's just that…"

He trailed off as he tried to look for the best way to phrase what he wanted to say. You decided to fill it in for him.

"You feel like you have to. For them, don't you?"

The look Mark gave you was a combination of emotions you easily picked apart. There was mild surprise about you hitting it on the head, slight guilt, and—if you read him correctly—even a hint of relief.

“Is that why you came here today? To do some psychoanalysis on me?” 

“Yes and no. I genuinely wanted to check on you after what happened at the arena a couple of weeks ago. But if that’s what you want to tell yourself so you could avoid my question, sure. You can believe that,” you said before you turned and settled on the carpeted floor. You looked up at him and shot him a silent smile of invite. Mark looked hesitant at first but sat next to you after a bit, close enough that your elbows were almost brushing together.

“How have you been?” you asked him again once he seemed to have settled down.

“Are you asking that as my doctor?”

“You said there are no cameras here?”

“Yup.”

“Then I’m asking it as a friend.”

You noticed the way he stilled briefly in your peripheral vision. Finally, he sighed and leaned his head back against the row of books supporting your backs.

“I’m tired.”

“Mm… feeling like you need to carry everyone else on your back can get pretty tiring, I agree. Unless I’m reading you wrong?”

This time, he actually shot you a look. You retuned it with a knowing smile. You may not have had a lot of one-on-one time spent with Mark, but if you would rank your affinity towards the boys, you would say he is pretty close to Renjun when it comes to making you feel at ease for some reason. If you look beyond this usual wall he usually puts up, you feel like you could see a lot of yourself in him.

“I don’t really have a choice,” he finally said after a beat of silence. “A lot of people are counting on me.”

“Did they tell you that?”

His lips pursed and his eyes settled on nothing in particular in front of him. When you decided that you wanted to help them, you knew that a part of what you needed to do is to break through the shells of these boys to get to the answers that you need. Mark plays a big role in that, being the glue that seems to hold the group together. He may not always stand out in the pack, but you’ve noticed the way he silently carries the foundation of this small, tight knit brotherhood they have going on. That, from your own experience, can be a huge responsibility to carry alone.

“I was always told that I have to do it.”

“By who?”

“By everyone,” he said simply. “It’s expected of me.”

“Also, because I promised... Someone.”

That last bit made you stop, your brows coming together in a frown. That was the least you were expecting to hear from him, and it doesn’t help that there was a look in his face that you couldn’t quite figure out now—a combination of deep-seated loyalty and longing that could only mean one thing. At that moment, something in your head clicked and your lips parted in surprise. It couldn’t be what you were thinking...

“Is this the someone who is keeping you and the others from leaving this place?”

Your question made his eyes slightly widen. He slowly turned to train his gaze on you but didn’t say anything else. You, on the other hand, pursed your lips in determination.

“I saw what all of you could do in that arena,” you continued, your voice low. “I’m sure that’s not even half of what you’re capable of. If you wanted to, you could leave this place anytime. There’s something else making you stay here.”

Mark remained so still as you said that, which, for you only confirmed what you just said. He looked torn, as if he was on the verge of saying something. Hesitantly, you reached out to hold his hand.

“Renjun. He decided to trust me. I want to know if you’re the same.”

Something flickered in his eyes when you touched him though he didn’t move to pull away.

“I do. I trust you.”

Your chest lightened up a little at what he said. “Then you have to help me so I can help you. Help me understand. Why are you staying here? Why is Cypher keeping you here?”

If Mark looked torn before, he almost seemed in pain now as he tried to weigh his words. Slowly, he pulled away from you, an action that almost made you think you’ve lost your window to get your answers. He looked away, and you barely stopped yourself from reaching out to him again.

“I don’t know what Cypher wants. Believe me when I say that. We’re here because that’s exactly what we want to know. Why these people are after Arcana holders like us. We can’t leave yet. Not until we get the answer to that.”

You were completely at a loss as you let that sink in. What he said made zero sense at first, but then a light bulb went off in your head and you felt your heart stop in your chest in realization. They’re here because of someone else… Like a Trojan horse sent to the enemy’s borders to infiltrate them. 

They’re not prisoners. They’re sacrifices. 

“That person… sent you here,” you said softly and you saw Mark’s jaw lock. “You’re doing this for them.”

His hands balled into knuckles on top of his bent knees. “We needed to do something. Or else, people like us will never live in peace.”

“But being here might hurt all of you sooner or later. This person you’re talking about, where are they? Do you even know what their plan is? Are they helping you out?” The rest of your questions got stuck in your throat as you felt his hand wrap around yours all of a sudden. It was different from the way Renjun held you back when he was the one giving you hints. Unlike the other boy’s gentle touches, Mark’s was firm and with command, as if he was silently asking you to really listen. It was the way he looked at you, however, that really made you stop.

“That’s why you’re here. You have to help all of us. We can only do so much being locked up here.”

For a moment, you didn’t really know what to do. Everything was overlapping in your head and you can’t help the rising feelings at the back of your mind towards this stranger Mark is blindly trying to follow. Who are they exactly? Do they really care for these boys?

“You’re doing this… all of you, just because one person told you to?”

Mark’s face softened at your words. He looked down, right at your interlinked hands with an expression you couldn’t quite read. His next words, unfortunately, left you more confused than ever.

“Yes. I trust her. You won’t get it... but I’ll do anything for her. ”

******* “Are you okay?”

You blinked awkwardly as Winwin’s voice broke through your thoughts. You didn’t know how long you have been spacing out, but you couldn’t help the guilt that overtook you now as you saw him looking at you with a slightly concerned expression from across the kitchen island you two were currently camped on. You were at his apartment, in the middle of trying to cook dinner with him, after a rather impromptu invite he sent your way after work. You looked down at the bowl in front of you now and cleared your throat shyly as you resumed mixing the marinara sauce you’ve been trying to finish for the past fifteen minutes already.

“Yes. Yes, I am. I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to space out,” you mumbled apologetically as you tried to avoid his gaze. You hated how you’re acting right now, because the last thing you wanted is to make him feel as if you’re not enjoying his company at all. It’s just that, after the talk with Mark earlier, you haven’t been able to keep your focus on one thing without going on an overthinking spree. Maybe you should have just stayed home instead of saying yes tonight. Locked yourself up in your room instead of being a shitty date.

At the very least, Winwin seems to be very understanding of it all, as he waved your apology with a smile. The light of the laptop he had opened in front of him almost gave him an angelic glow as he leaned his head against his hand while he looked at you. 

“That’s fine. Tough day at work?”

You shot him a small smile as you moved over to cutting some of the vegetables you’ve entirely forgotten about from earlier. “What can you say? We do work for the same company,” you replied vaguely, hoping he wouldn’t press for more information.

That made him laugh. “I can’t say I don’t understand. Not with me still trying to work when I also should be paying attention to you. Are you sure you don’t need help with that?”

Now that made you genuinely smile. You shot him a glance as you worked through the rest of what you were doing. “I’m no chef, but I can sure make a salad on my own. What are you trying to finish anyway?”

“Ah… you know, just some routine checks on the systems. I’m just scanning the database framework of the office right now. Making sure there are no bugs.”

“I didn’t understand any of that, but those were some sexy talk coming from you, mister,” you teased as you finally finished what you were doing and wiped your hands with the kitchen towel after. Sicheng threw you a playful look, his eyes dancing behind his glasses.

“You find that sexy? You better come here then, take a look and maybe you’ll fall in love with me.”

You rolled your eyes at his words jokingly to cover the way your stomach did a somersault at what he just said. That’s the thing about Winwin—he does have this thing about him that can easily distract you from everything else, regardless of how bothered you are. Coming over to his side, you easily fit into the space he made for you so you could stand beside him. He was sitting on a bar stool just big enough to accommodate him, but that didn’t stop the two of you from getting close to each other as he threw a hand over you, his fingers coming around your hip. You, on the other hand, pressed himself closer to him, your eyes set on his laptop screen. There were lines of codes running on a small screen that he had opened, while half a window showed what looked like a complex framework of folders moving upwards slowly.

To be honest, none of that actually left much of an impression on you, not when you could feel his body heat warming up your side now. You could smell his shampoo from how close you are, that and a hint of mint as he moved his face closer to yours when he ducked to point at something on his screen.

“You see that? Those are all the folders that hold all the files Cypher keeps in its database. My team used to say we can run a full rebellion against the corporation if we want to by opening just a few of those. Dig through all their dirty secrets.”

You didn’t have any idea if he was as distracted as you with how close you are to each other now, but you thought his voice sounded lower against the shell of your ear when he said that. You didn’t want to make a fool out of yourself though, and so you forced yourself to focus on the screen to keep your thoughts from flying off somewhere else. Your gaze landed on the numbers and codes there, some of them blinking green.

“So you have access to everything? Even the restricted projects?”

“Mm… Yes and no. Technically we do, but the highly confidential files are hidden away from us. We can break them since we are the ones who create their ‘containers,’ but that would be considered hacking already since that’s not part of our job.”

You were about to give him a teasing remark about that when an idea suddenly made you stop. You froze. 

He has access to everything…

Even information you and Kun cannot exactly unlock.

“You said you work for Project Dream, right?”

His question made your eyes snap at him. Your heart was pounding hard in your chest for an entirely different reason now, and you had to use every bit of your concentration to keep him from noticing. Slowly, you nodded.

“Yes. I do,” you said in the steadiest voice you could muster. Winwin keyed in a few commands on his keyboard and pulled up a new window that showed a smaller number of folders inside.

“There you are. All of your files are there. Pretty cool, huh?”

The pounding of blood against your ears almost drowned out the sound of his voice. You wanted to bombard him with questions, but something in the new window he opened caught your attention. You stilled, your eyes set on one particular spot on the screen.

“What’s that folder beside ours?”

Winwin followed your line of sight and quickly read the file name underneath the drive, a set of what looked like jumbled letters and numbers. His face cleared up not soon after.

“Oh, that? Usually, that’s a database for a sister project that’s being done under the same sequence. I think that one’s the first phase of what you’re working on right now. It seemed to have started six months earlier than Project Dream,” he answered as he pointed towards the sequence of tagged numbers on top of the folder. “You see that? That’s the code for its start date.”

Your palms went cold after that. You didn’t know that what you’re working on right now is connected to anything else, and you doubt Kun had an idea about it either. You were still staring at the screen when a loud beeping sound suddenly filled the room. You barely registered Winwin’s hold on your hip loosening as he stood up from his seat.

“I think the chicken’s done. I’ll get it.”

You barely registered him leaving your side with your attention still hyper focused on what was in front of you. You felt like you were at a crossroads, the possibility of unlocking something new making you almost dizzy. The next thing you know, your eyes were lifting to check on the boy in front of you as your hand moved over to the mouse control on the table. Winwin was currently bent over the oven, his body hidden behind the counter to take care of the food.

You hovered the cursor over the folder next to the database node of Project Dream and double-clicked it. 

A mini homepage popped on the screen at your command. Your eyes made a beeline on the short codes written on it. 

Project Date Start: 11-05-21 Phase Tag: Stage 1 Sequence: First Phase Category: Restricted Participants: Arcana users - FIRST BATCH.

Operation Name: 

Project Irregular.

*******

“You told her?”

Mark didn’t have to turn around to know the owner of the voice. The once calm air in the library sizzled with an unexplainable force, similar to the way two opposing forces would push and pull against each other. He ignored it right now, his eyes set on nothing in particular in front of him. 

“I did.” 

“Why?” 

“Because it’s about time we do,” his voice was still calm when he said that, though he knew the other boy could notice the slight edge tingeing his tone. “We’re running out of time. She needed to know so she could help us.” 

Silence briefly hung in the air after that. Mark knew the words coming after, but it still didn’t stop the painful flinching in his chest when he finally heard it from him. 

“You’re only going to hurt her.” 

For the first time since the other joined him, he finally turned to face his visitor. He was standing on the same spot Mark sat on earlier with her, still as death.  

“Why are you so against trusting her, Jeno?” 

“Because she shouldn’t be involved with us anyway.” 

“She’s the only one who can help us,” he said with a frown. For a brief moment, Jeno’s unreadable mask actually gave way, his jaw tightening as he heard those words. Mark watched him carefully, wondering if he would snap, but the look of chaos was soon gone from the other’s eyes as swiftly as it came. His voice, however, kept the same troubled current when he spoke again. 

“Just because she can, doesn’t mean she should. I know you’re doing this for the stupid promise you made to your fiancee, but that doesn’t mean you should be messing up other people’s lives for her sake alone.” 

His words were like a direct stab to his heart. For a moment there, Mark thought he was the one who would actually lose control, but then Jeno turned around and started making his way out the door. He called out to him—a stupid move— because he knew nothing will go through the other regardless of what he’s going to say. 

Still he did it. He needed to say it. 

“You don’t understand. I can’t betray her.” 

Jeno stopped just as he was about to turn around the corner. He didn’t say anything, the heavy silence in the air on the verge of collapsing from tension again. Finally, he looked at Mark, his eyes piercing when he said the words he knew his brother and friend already knew. 

“I understand you more than anyone else, hyung. Because I love her too.”

CHAPTER 8

----

A/N: I feel like this chapter is too vague and messy but please bear with me. Even my head is hurting from the plot I made, juseyo. :’)

Taglist [OPEN]:  @negincho, @jhornytrash, @aaasteroidsky, @huangberryyy, @marijmin, @ashkuuuu, @reluctantserpent-101, @huskyhunny, @domojoo, @anaveragefangirl, @lostlovesoul11, @dreamisfelix, @lomlwoo, @coconuttiez8d, @jaehyunenthusiastsworld, @shininginthemoonlight, @bettyschwallocksyee, @w3bqrl, @smolpeyy, @chenlejjang, @kunssouschef​, @thesunsfullmoon, @kpopstanforlifeuwu, @chokopocky​

#mark nct x reader #renjun x reader #jeno x reader #jaemin x reader #haechan x reader #nct dream yandere au #nct dream imagines #nct dream superhuman au #nct imagines #nct mark fic #nct renjun fic #nct haechan fic #nct jeno fic #nct jaemin fic #nct jisung fic #nct chenle fic #kun wayv fic #winwin fic #nct dream yandere fic

[neonacity]

ARCANE | CH.6 | NCT DREAM X READER

Summary: When you decided to apply for a researcher post in an elusive institute, you already had the feeling that you’ll be getting yourself knee-deep into something out of the ordinary. But desperate needs require desperate measures, and so you embraced the invite, despite all the alarm signals urging you to run away. What you found out was nothing you’d ever expected.

Seven boys.

Seven human deviants granted with abilities tied to the legendary Arcana Cards.

Welcome to Project Dream.

Pairing: Various Dream Members x Reader

Trigger Warnings/Themes: violence, torture, trauma, very slight yandere themes, poly dynamics, suggestive themes, language, psychological, mystery, sci-fi. Romance will take a little bit of a backseat on this one since this is more of a suspense-driven plot, but it will still be threaded in the overall story. The concept of the tarot or Arcana cards will be loosely used throughout the series. Note that I am not a trained doctor so there may be some slips here and there about medical things. Again, this is a work of fiction and I am not implying any likeness between the characterization here of the boys to their real life counterparts. I also reserve the rights to all my work—I do not post anywhere else other than tumblr. Minors DNI.

> CH. 1 | CH. 2 | CH.3 | CH.4 | CH.5

Chapter Song:

Panic Room > Au/Ra | Revolution > The Score

The harsh glare of the night lamp made your father's shadows even more pronounced as you watched him pace around his dimmed bedroom. You were standing by his door, a book tucked to your side, in your favorite animal printed pajamas that he bought you last Christmas. Your fingers gently tightened around the hard ridges of the storybook, noting with silent disappointment that your wish for him to read it to you tonight would be impossible. Again.

Your father finally took notice of you just as he zipped his suitcase closed. For a few seconds, he simply stared at your face before his gaze finally dropped to the book in your hand. You noticed, and you quickly hid it behind your back just as a look of slight guilt took over him.

"Hey honey. How long have you been there?" He asked softly as he finally picked himself up from his bed to come over to where you are. He gently tucked a loose strand of hair behind your ear before kneeling to get to your eye level. You, on the other hand, tried to avoid his gaze.

"A while…"

"Shouldn't you be in bed now?"

You shifted your weight between your feet in hesitation. The feel of the book now hidden behind your back felt more pronounced than ever and you unconsciously dug your nails into its leather cover in the hopes of it disappearing under your touch.

"I… thought we could read a story together."

The smile bled from your father's face again as you said those words. You've always hated seeing him like this—how he looks at you with a mixture of pity and guilt. You were on the verge of taking a step back so you could disappear into your room again, but you felt him drop his hand on your shoulder to give it a squeeze.

"Did you get it from our library?" He tried to ask with a smile. You simply nodded, your eyes set on your bare feet.

"What did you choose, sweetheart? May I see?"

You hesitated before finally pulling the book out to show it to him. He took one look at its cover before gently taking it from your hand, a small smile on his face.

"The Snow Queen… Very interesting. Why this, princess?"

"I wanted to know why the Snow Queen is a bad person," you mumbled.

"Hm. You think she is a bad person?"

"She kidnapped the young boy. And put ice in his heart."

Your father didn't say anything for a bit after that, his eyes simply set on the book in his hand. It looked a little bit worn out, with some spots on its edges chipped off and faded. He ran his finger carefully down its spine, a thoughtful look in his face as he did so. He seemed to be revisiting something… memories only he has privy to.

"This was your mother's favorite book."

You glanced at him when he said that. To be honest, you've barely had any memories of your mother, so it's not like you feel particularly sad whenever she is brought up to the conversation. However, you've always seen the way your father's heart always drops at the slightest mention of her for as far as you can remember. You can't say you could entirely relate to him when he is the only parent you've ever known, but you've also always tried your best to give him the compassionate ear he needs every time he would remember her.

"I'm sorry if I can't read it to you tonight. Papa has to go on an important trip."

You didn't say anything for a while. There was no point in doing so, to be honest, since this isn't really anything new for you anymore. Silently, your father offered the book back to you.

"I already talked to your baby sitter. She'll drop by here to watch over you during the day and walk you to school. Everything you need, you can ask her, but I also left you money in case you need some. It's in the small purse under your mattress."

"When will you come back?"

He stood up again and started pulling out some files from his desk.

"I… am not sure yet, sweetie. But don't worry. I will always make sure to call or send you a postcard, okay? You like those that come from art museums, right? There might be a few close by to where I am go—"

"Can't I come with you, Papa?"

He stopped in the middle of stashing a bunch of folders into a separate bag at your question. The moment the words were out of your mouth, you were regretting them. You hated how you just blurted them out loud when you already perfectly knew the answer you would hear. It made you feel stupid and childish. Your fingers tightened around the edges of the book in your hands again, its corners digging against the pads of your hands.

Your father, on the other hand, took his time to actually give you a reply. He closed his bag with a resounding snap and hoisted it in his hand, his suitcase on the other, before going over to where you are again. You weren't looking at him, still disappointed at what you just did, when he knelt in front of you once more. Gently, he guided your face up so you could meet his gaze.

"Honey… You know we can't do that. At least, not right now… right?"

You didn't answer. He squeezed your hand with his free one in a comforting gesture.

"If I could, you know I would. But it isn't safe… Papa needs to do it alone. For you."

You hated having this conversation, loathed it with your whole being, so you simply gave a nod just to end it. Your father shot you a grateful smile, one that didn't quite reach his eyes.

"I promise I'll make it up to you, okay? When I come back, we’ll read The Snow Queen together. Will you wait for me until then?"

"Okay, Papa."

You felt him give you a pat on the head before he leaned over to press a kiss on your cheek. After a hushed goodbye and one final hug, he hauled his luggages past you to make his way out the door. You remained standing in the same spot, not even watching him leave, even after you heard him turn the lock.

You didn't really know how many minutes passed before you moved. The silence of the house pressed against your ears almost painfully, and you slowly lifted the book in your hand to stare at it again.

The clock downstairs struck twelve and gave a haunting ding. Looking up, you went towards your father's bed and curled by its foot, settling on the rug.

You carefully opened the hardbound to its first page and read the rest under the ghastly light of the night lamp.

*******

"It's beautiful, don't you think? The painting's title is The Snow Queen."

A gentle voice to your side broke off your concentration. For a moment there you actually forgot where you are, which is almost a shame given the breathtaking beauty of the art gallery you are currently in. Sicheng walked over to you now, looking handsome in his full black outfit which made him stand out in perfect contrast against the all white greco-roman design of the place. He handed you the extra flute of champagne he was holding and gestured towards the painting you have been staring at since he left to fetch your drinks earlier.

"You like it?"

You gave him a smile before turning back towards the artwork you've been admiring. Compared to the others on display, the picture wasn't particularly majestic or grand in execution, but it was also the only one that managed to capture your attention the moment you strolled into the room.

It was an oil creation by an anonymous artist showing the back of a girl in a simple white nightgown staring at an open window. Stretched out in front of her is a winter landscape painted in vibrant blues and pale yellows. A sliver of a forest can be seen in the horizon she was gazing at.

At first glance, anyone would assume she was watching over her lands, her kingdom even, if one is to consider the literal title of the picture. However, the way she held herself while gazing at the barren beauty in front of her sent you a different impression altogether. For some reason, you can't help but think that she was waiting for something, or someone, with the way she was longingly staring into the distance despite her face not being in view.

"Yes… I like the use of colors. It's a winter scene but the paints are still full of life. Too bad the artist did not leave their name."

Sicheng stepped a little bit closer to you now so he could get a better look. His shoulders brushed against your bare arms, and you mentally noted how you didn't feel the urge to move away when the distance between the two of you became intimate. Instead you surreptitiously glanced at him, wondering to yourself silently how someone can look so striking in just their side profile alone. Out of his usual boring uniform, he looked like someone straight out of a classic movie.

Saying that he surprised you tonight would be a humble understatement. For one, when he invited you to go out for drinks, you weren't expecting said drinks to be flutes of expensive champagne being offered in an exclusive art exhibition. Just like what he promised, he did message you—probably after fishing for your contact details from Cypher's employee database—with the event details along with the generous offer to pick you up in the evening. It seemed too good to be true for you, like a perfect scene taken from a cheesy sequence in a romantic movie, but it was also exactly what you needed, especially after the latest turn of events that had taken most of your concentration at work.

"I can try and ask my friend if he personally knows the artist, but I doubt the information was even disclosed to him. It's quite normal for art galleries to get anonymous pieces like this."

"You seem to know a lot about how things work here," you observed simply without taking your eyes off the painting. You felt him glance at you briefly.

"I just happened to have gotten close to this client after working on several projects with him. I'm the one who created the security of this gallery. I guess he wanted to thank me for keeping millions of his property safe."

You took a sip of your drink now and looked over to him curiously. "So all the tech at Cypher… that's also all you?"

He slightly leaned his head to the side in thought. "Not just me. I work with a team, but yes, I kinda had a hand on all of them. The security and access systems, the databases as well."

You nodded thoughtfully. You know next to nothing about tech stuff, but you have to admit; from your personal experience alone, you're pretty sure the Institute is one of the most advanced and well-secured corporations in the country.

"Thank you for inviting me here though. I really needed it," you murmured as you took another sip of your drink. Sicheng turned to look at you again, but didn't say anything for the next few seconds. You have to thank the slight buzz the alcohol gave you now, because otherwise, you would have surely blushed from the way he was staring at you.

"I'm glad you like it. I thought you would find this boring."

You laughed. "I love art galleries and museums. My father used to travel a lot and he would make sure to send me a postcard from them if there's a place close to where he is staying."

"That's sweet. Where is he now?"

Your hand stilled just as you were about to tip your glass to your lips again.

"He left for a long-term trip," you finally managed to reply.

"I see," he gave you a smile that washed down the slight tinge of bitterness in your mouth. "I have to say though, I can't really promise to always bring you to fancy dates like this one. I find them quite restrictive."

That made the corners of your lips tip upwards in amusement.

"Oh… So you're already thinking of the next one then?"

You peered at him just in time to catch the blush that crept to his cheeks. Your voice sounded casual, but you know he isn't dense enough not to catch the subtle playful lilt in your tone. He slightly cleared his throat and took a drink out of his own glass.

"Is that what I said?"

"Mm-hm. You also used the word 'date.'"

Sicheng gave a slight sigh before finally meeting your gaze.

"Well… do you want to?" He asked, his gaze innocent… hopeful.

Your heart skipped a bit at his question. To be honest, when you decided to give this a try, you really weren’t planning for a follow through of the night. He's cute and seems to be an overall nice person from what you've seen so far, but you still only have one foot in the door when it comes to the idea of dating someone from work. However, you would also be a hypocrite if you deny the growing part of you that's slowly being convinced to break your personal rule. Your best friend was right. As much as you didn't want to admit it, your work is slowly taking over your life—and not in a good way. It's not even the type of laser-focus that you usually get when you are hyper fixated on something. It almost feels like an addiction… an urge that you know you should be taking control over instead of the other way around. You wanted to know more about Project Dream and its patients. So much that it sometimes feels like a borderline obsession.

"Sicheng… I like the name."

The wayward silent thought almost felt like a punch in your gut as it intrusively floated through your mind again. You've never really seen the boys after that confusing test drill you witnessed, but you can't help but feel chills every time you remember Jaemin's last words to you. A silly part of you even felt slightly scared for Sicheng for a quick moment, though you've checked off the idea as a slight case of paranoia for now. After all, there's no way they can touch him. They have no reason to…. right?

You pushed the usual worry and focused instead on meeting the eyes of the boy in front of you. You genuinely like him, there is no doubt about that, so maybe what you are about to do now is not such a bad idea after all.

You smiled.

"I'd love to. But only if you let me choose where we should go next."

The smile Sicheng gave you in reply made his whole face light up. Your stomach did a flip, the good one that felt like a burst of butterflies this time.

"Under one condition."

"Hm?"

"Try to call me by my nickname. Sicheng sounds too formal sometimes since it’s a work name."

You laughed. "How do you want me to call you then?"

He reached out slowly for your free hand and turned it gently in his.

"Winwin. Winwin will sound cute from you."

*******

Maybe you should have skipped work today.

You knew it was too late of a thought for you to consider now as you stared at the double doors of the greenhouse in front of you with a sullen expression. To give yourself credit, the professionnal side of you did berate yourself for even entertaining the childish idea, though even that still didn’t give you enough of a push to actually take a step inside the room.

A few more long, painful seconds passed before you finally decided to actually do something. Your mood is all over the place—for good reason—but still you tried to steady yourself by taking a deep breath. You know full well that no amount of breathing exercises can do good to your mounting irritation at the moment, so you simply went ahead and tapped open the gates anyway before you could even change your mind. Besides, it's not like the boy waiting for you on the other side of them can complain any way. He kinda deserves your sour mood—by a lot, actually.

You found him seated in the middle of the greenhouse, in the space where a garden table and some benches were set up as a kind of miniature resting space in the room. He didn't turn to look at you when you approached, his eyes set on the small koi pond across from him, but you knew he heard your soft steps when he ever so slightly angled his face to the side. You stopped on the fringes of the clearing, not really saying anything.

"I read an article saying that plants can help improve someone's mood," he said, despite keeping his focus on the fishes he had been feeding from his seat. You frowned lightly at him but didn't give a reply.

"I guess it's not working?"

You pursed your lips.

"Not even a whole forest can probably make my mood better right now."

You saw the way his cheeks pulled up slightly into an amused smile from the little of his side profile that you could see. Finally, he turned to look at you from his seat.

"You're pissed at me…"

"Did you pick that up by getting in my head again, Renjun?"

This time there was a slight look of guilt that crossed his features. He sighed and finally gave you an apologetic smile.

"Can you at least sit beside me so I can apologize properly?"

You hesitated. It was obvious that he noticed your reservations from the way he stared at you guiltily.

"Believe me. I hadn't tried to look into you from the second you came in. Not even a peek. I don't think anyone needs to read minds just to see how on edge you are right now," he tapped the spot next to him then. "Please? Let me make it right."

The way he sounded so soft and soothing almost made you curse at yourself. Damn it. What is it about Renjun that makes you so confusingly at ease with him all the time? You’re pretty sure that you’re irritated at him at the moment, and yet there is something in the way that he just is that is telling you to trust him and just go.  You sighed. Whatever it is, you’re obviously not going to figure it out right now, not if you don’t give him a chance. 

His pale face lit up when you finally crossed the distance to him. You made sure to leave a respectable distance between the two of you, but even that space couldn't spare you from the way his gaze thoughtfully skimmed over your features when you finally settled on your spot. You kept your eyes on the pond in front of you, making a pointed effort to avoid his gaze. 

"Well?"

"I'm sorry… I was wrong. I shouldn't have said what I said back in the arena."

You frowned. You're expecting that, but you need to hear something else.

"And?"

Renjun took a bit to answer. You didn't need to look at him to know that he was searching for the best way to say what he was going to say next. What you didn't expect, however, was the warm feeling of gentle fingers going over your hand resting on the bench. You've barely realized what was happening when he interlocked your fingers together.

Your attention was torn between your instinct to pull away from him and zone in on what he just said. His touch was not offensive at all—he was holding you lightly so that you could easily move away if you wanted to—but there was also an odd sense of comfort that wrapped you now as his skin touched yours. What’s even more strange is that you knew it isn’t induced by anything supernatural at all. It was simply you being comfortable with him... Something that admittedly doesn't happen much with you and other people.

"I apologize for getting in your head. I didn't mean to. But I also couldn't help it."

"What do you mean you couldn't help it?"

Renjun sighed and leaned back against the bench while never breaking his hold on you.

"Lee Haechan. That boy gets on my nerves so much. Admittedly, I partly did it because I was trying to look for something to use against him. I'm sure you've noticed how interested he is in you?"

You swallowed and chose not to answer that for now. Instead, you decided to deflect the topic by opening a new one.

"You seem to be easily triggered by him. Do you often fight?"

Renjun laughed softly and shook his head. "I wouldn't call it fighting… We're friends. We grew up together. But sometimes, he overwhelms me. Partly, it is because our Arcanas are designed to oppose each other."

"Or work together… If you want to, you can complement each other," you said carefully. You saw a ghost of a smile touch his lips.

"You knew right? The other reason why I did it?"

Your gaze shifted slightly from his. You did, but it was something you haven’t really opened up to anyone, not even with Kun. Partly, it’s because you wanted to make sure you just weren’t drawing assumptions from thin air.

"You wanted to stop the test drill,” you finally said in a quiet voice. You have confirmed before walking in here that this session will be unmoderated and unwatched, but you still can’t help but be careful about your every word and move. That’s exactly how you have been feeling lately every time at work—on edge, as if a sniper’s crosshairs is always set at the back of your head.

Renjun didn't confirm it, but you did feel his fingers close just a little bit tighter on yours.

"You've figured him out… Of course."

You both went silent for a while. That was another odd thing about you and him. You barely know the boy, but in moments like this, you feel like you have an almost telepathic connection with him. You two can talk in riddles and still understand each other by reading between the lines.

"Somebody needed to step in, otherwise that drill might have ended in a disaster. Everyone just got so competitive that day. Unfortunately, self control isn’t really our strongest suit—I could even feel mine cracking—so something needed to happen to ground us back."

"Jaemin," you mumbled under your breath. Renjun smiled.

"It was a dirty trick to pull, but it worked."

You felt your breath slightly hitch at his indirect confirmation. That’s exactly what you couldn’t understand though. Haechan’s little ‘crush’ makes little sense to you already, but the boy has also made it obvious from day one that he is, in a way, openly interested in you. Jaemin, however, was different. You couldn’t understand why anything remotely related to you could set him off, especially when he made it obvious to everyone that he had zero intentions to show a peep about what he could do that day. Renjun using you as a trigger for him doesn’t make sense, no matter how much you try to understand it. 

"She knew what she was doing when she put you there as bait," Renjun said so softly that you barely caught it. You immediately got who he was referring to,  a sinking feeling setting in your stomach as you did. 

"And I don't understand why. Why me?"

"Maybe because we're interested in you."

"None of you even know me."

"That's debatable."

You frowned. There was an unexplainable glint playing in Renjun’s eyes that just opened up a thousand more questions in your head, though he didn’t give you a chance to ask them with what he did next. Slowly, he raised your hand that he was holding to his lips and pressed a kiss against your knuckles.

“So, do you forgive me? I promise not to get into your head again… ever.”

You froze. At first you couldn’t understand what he was doing, but then you felt his nails slightly dig against the palm of your hand as if he was sending you a secret code. Your eyes widened when you realized what was happening. He was pressing something into your hand—something small and thin. He smiled and gave you the slightest nod ever.

It took you everything to reign yourself in. From somewhere on the other side of the room, you heard a door open followed by a couple of footsteps. The guards have come to fetch him back.

“Alright. I trust you,” you finally said, your throat tight.

Renjun’s face lit up again. He gently let go of you and stood up the same time two men appeared from a corner. You quickly closed your fist and drew it back to yourself.

“It’s time to go,” one of the guards called out from the side. The boy turned and gave them a slight nod.

“I’ll see you again soon. Thank you for forgiving me,” he said before turning to make his way out. He was already a few steps away when he stopped and looked at you again.

“Hey, want to know a secret? There’s another reason why I did that asshole move.”

You only stared at him, half your mind still occupied by what you were holding in your fist. His smile widened at the look you gave him.

“I was a little jealous too.”

*******

The reverberating sound of the bathroom stall clicking shut sounded louder than usual in your ears. Your throat felt dry and there was a slight shake in your hands that you tried to calm as you pressed your back against the closed door to ground yourself. After taking a few quick breaths, you pulled down the toilet seat cover and settled on it before getting something from the pocket of your coat.

The piece of paper Renjun secretly handed you was already crumpled but you tried to smoothen it out as carefully as you can with your shaking fingers. When you finally unfolded it, you eyes immediately zoned in on its contents. Printed there in beautiful handwriting is a sequence of what seemed like random numbers and letters. You blinked, trying to exactly figure out what you were looking at.

Coordinates?

Not wasting another second, you pulled up your phone and quickly typed in the string of code in a map application, but not before making sure that you’ve switched to your personal data. There is definitely a reason why Renjun passed this to you in secret and the least you could do is to leave digital trails that can be followed by whoever he is keeping it from. You tried to swallow back the thundering sound of your heartbeat as you nervously waited for the application to bring back results.

It pinged back after what seemed like forever. Clutching your phone hard, you frowned as you quickly tried to digest the result on the screen. You were right. The code was a coordinate for a location, but the red pin you were seeing now seems to be set in a forest in the middle of nowhere. You frowned and tried to click on it to see more of its details. From the looks of the map alone, the spot is a few hours of drive away from the city, and at least half an hour drive from the closest housing in the area. No other details were shown on the page other than a name.

Rosewood Academy and Orphanage.

Your heart stopped. You didn’t know how long you stared at your screen, your concentration only broken when you felt something vibrate in your pocket. Pulling out your work phone numbly, you quickly held it up to your ear when you realized who was calling.

“Hey, where are you? I was about to send the report to—,” Kun’s voice came on the line the moment you answered it. You didn’t let him finish.

“Kun. Can I ask you a question?”

The man stopped, obviously a little confused by the tone of your voice.

“Yeah. What’s up?”

“Do you want to have drinks with me later?”

*******

You were doing such a bad job trying to stay calm as you waited for your partner to slip on the booth seat across from you. It was seven in the evening, and even though the diner you chose didn’t have as much people than others in the same area, you couldn’t stop yourself from looking around furtively to check your surroundings.

“Okay, can you at least talk to me about it now?”

You almost jumped in your seat as Kun's voice suddenly came from behind you. You waited for him to get to his seat, muttering a soft thank you as he passed you a cold bottle of beer he was adamant of getting the moment you entered the bar. You can’t really blame him for being on edge though. The poor guy had to suffer through your tensed silence for the rest of the work day despite the many times he tried to make you talk.

Now that you’re here though, you didn’t exactly know where to start. You have to thank the gods for giving Kun the patience to put up with you as you grabbed your beer and took a swig of it first in an effort to calm yourself. The moment that you put it down, you asked him the first question that popped into your head.

“Can I trust you?”

The look he gave you was a mixture of confusion and worry. You didn’t wait for him to speak, choosing instead to lean towards the table so you could drop your voice.

“Chenle. You care for him, right?”

This time, Kun’s eyes widened a little. He frowned.

“What’s going on?”

“I didn’t know who I could share this with but I want to trust you,” you said as you pulled the piece of paper Renjun gave you and passed it over to him. He immediately took it, looking confused still. “Renjun. He passed this over to me secretly earlier while we’re having our session. They’re coordinates.”

“Of what?”

You flipped over your phone to show him the map location you pulled earlier. “Have you ever heard of Rosewood Academy and Orphanage?”

Kun squinted at your phone screen and shook his head.

“No? Well you’re not the only one. I tried looking up more information about it, but apparently it has very limited footprint in the internet. A few outdated articles mentioned it, saying that it was an exclusive privately-funded school and orphanage for kids and adolescents. It doesn’t even have a website.”

“That’s strange. Homes like this advertise themselves at least minimally to the public. Is it still under operation?”

You shook your head. “I have no idea. There was no number I could call. The closest district to it is about half an hour away. I tried reaching out to its public office to ask about the place but they couldn’t give me any proper information because the building is in private, protected lands. It’s out of their watch. But they did mention something that happened there around eight months ago.”

“What is it?”

It took you a while to physically bring yourself to answer. “They said they sent the fire department there because the place was in flames and they were the closest district who could help. By the time they arrived, the building was mostly done for. They said they couldn’t find any victims, or anyone at all."

You saw the way Kun paled under the harsh overhead light of the booth. You knew he was trying to follow your train of thought, the color draining from his features as he tried to fit the pieces together in his head.

“And Renjun gave you this… why…?”

The way he asked that told you that it was simply a rhetorical question from him at this point. Still, you decided to give him an answer.

“You’ve been working for Project Dream longer. Have you ever checked the history of the boys?”

He shook his head and swallowed. “No. I haven’t bothered. There was no reason for me to. I don’t even know if I have access to it.”

“Which means, none of us even know if they joined Cypher voluntarily in the first place.”

Kun’s gaze snapped upwards to lock with yours. At that moment, you knew. You did the right thing by sharing this with him.

“Kun, what if they’re forced to be there? You told it so yourself. The tests can be rigorous. There’s a reason why Renjun gave me this address. What if they’re taken from Rosewood?”

“But why?”

You took a while to answer. “That’s the question. Have you ever tried asking yourself what Cypher really wants from them? Why are they so desperate if this is just a regular research experiment? I think the boys are passing me this message, showing me what they can do, because they’re asking for help.”

Kun didn’t react for what almost felt like a full minute. He simply stared at you before finally looking away. “I don’t know. Now that you’ve told me this, what are you—”

You reached out to grab his hand before he could even finish. You know Kun. In the short span of time that you’ve been working with him, you’ve gotten a pretty good read of his character already. He’s one who stands for facts, but he also has very strong morals. His particular closeness with Chenle and his general concern for the boys are proof enough of that. If you want to get to the bottom of this, he’s the only one you would be willing to trust the most.

“Help me,” you said now, looking deep into his eyes. “I still don’t know what’s going on here, but we have to try and dig it up. They might need our help.”

He didn’t say anything for a while, just simply stared at you as if he was weighing his choices. Finally, he sighed.

“Where do we even start?”

The wave of relief that washed over you was immeasurable. You squeezed his hand before drawing yours away.

“First, we have to find out who these boys really are. Let’s see if we can take a look at their files. Second, we need to know what Cypher wants from them. Last,” you paused, Kun giving you a look that said he already knows what you’re going to say next.

“We have to make Cypher believe that we’re still on their team.”

*******

The sound of the soles of your shoes bounced against the empty corridors of the building in an almost foreboding staccato. It was late in the evening and the lights in the sprawling hallways of the Institute had been dimmed a little, signaling the end of shift of many. You have already gotten home yourself after the talk with Kun when you realized late that you’ve forgotten to bring home an important file with you no thanks to your distracted state earlier. Any normal day and you would have let it go since you will be going to work tomorrow anyway, but you have every plan on pulling an all-nighter, simply because you already know that your brain wouldn’t be giving you peace tonight after everything that has happened. 

You ducked a little now over your purse to rummage for the keycard you need to open the door to your office. You didn't even bother to get dressed properly for the quick drive to work this time, just opting instead to throw a light jacket over your sweater since you only need to grab some files. The moment the entrance parted for you, you went straight to your desk without paying attention to anything else.

"Fancy office you have here. The home entertainment system is my favorite."

The sudden voice that came from somewhere in the darkness tore a suppressed scream from you. Your hands flew to cover your lips as you whipped around, eyes wide, towards the source of the sound.

The room was dark except for a few lamps open over the control center side of the room, but you could clearly see his outline now as he lounged casually over one of the swivel chairs there. Most of him was still covered by shadows, but you were still able to catch the way his lips parted into a smile before he picked himself up from his seat. He took a step closer to where you are, into a better lit spot in the room, looking relaxed with his hands in his pockets.

You pressed yourself closer against the edge of your desk unconsciously. Your heart was beating so hard in your chest, and for a quick second you were convinced that he could hear it from the way his lips curved into a smirk as he watched you. 

"Wha-What are you doing here, Jaemin?"

You wished your voice could have come out steadier, but something about the air in the room was making you fight for your breath. Jaemin simply shrugged in answer and angled his head slightly to the side.

"I sometimes go here when I'm bored. Nothing screams 'fuck them' more than going to places the coats think they've restricted us from. I can go to any room I want in this building…" he said, his voice as sweet as it was dangerous. His gaze sharpened a little as he smiled at you.

"...But you already know that, don't you, darling?"

You couldn't answer. You even actually felt a little unstable, so you subtly leaned your hand against the corner of your table to keep yourself steady. Jaemin took another step closer to you again at a painfully slow pace. You felt like a cornered prey, with your predator enjoying every second of the thrill of the hunt before jumping in for the kill.

"You know… I was kinda disappointed that you didn't come looking for me after that day at the arena. I know you have questions, but instead you... blatantly avoided me. I have to admit, it hurt my feelings a bit."

You swallowed. He took another step forward but stopped just as he was a few feet from where you were standing. The tension in the air was almost making you choke.

"But then again, maybe you were just busy. Are you having fun with your new boyfriend? I looked him up. Handsome fella."

That finally made something in you snap. Your eyes darted to meet his as fear—mixed with anger—flooded your veins. You glared at him openly and he met it with a playful smile.

"Leave Sicheng out of this."

"Oh? You're feeling protective over him now, too? Very interesting."

"If you touch him—"

"What makes you think I will?"

His question made the words fade in your throat. You know exactly what he is doing. He is framing you to give him the exact answer he wants to hear. You swallowed.

"Because that's what you do," you said in a voice so quiet you doubt he even heard it. He did, of course, judging from the way he took a step closer to you again the moment the words left your lips. This time though, he didn't stop until he was close enough for you to touch. You couldn't have moved away even if you wanted to, not with your desk pinning you exactly where he wants you.

"And what is it that I can do?" He asked in an equally soft voice that made you feel like you were being ripped from the inside and put together again at the same time. The last thing you wanted was to give him the satisfaction he wants, but you can't help it. Not when he is this close.

You tried to push back the blockage in your throat. Your eyes met his, and you noticed how his gaze dropped momentarily to your lips as you did so. 

"Temptation. Compulsion. You control people."

Your voice lacked any passionate emotions behind them—other than concealed fear—but your words still made him smile as if you whispered to him the sweetest words of love. At that moment, it felt like time slowed as he lifted his hand to gently reach out for a loose tendril of your hair. He caressed the strand between his thumb and pointer finger, his eyes never leaving your face.

"What do they call me then? Come on… I want to hear you say it."

The world stopped turning at that moment. You locked gazes with him, and he smiled at you so beautifully, he looked like heaven's favorite angel.

"The Devil."

His eyes danced. Under the dimmed lighting of the room, your mind was almost tricked into thinking that the shadows around the two of you moved to kiss and worship him.

"Smart girl. Now the question is, what are you going to do about that… Angel?"

*******

CHAPTER 7

Card Drawn: 

The Devil | 15 | IL Diavolo

A/N: Did I just put in more easter eggs here? Yes, yes I did. As usual, enjoy! ♥️

Taglist [OPEN]:  @negincho, @jhornytrash, @aaasteroidsky, @huangberryyy, @marijmin, @ashkuuuu, @reluctantserpent-101, @yutasnabi, @huskyhunny, @domojoo, @anaveragefangirl, @lostlovesoul11, @dreamisfelix, @lomlwoo, @coconuttiez8d, @jaehyunenthusiastsworld, @shininginthemoonlight, @bettyschwallocksyee, @w3bqrl, @smolpeyy, @chenlejjang, @kunssouschef​, @kpopstanforlifeuwu, @thesunsfullmoon

#mark nct x reader #jeno x reader #jaemin x reader #haechan x reader #renjun x reader #nct dream yandere au #nct dream yandere #nct dream superhuman au #nct imagines #nct mark fic #renjun fic #haechan fic #jeno fic #jaemin fic #chenle fic #jisung fic #kun fic #winwin fic #nct dream imagines

[neonacity]

ARCANE | CH.5 | NCT DREAM X READER

Summary: When you decided to apply for a researcher post in an elusive institute, you already had the feeling that you will be getting yourself knee-deep into something out of the ordinary. But desperate needs require desperate measures, and so you embraced the invite, despite all the alarm signals urging you to run away. What you found out was nothing you’d ever expected.

Seven boys.

Seven human deviants granted with abilities tied to the legendary Arcana Cards.

Welcome to Project Dream.

Pairing: Various Dream Members x Reader

Trigger Warnings/Themes: violence, torture, trauma, very slight yandere themes, poly dynamics, suggestive themes, language, psychological, mystery, sci-fi. Romance will take a little bit of a backseat on this one since this is more of a suspense-driven plot, but it will still be threaded in the overall story. The concept of the tarot or Arcana cards will be loosely used throughout the series. Note that I am not a trained doctor so there may be some slips here and there about medical things. Again, this is a work of fiction and I am not implying any likeness between the characterization here of the boys to their real life counterparts. I also reserve the rights to all my work—I do not post anywhere else other than tumblr. Minors DNI.

> CH. 1 | CH. 2 | CH.3 | CH.4

Chapter Song:

Formula  [Labrinth] | Heartburn [Wafia]

"Sweetie, when was the last time you got shagged?"

You choked on your coffee and threw Mijeong a glare as you quickly reached for some napkins to wipe your lips. The two of you were currently in a cafe, waiting for a fresh batch of croissants before going your separate ways for the day. It was thirty minutes past seven in the morning, which means you need to clock in to work in the next half hour. While your day is just starting, however, your best friend's is just closing, judging from her slightly bled out mascara that she had quickly hidden behind a pair of dark glasses. Even those lenses, however, can't hide the way she was currently staring at you from across the table.

"Are you drunk? Where did that come from?"

The girl merely scoffed and took a sip of her coffee. You, on the other hand, furtively looked around to check if anyone heard what she just said.

"No, I'm not. I'm well partied, but never drunk. And I mean what I asked. When was the last time you got fucke—"

"Jesus Christ, Mijeong. We are at a public place," you hissed at her as you gave her a slight kick under the table. She skillfully avoided it and merely gave you a scowl.

"I don't care where we are. Morning coffee is the perfect moment for us to have our heart to heart talks—which, if I might say, we haven't been having lately because you are always so busy. I actually am surprised that you had the time to meet me this morning. Which circles back to my original concern of whether you are at least dating or not."

You frowned at the cup in front of you, adamant in not meeting her gaze. You don't see any reason why this is even a source of concern—but this is also Mijeong you are talking to. Something like this, unfortunately, is considered normal on a random day.

"I am not seeing anyone, no."

"Well, that's fine. Are you at least having sex?"

"I'm having tons of sex," you said with a straight face before taking a sip of your coffee. She made a very pointed snort across the table in answer.

"Babes, you sure as hell are not catching any dicks, no."

The scowl you shot her was for sure stronger than your watered down drinks.

"You know, I'm going to be honest, post-party you is not particularly my favorite."

She simply waved off your comment with a flick of her wrist before she leaned closer on the table, her elbows resting on its edges.

"Look, when I proposed to you to take a job, I didn't mean for you to assassinate your dating life too. You might think I have no idea of what's going on, but I know you've done nothing much socially since you got into Cypher. I've seen your files."

You froze. What does she mean exactly by that?

"What do you mean you've seen my files?"

Mijeong looked nonplussed by your question. "I've seen your stacks of them at home. Every time I would check if you're still alive in your room, your tower of folders grows. There is no way in hell you are getting some if you're taking home that much work."

You gave an internal sigh of relief as she said that. As much as you trust Mijeong with your life, you have zero intentions of sharing anything connected to your work with her. There is no way in hell you're going to drag her in all the mess you've voluntarily signed yourself up for.

"Look, I appreciate the concern, but I actually am okay with my social life—or the lack of it right now. You know that I'm not that big on dating, even when we're still in uni."

"Yes, which is a huge waste because have you seen yourself? I have a freaking beautiful best friend and you choose to waste away like a Victorian era maiden who caught the scarlet fever."

You rolled your eyes.

"Are there at least cute boys at work? If you’re not dating around, then at least get a boy toy there."

Your hand momentarily froze before you entirely lifted your drink to your lips again. Cute? For sure. Handsome and interesting even. Deadly? Most likely, too.

"Even if there are any, I don't have any plans of dating anyone there. That's just looking for trouble," you shrugged as you downed the last of your coffee from your paper cup. "Look, I really need to go. I still have a five minute drive to the office. Are you sure you're just going to grab a cab home?"

You waited for your best friend to give an answer, but you doubt she even heard a thing you said with the way she was staring off into the distance. She was looking at something carefully, a thoughtful look on her face.

"You all wear the same silly lab coat at work, right?"

"Huh?"

You looked at her in curiosity. Seeing her expression, you finally turned around to follow her gaze. You froze when you realized what—or rather who—she was looking at as your eyes landed on a man who just stepped away from the counter, a drink cup in his hand. You have no idea who he is, but your eyes quickly closed in on the logo sewn on the breast of his coat.

You swallowed nervously.

“Mijeong… whatever it is you’re thinking, don’t—”

She was already out of her seat before you could even finish the rest of your sentence. You tried grabbing the back of her dress as she passed, but she skillfully dodged you and simply gave you a wink instead. You watched in horror as she went straight to the poor clueless boy, a determined smile on her face. You know that look so much. It’s the one that says she is choosing violence as her breakfast for the day.

“Oh my god. I am so sorry, I wasn’t looking where I was going. Are you okay?”

You winced as you watched her slightly bump at the man before giving him a doe-eyed apologetic look. The latter blinked at her before slightly clearing his throat. It was similar to watching a car crash in slow motion—you were sure of the damage that will come next, but you just can’t look away from it.

“That’s—that’s fine. I’m okay,” he mumbled before giving your friend a small smile. He was about to step to the side to go on with his day when Mijeong very subtly blocked his path again, her eyes set on the logo on his coat.

“You work for Cypher?”

He looked slightly confused at first before his eyes also dropped to his uniform. “Oh, yes. Yes, I do.”

“That’s so cool! You know what, I also have a friend who works there. She’s over there,” Mijeong said before turning to point at you. It took you everything not to dive under the table right there and then. Instead, you stared at the pair with a poker face, too stunned to do anything else. The boy looked at you as if he was trying to recognize your face.

“She just started like a month ago so she doesn’t have a lot of friends there yet. Do you think you can help her out? I’m sure she would love that. She’s very shy, you see.”

You will kill her. You will absolutely kill her after this. With your bare hands.

The awkwardness that followed was suffocating. For a moment, none of you talked, the boy simply staring at you as if wondering what he should do next. You were also in a state of shock, your brain still trying to catch up with what was happening. You only blinked when you saw a slight tint of pink flush on his cheeks before he looked away.

“I’d love to,” he finally said before clearing his throat and peering at you again. Your jaw dropped. Mijeong looked like she was ready to do a cartwheel behind him out of joy.

You hated the way your cheeks also warmed despite your disbelief. Your best friend grinned at you, the man completely unaware of the words she mouthed from behind his back.

I’m getting you laid. You’re welcome.

*******

“I’m so sorry about what happened earlier.”

That was probably the longest sentence you’ve ever said since you walked into your work building with the poor stranger in tow. Everything was a full scale spiral of awkwardness after what happened at the cafe. You had to offer him a ride to work because that’s the most appropriate thing to do next, which led to the two of you being stuck together in an equally mortifying car ride. At the very least, he was very polite all throughout, not forcing you into any kind of conversation or interaction that could make the situation so much worse. If anything, he looked just as shy and abashed as you are—if not a little confused—judging from the way you could feel his silent and furtive stares on you during the drive.

You shot him an apologetic smile now as you turned to fully face him before you had to go off into your corridor. To give your best friend credit, she made a good choice of person to terrorize this morning. The boy was definitely easy on the eyes with his clean cut hair and crisp-looking outfit. He is not particularly handsome in the rough, cliche manly way, but his looks definitely fall more into the pretty boy realm. His eyes flickered towards you as his lips tugged into a smile.

“She’s definitely a character. Your friend.”

That made you laugh.

“You could say that. But really, I apologize for her. You just kinda came in at the wrong time, I guess.”

“Don’t worry about it. I sort of understood what was happening. I really don’t mind, especially since I got a free ride from you.”

The way his cheeks dimpled slightly when he smiled made you feel a little hot on the face again. Softly, you cleared your throat as you looked away to collect yourself. Okay, you’re going to give it to Mijeong. He is cute.

“It’s true though? What she said about you being new here?” he asked again, his gaze more openly inquisitive now as he watched your face. You nodded and jerked your head a little towards the hallway in front of you.

“Yes. I work for one of the classified projects here, so you know, I don’t really get to explore much of the building.”

He nodded as he curiously peeked at the corridor you motioned at.

“How about you? What do you do here?”

“Oh, I’m a programmer and developer. We take care of all the databases and all the tech systems here. Our offices are at the other end of the building.”

“I see…” you trailed off as you shifted your weight a little awkwardly into your other leg. You could feel his gaze on you again, and for a while you actually wished you had more experience in flirting to be more smooth about this. Whether he noticed your internal dilemma or not, you aren’t sure, but he was kind enough to follow through with the conversation at the very least.

“So… I guess this is where we part?” he asked gently and you can’t help but notice the slight tinge of hesitance in his voice. You finally looked at him and gave him a nod.

“Yeah. I guess.”

He smiled. He didn’t look that willing to walk away, but he did take a step back and gave you a polite nod.

“Well, it’s nice meeting you.”

“Same… Thank you for putting up with what happened.”

That was the last you managed to say before he finally turned to get on his way. You did the same, internally berating yourself for acting like a silly high school girl instead of a lady who has her shit together. You were just on the verge of tapping your ID at the sensor gate when you finally snapped and turned around. Damn it, maybe Mijeong was right. Maybe you need this right now.

“Hey—”

“—I’m Sicheng.”

You both stopped, flabbergasted as you turned and spoke at the same time. You stood there, staring at each other, before the two of you finally broke into laughter.

“Hi Sicheng. It’s really nice to meet you,” you said, your voice much more relaxed this time. You offered him your name back which only made him smile wider.

“It’s nice to meet you, too. At least we know each other’s names now. Being friends will come next, I guess? Your friend did ask me nicely after all.”

You rolled your eyes at that but gave him a nod.

“Sure she did. But yes, I’d love that.”

“What do you think about drinks tomorrow, then? You know… as friends.”

You held his gaze a little bit longer before you finally nodded and smiled.

“That sounds wonderful. Believe me when I say I’m usually less awkward than this.”

He laughed. “I guess we’ll see about that. I’ll see you tomorrow then?”

“Sure.”

“I'll go ahead.”

He had turned to leave again when you realized something.

“Hey! Won’t you need my… number or something?”

He threw you a look and a smile that made you feel warm on the face again.

“I’m the head programmer here. I can access everything about you. Even your number.”

You stood there as you watched him finally turn the corner and disappear.

Forget killing Mijeong. The girl gets to live another day this time, at the very least.

******* “Why is your face red?”

You shot Kun a flustered look as you went straight to your table without another word. The man was looking at you in earnest curiosity, a piece of paper in his hand. You quickly ducked behind your desk under the guise of reaching for something there just to give yourself time to bring your body temperature back to normal.

"It was really hot outside," you mumbled as you shifted on your seat. You gave him a quick glance when you finally straightened up, your eyes flickering towards the letter in his hand.

"What's that you're holding?"

"Ah… this…" Kun trailed off, as if he was considering how to best explain it. "I guess it would be best to see for yourself. You also have one."

That made you glance at him, then at your desk. You were so distracted earlier that you missed it, but you could see it now, a black envelope resting cleanly off the side of your keyboard. You carefully picked it up and turned it in your hand to check who sent it, but it was only Cypher's logo and seal that welcomed your inquiring gaze.

You pulled out a card from it, your eyes automatically skimming through its contents. You frowned. There isn't much written there, and half of it didn't even make sense.

Section V. Hall X. 10:30AM.

You're cordially invited to observe.

Signed, M. Lee

"Dr. Lee…? Dr. Miyoung Lee?" You asked Kun now as you glanced at him. He gave a single nod in answer. "I don't understand. What is this?"

Your partner sighed and turned his swivel chair so he could face you better.

"I am not a hundred percent sure about this, but Hall X is one of the restricted sections of the institute. I know that it is being used for some of the tests conducted on the boys. Tests I don't even have access to—before at the very least."

Your gaze dropped into the letter once more to reread the five words that more or less made up its body. Briefly, you remembered what he said about Cypher's matriarch being the one in charge of the testing design for the boys.

"So she's giving us access to those sessions now. What could have changed?" You asked softly, more so to yourself than to anyone else. Kun caught it though, his eyes drilling on your face silently. He looked like he wanted to say something, but then he blinked and his expression was back to normal again.

"Whatever it is, I think it’s good that we're being shown this now. I don't know what to expect there, but one thing you must know is that Dr. Lee is not one for…. conventional methods."

You swallowed the heavy blockage that seemed to have lodged itself in your throat. It rested forebodingly at the pits of your stomach, weighing it as your thumb unconsciously ran on the ridges of the embossed logo on your paper.

******* Section V, Hall X is nothing you could have ever expected.

First off, it was far from being a hall. Section V, as it turns out can be found in the underground tunnels of Cypher, a section in the institute one can only access via a triple layer security system that requires escorts and countless automated doors. The halls here are wider, with less polished paint and rougher wall materials, similar to what you would often see from underground war bunkers. You and Kun's footsteps echoed in resounding clangs against the cement and metal now as you trudged through it, your eyes silently roaming your surroundings until your six-party escort had to stop at a lone metal door at the end of the hallway.

"You can open it. You both need to scan your IDs at the same time,” a guard said plainly from your side. You and Kun exchanged a look. You were both expecting that a third party access is needed for this entrance just like the rest of the gates you've passed, and it wasn't lost on you both what being given ID access to this door means.

This isn't going to be the only time you're coming here.

You both pulled up your ID cards now and walked to both sides of the door. Without saying anything, you swiped your access cards and took a step back as the entrance in front of you parted. You noticed how the mechanical doors above ground paled in comparison to these ones, with their reinforced thick steel and heavy metal locks. You had to physically grit your teeth at the ear-grating sound they gave as the gates finally revealed what rests beyond them.

You stepped into the room with hesitant steps, your eyes roaming the view in front of you. You were on a small fenced platform overlooking what looks like a half court stretched out below with walls made of a mixture of cement and thick glass. The spot you were in was similar to a balcony box you would see in a theater, raised just high enough to give a perfect view of the grounds below. You peered at the empty field by stepping closer to the ledge carefully. It was empty and bare except for five wooden pillars on both its sides standing about 10 feet tall each. The ground was made of packed dirt covered with grass and some wayward pebbles in some parts.  

"We have company, but I don't think Dr. Lee is here." Kun's low tone shook you slightly from your concentration. Glancing at him, you quickly followed his gaze which was currently set on a bigger sized balcony section to his right. Unlike yours which is open, however, this one is shielded with thick bulletproof glass. You could see about four people stationed there, sitting in front of big monitors. He was right. All of them looked like regular employees, with no trace of the woman who was the mastermind behind the invite.

"Do you think she's watching in a different room?" You whispered softly, making sure you kept your voice down. You didn’t know what it was about the place exactly, but something about the air here was making warning signals flash at the back of your head. Just then, the sound of slight static filled your platform, followed by a man’s voice. You both started in surprise, looking for the source of it.

“Do you have any flammables in your person, doctors?”

You and Kun exchanged a look. There was a small speaker tucked on the corner of the ledge, almost invisible from how small it is.

“No. We don’t,” Kun answered.

“Good. We’re about to start the session.”

Well, that didn’t really clarify things for you. The control room was a good distance from where you are, but you briefly saw one of the men there raise his hand to signal at you.

“Wait, we don’t exactly understand why we’re here. Are we supposed to do something?” you asked now, your eyes set on the group at the other side.

“Yes. You’re going to observe the patients’ practical drill today in place of Dr. Lee. Please make sure to remember your notes and put them in record later. You’re not allowed to have any devices close to your person or they might mess up with electronic signals. You have 30 seconds to put them in the locked box to your side.”

You looked at Kun with a mixture of confusion and slight alarm. He reflected your expression, though none of you were given the time to shoot another question when a heavy metal door down the end of the court below opened with a slow hiss. You both turned, catching in time the seven boys who walked out of it, wearing similar black jumpsuit uniforms. 

On the head of the group was Mark who suddenly stopped in his tracks as his gaze caught you and Kun on the platform above. The rest noticed his reaction and turned their sights to your direction, but it was Renjun who only managed to smile as if he already knew you were there. He gave you a casual nod, light dancing in his eyes.

“Hi. Glad you’ve decided to finally join us.”

******* “Whoah, noona, are you watching today?!”

Chenle's excited voice made you pull yourself together despite your initial shock. The boy had decided to run away from their small pack to get closer to where you are, his smile bright as he tipped his head back to look at you better. His expression turned into a full blown smirk soon enough, however, when his eyes slipped towards Kun beside you.

"Is this a date day with Kun-ge?"

"No. We're here to be your babysitters, apparently," Kun casually answered as he leaned on the ledge to peer at him. Chenle's smirk widened.

Behind him, the rest of the group were showing mixed reactions. You caught Haechan and Jaemin exchange meaningful glances before smiling to themselves while Mark stood off to the side, a slightly concerned frown on his face. Renjun was calm as usual, the exact opposite of Jisung who seemed to be whispering something to Jeno. The moment your eyes met the latter's, you felt that usual chilling sensation deep in the center of your chest again. His face was neutral, but the way he planted his gaze on you made the warning signals in your head turn into full-blown blaring alarms.

"Now, now. This is going to be exciting. The stakes are higher since the princess is here. We have no other choice but to do well then, huh?"

Haechan's voice made you tear your eyes away from the other boy. He was looking at you with the same Cheshire grin he always has, one hand resting on his hip. You tried to collect yourself, masking the gnawing worry at the pit of your stomach.

"What do you usually do here?" You tried to ask as steadily as you could. He jerked his head a little towards the control room in answer.

"We give the coats a show. They watch us like the creeps they are and try to break down what we can do."

"Tests. We do tests and drills," Mark calmly interjected as he joined in on the conversation. He was staring at Renjun though, an unreadable expression in his eyes. "But today's going to be different, is it?"

Renjun sighed in return, one hand carding quickly through his hair.

"I already have a headache from this."

A little ways from him, Jaemin crossed his arms over his chest and turned towards Jeno who still hadn't said a word since he walked in.

"What do you think, Jeno? Should we join?"

The boy in question didn't even look at the other. Instead he turned on his heels and started making his way towards the nearest wall. Jisung gave a visible sigh of relief when he walked away.

"I'm not interested."

"You, Jaemin-hyung?" Chenle asked as he walked back towards the center of the room again.

"I'll skip too," the older boy said before looking in your direction and throwing you a smile.

"Maybe next time, pretty."

You have absolutely no idea what was going on, but your questions were soon answered when a voice boomed across the room.

"Get in your positions. Team 1 is Mark, Haechan, and Jeno. Jisung, Chenle, Renjun, and Jaemin, you boys are Team 2."

"What on earth is going on…" Kun mumbled beside you, a frown on his face. This couldn't be what you are thinking… It can't be.

"Rules are simple. Team who brings down the most wooden poles wins. You have five on each end of the court. Protect yours and destroy the opposing team's pillars to score," the voice continued.

"You have 15 minutes. No rules."

"Just do what you have to do."

You took in a slight intake of breath the same time Kun got it. It's not just tests.

It's a competitive battle drill.

Below you, the boys moved into position on opposing corners of the room where the pillars are. Mark and Haechan took over the right, the pair exchanging a quick glance as they walked over to their spots.

"You ready to rock and roll, Melk? Jeno's skipping~"

The older boy didn't even look the least bothered.

"Just don't do anything stupid, okay?"

Chenle cracked his knuckles from the other side of the room.

"Don't worry, ladies. I'll take care of it. Make sure not to scream," he teased, making Jisung roll his eyes. Renjun remained relaxed behind their little trio, an almost bored look on his face.

"Can we get this done in ten minutes? I want to nap."

"Mm… if you say so."

For a moment, nobody else spoke and made a single move. Two seconds… four… eight… You didn't even realize you were holding your breath, waiting for something to happen, until you suddenly let it out as a sudden sharp cracking sound tore the room. You flinched and threw your arm over your eyes in surprise. Everything happened way too fast you didn't even catch which of the boys made a move. By the time you looked up, dust was already settling from Mark and Haechan's end of the court. The former was dusting off what looked like dark gray powder from his hands… the same color of the soccer ball-sized sphere Chenle was holding in one hand. He seemed to be holding something smaller in his other, shaking them in his enclosed palm playfully. Pebbles. The random pebbles littering the dirt floor earlier.

That's when it hit you.

He transformed them into whatever orb he just threw at the other team, only for Mark to dissolve the newly created material into dust. All with a slight touch of his fingers.

"Yah, Chenle. Be careful. That's really dangerous," Jisung said worriedly from his side. The other boy simply laughed, unbothered.

"Dangerous? For Mark-hyung? This is child's play for him. Come on. Let's get moving. Or else we will be here for hours."

"Nice catch, Canada. You didn't ruin your nails, did you?" Haechan snickered from the other side of the court. Mark scowled at him openly in answer.

"Why don't you just do what you have to do?"

"What do you mean? I already did. Look again."

At first you couldn't see what Haechan was referring to, but then your eyes moved to the wooden foundations behind them and your lips parted in shock. You were too focused on the first attack that happened so you didn't notice it soon enough, but instead of the five poles behind the pair, there are now no less than a dozen standing tall in clusters, as identical as the next.

Illusions.

"Let them try to take them down. Wouldn't matter if they can't bring the right ones under, anyway~"

You turned to Kun urgently. The look on his face confirmed the answer to the question you were just about to ask.

"Can you—"

"Yes. I can see them too."

"Ah, Renjun-hyung. He's doing his dirty party tricks again. Can't we do something about it?" Chenle whined as he looked at the oldest in their little group.

"We can. But I'm not entirely infuriated by him yet, so maybe let's wait a few minutes more."

Haechan heard his words and scoffed openly, his tongue poking the inside of his cheek.

"Oh really, Huang? You think you're a match for me?"

"Not a match. I'm better," Renjun said in the softest, most unbothered tone ever as he casually checked his cuticles. The banter would have been amusing for you, if not for the fact that you could feel a sudden wind start to pick up in the room just above your heads. It blew your hair, temporarily covering your sight, but you moved it away just in time to catch one of the poles in Chenle's side crack horizontally in the middle from the sheer force of the aerodynamics alone. It swayed momentarily before it finally broke cleanly in half, its top end toppling towards the ground afterwards. Haechan gave a whistle of satisfaction, one Chenle matched with another groan.

"One down, four to go~"

"Yah. Jisung, maybe a little hel—"

Before Chenle could even finish his sentence, bright balls of light rose to the air from nowhere before zooming straight into the pillars behind Mark and Haechan's tandem. Unlike the ones Jisung showed you before back in his garden, these ones moved speedily, cutting through the air with precision. The only reason for them slowing down is when a few hit the poles, completely blasting off half of one. There was no broken wood whatsoever, just a cleaned off piece that sizzled at the end.

"4 on 4 now," Renjun said slyly from the other side. The extent of the damage was the exact opposite of Jisung's shy smile, as if he didn't just torch solid wood.

"Nice one, Ji."

Jaemin called out from the edge of the court, a proud smile tipping his lips. You've almost forgotten he was there still, not with him and Jeno looking as calm as they can be standing in the same grounds their friends are currently blowing apart.

"They're not participating…” you whispered to yourself now as a thought started forming in your head. Your eyes flickered towards the battling teams again then back at the pair. “This drill is made for the two of them. To tease them to show what they can do," you said in slight shock as the realization fully dawned on you. It's not obvious, but you could see the signs on the design of the test environment. This is a classic strategy tapping on herd mentality, putting people in a setup that hopefully makes them conform to the behavior of their peers.

"They're not going to do it," you said with finality.

Kun followed your gaze. He stared at the same pair, though his expression said that he wasn’t entirely convinced by your hypothesis.

"I don’t think so... Why do you think you're here?"

You looked at him confused, but his eyes were already set back to the others in the court. The voice from one of the drill masters echoed throughout the room again.

"10 minutes left."

Chenle tsked at the announcement. "Can't you blow everything off? It'll save us a lot of time," he asked Jisung now as he dropped the sphere he was holding. It shifted back to its original size before it even hit the dirt ground.

Jisung frowned. "No, I can't. I'll blow the room apart."

"Maybe you should."

"Skip it. She's not shielded," Mark said, his eyes slipping towards you momentarily. It took you a while to realize what he was trying to say.

Kun voiced out what was in your head. "They're holding back because we're in a vulnerable place. This isn't even a fourth of what they can do."

"Fine. That means we just have to be more creative then," Chenle said with a roll of his eyes. The boy started walking back, until he was standing next to the pole Mark just sliced in half with air earlier. He reached out towards the wood then, his smirk growing as you realized what he was doing. The pillar shifted right in front of your very eyes, its once busted end shaping into its old length again. He was restructuring it, fixing it until it looked like its original form once more.

"That's five on  four for you then," Chenle said with a cocky grin.

"Yah, yah, that's cheating!" Haechan called out, an irritated look in his face.

"Said the guy who just shielded their poles from us like a coward," Renjun interjected.

You almost physically felt the shift of air in the room. You’ve always had the feeling that Renjun and Haechan have some sassy friction between them, but this time, the latter definitely looked pissed. The silence that dropped in the room was so thick, you can almost physically cut through it. Everyone was waiting for the next person to make the next move, one that Haechan finally granted when he smirked.

“You know what? You’re right. If you want to play dirty, let’s play dirty. Actually, why don’t we make it even more exciting if we’re going to go all out?” the boy paused for a bit, as if thinking of the best damage he can deal at the moment. Slowly, his eyes landed on you.

He smiled.

“Winner gets a date with princess~”

Your eyes rounded  just as the rest of the boys glanced at your direction. You were about to speak up when Renjun loudly scoffed.

“Seriously? You couldn’t be any more cliche and corny than this?”

Haechan merely shrugged. “Isn’t that how they do things in medieval tourneys?”

“Yes, and in those cases, the royal in question also don’t agree with being used as a prize for a stupid knight. This is the 21st century. Don’t be a prick.”

“Oh, shush, Renjun. We all know you want to win now too. If not, why even bother dissolving my illusion~?”

Whatever it was you were about to say was temporarily forgotten when you realized what Haechan was talking about. The fake pillars are now gone behind him and Mark, the only four intact remaining there in full view. You processed that slowly. Renjun…did that?

“How can he…” Kun said, sounding equally perplexed. “Renjun can control illusions too?”

You shook your head. You were starting to see how the puzzle pieces fit together.

“No. But he can tap the psyche. Haechan can create illusions by affecting the mind and the senses of people. Renjun can counterattack that if he wants to—by shielding the consciousness from those tricks. He's not removing those illusions, he's protecting our minds from them."

Kun's lips parted in realization. "That’s why he is on Chenle and Jisung’s team. He is Haechan’s match when it comes to defense.”

“Haechan,” Mark called out for his partner’s attention then. The boy in question raised his hand and snapped his fingers before giving a wink. All of a sudden, the room was plunged in pitch black darkness, as if somebody had dropped a thick black cloak on everything. The walls and ceilings disappeared—even the control room where the drill masters are. You took a panicked step back as you watched everything unfold in a matter of seconds. You’ve barely collected your bearings when a sudden blast of imaginary force covered the balcony you and Kun were still on. You gasped. It was mostly invisible, but the barrier was definitely something thicker than air as you saw its surface ripple and ebb.

"Energy shield," Kun said beside you.

"Jisung," you whispered back.

"Now that we're finally alone…" Haechan started again, his tone playful. One glance at the look in his eyes and you knew he was up to absolutely no good. The difference now, however, is that the other four on the arena were now sharing the same energy too. Even Jaemin and Jeno who were still by the side looked a little more focused.

"We can finally play for real."

You haven't taken your next breath yet when the ground below all of a sudden split and cracked angrily. The fissures started right exactly from where Mark was standing before it spread like a fan heading  to where the other team's poles are. It circled around Chenle, Jisung, and Renjun to keep them safe, but the rest that the imaginary force touched upturned the ground as if a beast was plowing underneath its surface.

A split second before the earthquake hit the pillars, the ground opened again for an entirely different reason. You gasped as a rough wall of tough rock rose from it, tall enough to shield the wooden poles from the damage. Slight cracks ran through its walls as the ground shook again from Mark’s control. Just a few feet from it was a smirking Chenle who was crouched on the ground, his palm pressed against the soil.

Jisung shot the other boy an appreciative glance before turning his attention back to the other side of the court. You can see crackles of electricity forming from the once empty air around him, but unlike the round, seemingly harmless orbs that he’s been creating before, these ones were long and sharpened at the edges like spears made of light. They floated by his side for a few seconds before hurtling through the air without warning, straight towards the wooden pillars at the other side of the arena.

For a while, it worked, the electric blasts hitting two more of the poles on Haechan and Mark’s camp. Some of the wooden shards actually flew to your direction, though they bounced off the shield still cocooning you and Kun from the rest of the arena. Jisung’s focus, however, was distracted when the remaining poles started disappearing in thin air. They seemed to flicker into view every few seconds, sometimes changing positions, every time they would show up again. It was almost similar to flicking the on and off switch of a light. Haechan obviously was still set on playing his illusion game, but this time Renjun was always a step behind him, breaking them down.

“You are so infuriating,” Renjun said in an irritated voice from below. Haechan laughed.

“Sure you can match me. The question is, how long can you do it?”

"Kun, we need to tell them to stop. They're going to bring the whole place down," you said urgently now as you grabbed for your partner's arm. Kun was also pale in the face, but he gave a slight shake of his head in answer.

"I don't think so. We're not even in the same room anymore."

"What?"

"Wherever we are, we aren't in Cypher. This… this is a different place."

You looked around again in shock. This time, everything really sunk in on you. He's right. Whatever Haechan did earlier was now masking what is happening inside this dark sphere from the physical plane you were in earlier. You doubt the cameras and speakers can even catch what was happening right now.

Just then, a shrill noise made you and Kun slightly duck down in surprise. It was low, more of like a hum than an actual sound, but it was unbearable enough to the ears that you had to cover yours with your hands. Around you, the energy shield Jisung created rippled with small waves as if it was holding off something imaginary from the outside. You squinted and tried to look at what was happening, catching in time one of the beams of light crashing against an invisible force before it hit Mark and Haechan's pillars again. Unlike the shield covering you now though, a flash of light and a resounding boom tore the room upon the contact of the two forces. Some of the light beams refracted to the other side of the court, blasting off a piece of Chenle's wall of stone before torching off a pole behind it.

"What the—what was that—" Kun shouted beside you as he reached out to pull you down to safety. You barely heard Chenle's laugh from the aftermath of the explosion.

"Now we're playing! Nice, Mark-hyung!"

Mark?

You were dazed by the sequence of events, but then all of a sudden, it clicked. Your eyes widened as you turned to Kun.

"Sound waves!"

"What?"

"Mark! He countered Jisung's light with sound. That's why it created an explosion! They collided."

Kun looked frozen for a bit before he swallowed.

"Th… That's not on his skills record."

"I don't think 'transporting into alien dimensions' is included under Haechan's either," you gave him a loaded look before you lifted yourself up from your crouch. A sigh of relief passed you when you saw everyone else unscathed. If anything, the boys below looked fired up. Excited.

Free.

"Jesus, you all are acting like we're in World War 5 or something," Renjun said in an exhausted tone.

"Don't blame us just because you can't keep up, sweetie pie~" Haechan teased, earning him a scathing glare from the other. You saw him grit his teeth, and for the first time since the game started, you could say he was truly pissed.

"Winning doesn't even get you anywhere," Renjun spoke up again as he slightly raised his hand and gave his wrist a flick. The screen of shadows Haechan conjured from thin air to hide their team pillars parted, letting one of Jisung's electric bolts hit another target. While you haven't really spent a lot of time with Renjun yet to truly understand his personality, you've always had the feeling that he is the most rational of the bunch. Mark may lead all of them, but he can also be immensely competitive, as you could see from what has happened so far. The Emperor conquers, but the High Priestess reasons. It is calm and empathic… until it meets their trigger.

In this case. It was Haechan.

Renjun's gaze slipped towards you now, the look in his eyes unreadable. You frowned as he smiled.

"You can't date her anyway. She's already taken. Well, almost. What's his name again? Sicheng?"

You paused in shock. It was the least you were expecting from him, and it was obvious that it wasn't only you who shared the same sentiment. The rest of the boys peered at you curiously, actually stopping in the middle of the game. You didn't answer, but the way you paled was confirmation enough to their silent question.

"Uh oh… somebody's not gonna like that," Chenle was the first one who spoke up, his tone sheepish as his eyes bounced from one face to the next. Jisung looked uncomfortable beside him as he glanced towards the corner of the room. In confusion you followed his gaze out of instinct, a bad move, because the next second, your breath froze in your throat. Jeno was looking at you with an unreadable expression, but it was the way Jaemin stared at you that made your heart rate pick up in your chest. His lips tipped into a slight smile, one that didn't lend any warmth or friendliness to his gaze at all.

"Well, now you've ruined the mood," Haechan finally broke the silence just when you thought something was on the verge of snapping. "Princess, how can you break my heart?"

You tore your eyes away from the other boy to look at him with a slight frown. You have no idea if he is being serious or not, but the way this piece of information was all of a sudden just brought up in the open—with Renjun getting into your head, no less—is definitely not sitting well with you at the moment.

"Is this a joke? I don't know what all of you are up to, but this isn't funny." You said now with a scowl. You turned and pointedly stared at Renjun.

"Stop getting in my head."  

"You heard the lady. Maybe it is time to stop."  

For the first time in a long time, Jaemin finally said something again after staying by the sidelines. He didn't move from where he is, his stance still casual as he leaned against the wall, but there is something about his voice that made you blank out for a moment. It only lasted a few seconds, but you knew you weren't imagining it when you felt a little dizzy as if you were having a vertigo spell. The next time you blinked, you were back in Cypher's covered court, the place looking exactly like how you left it before everything was plunged in the darkness. There were no traces of cracks on the ground or made up walls of rocks. The only visible damage were the wooden pillars which still look as busted from the attacks earlier.

"Is anybody hurt?"

The sudden sound of a voice from the speaker made you and Kun jump. You both turned at the same time to look to your right to see some of the staff in the control room waving for your attention.

"We're—we're fine," Kun croaked into the console closest to him.

"What happened there? We didn't catch anything."

You secretly reached up to grab his arm and gave it a squeeze. He quickly got the message without even looking at you.

"We didn't get most of it. We also couldn't see like you."

"Actually," a chilling sensation crept into your spine as you heard Jaemin speak again. His voice was calm and low, but the way he trained his gaze at the control box where the rest of the crew are made your hair stand on end.

"Here's what happened. Team 2 destroyed Team 1 in the game. You saw everything, but your cameras unfortunately didn't catch anything because of a technical problem. Maybe try and think again? I'm sure all of you can remember."

For a while, none of the people he was speaking to reacted. That lasted for seconds, the silence not even loud enough to quiet down the buzzing that had started in your head. Lies. You knew every word that left his lips were lies.

"Of course. We saw everything. You're right."

You took a silent intake of breath. You slowly turned to stare at the boy now who simply threw the drill masters his usual dazzling smile.

"Perfect. There's nothing to worry about here."

"Yes. That concludes the drill today. It's time for all of you to go back to your dorms. Doctors, you can step out of there too."

The chill you were feeling physically froze you on the spot. Jaemin met your gaze, and you were torn between running away and closing the distance to him.

He smiled.

"Sicheng… I like the name."

CHAPTER 6

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A/N: I still don’t know who the main guy for this is. At this point, the characters are just moving by themselves. 🙃

P.S. Is it bad that Jisung is my fave in this chapter....

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