Adryn eventually found the living room Taeyong had told her about. It was easy to find as it had been just down the hall like he'd said. As soon as she reached the door, she opened it and walked in. There on the couch sat Mark and Johnny who'd been talking about something before she walked in. As soon as they noticed her, they stopped talking and turned to look at her.
"Oh, hey, Adryn." Mark was the first one to greet her. "Did everything go well with Eclipse?" Adryn instantly frowned at his question.
"It... could have gone better," Adryn admitted as Mark motioned for her to come and sit next to himself and Johnny. Adryn walked over and sat in between the two men.
"So, what were you thinking about your role in the gang? Other than being Taeyong's woman that is." Johnny teased, prompting Adryn to blush and look at the ground in embarrassment. "Don't feel too embarrassed, you're a good fit for our leader. I hope that Taeyong will be able to woo you into falling for him."
"I haven't fallen in love in years, so that will be different and hard for me." Adryn didn't wish to speak of that any longer though, so she decided to change the subject. "What do you two think my role should be?"
"I think you could help in the medical area of things," Johnny responded first before Mark.
"I think you should be out in the field with us, fighting and killing like we all do," Mark replied next making Adryn look back and forth between the two men.
"Why can't I be both? Why can't I kick ass and help people?" Adryn asked that like it was the most simple thing in the world. Both Mark and Johnny looked at the smaller woman, then at each other before nodding their heads in unison.
"That'd be perfect." Mark seemed to be happy that Adryn had brought that up first.
"How did your little bit of training go with Taeyong?" Johnny asked the woman, making her frown.
"I need to work on my self-defense, but if I have a knife or a gun, I should be fine."
"Have you ever killed someone before?" Mark asked the question, but Johnny looked at him like he was crazy.
"I grew up with guns and knives. I've been shooting since I was 5 years old." Adryn completely ignored Mark's question, which didn't go unnoticed by the two men.
"How old are you?" Johnny asked, playing into her change of subject.
"25."
"Adryn, have you killed someone before?" Mark didn't go with the subject change. Adryn just turned to the blond man and frowned at him with seriousness in her eyes. It was like he was looking at a completely different person. She didn't look or feel how she had before. She was seemingly emotionless now. It was like a dark cloud came over her.
"You shouldn't ask that yet." Adryn finally replied after a moment of glaring at Mark.
"What?" Johnny asked, making the woman turn to him now. "Have you killed somebody before?"
"I have. Eclipse and I have killed someone before." Adryn's response just gave Mark and Johnny more questions, but she continued before they could ask anything about the details. "In the mental ward I was in, there was a man who'd come onto me. I told him no many times, but he wouldn't listen to me. It just happened to be the exact moment that Eclipse broke into the hospital to get me out. We murdered the man because he told me that if he couldn't have me, he'd just go and rape someone else then." Johnny and Mark just nodded their heads in understanding.
"Usually, NCT only kills people who aren't able to be saved or those who are truly horrible people," Mark mentioned to Adryn which made her nod her head this time.
"What are your jobs, if I may ask?"
"My job is to hunt people down and end them if needed."
"I'm mostly the getaway driver, but sometimes I use hand-to-hand combat or a knife," Johnny stated to the woman simply.
"What is Ten's job? He didn't tell me specifics." Adryn was curious about the teal-haired man.
"Ten's job is as our technology person. He watches over us during missions and provides us with messages when needed. Like if someone out in the field needed backup or something."
"Ten is also involved in the knife side of things," Mark added in as Adryn nodded her head.
"Thank you both, for being so welcoming and kind to me." Adryn suddenly spoke up, surprising the two men.
"This situation isn't your fault, so why be angry or rude to you?"
"The others will accept you as well. With some of them being tough to crack right away." Johnny mentioned, despite feeling like Adryn already knew that part.
"I've already met Doyoung and Yuta who both seemed a little put off by me. Along with Haechan, but he seemed to just be a brat. Ten, though, was nice enough and I think Jaehyun is too." Adryn thought back on all the other men she'd met already.
"They are all nice people, but you're right about Haechan; he's a brat sometimes." Mark agreed wholeheartedly with Adryn's observation of Haechan. The three of them on the couch laughed at Mark's comment before realizing that there was someone standing behind them in the doorway to the living room. They turned around to see a man with blue hair standing there. "Oh, hey Jeno."
"Hey, is she the woman for Taeyong?" Jeno asked, not trying to sound harsh, but making Adryn frown anyway.
"I'm not for anyone, but I am indeed here because of Taeyong," Adryn admitted to the man, who nodded his head in response. Adryn then turned her attention to Mark as she frowned at him. "How exactly did Taeyong explain to everyone the situation with me and who I am?"
"Our leader made it clear to us that you're off-limits to everyone else. We all also need to be friendly with you or else." Jeno responded instead of Mark. "Taeyong didn't mean it in any bad way though, he's just that serious about you." Adryn frowned at Jeno and nodded her head in understanding.
"Are you bothered by that?" Johnny asked the frowning woman.
"Honestly, no. That being said, I'm not used to the attention that I'm getting from Taeyong." Adryn explained to the group of men.
"Why? You're beautiful and seem kind enough." Jeno didn't realize that saying that would make Adryn laugh, but that's exactly what it did. She laughed for a moment, but it was a dark humorless laugh.
"Thank you, I guess."
"Are you alright?" Mark asked after looking at Johnny and then back at Adryn. Adryn merely nodded her head before standing up from the couch.
"I think I'm going to go and check to see if Taeyong needs anything," Adryn spoke and then immediately left the room. She pushed passed Jeno, who was a little confused at her sudden cold attitude. So, Adryn walked down the hallway back to where the kitchen was. She walked right into the room to see another 2 men in there with Taeyong. The man instantly noticed Adryn. It was like he had a special radar for her.
"Adryn, dinner will be ready... eventually," Taeyong spoke to the woman before turning his attention to the 2 men with him. "This is Taeil, he's the oldest member of NCT." Taeyong motioned to the brown-haired man next to him. He then motioned to the blue-haired man. "This is Kun, he's the leader of WayV, another unit of NCT."
"Oh, hello, both of you," Adryn muttered to them, with both of them greeting her kindly in response. The 3 of them went back to cooking so Adryn took a seat at the counter to watch them. As she just sat there, she heard footsteps behind her, so she turned to see a black-haired male standing there in the doorway.
"Hey, when's food going to be ready?" The man asked the other three in a mostly kind voice. He was speaking Korean much to Adryn's dismay, but she seemed to understand most of what he said.
"Food will be done soon, Jaemin," Taeyong responded to him without even turning away from the food cooking.
"Thanks, the younger ones are starving and can hardly wait for food. They claim their dying from hunger due to the mission." To Jaemin's words, Taeyong, Taeil, and Kun all laughed. Adryn smiled at Taeyong's laugh, which seemed to cause the new addition to realize that she was sitting there at the counter. "Oh, hello there."
"Hey, I'm Adryn," Adryn replied with a chuckle.
"Adryn, you should come with me to meet the others of Dream."
"Dream?"
"Another unit of NCT. It's the younger ones of the group." Taeyong explained simply from the stove.
"Oh, well... alright then." Adryn then hopped down from the chair she was on and followed Jaemin out of the kitchen. The 2 walked through the halls and eventually ended up in a room clearly for medical issues. There were medical beds in the room and various supplies laid about on the desk and around the room. There were 3 other men there with Jaehyun, who seemed to be tired.
"Hey, guys, this is Adryn, she's Taeyong's woman." Jaemin introduced her in a way she didn't want to be introduced but she didn't say anything about it.
"I'm Jisung, the youngest of NCT." A younger man with black hair stated in Korean.
"I'm Renjun." A blond-haired man spoke up next.
"I'm Chenle." The last one with brown hair said last.
"Hello, all of you, nice to meet you all." Adryn did her best to speak Korean without letting them know she wasn't that great with it. She seemingly did just fine, because they just went back to what they were doing. It was obvious that Jisung was getting treated for some wound, as Jaehyun was patching his left arm up.
"Hello again, Adryn," Jaehyun spoke to the woman as he quickly looked at her. "I'm happy to see you again, as we haven't gotten a good chance to talk to each other." He was thankfully speaking English to her. Adryn smiled at him but had a hint of concern in her eyes.
"Is there a particular reason you wanted to talk with me?"
"I'm usually more into the process of when we have a new member. I'm one of the main members that decides if someone joins, but this time Taeyong and Mark decided this all on their own. It worries me a little bit."
"Oh, I'm sorry..." Jaehyun just chuckled at Adryn's apology.
"Don't worry about it. It isn't a problem. I'll just need to have a more in-depth conversation with you later."
"Alright, well whenever you want to talk, I'll be fine with it..." Adryn was a little hesitant, but she didn't want to outright deny him the opportunity to talk with her. It was obvious to the men in the room that she was nervous about the talk with Jaehyun.
"Don't worry Adryn. It isn't that horrible of a talk, just standard things to know where you stand mentally." Chenle stated in English, clearly catching on that she needed to be spoken to in that language.
"Oh, well damn. If it's a test of mental well-being then I'll be failing that." Adryn half laughed at that, but before the now worried men could respond, Taeil popped his head into the room.
"Dinner is done and on the table. Hurry up before it gets cold." Taeil spoke before disappearing back into the hallway. The men were all instantly triggered as they all got up from their chairs and were about to make their way to the door. Jisung's arm was all wrapped up properly now, so he was ready for food.
"What happened to you anyway, Jisung?" Adryn asked, despite knowing that it wasn't her business. Thankfully, she spoke decent enough Korean.
"I was stabbed, nothing too serious though," Jisung replied as if it was the most normal thing in the world.
"How old are you?"
"20, why?" Adryn didn't answer, as she was too surprised by how young he was.
"I'm 21." Chenle butted into the conversation, which prompted the others to start telling their ages as well.
"I'm 22," Renjun mentioned casually as he walked past Adryn.
"I'm also 22," Jaemin spoke up from Adryn's side happily.
"I'm 25," Jaehyun spoke from where he was putting the bandage supplies back away.
"Oh, I'm 25 as well!" Adryn perked up at this. She then shook her head and turned her attention back to Jisung. "Aren't you a little too young to be so casual about being stabbed?"
"Jisung has been with NCT since he was a young teenager, so he is used to this life." Hearing Jaehyun's words caused Adryn to pause and look at the man in awe. She then just nodded her head, unsure of what to say without sounding rude or disrespectful toward the group. "A lot of gangs have young members; it's normal to us." Adryn just nodded her head again, still unsure of what to say.
The group then went out of the medical room and started down the hallways to the dining room. As they got closer to the dining room, Jaemin bumped Adryn's shoulder with his. This made her look at him in confusion.
"You ready? You prepared to meet the rest of the group?" Jaemin's question made Adryn go pale. Was she ready to be with everyone already? She wasn't sure.
