Adryn and Taeyong made their way to the kitchen and as they walked in, Taeil turned to face them. He instantly took note of their hands intertwined together. Taeil couldn't help but smile at them.
"Has everything calmed down now?" Taeil asked Adryn and Taeyong, seemingly already knowing the answer.
"We figured things out," Taeyong replied to his friend with a smile on his face.
"Do you need any help with dinner?" Adryn asked with a smile of her own on her face.
"You can set the table. Food is pretty much done." Taeil responded to the two as he turned back to food. Taeyong nodded his head and then pulled Adryn along with him to get the table settings. The two then went to work, with the various members walking in and taking a seat as they set the table. Once everyone was seated and food was done, Taeil and Taeyong brought out all of the food. As soon as the food was distributed to everyone, Taeil and Taeyong sat down, with Taeyong sitting next to Adryn.
"Have you decided what you want now?" Doyoung asked Adryn before he took a single bite of food. Adryn nervously looked over at Doyoung and frowned at him. Taeyong instantly spoke up before Adryn could.
"Adryn has something to say to everyone." Taeyong addressed the whole group in a loud voice, making everyone pause in their eating. With everyone's attention on her, Adryn stood up. She started to feel incredibly nervous, but she found her courage and spoke up.
"I'm sorry for running away and causing drama. I never intended to do that. I just got overwhelmed by everything." Adryn started before looking around to judge how everyone felt about her words. Not many of them seemed annoyed, rather they were sympathetic. "I'll try to work on my emotional state so that I don't get overwhelmed like that again. I'll do my best because I do have feelings for Taeyong. I want us to take things slowly since it's been so long since I've been in a relationship. I'm a little scared of my feelings though because I have little will to live and I'm worried that I'd hurt Taeyong if I killed myself now. I'll do my best at this gang thing and I'll try to not be a burden on anyone anymore."
"Are you ready to face off against a gang leader who wants you? Or will you run away from that as well?" It was Yuta who spoke up immediately next. He looked a little angry with her, but Adryn had a feeling that it was only because he was worried she'd really hurt Taeyong.
"I'll do my best with that too. I'll need help from everyone though because I can't protect myself next. Not very well anyway."
"Why would we-" Doyoung was cut off by Taeyong instantly speaking up.
"If anyone has a problem with Adryn joining the gang, keep quiet. Give her a chance. Like she's giving all of us a chance." Taeyong's words left no room for argument. "I trust everyone here. Including Adryn. So I expect everyone here to trust each other in response." Adryn decided she could sit down as Taeyong continued his speech. "We will all protect Adryn the best we can, especially by helping her train her in each of our individual ways."
"Does that mean everyone will have a chance to train her?" Doyoung asked in a neutral voice. He seemed to either accept his leader's words or he just didn't care anymore.
"Yes, everyone will take turns training her in your own specialty. Just don't end up killing her by accident."
"You'll be getting plenty of training, but you'll need to keep working on your Korean as well. Since it still sucks." Johnny's words to the woman cut deep, but it was understandable.
"Thank you for your support," Adryn replied to Johnny with a smile.
"You shouldn't worry any, alright Adryn? NCT will protect you and help you be able to protect yourself too." Ten was the next to show his support for Adryn.
"Thank you, Ten." With that, everyone seemed to accept it and went back to eating. It didn't take too long for the whole group to eat, but once they were all done, Jeno and Jaemin were the ones to clean up, while Adryn and Taeyong headed to the training room.
"Alright, I'll be your main trainer, since I can do everything, but if I'm busy, then it'll be Mark. He's just as good as me." Taeyong explained to Adryn, who just nodded her head in understanding. "What do you want to work on most?"
"I"m not too confident in my hand-to-hand combat. So I think that should be first." Adryn responded after a moment of thought. Taeyong nodded his head in agreement.
"While you have some ability for hand-to-hand combat, you probably couldn't handle yourself in a real fight."
Fast forward to 2 hours later, and Adryn was laying on the training mat breathing heavily. She was exhausted and was trying to catch her breath. Her heart was racing and her limbs all felt like they were jelly. Taeyong couldn't help but laugh at her as she suffered on the mat.
"You should probably work on your stamina first." Taeyong pointed out even though that much was obvious.
"Yeah... But how?" Adryn coughed out through her heavy breathing.
"We can go running together. I usually go running when I have time, but I can make time in the morning to help you. Therefore, we can run together and I can protect you while you're out."
"I hate running..." Adryn muttered with a sigh. Taeyong chuckled again as he reached his hand out for Adryn to help her out. Adryn took his hand and he pulled her up and into his arms.
"We'd be spending time together so doesn't that make it better?"
"I'd much rather spend time with you watching a movie and eating snacks or something."
"That's your problem, you need to be healthier." Taeyong joked with Adryn but she frowned anyway.
"I like being unhealthy."
"If you're healthy, you'll live longer with me." To Taeyong's words, Adryn gave him a small smile.
"While that sounds great, I have a hard time seeing myself in the future."
"I'll help you see your future. A future with me and the gang."
"Good luck with that." Adryn smiled at Taeyong as he pulled her closer to him. He smiled down at her, until there was a cough from behind them, at the door to the room. Adryn and Taeyong turned to see Ten standing there looking amused.
"It's about 9 pm now, and I wanted to help Adryn with Korean before bed." Ten spoke up with a smirk on his face.
"Alright," Taeyong replied, before turning to Adryn. "Good luck, and good night. I'll see you in the morning for our run together."
"Alright. Good night." Adryn responded before following Ten out of the room and to her bedroom.
"I have an idea for you, Adryn." Ten started once they were in her bedroom. He pulled out a seemingly heavy bag and when Adryn opened it, she saw workbooks.
"Workbooks?"
"Maybe you need to see things, rather than just being told them and listening to them. Do you like to read things?"
"I'm a writer, of course, I like to read things."
"Then this packet of workbooks might help a bit better than us just telling you things."
"Thank you, Ten. I really appreciate this."
"To thank me, read some of these before bed so you can go to sleep thinking about Korean words."
"Alright, I'll do that." With that, Ten nodded his head and left Adryn's room.
Now alone, and before getting ready for bed, Adryn decided to take a shower. Once she was done with her shower, she changed into her pj's and got the rest of the way ready for bed. Once ready, she climbed into bed and checked her phone.
There was a text from Eclipse, asking Adryn how everything went after she and Taemin had left her. Adryn informed Eclipse that she and Taeyong were alright now, that they were taking things at her pace and that she felt that things were finally looking up for once in her life.
After texting Eclipse, Adryn put her phone down and picked up the workbooks, starting with the easiest-looking one. She went through it a little bit, understanding only a small portion of it though. She chose to just skim through it and read some of the words, but not write in it just yet.
When Adryn felt she'd gone through it enough to go to sleep thinking about Korean words, she set the books aside and turned out her lamp. She then drifted off to sleep, thinking about some of the Korean words she actually knew for sure.
~ ~ ~
At exactly 5 am, Adryn heard a knock on her door. Groggy, unstable, and with blurry vision, Adryn opened her locked door to see what seemed like Taeyong standing there. He was in workout clothes and looked ready and awake for the day.
"It's time to go out for our first run together, get ready." Taeyong tried his best to not chuckle at Adryn's state. Her hair was everywhere and her clothes were all messed up. Realizing this, Adryn slammed the door in his face immediately.
"Right now? We need to go out this early?" Adryn muttered through the closed door.
"Yes, we need to go before the others wake up and want breakfast," Taeyong replied as Adryn sighed at him through the door.
"Fine, I'll get ready." Adryn went to her bedside table, put her glasses on, and then got ready for the day by putting her contacts in and fixing her hair. She found a pair of shorts and a tank top with a somewhat workout jacket since it was probably chilly outside this early. She then put her shoes on and opened the door to see Taeyong just leaning against the wall. She ignored him, went into the bathroom to fully fix her hair, and then finished getting ready for the day. Once fully ready, she left the bathroom to see Taeyong now smiling at her.
"I'm glad we're doing this together. None of the guys ever want to run with me, so this will be nice. I'll finally have someone to run with."
"Hopefully you'll still be happy when I need to take several breaks every few minutes." Adryn chuckled, bringing a chuckle out of Taeyong as well.
"Ready to go?"
"No, but I guess I have to be."
"Don't worry, I got you." Taeyong's reassurance was everything for Adryn. She felt like she could actually do this now, so they went off through the house. They quietly left the house, locking the door behind them, and then they started their run.
Adryn was correct, she needed to take various breaks throughout their run, but ultimately pushed through the last bit. They ran the whole block once before Taeyong decided that it was enough for Adryn's first morning run. They made it to the gates of the house before Adryn nearly collapsed from overexerting herself.
"You did well. I'm proud of you for sticking with me." Taeyong spoke up happily to Adryn, who was breathing quite heavily.
"I'm going to die..." Adryn muttered through gasping breaths. Taeyong merely smiled at her, took her hand, and then guided her up the driveway to the front door. As they reached the door, it opened up, revealing Mark, dressed and heading out.
"Where are you going? Nothing is scheduled for today."
"I'm going on a solo mission, so I'm leaving early," Mark responded as he pushed passed Adryn and Taeyong.
"Good luck and be safe!" Adryn politely spoke to Mark, now that she had her breathing back to normal.
"Hmm." Mark's response was hardly heard and was dismissive, worrying Taeyong and Adryn. Mark wasn't driving either, he just walked away from them and out of the gates, before disappearing into an alley.
"Does Mark often take solo missions?"
"He does take solo missions, but not that often, so this is a little weird." Taeyong stared after where Mark had disappeared to. There was worry on the leader's face, but he pushed it away to smile at Adryn. "Let's get ready for breakfast, okay?"
"Sure!" Adryn was excited to fill herself back up. She hadn't had anything yet and was nearly desperate for food.
So, she and Taeyong split up and she went to her bedroom to get changed. Once she was done changing, she checked her phone but saw nothing. With that, Adryn opened her bedroom door, only to see an annoyed Taeyong leaning against the wall next to his door. He was glaring at something on his cellphone. Adryn wasn't sure if she should say anything, but before she could do anything, he looked up at her. A smile instantly appeared on his face as he put his phone away.
"Is everything alright?" Adryn asked the now smiling Taeyong.
"Of course." Taeyong's response was clearly a lie, and Adryn wasn't having that.
"If something is wrong, I'd like to know. If that's alright..." Adryn wasn't sure if she was crossing a line, but Taeyong just sighed and took her hands into his.
"I've been in contact with Taemin about the Emerald Devils situation. He told me some information about their new leader."
"Oh? What does Taemin know about the situation?"
"He told me that Min-Joon is a horrible human. He used to lead a lesser group before but killed them all when they tried to kick them out of the group for his excessive violence and how he treated everyone around him." Taeyong began to explain before taking a breath to continue. "He's had plenty of women over the years but they are all from other countries and are all mentally wounded in some way. He has 'collected' them and kept them as a harem of sorts with the excuse that he's helping them. Meanwhile, he's been drugging them and prostituting them out to other men." Adryn shook her head in disgust, but Taeyong wasn't done yet. "Taemin knows of at least 15 women in Min-Joon's clutches. It's terrible."
"I figured that it was something like that, but I didn't think that so many women would fall for his bullshit," Adryn muttered in disgust and shock.
"I agree, but while Emerald Devils aren't too powerful, Min-Joon is. With his current recruitment situation going on, they'll grow more powerful than NCT or any of our ally gangs could be, even together."
"Their 'recruitment situation'?"
"Min-Joon is taking over other smaller groups, wanting them to join him and if they chose not to... he kills their leader and takes them over by force. He does that to show he's more powerful and terrifying. It's also to say that they should give in and join him rather than not."
"It's going to be a real problem soon, isn't it?"
"Yes, we should work harder on training you in Korean and fighting. While we're doing so, you should have a weapon on you at all times, and you shouldn't be alone, even in the house." To Taeyong's words, Adryn instantly frowned.
"You're going to assign a babysitter for me?"
"It isn't like that, I just want to make sure you're safe and sound, no matter what," Taeyong explained, but Adryn pulled her hands away from his and frowned at him, making him frown in return.
"Who do you have in mind for my babysitter?"
"I was thinking Mark, for when I can't be around you."
"Why Mark?"
"Mark can teach you fighting skills, while also teaching you Korean." Taeyong's words left no room for arguing. So, Adryn just frowned.
"Are you alright with Mark being your secondary protector?"
"I'm not too happy about the situation, but I understand that I need to learn Korean and be protected." Adryn then remembered something. "Oh! Ten gave me workbooks last night to help me learn Korean."
"Have you worked in them yet?"
"No, but I have looked through them."
"Alright. Are you ready for food now that our important talk is over?"
"Yeah! I'm starving!" Adryn laughed, pushing away her unhappiness about her new babysitter situation. Taeyong chuckled at her excitement for food and took a hold of her hand.
"Let's go then," Taeyong smiled at Adryn, causing her to smile back. Adryn wasn't thrilled about the situations she was currently caught up in, but she knew that things would work out in the end. Well, hoped at least.
