Stronger || NCT mafia au

Chapter 20 | "pull the trigger"

The next morning, she woke up to someones voice, softly singing to her. She opened her eyes and looked around to locate the voice.

"Morning sleepyhead." She looked to her window and saw Jaehyun sitting there, smiling at her.

"Hi Jae." He hopped off her windowsill and came to sit next to her on her bed. "You should sing more, you've got a beautiful voice."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Any minute now I'd think some birds would fly down and land on your shoulders like in a Disney movie." The two of them laugh, Jihyun stretching her arms.

"The gang leaders will be over in an hour to discuss the plans for their final exams tomorrow." She rubbed her eyes, nodding to him, still partially asleep.

"How many kids are left?"

"Around 75. We're thinking that we'll get down to around 30-40 after tomorrow's sort." He looks at her, hesitating before continuing. "How's you're friend looking?"

"Good, I'm hopeful that they'll, I mean, he'll pass. You never know what might happen though." She trails off nervously.

"Ji. I'm saying this as a friend. Please be careful. You know there's a chance that he might not make it past tomorrow." She lets out a sigh, she knew it was coming.

"I know Jae, and I told him I'll have to judge him unbiased. If he's not skilled enough, I'll pull the trigger myself." She closed her eyes, praying to not have to do that. Jaehyun rubbed her back reassuringly.

"If you had a hand in training them, I'm sure you'll be fine. I mean, you turned Sungchan from a terrified nerd into one of our aces." She smiles at the thought. "Come on, you need to go and get ready, they'll be here in less than an hour now."

- - -

"And here's the last of them, welcome ITZY."

"Sorry we're a bit late, Ryujin forgot her phone so we had to turn around" Yeji said, rolling her eyes playfully.

"Alright, don't worry about it, we're glad to have you." Jihyun said with a smile. "The final exams are tomorrow, as you are all aware, and I must say that you've all been doing a fantastic job with these students. So let's hear your plans for the final."

Each gang's leader and caporegime gave an overview of their final, adjusting here and there based on feedback from the other leaders and NCT's council. They wanted to make sure that the tests were difficult enough to wipe out the weak trainees, but still doable.

The medical team was having a written exam. The hacking team created a simulation that the students would have to hack through and retrieve information in a certain amount of time without being traced. The assassins were doing a reactive knife throwing and archery test. The spies were making their students sneak and steal something from a room guarded by the other members of ITZY. The snipers were doing a speed test. Finally, the combat test would be fighting three randomly selected members of Ateez.

"This sounds great guys. Remember that we have about 75 students to get through, so be ready for a long day. The council and I will split up to observe different skills, and we'll be needing your individual evaluations by the end of the day so that we can close ranks tomorrow night." She takes a deep breath before standing.

"I know that some of you have gotten close with some students, but remember whats at stake here. This is about the strength and safety of the entire mafia, of your teammates and your whole family. I've said this since the beginning, no weak links. Period."

"Please do your best to evaluate in the most unbiased way possible, because at the end of the day, it's kill or be killed, and I won't let poor judgement be the reason that any of you get hurt." She sits down as the leaders nod at her, she didn't realize how hard it would be to say that.

"Ok, you're free to hang out here for a bit as it's been a while since many of us have caught up, and then head back to your bases and prepare for tomorrow."

At Jihyun's closing remarks, the leaders of Twice, Itzy, and Day6 head home, needing to finalize their exams and setups before tomorrow. Jaebeom and Jinyoung walk over to some of the older members. Hongjoong and San walk into the kitchen with the younger ones, Jihyun hears them formally introducing Sungchan and Shotaro, while Chan and Felix approach Jihyun, Jaehyun, and Taeyong.

"So Jihyun, you ready for tomorrow?" Felix says excitedly. She nods her head in response, a small smile on her face.

"Who's final are you going to watch?" Chan asks

"Ooh can you please come and watch ours?"

"Sorry, Felix, I'm going to observe Ateez's final. I'd probably be too hypercritical of your students." The pair nod in understanding. "I'll send one of my caporegimes over" she says, nodding towards Taeyong and Jaehyun, who smile back at her.

Chan and Felix dip their heads to the older boys, small smiles on their faces. Taeyong and Jaehyun nod in return before walking over to talk with Got7.

"Jihyun look. There's been talk circulating about NCT and the Jang Mafia." Chan says with a whisper.

"Bangtan is rising, and they know that NCT hasn't been on any major missions recently. They're using that to their advantage. Plus, I hear they've got a younger group under them too now, TXT I think they're called." Chan continues, the worry evident on his face.

"I've also heard that they're working with some other unknown gang and also trying to form an alliance with Seventeen." Jihyun's eyes widen. Seventeen is a large gang, almost as big as NCT. She quickly shakes it off, composing herself.

"We have allies too, and our allies would far outnumber them. We're still in close contact with Shinee, Red Velvet, Exo, and TheBoyz." Chan and Felix visibly relax at this news.

"Thats good to hear. But still Jihyun, dont underestimate this threat." Felix warns.

"I know, I know. Tell me if you hear anything else."

"Will do. We've got to get going now, but don't worry right now. We've got other things to deal with these next few days. See you tomorrow!" Felix says with a smile.

Jihyun looks around the room, noticing that the other gang leaders have gone too. She stares at her members one by one, her gaze lingering on Jaehyun and Taeyong. It's hard to imagine anyone else joining this group, but that's a worry for another day.

———
I really felt like double updating today, this was kinda a filler chapter so I apologize but the next few will be more interesting.
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