Chapter Text
When Johnny woke up that morning, he hadn’t had the energy to look in the mirror. His body moved on its own, getting him dressed sufficiently and out of the house at a reasonable time. Though it hadn’t been too hard to leave the house in recent days.
Everything in the apartment reminded him of Taeyong. His apron hung on the hook in the kitchen, the pictures strewn about side tables, the dip on the left side of their bed that was particularly Taeyong shaped.
He had gone missing exactly 3 days ago, during a late night at the office. Taeyong had assured him he’d be home as soon as he was done going through the reports on his desk from the legitimate business side of their operations. He told him not to wait for him.
But when Johnny woke up, the left side of the bed was still cold. And Taeyong wasn’t answering his phone. When he got into the office an hour later, Doyoung had nearly knocked him down, he had ran over so fast.
“Calm down,” Johnny had tried to soothe the underboss.
Doyoung’s wide eyes looked back at him, panic stricken. Between gasps, Doyoung choked out, “It’s… It’s Taeyong. His office… it’s been… well you need to come take a look.”
Ransacked. Furniture flipped, papers everywhere, glass shattered. On one wall, the words, “You want him? Come find him,” were hastily written in spray paint. Below it was a symbol that Johnny didn’t recognize.
He felt glued to the floor. He didn’t know whether to cry or scream. Doyoung stood at the doorway, as if scared to come in.
“Doyoung, get Ten.”
Within 15 minutes, Ten rushed into the room, slowing down like he was walking through jello as he stepped past the threshold. His eyes slid over every item out of place before finally settling on the same wall Johnny hadn’t taken his eyes off of. A chill went up his back and Johnny flinched when he heard him gasp.
Ten would recognize that symbol anywhere. The same way that Doyoung recognized it at first glance. The mark of the Serpents, a gang the founding Neos had taken out years ago, before even Johnny was involved in their activities. The men who had turned Taeyong into the feared mafia boss he was today. The same men who everyone assumed had taken to the hills.
But apparently, they had not derooted the weed. They had only trimmed it back.
Johnny shook his head, trying to pull together the remaining semblance of his sanity. When he gets to the office, the energy amongst all of its workers is unlike anything he had ever felt before. It hasn’t been the same since before Taeyong went missing. But today, it’s as if even the ordinary NCTech workers know that something is brewing.
As he approaches the meeting room on Floor 5: The Neo Zone, he can hear the muffled conversations of an entire mob family behind closed doors. He sighs before pushing the doors open, trying to push on like he hasn’t just had the worst 72 hours of his life.
The conversations die out. He knows they were waiting for him but it doesn’t help to calm his nerves. As he approaches his usual chair, he nearly stops to sit out of habit. But that isn’t the right spot today. He takes a few more steps until he’s hovering in Taeyong’s usual spot.
He doesn’t look up at anyone. Instead his eyes are trained on a small doodle Taeyong had been drawing onto the surface of the table in front of him. He feels his throat constrict but clears it to avoid crying in front of all of his colleagues.
“We all know why we’re here today. Before we decide on an interim boss I need to make this very clear,” he finally looks up at everyone. “We will find Taeyong. This is not a permanent job. But we can’t sit leaderless for too long or else neighboring mobs will start to notice.”
Solemn nods. Quiet hums. Rustling clothes.
“Now, let’s begin,” he says. “Does anyone have a suggestion for an interim boss?”
Yuta’s hand shoots up a second later. Johnny nods to him.
“Isn’t it obvious? It should be Doyoung. He’s the underboss, that’s the whole thing. When the main boss is incapacitated, the underboss takes control.”
“But what about Johnny?” Haechan cuts in, gesturing towards the man in front.
“What about Johnny?” Yuta asks.
“He’s Taeyong’s husband! He holds a position just as high up as Doyoung. When the King dies, doesn’t the throne go to the Queen?”
“No, it goes to the heir apparent. Who in this case, is technically Doyoung,” Yuta corrects.
“But sometimes the Queen rules as regent…” Jisung adds.
Mark’s eyes bug out from a few seats down. Johnny and Ten snap their eyes in his direction.
“If we’re gonna think about it like that, then Jisung should be the interim boss. He’s the actual heir apparent!” Doyoung throws his hands up.
“DOYOUNG!!” The shout comes from multiple points across the table.
“WHAT? THE KID WAS GONNA FIND OUT EVENTUALLY!” Doyoung defends himself, leaning back in his chair and glaring into the table.
Jisung’s jaw drops so low it’s practically on the ground. He blinks a few times, eyes darting between members of the team as if one of them was going to reveal an elaborate prank. “W-what?”
“Oh, that’s why my father was willing to make the arrangement with you guys,” Chenle says in Kun’s direction.
“Hold on, excuse me. WHAT?” Jisung stands, staring down at Chenle. “What arrangement?”
Chenle froze, body going tense with the knowledge that this was a topic that should have been brought up much sooner. No one moves, the air feeling as thick as jello as they watch another good thing fall apart.
“So our whole relationship has just been an arrangement?” Jisung asks, incredulously.
Chenle’s eyes bulge out of his head as he rushes to deny the accusation. “NO! No, I swear.”
Jisung scoffs, sliding the ring off his finger and placing it on the table before wordlessly walking out of the room. The silence is palpable. Chenle picks the ring up and rushes after him, his words becoming muffled after, “Wait! Let me explain! Jisung-”
Everyone stares at the conference room door as it slams closed behind the now feuding couple. Winwin fakes a cough into his hand just to try and break the tension that’s settled over the room.
“So… Jisung is off the table then?” Jaemin breaks the silence. He yelps in pain as Renjun pinches him under the table.
“What about Mark?” Jeno suggests. Mark’s head whips towards Jeno in horror. “He does lead the Dream Squad,” Jeno shrugs.
Jaehyun chuckles from across the table. “In that case Jeno, maybe you should do it! You’re captain when Mark’s not around.”
“Oh-” Jeno’s mouth closes quickly. “On second thought, I vote for Johnny.”
“If that's the way this is going, then I think Kun could do it! He’s already the boss of WayV,” Yangyang says, standing up and pointing towards Kun.
“Hey, are you stupid?” Xiaojun hisses at him as Kun forces him back into his seat.
“Don’t say dumb shit,” Kun whispers in his ear, keeping a hand on his knee in case he decides to stand again.
Winwin wraps a hand around Hendery’s mouth, holding his hands down every time he tries to raise them. Ten takes a break from glaring at Yangyang and Hendery to wipe a hand down his face.
Amidst the chaos, Jungwoo rises with the groan of a 40 year old man. “Okay, okay. I’ll take one for the team. I’ll do it.”
“Sit your ass down,” Jaehyun says.
“Yes sir,” Jungwoo replies immediately, dropping into his seat with a stiff salute in Jaehyun’s direction.
“Alright, here’s an idea,” Ten says. “Why don’t Johnny and Doyoung co-lead?”
The room goes quiet in thought. Around the table, people nod and hum in agreement.
“Then it’s settled. Johnny and Doyoung will be co-interim bosses. Meeting dismissed,” Ten says, slamming his hand on the table before standing and walking out of the room.
After a moment of hesitation, more people follow his lead, slowly walking out of the room until Johnny and Doyoung are the only ones left. They’re frozen in the positions they were in when Ten said the damning words.
“That was a shit show,” Johnny says, finally collapsing into Taeyong’s seat.