the-basement-paradox

[the-basement-paradox]

~Boss~ Chapter 34 & 35

~Chapter 34~

17

4

Ten paced across the floor in front of the fireplace, behind him there was no fire in the hearth and the whiteboard was rolled over with large schematics for a building pinned up on it. In front of him the members were sprawled out on the couches, Mrs. Hyorin and Mr. Boseok were seated front and center for the briefing. Titan lay curled up across their feet as she watched him pace.

Finally the blue haired leader comes to a stop and drags his tired iron eyes across the group of people patiently waiting for him to begin, as he scans the expressions of the members he notices a look in their eyes that he recognizes all too well.

He looks each member in the eye, and with a degree of scolding in his tone, he begins “This isn’t a battle mission”

A few quiet mumbles of dissent echoed in the room but were quickly silenced by a growl from Titan. Ten offered a small smile to his pet before returning his stern gaze to the others “This is search and rescue” 

Mrs. Hyorin gives a small smile for the strength in his tone and Mr. Boseok offered a grunt in agreement with the young leader.

“The plan for this operation is as follows” Ten continues turning his body a bit towards the schematics behind him so he could begin pointing out positions. “We will have a squad of six perched atop the building itself, Mark, Winwin, me, and three of our lower level members. The rest of you will be leading small squads of five low level members in securing a perimeter around the building. Light your flares when you’re in position, but as soon as you see our flare in the center of the circle, extinguish it and the next phase of the plan will begin” He indicated the schematics where a perimeter around the building was marked by names, so the members could approach the board after the briefing and determine their positioning.

“Comments thus far?” He asks coldly scanning the grouped members who listened attentively.

Johnny half raised a hand “In the case we need to enter the building which entrances should we use and how can we prevent crowding in those areas?”

Ten nods to acknowledge the question and begins to explain “There are four entrances to the complex, one facing each cardinal direction, in the event that you must enter the building to aid in the extraction portion of the plan you will be using the closest entrance to your position in the perimeter. As for crowd control, each of you will have ear comms that will filter back into the van at which will be parked a safe distance away, from there Jisung and Yuta will dismiss you into the building as they see fit.” Ten offers a small nod of confirmation to the two mentioned before continuing with the rest of the briefing.

“When everyone is in position, Mark, Winwin and I will each enter the building from different entrances, the South, West, and North entrances. The other three of our squad will be posted outside the entrances to prevent any others from entering, and in the event that you must move in, then to provide directions to our general positions within the buildings, provided to them by Jisung and Yuta, who will keep their eyes on the three of us within the complex at all times and aid our search.”

Ten returns to the board and repeats the first half of the plan, thoroughly detailing every aspect after having given the rough outline.

The middle aged couple who sat in on this briefing shared a look of relative surprise at the painstaking detail this plan had been given and the extra measures that were mentioned in case the plan went wrong.

After the briefing the older couple stayed up with Ten in his office to discuss the plan, their role when the gang returned to base, what their status would be when this was all over, and of course, Taeyong.

The next day the complex was alive with energy like electricity flowing through the air, almost available to the touch as the gang members prepared for the ‘search and rescue’ raid, new gang members the older couple had never seen bustled in through the doors every few minutes until the door remained closed and squads of five strangers at a time milled around running errands and taking care of preparations for their squad leaders.

Around the middle of the day the middle aged husband and wife wandered into the kitchen to find Johnny and Taeil preparing an enormous meal to feed the entire gang before they had to move out and begin making their way to their positions for the raid. They decided to make themselves useful and lent a hand in preparing and serving the meal, which Ten obviously disapproved of, as he considered the pair his guests and didn’t wish for them to lift a finger.

After the meal the groups moved out, some on foot, some in cars, some in trucks and other modes of transportation to be parked safely away from the site of the mission.

Finally the duo in charge of navigation said their goodbyes to the older couple and sped off in their black van filled with their tech equipment.

And with that Mrs. Lee Hyorin and Mr. Lee Boseok were left alone in the echoingly empty complex of the NCT mafia, anxiously awaiting the return of their nephew turned son and hoping beyond hope for a lack in casualties when the gang returned.

~Chapter 35~

?

The blue boss’ hair tousles in the breeze as he watches from above, the green flares of his subordinates gradually filling in a wobbly circle in the gaps between streets leading to the rival complex he was perched atop.

The delicate silence of his observation was soon interrupted as Mark comments on the final flare being lit.

“You know, if we bunched them all up it would look like a patch of grass” he comments obnoxiously, moving past his leader toward his station over the Southern wall of the complex.

Winwin snorts quietly behind them as he lights his own green flare to signal the gang to extinguish theirs and raises it high above his head.

“Shut the fuck up” Ten growls, mobilizing to scale down the building with another gang member to the North facing entrance “Now is not the goddamn time” and with that he disappeared with his subordinate down the edge of the building.

Mark snickers and leads the gang member he was paired with down the Southern wall towards his entrance. And after watching the other two Winwin extinguishes his flare and he and his assignment make their way down the Western wall to their own destination.

Once they had all hit the ground the three activate their comms for Jisung and Yuta and head inside, leaving their companions outside the doors as directed.

Once inside Jisung and Yuta traded off monitoring and guiding the three members through the mazes of halls and rooms within the complex.

“It's like a fortress in here” Mark mumbles to Jisung through his comm “I’d get lost in a second without directions”

Jisung sighs quietly into his mic “I know you would Hyung, take a left” he responds before the quiet click of him disconnecting from Mark to go give directions to a different member sounded in Mark’s ear.

Mark takes the left with a frown “I think I just got dissed by a kid” he mumbles under his breath.

Yuta monitors his Winwin as he makes his way down a North directed corridor, “Take a right at the next cross in the halls”

Winwin hums quietly in acknowledgement of the directions and begins to walk with more of a purpose as he now knew his next move.

He turns the corner and comes face to face with a duo of rival gang members, he instantly draws his pistol and aims it at the pair, not bothering to attempt to blend in after seeing the two’s surprised faces.

“Win, what happened, why did you freeze?” Yuta’s voice buzzes worriedly into his ear through his comm.

Winwin kept his eyes trained on the pair in front of him who seemed to have realized the situation and slowly raised their hands to show they were empty and that they had no intentions for reaching for the guns holstered at their hips “I’ve got a pair of rivals in front of me, my gun is drawn and their hands are up” Win murmurs to his comm.

“Are you here for him?” the rival member on the left asks tentatively.

The one on the right widens his eyes slightly at his companion then returns his gaze to Winwin “Taeyong was right” he murmurs, loud enough for the comment to drift to Winwin’s attentive ears.

His gun dips “Yuta, connect me to Taeil” he requests quietly, he looks the man on the right in the eyes “Right about what?” he snarls.

As he asks his question Taeil’s voice crackles through his comm “What do you need Winwin”

Before responding to Taeil he listens to the members short explanation “Taeyong told us someone would come” the left one murmured.

Win keeps his eyes trained on the two shocked gang members in front of him “Give me a description of the three gang members you were telling us about after the briefing”

There was a confused silence through Taeil’s side before he came through again, describing three men, two of which were clearly standing before Winwin now. “Why do you ask?”

Winwin sighs and lowers his gun “I have Hendery and Yangyang in front of me now” he huffs before disconnecting from Taeil and reconnecting with Yuta.

“So you are here for him?” The member on the left, Yangyang, confirms questioningly, sighing internally with relief.

Winwin places his pistol in its holster and nods at the duo “you two know where he is?” He asks gruffly obviously relieved he wouldn’t have to ruin the plan far too early.

Hendery grins “We’re the ones in charge of him, we can do better than just bring you to him” Yangyang smiles reassuringly and pulls a key out from under the collar of his shirt to confirm Hendery’s words.

Winwin grins “then let’s go”

The pair of traitors lead Winwin back and down into the basement of the complex, Winwin had been on the right track previously but still would have had to have made it down into the lower levels to make it to Taeyong’s cell.

Yangyang knocks quietly on the door “He was right” he calls quietly in, pulling the already unlocked door open to reveal two men in the dim room.

One, Winwin recognized as Xiaojun, was supporting a weak red headed form as he drank carefully from a cup in Xiao’s hands.

The pair in the room stopped their actions and turned to the others as they stepped into the room “He just finally woke up” Xiaojun says quietly.

Upon seeing Winwin Taeyong smiles, obviously relieved but in enormous pain as he used the ends of his unmoving fingers to pull the blankets off of his legs and move into a sitting position, with his feet hanging down over the side of the gurney style bed.

“Holy Hellfire Taeyong” Winwin murmurs, horrified at the numerous, sloppily stitched wounds covering the weak red head’s extremely thin body, many wounds showed through his shredded shirt and the new rips in his dark, blood stained jeans.

Taeyong, who was being supported on the sides of his feet by Xiaojun as he couldn’t use their torn centers, coughed wetly, the sound of debris in his lungs alarming as he attempts to clear his throat “You should have seen me during the interrogation” he croaks, obviously attempting a joke, one that couldn’t be heard in the tone of his raspy voice or seen in his dull eyes.

Winwin shakes his head “I don’t think I would have wanted to” he sighs. He turns his head slightly as he activated his comm “Yu, are you there?” He asks quietly.

Yuta's voice quickly crackles in his ear “I’m here love, do you have an update? You’re nowhere near the others, is everything alright?”

Winwin laughs softly at his lover’s rapid fire questions “I’m alright love, the two I ran into earlier were the guys Taeil was telling us about. Tell the others I’ve got Taeyong”

There was a quiet gasp in his ear at this “Of course love, good work. I’ll watch your position and send Ten or Mark to you when you get back onto the main floor”

There was a quiet chuckle in the background and Jisung’s voice calls through the comm “You might just get a promotion for this one Hyung”

Winwin snorts “We’ll see about that, I’m taking Taeyong, we’re on our way out” and with that he turns back to the others “How are we going to do this?” He asks generally, he then turns to Taeyong specifically “Can you walk at all?”

Taeyong shifts more of his weight onto Xiaojun and lifts his foot to show Win the laced up bottom.

Winwin winces “Alright” he huffs, averting his eyes and attention to the other three in the room “If you plan on coming with us watch my back” he figures he and Tae would simply have to move quickly to manage an escape even if the other three decided to alert their leader to his presence.

Winwin goes to Taeyong’s side and lifts him carefully onto his back “get comfortable, we’ll have to be quick”

Taeyong just groans quietly and rests his chin on Winwin's shoulder in response.

Hendery stands outside the door “We’ll lead you out, it’s no guarantee that we can leave with you but we can at least get you to the doors”

Hendery leads the way out, following the halls back they way they had come, Xiaojun walks directly behind Winwin, prepared to take over or help carry Taeyong and Yangyang took up the back of the group watching for anyone to show up behind them so they could slip into a room where they could defend themselves easier than in the open hallway.

Upon turning the corner into the hall where Winwin had run into Hendery and Yangyang the procession froze in its tracks.

Leisurely striding towards them, a gun loosely dangling by his side, was Seungri.

Stopping 10 feet away from the group the shark eyed man offered a cruel grin “Did you forget about the cameras?” He asked smoothly.

Yangyang had come to a stop beside Xiaojun and sucked in a quick breath upon realizing their mistake, Seungri must have seen them when they went into Taeyong’s cell.

Winwin leans his head to the side of his comm “We’ve been compromised” he murmurs, praying Yuta could send in the cavalry in time.

[the-basement-paradox]

~Boss~ Chapter 33 & Updated Character Profiles

~Chapter 33~

17

4

The beautiful, middle aged, blood soaked woman traipsed into a pristine office, throwing herself with childish frustration into a khaki leather chair, staining it dark with blood that was not her own. She looked at the young man seated in a plush, black office chair across an oak desk from her and gives a loud sigh. As he obviously hadn't reacted to her arrival.

"Yes Aunt?" the young man acknowledges not even bothering to look up at her, exasperation obvious in his voice.

"At least look at me Kwon SeungHyun" the woman snarls, her childish demeanor quickly replaced by frustrated anger she had deliberately not expressed during her previous interrogation with her youngest son.

"That isn't my surname" Seungri responds, still not looking up from his papers "If you aren't going to follow my orders at least do me the favor of getting my name right"

After some time of sitting in a room full of tense, seething silence, the young man raises his head calmly from reading the papers resting on his desk. His eyes cold and lifeless, like that of a shark's as he fixes them on the bit of chair over the shoulder of the woman who raised him. "You're staining my chair" he replies, his tone as lifeless as his ink colored eyes.

He looked his aunt up and down to assess how she was dressed and her demeanor, "I take it the interrogation was unsuccessful" he sighs, looking back down at the papers in front of him, he picked them up and shuffled through to pull out a new page and place it at the front of the stack he was reading.

"The little monster is less eager to please than he used to be" she snarls, obviously angry with the disconnect between the young man in the interrogation room and her memories of the meek little boy.

"Did you kill him?" no change in his emotionless voice from previously.

"I'm not allowed to kill them anymore am I?" she asks, her tone purposefully that of childish innocence.

"That's right, you aren't. But did you kill him?" Seungri asks, looking back up at her, his tone now laced with condescension as though he was the parent and she the unruly child.

She raised her chin, acting the part of the child, shifting up into a more poised sitting position in her leather chair smearing more of Taeyong's lifeblood across it. "I wouldn't know" she responds defiantly "Last I saw him he was passed out, the men were sewing up his wounds and preparing to transfer him to his cell, I'll have one of them stay with him to see if he survives if you so desire, Mr. Lee. Seung. Hyun."

His jaw tightened and he gave a curt nod, the only indication of his annoyance at her behavior. "Send XiaoJun to watch over him, he's the least emotional of the three in charge of the cell blocks"

The woman stands and smiles cruelly "He's also the least squeamish" she confirms as she begins to head for the door to make the order "I'll make sure to let you know if I get anything out of your dear little brother"

She stands within the open doorway and with a childish, twisted smile she excuses herself and disappears into the halls, closing the door not quite all the way behind her, obviously just to bother her perfectionist son.

After the bothersome woman had left his office Seungri stood and with a face of disgust, brought his ruined chair outside his door and wordlessly pushes the door closed, leaving the chair for whoever is passing by to take care of.

He settles back into his chair with a sigh and picks up the last report he needed to look through and begins to read through it boredly.

When his dead eyes light upon an interesting bit of information he smiles a cruel smile and sends a call through to his aunt "Come back here, my dear old mom and dad seem to have made contact with a certain rival of ours"

A gleeful giggle sounded from the other side of the call.

"Sounds like fun, son"

~Updated Character Profiles~

Lee SeungHyun(Seungri)

Age: 24

Height: 5' 10"

Occupation: BigBang member, Gang leader

Relationships: Taeyong's cousin, GD's cousin

Other: Antagonist

Kwon Jiyong (G-Dragon)

Age: 25

Height: 5' 10"

Occupation: BigBang member, former gang leader

Relationships: Taeyong's brother, Seungri's cousin

Other: His hair was supposed to be purple but pink was the closest I could find

Taeyong

Age: 23

Height: 5ft 9in

Occupation: Backup dancer and stunt man, Gang member

Relationships: Friends and student to Taeil, GD's brother, Seungri's cousin

Other: Fiery and sarcastic personality

Lee Boseok

Age: 50

Height: 5'10"

Occupation: ?

Relationships: Taeyong's uncle, GD's uncle, Seungri's father, Married to Mrs. Hyorin

Other: An irremovable steel bullet still lodged in his right knee, it still causes him pain

Lee Hyorin

Age: 46

Height: 4'11"

Occupation: ?

Relationships: Taeyong's Aunt, GD's Aunt, Seungri's Mother, The Mother's older sister, Married to Mr. Boseok

Other: sharply intelligent and well suited to strategic planning

The Mother

Age: 42

Height: 5'6"

Occupation: former gang leaders wife, gang member

Relationships: Taeyong's mother, GD's mother, Seungri's Aunt, Mrs. Hyorin's younger sister

Other: childish but cruel like none other in her surgical interrogation methods

[the-basement-paradox]

~Boss~ Chapters 31 & 32

~Chapter 31~*Potentially triggering material ahead*

17

4

That next morning a generous breakfast of steaming scrambled eggs, warm toast, and bowl of yogurt was placed out upon the table for the middle aged couple.

A certain blue haired boss placed a cool bowl of assorted fruits on the center of the table as the soft foot steps of slipper covered feet shuffled towards him.

Ten looked up to see Mrs. Hyorin and Mr. Boseok entering the room, he smiles and bows in greeting to the pair. He pulls out two chairs for the Lees and takes a seat across from them after helping them settle into their places, similar to the seating arrangement the night before.

Mrs. Hyorin smiles gently at the obviously scatterbrained young man across from her "You're bursting at the seams to speak Chittaphon" she points out in a soothing tone.

Ten smiles ruefully at the eggs and toast on his plate before he looks up to meet Mrs. Hyorin's soft gaze guiltily. "I apologize for cutting you short last night" he responds sheepishly "I have to admit I was quite-" he hesitates "shaken, by the information you gave me"

Mr. Boseok nods in understanding "Our Taeyong's story is heavier than you would expect from simply knowing him, but that isn't what she meant boy. She meant you have so many more questions you look fit to explode"

Ten nods in understanding "I have many questions" he agrees "But it's still early in the morning so I'll limit it to two if you think that is reasonable"

"If you think only two questions will be enough to satisfy your curiosity for now then by all means, ask away" Mr. Boseok responds, his tone light so as to tease the young man before him.

Ten smiles gently in response to the teasing "After these two questions I'll be able to stall my curiosity for long enough to catalog the information and allow you and Mrs. Hyorin to wake up properly" encouraged by the lull in conversation Ten continues on with his first question "How are you related to Taeyong? It is easy to know he isn't your biological son but you seem to know too much for him to have been an adoptee you had no previous relation to"

"Our nephew." Mrs. Hyorin sighs placing down her fork on the edge of her plate "His mother was and is, my younger sister. My sister often sent him to stay with us when she and her husband went out together on business for more than 5 days, any less and he stayed in the basement alone. Eventually, when his parents had finally given up on him, they sent him to live with us permanently. They even transferred custody of him to the pair of us."

Ten gives a small nod "I'm sure you took good care of him" he says, the stern stare he fixed the couple with seemed to entertain the possibility that they had treated his Taeyong wrong. But behind the challenge there was a trust and gratefulness for the pair taking Taeyong in and caring for him.

Mrs. Hyorin and Mr. Boseok nod together, to agree and affirm how they spent their time with their nephew turned son.

"Alright, I'll ask my final question before I leave you to your breakfast" Ten presses, "This one is a bit more important, who is the other son you mentioned the other day? You said both of your sons were grown and moved away but your records show you only ever had full custody over Taeyong."

Mrs. Hyorin nods slowly, she knew this question was coming, the blue haired leader before her was too smart to have missed that slip up. "This question requires a bit more explanation." She begins, sighing softly.

"Taeyong has a biological older brother, who was being groomed to take over their 'family business' but my sister was not a patient woman and even at the early age of 3 she thought her son would never be able to handle taking over the 'business' and due to some medical complications and her impatience, she could not conceive another baby. So my sister forced me to give up my soon to be born son so she could raise him as her own."

Ten takes the opportunity to interrupt her in the lull between her words "Then how did she have Taeyong?"

"Hmm?" Mrs. Hyorin questions looking up at the boss from where she had been staring at her plate in her pause.

"You said she couldn't have another baby after her first son due to medical complications, so how did she have Taeyong?"

She nods in understanding "Taeyong was the miracle baby they never wanted." She explains shortly, the pain in her voice reflecting in her sad eyes.

"Then why did she carry him to term?" Ten asked quietly, afraid of the answer.

"She may be a bad person but my sister still loves her family, and she felt bad about taking my child from me. Or so she said. We suspect she just didn't wish to deal with going in to abort the fetus and would have rathered 'dump' the unwanted child on us. Once he was born she decided she wanted to use him as a learning opportunity for the other boys, so they could get to know the punishments for bad behavior without having to experience it for themselves."

The hardened mafia boss visibly cringed at this information .

"Please understand Chittaphon, we got him out of there as soon as we could." Mr. Boseok soothes in a gentle tone, the pain in his heart amplified seeing the hatred and sorrow reflected from the depths of Ten's.

With a curt nod Ten stood. His chair scraping loudly against the floor as he rose to his full height. "True to my word I'll let you two be to finish your breakfast, when you are ready to discuss further please come to my office at the right of the door to the rooms you've been given."

And with that Ten left the pair to dine in silence as he went off to grieve for the past.

~Chapter 32~*Potentially triggering, graphic torture ahead*

17

4

The room was well lit and dingy. The grey cinder block walls were speckled with the aftermath of past interrogations, the stained concrete floor sloping slightly down to a drain in the center of the room between the feet of a bleeding man with familiar dull red hair.

Taeyong was strapped into a wooden chair, his mouth metaphorically sewn shut and the deep gashes on his forearms being physically sewn closed as he stared ahead with blazing, watering eyes and bulging veins at the viciously grinning woman in front of him.

His mother.

The beautiful, slim, silky haired woman before him, with well proportioned features twisted up into a feral, bloodstained sneer, stood leaning against an operating table covered in varying weapons. From broken bottles to butchers knives. From suture needles with corded threads to small dental drills in pristine condition. Weapons of all sorts laid on the table, excluding the scalpel dripping Taeyong's dark lifeblood held tightly in her well manicured grip.

"I'll ask again little monster. Who. Did you. Betray momma for?" she snarls, her pristine white teeth bared as she takes a low, threatening step towards her son, her bloody scalpel raised to strike him again.

Taeyong blinks his eyes clear, if only for a moment, allowing the tears in his eyes to drift down his face and out of the way of his vision, mingling with sweat as they traveled down his damp face and neck. His eyes remain fiery and defiant, only dulled by his loss of blood.

He refuses to speak.

To emphasize this point he spits a glob of blood at his mother's feet, not breaking eye contact with her.

In a flash she was crouched in front of him. Her fist against his thigh as she jams the scalpel deep into the tissue there. Taeyong throws his head back in a silent shriek as he feels the sharp metal grating against the bone of his thigh.

There was a sick glimmer in her eye as she twisted the metal object and pulled it out, creating a deep gash only 2 inches thick but many more in depth.

Taeyong's head falls forward and he pants, his damp hair dripping salty sweat into the fresh wound, his sight swimming and mind reeling from the pain.

"I don't take pleasure in this little monster, I just want to know who it is I need to kill." his mother purrs, motioning for one of the men standing at Taeyong's side, just inside his peripherals, to come forward and stitch closed the new wound. "You see Creature, we have a big deal planned and rumor has it your little NCT leader plans to block it. So momma needs to know who to kill to ensure our deal goes through" she explains, her tone sickly sweet as she slowly drags the side of the scalpel across Taeyong's sweaty cheek, wiping the blood on his skin and adding a small cut just below his cheek bone.

"No" Taeyong rasps, his voice choked and gravely as it escapes from his sore, dry throat. He fought his body silently as it urged him to convulse with every pull of the corded thread through his thigh, he fought the urge to vomit every time he felt the suture needle stab through his sensitive, already wounded flesh.

"No?" His mother asks sweetly tilting her head in a childish way as she backs away and places the scalpel down on the table in favor of a larger, serrated knife. "Even after all of this?" she asks her tone like innocently tinkling bells, waving the knife loosely at her son's battered form. "Momma doesn't want to hurt you little monster, but I need that name"

"No" he snarls again, this time baring his bloody teeth at her, his bloodshot eyes practically glowing with his vehement hatred of the woman in front of him.

She steps towards him and pulls one of his feet up into her hand, gripping like iron around his ankle, bending his body at an awkward angle with his foot higher than his head, forcing him to sit back and sink down against the chair and his too tight bonds.

"Fine then, how about you tell momma what you do know, hmm?" she requests mercilessly, her hand with the knife hanging by her side as she stares straight into her son's eyes.

"Nothing" Taeyong spits, nothing but spite and malice in his tone.

She smiles sweetly at her son and pulls the arm with the knife up quickly to draw the serrated blade forcefully up the center of his foot, starting at the heel and ending just below his middle toe. "Wrong answer" she crows gleefully.

Even the men to the sides of Taeyong were beginning to look sick as rich, dark blood spit out from the fresh wound onto the woman's black blouse and jeans. She drops the foot with a discontented sigh and motions to the men to stitch up that wound as well as she pulls Taeyong's other foot up into her grip.

"Try again Creature" She goads.

This time Taeyong was too incapacitated to speak and simply shook his sweaty head no as his entire body shrieked for the pain to end.

His mother releases a quiet 'hmph' of disappointment and slices through his foot without another second of hesitation. She drops it to the ground and watches her son's body go limp in his seat, no strength left to even sit up, she crouches in front of him and takes his hand. "Just spell it if you can't say it Little monster, spell out your little Boss' name out for momma"

Taeyong's mind couldn't be louder, alternating between shrieking in pain and trying to order him to tell her Ten's name and his primal desire to spit in her face and teach her that he was in no way her son, whatever means necessary.

But his body could no longer move without his full focus, so he simply glared, his lips sealed tight and his eyes filled past the brim with the rage of an abused young man who has had enough.

His mother's patience began to grow thin and she dragged the knife across the inside of his finger joints. Slowly, painfully creating small incisions that would pain him if his fingers even so much as twitched. She waits silently for her son to answer her.

After she had completed her task of gradually cutting up both his hands she snarled in frustration as she watched Taeyong's eyes roll back into his head right after the final incision. She raised her knife as if to jam it into the socket in her rage at his defiance but instead she sighed, tossed the knife behind her onto the operating table and gave the guards orders to chain him back in his cell.

She exited the room in a flourish of blood soaked clothing.

She had another son to visit.

[the-basement-paradox]

~Boss~ Chapters 29 & 30

~Chapter 29~

17

4

Ten was seated on the plush khaki leather drivers seat within his sleek silver car, his head tilted so far back the crown of it touched the headrest behind it. His iron and steel eyes were hidden from the world as he sat in silence, for the first time just taking a moment to stop and think.

He had never done this for anyone, besides Taeil to an extent, and hadn't exactly been put in this specific position. Ever. He wasn't sure when he decided he was willing to go to such lengths for his redheaded king, it could have been the first night the older had cooked for the whole gang, or possibly when the boss and the dancer were baking that cake for Taeil's birthday. Or maybe he made his resolution when he saw the scars upon Taeyong's torso, and smelled the sickly sweet scent of bile in the bathroom, perhaps it was then he had made a personal vow to protect the fiery older. Or maybe not. Ten couldn't be sure.

He didn't know why but he knew without a doubt, he would go to any length for his dancer.

With a soft sigh the boss twists the key and brings his car to life with a soft purr as he catches sight of a couple making their way towards him. Ten steps out of the car and offers a respectful bow to the pair, which they receive with a graceful incline of their heads.

The well groomed, blue haired man opens the car door for the middle aged couple and offers his forearm to both members of the couple with his hand closed and palm facing down in a gesture of respect.

While the woman smiles softly at the sight, appreciating the shocking politeness of the offer as she ducks into the car unaided. The man snorts lightly as he notes that the boss's forearm remains extended for his own entrance into the car, accepting the help nevertheless "Bad knees" the middle aged man mumbles in his own defense but Ten just smiles good naturedly, simply content with being helpful as he hovers for a moment making sure his honored passengers were secured into the plush seats of the car before closing the car door as softly as he could and returning to his place in the driver's seat.

After a few minutes of silence as Ten made his way through the city, being sure to make many misdirecting turns so as to obscure the location of his home, the woman, Hyorin, speaks up in a rewardingly calm tone "You are much more respectful to us than I expected Chittaphon"

Ten's steel eyes look up into the rear view mirror, their gaze clear and sharp with defensiveness "I don't recall giving you that name ma'am, but nevertheless you and your husband are my guests under my own invitation, I would never dream of being anything less than respectful"

"Do you not remember us kid?" the man, Boseok, hums, contributing with a surprisingly soft voice, his tone sounded almost disappointed with this revelation.

"I will admit you both are quite familiar in both name and face but it must have been quite a long time ago as the memories are fuzzy, I apologize" Ten responds gently, in an almost reassuring tone as he glances sheepishly at the pair seated in the back of his car.

"It's alright dear" Hyorin reassures sweetly "You were quite young, only about 9 or 10 the last time we saw you in person" she glances at her husband for reassurance that her memory had held and smiles lightly when Boseok gives her an affirming nod with a gentle affectionate smile.

"So you know about me" Ten murmurs, almost to himself, rather disconcerted by this revelation "And yet you still accepted when I reached out to you with my invitation"

"Of course" Boseok huffs gruffly "We knew you wouldn't harm us as soon as you said our Taeyong's name, you were much more gentle and hesitant in tone than we expected"

The young boss nods lightly, accepting the response, albeit begrudgingly as he pulls into the drive of his home. He pulls as close to the door as he dares and exits the car to open the doors for the couple, he opens Hyorin's door first and bows to her as he waits for her to exit the car. Once she does he closes the door and goes around the car to open the door for Boseok, whom had been awaiting assistance with a begrudgingly amused look on his face. Ten opened the door for the man and extended his crooked arm in the same manner as he had originally and helps the middle aged man out of the car before closing the door softly.

Ten bows to the pair as a small apology as he returns to his seat in the car and parks it in the garage before doing back to rejoin the patiently waiting couple. "Welcome to my home" he says respectfully, inclining his head as he holds the door open for the pair "It will be just us three for the meal tonight, please take a seat here while I go check on dinner" Ten offers, gesturing calmly to the plush couches arranged neatly around the fireplace, sighing in internal relief that the members had actually managed to tidy up the area and made a mental note to thank johnny and Jisung for it later, as they were the only ones who could have possibly listened.

The couple nods and goes to seat themselves on the comfortable couch in the front center of the curve, both taking a moment as they sit to admire the rather impressive room spread out around them. Ten had accompanied them to the couch and offers an arm to help Boseok sit down, which was gratefully accepted, and made sure they had settled well and makes the presence of the pitcher of cold water and the three cups accompanying it known to the pair before heading off quickly to the kitchen to check in on Taeil's progress on the meal.

~Chapter 30~*Possibly triggering material ahead*

17

4

The three sat in the center of the large dinner table, the blue haired mafia boss on one side and the middle aged couple on the other beside each other.

A tense silence blanketed the room, only disturbed by Taeil and Johnny's quiet footsteps as they served to food to their guests and boss.

Ten looks down at his meal and raises a dumpling up to eye level with his chopsticks and looks at it closely. "This was." he trails off before he can even complete his attempt at conversation. The blue haired boss clears his throat, sighs heavily and places the dumpling back onto his plate "This is," he said, attempting for a second time to speak "his favorite meal to prepare for us"

The pair nod and nibble lightly at their food "It was the first thing I taught him to make when he moved in with us" Mr. Boseok mumbles staring rather intensely at the ramyeon before him. "This meal was always very special to him, it was one of the only foods his mother never managed to ruin for him"

Ten had filled his mouth delicately with food, so instead of a verbal response and polite inquiry he cocks his head to display his curiosity as he chews.

"Taeyong's mother was very insistent that he maintain a certain figure in order to create a... visually pleasing, presentation of her family to the world whenever they went out. So, in short, she was rather strict about his eating habits" Mrs. Hyorin explains kindly, her benevolent tone laced in poison for what her sister had done to the young redhead.

Ten swallows his next mouthful of food slowly as he comes to process this information. As he did so he recalled the apple from one of the first nights Taeyong had lived among the gang, and the several supervised meals he had shared with the redhead afterwards. An unconscious growl rumbles up from the blue haired man's throat as he came to understand the context implied within this information.

Ten looks up at the couple with steel eyes blazing bright and silver with an emotion akin to rage, but when he spoke his voice was soft, the sharpness behind the cottony covering of his tone matched the emotions in his eyes but the gentleness of his delivery helped to soften the blow.

"Is there anything else about Taeyong's past, before he came to you, that I should know about?"

The couple looked at each other then to Ten, silently agreeing to surrender whatever information would be reasonable.

Mrs. Hyorin squared her shoulders and took a deep breath "What would you like to know" she asks strongly, staring Ten right in the eyes in such a way that a guilty man would have been forced to look away.

Ten held his gaze steady on Mrs. Hyorin's "everything" he says quietly before sitting back from his position leaning over the food before him "Everything you can tell me that will not cross too personal a line with Taeyong, I would prefer to get any personal specifics directly from him."

Mrs. Hyorin nods serenely and sits back, taking a slow blink before she begins to share and impersonal, or as impersonal as she could, account of the horrors Taeyong had been subjected to until he had come to live with them at age 11.

She spoke carefully of how as a young boy he was often left to his own devices within his home, which stayed completely locked at all times. Not a single friend was made through out those years.

She spoke tentatively of the verbal abuse Taeyong would receive from his mother whenever she saw him, how she would comment on his weight and looks during meals and the passing murmurs of disapproval of everything she saw her son doing.

Mrs. Hyorin spoke warily of his father's physical abuse, how the instant he deviated against the rules he would be beaten and locked into the musty, lightless basement for days on end with little more than the clothes on his back and a single can of whatever canned food happened to be closest for his father to throw at him at the time.

To complete her rough outline of the horrors Taeyong had been forced to face in his childhood Mrs. Hyorin described to the livid mafia boss the condition of the basement in more extreme detail.

She described in great detail the frigid concrete floors and walls, the rotting wooden stairs, the broken bulb in the only socket in the room and the boarded up window that had been smashed in one of Taeyong's father's fits of rage.

She illustrated a room devoid of all light, the moist, dirty air so thick that if you breathed too deeply you might choke. The cold concrete floors covered with layer upon layer of dust that would nearly suffocate you if you attempted to lay in it to sleep.

Finally she told Ten about the stench, the putrid stench of decay radiating off of the innumerable amounts of dead mice and rats that hid within the dust on the floors. The sickly sweet smell of vomit coming from all over showing its ugly self for days after Taeyong had been released from the blackness of his own personal hell.

Before Mrs. Hyorin could have possibly continued any further Ten held up a shaking hand for her to stop. He stood in his place with one hand upon the table to support himself and the other still raised.

The nauseous blue haired boss looked up slowly at the couple who looked back sadly at the shaken man, he opened his mouth and spoke slowly "I believe I must take some time to process this, we have a set of rooms prepared for you two to share for the time being Taeil will guide you to them.

Please accept to stay, we still have much to discuss"

[the-basement-paradox]

~Boss~ Chapters 27 & 28

~Chapter 27~

17 4

Taeyong shivers slightly as he remembers the lies Jiyong had told and the cold, calculative look in the older's eyes during the meeting all those weeks ago. He hisses quietly hoping to indicate the older to be quiet, after all, he didn't quite know the range of the mics that were 'hidden' around the room.

"I'm Jiyong, we might as well get to know each other, I mean we are linked together for now, chain-linked in fact." GD didn't even seem to hear the subtle hint the red head had sent him and continues at the same obnoxious volume, awarding himself a dry laugh for his own joke.

Taeyong wishes he could give a snort of laughter at his Hyung's lame attempt at trying to get him to speak but he holds his tongue. He was hoping that his silence would discourage the elder from speaking.

But, of course, nothing short of a rather loud scolding could discourage the older so Jiyong continued on his tangent, trying to get his mysterious companion in captivity to speak and at least keep him company. As he spoke he got closer and closer to revealing certain secrets before Taeyong finally was forced to intervene.

"Kwon Jiyong you better shut the hell up before you get our asses killed" he snarls as quietly as he could while still being effective, shrinking down where he sits and turning his head towards the hole in the wall so as to keep his words from traveling too close to the receiver of the closest mic.

There was an electric silence for a moment. Before Jiyong spoke up again, this time much more hesitant and quiet, obviously shaken by his revelation of knowing his partner in the insanity of the mostly plain white rooms "Tae?"

Taeyong didn't speak, desperately hoping his rambling Hyung would have been discouraged by his lack of response, especially after his initial threat.

"Tae what the hell are you doing down here, I thought T-"

"Jiyong I thought I told you to shut the hell up" Taeyong snarls again, this time with more force than the last, fearfully knowing that his Hyung would be questioned later about him. He also knew he himself was bound to be questioned soon especially after this encounter. "You're going to get both of us killed" he murmurs careful to keep his voice as low as possible "I'm only here because I helped one of their unwilling operatives escape, they don't know anything more and I'm going to keep it that way, I swear I'll kill you myself if they find out any more than that."

"You got Taeil out?" Jiyong asks his voice low, finally having caught the hint to quiet down, but obviously not the hint to shut up "You're sure that's all they know?"

Taeyong makes a quiet noise of confirmation but then frowns softly "How do you know Taeil?" He asks quietly, his voice soft as he asks about his Hyungie, knowing the dance instructor hadn't been mentioned between him and his Hyung until this point.

"You already knew I lied about being a part of a gang" Jiyong says softly almost hesitating to speak, his voice carried the muted weight of shame "This was my father's gang, I was in charge of the active prisoners. I knew Taeil well, he was the only one who never struggled, even so we could never get anything out of him. He was incredible, we would try to question him and he would turn the questions on us and even get an answer once and awhile. So we tried to send him out and let him build some sort of relationship to use against him"

Taeyong was struck silent for a moment at this information and kneads at his right palm with his thumb absentmindedly as he processes and catalogs the newfound knowledge, causing him to completely reevaluate his perception of his Hyung. Once he recovers he makes an effort to smile slightly "From what I know of my Hyungie that sounds about right" he murmurs, a gradual seed of pride swelling in his chest at the praises for the freed gang member. "If this is your gang," he murmurs a curious tone in his voice, realizing just how odd a situation this was "Why are you chained up down here?"

Jiyong chuckles quietly "Funny story" he hums softly, sounding sheepish, he takes a deep breath within his pause before he starts his story "I never told my gang about you, the members are rather ruthless, even, no, especially, to their leader. Even in the beginning they didn't think I'd be strong enough to lead them effectively, they ar- were always searching for a reason to challenge me for my role. So, I guess long story short, when they found me taking money from the gang's deals and general income they didn't hesitate for a second to accuse me of embezzlement and throw me down here. Which is sort of ironic if you think about it" he offers a dry apologetic laugh for his final sentence and the story's contents.

Taeyong sighs "That's not a funny story Hyung, I know that money would have been to get me back" he murmurs his tone hardening and sharpening itself as he speaks quietly "I know you want what's best for me, you have since I was a kid, but I think it's time you let me go, I was perfectly content to live the rest of my life within Ten's gang, hell I still would be if I ever get back there, the money would have only freed me to have a choice"

"I can't just stop watching over you Tae, especially now, especially here. I swore to Auntie and Uncle I would protect you always, especially when they weren't protecting you anymore" Jiyong mutters guiltily, his voice seeming to mold and shrink away from Taeyong's sharp tone, but remained solid in it's conviction nevertheless.

"Dammit Jiyong I'm an adult" Taeyong snarls, almost too loud before he reigns in his volume and emotions to continue in a quiet angry hiss "I can protect myself, I'll be okay, my Father is dead, and my Mother is nowhere to be found, neither of them are close enough to hurt me anymore. I've been in contact with my Aunt and Uncle and they are well."

There was a long silence before Jiyong's voice shivers through the air, so thick with anxiety and distress in tone Taeyong felt like he could reach out and hold the treacherous words in his hands

"Our mother is here Taeyongie" Jiyong murmurs softly, his voice wavering and hesitating on the bombshell truth.

Taeyong's mind instantly rejects the information as violently as his stomach had rejected the apple from one of his first days within Ten's home. "What, What do you mean our mother is here" he stutters, his voice dangerously soft, wavering as it passes through his lips and he gives a soft mirthless laugh, which in itself was scarier than the time he had scolded the members of NCT, which felt almost like a year ago to the redhead dancer. "Sure I call you 'Hyung' Jiyong, but that doesn't mean we're really siblings"

"Tae this isn't a joke. Our mother is here, within this very complex, as soon as she hears that you're here there's going to be hell to pay and as soon as she realizes why I was stealing money I'm afraid we are both going to wish we were dead"

~Chapter 28~

17

4

There was a moment of silence on the other side of the phone before the, obviously female, voice crackles through the receiver again "I'm sorry, who is this? Our sons have grown up and moved out of our home, did something happen to them?"

"No Mrs. Lee.." Ten hums soothingly, taking a mental note that Taeyong seemed to have a brother "As far as I am aware your sons are fine, I simply know your son Taeyong personally and wanted to call the wonderful people whom had raised him to come and enjoy a meal at my home as a thank you for raising my friend so well"

The blue haired mafia leader spoke in a honeyed tone, laying his sincerity on thick to help put the couple more at ease. He listened to the soft murmuring on the other end of the line as the older couple discussed his proposal. They seemed to come to a conclusion as their muffled chattering stops and Mrs. Lee Hyorin's wary voice crawled through the receiver into Ten's eagerly waiting ear.

"Will our son be there for the meal?"

"Unfortunately not Miss, Tomorrow happens to be the only day I am free for a while and Taeyong ssi happens to have a previous engagement for that particular date." Ten says sweetly, hoping his gut wrenching half truth would be enough.

There was an ever longer pause in the conversation causing the blue haired man's curiosity and level of impatience to spike, he had opened his mouth to encourage the pair when a shuffling could be heard against his ear and a man's voice comes through clearly "When, where and what would we be eating"

There was a gruff, wary tone in the man's voice that made Ten smile perversely "I was hoping you and your wife could arrive around 5:30 pm if that's alright with you Mr. Lee, we would be eating in my home which I will come get you and bring you to tomorrow and, in honor of the favorite meal Taeyong ssi has fed me and our friends, we would be having homemade ramyeon with accompanying pork and potato dumplings made from scratch. Is all of that sufficient?" Ten responds, adding the appropriate amount of excited joy to brighten his vocal tone so as to indicate that to him the date was set to meet with them, hoping it would spark them to accept easier.

There was another mumbling silence from the other side of the phone as the Lee's deliberated over the offer from the mysterious friend of their younger son.

Finally the rough voice of Mr. Lee sighs through to Ten's ear "You seem so prepared for this meal so it would be rude to decline, we would love to meet with you." after these words Ten smiles broadly knowing he would soon be much closer to finding His King "Would you like us to send you our address? You mentioned you would like to pick us up?"

"Yes thank you you can just give it to me now over the phone if it's all the same to you" the blue haired boss offers, the smile on his face leaking into his tone, only helping encourage the couple to place their trust in him.

"Alright we live on 127th, the third apartment building when you come in from the south, we can meet you outside at the front. When do you expect to arrive again?"

"I think I would be there to pick you up at around 5pm? Does that sound alright?" Ten hums playing well into the roll of the friendly best friend.

"5pm Tomorrow works just fine, thank you for the invitation young man"

"Of course, I'll see you then, watch for a silver car, thank you for accepting, Good Bye Mr and Mrs Lee!"

And with that cheerful farewell Ten hung up the phone and sighed. The blue haired mafia sat back in his chair and ran his hand through his hair and glanced at the door to find Johnny and Taeil staring at him their expressions more or less unreadable.

"What the hell do you two want" The leader huffs, fixing the eldest and his lover with a firm, unamused glare as the pair's faces break out into shit eating grins.

"We just wanted to let you know that our guest's rooms are ready but you were being so soft and sweet on the phone we didn't want to distract you" Taeil says sweetly, his grin lighting up his features with his excitement at the chance to tease the cold little man seated in front of him. He gives his leader a little wink before taking his lover's hand beginning a hasty retreat.

Before the door closes behind Johnny he calls out over his shoulder with a grin for his leader "So glad we finally get to meet your in-laws"

And with that the door closed and maniacal giggling ensued as the pair of lovers ran away from their angered leader.

"Watch your back Johnny" Ten mutters as he gets up to go finish preparing for tomorrow before heading to bed.

"Because for the next month I'm not going to watch it for you" He murmurs vengefully as he flips off the light and exits his office.

[the-basement-paradox]

~Boss~ Chapters 25 & 26

~Chapter 25~

17

4

Coffee eyes flutter open to view the thick, stained, off-white bricks through their exhaustion blurred lenses. Restless ears are assailed by the unfamiliar clinking of the thick chain that rested in the form of a burdenful cuff upon a black jeaned ankle.

The tired coffee eyes blink away the blur and the faded red hair that framed them hangs down as the pale caramel skinned face and head shifts down to allow the coffee iris' to peer in through the small tunnel that contained the links of the chain that connected the bound ankle with that of a newfound companion chained on the other side of the cinder block wall.

The cramped, faded redhead watches as black loafer covered feet make their way past the gap in the wall out of the room, away from its newly bound occupant whom they had chained to the other side of the chain, binding the redhead to the owner of the dark grey, jean covered ankle and leg to each other for the time being.

Taeyong didn't dare to speak to his new companion even in a whisper until he was sure he knew the range of the mics that were set up around his, and likely his chain mate's, room.

He was quickly allowing his curiosity to get the best of him as he prepared himself to softly question his unfamiliar neighbor. Before he can open his mouth and make contact with his neighbor his door opens and one of three familiar black haired figures approaches him after closing the stained door behind him.

Yang gives a sheepish smile for the bound Taeyong as he holds up his offering of a dull metal tray that held a small bread roll, a smaller stack of sliced, processed, mystery meat, and an even smaller glass of water.

Yang glances at the camera beside the painting meaningfully as he schools his features back into the blank stare his profession required as he steps forward into the view of the three cameras that were hidden among the items within the dingy room.

Taeyong made the mental note to remember, the door frame is a blind spot. He nodded ever so slightly to express his gratitude and understanding as the slightly shorter male approached him at his resting place beside the hole in the wall.

Yang set down the tray almost silently beside the elder and as he goes to straighten up he murmurs into Teyongs ear, in a voice so soft it was nearly imperceptible, even to Taeyong.

"Give him a chance"

Tae resists the strong urge to furrow his brows and question the black haired male, but before he could have even made an attempt the other male was gone. Leaving Taeyong alone with the small tray of food that made his stomach churn and his neighbor through the thick cinder block wall.

With a quiet scrape Tae pulls the tray towards himself. At the sound he hears his neighbor rustle softly and peaks to see that the liquid he had seen that had darkened the grey pant leg was from a slight gash just below the knee. He pulled his face away from the hole as he saw the body of his companion twist so he could peer through on his own.

Taeyong froze and waited silently for the unwilling companion to react vocally. It seemed the other man had seen Tae's leg through the hole in the wall to confirm his suspicion of being a neighbor.

An unmistakable voice rings out and Taeyong could not help it as his coffee eyes widen in shock. The voice was slightly gravelly from overuse but the smooth, high tone beneath it was easy to recognize.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know I had a companion in this miserable cell"

Kwon Jiyong.

~Chapter 26~

17

4

Ten sighed ever so softly as he reviewed the words he had bulleted on a sheet of milky lined paper from the night before over his meager breakfast of scrambled eggs coupled with a pair of golden brown slices of generously buttered toast.

The name of His King was scrawled neatly across the top, two smaller names were nestled beneath it atop the two emergency contact numbers he had found on Taeyong's government profile.

Once the mob boss was done with his meal he pulled himself up and out of his chair and cleaned his dishes. He placed them away and brought his paper to the tech room where he had to knock aggressively once he found that the door was being held closed by an internal weight leaning against it.

He sighed and ran a hand through his lightly tousled hair as he listens to the quiet shuffling of the two techies as they straightened themselves out to greet their leader.

The door was pulled open by the pair of flushed, rumpled, and swollen lipped, brown haired boys who looked rather embarrassed to have been caught by their leader.

Ten sighed once more "Look you two, I don't care if the pair of you decide to get it on but for god's sake do it in the privacy of your room, the tech room doesn't belong to you and I'd hate to find any stains" the leader huffed and wrinkled his nose at the pair and Yuta hid himself behind his love, his face a bright crimson, similar to that of the blinking red lights of the technology behind himself.

Winwin snickers lightly "We hear ya loud and clear boss, what can we do for you?" he ruffles his hair with a free hand, taming it a little as he leaves his other hand intertwined with Yuta's behind his back.

Ten offers a small smile of peace to lessen the obvious tension in the room "I need you two to find this couple for me, I need to get in contact with them as soon as possible" he offers the paper he had been reviewing at breakfast to the techies.

Winwin takes the paper and looks at it with a frown "These names aren't affiliated with any gangs in the area, they look like normal citizens" he looks up with a skeptical eyebrow raised "What the hell do you want with a pair of citizens old enough to be your parents"

"I can fill you in after you find them for me" Ten responds coldly, obviously not in the mood for being questioned all of a sudden. He turns on his heels and marches himself out of the room with Titan loyally padding along on his heels.

The disheveled boss then makes his way to the hall that held his and Taeyong's rooms, there was one final suite of rooms in this area which he was off to prepare for his future guests, as Taeyong's guardians for his young life they were to be treated well until proven they shouldn't be.

Not long later the mob boss could be found supplying the shower and bath with various soaps and placing clean white sheets over the plush mattress.

That was precisely what happened, the two techies had gone to report to the boss in his office but found the door to the unused suite open and a light shining onto the dark oak floors outside it.

"We found them boss" Yuta calls into the room to interrupt the leader, the techie looked around the room with a frown before looking back to his leader who was approaching them "Who the hell are they that you're doing this yourself?"

"Taeyong's guardians" Ten says not even looking at the techies as he snatched the papers they had brought for him out of Winwin's hands.

"What could they do to help us find him?" Yuta asks slightly exasperated.

"They raised him" Ten huffs, exasperated himself "They'd know everything about him from age 11 through age 20"

Winwin resigns himself to his leader's odd logic with a soft sigh and a nod "When should we expect to go collect them"

"I'll let you know" Ten says still reading the papers as he goes mobile, he dismisses the two with a wave and heads to his office without so much as a look as he takes in the details of the couple and the updated phone number.

Without a second thought he punches the number into his phone and holds it to his ear, after a few skeptical rings the phone is picked up and a deep voice crackles through the receiver "Hello?"

Ten smiles lightly glad to hear a response "Hello" he greets as he sits back in his chair "Is this the residence of Mr. Lee Boseok and Mrs. Hyorin?"

"It is..."

"Good, I'm calling in regards to your son-"

[the-basement-paradox]

~Boss~ Chapters 23 & 24

~Chapter 23~

17

4

He was roughly tugged into a room that he couldn't see, after the briefest of breaths of fresh air between the silver van he was pulled into the must and dust of the heavily shadowed room he could vaguely see the outline of through the red covering over his eyes.

His heart sunk and his breathing sped up animalistically, he was prepared to fight tooth and nail if only to get him out of the filthy room that reminded of his childhood hell.

As if they had noticed his lean body tensing the two men holding him up by the biceps tightened their grips slightly and with sympathetic glances at the bound boy between them. They followed their third comrade through a long twisted hall and down a flight of steps to a second room, noticeably cleaner, at least in air quality, than the first.

"Why him" the male holding Taeyong's left arm murmured to his friends, a baleful tone in his smooth voice.

"Xiao's right Yang, I really don't like this" the boy on the redhead's right agreed softly as he and Xiao lowered the redhead to the ground as gently as they could.

The third male, Yang, sighed and crouched in front of the bound boy, reaching carefully around him and gently removing the red blindfold from Taeyong's itchy eyes "I know Hen, I don't like this either" he murmurs looking blinking redhead directly in the eyes.

Taeyong scans the other's eyes with his own chocolate, red rimmed ones once they had adjusted to the sudden brightness and comes to the conclusion that he was being told the truth. There was a genuine sense of sorrow and apology behind Yang's iris'.

Yang purposely flicks his eyes to a few discrete places around the room, Taeyong carefully traced the glances to the corner of a creepy painting of withered freesia and roses arranged in a black vase with a single stalk tall white lily in the center of the bowed, bleak, colorless blossoms. The only color was the green of the stem and interior of the white flower in the center of the painting. He shivered slightly as he recognizes the flowers and controls his reaction to the small red blinking light that gave away the location of a tiny camera at the bottom right corner of the foreboding painting.

He followed Yang's glances a few more times and found a total of 3 small cameras, which were placed to get rid of as many blind spots as possible, and two little wire mics, one beside where he was seated and another beside a long gurney style bed, that looked in no way clean, on the other side of the small room.

Taeyong looked back at Yang and blinked as if he had something in his eye to show that he had seen them and hoped the other understood his gratitude. At least he knew he had possible allies within this place, even if they were the ones to bring him here.

He watched as Xiao approached, pulling a key from a thin chain around his neck and pulling a cuffed, thick, but not thick enough to be too heavy to move, chain to clasp around his ankle. Xiao used the key to lock it in place tight enough that Tae couldn't pry off the metal band but not so tight that it would pain him much through his black ripped jeans. Xiao looked up at him apologetically and Tae nods almost imperceptibly to show he understood.

When Xiao had backed away and replaced the key around his neck Taeyong followed the long length of chain from his ankle to where it snaked through the wall into a different cell on the other side of the thick concrete wall, where it could be connected to the ankle of another hostage in the adjacent room. The length of chain that was within Tae's room at that time was enough for him to comfortably lay himself on the bed at the opposite side of the room without bothering whoever was on the other side.

Upon closer inspection Tae could see that there was a thick steel rod threaded through the cuff on the other side of the thick wall, meaning the other room was out of use. A pity, he could have used some company in this crazy-making, dirty, white room.

He decided it was for the best though, at least there was one less person sharing his fate. He watched as the three men unbound his wrists and ankles with gentle hands and watched still more, with the same blank face he had kept up since he had entered the room, feeling the lenses of the cameras focus on him, he watched as his three possible allies file out of the room one by one. Each giving him a baleful glance as they left him behind.

He knew his fate was an occupational hazard of being involved with the mafia.

And he supposed he could learn to be alright with that.

~Chapter 24~

17

4

Late into the night Ten could be found just behind the door to his rooms, in his office, vigorously alternating between typing and scrolling. The only light in the small room being the bright monitor of his computer lighting up his face ominously as he eagerly eyed the words that flashed by on the light source.

He was caught in the depths of the restricted government program that held all of the information on its citizens. Now he was no hacker but what sort of feared mafia leader would he be if he couldn't do something as simple as access his country's secure databases to find all of the possible information he could ever receive impersonally about a target, or in this case, His King.

After searching for nearly an hour the disheveled boss finally lit upon the profile he had been searching for. Lee Taeyong. Born in Seoul South Korea on July 1, 1995, a fact Ten was sure to remember for the future. Diagnosed with Mysophobia (a fear of contamination and germs), another fact Ten was sure to remember. And accepted into SM entertainment as a back up dancer in 2012.

The blue haired man's eyebrows furrowed slightly, there didn't seem to be any other important information beyond what he had seen, there was no copy of a complete birth certificate, no names of parents or siblings. The only information he could pull through the next half hour of gradual coaxing was the names of his guardians from the age of 11-20 and a possibly inactive phone number to contact them by in an emergency.

Ten yawned as he noted down the names and contact information of the couple before Titan whined and nuzzled his ankle from her place at his feet, asking him to please check the time and go to bed.

He looked at the clock and chuckled softly to find '1:23am' written at the bottom corner of his computer screen. He looks down at Titan and smiled sheepishly "I assume I'll have to attempt to contact Mrs. and Mr. Lee later today then" he hummed gently as he tugged lightly on her ear, signalling that she was to get up and wait for him beside the door that connected his office to his bedroom.

She snorts softly to inform him that her master's little joke wasn't as funny as he thought. She rolls herself off of the floor at the blue haired man's feet and tiredly sits beside the door to the bedroom as she carefully watches him close down his computer.

Ten gets to his feet and pads to Titan, he pats her head gently before opening the door to allow her inside his dark bedroom. He blindly padded to the side of his bed and reaches to cast the dark sheets and frame of his bed in the soft, warm glow of the lamp on his nightstand.

He pulled his deep, royal blue blazer from his shoulders and carefully draped it over the back of a recliner, careful not to disturb the contents of it's pocket. He then moved on to unbutton the already mostly unbuttoned white dress shirt he had worn underneath and lays it atop the blazer. He then peels off his grey skinny jeans and lets them crumple in the seat of the chair alongside his socks, leaving him in a pair of navy boxers.

He goes to his black sheeted bed and curls up beneath the sheets where he found Titan patiently waiting for him, perfectly understanding his lack of energy when it came to changing from his tight boxers to at least a pair of loose shorts.

Ten curled up with an arm draped over Titan's back and her side pressed against his bare chest, as was the customary way for the pair to fall asleep. Titan licked his cheek gently as her usual way of wishing him goodnight and huffed softly as she rested her head finally between her paws.

Ten lied there that night for another hour, letting his mind wander through all of the thoughts, emotions and experiences he had forced himself out of feeling or experiencing that day. He knew pondering what he couldn't have or do wasn't the best way to get himself to forget his need for them but he also knew that he wouldn't be able to rest until he had given each situation at least a passing thought as he slowly slipped into sleep via his nightly ritual.

His mind curiously, though not exactly surprisingly, continued to wander back to the information the mob boss had learned about a certain redhead. He wasn't sure what it was, whether it be the image of Taeyong that revealed itself every time Ten closed his eyes or the way something in his mind had clicked when he had seen the stolen elder's name written out on his computer screen, but his mind would not and could not rest from circling through his memories of Taeyong.

The restless sifting through of memories within Ten's mind blissfully came through in the form of his dreams, allowing the man to rest while he reviewed what he knew.

He started from the newest of the memories he held of the older, beginning with the most painful of them all, the vivid coffee eyes of the redhead pleading for him to go while he can as Tae looked up through dark lashes from beneath the aggressive hold of the pair of his assailants, the scrape upon his cheek already beginning to bead with his precious lifeblood, making Ten's own boil within his veins.

Then he moved on to more bittersweet memories, ones of drinking a whole bottle of wine with the cute older after a well executed family dinner and teasing each other as they baked a fruit topped cake for the missing Taeil's birthday.

His unconscious mind then began to sift through the oldest memories that Ten held for the red head, memories of the sweaty man barging in on his conversation with Jiyong, memories of watching the red haired male sinfully moving his lithe body to the music, in perfect harmony to his own as they danced back up for the very same Jiyong.

His trip down memory lane even took him so far back that he recalled when he had first laid eyes on the pale, moonlit face of His King on that fateful mission only a handful of weeks ago, though it felt like it could have been an eternity since the event.

But it didn't stop there. Ten's mind traveled back to the chest it kept with all of it's most precious memories of his young life, his brow furrowed slightly in his restful state as his mind began hunting through his favorite childhood memories in search for one in particular.

Finally it lit upon the sweet memory Ten cherished of playing with a young boy, a year older than him at the time, outside the life of the mafia, where he was free to have fun in whatever way he and his companion pleased.

Ten's young dream self stared into the familiar chocolate doe eyes of his childhood playmate and his confused brows furrowed even further as a name flashed behind his eyelids, as bright and clear as they had been in the center of his computer screen a mere hour or so ago.

Lee Taeyong

[the-basement-paradox]

~Boss~ Chapters 21 & 22

~Chapter 21~ *Possibly triggering material ahead*

17

4

Taeyong was seated in the back of the silver van, his palms, knees, elbow, and left cheekbone were scraped raw. Little beads of ruby blood pooled upon the scratches.

The metallic substance rolled down his itching wrist and forearm to slick the skin beneath the tight chafing steel cuffs. There was a red blindfold over his eyes to prevent him from seeing through the incredibly tinted windows with little wet streaks seeping onto his cheek and soaking stingingly into the scrape over the bone.

There were quiet voices in the front half of the van, not far from where he was bound and he listened quietly to the conversation, hoping to find out at least the names of his secondary kidnappers.

He quickly found that in his current circumstance he was too surrounded by triggers to concentrate on the words flowing quietly towards his ears.

First and foremost on his mind was the reddish darkness that tinted his eyesight when he opened them against the blindfold, it was reminiscent of the darkness in the filthy basement room his father would have locked him in for days on end for disobeying him even in the slightest.

Second was the comfortable fullness he felt in his stomach, it reminded him of, after his parents leaving out on yet another family meal, his mother making her usual passing comments on his figure and weight, which would usually leave him with a pair of fingers down his throat, retching and crying in the bathroom for a few hours. Just the thought made the bile rise in his throat once again and his sore eyes sting.

The final trigger he could manage to acknowledge other than the itchy sweat and blood drying on his filthy skin, was the whispering. Oh god the muttering, the mumbles that his brain was positive were about himself, he didn't have to hear it to know.

People were always gossiping about the weak ones, he didn't want to be the weak one, he didn't want to believe it at the very least. But if he weren't the weak one then how had he come to be kidnapped not once but twice over the course of a few measly weeks.

And so, as was natural with so many triggers nearby, the stinging tears flowed down his face in hot, salty rivers, darkening the red fabric covering their source, his breathing accelerated to an almost animalistic pace as his mind frantically began to search for memories of thoughts that could counteract the panic and pure terror that was assailing him.

He couldn't hug his own body and rock himself with his bound hands and pretend it was his sweet aunt rocking him as she murmured gentle soothing words into his panicked ears. There were no caring, loving words for him now.

All of a sudden the panic stopped, his hands stopped shaking in their achy, itchy, chafing cuffs, the rivers of hot, stinging, itchy tears slowed and eventually ceased, and finally his rapid, rabid breathing slowed.

Though his heartbeat remained beating at a rapid pace, though now for a different reason. To put it simply his mind had struck on memory gold, it had found a memory locked away in the darkest corner of itself and dared to unlock it.

Upon doing so it was filled with a melodic laughter, the innocent giggles of two playing children. The giggles of his only, though the relationship was quite brief, true friend in his youth.

Sure his aunt and uncle were good to him, cared for and protected him well, nothing they did could compare to the companionship of someone his own age.

The memory came for long ago in his youth, when he was newly 10 years of age and his companion 9. They had met for the first time through the hedge fence separating their homes, in an instant the bright eyed 10 year old had made his way through the fence and to his new friend, where they proceeded to play any game they could have possibly thought to play.

They played games from Tag to Kings and queens. Their imaginations were their only limits, it was the first time in Taeyong's still short life that he had been free to play however he pleased and the young boy could have thought there was no better way to do so than with the only real friend he could have.

Even though his father and mother weren't to find out about the 9 year old savior of the 10 year old boy he still played to his heart's content and reveled in the laughter of pure joy that he and his friend participated in.

As it reveled in it's newly discovered memory Taeyong's mind began to search the memory's details, for a name or a face that could remind him of who the other boy had been, maybe in a vain attempt to know if they had ever met again.

His search came up with only two key details, a pair of striking, clear, innocent and playful grey eyes and a rather difficult name.

Chittaphon Lee.

~Chapter 22~

17

4

Ten stood within the kitchen, before him on the counter there were a few of the very ingredients used within the first meal Taeyong had made for the members of the gang. The ingredients for the potato and pork dumplings accompanied by the ingredients for a fresh vegetable ramyeon surrounded a small stack of fresh fruits and at its forefront laid a single kiwi, of which Ten could not keep his steel eyes from watching.

There was a gentle knock on the white trimmed frame of the unique frosted glass doored entrance to the kitchen and not long after, a small, nearly silent creak sounded from the wall beside it as the wall sagged ever so slightly as Taeil's form rested against it.

Taeil smiles softly with sad eyes at his distracted leader "Our Taeyongie was quite a funny boy you know" he says gently as he raises himself from against the door frame and goes to his leader's side and placing his hand lightly upon his nearby shoulder "Did you know... Numbers are scared of fruits" the eldest quotes with a soft, airy chuckle.

Ten shrugs the hand off from his shoulder and his iris' harden slightly against Taeil's words "Taeyong is a funny boy" he snarls softly, he steps forward and tosses the central kiwi over his shoulder into the hands of the shocked Taeil "Peel and slice the fruits for dinner" he sighs, his back was to the eldest as he sectioned up the ingredients of the ramyeon and dumplings.

The leader began to prepare the ingredients silently, following the steps ingrained in his memory through watching the fluid movements of his missing prize, as the surprised eldest takes the rest of the fruits to a cutting board and begins to follow his leader's orders.

The pair worked in silence to prepare the nostalgic meal for the gang of melancholy young men they cared for. The noodles and handmade dumplings boiled softly within their pot of broth, the fruits carefully piled up and placed out on ceramic plates, prepared decoratively to hopefully bring at least a small hint of joy and color to the gloomy men for whom they were prepared for.

The boiled food soon found its way in generous portions into large bowls in hopes of enticing the distressed members into fully supplying their shriveled appetites with ample food.

The distress and lack of appetite of the gang members was odd but not unimaginable, after all for weeks after losing their dear eldest their appetites had decreased to merely one meal per day, if that, and their idle, joyful chattering had descended into only a scattered, near silent murmur, hardly heard over the soft whirring of the AC system and the misplaced cheer of the crackling of the hearth fire.

Their behavior didn't quite match the extreme of losing their eldest member currently though it was still peculiarly severe, after all Taeyong had only been an associative face among them for a few sparse weeks.

The gracious leader and the recovered eldest worked their hardest to stave off the unhealthy grieving habits of the other members, though the habits of the leader did not go entirely unnoticed.

It was noticed when the mob boss was nowhere to be found for hours on end, only to appear outside of his rooms when a member went to check his office and rooms for the umpteenth time.

It was noticed that the steel eyed man's plush lips were sealed for such long amounts of time that he would have to clear his throat every time he wished to speak, no matter the occasion, if he wished to release a sound from between his chapped pink lips.

It was noticed when the fading blue haired man stood before his members to hand out assignments in a disheveled state, suit top often buttoned incorrectly, collar of his button ups half up, his fading, dyed hair disheveled and ratty, his loyal dog close beside him every step he took, as if to aid him in the direction he meant to go, and his pale skin. The leader was a naturally pale man of course, it was part of the job to remain in the shadows. Though the milky scars that tattooed across the visible planes of his body that used to be visible against his slightly tanned skin now seemed to only be slight ridges of naturally colored skin, their shade no different from the untorn flesh around them.

The disheveled, pale leader and the calm eldest served the meal to the silent members gathered together at the large family table. Each reaction of shock varied slightly as each bowl of the memorable meal was placed in front of the solemn members before the most extreme reaction yet to come from a member after Ten's initial outburst of silent fury.

Jisung cried.

The youngest of the young men allowed a tear to slide smoothly down his flawless cheek to dampen the fabric of his shirt collar as it mapped it's way down the planes and edges of the boy's face and neck.

Another engorged tear followed the first.

Then another.

This continued until the youngest finally slid his chair back away from the meal to prevent salting the already salt rich meal with the liquid that streamed from before his clouded vision.

Ten gestured for the others to eat as much as they could as he went to the youngest's side and whisked him away to a different place. The other members could hardly react to the youngest's silent outburst as they ate their fill in melancholy silence.

Ten brought the youngest to the place of the hallway between his personal rooms and Taeyong's, offering a silent option to the young one he supported in his arms, let out his grief among the sheets and pillows of the cause of his tears and grief, or retire to the leader's rooms to gather himself and bottle it all up.

Jisung looked between the rooms for a long while, his blurry vision scanning the doors as if waiting for one to burst open for him and reveal the answer to his troubles, he took a single step towards Ten's rooms before he remembered the night Taeyong had stayed up late with him, and the advice the redhead had carefully spoken specially for the young one's ears.

The youngest had been having another rough night of missing his eldest hyung. He had been plagued by his usual nightmares and had gone to his frequented late night place beside the fireplace where he could pull his broken pieces back together to the sound of the cheerful crackling and popping of the flames. Jisung would never forget what the fire-headed hyung had told him that night.

Taeyong had entered the dim room to find the maknae staring intensely at the flames, as he had silently discovered was a normal occurrence for the youngest via his late night visits to the kitchen to cook breakfast in secrecy. The young one seemed to be silently urging the flames to simply swallow him up and burn away the tense misery that rested on his shoulders.

The older came to Jisung's side from behind the couch with soft barefoot steps and spoke gently to him in a reassuring, almost motherly tone.

He interpreted the flames for the maknae in the only way that could have soothed yet scolded the youngest. He quietly told Jisung about how the fire was deceptive. Just by listening to the tame little fire in the hearth, you would never know the rage behind the cheerful crackling.

You would never know that if left unattended it would rage, reduce to ashes everything around it, even the things that it would be considered to love. It would spit in the face of any attempt to quench it and nothing would be safe from it's ravaging until it had burnt itself out.

That's why you had to limit it's fuel and let it burn out regularly, so it could take a break. The embers could rest and be calm for at least a little while before they began to cheerfully rage again.

Taeyong asked the young one what happened to the forest after it had burned. The rather confused youngling pulled a thoughtful frown to his dimly lit face and responded with nothing, after fire there was only destruction and charcoal, the charred bones of whatever had been there before it had scorched it's way through.

Tae had smiled at this and placed his hands on the youngest's shoulders and shook his head lightly, the sound of his ruffling hair a signal to Jisung that he had been wrong.

"New life comes Jisungie" Taeyong had gently scolded "After flames ravage the old there becomes space for the new to thrive."

The redheaded older took his hands from Jisung's shoulders and quietly padded around the couch to crouch before the youngest.

"Sometimes you're right though" He murmurs, placing a warm hand on the maknae's bare knee "Sometimes nothing can grow after the fire destroys what's there. Sometimes the fire is too violent, those ones are the worst of all, they are the ones that were held in the longest, resisted until they couldn't be resisted any longer. I want you to think about something Jisungie, a question, every time you feel desperate to escape your feelings and bottle everything up I want you to think of what hyungie is about to ask you, can you do that for me young one?"

Jisung could only nod, allowing his Hyung's words to sink in as he attentively waits for the next words to pass from his lips. The youngest wasn't sure he understood what or why his hyung had told him about the flames but he was desperate for anything to help.

Taeyong smiles, soft and sad "Good boy" he murmurs with a sweet soft tone "I want you to ask yourself

'What sort of fire will you be'?"

After that night Jisung was careful to follow his redheaded hyung's advice, to never allow himself to become a scorching flame that would lay to ruin everything and one around him.

So now the young medic was spending the rest of his night curled up within the soft blankets and sheets of his missing adviser, soaking the pillowcase of the soft pillow trapped between his arms as his stony leader traced small, intricate soothing patterns across the skin of his back over his thin t-shirt and murmured near silent encouragements for the youngest to let it all out.

Though the youngest was not the only one who needed to freely mourn.

[the-basement-paradox]

~Boss~ Chapters 19 & 20

~Chapter 19~

17 4

Taeyong was currently curled up in the back of the van his head throbbing slightly as an after effect from the night before. The darkness helped and he was quite lucky that the headache was minor because today was the day Taeil would finally be brought back to his family.

As Ten opens the door for the other he resists teasing him about his alcohol tolerance, again.

Tae groans softly as he rolls himself out of the van and onto his feet "This is gonna suck ass" he huffs as he slams closed the dark door of the van with an aggressive shove.

Ten chuckles lightly "It will be just fine Pet" he hums lowly "Don't forget to call for me when you're ready to get him out of there"

Taeyong nods "I got this" he huffs as he makes his way towards the dance studio "You'll get your Taeil back whatever it takes"

Ten watches him go for a moment before climbing up into the van and driving away to a secure location near the pick up point for when they were collecting Taeil.

Once Taeyong made it to the studio, he changed his clothes and went to join Taeil to warm up with the elder.

The two practiced for hours until they dropped and laid on the ground side by side, their clothes drenched with their own sweat. They carefully pulled each other up.

"You ready to go get some ramen?" Taeil breathes tiredly as he watched Taeyong regain his balance.

Taeyong replied with a tired thumbs up as he panted with exhaustion.

The two went to change and and left the studio. They made their way to the convenience store, talking about whatever came to mind. Only breaking their conversation to pay for their ramen.

Soon enough it was time to put the plan into action. Taeyong smiles brightly at his Hyung from his place beside him in the convenience store window "Lets go on a walk in the park before we split up Hyungie" he hums sweetly.

Taeil smiles gently, the small facial movement colored with emotion. He nods "I can spare a little bit of time" he says sweetly as he stands and throws away their ramen cups as Taeyong goes to and holds the door for him.

Taeyong smiles "Hey hyungie, what's your favorite color?" He asks innocently.

Taeil chuckles lightly as they step behind the trees of the park "I would have to say I'm quite drawn to lime green"

Taeyong nods and gestures for Taeil to pull his earrings out just as a van pulled up a few feet behind the pair, Taeil made eye-contact with the driver and his face paled.

The van was silver and the driver was unfamiliar to Taeyong as he turned to look at it "Take your earrings out and run for the black van" he mumbles as he backs up slowly towards Ten's black van that was parked only a little way off from them, though still further than the silver van in competition.

The sliding doors of the silver van bursted open just as Taeil pulled his second earring off and he drops them to the ground "GO" Taeyong yowls as he turns and runs behind Taeil.

Turns out Taeyong is not a terribly fast runner, he was faster than his pursuers but slower than Taeil, so once Taeil was pulled safely into the van by Johnny they all held their breath as Taeyong tried to cross the last few feet to safety.

Five feet from the side of the van,

he stumbled

Taeil went to reach out to the fallen redhead just as he was tackled by the forms that had been chasing him.

The three in the van watched in horror as one masked male dragged the struggling though bound Taeyong back to the van as the second male looked Taeil dead in the eye, pity and apologies swirling in the unfamiliar man's eyes as the black door crashed closed between them.

"Yangyang don't" Taeil whimpers as the door snaps closed he couldn't reach out to stop them, to save Taeyong, as he was being held securely and safely in the arms of Johnny and Johnny sat frozen in the back of the van as Ten stiffly drove the van away from His King.

No emotion was seen in the shock still form of the gang leader, he sat stiffly in his seat as if he were merely an automaton bringing the gang members to their destination.

But if you looked in his eyes you could see a shocking set of emotions swirling behind his steely irises, which were a dull shade from loss though his pupils were small and the steel colored irises stone hard with an emotion he hadn't felt in a long time.

Rage

~Chapter 20~

17

4

Ten hadn't spoken a word to his newly recovered hyung since he had entered the van and simply sat silently in the driver's seat for a moment after he parked the black vehicle before headquarters.

Taeil looked from his beloved Johnny to his young leader, his charcoal eyes clouded over with confusion as he watched the silent mob boss.

"Ten" he murmurs gently leaning slightly out of his lover's lap to better see the leader. When he gets no response he looks at Johnny and leans forward to sit on his knees in front of his love and reaches a hand out to gently hold Ten's shoulder.

A mere inch away from the blue haired man's shoulder Taeil's hand was swatted away "Let's reunite you with the others" the steel eyed male snarls, his voice filled with an unexplained hatred stronger than anything Taeil or Johnny had ever heard from him, but there was an underlying tone that was deeper than a simple rage, a tone that the two lovers knew all too well.

Taeil and Johnny lock eyes for a moment before Taeil gives Johnny a quick and gentle kiss and exits the van.

Johnny makes a small, quiet, hum of satisfaction at the display of affection and follows the older from the van, he goes to stand beside Taeil and snakes an arm around his slim waist, pulling his darling's hip against the muscle of his thigh.

He leans his head down slightly and kissed Taeil's chocolate hair as he warily kept his eyes trained on his angry leader who had just exited the vehicle and was making his way to the door, the anger, aggression, and an emotion none were willing to address seemed to shroud around the leader as they rolled off of him in waves.

The 'shroud' around him sent the anxious gang members that had been awaiting his return into a state of depression as they misconstrued the cause of his aggression and depression to be the failure to retrieve their comrade instead of the loss of his prize.

Meaning when Taeil walked in, joined to Johnny as near to the hip as he could get, the members fell into a momentary confusion at the attitude of their leader before their joy and relief overflowed and they rushed to the poor recently rescued eldest, floods of questions and chatter assailing the chocolate haired eldest as the members of his family all converged around him and his love, to whom he clung onto tightly encase he might lose him again in the throng of gang members.

NCT Dream crowded closely around the eldest at all sides crushing him in a hug and the elder team NCT U awaited their turn to cluster around the eldest, with a few exceptions of course, there were a few who were just as rambunctiously excited as the maknaes.

There were two characters missing from this happy reunion beside the obvious, the youngest of the maknaes, Jisung, who had been basically raised by the oldest and besides Johnny was the closest to Taeil, was seated on a nearby couch wish his face in his hands and small droplets of moisture falling from between is fingers and rolling down his wrists as his shoulders shook with the force of his relief.

And Ten. Whose pace did not change from the steady, stiff backed, march when he walked through the door. Though when he left the sight of his subordinates his pace began to slow, his feet were like lead as they began to shuffle against the floor, his strong sloped shoulders sagging inward as if they carried a great burden.

Though if thought of correctly one could suppose they did, they carried his head. They supported his head which was so weighed down by his chaotic thoughts and emotions he could hardly stand to hold it high, so he didn't, he let his chin lower towards his chest so all he could see was the pristine wood flooring before his shuffling feet.

As his feet guided his busy mind towards a place he wasn't sure where he found himself accompanied by a soft clicking that sounded by his side, a quick flick of his eyes to the direction of the noise told him that his sweet, dear Titan was his near silent companion on his autopilot walk through the complex.

Eventually the blue haired leader and his loving dog came to a stop, he tilted his head up slightly to find himself before a door, a large wooden one just like his own. He tilted his head up a bit further and there felt to be ice prickling through his veins. The plaque beside the door was marked

'A-2'

Titan whined lowly picking up her master's distress and layering it with her own, this was Taeyong's room.

Ten placed his hand on the shiny brass knob of the oaken door and with a soft click he slowly swung it inwards to reveal the empty room, as clean as ever.

Taeyong had a habit of always making his room look as un-lived in as possible, he always put things away and made the bed cleanly, as if he knew he could be taken at any time and he didn't want others to go through the hassle of cleaning up after him.

The thought sends a shiver down the distressed mob boss's back as he sat carefully down on a lounging chair beside the bed, he placed his elbows on his knees and folded his hands into a steeple, he places his chin on his hands and stares at the bed as if, if he watched it closely enough, long enough, the redhead would suddenly sit up from under the sheets to see the boss with his massive sentinel like dog by his side staring intensely at him.

Ten almost chuckled as he imagined the sassy, sarcastic remarks he knew the other would make if he caught him staring at his sleeping form.

It's possible that Ten thought maybe he would have liked to get caught staring,

After all, it would mean that His King was still safely by his side.

[the-basement-paradox]

~Boss~ Chapters 17 & 18

~Chapter 17~

17

Taeyong makes his way to the kitchen, followed by a continually chattering Johnny who was chittering about the different ways Taeyong could subtly wish Taeil a special happy birthday from him. Once in the kitchen Taeyong grabs the cake from the fridge and spins on his heel, deftly avoiding and ignoring Johnny's chatter.

He meets Ten at the door and the shorter opens the door for him and the finally quiet Johnny. As Taeyong passed Ten he mutters "We need to get Taeil back here ASAP"

Ten chuckles and follows the two out, unlocking and starting the van as he climbs into the driver's seat. "That's the final goal of this all isn't it" he hums amused "Your job is to figure out how to do that."

"I already have" Taeyong sighs "There are no surveillance cameras outside so I could get him to walk with me in the park nearby, once out of sight we could have Yuta or Winwin hack his gps/microphone to either glitch it out or implement fake audio while I take it off of him and bring him to the van, from there we're more or less home free"

Ten raises an eyebrow "And why haven't you done this yet?" he asks carefully his voice carrying through the thick black curtains that were drawn between them as he drives them closer to Taeyong's apartment building.

"I haven't yet for a few reasons" Taeyong sighs "One, we don't have enough recordings of our conversations for Yuta and Winwin to stitch together into a new conversation convincingly, two, we would be on a time limit as soon as we walk out of the building and I have no idea what that time limit is and have yet to find a route to the park that would be short enough for the plan based on what I know so far, and three, the most frustrating reason, I don't know where his stupid gps/mic is hidden, he has changed multiple times around me in the locker rooms and I have found absolutely no sign of it. I have a few guesses as to where it could be but the most likely option I can think of is the most dangerous"

The redheaded boy sounded obviously distressed by the hitch he had hit in his plan and Ten wasn't sure he even wanted to know but proceeded to ask so as to get more info on the situation and to help Taeyong think it through by saying it out loud, "Where do you think the mic could be hidden?"

Another frustrated sigh came from behind the curtain before a response of "One option is his earrings, which is unlikely because they're different almost every time we meet but it can't quite be ruled out, the second option is on the inner waistband of his boxers, which is also unlikely because he changes those while in the locker room, though I can't rule it out either because he changes those out of sight as a courtesy. The final option is the worst one because it requires a more complicated piece of equipment and a much more brutal extraction."

He sighs softly before continuing, this exhale of air somehow had a different tone than the ones before it, this one took on a more regretful cadence then frustrated "With this option the gps/mic is under his skin, it is somewhere just beneath the surface of his body, this makes it much much harder to get rid of for obvious reasons, it's in his skin so to take it out we would have to cut him, it is possibly wired to something vital so even if we can quickly get to it it's possible that he could get seriously hurt if we attempt to just pull it out and finally if the gps is under his skin it could possibly be monitoring his heart rate which is a much harder type of software to hack and regulate to make seem as if nothing happened, we can't have it just flatline and risk your rival gang showing up faster than planned and we can't set the heartbeat faster or slower than his natural heartbeat or they will suspect something due to the spike or decrease."

Taeyong explained all of this with a soft frown as he thought deeply about the possible predicament.

Ten fell silent as he processed the new information he had been given, he silently hopes that Yuta and Winwin had heard the explanation and had it on document.

After a time of silent driving he finally speaks "Well the second option, having the gps/mic in his boxers, doesn't quite sit well with me because, they would get a lot of unnecessary and uncomfortable noises as feedback with it that close to his organs and shouldn't the mic be closer to his voice box so they can pick up his voice better?"

Taeyong listens silently to the second opinion carefully cataloging each of the points he deemed important as he takes in the information.

"But if they were to put it under his skin near his voice box not only would that be a complicated thing to pull off with someone as thin as him it could also be too close to his voice to hear the people around him.. Well, I suppose if you wanted the combination of the heart rate monitor as well as the tracking and audio input it would make sense to implement it behind his ear which would still be difficult even with a willing person to attach it to and hiding the scar would also be difficult. With that it would be simple to use the earrings right? I mean it is still through his ear so it might be able to pick up a slight pulse but it would also be able to hear everything he can."

Ten parks the van and opens the door for Taeyong to find him sitting cross legged on the bottom of the vehicle deep in thought.

Taeyong sits like that for a moment more before unfolding himself and bringing the cake out in his arms.

He looks at Ten as he straightens himself, standing tall and proud "I'll figure it out, for Johnny's, mine, and your crazy family's sake" he gives a silly little salute and smiles brightly with a hint of exhaustion before he turns on his heel and heads off on his mission.

Ten sighs and gets back in the van to find a silent Johnny in the passenger seat, Johnny was looking at the window of the driver's seat, or rather through it.

Ten closes the door and follows Johnny's gaze out the window to see a very familiar figure. Taeil. Ten watches the boy for a moment before putting a finger to the soft skin right behind his own ear and tilting his head slightly, he sees a minuscule shake of the head from the eldest and he smiles, the gps was not under his skin. He schools his features into a serious look and puts his fist in a position over his heart where Taeil could see it and nods slightly.

Taeil imitates the gesture for a moment before his gaze shifts ever so slightly to the side to lock his gaze with Johnny, the eldest smiles slightly and taps his cheek twice with a questioning look. Johnny smiles and taps his once. Taeil's smile grows larger and he places his hand over his heart.

Taeyong walks up to Taeil who was still smiling broadly at the black van near the ally way. He follows the eldest's gaze and smiles giving a small thumbs up before spinning Taeil around and throwing one arm over his shoulder as he stabilized the box containing the cake between his torso and hand. "You are so goofy" he laughs.

After their exhausting practice Taeyong takes out the cake, hiding it from Taeil's view with his body as he lights a candle and places it in the center. He picks it up and slowly turned around singing softly.

Taeil turns away from the stereo and smiles, he chuckles lightly and starts pretending to be conducting the one man choir. Taeyong laughs as he finishes the song and hands the cake off to Taeil "I couldn't get JJ to help me make it but I learned something new" he hums grinning mischievously.

"What did you learn Tae" Tail hums chuckling quietly at the smile that was lighting Taeyong's features. He closed his eyes for a moment, making his wish, he the smiles softly and blows out his candle.

Taeyong giggles "Did you know that numbers are scared of fruits?" he could practically hear Ten's groan of annoyance from the tech room and he giggles a bit more.

Taeil looks incredibly confused for a moment before dissolving into laughter "You weirdo" he breathes through his laughter "I guess I know that now" he chuckles ruffling Taeyong's hair "Lets get ourselves to the convenience store to eat our ramen and cake" he hums leading the younger outside.

Once out of view of the cameras Taeyong instantly set to work bombarding Taeil with silent questions. He first gestured to the air around them as they continued their casual conversation, that had nothing to do with their actions, then he tapped his wrist as if to ask what time it was. Taeil nods slightly to show that he understood the question and he tapped his pointer finger subtly against Taeyong's palm once before waiting a moment and instead of a tap he traced a line down his hand.

Taeyong nodded and pointed to his throat then ear before he runs his hand along the waistband of his jeans. Taeil shakes his head no, the younger then gestures to the skin behind his ear and the eldest shakes his head no once again.

Taeyong smiles as they walk into the store and back into the line of view of the cameras, he sighs with relief and rubs his arms "It's a bit chilly out with that breeze" he hums so as to keep the verbal conversation casual, he brought one hand up to his ear and began spinning his earring in his ear as he looked at the ramen cups as if wondering which one to get.

He takes his hand away from the earring and takes his ramen cup, he asks the clerk for some paper plates and grabs two plastic spoons and some disposable chopsticks before making his ramen and going to sit in the blind spot of the cameras like usual.

The pair chatter away on unimportant topics and soon part ways, both with large smiles on their faces. Taeyong heads into his apartment and drops onto the couch after emptying the large red bucket. "That was the hardest practice ever” he yawns as he casually scans the room.

His eyes don't pause on the cameras in the corner of the room or on the underneath of the cabinets of the kitchen, he doesn't even need to check his lights to know his room had been bugged as well. "Time for a shower and a quick nap" he hums, carefully choosing his words so it could be made apparent to Ten and the others that the intention was to stay in the apartment for longer than usual and a different extraction plan should be enacted.

As the sky darkened further Taeyong changes into some clothes that any normal person would wear to a nightclub or a late night party after his shower "I suppose I should reward myself for working hard this week" he hums casually, he looks at the clock "JJ should be here soon" he hums with a smile.

He threw on his baseball cap and went downstairs to wait at the front of the building, knowing full well that the cameras were watching his every move.

He watches as a sleek silver car pulled up beside the curb before the building and honks loudly, he laughs and climbs into the car "Shhhhhhhhhh" he laughs playfully "You'll wake the neighbors" he says as he closes the door.

Once the door was closed and locked and the tinted windows rolled up Taeyong sighs and sinks down in his seat tiredly. He looked over at Ten as he places the gps/mic he had been wearing casually in the cup holder "I didn't know you even had a car like this" he hums as he sank comfortably into the soft khaki leather.

Ten glances at the small device and chuckled, it had become a personal challenge between Johnny and the redhead for Johnny to hide the tracker somewhere on him where he wouldn't find it. "I have multiple cars like this one" he chuckles lowly "You've just never been in the garage"

"Is the license plate covered" Tae questions calmly.

"Of course it is my King" Ten hums lowly "I'm not new to this"

Tae smiles brightly through his exhaustion "I have great news" he hums happily "Taeil loved his cake, and I know everything I need to get him out of there"

"That's good," Ten hums cooly "Oh and by the way-"

"Didn't I tell you not to tease me, My Pet?" ~Chapter 18~

17

Ten sighs and lowers his head, rubbing his temples with his thumbs and forefingers. All around him the living room was complete chaos, three(Chenle, Jaemin, and Haechan) of the youngest members were chasing Titan while Jisung tried to shepard her to another room where they couldn't get to her. Doyoung, Jungwoo, Lucas, Renjun and Jeno were playing 'Hello Cleopatra' and getting increasingly louder instead of higher pitched. Mark, Jaehyun, Johnny and Kun were sitting on the only two couches that weren't flipped over and were facing each other and giggling loudly as they held a dad/dirty joke contest amongst themselves. Unlike per-usual Winwin and Yuta were also participating in the jokes contest though, usually they remained hidden away in their tech room. The only two missing from this massive family gathering was Taeil, who hadn't made it back yet and Taeyong who was hopefully napping. Abruptly the whole room fell to silence and every head turned to the entrance of the hall. There stood an exhausted Taeyong wearing nothing but some grey sweatpants, a thick, pale green, soft, silk choker and a small, soft, ash grey blanket over his shoulders, he looked terrifying via his toned muscles from dance that rippled under his honey skin and the angry, exhausted glare that masked his puppy like features. The only thing that could have really taken away from his anger was his nappy hair, obviously the man had been involuntarily woken from his sleep by all of the noise. He places his hands on his hips as he sweeps his glaring, reddish, coffee colored gaze across the room at the frozen members "What. The. Fuck." he snarls looking absolutely furious with the scattered members. Everyone glances at Ten who was on the ledge of the fireplace just watching Taeyong warily. Tae locks eyes with the leader and tilts his head before jerking up an eyebrow and slowly raising his hand to crook a finger at him, it was a silent order for the mob boss to come to him. The members look shocked as Ten submits to the other's murderous gaze and goes to stand by the taller's side, as he passes by Titan she unfreezes and follows to stand beside the pair. "I better see those couches picked up and your asses seated on them in 1 minute" Taeyong snarls, being relatively lenient as there were so many of them. They stare at him in fear for a moment as they process his direction before they each run as quickly as they could to the closest couch, they all order the couches into a neat curve towards the fire place and with minimal scuffling they fill up the couches. Taeyong stalks to the fireplace, his blanket falling off his shoulders as he goes and Titan gently picks it up between her jaws as she and Ten follow behind him, Ten didn't bother trying to look like the leader as he followed Taeyong, the other members honestly couldn't blame him as their eyes carefully followed the angry red head. Taeyong stands before them all "Alright you crazy Bastards, I understand wanting to have fun but for fucks sake don't shake the entire fucking building with your antics, you're the goddamn NCT mafia, you dumb bitches are the top members of the most feared gang in Korea. People aren't meant to be able to drive past your base and hear you screaming 'Hello Cleopatra' and laughing maniacally about a random dirty joke for fucks sake" he snarled glaring at each of the kicked puppy looking members. Taeyong sighs and looks at the clock, he instantly brightens up as he sees the time and he turns to the members with a bright smile "Dinner time!" he says brightly, his now puppy like happiness a complete 360 from his previous murderous rage. He chuckles softly to himself knowing the effect of his change of heart, which only made him look crazier in the eyes of the members. "I'll make you guys some ramyeon and dumplings" he announces smiling and clapping his hands together like a cheesy mother figure in some movie, he turns to Ten and smiles sweetly "Come help?" he asks as he reaches slightly down to pet Titan. The other members could only see half of his face while he looked at Ten, his smile got a little wider and he winked discreetly at Ten. The leader chuckles and nods once before leading Taeyong off to the kitchen. Once the pair were gone the members erupted into a chorus of confused questions for one other. Meanwhile once in the kitchen Taeyong grabs the edge of the island as he laughs at the reactions of the gang members "NCT's strongest my ass" he splutters. Ten chuckles "In their defense you really did look ready to kill someone" "How else was I going to get those headasses to shut up" Taeyong giggles as he grabs the ingredients for the food. Ten hums in resigned agreement as he looks over Taeyong's exposed torso, he licks his lips subconsciously and looks back up at his King's face, "You know you could have put a shirt on" Taeyong looks down at his bare torso and shrugs, he was warm enough as he stood beside the stove where he was boiling water for the ramyeon and dumplings. Soon the food is completed and Taeyong calls in a few members to help him and Ten carry out the large servings. Once the food was all set out on the table and the members had taken their places around the large table a few longing looks were spared for the empty seat between Johnny and Taeyong before everyone gave in to Taeyong's urging and dug in, taking as large of servings as they dared, it wasn't often someone cooked a meal for all of them to share. Throughout the meal there were many compliments to Taeyong about his wonderful cooking which led the redhead to be much more cheerful and interact better with the members, though it also lead to him being more lenient of the boys table side antics. Food stolen off of plates from every which way and bets and tauntings made over the family meal. Either way the meal went smoothly and each member ate their fill. Once the meal was complete each member from youngest to the pair that made the meal filed into the kitchen to clean their dishes and place them in their proper places, after they had completed the task each member thanked Taeyong for the meal once more before they went off to curl up in their warm beds for the night as it had been quite the late dinner. Once the last of the members had gone off to bed Ten handed Taeyong a crystal glass of red wine and clinked his own glass against it "Here's to scaring the shit out of the kids and a successful family dinner" he toasts with a chuckle before he sips on his alcohol. Taeyong joins in on the other's amusement as he takes a sip from his own glass. Soon enough after about an hour later, after story upon story of the member's antics, the entire bottle of wine was gone and Taeyong was feeling quite tipsy, even after the filling meal. Taeyong hardly ever drank and was quite the light weight. Taeyong shivered slightly at the pleasant buzzing sensation that shivered through his body, making his fingers and toes tingle and his mind fuzzy "Queenie~" he hums, a lazy smile gracing his features. Ten chuckles lowly "My King~" he taunts, a soft amused smirk rested on his lips as he imitated the drunken redhead. Taeyong pouts and tugs on the cuff of Ten's pearl grey, fitted long sleeve shirt "Queenie~ Why are the kids so naughty?" he slurs "They'll get in trouble" "You're right My King" the perfectly sober boss agreed gently lacing an arm around Taeyong’s slim waist as he began to lead the buzzed redhead toward his room. "I'll make sure to talk to them about it alright Pet?" Taeyong nods childishly and gasps as Ten's cold hand rested against the warm skin of his side just above the waistband of his sweatpants that hung low on his hips. He lets out a low whine and wiggles his hips in protest to the cold feeling. Ten purses his lips as the quiet whine reaches his ears, he tightens his grip on the other's waist for a moment before lowering his hand a bit to rest on the fabric of the sweatpants, dangerously close to the redhead's ass. As the blue haired leader guides the red haired King to his rooms and onto his bed he gently responds to a reassures the other about his complaints about 'the kids'. Ten chuckles quietly and tucks the red head in, he raises his arm slightly to place it in Taeyong's line of vision and raises his eyebrow, still attached to the sleeve of his shirt was Taeyong's hand. "Stay Queenie~" The sleepy boy hums his eyes already drooping and his grip loosening. Ten chuckles and pulls the others hand from his sleeve. The redhead frowns as he hears nothing after losing contact with the blue haired male. The sleepy smile returns to his face as he feels the other side of the bed slowly sink down under the other's weight. As Ten settles himself beneath the blankets, turned away from the drunk redhead, because after all he was a gentleman, Taeyong squirmed his way closer to the warm other and cuddles himself into Ten's back, the top of his head resting against the place between the other's strong shoulders, his hands holding the fabric of his shirt at his lower back and his legs curled up so his knees were against the skin of the mob boss's upper thighs. Taeyong sighs happily as completes his mission of cuddling into this position and he drifts slowly off to dreamland, his soft snores filling the air of the silent room. Ten sighs softly and mumbles quietly to himself as he listens to the other "What a weakness to have"

[the-basement-paradox]

~Boss~ Chapters 15 & 16

~Chapter 15~

17

"Johnny I'm not going to go see him today" Taeyong sighs as he sat curled up on the couch with Titan on the cushion beside his bare feet and Johnny sitting sideways on the couch in front of him and looking at him.

"I know but you have to be ready, when do you usually see him anyway?" Johnny appeals it was the morning after Taeyong's practice with Taeil and he was getting as much info out of Taeyong as he could, he wanted to know everything about his lover that he could possibly find out. His eyes were still puffy and red from the rivers of relieved and bitter tears he had shed the night before but he could care less as he questioned Taeyong about Taeil's every little move.

Finally Ten could be seen walking towards the pair and Taeyong grins and jumps up off of the couch "Thank god!" he says happily, Ten looked at Taeyong and Titan, who had followed the red head to her master, with a small amused smile "I couldn't find my way back to my room so I was waiting for you" Taeyong admits sheepishly "I'm horrible with directions and I'm tired of Johnny asking me about Taeil"

Ten nods slightly and chuckled lowly "So the smart ass does have a weakness, good to know" Taeyong pouted at him and Ten raised an eyebrow "You really must be exhausted to be acting like such a child" he teases "Let's get you to bed" he hums as he turns away from the other, he wonders why the other was so exhausted. Could it be that he didn't fall asleep as he had assumed?

Taeyong yawned and followed along behind Ten trying to carefully re-memorize the way to his rooms. Ten opened the door for the taller to enter his rooms, he does just that and flops face down on his sheets.

Ten chuckled and was about to close the door to leave the other be for a little bit before he realized that the red head was still wearing one of the collars that Ten had brought for him, so he enters the room and carefully touches the side and base of Taeyong's neck so he wouldn't surprise the other too much as he turned the collar so he could unbuckle it, "You can't sleep with this on or you'll choke" he admonishes quietly as he places the collar on the table.

He backs off and goes to the door "Titan is staying with you," he says quietly hoping she would be able to help the other enough so he could sleep for a while instead of only a short time. "Sleep as long as you can Pet, I'll come for you if we need you for anything" he says gently before leaving the room and closing the door to give Taeyong his privacy.

Taeyong was far too relieved and exhausted by a job well done to even hear the other's words as he curled in on himself and burrowed under his blankets.

Titan whined quietly as she realized that the sweet smelling boy would be at a place under the covers that she couldn't reach before she sees him pop his head out from under the blankets and place it right below his pillow. Titan carefully hopped onto the bed and started burrowing in under the large, fluffy comforter until she was crouched beside the red head.

She flopped down beside him and they slept with their backs pressed against each other and their breathing soft and slow.

Some hours later the sun begins to shine through the partially shaded windows of Taeyong’s room. Titan was the first to be awoken by this as she was the one with her face towards the windows she huffs and carefully wiggles off the bed before carefully taking a corner of one long curtain in her jaws and tugging it towards the center of the window where it would meet with the other to block out the light.

She had gotten through one of the two windows before Taeyong woke up from the lack of the comforting heat of her body at his back, he sat up bleary eyed and looks around the room fuzzily before turning to the windows and finding the massive mastiff tugging the curtains of his room closed.

He couldn't help but giggle at her behavior, which was like that of a frustrated child.

Ten walks in mid giggle with a small tray of cereal, toast and a glass of water and smiles ever so slightly at the melodious sound of the other's giggles "what a beautiful sound to be welcomed by" he hums, making his presence known to the pair as he brought the tray over and set it above Taeyong's outstretched legs.

Titan sees her master and abandons her project of closing the curtains and instead takes up a place curled up beside Taeyong's hip hoping to bum a bite or two of food off of him.

Ten chuckles lightly and takes a bowl of browned ground beef and some rice off of Taeyong's tray and adds certain vitamins he had been keeping in his pocket to the mixture before placing it before his Titan "Your food is here too my dear" he says sweetly making sure the bowl was in the perfect place for her to eat happily with minimal movement, just the way she liked it.

"Thank you Ten" Taeyong mumbles around a large bite of cereal.

Ten chuckles lightly and ruffles Taeyongs hair a little in an affectionate way

"You're welcome My King"

~Chapter 16~

17

After his breakfast Taeyong rolls out of bed with a wide smile for Ten "You never finished showing me around the other day Queenie, I'd like to see the kitchen where you 'cook' all of your famous breakfasts for me" he croons lightly teasing Ten.

Ten hums quietly in response and satisfaction at the nickname Queenie, it was a start at least, "Get cleaned up and changed and I'll take you" He hums.

He takes Taeyong's hand and flattens it out before placing a new dog collar into the others palm, this one was made of white leather and had a teardrop shaped lime green jewel dangling from it, this collar looked more expensive than the others and the jewel on it looks suspiciously like a pale emerald.

Taeyong looked at Ten and raised an eyebrow at the expensive looking collar, Ten shrugs and takes the collar back and shifts on the bed to clasp the accessory around the redheads neck. "I'll be outside your room when you're done" He hums before beckoning to Titan and exiting the plush bedroom.

Taeyong goes to his newly filled closet and pulls out a pair of white ripped skinny jeans, a large pastel green sweater and some emerald green converse, he dresses himself quickly sighing happily at the feeling of the warm, soft sweater against his skin.

He then heads to his bathroom to wash his face and brush his teeth, after he had done this he opens the door into the hall timidly not knowing where Ten was standing and not wanting to accidentally with the door.

Ten hums in appreciation for his Prize's outfit as he comes forward and looks Taeyong over. Taeyong smiles ever so slightly recognizing the quiet noise of approval from the other "Time for food" he reminds with a happy smile, even though he didn't ever eat much he always loved cooking.

Ten's gaze remained fixed on the redhead for a moment longer before he shifts it in the direction they would be walking to get to the kitchen and starts off "Then lets go Pet" he hums coolly, definitely not acknowledging his staring from just a moment ago.

Taeyong giggles quietly at Ten's reaction and quickly follows him, carefully committing the route to memory so he could come back any time. As time went on it was slowly getting easier for Taeyong to navigate the gigantic home where he had been living for the past week or so but, to be honest, he wasn't entirely sure that was a good thing considering his circumstance.

Ten leads Taeyong into the kitchen and leans against the counter "Why did you want to come here anyway"

Taeyong smiles "It's Taeil's birthday tomorrow, I wanted to bake him a cake" he then shrugs "besides I like to cook to it's nice to know where the kitchen is"

Ten nods in understanding "He will be touched to hear you remembered" he hums "What kind of cake were you planning on making?"

"Just a normal vanilla cake with some vanilla frosting and fruit slices on the top" Taeyong hums with a smile, he knew how much his Hyung liked fruits.

Taeyong goes to the fruit basket that was resting on the center of the island he also goes in search of a cutting board, a knife and the other utensils and ingredients he would need to complete the cake.

He sets up the cutting board, knife, and some kiwis, strawberries and other assorted fruits on the section of the island. In front of Ten. "Can you peel the Kiwis and cut these up for me while I start the cake?" He asks as he moves on and starts separating the wet and dry ingredients of the cake.

"No"

Taeyong turns around and furrows his eyebrows "Why not? If you're gonna hang around you might as well make yourself useful." He huffs, plenty miffed about the rejection.

"I don't like fruit" Ten huffs looking away looking slightly embarrassed showing Taeyong it was a bit more than just not liking fruit.

Taeyong snickers "Are you afraid of them or something?" He asks picking up a banana and waving it at Ten teasingly.

Ten bats it away from himself and leans away looking incredibly embarrassed.

Taeyong giggles and puts the banana down "Okay tough guy you can start putting the cake together and I'll prepare the fruits" He hip bumps Ten away from the cutting board, towards the ingredients for the cake and he begins to carefully peel the fruits.

Ten looked a bit relieved but soon frowns realizing he had been teased, he grabs a small handful of flour from the bag and sneaks over to Taeyong who was at the sink peeling and washing the Kiwis and pours it onto his hair. "Don't tease me" he huffs sounding a bit childish and his actions definitely weren't helping this image.

Taeyong hisses and drops the fruit into the sink and spins around to stare incredulously at the Mafia leader who had just poured flour over his head for teasing him about being scared of fruits.

"Did you. Just pour. Flour on my head. Because you. Are scared. Of fruit. And you didn't like me teasing you about it." He says slowly and incredulously "You, the fearless, heartless leader of the NCT mafia are scared of fruits"

Ten pouts at Taeyong, looking totally heartless, "You teased me, you should have done that" he defends with a huff.

"I'm going to get you back for that" Taeyong threatens pointing a flour dusted finger at Ten and pulling some flour off his head and dusting it onto Tens black t-shirt for added effect.

Ten chuckles lowly "I dare you" he taunts his voice cold and challenging.

Taeyong sighs and throws a flour covered, peeled kiwi and the gang leader who cringes as it hits his shirt and slides down it, leaving a trail of fruit juice and wet flour across his torso and a bit down his thigh before it drops onto the floor with a gross but quiet slapping noise as it hit the hard wood.

Taeyong decides that was enough payback and goes to get another kiwi, he returns to the sink and looks at Ten "Make the cake batter and no more making messes" he threatens "Or you will be getting a lot more than a kiwi to the shirt"

He turns back to the sink and returns to his task of preparing the fruit, Ten looks a little stunned as he looked from Taeyong to the squished Kiwi on the ground, he shivered a bit and decided it would be in his best interests to just make the batter, he knew when he needed to back down, especially to protect his pride and image in front of the person who was more or less meant to be his prized pet.

Once the batter was finished and the fruits cut Taeyong put the cake in the oven and set Ten to the task of making the frosting.

Finally it was time to decorate the cake after it was taken out and cooled, Tae let Ten frost the cake and he arranged the cut up fruits at the top and put it in a box. Ten placed the cake away in the fridge for when Taeyong would need it as Tae began to clean up the mess Ten had made, starting with the smooshed kiwi on the floor.

As Tae threw away the kiwi he looked at Ten and pointed a finger at him "You sir have the oddest duality of anyone I have ever met" he sighs.

[the-basement-paradox]

~Boss~ Chapters 13 & 14

~Chapter 13~

17

The room falls into an echoing silence as Taeyong utters the name that few of them had heard in nearly a year.

Johnny looks to Tae with sad eyes, it was obvious that even after a year the wounds left behind by Taeil's disappearance were as fresh as ever "There is no way we could be talking about the same Lee Taeil" He says his tone of voice was quiet and held intense pain. "My Taeil disappeared 11 months, 2 weeks, 1 day, and 37 minutes ago, I watched him get taken away to be tortured by a rival gang myself"

Taeyong was taken aback by the detail in which Johnny had remembered when Taeil had been taken. He thinks for a moment "Well the Lee Taeil I know is a dance coach who moved here 6 months ago and almost cried when I called him by a nickname that wasn't Tae" he recalled.

"What did you call him Taeyong" Ten asks his voice was calm and serious but it held a nearly indiscernible undertone of anxious urgency.

Taeyong takes a moment to think before remembering the incident completely "Well he liked to call me Tae and I very well couldn't call him the same so I flipped his name backwards to try and find a cool nickname when I found that if you use the last three letters in his name it spells the word Lie, so I asked him if I could call him that but he got all teary and shook his head no saying 'That name is reserved for someone special who I can only find in here' and he pointed at his heart before excusing himself to take a breather outside."

Johnny's eyes got wider and tearier as Taeyong's story went on and as it ended a slow fat tear finally rolled down his cheek. Ten went to stand beside his subordinate and placed a hand on his shoulder squeezing it slightly in comfort while not taking his eyes off of the angel that had been sent to him and his gang.

"Wh-Where is he now?" Johnny asks taking an extra attempt to form a sentence through his throat which was tight with emotion.

Taeyong thinks carefully "Well today is Tuesday right?" he wonders aloud and Ten gives him a confirmatory and encouraging nod "On Wednesdays we usually have a morning practice together before going to get some cup ramen together from the convenience store near my apartment." Taeyong thinks for an extra moment before voicing another curious thought "Does that mean that you are the someone special that calls him Lie?"

Ten squeezes Johnny's shoulder again to encourage his response and Johnny gives a small smile beneath the tears that were continuing to silently roam down his face one after another. He sniffled softly and nodded his small smile growing a little as he chuckled softly and wiped his nose "He was our best interrogator, the best at lying and getting answers out of anyone without even having to touch them" He chuckles ruefully again, as he relived the bittersweet memories of his loved one "He was our King of bluff and I always used to call him Lie as a clever nickname to tease him for it but it just sort of evolved into a pet name I would always use to call him back to me."

Taeyong nodded slowly then sits down on the edge of a couch across from where Johnny and Ten stood, his brows furrowed and his soft lips pouting slightly as he thought deeply.

"What are you thinking of Pet" Ten murmurs carefully as he watched, and secretly admired, the thoughtful boy.

Taeyong lifts his head and looks at Ten and Johnny "I have an idea to bring Taeil here but I doubt you would let me do it, from what I know it could be dangerous"

Ten tilts his head not keen on putting his prize in danger but he also wanted Taeil back if not for Johnny's sake then for the sake of the entire gang, the missing eldest was more than just a dear friend to Ten and the others, he was an incredible medic (No shade to Jisung who was being trained by Taeil before his disappearance), the most impressive interrogation leader Ten had ever seen in action, and a well rounded fighter, especially during their more stealthy operations.

"As far as what you've told me Johnny, Taeil would do anything to come back to you, correct?" Taeyong questions carefully as he thinks.

Johnny nodded slowly "He often told me so"

Taeyong smiled slightly at that, it definitely sounded like the Taeil he knew, he soon frowns again and nods once "Then that would pretty much confirm my theory" he concludes with a sigh "Taeil is being controlled and watched over by the rival gang that took him while they work on getting information from him, they are hoping he will get close to someone whom they can then capture and use as a hostage to gain information from him."

"How the hell did you come to that conclusion?" Ten asks, very much impressed and oddly proud, he hadn't seen deductive reasoning like that since Taeil himself.

"Well it was actually quite simple" Taeyong hums "While Taeil kept up a carefree attitude he usually spoke slowly as if he was thinking about every little word he said, he also did a lot of glancing around, nearly constantly. He also pretty much kept me at arms length relationship wise, we were friends but we weren't really close, and the last reason I can think of right now is that Taeil basically had a curfew of 7 pm, no matter what he would always bail by then. Oh! And when I would see him in the mornings he was always stiff with his movements and wore clothes that covered a lot of skin even if we were going to dance a particularly difficult routine that would make him hot really quickly."

Ten nods slowly, it made sense when all of the information was put together like that, though he himself wouldn't have retained so many small details about someone, especially in a span of only 6 months while not seeing the other every single day.

"Okay, then what's your plan?" Johnny asks, his tears had finally ceased and he had a steely look of determination lighting up his eyes.

"Well my idea is for me to deliver him a message from one of you tomorrow when we meet up, he could respond with whatever code words you would understand and I could keep meeting with him for practice as I used to, one to get and give information to and from him but also to keep up appearances for those watching him.

"Ten nods once in acknowledgement of the sort of brilliant plan "But why did you say we wouldn't let you do it?"

"Because then you would have to trust me enough to let me leave this place and your direct supervision. I would have to go alone, the members wouldn't be able to come encase the rival gang watching Taeil recognized them, I'm the perfect cover but it could be dangerous because the gang might assume that we are growing a bond and take me to bait Taeil, and besides you have only known me for what, two days? Trusting me to come back wouldn't be a natural thing, especially in your line of work I would assume trust doesn't exactly come easily to you all."

"For Taeil's sake and yours Johnny, I say we let him try it, if it doesn't work to get him out then at least we could have some kind of closure with him, besides I'm sure he's as desperate to get back to you are you are to have him back" Jisung speaks up, his voice stayed soft but he still wanted to add his input, Taeil had been his teacher and best friend and he wanted him back nearly as much as Johnny did.

Johnny nodded in agreement and looked at Ten, who looked back at the other and sighed. He nodded slowly as he carefully mulled over the situation "Go to Yuta and Winwin and set up a tracking system we can use for Taeyong" he finally responds verbally.

Johnny instantly brightened and jumped up off the couch running as fast as he could to the tech room.

Ten allows a small smile to cross his lips as he watched Johnny go before he turned back to Taeyong

"You haven't given us any reason to distrust you Pet, for everyone's sake, including yours, don't prove me wrong"

~Chapter 14~

17

"Don't forget to call him Lie when you deliver the message" Johnny repeats, he had been making a blindfolded Taeyong repeat the message that he was supposed to give to Taeil for the past 5 minutes as he tugged on random parts of Taeyong's clothing before carefully hiding a tiny tracking device/microphone behind one of the buttons on his grey button up.

They were in the van on their way to Taeyong's apartment and as they got to a far enough distance away Johnny took away the blindfold from Taeyong's coffee colored eyes and Ten looks into the rear view mirror back at them to try and find even a hint of hesitance or fear in Taeyong, the younger knew that if there was any it could mean the other was up to something and it would likely not be good for Ten, Titan or the rest of the gang but to Ten's confused relief he saw not a hint of hesitance in the red haired boy.

Taeyong looked into the rear view mirror, his coffee colored eyes meeting Ten's grey ones in the glass and he nods ever so lightly before Johnny let him out of the van.

"We'll be in the alley when it gets dark" Ten reminds as the redhead steps out of the van, Taeyong sticks his hand back into the van in the form of a thumbs up before retracting it and forcefully closing the door behind him. He begins walking off in the direction of the dance studio.

Johnny instantly moves up to the front passenger seat of the van and fidgets with his fingers. Ten reaches over and pulls his hands apart "That's a bad habit Johnny, it's going to be fine Taeyong is going to get through to him"

"How do you know that" Johnny asks he looked up slowly from his lap, his hands now limply laying on his thighs as he made eye contact with his leader "How do you know Taeyong is even going to try"

"I just do" Ten says cryptically as he drove back off towards their home so they could monitor Taeyong in the tech room, there was a certain knowing glint in the leader's steel eyes that Johnny didn't bother to question.

Taeyong entered the dance studio and grins at his teacher who returned the smile of greeting after spotting his dongsaeng in the mirror.

"Hey Tae! Long time no see, how was your performance with BigBang? I'm still bummed I had to miss it." Taeil says cheerfully as he turned to look Taeyong in the eye. Taeyong noted where the elder's eyes paused as he reflexively looked around the room and he carefully concluded that there were no blind spots to the cameras watching Taeil here.

"Long time no see Taeil hyungie" Taeyong responds with a smile "the performance was awesome, it was really great getting to work with GD Sunbae and the others again. How about we talk about it more when we go for our ramen after practice?"

Taeil nods with a smile oblivious to the actual plan as he begins the practice.

Practice soon ends and the pair of sweaty boys were walking to the convenience store to get their ramen while chatting about the concert and the new dances.

Johnny was getting more and more antsy as time went on, he wiped his sweaty palms on his jeans as he growled impatiently "Why hasn't he done it yet? He's had so many opportunities to say it but he's just talking about those stupid dance moves and meaningless concert"

Ten placed a hand around Johnny's elbow and tugs him back down so he was sitting and not putting so much strain on the pair of earbuds the two were sharing to listen to the conversations that Taeyong's mic/tracker was picking up on. "Be patient Johnny, he still has 45 minutes" Ten says lowly as he listens carefully to the conversation through his earbud.

Taeyong glances at the clock and noted that he only had a half an hour left before he had to go back to his apartment "Hey Lie Hyung?" He asks.

Taeil looked up from his ramen, noodles still hanging out of his mouth as he tried not to choke. He simply nods slowly as he can't admonish the younger for using the nickname with his mouth full but his eyes prickled at the sound of the old pet name none the less.

"I have a friend who would really like to meet you Lie hyungie" Taeyong hums not breaking eye contact with the older for a moment before he casually sits back and takes a bite of his ramen.

"And who would that be" Taeil asks carefully trying not to let his voice stutter or break as he hides the loss in his heart.

After Taeyong finishes his bite he turns back to Taeil "He's called JJ, I think you two would really get along"

Taeil's eyes widen ever so slightly at the name JJ, the gesture sending Taeyong a silent question that was as loud to the redhead as if the older had screamed it from the top of his lungs.

Taeyong nods ever so slightly and Taeil carefully schools his features into place so the leaping joy in his heart and the tears in his eyes weren't visible, he feigns thinking for a moment before he replies with "Well I don't exactly have enough to start paying for 3 ramens, maybe I could meet him in the future when I have more money?" he suggests carefully.

Taeyong nods "Do you know when that would be Hyungie?" he asks in a cute voice as if begging the elder to come up with a time sooner than later.

Taeil shrugs "I don't know yet Tae" he sighs "I haven't been making much lately so we'll have to see"

Taeyong makes a pouty face before checking the clock again and noting that it was time for him to take his leave. He stands and throws away his empty ramen container and smiles at his hyung "Thanks for the ramen Hyungie, I hope you'll keep meeting JJ in mind, and let me know if I can do anything to help you pay for things, I don't want you to go through too much stress  over it"

Taeil smiles brightly in an absolutely genuine way "And thank you for a great practice Tae, don't worry I'll think about it"

Taeyong waves goodbye and walks the short distance to his apartment. Once inside the horribly dingy apartment Taeyong rushes to change out the bucket and places a large red tub beneath the leak after laying a towel over the wet area on the floor, the red tub was the largest container in the place and he knew that it would last for almost a week before needing to be emptied, he did use it for the leak at first but then he found that the tub became too heavy to move and too monotonous to empty with the other, smaller, buckets.

"Come 15 minutes after sunset" Taeyong mutters knowing the others could hear him. He had noticed something ever so slightly off about Taeil's tone it was likely that the difference was due to the eldest's more intense genuine feelings that he was hiding but he wanted to be out of there as soon as possible just encase.

As he waited for the other's arrival Taeyong took a short shower to clean himself and packed a small backpack with his sweaty clothes in a plastic bag and some of his favorite hoodies, sweaters, a few pairs sweats, basketball shorts ,and some boxers.

Once Taeyong watched the black van park in the alley under the moonlight he waited a moment and turned off all of his lights before re-adjusting the human shaped lump of blankets and pillows he had made on his bed. He then climbed out his window that was beside the bed and climbed down the fire escape after carefully closing the window behind himself.

He tugged open the door to the front seat and climbed into the van and looked behind him to see no one else in the van but Ten and Titan. "No welcome party?" he asks softly as he closed the door carefully and climbed into the back.

Ten chuckles "Johnny is at home crying his eyes out and trying to figure out what you should tell Taeil for him next time you two meet." he reaches back and closes the curtains that divided the blacked out back of the van from the dim front, the gap between the two curtains was covered by a third smaller curtain so Taeyong wouldn't be able to peak between them to memorize the way to the headquarters, even if he wanted to.

"Is he mad I took so long to bring it up?" Taeyong asks curiously through the curtain as he sat on the floor beside Titan and began petting her side as he spoke.

"He was at first" Ten hums keeping his voice loud enough for the other to hear it through the curtain, "Why did you wait that long"

"There were no blind spots in the studio so I couldn't ask him there and it took me a while to get Taeil's stubborn ass into the small one that I had found in the convenience store"

"How did you know where the blind spots were?"

"They are watching him through the security cameras in each of the buildings, he was tense while we were walking so they obviously have a punishment for him if he stays out of their sight for too long but he also likely has a small microphone on him so they can hear him at all times, I haven't quite figured out where it is yet but I figured it would be easier to explain this all to him if he at least didn't have to watch his physical reactions so diligently."

"How'd you know it was security cameras" Ten asks as he pulls into the driveway and parks the van. He gets out of the van and goes to the door, opening it up and jokingly holding out his hand to escort Taeyong into the house.

"He kept glancing at them" Taeyong responds matter of factly as he places a small item into Ten's palm instead of accepting the teasing offer of help.

Ten looks at the small warm item on the palm of his hand and looks up at Taeyong in shock as he watches the redhead sassily swish his hips as he walks into the house.

Ten chuckles and shakes his head before he beckons for Titan to follow him as he closes his hand carefully around the mic/tracker that Taeyong had placed in his hand and he and his loyal girl make their way inside after the intelligent redhead.

[the-basement-paradox]

~Boss~ Chapters 11 & 12

~Chapter 11~

17

After fastening the collar around the taller's neck Ten crosses to the other side of the room and opens the door for the redhead.

Taeyong walks out of the room with Titan by his side "What a gentleman" he mutters under his breath with an almost sarcastic edge to his tone.

Ten chuckles as he closes the door "My line of work may not be lawful pet but I still have my manners."

Taeyong scrunches up his nose to show his disagreement before responding questioningly "What happened to the nickname 'King'?"

Ten chuckles lowly and smirks at the older as he leads him down the halls "Would you prefer I called you My King? You would have to accept me as and call me Your Queen for me to do that and we aren't quite there yet pretty one, besides you look much more like a Baby boy today so I may just have to start calling you that, yes?"

Taeyong choked a little on his saliva as he searched for the correct words and frantically fought to keep down the red tint that was threatening to wash over his features. "I won't let you call me Baby boy unless I have to call you Daddy and I'm definitely not doing that"

Ten chuckles "Daddy has a nice ring to it though, especially coming from those pretty lips of yours" he shoots back with teasing thoughtfulness "But I see we are at an impasse, I will not call you My King because you won't call me Your Queen and I will also not call you Baby boy because you won't call me Daddy, so we'll just have to settle for the nickname 'Pet' and you will have to continue calling me Ten"

Taeyong really didn't want to respond and embarrass himself further so he simply nodded as Ten opened a door revealing a room filled with security monitors and assorted gadgets.

"You two decent?" Ten asks teasingly as he looked directly at the pair of techies that were sharing Winwin's favorite chair, even though there was another chair just across from the pair, it remained vacant in favor of their cuddling. Ten chuckles "Did you both not hear the meeting? Our client wanted Taeyong back innocent, not tainted by your PDA"

Yuta looks up from his place cuddled on Winwin's lap as the other worked and gave Taeyong a once over before fixing his eyes on the little green jewels that adorned the black collar around his neck "I don't think we are the ones putting his innocence in danger" he comments looking from the jewels to Ten.

Taeyong touches the collar around his neck in slight confusion, he had already begun to grow fond of the feeling of the accessory around his neck but he couldn't help but wonder what kind of meaning it held.

Ten rolls his eyes slightly "You know just as well as I do that these sorts of accessories don't mean a thing until there is a mutual agreement between the person wearing it and the person who had put it on them, for now it's just a meaningless piece of jewelry which happens to look nice on him"

Yuta snorts quietly, "Meaningless my ass" Winwin mutters, Yuta nods lightly to show his agreement with his lover "You know exactly what meaning it has when other people see it, I honestly thought you had given up on things like this"

Taeyong looks lost and looks at Ten before turning his gaze back to Yuta. "Anyway" Ten coughs "We aren't here to talk about fashion choices, I'm taking Taeyong out on a walk to stretch his legs, he has hardly moved from his rooms since he has gotten here, I might as well show him the areas he's allowed to explore and the people he might see while he's with us"

Yuta just nods "We've met before, I was the one who drove you here, I'm Yuta and this is my boyfriend Winwin" he introduces "We are in charge of the technology and Intel" Winwin nods and gives Tae a friendly wave which was carefully returned.

"I remember you" Taeyong nods straight faced "You're the one who called me Ten's Boy-toy"

Yuta chortled "Oh yeah I did do that didn't I"

Winwin shakes his head slightly at his Baby's behavior and turns back to his work, giving Ten the signal that they weren't to be bothered anymore. Yuta places his head beneath Win's chin where it had been before they had been interrupted and he watches the screen his boyfriend was working on, adding his own suggestions on the project every once and awhile.

Ten takes the hint and leads Taeyong out of the room by his gentle hold on the boy's wrist. He closes the door behind him and lets go of Tae "Alright Pet, sitting room/briefing room or break room next" he asks aloud as he gets to an intersection in the halls.

After a moment's deliberation Taeyong chooses the sitting room under the pretense that there would be less people, but as they approach the room the noise coming from it proved him quite wrong "How many people live here?" He questions with a wince.

Ten thinks for a moment before responding "17 people live in this location if we include you pet" he hums as they walk into the large open room Ten had first introduced him to the members in when he had first arrived.

Taeyong looks around and notices a few things he hadn't when he had previously been in the room; One the ceiling of the large room went up two levels and ended in a slightly vaulted top with a large skylight in the center of it and two that periodically the walls of the pair of balconies that marked the different levels were dotted by doors that had names scrawled across them.

As Taeyong marveled at the levels of the room he noticed an elevator that ran through the center of the balconies, splitting them into two sides, each side having stairs that lead down a level at their ends. Tae let his eyes follow the banisters of the stairs to their ends to find that they ended smoothly at either side of a large fireplace that was surrounded by plush, covered couches and chairs and a large wheeled whiteboard and projector.

The white board was rolled in front of the fireplace and an excited boy was busily drawing a game of hangman on it in black marker as another 5 males sat around him on the couches. Tae recognized the form of the boy and giggles quietly remembering how the boy had looked slung over Ten's shoulders the first time he had caught a glimpse of the gang he was now staying with.

~Chapter 12~

17

Taeyong's sightseeing was quickly cut short as one of the boys on the couch calls out to him "Hey! Taeyong isn't it?"

His coffee colored gaze snapped to the other male and he quickly recognizes Johnny, the one who had nearly killed him by trying to put him in that filthy room on his first day. Instead of responding he gives a curt nod.

Johnny smiles lightly "Come join us man, I'll introduce you to the others, I hope there are no hard feelings about the other day"

Ten speaks up with a threat underlying the tone in his voice "We still haven't had our conversation about that incident by the way Johnny"

Johnny gulps and nods nervously to his leader and beckons Taeyong to join them with slightly less enthusiasm than he had previously.

Taeyong turns to Ten and notices that the boss wasn't showing signs of going to join the group with him "it was your idea to drag me out of my room" he says quietly as he pulls his hand out of the sleeve of his large sweater and pinches at the fabric of the shirt around Ten's wrist and tugs him forward towards the couches. Ten sighs and follows along but not before tapping Titan's head to get her attention so he wouldn't have to deal with the crackhead lunatics on his teams alone.

She lets out a puff of air that was similar to Ten's sigh and follows the two.

Taeyong drags Ten over to the couches and sits him down beside him on one of the couches. Ten hides his amusement behind a smirk and leans over to whisper in Taeyong's ear. "A little demanding aren't we pet" he murmurs before turning his attention to the members who were watching their leader with confusion evident on their faces.

Lucas on the other hand was grinning deviously, Ten shot him a glare knowing exactly what the crazy boy was thinking, he shook his head slightly and Lucas simply changes his devious grin to an innocent smile before he tilted his head slightly back and to the side and scratched at the side of his neck with his pointer finger while retaining eye contact with Ten, obviously hinting at something before he turned his attention back to the board.

Ten sighs with frustration at the jab at the collar around His Prize's neck, he in no way regretted putting the collar around the neck of the other but he was definitely getting fed up with the suggestive jabs about the decision.

Taeyong looks uncomfortable beneath the scrutiny of the gang members and shifts a bit in his seat moving slightly away from Ten as he does so.

Ten notices this and snarls quietly "Would you dumb asses quit staring?" He huffs his voice steely.

Lucas has the audacity to giggle quietly which caused a couple of the other members to quietly add their voices to the sound of mirth before Ten glares at everyone individually and snaps his fingers twice as a signal to the members.

They all widen their eyes slightly and get up into two lines in age order, each line contained a similar amount of members, the first had 6 members and the second had 5.

Line one introduced themselves respectfully one at a time under Ten's direction their order was Johnny, who grinned while giving his introduction, he seemed to be the only one present who was older than Taeyong as far as he could tell. Then came Kun, who nearly toppled over as he bowed which sent the others snickering. Then came Doyoung, Jaehyun, Jungwoo, Lucas (Who winked), and finally Mark(Who smiled brightly).

"This group is Squad 1, or as they like to call themselves 'NCT U' " Ten introduces he leans in to Taeyong's ear and murmurs "I'm convinced the 'U' stands for uninteresting but they don't want to agree"

He stands back up straight and looks the others in the eyes seriously as Taeyong giggles. "They are the oldest among my top members, their techie is Winwin and their leader is Kun"

Kun bows slightly and Ten dismisses the group to sit back down casually on the couch after Taeyong gives himself a small introduction.

The same process continues with group two, the members being, Renjun, Jeno, Haechan, Jaemin, and Chenle.

"This is Squad 2, they call themselves 'NCT Dream', for their 'young dreamy looks and actions' " Ten introduces dryly "I am their leader and their techie is Yuta."

After Taeyong had introduced himself and the others had sat down there was one young looking member left standing. "And this is our youngest and medic Jisung" Ten introduces, showing a small bit of favoritism to the young boy as the youngest gave Taeyong a sweet smile and wave before bowing a low bow of 90 degrees.

Taeyong urges the youngest to stand straight, insisting that the low bow was ridiculous before he kindly introduced himself.

"Now that you've been introduced to them, good luck" Ten sighs before he snaps his fingers once as a signal for the boys to be free to do as they pleased. Instantly the volume in the echo-y room quadrupled as the boys enthusiastically returned to their games.

"They all listen to you so well" Taeyong hums as he looks around the room at the joyous and innocent looking gang members.

Ten snorts "After we lost their original father figure, they decided to replace him with me. Which doesn't really mean they always listen but they are good people, besides I'm their leader they could get their butts worse than whooped if they cross the line with me"

Taeyong nods slowly "If it's okay for me to ask, who was their father figure?" he asks slowly not really wanting to intrude but curious nonetheless.

"He was one of my oldest friends, and poor Johnny's lover" Ten says quietly, his cold tone was ever present and strong but his volume had definitely decreased at the touchy topic.

"What was his name?" Taeyong asks softly looking sadly at Johnny who was laughing loudly with the others.

"Taeil"

"Lee Taeil?"

[the-basement-paradox]

~Boss~ Chapters 9 & 10

~Chapter 9~

17

Taeyong lay curled atop his bed sunken into place with his back pressed up against Titan's side as she laid beside him, her head rested atop her massive paws with her left cheek pressed against the space between Taeyong's shoulder blades.

Taeyong eventually turns and lays on his back staring silently up at the ceiling, he moves his arms so the right one just relaxes at his side and his left was curled around the back of Titan's neck as she placed her head gently on his stomach.

As he stares up at the ceiling deep in thought Titan lets out a quiet huff of contentment as he scratches the base of her ears and gently stroked the coarse, short fur atop her head.

They stayed like this for a while, Taeyong shifting around her a few times before finally settling in a sort of spooning position with Titan's head laying on his arm and her body on her side with her back up against his torso. His legs were curled slightly as he subconsciously pet the fur of her side and belly with his free hand.

His eyes drooped a bit and he was glad he had decided to light the room using the rapidly depleting light from outside his windows instead of turning on the artificial lights, he snuggled his face closer to the fur on the back of her neck and hugs her sweetly.

As he fell asleep ever so slowly he kissed the base of the back of her head gently before settling again with his face buried in the fur at her neck and falling into the void of sleep.

Titan made a small contented rumbling noise as she too followed Taeyong into the realm of rest.

Ten was getting a bit nervous now as he had not found Titan when he had searched his rooms after the meeting that day, he had subtly gone around the entire building twice, finding not one trace of his companion.

He stands outside of Taeyong's door hesitating on invading the other's privacy after seeing how distressed he had been after the meeting. He quietly opened the door and in the moonlight streaming in from the open windows Ten sees a scene that he couldn't help but smile softly at.

He would have been annoyed with Titan if it weren't for the content look that was across the face of the sleeping angel beside her. He quietly pads into the room and goes to each window, quietly partially closing each of the shades so the light wouldn't bother the sleeping pair too much in the morning.

He goes over to the bed and observes the two for a mere moment before he leans down and places a gentle kiss on Titan's cheek. He straightens himself up again and smiles gently once more.

"Good night my dear, my King" he murmurs before disappearing from the room, quietly clicking closed the door behind him.

~Chapter 10~

17

Taeyong blinked his eyes open from his sleep and was met with the bristles of the black fur of Titan's back near enough to poke at his eyes. So he blinked a few times to get the bristles out of them and shifts his face away from her fur a bit so it wasn't so hazardous.

He removed his arm slowly from around her torso and gently removed his other arm from beneath her head as he carefully sat up on the plush mattress of the bed he was to consider his.

Titan lifts her head and looks balefully at the bare chested male beside her and whines, she was wondering where he was going, it was dim and comfortable in the room and she was very happy cuddling with the boy, which she would never reveal to her master.

He gave her a small, gentle smile that held a sweet, gentle, and calm emotion within it that didn't meet with the turmoil that she could see swirling behind his eyes. "It's okay girl," he responded with a quiet, tired tone. "I'm not going anywhere, I just need to sit up to think for a little while" he murmured pleasantly placing his warm hand on her warmer side in comfort.

Titan rolled so she was no longer laying on her side and she crawls to lie beside him, resting her head against his thigh. He absentmindedly plays with her ears and strokes down the fur of her back as he thinks deeply about the previous day's events.

As he thought he went from questioning the meaning of the collar that Ten had gotten him to wear and the tender look the shorter male had given him while placing it around his neck to why Jiyong would have lied to Ten and him.

Taeyong looked at the collar that was still laying on his bedside table where he had placed it after taking it off and he sighs, rubbing his tired face roughly in his hands, as if to scrub away the jumble of feelings and confusion that came with the interview of his sunbae.

He sits with his chin in his hands, elbows rested on his thighs and gaze blankly fixed upon the shades of the window before him for quite some time.

He later hears a quiet knock followed by an "I hope you're decent, I've brought you a peace offering" which was said as Ten carefully opened the door, a change of clothes for Taeyong over one arm and a tray of food in his hands.

The boss notices the lack of reaction from the red head and scowls slightly, he was making an effort to ease the situation of the other, the least he could do was play along. "You know ba- boy, it's rude to ignore people" he comments as he approaches the bed and places the tray carefully on the table and the clothes at the end of the bed.

Taeyong turns to look at Ten, his eyes tired and his bare torso slouched "Thanks," he looks at the tray of food then back at Ten "I'm not hungry though"

Ten sighs, calming his anger that was flaring at the pale marks that were visible across the other's torso and reaction to the food. "You haven't eaten anything but an apple since you got here two days ago, and you puked that up, so I'm not leaving until you eat this entire tray, I will personally spoon feed you if you won't do it yourself"

Taeyong looked him straight in the eye and notes that the shorter was in no way joking about the food and sighs "I'll just get rid of it the same way I did with the apple" he says quietly and reluctantly he didn't really want to tell Ten this, he just figured it was better Ten didn't waste his efforts.

"No, you won't, because I'm not going to let you, whether I have to force you to keep it down or not, this meal is not coming back up the way it went down." Ten responds firmly taking the tray and stabilizing it between him and the redhead and gesturing for the other to pick up either the chopsticks or spoon to eat the breakfast of toast, a large helping of a beefy breakfast soup, and a tall glass of milk.

"I won't be able to eat all of this" Taeyong confides as he picks up a piece of toast and nibbles on it slowly, his stomach making loud noises of disapproval at the sloth like qualities of his eating.

Ten nods "That's fair, but you will still have to eat at least half of what is here" he responds firmly, there was no way his beautiful prize was going to get away with starving himself to death under Ten's care, if things were to go the way he wanted then the red head would even gain a few much needed pounds.

Titan watches her master care for the sweet smelling one with a sense of confused pride. It was odd for her master to be this forwardly caring, even with his own members to whom he often just made offhanded comments reminding the others to take care of themselves, but she watched with pride anyway as he took care of the tall gentle one.

Taeyong slowly ate a little under a half of the meal under Ten's watchful gaze before Ten had deemed that he had eaten enough, after all it wouldn't be good to force him to eat too much after having eaten nothing for quite a while.

Ten pulled the food away from the stuffed taller and gestured to the clothes on the edge of the bed "Why don't you clean yourself up and I'll give you a bit of a tour as well as introduce you to the members who you might interact with."

Taeyong nods slowly, a bit confused at the treatment Ten was giving him, he was honestly a bit on edge about it but took the clothes and went to his shower anyway, remembering to lock the bathroom door behind him before he strips and steps under the warm water.

Ten watched as the older went into the bathroom, obviously enjoying the view of the retreating man before the door closes.

Titan whines quietly at her master to gain his attention and she looks ever so guilty as she moves a bit towards him wondering if he was upset with her for leaving him behind for the night.

Ten sighs and beckons for her to come to him and he chuckles quietly as she enthusiastically rolled over the sheets to him and happily licked his hand as she curled up beside him.

He pets the fur of her belly and plays with her ears just the way she liked it and hums quietly "It's alright my dear, if I were you I would have preferred to spend the night by his side as well"

She whined quietly feeling his exhaustion through his words. He had truthfully not slept well without her by his side that night but he couldn't blame her for wanting to make their beautiful guest feel better in his moments of distress.

A few minutes later a wet haired Taeyong emerges from the bathroom, fully dressed in the faded blue skinny jeans and the over sized black sweater that Ten had brought for him, however he was glaring lightly at Ten as he held another black collar in his outstretched hand, this collar was studded with a few pale green crystals periodically across the front of it like small stars.

"Another one?" He asks incredulously as Ten smirked and approached to place the collar around the taller's neck just like he had done the day before with the other black collar.

"You will get used to them pet"

[the-basement-paradox]

~Boss~ Chapters 7 & 8

~Chapter 7~

17

Ten knocked gently on the door of Taeyong's rooms, the boys new clothes laying nicely over his arm. He walks into the room not long after his warning and finds Taeyong in the same position as when ten had left him, except for a pair of small details. The apple Ten had left behind for the boy was gone and there was a faint stench coming from the bathroom, the stench was not of someone who had relieved them self but rather of someone who had eaten something and had then proceeded to throw it up again.

Titan snarls quietly at the putrid, sweet scent of the sick and pads up to Taeyong announcing her and her master's presence in the room.

"I brought you some clothes, get changed, we are going to discuss the details of your time here" Ten says his voice low in both pitch and volume, he sounded as cold as ever though his volume told a different story. He places the clothes on the bed in the silence that had followed his words.

"Why can't we just talk about it here and now?" Taeyong asks turning in Ten's direction and running the new clothes through his hands.

"Because it isn't just us speaking about this pet, Jiyong is the one trying to get you back after all, he ought to know the details" Ten explains retreating to the door, he glances at the trashcan and his mouth twitches as he sees the apple core lying in the bottom of it "You have 10 minutes before I come back in, you better be dressed" and with that Ten and Titan exit the room to give Taeyong his privacy.

Taeyong carefully strips off his bottoms and looks over the boxers and leather pants that had been brought for him, he wasn't sure how much he could trust Ten but he figured he didn't have much of a choice and dresses himself anyway. He takes off his shirt and looks over the white button up and black blazer, he puts on and tucks in the white shirt and as he put on the jacket he watched something fall out of the center of it.

No. Fucking. Way. Taeyong picked up the little black leather dog collar and inspected the small lime rhinestone dangling from the front of it in complete disbelief, there was no way Ten meant to make him wear a collar.

Finally the ten minutes were up and Ten knocks on the door once before he opens the door not a second later, he looks over Taeyong and smirks before his face falls cold again as his gaze rests on his prize's bare collar bones.

"There is no way you meant for me to wear this" Taeyong growls, he looked incredibly pissed off at the shorter.

Ten chuckles "What, not your color?" he asks tauntingly, his overall tone was that of someone teasing another but the glint in his grey eyes and the deep undertone in his voice dared Taeyong to refuse to wear the accessory.

Ten stalks forward, smoothly taking the collar from the other's hands and unbuckles it. He smirks as he trails his cool hands leisurely across the sides of Taeyong's warm neck and his smirk grows as he watches the boy visibly shiver and tense up beneath his touch.

He buckled the collar around the taller's neck and lets his cool hands linger there at his nape for a moment before pulling them away. He turns Taeyong around and straightens out the collar a bit so the rhinestone was resting at the base of Taeyong's throat. He almost groans with approval as he takes a step back to admire his work.

"Would you look at that" He says lowly his eyes traveling leisurely along Taeyong's body, enjoying how flustered the other was getting under his gaze "The Pawn has nearly upgraded himself to King with one little costume change"

Taeyong takes a moment to regain his composure and process Ten's words, once he does he snorts a bit "Does that make you the Queen?" he asks snarkily.

Ten chuckles knowing how odd his next words would sound "Why of course, haven't you ever played Chess?" with those words he beckons Taeyong to follow him out of the rooms and takes hold of the flustered and confused taller's elbow to steer him to the conference room.

~

(A/N)

Hello! This A/N is to quickly explain the Pawn/King/Queen thing cause people are bound to get confused about how I'm formatting this.

Okay, so basically if you know the rules of Chess you might have an idea of what Ten means when he says he's the Queen and Taeyong's the King. If you're thinking Ten's implying he's the 'female'/sub of the relationship you are incorrect, although he secretly loves cuddles he means quite the opposite. Even though in the real life middle ages the King was the strong one who protected his Queen and his kingdom, that is not the case with Chess.

The King piece is the one being protected. The King has a limited range of motion in Chess, only being able to move one space per turn at any side, similar to Taeyong's predicament, he is important and is meant to be protected but because of the protection he has he has a limited range of motion, he can't just go anywhere he pleases.

Where as Ten represents the Queen of a Chess game, he can go virtually anywhere just like the Queen piece. When he calls himself the Queen he refers to the fact that he is pretty much the main protector of the King, because as we know the Queen is the best piece in the game of Chess in either offence or defense.

It also means that Ten wants to assume this role for Taeyong, he wants to be Taeyong's Queen and Taeyong to be his King. It was pretty much a subtle confession that Ten was catching feelings for Taeyong that went way over his head, and probably most of yours too. ;)

So in summary Taeyong is the King because he has a limited range of motion and has to rely on Ten to protect him whether he knows it or not and Ten is the Queen because he is free to go almost anywhere at any time and he protects Taeyong.

Also, in Chess whoever's King is still standing in the end wins.

I hope this note keeps the inevitable confusion at the King and Queen thing away.

~Key

~Chapter 8~

17

Ten sends Taeyong into the room ahead of him, knowing full well that Jiyong would be there, he wanted to make sure GD knew that he was going to be civil, or at least not say anything too crude in the presence of his prize, during this meeting.

Ten enters the room, his demeanor intimidating and ice cold. As it seemed, if he had any emotions left outside of this room he had left them at the door. He takes his place across the long table from Jiyong at the head of the table and gestures for Taeyong to take the seat against the wall to his left side, just inside of his field of vision, as he sits he doesn't once take his cold, calculating gaze off of Jiyong.

Taeyong shivers slightly at the change in temperance of the mob boss as he looks between the two, he looks at GD and watches his adam's apple bob as he swallows his anger, his eyes trained on the black collar that accessorized Taeyong's neck.

"Do you like his new style?" Ten asks his voice not revealing the contempt sneer that he held within as his face and voice remained cold, he knew this would irk the elder and he notices in his peripheral vision Lucas and Doyoung shifting in their seats ever so slightly, it was clear to Ten that they were uncomfortable with his taunting of GD.

Taeyong noticed the two's behavior as well and wonders just what they were so uncomfortable with, he knew his Hyung, the man would never hurt a fly.

Jiyong kept an innocent face on and clears his throat "I hope for his sake the collar doesn't mean what I think it means" He responds carefully, making sure to be precise with each one of his words. "Anyway, I hope we can settle this well, I want my dear dongsang back with at least some of his innocence still intact." he gives Taeyong a pitying look, one that conveyed his sorrow for getting the younger in this situation and his will to get the younger back home, but Taeyong could see something more than that deep in Jiyong's eyes, something he wasn't supposed to see.

"If you want him back so badly why don't you call upon your 'friends' to 'lend' you some money" Ten says coldly, his eyes glinted with knowledge that the others in the room couldn't quite understand, and GD pretended he didn't know and kept himself from even flinching at Ten's words.

Taeyong looked lost as he looked between the two men, he had never seen his Jiyong Hyung like this before, so tense and serious. He didn't like the way Ten said the words 'friends' or 'lend', he wondered in his mind, which was innocent in the dealings and 'code' of the mob, what in the world Ten could have meant by those words.

"What do you mean 'friends'? If you are hinting at a gang, then that would be ridiculous, I don't have one" Jiyong responds with a snort.

Taeyong's eyes go wide, he had noticed the tick that Jiyong always did when he lied, Jiyong always twitched his head ever so slightly to the right and Taeyong didn't have to look under the table to know that he had crossed his ankles, which was what his Hyung had always done when he was making a large lie. Taeyong looked down sadly at his lap as the lie of his Hyung attempted to sink in.

"Why are you lying Hyung" He murmurs lowly, slowly looking up at the older, quiet enough for it to be apparent that he didn't want to say it, but loud enough to make sure GD had heard it from his seat across the room.

"Why in the world would I lie about having a gang? I would never lie to you about something like that" Jiyong says his eyes wide with shock as he stares at Taeyong.

Twitch.

Taeyong grit his teeth "Obviously you would" He says slowly through his teeth as he worked to contain his anger and to put it bluntly, fear, that he felt towards his Hyung.

"I hate to interrupt your little argument but your business is with me, you have a gang Kwon Jiyong, you know as well as I do that your father left them to you when he died." Ten interrupts coldly, his headache over this only worsening as time passed.

Jiyong's eyes widen in shock.

Ten chuckles his tone ice cold but he was definitely perversely amused with the revelation he had just made "Don't tell me that son of a bitch thought he was going to live forever" He chuckles shaking his head lightly at the idiocy of the deceased leader. "Son of a bitch didn't even think to teach you how gang succession works did he"

Jiyong sits there frozen, his wide eyes flicking between Ten and Taeyong, it was obvious now to Taeyong that the innocence that he could see in the man before him, that he had known as his angelic Hyung for almost as long as he could remember, was simply a front that the man had put up in this little conference room to try to retain his good favor in Taeyong's eyes, and to make it less obvious encase he had let something he actually knew slip.

Taeyong watched the rest of the exchange in disgust as he watched his Hyung lie through his teeth multiple times in an effort to save his hide. He watched as they came to an agreement, Jiyong had one year to repay the debt that his father had owed Ten. Taeyong would be kept with the Gang for the first half of the year while the second half he would be allowed to stay in his apartment, though if Ten and his gang were not repaid by the end of the year Taeyong would be swept right back up into the gang headquarters this time with no foreseeable parole.

Taeyong had to be honest with himself he felt a bit like an item being bartered for throughout the meeting.

Once it was over Lucas and Doyoung escorted Jiyong away. After they had left the room and the door had clicked shut Ten leaned his elbows on the table before him, placing his temples at the tips of his delicate middle fingers and began massaging to help alleviate himself of the migraine that had begun to affect him more and more throughout the meeting.

After a few silent minutes of this with Taeyong just awkwardly sitting there staring at his hands which were twiddling in his lap Ten stood tall and beckoned for Taeyong to follow him.

The two exited the room and Ten sighs, his emotions 'returning' to him as he closes the door "Do you want me to explain anything that went down in there to you?" Ten asks, his tone back to its normal level of coldness with a slight coloring of pity lacing itself beneath it.

Taeyong shakes his head "I need to be left alone right now" He says softly, his tone shaky as they stopped outside the door that lead into his rooms.

Ten nods and lets Taeyong into his rooms without another word, he sighs and rubs his face in his hands for a moment before going into his own rooms.

As it had turned out Titan had not left Taeyong's bed since she and Ten had re-entered the room after Taeyong had changed and she was currently curled up on the plush comforter that covered the bed. She lifted her large head and whines quietly as she feels the bed sink beneath her as Taeyong sits on the edge.

He looks at her and sighs, he scoots further onto the bed so he was seated Indian style beside her head and he tentatively placed his hand atop her head which she nuzzled into.

[the-basement-paradox]

~Boss~ Chapters 5 & 6

~Chapter 5~

17

Taeyong stood as proudly as he could in his sweaty suit top and skinny jeans. He hadn't changed before he had gone to visit GD and he was getting fidgety with the disgusting feeling of the sweat drying on his skin which made it crawl.

He still managed to look quite small beside the powerful leader who still had a tight grip on his arm. The pair stood in front of the assembled available members of the gang and Ten was busy debriefing them on how his prize had managed to land himself here and what it meant for the gang.

Ten smirks and he squeezes Taeyong's arm and says "This pretty little thing-" Taeyong glares at being called little for an uncountable amount of times that day "-is worth a King's Kingdom to us, so let's treat our prize well, yes?"

Johnny raises his hand with his brows furrowed "Isn't the expression 'King's ransom?" he asks dropping his hand back to his lap.

Ten chuckles deeply and his large mastiff looks up at the sound of amusement and makes a small noise of her own before dropping her head back down to the floor to comfortably watch her master and the sweet and salty smelling one beside him. "I said King's Kingdom because this one is worth much more than a ransom" Ten grins wolfishly "After all, he is the collateral for our own dear Kwon Jiyong who has taken on his father's life debt to us"

The other members grin and whisper among each other excitedly, they remembered the life debt of GD's father, they had saved the man's life many times to the extent of losing a few of their own members, which had thrown the man into a nearly invaluable life debt to the gang as compensation for their gruesome losses. Now they had a way to get the money, even though they couldn't get their members back.

"Johnny," Ten barks getting the attention of the members once again "Take our prize to his room" he hands off Taeyong to the tall, still limping, man and Taeyong instantly sizes up the lanky male to find a way to hurt him just enough to get out of his hold and get away.

"Don't even try little one" Johnny chuckles deeply, his tone warning, "I'm much stronger than you think"

Taeyong pouts again and crosses his arms at being called little again, he also subtly itches at the crawling feeling that ran across the dirty skin of his arms, he needed to clean up soon or this might become an issue. "Tell that to the convicts you got shot by that night" He murmurs almost silently under his breath.

Johnny chuckles lowly either because he had heard Taeyong or at some perverse joke of his own and stop before a heavy metal door and swings it open to reveal the filthiest room Taeyong had ever laid eyes upon.

It looked a bit like an abandoned prison cell and Taeyong shivered and took shallow breaths just looking at the dust that hung in the air and, oh god, that blanket didn't just move did it??

"If you put me in that room I will kill myself before you even shut the door" Taeyong says, his body rigid with disgust and borderline fear at the filthy room.

"What's wrong pet, is the room not to your liking?" Ten's cold voice sounds from a few feet down the hall, Titan pads her way towards Taeyong and pokes her head into the dirty room, she very quickly recoils and snarls in disgust at Johnny and then turns to Ten and lets out a little informational whimper that told Ten that there really was something wrong with the room.

Ten quickly crosses the threshold and looks into the filthy prison cell. He scrunches his nose and looks at Johnny with an eyebrow raised, Johnny's eyes widened innocently as he looks at his leader, "What?" he appeals "Isn't he just a hostage?"

Ten sighs and withdraws his head from the room "Did you miss the part where I said we were to treat our prize well?" he questions pinching the bridge of his nose between a slender thumb and forefinger.

His head snaps over to Titan as she whimpers, she sounded almost distressed and he follows her gaze to the rigid figure of his catch. "Is there something wrong pet?" Ten asks an eyebrow raised but his tone as cool as ever. Titan wasn't known to pick up on others emotions well but she seemed to have very quickly recognized the scent of distress that was rolling off of the boy in waves.

"I-I'm fine" Taeyong stutters shaking himself lightly to try to fight his distress over the filth around him "I think I just need a shower" The boy became a little extra distressed upon realizing that he was about to have a panic attack about dirt in front of his incredibly hot, but incredibly dangerous kidnapper, a man he had just met, and a gigantic mastiff who could totally eat him if she wanted to and he was honestly silently willing her to do it.

Titan did something that surprised her master greatly, she butted her great head against Taeyong's thigh gently and whimpered softly and reassuringly until he moved his hand to stroke the soft, clean, short fur atop her head and she leaned gently into his hand and leg which comforted the distressed male a bit.

Taeyong looked up at a shook Ten who was watching his dog carefully and says "Take me to a clean room with a decent shower" He doesn't state it as a question even though if Ten wanted to he could take the demand as such due to the slight shivering still evident in the boy's voice.

"Johnny, grab him some clothes to change into after he showers and meet us at room block A-2" Ten says after tracing his gaze slowly up to Taeyong's.

Johnny looks a little shocked at his leader but nods and goes to retrieve the clothing anyway. Ten takes hold of Taeyong's forearm once more and leads him to a simple, clean and comfortable set of rooms that consisted of a bedroom that was decorated with soft brown and cream tones with small black accents, an office which held blue walls and a sandy colored desk, and a bathroom coated with white tiles and bronze accents with an intricate oak vanity and a large white luxurious tub with jets.

After Ten let Taeyong go he takes the sweatpants and t-shirt that Johnny had brought for his prize and tosses them to the boy "I believe this will suit you better" he says gesturing to the simplistic yet elegant rooms before he escorts Titan and Johnny out of them. He closes the door behind him and Taeyong sighs happily looking around the beautiful rooms before he makes a beeline for the shower and takes extra care scrubbing himself clean for hours.

Johnny stops Ten outside Taeyong's door and looks into his leader's eyes searching for an answer "Are you sure it's safe to keep him so close to you?" he asks lowly worrying over his leader.

Ten snorts "I'm not defenseless Johnny" he places a hand on his subordinate's shoulder and chuckles "Besides, I like to look at pretty things every once and a while."

And with that Ten winks and retires to his set of rooms directly across from Taeyong's, he closed the door behind Titan leaving a slightly speechless and definitely confused Johnny standing outside.

Ten rounds on Titan who had jumped onto his plush black sheeted bed "What the hell was that Ti" he grumbles, referring to how Titan had reacted to Taeyong's emotions.

Titan just makes a chuffing noise that sounded suspiciously like a laugh and looks at her master with her large, innocent, dark eyes.

~Chapter 6~

17

Taeyong was sitting at the edge of the plush bed, it was the early morning and he had only managed a bit of sleep as he recalls the events of the day before, his legs were hanging off the side and his head was drooped, he wasn't wearing a shirt as he found the combination of the baggy sweatpants combined with the large shirt too much.

He hears a little wolf whistle behind him and turns stiffly to see Ten in a pair of light grey sweatpants and a tight fitting black t-shirt leaning against the empty door frame with Titan poking her head in by his waist, she was panting happily as she looked at Taeyong, Ten decided not to comment on her behavior and instead smoothly speaks to the oh so delicious looking boy who had turned so stiffly to look at him "That is quite the sight to see so early in the morning" He easily let his eyes wanted down the redheads well built form, from his scrunched abs to his delectable collar bones.

Taeyong looks down tiredly at his bare torso and sighs, he throws on the large t-shirt, which didn't do much for covering his collarbones as the too big v-neck nearly hung off of one shoulder. Ten tosses an apple and a closed container full of freshly made scrambled eggs with a fork onto the bed beside Taeyong "Breakfast for the pawn" He hums.

Titan pads into the bedroom noticing that the sweet smell she had noticed the day before was a bit stronger now and pinned it down as the tall new human's natural scent which contrasted greatly to her master's more spicy scent. She sniffles around Taeyong's feet as she deduces this and ends her investigation with a lopsided smile that only she could pull off with her tongue lolling out from between her jaws.

Taeyong looks tiredly at the food "M' not hungry but thanks" He says in his soft yet gravely morning voice.

Ten licks his lips at the sound of the ever more wonderful voice of the boy in front of him and composes himself before responding "Are you insulting my cooking?" with a teasing sneer and a tone of amusement and feigned hurt.

Taeyong snorts "I would hardly call scrambled eggs cooking but either way I'm not hungry and I'm definitely not accepting food from you the day after you fucking kidnapped me" his tone was laced with annoyance and aggression.

Ten chuckles lowly "That's fair enough but I'm not sure if we can call it 'fucking kidnapping' seeing as you oh so easily came along when I brought you here." he smirks teasingly and finally enters the room completely to take the food away, the takes the dish of scrambled eggs but places the apple on the nightstand just in case, he whistles shortly to Titan who was still sitting before the redhead "Come my dear, it seems the pretty one doesn't want us around" he coos comfortingly as he leads a somber Titan out of Taeyong's rooms closing the door and leaving the taller alone with his thoughts.

Ten glares at Titan after the door had closed between him and the pretty boy in the other room "Traitor" he hisses before he goes back to his rooms and blockading himself in his office in his set of personal rooms to do some work, he allows his mind to wander to Taeyong's figure beneath that shirt, for sure his little pet was very strong and nicely muscled but there was something off about how well defined his ribs were even when he was so scrunched up like he had been. Ten wasn't necessarily bothered by this, though what he was quite bothered by was what monster from the depths of hell had dared to cause those pale marks that Ten had spotted across his pretty creature's torso.

Titan growls lowly warning her master to focus right before there was a knock on the office door. He calls for the intruders to enter and finds himself faced by Winwin with a Yuta still attached closely beside him, it was obvious that the mission that Ten had sent Winwin on alone was much too long for Yuta's needy hormones.

"What can I do for you tech heads" Ten says averting his gaze from the papers he had begun straightening in his hands in an attempt to appear as if he had been busy with his work.

"Jiyong is here to meet with you over the demands you have in regards to the payments he has to make to us, but he demands that the collateral be present at the meeting" Winwin says professionally even though he was unprofessionally half clinging to his Yuta.

Ten nods "Send him to the conference room and find some more presentable clothes for the pretty boy based on the clothes he came here in and send them to me, I will make sure he gets them"

Winwin and Yuta both raise an eyebrow at the mention of their leader taking the clothes to the hostage himself instead of just having them sent to the boy.

Ten chuckles "Think nothing of it you two, my pet has been a bit testy so far this morning but has taken a mutual liking to my dear Titan, so I will use her to put him at ease with these situations until he is used to them"

Winwin and Yuta nod slowly and leave Ten to his work. He sighs and runs his slim hands over his face before pushing them through his hair. He stands and goes to change into a suit and get himself mentally prepared for the headache of a meeting that awaited him.

[the-basement-paradox]

~Boss~ Chapters 3 & 4

~Chapter 3~

17

Taeyong rolls out of bed and goes to his dingy kitchen to find himself something to eat to keep himself from passing out on stage, he settles for making himself a small bowl of  omurice and sits on his couch to eat. Once he finished eating he cleaned the dishes he used and replaced the bucket in the middle of the sitting room.

He went to change into a pair of black sweatpants and a dark grey v neck, he grabs his wallet and house key before he leaves to walk the hour long walk to the destination of the concert. He attempts a few stretches on the way and even jogs a bit every once and awhile.

Once he appeared at the stage he goes behind the curtains and is quickly pulled into the joyful arms of the one and only G-Dragon. "Hey Tae! I'm so glad you were able to dance with us" the older man says happily.

Taeyong chuckles tiredly "I'm glad too sunbae-nim" he returns the hug lightly before GD lets go, as soon as the elder does Taeyong gets swarmed by a stylist and her entourage of makeup artists who lead him to a changing room and throw his clothes at him. "You have 10 minutes!" They call to him before rushing off to prepare a station for him when he was done.

Once Taeyong was dressed he walked out of the room and he rolls his eyes at his sunbae who wolf whistles at him teasingly, he was wearing skin tight leather pants and a suit top without a shirt underneath.

He is guided to sit down at a makeup station and gets explanations from a backstage manager about his entrances as the makeup artists flit around him.

Finally his makeup and costuming were complete and he went out onstage with the other dancers and the members of Bigbang, he was chatting lightly with GD as they went out.

Taeyong puts on his mask and looks around at the other dancers as he takes his place, his jaw drops beneath the black fabric as he locks eyes with a familiar blue haired man across the formation from him. Taeyong had only seen them once from a distance but he recognized those steely grey eyes instantly. The man from the alley.

His mind goes into overdrive as he thinks about all of the reasons the probable murderer would be here at this very dance, this show.

Suddenly the music begins and he is forced to move and follow the steps of the dance to avoid colliding with the others.

Towards the middle of the dance Taeyong and Blue hair dance flanking GD with the other dancers standing to the sides, this was the most complicated part of the dance and Taeyong couldn't help but stare as blue hair executes it expertly by his side, neither boy took their eyes off of each other.

The dance ends and the directing manager praises the choreographers for thinking to place red headed Taeyong with the blue haired one creating a perfect color contrast to the purple haired GD.

The choreographers look confused but accept the praise nonetheless. Then something more than a little odd happens, GD looks to Taeyong and blue hair to congratulate them and when he looks into the cold grey eyes of blue hair his face turns nearly white and his eyes widen twice their normal size in shock.

Taeyong frowns and touches GD's shoulder to distract him, the older murmurs something shakily to blue hair before turning to Taeyong and smiling like nothing happened even though his face was still quite pale.

Taeyong has no chance to ask about it because they quickly had to leave the stage before the audience began to file into the hall.

~Lil time skip to after the concert~

"You owe us" a low threatening voice echoes razor sharp from behind the closed door of GD's changing room.

"I owe you nothing Ten, my father owed you and now he's dead, I have nothing to do with this" the higher pitched voice of GD rings out sounding a bit panicked and worried.

Taeyong listens to this with his hand hovering just over the handle of the door, he was going to check on GD after performance but now he wasn't sure of that idea.

"Your father's debt passed down to you, you will not get out of this until it is repaid" there was that voice again, the cold voice that sent a confused shiver down Taeyong's spine. He tentatively knocks on the door.

It falls silent and GD calls for him to come in, Taeyong tentatively enters the room and gasps silently as he sees blue hair sitting stiffly across from a panicked G-Dragon whose face was paler than it had been before the performance.

"B-Blue Hair" Taeyong stutters not quite believing his eyes as he watches the tense form of the ethereal man.

Ten smirks slightly and tilts his head "Have we met?"

"Y-You were outside m-my apartment last night" Taeyong stutters shivering slightly as he remembered the sticky blood all over the walls and ground.

Ten raises an eyebrow and GD blanches "I saw you through the window that night" Ten hums aiming to tease the taller a bit. "You looked quite like a puppy asleep the way you were"

Taeyong pales, the blue haired killer had seen him asleep that night, this was really bad. GD was trying to subtly get Taeyong to leave, so he wouldn't get caught up in this mess.

Ten notices this and smiles cruelly "So you are close with the puppy" he comments looking from GD to Taeyong.

The two freeze and GD shakes his head "I don't, he doesn't need to be here"

Ten chuckles coldly, remaining unconvinced "you are a horrible liar" he chuckles he looks over Taeyong and tilts up his chin approvingly and Taeyong resists the urge to cover himself with his arms.

"It seems we have our collateral" He chuckles.

"No, no no no no" GD panics, Taeyong was frozen in place by Blue hair's stormy eyes. "You can't take him, h-his mother is sick and he's taking care of her, you can't just leave her defenseless like that" GD lies quickly.

Ten laughs deeply once more "No he doesn't, his parents have both been dead since 2015, car crash if I am not mistaken"

Taeyong raises his chin as a small act of defiance "I'm not going anywhere with a stalker" he says keeping his voice carefully steady.

"It's a good think I'm not one then" Ten smirks.

"Ten please no" GD pleads quietly but Ten didn't even glance his direction.

"Then what are you?" Taeyong asks raising an eyebrow.

"I'm a mob boss if you must know" Ten chuckles dangerously standing and taking a few steps towards Taeyong and grabbing the taller's wrist.

Taeyong says the only thing he could with his mind so clouded with fear.

"You're too pretty to be a mob boss"

~Chapter 4~

17

"Thanks pretty boy" Ten chuckles "You're quite the treat for the eyes yourself,"

Taeyong instantly flushes and looks down at his feet, he refused to look up to meet the eyes of his purple haired friend or his newfound blue haired kidnapper, whom he had just praised.

Ten grips the red head firmly but not roughly on the forearm and sneers a little at GD who could do nothing but gawk at his idiotic, but endangered friend as he was torn away from him. "I'll need your first installment by next month" Ten warns "Or pretty boy is mine for good" Ten snarls suggestively looking from GD's panicked face to Taeyong's rather delectable looking throat.

That was the last GD had seen of Taeyong as the flustered and panicked younger was dragged out of the dressing room by his arm. GD sank down into the plush couch behind him and leaned forward, dropping his head into his hands as the panicked yet trusting face of Taeyong burned itself into the inside of his eyelids.

The older knew that he had a lot, he was very fortunate, but he also knew that even if he sent himself bankrupt by giving Ten all of his money he would only have payed off around half of what his wretched father owed to the mafia gang.

As for Ten, he was triumphantly smirking as he loaded his prize into the van. A very confused 'getaway' driver, Yuta, watched on before locking the doors behind his leader and his prize.

Ten chuckles when he finally turns from his catch to look at Yuta's lost expression, he gestures for Yuta to go and Yuta obeys hoping for an explanation on their way home.

"So honey how was work" Yuta teases trying to get a bit of information from the boss.

Ten chuckles and looks back at Taeyong again who was sitting cross legged buckled into the floor of the van, as there weren't really any back seats with all of the equipment, and his arms crossed as well as he glowered childishly at his captor. All of this Ten had to admit was quite cute.

"I got us some pretty little collateral for the money that Mr. Jiyong owes us" Ten hums with the air of someone who had just simply described what he had bought for this week's groceries.

"I'm taller than you you know" Grumbled the flustered and frustrated redhead from the back "Technically I should be the one calling you little"

Yuta hears this retort and barks loudly with laughter "You're new boy-toy has some attitude, I like it"

Ten chuckles good naturedly but there was a threatening undertone lurking beneath the deep sound that sent shivers down Taeyong's spine. "You better not let Winwin hear you say that"

Yuta snorts "I don't know where you sent him but he hasn't been back for a week, he hasn't heard anything, and frankly neither have I"

Ten's sneaky smirk doesn't falter with the news, but the van falls silent as Yuta worries over his Winwin, Taeyong definitely didn't feel like talking and Ten simply didn't have anything to say.

Yuta soon pulls into their driveway and sighs, he runs a hand through his hair before shutting off and exiting the vehicle. Ten unloads Taeyong from the back of the van, tightly holding the redhead's forearm once more as he guided him rather slowly towards the door. "Watch this" He murmurs into Taeyong's ear before calling out "We're home!"

Instantly a ruffled, but overall unharmed, man bursts through the door from the inside and his hard eyes scan over the smirking mob boss as they searched for someone, soon the eyes latched onto a dejected Yuta, who's head was down, not looking at the man as he inched forward.

"I expected much more of a reaction than this" The man grumbles his voice gentle and eyes soft as they followed Yuta's every move. Yuta snaps his head up "Win!" He says excitedly running towards the man and jumping on him, wrapping his arms and legs around him tightly.

"That's my Yu" Winwin murmurs, he sweetly kissed the side of Yuta's neck as he wraps his arms around the other's waist to hold him up.

Ten chuckles quietly before he clears his throat, alerting the couple to his presence "If you're going to partake in PDA, at least get out of the way of the door"

Winwin steps to the side to let his boss pass without even looking away from Yuta, meaning he didn't see the extremely flustered Taeyong being dragged slightly behind Ten.

"I think you'll fit in just fine for the time being pretty boy" Ten hums as he pulls Taeyong into the house "But don't get overly comfortable" he looks at the redhead "You are a pawn after all, and pawns don't last forever"