#markdream

THUD

The man's lifeless body fell at your feet, the gun still smoking as his lifeblood slowly drained out from the hole in the back of his head. You sighed and brushed the hair out of your face.

"Ugh now I need to replace him."  You complained to your right-hand man, Zhong Chenle. He nodded and clicked his tongue at the two thugs behind him. They lumbered up and dragged away the body of your ex-member, blood smearing across the ground.

"Aish...so annoying." You rubbed your temple with the barrel of the gun. "That's the second one this month. Am I losing my touch?" You threw a look at Chenle. He shook his head and came up to your side. "Noona." He whispered. "I think there may be a rat."

Your childhood best friend always knew exactly what to say to you. Which is one reason why he was your right hand man. Other than the fact that you trust him with your life, which in your line of business, that type of trust doesn't come by easily. Man was also a hell of a sniper.

"Can you call Mark in here now? I need him to find me another man. Oh! And don't let him or anyone else in Neo Zone know what you think. Between you and I and the other 5 Dreamies only." You asked of Chenle. He nodded and zipped his lips with a small smile.

You smiled softly back at him as he left the dark damp basement. Once he was gone, you sighed loudly and squatted down with your hands on your knees, tired. 

Putting your gun next to you, you hold your head in your hands and close your eyes. The death scene that happened a few minutes ago played behind your eyelids in vivid detail. No matter how many times you did it, it never got any easier.

You didn't get much time to rest before there was a knock on the door. You bolted upright, waiting expectantly.

First rule: Never show weakness to anyone. Especially to Mark.

Said man stepped into the dim light and looked at you. "You called, Boss?"

The light from upstairs created a glow around him showing off his presence. It was intimidating. Or would be to anyone else if you weren't the youngest mob boss in Underground Seoul history. He was yours to control. 

Yet every time you saw him you did have to admit he would make an amazing mob boss. He just had this thing about him.

"I need another soldier. I had an issue with the last one and he needed to be taken care of. Unfortunately, he will no longer be able to fulfill his job. It shouldn't be too hard, I know we have many new members waiting to get placed."  You explained while bending down to pick up your forgotten gun. Without changing his facial expression, Mark nodded, "I understand. I'll get on that right away. Anything else, Boss?"

"That is all."  You waved him away and walked past him, out of the dark basement and away from the suffocating metallic smell of iron that hung in the air.

Finally out in the light, you tried to will your goosebumps down after passing by the man. Ever since he joined your gang, you had a weird feeling about him. There was something you couldn't place your finger on. 

You knew you had to keep a close eye on him, so after he joined, he was quickly promoted to the third in charge, despite the many complaints from some of the other members in your gang.

You couldn't explain yet. No, there was still more you needed to figure out.

It felt like a complicated game of cat and mouse you were playing.

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You walked into the kitchen, still trying to get the day’s previous scene out of your head. In the kitchen, Jaemin was preparing dinner. He noticed your presence without even turning around from the dish in front of him. “Ah Emmo, are you hungry?” He was making tteokbokki and kalbi.

You walked over and peaked over his shoulder. “Ohhh it smells good Jaemin.” He gave you a little side smile and continued cooking. “Oh Emmo can you call the others to dinner?” You nodded and went out of the kitchen to track the other boys down. 

You had a large gang, Neo Zone, but only the “Dreamies” as they were called, lived with you. The “Dreamies” were your closest confidants in the gang. No one knew where the name Dreamies came from but it stuck. Those 7 boys proved their loyalty to you time and time again, other than Mark, but he was a special case. 

Jaemin was one of the younger Dreamies but he was special to you in a different way than the rest of them. He was family but by actual blood. Jaemin was your nephew by your sister and her husband Jaehyun. When you took over the “family business” from your mom, who was the first female mob boss in Seoul’s Underground history, your sister wanted no part of it despite her strong exterior. As much as his mom disliked it, Jaemin was a mobster through and through so when he came of age, he moved in with you, his aunt. He had a special talent of being able to charm anyone and anything with his silver tongue which helped during negotiations and other matters. 

The “family business” was a legit business just slightly illegal. Your Neo Zone gang served as protection, especially to those who could pay the price. On the outside, they were a bodyguard service but further on the inside it got a bit more illegal with assassinations, hits, and spying to name a few services.  

The first Dreamie you found other than Jaemin was Chenle, who was cleaning his sniper rifle with such care, you’d think it was a living thing.

Chenle was your best friend from childhood. He always had a fixation with guns since he was little so your mom honed that into the person he was today, one of the deadliest snipers and hitmen in the Underground scene. 

 “Yah, Chenle. Jaemin says dinner is almost ready.” You watched him put the gun down with such care and sprung up from the couch. “Is it my turn to set the table?” He asked while heading towards the kitchen. “I think so. You and Jisung. I’ll go find him, you start setting up." You offered as he waved a hand above his shoulder in a thank you. Next Dreamie to find was Jisung, the baby of the 7. 

Jisung came into your life in an unexpected way. A few years ago, your gang was cleaning up a botched assassination when Jisung stumbled upon them. Normally, they never kept survivors because a dead man tell no tales but they didn’t hurt kids. 

So Jisung, the unwitting child he was, was brought back with them because he had seen too much. As it turned out, Jisung was an orphan and he took to the mob lifestyle pretty quickly. Since he was still young, your mom, homeschooled him so he could get a good education. When he wasn’t in class, he was out with the other members of the gang training and practicing. He was still too young to take out on some missions so he stayed home training. 

You, however, found him in his room finishing up his homework. “Jisung it’s dinnertime. Also it’s yours and Chenle’s turn to set the table.” Jisung looked up at you from his homework with his cute puppy dog smile. “Okay Noona, I will when I’m finished with this problem.” You smiled back at him and ruffled his hair like a proud older sister. He smiled as he continued his work. With 3 Dreamies found, that left 4 more. 

You continued through the house, searching for the other 4. You found 3 of the 4 in the living room. Renjun was drawing on his tablet, while Haechan and Jeno were yelling at each other while playing a video game. You leaned in the doorway, watching the chaos ensue in front of you. 

Haechan was getting increasingly louder as Jeno was beating him in the game. “Yah. YAH! YAHHHH!! QUIT KILLING ME!” Haechan screeched as Jeno laughed maniacally. Renjun looked up at them from his tablet screen and then noticed your presence. “Hi Noona, is it dinnertime?” He asked in his soft voice. You nodded. “Jaemin made tteokbokki and kalbi.” 

He smiled and put his tablet down on the coffee table. Renjun then stood up and walked over to the 2 screaming boys. Reeling back both hands, he swatted them on the back of the head. “Yah! It’s dinnertime!”

 Haechan and Jeno dropped their controllers and clutched the back of their heads. “OWW HYUNG!” They both cried out. Renjun just smirked and walked silently out of the living room.

Renjun was a different type of special in the group, the one you didn’t want to get angry. You liked to call him the “shadow” of your gang. He had this ability to go unnoticed in a crowded room and melt into the shadows. As he aged, he got increasingly more stealthy and silent to the point you couldn’t hear him until it was too late. This skill made him incredibly useful in their recon missions and assassinations when Chenle’s sniper skills weren’t needed. 

Jeno was the muscle of the Dreamies and used it to his advantage whenever he could. Haechan was the distracter of the group. When bait for a trap was needed, he was their man. You liked to compare Haechan to a snake. You could never get your hands on him since he was too slippery to catch. Man was also clever as hell, able to get out of any situation.  

The two boys passed by you, still holding their heads. They acknowledged you with a small smile and continued to bicker down the hallway as to who actually won the video game. You sighed and chuckled at their antics. Now there was only one Dreamie left. Mark. The only one you couldn’t figure out and who gave you goosebumps. 

You trusted the other 6 boys with your life since they were all family, blood or otherwise, but Mark was the odd one out. He got along well with everyone and the other Dreamies but you had an odd feeling about him. It was almost like he and you were fire and ice. You could never tell what he was thinking, his eyes were hard to read. 

You continued to wander the hallways until you heard a sound. It was coming from the training room. You opened up the door to the training room and there was Mark. He was boxing at one of the bags they had installed. You stood there for a minute watching him. He was a handsome individual with an average-looking physique that was actually quite powerful and nimble. Mark was the all- around talent in their group, doing a little bit of everything. No one really knew where he came from, he just showed up one day. 

You took a step into the training room, distracting Mark. He glared up at you from underneath the bangs plastered to his sweaty forehead. His bare chest was heaving with deep breaths as sweat dripped off him. His fists were crudely wrapped in cloth to pad them. “Wha-” Mark panted, “what do you need?”

 He lifted a fist and began to unravel the cloth. Turning his back to you to set the cloth down on a bench in the room, you were given a full view of his back. Mark could feel your gaze on him. 

“Liking what you see Y/N?” He was the only Dreamie who wouldn’t call you Noona, (or Emmo in Jaemin’s case). He did call you Boss but only in the presence of other Neo Zone members. He liked to reserve your real name for when you two were alone. Mark knew it got under your skin because you couldn’t figure out his angle with you. 

You snapped your gaze away from his shirtless torso and looked at the ground. “It’s dinnertime. Hurry up because everyone is waiting.” You then quickly turned around to leave. Mark caught your arm and pulled you towards him. “Hmm… they wouldn’t care if I was a few more minutes late.” He liked to tease you and then release you. You were trapped in a deadly game of cat and mouse. You could feel he was the downfall of you but you wasn’t sure in what sense. 

You put your hands on his chest and pushed him away, luckily said chest was now clothed. “Dinner. Now.” You muttered, before gulping and booking it down the hall, putting as much distance between him and you as you could. Every time you were alone, electricity felt like it was running across your skin. You hated it. You were the boss not him yet as times it felt like he was controlling you. 

Back in the dining room, dinner was just like every other night, loud and full of laughter. You may be a ruthless mob but you were family who loved and cared for each other. Even Mark was laughing, throwing his head back. Times like this made your heart full. Mark met your gaze over the table and gave you a quick wink before diving back into whatever tale Haechan was exaggerating. You gritted your teeth and clenched your cup a bit tighter. You would find out what was his deal even if it was the last thing you did. 

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Months passed and jobs came in at a continuous stream, keeping you and your gang busy. Mark was becoming an integral part of your little set up and you couldn’t see him leaving anytime soon. After seeing this, you finally dropped your guard and approached him one day to tell him about this. 

“Mark.” You grabbed his shoulder while you were leaving a mission one day. He glanced over his shoulder at you. “Hmm?” His eyebrow lifting when he saw you voluntarily touching him. Electricity shot through your hand but you ignored it. 

“For the longest time I didn’t know what your deal was. I had this off feeling about you…” You took a breath to steel yourself, “but I think I can finally trust you. You’ve shown your loyalty to us and now I need to show mine to you.” You finished, your hand dropping off his shoulder as he turned toward you. 

He was smirking at you. Not what you expected. “I wondered how long it would take you.” He dropped his head a bit to look down at you, eyes turning dark. “You know Y/N,” Mark lifted an eyebrow again and got close to your ear, whispering, “you really should have trusted your gut.” 

Suddenly, the doors of the room you were in burst open and armed agents filed in, quickly and efficiently, blocking all the exits. As if you were electrocuted, you sprang back from Mark, hurt. “You! You were the rat!” You spat at him, eyes like daggers. 

Mark tipped his head back, laughing. “You were all very easy to manipulate. You’d think the notorious youngest mob boss in Underground Seoul history would be less trusting.” He smirked again at you and walked over to an agent. The agent stood straight and saluted him. “Captain Mark.” Mark bobbed his head in acknowledgment to the man and took the walkie talkie out of his hand. 

“Unit 127 to SM. I have the target cornered. Over.” He spoke into the radio. “SM to Unit 127, do you have sufficient backup? Over.” The radio chirped back at him. 

Mark threw a glance over to you, catching your eye and without breaking eye contact spoke back into the radio. “Unit 127 to SM, I think you may have sent too many actually. I can handle them on my own. Over.” He took his thumb off the button and waited for a response. You watched him, seething with rage. 

“SM to Unit 127, alright pulling backup. Over.” Mark nodded and handed the walkie talkie back to the man. The man yelled to the other agents. “You heard headquarters, fall back!” But before the men could move, shots were fired and all hell broke loose.

You dove behind an office desk in the room, your gun loaded and ready. The first shot sounded like it came from above. You smiled to yourself. “There’s Chenle.” He must have been watching you. That was Mark’s mistake. Did he really think you were all alone? 

You peeked up and saw the other Dreamies come in searching for you, touching their ears to listen to Chenle’s instructions as to where you were. You touched your own ear piece and spoke into your wrist where the mic was. “I’m hiding behind the desk guys. But watch out for Mark, he’s the rat.” The other boys made eye contact with you and nodded once, in understandance. They then broke off, picking off agents as they cleared an exit. 

You crept out from behind the desk, searching for Mark. He was yours.

 You caught sight of his jacket and took off after it. He led you on a chase down a hallway into another office. Trapped, he turned around, gun pointed at you. 

“I see it in you Mark.” You spoke, gun trained on the spot between his eyebrows. His face twisted in confusion. “What? What do you mean?” 

It was your turn to laugh. “The darkness in your eyes. The darkness each of us in this gang have. You know being in the special force isn’t enough for you. There’s too much evil in this world.” Mark’s eyes narrowed. 

“Oh I know. You and your gang are the evil.” He spat out. You laughed again, moving closer to him. “No, you have it wrong. That’s where we come in. We don’t have protocols to follow or to constrain us. We get the job done. I’ve seen you on these jobs with us. You love it. The freedom you are given to fully help people. If you like it so much you should accept it.” You took a step closer.

“If I just get close enough I could disarm him.” You thought to yourself, watching him. 

Mark gripped the gun harder, knuckles turning white. “I don’t want to hurt you Y/N. I mean, I did in the beginning but then as I spent more time with you and the other guys… I felt like I was family. I-i’ve never felt that with the special force…” His eyes softened and dropped to the ground, “We were treated more like weapons rather than people..” Mark’s voice got quieter and the arm holding his gun dropped some. 

You moved in even closer, his gun almost touching you. “Then join us. Permanently. As a part of our family.” He picked his head up and looked at you, fully. 

A shot rang out and his gun slipped from his fingers. Mark dropped to his knees but you caught him before he hit the ground, hugging him to you. The other 6 Dreamies stood in the doorway, Jeno still holding the gun used to shoot Mark. 

They rushed you making sure you were okay. “I’m fine guys but we need to get Mark back to the house and patch him up.” Haechan made a face. “Why Noona, he’s the rat. We need to dispose of him like a rat.” 

You shook your head, “No, I think he was being used. We’ll get more out of him once we are home.” 

Back at the house, you patched Mark up and they all waited for him to regain consciousness. He groggily opened up his eyes, wincing with every breath. 

“Easy, easy Mark. Jeno may look like all muscle but he’s got good aim too.” You helped him sit up and drink some water. 

The other boys just glared at him, waiting for him to speak. He looked at each of them. “I-i know. I need to explain.” He groaned, coughing some. “I was originally supposed to just infiltrate your gang and gain your trust to get information to bring you down but...but,” Mark takes a shaky breath. “I got more involved than I expected…” He looked over at you, “I-i fell in love with Y/N and then all of you started to feel like my brothers...like my family. I never had a real family or real love but here...here I felt that. I was going to call off the raid today and then go AWOL but I was too late…so I just went with it...” Mark hung his head in shame.  

The news came as a shock to all of you. The room was silent until Jisung was the first to speak up. “I forgive you hyung. I liked having you as a brother and I want to keep it that way.” Jisung glanced over at the other boys, trying to read their faces. 

Renjun rubbed the back of his neck. “Yeah… you are a pretty cool hyung.” The others murmured in agreeance. Mark lifted his head and cracked a smile at them. He then turned towards you, hopeful. “Is the offer of becoming family permanently still on the table?”