Episode 2: Haedery Saga

PART 1: HENDERY Comes Out! Except...

TEN and HENDERY get back from the doctor's office. They all knew something was going on with HENDERY but they didn't know what. It wasn't until HAECHAN (who is autistic) said, "Guys. Come on. He's clearly autistic." But no one believed him and they were all like "Oh, HAECHAN you silly deranged man. Haha!" ("WHY AM I THE ONLY ONE WHO HAS TO DEAL WITH THE ABLEISM HERE, FUCK NCT, I HATE IT HERE"). DADDY SM has been drinking again and hasn't been checking up on them, so TEN was the only one who could join HENDERY on his appointment. His hands are shaking as he holds the papers.

TAEIL, singing: How was it?

TEN: We got the results... HENDERY is autistic.

They all gasp in shock.

HENDERY: Guys. It's not a big deal. I'm just autistic, it's fine. Sure, i'm a bit hyperfixated on Beauty and The Beast, but that's about it.

JOHNNY: Oh, that explains the Beauty and The Beast sex role play you made me do with you.

MARK: What?

JOHNNY: What?

they all go to bed and no one wants to sleep with HENDERY because they think autism is contagious. Next morning, they are having cereal and HENDERY pours the milk before the cereal. They all gasp in shock and start saying he acts like this because he's autistic.

HENDERY: GUYS, THIS ISN'T AN AUTISM THING. IT'S JUST HOW I DO IT, MY MOTHER TAUGHT ME TO DO IT LIKE THIS.

JOHNNY: Your mom is autistic?

HENDERY: I DON'T FUCKING KNOW??? I HAVEN'T SEEN HER SINCE DADDY SM KIDNAPPED ME.

DADDY SM gets home and they all get excited because he's back from the bar.

DADDY SM: Hey, you were gonna take HENDERY to the doctor, how is he?

TAEYONG: Well... he's autistic.

DADDY SM: WHAT?

HENDERY: Guys, it's okay. It's just autism, it's not a big deal.

DADDY SM: I'm sorry, but if you're autistic.... you may be joining LUCAS in the basement.

HENDERY: NO. COME ON. IT'S NOT THAT BAD. HAECHAN is autistic and we don't do anything about that.

HAECHAN: Yeah, but I wasn't diagnosed.

DADDY SM: I'm sorry, but this could affect our image.

TAEIL: Seriously? out of all the things, THIS is what could affect our image? not everything else?

DADDY SM: We just can't take any risks after what happened with LUCAS.

MARK: I thought we couldn't take any risks after what happened with Sticker.

HENDERY: Guys, it's fine. I can act neurotypical. I like football. I like women.

TAEYONG: I think you're confusing acting heteronormative with acting neurotypical. Besides, we all know you're gay.

DADDY SM: You're gay?

HENDERY: NO. I LIKE FOOTBALL. I LIKE WOMEN. I SWEAR. Come on guys, no one has to know that I'm autistic, right?

As he says that a sasaeng is lisTENing through the window. she immediately posts on TikTok that HENDERY is autistic. DADDY SM gets a phone call immediately.

DADDY SM: Well, turns out everyone knows you're autistic.

HENDERY: FUCK. Well, Okay. LisTEN. This could be good for us. We can use this for brownie points! I can make a song and use it for autism awareness or whatever.

So they let him record a song and make a music video for it. The song is literally called "I AM #AUTISTIC." They use HAECHAN for the back up vocals. When the song is released, everyone is talking about it on Twitter, but it isn't the response HENDERY expected. People are going "what does it mean? What is the song supposed to be about?" Kpoppies have somehow managed to reach the conclusion that the song is about being gay and now they no longer think HENDERY is autistic. there's a couple of people going "guys, the song is about autism. He literally says I was diagnosed with autism in the lyrics." But kpoppies are getting mad at them and going "NO THIS IS CLEARLY ABOUT BEING GAY. WHY ARE YOU HOMOPHOBIC?" Either way, they're still getting a lot of views and hype.

DADDY SM: Well, I guess your plan worked, just not the way you wanted it to. But they think you're gay and now they're shipping you with HAECHAN, so you're gonna have to preTENd to be in love with him.

So they release another music video and it's really yaoi bait. The focus is on HENDERY and HAECHAN, but they also put MARK and JOHNNY there for the incest rep. However, fans this time somehow think the song is about being autistic.

HENDERY: WHY IS IT SO HARD TO BE UNDERSTOOD WHEN I'M BEING SO EXPLICIT.

HAECHAN: Dude, they're NCT fans. They're used to twisting things in their heads to make it good, it's what they do.

TAEIL: Guys, get ready, we need to go to our flute recital.

HENDERY: Oh, are we taking LUCAS with us?

TAEIL, laughing: Come on. You know we never take LUCAS to anything.

So they go to the flute recital and it goes as good as you would expect. But HENDERY is feeling lonely because he feels like everyone is being distant after his diagnosis. He can't stand his members, but they are still his only friends and he kinda likes them, so he doesn't want to be excluded. He decides to talk to HAECHAN.

HENDERY: HAECHAN, you're autistic, but everyone likes you. How do you do it?

HAECHAN: Well, I was never diagnosed so they just keep saying that I'm just "autistic coded."

HENDERY: HAECHAN, PLEASE, give me an actual answer, I can't take this.

HAECHAN: Okay, okay. I actually do have a secret... No. I shan't say it.

HENDERY: COME ON DUDE, WHAT IS IT.

HAECHAN: I CAN'T. IT'S TOO MUCH.

HENDERY: PLEASE.

HAECHAN: Fine. Everyone in NCT... is a little.

HENDERY: WHAT?

HAECHAN: I'm sorry you had to find out like this.

HENDERY: Oh my God.

HAECHAN: If you can accept the little life style, they're going to start liking you again.

HENDERY is determined, so he starts purposely behaving like a little in the next few days and the NCT members pick up on it. They start going "ONE OF US. ONE OF US. ONE OF US." So they decide to do the initiation ceremony. They make a circle of sprinkles around HENDERY and they give him a chocolate milkshake.

HENDERY: I'm lactose intolerant, guys. And I also don't like chocolate that much, I don't know why you guys are so obsessed with this stuff.

They start to get suspicious of him so he quickly takes it back.

HENDERY: Haha, never mind, I love chocolate milkshakes! especially when they have marshmallows and oreos!

He drinks the milkshake and they burn a mark into his thigh. HENDERY can't really tell what it is but he doesn't ask because he doesn't want to blow his cover. Later that night he is in his room and HAECHAN visits him.

HAECHAN: Hey. Did they accept you?

HENDERY: They did, but.... I don't know. I don't really like being a little. And I don't like chocolate milkshakes or sprinkles.

HAECHAN: Yeah, I don't either, but it's what we have to do to survive. We need to conform.

HENDERY: Is that why we keep releasing bad music?

HAECHAN: Yeah, pretty much.

HENDERY: By the way, I got the mark thing, but what is it? I can't really tell.

HAECHAN: Let me look at it, it should be the same as mine.

HENDERY shows him his thigh and HAECHAN gasps.

HAECHAN: That... is not like mine.

He shows him his own mark, which is very clearly a birthday cake.

HENDERY: A cake? why?

HAECHAN, singing: It's your birthday, make a wish.

HENDERY: Well, what's mine then?

HAECHAN: I've only ever seen it once before... It's a fire truck... It's the same mark LUCAS had.

Part 2: NCT: The Truth.

HENDERY: Well, what does this mean? Is this putting a target on my back? Does this mean they’re gonna throw me in the basement too?

HAECHAN: I don’t know. But there’s one way we can find out.

HENDERY: *Gasp* You don’t mean...

HAECHAN: I do.

HENDERY: Fine. Also, I think we were having something homoerotic so does that mean we're dating?

HAECHAN: I don't know, maybe?

CUT TO THE NEXT DAY.

HENDERY: Heyyy TAEYONG, my best friend. I was wondering, is there one key to the basement or are there separate keys for each lock?

TAEYONG: Why do you want to know?

HENDERY: I’m asking for a friend.

TAEYONG: LisTEN. I know you’re trying to get into the basement. I'm not going to ask why, but I need you to do something for me before I give you the key.

HENDERY: Okay, I can do that. Just don’t ask me for sex because I’m saving my virginity for HAECHAN.

TAEYONG: I didn’t need to know that. I just want you to answer one question. What does NCT really stand for?

HENDERY: Like, what the name stands for? or what we stand for politically?

TAEYONG: The fact that you’re asking it like that makes me think you don’t actually know. But yes, I mean the name.

HENDERY (internally): Oh shit oh fuck.

HAECHAN enters the room.

HAECHAN: I know what it means.

TAEYONG: Well, you can’t tell him, he has to do it on his own.

HAECHAN: But I’m going down with him too.

TAEYONG: Doesn’t matter, he still has to do it on his own.

HAECHAN tries to give HENDERY the answer through his psychic powers but he doesn’t actually have psychic powers so he just stands there like a dumbass.

HENDERY thinks about it hard and suddenly, it hits him.

HENDERY: I know what the answer is. It stands for No Caregiver Territory.

TAEYONG: Oh my god. You did it. Okay, I’ll trust you. Here’s the key to the basement.

HENDERY and HAECHAN go to the basement and open the 25 locks, one for each member (the extra two are for the ghost members Sam and Dean). When they go down they find that the basement is a lot like a warehouse. There’s a lot of supplies and sprinkle boxes. And then, they see the cage that keeps LUCAS locked up. LUCAS is hissing and growling.

HENDERY: LUCAS. We need your help.

LUCAS: WHY SHOULD I HELP YOU. GO AWAY. YOU LEFT ME HERE.

HENDERY: I know man, I'm sorry. If it was up to me, I would let you out but it isn’t. But right now I need your help with something really important.

LUCAS: I WANT NO PART IN THIS. I HATE NCT. YOU GUYS LEFT ME HERE IN THE BASEMENT AND FOR WHAT? BECAUSE I SMOKED SOME WEED?

HAECHAN: Actually, that wasn’t you. But I can see how it would confuse you since you’ve been here for so long. I’m pretty sure that was WONHO but I'm not sure, all the news from the outside world is kinda blurring in my mind. I don’t know what a MONSTA X is.

LUCAS: Fine. I'll help you out but I’m gonna need you to do something for me in return.

HENDERY: This is really important. I was initiated into the Little Cult and I was given my symbol. But it wasn’t like the others, I got a firetruck. I know you have the same mark, what does it mean?

LUCAS: What? Oh my god. I can’t believe that. I was going to ask you to get me some sprinkles or have sex with me but now I see that this is really serious. Honestly, I’m just glad to not be alone anymore. I can tell you what it means, but I’ll have to explain to you the reason I was locked here in the first place...

LUCAS: I’ve never liked NCT that much. I don’t even really like the music. But it was making me a lot of cash. So, when they told me that they would kick me out of the group if I didn’t join the Little Cult I accepted immediately even though I don’t like ageplay. The day of my initiation, TAEYONG looked at me like I was different. But not the good kind of different. The type of different a homophobe looks at a gay person with. One night i was outside, smoking my ciggy when suddenly I felt my body being lifted off the ground. Most of NCT ran outside and TAEYONG screamed, “I knew this would happen! I knew this day was coming! Every thousand years, a person will be possessed by the NCT Gods to give us the power to release a good song.”
After I came down from the air I turned to the other members and said, “I have a great song idea. We will go to America and get in white outfits. It’s going to be great. We will call it Highway to Heaven. But, there’s a catch: it’ll be the only good song we will ever release.”
Upon hearing this, TAEYONG was furious. “How could you do this to us? This can’t be right."
“I can’t control it. It’s what the Gods have said.”
And then they all grabbed pitchforks shaped like birthday candles and chased me into the basement.

HENDERY: Oh my God. But... TAEYONG said that this only happens every thousand years, but clearly it hasn’t been a thousand years. So how come I have the same mark?

LUCAS: I don’t know, that’s why I’m confused too. What I can do is tell you my suspicions on TAEYONG. Besides us, everyone has the same mark, the birthday cake. Except for one person: TAEYONG. He has a flute instead.

HAECHAN: Wait, how do you know that?

LUCAS: Well. Um. Anyway. I suspect that since the firetruck is connected to the NCT Gods, the flute may be connected to the NCT Devils, which are responsible for creating all of our bad music. I think TAEYONG is responsible for Sticker.

HAECHAN: What? But... he’s our leader. He’s the one who keeps us in line.

LUCAS: I don’t have definitive proof but I’m confident in my reasoning. He might even be in cahoots with DADDY SM, he’s the reason our group makes music like that.

HAECHAN, turning to HENDERY: Well... this could be good! If you get a good vision, you could even be more respected than TAEYONG.

HENDERY: But if my vision is bad? Then I could be chased down into the basement too! I don’t want to be with LUCAS! No offense.

LUCAS: It’s fine, I get that a lot.

HENDERY: And what if LUCAS is wrong? I can’t accuse TAEYONG with no evidence. This could mean nothing.

LUCAS: I don’t know. I just hope your luck is better than mine.

HENDERY and HAECHAN both go back up from the basement.

HAECHAN: Are you alright, HENDERY? This is a lot.

HENDERY: I don’t know. I’m a little overwhelmed. I think i need to go take a drive to clear my head.

HAECHAN: I’ll go with you. I’ll be the baddie to your porsche.

They go outside and take a drive. The 2 baddies in 1 porsche.

Part 3: TAEYONG and LUCAS!

HAECHAN: Where are we going, HENDERY?

HENDERY: I don’t know, I’m just going to keep driving until I clear my head or something.

HAECHAN: Well, that could take forever, considering how fucked up the situation is. Let’s go somewhere and relax a little.

They go to an arcade (the same one NCT filmed Glitch Mode in) and because it’s late, the place is empty except for them. They got Coca Cola and played Pacman for a bit until they heard some voices and they realized they weren’t alone.

HAECHAN: Hey, HENDERY. I think someone is there.

HENDERY: who is it? It’s 9pm, that’s curfew time in Kpop Town.

They see XIAOJUN with MINHYUK from MONSTA X. XIAOJUN spots them too and approaches them.

XIAOJUN: Hey, what’s up guys?

HENDERY: "What’s up"? You’re so fucking ableist, XIAOJUN, some people can’t stand up.

XIAOJUN: Oh, sorry. My bad.

HAECHAN: "your" bad? Don’t be so fucking selfish, not everything is about you.

XIAOJUN, to MINHYUK: do you see what I have to put up with everyday?

MINHYUK: Yeah, babe. Would going to our spider farm and stepping on some spiders help you calm down?

XIAOJUN: Yeah, I think it would.

HENDERY: Wait.. are you guys... dating? But you know that’s not allowed!

XIAOJUN: Yeah... please don’t tell DADDY SM.

HENDERY: "DADDY" SM? You’re so fucking insensitive, XIAOJUN, some people don’t have parents.

XIAOJUN: See, MINHYUK? This shit on top of the Little Cult is so fucking annoying.

HENDERY: Wait, what? You’ve told MINHYUK about the Little Cult? Isn’t that supposed to be a secret?

XIAOJUN: Yeah, but I’m a WAYV member, I don’t like to think of us as part of NCT. And besides, they treat me like shit, so I don’t feel bad about it.

HENDERY: Okay, that’s fair. Well, to be serious for a moment... since you mentioned the Little Cult, how much do you know about it?

XIAOJUN: I don’t know too much about it. I don’t really like it that much. I just go to the Wednesday meetings where we dress up as Disney princesses because WINWIN is fucking obsessed with Cinderella and I dress up as Jasmin. I don’t even like Jasmin that much. Why do you ask?

HENDERY: So, I went down to the basement to see LUCAS-

XIAOJUN: You went down to talk to LUCAS?! Don’t you know how dangerous that is? Don’t you remember the bedtime stories they tell us about him? If you look him in the eyes, he’ll turn you into stone!

HAECHAN: XIAOJUN, that’s medusa, not LUCAS.

XIAOJUN: Same thing. Besides, if TAEYONG finds out-

HENDERY: Actually, TAEYONG gave us the key, so it’s fine.

MINHYUK: Oh, right, LUCAS. Isn’t that the member you guys keep locked up in the basement? We considered doing the same thing to WONHO but decided it was more humane to just let him go.

XIAOJUN: Why did you need to talk to LUCAS in the first place?

HENDERY: I needed to ask him about the markings. I have the firetruck mark, the same one that LUCAS had. LUCAS told us that TAEYONG also has a special mark, a flute, and that he thinks this means he’s connected to the NCT Devils.

XIAOJUN: Well, what if LUCAS is lying? He has plenty of motive to want to destroy NCT. If he can get you to do his dirty work for him then he can be let out of the basement. What if he’s using you?

HAECHAN: I... hadn’t thought of that? What if LUCAS is lying?

XIAOJUN: I’ll tell you what, I don’t know too much about the situation but I know LUCAS and TAEYONG might have been... involved with each other. I don’t know much, but I know who you can ask. TEN and LUCAS were really close, they were like Sonic and Tails. LUCAS was never a proper little, he was always asking for his ciggy. I think that’s why TAEYONG never liked him much because it was really clear that he was faking it. But TEN’s regression age was ten, so he was old enough to know what a cigarette was but young enough that it was still innocent, so they got along pretty well. Maybe he knows something about it.

HENDERY: Ten? You gaslighting fuck, it’s 9pm.

XIAOJUN: You know what? Fuck you guys.

HAECHAN and HENDERY go back to the NCT house. They look in the NCT bedroom to check if TEN is asleep since it’s close to bedtime for them but he isn’t there. They go to the WAYV dorm where they hang out during the day time and there he is.

HENDERY: TEN, we need to talk.

TEN: I can’t, I’m playing League of Legends.

HENDERY forcibly shuts his computer off.

HENDERY: It’s about LUCAS.

TEN suddenly gets really serious.

TEN: Do not speak his name. Don’t bring him up around me.

HENDERY: But... he was your best friend.

TEN: That was a long time ago, you guys know we don’t talk about him anymore.

HENDERY: But it’s serious, we really need your help and you’re the only person who would know.

TEN: Fine, but make it quick.

HENDERY: Did LUCAS and TAEYONG ever sleep together?

TEN: What?!

HENDERY: Yeah, did they ever... explore each other’s bodies?

TEN: Okay. Yes. Before this all happened, LUCAS was in a relationship with JUNGWOO, they bonded over their shared love of smoking. But he had a fling with TAEYONG. He told me it was a mistake, that it would never happen again... but it did happen again. He invited me to have sex with them. I still have panic attacks when I see little flutes.

HENDERY: Wait... you don’t mean...

TEN: Yes... his dick was so fucking small.

HENDERY: NO, NOT THAT YOU DUMBASS, THE FLUTE ON HIS THIGH.

TEN: Oh, yeah, that too.

HAECHAN: So it’s true, he has a flute marking. Does that mean he’s connected to the NCT Devils?

TEN: LUCAS did tell me about his theory. I’m not sure if that’s what the mark means, but I do know for a fact TAEYONG was the first one to come up with the idea of Sticker. It all started when he said he wanted to make a song with a flute in it, which seemed innocent at first but it got out of control and by the time we noticed it was too late, everyone was too afraid to tell him to stop. It’s like being stuck in an abusive relationship, you just can’t get out of it. I don’t know if this is because he’s connected to the Devils like LUCAS says, maybe he just genuinely thought it was a good song idea, I wouldn’t put it behind him. Personally... I do believe LUCAS, but we can’t know for sure.

HAECHAN: Well, what do we do now? We know TAEYONG made Sticker, but we don’t know if the mark means what LUCAS thinks it means.

HENDERY: Honestly... I think right now the best thing we can do is just wait and see what happens. I don’t think I’m going to get my vision any time soon, so I think it’s best for us to wait. But I know, no matter what happens, you’ll always be by my side, right?

HAECHAN: Of course! We’re autism4autism, NCT4NCT.

HENDERY and HAECHAN both go to bed and they sleep right next to each other. Love wins.