raven ღ na jaemin

8

you were sitting on the chair, arms on the table and head resting on your chin. you stared at the wall, thinking about what jaemin had just told you. your fingers traced along the ridges of the worn wood of the table and you sighed, a whirlwind of emotions storming in your mind.

you stood, feeling unable to stay still. your gaze fell onto the doorknob, and, without thinking, you wrenched it open and left the room. you were met with a long hallway, lined with doors you presumed led to rooms that looked like yours. you crept slowly along the wall, listening for footsteps.

eventually, you reached a corner. you heard voices and immediately froze. pulse racing, you contemplated turning back and returning to your room. but curiosity overwhelmed you, and poked your head around the corner. this, you supposed, would be good practice for your new job as a spy.

the people who were talking stood at the end of the hallway, a safe enough distance away from you. one stood with his back to you and blocked the other speaker from your view. they spoke in low voices, but when you strained your ears, you were able to make out bits of their conversation.

"has it been taken care of?" asked one of the speakers. you couldn't tell which one it was.

"yes, sir. i've taken extra care in dealing with it," responded the other.

"good. you'll be rewarded handsomely for this, of course."

"thank you, sir."

"have you found him yet?" his voice grew even quieter, and you struggled to hear him.

"not yet, sir. my men combed through the city, but we haven't been able to find him."

"that bastard!" he exploded. "double the number of men you have searching for him. i want him found"—he grabbed the collar of the other figure—"no matter what. do you understand?"

after a moment, the man let go of the other's collar, who bowed quickly before scurrying away. he watched him leave, his eyes trailing him menacingly. you could see him properly now. he was tall and burly, and looked like he could squish you like an ant. you squinted, trying to catch a glimpse of his face, but at that moment, he started to look in your direction.

you whipped your head back and pressed yourself against the wall, hopefully out of his sight. you tried to listen for his footsteps, but your pulse was pounding deafeningly in your ears. after a safe amount of time had passed, you took a steadying breath and carefully peeked around the corner, sighing in relief when you saw that the hallway was empty.

you puzzled over the conversation you just overheard, but it was too vague for you to make any sense of. you wondered who the two men could be. were they your allies or your enemies?

you turned around, about to go back to your room when you nearly walked right into someone. you let out a small yelp, your hand flying to your mouth to cover it.

startled, you looked up to see who it was. you recognized them as the other unknown person who was in the woods that day.

he smiled. "so we meet again, mystery girl."

he held out his hand. you dropped your own from your mouth, shaking his hand and giving him a small smile. "i'm y/n."

"i'm renjun. so, what are you doing out here in the middle of the hallway? you seem a bit... jumpy."

"i-" you hesitated. "nothing, i was just... looking around."

he raised a speculative eyebrow. "yes, i'm sure you were," he said, the corners of his lips lifting.

"i really was just looking."

"right. well, i'll leave you to it." renjun patted you once on the shoulder, then disappeared around the corner.

you looked around the corner and saw him walking away, hands in his pockets and whistling a cheery tune. "do only strange people live in this palace?" you wondered. shaking your hand, you turned around and headed back to your room.

once you were back, you plopped onto your bed. you closed your eyes and massaged your temples, your eyebrows knit in frustration. you had left with the intention of finding answers, but you had just ended up with even more questions.