Masquerade | Johnyong

★ Eleven

Chapter 11: The raven sent you a message

Xiaodery focused chapter!

Xiaojun enters his room. He sighs as he sits down on the bed. Hendery suddenly appears out of the bathroom.

"Oh. . . Jun."

"Don't call me Jun. Just call me Xiaojun." Xiaojun says with a deadpan tone. "I love. . .I love calling you Jun. It's a pretty nickname." Hendery says as he goes to turn off the lights. He then turns on the night lamps on the night stands.

Xiaojun gets up, ready to leave but Hendery grabs his wrist. "Jun, wait. . .please." Hendery begs but Xiaojun pulls away from him. He heads to the door, reaching for the doorknob.

"I'm sorry, Jun!" Hendery blurts out, causing Xiaojun to stop in his tracks.

"I'm so sorry. . . " Hendery repeats again in a whisper as he tears up. Xiaojun turns to see Hendery going on his knees.

"I'm sorry for everything I said. I didn't mean to hurt you. I wasn't thinking before speaking- please, forgive me."

Xiaojun crouches down to his level. He suddenly grabs Hendery's neck, choking him as he gets out a pocket knife. "Give me one good reason not to kill you."

"J-Jun?"

Xiaojun presses the knife against Hendery's neck. Hendery looks with his teary eyes into Xiaojun's emotionless eyes.

Xiaojun slowly drags the knife across Hendery's neck, drawing blood along the way. Hendery tries to speak but he can't speak. He opens his mouth but no words come out.

"Jun!"

🕊

Hendery wakes up. He sits up, breathing heavily. "It was just a dream. . ." He whispers, touching his neck.

"Is something wrong?" Hendery turns his head to see Xiaojun sitting on the side of his bed. Suddenly Hendery starts crying, shocking Xiaojun.

Xiaojun gets up from his bed and goes to sit on the side of Hendery's bed. "What happened? Did you have a nightmare?" Xiaojun asks, genuinely concerned, he wasn't teasing. Hendery hugs Xiaojun, tightly. "I'm sorry, Jun. I was wrong. . . I shouldn't have brought your past up. I'm really sorry." He cries into Xiaojun's shoulder.

Xiaojun hesitates to hug back or even speak. "Please forgive me." Hendery begs.

"When I was 8, I saw my adoptive parents shot and killed by the cartel before they took me away and enslaved me. I've never cared about what happened during my time in the cartel. . . All I can think of is the scream from the woman I called mom when she saw her husband dead on the floor, a bullet to his head." Xiaojun tears up, memories coming back to him. Hendery was silently crying, listening attentively.

"They shot my mom once but it didn't kill her because they wanted to taunt her before shooting her in the head. One of them had mercy on me and let me live."

Xiaojun finally hugs Hendery back. Hendery was shaking in his arms so much that Xiaojun didn't know what to do. "I'm- so sorry- I'm-" Hendery is sobbing now.

Xiaojun never thought in his 2 years of knowing Hendery he'd ever see him this emotional. This only made Xiaojun's heart feel heavy. He hated seeing Hendery like this. ". . . It's ok."

"N-No. . . It's not- it's- I-''

"Hendery, look at me!" Xiaojun suddenly snaps. Hendery calms down for a moment. "I said, it's ok. . .I forgive you." Xiaojun whispers as he hugs Hendery once more.