ateez - in his mind

thirteen

Jongho agreed to talk with Kai privately, both of them heading outside so nobody could hear them. Deep in his heart, he knew that something bad was going to come out of this conversation, whether it be him taken in for questioning or worse. He just hoped that his friends could stay out of it.

They ended up walking all the way to a nearby park, it was empty because of both the time and the current living situation. Places have begun to close down, everyone locking themselves in their homes or leaving out of fear. The two continued to walk and look around with heavy hearts until they found an empty bench to sit on.

"The world no longer feels like itself," Kai said out of the blue. Jongho turned to him, not physically being able to feel the same empathy which he did. Yes, he was scared, but not for the same reasons as the boy next to him.

"What do you mean?"

"Life. People are no longer able to live, for their fear of death is too overpowering. It saddens me that the inevitable end is not allowing people to continue on. Everyone dies at one point or another. Although I suppose an early death is not something one wishes to have," Kai answered, a small but sad smile on his face, refusing to face Jongho.

It took a minute for the words to sink in for Jongho. He pondered about what Kai meant in a comfortable silence, the only noise coming from the nearby birds. Kai watched them while Jongho thought. His response didn't come for almost ten minutes, as he wanted to make sure that his deduction was correct.

"You're not from here, are you?" he said. Kai gave him a knowing smile. He felt a mixture of surprise and happiness, not having expected Jongho to figure it out on their first meeting.

"How did you figure it out, and what do you all know?" he asked out of curiosity, finally facing Jongho for the first time. Jongho sighed and pushed his glasses up his nose.

"It's the way you talk. Not necessarily your word choice, rather how you speak like you've really seen some shit." This gets a huge laugh from Kai, who no longer seems like a threat in Jongho's eyes. "But if I were to tell you what I know, would you be able to fill in the gaps of information?"

"I can't," Kai immediately said. The laughter and smile on his face were now gone, replaced by a look of worry and concern. This was why he wanted to talk to Jongho, to figure out what he knew. But here he was, stuck between two choices, the fork in the road.

Jongho's small, knowing smirk remained on his face. He knew what he was doing, he knew that he could uncover the mystery of Hwang Hyunjin's article without the help of Kai. It was up to the younger if he wanted to help, but Jongho was continuing on whether Kai wanted him to or not. Kai took a deep breath in order to calm down.

"Jongho. I need you to know that what you are doing is incredibly dangerous. You and your friends are already in way too much trouble for your own good. You will die if you keep this going," Kai stated. The smirk on Jongho's face only grew, and it was then that Kai knew he said too much.

"It's not a volcano eruption, is it?" Jongho whispered. The frustration on Kai's face gave Jongho his answer. "Okay... I'll stop asking about that. How about you tell me who you actually are?"

"I'm from a place called Caelum," Kai eventually began, figuring this was something he would rather talk about. "You probably know it as the Latin word for sky or heaven. You see, I'm a warrior there. We protect our world along with yours. Hundreds of years ago both of our people made an agreement to be there for one another in times of need. Which is why I, and a few others, have been sent down to protect you."

"Like a guardian angel?" Jongho asked, genuinely curious. He was fascinated by the world Kai described and its history. As Kai continued on, Jongho soon heard a familiar voice in his head, one that didn't belong to him.

Jongho, where are you? Are you okay? Please tell me, we're so worried for you.

"Jongho? Are you even listening?" Kai asked. Jongho snapped out of it, apologizing for blanking out during Kai's story. It was then that another person came walking towards them from off in the distance, near the shops and restaurants. Jongho quickly grew worried as he realized the person wasn't one of his friends looking for him.

Kai turned to see who Jongho was looking at with such worry. It was a boy who Kai only knew as "913," since the Caelum warriors weren't allowed to know the names of one another. He knew that he was in trouble, that he said too much. Once 913 was close enough, Kai could see the anger visible on his face. He stood up in front of Jongho, ready to get scolded by the older boy. But that's not what he was there for.

913 just shoved Kai out of the way, hard enough so that he'd hit the ground with brute force. And he watched as 913 used his power to erase Jongho's memory, knocking him out in the process.

---

Shit, shit, shit... the boy was from Caelum, the mountain isn't going to erupt. Please help, San, he-

And that's where his thoughts cut off.

The six friends watched as San attempted to reach Jongho through his thoughts. He jumped when he came back to reality, facing his friends with a look of worry. They knew from San's face that it wasn't good.

"We have to go save Jongho."

---

A/N: Not me giggling and kicking my feet while writing this-

Also I hope that you guys are happy with the double update today, after the mini hiatus!!