Shadow | Huang Renjun

3

Pencil resting delicately on her bottom lip, Eunah sighs as she stares down at a blank notebook.

It's now over a week since she started, and both she and Mark have volunteered to help with the university's student newspaper– but she's struggling to come up with a good story.

There hasn't been another fight since the one on the first day– not to her knowledge, anyway– but both supernatural and Human students alike have taken to avoiding the Demons whenever they can.

The Angels also have their fair share of attention, although much less negative. Eunah has often found herself trying to escape the many students wanting to see her powers and asking her to show her wings.

She groans, abruptly banging her head on top of the notebook– startling Mark who is sitting next to her, and Jeno who was napping in the seat opposite.

"Geez, you scared the life out of me!"
The librarian shushes Mark, so he lowers his voice.
"What's wrong, Eunie?"

"I got nothing..."

Jeno blinks at the two sleepily, not quite catching onto the conversation.
"Nothing for what?"

"An article for the paper."

"I'unno..." he yawns, resting his head back on his arms.
"Read a book, it might give you some ideas..."

Mark immediately shuts down the suggestion, explaining that the article has to be factual and interesting– not just a made-up story. He stops, however, when Eunah pushes her chair back and stands, running fingers through her hair.

"No, no, he's right. I might not find an article from it, but it could help to do something other than stare at a blank notebook. Thanks, Jen."

"No problem... Can I go back to sleep now, or are you planning on giving yourself a concussion?"

She chuckles, moving around to his side of the table with her jacket and laying it over him.
"You can go back to sleep, I promise."

"Oh, good..."

After reassuring that she'll be back in a moment, Eunah wanders further into the maze of a library– weaving through towering bookshelves towards the Mystery Fiction section; one of her favourite genres.
She delicately runs her fingers along the spines of the books, searching for an interesting title, and eventually pulls out Murder on the Orient Express.
A hushed tone from the other side of the shelf captures her attention, so she uses the space left by the book to peer through.

Sitting on some of the library's beanbags are the three entities of Hell; Renjun on his own, Miyeon lounging across Donghyuck's lap. Seeing an opportunity for a story, Eunah stays put– checking for anyone else before listening in.

"And how the fuck are we expected to find this thing? It's not even whole. For all we know, the pieces could be anywhere in the world!"

Miyeon throws her hands back in frustration, accidentally slapping Donghyuck in the face.

Her laughter drowns out Eunah's small slip up; her having snorted at the action and immediately brought an embarrassed hand to her mouth.

Attempting to keep his girlfriend still, Donghyuck holds her arms against her sides with a hug and tries to contribute to the conversation.

"Do we even know anything about this 'Soul Amulet'? Or do we just have to do it all ourselves? Seems like a shitty deal to me."

Renjun rolls his eyes, clearly annoyed already.
"You never listen, do you? It was cast to Earth after the Phoenix War, we went over that before we came to this wretched place. The sooner we find it, the sooner we can fucking leave."

He glances towards the shelf that Eunah is hiding behind, and she swiftly ducks to a crouch in order to avoid detection. Heart pounding, she stares down at the book in her hand.

I should tell Mark and Jeno.

By the time Renjun decides to check for eavesdroppers, she's already gone.

~~~~

"WHAT?!"

Mark begins to pace around Eunah's bedroom, being told to keep it down by both her and Jeno.

"Shush!" she hisses, concerned about her parents overhearing. "We don't know the entire situation, so let's not go jumping to conclusions–"

"That amulet is dangerous, Eunah. If the Demons manage to get hold of it... it could mean the end of both Heaven and Earth as we know it."

He disappears in a beam of golden light, leaving Eunah and Jeno to glance between each other with their eyebrows raised. A couple of minutes later, he returns with several large books in his arms and dumps them beside the two on her bed.

"These contain all of our information on both the Soul Amulet and the Phoenix War. We need to find that thing before they do."

He points to Eunah.
"Eunah, I want you to make friends. Find out anything you can about their search."

Her expression shifts to a disinclined frown as she processes what he just asked of her.
"Are you seriously asking me to use them for information?"

"Well– I mean– look," he sighs, stumbling over his words a little. "I know it's not very angelic, but we need to know. Otherwise–"

"It'll be the end of Heaven and Earth as we know it, yeah I know... But it just seems wrong to me."

Jeno pipes up.
"Maybe we should read up on it first. At least go into this with some background information before deciding whether it's worth it to send someone in as a spy."

"I refuse to fake friendships for information. It's unfair and dishonest."
Deciding to put her foot down for once in her life, Eunah folds her arms decisively.