Angel ✦ Nomin

10

"What the fuck do you want?" Jisung grunts as he lies on Jeno's couch with his eyes shut.

Jeno walks through the threshold into the living room. He takes a seat in his chair and uncomfortably rests his hands in his lap.

"We need to talk," he states in a low tone of voice.

"Save your excuses about why you're using dark magic. I don't wanna hear-"

"It's not that," Jeno responds flatly.

Jisung opens his eyes and rolls onto his side to stare at Jeno with an extremely perplexed expression on his face.

"Then what is it?" he prompts the younger.

Jeno lets out a deep, drawn out exhale as he wills himself to break the news to Jisung. He wasn't afraid to tell him. That part wasn't what he was afraid of; it was the anger and panic that would ensue which drives Jeno to dread spilling the truth.

"Spit it out, already," Jisung groans irritably.

"While I was in my study, I was trying to find a locator spell," Jeno starts out.

"And?"

"I couldn't find the book," he responds promptly.

"And how is this my problem? Are you blaming me or something because I didn't-"

"Would you shut the hell up for five seconds so I can say what I need to say?" Jeno snaps as his eyes drop to the floor.

"Then get to the point, already," Jisung spats back as he sits up.

"Xiao visited me. He had taken the book," Jeno explains.

"Why would he-"

"I'm getting to that," Jeno hisses, silencing Jisung once more, "He knew I'd go looking for it, so he took it before I could. He doesn't want to make this easy for us."

"What do you mean? Why did you need the spell?" Jisung asks as concern starts lacing his voice.

"Mark, Donghyuck, Jaemin, and I had a feeling Xiao was part of Chenle's disappearance," Jeno murmurs with much hesitation to get straight to the point, "I hunted down Yangyang and he confirmed it. He didn't know where Chenle was, but I intended to find out. When Xiao visited me, he said he was keeping Chenle in Hell."

"What?" Jisung exclaims as he shoots up from the couch. His eyes are wide with wildness filling them.

"He told me to tell you to meet him at the park at three in the morning tomorrow night," Jeno continues, ignoring this outburst as much as possible, "He wants you to go alone. If you don't...he'll destroy him."

"We have to save him!" Jisung cries out.

"Jisung, we have to be cautious about this. We can't just-"

"No! You didn't care when you had to protect Jaemin! We're going to get him and that's final!"

"This is serious!" Jeno bellows, "This is Xiao we're talking about! He plays dirty and won't hesitate to hurt someone you love just to see you suffer! Do you want that? Do you want to see him destroy Chenle?"

"Of course not!"

"Then you need to take a step back and think about this with a clear head," Jeno insists, "If you rush into this meeting thinking we can swoop in as backup or you can save the day all by yourself, you're going to get someone killed."

"What the fuck are we supposed to do, then?" Jisung whimpers. Jeno's eyes finally flicker up to meet his, and what once were eyes filled with anger and confusion now slowly fill with longing and worry.

"Start by asking the important questions," Jeno responds, "Like why does Xiao want to meet with you?"

"He has Chenle. It only makes sense he asks me to go," Jisung replies.

"Yes but why?" the latter presses, "There's no way he's going to just had Chenle over to you. He always has a hidden agenda. He wants something."

"What could he possibly want from me?" Jisung inquires.

"Only one way to find out."