Angel ✦ Nomin

15

"Holy shit!"

Jeno feels his heart drop into his stomach at the sound of Jaemin's cry. He wastes no time leaping out of bed and darting through the house to reach him. His bare feet stick uncomfortably to the wooden floorboards and make a weird sound to accompany the thumping as he runs.

"Jaemin?" Jeno calls out as he storms down the stairs with much haste. He spots the younger standing in the doorway to the living room with his mouth gaping open and his eyes wider than the moon.

"I-I found Jisung..." he croaks.

Jeno paces to his side and finds Jisung and Chenle standing uncomfortably in front of the couch. Jisung's face burns a bright rose colour while Chenle just smirks at him.

"What did I just walk into?" Jeno asks, "And how did you...you..."

"We were in the middle of a make out session before that one interrupted us," Chenle states shamelessly as he crosses his arms over his chest.

"Ew," Jeno mumbles as his face scrunches in disgust.

"How are you here? Why is everyone acting like this isn't a big deal?" Jaemin exclaims wildly, "How did you manage to get Chenle back from Xiao?"

Jisung and Jeno's eyes meet for a brief second.

Remember our deal. Say you tracked Xiao down.

Jisung rolls his eyes and focuses on Jaemin.

"I used a locating spell to track Xiao down. When I got there he...he just kinda talked to me, threatened me a bit, then let him go," Jisung explains very vaguely.

"Just like that? Why would he do that?" Jaemin asks, genuinely confused.

"I don't know, and I don't care. Chenle's back and that's what counts," Jisung remarks as he takes the shorter boy's hand and pulls him closer. He cups his cheek and tilts his chin up so he can get better access to Chenle's lips. He kisses him softly, but Jeno can't help but notice Chenle kiss back much harsher. Jeno furrows his eyebrows before dismissing the odd behaviour. Perhaps he was just overwhelmed with finally being reunited with Jisung.

"Ew," Jeno comments flatly, yet again, "Come on, let's leave them be."

"I don't get it," Jaemin murmurs vacantly as Jeno tugs on his hand and leads him towards the staircase.

"Get what?" Jeno asks.

"How come Xiao just let Chenle go like that? Didn't he continuously use me for leverage against you? Why would he let go of the one person he could use against us? Why use him as leverage in the first place? What does he want?"

"Woah, slow down there. It's too early to be playing twenty questions," Jeno jokes as they ascend the stairs.

"Jeno, it's the middle of the night," Jaemin fires back.

"My point still stands," Jeno retorts as a small, forced yawn escapes him, causing a real one to follow up a mere second after.

"Why are you avoiding the subject?" Jaemin snaps irritably. He stops in his tracks on the final step, causing Jeno to come to a halt, himself upon realizing the boy wasn't following. He spins around, finding Jaemin glaring at him with pursed lips.

Had he not noticed just how cute Jaemin was when he was mad?

Was cute the right word he was looking for?

"I just want to give Jisung his time to be happy. I can worry more about this later," Jeno assures him.

"You? Why you? Why not us?" Jaemin objects bitterly.

"Because you need to keep an eye on your aunt. If her amnesia goes away, then we're all fucked," Jeno insists, "Which reminds me: did anyone see you when you came in?"

"I don't know!" Jaemin spats, "Who cares? I don't want to go back to how things were. I don't want to sneak around to come visit you. I don't want to hide that I'm in love with you."

These words sucker punch Jeno straight in his chest. He was such an asshole to Jaemin, wasn't he?

"Jaemin, you need a normal life. I can't give you that. You know what happens when people associate you with me," Jeno points out.

"This isn't up for discussion. I love you and I'll visit you whenever I feel like it."

"Please don't do this, babe. Don't start acting reckless. Taeyong erased us from the town's memories for a reason. You need a normal life away from all of this. You need to be safe."

"In case you didn't realize it, my life before you was utter shit," Jaemin argues.

"Jaemin, go home," Jeno states coldly as he let's go of the younger's hand.

"No!"

"That's not a suggestion, it's an order," Jeno says sternly.

"And what are you gonna do if I don't?" Jaemin challenges him.

"Please don't do this," Jeno sighs.

"I'm not leaving," Jaemin stands his ground.

Jeno exhales deeply through his nose and shakes his head.

"Leave," Jeno mutters as he turns his back to Jaemin, "And don't come back here unless I call you. If you don't, I'll have Jisung create a barrier around this house so no humans can enter."

Silence fills the air, and Jeno feels better about turning his back on Jaemin. He didn't want to see the look on his face at this moment.

"So that's how it's gonna be, then?" Jaemin asks, earning no response from Jeno, "You know, you've got some nerve-"

"Go home!" Jeno bellows as rage overtakes him suddenly.

For a few seconds, there's dead silence, then, the sound of footsteps thumping lightly down the stairs behind him. Jeno huffs heavily before storming into his study. He snaps his fingers and a few candles ignite. He twirls his hand in a circular-like motion and a mirror appears before him. Jeno steps closer and places his fingers gently on the bags of his eyes. He pulls them down as he peers into his own reflection, one thing standing out above the rest of his features; the one thing that he just knew would expose himself to Jaemin, had he not turned his back on him.

There in the mirror shines back a pair of glowing ruby eyes.