Angel ✦ Nomin

31

Jeno examines his surroundings to the best of his abilities despite it being the middle of the night and the street lamps being fairly dim. He and the incubus stand on an empty road with small shops lined up on either side. The air is still. Far too still for the scene that the incubus made him imagine they would walk into.

"Where are they?" Jeno huffs.

"I-I don't know," the incubus-still appearing as himself-remarks with an air of uncertainty.

Almost on cue, the window of a nearby shop is shattered, followed by the sound of a loud thud. The two snap their heads towards it and spot an eyeless humanoid creature with translucent skin, hop agilely back onto it's feet. The creature screeches inhumanly before charging directly towards Jeno.

But Jeno doesn't flinch.

He curls his fists up, preparing himself to do anything he had to in order to fight the demon off. To his surprise, a glowing figure jumps down from a rooftop and lands just between him and the demon. With one hit, the demon falls to the ground, and the figure tackles it. A second approaches and places their hands just above the ground. An intense bright light radiates from them, and Jeno has to look away and squeeze his eyes shut as to not be blinded by it. The demon screeches yet again as a very different light seeps past his eyelids. After that, all light dims, and Jeno opens his eyes.

"You almost got yourself killed, idiot!" one voice sneers.

"Hyuck, calm down. We got it," the second interjects, "What did you..."

Mark and Donghyuck stand before the two Jenos, both staring back with puzzled expressions.

"Wh-who is-"

"Me," Jeno confirms, "Listen, Xiao took Jaemin."

"What?" Mark's eyes widen in bewilderment, "I told you to protect him! What happened?"

"It's a long story, and I don't have time. I need to see Taeyong. Please. Help me," he dismisses him.

Mark and Donghyuck exchange a look which Jeno can't quite decipher, but the moment they return their attention to Jeno, Donghyuck is the one to speak first.

"If you're Jeno, who the fuck is that?"

"An incubus. It's been helping Xiao this whole time, posing as Chenle and me," he sighs irritably, "Do what you want with it, just- Mark can you please get me to go see Taeyong?"

"Okay, okay, Hyuck, I need you to take care of the incubus. I'll escort Jeno," Mark nods to Donghyuck.

"Be careful," says the latter in a soft voice.

"You too," he offers him a half smile.

Mark turns to Jeno and extends his hand to him, which Jeno compliantly takes up. A flash of light envelops them, and Jeno expects the both of them to be standing outside of the building which Taeyong and most other angels reside, but they do not. They stand in the middle of a solid white room with a single person sitting in a lonely white chair in the centre of the room. Their head is down but they have curly coffee brown hair. Certainly it wasn't Taeyong.

Sure enough, the individual raises their head, and it's a boy. It's a boy whom Jeno had never seen before in his life. Jeno furrows his brow and scans him from head to toe. Surprisingly, he stays silent the entire time, simply allowing Jeno to examine him.

"Mark, who the hell is that? Why did you bring us here?" Jeno murmurs to the boy beside him.

"I-I don't know...I didn't bring us here," Mark stammers.

"That's because Taeyong sent you here," the boy speaks, finally.

"What?" both boys blurt out almost simultaneously.

"He told me to sit here and wait for you," the boy remarks, staring directly at Jeno.

"Me?" Jeno attempts to clarify, and the boy nods.

"I uh...I guess I'll see myself out, then," Mark announces before quickly vanishing in a beam of light.

Jeno's eyes remain glued to the peculiar boy. Why did Taeyong direct him here? Why was it important for them to speak to one another?

"If you mind not projecting your thoughts, I would greatly appreciate it. Demon powers tend to give me migraines, it's a real bother," the boy states in an oddly casual manner.

"Sorry," Jeno rambles out, "But...do you mind answering those questions? Do you know?"

"I don't, but I'm going to assume you have other questions that only I can answer. Taeyong wouldn't waste my time like this, otherwise," the boy blinks slowly.

This particular statement gets Jeno thinking. The boy had a point. There was a specific reason that Taeyong brought them together, and it was up to them to figure out what that was.

"What's your name?" Jeno inquires.

"Huang Guanheng," the boy states, "but many people call me by my nickname."

"And what is that?" Jeno presses upon not recognizing that name. Was it supposed to ring a bell? Because it most certainly didn't mean anything to him. But nothing could properly prepare him for the answer which would come out of the boy's mouth.

"Hendery."