snowflake [2]; nomin

stranger

―°❆ chapter three ༺°―

Jeno feels the hot breath hitting his neck in a repeated rhythm slow down, so he knows Jaemin is drifting off to sleep. Waiting a few seconds to be sure the younger is sleeping, he gently removes Jaemin's hands from his waist and crawls out of their bed.

Before exiting the room, he tucks Jaemin in and lights a candle. He tiptoes down to the basement and exits the house through the hatchet.

Soon he's just another shadow wandering down the streets in the dark.

At the roof on the convenience store, before the whole deal with Jaemin went down, he saw someone sneaking around the streets a few blocks away. It's not that close to their house, yet it's too risky to have people running around the area, so Jeno has decided to go investigate. Of course without Jaemin knowing, as Jeno doesn't want him to get hurt.

After a while of making his way through the abandoned streets, he reaches the convenience store and raises his guard. His first move is to search the place he saw the person running around at, but his plan is forgotten as he hears sounds coming from inside the convenience store, causing him to stop in his tracks and look at the entrance.

He smirks and runs over to the opened doors, making his way into the building without making a single sound. And like a ninja, Jeno becomes one with his environments, running and hiding soundlessly as he snakes his way through the store's food shelves. He comes to a halt when the sound of someone fumbling with something becomes louder, indicating the person is close by.

Jeno presses his back up against a shelf and peeks behind it, smirking as he sees the man from before fumbling with an old can of beans.

In a quick movement, lasting nothing more than a second, Jeno pulls out the gun from his belt and shoots the can of beans right out of the man's hand. Jaemin can call him soft and little all he wants, but the moment Jeno is armed with a gun, he's probably the scariest and most intimidating person you can ever encounter. Thank all those years he was locked away with no other activity to do than shoot with guns and punch a punching bag.

The man immediately raises his arms in surrender and lowers his head. His body shows no sign of fear, a weird calmness emerging from him.

"I-I'm not here to hurt anyone," yet his voice gives him away, as shrill as it sounds.

Jeno lowers his gun. "Me neither. I'm just here to kindly ask you to leave," he speaks with power.

The man looks up and meets Jeno's eyes. His face is so handsome, Jeno almost gets lost in the beauty. He regains himself quickly and pulls his gun out again. "Keep your hands in the air!"

The man follows Jeno's orders, straightening his back and raising his hands a little more. Jeno takes the opportunity to observe the man. He's wearing black cargo pants and a dark green shirt, put together by a gun bag and black leather boots. His hair his light brown, falling onto his face in an almost straight line. On the floor next to him, is his bag.

A very familiar looking bag...

"You're from Fort Bangtan?" Jeno questions.

The man's face seems to light up a little. "Yes! I'm an officer from there," he says, and Jeno notes that he has the most adorable dimples ever. "My name is Jaehyun."

"Okay, Jaehyun," Jeno lowers his gun again, pointing the tip down at the floor. "You're," Jeno points at Jaehyun, "coming with me," he says and then points at himself. Call him cocky, but he loves it.

The older male widens his eyes, clearly not expecting to hear what he heard. "What?" he huffs. Jeno raises his gun and fires a shot right next to Jaehyun, keeping his stare at the older. The bullet hits an already unsteady lamp, causing it to fall to the floor with a loud cling, the glass breaking into pieces. It startles Jaehyun a lot, but Jeno being the badass he is, keeps his ice-cold expression.

"Don't even try to do anything," he warns. "Taeyong won't be happy if he finds me dead," Jeno tells him and starts walking slowly towards the exit. He knows he has this Jaehyun guy wrapped all around his finger.

He soon hears the sound of footsteps approach him, the dimpled guy popping up next to him. "You know Taeyong? Are you from Bangtan too?" he questions and Jeno can see the confusion stir around in his eyes.

"You could say I am," the raven-haired answers mockingly.

Jaehyun frowns. "You and Taeyong are friends?" he asks, and Jeno sees the look Jaehyun gives off just by the mere mention of his brother's name. How a whole galaxy seems to emerge, and how a faint bubble of light seems to magically light up around him.

It's the same thing that happens to Jeno whenever he thinks of Jaemin.

"We're a little more than friends," Jeno tells him, boldly loving the way Jaehyun's face drastically drops. So Taeyong finally has something going? Jeno smirks. And his brother certainly got taste.

"Who are you?" Jaehyun asks, but Jeno doesn't answer, he only speeds up his pace making the other following him from behind.

. * :. ❆

Jeno leads the man into the backyard, showing him towards their, not so secret anymore, secret entrance behind all the trash and furniture. "Be quiet when we go in," Jeno says in a whisper. "Nana is sleeping." Jeno opens the hatchet slowly, the killing loud sound carving right into his eardrums.

"Who's Nana," Jaehyun asks after Jeno finished opening the hatchet.

"Someone," Jeno answers him. "Do you have a flashlight?" he asks and Jaehyun nods, taking off his backpack and reaching into it where he pulls out a medium-sized flashlight. Jeno snatches it and turns it on.

"After you," he smiles and motions with his hand for Jaehyun to go in first.

. * :. ❆