snowflake [2]; nomin

the candle died out

―°❆ chapter five ༺°―

Jeno enters Jaehyun's car and slams the door shut. "Start driving I'll explain it to you on the way," he mutters to the older male who's sitting by the steering wheel. Jeno buckles his seatbelt and looks Jaehyun dead in the eye.

"It's nighttime Jeno, can't we wait until tomorrow?" Jaehyun begs.

"No," the raven-haired deadpans. "It needs to be done now," he pauses, mumbling the following sentence for himself but Jaehyun hears it. "And I can't stand meeting Jaemin, right now."

Jaehyun looks worried at Jeno again but obligingly starts the engine. "Explain then," he mutters and moves his gaze to the road, driving out from the random garage he had parked his car in yesterday.

Jeno rests his head on the window. "I need you to speak with Taeyong. Ask him about what'll happen if we return, but don't let it be obvious. That's all, then return with the information to me," Jeno pauses. "We rarely know each other, but I trust that you won't tell anyone of our whereabouts, Jaehyun."

The car turns a corner, making Jeno's stomach flip. It was a long time ago since he last drove in a car. "Why don't you stay here then? Isn't it easier? I'll ask Taeyong and then drive back here to tell you," Jaehyun suggests. "You should stay home in case Jaemin comes too," he adds.

Jeno frowns, tears prickling his eyes just by the mention of his only love's name. "I don't want to see him ever again."

"Why?" Jaehyun asks. "You two love each other."

Jeno lets the tears run freely at this point. Jaehyun can't see it anyway as he's busy focusing on the road. It's also pretty dark outside at this point. "He doesn't love me anymore," Jeno's voice cracks.

"Of course he does," Jaehyun tries comforting the younger male, yet it only causes Jeno's anger to come right back.

"Didn't you hear what he told me?!" the younger exclaims. "There was a point in time where Jaemin walked right into an incoming snow, and back then I had no idea he was immune! For one whole month I thought he was dead, Jaehyun! And it made me so depressed because I also realized that I freaking love him! He came back, luckily, but do you know how much it hurts to have him say that he'd wish he wouldn't have come back?!"

Jeno is just rambling away at this point, but he doesn't care. He's never argued like this with Jaemin before, and he thinks their relationship is as good as destroyed.

Jaehyun shakes his head. "Calm down," he whispers to the latter. "When people get riled up they tend to say some pretty stupid stuff. Most of the time, they don't mean it."

"And what do you know about it?"

"That argument I mentioned," Jaehyun starts out. "I don't remember how exactly it started but Taeyong was very angry about something, and he started letting out his anger on me. It turned into heated yelling and I got so angry and hurt that I accidentally yelled out something I shouldn't have," Jaehyun explains calmly, and Jeno finds his voice very soothing, almost relieving.

"What did you say," Jeno questions, his voice now soft like a little child's. He turns his gaze to look and Jaehyun and the older passes him a quick smile before focusing his attention back on the road.

"Do you want the exact words I used?"

Jeno nods. "Yes."

Jaehyun clears his throat. "This is why your dumb brother and his stupid boyfriend left."

Jeno hisses. "That hurt."

"But I didn't mean it, and I'm sure Jaemin didn't mean what he said either," Jaehyun says.

He is right, Jeno knows that. And maybe Jaemin isn't totally the only one at fault here. Jeno did, afterall, surprise him quite a lot by bringing a total stranger to their home without permission.

"We aren't boyfriend's, though," Jeno whispers. "Jaemin once told me labeling mutual feelings is dumb, and that instead of focusing on when you become 'more' than what you already are, focusing on how good the current feeling you feel is, makes it more enjoyable in the moment and less heartbreaking when the moment is over."

"That's very cute," Jaehyun remarks.

And Jeno smiles as his eyes starts fluttering shut. Before he knows it, he's passed out in the driving car, and Jaemin has, yet again, entered his dreams.

. * :. ❆

"Hold him still. Don't let him move."

Little Jaemin cries. "Stop! I don't want to!" he wrails, the way too big and scary syringe coming closer to his skin. He wriggles and screams, trying to get away.

"Hold him still!"

"No! It hurts!" little Jaemin screams, his tears blurring out his vision.

He feels the end of the syringe come in contact with his skin, the burning feeling from what's getting pumped into his blood traveling up to his neck, feeling like knifes are cutting him up. Little Jaemin screams out for help as loud as a four-year-old is able to, yet no one there can help him.

He starts shaking, and his sight goes black, a loud shrill sound filling out his ears like a migraine. Blood starts pouring out from his nose, until it all just stops and he passes out.

"Help me!" Jaemin wails as he wakes up from his nightmare. "J-Jeno?" he whimpers and turns to Jeno's side of the bed only to find it empty.

Jaemin's nightmares of his childhood tend to haunt his sleep quite occasionally. And to not have the only person who can help him calm down from them be there by his side, makes him cry even harder. He doesn't know where Jeno is, the older and Jaehyun were gone when he came home again after thinking deeply of what he had said.

Jeno left him for good, didn't he? Jaemin's tears suddenly get another meaning. Instead of being the cause of his terrifying nightmare, it becomes the cause of thinking he really just lost the last person who cared for him. Also the only person he ever cared for so much. Jeno couldn't have left him, right?

Jaemin crawls out of the bed and grabs the dying candle on the bedside table, the flame so little it is almost nonexistent. He waddles out of the bedroom and calls Jeno's name in hope that the said maybe returned home while Jaemin was asleep. Yet only the darkness and silence of the living room answers him, welcoming Jaemin with open arms. He feels chills crawling under his skin, making him feel so cold and alone.

His tears travel down his cheeks and hit the candle he's holding, making the only light left in his world flicker and die out.

. * :. ❆