nana is a renowned serial killer in seoul, korea. nobody has caught them, they don't even know who it could possibly be. that was until detective in training lee jeno gives the case a try.
(ADJ.) THE FEELING BETWEEN BITTERSWEET, PAINFUL, AND WISTFUL; A HEARTRENDING EMOTION.
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jaemin sees him, he remembers his name, lee jeno, but that's about it.
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(A/N: now i'm sure no one expected this to happen and neither did i, but like the things quarantine does to people tho. so like, this is just a little special chapter that can or cannot be apart of the main storyline, i'll keep that choice completely open to y'all. i basically was thinking about ghosts and thought about what if before jaemin was officially sent to hell, he was still tethered to earth for a while with no memories whatsoever except for jeno's name? then, this was born at almost exactly 3am. i'm telling ya, satan's hour is the best hour. any who, i hope y'all enjoy this short special chapter that i kind of don't remember writing half of :D)
in the past four-ish days jaemin had learned a couple of things. one, lee jeno is a detective working for the seoul police department. two, his best friend is someone named donghyuck. three, a guy named johnny is close to him. maybe a family member? four, he loves his tea, especially earl grey tea. five, his office is a whole mess and it irks him just looking at the space. six, he doesn't seem to sleep much. and finally seven, he never smiled.
for a while, jaemin didn't think much of it even though he had a feeling that he knew exactly why the detective never smiled, but it never truly came to mind. no details, no clarity, just a feeling. that was the most frustrating part aside from not being able to eat or touch anything without having his whole hand slipping through it. he just kind of like... hovered around the place.
it was strange, and jaemin didn't know what to make of his little predicament.
as of now, he was hovering over the couch right beside jeno watching some romcom korean drama. the latter didn't look the least bit interested in it, and to be quite frank, he looked worse than jaemin when he saw himself in the mirror.
bags have been hanging below the boy's eyes ever since jaemin had gotten here, and his attire was carelessly put together without an inch of thought. nothing about jeno screamed lively, and that kind of spooked jaemin out because he had a feeling that he wasn't quite lively either.
as much as he wanted to talk to jeno, to know why in the world he remembered nothing but the latter's name or why he was even here in the first place, he couldn't. in the past two days, he'd tried everything he could from yelling as loud as he could to straight up screeching into his ear, but nothing. the most he got out of jeno was an annoyed swipe near his ear before going back to whatever the hell he was working on.
at this point, jaemin's annoyed at the fact that he can't find any answers. confused, which was understandable under his circumstances. and oddly bittersweet. that feeling always crept up on him in the weirdest of times, like when jeno flips through case files in his office or when he sleeps. (in defense, jaemin does not stand there like a creep and watch him sleep, he kinda just stumbled onto the sight then left shortly.)
a knock sounded at the door and both his and jeno's head perked up at the sound.
"coming!" jaemin watched as jeno stood up and went to the door. a couple of moments later, jeno renters the living room and with another person. oh, it was donghyuck.
now that he's thought about it, they seemed quite close. he wondered if they could possibly be lovers. the thought immediately made jaemin frown. he didn't know why exactly, but it just didn't sit right with him.
"how are you feeling today? did you eat yet? did you even get any sleep—"
"hyuck, calm down. i'm feeling alright, i ate a while ago—" lies, jaemin knew for a fact all the latter had was a cup of water and that was that. "and i slept a good five hours." also another lie, he slept for two hours.
jaemin was impressed at how many lies jeno could compress into a sentence, but at the same time extremely concerned. all donghyuck was trying to do was to make sure he was alright and staying healthy. at least that's what jaemin thought.
donghyuck sighed, "you can't tell me you're feeling fine if your bags seem to be getting worse as the days pass or if you still look like a whole skeleton. jeno, i know this is a tough time but i care for you, and i truly want you to get better. i know i can't force you to do anything, but please, for the sake of those who do care, take care of yourself."
jaemin felt himself agreeing with donghyuck. if only they could see and hear him, he would've given jeno a whole lecture on self care as well. except he wasn't, so there wasn't really much he could do.
"i do hyuck. i'm not a child anymore and we both know that." jeno says, barely a trace of emotion in his words. "besides, i don't need you checking up on me like this. i'm doing perfectly fine on my own and i'm trying my best here to think things through. to finally accept the fact that..." it was like his words got caught in his throat.
jaemin unconsciously leaned forwards, wanting to hear the final words that would inevitably spill from jeno's lips.
"...he's dead." the two words hit jaemin like a punch to the gut.
his head started to throb, making him close his eyes and clutch onto his head in pain. images flashed through his mind. images that looked strangely familiar but too blurry to make out details. there was one though, that was clear as day.
it was jeno and...him. they were both in what seemed to be jeno's living room, but more colorful and brightly lit. to their side, the tv was playing cinderella and on the other side was what he assumed was a pillow fort of sorts. then, right in the midst of it, stood the two of them. he was in a bunny onesie while jeno sported a t-shirt and shorts. they were dancing along with the music coming from cinderella, and he guessed they were following the characters' steps.
for the first time, he sees jeno smile. a true and genuine one, that made jaemin's heart ache. the next thing he knows, he can feel something warm falling down his own cheeks. why was he crying? he didn't know. jaemin had no recollection of this whatsoever, leading him to question if it truly happened or if it was his mind making things up.
it's just, seeing the latter smile so softly yet lovingly at the the figure that was supposedly him drowned his whole entire being with a sense of longing. he tried to reach out to the image, to keep that picture of jeno smiling forever, but the closer he got, the further away the image got. in a desperate cry, he felt as if that fantasy was set there to torture him. he didn't even know what he was being tortured for!
once the pain subsided and he could finally see straight, he was met with the sight of jeno staring blankly at the back tv screen. donghyuck was nowhere in sight so jaemin had just assumed he'd left during his little episode.
tears still stung in his eyes, and wanted so bad to see jeno smile again. he hated that he can't remember anything. he hated how he could feel so much emotion that he didn't have explanations for. he hated how he couldn't communicate with jeno. he hated this state of fucked up purgatory.
yet all he could do was float around and watch. nothing more, and nothing less.
out of nowhere, jeno chuckles but the sound held no humor. "silly me. fussing over someone who would never come back no matter how hard i try. what an idiot am i right?"
jaemin tried to wipe away the single tear that trailed down jeno's face, and shockingly, his hand made the slightest contact, feeling the warmth of jeno's skin to the wetness of the tear that landed on his own skin.
then, everything went black.
-🍓-
so that's that, and uh, for reference, this would take place around a week or two after jaemin's death.
on that note, hope everyone has a great day/night!
