Apocalypse ✦ Nomin

65

"Jeno?" a sickeningly sweet voice speaks from the doorway to his bedroom, "Can I talk to you?"

"What about?" Jeno grumbles as he stares up at the ceiling.

Jaemin enters fully into the room and gently shuts the door behind him. He approaches Jeno's bed and crawls onto it. He sits on his knees beside him, looking down at the irritable man with a soft gaze despite Jeno's prior behaviour. Jeno had been thoroughly convinced that Jaemin was surely going to be angry with him about shutting his idea down and storming out, yet here he is, appearing to be calm, collected, and even kind towards him.

"You know throwing a tantrum doesn't solve anything, right?" he states as he sets his hands in his lap.

"Yes," Jeno responds concisely.

"Then could you please try your best to keep your anger under control just this once while we work together to find a solution? If not for Renjun, then could you do it for me?" Jaemin pleas.

Jeno shuts his eyes and breathes deeply through his nose.

"How can you be okay with them bringing in Xiao to help us? You should be terrified of him."

Jeno opens his eyes to see Jaemin picking at his nails and looking down at them as he does so.

"I am, it's just...I'm desperate, Jeno. Renjun is in danger, and we don't have much time to really come up with alternatives. I know Xiao wants me dead, but...I know we don't really have much of a choice in this. I'm willing to do what I have to to save Renjun," Jaemin explains, "Besides, I have you and Donghyuck and Chenle and everyone to stop him if he tries to hurt me. It's one demon against all of us. The odds are in our favor, right?"

"I guess...but like I said earlier, he'll do anything he can to get what he wants. And honestly, he always tends to get it," Jeno states.

"We'll figure something out. We always do. I trust you, Jeno," Jaemin assures him.

Jeno sighs and places his hand in Jaemin's.

"I don't know. It scares me to think he'll try to pull something. Based on how utterly terrified you were of me last time he took you from me, I don't wanna know what kind of things he'd do to you if he had another opportunity to," Jeno tells him, "I still don't technically know what all he did to you back in Hell."

"To be honest, I don't remember..." Jaemin says in a quiet voice, "It's all a blur."

Jeno looks to him with a sympathetic gaze. He finds himself certain that this isn't due to the memory fading, rather, he was almost certain Mark tried erasing those memories, too. Though he wants to be angry, Jeno finds himself relieved Mark had taken away the memories that caused him severe trauma. It was a particular set of memories that Jeno didn't want to bring back to Jaemin, should he choose to have Jeno restore the ones he lost. The last thing he wants is for Jaemin to remember Xiao torturing him to the extent of breaking him, mentally.

"Jaemin?"

"Yeah?"

"Are you positive it's okay to bring Xiao in to help us get Renjun back?"

Jaemin nods hesitantly, not convincing Jeno in the slightest.

"You're not exactly convincing me right now," Jeno points out.

"No, it's just...I do still remember some of the things he's done, like that night he tied rope around my neck and rigged it to a tree branch so that I would hang myself if I moved and fell...I'm as scared of him trying to kill me as you are," the nervous man speaks as his voice slightly shakes while speaking of the incident, "But we have to save Renjun. I'm willing to do it, no matter the cost."