sÆnts - nct, nahyuck

Æ - 8 - Æ

haechan raised a brow at jaemin's odd behaviour.

first, he barged into his room when he was half-naked.

then, he started apologizing without daring to look at haechan in the eye.

and now, he was staring at his bare chest with a brow raised.

"what the hell is wrong with you?!" haechan yelled, hiding his chest the best he could with his hands.

"what is this mark?" jaemin repeated, trying to look at haechan's chest.

"this is none of your business- ah!"

haechan cursed out loud when jaemin glued him to the wall thanks to his powers, his arms and legs spread apart so that jaemin had a full access to his chest.

the angel approached him, his eyes never leaving the spot on his chest between his pectorals.

jaemin lifted his finger, tracing over the letter that seemed to be tattooed on his skin in a permanent manner, as if haechan had been marked with hot iron. it was a beautiful calligraphed letter. a simple 'Æ', decorating his tanned skin.

haechan felt his insides getting all jittery when jaemin's finger traced over the mark on his chest, and he hated that.

"what is this mark?" jaemin asked. "why do you have it?"

"i don't know." haechan replied. "i've had it since i was born."

"does it hurt?" jaemin questioned, pushing on it.

he earned an immediate scream of pain from haechan.

"fuck, yeah. it does hurt like hell! don't touch it!"

jaemin nodded, stepping back.

"do you have an idea what it could be?" he asked, glancing at it another time before looking at haechan in the eye.

"no. it's just there, and it hurts when i touch it."

"it's strange..."

haechan snorted.

jaemin snapped his fingers, haechan's body sliding off the wall as he landed on his feet, regaining the capacity to move.

"i'll be back." jaemin said quickly before heading towards the door.

"oh, please..."

jaemin vanished in the air before he could reach the door, and haechan sighed loudly.

"...don't..."

this angel was nothing but trouble for him.

and he didn't want that to last.

if only jaemin could disappear from his life.

Æ

"jaemin, are you sure you saw this?" mark asked, a brow raised. "i was having an important conversation with mina."

"mark, i know what i saw."

"okay... i'm coming..."

mark sighed, looking at the girl sitting crossed-legs on the bed.

he explained the situation to her before disappearing of the room and reappearing inside his house, standing in front of jaemin.

"jaemin, i swear that this has to be important." mark groaned.

"it is!" jaemin exclaimed.

"so, explain me everything over again, and in a calm way, please."

jaemin nodded energetically before taking a deep breath.

"so, haechan has, on his chest, some kind of branding mark. it looked like a latin letter, where the A and the E are glued together." jaemin explained.

"yeah, and what can i do with this very useful information?" mark raised a brow.

"i'm not finished." jaemin said. "this kind-of scar birthmark is located on his chest, between his pectorals. and this is the exact place where donghyuck was stabbed."

mark – who had been quite uninterested by the story – suddenly looked at jaemin in the eye.

"the exact same place?" he asked again.

"yes. when ilsung threw the knife, it hit him right there."

"so... the tattoo is on the spot that caused donghyuck's death." mark clarified.

"exactly!" jaemin nodded. "and there's more!"

"there's more?"

"yeah." jaemin grabbed mark's hand and held it tight. "it hurts like hell when you touch it."

mark bit his bottom lip, his eyes looking around the room while he tried making connexions in his mind.

all this story was creepy, but at the same time, there was hope.

"jaemin, what if this tattoo wasn't here randomly?" he stated after a while.

"what?"

"maybe... haechan and donghyuck are linked. and this could be a proof of it."

jaemin nodded, understanding what mark meant.

"i should talk to the head angel about that." jaemin declared.

"yeah. you should."