Black Silk ✘ Minsung

Chapter 12

  The door opened and revealed Hyunjin's friend group. The shock was apparent on their faces as they saw the two angels in such a position and tear stains on Jisung's face. The younger immediately wiped them away and sat upright. Hyunjin gave Changbin a look as if asking for approval to go inside. Changbin nodded and gestured with his hand that they can go inside.

  "I will go ... to the library or something," Jisung whispered and Changbin gave him a sad smile and hesitantly nodded. The angel got up and bowed to everyone before slowly heading towards the door. His eyes locked with Minho as he passed by him, their hands slightly touching. It immediately sent shivers down his spine. As he was closing the door, his eyes once again locked with the devil. The ruby eyes were unforgettable. Jisung still remembers the day he went to look for Changbin and ended up in Minho's room. He will never forget the hatred the devil had in his eyes when he realised there was another angel in his room.

  "Aren't you filthy winged birds way too hung up on gerontocracy? Show some respect to someone older than you then." That sentence made Jisung smile a bit. He found it absurd back then and still does. It wasn't a good way to make a decent expression on others but Jisung also didn't present himself in the best possible manner. Considering how cheeky he was.

   He had no idea where to go because the library was probably crowded at this moment. There was also a high risk of him running into Seungmin, which was something he wasn't in the mood for. A few other places popped up in his head but they were possibly as crowded as the library. But there was one place that stood out for him since the first time he saw it. It was in the 'angel part' of the building — and Jisung found it on accident. One day, he was frantically running around the building and trying to find some papers he's lost on his way back to his room. Then he ran across small wooden doors that immediately caught his attention. Being the nosy person he is, he had to explore the room. And to his surprise, the door was not locked, revealing an enormous hall with flora all around. At the end of the hall, there was a bench. Once Jisung got closer, he noticed that there was an enormous window in front of the bench that he couldn't see before. The view was beautiful — the sun was setting and the clouds were tinted with pastel shades of pink and blue.

  This time, the sun was also setting. He felt like he was on a plane, travelling somewhere awfully far. Sitting on the bench, curled up in a ball and chin resting on his knees, Jisung inhaled the air and admired the view.

  Days like this were probably the prettiest and calmest days in his life. He had time to imagine and think about certain things in his life and on top of that, he felt relatively independent. Especially now, that he was officially an angel and did not have many things to worry about — except for Jeongin. Since he knows what's going on in his friend's life after his passing now, he feels very guilty. And worrisome. He lowkey started to feel like he abandoned his children who he had to take care of.

  Some time has passed and Jisung felt dizzy. His eyes were still a bit red from all the crying today and his whole body was tired. But at least the view was calming and kept him from falling asleep. If he drifted into the dreamland now, he wasn't sure if anyone would be able to find him the next day. He closed his eyes and released a deep breath, hugging his legs tighter. The sun was almost set and he did not feel the warmth he felt when he arrived.  It was rather cold now but Jisung still felt nice.

  After a while, he felt a movement on the other side of the bench, followed by a shifting of the fabric. He opened his eyes and turned his head towards the end source of that noise. His eyes were met with dark brown eyes that Jisung knew and had them engraved in his mind but in a ruby version. He released a breath, kind of stunned upon seeing the devil sitting next to him.

  Once their eyes met, Jisung felt his cheeks reddening. Minho turned his head and examined the view in front of them, before breaking the silence: "I thought I was the only one that's aware of this beautiful place,"

  Jisung still had his eyes laid on him, scanning his face. He hummed.

  "Hard to believe you can appreciate something beautiful." he chuckled as he said that and also averted his gaze towards the clouds that started to slowly fade away, signalling the 'night' is going to be pretty clear, revealing the nothingness underneath them.

  "Trust me, I can cherish beautiful things."

  Jisung rolled his eyes. "Why are you even here? With me, the filthy winged bird?" he tried to provoke him, carefully watching his reaction through his peripheral vision.

  The devil did not answer that and just continued to watch the slowly disappearing clouds. A silence that was certainly not awkward hit them and both of them decided to at least momentarily enjoy the quietness of this place — compared to other places in this building.

  That was until Minho decided to break off the silence.

  "Changbin told us you guys met someone that was gifted. What a nice way to start your duties, huh?"

  Jisung raised his brows. "You are pretty talkative, aren't you?"

  It felt unusual and ... wrong talking to the devil calmly, especially after their latest encounters. Jisung momentarily thought they could've been friends back in his life but then he realised that Minho most likely would've been one of the popular guys that Jisung would never give his attention to.

  "Yeah, I am pretty talkative with people that are obviously less smart than I am," he said with a smirk and Jisung frowned, turned around so he could face him, ready to start an argument. But before he could, Minho continued with his monologue. "since you haven't answered my question yet."

  Jisung thought about it before answering. "If I remember correctly, you were the one that did not answer my question. Anyway, why do you even care?"

  "I don't."

  Jisung snorted and turned his body to his original position. Once again he curled up in a ball and put his chin on his knees. He didn't even get the chance to register when he put his legs down. Probably the moment Minho sat down next to him.

  "But yeah, Changbin and I met someone who could see us," Jisung admitted, "pretty mental."

  Minho nodded and bit the insides of his cheeks, swallowing the question he wanted to ask since the day the exam took place. But eventually, the question found its way out of his mouth.

  "You remember everything, don't you?"

  Jisung froze. Is it that evident? He asked himself. First, Seungmin felt that something was off, then Hyunjin, Changbin and now Minho. It was only a matter of time before the rest of the university finds out and the information gets to the heads of the facility, eventually ending up with Jisung getting his wings ripped away for not being sincere during the examination. He couldn't do that. He couldn't expose himself — not to a devil, especially one that ostensibly feels hostility towards him.

  "What do you mean?" he tried to act dumb.

  It did not work.

  "Listen," Minho got up from the bench. "let's nicely settle this. You tell me why do you remember everything from your human life and I will let you go, unharmed. Or on the other hand ... "

  He let the sentence quietly disappear in the air but Jisung got the idea of what he meant. You either tell me what you're hiding, or I will destroy you. Simple as that. But Jisung maybe did not have to play and act dumb — maybe he was because he took all of his courage and tried to protect his pride and future.

  "I seriously have no idea what you're talking about. Now, if you will excuse me." With that, he got up and left the hall. His heart beating numerous miles per hour.

  Minho stood in front of the bench, fists clenched, his enormous black wings resting on his shoulder blades as his ruby eyes scanned Jisung's leaving figure.

  "I meant well," he whispered. "I cannot let them get to you first."