Black Silk ✘ Minsung

Chapter 21

  Jisung stood still as he looked at Felix with wide eyes and a rapidly beating heart. This was a question he expected but wasn't entirely prepared for. Of course, the blonde boy wanted to know the reason and he had all the rights to know it. He wanted to know the reason why he found his best friend one day, being hugged by his mother as blood poured out of his wrists, a knife stabbed into his chest. The scene was horrific and traumatizing. Felix still sees Jisung's unconscious body lying in front of him in his dreams occasionally. The first few months were the worst because he would see the scenario all the time — no matter if he was asleep or not. He blinked and the first thing he saw was Jisung, just lying there, lifeless. He started thinking in one of his classes and in less than a few seconds, his mind started replaying that day over and over again, completely affecting his everyday life, eventually leading to the development of PTSD. But he never once blamed the boy for doing so.

  "What?" the angel heard Seungmin say and as he turned to look at him, he saw a completely devastated face. "What do you mean ... took his life?"

  This was exactly what Jisung wanted to avoid, a situation he imagined in his head many times before but still, there was this tiny part of him that still naively believed none of this will take place. Ever. His mentor finding out the real reason he ended up here. The angel was satisfied with what the exam results showed (apart from the fact that Felix was falsely accused of being the villain in their incredibly sad story) and decided to keep it that way. Seeing the troubled stare on Seungmin's face, Jisung sighed as he rubbed his temples in a comforting manner. Felix looked shocked, too, because he assumed that everyone was aware of the cause of Jisung's death. Biting his inner cheek, he bowed apologetically for giving away an important piece of information that shouldn't have been shared yet.

  Jisung glanced over at the others and saw that they looked taken aback as well. Scanning their faces, he noticed the worry and distress in Chan's eyes and the angel suddenly felt as if he faced his father right after he freed himself. Minho's expression was, on the other hand, unreadable. Jisung had no idea what the devil was thinking about as he deeply stared at the younger angel, causing him to suddenly feel ashamed, guilty and completely dirty for doing so — it almost looked like he was lecturing him via his eyes.

  But the most hurtful were looks on the remaining angels' faces. Seungmin and Changbin. It tore Jisung's heart seeing them look so frightened about what they've just heard. As if thousands of needles rapidly poked through Jisung's heart, leaving him with multiple wounds with no chance of healing and recovering. Taking a deep breath, he turned back toward his two friends.

  "Is it true?" Changbin suddenly asked, stepping closer. Jisung did not dare to look at him. He was looking at his own feet, while aggressively chewing on his lips expecting the aftertaste of blood to appear but it never did. For a minute or two, the whole room was engulfed in silence before the eighteen-year-old angel hesitantly nodded, admitting that what was said just now was completely true.

  He looked toward Changbin and saw tears in his eyes.

  That was the first time he had seen the angel cry since the day he first got to the Imperium and the duo became roommates.

  "Do you know what that means?" Seungmin broke the silence, looking at the angel in front of him. The two mundane boys were watching from afar, unsure of what was about to come next. As an answer to Seungmin's question, Jisung nodded his head as he tried to blink away his tears — he did not want to seem weak, especially not in front of the devils. Felix and Jeongin looked confused because, obviously, they never studied the afterlife even though Jeongin was fairly interested in it and knew the basics — considering he was gifted. "You'll have to have your wings ripped away and be degraded to a devil. For sinning and then for not being sincere during the examination."