Bloodline ✦ Nomin

27

⊱ ─── { Jaemin } ─── ⊰

Jaemin feels something cold and wet dab lightly against his forehead. He slowly swims up from the dark depths of unconsciousness, inching closer to the surface where he could get a grasp on something other than nothingness. He struggles to open his heavy eyelids, as he groggily catches brief glimpses of the interior of a room he has never seen before.

"Jaemin?" a feminine voice whispers ever so quietly, causing an odd wave of relief to wash over him upon not being met with any sounds that were far too loud for his sensitive ears to process.

He briefly opens his eyes once more, spotting a beautiful woman with black hair leaning over him.

"Yeeun?" he utters back in a similarly hushed tone.

Her eyebrows raise in response, clearly not having been prepared to hear her name fall from Jaemin's lips.

"I know I shouldn't be surprised you know my name, but hearing you say it without me telling you is still a bit of a shock," she breathily chuckles as Jaemin struggles to keep his eyes open. She dabs a dampened white cloth against Jaemin's forehead as she looks at him with a kind smile. Unfortunately, it doesn't meet her eyes. They're filled with a sort of sadness that seem to borderline sympathy...or perhaps it was pity. Jaemin could not determine which. Either way, it riddles his body with a sense of dread for whatever she knew.

"What happened?" he takes a long blink, "Where's Jeno?"

Yeeun's smile slowly fades into a frown. She brushes a few pesky strands of Jaemin's hair out of his face.

"He went out for a walk while I came to try and cool you down since it felt like you were burning up. Neither of us were expecting you to wake up so soon," she murmurs softly, "To be honest, I don't think you should be awake right now. You look exhausted. You can barely keep your eyes open."

"I want to see Jeno..."

Yeeun exhales deeply, but it doesn't sound as if it's due to frustration. It seems more helpless than anything.

"I'm so sorry, but I don't know when he'll be back. You really should focus on getting better. I don't want you pushing yourself and accidentally causing more harm," she speaks with a sort of delicacy towards Jaemin that it hardly felt like she was vaguely lecturing him.

"Protective...just like your baby brother," Jaemin puffs out a breath of laughter as a weak smile forms on his lips.

"H-how did you..."

Jaemin goes to blink but he is unable to open his eyes again for several long seconds.

"Found out when I went to track you down...You're his half sister...A witch..."

Jaemin feels that same cold, damp cloth touch his face again, but this time Yeeun presses it against his warm cheeks one by one. He lets out a faint sigh at how nice the cool material feels against his skin.

"Your abilities are remarkable. Well beyond what an archangel is capable of," Yeeun remarks with a sort of fascination lacing her tone, "I'm surprised our father wanted to kill you rather than keep you around to utilize your powers."

Jaemin would shrug if he had the energy. Instead, he just tilts his head slightly towards his shoulder before lazily rolling it back into place.

"Guess I pissed him off too much...he probably saw me as a...a problem more than someone useful..."

"To be honest, it was probably for the best. You know best how Yuta's control over others affects the person he's manipulating to serve him. You've seen what it's done to Jeno. It's best you were spared from that. Besides, those abilities clearly come at an extreme detriment to your health," she presses the cloth against Jaemin's neck, continuing to treat him as if he were made of glass, "You have to be more careful."

And there it was. The infamous line spoken by Jeno on a million and one occasions.

"Yep...Exactly like your brother."

Yeeun lightly jabs one of her fingers into Jaemin's side, causing him to let out a weak laugh. But this seems to use up his last bit of energy. The exhaustion that threatens to pull him back under grows exponentially stronger almost instantaneously.

"I can't wait to get to know you once you're feeling yourself again," Yeeun smiles warmly at him, but it gradually fades as Jaemin's eyelids grow heavier, "Hey...before you go back to sleep, I have to ask...can you tell me a bit about Jisung?"

Jaemin takes a deep breath through his nose and nods with a very minuscule motion of his head.

"Yeah...He's one of Jeno's closest friends...He used to be his servant," he struggles to keep his eyes open as he speaks, "He...he works with Mark...the head...head angel..."

"Mark? What happened to Taeyong?"

"I killed him."

Yeeun gapes at him, stunned by this revelation.

"Holy shit..." she utters even quieter than before.

"Jisung was a demon, but I...I think he might be an angel now...thanks to Mark's help..." Jaemin's groggy mind brings up before he loses the thought.

"Can you tell me how I can–"

"I'm sorry...I...I'm so tired..." Jaemin's eyes finally shut for the final time.

"It's okay. Rest well, little angel," Yeeun responds as she places her hand atop one of Jaemin's which rests on his stomach. He feels her rubbing soothing circles into the skin of his hand with her thumb as he slowly sinks back down beneath the surface of consciousness.