Incarnadine | Prequel to "Viridescence"

45

7th March
2018

The previous day, Jongho finally managed to talk it out with Yunho and calm him down. Although Jongho can tell that Yunho doesn't trust him, he's glad the other talks calmly to him now. It's one small step in the right direction.

And even today, although Jongho would like nothing more than to get back into the lab or the library, he finds himself standing in front of Yunho's door again. He must get this job done first.

"Hey Yunho? It's just me. Can I come in?" Jongho sweetly calls out after knocking on the door. As soon as he says this, he gets a chill down his spine at the feeling of peering eyes. He turns his head down the hallway and freezes when he sees San standing there with widened eyes. "I didn't know you could sound so cute," he giggles, earning himself a silent death glare from Jongho.

The other scientist scurries away while chuckling to himself, and Jongho shakes his head. He's faced enough humiliation for a lifetime in these past two days.

"You can come in," he hears faintly from inside the room shortly after.

He confidently unlocks and opens the door but then flinches a little at the sight of Yunho sitting on the ground with his head in his hands. After closing the door behind him, he joins Yunho on the floor and mentally prepares himself to force out more soft words.

"What's up? Is there anything I can do for you?" Jongho fakely worries. "I don't understand why my life got ruined so fast. I was supposed to meet my mother for dinner that night...I need to go back and tell her that I'm okay," Yunho sobs.

Jongho paints a frown onto his face and pulls Yunho in for a hug. "You'll see her soon, I'll make sure of it. I promise I won't rest easy until I see a genuine smile on your face again," Jongho soothes. To his dismay, Yunho finally looks up with teary anger in his eyes.

"You think I'll fall for such a clichéd trick? You'll never earn my trust, I hope all of you burn in hell."

This statement catches Jongho off guard for a moment and he pulls away and goes speechless. Should he argue back, or would that only add fuel to the fire? "But I do feel-"

"I know I'm going to be used as a test subject for some experiment."

Once again, Jongho is stunned. He has a strong suspicion that Hongjoong is the one who let it slip while he was capturing Yunho, and he feels a little frustrated by it at the moment.

The two of them sit in a tense silence for a few moments as Jongho tries to gather his thoughts. He can feel the rage and sorrow seething off Yunho in front of him.

At last, he can only muster one last desparate attempt to calm Yunho. "Want to come with me to get some fresh air?" he suggests. Yunho looks like he's considering this offer deeply, probably wondering if it's worth it to go anywhere with his captor that wants to use him in such a horrible way. But he decides that ultimately, he hasn't gotten fresh air in days and it might help quell his mental anguish temporarily.

Jongho catches a subtle nod from Yunho as he stands up. Jongho joins him and forces a tight smile as the other aggressively wipes his tears. He doesn't think there's any more point in trying to fool Yunho, but he's going to keep the act up anyway. Dropping it after the confrontation wouldn't do him or the group any good after all.

According to Hongjoong's schedule, Jongho is supposed to show Yunho around the garden and library today, but now the atmosphere has gotten increasingly awkward. As tempted as Jongho was to leave Yunho in his room, he goes ahead with the schedule anyway.

The two silently stroll through the hallway and they go up the stairs. Jongho tenses when he notices Yunho's eyes glued to the front entrance of the mansion, but relaxes again when they return to the top of the stairs with no issues.