Bloodline ✦ Nomin

50

⊱ ─── { Xiao } ─── ⊰

"What if Xiao's right? What if Yuta intercepted him and took Jaemin? I keep thinking about it, and it's the only theory that makes sense," Mark frets as he stressfully entangles his fingers in his hair.

"I know I'm right. There's no way anyone else could've possibly done something like that. We need to find him. Since he's not on this floor, that means Yuta must've taken him somewhere else," Xiao expresses his thoughts aloud as his eyes dart towards the nearby staircase. They'd checked every room on that floor, but there was no sign of Jaemin anywhere. Venturing through the endless floors that looked the same as the next was all they could do aside from check some of the major rooms in this deep level of Hell. All of it seemed futile and a waste of time, though. The longer they searched for him, the more likely something bad would happen to both Jeno and Jaemin. Xiao knew that splitting up to cover more ground would be the most efficient means of finding them, but it was also the biggest risk. Yuta could easily pick them off one by one if they did that. It was a stupid idea at best, and a fatal one at worst.

"But where?" Jisung asks as he holds Chenle's hand with a tight grip.

"There's a handful of places I can think of," Xiao remarks as he begins to pace around with his eyes trained on the ground. Thoughts fly through his mind faster than he can vocalize, but he doesn't miss it when Donghyuck suddenly becomes accusatory towards him.

"How do we know you're not lying and didn't just purposely gave Jaemin up to Yuta?"

Xiao stops in his tracks and pivots ever so slowly on his heel to face Donghyuck with an intense glare. His lip twitches as he tries to hold himself back from threatening the angel into shutting up.

"I have been with Jisung and Chenle since Yuta was released. When the hell would I have had time to conspire with Yuta? You have no grounds to accuse me of this sort of betrayal," Xiao defends himself.

"Maybe not, but I think we all can agree your default is to align yourself with Yuta. You would rat all of us out in a heartbeat if it meant getting back on Yuta's good side," Donghyuck continues on with his false accusations.

"Why would I do that and settle for a position as Satan's lapdog when it's already been agreed upon that you guys are willing to help ensure I become the devil, myself? I have selfish motivations, not undying loyalty to Yuta," Xiao fires back with vicious snarl.

"He's telling the truth," Chenle hastily backs Xiao up, causing the latter to glance his way in surprise. He hadn't expected anyone to side with him, but the fact Chenle does causes Xiao's tenseness to ease up.

"If Chenle says he's telling the truth, then I believe him," Jisung chimes in confidently, "The more time we waste bickering about whether or not Xiao betrayed Jaemin, the less time we have to find him before something terrible happens."

"Precisely," Xiao agrees.

"So we're supposed to believe you care about something happening to Jaemin?" Donghyuck continues to bicker with Xiao.

"I do not care one bit whether you believe it or not. My mission isn't to prove myself to you. Now, if you give a single damn about finding the vermin, then I suggest you keep your mouth zipped tight unless you have something productive to add rather than cause friction." Though clearly pissed about Xiao and the fact Jisung and Chenle had sided with him, Donghyuck finally purses his lips and silences.

"We should start looking again," Mark says with a refusal to look at any of the others.

"Where do we start?" Chenle asks, his question very clearly directed towards Xiao.

"Considering he wasn't in the study with us, we can rule that out, but there's still quite a few places we can attempt to check for any sign of him." Xiao scratches his head as he tries to determine the best course of action and where Jaemin could most likely be.

Jisung suddenly inhales sharply as his head thrashes around in search of something.

"Jisung? Jisung, what's wrong!" Chenle questions in a frantic voice.

"It's...it's Jaemin! I hear him calling for me! We have to go to him!"

Xiao feels his stomach drop.

"Don't," he blurts out quickly, causing every set of eyes in the room to rest on him, "We don't know if this is a trap. The vermin was captured. He could still very well be with Yuta and being forced to lure us in."

"I know, but we have to do something!" Jisung replies helplessly.

Xiao sighs deeply as he looks around at every expectant face awaiting his response.

"Jisung and I will go investigate while the rest of you return to the study and wait for us. If we don't return quickly, then go straight to Yuta's lair in the deepest pits of Hell and check for us there," Xiao instructs.

"I'm going with you," Yeeun announces, irking Xiao.

"Absolutely not. We can't risk you being captured, and if you are, then the others have no means of finding us. Only you can transport them safely to find us," he denies flatly, "Jisung will summon Chenle if the coast is clear and you can all come to us. Got it?"

Receiving only the silent head nods of the others, Xiao accepts it as agreement to his plan. He turns his attention to Jisung and extends his hand out for the angel to take. He does so gently, and in a flash of blinding light, the two find themselves now standing in the grand hall with a fire burning bright in the fireplace across the room. It was hardly enough to illuminate the place, much less the silhouette sitting in the middle of the floor. Xiao snaps his fingers, and a crystal chandelier hanging high above their heads flickers on.

Xiao finds that Jaemin sits on his knees in the middle of the hall with his back facing him and Jisung. He is hunched over the body of someone Xiao could not identify. He could only see the lower waist and legs of whomever was lying in Jaemin's arms. He didn't know who it was, but based on how small their proportions are and how thin their legs appear to be, Xiao knew it most definitely wasn't Jeno.

Xiao glances towards Jisung, instantly meeting his gaze as they both seemingly try to decipher what it is they just walked into.

"Jaemin?" Jisung speaks with deep concern as he strides up to the crying man. Xiao follows close behind despite his hesitance to do so.

As the two approach Jaemin and move around him to stand in his field of vision, their eyes simultaneously land on the face of the man he holds in his arms. Xiao comes to an abrupt halt as his body freezes in place. A chill runs down his spine at the sight, ringing all sorts of alarms in his head as he tries to grapple at what he was witnessing.

Jaemin clutches onto Renjun's body with his fingers curled tight around the fabric of his white shirt. He's much less fucked up and bloody as the last time Xiao had seen him. He looks practically unscathed, if he's honest.

Jaemin looks up at them with tears pouring from his bloodshot eyes like water faucets and his nose and cheeks tinted a bright, rosy shade of red.

"Pl-lease...h-help m-e," he barely manages to get out through his choked sobs and incessant sniffling.

Xiao stands and stares blankly at him as thoughts race through his mind. How was Renjun's body here? What happened to him? What sort of ultimatum did Yuta give Jaemin for him to have Renjun in his arms right now? But, most importantly: what decision did Jaemin make, and how fucked were the rest of them as a result of his choice?