Bloodline ✦ Nomin

53

"Renjun?" Mark practically exclaims the instant his eyes settle on him. His eyes grow wide in utter bewilderment as he witnesses the presence of a dead man.

"What? Didn't you guys say he was-" Yeeun starts, hastily being cut off by Jisung.

"Dead? Yeah...yeah he was."

"How the hell are you alive? What happened?" Chenle furrows his brows confusedly.

"I...I don't know..." is all Renjun can manage to get out as he gazes vacantly at a spot on the ground without blinking. His voice is quiet and lacks all that much emotion. He sounds incredibly out of it, and it makes Jaemin frown deeply. Jaemin puts his arm around Renjun's waist and pulls him close, earning a displeased grimace from Jisung. He doesn't pay it much mind, though.

"Yuta captured his soul and stored it in the Ares sword. I freed him. He's feeling a little disoriented and weak right now," Jaemin explains.

"How?" Donghyuck asks pointedly.

"How, what?" Jaemin refuses to take his sights off Renjun like he was afraid that looking away for one second would make him vanish once more.

"How did you free him?" the angel reiterates his inquiry.

"I don't know. I just did."

Jaemin's eyes shift to Chenle, their eyes meeting as his expression remains just as perplexed as the others. He didn't know if Chenle had a good poker face or if he truly didn't sense that anything was amiss. Either way, he chooses to remain silent in that moment, allowing the others room to discuss the inexplicable return of a man they all grieved the loss of.

"How do you not know?" Donghyuck remarks in his signature accusatory manner.

"Because I don't! You think I understand how my powers work sometimes? No! I've been able to do things I shouldn't be able to, and I don't know how! Stop acting like I'm hiding something!" Jaemin hisses defensively.

"It's true. Xiao was trying to kill Renjun after we found them, and Jaemin managed to get him to freeze in place. It was like he turned him to stone," Jisung surprisingly comes to his defense, effectively silencing Donghyuck.

"So what do we do now?" Mark diverts the subject, "If Renjun is too weak, then what are we gonna do? I don't mean this in a rude way, but he's going to be a liability. He can't defend himself, and we all need to be on our A-game to defeat Yuta."

"He can stay with me. I'll protect him," Jaemin assures him, "He's better off staying with us than being alone somewhere else. He'll be too vulnerable if we leave him behind. Yuta could send someone after him."

"That's true," Mark reluctantly agrees, "Are you sure about this?"

"Positive," he nods, "Besides, we can't afford to waste anymore time trying to find Jeno."

Mark sighs deeply as he seems to come to terms with the situation they find themselves in and the idea of having to look out for one more person.

"Alright...so...what about Xiao? What do we do about him not being with us?"

"We'll just have to go on without him," Jaemin states firmly.

"I don't like this. We need Xiao," Yeeun interjects.

"We don't really have a choice, do we? If we go back for him, he'll just try and kill Renjun," he denies, "I'm not losing him again."

"We can restrain him and keep him from doing that. So long as both of them are being watched, there shouldn't be a problem, right?" Yeeun suggests, "Please...we need him. For better or worse."

Jaemin purses his lips as he looks to Renjun. The poor man continues to stare vacantly like he had mentally checked out and wasn't present with them in that moment. He didn't want Renjun anywhere near Xiao, but it was for the best if he was with them. Jaemin needed to keep him close. Everything would fall apart if Xiao went rogue, and he couldn't have that.

"Fine," Jaemin bitterly agrees, "But if anything happens to Renjun, there will be hell to pay."