Mortal Masks

Chapter Twenty Three

He can feel the weight of his father's concerned eyes on him the moment he trudges into the kitchen- like he were a wounded deer, defenceless and broken. Defenceless... that's all he's ever been. That's why Donghyuck had to take control of their fates, that's why he did what he did... Jaemin was a deer, and the teke teke was a mountain lion- ready to pounce.

Images of that night, burned into the back of his mind, have plagued him ever since.

"Did you want some juice?" Yuta asks, already reaching into the fridge for the carton.

Jaemin makes a noncommittal sound as he's already turning out of the kitchen, his shoes in his line of sight by the front door, "Not hungry"

He doesn't need to turn to look at his father to see disappointment and concern written deep within his eyes- that arrow of uselessness and guilt wedges itself deep into his heart at the slight sigh Yuta lets slip.

Jaemin doesn't let on that he's heard it. Instead, he continues towards the front door.

"Have you perhaps had a moment to reconsider what we spoke about a few nights back?" Yuta calls, his voice fragile- tired and careful, "It's been almost a month since the... incident"

Jaemin winces.

"Three weeks and four days is not a month" He mumbles back, his voice dark and final.

This time, refusing to drop it, Yuta only sighs louder, "Jaemin, from my previous line of work, I know what you're going through. I've also lost many friends over the years and--"

"I am not going to therapy" He says, his voice louder than before, more certain. He casts a brief glance over his shoulder as he slips his shoes on, "I'm going to be late"

The last thing he wanted was to stand in the doorway debating counselling sessions when that wouldn't change the past. If Yuta has a way to miraculously bring someone back from the dead then Jaemin would be all ears- but that is never going to be a conversation that happens. Yuta is- was- a hunter, not a messenger, and messengers work within the limits of nature and natural order. Donghyuck is gone... Jaemin just needed a little more time to accept that.

"But Jaemin, I really think--"

And with his jaw clenched, Jaemin whirls around, ready to unleash whatever anger he could feel bubbling up through his chest, but when he turns, out of the corner of his eye, he spots a blue light, glowing wildly on the counter.

Immediately, Jaemin's rage is extinguished, and before his body can consult his mind, his feet are dragging him over to the kitchen counter, eyebrows furrowed.

He joins Yuta, both of them staring down at the hunter's crystal and how it shines with pure light, a vibrant blue flooding the room. It was as if it had been randomly activated.

"What's happening?" Jaemin asks, not daring to tear his eyes away from the gemstone.

From the silence that stretches on from his father, it's clear that Yuta is just as confused.

"I don't know, I'm not summoning anything..."

And it's when Yuta goes to grab the jewel, that the light pulses frantically before it begins shaking. Lowering his hands to the counter, Yuta tries to enclose the gem between his palms, only the hunter's stone has another idea.

In a dizzying spell of speed, the stone flies from Yuta's grasp, zigzagging across the counter tops, almost as though it were possessed. In no pattern of logic or predictability, it flies from one corner of the room to the other, in blurry streams of blue light.

"What is it doing?!" Jaemin demands, ducking quickly, to miss the stone catapulting its way towards him.

Yuta chases it across the room, trying to corner it against the fridge, only for it to escape him once more.