Spawn ✦ Nomin

37

⊱ ─── { Jaemin } ─── ⊰

"Jaemin! Jaemin wake up!"

Jaemin screams at the top of his lungs. His body is stiff and his hands grip Jeno's black satin sheets so tight that his knuckles begin turning white. His eyes are strewn shut, the image of a silhouette with glowing red eyes towering over him, haunting his dream. The figure does not touch him, it just simply watches on, but Jaemin can feel his whole body burning like its on fire.

"Jaemin!"

But he still does not wake.

A bright light starts to emit from his entire body, engulfing the figure until he can no longer see it. It's only then that he is finally able to open his eyes.

Jeno stands over him with a disconcerted expression; one which borderlines confusion. Jaemin tries to sit up, but he feels his head start aggressively pounding, so he's forced to rest his head back down on the pillowcase.

He can feel himself practically drenched in sweat and aching all over.

"What happened? Are you okay?" Jeno asks.

"I-I dunno," Jaemin stammers, "I h-had this-this nightmare...a silhouette...re-red eyes."

Jeno suddenly sits beside his legs, frowning deeply. He places a hand on Jaemin's knee and rubs his thumb over it mindlessly.

"It was just a bad dream," he assures him, "You're okay. You're safe."

"I-it felt like...like I was being b-burned al-live," Jaemin states.

"You're probably running a bad fever," Jeno responds promptly, "That'd explain the nightmare and the sickness and the burning up, right?"

Jaemin nods slowly, though he doesn't feel too certain that was the case. But what else could explain it? He didn't know, therefor Jeno's explanation was just as plausible as any other.

"Then there you go," Jeno responds, "You just need lots of rest, liquids, and care."

"Ok-kay," Jaemin whispers weakly, to which the dark haired boy offers him a small smile and a nod.

"Would you like to call your aunt so that she knows you're alright? I'm sure she's probably worried s-"

"N-no!" Jaemin objects.

"No?" Jeno inquires as his smile quickly falters.

"Sh-she knows I'm-m okay," Jaemin lies.

Jeno peers deeply into his eyes, and Jaemin begins to get that feeling yet again. Why does he always make him feel as if he was seeking answers from his soul through his eyes? He quickly looks away and focuses on Jeno's hand instead which is still resting on his knee.

"Jaemin?" he speaks at a fairly low volume. When the younger doesn't answer, he proceeds anyway. "What are you hiding?"

Jaemin shakes his head, refusing to answer. Jeno sighs deeply.

"You ask me to trust you, but you don't even trust me," he mumbles.

"I-it's n-not like tha-at," Jaemin blurts out defensively.

"It's exactly like that," Jeno laughs dryly, "Whatever. It's your business. Try and get some more rest. When you feel well enough to walk on your own, you can go home."

He stands up from the bed and trudges towards the door.

"J-Jen-no!" Jaemin calls out, but he doesn't listen. He continues out of the room and shuts the door behind him.

Jaemin couldn't understand why Jeno was so adamant on knowing what was going on with his aunt. He refused to even tell him about his dad, so why was he obligated to tell him about his family life?

Still. He felt an odd emptiness fill his chest the second Jeno closed the door. To an extent, he feels a sort of longing for him to come back. He tries to rationalize this as his fear that he doesn't want to be left alone. With Renjun gone, he truly only had Jeno left.

Tragic.

Even more tragic was the fact he wishes he didn't have to go back home. Ironically, he feels much safer here in the 'demon' house. The true demon wasn't him, it was his aunt. At least Jeno cares about him.

Right?