= The Man In the Mirror = {[Nomin]}

• Chapter 7 •

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Nana exhaled deeply as his hands continued to shake, eyes staring at the older who dropped the chopsticks and fell to his knees, looking drained and so weak. The masked boy slowly walked over to the dark haired boy and leaned down.

"A-are you alright?" Nana asked while trying to find his breath. He landed a comforting hand on the center of Jeno's back, softly tracing his fingers along the fabric.

Jeno raised his hands to his face, cupping the sides of his head as he tried to straighten his thoughts. That man had frightened him so badly that his heart was beating abnormally, the initial adrenaline still plagued his body. It felt like he had three coffees in two seconds.

"Yeah..," the word only came out as a whisper, the dark haired now putting his attention onto the hand resting gently on his back, trying to calm himself.

After moments of silence, Jeno slowly got up and Nana followed with him, climbing back onto the couch as Jeno set up the flashlight again. The house suddenly lost its comfort entirely, feeling like there were demons at every corner just waiting to pounce.

Nana contemplated in his head everything that happened, finding it strange how the chopsticks made the monster disappear. It just didn't make sense, he has tried multiple times to use kitchen knives or baseball bats on these things, but nothing ever worked. But then it hit him.

"Wait!" Nana said suddenly, slightly startling Jeno to whom he apologized to. "I think I get it. You got the chopsticks from your dimension and I bet that's why the monster died. Because they usually can't die."

Jeno stared at him with empty eyes as his skin still looked so pale. He then nodded and thought for a moment, grabbing the chopsticks from Nana's bowl.

"Then you should keep these for when I'm not here, alright?" Jeno said very motherly, trying his best to muster a smile but was struggling to do so.

Nana nodded his head, taking the chopsticks as their fingers brushed slightly. He eyed the eating utensil and somehow felt a surge of power. This could work.

"Thank you... and I'm sorry," the younger said softly, landing his eyes back onto Jeno as the older looked up at him.

"For what?"

"For everything. I'm burdening you and I shouldn't be. This is my issue to deal with these monsters, not yours," Nana bit his lip and gave an apologetic look through the rims of his mask.

Jeno shook his head, averting his gaze to the fireplace just across the couch they were sat in. "It's not your responsibility. Just you being able to touch things from my dimension proves that you don't belong here. You shouldn't have to face this alone."

Nana felt something in his chest bubble. He randomly felt the urge to hug the older, but he held himself back. "You're very nice, Jeno."

Jeno snapped his head towards Nana. It had been so long since someone had called him nice. And this was the second time. It made him wonder if it's because Nana isn't involved with his regular life, because he doesn't know his dark secrets and what a bad man he has become, just for the sake of his company.