Luminous • Jisung

38 • Messages

an angel

• Chapter 38 •

Renjun patted Cho-a's head carefully. He sat next to her on Jisung's sofa. Being endlessly tired, she had her knees pulled up to her chest and rested her head on them. 

"Are you sure you're okay?" he asked again for the dozenth time. Cho-a merely hummed quietly in return. 

It was a soft reply, mirroring how she felt - drained, tired. 

"Can you stop getting into trouble?" Haechan asked from opposite the girl where he sat on one of the armchairs. 

"It's not my fault," she grumbled in reply. 

There came a disapproving hum from somewhere next to them. Lifting her head up slightly, she glimpsed to the entrance of the living room, where she saw Taemin, Chenle and Jisung. 

"Technically seen, it was your fault," Taemin pointed out at which the girl just rolled her eyes and dismissed it. 

Jaemin looked up at them. "Oh, you are back! Did you take care of him?" 

Taemin nodded. "Kinda." Which was vague but enough of an answer to calm the worried Jaemin down. He smiled warmly at Cho-a who returned his smile. 

Taemin threw a strict glare at the youngest. "You know what," she stopped him and let her head fall back onto her knees. "No one even asked for your opinion," she mumbled so quietly, the others barely understood her. 

"I'd also like to point out that you even accompanied her," Jeno noted whilst Chenle took a seat next to him. 

Taemin leaned against the doorframe and watched the younger one. He was absolutely speechless. 

"Had I let her go alone then Jisung would've thrown me into the cell together with that guy," he defended himself quickly. "It's better that I went with her." 

He had a point. 

"He's right," even Jisung agreed. But Cho-a frowned. 

She frowned because his deep voice sounded so near. She hadn't even heard him step closer, yet when she looked up again, she saw the boy there, right in front of her. 

"Seriously, what an idiot," he said under his breath at the sight of the exhausted girl. He glared at her angrily. He was about to say something when she frowned.

She grabbed his hand and pulled at it, guiding him towards the empty space on the sofa next to her. 

"I'm tired," she said and patted the spot to her right. "Scold me later." 

For a moment, he hesitated. Yet he didn't wait long before he obliged, sitting down. 

Smiling in satisfaction, Cho-a rested her head on his shoulder, hugged his arm and pulled herself closer to him. Shuffling a little, adjusting her position she hummed. 

"Perfect," she mumbled. 

Her warmth was comforting, her slender fingers held onto him tightly. She felt calmer now where he was there. He felt calmer now, seeing she was okay. 

Jaemin gasped. "Renjun," he whisper-shouted. "Are you seeing this?" At which the older one could do nothing but nod in disbelief. 

"Wow," he breathed. 

"And now imagine what would have happened to me if she went alone," Taemin mentioned again and the others nodded understandingly. Jisung rolled his eyes. 

Hearing the older one talk reminded Cho-a of something though. She looked over to where he stood. 

She hummed. "By the way, we can talk openly now. No need to hide from him that I'm the half-grim reaper." 

"Excuse me--" Taemin began but stopped himself at the sheer casualness of it. Sure, he had considered it a possibility. There was something off about her, so he thought she might be it. 

He didn't think she would straight out tell him like that though. 

"Wait, when did you decide to trust him?" Jeno asked, recalling how she wanted Jaemin and him to keep their distance from Taemin just a few hours ago. 

"Since I found out that he's the leader of the Jisung fan club," she replied softly, smirking amusedly at a dumbfounded Taemin. 

Meanwhile, Jisung looked down at the girl. 

"I have a fan club?" She hummed in confirmation. "Are you in it too?" 

"Of course not." She grimaced weirdly. 

Jisung looked away, somewhat upset and somewhat amused. "Why did I even ask." 

"Beats me," Cho-a mumbled against his arm. 

Taemin crossed his arms and glared at the girl judgingly. She gave him a blank stare back. She wasn't quite sure what he was going to say but she felt like it was nothing particularly important. 

And as expected, she stayed unimpressed after Taemin said, "that's why you were stronger than me that day." 

Cho-a shrugged. 

"That's cheating," Taemin grumbled at which the girl raised a brow in disbelief. 

"You thought you were fighting a human but it was me who cheated?" He hesitated. He didn't nod, didn't shake his head. He didn't want to reply. So he stood there quietly. "Actually, since we are at it, I have a question for you." 

Taemin pointed at himself with a surprised expression. 

Cho-a nodded. 

"That man, he was angry at you because you killed his friend." She didn't have to actually ask a question because this was enough for Taemin to tell her about it. 

He looked up as if he tried to remember or as if he tried to figure out what was worth mentioning. 

She wasn't quite sure. She didn't exactly care either. 

"There are rules and his friend broke them over and over again," Taemin explained vaguely. "He got what he deserved and he knew it was coming too. I didn't do anything wrong." 

"What did he do?" Cho-a asked. 

"Killed people. A lot of them." 

"Oh," she pushed out under her breath. "Okay, so you aren't the bad guy here." 

Taemin frowned. "I've never been the bad guy!" 

Cho-a lazily pointed towards Jaemin and Jeno. She raised a brow. "Oh, really?" 

He nodded dismissively, looked away from the boys. "That one time." 

Midway that casual chit-chat, the girl's phone vibrated next to her, she turned away from Jisung to check the notification she got. 

She glared at it in disbelief. 

We need to talk. 
- Young-hee

• Messages •

sorry for the wait but welcome back :D

stay safe 💚