after a two-hours ride, jaemin parked the car on a parking in the underwood.

they hadn't exchanged many words during those two hours.

haechan had asked if he could play some music, and jaemin had agreed.

this had made their journey less cold.

plus, haechan had a good taste in music.

"come out. we need to walk there." jaemin said, unfastening his seatbelt and heading out.

haechan did the same, closing the door behind him and following jaemin who was standing under a wooden arrow-shaped sign.

"the fallen forest...?" haechan read the sign. "is this where we're going?"

"yeah." jaemin nodded.

"are you sure?"

"trust me, haechan." jaemin said.

haechan was about to argue, but the look jaemin gave him made him keep his mouth shut.

and so, he followed the angel across the underwood towards a place that didn't seem to inspire him a lot.

Æ

haechan gulped when jaemin and him arrived in front of what seemed to be a village in the underwoord.

the atmosphere was gloomy, and the high trees allowed very little light to pass through and illuminate the place.

plus, he could already see men looking at them, and all of them had piercing glowing red eyes.

"stay behind me, they won't arm me." jaemin muttered before penetrating inside the village.

haechan nodded, his body trembling slightly in fear.

unconsciously, his hand reached for jaemin's, and the angel allowed him to intertwine their fingers together. the supernatural being then led them towards a group of red-eyed men.

"angels have nothing to do here." a man spat.

"go away." another said.

"leave the human if you want."

"fuck off."

"we can fight."

jaemin looked around at the dozens of fallen demons who were approaching them.

he wasn't the slightest impressed by their behaviour.

although, haechan was on the verge of cardiac arrest.

his whole body trembled as he clung onto jaemin's hand.

his eyes were widened, looking successively at all the scary men that were looking at him like some meal.

"stop me if i'm wrong, but angels don't know about the fallen forest, do they?" jaemin spoke very calmly.

"no! and it's perfect like that!" a fallen demon yelled, making the whole crowd scream in approval.

"but i am an angel. and i know about the fallen forest." jaemin continued on the same tone. "which proves that i'm not just any angel."

the men looked at each other confusedly.

they started blabbering and whispering between each other.

that was until one of them recognised jaemin.

"wait- isn't he the one who killed ilsung...?" one of them said, making all of them stare at jaemin.

"bingo." jaemin chuckled. "missed me?"

the fallen demons all gasped collectively.

"w-why are you here?"

"i have something to do." jaemin replied. "is ilsung's house still existing?"

"yes." a fallen replied. "it's the same as you left it."

"the blood and the body got cleaned, though." another fallen added.

"perfect." jaemin smiled. "then, me and haechan will go there. but let me give oyu a few warnings before."

jaemin gave a death look to the fallen, making all of them straighten up right away.

"demons can't use their powers in the fallen forest, but angels can, so don't even think about trying attacking us. i can defeat any of you in half a second." he threatened, making the fallen demons nod. "oh, and you may hear screams from ilsung's house. please, don't intervene."

with that said, jaemin walked away, the fallen demons stepping aside to let jaemin and haechan – who was still holding jaemin's hand – pass.

jaemin pulled haechan towards the familiar house.

"what was that?" the human asked, looking at the crowd of red eyes behind them.

"fallen demons are demons whose powers are taken because they did too much bad things." jaemin explained kicking the door of a house open.

"but they said... have you already come here?" haechan questioned.

"i did. now do as i say and stand here, please."

"what? why?"

"haechan, please. it's important." jaemin sighed.

haechan stood where jaemin asked him, in the middle of a living room he didn't know.

the furniture was broken, and pieces were lying everywhere around the room.

it seemed like people had fought there.

"jaemin, i don't understand anything..."

"don't worry. it will end in a few seconds." jaemin took a deep breath as he faced him.

"huh...?"

haechan looked as jaemin gulped before placing a hand over his shoulder and lifting the other one in a fist, very close to haechan's chest.

"i'm sorry for the pain, donghyuck..." he whispered.

and before haechan could ask anything else, jaemin's fist collided with his chest, hitting the exact spot where 'Æ' was tattooed.

haechan screamed in pain as he felt like being stabbed with a knife.

the pain was unbearable, and he felt like dying, but jaemin kept pushing further.

haechan slowly started to lose consciousness, his mind becoming dizzy as pain took over his body.

as he was in a drunk-dazed state, images flashed through his mind.

memories. all too familiar.

the first time he met jaemin.

jaemin trying to push him away.

dark alleys and bloody crimes.

hugs, intertwined hands, kisses.

running away together with jaemin.

intimate moments.

the landscapes.

the confession.

the fallen forest.

and a knife, planting into his chest.

the knife...

that was what hurt him this much...

the pain suddenly ceased.

his eyes opened on his own, meeting an all-too-familiar silhouette.

"n-nana...?"