My Angel, J

[TW] A Nightingale in a Gilded Cage

Disclaimer : This chapter needs a trigger warning due to violence and negative themes.

"If we are going to IU, that would mean she's 35 now, right?" Jonghyun was smiling and wondered if his friend still looked the same.

"She lives there." S pointed at the top of a hotel and Jonghyun was confused.

"Doesn't Ji Eun live in her own apartment?" At the very least that was the case ten years ago.

"It's been a while. She's gone up in the world. Literally." Jonghyun was impressed with the hotel they entered. It was named LOEN Grand Hotel. He figured her company expanded to hotels after a while. It looked very polished and not at all the style of place that IU would want to live in.

The IU he remembered was down to earth and loved nature. So her living in a hotel on purpose, not because of being on tour or working, was confusing to say the least. "She must be here because she has a lot of work to do."

"Wrong. Let's go up." S entered the elevator.

"If I have wings and you can walk through walls. Why are we talking the elevator?" Jonghyun teased S but the latter just kept quiet.

Two people walked into the elevator right behind them. Jonghyun leaned on the right wall and S just stayed beside him.

"I can't believe she just fired another manager. What is she thinking? That we train them just so they can beat them down. It's half her current work budget to pay off those people she fired. Aish." Jonghyun shook his head. Must be a VIP diva checked in the hotel. It wasn't that unusual, back in the day people were much more entitled.

"She should just stop singing and get cracking on making a son or something. She's just stalling because she thinks she is still popular."

"LOEN keeps her number one. And her fans are incredible. They've been getting her awards every time." the man shook his head, "But she wouldn't have stayed around if not for her marriage. Poor woman, she didn't know she married probably the most promiscous guy in South Korea."

"Are you on her side now? I thought the same way. But if you were the one who had to clean up the mess she's been doing in the past half a decade, you would be singing a different tune." Whoever it was those two guys were talking about, Jonghyun pitied her. A loveless marriage, double standards and a fading career are just really horrible things. Guess some things never chance around here.

"It actually got worse over time." S spoke out. The other two guys didn't seem to hear her though. They continued to talk in earnest.

"There is a rumor that she kept getting an abortion."

"Really? That's horrible. How could she even think about doing that? That kid would probably live like a prince once he is born. He'll be loaded from day 1." Jonghyun rolled his eyes. What's the point of being rich if your family is as messed up as that?

"We heard she doesn't really get pregnant easily and kept getting miscarriages or something."

"Well, there is another rumor why she kept loosing the babies." the other man looked very curious.

"Why is that?"

"The LOEN heir is a crazy guy. He cheats on her and hits her whenever she tries to offer him a divorce. Apparently if that woman divorces the son of the Chairman, he gets nothing when the old man crokes. So he can't let her leave him. So she's practically a prisoner up here."

Jonghyun clenched his teeth and wanted to punch something. That was something new. He didn't know angels could feel anger. "What have they been doing?" He wondered why their friends let this happen to Ji Eun in the first place.

"Well, he kept her in a pretty awesome prison, if you ask me." Jonghyun wanted to grab on to something he could use to hit the idiot who said that. Another new thing, angels can feel murderous. Interesting.

The elevator finally reached the Penthouse and all four of them got out of the it. S and Jonghyun walked through the wall and ended up in a lavish living room. IU walked into the living room with a backpack, wearing casual clothes. She looked around anxiously and was about to walk out when a man came out of another room screaming.

"Come back here, you!" IU froze when she heard him bellow.

"I'm just going out...for a bit. I'll come back in an hour."

"Who the fuck would believe anything you say at this point?" the man looked drunk but decked in an expensive looking suit. "Are you meeting that ugly fart looking ex-idol Hyuk-jae?"

IU faced him and sighed. "I am meeting up with Suzy, okay? Just for an hour, please?"

"What are you going to do out anyway?"

"We are going to go to a nail spa then come back here and hang out." IU looked like she was begging him. The man approached her and tried to touch her face. Jonghyun saw IU's small twitch to move away from his reach. It was a visible sign of abuse. S had to pull Jonghyun back from trying to attack the guy.

"I don't want you hanging out with that woman anymore."

"Why? She is my only remaining friend at this point."

"What do you need friends for, you have me."

"When? When do I have you?" IU burst in tears. "You are never home. I can't go out if you are not here. I only come out if I am working. And even that is very rare."

"Some being so melodramatic."

"I'm still going." Jonghyun smiled. That's the Ji Eun he knew. She was still there.

"Don't force me to do something that will keep you here." the man's voice was laced with malice.

"I'm still going!" Before IU could get her hands on the doorknob the man had already pulled her by her hair. Her small body slammed on the wooden flooring of the suite and he dragged her across the living room into the room he came out of.

Jonghyun felt his wings pop out in his surprise. S even shrieked. He flew into the room and saw IU's husband pull her up into the bed and slap her relentlessly.

S pulled him back but Jonghyun struggled to get to the guy. "You can't do anything."

"What are you talking about? You bastard get off of her! Get off of her!!!" Jonghyun screamed and he felt his wings were loosing feathers.

"If you keep this up, you have to go back before finishing this mission." S shouted at him while still hugging him from behind, keeping him in place. The tiny restless rooted them where she stood and it was driving Jonghyun crazy.

"You are a messenger. You are not a guardian. Messengers do not interfere."

"Let.Me.Go. Ji eun-ah. S save her please. Save her. Oh my god. You bastard!" Jonghyun's screams could not be heard. But IU's cries pierced through the room.

"Let's see you try to leave with that face now. Nail spa my foot."

IU was curled up in her bed, sobbing. Her husband slammed the door when he got out and Jonghyun heard a lock click at the door. IU screamed in agony and frustration.

"Ji Eun-ah!" S finally let Jonghyun go. He flew to her side and held her curled up body. "I'm sorry I am lacking. Even as I am, I am lacking." He cried along with her.

"We have to go." S pulled him by his wings. S's wings came out. They were a combination of dark and white feathers. Jonghyun has never seen this anywhere in the angel images in his lifetime.

"Let's go."