s.c.s. ☆ j.jh ☆ ayakashi series | ✔

jaehyun [thirty-three]

Standing at the base of the mountain later that morning, you rocked from your heels to the balls of your feet anxiously, fingers fiddling with hem of your shirt. Your Ayakashi friends were all gathered there with you, in their true forms, the majesty of which you couldn't even admire because your thoughts were too clouded with worry.

Jaehyun was dressed up in hiking gear, complete with an (empty) hiking pack. Unsure of how aware and sentient the Wraiths were, you decided to play it safe and have Jaehyun pretend to be a hiker who simply wandered up the mountain and into the shrine, to keep them from realizing who he was for as long as possible.

"Everyone remembers the plan, right?" Sicheng addressed your rather large group, quieting them down instantly.

"We wait until the Wraiths are visible and keep them at bay for Y/N and Mark to banish them," Yuta called out from beside Taeyong.

"I'll be down here and banish as I make my way up the mountain," Mark added.

You didn't even try to feign enthusiasm as you stated blandly, "Jeno will drop me in at the shrine and I'll banish from there and make my way down."

"Once my brother and I reach the shrine, we will fix the seal over the great evil," Jungwoo finished the timeline.

"Jaehyun?" Sicheng prompted him. "You've got the most important part."

"I go to the altar at the back and activate the talisman then stay alive long enough for Y/N to come save me."

Your grip on his hand tightened just a little bit with apprehension. He squeezed your hand back.

"I still think Y/N should have more than one Ayakashi up there," Johnny spoke up.

"Me too," Sicheng sighed. "But Jeno can only carry one person up there, and we can't risk sending anyone up with Jaehyun."

"Could you carry a person and a cat?" Taeyong asked, voice surprisingly level and gaze unwavering as he looked directly at Jeno.

Jeno seemed slightly affronted at this, "Of course."

"Then I'll go too."

Yuta's fox ears twitched for a moment, "A fox too?"

"Where am I going to put all of you? I can hold Y/N, but I don't know if we're going to have room for both of you, even as animals. She still has to hold onto me. The cat will be pushing it logistics-wise."

"I'll be okay, Yuta," Taeyong quietly reassured him, pushing his head against the Kitsune's shoulder.

You turned to Jaehyun. The talisman was still in your back pocket, and the charm had been put into it back at the café where you'd all met up, but you still hadn't given it to him. It was the final thing you had to do before you saw him off for what could easily be to his doom. Just like getting out of bed this morning, you didn't want to do this, feeling like you were wobbling on a precipice and this would be thing that finally pitched you over to the other side.

Throwing your arms around his neck, you hugged him tightly, uncaring of the others around you or even if you were crushing his esophagus against your shoulder. You buried your face in his neck, breathing in deeply, to fill your nostrils with his scent, and in an effort to keep any tears at bay. Crying wouldn't do anything for you now.

He squeezed you back just as tight, rubbing a hand up and down your back for a moment, "Hey, don't act like I'm about to die. You're gonna save me, I believe that. I'll save you, then you'll save me."

"Sorry," you muttered, still not letting go of him.

"Hey," he murmured quietly, pulling back just enough to look you in the eye. "Do you really think I shouldn't do this?"