Jonghyun woke up to an unsettled feeling. It wasn’t that he hadn’t slept well, he felt very well rested, but something nagged at the back of his mind. He scrunched up his face with a small sigh and stretched his arms above his head, sinking deeper into the mattress before opening his eyes.

The room had changed.

He sat up so quickly his head spun and an uncomfortable hollow feeling made itself known inside him. He pressed a hand over his heart, grimacing in discomfort as he looked around.

What previously had been walls and floor of warm wood were now black, coldly gleaming stone. There were no windows and the only source of light came from candles in sconces on the walls. It bounced off the black marble floor, casting a sinister glow around the walls and floor. The room was otherwise empty except for the bed, though it was big enough to count as a large studio apartment.

“I got kidnapped again?” Jonghyun groaned to himself, still rubbing at his chest.

This was getting ridiculous; he was not a damsel in distress! Why did he keep on being kidnapped?

“I see you realise your position,” a soft voice spoke.

Jonghyun nearly coughed up his heart. He turned around, his wide eyes catching at the far right corner of the room where the light did not quite reach.

“My position?” he asked, voice shaking, and squinted in an attempt to make out whoever was standing there.

A young, pale man emerged from the shadows, regarding him with dark eyes. His hair was black as coal and his face expressionless. He approached the bed, stopping only a few steps away. A plain white shirt hung loosely on his frame and he had black dress pants on, but his feet were bare. 

Although, ‘young man’ would be the wrong term to use, as Jonghyun was quite sure he was a god. Not any kind of god, either.

“Taemin?” he asked, remembering the Korean name that Naeun girl had told them.

Taemin narrowed his eyes ever so little but gave the tiniest nod.

“Are–,” Jonghyun swallowed. “Are you going to kill me?”

Taemin's jaw set and his gaze hardened. He approached the bed and every step he took felt like a threat to Jonghyun's safety. He stopped just beside him, grabbing the arm that wasn’t pressed against his chest and turned it over to reveal Jinki's mark. Jonghyun gasped at the ice-cold fingers around his forearm, but didn’t say anything as Taemin inspected the mark. Then he looked up, searching Jonghyun's face, and his eyes dropped to the hand on his chest.

He snorted humourlessly and pulled back.

“No, I will not,” he said darkly. “I am not cruel and I certainly do not wish my brother insufferable pain.”

Jonghyun gaped at him.

“My brothers need not know that, however,” he continued and turned away to put some distance between him and Jonghyun. “It will make negotiations smoother.”

This made Jonghyun frown.

“Negotiations?”

Taemin didn’t answer.

“Your friend, Kibum,” he said instead, “is he aware of how to open the jar of Pandora?”

“Uh…” Jonghyun hesitated. “No, I don’t think so.”

“That is good,” Taemin murmured, more to himself than for Jonghyun's benefit, and Jonghyun's confusion increased.

“O… kay?” he said and made to move off the bed.

His movements were slow, as if the empty feeling in his chest weighed him down, and worry began coiling in his stomach.

“Did you do something to me?” he demanded, a little harsher than he had intended.

Taemin glanced at him and frowned.

“I feel weird,” Jonghyun elaborated. "Empty."

Taemin's lips thinned and something flickered in his eyes. Confusion? Worry? Jonghyun didn’t have the time to evaluate as Taemin swiftly returned to his side and put a hand to his head.

“Sleep,” he ordered in a murmur, authority suddenly on high.

Jonghyun's eyelids drooped and he fell back against the mattress. Before he knew it, he was out like a light.

***

When he woke up, his surroundings had changed considerably yet again. He sighed heavily and rolled onto his back, his body hurting from lying on what seemed to be concrete.

He blinked slowly, staring up at a crumbling ceiling, and put a hand to his chest, relieved that the hollow feeling had disappeared. Sitting up heavily, he clutched his head in his hands for a moment to gather himself. Then he sighed and swept his eyes over his new surroundings.

This time he appeared to be in an abandoned building, the interior bare and the walls filled with graffiti. He could see fields of wheat through one glassless window, which meant he could still be on the island somewhere if he was lucky.

He searched for Taemin, but couldn’t find him anywhere. Breathing a sigh of relief he remained on the floor. He didn’t have the energy or strength yet to stand up. His body hurt as if a truck had hit him, so he must have been lying unconscious on the concrete for a long time.

Stretching gingerly, his joints popping, he tried thinking of a plan to find his way back to Jinki – and Kibum and Minho, they were important too, of course. He came to the conclusion that getting up and walking until he found someone on the road would be his best bet, since he really had no idea where he was. They could help him get to the nearest city or village and from there he could call Kibum's cell. His own was not working after the dive he had taken off the boat what seemed like eons ago.

He all but managed to put his hands to the floor to push himself up when there was a thunder so loud his bones vibrated and he looked up to see rainclouds form in the distance.

“Jinki,” he breathed and warmth filled his body all the way to his fingertips.

As if his words had been a spell, Jinki materialized a few feet away from him, stormy eyes softening with worry and relief. He was by Jonghyun's side in a second; enveloping him in his warm embrace and hugging him so tightly he had trouble breathing.

“I…” Jinki's voice trembled against Jonghyun's shoulder. In fact, all of him seemed to be trembling. “I thought you had vanished forever. Your presence was gone from this realm and the realm of gods. You cannot imagine my terror.”

Jonghyun swallowed around the lump forming in his throat and buried his face in the juncture of Jinki's neck and shoulder, hugging him back just as tightly. Jinki took in his scent in deep, shaky breaths and Jonghyun caressed his back, hair, and shoulders gently, reassuringly. It did not do much and the entire building began to shake and groan, water rising steadily around them along with Jinki's agitation.

“Jinki,” Jonghyun whispered, ignoring his now soaked jeans and the pressure of Jinki's power on his brain. “Calm down.”

Jinki clutched him tighter still. The water reached up to Jonghyun's waist and a part of the ceiling took a dive before Jinki in a slow breath, loosened his grip on Jonghyun, and pulled back, blinking at the sea of water around them. Jonghyun blinked once and it was gone, his clothes dry again. Jinki looked at him guiltily.

Jonghyun gave him a weak smile and grabbed his face, pulling him into a soft kiss, pressing his lips to Jinki's again and again. Jinki met each kiss desperately, his hands clutching at the shirt by Jonghyun's waist.

“Are you hurt?” he asked in-between kisses, his hands running over Jonghyun's body to check. “Did they hurt you?”

Jonghyun pulled back, cupping Jinki's cheek to make him look at him.

“I’m okay, Jinki,” he said as determinedly as he could, trying to ease Jinki's fear, which was still clear in his eyes. “Actually, your–”

He cut off as Kibum burst into the room, followed by a frazzled Minho.

“Jonghyun!” Kibum cried and threw himself down beside him, pushing Jinki out of the way to hug him tightly. “Why do you keep disappearing?! You’re going to be the death of me, I swear!”

Jonghyun chuckled weakly and patted Kibum's back. To his surprise, even Minho looked considerably relieved.

“Sorry,” he mumbled, looking down at the floor. “I don’t really plan these things.”

There was a sudden tension in the air and Jonghyun saw out of the corner of his eye how Minho went rigid and Jinki quickly got to his feet. Both of them searched the room with urgent glances. Kibum must have felt it as well, because he pulled back and looked at them.

“Brother,” Jinki said, but Jonghyun wasn’t sure if his tone was supposed to be a warning or an attempt to calm Minho.

Minho gave him a pointed look and Jinki sighed, taking a few steps and placing himself directly in front of Jonghyun and Kibum, who scrambled to their feet. They exchanged a confused glance. Then the pressure of Minho's natural authority made itself known, though it was not as bad as it had been on the boat. It was more like an itch somewhere Jonghyun couldn’t pinpoint. Kibum, however, seemed to be struggling and he gripped Jonghyun's arm tightly, fingernails digging into his skin.

“Show yourself!” Minho demanded.

Jonghyun frowned and looked around as he put an arm around Kibum to keep him steady. He had an inkling as to whom Minho was speaking to, but he wasn’t completely sure.

“My, my, brother, where are your manners?”

Jonghyun gasped at the familiar voice and Kibum's grip on his arm hardened when darkness filled the room and the presence of another god fell upon them. A dull throb was beating in Jonghyun's head by now and Kibum's legs were shaking.

”Hades!” both Jinki and Minho exclaimed at the same time as the form of Taemin emerged from the blackness.

”Brothers,” he greeted indifferently, looking bored.

Somehow, it all struck Jonghyun as an act he put on. He couldn’t voice his opinion though, since all three gods were exuding their power enough to keep him from speaking without permission.

”I suppose it was only a matter of time before you would gain on me,” Taemin continued.

”Hades, end this madness!” Minho growled, making the entire room rumble. ”You are disrespecting the oath we–”

”The one who disrespected the oath would be you, brother,” Taemin said casually, although there was an unreadable emotion flickering past his cold stare. ”I am merely righting the order again.”

Minho looked ready to explode, the entire building now shaking. Jonghyun was beginning to shake as well and Kibum had already sunk to the floor, half conscious. Jinki quickly stepped forward to put a hand on Minho's shoulder to calm him down, leaving Jonghyun and Kibum visible. Taemin’s eyes found them and an ominous smile graced his lips.

”Brother, our intentions were to talk to him, not cause a fight where casualties would be inevitable,” Jinki said softly.

Minho glanced at him and let out a grumble, glaring at Taemin.

”You will come back with us immediately and we are to have a hearing for your deeds,” he said with authority so strong Jonghyun wondered how anyone could ever disobey him.

Apparently Taemin had that power, because he rolled his eyes and scoffed. Minho look like he was boiling with anger yet again, cracks appearing in the walls and ceiling.

”Enough of this,” Taemin said, sounding irritated, and disappeared only to reappear behind Jonghyun and Kibum.

Jinki acted fast and quickly pulled Jonghyun out of harm’s way, but Kibum, already unconscious, was captured by Taemin.

”Kibum!” Jonghyun yelled, breaking through the authority that previously had kept him from speaking.

”I will have the jar in my possession and if you wish to see this human live I suggest you refrain from interfering,” Taemin said, slowly but steadily going back to the shadows.

Kibum, who was now being carried in his arms, remained unconscious.

”However I suppose that is only a matter of time as well,” he laughed wihtout any humor.

And then they were gone.

Jonghyun’s body went cold as he fought against the hands on his arms, trying to follow them.

”For ’s sake Jinki, let me go!” he shouted, his anger and fear enough to enable him to move and speak again, along with the waning authority in the room. ”I can’t let Kibum be dragged to the underworld! He doesn’t deserve to die!”

”He is not dead simply because he has been taken to the underworld, Jonghyun,” Jinki murmured. ”He will however not be able to leave, unless my brother decides so.”

”That’s the same ing thing!”

”You cannot go after him and I advise you to stop struggling,” Minho said in the same demanding voice he had used on Taemin, only this time with less authority and sounding gentler than Jonghyun had ever heard him.

It worked, however, and Jonghyun felt his body grow still. Jinki continued to hold on to him anyway, hugging him to his chest, and Jonghyun glared up at him, a few tears silently sliding down his cheeks.

”I hate you,” he mumbled.

Jinki smiled sadly and kissed his forehead.

”I know.”

Then Minho murmured an order for Jonghyun to sleep, and he couldn’t help but obey. The last thing he heard was Jinki's soft apology, before everything went dark.

A/N: I haven't dropped this story, just so you know! I just don't have as much time as I used to :(

Anyway! Nothing is proofread and everything might , but I hope it was somewhat okay, haha!

So, yeah, I hope you enjoyed it!

Love to y'all who're sticking with the story, even though I kind of have neglected it...

Bye~!

Oh, right! The next few chapters (one ore two, I think?) are gonna be from Kibum's POV! Just a little warning!