Chapter Eighteen

Jin loved to read. Nes and he used to sit on the floor in the huge library in Nes's mansion and they would read in silence. They never got bored.

Books were a huge part of their life. Being bookish meant they could discuss books for hours without getting bored. They had different opinions about most of them. They argued about what was better, especially about non-fiction books. Nes hated them. But Jin thought they could be informative and good sometimes, although not all the time. Some of the self-help non-fiction books gave unrealistic advice.

"Not all of them are the same," Jin would tell Nes. "You can stop hating all non-fiction books already."

"I don't need someone giving me advice on how to spend my time," Nes said, making a face. "I hate to hear someone tell me what to do. Reading those self-help books is like going to therapy. As if I'm going to pay to hear someone tell me I should be kind."

"That would help you. You can be a little kinder."

"Kindness is shitty, Jin. I don't see the point."

Jin did not agree. Kindness was a virtue that everyone needed to have in them, at least a little bit. Nes was kind too in her way, but she never realized it. Nes fed stray cats almost every day since she was six. She helped two stray dogs get adopted after they were found injured near her mansion. She fed birds on the roof of her mansion. Usually, crows came around six in the evening and she would climb to the roof to give them food. They knew her well and would start crowding her as soon as she got near. Nes hated people, but she was kind to animals. No one could be everything at once.

Nes killed people, but she saved animals. Did that make her a bad person? If someone killed animals and loved humans, did that make them a good person?

What was good and bad if not an ideal meant to control people?

Seth told him Nes had been imprisoned for her crimes. He snickered when he said 'crimes' as if it was a joke.

"Will she be okay?" Jin asked.

"This much is nothing. She needs to be there for 100 years," Seth said.

"100 years?" Jin's mouth fell open.

"She will disciplined in these 100 years."

"What do you mean?"

"Angels say disciplined when they mean tortured. It sounds more elegant that way for such a dirty act."

Jin paled. How did angels torture their prisoners?

Seth noticed his worried expression. "She will be fine. I will get her out," he said. "Even without me, she would be fine. She is tough."

"You won't remain tough when you are whipped 100 times," Jin said.

Seth raised his brow in an amused way. "Why did you say whipped? You think that's what they will do to her?"

Jin had no idea why he said it. It just came to his mind. "How would I know?"

"You can tell me."

"I just said what came to my mind."

Seth chuckled. "Have you ever wondered about the mark on the inside of your right wrist?" he asked.

"My birthmark?" Jin muttered, surprised Seth noticed it.

"Agnes have one at the same place."

"How do you know that?" Jin asked sharply. "She never-"

A little round brown mark, a shade deeper than Nes's skin tone. On Nes's skin, it was not much visible. When Nes saw Jin's birthmark, she showed him her wrist and said they matched.

"If you are so worried about her, you can just try to feel her in your head."

"That's bullshit," Jin said. "How can I feel someone in my head? In case you are wondering, no, Nes and I don't have any psychic connection."

"Really? Well, either way, I told you what I could. Rest is your choice."

As Jin skimmed through books in Seth's library, he thought about what Seth said. He had no idea what that man was thinking half the time. Besides, Jin did not like the way Seth looked at him. In front of him, Jin felt bare as if Seth knew every one of his thoughts.

He found a guide to angels and demons. It was like the book was meant for someone like him, who had no idea what any of it meant. When Seth saw him with the book, he said it was for kids.

"Angel and demon kids, you mean?"

"Don't be ridiculous. Angel and demon kids don't read the same books," Seth said. "That book is for angels."

"You are not an angel though."

"I was. That gives me enough right. Besides, well, I was never one to follow rules," he said with a devilish smile.

Jin took the book to his room to read in quiet. Not that the mansion was loud. It was anything but that. Jin's room felt much more peaceful somehow. It was to his taste as well. The bed was not too big, just like he liked it. Back at home, his bed was small. He hated extra space on his bed when he did not need it. When he slept in Nes's bed, he sometimes had a hard time sleeping. He could not understand how Nes slept on that huge bed. It also had a desk and chair set with lots of blank pages and a stationary collection. Jin sometimes wrote in the middle of the night when he could not sleep. He also wrote when he had too much in mind.

Jin wrote about what Nes did and what he thought about her actions, then burned the papers soon after. Just to satisfy his own needs, he could not get Nes into trouble.

The book was strange. But it had everything about angels and demons. Mostly angels though. Jin devoured the book. It was like reading fiction. Nes would love it.

He also learned one thing that confused him. Angels, mostly lovers, bound their souls together so they would always share their emotion and be together in every way possible. To bind souls, angels would get identical marks on the same place of their bodies.

"Have you ever wondered about the mark on the inside of your right wrist?" Seth's question echoed in Jin's head.

What if Nes and Jin's souls were bound together? What if they were soulmates? But to be that, both of them needed to be angels. Jin was no angel. Nes was. How was that possible?