As the night went on and my energy drained, I ended up falling asleep on the floor next to the couch Jungsoo was laying on. The next time I woke up was around seven AM and that was the time I had to start getting ready to leave for work. I was extremely sore from sleeping on the floor, but nevertheless I pulled myself up and looked at Jungsoo’s still figure. To my surprise, he was staring at the ceiling and looked at me when I sat up.

“Did you sleep?” I asked, my voice still a little raspy.

“Just a little bit.”

“Why?”

“I’m not that sleepy.”

“But you looked so tired last night.” I slowly stood up and stretched.

“…honestly, I was just watching you sleep.” He said quietly.

I glanced at him with a small smirk. “You know that would be really creepy if anyone else said that, right?”

The serious look in his eyes didn’t change. “I liked watching you sleep.”

I felt my face flush again and I sat down on the side of the couch, making sure I wasn’t touching any part of him. “You should have slept though. You still look really tired.”

“I’m fine, Youngwoon.” He smiled softly.

“You’re a terrible liar.” I sighed a little.

“No. I really am.”

We just stared at each other in silence for a few seconds before I lowered my gaze. “I have to go to work soon…but I’m worried about you.”

“You need to go.”

“But what about you?” I slowly looked back at him. “You can barely move…”

“Don’t worry about me.”

“…maybe you should come with me.”

He shook his head. “I’d only slow you down. It’s really okay, Youngwoon. I can take care of myself.”

I gave him a look. “Oh yeah? Try sitting up.” I moved off of the couch.

He was silent for a moment, then slowly moved his arms up. Even doing something as simple as that made pain erupt on his face and I saw his eyes and mouth clamp shut.

“That’s what I thought.” I sighed deeply. “I’m going to call my boss and tell him I can’t come today.” I was about to move but I was stopped by his hand on the sleeve of my arm.

“This pain is nothing.” He said slowly.

I slowly looked back at him.

“You have to work.” He was staring at me with a pained but adamant look in his eyes. “Even if it takes me a long time to do something, I’ll push through the pain. I don’t care how much it hurts, so you shouldn’t either.”

“Hyung…” I stared at him completely surprised.

“Your job is very important, so go and work well. Then when you come home, we can talk about the day you had and eat a delicious dinner. Okay?”

I was really taken aback by his courageous words. “I…” I slowly sat back down on the couch. “…are you sure?”

His hand remained securely attached to my lower arm. “Yes. I’ll be fine on my own. I’ve gotten used to it for ten years, remember?” He grinned very softly.

I stared at him in silence for a long time. “…you’re the strongest person I know.”

The grin remained on his face. “Because I love you, I will be strong. And I won’t lose hope.”

I let out a small breath and leaned in very close to his face. I knew what I was doing was not good for either of us, but I simply couldn’t hold back. I got very still when I felt the tip of his nose against mine and slowly moved my hand next to the side of his head without touching it.

“…I want to kiss you so bad…” I said very quietly.

“Nobody’s stopping you.” He replied just as quietly.

“It’ll hurt you.”

“Just do it.”

I remained still for a very long time before raising my head. “No.” I sighed deeply. “I said I wouldn’t hurt you.”

“Why are you teasing me like this?” He asked, clearly disappointed.

“…isn’t it obvious?” I grinned softly. “If I didn’t love you too…I wouldn’t tease you.”

“I hate you.” His voice was like that of a young child.

My grin widened as I stood up. “No you don’t.” I turned around and went into my room to gather up my things for work. When I came back out five minutes later, Jungsoo was still in the same position staring up at the ceiling.

“I’m going now.” I stopped in front of the couch and pulled a bulkier cellphone out from my bag. “Here. This is my older cellphone but it still works. I put my number in it and all you have to do is press the talk button to see the number. Then press it again and you can call me. Okay?”

He didn’t respond.

I knelt down in front of the couch. “Hey. Are you ignoring me?”

He sighed and turned to me. “I still hate you.”

“Oh come on!” I sighed loudly. “Don’t be like this!”

“I want a proper goodbye. Especially if I’m not going to see you for a while.” He turned his gaze back to the ceiling.

“What kind of proper goodbye do you want?” I asked, knowing exactly what the answer would be.

“You know.”

“But hyung, it will hurt you!”

“I told you already. I don’t care.” His gaze remained hard.

“But I care!” I sighed exasperatedly. “Hyung…I don’t want to fight about this.”

He didn’t respond and he didn’t look at me.

I slowly rubbed my forehead. “You’re already in a lot of pain.”

“And you think just one kiss will add to that pain?” He asked quietly.

“Yes!”

“You don’t think it will make me feel just a little better?” He slowly glanced at me. “Don’t you want me to feel some kind of relief?”

I didn’t respond.

“The kind of relief I want to feel is from one of your kisses.”

“But—“

“Under the burn I feel from your touch…I also feel so happy.” His gaze lingered on me. “Please…just one kiss.”

I could practically feel the longing coming from his eyes and it made me relax just a little bit. After a couple seconds of inner conflict, I swallowed and slowly leaned in toward his face again. His eyes never left mine until I slowly closed mine and moved my hand back to the side of his head. This time I felt his hair touching the palm of my hand but I didn’t think twice about it because I felt his lips against mine before I could fully lean in. My eyes opened slightly and I saw that his eyes were closed. Then I felt his hand softly touch the side of my face and my eyes slowly closed again. I moved my hand under the back of his neck to hold it still as I deepened the kiss. I felt his fingers tighten a little on my face. Once the kiss was finished naturally, I slowly leaned back with half open eyes. His were still closed as if he was anticipating more.

“I have to go.” I said quietly.

His eyes opened slowly and his hand was still touching the side of my face.

“I’ll try to finish as soon as I can. Okay?”

He responded by leaning in for another soft kiss. I let him kiss me and then pulled back completely, carefully lowering his head back down on the couch.

“Just get a lot of rest. And if you need me, just call. Okay?” I slowly moved my hand out from behind the back of his neck.

He nodded softly. The annoyed look on his face was completely gone now.

“Good.” I stood up slowly and picked up my bag.

There was another moment of silence that filled the air. Every part of me wanted to stay by his side but my feet ended up walking me to the door.

“Youngwoon.” He said.

I turned around before touching the knob of the door. “Yeah?”

He was silent for a moment. “…I love you.”

I flushed again and lowered my gaze to the floor. My mouth curled up in a soft smile and I chuckled. “You’re so straightforward.” After I pulled my shoes and jacket on, I looked back toward the couch.  “…and I love you too.”

I couldn’t see his face well but no sound came from the couch. After another second, I pulled open the door and left the apartment, letting the door close behind me and the automatic lock beep and click.

I went down the elevator in silence until I reached the first floor. Then I walked out of the main lobby of the apartment complex and was greeted by the colder winter air. I sighed a little, regretting that I didn’t bring a scarf, and tried to push my shoulders up to create some kind of warmth. After the ten minute walk to the subway entrance, my phone suddenly rang. I looked at my bag in surprise and immediately picked up my phone, not checking the caller ID.

“You got in trouble already?” I asked, expecting to hear Jungsoo’s voice on the other line.

“Mr. Kim?” The voice of the priest made me even more surprised.

“O-oh, sir!” I slowed down as my eyes widened. “Yes, it’s me. What happened?”

“Mr. Kim, where is Jungsoo now?” The priest asked. There was an unsettling amount of concern in his voice.

“He’s at my apartment. I just left to go to work. Why?” I asked.

“Mr. Kim, I just found out some very important information about the fallen angel’s punishment derived from loving a human.”

This made me stop completely. “What is it?”

“The fallen angel will be continuously reborn by spreading wings and disappearing for a long period of time.”

“Yeah I know that.”

“But there’s something about the fallen angel’s mind that becomes warped during the time of disappearing.”

This sounded different to me. “What do you mean?”

“The fallen angel hears the calls of God and is forced beyond his will to follow those calls. The fallen angel is forced to walk in pain for a short distance until his wings grow and then he disappears to become reborn. Mr. Kim, I’m telling you this now because I think Jungsoo’s time might be coming soon.”

At that moment I had turned around and was running back to my apartment. Work was now the last thing on my mind.