“Park Bom, you have failed again.”

A guilty Bom could only lower her head in shame, her heart aching from remorse. It wasn't the first time she had heard those words, and it certainly wouldn't be the last.

“Your identity as an angel is to protect and help your chosen one when in need. Falling in love with the chosen one is forbidden. You should also very well know that interfering with his chances of a relationship with another mortal is highly sinful. It is a wrongful act that deserves condemning.”

Bom fell to her knees on the fluffy white clouds of Heaven. She had meant no harm, but falling in love with Seunghyun just felt so natural and uncontrollable. Taking a deep breath, she took in the fresh scent of her favorite aromas and sighed. She was ready for her punishment, already knowing what it was from past experiences.

“Since you have not learned after all the previous accounts, your punishment this time will be unlike before. Rather than to just guard the chosen one, you must help him find his true love in the mortal world. Only then will your mission be complete and you can enter the next phase of your eternal life.”

Leaning forward, Bom bowed as a gesture of acknowledgment, but that wasn't the end of her briefing.

“To prevent you from failing again, another condition has been added to your assignment. If you do not complete your mission successfully, your right to be Choi Seunghyun's guardian angel will be abolished.”

“No...” Bom shook her head feverishly. This had never been a part of her previous punishments. “Please, let me continue to be his guardian angel.” She clasped her hands together and prayed, hoping for a miracle.

“The time loop has been created and your punishment begins now. Choi Seunghyun's memories have now been erased and you will be brought back to the day of his motor accident. Park Bom, consider this your last and final warning. Do not fail again...”

In tiny whimpers, Bom was left alone to lament her woes. Heaven was the perfect place to be after death. Every aspect could be tailored down to the last detail in her favor. If she wished for the smell of Spring, its scent hung in the air she breathed. If she wished for the feel of the sun, its glow and warmth embraced her. However, if she wished to fall in love with Choi Seunghyun, it was the biggest sin on earth and in Heaven.

“Why does it have to be so difficult?” She asked in between her sobs, her question picked up by an angel roaming nearby.

“We're angels, we guard our chosen ones and we do not fall in love. That's what we do.” Kang Daesung, who had been termed all over Heaven as the Smiling Angel, flew towards Bom with his trademark smile. “Bom, don't cry.” He put a hand on her shoulder as a form of support, “Just give me your smile.”

It felt comforting to have her friend by her side, and she tried her very best to crack a smile. Yet the thought of losing Seunghyun couldn't escape her and it wasn't long before she was back to feeling depressed. Tears gradually streamed down her delicate cheeks once more upon the closing of her lifeless eyes. She bit down on her lower lip in sadness as she tried to suppress her sobs. When she could no longer hold her breath and keep up with her strong front, she let out a gasp of air and choked, “But I really love him...”

“Bom!” An alarmed Daesung cautioned with a jolt, covering with his hand. “Remember your assignment? You have already received your final warning, you must not fail again.” In all of his heavenly days as an angel, it was the first time Daesung set down his signature smile and creased his forehead with worries. “If you continue down this road, you will only suffer more and more. And you've already learned that from experience. Each time you fail, time is turned back so that you must start your mission again from the beginning. All of the mortal's memories are erased, but yours remains as a part of your punishment so that you have to endure the pain of the one you love not knowing who you are or remembering any of your sweet moments together. Why would you want to put up with that?”

“Daesung, you don't understand.” She looked at him dolefully, like the cheerful soul within her had vanished. “He loves me too. Why can't we be together?”

Shaking his head, Daesung also felt saddened and helpless by her question. “You two are from different worlds...“ He heaved a sigh and waved his hand in the air, then a piece of toast magically appeared before them. “Can I ask you one question?” He handed the piece of toast to Bom, hoping that one of her favorite foods would be able to comfort her. “Why can't you just give up on being his guardian angel? When you were first assigned to watch over him, I remember you complained about him being a rebellious troubled soul that can't be helped. Even if he could be changed, he's only a better man because you made him one. What changed?”

Bom took a bite of the toast and chewed slowly, which bought her time to come up with an answer. Not that it was a difficult question to begin with because the answer was already set in stone in her heart. “I was wrong when I told you that.”

“How so?” His curiosity urged him to push her to explain further.

“Seunghyun may have been in deep trouble when I was first assigned to watch over him, and I truly thought that he only became better because of my help.” She took another bite, chewed, and swallowed before continuing. “But I soon realized that the changes in him weren't created by me. Seunghyun didn't become a better man because of what I had done for him, but what I did just helped bring out the goodness within him. He was already a good man to begin with, he just lost direction temporarily.”

Though it was still difficult for Daesung to fully understand, he was beginning to see why Bom was so stubborn about her decision to keep wanting to love Seunghyun. Still, it would only result in tragedy, and he didn't want her to go down the same path again for the third time. “One day, you'll still have to leave him. Isn't it better to do it sooner than later?”

The half eaten piece of toast dropped from midair and landed onto the white fluffy cloud. Daesung turned his head to face Bom, but she had already disappeared back into the mortal realm. “Bom, I wish you all the best.”

++++++

A disoriented Seunghyun awoke to the throbbing pain of a headache. As he stirred from his position of sleeping on his back, he rolled his head slightly to the side. The lid of his eyes slowly fluttered opened, and through his groggy state, he could see the blurry image of a figure standing a few feet away from him.

Just from her back, she looked so familiar, yet so foreign. Dryly, he opened his mouth to call out to her. Her name hung at the tip of his tongue, but for some reason, he couldn't quite remember or voice it out. Instead, he weakly asked, “Who... Are you?”

Just as she turned around to face him, the sunlight penetrated through the thick glass of the window behind her. The contrast from dark to light was so great that Seunghyun had to squeeze his eyes shut to avoid the brightness.

“You're finally awake, huh?” The voice of a woman coming from the window said, but it didn't seem to belong to the girl that had been standing there before. “Let me close the curtains, you're probably a bit light sensitive right now.”

Seunghyun once again opened his eyes and stared towards the window. Rather than the girl he had seen before, another woman stood before him and was wearing a white uniform and a navy blue sweater. Her frame was petite and she was also wearing a white hat, giving out the obvious image of a nurse.

“We were starting to get worried that you wouldn't come out of your coma,” She casually informed after pulling the curtains across its rim so it would cease any natural light from entering the room. She took a tall glass jug and cup from the end table and began pouring water for Seunghyun. “My name's Dara, I'm the nurse on duty for this unit.” Before she handed him the glass of water, she set it down to help him sit up against the bed with a pillow sandwiched between his back and the headboard. “Do you remember what happened?”

He blinked mindlessly for a moment before his brain could begin to process her words. Yet the moment he tried to recall the events that had led him to a stay in the hospital, his head began to hurt even more than before. Reflexively, he clutched his bandaged forehead with his hands and clenched his teeth. A sudden image flashed through his mind...
 

--
 

“I have to go...” She painfully revealed as she devastatingly stared up into his dark brown eyes with a broken smile. “Please do not come after me.”
 

--
 

“Argh,” Seunghyun moaned while his head felt as though it would explode any second. He started to shake his body back and forth as though it would help the pain subside.
 

--
 

“It wasn't meant to be,” The pain and heartache of separation could be heard in her voice. “We never should have started.”
 

--
 

“Choi Seunghyun? Choi Seunghyun?”

The sound of Dara's voice could be heard again in a faint whisper. Once again, Seunghyun opened his eyes weakly and stared up at the face of the worried nurse.

“There you are,” She let out a breath of relief and took a step back. “That headache of yours caused you to pass out. Dr. Dong came by to check on you, but he thinks the headaches are just a temporary side effect caused by your motor accident. They will eventually fade with time as you continue to recover. We'll take good care of you, you don't need to worry.”

Rather than to respond to her, he opened his mouth and whispered quietly. “I remember...”

Confused, Dara wasn't quite sure what he was referring to. “You remember your accident?”

“Lightning flashed and it was pouring rain,” He described motionlessly while staring up at the white ceiling. “I was driving along downtown Seoul, on my way to the church...”

“The church?” Dara found it even more strange as she recalled the time of his accident neared midnight, an unusual time for someone to go to a church on a non-religious holiday. “Why were you going to visit the church?”

Silence took over upon the asking of her question. She looked wondrously at him for a long moment, curious to learn of his purpose at the sanctuary during such strange hours.

But his mind drew a blank. He could slowly begin to remember the details of his crash, but for what reason he had to visit the church, nothing in particular came to him. It was almost as though a part of his memory had been wiped out.

Seeing how long it was taking him to come up with an answer, Dara didn't want to pressure him. “It's okay if you don't remember. Just take it one step at a time. You should get some rest to help promote the healing process. Let me dim the lights and leave you to sleep. If you need anything, just press the red button by your headboard and I'll be right in.”

Seunghyun didn't respond, but shifted his position to lie on his side. Just before the lights in the room were dimmed, something shiny on the end table caught his eye. Upon a timely inspection, he made out the objects to be a pair of rings. “Nurse Dara...”

Surprised to be called when he had been so unresponsive just moments before, Dara walked to the side of his bed again and asked in a gentle and soothing voice, “What can I do for you?”

“These rings...” His voice trailed, but he knew she would understand.

“They're yours,” Dara informed quizzically, “You clutched onto them very tightly even when you became unconscious at the scene of your accident.” For him to have acted that way, the rings must possess a strong significance. However, it seemed highly suspicious of him not to have recognized them in the first place? “You must be tired, please close your eyes and get some rest. Dr. Dong will check on you again when he makes his rounds tomorrow morning.”

After Dara exited the hospital room, Seunghyun continued to stare at the pair of rings with a sense of emptiness and confusion. “How come I've never seen the rings before?”