“Hello? This is Hong Joshua.” He twirls the pen in his hand. “I would like to make an appointment with the doctor, please.”

I look at him sideways. Doctor?

I’m not supposed to be surveying his physical condition without his permission, kind of like the same way I’m not supposed to be taking sneak peeks at his soul. So I don’t take a peek to see what’s wrong. I just give him a worried look.

“No, I’m afraid I won’t be able to come until next week… Wednesday… yes, that would be fine, actually. Yes, please. Yes. Thank you very much!”

I wait until he sees my expression.

“Don’t worry,” he smiles, waving his hand. “Touch of asthma coming back and my meds are out of date, I just need to get new ones.”

I frown harder. “If you just need the same meds again, the nurse is allowed to-”

“How do I look?”

I look him up and down, and something flutters in my stomach. God, he’s beautiful, I think. God, please never take this man away from me. Please let me stay with him. He’s the most beautiful thing in my world.

Okay, maybe it’s a little selfish to be thinking this way when Joshua’s just donning speedos and little else, but come on. I’m an angel, but I still own a teenaged boy’s body, and testosterone still rages through my veins. He does look beautiful though – he has such pretty bronzed skin, such a lean body even though I know how strong he is. I just want to hold him in my arms and make him laugh. Make him happy. Make him smile.

“DK?”

I blink, twice. “You need your cap and goggles.”

“Right, thanks.” He turns and I have to turn away too.

I shouldn’t be looking at his , but I do peek back. I’ve seen Joshua’s tushy before. It’s not bad. In fact, it’s straight up gorgeous. So round and plump and… I need to stop before I start sinning, here.

I walk him out to where the rest of the swim team is. I know he’s self-conscious of the large mark on his back, and even I don’t know why it’s there, but I’m still kind of happy he asked me to him out.

He really is marvellous. Joshua’s body is a beautiful, strong thing. And it sounds sappy perhaps, but I’m always glad he has a strong body. I’d be miserable if he was sickly.

I watch as he makes jokes with the rest of the swim team, putting his goggles around his neck lightly. His smile is so bright. Carefree. And part of me hopes I can keep him like this forever: light and happy and glowing. Because as long as Joshua is smiling, I can rest easy. As long as he’s laughing, as long as he gets that twinkle in his eye, I’ll be alright. His happiness is the most important thing.

Joshua is part of the swim team, is participating as the fencing captain and as an offensive player for the soccer, so he’s got a busier day than usual. Which means I’ve got a busy day, ‘cause I’m not supposed to let him get hurt.

It’s easy enough during the swim relay, when he’s got half a swimming pool to himself and it’s not like water’s gonna hurt him. He seems to have difficulty when he’s out of the pool, but I don’t really watch too closely. After all, save drowning, it’s not like he’s gonna get anything worse than a few cramps.

But I have to admit, watching him grip a fencing sword in his hand gives me a little flutter, ‘cause I don’t want to be the demon responsible for him becoming a Joshua shish-kebab.

He looks at me and grins, lunging for me. It’s not like it would hurt me anyway, so I don’t move, but the blade just bulges when it hits my gut.

“It’s not sharp,” he smiles. “I won’t get hurt.”

I purse my lips. “Well you know if you turn into a barbecue spit it’s my on the flames of purgatory, so just make sure you don’t get hurt.”

Joshua rolls his eyes. “You ruin everything, don’t you?”

I scowl at him. “That’s not fair, I just need your dumb to survive.”

“Quit your worrying.” He pulls down his visor. “I’ll be fine. I’ve been fencing since I was five.”

To be honest, it’s not fencing I’m worried about, especially since the swords are kind of blunt. After all, what’s he gonna do, sprain an ankle? Okay, I’d be pissed, but it’s not like there’s gonna be blood in the air, right? Right.

I’m worried about tonight’s soccer match. I’ve seen Jaehwang’s soccer team. They’re buff. Like, their goalie is twice the size of Joshua in width. He’s like a walk-in closet. And Joshua is tiny. He’s just a little toothpick with shoes and a gumball on top. If anything goes wrong on that football field, he’s going to get his little body crushed. He’ll be a pile of ashes.

“He came.”

I turn to where Joshua is staring: Jun is casually escorting his demon into the front row of seats.

“God, what happened to him?”

I raise my eyebrows once. “Well, the rumor going around is that a guy with a pure soul -smacked his ugly mug. That stuff tends to sting.”

Joshua drops the gloves he’s trying to put on. “I did that?”

“He’s a demon, you’re pure, it happens.” I retrieve his gloves for him. “He was there for swimming, too, except you didn’t see him.”

“He saw me half-?” Automatically, the puts an arm across his body.

I give him a look. “The whole school saw you half-, you idiot.”

The bell rings and Joshua doesn’t have time for a snappy retort like normal: he just puts his gloves on and gets into the ring.

I gue