“Where is he?” The scarred man asked, “It’s been a week. I have questions.”

“He’s still not well.”

“Sungyeol?” A deep raspy voice called out weakly behind him.

Myungsoo pushed past the shorter male and into the house, “Hey! That’s intrusion! I can have you hanged!” Sungjong yelled.

“How did you know my name?” He demanded, as he approached the weak man. He looked up to stare at the scarred face, before his eyes widened in guilt.

“M-Myungsoo.” He gasped.

“How do you know my name?”

“Myungsoo, you can’t just fricken walk into someone’s… house.” His partner said as he entered passed a very angry Sungjong. “Sir, I’m so sorry for shooting you.” He said, bowing.

“What is your name?”

“Woohyun, sir.”

The man nodded, before turning back to Myungsoo, “You… don’t remember me?”

He shook his head slowly, “Who are you?”

“Where did you go after all these years?” He asked, ignoring the question.

“What?”

“Everyone thought you died.”

“I ran.”

“I…” He trailed off, “I’m sorry for not finding you. I’m sorry for leaving you that day. I should have never brought you to this forest.”

Myungsoo’s eyes widened, and his legs soon gave in, as he collapsed to his knees, “Sung…Sunggyu…Hyung?”

“I’m so sorry. You can hate me all you want.”

“Hyung…” He mumbled, speechless at the sudden reunion. Woohyun and Sungjong decided to take their leave, giving the brothers time alone.

“How, how did you survive? I thought you died. I.. Mum… Why didn’t you come back?”

“I ran, like you told me to Hyung.” He replied, tears flooding his eyes to clock his train of sight, “I thought I died too, until Woohyun’s dad took me in.”

“We have to get you back. Omma must be worried sick.”

“Must be?”

Sunggyu avoided his gaze and looked to the left.

“Hyung, what happened after that day?”

“N-Nothing.” He whispered.

“Please tell me.”

Sunggyu remembered how the other would beg him like this, and how he had a massive soft heart for the other. He sighed, “Appa died a week after your disappearance. Heart attack.” He mumbled, “And Omma became schizophrenic. Seeing you everywhere, and apologizing to nothing.”

“Then you?”

Sunggyu closed his eyes and took in a shaky breath, “I was taken away because of her instability to look after a child, so I ran away, and came here.”

“With Sungjong?”

He shook his head, “Sungjong came here later. Where did you stay?” Sunggyu asked.

Myungsoo still had questions, but he had decided to save them for later, “I lived with Woohyun. His father is a hunter in these woods.”

“A hunter?”

He nodded, “Like, he kills animals… for food, and clothing, I guess.”

Sunggyu nodded, “I know. Then what about you? Why did you shoot me?”

Myungsoo’s eyes widened, forgetting that they were the reasons why the man was down, he looked down, “I’m sorry, Hyung.”

“Hey, I’m not mad. I just want to know.”

“We were searching for the cursed angel.”

“The what?”

“The cursed angel. The one you told me when we were young. There are rumours that angel is in this very forest. They say that he’s very dangerous, and can kill anyone at any time.”

Sungyyu shook his head rapidly, “That’s untrue.”

“Hyung?”

“I’ve lived almost my whole life in this forest and I’ve never met a cursed angel. They’re all legends. They are true, Myungsoo. Forget them.”

“But-”

“Don’t go hunting for it.” Sunggyu warned, “You’re only wasting your time.”

“But what if I actually find it, Hyung?”

“And what exactly do you plan on doing with it?” He asked back weakly.

“W-Well…” He thought about it, “They say that if you stab his heart, the curse would be lifted, and he will find his place down in hell.”

“But he’s an angel, why would he go to hell?”

“Huh? Well, he’s cursed by the demons right? So he’s probably sinned.”

“It doesn’t work like that, Myungsoo.”

“Then how does it work?”

“Who did this to you face?” He enquired, changing the subject.

“N-No one.” He replied, eyes widening to reveal the vulnerable child that he was, tugging on the black hood over her face more to hide the mark.

“Myungsoo.”

“Don’t look at me.” He whispered.

~

“I shall curse the youngest angel of the Heavens with a curse so unbearable, that when it unleashes, the Heavens will crumble down.” The demon cackled, “From this curse, you will all be ruined. You will all bow down to me, begging for forgiveness for not allowing me into the Heavens. I will rule the Heavens, all because of this young boy.” He finished, surrounding the vulnerable angel in a dark smoke that suffocated him.

“You cannot do this.” One shouted, raising his hand to attack.

“You lay one finger on me, the innocent boy dies. And if he dies…” He glared, “If he dies by the hands of the Gods or another angel, this place will crumble down with him.” He laughed, “You should have accepted me in the Heavens when I asked, but since you couldn’t even grant that, I will take control, and make my own… Hell.” And with that, he left, leaving the crying baby.

“How do we stop this?”

“We must exile him.” Said another.

“No! He is an angel. He cannot be treated in that manner.”

“He is cursed!”

“We will crumble down if he is not gone.”

“Enough!” Shouted the leader of them all, “We must ask the God of Hope.”

There were small murmurs, before the petite God stepped up to stare at the baby. She gasped as she stared at the condition of the child, “We must get rid of him.” She exclaimed. Murmurs grew louder and she continued, “The child will kill whatever he touches. He will ruin us one by one.”

“There must be something we can do.”

She continued to stare at the crying child, “Maybe, but there will be more consequences.”

“What is it?”

“We must ask the witch to help us.” She concluded, earning gasps.

“But her powers never work properly!” One disagreed.

“And she might harm the child, or one of us by accident!” Another added.

“That is the only hope we have left.” The God announced, “Or else we all crumble. The Demon did not know of this witch. He would have never thought to make this curse immune to witches.”

“I… can try.” The witch whispered, “But what if I fail?”

“You mustn’t think pessimistically; you are our only hope.”

The witch took a deep breath and stepped forward, “There is one spell I know of, one that could allow him to use this curse as an advantage.”

“What is that?”

“I can make his curse unleash only every full moon, however, he will be transformed into a deadly animal, and will suffer from much pain while doing so.”

“Full moon? But we don’t have a moon here!” One exclaimed.

The witch nodded, “In order for this spell to work, he must be exiled to the earth.”

“An angel in a land of humans?” One gasped.

“That is the only way.”

“And during the times where he is not a vicious animal?”

“He will have powers of the opposite. Instead of powers of death, he will have powers of life, healing those he touches. If he trains them well, he may also possess greater powers through his mind.” She paused, “But…” She trailed off.

“But what, young witch?”

“From the moment he is exiled, he will have exactly 20 human years, on his 21^st birthday, to break the curse, or else the Heavens will crumble.”

“Impossible! How can an angel in a human form be able to break from a curse affecting millions? He won’t even a clue of why he is down on that world.”

“That is why we can use the curse to his advantage.” She replied, “After every transformation, as he turns back into his human form, we will be able to send messages, to tell him of what he must do.”

“So we can tell him how to break the curse?”

“Yes, he will be a child on the Earth. The curse cannot be activated until he is 7 years of age, however, as I said before, time slowly runs out the moment he lands on the earth, so we must take that 7 years to tell him as much as possible. We will be able to communicate to him whenever, during those 7 years, through his dreams. But, we ourselves must first figure out how to break this curse.”

After murmurs of disagreements were made, soon enough, they had come to the decision to allow the spell to be casted.

“What if I make a mistake, sir?” She asked, in fright.

“You are our only hope. Things cannot be as worse as they are now. We will forgive you for any mishaps that may come along.”

She took a deep breath, and stared at the child who smiled back at her, “What is his name?”

There was a short pause, “We do not know. Would you like to name him? He will, after all, be our hope.”

She smiled, “I shall name you Sungyeol.” She whispered. The baby laughed in contentment, and soon, she commenced on the spell.

The baby could be seen fading into nothingness as he went to the Earth. “Mummy!” A voice interrupted loudly, making the witch jump and look up. She gasped, as the second angel began to fade away, following the baby.

“Young angel!” They exclaimed, as he began to cry, attempting to go back up.

“I am deeply sorry.” She gasped, bowing her head in forgiveness.

There was a short silence as everyone tried to understand what had happened, “I believe this was the fate.” One said suddenly, “The young angel will find the cursed and help him break free. Thank you, generous witch.”

“Wait.” She stated, earning strange looks from the Gods. “I see something.” She announced.

“What do you see, young witch?”

“The young angel. Once found, he will have the answer to break the curse.”

Please do comment on what you thought of it! :)

Stay safe and well! ~