Haneul smiled cheerfully as she strolled along the concrete sidewalk trailing through the spacious public park, her hazel eyes drinking in the lush green grass and bushes and trees, the colorful flowers dotting the landscape here and there, the happy smiles of the patrons of the beautiful area. The light atmosphere made her happy- but not as happy as the man beside her. As Baro held her arm in her own, she could feel his body pressed up against hers, and it made her heart sing. I’m so happy… she thought with a small sigh of joy, and she peered out of the corners of her eyes at the handsome demon boy who had captured her heart so. He makes me this way.

“Like the view?” he purred abruptly. Her eyes flickered up to his face and she realized that he had caught her staring, which made her blush profusely. He always catches me! She pouted as he smirked playfully down at her. As she tried to make up some excuse, he laughed and pushed her lightly with his side. “Don't try to lie. I know you were staring at me,” he laughed at her.

“I can't help it,” she admitted with a girlish giggle. “I just can't help but think about how happy I am when I’m with you.”

“It's not my ravishing good looks?” he responded teasingly and brought his face close, wiggling his eyebrows seductively. Haneul laughed as she turned her own away, causing his face to fall against her neck and nuzzle her affectionately.

“Baroooo!” she whined as she attempted to escape his sweet nothings. “We're in public! People will see!” she protested, turning in his arms as he continued to cuddle her happily. She shivered as she felt his lips brushing against the soft skin of her neck. “Hey! I said cut it out!” she insisted as she wriggled desperately about; unfortunately, there was no denying the demon's strength, as he held her securely in his grip despite her best efforts to break free. Soon his arms were wrapped around her middle and his face was buried into her long locks of hair, and she heard him breathe in deeply.

“New shampoo?” he asked quietly and ran his fingers through the luscious waves, causing the reddish tint to appear on her cheeks once more. “Smells nice…”

“You are shameless…” she sighed as she stressed, her eyes darting across the uncomfortably open areas of the public park filled with many sets of prying eyes. She flushed as an elder couple walking by chuckled under their breath and muttered something about “young love,” while a couple of little kids made sickened faces and squealed as they ran away. They’re all looking at us! She thought with a whine. “Seriously! Baro! Cut it out!” she complained loudly.

“Why?” he purred against her ear, and the seductive tone in his voice made her shudder once more. “I don’t care if people are looking. I want them to know that you’re mine,” he added with a playful nip at her earlobe. As she squirmed helplessly, he chuckled lowly and pulled her body back against his. “What's so wrong with them knowing I love you?” he added softly.

Baro… He always knows what to say, she thought with a wry smile, reaching down to wrap her hands around his. She couldn’t argue with his logic, either, or perhaps she just didn’t want to. Maybe it's just that I like the attention, she thought slyly as a smile crept to her lips. As her gaze flickered to the passersby, after the initial embarrassment, it was nice for them to recognize that the couple was madly in love.

“I suppose there's nothing wrong with that,” she conceded before turning her body so that she was looking at him. His chin was propped on her shoulder as he smiled softly up at her with those dark, passionate, y eyes she loved so much, those eyes that made her body turn to fire and her heart palpitate. As if drawn by magnets, their faces slowly migrated together and their lips met. She let out a soft “mmm" as she relaxed in his arms while their mouths moved slowly but passionately against each other, and she pressed against him as he tightened his grasp about her middle. They kissed for a minute or two before Haneul's reason returned to her and she forced herself to pull back. “Okay, I have to draw the line. We're in the middle of a walking path! We can't make out like this,” she frowned at him.

“You're right,” he mused, and before she could comment on the successful control of his affections before her breath was forcefully ripped from her lungs as he grabbed her and pulled her off the concrete walking path and into the wooded area adjacent to the track. As she gasped in surprise, the world suddenly whirled and the next thing she knew she was lying on her back in the lush green grass.

“H-Hey! What are you doing?!” she exclaimed half in shock and half in exhilaration. Her cheeks flushed pink as he leaned over her, still wearing that smug, undeniably y smirk on that face, and then turned dark red as he pressed himself down on top of her.

“Just enjoying the view. It's a nice change of scenery, don’t you think? A little more private,” he smiled coyly down at her as he rested his hands on either side of her body. Haneul was too stunned to speak, so surprised from the sudden stunt and mortified by the sudden increase in intimacy was she. She was extremely aware of every breath he took as his chest brushed against hers, and his heart racing above her own. Smooth as he talks, he's just as nervous as I am, she thought in mild amusement. Apparently she could not keep the smile from her face, because he asked, “What's that smirk for?”

“Nothing. Just you,” she responded happily. He would be mortified if I told him that I knew he was a little freaked out, she thought wryly, so instead of saying anything more, she reached up and wound her arms loosely around his neck. He seemed to find that satisfactory enough, and without further ado he leaned down and began kissing her gently once more. Haneul's eyes slowly drifted shut as she savored the feeling of their lips moving together, and his hands running up and down her sides as he pulled her body up against his. Electricity danced across her body as he touched her, making her mind swim as it descended further into muddled obscurity. All she could think about was him, how he felt, and the happiness bubbling up inside of her. I’m so in love, she thought happily as she kissed him back hungrily. She just couldn’t get enough of him. I never thought I would feel this way.

Haneul sighed slightly as his hands trailed up her arms and into her thick hair, and the sly demon took the opportunity to push the kiss deeper. Her back arched slightly as his tongue tangled eagerly with her own, stealing every breath from her body. It felt so good, maddeningly so. Her thoughts began to grow even more muddled as she began to grow short of breath. After a few more minutes of heated making out, they finally sprang apart, panting heavily. Baro smiled breathlessly down at her as he pulled a few stray leaves and grass clippings from her brown locks.

“You’re so beautiful,” he sighed down at her as he ran his finger gently down her cheek. The soft, sensual touch felt very nice, and she instinctively leaned into his hand as he rested it against the side of her face. “I love you, Haneul,” he smiled gently as he leaned down and kissed her forehead.

“I love you too, Baro,” she beamed up at him. Just as their lips began to gravitate towards each other once more, abruptly Baro's head whipped to the side before he suddenly rolled off of her to flip roughly to her side. Before the young girl could inquire as to his strange behavior, she gasped as a crystalline dagger embedded itself in the tree trunk just beyond Baro's head. As she looked over at him, she saw a thin red line across his cheek where the knife had scraped across. He propped himself up on his elbows as he glared at some point to Haneul's west, and when she turned her head, her blood froze in her veins. “D-D-D…” she stammered in fright, so scared that she was unable to even spit out the name of the homicidal angel who was stepping out of the lush green bushes.

“Dong-woo,” Baro snarled savagely. Haneul scooted away from the crazy man in fright, and she was grateful as her demonic boyfriend put a reassuring arm around her shoulders while he sat crouched in the grass, his wings flared out behind him in anger.

“You really aren’t a good listener, are you?” the angelic man smiled as he crossed his arms, perfectly displaying the crystal dagger clutched in his hand, identical to the one stuck in the tree a few feet away. “I warned you quite clearly to abandon this foolish notion that you could ever be with this human girl, and yet here you are defiling her in a field like a heathen,” he tutted, as if he were disappointed. “I was even going to let you live, if only to keep the girl happy, but now I have no choice but to kill you,” he smiled, but there was no happiness or love in that beautiful, angelic smile- it was pure evil. Terrified, Haneul grabbed onto Baro's arm and shook it.

“Baro! You have to run!” she insisted. She knew that Dong-woo was certainly strong enough to obliterate Baro in a one-on-one fight, let alone if he had to protect her from the angel's homicidal urges. They both knew that Dong-woo wouldn’t think twice about placing Haneul in harm's way just to make sure that Baro ended up dead. All around, it was a bad situation, and she knew that she had to remove him from it immediately. Baro, however, wasn’t quite so keen on the idea.

“Haneul, get behind me,” Baro ordered, and without even waiting for her to perform the action, unceremoniously shoved her behind him and whipped out his dark obsidian blade and pointed it threateningly at the angelic being.

“No! You can't beat him, Baro, not alone! You need to run away and get help!” Haneul protested hotly, stamping her feet and pulling on his non-sword arm in an attempt to drag him out of the battle, but he was already feeling the heat of the fight. He just swatted away Haneul's hand and shuffled forward slightly. Despite his obvious bravado, Haneul could tell that her love was nervous; his jaw was set and his body stiff, and a trail of sweat ran down the side of his face. He's afraid. She could see the fear dancing in the depths of his dark eyes. He's afraid of Dong-woo. So why does he stay? “Baro! Listen to me!”

“I’m not leaving you behind, Haneul!” Baro snapped at her before returning his attention to his enemy, who was currently staring at the demon with an amused expression.

“I have to say, your stupidity is truly astounding. Do you actually think you have semblance of a chance in beating me, demon?” Dong-woo laughed cruelly as he tossed the small dagger aside to draw his glittering crystal blade and reach forward to scrape the edges of the blades together to produce a threatening grating sound. To his credit, Baro did not let on to the angel that he was the least bit unnerved by the gesture, but rather glared savagely at his foe without so much as a mutter. “I have lived five of your pathetic lifetimes. You are hundreds of years too early to be challenging me!” he shouted. Then, like a coiled snake striking at its prey, Dong-woo sprung forward and slammed the crystalline blade against the obsidian one with surprising savagery. Haneul screamed as their momentum pushed Baro into her and she stumbled back into the sturdy tree trunk behind them and slid down into a sitting position. The men seemed not to notice, but were embroiled in their fight to the death.

“You bastard! Why can't you just leave us alone?” Baro shouted angrily as the swords clashed in the lowlight of the wooded area. Haneul could only sit there and watched in fright as the two supernatural beings tangled in the greenery, their forms a blur as they circled the grass while their swords collided with repeated rings. If it hadn’t been her boyfriend attempting to not be killed by an angel gone mad, Haneul could almost find the deadly dance an art form. The two men glided across the clearing locked in combat, the blades catching the light rays filtering through the leaves as they sliced through the air. Their wings were dappled with the sun splotches as they flapped angrily while they battled furiously. Sweat shone on their skin, further highlighting their flexing muscles as they powerfully swung the swords. It's like a movie, but so much more horrifying in real life… she thought uncomfortably.

She gasped as the match abruptly went from even to horribly one-sided. Dong-woo caught Baro off-guard with a particularly powerful blow and sent the young demon boy stumbling back, one arm flailing while the other desperately attempted to hold up the sword in a somewhat threatening manner. With one swift , the angel sent the sharp obsidian shortsword sailing through the air, and it landed roughly in the grass with a thump.

“No! Baro!” Haneul screamed as the angel slashed at him without hesitation, and Baro's front bloomed red as his chest was torn open. Baro made a strangled groan as he held his hands to the deep wound streaming thick blood before he crumpled to the ground in a heap. She could see that he was still alive as he was groaning and attempting to roll over and grab his sword, but he cried out in alarm as Dong-woo stomped on his hand and crushed it mercilessly underfoot. She began to panic as the angel stood triumphantly over his fallen foe, and so she began looking around frantically for something to distract the angel enough for Baro to possible make an escape. Her eyes fell on the dagger still embedded in the thick trunk of the tree, and so she wrapped her hands around it and began attempting to wrench it free.

“Such a pathetic creature,” Dong-woo tutted as he stood proudly over Baro with a disgusted expression on his fair face, distorting him to a ugly villain. “Bleeding out and whining… Really, such a sad display. It's a wonder Haneul sees anything in a miserable weakling like you,” he mocked. A sneer came to his face as he watched the poor demon suffer. “As much as I would like to sit here and watch you suffer until your wound heals before killing you, I have pressing matters to attend to, so I suppose I’ll do the ‘merciful’ thing and kill you now. Farewell,” he sighed before raising his sword above his head with the full intention to be rid of the demon once and for all. Luckily, it was at this time that Haneul jerked the dagger free of its woody sheath and sprang up, crying out as she lunged at the angel and swung at his sword hand before he could kill her beloved. The angel was so caught up in his gloating that his reflexes were dull, and Haneul caught him across his forearm as he jumped away.

“You stay away from him!” she demanded as she stood protectively over her boyfriend's body, holding the crystal dagger in her hand. Blood dripped down the shiny surface and smudged across her skin, giving her an uncomfortable feeling. I have to protect him, even if I have to hurt Dong-woo to do it! She resolved as she gulped warily. Though she had been momentarily brave, the doubt was beginning to creep into her mind already. What chance did she have over a being who had centuries of fighting experience and a bloodlust to match?

“That was stupid of you,” he growled as her as he looked down at the long, deep score in his arm with distaste. Disgusted, he wrapped up the wound with the sleeve of his long coat and looked up at her with contempt, making her quail immediately.

“Baro. Baro, get up. We have to get out of here,” she murmured in fright, but all she received as reply was a pain-filled, labored moan.

“I’m afraid he is temporarily incapacitated, and you, my dear, are outmatched. The demon will die at my hands. Don’t add yourself to the death count,” the angel sighed as he twirled his sword in his hand and pointed it at her. “I would really hate to see a soul as pure as yours be tainted by that wretched creature. He's already poisoned your mind; he's a step away from taking that pretty soul right out of you with those false sweet nothings of his.”

“You’re wrong! Baro loves me!” she snapped back at him as her cheeks flushed in anger.

“Please. He is a being of pure evil, condemned to Hell for eternity. He can't feel love,” he scoffed, but it only fanned the fiery flames of Haneul's fury.

“You don't know anything about Baro!” she insisted. “The world isn’t purely good and bad! Even demons have feelings, and hopes, and dreams… They can be good, too. Just like angels like you can be twisted and evil!” she retorted angrily.

“Me? Evil? Oh, Haneul, you poor, ignorant girl. I am the purest good there is, as one of God's angels. Don’t you see that I am doing this to save your soul? Even if I must resort to killing you, it is all for the greater good of preserving your soul so that it may not be lost to oblivion. I am doing this for you,” he told her, and in that moment he looked so perplexed that Haneul realized he actually believed his own demented philosophy. He's so caught up in his role that he has lost all sense of reason…! She realized. “Now move.”

“No,” she refused adamantly and held up the knife. “I won’t let you kill him. Gongchan could see the good in him, and I’m going to convince you, too.”

“Please,” he snorted in contempt, “Don't speak to me of Gongchan. He is a traitor and a pathetic excuse for an angel, and I intend to deal with him once I settle the matter of you and your ill-informed romance with this demon.” He was beginning to lose his temper with her, and she gasped as he strode forward and easily knocked the knife from her hand before turning his blade to rest the sharp top against the soft flesh of . “I am giving you one last chance. Move, or I will be forced to conclude that your soul cannot be saved by conventional means and resort to freeing it from your frail human body,” he warned, his expression stony as he glared down at her with hatred. “Humans. So privy to their emotions and needs that they cannot see the true gift given to them by the Almighty Lord. You are so selfishly squandering your potentials in the pursuits of earthly pleasures. Disgusting. It's a wonder that He has any mercy left to give you. I myself would have abandoned your race long ago to face the doom that you will inevitably bring upon yourselves,” he growled, tightening the grip on his sword hilt. Haneul was just beginning to think that he felt so much hate for her kind that he would kill her anyway before a white blur crashed through the trees and Dong-woo recoiled, screeching in agony. Blood arced through the air as his side was ripped open by a glittering crystal blade, and where Dong-woo had just been standing was a very irritated Gongchan.

“Leave, before I run out of mercy to spend on you,” the fair boy snarled to his former superior as he flicked the bright red blood from his pure crystal blade. Turning pale, Dong-woo tenderly held his side as he hesitantly backed away, weighing the options.

“This is not over,” he vowed before abruptly vanishing into the greenery. Haneul heard the rush of feathers as he took off into the blue sky, and she could finally feel at ease knowing the danger had temporarily passed. Immediately, she dropped down to her knees beside Baro and pulled his head into her lap, gently his hair, which was drenched with sweat.

“Baro! Oh, no, he's fallen into unconsciousness. Is he going to die?” she fretted as the angel kneeled down beside her to assess the wound.

“No. The wound is deep, but not fatal. Dong-woo is the type to toy with his prey to ensure optimal suffering,” he growled, his voice thick with contempt for the brutal man. “How could he have fallen so far and I not see?” he sighed miserably. He still blames himself for bringing this down on me, she thought sadly, and reached over to gently take his hand.

“Thank you for coming. You saved us,” she smiled gratefully, causing the usually dignified angel to blush.

“Ah, well… I am your guardian angel. I will always come when you are in danger,” he smiled shyly back at her before returning his attention to the wounded demon. “What was he thinking? He knows that he cannot hope to win against Dong-woo himself.”

“He's stubborn,” she sighed gently as she ran her fingers rhythmically through the black locks. “It's what I love about him, though.” At her casual use of such an emotionally charged word, the angel looked at her in slight surprise before snorting and looking down at the unconscious demon.

“Yeah, well, he needs to keep it in check. I won’t forgive him if he dies on you,” he huffed.

“What happens to angels and demons when they die?” she inquired suddenly, looking up at the angel. She had been under the impression that they simply vanished, but surely that could not be true, as that was apparently not the case with human beings. Did the supernatural have an afterlife, and what would it consist of?

“Well, in a sense, we are both reincarnated. For angels, death is not truly death for us. When we are slain in battle it is a great honor, and thus we are granted what you might call retirement. We are allowed to live alongside God in His glory until Judgement Day. As for demons, their sins are abolished and they are granted entry into purgatory, where they can continue to repent until they are allowed to enter the gates of Heaven,” he explained matter-of-factly.

“So, you mean to tell me that this entire time that was the way to save his soul? He has to die?” she whispered and looked down at the face of her beloved, full of suffering as his wound slowly healed.

“It is simply one way. There is no guarantee that there is not another path in which he would not have to be parted from you. That… Is why I never mentioned it,” he admitted quietly. The fact that he cared enough to allow Haneul to consider an alternate choice rather than insisting Baro's death was the only true way to save him warmed her heart. He does care.

“Still… Maybe… Maybe it is best if he does die,” she murmured miserably. Before he could interrupt her with admonishing remarks, she clarified, “It hurts me to see him suffer like this, this endless waiting with no idea that he could be free. If he died, even though we'll be apart… He has the chance to be happy. That's all I want for him.” Gongchan blinked at her, then chuckled softly.

“That is a very nice sentiment, Haneul, but you are forgetting something,” he mused. When she looked at him quizzically, he leaned forward with a smirk. “Baro would rather burn in the pits of Hell for all time that enter the gates of Heaven without you by his side.” The comment struck her, and as she looked down at the bleeding demon, Baro shifted his head to the side and murmured her name.

“Yes. I do believe you’re right,” she sighed and shook her head before leaning down to kiss his forehead softly.

As much as he suffers, he would truly suffer if he ever had to be apart from me… I suppose then all we can do is fight for our future together. If Dong-woo wishes to part us so badly, he will have to kill every single one of us to do it. Me, Baro, Gongchan, Jinyoung, maybe even Sandeul…

But even then, our love will go on forever, regardless of distance… From the deepest pit of Hell to the high towers of Heaven…

Baro and I could never really be apart. Not when we love each other.

I just pray it doesn’t come down to that.