“Take this,” he grabbed his wife’s wrist and pressed a bright brown round object into her palm.

She glanced down at the object in her hand and then looked up at her husband, “Jaehyun…what is…”

“Don’t ask,” Jaehyun interrupted. He took ahold of her small face with smudges of dirt smeared on her porcelain skin, “Sooae, I want you to run,” he instructed, “I need you to take Taeyeon and get as far as you can from here.”

“But…will you come find us?” Sooae asked, tightening the hold around the small sleeping girl in her arms.

“I can’t say for sure,” Jaehyun softly said, “after all,” he turned back to glance at the battle raging in the dark sky, “this is my battle.”

“But…you promised me Jaehyun,” Sooae desperately stated, reminding him of his promise to always be there for their little family. Jaehyun shut his eyes and let out a sigh.

“Sooae, you know what exactly I am,” he reminded her, “and you know that…”

“I don’t care what you are,” Sooae shouted with tears in her eyes and desperation in her voice, “I just want you to be by our side.”

“If the battle turns out like I want it to then maybe one day we’ll meet each other again,” he rubbed his thumb on the surface of her cheeks, wiping away the dirt, “but Sooae,” he closed Sooae’s fingers around the object, “make sure to give this to Taeyeon on her 21st birthday. It is the only way for us to win this never ending war against the angels.”

“21st birthday?”

Jaehyun nodded, “She’ll be of age by then. But remember, do not let anyone, even my kinds, know that you have the watch in your possession,” he instructed, “not until our Taeyeon is of age.” He glanced down at the little girl sleeping peacefully in her mother’s arms. Jaehyun gave out a small and hurtful smile before bending down to place a soft kiss on her forehead, “I’m sorry my dear Taeyeon,” he whispered, softly patting her head, “sorry that I can’t be there for you as you grow up,” he took ahold of her small hands and clasped them in his, “but one day, you’ll know why daddy has to do what he needs to do.”

Jaehyun used all of might to pull away from the two people who accepted him for who he was, “I must go,” he stated.

“Jaehyun…,” Sooae got up from her kneeling position and watched as her husband’s angel wings emerged from his shoulder blades. Half white and half black, “I’ll be waiting,” she said.

Jaehyun walked up to Sooae, grabbed ahold of her face once more and placed a deep kiss on her lips, “One day, I’ll come back to find you,” he whispered. Jaehyun pulled away from his wife and daughter and with a kick of his feet, he dispersed towards the dark sky where his fellow fallen angels fought against those who he once called his people.

“Taeyeon unnie,” a tall girl with dark blonde hair that reached her waist ran up to a shorter girl with long black hair. The tall girl hugs the shorter one from behind around the shoulders and squeezed her tightly, “Happy birthday Taeyeon unnie!!!” the taller girl shouted.

Taeyeon chuckled as she allowed the younger one to squeeze her into a tight, but slightly breathable, hug, “Thank you Seohyun,” she patted Seohyun’s arms before prying them apart.

“Unnie,” Seohyun slipped into the seat beside the older one and stared intently at her, “do you have plans after our photoshoot tonight?” she asked.

Taeyeon picked up the makeup brush from the vanity table in front of her and brushed it throw her eyebrows, “No,” she answered, “why?”

“Well, Miyoung unnie and I were thinking that maybe we could go celebrate, although it might be late,” Seohyun suggested.

“That’s fine,” Taeyeon answered.

“Yay!!” Seohyun shouted in happiness and threw her arms in the air, “where do you want to go eat? I was thinking maybe we should go to…”

The door to the dressing room burst opened and there stood their manager drenching in sweat and out of breath, “Oppa,” Seohyun called out, “have you been running?’ she asked as he made his way over to Taeyeon.

“Is everything okay?” Taeyeon asked, eyeing the older and shorter man up and down.

“Taeyeon-shi,” their manager puffed out. He wiped the sweat from his forehead and placed his hand on his heart, an action to calm him down.

“Maybe you should take a seat and catch your breath first,” Taeyeon suggested.

He shook his head and took in a deep breath, “Your mother, she’s in the hospital,” he puffed out.

Upon hearing the news, Taeyeon felt like her heart dropped down to her stomach. She sprang up from her chair and ran towards the door, “Unnie! Wait!” Seohyun shouted. She was about to run after Taeyeon but stopped to get more information from their manager, “Oppa, what exactly happened?” she asked.

He shook his head, “I don’t know,” he answered, “we just received a phone call from the hospital saying her mother was admitted to the emergency room. Something about an accident,” he explained.

“Unnie!” Seohyun took off after Taeyeon, “ah oppa,” before she left the room, she stopped, “cancel the photoshoot and let Miyoung unnie know that we’re headed to the hospital,” Seohyun ordered before disappearing.

--

Taeyeon hastily grabbed her handbag and slipped into the jacket that she brought with her to the shoot. She slipped out from the high heels and slipped into the flats that she wore to the shoot. Not wasting anymore time, she ran out from the building and quickly hailed a taxi.

“Unnie,” Seohyun finally caught up to Taeyeon and crouched, “geez for a short girl with short legs, you run fast,” she stated between breaths.

“What are you doing here?” Taeyeon asked, finally able to catch the attention of a taxi driver.

“I’m going with you,” Seohyun answered and quickly hopped into the taxi with Taeyeon before the older one had the chance to refuse the younger one.

“Seoul’s hospital please,” Taeyeon instructed.

“Right away ma’am,” the driver shifted the car into drive and speed off towards the destination.

From a few distance where the yellow taxi car and pulled away, someone sitting on a motorcycle with sunglasses watched the commotion. He throws the empty can of soda into the trashcan beside him before reviving his motorcycle to life and sped off after the car.

--

“Kim Sooae,” Taeyeon instructed once the both of them arrived at the hospital.

“You are?” the lady behind the desk asked.

“I’m her daughter,” Taeyeon answered, a bit impatient with the lady due to the fact that they were attracting a lot of commotion. It was hard being a member of the most popular group in South Korea. Seohyun glanced around as people slowly began to creep up behind them with cameras and phones.

“Unnie…,” Seohyun silently squeaked, “they’re getting closer.”

“Right this way ma’am,” the lady stated, “ah but…her…,” she pointed to Seohyun.

“She’s my cousin,” Taeyeon lied.

“Right, okay. Please follow me,” the lady leads