Angel has no real purpose in life, Byulyi absent-mindedly thinks.

The rock skips seven steps before sinks itself in the water.

They just... exist. Born by the touch of God, and possibly never behold him face to face again, till the moment they're reduced into dust, dumped in another reality with other dead angels. And dead demons, probably. No one lives to tell the tale. Their lives are an endless chain of preparing for the next step, lunging themselves at missions just for a nod from higher authority. So that they someday can sit up above and nod their approval to lower grades.

Byulyi expressed this concern to Yongsun once, when the older washed the blood off her wings for her.

"Have you ever doubt it, Yong? Our desire in life? Human lives and dies and death makes their journey meaningful, because there is an end, and they have to do something about it. But us. We either be killed by His Highness' power or Satan's power, there is no in-between and I find that... terrifying."

"Why terrifying?", she scrubbed the feathers firmer, determined to get rid of the red-brown stains. "You don't want to be a Domination like your dad anymore? Isn't it you who keep gabbing about that title like, alllllll the time?"

"Ouch! Yong, don't tug, hurt!"

Yongsun chuckled. "You're such a baby."

"I mean, c'mon. Of course I still want to be a Domination, but I'm not sure what to do... after... being one. Like my dad. He works his whole life but never gets to the higher place. When was the last time a Throne is granted for anyone, at all? They just sit there and sing for His Highness and are basically immortal."

Yongsun stepped in front of Byulyi, used her own wings to cover her head as Byulyi swayed and water sprang everywhere. The older smiled, as sweet as cotton candy and Byulyi immediately knew she would trust Yongsun with her life, whatever she had to say.

"Do what you need to do to find your purpose.", Yongsun put a thick towel on Byul's head. "I'll support you, even if you destroy all the morals in your grip on the way to your desire."

The night is lonelier at the thought of her friend. It's outrageously quiet without Hyejin around.

She misses Hyejin alright.

Not that they haven't been apart before, but when they do, did, they're still there, in the presence of each others. Byulyi knew Hyejin must be playing around, lazily Lion's tangled fur when she picked the berries in the garden, and Hyejin acknowledged the proximity of Byulyi, too. They are, were, something resembles the term "roommate". The word her human said when she moved into a house with a friend and they paid the rent to live and at some points, they started falling in love.

Hyejin and Byulyi is the first part only. They aren't falling in love.

Are they?

The angel tries not to think about that too much.

Whatever they are, even if they are or aren't struck by the possibility of... something more, their relationship, their serenity make Byulyi wonder everything.

Because it isn't supposed to feel like this!

The moon seems less bright after the visit of Chalkydri. Maybe the creature is utterly innocent for the dull night, here comes just Byulyi and the realization that she, more or less,

is losing Hyejin.

That does make the midnight weary.

Michael would have her head for her feelings. The chance of falling in feelings with a Seraph is one thing, that but with a Seraph-turns-demon is a completely different issue.

But she wants this, she just knows. Should she... risk it all? For this? A moment of burning bright with a mere taste of having, owning something in life, then facing the punishment where they'll be reduced to dust because it's written in ink and on stone that they aren't meant to be?

But it doesn't matter, now. What can Byulyi do, after all?

Hyejin is the most majestic figure - or most hated, it depends on who you ask - in their angelic world and if there's anything Byulyi should do in front of her, it's kissing her feet and worshipping her.

Byulyi thinks about these before, but in another scenario. Where Hyejin steps on her. Literally. Can't say the change in the development doesn't stab her heart, and her libido.

She once doubted she's born in the wrong place. She wanted to kiss Yongsun, back in the day, when they were young, practiced to fly in the Garden of Eden and Yong caught her when she fell. Byulyi had obscene dreams about them. The phase passed, eventually.

But Hyejin didn't catch her when she fell yet she still wants something when the demon came for dinner in a loosely tied bathrobe.

The sun is almost up, Lion is still laying on the grass afar, waiting for Byulyi to faint and he will drag her into the house. Doesn't dare to come near and give her a hug.

But what can she do, after all.

7.

Hyejin would fight to her soul if you tell her the puffs around her eyes is from crying.

It’s almost like nothing has changed, they are still two celestial creatures sharing a house with a pet lion. The scent of fried eggs and sausages still welcomes her every day, the moment Hyejin opens her eyes, she knows that Byulyi is no longer near. Breakfast left on the table is prepared with less attention than before, despite the extra effort in decorating. The angel always tending to the garden, or reading books with her back straight if Hyejin ever catches the sights of her.

They don’t talk during dinner anymore, jokes vanished in thin air. Just short exchanges about Lion, and about the epiphyllum oxypetalum will blossom in two or three days, Hyejin would want to prepare to see it. The demon indeed did, but that night, it’s not the picnic for two under the moonlight that she’d hoped for. It’s just her and Lion, leaning on the tree trunk, watching the flowers baring their beauty. Meanwhile, Byulyi is in the mansion, cleaning, determined not to let even a thin sheet of dust on Hyejin's walk.

She watched the angel's silhouette for the whole night and when she flinched at the realization of being a stalker, the flower had wilted.

Lion seems puzzled by sudden changes, especially when Hyejin hugs him tight, sighing into his mane way too many times that he lost count. Byulyi also doesn’t rest by the lake anymore, beams missing on her lips since. No skipping around the yard, nor watering the plants while humming merrily. He’s seen the angel being distracted a lot, whenever his owner comes into view. But they no longer staring at each other lovingly, holding gaze for minutes, lacing their hands together naturally, strolling up the hill and to the waterfall, only be back when the sun is set. Lion used to be so hungry that he sulked at them both. Now bowl is always refilled on time and Byulyi is always around, except when Hyejin is with him.

There are times Hyejin wakes up when Byulyi is still in bed, eyes wide, breathing deeply, chest falling up and down. The scene of rose tickling her nose, so the angel buries herself deeper under blankets and pillows to hide. Doesn't help much.

It becomes more and more regular, in which Byulyi goes to bed later than usual, past midnight mostly, avoid waking up before the sunrise, running away from the reality of living which a Seraph. The demon always goes hunting already when she drags herself to the living room, leaving Byulyi with a vast mansion to entertain. 

There are moments she finds Hyejin not treating back to her room after dinner but laying on the couch, staring at the angel's back while she washes the dishes. The gaze is icy, emotionless, as if she’s never seen Byulyi before. Byulyi would be convinced Hyejin carries resentment towards her if she didn’t know better.

Hyejin is sick with the distance. Funny, how she is here, they are together, and also not at the same time. For almost a month.

And exactly when they become a they? And each other’s appearance is no longer a coincidence but an expectation? Presumably thousands of years of being lone wolves don’t exist for both of them.

--

So, Hyejin finds her answer deep in the body of water.

It takes seven long steps on water to reach the center of the lake.

Her skin is cool, she’s falling deep, like the day she was born. Hyejin opens her eyes when she’s in the middle of drowning deeper. the moonlight is now nothing but beams across her vision sometimes. If the other Moon could easily disappear, like the pale moon above too.

But that thought, in a millisecond, scares Hyejin.

She was with him when he poured water out of Ganymede’s bottles to the surface of all realms but Hell, because Hades refused.

“Why water?”, she asked, voice soft as feather, leaning against the Well of Creation. God always told her not to disrespect the Well, but she didn’t see this as an act of disrespect at all.

He - maybe got bored from reminding his rebellious angel all the time - just replied. “Because, water! A habutat for many beings. The human can find their direction to a better life along rivers and oceans. Poseidon will be pleased, now he has more to control and to dominate.”

It was peaceful like that, when it was only the two of them, and a few first children of His