Kai laughed as Minseok made some squeak in his throat and scurried this way and that to get various cleaning supplies. He swept the broken shards into a dustpan, and Kai realized that he was making the broom avoid the blood that spilled on the cement. He laughed again as the human gasped and coughed when the stains dissipated into ash.

Taking off his inadvertent accessories, he helped Minseok dump the broken pot parts into the trashcan he saw in the kitchen during his pop-around of the place. The house was roomy and with a semi-traditional style. It reminded him of his mission to kill that succubus working for that old Joseon advisor. Only Minseok and Chen’s scent had some purchase in the halls, which made Kai wonder what had happened to the other occupants of the other rooms.

“Are you sure that you’re okay?”

Minseok took his arm, looking it over, and Kai watched him for a moment. His hands glided over his skin, warm and soft, and he could tell that Minseok was holding his breath even before he sighed it out in relief.

“Be careful around my garden. You could get hurt, or you might hurt one of my plants.”

“Ah, alright—” What was that word… Oh! “—Sorry.”

The human pulled back in surprise before he smiled, and Kai liked seeing his gummy smile. They went back to the living room, where Luna had already awoken the small owl and was speaking in hushed tones to it. He caught Yixing’s name and saw the bird perk up, rotating its head as if looking for the angel. When Luna said that he wasn’t here, the owl sank back down and turned back to the angel present. Interesting.

“Her name is Minerva, and she said that Commander Unmaik was asked to deliver a message about some Soul Crossing information to an Arche angel in some town north of here. Minerva was hit by frost magic, lost her message, was thrown into a portal, and ended up at the mall, where she felt the same aura. That turned out to be Minseok instead though.”

The owl fluttered up to the human’s shoulder, making little hoots as she rubbed against the human’s face. As Minseok and Luna cooed over the bird and Chen rolled his eyes, Kai rubbed his wrists, where the edges of his thieves’ gloves would have been if he were on an assassination. The message interceptor had to be Hayong—frost aura that Minerva mistook Minseok for the criminal. Hayong still had enough power to make a portal to herself—or to her proxy who held a good portion of her aura—which meant that she was no longer a remnant. She recovered quicker than Yixing had predicted, and Kai almost wished that the coordinator were here so he could tell him that he told him so.

But only almost, because now he could tell Minseok what Yixing wouldn’t, and if he had analyzed their human charge correctly, he would do exactly as Kai predicted. He had zero qualms against manipulating humans to give him access to his target. The more that they did for him within all their little human rules, the less messy his missions finished.

The same was for this assignment. Hayong obviously had the upper hand—her motive, plot, resources, and accomplices were all unknown to them—so they had to use whatever assets and methods they could to discover or compensate. Kim Minseok, though vulnerable, was actually their greatest asset against Hayong, and Yixing’s unwillingness to use him made Kai want to punch his coordinator.

Of course, he wouldn’t. He actually kinda respected the angel, especially after his last conversation with him. The urge was more of a mental representation of his frustration. He understood why the coordinator was so hesitant, and it wasn’t because he feared using human life, like Kai had initially thought. Kai smiled as he thought of how the angel had summoned an aura knife and threw it straight at him. As an assassin, he dodged it without losing a step, but still, the fact that the angel would attack first had surprised Kai, and he had said so to the coordinator.

“Why? Because of what I am?”

“Well, yeah. When have you ever heard of a law-abiding angel throwing the first knife?”

“Oh, but I wasn’t the one who threw the knife first. Hayong did, and if I want to apprehend the demon who dared to try possessing a human then kill him, I need every tool at my disposal, including the element of surprise.”

“Then why don’t you use Kim Minseok? He’s basically a Hayong who’s on our side. He could easily step through the portal irregularity and find out where it leads, and he’s a human who seems like he would do whatever he could to help.”

The angel smiled, and Kai knew that expression. He had seen it on humans and the occasional angel too. It looked like what humans would call affectionate.

“He is. And that’s why I don’t want him to help. Yet.”

“Yet?”

“Hayong is still a remnant and should be for at least a few more months. That’s enough time for Minseok to learn basic control over his growing demonic aura so that he can defend himself. He’s still adjusting, so it’s better to ease him into the role he’s likely going to take in this mission than him in and risk losing him.”

“How do you know how long she’ll be a remnant? Those aren’t that common either.”

“I do my research.”

“Okay, fine. I’ll give you that, but for Kim Minseok, you just want him to be able to defend himself because you’re attached to him.”

The angel paused.

“Yes, that too. Wasn’t it obvious, or did Chen tell you his conclusions?”

“It’s obvious, so I’m a little more interested in why you didn’t just say that outright. It’s not a violation for angels to show their caring nature. Actually, I expected for you to argue using that reason first.”

The angel had been sorting papers on his coffee table, but his hands stopped. In one instant, his eyes shut, pained. In the next, the pain disappeared. But Kai saw.

“Habit, I suppose. But what I said about his learning to defend himself is also true. Anyways, my commander summoned me. Take Luna to Minseok's and find out what the owl says. Catch me up on the information after.”

Nodding, Kai headed to the front to get his shoes when he heard Yixing stand and take the knife out of the wall, the light humming.

“Kai, it’s not just my ‘caring nature,’ as you put it. I genuinely care for Minseok as an individual.”

“You favor him?”

“No, something deeper. He’s my friend.”

The meaning of that word took a moment to register in his mind, but their interactions and way Yixing spoke about the human made more sense. He should probably say something that encouraged their continuing friendship then. It wasn’t like he had any reason to sneer at the angel for the relationship.

“Well, since he’s turning into a demon, you won’t have to watch him die. That’s good, right?”

The coordinator didn’t reply right away. He twirled the knife in his hand with the precision of a highly trained demon. Angels generally knew how to fight, but they relied more on their powers of persuasion or abilities to disarm an opponent. As Kai watched the angel weave the light weapon through his fingers, he felt his hand reach for his own knives, a silver one hidden in his jacket, the other gathering his aura to manifest just out of instinct. But Yixing didn’t catch the last weave on purpose, and the weapon dispersed as it fell to the ground.

“Kai, Minseok is a good human.”

“Yeah? I figured he was better than most when he forgave the vamp and wolf. That or naïve.”

“Yes, he’s probably both.”

“So he’s someone we have to extra watch.”

“Yes, but he’s also someone we should learn from.”

Kai had to laugh at that.

“Why? He’s just a human. I picked up all the social cues needed to blend into the space underneath their noses already.”

“Not for human social cues. If you learn from him, you’ll understand why I see him as a friend, not just as another human to protect. And you’ll see why I’m willing to do anything it takes to keep him safe.”

The hardness in his last words kept Kai thinking, even after he got Luna and transported them to Minseok’s house. He agreed that Kim Minseok was pleasant to be around, but he held off any further judgement. He needed to observe the human a bit more before coming up with reasons to answer Yixing’s… challenge? The angel hadn’t asked him a question or favor but gave him a suggestion that sounded suspiciously like a provocation.

Kai was a seasoned assassin, a double agent, always watching his back and only taking bait to feign weakness. He had no desire to compare knife lengths.

But this pseudo-dare was from Yixing, his coordinator, and he had to admit that Kim Minseok—circumstance and person—intrigued him.

Thus, he had the perfect solution to simultaneously disobey and obey the coordinator’s orders.

“Hayong’s gaining power if she’s able to create portals.”

Everyone turned their heads to him, and he couldn’t hold back his smirk. He had their attention now.

“Right. Minerva said she was forced through a portal and ended up at that mall.”

“And seeing as the bird made it through, we can assume that Hayong’s not just a remnant anymore. She’ll be on the move to further her plot, and we need to stop her.”

The human rubbed his forearms, then the owl, worried.

“Is there anything we can do?”

“We’ll protect you, so don’t worry about that.”

“No—I mean, I appreciate that a lot—but isn’t there something we can do to help? The portal in the mall might have closed, but if it didn’t, we can see where the other end is, right? That’d be where Hayong is. And if not, we can retrace the route Minerva took, compare it to her destination, and search the areas in between for Hayong.”

Kai felt the grin grow on his face. He expected willingness but also helplessness, cluelessness, and a disguised open-ended plea for someone to tell him what to do. Kim Minseok’s suggestions were far from that. Kai heard the determination and hope in his voice, saw an eagerness in his eyes to act, and the assassin felt his own aura react, spreading through him in excitement. Also, his ideas weren’t half bad.

“Great idea, Minseok, but our coordinator would never let you put yourself in harm’s way. You see, the portals Hayong’s been making have all been signature specific, meaning only the creator or someone with a similar signature can direct its destination. It harms anyone who tries to walk it.”

“Portals? Where’re the other ones?”

Instead of asking more about the restrictions or even considering the harm, he picked out that detail? Kai didn’t even need to explain it! Oh, yes, Kim Minseok was a fascinating human.

“In hell, around the spot of Hayong’s old post. We call it a portal irregularity when a portal stays open for an extended time. It was recently discovered after she fled.”

“Kai.” Luna shot him a look, but he shrugged. She might have wanted to play by the coordinator’s orders, but Kai had a challenge to meet and a mission to finish.

“She didn’t close it, but she probably won’t use it anymore, right? Unless you can connect multiple portals together,” Minseok said.

“Nah, that’s not possible because a portal draws on an individual’s connection to their respective sphere. You can keep one open, but mixing portals would mean melding connections and souls together, which is not a pretty sight.”

“So I can walk the one in hell first, and we’ll be a little closer to figuring out Hayong’s plan.”

“Minseok, hell is a dangerous place, and walking through a portal without knowing the destination is even more so,” Luna said.

“Then Kai can walk it with me. It sounds like only one person is needed to direct the portal, so if he sticks with me, the portal will work, and he can teleport us out if needed.”

“How do you know that?” Luna asked.

“That one time when Chen took me to his commander’s house in hell and I was unconscious—uh, I figured that even Hayong’s signature specific portals would work the same way.”

Kai crossed his arms and gripped his biceps to keep himself from teleporting about in ecstatic frenzy, but the deductions of this human played right into his hand, and he bathed in its mighty feeling.

“I’ll talk to Yixing about it, but you might have to help me convince him since he was so adamant about keeping you safe,” Kai said.

“That’s okay. I’ll convince him. He’s always been a worrier.”

Luna sighed but nodded, starting a long list of things to watch out for in hell. Kai forgot to listen or even to make the jab that Luna, as an angel, had less experience in hell than Chen or himself because Minseok’s sentences distracted him. His words had depuffed all the boast in Kai’s chest.

Minseok’s words floated up in the air like a tease, casual. That determination and hope melted into something playful but understanding when Kai mentioned Yixing. Or maybe it was that way since he started speaking but only more noticeable just then?

Kai could see and hear and feel Minseok’s determination to help. He wasn’t offering out of self-serving importance or even curiosity of the supernatural world but out of sincere philanthropy? Kai shouldn’t have needed to question this. He knew that Minseok would, after all. He had showed his cards in the order that would lure the human into compliance and…

Did Kim Minseok even know the potential dangers of walking an unknown hell portal? Luna absolutely wasn’t lying (not that angels could to those who knew their true name) when she warned of hell’s dangers. There was no way Minseok would sit there nodding gravely and then asking the angel questions of creature weaknesses if he was only saving face or lying about his commitment. Kai had confidence in his skills, so the human wouldn’t die but…

It was their coordinator that Kai had to convince, not the human, which was the reason he steered the conversation into ‘Minseok’s’ suggestion to convince Yixing for him to walk the portal irregularity. Kai played the human right, but now the urge to take back his words, repeal them for patience, flicked in his head.

Why would a human chucklingly agree—no, want—to help convince a higher-up to use them without any real reward in exchange?

Kai couldn’t think of one anyways.

Ah, Minseok had said ‘always,’ like he knew Yixing since forever, knew him despite not knowing his true species or the existence of the supernatural world until he was proxied by accident. It certainly hadn’t been forever, but maybe to Minseok, that knowledge permeated through fact, dripping through the holes with… affection and seemingly knowing words. Yixing had called the human his friend, stronger than a favoring, so did Minseok consider Yixing in the same way or in the way that Kai understood it at default?

“Chen said that Yixing had to take a message from his boss. Is he in trouble?”

“No,” Kai said, at the same time that Luna said, “It’s possible.”

The angel sent a questioning look to him before realization eased her face again, but that realization didn’t translate into her words.

“It’s possible because the, hmm, upper management wants results for this high-profile mission as soon as possible.”

“Then I should learn demonic magic quickly so that I can walk through the portal irregularity and get Yixing’s boss off his back. I mean, it’s not his fault that Hayong has been lying low until now.”

Oh, maybe that was it! Minseok wanted to help Yixing with his coordinator burden… but Minseok hadn’t known about any ‘upper management’ nagging until just now.

“Why’d you say that messages from your boss don’t mean trouble, Kai?”

The human looked at him with curiosity, while Luna had the trace of guilt in her downcast gaze. Why?

“Because if I’m ever in trouble with my commander, he comes get me himself. Being summoned is just a regular old report.”

“Oh, really? Does Suho do the same to you, Chen?”

“Yeah.”

This time both Kai and Minseok looked at the lightning demon in surprise. For the human, he guessed it was because even though he had put a bit of tease in his voice, Chen had given him a straight answer instead of snapping back about the human’s impudence in even suggesting that he ever got in trouble with his commander.

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