Byulyi

When Byulyi entered the studio, equipment in tow, she was surprised to find it mostly bare. Usually by this time, there would be crew and staff setting up lights or preparing racks and racks of clothes. Instead there was just an editorial team with their laptops huddled around a table, a number of colored light fixtures all already plugged in. There wasn’t even a makeup chair set up. One of them turned as she entered and smiled, waving her over.

“Byulyi-ssi!”

She quickly tried to remember what the name of this editorial assistant was from the emails. It was either Jee or Jia, and the difference was driving her insane. Luckily, the assistant saved her from the trouble of embarrassing herself.

“I’m Kyung Jia, I’ve been the one emailing you about this shoot.”

Byul grinned, shaking the mortal’s hand. “I look forward to working with you today.” She hesitated, then decided to ask anyway, “Am I early?”

Jia laughed, shaking her head, “Oh no, but I see why you would think that. Were you able to look over the peg photos we had sent over?”

Byul had. It was mostly exposed concrete with highly edited lighting effects, which she had assumed would be added in post, but looking at all the colored light bulbs and cellophane covered righlights, that probably wasn’t going to happen. Instead she said, “I did, but I was expecting a bit more,” she trailed off, waving her hand ineffectually at the empty space. Jia laughed again,

“I understand. Our editor prefers naturally taken shots with minimal editing, though, and all the clothes will be provided by our model so there wasn’t really a need to hire extra staff for this.”

Byul shrugged. Nothing else much to say to that. As she was setting up tripods and her backup cameras, she heard someone else come in, which had the whole editorial team flocking toward them. Probably the model. When she turned though, she felt her eyebrows raise in surprise.

It was another demon.

She was tall and statuesque in the way that models usually were, and there was a mischievous glint to her eyes as she chatted with the other editors. Her horns were blood red, growing just past her sleek black hair. When she turned to look at Byul, her smile brightened. 

It wasn’t that there was a severe lack of demons in this plain. Although most of the ones that Byul had known back in the earlier days had all returned to Hell. It's just that many of the demons that did still stay on Earth ended up as businessmen or capitalists. After all, it was easier to stoke humanity’s greed and selfishness from behind the desk of a major corporation than it ever was in the trenches. Not many decided to turn to modelling though, which would explain Byul’s surprise.

“Byulyi-ssi this is Lee Dahee, she’s our model for today.”

Dahee practically glided over, she had a good foot over Byul, but her eyes were kind and her smile was sincere when she said, “Byulyi-ssi, I’ve been looking forward to this all month. I’m very much a fan of your work.”

Byul smiled, flattered. “Thank you. I’m all set up so just let me know when you’re ready?”

Dahee grinned and snapped her fingers once. Instantly her outfit changed from a shirt and jeans to a flowy, blood red gown. Her makeup had changed too, now more intense and sharp, whereas earlier it had been clean and simple.

Well. That explained any lingering questions Byul had about the lack of staff today. 

“Hmm,” the editor said, already coming up beside Byul and tilting his head to study the look. “Can we try with the blue and orange lights?” he called out. Jia pressed a remote and the orange and blue bulbs snapped on. He looked to Byul, “What do you think?”

Byul fiddled with the settings on her handheld camera and snapped a test shot, she studied it before showing the editor. “Can you change the eyeshadow? Less intensity on the lids, and maybe a sharper arch to your brows instead.”

Dahee nodded and snapped her fingers again. The change was instantaneous. Byul took another shot and showed the editor. He beamed.

“Okay, we can start.”

It shouldn’t surprise her how easy the shoot was. WIthout having to wait for hair, makeup, or wardrobe changes, it was probably the smoothest shoot Byul had ever been to. Of course, it helped that Dahee was probably the most gorgeous demon she’d ever seen. She didn’t think the other demon even had bad angles.

Half-way through, Byul called for a break. As she was looking over some of the photos, Dahee sidled up beside her to look over her shoulder.

“They’re really good.”

“Probably because the model is so pretty,” she replied easily. Dahee laughed and Byul grinned.

“I envy you, you know,” Dahee said. “I’ve been bouncing back and forth between Earth and Hell for several millennia now. Every time I come back, I’ve tried new ways to find my place with them. It’s never usually worked out for me.”

“Why not?” Byul couldn’t imagine things not going the way Dahee wanted them to.

The other demon just shrugged. “Back then it was easier, I suppose. But now, I’m not much for the whole corporation thing, and other demons on Earth seem to be fine with just mulling about causing mayhem and, I don’t know, that isn’t really what I want to spend my time doing. I just keep looking for that thing that will click.”

Byul understood. “Like a purpose, you mean?”

Dahee’s answering smile was stunning. “Yes exactly! Which is why when I saw your photos a few years back, it really inspired me. It’s what made me try out modelling.”

“I’m glad.” Byul said, “I hope this works out for you.”

Dahee smiled again, “Me too.”

The second half of the shoot went even better and smoother than the first. By the time they finished, it was a whole two hours earlier than Byul even anticipated. 

“You know I just realized,” Byul said to Dahee after she finished packing away her cameras. The editorial team was still packing up their own gear. Dahee had already snapped her outfit back to what it was when she’d arrived. 

“Yeah?”

“I’ve only been on Earth for more than one millennium, yet you’ve been back and forth for several.”

Dahee giggled, “And?”

“Should I call you Unnie?” Byul asked, already teasing but part of her meant it. Dahee was fun to be around. True enough, the other demon laughed and nodded. “Sure, I’d like that.”

“Hopefully we’ll get to work together again soon,” Byul said 

“Actually,” Dahee said, “If you wanted, we could go somewhere now since the shoot ended early.”

Byul checked her watch. She did want to. The last demon friend she’d had went back to Hell in the 1700s. 

“Maybe next time,” She said, instead. 

“Okay,” Dahee waved goodbye as she began walking, “I’ll look forward to it Byulie!”

---

Yongsun

“Yongsun-ssi, would you mind taking on this group?” Yong looked up from the tour plan she was assembling for next month. Her co-worker Choo-hee, was a single mother with twin boys that she constantly complains about, but Yongsun sees the amount of pictures she keeps of them on her desk. “One of the boys got picked on at school and his brother started a fight on his behalf and it’s a whole mess and I just--”

Yongsun was already waving her away, “Don’t even worry about it! I’ll handle this group and close up!” 

Choo-hee bowed low, gratitude coming off of her in waves, before she grabbed her bag and high-tailed it out the door.

Yongsun sighed and stretched her arms until the tension in her shoulders popped. Then she tucked away her autumn tour plans, shucked on her vest, grabbed her flaglet and headset and made it to the holding area where the four pm tour was waiting.

She’d been working at Try it All Tours for a whole year now, so she pretty much had a feel for the kinds of tourists their agency usually attracts by now. Normally there would be the American families with parents who liked the idea of more bespoke tours that didn’t go through the usual kitschy side of Seoul. Sometimes there were backpackers in groups of four or five who wanted a feel for the city without having to meld with the average tourist; those were usually European. Then on some days there were just entire clans of Southeast Asians, who probably found out about their agency because their hotel was in the neighborhood anyway and who always seemed to consist of mostly female tourists with the odd smattering of patient husbands whose sole role was to carry their wives purses. 

Today it was mostly the same, except for one anomaly. 

When Yongsun opened the door to Holding Room #6, it was to the sight of a sizeable family of American werewolves, two women in hijab and--

“Oh,” She’s never been the best at hiding her surprise, especially not when faced with the bright halo and wings of a fellow angel, sitting calmly in her tour group.

“Well,” The werewolf mother said in English, grinning cheekily between Yong and the other angel, “Looks like this tour is doubly blessed.”

Try it All Tour’s four PM tour is advertised as a photography walking tour meant to last two hours. It starts with a leisurely stroll through the Ihwa Mural Village, then a hike along the portion of the Seoul City Wall, before culminating in a sunset picnic at Naksan Park. On a normal day, Yongsun could do this tour with her eyes closed. Today though, she thinks she could be forgiven for being more than a little distracted.

It’s not even that angels are rare in this part of the city, in fact there was an angel that worked as the Head Nurse in the Children’s hospital Yongsun still volunteered at. But, the angels that were still in the city have been on Earth for millenia, much like Yong, so she couldn’t imagine one needing to take a tour like this.

She voiced that out herself while the tourists were taking pictures in front of the murals at Ihwa. The other angel--Park Sodam--as she had introduced herself, smiled.

“It’s not my first time on Earth,” Sodam clarified, “I was here before, during the Mongol sieges, but I returned to Heaven to rejoin the host shortly after so I haven’t been back since then.” She punctuated the statement with an appreciative look around the village. “A lot has certainly changed.”

Yong grinned. “It sure has.”

As much as she wanted to talk to Sodam more, there was still a tour to conduct, and Yongsun was nothing if not a professional. Luckily enough, this group was more or less easy to handle, and the American werewolves, bless their souls, didn’t seem bothered at all by the distance they had to travel on foot. Every now and then, Yong would mention bits of history about their destinations that the tourists seemed to love.

At the Naksan Park picnic, Yongsun was gamely taking a picture of the American werewolf children as they chased each other on the grass, their little tails wagging to and fro, when Sodam sat beside her and bumped their shoulders together. She smiled at her fellow angel. “Did you enjoy your tour?” She was teasing of course, but part of her was genuinely curious, the part that, she was surprised to realize, really wanted to make sure Sodam had a good time.

Thankfully, Sodam nodded. “You know, I returned to Heaven after the second Mongol siege because the suffering was too much for me back then. It was easier to watch and grant blessings from above than to be with the mortals as they suffered.”

Yongsun was quiet but she nodded back. She understood that pain a little too well.

“Which is why,” Sodam said, “seeing a fellow angel like this,” she gestured to Yong, “so at ease with them, and the way you know so much about how the land has changed. How you’ve clearly changed with it. I’m kind of jealous. Makes me wish I had toughened it out before, then I could be more like you are now.” 

Yong blushed under the weight of the compliment. “Oh it’s--I mean.” She cleared and returned the smile. “At least you’re here now right? Who knows what changes you can witness in the next hundred years.”

Sodam nodded. “I’m looking forward to it already.”

At the end of the tour, the agency’s shuttle brought them all back to the Try it All Tours office, and like the dutiful guide, Yong stood at the shuttle exit to wave them off. At the very end of the line was Sodam.

“Have a good tour?” Yong asked teasingly. Sodam laughed. 

“I’ll leave five stars on your company website, Yongsun-ssi” the other angel says, with a wink. As she turned to go, Yong reached out to tap her shoulder.

“I’m planning a historical tour of the temples around Seoul in the autumn. If you’d like, I could save you a slot?”

Sodam’s smile was beatific. “Yes! I’d like that a lot.”

Yong grinned back, this was nice, being friends with another angel. She hadn’t realized she’d missed it until that very moment. “Great! I’ll have the agency set it up!”

“Thanks Yongsun-ah!” 

Yong watched her leave and sighed a happy sigh. She never thought she’d be glad to have Choo-hee’s twins cause trouble at their school. At least it led to meeting Sodam. After she did her final checks of the shuttle, she exited and made her way back into the now empty agency office to drop off her papers and close up.

Outside, Byul was waiting. 

“Oh,” She smiled at the sight of the demon, it was practically second nature by now. “What are you doing here?”

Byul smirked, automatically lacing their fingers together and tugging her towards where Yong had parked the car that morning. “My shoot ended early, thought I’d surprise you by driving you home.”

“But I had the car,” Yong laughed. Byul just shrugged as if it were inconsequential. “I was already in the neighborhood,” the demon said.

Once they were already in the car, Byul said, “By the way, I saw an angel exit your agency while I was waiting. Did you make a new friend today?”

Yong grinned. “I think I did.”

Byul smiled back, already putting the car in gear, “That’s good. I did too.”