Joon watched Yoona as she played on the slide at the playground across the street from her house. The sun shone down on her illuminating the traces of strawberry-red in her soft, darkening hair. Joon glanced over at Jang Geun Suk lying sprawled under a nearby oak tree dozing in the swaying grass with his head propped on an arm behind his head. Joon gazed at him enviously. Sure he could afford to take a rest, but Joon couldn’t. At age five, Yoona was a hyper-active little thing that had learned how to talk and had begun chattering nonstop.

He had been observing her from the rooftop. He had woken that morning and left before Jang Geun Suk or Yoona had, and slid over to the balcony to scout around. Yoona’s mother had come in and woken her, gotten her breakfast, and told her to go to the park to soak up some sunshine. Jang Geun Suk had shadowed her to the park and sat under the tree. She had entertained herself like usual, talking to the Devil for a while, before becoming absorbed in making sand castles. Being a child who had to entertain herself, she didn’t try to pester her new-found friend to play, since she looked up after a few minutes and saw him sleeping.

Joon decided he’d better get down there too. Even if he could see for a few miles, he needed to be where Yoona was.  Just in case he told himself. He jumped from the rooftop and let himself fall forward. He exhilarated in the ground rushing up to meet him before tucking himself into a spring-board roll so that he didn’t die on impact. Could angels die just by falling off of rooftops? He wasn’t sure, but he decided not to find out anyway, as his roll brought him to his feet. Any other humans would have really injured if not killed themselves doing that. The fact that he could, just bespoke of his special, advanced abilities.

Strolling across the road with the expression of I-could-care-less painted on his face, he walked until he was on the opposite side of the park from the Devil. Yoona was in his sight as he settled himself on the grass and observantly watched her tiny, messy excuse of a sand castle.

Yoona, seeing movement out of the corner of her eye, raised her head and spotting Joon, grinned, dusted off her hands and made her way towards him. Joon watched as she came closer and closer until she was standing over him with a smiling face covered with bits of sand.

“What’s your name?” she asked politely.

“I’m Lee Joon.” Joon said smugly, “I’m your Guardian Angel, so you have to always listen to me, arasso?”

“No!” Yoona pouted before changing the topic to, “I want to play, Joon-ah.”

Joon couldn’t believe she had just put the informal ‘ah’ after his name-he was five years older! What was she doing that for?! And she had just…said no to him. He was an angel! You didn’t say no to an angel, right?

“If I play with you, will you listen to me?” he tried again. Yoona nodded emphatically.

“Okay,” Joon said with an evil grin, “Do you see that boy over there?” He pointed over to the sleeping Jang Geun Suk. Yoona glanced over at him and nodded slowly saying, “Jang Goon Suk,”

“Hit him with a water balloon and tell him to go away,” Joon demanded.

Yoona’s eyes went wide, “No! I wanna play with him too.”

“But he’s a Devil. Devils are the bad guys. I’m an angel. Don’t I look better than him?” Joon prompted in a wheedling tone. He stood up and stretched turning his back to her for an instant.

Yoona appraised him for a moment before saying in her most serious tone, “You are very pretty.”

               At that, Joon whirled back around, “Yah! What did you say?” His cheeks flushed at the insult. He looked pretty? That was the worst thing a ten year old boy could ever hear! A pout came to his face and he huffed causing some of his hair to fly off his forehead.

               “You’re not playing with me!” Yoona complained, seeing a grave sin on the part of an angel. In annoyance, she turned and ran over to Jang Geun Suk. She began to roughly shake his shoulder, “Jang Goon Suk!”

               Slowly, the Devil squinted his eyes open and saw the dark outline of Yoona bending over him. Seeing her, he quickly became awake and asked at her troubled look, “What’s wrong?”

               “Jang Goon Suk, Yoona wants to play!” the little girl said impatiently wondering how many times she’d have to say it before someone got the hint and played with her.

               “You were going to play with me you little traitor!” Joon’s voice carried over to them both and Jang Geun Suk grinned at Joon’s angry voice that so obviously hid the ‘betrayed’ emotion he felt.

               Yoona turned and stuck her little, pink, tongue out at him, “I don’t wanna play with you anymore,” she said turning her nose up in the air at him. She began tugging at Jang Geun Suk’s arm trying to get him to stand up and play with her. The wind ruffled her dark curls so that it flew into her face, but she paid it no mind tugging even more insistently on the Devil’s hand.

               “Yah! You can’t do that!” Joon cried, his eyes widening at the thought that they were both leaving him behind. Yoona jumped and let go of Jang Geun Suk’s hand as she turned reproachful eyes on him, but she didn’t have to say anything because the Devil said it for her.

               “Yes she can,” Jang Geun Suk countered. He bent down and took Yoona’s hand and started leading her to the swing-set. Behind them, Joon’s face had just gone three different shades of purple.

               “No!” Joon hollered after them, “Holding hands is forbidden! Absolutely forbidden! Yoona! You said you’d listen to me. Yah!” with that, he rushed over to them and snatched up Yoona’s other hand in his bigger one, encompassing it. Together, they made it to the swing-set. Jang Geun Suk carefully placed Yoona in the seat and began to push her.

               “Higher, higher!” Yoona squealed in delight as she swung her feet back and forth. Naturally, Jang Geun Suk complied. The wind tore at her as the speed of the swing took off. Yoona watched as she seemed to almost touch the clouds and see the rest of the park and her house from such a good view so high up.

               “What are you doing? Are you going to hurt her?” Joon asked as he watched Yoona’s small form swinging higher and higher into the air. He brushed his bangs back from his forehead in the most frustrated gesture he could.

               Jang Geun Suk, like always, ignored Joon’s pitiful attempts for attention. Just then, a young girl about Yoona’s age entered the park. Spotting Yoona, she made her way over. She was a very pretty little girl, but she and the other girls of the neighborhood all knew Yoona was weird. She always looked past them whenever they were talking, her gaze always focusing on other things that just weren’t there.

               “Yoona, you’re acting weird again,” she said by way of greeting. Yoona who had been looking back at Jang Geun Suk, focused her attention on the little girl.

 “What are you talking about?” she asked. But just as suddenly as she focused on the girl, she happened to see the little girl’s angel and devil standing behind her. She looked at them in wonder. She hadn’t really played with other girls except a handful of times, and so seeing their Angels and Devils, had always been interesting to watch.

               Joon, realizing what she was doing, quickly stepped forward and whispered to Yoona to quickly get down. He didn’t touch her, but she obeyed without hesitation. The Devil, Angel and other little girl all watched the proceedings although the little girl couldn’t really see them. Joon ignored them, and knelt in front of Yoona staring directly into her face and making sure he had her undivided attention.

               “Yoona, you can’t look at other Angels or Devils like me and Jang Geun Suk. Ever. Do you understand?” worry seeped his voice and his eyes bore intensely into hers.

               “Why not?” Yoona asked furrowing her brow in a confused manner.

               Joon stood and looked over at Jang Geun Suk who had placed himself slightly in between Yoona and Joon, and the other three, “I’ll explain it later,” Joon told her, “Let’s go home, and I’ll tell you then. Okay? But don’t look at them,” Scared by the seriousness in Joon’s expression, Yoona complied quietly.

               As they started to walk away, the girl called after Yoona, “Yoona, you’re acting weird. Why are you always gazing into space and ignoring the rest of us? Do you think your imaginary friends are better than the rest of us?” she scoffed, hands on hips.

               Yoona, feeling guilty, turned to face the girl, “I’m sorry. I have to go home now.”

               “So you really do think you’re better than me?” the girl’s eyes shone with a furious light. She clenched her fists at her sides. Yoona noticed the girl’s Devil glide up and whisper into her ear, but never touched her, while the angel stood back unable to act, as the girl was already under the Devil’s temporary influence.

               Not understanding what was going on, Yoona remembered she wasn’t supposed to look and looked fearfully up at Joon. Joon gripped her hand reassuringly for a split second before he let go, trying to comfort her; he only did it when the other Devil and Angel weren’t watching. Yoona looked up at him with worry in her eyes and he felt an urgent need to protect her. Urging her forward, he broke into a run.

               When they made it back to Yoona’s room, Joon scooped his trembling charge into his muscular arms, and rubbed soothing, circular patterns into her back. Slowly, her tremors subsided. Jang Geun Suk strode over to the window where there was a perfect view of the park, keeping an eye out for anything that would pose a threat to Yoona. It was the first time, they both acted with the same interests.

               Joon set her down on the carpet and turned toward the window. Jang Geun Suk turned to face him, worry shining in his eyes. In swift, inhuman glides, Joon stood beside him. “We have no choice. We have to tell her,” Joon murmured so quietly that Yoona, whose bright, round eyes that remained hooked on their figures, couldn’t hear him.

               “Lee Joon, you know that breaks every rule!” Jang Geun Suk whispered back low and ferociously, “Telling her exposes us, exposes everything! It’s dangerous! The knowledge could destroy her. Besides, she’s only five years old,” he crossed his arms over his chest.

               “And we’re ten!” Joon shot back, “Look, I know it breaks the rules and if we’re found out, we could be punished. But this whole situation is dangerous! She can still see and touch us. That should be impossible. I don’t know why she decided to suddenly talk to and touch us last night, but she did and if other super-naturals see that, they’ll realize they can talk to and touch her too. She’s in a whole world full of danger. She needs to know for her own sake, for her own protection.”

               Jang Geun Suk looked at Joon’s earnest face and read the determination in them. He saw the defiant lift of his head as he proposed they both go against what they had both been taught. But more than that, the Angel had come to the Devil to ask him for his agreement, to ask him for his help. Joon was showing Jang Geun Suk trust. Maybe he had realized that Jang Geun Suk wanted to protect Yoona in his own way too and that he was different from the average Devil.

               Jang Geun Suk saw all of it, and finally looking into the eyes of his should-be-enemy, he found a potential, secret friendship.

               “Let’s tell her,” he consented. They both turned to Yoona who still sat there exactly where she’d been set down, still looking uncertain. Together, the Angel and the Devil sat down in front of her. Joon took her left hand and Jang Geun Suk took her right hand.

               “What’s wrong? What were you going to say to me?” Yoona asked. Joon leaned in slightly and gave her a sad smile.

               “Yoona, I think it’s time to tell you a new story.”