“Hey, you’re that guy from yesterday!” Eunra exclaimed in surprise as she pointed her finger at Kris. He blinked and his thoughts from before flew away. Everyone at the table was staring at him now, their eyes filled with curiosity.

“How do you know Eunra?” Chanyeol asked his eyes boring into Kris’s skull. The question shone clearly in his eyes as he actually stared at Kris for more than three seconds. “She’s friends with me and Tao. Did you know that?”

“We, uh, met yesterday at the park,” Kris answered slowly. He didn’t want to give off the impression that he found Eunra annoying in front of her friends so he thought his answers and reactions through carefully. In fact, he had emotion on his face whatsoever. He became unreadable to everyone around him.

“Yeah, and he was acting like an .”

It seemed like Eunra’s words didn’t shock anyone at the table except for Kris. He forced his jaw to stay shut and made sure his eyes didn’t grow wide. Chanyeol found her comment absolutely hilarious as he broke out in loud, uncontrollable laughter. Tao, on the other hand, was also used to her blunt comments and could only shake his head.

“W-what? How can you say that?” Kris stammered. Never before had he been so flustered, especially in front of a female. What made it even worse was that she was a human, and not a regular human but a human that had Kris’s heart reacting in funny ways.

“I don’t understand why you’re being all nervous today. Yesterday, you had no problem glaring at me and snapping at me,” Eunra said simply. “Anyways, what would you guys like to drink?”

Kris ignored the way she completely brushed off the topic and stared at her incredulously. He wondered how and why his heart had reacted in such a way to a rude, un-ladylike girl like her. If Kris had ever thought about his ideal woman, it was certainly not her. “You were the one standing on my w-“Kris stopped short and shut his mouth. He had nearly made the mistake of revealing his identity as an angel even though he was sure that they would all take it as a joke. Although, he had a feeling that Soojin would believe his words if his mouth had slipped.

“What? Are you talking about how I was ‘standing on something of yours?’” Eunra snorted sarcastically as she jotted down the drink orders that the others had given her while Kris had been momentarily distracted. “If you’re not gonna order a drink than I’m just going to give you an empty glass.”

Bewildered and taken aback, Kris put on a façade and waved his hand at her. “Just get me water,” he ordered.

“Sure thing, jerk,” she responded. Kris’s head darted towards her and he glared at her with all the hate he could muster.

“I’m surprised you haven’t been fired yet. You shouldn’t be treating a customer this way,” Tao spoke up. “And besides, Kris is still a stranger to you Eunra. There’s no need to insult him like that.”

Kris had never expected Tao to be someone so mature. His respect for him as a human went up drastically and he nodded slightly in agreement with Tao’s words. He noticed the way Eunra rolled her eyes and her heels. She stalked off, leaving everyone at the table in different states of shock.

“Sorry, she’s always been like that. Eunra has a really…explosive personality. She makes it hard for people to get close to her by acting like that but when you do get close to her, she’s a friend you can always rely on,” Tao explained. Kris didn’t know much about love but from the way Tao spoke about her and the way Tao’s eyes seemed to twinkle a little, Kris could tell that Tao had feelings for the girl. He guessed that Eunra didn’t know how Tao felt and Tao certainly did a good job of hiding it from her. Kris could only tell because he found that Tao slightly resembled Suho when it came to expressing or hiding their feelings.

“Eunra is almost as crazy as me,” Chanyeol added with his signature grin. Kris glanced at him for a moment and saw how Chanyeol was practically bouncing in his seat like a child. “She’s always fun to hang around. We get into some crazy together.”

“Yah, Chanyeol. Watch your language! And what kind of things do you and Eunra do? Is it dangerous?” Soojin immediately reprimanded Chanyeol. Kris expected Chanyeol to laugh and say no but he was surprised when Chanyeol lowered his head and mumbled an apology. He knew then that Chanyeol held a lot of respect for his older sister.

“Sorry, noona. I won’t get into trouble,” he mumbled. From then on, Chanyeol managed to stay still in his seat and Kris began to see how humans worked.

It wasn’t that different from angels. Humans had people they cared about and people they would do anything for. Humans had respect for one another, or at least most humans did. Kris was brought back to think about Eunra. She was not the type of human he was used to. She was loud, straightforward, spoke without thinking, and seemed to have no ounce of respect for anyone else. Kris had a feeling that he would have trouble getting along with her.

When the drinks came, Eunra ungraciously placed Kris’s glass down on the table and it made a loud clunking sound. Kris decided it was better not to say anything so he let it slide. Then, Eunra started taking their orders. Everyone already had something in mind but when she got to Kris, he was at a loss. He didn’t know any type of food and he hadn’t even bothered to rifle through the menu that still lay untouched in front of him.

“So, what do you want?” Eunra asked, her tone sounding slightly agitated. Tao could see that Kris was having trouble deciding so he spoke up for him.

“Just get him a burger,” Tao said. Eunra stared at Tao for a moment and he stared back. Then, she turned around and mumbled something that Kris couldn’t quite catch but it sounded like “idiot can’t even order for himself”.

She’s really testing my patience right now. If she was an angel I would have already taught her a lesson. After all, I am older than her, Kris thought to himself. To keep from going insane with anger, Kris turned his attention to the conversation that the others were having.

“Soojin noona, you should learn how to use a sword and be all awesome like that guy in the movie. He was blind too but he could still do all that stuff,” Chanyeol chattered excitedly. It finally dawned on Kris that Soojin was blind so she couldn’t have really understood the movie, but he also assumed that Baekhyun had told her what was going on during the movie, he vaguely remembered hearing Baekhyun whispering the entire time. Kris felt a little foolish for realizing that now, but at least nobody else knew of his embarrassing moment.

“Chanyeol, how do you expect me to learn all that? I may be getting better at doing stuff on my own but I’m not at the level where I can learn martial arts or how to use a sword,” Soojin responded. Chanyeol looked disappointed but he quickly moved on from that and started talking about something else.

Kris was only partially listening to Chanyeol’s incessant blabbering but mostly he was consumed in his own thoughts. He missed his home even though it hadn’t been that long since he was away. He truly loved being an angel and the fact that he was quickly adapting to the human world was frightening.

It seemed like only a minute had passed but their food was already finished. Eunra brought out the dishes and placed them on the table. This time, she gently put down Kris’s plate but she didn’t forget to throw him a dirty look. Kris had no idea what he did to make her hate him so much. He didn’t necessarily care though.

“Yes! Food!” Chanyeol cheered a little too loudly. He immediately started digging in without bothering to worry about manners. Although Soojin couldn’t see him, she could tell he wasn’t eating in the neatest way. She mentally sighed but let it go this once.

Kris was faced with a new adversary now. The food in front of him was not what he had expected. Actually, Kris wasn’t sure what he had been expecting. He definitely did not expect the thing in front of him. He had no idea what to call it but it didn’t really look appetizing to him.

“Are you just gonna stare at your food or are you gonna eat it?”

Flinching, Kris looked up to find Eunra sitting on a chair at their table. Her eyebrows rose and she stare at Kris as if he was some alien species. Then, one corner of her lips tugged up into a smirk. “Do you not know how to eat a hamburger?”

Kris felt heat rising to his cheeks and he wanted to take off and fly away right then and there. He couldn’t stand this human girl who seemed to look down on him. In fact, his temper was at the peak and he could have exploded with anger at any moment. But, as always Tao seemed to come through for him.

“Maybe he’s just not hungry, did you think of that Eunra?” Tao said pointedly.

“If he’s not hungry then why is he here?” she retorted. Tao had no come back for that. His eyes shifted toward Kris, pleading for help. Kris mentally groaned when he came to the realization that he couldn’t avoid tasting the human food now. Looking towards Chanyeol who was also eating a hamburger, Kris watched how he ate it. When Chanyeol practically shoved the food into his face, Kris decided Chanyeol wasn’t the best example of a human eating. However, he carefully picked up the burger and took a tiny bite out of it.

The taste was certainly not what Kris expected it to be. He gagged at the lump of meat and bread going down his throat and he mentally made a note to never order a hamburger ever again. Eunra had been watching him closely and she laughed out loud at his expression.

Kris quickly grabbed his glass of water and took a sip from it. The cool liquid rushed down his throat and washed away the taste in his mouth. Taking another sip, Kris decided that water would be his favorite human drink from then on.

“Did the burger taste badly?” Tao asked as he gave Kris a puzzled look. It took all of Kris’s willpower to not shout yes very loudly and say that it was the worst thing he had ever tasted. Taking deep breath, Kris shook his head.

“I’m…not hungry.”

It was a relief when Tao nodded and dropped the subject, turning away to eat his own food. However, Kris’s problems weren’t over yet when Eunra started speaking. “Be honest, you’ve never eaten a hamburger before have you?”

“It’s different from the ones I had back at home,” Kris lied. He didn’t know if America had hamburgers or not but he hoped they did.

“Oh, so you’re a foreigner? Where are you from?” she asked. Kris could see that she was becoming curious but she tried to hide it. He smirked a little and felt a little warmth in his chest.

“I’m from America,” he replied. At this statement, Eunra’s eyes lit up. She looked purely excited and Kris had never seen that expression on her before. He didn’t admit it out loud, but he liked it.

“Really? I’ve always wanted to go to America! What’s it like there?”

“It’s…” Kris was at a loss. He had made a mistake for telling her that. He should have known she would ask about it. “…different from here.”

Kris hoped that answer would suffice but his luck had run out.

“I know that, I’m not an idiot. I wanna know from you how it’ like living there,” she responded.

“Kang Eunra! You’re supposed to be working right now not chatting with the customers.” Her co-worker, Luhan, had come over. Kris thought it was funny how Luhan tried to look intimidating when he was about as scary as a bunny. With a dejected sigh, Eunra got up and walked away. In his mind, Kris thanked Luhan for coming over and saving him from his own mistake. Luhan left and Kris saw Baekhyun heave a sigh of relief that his friend/co-worker didn’t bother him that time.

---

Soon enough, everyone had finished eating except for Kris who had allowed Chanyeol to devour his food for him. As they were walking out of the bistro, Eunra ran to catch up with them. She wasn’t wearing her work uniform and instead was wearing casual clothes.

“Where are you guys going? I’m gonna go with you.”

“There you go again, tagging along without even asking,” Tao said. Eunra laughed and hooked her arm through his. She grabbed Chanyeol and hooked her other arm through his too.

“It’s because you guys love me,” she said as she grinned.

Staying back with Soojin and Baekhyun, Kris watched the trio skipping along ahead of them. Eunra and Chanyeol were both cheering loudly, saying random things. “Arcade, let’s go to the arcade!” they chanted together. Their excitement caused Kris to grow curious about what an ‘arcade’ was.

“Those three are always like that. It’s really sweet and endearing because they’re so close,” Soojin said. “Although I’d be worried if Tao wasn’t there to be the mature one.”

Kris looked over at Soojin and saw the way she was smiling warmly. She couldn’t see the trio in front of them but she could tell from the way Eunra and Chanyeol were shouting that they were having a good time. He noticed how Soojin and Baekhyun were holding hands and wondered whether Suho had done that with her too. Was holding hands some way that humans showed affection for one another?

“Yeah, I remember being young like that. Those were good days,” Baekhyun replied. Soojin giggled and swung their hands back and forth lightly.

“You’re still young. You’re only two years old than them,” she said. Baekhyun smiled and brought their hands up. He traced random patterns on the back of her hand.

“Yeah, that means I have two more years of experience. It means I’m old.”

Kris didn’t want to listen to the couple anymore so he picked up his pace and caught up with the trio. He glanced back to see if they had noticed but they were too busy talking to one another. Sighing, Kris hope he wouldn’t become like that when he fell in love. Wait, ‘when’ I fall in love? There is no ‘when’. I won’t fall in love.

When Kris caught up to the trio, Tao greeted him with a tiny smile. “Hey, did you feel like the third wheel back there?” he asked. Kris had no clue what a ‘third wheel’ was but he nodded.

“Maybe we should just ditch them. Noona wants to be alone with Baekhyun hyung but she’s too nice to say anything. Let’s go!” Chanyeol whooped as he started sprinting ahead. Since his arm was still linked with Eunra’s, he took her along with him as well as Tao. Kris thought he was free from being dragged but Tao’s hand shot out and gripped his arm tightly. Before he knew it, Kris was being hauled along the street by Chanyeol.

“Sorry, I just don’t wanna be stuck alone with these two. I need someone who’s mature with me to survive,” Tao whispered to him. Kris understood how Tao felt so he reluctantly started jogging along.

Throwing his head over his shoulder, Kris looked to see if Soojin and Baekhyun were following them but there was no one behind them.

“We lost them!” Chanyeol cheered. He finally slowed down and Eunra let go of his arm and smacked his shoulder. He yelped and looked at her with wide eyes, not knowing what he did to make her angry. “What? Why’d you hit me?”

“Warn me the next time you’re gonna go on some sprinting frenzy! My legs are short okay, I can’t keep up with your long legs,” she snapped. Chanyeol stuck his tongue out and laughed cheekily.

“Ha-ha, you’re short,” he said. He yelped when Eunra was about to smack him again and darted ahead. He ran into a building and Eunra chased after him. Tao turned to Kris and gave him a pointed look.

“You see what I mean? It’s like I’m babysitting them or something.”

“Yeah.”

“Well, I guess we should catch up to them and make sure they don’t blow up the arcade or something,” said Tao as he led the way into the building.

When he walked in, Kris had no idea what to make of all the electronic machines everywhere. There were teenage boys standing in front of them, mashing buttons on the machines and staring blankly at the screen like zombies. Kris wondered what was so fun about this place. Suddenly, Eunra came out of nowhere and grabbed his arm.

“Hey, let’s go play Whack-a-mole,” she said. “Chanyeol always gets a higher score than me and he makes fun of me for it.”

“W-what? Can’t you play by yourself?” Kris replied. Eunra ignored him and pulled him with her towards a corner with more games. He saw three machines with some type of claw hanging from the ceiling above a bunch of stuffed animals. Those intrigued him the most and he was about to head over there until Eunra yanked on his arm.

“We can try the crane machines later, let’s play Whack-a-mole. And don’t even think about calling Tao or Chanyeol over here,” she said as more of a command than a request. A smile lit up her face when she saw the Whack-a-mole machine and she finally let go of Kris’s arm. “I’ll go first.”

Kris stared at her, his eyes filled with curiosity, as she picked up a mallet. He watched her put in a coin into the machine and then pushed a green button. Lights went on and music started playing. He blinked in shock when a mechanic mole popped up from one of the holes and Eunra smacked it with the mallet. Were human games supposed to be so violent?

The game went on for about one and a half minutes and Eunra let out a sigh of disappointment at her score. She handed Kris the mallet and plopped in a coin. “Well, let’s see how you do.”

Pushing the green button, Eunra stepped back to watch Kris. At first, it was easy since the moles were coming out one at a time. But soon enough, the game got harder and Kris became flustered as he tried to whack every mole he could get. He didn’t think it was possible but he was actually having fun playing the game. After a few times playing the game, Kris became addicted and he didn’t want to stop. It wasn’t until Eunra had to drag him away did he finally stop.

“Geez, I didn’t think you were that much of a kid. You wanted to play the crane game, right? We can do that now.”

“I’m not a kid. That was just my first time playing that game,” Kris grumbled. Eunra’s eyes widened and she stopped in her tracks.

“That was your first time playing Whack-a-mole? Are you kidding me right now?” she exclaimed in disbelief.

“No. I am not kidding you.”

“Have you been living under a rock or something? Man, you’re deprived,” she muttered with a shake of her head. “And I’m guessing you never played the crane game before either?”

Kris reluctantly shook his head, afraid of what other exclamations Eunra would shout. It wasn’t his fault that angels didn’t have arcades. Angels didn’t even have games that they played. The only thing that kept them entertained was pulling pranks on one another, like Yixing always did to him.

“What else haven’t you done? Have you gone to Lotte World before? What about going to see the Han River? Or going up Namsan Tower?” she threw out questions at him and Kris could only respond with a shake of his head.

“Did you ever go to Seoul Grand Park?”

“No, I’ve never been to any of those places.”

“Okay, here’s what’s gonna happen. I’m gonna take off from work and then we are going to go to all of those places, alright?” Eunra said. She stared into Kris’s eyes and he thought he felt his heart skip a beat. Slowly, Kris nodded in response. “Good. Now let’s start off with the crane game.”

She grabbed his hand and tugged him over to the three machines he had been staring at before. “We’ll start with this one.” Eunra pulled out another coin from her pocket and put it in the machine. “So for this game, you have to choose what you want to try and get in there and then you move this joystick here. That moves the crane up there,” she said, pointing at the claw Kris noticed before.

“You move the crane over until it’s above the thing you want and then you push this button, got it?”

“Y-yeah.”

Eunra moved over to allow Kris to stand in front of the machine. He stared through the glass and saw a panda bear which made him think of Tao. However, that wasn’t the one he wanted. Instead, he went for an animal that reminded him of Eunra, a hamster with its eyebrows narrowed making it look perpetually angry. He moved the claw over the animal and pushed the button. He watched as it closed around the hamster and lifted it up, bringing it back over to the slot. It dropped it and Kris reached in to grab the stuffed animal.

“Whoa, how’d you get it on your first try?” Eunra exclaimed. She grabbed the hamster out of his hands and beamed brightly. “It’s kinda cute. Can I have it?”

“Sure,” Kris replied curtly. He had had no intention of keeping it anyways. Although there was some warm fluttering feeling in his heart when he saw Eunra hug the hamster to her chest. He tried to ignore it but it was starting to get too hard to ignore.

“Thanks!” she said happily. Then, she grimaced slightly and held her hand to her head.

“Are you okay?” Kris asked.

Eunra flashed him a smile and she looked perfectly fine again. “Yeah, just a little headache. It happens a lot. Don’t worry about it.” The next thing he knew, Eunra was giggling as she hugged the hamster to her chest again.

It was hard for Kris to believe that the girl giggling and cuddling a stuffed animal in front of him was the same girl from the restaurant that incessantly insulted him. He liked seeing her that way though, it made her seem approachable and innocent. But, the fact that he felt that way made him anxious. Because “liking” something will eventually turn into “loving”.

The pair left that part of the arcade and joined up with Tao and Chanyeol again. They spent the rest of the time playing various games together and Kris couldn’t deny the fact that he enjoyed their company. It grew dark outside and they finally headed back home. They dropped Eunra off at her home and the three guys went back to their apartments.

That night, Kris went flying again. He needed to do it to remind himself that he was different from them. He wasn’t stuck on the ground like humans were. He was an angel that could soar through the skies above humans. He kept flying, chanting that over and over in his mind.

I am an angel. I am an angel. I am an angel.

---

Eunra didn’t lie. She really did take a vacation from work to spend time with the others and go to the places she had mentioned with Kris. At first, it was the normal crew. Kris, Eunra, Tao, and Chanyeol. Occasionally Soojin and Baekhyun would tag along but they would always end up going off on their own.

The more time Kris spent with them during the day, the less time he spent flying at night. Whenever he got home from a day out, he would lie in bed and think about everything that had happened. He would find himself smiling at the memories he managed to make that day.

As time went on, Kris began to get used to human things. He could finally eat human food without coughing it back up. He learned off the various human drinks besides water, such as soda and alcohol, but Kris still liked water the best. Kris learned that his favorite human food was something called pizza.

At the Seoul Grand Park, he discovered that humans liked putting animals on display to watch at a place called ‘the zoo’. He found the idea sickening and didn’t enjoy that day as much as others. He’d rather allow the animals to live freely in their own natural habitats. However, he forgot his complaints when he saw Eunra’s face glowing with happiness at seeing all the animals. He wished he could take her and fly her to places to see the animals where they were free.

Kris finally learned what America was and he wanted to find a time to tell Eunra what it was like there. He wanted to seem like an expert on the place so he spent his nights reading books about America. Since he now read at night, Kris stopped flying. He would still unfurl his wings at home and let them stretch but he didn’t feel the need to fly anymore.

Without even knowing, Kris was becoming less and less “angel” and becoming more “human”. Without even knowing, Kris was growing closer and closer to Eunra.

It was at the point where ‘like’ started to become ‘love’.

---

One month after Kris started hanging out more with Eunra and the others, he got out of bed to find five feathers on the bed. His eyes widened and he flapped his wings lightly, effectively shaking out about ten more feathers. There wasn’t a huge difference in the appearance of his wings but Kris felt the difference in his senses.

Immediately, he noticed his sight was duller than before. It wasn’t blurry, but he could see the difference when he looked out into the courtyard to see Chanyeol sitting beneath the tree again. Before, Kris could’ve made out all the features on his face but now, Kris could only see the outlines. His sense of smell and hearing also grew weaker. He couldn’t hear Chanyeol’s laugh when Tao came out from behind the tree to scare him again. He couldn’t smell the cup of coffee that Chanyeol was holding. Usually, he would have been attacked by all these sights, sounds, and smells but now they were dulled and he was frightened. He felt vulnerable.

Is this what it’s like to be human? Is this how humans feel all the time?

Kris let the curtains fall and stepped away from the window. He spread his wings out and examined them once more. His heart beat erratically from anxiety. He didn’t want to see any more feathers fall.

Suddenly, the phone in his apartment rang but Kris didn’t move. The ringing never ceased and Kris had no choice but to go pick it up.

“Hello,” he said gruffly trying to hide the way his entire body trembled.

“Kris? Are you alright? You sound weird,” Eunra’s voice replied. How could she tell that something was wrong?

“I’m fine.”

“Whatever you say. Hey, do you wanna go to Lotte World today?” she asked. “Oh, and don’t tell Tao or Chanyeol about it.”

It was tempting. Kris wanted to go so badly. But his new discovery had him shell-shocked. Would saying yes make even more feathers fall?

“Are you gonna answer or not?” Eunra snapped. Like usual, she had little patience. But unlike before, Kris didn’t mind. Eunra was always doing things at a fast pace. It’s like she was too fast to live life at a normal pace.

“Yes, that sounds great.” The words left Kris’s mouth before he could even think.

“Awesome! I’ll meet you at your apartment in ten minutes.” Click. She hung up.

Kris knew he should have refused her offer, but he didn’t regret saying yes. He placed the phone on the table and went to get ready, tucking his wings in. It took him about five minutes to change his clothes and fix his hair. Before, Kris had never cared about how his hair looked until one day Eunra had laughed at the way his hair looked like he had “just got out of bed”. From then on, Kris made sure his hair never looked like that.

He sat on the couch, waiting for the next five minutes. He didn’t start to get antsy until thirty minutes had passed by. Kris picked up the phone and was just about to dial her number when there was a rapid knock on his door. Throwing the phone aside, Kris rushed over to open the door hoping to see Eunra.

However, she wasn’t the one standing there. It was Tao. From the grim look on his face, Kris knew something happened.

“W-where’s Eunra?” Kris said, cursing the fact that his voice faltered as he spoke.

“She’s at the hospital.”

Hospital. Kris hadn’t known what that word was until one day Chanyeol had fallen out of a tree he tried to climb up. When they got there, Kris had felt a sinking feeling in his heart. A hospital was a place where sick, injured people went to get treated for. Was Eunra sick? Was she injured? Kris was afraid to find out.

“Let’s go,” Tao said. He grabbed Kris’s arm and started dragging him with him since Kris’s body had ceased to function properly. They stood on the street and Tao flagged down a taxi. They got in and the taxi headed for the hospital. Neither of them said anything the entire ride.

When they got to the hospital, Tao led the way to the emergency room. Chanyeol, Soojin, and Baekhyun were waiting in the hallway. Anxious faces were everywhere. Even Chanyeol looked serious. His back leaned against the wall and he stared at his feet. His fingers tapped incessantly on the wall and Kris knew his ADHD tendencies couldn’t be stopped no matter what the situation. Chanyeol always had to move around. Kris wished he could be like Chanyeol. He didn’t like the way his body was frozen stiff like a statue.

Kris didn’t know when, but he had apparently asked what was wrong with Eunra. He hadn’t even noticed that his mouth had opened. However, he did learn from Tao that Eunra had brain cancer. She’d always had it. The doctors that had treated it thought it had gone away, but that wasn’t the case.

Now, Kris didn’t say anything more. He made sure of it. The more he seemed to speak, the more bad news he seemed to learn. Maybe if he just stopped talking he wouldn’t have to hear anything he didn’t want to.

As he stood there, the seconds felt like minutes. The minutes felt like hours. And the hours felt like days. Finally, to Kris it had felt like five days but in actuality it was five hours. The light went off and the doors to the emergency room swung open.

Automatically, Kris surged forward to see if Eunra was alright. The nurses and doctors gently pushed them back as they wheeled the stretcher down the hallway. Kris could hear the murmurs of the nurses telling them what had happened but he couldn’t understand it.

Then, he picked up a word. Hospice. Kris didn’t know that word.

Eunra was brought to a building separate from the hospital. They put her in her own personal room at the request of Tao. They weren’t allowed in for another thirty minutes while the nurses and doctors did some last final check-ups. When they were allowed to go in, all five of them slowly trudged inside.

Silent tears stained Tao’s cheeks. Chanyeol had finally stopped fidgeting. In fact, he was as motionless as Kris had been. Soojin clung to Baekhyun tightly, hiding her face in his chest as her sobs racked her body. Baekhyun wrapped his arms around her, kissing the top of her head as his own tears spilled.

Kris was the only one who wasn’t crying because he didn’t understand. Where were they? What was a hospice? How come Eunra had to be move into a separate building?

Pulling out the tiny dictionary that he had started carrying in his pocket, Kris flipped it to the right section. His eyes scanned the page and found it. Hospice. A health-care facility for the terminally ill that emphasize pain control and emotional support for the patient and family, typically refraining from taking extraordinary measures to prolong life.^[1]

In other words, Kris thought, it’s a place where people who have no chance to live go to die.

“Hey, there’s no need to cry,” Eunra’s voice echoed through the room. “I made this choice.”

Everyone was surprised that she was awake. They thought the anesthesia would have kept her asleep for at least a couple hours. Tao was the first to react. He was at her side in less than a second.

“Why are you awake? You should rest,” he said gently. Kris wanted to say the same thing but his vocal cords failed him.

“I’m alright. I wanna stay awake because I wanna see you guys,” she responded. Her voice sounded fragile unlike how she usually shouted and cheered loudly. It was like she struggled even to utter a sound.

Tao tried his best to get her to rest but Eunra was stubborn. She would not close her eyes no matter what and everyone eventually gave in. They chatted with her quietly, trying to sound as normal as possible. The one who was best at that was Chanyeol. He somehow managed a tiny grin as he told her corny jokes. She laughed at them all and Kris noticed the way her eyes crinkled at the corners when she smiled. He always liked that about her.

The five of them stayed there until visiting hours were over and the nurses had to kick them out. They all went home, mumbling soft goodbyes to one another. Kris entered his apartment and realized that he hadn’t said anything to Eunra at all. He had merely sat in the corner, watching. He wondered if she hadn’t noticed him there but he couldn’t forget the way her eyes kept going towards him. Their eyes would meet and they would hold each other’s gazes for a while before Kris looked away first.

Something felt wrong as Kris stood in his bedroom. He couldn’t just let Eunra die like that. A feather fell onto the ground and Kris knew exactly what he needed to do once he saw it. He ran out of his apartment moving faster than he had ever moved before. Rushing up to the roof, Kris wasted no time as he jumped into the air and spread his wings. All fifteen and a half feet of pure, white, feathery glory unfurled and flapped repeatedly, sending Kris soaring into the air.

Kris hadn’t realized he had been standing in his bedroom for hours until he saw that the sun had already set over the horizon and the moon was glowing brightly. It was probably around 11 or midnight so he had no worries of anybody seeing him. Not that it mattered to him.

At the rate he was flying, Kris got to the hospice in five minutes. He closed his eyes as he thought about which room Eunra was in. Visualizing it in his mind, he made his way towards the correct window.

Reaching behind him, Kris gently plucked out one of his feathers. He held it in his palm and it floated into the air and burst into flames. Then, he flew through the window. It was the first time he had ever used his wings’ powers.

Landing gracefully on his feet, Kris didn’t bother to fold in his wings. Eunra was asleep in bed. Quietly padding over to her, his expression softened and his lips curled up into a tender smile. Eunra’s lips also curved into a tiny smile and Kris wondered what she was dreaming about. It made one of his memories come to the front of his mind.

Kris walked over to the railings and looked out. Namsan Tower. That’s where Eunra had brought them. It was just the two of them, Tao and the others didn’t know they were there. Eunra skipped towards him and sighed in content. She spread her arms to the side and closed her eyes.

“Isn’t this nice? I love coming up here. Being up so high feels so wonderful. It makes me wish I could fly. Hmm, if I had just one wish it would be to fly through the sky with no restraints and no worries.” She opened her eyes and turned towards him. “What about you? What would be your one wish?”

Kris smiled and shrugged. “I don’t know.” She laughed in response and closed her eyes again.

“You’re weird, you know that? Every human has a wish they want granted.”

A bitter laugh escaped Kris’s lips. Eunra had pointed out the fact that he wasn’t human without even knowing it. An angel didn’t need any wishes. But at that moment, Kris had a wish. He wished that he could grant Eunra’s wish.

“Kris? Is that you?”

Her voice startled him and he nearly turned around and jumped out the window. However, he stopped himself. He wasn’t going to hide what he was in front of her anymore.

“Yes. It’s me.”

A smile appeared on her face, lighting up her features. “Come over here,” she said as she gestured towards him with her hand. Kris walked towards her and stood by the bed.

“What brings you here?” she asked nonchalantly as if it was just a normal day.

“I’m here to grant your wish.”

Before she could ask him how, Kris carefully took out the IV drip. Then he lifted her into his arms and started walking towards the window. This time, he unlocked it and slid it open with one hand.

“What are you doing?” Eunra asked.

“Trust me.”

She didn’t say anything else and wrapped her arms around his neck. Kris couldn’t suppress the smile bursting on his face. He held her tightly and then climbed up on the ledge of the window. “1, 2, 3,” he whispered. On three, he kicked off and jumped out the window. Eunra gasped when she felt the night air hit her. Kris’s wings pumped up and down and the pair was soon spiraling towards the sky.

Kris flew around and Eunra became less and less nervous. She soon started enjoying the feeling and she laughed with joy. “This is amazing! It’s even better than I imagined it,” she exclaimed.

He didn’t say anything but smiled tenderly. He focused on flying and the feeling of holding the girl he was in love with in his arms.

“So, you’re an angel. Right?”

Kris nodded. “Yeah.”

“That’s cool.”

He chuckled at how calmly she took in the fact that he wasn’t human. Kris suddenly stopped and his wings move on their own to keep them suspended in the air. He stared into her eyes and she was caught in his gaze. Kris felt his heart jumping and flipping in his chest and he didn’t mind it at all.

“I love you.”

The words floated in the air and Eunra didn’t make any reaction for a second. All she did was gaze into Kris’s eyes. He was afraid she hadn’t heard or she didn’t feel the same way until she gripped his neck tighter and lifted her head up towards him, capturing his lips in his very first kiss.

Their lips melded together perfectly and Kris thought that his heart couldn’t feel any lighter. He felt like he was soaring way above even the heavens. This was all he needed and all he ever wanted. This feeling of being with the one you love.

The kiss was broken and both of them felt like it hadn’t lasted long enough. “I love you too,” Eunra whispered back. Kris smiled and he continued flying. They flew through the night skies until Eunra fell asleep in Kris’s arms. He wanted to fly like that forever but Kris knew his time was up.

He got back to the hospice and placed Eunra back in bed gently. Then, he reached out towards his wing and plucked a feather from it. Holding out the feather in his palm just like before, he closed his eyes. Yet again, the feather floated up in the air before bursting into a bright, orange, red, and yellow ball of flame. This feather turned into ashes that drifted off of Kris’s hand and sprinkled over Eunra. With a tiny glow, the ashes disappeared as if they had melted into Eunra’s body.

Kris gazed at Eunra one last time, a tear trickling down his cheek, before he was blinded with a white light. The next thing he knew, he was standing back in Heaven.

---

^[1] source: dictionary.reference.com- definition for Hospice

Don't unsubscribe yet! There will be a short epilogue after this. I hope you all enjoyed reading this threeshot! :)

Oh, and I'd just like to say that this chapter is 6,987 words long. I'm pretty proud of myself lol But don't worry, the epilogue won't be that long. It'll definitely be less than 1,000 words. OTL