I unlocked the front door to my house carefully, as if I didn't want to break the silence that has been enveloping us since we said goodbye to Lay.

"Talk to me," Kris spoke up almost the same time as the door clung shut, "what are you thinking?"

I took a deep breath and sighed, proceeding to the kitchen to get a glass of water first. Kris followed and leaned on one of the counters. I can feel his gaze on my back as I did my business at the refrigerator.

"I'm not sure what to think," I began after taking a gulp of cold water, "I mean...I knew Kai was different. His ability is unique. But I never thought that it came from a curse. Even worse, I never thought that angels can curse people! You're supposed to be the good guys!"

"We are, Haneul. But we're not perfect. And we have feelings too. Feelings that can drive some of us to do things like what Lay did. Do you think he just used Forbidden Arts on Kai for fun? He had a personal reason at the time" Kris bellowed. Noticing that he had raised his voice, he cleared his throat and continued in a hushed tone.

"There was once a girl...who had been battling a serious case of depression for so long. On the outside, she always had a bright smile to greet her friends with, but she felt hopeless inside. One day, she found a notebook" Kris raised his eyebrows at me knowingly.

A notebook just like mine. I nodded in understanding and for him to go on.

"The Elders sent her that notebook and of course, it's a package deal. Just like I was sent to watch over you, they sent an angel of hope to watch her too" he continued.

"Lay" I said, and he confirmed it with a nod.

"He came to her as a dance instructor. Recruited her into one of the most famous dance organizations in China. He knew that it would take help take her mind off of negative things and that she won't say no to such a prestigious offer. And so they met there and..." he trailed off.

"And?" I pursued when a minute of silence passed.

"And with every pirouette, every twirl, every dance...Lay fell for her" he declared, and I gasped as if he had dropped a huge bomb on me.

"But you said that's not allowed" I told Kris.

"It isn't. Lay knew that too. But he could not let her go. Even when his assignment was done, he didn't want to leave. But The Elders were firm on the rule and sent him to his next assignment right away. Somewhere far from the girl. Here..." Kris said with both thumbs pointing to the ground.

"Here...you mean Korea?" I clarified.

"Here, as in...this house. He was assigned to a little, playful boy..." he turned to me as if waiting for my reaction.

But this was Kai's old house, isn't it?

"Kai?" I gasped. Kris nodded with a hint of a smirk.

"You see, your little boyfriend was--"

"He's not my boyfriend!" I huffed.

"Alright, alright. You see that boy had a lot of energy in him. He couldn't stay put. He liked to wander around to play, ignoring his 'uncle' Lay" Kris rolled his eyes.

"Well, how old was he? Aren't kids usually like that? That's not enough reason to put a curse on him" I frowned.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. He was young, alright. But can you let me finish over here?" Kris demanded and I crossed my arms as a cue for him to continue.

"Well, Lay always tells him to stop leaving the house and going to random neighbors all the time. But then during one of their conversations, he was triggered by something Kai said..."

I took in a deep breath to prepare myself for what's to come.

"He said that if he could, he'll never come home. Because he's sick of hearing his mom preach to him about the importance of family and love before going to sleep at night. He looked straight at Lay and said that doing things for the sake of love was stupid. Lay's broken heart could not handle it. So he told Kai," Kris paused to look at me, "to never come home."

I blinked as I tried to take in the information. Never come home?

"That's why Kai now finds himself waking up to highway pavements or other places, with no control of where he is to go," Kris explained.

"So his teleportation is the curse..." I mumbled.

"But Lay regretted it soon enough. When he realized the reason why that kid was given an angel of hope by The Elders. It was because he hopelessly cries himself to sleep at night as he hears his father hurt his mother in the other room. That's why he didn't like staying at home. The reason why he thought doing things for love was stupid is because his mom tells him every night that she'll never leave his dad even if he beats her up. Because of family. Because of love" Kris finished in a whisper.

"If he regretted it, why didn't he just revoke the curse?" I asked rather loudly, a spur of emotions boiling inside of me.

"It was too late. He had already been banished by The Elders for using a curse from Forbidden Arts. Left on the streets of the earth with no food, no clothes, no shelter..." he said with a pained expression.

"Then why didn't any of your so-called elders remove the curse?" I gritted my teeth in demand of a valid explanation.

"Because it also requires one to perform Forbidden Arts to counter Forbidden Arts. Like a diamond breaks another diamond. And..remember the third short essay question in the Science exam the other day?" he suddenly asked.

I paused for a while to recall my thoughts and nodded, "It's about the Law of Conservation of Energy."

"Right, energy can neither be created nor destroyed," Kris affirmed, "and magic is energy too. The curse doesn't just go poof. It transfers to whoever takes it out. Which is why The Elders were alarmed when you wrote a wish asking for Kai to be able to control his ability. As a subject, we had to protect you."

"So that's why it didn't work" I muttered.

"One of our elders thought of a plan. I did not approve of it very well, but what could I do? He's my elder" he said.

"W-what plan?" I suddenly became wary, realizing they may have been operating right under my very nose without my knowledge.

Kris took a deep steady breath before revealing the truth.

"To make you push Kai away voluntarily. Through little things that will make you lose trust in him," he said, "like that missing bunny stuffed toy of yours."

My eyes suddenly heated up. "Did you do that? Did you set up Kai?"

"Not me," Kris shook his head, "Minseok took it when you let him into your house to use the bathroom that morning."

The events seemed to fall into place so suddenly. That's why he appeared into my life, accusing Kai of grave things. He was rather successful. After that encounter, I've never seen Kai again. Minseok also disappeared shortly after.

"But you said Minseok transferred schools. Aish, so that was a lie too" I shook my head in frustration.

"I'm sorry, Haneul. I had no choice but to say as he instructed. He's my elder" Kris replied apologetically.

"Now it makes sense why Chen miraculously got his dream scholarship out of nowhere and Minseok just 'happened' to apply exactly when he left," I snickered, "my understanding of angels is really going haywire. Now that I know where it all began, it makes sense that you're not allowed to fall in love with humans. Disasters like this happen."

"Please don't say that," he whispered so softly, uncharacteristic of him, "like Lay said, he didn't mean it."

I could see that he was genuinely hurt. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean it that way" I sighed.

"No, in a sense, you're right. Why didn't they just assign Hana to that girl instead of Lay? They are aware of that saying that humans always toss around: it's hard for a guy and a girl to be just friends" he said.

"That's not true. We are friends, see" I pointed out.

Kris snickered and walked towards me all of a sudden, standing too close that I had to lean back on a countertop.

"You sure?" he grinned mischievously.

The distance made me blink furiously and right then I wished I could teleport out like Kai. Or that he will suddenly come and take me away from here. Anywhere.

Just as I was about to answer, the doorbell rang and saved me from holding my breath any further. Kris stepped away and I stood up straight, smoothening my pants on the way out.

Aigoo, this day really handed me so many doors to open.