“Yunho!” Jihye rushed to her brother’s bed-side.

“Jihye!” He struggled to sit up, and she gave him a ginger embrace.

“Are you alright? I heard you were shot in the chest-what happened?”

“What happened to you?” he countered. “Someone told me you were kidnapped in school.”

“What?”

Jihye turned to see her parents in the doorway, growing pale.

“There was a kidnapping?” her mother asked.

“Why weren’t we notified? Your school was supposed to be the most secure!” Her father said at the same time.

Jihye sighed and gripped her brother’s hand. “Remember I tried to tell you guys I didn’t want to go back for Spring Break? Well…”

*

“Stephanie, you’re going to have to eat.” Donghae plopped the tray of food onto the night stand.

Stephanie sat on her bed, motionless. Ever since she returned home, she had been stuck in bed. Her eyes were closed, her hands peacefully folded in front of her.

Donghae sat by her side, sighing. “You demons are strange. You’re strong, fearless, and spirited one second, the next you’re barely alive.”

Stephanie still sat there, as if she didn’t hear him.

He stood up and walked to the window. “Jessica was like this at times, but this is the first time I’ve seen you like this.” He chuckled softly. “Don’t worry, Stephanie. I’ve learned to embrace your world instead of run away. I will be a better man this time.” He looked down at the setting sun. “I promised you and Soo-yeon at least that much.”

Donghae closed his eyes and visualized both women in the shadows of his eyelids. Their blue eyes glowed as they stared intently at him, their wings framing their pale bodies.

“I used to be afraid. But now all I can do is admire at the beauty both of you share.” He laughed. “Does that make me a monster? Admiring what other people consider scary?”

He opened his eyes and walked back to the bedside. He bent down and checked Stephanie’s forehead, which was normal temperature. He checked her pulse, which beat steadily although it was slower than usual. He tucked a stray hair behind her ear, kissed her forehead, and left the room.

*

“I’m so glad you’re safe,” Mrs. Jung sobbed as she hugged her daughter. “That must have been terrifying!”

Jihye smiled in her mother’s embrace. “It was, but I’m here now Mom.”

“I’m so glad you’re now better too,” the older lady said, sniffing, as she patted her son’s hand.

“I am too, Mom.”

“We must leave,” Chairman Jung interjected with a gentle voice. “The visiting hours are over.”

“We can see him tomorrow, right?” Jihye asked, reluctantly getting up.

“How about we first get you home, and we play everything by ear? You had a long day, sweetheart.”

“Okay.” Jihye gave her brother one last hug, and then left the room. Her mother joined her, her arm over her daughter’s shoulder.

Chairman Jung stepped up to his son’s bedside. His normally stern face now looked pained.

“I’m sorry Father that your vacation was cut short.”

The old man shook his head and clasped Yunho’s hand. “Never apologize when your health is compromised. I should have protected you better.”

“You couldn’t have done anything.”

The man smiled. “Ah, son, you will not understand until you become a father yourself. You soon realize your life is only a quilt of regrets stitched together with grief, love, and happiness.” The man reached into his pocket and put something into his son’s hands. “This letter came in today for you. Since you never get letters, I’m sure this is quite urgent. We’ll be here to see you as soon as we can, but I hope you don’t mind if it’s not tomorrow. We want to make sure Jihye is alright as well.”

Yunho nodded. “Good night, Father.”

“Good night, son.”

As the door closed behind the old man, Yunho looked at the envelope. His name was written with a standard computer font. He ripped the envelope open and looked at the writing in the letter, also typed up.

“Dear Yunho,”

“If you’re reading this, then I have passed on. My plan has been complete, and I have fled from this world from the time being. Since I had to deliberately plan everything around you without telling you, I’m sure you want some explanations. I hope I can answer every question you have right now and bring you at peace. Peace that I can only wish to everyone that has entered my life.”

“I’m sure your first question is who I am. I am a demon. I was born with blue eyes, and I was flying and causing trouble by the time I was four. How did this happen?”

“My father was a demon. My mother was human. Every child they had a fifty percent chance of having monster tendencies, fifty percent chance of being normal. I always wondered why I had to be stuck as the monster, but then my sister was born. I realized then how frail people are. My position became my sister’s guardian. As I grew older, I wanted to become the guardian of everyone I loved.”

“But what exactly is a demon? We are like humans, but we have super natural strength, strange colored eyes, and wings. I like to think that we are half angels, half devils. We all have a purpose for each life, and often we fulfill that purpose right before we die. Often we commit good deeds with violent solutions, which may be another reason why we die so soon. It’s a reason why the people around us can never have normal lives, and often we die by trying to avenge other deaths we have witnessed. That is certainly the case for me.”

“When I was thirteen, my family moved back to Korea. My father held a business, and he was quite successful. My sister and I would go to school in the United States, then live with our parents during the holidays. We were content with our lives, and it almost felt like nothing could go wrong.”

“When I was sixteen, my father’s company had grown large enough to catch Director Park’s attention. He decided to eliminate his competition, and went into my father’s building. Somehow the security didn’t catch him, and he made his way to my father’s office. My mother was waiting for my father to come back from a meeting, and so when Director Park let loose gunfire, my mother was the one to fall, not my father.”

“A thing about demons is that we can only be reborn if the person we entrust our lives to is still alive. My father had entrusted my life to my mother.  As a result, my parents died together that day. My sister and I became orphans. I started to work at a florist’s in order to support both of us, and we had to stay in Korea because we had nothing left. Luckily Director Park knew nothing of our existence.”

“As I tried to survive, I always had this wish to avenge my parents’ death. I did not want anyone else to die the way they did, helpless and at the mercy of someone’s greedy ambition. I also wanted to get my hands on the throat of the person who took away my sister’s childhood.”

“I’m sorry you had to be involved. It was worse that you were my classmate, and you tried valiantly to get me to open up. Perhaps it would have been easier if we had never met before I took my revenge. But too soon, I found myself falling for you. I tried to keep myself away from you to prevent my regret, but it was too late. Perhaps you wanted it too? If I had to list my regrets, one of them was never getting to know you better.”

“You’re probably reading this in the hospital, or maybe you’ve already left. If you have any injuries, I’m sorry. If things went the way I expected them, you may have injuries you don’t remember receiving. If that happened, well, when I died giving my heart to you, I also gave you my injuries. I’m very sorry it went this way, but that’s what happens when a demon dies giving away his or her heart, but the condition is that although you’ll suffer from those injuries, you won’t die from them. If this wasn’t so, then know that I did plan to do so. Perhaps it’s best that you didn’t receive anything from me.”

“If you feel any regret about preventing my death, but I’m certain you don’t, there’s another thing I must tell you. A demon can feel time flowing in the past and the future up to the vague point of his or her death. Because I could feel time and when it was being obstructed, I knew around this time I would die. I wanted to die with a purpose, not because of some fluke car accident or a falling tree. My resolve was only strengthened when my parents died, and I knew that I would die righting some wrongs.”

“If you had hope for us, as I would have if I hadn’t already known my future, then I remind you this: A demon can always be born again if the person holding their life is still alive. This person will be the one I love the most at the moment. You can find me again. However, I may not remember. I will only reclaim my memories of the people my person has met, and I don’t think you ever have met her.”

“But this lovesick girl has faith. Yes, I give you permission to laugh and toss this letter aside right now. Perhaps you think a demon cannot love or daydream about her future that she doesn’t know if it will exist, but the last time I smiled was because of you. Even now I want to delete this entire letter and let your forget me, but I know it’s my last chance. I rather disappear from your world knowing I tried to leave some roots, then fly away like I didn’t care.”

“Yunho, if this is the last time we meet, I hope to wish you the best of all the lives you could have, and may you receive all the happiness you deserve.”

“Jung Soo-yeon, AKA Jessica.”

*

“This will be your room. Any questions?” The school official asked, turning to Krystal with an expectant face.

“No.” Krystal pulled her suitcase next to her and examined the room. “No,” she repeated as she rolled the blue charm of her necklace between her fingers, “Thank you.”

The room was bare, but there was a bed and a desk. There was a window that allowed the sunlight to filter into the room. Nothing of hers had been taken away from her.

And most important of all, it was in the land she called home.

*

“Yunho?”

Yunho opened his eyes as his light nap was interrupted and a smile spread across his face as he saw his guest. “Uncle Shin!”

The man’s eyes crinkled behind his round glasses and his tall stature shook with the light chuckle. “Now, Yunho, how did you get here? Were you reaching for stars that were too far away from you grasp, again? I told you to never climb that old tree, it couldn’t support your ambitions or your weight.”

Yunho laughed back at the inside joke, clasping the man’s hand. “Perhaps, Uncle Shin, perhaps. It’s so nice for you to see me.”

“Anything for a family friend, my boy.” The man groaned as he sat down in the chair near the bedside. “So, I hear two detectives tried to interrogate you the other day.”

“Yeah.” Yunho gave a wry smile. “I was still on the anesthesia from the surgery. I’m afraid I might have given them a hard time.”

“As you should have. They did not have the right to question you without your family’s consent and without the presence of your lawyer.” The old man shook his head. “I’m afraid of the justice system of this country sometimes.”

“Perhaps they were desperate to hear from me before the media. I suppose since I am the heir to Jung Fortune, some media sources might have noticed my causality.”

“Some?” The man laughed. “Being modest as always about your family’s name. The whole country is discussing the scene. The police are stumped as usual, although this time I do not blame them. The crime seems to go around in circles.”

Yunho closed his eyes for a while. “Is there I need to do, Uncle Shin?”

“Yes. However, before I tell you anything more, I need to say I’m not only here as a friend, but as a lawyer. I’m here to offer my services to you Yunho. Will you accept?”

Yunho smiled. “Of course. I would trust you with my life, Uncle Shin.”

“Isn’t that a little bit too early to say after you just survived a gunshot?” The man teased.

The hospital room rang with laughter in the still corridor on a quiet Monday.

*

I avenged their deaths. I achieved everything this life was supposed to be. My spirit is at peace. Your time for grief can end now.

But my friend, are you ready to be awakened?

I am ready. I have left myself no regrets. I am ready.

Stephanie’s eyes opened to a sunrise.

[A/N] Hey guys!

So yes somewhat late update but holy crap it's twice as long as I had planned to do it. That's right-half of this was written yesterday. You can gag now.

This also might have been delayed even further because my computer had been crashing ALL THE FREAKING TIME last week. So I got it reinstalled maybe two days agao so I've been adding on ever since. I also couldn't almost upload this because apparently AFF won't let me paste using internet explorer. (Why wouldn't IE let me paste from Word? They're made from the same company...>.<) I just downlodaded Chrome so all should be good now...-prays-

HAPPY HOLIDAYS, hope all of you are safe and warm, perhaps hanging out with family and friends...

One more chapter? I really want to finish this before the year ends...we'll see :3

And before you all complain about one last chapter left, this chapter took up...5 pages on word. 5 PAGES. I'm getting good at writing everything together :3

See ya guys at the end! ^_^