A/N: How's it going, everyone? ^^ I'm going to be busy this week so I decided to post this now. Be warned though, it's more serious than the first part. Read on. :)

“I know you’re God and all, Fernando, but next time, let’s not use your idea anymore. It .”

Fernando only laughed it off. He thought it was a fun way to travel.

Apparently, heaven’s version of teleporting was similar to being trapped inside a salt-shaker. It was dizzying. If it wasn’t for the gentle hand that rubbed her back, she would have puked on Fernando’s clothes. His divine touch somehow soothed her stomach that was forcefully trying to regurgitate Mary’s cooking.

“Don’t let Mary know that you almost threw up her little lamb, kay? Get it? Because we had lamb chops for lunch?” And then he snickered at the pun. “I am so good at puns!”

“Oh, brother.” She rolled her eyes at him. “Let’s just go, please. This teleportation machine thing is making my stomach topsy-turvy.”

Then Fernando helped her out of the platform, even holding her hand like a total gentleman because he’s polite like that. “The humans can’t see us, by the way. We are nothing but air to them so don’t feel conscious about yourself.”

Taeyeon walked down patch of freshly mowed grass, her calluses that grew thicker over the time she spent walking barefoot in heaven finally served its purpose of becoming temporary feet protection. She looked around the area and saw the familiar-looking groups of people picnicking on overly cliché checkered blankets.

She remembered when Tiffany dragged her all the way here from church with a picnic basket and a happy heart in tow. The sun betrayed them later that day because when they thought it was going to be sunny and breezy, it pelted rain so hard, the sandwiches Tiffany made were pitifully dismembered on the paper plates. Yet it was one of their best memories. They played and kissed in the rain. It was exhilarating.

Fernando’s deep voice wafted into her ears. “Was the Mary had a little lamb joke too much?”

“I’m fine.” She forced a small smile. The memories were still raw and painful. “Just reminiscing, that’s all.”

“Whatever it is, you can count on me. I don’t like it when you think twice about approaching me like last time.” 

Taeyeon nodded and walked ahead, leaving Fernando briskly chasing after her while she pretended to cough into her knuckle when in fact, she was wiping her eyes.

He knew better, of course. He was God after all.

**

“The house is empty. Where does she usually go around this time?"

They craned their necks so they could see over the tall fence, standing on their tiptoes like notorious thieves. Or ballerinas. When Tiffany had this renovated, she can’t remember. All she knew was that behind the fence was a small garden, she and Tiffany liked to eat healthily in the weekends, but they would go back to eating meat hours later. Tiffany loved meat. It was Taeyeon who was health-conscious. They even joined a yoga class. Once. Because Tiffany quitted three days after the admission. “Everything hurts. It’s all your fault. Massage me now,” she used to argue. And then Taeyeon would relent to everything. That’s how much she loved her.

Even more, actually.

“At work, I guess.” She replied, finally resting her sore toes.

“But Tiffany gave up her job last year so she can’t be at the office.”

Taeyeon widened her eyes at him. “She did?!”

“Yeah. Shortly after you passed away, she got depressed and resigned.” Fernando sagged against the wooden wall, tired. “Don’t worry, she’s better now.”

“How could this happen? I died a week ago, right?”

“No, Taeyeon. Death fetched you around November last year. Remember when you woke up in the desert? You slept for months before that.” He explained in such a simple, gentle way, Taeyeon wasn’t even alarmed when she realized that she was in a coma for almost a year. “It doesn’t matter now. You got through the judgment session at the purgatory and entered heaven anyway.”

“Ah, okay. I got it.”

“Eh? You’re not shocked?”

She laughed. “Let’s see. I’m dead. I got into heaven. I’m hanging out with God who turns out to be a Spanish wannabe. I think I’ve already gotten the biggest surprise.”

“Getting more mature, I see.” He gathered the tips of his tunic and carried it, revealing a pair of dirty feet. “Well come on, Taeyeon. Let’s not waste the minutes.”

It would have been a funny sight to gawk at: an eccentric man in a flowing tunic and a girl in an all-white ensemble, walking barefoot on a warm day in modern Seoul. “Or Sole. Get it? Because Seoul?” Fernando butted in with another hilariously ridiculous pun. If only the people could see them, they’d be laughing their asses off.

The pair walked down the hot pavement. Dried gum got stuck in between Fernando’s toes so they had to make a pit stop to pull the blasted thing off his foot. And Taeyeon would sigh in return, “Maybe if you wore shorter clothes you’d see where you’re going.”

They passed by the familiar river bank where she and Tiffany used to go. Even the busker still stood there, hat upturned to receive money while he played his music. 

Tiffany enjoyed strolling around this area because the air was fresh and it made her feel drowsy, so she would rest her head against Taeyeon’s chest, cuddling under her chin so she could hear her heartbeat. Lub dub it goes. It said her name many times, but it said ‘I love you’ twice as much.

“There you go again.”

“H-Huh? What’s wrong?”

“You’re crying.” Fernando raised his arm towards her. “Here. Use my sleeve to dry your tears.”

“I was not crying!” She quickly regained composure and wiped her cheeks. “Dirt got into my eyes, that’s all.”

“Pff. There are two kinds of people in this universe, those who actually cry and those who lie.”

She opened to retaliate but Fernando pulled her forward.

“Knowing that you’re going to talk back, it’s better to just move so you’ll keep quiet. Let’s go find your girl.”

Taeyeon unconsciously smiled, silently grateful that Fernando was putting a lot of effort into helping her, even showing her moral support when it wasn’t very necessary. Like now. She was never neglected.

It’s true. God is good.

Downtown Seoul was so packed with people, they had to squeeze into the tiny gaps between the bodies so they could get through the crowd. And then the people would shudder. “That was unusually very cold,” they’d comment.

Taeyeon and Fernando finally breathed fresh air after they had successfully passed the huge shopping mob.

“Look, Fernando!” She pointed at a quaint-looking Japanese noodle shop. “Tiffany and I used to come here a lot. They have the best ramen in town. And after eating, we’d go to the noraebang to sing the night away.” A bitter smile graced her lips.

Fernando squeezed her shoulder. Smiling, he said, “Mary will make the exact replica of that ramen when we get back to heaven. I’ll have Leroy install a karaoke machine in the garden so we can all sing like Beyonce. Flora’s annoyingly perfect at impersonating human singers. We could even invite Whitney Houston over to sing for us live. Don’t you worry. We’ll make memories of our own.”

“Thanks, Fernando. I want to say I love you but it feels so gay.”

“Damn straight! Fist bump?” He lifted a knuckle.

“Respect right there!” She knocked on the fist with her own, grinning.

“That’s right. You’re my nigga.” Then he ruffled her hair. “Come on, kid.”