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Warning: This is seventeen pages long so brace yourselves and...

ENJOY ^^

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Chasing Pavements

Chapter One

Donghae had never had reason to believe in miracles, fate or higher powers. He had never had reason to pursue such ideas because he had what he thought was the most perfect life ever.

His family was made up of four; him, his older brother Donghwa, his mother, and of course, his wonderful father, the most perfect man to have ever graced this earth (at least in Donghae’s eyes).

It was safe to say, that for the longest time in his life, Donghae was truly happy. At school he had many friends. He was always considered one of the more popular guys to hang out with and so even though he had never truly had a best friend, he was happy with the few friends that had actually stuck with him from an early stage in his life.

Donghae had no reasons to complain about his life, he was happy.

That is until his father started to get sick…

There was no going back from there.

Mesothelioma; a cancer that spreads aggressively throughout the entire body, using the protective outer lining of all the organs within the body against them as a way of attacking itself; something that nobody in the Lee family had expected to be the cause of their newly formed unhappiness.

How had it come to be, that someone so healthy and fresh had come to develop such an illness?

The answer was simple.

At some point in his earlier life, Lee Seungyeon, better known as "Dad" to the Lee boys and "honey" to their mother, had found himself working in an asbestos textile factory to make ends meet for his young and barely surviving family. As far as Donghae was aware, he had only worked for a year in that particular factory before finding a job better suited to his managerial skills.

But as it seems, all it had taken was a year. And now his father was doomed to die of stage 4 mesothelioma and there was nothing anybody could do to save him.

Having been discovered at such a late stage and only after the cancer had grown to unimaginable extents, doctors predicted that despite treatments to prolong his life, Lee Seungyeon was sure to die in two to three months at most, and so for the sake of his family's well-being and to their utter despair, Donghae’s father opted to just let the cancer take him instead of wasting all of his life savings on treatments that would only keep him alive long enough to extend everyone’s misery.

The year had just started, and to his despair, Donghae was already seeing obvious signs of his father’s fast deterioration.

Present time – Two days after diagnosis

“Son… I- I need you to help me get to the bathroom please.” Donghae had been making his way out the front door on his way to school when he heard his father’s weakened voice coming from the lounge. When going to investigate the situation, Donghae’s heart shattered as he found his father curled up in a ball of pain on their couch, clutching at his abdomen as though trying to contain the evident pain that was searing there.

Donghae rushed to his father’s side and tried to lift him into a sitting position only to be met by agonised grunts as the man made very slow movements to get up. Donghae cringed at the pained sounds coming from his dad’s mouth but what could he do to help the situation really? This was not the first occurrence of his father’s abdominal pain and he was quite certain that in the weeks to come, his dad would only get worse.

The thought alone filled Donghae with an immeasurable amount of sorrow as he slowly led his father to the guest bathroom on the lower floor of the house to take care of his business. The moment his dad closed the bathroom door, Donghae ran his way to his parent’s room upstairs and shook his resting mother awake.

The moment she heard what the problem was, she ran into the master bathroom and came out just a few seconds later with a tiny brown bottle of pills in her hand and a glass of water.

“Go give this to him the moment he comes out of the bathroom and I’ll go down and boil some water to put into his hot water bottle.” She paused with a slight look of shame on her face that had Donghae bow his head in understanding. “I didn’t even realise he wasn’t in bed anymore… How long has he been out there, in need of my help?”

The question went unanswered as Kim Kyangsuk- Donghae's loving mother- ran a soothing hand down the side of his face. This wasn’t any of their fault, and he needed to know that. They both needed to know that.

And so, before any more words could be spoken, Donghae gave his mother a light kiss on the cheek and made his way back to his father, giving him the medication right at the moment he exited the bathroom looking pale as and autumn morning.

He was hell-bent on staying on to watch over the resting man when his mother appeared with the hot water bottle and shooed him off to school before he even had a chance to protest. He spared one last glance at his father as he made his way out the front door on his way to school, his heart constricting at the sight of the once very healthy man who now looked like a living corpse on the living room couch.

*

“So what’s the verdict?” he heard coming from his left as he played with his yet-to-be-touched food in their school's cafeteria. Everything that had been happening lately was leaving him with less of an appetite as each day passed and he was finding it impossible to concentrate on a single word his friends had been saying the entire time he was there.

“W-what?” he managed a stutter, not sure as to what his friend Kibum was talking about. “What verdict?”

Kibum rolled his eyes at the lack of attention he had been getting from his friend of late. He had grown quite curious as to what the problem was that was causing the older male to be so distracted recently.

“About Eunhyuk…You know, the guy that I’m head over heels for.  He’s right over there hyung, you’ve been asking me to show him to you for weeks now.” Kibum whined as he noticed just how uninterested Donghae seemed to be. Sparing a glance at the male Kibum was pointing to, he nodded slightly in approval before getting back to playing with his food.

“Sure, he’s hot. Go for him, what do you have to lose.”

Donghae couldn’t bring himself to care less about some boy named Eunhyuk that his friend had a silly crush on. He had more important things to worry about and before he could be subjected to listening to more silly talk of boys from his group of friends, Donghae  quickly excused himself to the sound of bickering over the score out of ten Eunhyuk would get if his looks where to be weighed.

Donghae had no time for such idle talk. His mind was on bigger, more pressing matters at that moment. Like how long did his family truly have before they lost the man who’d been their only true role model their entire lives?

Donghae made his way to the place he knew he was most likely to find his brother. He needed someone to talk to and the only person he could think of who could empathise with him right then was his older brother Donghwa.

As he approached the smoker’s field on their school grounds- because yes, despite his father’s endless lectures about the damages such a bad habit can do to the body, Donghwa was an avid smoker- Donghae noticed that the boy he had just seen Kibum pointing out as his crush was also making his  way there. The boy named Eunhyuk reached Donghae’s brother first and gave him a casual hand shake that indicated to him that they knew each other, but by the way he just passed by after that and moved on to a more fearsome looking group of friends, Donghae could clearly tell that Donghwa was nowhere close to being friends with the boy; something that Donghae surprisingly found he was relieved about.

By the time Donghae reached his older brother, the boy was finishing off his cigarette and looking in his direction. Donghae was glad to see that for once, his brother was alone.

“Hey.” Donghae heard as he stepped up to his brother, moving in for a warm hug despite the fact that he knew just how much his brother disliked physical contact. “Heard you were late this morning, what happened?” Donghwa, despite being a bit of a rebel in comparison to his brother, had always been protective and concerned brother towards Donghae, something he always knew he could count on when he was having a bad day and just needed a shoulder to lean on. Today was one of those days so Donghae didn’t hesitate to spill it.

“Dad was in a lot of pain this morning. I found him curled up on the couch and basically unable to move because of it…” Donghae paused to let the information sink in before continuing.

“He’s getting worse hyung, and I don’t know if I can survive another two to three months of watching him like this. It already been like… a week since he started to show symptoms and now everything’s just-”

“I know… I don’t really want to be reminded of it but I suppose it can’t be helped. I’m just so ing…”

BAM!

Donghae flinched as his brother punched the nearest tree, his skin breaking at the rough impact. Shocked as he was, all he could do was to watch his brother inspect his wounded hand.

“Why the did this happen to dad? Why?! He’s been nothing but kind to everyone for his whole entire life so why!” Donghwa had started crying as he spoke and the sight of it all just made Donghae's heart tighten in pain. He had never seen his brother cry and the sight proved too much for him as he let his own tears fall slowly, hitting the ground with light, inaudible thuds as they vanished into nothingness. This was too much for them to handle, and none of them deserved it.

Donghae and Donghwa spent what remained of their break letting their sorrows flow and by the time it was time to get back to class, Donghae was all out of tears for the day.

*

Late that night, when nobody was watching, the Lee house was quiet as everybody went about their own nightly rituals. Mrs Lee went about her newly developed ritual of crying herself to sleep while her husband slept heavily from a drug induced slumber. Donghwa listened to his music so loud that his ears ached from the vibrations of the sound, trying his best to block out any thoughts of his father’s fate from flooding his mind.
  Donghae paced his room talking to the air as though there was someone there to listen. Despite his mother always insisting that they occasionally utter a little prayer of gratitude to their creator, Donghae had never really been the type to bend knee at night and actually pray.

He’d heard someone preach one time that it is only in trying times that one comes to find God, and for Donghae, these were truly trying times.

His light was slowly diminishing and he had to find a way to rekindle it; to light up the part of his life that had so quickly become dark. The only way he knew how, was through faith; something that many had vouched for in the past and many still stood by to that very day. And so, from the day his father was officially diagnosed with an incurable cancer, he had started to do something he had never felt the need to do in the past for the first time.

Having just a little bit of faith was said to see you through even the darkest times of your life. So Donghae, for his sake and that of his family, did something he never thought he’d have needed to do.

He went down on his knees and prayed.

To whom, he couldn’t quite be sure, but he’d have faith in that someone was listening.

Two days prior – The day of diagnosis 

“Hyukjae.” He heard his name being called and immediately left his current post to go to the voice. The moment he arrived to the place of summoning, Hyukjae found Siwon waiting for him patiently, a look of sadness distorting his features.

“Brother Siwon, you called me. What’s wrong?” Hyukjae asked with worry in his eyes. Siwon, one of the higher rankers in a factory of higher beings, made his way towards Hyukjae and placed a solemn hand on his shoulder, a preparation for what he is about to say.

“Brother Hyukjae,” Siwon began, “I have been given orders by our chief Raphael to give you your next assignment. You are done now with your previous one, am I correct?” Siwon asked as confirmation. Hyukjae nodded in response.

“Yes brother Siwon, I have led our new sister Chaelin over the Cinvat Bridge from the previous world into this one. She has arrived safely.” Hyukjae finished.

“Good job brother,” Siwon praised, “now, you will move onto your next humans. They are the Lee family and the father is the one on death's bed. His name is Lee Seungyeon. He has been diagnosed with cancer and is to die in exactly two months from now. He has two sons, Donghwa and Donghae, and a wife Kyangsuk. You are to watch over him and his family at all times and give them the strength they need in their time of need. When you are done with that, you are to personally deliver his soul to the Gates of Heaven, and from there you shall be given your next task.

 Basically what I’m saying, Hyukjae, is that,” Siwon paused as he took a moment to watch Hyukjae process this new information, “you have now been promoted to Guardian and will therefore see to your new duties as soon as we are done here.”

Hyukjae had not expected for this to happen so soon. Was he really so worthy that the Archangel Raphael saw it fit to move him up a few ranks to Guardian? Hyukjae could do nothing else but accept his duty like a good angel and fulfil his role to his best ability.

“Yes, brother Siwon. I will go to who you tell me the moment we are done here.” Hyukjae said to his brother. Siwon took a step away from the younger angel and examined him from afar.

“I did not expect that you should get this honour so soon brother,” he said to Hyukjae with furrowed brows, “but I will honour our Chief’s wishes and tell you all that you should expect to see and experience when you get to your assigned family. You will experience a number of different feelings that were taken from you the moment you crossed the gate from the previous life and came into this one. After a long period of experiencing nothing but internal peace, I expect that that will be overwhelming for you, but you will grow accustomed to the idea of having ordinary feelings again. After all, you were human once- though not for a very long time- before you were brought here. It will be all the harder for you considering that you’ve only ever had a second-hand experience of human emotion through you mother, so be vigilant.” Siwon paused to check that his brother was still listening. Hyukjae could only nod for him to continue as he wanted to hear all that would be expected of him and that he should expect during the next two months he would spend as a Guardian.

“I understand brother, please continue.” He said when he saw that Siwon had yet to talk again. Siwon nodded and looked him seriously in the eye.

“You should be very careful brother. When you are back in the world that you came from, you may find it difficult to keep your feelings intact. You will experience pain, and sadness both feelings that we take from every soul that enters Heaven, and if you do your job well enough, you will also get a chance to experience true happiness. Everything your assigned family goes through will affect your feelings and also the amount of strength you are able to pass on to them because of those feelings. If you can teach them to believe in your power, and ultimately the power of a Higher Being, then you will be granted more power in order to pass it on to them. Do you understand?” Siwon asked his brother before him as his brow rose in question. Hyukjae simply nodded and so Siwon continued.

“I’m also going to warn you to expect that your feelings may come to take over you. You are NOT to grow too attached to these people, do you understand?”

“Yes brother, I understand.”

“Good then. I wish you good luck brother. May you do well in this assignment and bring our brother home in peace.” Siwon gave Hyukjae a pat on the shoulder before turning around and vanishing along with the light that surrounded them.

Hyukjae looked around to find that he was now standing outside the fence to a two storey house of moderate size. He was to watch over this place and its people for the months to come and as he spotted the family making their way up their paved little walkway and into their house, the youngest son pushing the father in a wheelchair and the sad looks on their faces, Hyukjae knew that he had a lot of work to do. He could tell that getting this family to believe in a greater good would be difficult, especially since their tears, as he observed them, seemed never ending.

For an entire day, Hyukjae watched as Donghwa fought continuously with his parents as a way to lash out at the cruel world for wanting to take his father away from him. He watched as Kyangsuk, wife to Seungyeon and mother to Donghwa and Donghae, cried herself to sleep beside her husband who was in so much pain that he could not close his eyes and sleep peacefully.

Hyukjae watched as the youngest son, Donghae, fought his tears and tried his best not to fall apart as he kneeled down against his bed and clasped his hands together, speaking for what was possibly the first time to a power he hadn’t usually acknowledged in the past.

“Dear…Lord, I’m not sure how to do this but… I-I need your help. My family needs your help.” Hyukjae watched as the boy lost the battle against his tears and started to sob uncontrollably.
“I’ll do anything.”  The boy cried, “Just save my dad. Please!”

And at that moment was when Hyukjae started to truly understand just what Siwon meant when he had said that his feelings could overwhelm him, for he found himself crying, something he had not ever done in his entire existence.

Hyukjae’s heart clenched at the sight of the distraught family before him. He could not begin to think how he would turn their desperate situation into one of hope and brightness. What a difficult feat his Brother had bestowed upon him to undertake.

But he would do it, and he would do it well.

He would make this family believe in him, and in the power behind him. He would give them the strength they needed to smile again, to be happy.

And as he watched Donghae finish off his attempt at a prayer, he knew instantly who to start with.

The one who had faith in times of despair,

He was the one who had the greatest strength of them all.

Perhaps Hyukjae could gain something from giving his power to him. After all, he could only be as strong as the strength of the belief they have in him.

 And if Donghae was strong enough to believe,

Then Hyukjae would give him his strength.

*

Present time

Donghae twisted and turned in his sleep, a feeling of restlessness taking over him