Chapter Two

Monday- six days ago

“Donghae!” Donghae could hear his name being called from behind him but he opted to ignore his friend and pretend not to have heard anything, instead quickening his pace and taking a turn down a corridor as he made his way down to the school’s cafeteria. He had forgotten to pack some lunch that day and was glad for his secret stash of money that he kept in a stinky old sock in his locker.

He was just about to enter the cafeteria when he felt his arm being tugged by a cold hand and, thinking it was his friend, he hurled around quickly with the fiercest snarl on his face for having been interrupted in his mission to go get food.

Only, when he saw that it wasn’t his friend that had hold of his hand but the boy named Eunhyuk that his friend had showed him the other day, Donghae froze, not really knowing why the boy’s presence felt so familiar to him all of a sudden.

Did he know him from somewhere?

“Can I help you?” Donghae asked the boy who had a hold of him and for a moment there, as he looked into his eyes, he could swear he saw him panic before he let go mumbling “no” under his voice and walking away.

This confused Donghae a tremendous amount but he let it slide when he heard the sound of his grumbling tummy.

Food came first, then mystery.

Donghae bought his food and headed out to where he was sure to find his brother on the smokers field- not that they actually let students smoke at their school, but everyone new that the notorious rebels all hung out in the same spot, hence they decided to just call it "the smokers field" after their bad habits.

Just as Donghae thought, Donghwa was leaning against a tree at his usual spot and so without any second thoughts he made his way over to him.

Donghwa, however fond of his baby brother, was not fond of seeing him hanging out at such a place and so the moment he saw Donghae approaching he closed the distance between them with long strides and turned his brother around.

“One time was fine, but I’m not going to let you start hanging out here. You’ll catch on to some bad habits.” Donghwa said, not leaving any room for argument as he pushed his brother away and in the direction of the cafeteria.

Donghae didn’t utter a single syllable in defiance knowing very well how commanding and intolerant his brother could be. Instead, he simply shrugged his shoulders in defeat and began heading to where he was sure his friends would be waiting for him.

He wasn’t really in the mood to hang out with them and just wanted to sit in peaceful silence while he ate. As he made his way to the crowded cafeteria Donghae contemplated just taking his lunch and eating in the bathroom, but then he thought how dirty and gross that was so he rebuffed the idea right away.

He was just about to enter the crowded space of the cafeteria when for the second time that day he felt a hand on his own and when he turned around again it was the same guy as the last time.

However, instead of just taking his hand and letting go like the last time, this time he pulled Donghae in the direction of the lawn that was directly in front of the school gates, a place they weren’t allowed to be during school time.

Donghae thought he heard him mutter something like “Come with me” before he felt himself being pulled away from his intended destination.

He wondered what this guy could possibly want with him as Eunhyuk found a hidden spot near the wall on the far end of the lawn and led him there.

They sat down and Donghae watched him expectantly as Eunhyuk did nothing more than look up to watch the clouds float by in the light blue sky with scatterings of white puff all about.

Donghae was about to enquire again as to what he could do for the boy named Eunhyuk but he figured that this was what he had wanted to begin with so he shouldn’t dig too deep into it.

The quiet was the only thing that could soothe his constantly aching heart and clear his ever-buzzing head.

Today had been a good day for his dad; just a mild ache in his head and fatigue. When Donghae had left the house his dad had been resting peacefully after taking his pain medication so he felt like he deserved to give his brain a little rest as well.

Funny enough, Donghae found that being around Eunhyuk was calming him considerably. He had a feeling similar to the feeling he would get whenever he sat at the park late at night and it felt so comfortable in the warmth of Eunhyuk’s silent presence that he didn’t even hear when the first bell went off and was surprised and disappointed when he saw the other suddenly get up onto his feet and dust the grass and little grains of sand off his pants.

Donghae got up too and dusted his own pants before following Eunhyuk back to the classroom corridors.

At the entrance to the main corridor the boys found themselves standing there in silence, not quite sure if they should say words of goodbye or just what to do for that matter. Donghae was starting to feel the awkward air around them eating away at him and opened his mouth to say something when he was interrupted by Eunhyuk’s hushed voice.

“See you tomorrow at the same spot.” Was all he said as he looked at Donghae with a plain expression, and then he just walked away- leaving Donghae wondering just exactly what that had been.

Donghae rushed his way to class and made it there just as the second bell went off, his mind still filled with thoughts of the boy named Eunhyuk and how weird it had been that he’d just approached him like that for no given reason.

What bothered Donghae the most about Eunhyuk was just how comfortable he managed to make him feel, and even without saying a single word.

Donghae decided to let the thought slide as his class began and his mind went into school mode.

He would solve the mystery of Eunhyuk later.

*

When Tuesday came, Donghae couldn’t help but to look for Eunhyuk everywhere he went.

He spotted him once in the corridor while changing classes and once again when he was going to gym class towards the end of the day.

Donghae had gone to the spot where Eunhyuk had said to meet him at break time only to spend the entire hour sitting alone.

Eunhyuk had not come.

He had expected to be joined by the other boy; although they had just met the previous day, Donghae had trusted in the warmth he had sensed in him as they sat quietly together yesterday.

Turns out he was wrong to do so.

Making his way back to class, he found it difficult lifting his slouched shoulders up high, and even when his friends welcomed him with warms smiles as he joined them at their table during their second break; Donghae felt saddened by the false hope of a new companion.

That night when he got home he went straight to his room and busied himself until night time came. When he felt it safe enough, he packed his usual pen and journal into his backpack - not forgetting a cushion -  and headed to his usual spot opposite the park.

The presence was there again, though Donghae couldn’t help but find it less soothing than usual on that particular night.

“I felt you inside of a boy at school yesterday. But you weren’t there today.” He said into the darkness around him.

No reply came - just as he had grown accustomed to - but he continued none-the-less.

“Is it possible for me to see you?” he asked the presence that always stuck by him now. It had become a permanent fixture in his life and he trusted in its existence without need of any further prompting, but with the desire to fully experience this existence by seeing it.

“Can you show yourself to me?”

As the night faded into the overwhelming light of a new day, Donghae found himself safely in bed when the time finally came to prepare for another day at school.

Last he remembered he had been sitting on the bench at the park the night before and he had decided to close his eyes for just a second to give them the rest they desired.

How he had come to be in his bed the morning after puzzled him greatly.

Donghae got out of bed and made his way to the bathroom in the hallway. Just as he was coming back out again he heard a scream coming from his mother and ran down the hall to his parents’ bedroom.

Upon arriving he noticed that nobody was in the bedroom and there was a puddle of blood on one of the pillows on the bed so he decided to have a look inside the master bathroom where he could hear the fait sounds of heaving and sobbing through the wooden door.

“Mom?” he called to find out if it was safe for him to enter as he stood by the bathroom door - panic rising in his gut.

“Donghae!” his mother’s voice sounded both relieved and shaken behind the closed door, Donghae decided to finally step in and discover what was going on inside.

The view that greeted him made him freeze in his spot before springing into action.

“Should I call an ambulance?” his panicked voice broke through the silence of the bathroom as he watched his father’s slack figure leaning into the toilet bowl and saw the blood at the back of his hand. Donghae wondered what had happened and was given an answer by his mother’s distraught voice.

“I woke up to find a puddle of blood next to his head and saw that he had vomited in his sleep. He vomited blood Donghae! I think he has internal bleeding.” His mother had lost all composure by the second line and Donghae had no idea what to do.

His mind had been too blank to realise what the correct action to take in such a situation would be and to actually do it. It was only when Donghwa burst into the bathroom and called an ambulance that Donghae finally snapped out of his daze.

His father had rolled off the toilet and onto the floor.

Donghwa had fetched a pillow from his parents’ room to place under his head.

He was lying sideways and clutching onto his stomach with a trail of blood dried down the side of his mouth.

His father’s eyes were closed and his breathing was so shallow that his body ceased to move.

He looked dead.

He honestly looked dead.

Donghae used one hand to lean against the small stretch of wall beside him as his other clutched to his chest. His entire body felt weak and he could feel the solid coldness of the tiled wall as he fell to his knees; hand sliding down the cold wall as he hit the ground.

Was this how it felt to see a loved one in pain?

How would he feel when his father actually died?

He felt Donghwa’s warm embrace around him as he watched his mother his father’s sticky head.

How could this suddenly happen after so many days of almost living peacefully again?

Where was his Star?

Where had his angel gone while his father bled through the night?

*

I was watching over you Donghae…

Hyukjae couldn’t help the guilt burning hot inside of him.

He had neglected to watch over Donghae’s family as was his duty over the last few nights.

His mind had been so filled with thoughts of ways to appear to Donghae as he had requested, that he had forgotten his true mission.

Lee Seungyeon looked on the brink of death at that moment and Hyukjae could only wonder if it was because of his lack of vigilance. Had his failure to transfer his power to Seungyeon over the past few days caused him to relapse and revert back to a weakened state?

Hyukjae watched as the paramedics arrived and put Seungyeon onto a stretcher, leading him down the flight of stairs and into the ambulance that awaited them outside.

Donghae was still in Donghwa’s arms and Kyangsuk, their mother, stood with her arms folded in a self-embrace as she shivered involuntarily at the prospect of losing her husband.

They followed the paramedics to the hospital in the family car - the entire ride there was spent in absolute and fearful silence, and the sight of them made Hyukjae want to cry.

He was at fault for this.

And he would fix this.

*

The family spent the entire day at the hospital, Hyukjae remaining by them as they embraced and awaited answers as to what Seungyeon’s situation looked like.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the hospital doors, the doctor and nurses worked to find out what was causing their patients bleeding. Was he haemorrhaging from one of his cancerous organs? If so, then how severe was it and what had caused it? Was the cancer responsible for his excretion of blood through the mouth? Had it spread and if so, how far?

All these questions were asked and Hyukjae couldn’t help but to feel that it was taking them way too long to figure things out.

Seungyeon hadn’t stopped vomiting blood since they had fetched him back at the house. It always came in bursts of and at varying intervals but without a doubt… it always came.

How much blood could one loose before they died? How long would he have to wait for the doctors to find a solution to such a fatal problem?

Hyukjae hovered over Seungyeon as the Doctor and nurses spoke in hushed voices about how to continue.

He wasn’t prepared to wait for them.

He had to do something right then or Seungyeon would die.

And sure enough, just as he reached out his hand to heal the damage inside of Seungyeon’s body that was causing him to bleed, Hyukjae was interrupted by his brother, Yesung, also known as one of the many assisting hands to Ezrael, the angel of death.

“I would have sent a reaper if I didn’t know what you were up to Hyukjae…” Yesung said; expression compassionate as he looked at his brother with tender eyes.

“It is my job to write the names of those who should die down, and I have written that of Seungyeon down at the command of my leader, brother Ezrael. Do you dare defy orders from above to save a single human life?”

Hyukjae’s form remained rigid as his hand hung over the face of a still and pale looking Seungyeon. He had been told that Seungyeon would have exactly two months, but only three weeks had passed since he had first joined the Lee family as their Guardian, so how could it be that his name had been written down?

As Yesung awaited his response, Hyukjae instead chose to be silent. He had no explanations for what he was about to do, no words to justify his defiance of orders from above.