Chapter Three
A Scrapbook Full Of Short Stories
“Yoongi? Can I come in?” the girl asked. My jaw dropped. Who’s this? What do I do? Is she nice?
Yoongi pushed past me and grinned, taking her coat. “Do you even need to ask?” he looked between me and her. The girl tilted her head to
the side, tugging at the short sleeve of the baggy t-shirt. The girl’s light brown hair was cut short and was mostly hidden under her cap.
I could see now why the clothes I had been given were so baggy – so were hers. “Oh, this is my friend Amber.”
“Nice to meet you.” she smiled, holding out her hand for me to shake. I took her hand, shaking it.
“I’m Yeseo.” I replied in a quiet voice. Amber grinned and slung her arm around my shoulders.
“So, how do you know my little Yoongi, then? He’s never mentioned you before.”
I opened my mouth to speak when Yoongi spoke up. “She’s staying with me now. Her family disowned her and she has nowhere to stay.”
I held back a gasp, avoiding Amber’s gaze. “I-I wasn’t disowned, Yoongi!” I protested, seeing the way Amber’s eyebrows raised in confusion.
“Look, it’s okay.” He rubbed my arms comfortingly. “They’ll see sense.” I nodded.
I sat next to Amber on the sofa. “So,” she nudged my side. “What happened with your parents?”
I looked back at Yoongi, who was leaning against the doorway. “They wanted me to get married.”
“Wow, I feel you girl. My parents always ask me why I act like such a dude. Can’t I be a tomboy without being questioned about it?”
Amber kicked off her trainers and called Yoongi over. “I haven’t spoken to my bro in such a while! Still no girlfriend?
Or have you been waiting for Yeseo?” Yoongi’s cheeks flushed pink; Yoongi turned his face away since he was so embarrassed.
“Yeseo?” he called my name. I turned to look at him, and as I looked at his face I saw that his blush had faded. “Can you go to your room for a
little bit? I need to talk to Amber.” He avoided my gaze. Amber narrowed her eyes and patted my knee.
“Why can’t she stay? Is it anything you can’t say to her face?” she asked, looking between me and Yoongi. Yoongi sighed in frustration.
“Yes, it’s kind of private.” He sounded urgent for me to go and leave them in peace.
As I got to the door Yoongi called out to me. “Yeseo, I’m sorry. We’ll go out later for dinner, okay?”
I nodded slowly and scrambled up the stairs, stopping halfway and hesitantly taking a seat.
“Why are you treating her like a child? You can’t just tell her to go to her room. She lives here now.”
“Look, I didn’t know how to get her to go. She’s-it’s complicated. She isn’t exactly from here.”
“So she’s a foreigner? Help her then!” Amber suggested. I leaned my head against the stair railing.
“No. I mean… she’s not from,” he paused. “Earth.” There was a short silence before she laughed.
“Wow, you really do fancy her, don’t you, Yoongi? Damn I was only joking before.”
“Amber!” he scolded. “I don’t… fancy anyone. She’s an angel. And no, I’m not complimenting her.”
Amber, who had started laughing partway through his reply, stopped. I reached my hand behind me, tracing the
scar on my shoulder where one of my wings used to be. “Yoongi, don’t joke about that.”
“No, she is. Ask her and she’ll tell you. I’m not sure what to do about it. She’s not exactly used to human life. She’s trying. She showers and
brushes her teeth. She’s not so good at shopping, as I found. She just… stared at everything and she thought we kept the food for winter.”
“So what are you going to do? You can’t keep her cooped up in here forever you know.”
“Oh I know. She was banished. How many days does she have left? She doesn’t need to learn about human life. She’ll be back there and
out of here in no time.” I shuffled my feet up the stairs as quietly as I could. So he wants me to go.
He can’t wait until he no longer has to look after me.
Meanwhile in Heaven…
Mija frequently watched over Yeseo, making sure that she was kept safe. Her heart wavered as she watched Yeseo hold back tears.
She wanted to teach Yoongi a lesson for upsetting her servant, but it wasn’t her place to do so. Yeseo curled up in her bed sheets, sniffling.
Mija wished she was on earth too, so that she could comfort her. Areum crept up behind Mija and sat on a cloud, her legs dangling over the side.
“Are you still watching over her?” she asked softly. Her silky chestnut hair was held back in a heart braid, a silver ribbon tied in a bow at the bottom.
Mija nodded and looked over at the goddess of love, tucking her own copper hair behind her ear. “Take a break. I’ll watch over her for you.”
Mija hummed and shook her head. “Come on; are you still mad about that?” Mija clenched her fists.
“Why can’t you leave them be? Yeseo’s going to come back soon. She’ll have to leave Yoongi.” She sighed, shaking her head again.
“Just because you’re the goddess of love doesn’t mean you should just go around and make people fall in love randomly.”
Areum looked down at her knees. “A part of Yeseo always has loved him, I just intensified her love.”
“But it’s not fair on them. What will it do to them both when-?” Mija held her head in her hands.
“When what? Do you know something that I don’t?” Areum stared at her. “Mija…”
“You’ll see tonight. Let’s just hope Yeseo doesn’t get too attached.”
Mija took one last look back before retreating to her temple, closing the glimmering gold curtain behind her.
On Earth…
I was invited by Amber to watch Yoongi and his friends play basketball. It was the first time I’d been outside the house, and what a great day it was.
The clouds floated over our heads in the clear blue sky. Yoongi dribbled the ball, trying to avoid two of his friends that were blocking him.
The loose tank top he wore showed off his toned arms. I couldn’t help but stare. “You and Yoongi seem close.”
I scoffed. “Yeah?” Amber smiled, cheering as one of Yoongi’s teammates scored. “We’re not.”
Yoongi managed to score, too. He turned around to face me and Amber and winked.
“See? He winked at you!” she nudged me and cheered loudly. I crossed my arms, hiding a smile.
“How do you know he winked at me? He could’ve winked at you. Or the wall.”
Amber laughed, patting my back. “Nice one. You’re funny. No wonder he likes you so much.”
I opened my mouth to deny it, but Amber spoke first. “I know your secret. I know you’re an angel. Don’t worry; you’re not the first
angel I’ve seen.” I raised my eyebrow. “I knew an angel once. Namjoon, his name was. He became my best friend I guess. But he wasn’t
as strong as you, you know – he couldn’t give up his wings like you did. He shut himself in at all times because he was afraid.
Eventually he made the mistake of trying to fly and a hunter mistook him for a bird.”
“What if he gets tired of me? I’m like a child he has to take care of, far from a friend.”
Amber shrugged. “He treats you just like he treats me. Me and Yoongi are friends, so that can’t be true.
Okay I know Yoongi better but Yoongi’s really easy to get to know. He’s easy to read.”
I pulled the blanket up to my chin, turning on to my side to switch the lamp off. I paused, looking over at Yoongi, who was fast asleep
with a smile on his face. He always did love his sleep. Sleep well, my mortal. My eyelids slowly closed. We didn’t sleep much in heaven.
We didn’t need to. Most of us slept, though, because there really wasn’t much to do when the humans were asleep. Sometimes we’d have
parties or wedding ceremonies, so it wasn’t always boring at nightfall. People whispered amongst themselves. Everyone was dressed in
their best clothes; the girls in white dresses falling just above their knees, the women in white tunics tied at their waists with silver rope,
the boys and men all in white blouses and loose white trousers. Like usual during this kind of ceremony, the girls and women all held their hair
up with hair pins and ribbons. Very little jewellery was worn and everyone, angel or god or diseased wore sandals on their feet.
At the front of the hall, Cheondung stood with his hands behind his back, the ceremony book placed before him. “My good neighbours,
my friends and humble citizens, today, on the 8th day of October, the full moon rises. Today is Seohyun’s moon, the hunter’s moon.
When this same moon rises each year, we must prepare ourselves for a new beginning.” Cheondung was very calm, his voice deep and consistent.
“Seohyun, bring in the young deer.” As he said so, Seohyun walked up to Cheondung, a fawn in her arms, barely resisting. The deer’s ears
twitched as it stared around the room. “Today is the yearly death list ceremony. These mortals are expected to be diseased within the
next 12 months or less.” He took a breath. “Park Sumin, Lee Miyeon, Cha Yunghee,” He listed dozens more names.
“Yang Daeho, Han Kwangsun, Oh Youngsoo, Min Yoongi,” his voice seemed to trail off. Mija’s face dropped, as did Areum’s.
My father closed his eyes while my sisters gasped and my brothers comforted them.
I woke up with a gasp, tears falling down my cheeks, leaving trails behind them. I instantly knew that Jiwoong had been the one to give
me the dream. My heart caught in my throat as I watched Yoongi sleeping. I imagined him lying like that, never being able to open his eyes.
That thought made me sob harder. After a few minutes, I heard Yoongi moving around in his bed. “Are you crying?” he asked, not expecting
me to be crying. I stayed quiet, avoiding him. His voice softened, “Come here,”
I narrowed my eyes. “Why should I go to you? You want me gone so I’ll stay away from you. You don’t have
to look after me like a child anymore, because I’m not.” I brought my knees to my chest.
“Yeseo, you’re not a child to me. I just want to look after you. It’s the least I can do considering you are staying here. And I’m not just doing
this out of pity, I like you and I want you to stay.” Being quick to forgive people was both a strength and a weakness.
“Alright.” I moved closer to him. I shyly lay beside him, pulling the covers over my body. “Yoongi…” I whispered, looking up at the ceiling.
I sniffled, wiping tears from my cheeks. Yoongi turned to look at me. “I had a dream.”
Yoongi’s lips twitched into a smile, his fingers brushing away the rest of my tears. “You’re not going to go all Martin Luther King on me, are you?”
he joked, letting out a small laugh. I looked at him. “Jiwoong – the god of dreams – sent me a dream of a ceremony back home.”
“Well, isn’t that good? It can feel like you’re back there again so you won’t miss it too much.”
“Yoongi. It was a death list ceremony. It’s when mortals who are going to die have their names read out
and the angels all prepare for their deaths. It’s like an early mass funeral.”
Yoongi’s face fell. “But you’re okay, right? No one you know was on the list, right? Right?”
I shook my head, a sob escaping my throat. I covered my face with my hands. “Y-you,” I whispered.
He seemed to understand, because he looked away from me, and silently turned over.
I rubbed my eyes, which were sore from all the tears last night. Yoongi hadn’t spoken to me after I told him I heard his name.
He wasn’t in his bed, which meant he was either up already or he went out. It turned out to me the latter of the two. I found Yoongi
sitting on the sofa, staring at the TV screen, which wasn’t switched on. I crept towards him, wanting to ask him if he was okay.
And then I saw the bottle of alcohol in his hands, and the tears on his cheeks, and decided otherwise. I sat next to him instead, watching him.
“Don’t pity me. Everyone dies.” He hiccupped. “Why aren’t I drunk yet? I need something stronger.” He stood up, but I pulled him back down.
“No. I’m not going to let you waste yourself away. You should have some water.”
“Why?” he slurred, going to take another sip, when he realised he’d finished the bottle. “Why must I die now?
I’ve just realised my dreams. I’ve moved here to study music and I made friends out of it.”
I held his hand gently. “My father died after my mother gave birth to my second sister – just 8 years before me – after he came down with
an infection. Do you know what day that was? Their wedding anniversary. My mother was already an angel, so she convinced her
children to join her and her husband. And they did. Death isn’t all bad, Yoongi. Death is the start of a new beginning.”
Yoongi smiled tipsily. “Where exactly does a girl like you come from?” I laughed to myself.
“Heaven. It’s rare that we come to Earth. You see, I was a good girl to my family. I was the golden child since I was the first child to be
born in heaven. I always obeyed my father; he never asked anything from me. The only time he did, I let him down. And now my wings are no more.”
Yoongi put the bottle away and moved closer. “You’re so strong Yeseo. That’s why I love…” I shook him awake. He blinked in surprise
nd stared at me. I smiled shyly back at him. His body pressed against mine as he pushed me into the cushions so I was lying down.
“Yoongi you’re drunk, what are you doing?” his lips connected with my own, a feeling of belonging spreading through me. It felt like I was his.
I kissed him back, telling him how I felt too. I pulled away when I felt his lips stop moving against mine.
I nudged him, but only a snore came past his lips. Typical Yoongi.
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