‘Kiss her and you are doomed. Now it’s the chance, obviously she had let her guard down. Get a hold of yourself and do what you are supposed to!’ suddenly Tao’s inner self struggled. Well, it was more like a reminded from the Cheif. It was not giving him a chance to clear out his thoughts.

In just a split second, his grip onto the back of Minyoung's neck got tightened. His iris turned crimson red and obvious blood vessel lines formed in his sclera. His gums of those upper canine teeth ached and itched like as if they wanted to extend longer than it already was. He felt a compulsion to go beyond on just her soul and wanted to consume her alive.

He gotten wild and cast some spell to make Minyoung weak before taking away her consciousness slowly. As Minyoung was weakening, he slowly took in the energy of the moon which caused it to darken slowly. It was darkening to the same color of the night sky like as if the sky was consuming it slowly and thoroughly. When the moon was completely consumed, the wind got so much stronger that it caused the tree braches to sway back and forth hardly and the sky turned gloomier. Leaves shower continuously to the ground like as if the snow was replaced by them. Just a little more help with a little amount of fresh air, Minyoung’s soul was his.

He looked at her and gathered all his strength to in her soul but he stopped halfway. He saw the cease that formed between her eyebrows. He could feel all her struggle and he could see that she was getting weaker by the-lesser and lesser- amount of carbon dioxide she breathed out.

His heart ached tremendously out of a sudden. He knew that she was about to die in just seconds and unexpectedly at that moment he thought that he could feel her pain too. He did not want her to die and wanted to protect her from any kind of harms instead.

His grip loosened as his iris and sclera turned back to normal slowly. The moon was no longer dark and the sky was no longer gloomy. The wind stopped and the leaves stop shedding before the last piece fell onto the uneven ground. Minyoung felt stronger as she got to breathe in oxygen once again. She felt refreshed and was able to open up her eyes. She thought she would see Tao right close in front of her but she did not. Tao had returned to his actual sitting position and frowned as he muttered. He was confused; he did not know why his heart would soften at the thought of Minyoung dying. 

Although everything seemed long but it was not the case to Minyoung. It felt just like one second to her that she did not even know what had just happened. She was totally oblivious. She looked at Tao who looked troubled. She got a sudden urge to comfort him and feel his pain even when she did not know the reason for his sulking face.

“He looked trouble. He is so unpredictable,” Minyoung frowned as she did not know what to do.

Inadvertently, that sight of Tao stared morosely at the beautiful night view reminded Minyoung of her bae once again. She was reminded on how he would come to this place to vent out his stress by yelling towards the endless sky. That memory splashed onto her like cold water. Now, even the most beautiful night view turned ugly. She stared at Tao and once again the silhouette of her bae came upon.

Subconsciously, she moved closer to him and gripped onto his shoulder firmly like as if she was trying to pass him some strength that could wipe away the frown on his face. She pecked onto his silky lips abruptly as she knew that this was one of the ways she used to bring smile back onto her bae’s face in the past. She pulled it away as soon as he felt it. A flush of red appeared on her cheeks which made her look double squishy. Tao was surprised but could not help but to smile at the view (Minyoung) that he was looking at.

Unknowingly, the sound of his heartbeat changed and feeling upon feeling came to him like the gentle breeze that was hitting onto his face. Minyoung’s kiss felt so familiar to him and that feel that she gave him felt so long lost. He wanted to feel her and wanted more form her. All of the long lost feelings had started to be stirred up by that sudden kiss.

‘She felt..so familiar to me.. But why? Damn the memory system in my brain! I clearly did not know her any longer than 2 days but why does it felt like she was someone that was closed to me; like as if I had already known her existence since two years ago.’ Tao questioned himself again and again.

“Why do you feel so familiar to me out of a sudden? It felt like I’ve known you for long,” Tao diverted his questions towards Minyoung. He wanted to know why he would feel so, badly.

“Familiar? You said that I felt familiar to you?” Minyoung questioned back.

“Yes, tell me why. This fact is wrecking up my brain cells,” Tao got a little impatient and annoyed by it.

“Is that a joke? You are going to say that I remind you of your aren’t you?” Minyoung doubted.

“No, do I look like I’m joking?” Tao said and looked dead serious. 

“Impossible,” Minyoung shook her head in disbelief, “you said that you are not him.” She looked at him with that usual gaze once again.  

“No, I’m no-“ Tao wanted to deny the fact.

“Why are you always denying the fact? The very first time my name popped in your mind suddenly, you said that it was nothing. Fine, I let my hope die down but you did not allow. You kept bringing it up and cease it again and again. Please stop playing with my feelings and hope. Do you know how sad I got every single time you denied the fact? It was as if that you even took away my will to imagine and my freedom to hope, to wish for. You are so cruel that you created cuts in my heart every time you did that. You are a jerk and I really really hate you!” She said as she made weak punches onto Tao’s chest.

Each punch was halted for seconds before it was pulled away and landed onto the firm chest again. The lump in engulfed her which caused her to burst into tears.  

“I’m.. Sor.. Sorry..” Tao apologized. For the very first time since he existed he apologized. He did not know what was sorry, he did not even understand the word but he was so certain that this was the correct word to say at this moment.   

‘Is this really so? Am I really that person she was looking for? Did I really lose my memories?’ Tao did not speak a word but caressed onto her back gently. He wanted to doubt this fact but this was the best explanation for his feelings. He could not do anything but to go with the flow.

‘Who am I?’ he continued to question the deepest of his heart.

“Give me some time to think. Everything just felt weird and wrong,” he said which broke the silence.

“Yes, I think time is what we need now,” Minyoung said and wiped away those teardrops that were at the corner of her eyes.

Tao faked his smile and continued, “As you see the atmosphere for a date was all ruined. Umm.. Can we push it to another day? Can we go back now? I really need some time alone, I need to think..”

Minyoung just nodded lightly as a reply.

Another car ride, another awkward silence but this time it was Tao who took secret glances at Minyoung. He looked at her and wanted to search for those feelings once again but it was all gone. He wanted to know why one moment she felt so precious to him and the other he felt nothing about her. He got so annoyed with those messed up feelings. He did not felt this way before he met Minyoung. He thought that Minyoung was just like a pest to him.

‘Shoot it, am I crazy? My feelings had gone haywire. Just a moment ago she was just like an invaluable pearl in my eyes and now she turned into an unworthy pest.”

“!” Tao cursed suddenly.

Minyoung heard it and she did not like it. She detested the way he cursed. At the point of time, he was just like a stranger to her. She felt so strange. She glanced up at him with wary stares.

‘In the past he would not do that. Is he really my Zitao?’ Minyoung questioned herself once again.

Everything just felt weird and confusing. He got that feeling for her and similarly she did have that feeling for him too but there was just some unknown feeling that told them that everything was just a delusion. It was not as easy as they see.

He sent her off and they bid each other goodbye. No goodbye kisses nor hugs. There was only a simple wave with neither smile nor tears.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 

Tao parked his car at the nearest car park and teleported back to his Empire desperately. He could not wait to ask his almighty Chief about everything. He was so certain that his Chief hid something from him.

‘Poof’ and he appeared at the doorsteps of the Chief’s room with grey smoke surrounding him.

He knocked onto the door without any hesitations. He did not care if his abrupt actions would disturb the Chief. He did not care if the Chief would get offended and if he would get punished for it.

“Come in,” the Chief answered calmly like as if he had waited for Tao.

“So I guess you did not get me her soul right?” the Chief asked while back facing Tao.

“Yes, Chief,” he answered and was all readied to accept his punishment.

“So why don’t you tell me a reason on why you failed at it? Was it because you are inexperience?” the Chief turned and looked at him.

“No, Chief. It was just that..” Tao could not bring himself to continue what he was about to say.

“It was just that your heart softened at the thought of her dying?” the Chief raised his brows.

Not to Tao’s surprised he knew that Chief had know every little movement and actions even the feelings about him. He knew it because this almighty old man was powerful enough to know every single thing in the world. That was why no one had dared to lie to him. Even if it was a serious offend nobody dared to cover themselves up with lies. They would just take up the punishment bravely. This goes the same to every single devil in this empire.

“Yes, Chief,” Tao answered softly and turned his gazes onto the lava ground that was under his feet.

“Take a sit,” the Chief pointed towards the fiery wooden chair that was right in front of him.

It was weird, Tao thought the Chief would be blown up and wanted to rip him apart but surprisingly he was so calm; as calm as the night before the storm. This got Tao worried and caused him to be more cautions with his movements.

“I know you've got a lot of doubts that you wanted it to be cleared. Hear me out before you backed out from this mission..” Chief paused for a few seconds.

“Firstly, believe me that you are not the one that she was looking for. Don’t be foolish and get cheated by your feelings because your heart is a . Secondly, I know you’ve always wondered why was it so important that I have to get her soul. It was because her soul was valuable as she was once helped by our sole enemy; the angel. As for why do I chose you for this mission instead of the other devils, I’ll keep it as a secret now,” Chief explained and clear Tao’s doubts one by one.

“Secret? What do you mean, Chief?” Tao was confused once again.

“Just listen to me and don’t listen to your heart! Complete this said mission and everything will be back to normal for you. If you don’t bring me her soul then I would take yours!” the Chief got annoyed by Tao’s question and growled.

He then sent Tao back to his room as he swung his wrist hardly as soon as he finished his words. As expected, the Chief was not easy at all. He was so unpredictable.

“Chief was right. I should not get cheated by my feelings because we devils did not go with it when we do things. I nearly forgot what my real identity was. I should complete this soon so that Chief would not have to wait for long. I have to serve this empire and that’s the only reason I lived for,” Tao convinced himself and brought his wild nature in him back as his iris flashed magenta.  

A/N: 

How was this chapter? Slightly longer than the other tho. ^^ Is this word length okay for you? Personally, i really like the part where Tao was trying to take in Minyoung's soul. Keke! Is this person really the Angel Tao? But if he was then why is he a devil now? o.o I hope that it was not confusing for you. ^^