Two important pieces of information. First, if you did not read about what happened at the hospital, you should go back and read the chapter before this one. Otherwise, your life will not make much sense. Secondly, for all five of you who are interested, there will be a sequel that will involve Daesung, fallen angels, ToDae!, and much awesomeness.

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EPILOGUE: FIFTEEN YEARS LATER

“Dad, Uncle Nam is waiting for you,” the voice of Seunghyun’s eldest daughter, Sung-Mi, rang down the hall.

“Alright, alright. Tell him I will be down in just a minute.” The brunette chuckled, finishing the sentence he was writing before setting his pen down. His fingers soothed fondly over the piece of paper even as a small smile remained on his bowed lips. In many ways, Seunghyun was the same man he had been that distant Christmas Eve so many years ago: His eyes were still piercing, his hair was still jet black, and his hands were still strong. But, time had also changed him. There were the traces of grey at his temples – just beginning to creep in – and crow’s-feet had begun to settle into the skin around his eyes. Those added details served to simply make him look more majestic and imposing; like a fine wine, he had simply gotten better with age.

Leaning back in his chair, he took a moment to look at the pictures that graced the surface of his mahogany Georgian Adam desk. A silver frame held a picture of him and Ji-Eun from their wedding day: She was radiant in white while he looked like a looming shadow at her side. He laughed a little. The sweet little nurse that had seen him through so many hours of physical therapy had helped heal more than his injured leg. Ji-Eun had been willing to accept Seunghyun so completely it had all but stolen his breath; she even referred to Daesung as the First Husband, even though Seunghyun had never actually married the man. When asked why she did that, Ji-Eun had simply smiled and said she knew Daesung would always be in her husband’s heart. And, she was right. Seunghyun’s love for the blond angel was as strong as ever, but he had learned that love was not something that came in a limited amount, to be carefully rationed. No, love was something that could be given endlessly, if you were willing. It had been hard to learn that; Seunghyun had not wanted to love again. But, he had promised Daesung he would do his best to live a full life and move on. Now he understood why the angel had asked him to make that promise: Seunghyun’s life had been so rich with Ji-Eun at his side, and he could not imagine a world without their children. If he had shut himself off from the chance of a second love, he would have been only a shadow of the man he could have become.

Next to the wedding photo was one of Seunghyun holding Sung-Mi on the day she had been come into the world; she had been born two weeks early and was so tiny. In the photograph, the little girl practically disappeared in her father’s large hands. He chuckled, remembering the way he had cried and cried while holding her in his arms for the first time. Looking down at her wrinkled little features and watching her blink up at him felt as though he were gazing into the face of a tiny angel. It reminded him of fire and golden hair and a wide smile.

When she had been little, Sung-Mi would come running to her parents’ room in the middle of the night with tears running down her face. At first, Ji-Eun and Seunghyun simply let the girl sleep between them, but soon the man had an idea of how to help his daughter sleep peacefully. One night, he had tucked her into bed and begun to tell her all about guardian angels. He told her that she had one particular angel, a beautiful man named Daesung, who was watching over her and protecting her every minute of the day. She had been skeptical: Who was this Daesung and why would he want to protect her? So, Seunghyun had taken her to his office and shown her the painting that hung on one wall. The little girl had gasped at the pure beauty of the figure on the canvas; he looked so strong and ethereal. “That is Daesung,” Seunghyun had told her. “And he loves you very much. Once upon a time, he and I were in love with each other. We were going to be together forever. But, one day, Daesung died.” Sung-Mi had looked up at her father in horror. Sitting in the old winged back chair, which was angled to catch the best sunlight, Seunghyun pulled his daughter into his lap. “I was so sad when he died, because I loved him. But Daesung – “ He took a slow breath. “Daesung isn’t gone.”

“He’s not?” Sung-Mi had a look of pure wonder on her face.

“No. He’s not. He’s an angel now, and he looks just like that. I know because I saw him.”

Her eyes went wide. “You did? How?”

“The year Daesung died, I got in a really bad accident. I almost died too. Daesung came to me then. He told me I was going to be okay and that he loved me.” Seunghyun let his chin rest on the top of Sung-Mi’s hair. “And he told me to love again, because he knew it’d mean I would get to have you and Mommy and your new baby brother. And do you know what, Mi?”

The little girl wiggled in her father’s grip. “What?”

“Daesung loves you too. He loves you as much as Mommy and I do, because you are part of his family too. And because he loves you, he will always make sure you are safe. There is no monster under the bed or nightmare that could ever hurt you, because Daesung is protecting you.” Seunghyun pressed a kiss her soft black hair. “Between him and me and Mommy, we’ll do everything we can to keep you safe.”

Sung-Mi had slid out of her father’s grip at that and walked over to the painting. Gently, she had laid a tiny hand on the canvas and stared up at Daesung for several long moments. Then, simply, she had said, “I love you too, Daddy Dae.”

Also among the cluster of photographs on the desk was a picture Ki Young and Ji-Yeon during their first dance recital. Ki Young was in the midst of doing a rather complicated windmill while Ji-Yeon was mid leap, her tiny hands stretched high above her head. His youngest daughter had eventually given up on dancing – preferring to take up martial arts instead – but Ki Young had become something of a dance machine. The boy had even begun to take home solo dance trophies and talk about one day auditioning for YG or JYP. Seunghyun snorted softly. Who knew his son would be such a brilliant dancer?

His gaze then came to rest on the two pictures – larger than the others – that sat behind the photos of his beautiful family. One was from Ji-Hyo and Junsu’s wedding; the entire party was crammed into the frame with wide smiles on their faces. Well, almost every face. Somehow Mino and Taehyun managed to get caught kissing in the upper corner of the picture. Seunghyun chuckled. The look on Junsu’s face when the photo had come back was priceless. He had turned to Mino and punched his shoulder before loudly declaring, “Couldn’t you keep your hands off of him for ten seconds!” Which had simply made Mino smirk. Even Mr. Kang had chuckled at the exchange and muttered, “Young love can’t be helped.” Seunghyun and Ji-Hyo had nearly fallen over in shock.

And there, on the inside edge of the picture formation, was a photograph of a young man with blond hair and the most beautiful smile in the entire world. Carefully, Seunghyun picked it up and gazed at the fine features he had last seen wreathed in fire. His angel. It had been one of the last pictures of Daesung: They had been admiring the cherry blossoms together when the blond had started to spin among the falling petals. In a flash, Seunghyun had captured the scene of the younger man laughing, his arms tossed wide and a brilliant smile on his full lips. It embodied the perfect joy with which the man had lived every single day of his life.

His thoughts about the blond were interrupted by the distinct sound of his daughter’s voice echoing down the hall: “Dad, are you coming?” Sung-Mi was nothing if not loud.

“Coming, coming.” He sat the picture down and smoothed his hand over the paper on his desk one last time. Rising, he sauntered out of his office and down the stairs. “You act like Uncle Nam is going to vanish or something.” Picking Sung-Mi up, he threw her over his shoulder and ignored her protests as he went to greet his brother-in-law.

And there on the man’s desk sat his list of tasks to complete that day:

1. Go shopping with Taehyun for Mino’s birthday present
2. Take Ji-Yeon to Grandma and Grandpa Kang’s
3. Stop past estate sale in Yonhi-dong
4. Get groceries – mint ice cream!
5. Help Ki Young with homework
6. Love Daesung for the rest of time

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I can't believe it's actually over.

I feel kind of like I have just sent my first born child to college or something. It's gone off into the world and doesn't need me anymore.

Wow.

Well, hopefully you all found the ending to be satisfying. I know it is probably not the ending you expected, but it is the ending I felt best suited this story. As I mentioned before, there will be a sequel. It will deal with what Daesung is up to while Seunghyun is alive: Including gathering his own personal unit of angels and going against a demon lord even stronger than Seungri. It will feature ToDae (I mean, seriously, did you think I would never write their reunion?!), and will probably also run about fifteen chapters. I will be taking a brief break before writing it, though, as I am going to be doing a few pieces of fluff first. Why? Well... I may be the queen of angst, but sometimes you need to let little fluff bunnies roam happily through the land. And after everything I've done to ToDae, they deserve some really, really fluffy bunnies. So stay tuned for those.

As always, if you enjoyed the story I would love to hear from you: comment, vote, subscribe. I know those things can seem silly as a reader - I know it can seem like you have nothing to say - but every gesture of acknowledgement means the world to me. I honestly want to know what you thought of the ending, if there is anyone who should appear in the sequel, if you hate me for not getting ToDae together... All the things. But know that I love you all. Thank you for going on this journey with me. Without each of you, this story would just be a bunch of words without meaning.