After having made certain that Mino would stay with Seunghyun, the pair of angels returned to Heaven. (Jiyong explained that both sides were only allowed a certain amount of contact with a soul in peril – something about letting them have agency.) The moment they returned to the celestial realms, Daesung fixed Jiyong with a piercing look – one that announced it was time for the other angel to start explaining. Jiyong’s shoulders collapsed inwards as he sighed, making him look like he had folded up on himself from the weight of the burdens he bore. He then motioned with a slim, fine hand for Daesung to follow him into what appeared to be a park. Trailing after the stoic angel, Daesung took the opportunity to take a good look around. Earlier he had been so confused and upset that Heaven had been a bit of a blur. But this...this was nice. He thought Seunghyun would like the way artwork was so innate in every detail - even the curling shape of the white stone path they walked on. Even the plants seemed like they had been crafted by an artisan: The bright flowers radiated life and joy through every curve of every petal, and the towering trees seemed to be dancing as their trunks twisted up towards the high seat of the God that had made them. Guess the stories about Heaven being paradise are true, he thought to himself.

Once they were seated on a bench, which faced a sculpture of a stag that appeared to be made of glass bubbles, Jiyong cleared his throat. “You and Seunghyun… What you had while you were alive was really beautiful. It is clear that you loved him, and he loved you. But, with time you are going to learn the most important lesson this place ever taught me.” His slim, pointed tongue darted out to sweep across his bottom lip, wetting it. “Sometimes love is what destroys you.”

Sitting up a little, Daesung looked over at Jiyong. “That’s not possible,” he said simply. “Love, real love, is capable of only good.”

A tired laugh slipped past Jiyong’s lips. “Skies, you are so naïve. Are you sure you’re not ten?” He glanced at the blond out of the corner of his eye before returning his gaze to the distant figure of the sculpture. “Actually… you remind me a lot of him. Back then.” The persistent burn of Daesung’s gaze urged the man to continue. “T-Taeyang – that demon – I knew him when we were alive. But, back then, he went by his given name, Dong Youngbae.” The air around Jiyong began to shimmer slightly as he remembered the bright young man who had been his best friend. When Daesung looked around, he realized they were sitting in a different park, an Earthly one, near a playground. “I was six when I met him,” Jiyong explained. He pointed to where a little boy ran wildly across the playground, heading for the swings. At that moment, another boy slid down the slide (standing up) and was launched off at the bottom – causing him to crash into the one headed for the swings. The littler boy crumpled beneath the weight of the other, and they both began to cry in force. Jiyong’s lips almost twitched into a smile. “I gave him a scar from knocking him over. My foot somehow managed to collide with his brow. But, once the bleeding stopped, we became best friends. Our mothers began to joke that we were just one person in two bodies; we lived for each other.

“As we grew up, Younbae became my guardian angel.” Jiyong gave a lazy flick of his hand, and the scene shifted to a schoolyard. A young Jiyong was in the midst of being shoved around by a group of older boys when a small figure shoved his way into the circle. Youngbae – the tallest thing about him the mowhawk he was sporting – glared the guys down. There was something about the intensity of his stare that unnerved the bullies, making them break away with a last crass warning. “Some days I let him, and other days-” The younger Jiyong pushed past Youngbae and swung at the leader of the bullies, “-not so much.” Another wave of the hand took them to the park, where Youngbae was quietly holding an ice pack up to Jiyong's black eye. And, slowly, scenes of the boys growing up – spending time together in the park – moved before their gazes.

Something in Daesung’s features softened as he watched the pair slowly begin to grow up before their eyes. But, as the two boys aged, the park began to change. Rather than the bright home of laughter, it became full of garbage and the playground was soon caked in graffiti. “Youngbae was so much like you: kind, naïve, loyal, forgiving… I honestly don’t know why he put up with me. I was so arrogant, so self-absorbed, so cruel.” Jiyong’s mouth became a hard line as the thirteen-year-old Jiyong sauntered into view, his pants hanging low and a bandana wrapped around his head. “At thirteen I decided that I had to become wealthy. I was obsessed with money because my family was so poor, and I did not want to be my father – drinking myself to death every day after work. So, I did the only thing you could in my neighborhood to get rich: I joined a gang. And Youngbae followed me, thinking he could protect me.” Jiyong sighed. “The stupid kid should’ve just let me fall. I deserved it.”

After a moment of hesitation, Daesung placed his hand lightly on Jiyong’s knee. “He probably didn’t think you deserved it. He clearly cared about you a great deal.”

“I know.” Jiyong shrugged. “That makes it worse. He believed in me, no matter how much I tried to show him that was a mistake.”

A thoughtful frown turned Daesung’s lips. The more he knew about Jiyong, the less he understood why the man had been allowed to be an angel. If he had been selfish, cruel, and a member of a gang, didn’t that go against what angels were supposed to be? Daesung was beginning to think getting into Heaven was a lottery: They randomly decided when you showed up if you were going up or down.

“When we joined the gang, we had to take on street names. Our boss, for whatever reason, thought they made us real gangsters.” Jiyong scoffed a little. “So I became G-Dragon and Youngbae…Youngbae became Taeyang. He hated the name – he’d rather go by Youngbae – but he put up with it for my sake. I even got him a necklace with Taeyang written on it in rhinestones, because I thought it’d make him like the name more. I think it may have done the exact opposite.”

Another flick of the hand brought the boys closer to adulthood. Jiyong was significantly different: wiry, tall, beautiful. Youngbae, surprisingly, was much the same – just more muscular. They were an odd pair together, a mess of contradictions, but Daesung thought it somehow looked right. Like they belonged. Except that Jiyong was sneering as another man approached them while Youngbae managed a polite smile. The sneer was calculated and cold, like Jiyong was figuring out how to cut the man in front of him.

“By sixteen I had my own little drug ring started,” Jiyong murmured. “I was rising fast in the ranks of the gang – meteoric – and with that came the wealth I dreamed of. And as I rose, Youngbae trailed along behind me, like fire after a comet. He became my bodyguard in a more literal sense than when we were in primary school. Back then it had been bruises, but it became attempts on my life.”

The older angel sat back on the bench and ran a hand through his black and white mane of hair. “I began doing anything and anyone that came my way. And Youngbae, like a silent shadow, was there to make sure I didn’t die doing anything too stupid. It was on one of those nights – when I was completely drunk…and probably a bit high – that I ruined him.” Jiyong gestured to the scene before them, his expression suddenly tight.

An eighteen-year-old Jiyong was stumbling up the middle of an empty street at three in the morning even as Youngbae walked a few steps behind him. Suddenly, the taller boy tripped and fell into a giggle pile of limbs on the asphalt. Youngbae sighed – sounding nearly exactly how Daesung did every time Jiyong frustrated him. Stooping, he pulled Jiyong up and threaded the boy’s arm around his neck. Jiyong hiccupped. “Thank you, Bae Bae,” he teased, the words slurring together.

“Mmhm.”

As they walked along, Jiyong seemed to be thinking about something. His normally masked features were alive with a myriad of expressions even as the wheels in his alcohol-addled mind tried to turn. Then, stopping suddenly, he gaped at Youngbae. “I love you,” he said quickly. And then he screamed, “I LOVE YOU!”

Youngbae winced and reached up to clamp a hand over Jiyong’s mouth. “Yeah, yeah. I know. I love you too, Ji.” Daesung liked the sound of his voice, it was warmer than he had expected.

Jiyong peeled Youngbae’s hand from his mouth. “No. I mean like, I really love you,” Jiyong whined. “Like if you cut open my chest and looked at my heart, your name would be written there.” A bony finger tapped over the left side of his for emphasis.

The shorter boy watched his friend closely. “Ji, you’re drunk. We should go h-“ Rather than listen to Youngbae’s nagging, Jiyong leaned in and sealed his mouth over his friend’s in a sloppy kiss. Youngbae froze.

“That was his first kiss,” Jiyong said with a bit of a smile. “He never let me live it down that his first kiss was taken by a drunk…and that I confessed to him in that state. But it was the start of something beautiful. For a time.” His gaze fell to rest on the broken shape of a pothole in the street. “We were in love – so in love. I told him I would give up anything to be with him; and, he asked me if I would give up the gang. But I was too selfish. Leaving the gang meant being poor, meant scraping for a living, meant hating every day of my life. He was hurt by my answer, but even that didn’t chase him away.”

Again, Jiyong his bottom lip, and he waved an impatient hand. “By the time we were in our twenties, I was second to only the boss. But that power meant I had a lot of enemies. Enemies that wanted to hurt me the way I had hurt them.” He sighed. “Youngbae did his best to keep me in line – to keep me from going too deep. I never became a murderer, at least. But my sins were practically a novel as far as the other six sins went.” The lack of passion in Jiyong’s voice made it seem like his state as the condemned sinner was so confirmed, so ingrained that the older angel could not be bothered to care anymore. It was fact rather than the past. “And then it happened. I died.”

Daesung pulled his gaze away in time to see Youngbae and Jiyong caught up in what appeared to be a nasty fight. He frowned as Jiyong reeled back from a particularly fierce punch, and the man stumbled back into the wall. The brief lull caused Jiyong to look towards the light of his life, and his features became pale. There, standing just behind Youngbae, was a man with a knife. As the hand drew back, Jiyong shoved himself off the wall and slammed his best friend out of the way. The knife pressed against flesh: hesitating for a moment before muscle and skin gave beneath the piercing pressure of the blade. Jiyong gasped as it pierced his lung, and bright blood stained the grimy white t-shirt he wore. In mere moments, the room was empty but for Jiyong and Youngbae.

In a rush, Youngbae gathered Jiyong into his arms and eased him down to lay on the ground. One of his wide, calloused hands clapped over the wound in his lover’s side. “Ji,” he gasped. “Come on, Ji. This ain’t nothing. Come on, love, you got to – to –“

Jiyong coughed, blood coming up with the motion. “To what?” he grumbled. His gaze flickered up to rest on Youngbae’s face. “Can you-“

“I’ll get help, Ji, and then you’ll be fine. You got enough to cover the medical bills, we just got to get you to the hos-“

“-Youngbae!” Jiyong began to cough again, making the light of his life fall still. “Please… Kiss me.” Youngbae gaped down at the man in his arms, who was becoming paler by the moment. “I need to feel you…one last time.” Tears pattered against Jiyong’s cheeks as Youngbae leaned down, sealing his lips over Jiyong’s and tasting the sickly iron taste of blood. When their lips parted, Jiyong sighed and murmured, “I…”

“Love you,” Youngbae breathed, finishing the sentence his lover could not. And then he began to wail.

Daesung turned his face away so Jiyong could not see the tears gathered in his eyes. “There is one thing I don’t understand,” he said slowly.

“What’s that?” Jiyong’s voice was void of emotion, making Daesung wonder if he handled pain the way Ji-Hyo did.

“If you were that awful…How did you end up an angel?”

Jiyong laughed tiredly. “Apparently selfishly giving your life for another person is one of the most noble things you can do.” He let his head hang. “I was redeemed because I sacrificed my life for the one I loved. But it was a mistake. Everything was a mistake.” Jiyong’s long, thin fingers came to frame his face. “If Youngbae had died that night, he would’ve been an angel. He was so good. And he could’ve redeemed me, and he could have trained you, and Seunghyun would be untouchable, and – and everything would be perfect,” he gasped. “But instead you get me. And they’re going to Hell and it’s my fault.” Sliding off the bench, he curled into a ball on his knees – crying with as much vigor as the heartbroken Youngbae. “I’m so sorry… so sorry…”

Not certain who Jiyong was addressing, Daesung hesitated before sliding off the bench. He wrapped his arms gently around the shaking Jiyong and held him close as he cried. When the tears finally abated, Jiyong lay quietly with his head pillowed on Daesung’s lap. “What –“ Daesung cleared his throat. “Youngbae. What happened after you died?”

Pain flickered across Jiyong’s face. “He killed the man responsible for my death. And half of his gang…before they caught up to him.” Daesung glanced up in time to see Youngbae in a fight with five larger men, and he had to look away as it became clear they were beating him to death. “When he died, there was a moment where he could see me – there always is. The last glimpse of Heaven, they say. And Seungri…Seungri began to take my Youngbae away; I had lost the fight for his soul.” Jiyong pinched his eyes tightly shut, trying to hold back a second wave of tears. “Youngbae called my name the whole way down to Hell, and I did nothing. I wasn’t good enough to save him.”

Sighing softly, Daesung ran his hand lightly over Jiyong’s surprisingly soft hair. “I am sad that you had to go through so much sorrow in your life. And that Youngbae is where he is now.”

Jiyong seemed to be lost in his own little world as he opened his eyes, staring at the prone figure of Youngbae’s remembered corpse. “I never wanted to be an angel,” he sighed. “All I wanted was to be with him.”

“Is…there no way for that to happen? Even now?” Daesung murmured, continuing to the older angel’s hair.

He shook his head slightly. “No. If I fell, we wouldn’t be together. That’s not how Hell works. Even there, we would be apart. And he’s a demon, Daesung… he’s a demon.”

An eternity seemed to pass as Daesung considered the wounded man in his lap. Jiyong could be cold and had clearly given up on himself, but Daesung could see a certain spark of goodness in him, in the way he loved so completely. A man like that must have simply lost his way; he was not innately evil. “Jiyong. Would Youngbae… would he give up on Seunghyun?”

Slowly, as though his body were made of stone rather than flesh, Jiyong pushed himself upright. The brutal scene of Youngbae’s murder melted away and was instead replaced by the heavenly park. “No,” he said at last. “He’d chase the demons down to the Gates of Hell, if he had to.”

Carefully, Daesung took Jiyong’s hands in his. “Then, please, help me fight for Seunghyun’s soul. Help me save him…for Youngbae. He would want you to stop him from destroying another soul.”

Jiyong his bottom lip before nodding a little. “O-okay. I will do what I can.”

“You can do a lot,” Daesung said firmly. “You know who we’re up against. And, who knows, that might be just the edge we need.”

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This chapter and I had quite the fight. I'm still not sure it turned out how I wanted. I literally hit a point where I was failing so badly at writing that I made a mix cd, hopped into the car, and drove around for two hours to clear my head. But! Hopefully it helped you understand Jiyong a bit better. It'll be interesting to see how he tries to help, especially considering how conflicted he is about our dear demon. In the next chapter we'll be seeing Seungri in all his demonic glory, which should be exciting. Let me know what you thought - I would love your feedback on this one.