The next day...

This is a big day for Hongbin. Fiddling with the hospital gown excitedly as he tries to figure out how he would eventually put it on, the boy is nervous but mostly filled with hopeful anticipation. Jaehwan is finally going to wake up after this attempt to save him.

News had arrived just the day before that he is a suitable donor and Hongbin had cried tears of joy with Hakyeon beside him as the tissue bearer. This day, the older latter is also around to show his support together with some of his ex-classmates. Waving at them excitedly and signalling for them to go ahead with classes and work, the boy finally notices Taekwoon standing in the shadows some metres away from them. Eyebrows knitting together and lips tightening in a funny manner, Hongbin lost his bright dimpled smile bit by bit.

The angel had an unreadable look on his face as usual and Hongbin found his eyes inevitably straying from his friends to the lone man standing so far apart. Hakyeon seems to notice Hongbin's sudden loss of excitement and follows his line of vision. Yet there is no one else in that part of the visitor waiting area for as long as he is concerned.

Hongbin looked disturbed for a few long moments before returning his attention to his friends. Then it became Hakyeon turn to feel concerned. A nurse enters to usher Hongbin into the registration area of the operating theatre leaving the rest of the well-wishers at last. The air had a sudden thick feel to it and Hakyeon found it difficult to breathe. The young man brushes this incident off quickly.

The operation went by in as flash and Hongbin woke to a totally white ceiling very similar to the white ones in his dream nightmare. He even had the exact same dream once more while he was under anaesthesia and the images have become even more vivid. They are etched into his memory this time, except he hadn't reached the falling part yet when he was awakened.

Gazing at the empty space above him with tired glassy eyes, Hongbin unknowingly reaches up to remove the annoying nasal cannula that is blasting ticklish oxygen into his nostrils. A pair of hands reaches over at this exact moment to stop him from doing so. Hands so warm and huge, so sickeningly familiar yet he knows they don't belong to anyone he did know. Not Hakyeon. Definitely not Jaehwan since the man is lying right next to him sedated.

The grip was firm as the pair of hands presses his own down to his side. He wanted to struggle free but the thumb the dorsum of his palm so gently is making him waver. He felt someone lean in and the tiny ray fluorescent light is blocked out making it impossible to see the person's face. There was a light brush against his forehead as the same pair of warm hands work to move his longish fringe out of his face. Then for a long moment the hands rested on his cool cheeks, ever so gently as if he were a fragile object.

Hongbin moved a little in response to this stimuli and the pain at his hips started to set in. He knows the donor site would hurt but it is somewhat more than he had expected. However, the pain was totally worth it and he still cannot help but smile every time he remembers the moment he was a found to be a confirmed match. The pair of hands seems to sense his bodily distress and relocates to the site where it hurts the most. Then with immediate effect the pain dissipated like some miracle cure.

The door creaking open effectively sends the pair of hands fleeting and the person was gone leaving Hongbin to wonder through clouded mind about who it might have been. Who had access to the recovery area of the operating theatres except the medical professionals? How did the person ease his pain without any additional analgesia? Can he help his hyung to not hurt too?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jaehwan wakes two days later and by then Hongbin is nearly fully ambulatory. The bruise at his pelvis does not stop him from visiting religiously. Watching his beloved older brother open his eyes after such a long time, the boy ended up wetting the man's sheets with tears.

Wheeling himself back to Jaehwan's side after returning to his own room for the medication rounds, Hongbin took note of the crowd that had beat him to visiting the man. Smiling with his usual dimpled smile as he watches his brother attempt to converse through the oxygen mask, the boy felt incredibly accomplished. Yet his good mood is spoilt the moment his mind somehow wanders off to the mysterious visitor who had been visiting the most often: the austere man with almost non-existent people pleasing skills.

Sieving through the crowd to find the familiar tall back profile of the person, Hongbin is a little surprised to notice he is not among them. Telling himself not to pay too much attention to the weird man, the boy returned to his own designated hospital bed. Drifting off to sleep all pleased about the current turn of event in his life, Hongbin dreamt about the pair of hands the moment he fell asleep.

He liked how they felt on his cheeks and he wondered why.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It is only after a week that Hongbin finally got a chance to hold a proper conversation with his brother without disruptions. The doctors have stopped bombarding the man with additional treatments making it easier for the brothers to hold a heart to heart talk. To top it off, Hongbin was busy with work since he was adamant on keeping his job.

The boy is already used to the discomfort and walking had stopped being a problem a few days ago, insisting that he is fit as a fiddle even though Hakyeon was not convinced.

Tidying himself up in preparation to meet Jaehwan without all that gown and mask the boy threw himself into the man's open arms the moment the doors open. Crying into the man's chest like a spoilt little brat the boy is glad that the man has enough strength to return the hug.

"Hyung!" Hongbin whines a little as he twists his body around to face the man while still lying in his embrace. Jaehwan raises an eyebrow but is still all smiles. Patting Hongbin on his cheeks the boy is reminded of the pair of hands that were touching him back in the recovery area.

"Hyung there is this man who keeps coming to see you..." Hongbin started.

"Of course. What can I say? I'm popular like that." The man was initially pretty pissed that the operation had taken place at all but he had calmed down a fair bit since both party turned out alright. He is even willing to do an act of aegyo causing Hongbin to laugh heartily.

"Seriously hyung I thought your friends would be more of the friendly kind." Hongbin pouted as he plays around with his brother's robe and blanket.

"What makes you say that?" Jaehwan enquires a little curious. Hongbin is usually quite open to people and is definitely not the shy kind. Most of his colleagues would not have an issue with the boy though they have only ever met once when Hongbin dropped by at the office to deliver his birthday cake. Jaehwan had celebrated most of his birthdays at his workplace.

"The rest are fine... we exchanged greetings... it's just there's this guy who's always in black..." Hongbin mumbled.

"Name?" Jaehwan got directly to the point.

"I don't know... he never told me. I asked but he kind of ignored me back then." Hongbin complained in a strangled voice.

"So he wears all black every time you meet... and he is not willing to introduce himself?" Jaehwan pondered aloud and Hongbin's head bobbled up and down. "How does he look like?" The pair does not usually keep any secrets from one another unnecessarily.

"He's tall... very tall. A tiny bit taller than you. Like the unusual kind of tall. Black hair. He looks pretty much like an average model." Hongbin tried to pick his words since he isn't all that keen on praising Taekwoon.

"So he's handsome? Tall like a supermodel and a total hunk?" Jaehwan teased indirectly.

"Not handsome. Maybe yes... but only to a certain extent." Hongbin is aware that he is sounding like some sort of fool who is trying hard to bury his apparent admiration towards the person in question.

Jaehwan hesitates for a long while and that is not a good sign. The man simply cannot find an acquaintance that fits the description the boy had provided. Most of his friends are nice people and to think they would snub his brother is just unexpected. Most importantly he is the tallest amongst everyone he knows, branded the giant at the office.

"Well... I will need a picture to identify him." Jaehwan concluded and Hongbin gave an ok sign with his fingers.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Taekwoon had been given specific instructions to collect subject Jaehwan's soul by the day of his marrow transplant operation but the angel was not able to do so the moment he spots Hongbin sitting by the man, hands tightly intertwined even though he was napping. Firstly, Hongbin would see him and he does not want the boy to witness him while he does the thankless job.

Secondly, he does not wish to see Hongbin cry. Ever. The boy's tears hurt him. He had seen Hongbin cry even when the assignment was still around. What more with the assignment dead?

He knows the superior being will not be pleased with his decision since he could have simply collected the condemned soul while the subject was on the operating theatre but the angel is determined to have the higher being do it if it really wanted the soul so badly.

Apparently the higher being hadn't wanted the soul that much after all and now the soul is no longer on the collection list, crossed out thanks to Hongbin's -blocking. Taekwoon is glad but it also dawned on him that Hongbin's soul would be on the collection list one day. He had forgotten for a moment that his lover is now human.

With fist clenched as he returns to the same place he was banished from, Taekwoon is met with Hyuk again. It's his time to face the music for screwing up this job but his record had been perfect up till now. Following his ex-mentee as the newly anointed dominion leads the way to the courts while sheepishly sneaking glances at his ex-mentor, the angel of death knows they have nothing on him. He is immune to all these silly protocols and now that he is no longer a regular angel.

Sitting through the judgement session without a single expression of remorse on his face the whole time, Taekwoon seemed proud of what he had done. He is aware that he would get away with what he had done and the thought of being punished never once crossed his mind while he made his choice without hesitation. He was even there at the operating theatre but he was there to watch over Hongbin. Not to do his job.

Every creature up there knows Taekwoon could do worse since there isn't really a quality control over the job of the angel of death. The other angel of death- Ravi is famous for his notoriety, known to have spared a few damsels in distress just because he felt like it. The higher being had given up on interfering with him for as long as the balance between life and death is kept.

Taekwoon is not as temperamental as Ravi and he does his job with consistency so he was only given a word of warning before being sent packing back to his little hellhole. Hyuk had obviously kept the real reason for his failure a secret. The other angel hadn't told anyone else about the boy who could see Taekwoon. Hyuk knows Taekwoon is not one to make blunders so easily since he is well aware of his ex-mentor's character and capabilities. The angel of death is obviously affected by the human boy but since he is not willing to share, the other angel will not probe.

"Hyung... don't let those humans get the better of you..." Hyuk dished out a sincere advice but Taekwoon is not about to be told what to and not to do. Disregarding the other angel through the corner of his eyes, Taekwoon simply spread his magnificent coal black wings in preparation for his descend.

"I guess I will be seeing you around pretty soon then..." The cheeky angel said before opening the gates for his ex-mentor. Then with a flap of his wings Taekwoon is gone.