Illuminated only by the bright fluorescent bulb burning in the small lamp on the edge of the paper-strewn desk, Haneul furiously powered through a set of math problems, the last bit of homework she had to accomplish for the day. As she glanced back and forth between the clean textbook and her quite messy piece of scratch paper, her tongue stuck slightly out from between her lips as she concentrated on the particularly challenging word problem she was attempting to solve. A glance at the digital clock revealed that it was nearing ten-thirty, and with a sigh of exasperation, she dropped her pencil and flopped back in her chair with resignation. She rubbed her eyes sleepily, blinking up at the ceiling as she endeavored to organize her scattered thoughts. She was so absorbed in the struggle to piece together her frazzled mind that she was completely oblivious to the occasional clatter of a pebble against her window. When a sudden, impatient barrage of rocks against the glass finally jarred her from her exhausting efforts to form a cohesive thought, she jumped up from her chair and rushed to the window to discern the source. As she unhooked the latch and threw up the window, the curtains rushing in the sudden breeze, she was completely unsurprised to find Baro standing in the yard below, tossing a pebble and catching it as it fell back into the palm of his hand.

“About time,” he whined up at her as his feathers ruffled with impatience. “I thought I was gonna have to fly up there myself. Are you deaf?” Haneul rested her arms on the windowsill, smiling coyly down at the arrogant demon boy.

“I was busy. Some of us have work to do, you know,” she reminded him teasingly. He clicked his tongue in disgust and tossed the pebble to side the side; it crashed against the fence with a small clack before falling softly into the lush green grass below. Haneul found herself admiring the boy’s form illuminated in the moonlight, the way his feathers seemed to shine glossily and how the light played across his hardened features. His eyes sparkled up at her, mischief dancing in their dark depths.

“Take a break,” he demanded with a huff, flapping his wings so he flew up to the second story on the house. Haneul gasped and stumbled back as he planted his feet on the windowsill where her arms had been resting only moments before. He was suddenly smirking at her, perching in her window like some sort of gargoyle, his hands resting on his knees as he crouched beneath the window pane. Unamused, she crossed her arms with a slight huff.

“Do you realize how late it is?” she asked hotly.

“You don’t have school tomorrow,” he quipped back, and Haneul cursed herself for not realizing that fact sooner.

“What if Sandeul comes in here and finds me gone? He’ll freak!” she retorted, and all he did was shrug in response.

“Let him! You’re a big girl. You can do what you want,” he mused. “Besides, he’s currently out like a light. A stampede of buffalo through his bedroom couldn’t wake him up,” he added with a playful smirk. Haneul rolled her eyes lightly and crossed the room to begin organizing her desk, resigning herself to the fact that she certainly wouldn’t be finishing her work now. Baro hopped out of the window into the room, poking around as she cleaned up her messy work desk. His eyes landed on the black feather hanging on the back of her door, and he gently took it in his hands, running his finger across the individual strands. “Kept a souvenir of me, huh?” he purred as she glanced over her shoulder to ensure he wasn’t plundering into her personal belongings.

“Don’t touch that! It’s fragile!” she scolded as the heat rushed to her cheeks, and she angrily slapped the stack of papers on the edge of the desk. He obeyed with a laugh, dropping the feather and flopping face-down on her plush bed to gaze at her while she went around her business, his cheek resting in a hand as his eyes followed her slowly back and forth across the room. Under his intense stare, the girl felt extremely self-conscious, and was aware that her face was burning red the entirety of the time. When she finally finished packing up for the next school day, she crossed her arms primly and faced the demon squarely. “Well? You obviously want something, so come right out and say it.”

“If I say it, you’ll slap me,” he grinned at her, rolling onto his back and winking at her upside-down. As she moved to do just so, he laughed and hastily righted himself to avoid her stinging slap. “I’m kidding! I’m kidding! I just wanna take you somewhere, that’s all,” he snickered.

“Take me somewhere?” Haneul inquired doubtfully, and the demon hopped off the bed to land on his feet in front of her. Astonished by the sudden closeness, the girl instinctively stepped back.

“Yep. You might want to hold on,” he warned with a wild grin, and before Haneul knew what was happening, Baro scooped her into his arms and flapped his powerful wings, carrying them out of her bedroom and into the night. She gasped and hastily wrapped her arms around his neck, her vision swimming as the landscape flew blurrily past. Sick from the sudden ascension, she squeezed her eyes shut and pressed her face against him, simply concentrating on her breathing to expel the nausea. After a few moments, the ill feeling subsided. “You’re missing the view, Haneul,” she heard the demon purr into her ear, and an angry quip rose in . When she looked up to snap an irritated response, however, the words died on the tip of her tongue.

They were gliding just beneath the low-lying clouds, soaring miles above the coastal city. Lights sparkled across the land below, glittering white and yellow and orange against the harsh blackness of the cityscape. Here and there Haneul could spot moving black specks she surmised were cars, putt-putting along the roads on some errand or another. She could also make out the coastline, a winding snake of pristine white sand that twisted and turned into the horizon. Rolling waves, identifiable by bright white sea foam, gently beat against the shore, guided by the pull of the bright white moon shining in the heavens above alongside millions of glistening stars. It was a breathtaking experience, and Haneul had no words as she gazed around her in wonder. “Beautiful, isn’t?” Baro asked quietly as he turned his wings at an angle to catch an oncoming breeze.

“I’ve never seen anything like it,” she whispered back. As they passed beneath a dark, small cloud, she reached up to dip her fingertips into the fluffy collection of water droplets, her hand skimming through its surface as Baro passed underneath. Her hand came away coated in little dew drops, and she smiled thankfully up at the demon, who had allowed her to experience such majesty. He merely smirked down at her, banking so that they flew parallel to the shoreline. The water rushed beneath them, a hazy expanse of dark blue speckled with dancing white starlight. On the horizon, a massive form loomed closer and closer as the city fell away behind them.

As they neared the gigantic structure, Haneul finally recognized it as the collection of rocky cliffs miles away from the city, a favorite of rock climbers and adventure-seekers, both local and foreign. The fine white sand of the beach gradually transitioned into harsh, gray rock spotted with stubborn shrubbery, dramatically rising in an incline that towered two miles above the ocean at its peak. The edge of the cliffs fell away into a sheer drop, virtually a one-eighty-degree fall. At the base of the cliffs where rock met water, spires of rock jutted out of the roiling waves, spears that had been carved out the stone structures over thousands of years. Only the hardiest of thrill-seekers dared dive from the edge below to plunge into the crashing waves, many never to be seen again. It was on the precipice of these impressive crags that Baro spiraled into landing, setting her gently down a few feet from the hard edge of the rock. Nervous, she clung slightly to his arm as he gestured to the empty expanse.

“Here we are,” he announced with a dramatic bow. She nodded with a slight gulp, feeling exposed on the flat plateau. The wind cut viciously across the rock face, making her shudder as it chilled her to the bones.

“Why are we here, exactly?” she inquired anxiously, imagining the rock shifted precariously under her feet. She edged backwards, away from the sudden decline, as Baro fearlessly strode forward.

“Come on. It’s fine,” he smiled confidently at her from a few yards away, and she emphatically shook her head in fear, shuffling her feet and avoiding too much movement. “Haneul, I’ve been up here thousands of times. It’s secure. I promise,” he chuckled at her, obviously bemused by her reluctance.

“You’re also an immortal demon who, may I remind you, has the power of flight!” she snapped back. He laughed again, picking his way back across the rock to gently stop in front of her and enclose her hand in his own. She looked up at him, prepared to insist, but her fear and anger melted away as her eyes became locked into his soft gaze.

“I won’t let you fall,” he swore, and she found herself nodding, relenting to the warmth in his eyes. “For the record, I’m hardly immortal,” he added wryly as he began gently guiding her across the uneven surface. As they neared the precipice, the rock grew slippery with condensation and spray from the waves that beat against the rock face at high tide, and she pressed closer to the demon for fear of slipping and plummeting to her death; however, true to his word, the demon eased her across the precarious landscape without so much as a stumble. Finally, they stood upon the edge, staring out at the vast blue stretch of the open sea. Below, the waves crashed violently against the craggy wall, sending foam spraying twenty or thirty feet up the cliff. While Haneul grew slightly dizzy with vertigo, Baro promptly plopped down on the edge, his feet dangling in the nothingness. “Sit down, Haneul,” he smiled up at her. Hesitantly, the girl eased herself down onto her behind, scooting closer to the edge centimeter by centimeter. She swallowed nervously before letting her feet drop into the open air, allowing them to dangle above the ravaging elements below. It was simultaneously nerve-wracking and liberating.

“Feels like you’re sitting on top of the world, doesn’t it?” he grinned at her. As her anxiety faded, she began to enjoy the sensation of the wind rushing beneath her feet, tugging at her shoes and threatening to pull them right off her feet and into writhing waves. It did feel like she was sitting atop the world, on a rocky throne that ruled over all she could see. Baro smirked at her silence reverence and began swinging his legs in time with the crashing waves. “I always come here when it gets too much for me,” he sighed gently, staring out into the sky. The breeze ruffled his dark hair and feathers, making moonlight dance over their black strands. “It kinda reminds me how small I am, in the grand scheme of things. Kinda humbling, I guess- to know that there’s something bigger out there than just you and me. There are more good people out there instead of bad ones like me.”

“You’re not a bad person, Baro,” she frowned slightly, glancing over at him in concern. His expression was more miserable than she had ever seen it before, and she reflexively placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder. “Just because you’re a demon doesn’t mean you’re bad…”

“Yeah, Haneul, it kinda does,” he laughed bitterly. “Don’t you know how demons are made? They’re made from the souls of the unredeemable, people who have done things so horrible that there’s no chance of salvation for them,” he mumbled. Haneul found herself about to ask what horrible thing Baro could have done, but she swallowed the question, studying him for a moment. She then sighed and settled her head on his shoulder, wrapping his hands in her own.

“Well, that may be who you were then, but that isn’t who you are now,” she murmured consolingly. “I don’t think so, anyway.” She felt him inhale sharply and twitch at her touch, but he only sighed heavily, propping his head up on her own.

“Thanks, Haneul,” he whispered, and she felt something wet land into her hair. She didn’t even have to glance up to know that he was crying, though out of relief or remorse, she wasn’t sure. She allowed him to lean against her in silence for a long while, sorting through whatever internal struggle the demon was suffering with while they sat upon the edge of the cliff, dangling over a precipice. Baro sat upon his own precipice, she realized, on the border between humanity and monstrosity, anchored only by herself. I wonder if there is no chance of salvation for him, she thought as she cast her gaze up at the glittering heavens below. Surely, if he proves himself worthy, he can be given a second chance, right? She hoped silently. As she pondered the notion, she heard the soft crunch of shifting rock behind her. Suddenly alerted, she and Baro whipped around to see Gongchan standing several yards away, his sword unsheathed and an accusing glower distorting his angelic face. Haneul had not noticed the last time she had seen in, when she had first met the angel when he had attacked Baro in her school bathroom, but the blade was not made of metal but of glittering diamond, with light dancing across its crystalline surface.

“I warned you,” he growled at Baro angrily, pointing the tip of the weapon threateningly at the demon. “I told you to stay away, for her own safety. Did you listen? No! Now you’ve gotten him involved, and it’s gonna make things a whole lot messier. Obviously, his little message the other day did little to sway you.” Haneul gasped in realization.

“You sent that demon after me?” she gasped in shock. Though she knew Gongchan was desperate to free her from Baro’s grasp, she had never pinned him as someone who would consort with demons and hire them simply to prove a point. In response to her accusation, he screeched in exasperation and pulled at his hair, shaking his head in disbelief.

“Of course not!” he yelled angrily at her. “Do you think I would do something that stupid and reckless? No! It was his idea!” he snapped, then pointed the sword back at Baro. “I’ve come to end this, before he really gets Haneul killed!” he glared, brandishing the diamond sword angrily.

“Ugh, he always has to come and ruin the fun,” Baro muttered as he climbed lazily to his feet to face the irritated angel. He reached into his jacket to retrieve an obsidian short sword, twirling it expertly in his fingertips as he slowly advanced upon his foe. Angels and demons aren’t weak to the same things humans are… Obsidian must be deadly to angels, and diamond to demons… Like how silver is deadly to werewolves, Haneul realized as she considered the peculiar weapons. She then shook the thought away, hastily climbing to her feet in an attempt to interrupt the quarrel.

“Wait! Who is this person you keep referring to? Surely if he’s the one pulling dangerous stunts, your problem is with him, right?” she cried to Gongchan. He snorted and rolled his eyes at her, waving a hand dismissively in her direction.

“You don’t understand anything, Haneul,” he muttered. She puffed out her cheeks as rage coursed through her body in response to his blatant rudeness, and she crossed her arms with an angry huff. “It’s not that simple, okay? The only way to stop all of this is to get rid of you,” he added with an icy glare at the demon. Unperturbed, Baro simply laughed and skipped lightly towards the angel, bouncing lithely on his toes as he prepared to face off against Gongchan.

“Bring it on, Princess. I’ve been itching for a fight, anyway,” he grinned savagely at him, completely ignoring Haneul’s pleas to cease their fighting. She was helpless as the pair of them sprang at one another, their blades clashing against each other as they met. Sparks danced in the air as the two blades met again and again, and Haneul was hard-pressed to keep up as her eyes followed the supernatural battle. The pair were locked into what seemed to be a deadly dance, gliding across the rock with their feet barely skimming across the surface, circling each other like two rival predators each intent on becoming the victor and claiming their prize- Haneul.

As she stood on the precipice, anxiously watching the two boys clash, a shadow passed across the stars and blotted out the light for a brief second. Abruptly, a gale of fierce wind swept across the rocky plateau, causing the two to cease their fighting for a brief second to defend themselves from the onslaught, struggling to keep their foothold on the uneven ground; Haneul was not so lucky, for as the wind beat against her she found herself disbalanced and pushed to the very edge. As her arms pinwheeled in a desperate struggle to regain her balance, she found herself tipping slowly into the open air.

“Baro!” she screamed as the small piece of rock beneath her feet finally gave way, cracking under the pressure of the girl’s weight and sending her plummeting toward the crashing waves and rocky spires. As the wind rushed around her, clawing at her hair and clothes, the sky fell away and the death trap below rushed up to meet her. Just as she thought that she was going to crash into the sea, all the wind was knocked out of her as someone’s body slammed violently into her own, and she was wrapped in a tight embrace. Her rescuer flew just at the edge of the rock face, carrying her into the sky, and suddenly the rock disappeared to reveal a frantic Baro standing at the very edge of the cliff with his hand outstretched.

"Haneul! No!" he cried, and the girl's warning was whisked away by the wind as Gongchan dashed up behind him, sword poised to take the demon's head. She squeezed her eyes shut as the stranger holding her in his grasp spirited her away into the night. 

Baro… Don’t die!