For days I waited anxiously.

No sign from her.

I hadn't eaten or gone aware, not that I could safely anyways.

One day, there came a knock on my door.

There was no way in the world I'd open that door.

I stayed silent.

The outsider told me to let him in and that he knew I was in there.

At this point, fear was prickling my skin, but I persisted.

The outsider then said he knew I went blind at age 9.

I said nothing.

The outsider said he knew of my mother's secret.

I grew enraged, but decided to stay put.

The outsider then said he had news about it.

Still didn't let him in.

"I'm an angel," he whispered in his deep voice. My curiosity spiked, as did my disbelief.

"Proof," I said finally.

"Well, I never really needed you to open the door for me to come in. I am an Angel, whether you believe me or not. And the downfall of the Upper Kingdom is your fault," the voice whispered into my ear. I jumped from where I was sitting and immediately began thrashing about.

The stranger caught me with his hands and pinned me down to the cot behind me.

"Listen. Please be rational. I really mean no harm," the voice changed to pleading. I figured with the stranger's strength, nothing could be done.

"What do you want from me?" I seethed through my teeth.

“Kyungsoo, please listen to me,” he begged me. I didn’t falter in the fact that he knew my name. He seemed to know a lot about me.

“I’ll listen,” I stated. I decided there was nothing else I could do.

“Can I hug you?” he asked me.

“Uh, what?” I asked, unsure of what exactly his intentions were. All of a sudden, this weird stranger enveloped me in his warmth and in his arms. Though I’d never know what this person looked like, I somehow felt like I was familiar with him. His… energy didn’t feel new. It felt as if he’d always been there in my life.

It also did feel different. Perhaps stronger and warmer.

He sighed and rubbed my back.

“You don’t know how long I’ve been looking for you. Your life’s been so hard Kyungsoo-ah,” he said softly.

Is he really an Angel?

Why was I trusting him?

“Will you explain yourself?” I asked as I backed away from him.

For all I know, it could be some one-eyed toothless weirdo.

“I’m sorry,” he let go of me,” I’ll explain.”

“I’m Kim Jongin, and I’m the Seventh Virtue. I’m an Angel. I have the appearance of an 18 year old. 10 years ago, I destroyed the Gate of Margins,” he began. I listened and nodded.

“So you’re Hope,” I said.

“Yes,” he replied and he took my hand in his. I yanked it away in surprise. I found myself disbelieving everything he said because I’ve never really talked to anyone else but my mother, and I knew what her face looked like.

“Excuse me, Jongin, but will you accept a weird request of mine? I feel like I can’t talk to you if I don’t do this,” I stated. I decided that I should be polite to this “Angel”. He had the same presence of my mother.

“What is it?”

Kai-------

“What is it?” I asked as I looked at him. Kyungsoo was just faced towards the opposite wall, instead of turning his head in my direction.

“May I touch your face?” he asked.

“Yes,” I replied without hesitance. It was a reasonable request. Since he couldn’t see, this would be the only way he could “see” me.

He reached out with his hands and I guided his hands to my face. I felt my face heat beneath his fingers for some indiscernible reason.

He trailed his fingers over my human face and his hands paused briefly at my jaw, which I was told was “heavenly”.

“Will you be able to listen comfortably now?” I asked him. He simply nodded and folded his hands in his lap.

I began to explain to him the moment that I saw him lose his sight, and when I cried, destroying the Gate of Margins.  I told him pretty much everything since I fell out of the sky ten years ago.

By the end, there had been tears in his eyes.

“I’m the reason for all of this?” he asked with a shaky voice. I felt something inside me tremor and I hesitated for a moment before conjuring a sensible answer.

“I started all this nonsense? I’m the reason my mother became a Mass?” he asked me shakily.

“Not at all. It’s my fault that I was near the Gate and it’s my fault that I cried,” I reassured him. Tears still escaped his eyes.

“Kyungsoo, you’ll make me cry if you cry,” I warned him.

“I’m sorry Jongin,” he apologized,” I’m not even sure why I believe you though.”

“I know it’s hard to believe anything I say. I can’t even begin to imagine how difficult it is,” I said as I looked at him.

"Can I reach my mother somehow?" he asked me. I detected notes of my sprite pulses from him. It seems he has hope.

"I checked on her, and it seems she's close to the location of ascent," I told him. He nodded.

“Well… what do you plan to do now?” he asked me.

“Well, I plan to stay with you no matter what. And then I’m taking you to the Margins,” I replied slowly. Kyungsoo just absorbed the information.

“Why?” he asked.

“Because that’s the only place I can safely contact Angel Resource. And from there I will talk among the my siblings so that I can restore the peace to the Middle Kingdom,” I replied.

“Why do you need me to do this?” he asked. It was a valid question.

“You have something of mine. Well, I gave it to you. It’s in your heart, but it’s in a catalyst coma. I gave you one of my sprites. It’s different from a Mass Sprite... but I’ll die if my sprite doesn’t come out of the coma. My wings aren’t healing properly either, because my sprite is in a coma. But I gave it to you knowing these consequences. The Hope Sprite is the one we know least about. I’m not really sure what would happen if we left it in you. I think there are other ways I could live without it, but for now, I need you with me at all times,” I replied.

Kyungsoo just sat there blankly.

“I’m glad you came,” he said. That surprised me.

“Why?”

“I think I would have died within the month if I tried to live on my own,” Kyungsoo confessed.

“I wouldn’t have let you.”