4,215 words

Lu Han really doesn't know what went wrong. His lower lip curls between his teeth, eyes squinting in confusion, feet hovering softly against the grass as his wings keep him afloat. In one hand he holds the broken tip of the Cupid's arrow that he himself used to puncture his own heart. And before him stands the strange looking fellow he fell immediately in love with.

“Uhm... what?” Those are this strange fellow's first words, lovely adoring words to Lu Han's ears, but only in theory.

“My name's Lu Han!” he says a little eagerly, because this is the one!

“Uhm, I'm Jongdae?” says the stranger, whose speech isn't quite as eager as his own. Already, Lu Han sees the error code etching across his heart.

The life of modern-day Cupid isn't an easy one. Not that it's hard either! Lu Han actually really likes his job. Flitting about, faking human, setting hearts ablaze whatever his whim. There's more of them out there like him, little cupids romping throughout the earth, seen by only those they care to be seen by. Lu Han's tired though of other people's love. It makes him giddy of course, but what about his own love? The last time a human sort of took his fancy, Lu Han struck him with an arrow, his little angel's heart already fluttering in anticipation for when the man would turn around, see the Cupid, and become Lu Han's darling little lover. Then a man named Yixing walked between them, crushing the moment. Lu Han's not jealous. He's not really, because his newest gorgeous experiment Minseok fell head over heels enamored with Yixing, and Lu Han gets immense joy popping into their house invisibly and watching them make love. His perfect little protégés.

Something tells him that he and Jongdae aren't going to be as perfect. A Cupid's arrow should strike at the heart, and customary to every age old tale, whoever that person sees next is the person they're destined to love—immediately, suddenly, not exactly irrevocably, but... So what if destiny is a little forced, or that it's sometimes a bit one-sided. If the person's lucky, they'll meet the love of their life. If they're not, then they're doomed to unrequited love unless Lu Han takes pity on them and unbinds the contract.

He's already thinking maybe he should undo his own. Every rule in the Cupid handbook suggests not turning the weapon on oneself. But Lu Han is just a bit desperate, or maybe he's stupid.

“Is that, an arrow?” Jongdae is asking him now. Lu Han only blinks.

“Y-yes?”

“A fake arrow?”

“No.”

“Okay then, so how are you not dying?”

Lu Han glances at his chest. Already the arrow is beginning to fade, no trace of a wound. There was never any blood.

“Well it's obviously a fake, and you're strange so, if you don't mind I'll be going now.”

Lu Han's worldview shifts, and in his panic he lunges towards the man whose form he first set eyes on. “No, wait!”

Jongdae isn't even listening to him. He strides off across the park, hands in pockets, without a care in the world. Like he isn't walking away with literally a piece of Lu Han's heart.

Yes, this was probably a bad idea. Lu Han gets that now, because once one half of the partner is stabbed, you can't just stab the other and make it all work out. Human free will merged with one-half orchestrated fate. Balance in the world, and all that sort of muck that Lu Han's never actually thought about before because it really never mattered to him. He's just a Cupid, merry and mischievous and he's never been stupid enough (or in love enough) to mess with his own life too. 

“Wait, Jongdae, please!” he begs unreasonably, dashing across the green, and if it looks like he's floating to anyone passing by, well then Lu Han's got bigger problems to deal with right now. “Wait, Jongdae!? What's your last name?! Where do you live?! Hey don't you think we'd look amazingly cute together. Hey! Hey, wait up! Jongdae, pleaseeee!” Even mid-air he somehow manages to hook himself across a park bench and flip head first into the air. The world is about to end for him, alone, miserable, friendless, unloved.

He thinks about crying dramatically and throwing a tantrum but it would probably end up scaring Jongdae even more than he's already done. Now Lu Han feels a tad bit guilty watching fools fall in love. It's not quite as funny as when it's him doing the falling. Literally.

He settles for digging his elbows into the dirt, invisible wings fluttering just off his back, watching as an ant crawls across the ground mere inches from the tip of his nose. “Damnit.”

Then a pair of footsteps emerge across his vision, and bye-bye, ant. Tentatively, hesitatingly, Lu Han looks up. Jongdae looks like a giant from this angle. A giant, lovable teddy bear not unlike the stuffed cat plushies that line the corner of Yixing and Minseok's bedroom—not that Lu Han spies on them all that often.

“It's Lu Han, right?” Jongdae asks, a bit of humor coming out under his breath.

“Yeah?” Lu Han sniffs once, and sits up, wiping dirt from the front of his violently pink t-shirt and white skinny jeans.

Jongdae holds out a hand and hefts him to his feet. “You look a mess. I'm sorry. But please, would you mind not stalking me? It's a bit creepy.”

Again Lu Han wipes his nose, snot refusing to cooperate and his lips turn into a full pout. “But... I... would you just hear me out? I'm... I'm Cupid.”

After about four hours of sitting on the edge of Jongdae's cubicle, Lu Han can definitely say that he's not impressed with the life of office employees. All except for one, of course. His precious Jongdae with the fluffy brown hair and long eyelashes and whimsical smile which he tries to hide as much as possible. As much as Lu Han is heart-flutteringly in love with Jongdae, it's clear that his soon-to-be paramour has no interest in him whatsoever. And that's just too bad. Jongdae will have to learn. Has been learning since their impromptu but completely fortuitous meeting this morning in the park. 

“Would you please get off my desk!?” Jongdae whines for possibly the 100th time, pulling at a small stack of folders that Lu Han's been holding down with his bum. 

Lu Han releases the files with a pout, sighing dramatically, because Jongdae absolutely refuses to give him the time of day. 

“Isn't it time to go home?” he asks, glancing at the clock. It's barely noon, but maybe that isn't important. “This place is so lifeless!”

“Then, you can go away,” says Jongdae. He doesn't even look at him.

From everything Lu Han can gather out of his lover, Jongdae is somewhere around twenty-seven years old, lives alone, has no boyfriend, and doesn't like Lu Han. He also doesn't like his job, and Lu Han doesn't blame him there. All these little business peons and their tiny workspaces, and almost none of them have even noticed Lu Han sitting up high on Jongdae's desk. There's nobody in love on this floor, and on a normal day Lu Han might have his work cut out for him. Instead, he mopes diligently over Jongdae, because Jongdae is more interesting than life itself.

“Why would I want to go away?” Lu Han asks, bouncing his legs like a bored child off the end of Jongdae's desk. His wings are folded uncomfortably behind him and nobody but Jongdae noticed that time he accidentally stretched and knocked over a coaster and several pencils and a whole bucket of paper clips. Jongdae had sighed and returned the articles to his desktop, plucking the stray feathers straight into the trash can along with the contents of Lu Han's heart.

“Go do Cupid things somewhere else, if you're so bored here,” Jongdae grimaces.

Lu Han perks up. “Does that mean you believe me!?” 

“No! I don't! I don't, so... go away!” Because Jongdae's denials are getting ever less forceful, and Lu Han can already see the seeds of Jongdae's own doubt eating away at him. He'd explained it all the way here, how Lu Han was a Cupid—one of many, but definitely one of the cutest Cupids around!—and how Jongdae was supposed to fall in love with him now because Lu Han wanted it to be so. It was so adorable, to watch Jongdae pass from one confused state to another, so much that Lu Han would be perfectly willing to indulge him for eternity. Humans and their rationality and their disdain for the supernatural. Their hearts so closed off from possibilities greater than their imaginations so that Lu Han can sit in full view of over fifty workers with wings and a harp and a glittering, golden bow and practically nobody notices that he's even there. Only Jongdae. And some girl across the way who keeps looking at him funny as if her eyes deceive her and then goes back to work. 

After some consultation later that night with his favorite Cupid friend, Kyungsoo—an adorable little growling cherub, if Lu Han must say so—Lu Han devises a strategy. Right after he ditches the one Kyungsoo gave him, because truthfully, Kyungsoo has a reputation of being more of a love reaper rather than sower of love, which Lu Han could do as well but to him, it's never quite as much fun. After all, who would want to break up sweet, precious couples like Yixing and Minseok who were happily having vanilla the last time he poked his head through their open window? Preposterous thoughts! 

Kyungsoo's plan of course is that he can 'fix' Lu Han. Lu Han's plan is that he apply some persistence on Jongdae. He kicks Kyungsoo off the balcony of his 50th floor open-room loft apartment and sighs in contentment, happily watching the stars twinkle and dance while the moon sings a little tune. Venus coos at him from her place in the sky, soothing thoughts that make his heart swell with pride for his own newfound love. It may be perfect flying weather for seeking out new opportunities to spread the seeds of love, yet all Lu Han thinks about is Jongdae, Jongdae, Jongdae and how he can open up the man's beautiful little heart. 

He falls asleep with the curtains drawn open to let in the light, curled up in soft downy blankets with his giant dolphin plushie, beneath the tapestry of Cupid and Psyche, his legendary predecessors. Jongdae is more beautiful than her though, definitely. Undoubtedly. Thus it's a good thing his immortal mother has laxed the rules over the years to let her sons wing-around and make love. Lu Han hopes Jongdae will like his bed, because it's tremendously comfy, especially with him in it.

“So,” Lu Han precedes his next big chain of conversation, “after how many dates can I kiss you?!” Jongdae glares over his cup of piping hot Styrofoam coffee, and Lu Han winces in retaliation. ”How about, just holding hands?” he amends quickly. 

Still Jongdae glares before reminding him, “This isn't a date. Neither were the last five times you accosted me on my way to work and frankly, I thought you'd have learned by now that I don't do conversation before caffeine.” 

He sounds so droll, so bored, so tiredly indignant, and Lu Han may have a problem—well, technically, he knows he already does because he's a Cupid in love by his own arrow—but Jongdae's attitude hasn't fazed him one little bit. He just wants to hear the man's voice, bask in his scowls, and then maybe hit him up for lunch or fly back and forth the nearest window a few times so that Jongdae can in no way forget about Lu Han's existence. 

“How about dinner then? My treat?” Lu Han leans across the table with an open mouthed smile. It's a winning look, he's sure it is. He watched Minseok practicing with Yixing like this plenty of times, and see where their relationship has gotten to today!

Jongdae's cracking already; he just knows he is. Two days ago Jongdae had just purchased his coffee and then tried to storm out of the cafe. Yesterday he paused near the confectionary counter while Lu Han did his thing. Today, he's actually sitting down at the window counter, rolling his eyes but staying nevertheless. 

“I don't eat dinner,” Jongdae tries to explain. Lu Han huffs, his bangs flying, his harp shifting slightly across his back while a few strings hum softly, inharmoniously. 

“Nonsense,” he says. “Everyone's got to eat. Even I eat!”

“Your flirting skills need work if you think that's going to persuade me.” Jongdae cracks the merest hint of a smile, one eyebrow lifted in jest.

Lu Han just beams even brighter. “I'm a Cupid! I'm supposed to just bat my eyelashes and people start drooling!”

Jongdae scoffs louder, smile still there. “Drool? That's... cute.”

“I know, it is! Right?”

Jongdae full-on snorts. “Uhh, yeah. That's exactly what I meant.” He checks his watch while Lu Han endeavors to work out what he means. Then he takes a deep swig of his coffee, makes a bitter face and shudders. “Okay, listen up. If I promise you one real date tonight, will you let me get to work on time tomorrow?”

Spoken just like a businessman, but Lu Han's naturally rapidly beating heart almost pops right out of his chest. His wings flutter open and a poor middle-age man walking behind him almost falls over. Only Jongdae notices the reason why, and he grimaces, quickly standing up to steady the man who looks confused at what even touched him. Jongdae smacks at the wings only he can see and Lu Han pouts, curling them once more towards his back, firmly reprimanded even without words.

“They're just falling at your feet, huh?” Jongdae flashes him a crooked grin.

It's enough to make Lu Han's mood turn into fireworks once more. “Can we still do dinner?!” 

“If you uphold your end of the bargain.”

“Great! Wonderful! I'll pick you up outside your office building!”

Possibly, Jongdae rolls his eyes as he walks away. But Lu Han decides he won't dwell on that. Jongdae's when he walks away looks especially perky today. 

After the fiftieth phrase of protest, Lu Han asserts that Jongdae probably didn't expect to be literally 'picked up', as in whisked away into the air to the sound of Lu Han whooping in delight. Jongdae on the contrary screams and cries out and almost starts to cry before Lu Han deposits him on the top of a large skyscraper where the view is extraordinary! His date, however, is still busy whimpering and trying to pummel Lu Han's face and hasn't even noticed that the Cupid managed to bribe a couple security guards from the neighboring tower to leave on all the office lights in the lit-up shape of a heart. Therefore, he pouts.

“B-but, Jongdae, look! It's supposed to be romantic, don't you think?”

“Romantic!?” Jongdae sputters, still not looking. “You might have warned me first we were going flying!”

“I said I'd pick you up!” Lu Han makes a sad face. Truthfully, he kind of realizes he did wrong, but now's not the time for that. “Jongdae... look!” he insists again, finger pointing shamelessly at the 40-foot symbol of their burgeoning love. 

He gives Jongdae a few minutes to calm down and breathe normally, all the while admiring the man's profile and frown because what's not to love? He wants to touch, but he's not certain he won't get his fingers bitten off if he tries. 

“Would you... would you please warn me next time?” Jongdae finally heaves out. 

Instantly, Lu Han grins. “Next time?!” He gives into his desires and pokes Jongdae's cheek, grinning and fluttering his wings cutely. After so many encounters where Jongdae pretended he wasn't even there, Lu Han is relieved to notice that he's finally returning some of his interest, at least in his person. 

“I still can't believe you're... Cupid.” 

“One of many cupids,” Lu Han corrects him.

“One of many... that's, so weird.” 

It's not quite the spark of love that Lu Han is going for, but it's a start. He escorts Jongdae towards the edge of the building so that they can comfortably sit and look out on the city and tries to explain a little about the world as he knows it. About the world Jongdae has never noticed before. That there are plenty of little mischievous creatures out there descended from mythological parents, and how humans have adapted to not even be aware. Cupids, and satyrs, and pixies and tooth fairies.

“Wait, tooth fairies? Seriously?” Jongdae's face contorts as if this knowledge is more preposterous than a flying man with a bow and a harp. 

“Well, yeah,” says Lu Han. “Curious? Maybe one day I'll introduce you. Chanyeol is a little weird, but nice. And he always has a little bit of cash to spare, which comes in handy for bowling night! We're swell friends!”

Jongdae must have liked the giant heart on the opposite building and/or the promise of an encounter with a real life tooth fairy, because he allows Lu Han to take him on a second date. And then a third date, and then a fourth date. By the fifth time Lu Han appears with an enchanted bouquet of daisies whose little petals actually flutter like wings, Jongdae doesn't seem as nervous to be picked up and flown halfway across the city.

He is a little nervous, however, when Lu Han brings him back to his flat. 

“No ulterior motives! Promise!” Lu Han throws his hands into the air, making sure to lay out his innocence very thick. At least, not this time, he adds in his head.

“Riiight,” Jongdae echoes suspiciously, but Lu Han preens a little when his date wanders about, evidently impressed by his not so humble abode. The marble life-size statue of Cupid is particularly eye catching, and hopefully a sneak peak of what's to come. They're all so well endowed like that, not that Lu Han likes to boast.

He serves him champagne in tinkling crystal flutes, ignoring Jongdae's raised eyebrows.

“What's the occasion?”

The occasion, Lu Han would like to explain, is that he's about to officially ask this glorious man to be his boyfriend. He asked Kyungsoo how humans typically go about courting each other, when they're not magically entranced, and the cherub promptly pointed him to a computer where Lu Han was instructed to look up tips for Dating 101. 

It seems the pattern goes from dates to boyfriends, and somewhere down the line he can buy Jongdae a giant diamond ring and get smooches whenever he wants. 

“Jongdae,” he starts off sternly, because he's supposed to do this seriously, earnestly.

“Yes?”

“Jongdae,” he gulps. “Will you marry me!?”

There's a silence that immediately permeates the room, like a chill from an outdoor wind except Lu Han had already shut the heavy glass sliding doors. 

“I mean...”

Jongdae's jaw drops in slow motion. 

“, that... I wasn't going to say that... yet.”

Lu Han blushes pinker than the pants he put on earlier and Jongdae is whiter than his fuzzy pale sweater. Because oops, he's supposed to wait on the marriage proposal. Boyfriends before lovers before husbands, all things going well. 

“I skipped a step,” he admits sheepishly.

“You think?”

“I meant to just ask if you'd date me officially.” Lu Han's voice wobbles. Jongdae's frown grows by each passing second. 

“Uh huh...” 

“It's true!”

True it may be, but Lu Han feels everything spiraling out of control and it's all his own stupid fault. Perhaps he shouldn’t have broken the code and just kept at his meddling in other peoples' lives. It always worked well for them, and if not, then there was a fix. In fact...

“Forget it. I'll just call back Soo.”

Even that aside has a backfiring effect. 

“Soo?” Jongdae repeats incredulously. “Is that some other poor schmuck you're trying to woo in case I don't work out?”

The only good part of this is that Jongdae is actually jealous. Jealous! At least, Lu Han thinks he is when he laughs out loud. Another wrong move, apparently, because in just a short matter of time this perfect fifth date is going downhill very, very fast. 

“Now... you're laughing. Wow, maybe I am an idiot,” says Jongdae, hands coming up to his hips. Lu Han shuts up and chokes, hand coming up this throat embarrassed and just a little bit worried. 

“I'm sorry... I'll fix this. And uhm, sorry for wasting your time. Do you want me to fly you home or... stairs?”  He stares at his plushie dolphin house shoes, already mourning the loss of his supposed-to-be great love. Jongdae was everything he wanted, and probably he'd have liked him even if he hadn't struck himself with an arrow. What though is that Jongdae obviously doesn't feel the same. He'd hoped that in time, that would change. Lu Han was nothing if not persistent. Maybe too much so. 

“There's also an elevator, if fifty flights of stairs is too much—”

“Why would I take the stairs or...?”

Jongdae's words suddenly catch in the air.

“Leave?” Lu Han finishes for him, heart still plummeting down.

“So you want me to leave, then?” Jongdae doesn't act jealous anymore. In fact, he looks sad. 

“I don't actually.”

“You don't, what?”

“Want you to leave?” 

Jongdae tilts his head to the side. “Is that a question, or a statement?”

Lu Han his lips nervously, before declaring in no uncertain terms, “Statement! Definitely a statement! Uhm, okay we—we can hold off on getting married until after I pick out a ring but—but—but Jongdae...” If he was a normal human being he'd probably be sweating profusely, but as luck has it, he doesn't have to worry too much. Only his face which produces more than enough blood to turn him as red as a strawberry. 

“Yes?” Jongdae takes a hesitant step forward, and Lu Han sighs happily.

“Will you at least, keep dating me? So we can see how far this goes and maybe one day you'll love me as much as I love you!?” For an added bonus, he cups his hands up in front of heart, fingers shaping around an imitation of his love. 

Jongdae's answer is a yes, but. And that but is a strong indication of everything Lu Han fears most.

“Turn yourself out of love with me, and we try it again the normal way. Only then will I let us see where this goes.”

Lu Han doesn't in the end ask Kyungsoo to reap his attraction to Jongdae. 

He does it to himself, fist in his mouth waiting to bear the brunt of the back end of the arrow, Jongdae holding it steady, ready to punch. The arrow strikes dully against his chest and Lu Han cries out shrilly even though Jongdae just clucks over him like a mother hen, stating that sure it will bruise but Lu Han's in no way as dead as he's trying to make out.

They start over from there. Shy hi's and hello's whispered to each other from the uncomfortable closeness of five inches apart. The insane desire is gone, but Jongdae is just as pretty to Lu Han's eyes as he was before, and when the other allows the un-enchanted Cupid to take him out on proper human dates (with occasional side quests to spark others' loves) Lu Han discovers that Jongdae is just as interesting and loveable as before, except that he still agrees Jongdae needs a change of job. 

After a couple more months, Jongdae agrees to be his boyfriend, and Lu Han finally gets to take his bed for a test drive. He stuffs it overfull with light, fluffy pillows and soft down blankets and almost gets lost in the bed when Jongdae pounds into him with shocking vigor. Lu Han holds himself upright only by the spread of his wings, beating out wildly, arhythmically with each . Afterwards they cuddle until they fall asleep and Jongdae wakes up with feathers in his ear, scared stiff when they catch Kyungsoo lazily dozing on the balcony where apparently he'd kept watch. 

“Do you mind kicking your Cupid friend to the curb?” Jongdae suggests rather sardonically as Lu Han wakes up. 

“Yeah? Why, what'd you have in mind?”

“Well, I wouldn't mind clearing up that balcony and having another go but, voyeurs... yuck.”

Lu Han silently apologizes to Yixing and Minseok for all the stress he might have caused them while simultaneously relishing the sound of Kyungsoo's muffled, sleepy whines as he floats downwards at a rapid pace. 

“Don't worry. He'll wake up before he hits the curb. Now, what about that balcony? Oh, and afterwards, I thought we could go and have our portraits done in oil paint and then get it framed and hung right above the piano, Jongdae. What'd you say?!”