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The newly-minted angels were finally shown around Paradise as part of their onboarding activities – 1 year of angelic school without seeing the view outside of Guardian Academy was enough to even drive the best of them to do something naughty, and that was forbidden in the first place.

So here they are, strolling the halls of Etheria Prime, which primarily housed the warrior angels – those frequently sent out to deal with the bad. The group looked on in awe at the angels currently at the field practicing maneuvers. Everyone knew these are a special breed, the class of angels who dealt with the dirty, gritty, sub-human world. Unlike them who are primarily tasked with guarding their assigned human.

The group did a collective double-take though, when a being clad in all black strode out of the main hall, intent to get to wherever his destination is. Fashion in Etheria Prime really wasn’t all the rage as they were the only group allowed to dress like humans, but the angel in question caught their attention because of his wings.

Donghae was the only black-winged angel in Paradise.

>>>>>

The new daemons cringed and jeered everywhere they turned. There was no question that Hell was insanely dirty, gritty and hot. And their home for eternity. It didn’t take much time for the taskmaster to drill into them the necessary attitudes once they wreak havoc on earth. But of course, they wouldn’t find it a nice time in Hell either.

So they hissed and jeered, when an offensive white daemon came flying up from the depths. They would mistake him for an angel, if not for the fact that he was barely clad, the white halter and really skimpy white shorts on that slim, hot body the perfect come-hither for all the base spirits in that place. So even while the new daemons hissed at the offending sight, they fairly drooled as the daemon flew over their heads.

Hyukjae was the only white-winged daemon in Hell.

>>>>>

It was inevitable that the two would meet, on Earth no less, on a routine patrol for either side. They took one look at the other and correctly deduced that their respective looks were deceiving.

Donghae was intrigued by the white daemon – he was blonde, as majority of the angels were, had the token white wings and the angelic aura. But his getup and the way he moved fairly screamed evil in the sensually tempting kind of way. His brown eyes, too, had a glint mixed into the seductive look, but Donghae was certain that if he looked deep enough, there was a kind of pain that hid behind his dull eyes, like he had seen too much of evil but could not turn evil himself.

“You shouldn’t be in Hell,” Donghae blurted out the moment he was done looking the daemon up and down.

“Excuse me?” the daemon petulantly demanded in response, and Donghae was somehow surprised – he kept expecting one who looked like an angel to act like one. Hyukjae gave him a once-over in turn before declaring. “You’re not exactly the poster boy for Paradise either.”

Donghae tried not to flinch. He should be used to it by now. But the direct way he’d been told that while the daemon pointedly looked at his obviously black wings somehow set him more on edge compared to the polite stares he was used to getting back home.
 
>>>>>

The next time they met was a hundred years into the future, but it felt like nothing changed. Time did pass differently for them otherworldly beings. Somehow, it seemed like yesterday.

Hyukjae had to admit that it felt like he saw a friend again after a long time, because he was the one who actually cooed out when he saw Donghae, saying, “Yoohoo! Black angel! It’s you again!”

Donghae wasn’t alone this time, but all his companion angels flew to different locations once the white daemon flew up and landed beside Donghae’s perch up at the Seoul Bridge. Hyukjae waited as Donghae finished whatever it was he needed to finish before the angel consigned his rather hi-tech padd into the ether.

“I envy you angel-types – you get to use the latest technology there is courtesy of the human imagination… Down there, it’s so hot, no type of material has a higher melting point.” Hyukjae said by way of small talk.

A few pair of eyes watched, wondering how the unlikely pair wasn’t going at each other’s throats to begin with. Although there is a truce between the two camps, it was a terribly hidden secret that the dark forces used every chance it could get to rile up the light forces.

Donghae was well aware of the danger having the daemon this close to him, but he was trained for it. Besides, he wasn’t getting anything but curiosity vibes from the daemon. If he was malevolent, he wasn’t being malevolent now.

“Shouldn’t you be out wreaking havoc down there?” Donghae gestured at the general skyline of Seoul as it lay before them.

Hyukjae just shrugged. “I just got off-shift… a month’s worth, mind you, so I have a week of furlough.” Then he looked back at the angel, matching his gesture. “Shouldn’t you be out waging peace down there?”

“I just got off-shift,” Donghae muttered.

Hyukjae looked at him askance, before laughing aloud. Donghae knew it was meant to be mocking, but he never heard something more beautiful.

“And here I thought you have no sense of humor.” Hyukjae added.

Hyukjae was intrigued by the black angel – he was brunet, as majority of the daemons weren’t (they were generally bald – hair really couldn’t grow in hellish heat – what passed for hair down there were actually melted skin if not outgrowths, but Hyukjae’s thoughts are deviating). Donghae did have the token black wings and the morose aura. But his getup was too conservative and the way he moved fairly shouted goody-two-shoes in the morally upright kind of way. His brown eyes, too, had a twinkle mixed into the innocent look, but Hyukjae was certain that if he looked deep enough, there was a kind of pain that hid behind his lively eyes, like he had seen too much of evil but could not cure evil himself.

“How come you’re up there?” Hyukjae blurted out the moment he was done looking the angel up and down.

“And why shouldn’t I be?” the angel patiently replied, and Hyukjae was somehow surprised – he kept expecting one who looked dark to act dark. Donghae gave him a once-over in turn before declaring. “You’re not exactly the poster boy for Hell either.”

Touche, Hyukjae thought, never mind that he told the angel something to that effect when they met the first time. Hyukjae shrugged - he should be used to it by now. But the direct way he’d been told that while the angel pointedly looked at his obviously white wings somehow made him more conscious compared to the lusty or hateful stares he was used to getting back home. He was only spared the actual humiliation as no daemon could touch him – the lowly denizens burned getting within a meter of him and in a hot place like Hell, that meant something.

“The head honcho down there wonders the same thing. Said they found me at the foot of the stairs leading to the lowest level of Hell, that maybe some angel misplaced me there… though no angel has been able to penetrate that deep. But the moment I started squealing and thrashed my wings while burning the daemons who attempted to quiet me for good apparently convinced them I belonged down there. And as I grew, they kept me around, because I do have the tendency to bring out their baser instincts.”

Donghae merely watched as the daemon simpered while sharing that last bit. He could easily see how the daemon held that role, despite his looks.

“Not much gets questioned up there,” Donghae shared. “So I am raised an angel from the start, ever since they found me at the gates of heaven. Said I was so quiet and looked at everything with innocent, wide eyes. If it wasn’t glaringly evident I was different due to the black wings, that would have been the end of it… but considering all the new denizens get surprised, I am reminded every now and then just how different I am.”

“And when you grew, they made you a guardian angel,” Hyukjae tried to guess.

“I’m actually a warrior angel,” Donghae shared this interesting fact.

Hyukjae finally understood why Donghae was never afraid to be near him – this particular angel know more than a thousand ways to whip his . Though his curiosity was more geared towards another type of -whipping he knew.

“Truce,” Hyukjae immediately held up a palm, invoking the only word of honor between the two sides. Saying peace only invited the dark forces to be more daring.  But under truce was different.

Donghae laughed. “That wasn’t necessary – you haven’t exactly done anything that warranted a war. Or a duel.”

So Hyukjae held out a white lace-gloved hand. “I’m Hyukjae.”

Donghae shook his hand, the black leather gloves a startling contrast to Hyukjae’s white one. “Donghae.”

Hyukjae’s eyebrows were raised in surprise, though. “And apparently you’re the only angel or daemon who doesn’t burn around me.”

>>>>>

Skip to ten years later and the sight of the white daemon being with the black angel was considered usual by both sides. So much so that even the watchful people stopped watching what Donghae and Hyukjae could be doing. Everybody stopped batting their eyelashes whenever Hyukjae got clingy all over Donghae.

It wasn’t even part of protocol for Hyukjae to tag along during Donghae’s patrol. But it wasn’t as if they had any trade secrets to hide, as Donghae’s primary assignment these days is just observation, so they usually spent the better part of patrol just sharing stories about their days in Paradise or Hell.

One particular sharing was done in between Hyukjae’s laps at the rapidly melting ice cream in his hand. They had momentarily turned corporeal to buy the ice cream, then teleported to the peak of Mt. Surak at the height of winter so that Hyukjae could enjoy the treat despite his tendency to burn things around him.

He did enjoy the ice cream, though he had to rapidly consume it as it was starting to turn to mush. Donghae wasn’t done yet, so Hyukjae just pouted as he watched Donghae eat the ice cream.

He was scowling when he demanded to Donghae, “Are you sure you’re not the temptation instead of me? I swear, you’re deliberately making me envious of the fact that you can eat ice cream with leisure.”

He sighed again as Donghae got out of his startled reverie. “Next time we’ll have something that needs to be hot… hotpot’s good,” Donghae said as an afterthought.

Hyukjae whacked him on the arm. “Yah, stop teasing! I’m not a food heater!”

Donghae laughed, a bright, refreshing laugh of innocent mirth. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it that way. I meant let’s have something you can actually enjoy despite your ability. For a daemon, you’re missing out on much.”

Which was true – every daemon has already experienced all forms of pleasure. Hyukjae, as powerful and scary as he is, couldn’t. It had even become a boring game down there to play who doesn’t burn when Hyukjae pokes. Sometimes, he just wanted to poke fun at the lowly denizens, not barbecue them a thousand times over.

“I guess we can have barbecue,” Hyukjae muttered reluctantly. “While the meat is still raw.”

“Mnnn, nah-ah,” Donghae replied in the negative while still eating the last of his ice cream. “Won’t be the same… we should try it when the humans cook it… supernatural fire may cook it the wrong way.”

“How come you all know these things?” Hyukjae decided to ask.

Donghae smiled that innocent smile again. “My human taught me to enjoy life. I was a guardian angel before I became a warrior angel. He lasted five years, and he saw me the whole time  - that was before we found out I’m actually visible to innocents. Anyway, he had a tendency to throw a tantrum whenever I wouldn’t eat what he offered, so I ate just to quiet him down. When I asked him why he insisted on feeding me, he just said I was clueless about the things that made him human, like food, touch, feelings. That while I had an eternity to live, he only has a few years. He was so sick by then, so he knew his time up was near. When he died, I was also transferred, so moments like these have become few and far between. It was only then I understood how to enjoy life.”

“And you’re letting me experience all these because…” Hyukjae prompted.

“Looked like you needed it,” was all Donghae said, merely looking into Hyukjae’s bewildered eyes.

“Yah! How is that an answer?” The daemon said petulantly.

“You keep coming up here just to be with me. Because I’m the only one who can’t burn when you’re near.” He looked down at their feet, where the hard snow was actually melting around Hyukjae’s feet. “But I will not be always around. What are you going to do then?”

Hyukjae pouted all the more. “There are a lot of souls that require torture back home.”

Donghae winced, silently reciting a prayer for those souls. “That’s what you already do. When you get bored again, what are you going to do?”

Hyukjae just rolled his eyes. “Please, I live in Hell – not being able to do what you want is part of the torture. This is actually going to make it that harder for me to go back down there.”

And then the daemon cringed, when the master’s gravelly voice fairly boomed in his inner ear. “You’re required at the Thorn Room now.”

“I gotta go,” was all Hyukjae said to Donghae before he disappeared.

>>>>>

“So, our beautiful daemon has learned to want things now,” the head honcho said to Hyukjae as he paced around the kneeling daemon.

“I’d like to think I knew you were just waiting for an opportunity to use my closeness with that black angel. What do you want?” Hyukjae was only brave about facing the head honcho because even him can’t touch Hyukjae. But that didn’t mean the Head Honcho didn’t know ways to make Hyukjae suffer. He is the embodiment of evil, after all.

“Well, for starters, can he be brought to the other side?”

Hyukjae wracked his brains, imagining Donghae in this setting. The angel looked dark, but that bright smile would invariably be out of place here. Not to mention… “Sure!” Hyukjae said rather enthusiastically. “If you want another being here who can invoke torture with his mere presence. You see, he has this bright and innocent smile that really shines even with all the ugliness he has seen, so even if he’s down here, it will still be that bright and painful to the eyes.“

“Ah, someone like you then, good good,” the Head Honcho grinned. “So you should seduce him, make him fall from grace. He will be entirely welcome here.”

The thought actually made Hyukjae shudder – the welcome to Hell part, not the seduction – and the Head Honcho’s grin widened. He can read souls’ baser wants after all. And it would be the first time he could use this daemon against the angels without them suspecting a thing.

“That shouldn’t be hard a task now, would it?” he silkily asked, enjoying the way those beautiful features further shrunk, Hyukjae’s brightness seemingly waning a bit. He filed away that interesting thought. “Come now, we both know you already lust after that handsome angel. The only being you can touch. Imagine having him beneath you, or above you, if that’s what you prefer. Calling out your name in pleasure, or desperation, again if that’s what you prefer.” Hyukjae could only bow his head – that wasn’t the only thing he imagined doing with Donghae, and he knew the Head Honcho was being uncharacteristically polite not voicing those thoughts. “Now you can experience all those sinful pleasures that up to now you were only limited to watch.”

>>>>>

“You okay?” Donghae asked when he saw Hyukjae next. The daemon looked less vibrant.

“I live in Hell – it’s never okay, okay?” Hyukjae just snapped back.

“That’s why I said the first time we met, you shouldn’t be in Hell.”

>>>>>

“Your Head Honcho didn’t explain something to you when he set you out to seduce me. Even if I were down there, and we have the eternity to, ahem, e, the pleasure he talks about will not happen.”

Hyukjae just looked at Donghae, confused.

“Love and pain, joy, sorrow, fear - are the realm of the soul,” Donghae continued to patiently explain. “That’s why us spirits can experience them, and in the most extreme forms. Touch, and ergo, pleasure, however, are the realm of the humans.” He poked Hyukjae’s arm. “You need skin to experience it. So ion, in Hell, can’t really happen, unless you’ve found a way to keep skin from melting. Otherwise, all the pleasure is just imagined – another torture technique using frustration. So if we were to e just for the sake of pleasure, we’d need to come up here to do it. So why even bother going down there.”

“Are you really not a closet daemon?” Hyukjae demanded. “How come you know all these things – angel, human, daemon – and I know nothing?!”

“I’ve spent most of my time observing all three – it’s not that hard to distinguish between the three. Besides, it’s part of coursework in the Guardian Academy – you spend a hundred years learning to be a guardian angel before they assign you your first human on probation. Hell, unfortunately, is never a fan of higher learning, so nobody would bother telling you about this stuff. And if you recall, I always had us turn corporeal before we do human stuff, basically because human stuff requires skin, or tactile stimulation – otherwise, all three of us would be the same.”

“So whenever I touch you like this,” Hyukjae played with Donghae’s shirt. Which was underneath the black trench coat he wears. “You absolutely feel nothing?”

Donghae stopped Hyukjae’s hand from getting naughtier. He only stilled it right over where the human heart would be, and looked earnestly into Hyukjae’s eyes. “Of course I feel something – love, after all, is the realm of the soul.”

For the first time in his immortal life, Hyukjae understood how it really felt to burn.

>>>>>

Hyukjae was the equivalent of a 15 year old human when he was first set on the world to seduce humans. That idea didn’t really pan out, because the humans he seduced invariably burned just when he was about to have actual with them. That earned him and the Head Honcho the wrath of the Higher Being with the number of accidental deaths they caused.

So Hyukjae was forever banned from seducing mortals. When he was consigned to work in the torture chambers, it really didn’t do anything for him because he nonchalantly went about it, not even delighting in dishing out the pain so the torture master had him transferred just because the cad didn’t like somebody doing the torture to be so unfeeling about it.

Joining the daemon army was one of Hell’s better assignments for him – he got  to parry with a few angels, and that was when they discovered he could also burn angels. Unfortunately for him, since he was white, angels knew better than to engage him in a close combat and invariably became an easy target for long range attacks. Which is really bad tactics all around.

And so here he was, the messenger from Hell, the only being allowed to get up to Paradise because he couldn’t be afraid of angels.

He was the only daemon that couldn’t burn. Until Donghae.

>>>>>

The Head Honcho was livid. “He won’t what?”

“I said he’s not going to be in Hell anytime soon. He saw through my seduction ploy and actually told me about something about pleasure not being feasible in Hell.” Hyukjae scowled.

The Head Honcho sobered fast enough. “Well, don’t blame me for trying. But really, Hyukjae, you realize the angels finally found your weakness – there’s somebody up there you can’t burn. In the final battle, they’ll make him face you, what are you going to do then?”

“He won’t hurt me – he loves me,” Hyukjae argued.

“Hyukjae, Hyukjae – in all your years watching them, since when did an angel who loves let that love get in the way of what is right, hmmm? Angels love their humans, but that hasn’t stopped them from letting those humans feel pain all in the context of learning their lessons. You can bleed an angel dry but he will always choose to do right.”

“You mean, in the final battle, we’ll always be in the wrong while they’re always in the right? You used to be an angel, but you chose this? How about the fathers of the nephilim? Then the argument that an angel will always choose to do right isn’t exactly without a loophole?”

“Yes, well, Him up there also learned His lesson with the rebellion. Trust me, angels before were a different breed. Besides, the battle was never about wrong or right – it’s about who will rule the world. Right now, it’s them who has the influence, that they can even dictate what we can do to humans.”

“If you win, what will you do?”

“Why of course, let evil reign.”

“You mean, move hell up there? How are you going to enjoy that when there’s not gonna be much difference between the world or hell? The only reason why you even enjoy tempting people because you like seeing them turn evil – a sort of conscious or semi-conscious decision to be bad. If everything’s outright bad in the first place, where’s the fun?”

The Head Honcho stared at Hyukjae. “Hmmm, it’s been a while since I hated the way somebody thinks. OUT!” He suddenly bellowed.

Hyukjae didn’t waste time scampering out the Thorn Chambers. He reckoned the final battle has been rescheduled for the next millennia.

>>>>>

Hyukjae was on routine patrol to the gates of heaven to deliver the usual messages from Hell – there were just some things that can’t be said over the direct line from Earth, so anything from Hell invariably need to be sent up, and vice versa.

The angel for the day receiving the package amusedly looked up at Hyukjae as the latter kept peering into the Golden Gates.

“You know you won’t find him there,” the angel commented as he scribbled down Hyukjae’s receipt log.

Hyukjae just stared back. He wasn’t used to angels talking to him – they usually just received the mail, signed the receipt, and waited for him to leave.

The angel smiled at Hyukjae’s shock. Smiled. “He’s still down on Earth.”

“Then I’m not going to likely see him soon – shift will still continue in three months.” Ever since Hyukjae made a muddle of the Head Honcho’s decision-making, he’d been dumped with shift work a couple of months long. He could rebel and not do the job, but he was actually entrusted with the only thing that kept the balance between Heaven and Hell, so he couldn’t slack off on the work.

“I’ll tell him you passed by, the next time I see him, or talk to him,” the angel offered.

“Uh, no need – I’m here everyday, what’s the big difference,” Hyukjae muttered.

>>>>>

The next time Hyukjae delivered a package, Donghae flew with him.

“Heard you got dumped with work,” Donghae said the moment he matched Hyukjae’s flight.

“Yeah, well, part of the job description.” It was only then that Hyukjae realized Donghae was flying with him. “Don’t you have a job to do?”

“I’m off-shift. Besides, I haven’t tried tagging along when you work – you’ve already done it with me and I didn’t complain.”

Hyukjae found himself embarrassed. “I just deliver packages – it’s not as exciting as your job.”

Donghae shrugged. “But you get to go to places most of us won’t get to visit.”

True enough – Hyukjae’s job pretty much took him around the Underworld, and he had been to most of Paradise’s outer gates.

>>>>>

“Are you in love with that angel?” The Head Honcho demanded.

Hyukjae shook his blonde hair out of his eyes. “In love? How’s that?” He was truly bewildered at what his master was saying.

“In love as in you like him too much for your own good.”

Hyukjae somehow felt it being in love wasn’t that way. “Does wanting to jump his non-existent bones count? Because that’s about the only feeling I get whenever I see him.”

“Argh, why do I keep forgetting you’re a daemon. But he doesn’t return the feeling. Don’t you wish you can grab him anytime and just ravage him?”

“Then I guess I should qualify for the merit award on handling temptation and frustration.” Hyukjae shrugged his shoulders. “I live in Hell – not being able to get him, get what I want, is something I’m used to.”

“Yes, but you’re also not reacting the way daemons do – get greedy; and lustier – shake up that aual angel’s resolve to turn corporeal and finally do you.”

Hyukjae felt that peculiar flame again, right at his cheeks. No matter if everyone of them has the license to be crass or vulgar, he still couldn’t help feeling flushed just imagining ing  with Donghae. He wasn’t likely to get any other chance, if Donghae is the only being who can touch him without burning.

>>>>>

“You know what, I hate you.” Hyukjae finally declared the next time he saw Donghae. “The relatively short time being with you has given me all sorts of frustration I’ve never felt in my long early years. I’m already at the edge of sanity. WHY WON’T YOU SLEEP WITH ME?!”

Hyukjae felt a tiny bit of satisfaction seeing the flicker of pain in Donghae’s eyes before the darned angel shrugged it away.

“And in the relatively short time being with you has given me all sorts of temptation I’ve never felt in my long early years,” Donghae ruefully replied, running a hand through his hair. “But I’m an angel – not giving in to the temptation is part of who I am.”

Hyukjae effectively shut up at the confession. And wanting to cry knowing he’ll never get what he wanted.

“Besides,” Donghae continued. “You only want to sleep with me – but I’m loving you for eternity. I can still see you – I can still hold you since I’m the only one who could. That much I am allowed – Paradise isn’t too cruel to take away the only comfort you can find in all three realms. Can’t that be enough?”

Hyukjae ran into the arms the black angel opened for him, settling into the hug, tucking his blonde head beneath Donghae’s chin. Still, he sniffed, miffed that he’s still not getting what he wanted. But maybe this is ok. For now.

“Does this mean I can spend eternity tempting you?” Hyukjae finally demanded.

Donghae merely chuckled somewhere over his head. “You won’t likely stop even if I say no.”

Hyukjae eagerly looked forward to that prospect for eternity.

 

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