Official Title: The Guardian and The Courage

 

One winter afternoon, everything was going as normal. The school day went on and it was one day before the long awaited winter break. Before the next lesson, the class had their lunch and went out for another fun day of recess.

 

A young boy at the age of ten is named Jiseok, although he has a nickname that he goes by, Taewoon. He is average sized and was recently allowed to dye his hair blond, even though his teacher didn’t like it. He’s the type of kind that mainly keeps to himself and minds his own business by daydreaming during recess hour. He is in his last year of elementary school and he is looking forward to moving on into middle school the next school year.

 

Despite being a dreamer, he’s a good student and does very well in class. He gets along with most of his classmates except for three of them. These same kids went up to him during recess every day to mess with him. Every day they fight, and today it went too far.

 

“Jiseok!” one of the kids said across the school yard. “You versus us. Right here, right now.”

 

Taewoon tried to ignore them, keeping his thoughts to himself and keeping himself preoccupied with his daydream. One of the other kids suddenly brought him up from the ground and then pushed him as hard as they could. Taewoon yelled and screamed, not wanting to fight back, but the three kids who apparently have something against him won’t leave him alone, constantly pushing and hitting him. All he did was protect himself while being beaten for whatever reason that he couldn’t think of.

 

Then it happened all of a sudden. When Taewoon tried to move away, the three classmates only moved closer to him. It was when one push became too hard and one punch was too much that he hit his head against the brick wall of the school building at the right way that made him lose consciousness. The three classmates were frightened and ran off. One of the other classmates noticed Taewoon was in bad condition and notified the teacher immediately. But by the time the ambulance came, it was too late.

 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

 

Taewoon opened his eyes when he noticed that he was being escorted by an angel, floating above the clouds, holding onto him tightly enough to not let him go. Like most, Taewoon was confused about what’s going on and didn’t understand where he was. It was the moment that he saw the pearly gates that he understood that he was in heaven, but it didn’t scare him. Instead, he felt safe and protected from those who wanted to hurt him. He was one of the very few angels who accepted his fate the moment he saw the gate and realized they’re not on earth any longer.

 

The angel that escorted him carefully led him to a building that all angels go to once they’re in heaven. The place where angels find out their fate and destiny for the rest of their eternity. There, Taewoon was met by another angel who look like she is more than happy to meet him.

 

“Hello, Taewoon! I am Chai, and I’ll be the one who tells you all about your destiny and the next steps you need to take!”

 

Chai led the two of them into a nice room that was completely spotless. Everything was white and the furniture was a lovely blue velvet color. The two angels sat down across from each other with a desk between them as Chai laid out some papers for Taewoon to look at.

 

“Taewoon, you’re not only independent, but you’re also you’re capable of leading others. You are one of the lucky angels here today.” Chai unrolled a scroll, letting Taewoon read what’s in front of him. “You are going to be a leader of your own team. Your team will be special because you will have the first new team in heaven in 20 years, making you and your future teammates the youngest team in heaven now.”

 

“So…I’m the leader?” Taewoon questioned, but Chai gave him the ‘I-literally-just-said-that’ look, which made him look down in embarrassment.

 

“It’s okay, Taewoon. You’re very young and everything will be confusing at first.” Chai pointed to another section of the scroll. “You can do most things your teammates can. But the most important thing a leader must do is, well, lead. Your own leading style will come to you as you train for the next three years.”

 

“I need to train for three years?!” Taewoon got up from his seat in shock. All Chai did was nod before Taewoon sighed and sat back down.

 

“That’s only because you’re only ten years old. Leaders must be 13 years of age before handling a team on their own. Until then, you will be working with someone who has been a leader for a while to show you the ins and outs of being a leader.” Chai rolled up the scroll before continuing. “You will always be trained to battle in combat just in case something comes about here in heaven. The day before your 13^th birthday will be your final test. You have two and a half years to prepare.”

 

Next, Chai gave Taewoon a brown book that looks about the size of an instruction textbook and had a vintage look to it. She opened to the first page to start explaining some of the contents of the book, flipping the pages as she talks about it.

 

“This very first page with a blank square is a very important page. When he comes to heaven, his special symbol will show up in this box and his name will be above it. This angel is going to be your boss. He won’t be here for a while, but I’m just letting you know now that there will be someone who watches over you, as well as your team every now and then. This next page has seven squares. The same thing will happen, but instead, these are your teammates. One of them is already filled out with your name.” Taewoon looked at the square that has an arrow going through a seven-sided star. “These pages show that this book belongs specifically to you and your team. You get to keep it for now, but you’ll hand it over to your boss in the future.”

 

“Can you tell me more about who my boss is?” Taewoon asked in pure curiosity.

 

“I can’t say much.” Chai closed the book and slid it closer to Taewoon for him to keep. “But let’s say he’s going to be one of heaven’s most powerful, most unique angel’s.”

 

Chai stood up after she was finished speaking. “Let me take you to your office, Taewoon. You’ll be spending your time in heaven there.”

 

Chai and Taewoon before left the room and went on their way to Taewoon’s office. Although he doesn’t understand a single thing yet and how everything works, Taewoon will continue to learn and work hard during his training to becoming a great leader.

 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

 

One night in April 1996, there was a little baby boy named Sungming. He was only fourth months old before his life was taken from him with no record of what happened. His parents found him as cold as ice in the morning, already long gone with nothing to do to save him.

 

Sungmin was hand over to caretakers safely in heaven. Although he wouldn’t behave a like a normal baby compared to earth, it was better to keep an eye on him for the next few years to make sure he was raised well and have better control of his abilities.

 

By the age of five, Sungmin was told about his destiny of becoming a guardian angel. He’s going to take care of a young boy on earth who is three years older than him. Although they let Sungmin visit him throughout the day, he wasn’t allowed to stay with the young boy until he turned seven years old when he was completed with his guardian angel training. From then on, he went to stay full time with the boy he was guarding with the instruction to not reveal himself to the boy until he turned twenty years old.

 

Sungmin couldn’t wait to reveal himself to the little boy he watched over. Although he didn’t know that he existed yet, Sungmin could already feel really close to the boy. He once saved him from falling from a tree that could have ended badly, but instead had no scratch on him. That little boy was so thankful that day that he said “If an angel saved me today, I hope I can say thank you to them one day in heaven.” Sungmin swore that he felt more-than-a-friend love for the little boy from that day onwards.