6. Mark: Into Temptation

There wasn't much to Limbo, but Mark had to admit it made a perfect battle center. It was ideally situated between Heaven and Hell, but more importantly, every fresh soul passed through it at one point. Youngjae had early access to every future demon and angel, and though the time they spent together was brief, Youngjae was good enough to make every moment of it valuable.

The damned were easy to convince. As soon as Youngjae let slip that The Corrupted One was snatching people intended for Limbo on petty sins, coupled with rumors that he wasn't divine at all, but a fallen Seraph out for revenge against Heaven, those who were sent to Hell to become Demonkin were already mistrustful of and infuriated against the rulers of the underworld. Some outright refused to be sent to Hell, and Youngjae used his extensive knowledge of the accords to argue against the delegations from Heaven and Hell and insist the soul in question belonged in Limbo. There were several other Demonkin and Seraphim who claimed they weren't allowed to return to Hell or Heaven without their assigned souls, but unlike Mark and Jinyoung, they actually left to report back to their bosses anyways.

Before they left, though, they were treated to tea with either Mark or Jinyoung and given suitable information to stir them up against their bosses. If it was a demon damned by suicide, Mark informed them that Heaven was willing to let them return and pass on, but The Corrupted One was preventing it. If it was an angel with second thoughts about choosing Heaven over passing on, Jinyoung informed them that the Pool of Rebirth also worked on Seraphim, but the Ace pretended like it didn't so they wouldn't lose angels under their service. Little by little, they chipped away at the support system of Heaven and Hell's rulers and built their own resistance.

The souls bound straight to Heaven were trickier, so Jinyoung decided to give them a pre-Elysian Fields tour warning. “That place may look pretty,” he said, “but what Seraphim sign up for is an eternity of errand running. Just look at me. I'm a Seraph, but here I am in Limbo doing bureaucratic work and never catching a glimpse of the fields. You'd be so much happier if you passed on.” Most of them, who had just wrapped up a lifetime on Earth in bureaucratic positions, agreed with him.

The number of sanctions sent to Youngjae by the Hyde Club and Ace of Angels showed how well their plan was working. It wouldn't be much longer before the two governing bodies decided to come and do something about it, but everyone was planning on that as well. More so than the Demonkin and Seraphim, the Limboites were ready to revolt out of loyalty to their Median. No one treated their leader like a whipping boy on their watch.

War planning was such hard work that Mark was relieved the day things finally quieted down to where he and Jinyoung could return to the ceiling and work on their joint painting of Limbo.

“Since we're the ones leaving behind this painting, I think we should make a statement with it,” Jinyoung said. “We can show the Limboites at work, but weave interesting phrases into the records they're writing. Rebellious things like Souls will not be crushed or Heaven is Hell or There is no freedom in the afterlife.”

“Are you sure you weren't a political cartoonist in your past life?”

“Yes. I told you, I was a farmer.”

“A farmer who can sing arias and paint beautiful pictures and has the world's loveliest wings.”

Jinyoung flushed. “I told you to cut it out with the ert trick.”

“It's not a trick,” Mark said, wounded. “Not even the first time. I was trying to act cool because I wanted you to like me.”

“Next time, don't do it in a way that makes me feel like an idiot.”

“Next time?”

Jinyoung glared at him over his shoulder. “What, you got me to like you after all, and now you're done? This is not how you properly go about wooing a Seraph. We take effort and upkeep, you know?”

Mark felt a smile break out across his face and his body turn warm. He wasn't sure how long exactly he'd been wanting this, or even exactly how much time had passed since the two of them had met each other, but he knew what this feeling was, having never been able to feel it in his first life. This was what it was like to love and want another person, and for them to respond back with love of their own. It was overwhelming and strange, but somehow the best feeling he'd ever been able to grasp. It was something even his fear and cowardice couldn't kill inside him, it was that strong.

“So how does one go about properly wooing a Seraph?” he asked, fluttering his wings closer to Jinyoung.

“By picking up a paintbrush and helping me with this picture, for starters.”

Mark grinned and grabbed his brush from behind his ear. “Yes, Your Magnificence.”

The two of them painted in silence for a time, though the atmosphere never stopped being heated. Their wings kept brushing up against each other, their arms bumping as they tried to reach different parts of the ceiling. Jinyoung was humming Ave Maria, which had subject matter that should have turned Mark off, but didn't. Jinyoung's voice was just too beautiful.

At long length, Jinyoung stopped torturing him. “The first step to wooing a Seraph is through their wings,” he said, ruffling his feathers enticingly. “We're vain about them, but they're so hard to maintain. I've heard there's no better feeling in the world than to have the one you love be the one to touch them.”

“Is that so?” Mark asked, his eyes trailing over Jinyoung's wings. He'd always wanted to put his hands on them, but he was nervous at the same time. He didn't want his clumsy touch to mar them in any way, or for them to be stained by any of his darkness. Everything about Jinyoung just looked so alluringly pure that Mark was sure he would find some way to destroy it just like he'd destroyed the purest thing in his first life. But at the same time, he was past denying himself. He would do it if Jinyoung let him because he already knew what being saddled with eternal regret felt like, and knew there was nothing worse.

“Seraphim are also accustomed to attention,” Jinyoung continued, smiling. “In paintings, we're always depicted as the fairest and most holy, and of course our voices are the most sublime sounds in the world. Just being visited upon by an angel is one of the greatest honors one can receive. We like to be properly appreciated for how grand we are.”

“And have I not done that enough to please you yet?” Mark asked.

“Hmm. It's nice to have eyes worshiping me from a distance. I don't remember ever being looked at like that before.” He tilted his head, glancing at Mark out of the corner of his eyes. “But I think it would be better if it wasn't just eyes doing the worshiping. I think I want much more than that from you.”

Mark took a deep breath, setting his paintbrush and palette on top of the nearest bookshelf. “I think we're done painting,” he said.

“Are we?” Jinyoung laughed lightly. “No wonder you're a demon. You give in so swiftly to temptation.”

“Then it's some wonder you're a Seraph when you enjoy tempting so much.”

He grabbed Jinyoung's hand and pulled them down towards the ground floor where the Limboites were hard at work on their records, oblivious to the movements of their guests. Only Youngjae noticed them slipping away, but simply smiled and waved them off before returning to his own work.

Mark led Jinyoung up to their shared room, then gently sat him down on the bed. He took a seat at Jinyoung's back to have access to his wings, but hesitated to touch them for a moment. They were so different from the wings on his own back, reminding him again of how contrasting the two of them were in their very natures. But then he remembered the words Jinyoung had said to him before. This is our second chance. Whatever the two of them were now, they had once been two humans who had parted from the world with unhappiness. Now that happiness was at long last in reach, they couldn't turn their backs on it now.

Mark reached out and trailed a single finger down one of Jinyoung's feathers. It was just as soft as he had imagined it would be, softer than cats' fur or down pillows or cashmere. He felt Jinyoung shiver at his touch, gently leaning back into his hand. Exhaling in relief that nothing bad had happened and he hadn't been struck down on the spot for blasphemy against a heavenly creature, he put his whole hand on Jinyoung's wings and downwards. The feathers trembled beneath his hands, caressing his skin in return. He heard Jinyoung's breath intake sharply.

“How does it feel?” Mark asked quietly.

“Like...” Jinyoung's breath fell short. “Like your hands are on every part of me. It's warm.”

“Warm?”

“You always smell like smoke. Maybe there's fire running beneath your hands.”

“Hey, that's no good. If I'm filled with fire, I might burn you.”

“No, you won't. You wouldn't.” Jinyoung turned his body, folding his wings tighter against his back so they weren't blocking the two of them. “I trust you.”

Mark slid a hand against Jinyoung's cheek and drew him closer. It had to be some sort of a sin for a demon to touch an angel like this, but his soul was already stained, his body already damned, and he was prepared to taint himself further if this too was an unforgivable act. Jinyoung's eyes fluttered close, and Mark gently caressed his parted lips, holding him carefully by his face. Maybe his body really was consumed by fire. Every point of contact felt hot, Jinyoung himself the warmest thing of all. His hands seared Mark's skin, his fingertips shot off sparks, his lips burned pleasure into his.

Mark wanted to swallow him up, to darken him to his deepest corner, to make him fall from grace slowly and maddeningly and show him how damning and sweet desire could be. But at the same time, he wanted to hold him as sacred, preserved forever in his pure white divinity, a figure of devotion and worship he would never be or never truly touch. He wanted both, he wanted nothing and everything, goodness and evil, damnation and redemption. He wanted to live in a world where not everything was one or the other and this kind of chaos wasn't forbidden, but just was.

He wanted to kiss Jinyoung as a human, in a place anchored so solidly on the Earth that Heaven or Hell couldn't touch it.

They broke apart, both out of breath and looking at each other with eyes still desirous of more. “There,” Jinyoung said in a shaky voice. “That's how you woo a Seraph.”

“I see,” Mark said, running his fingers along Jinyoung's jaw. “So you like this.” He pressed his lips against the sharpest point of Jinyoung's jaw, then trailed upwards to his cheek. “And this.”

“Yes,” Jinyoung whispered. “And you. I like you very much.”

“An angel in love with corruption. What would The Divine One say?”

“I don't care. And there's nothing corrupt here.” He placed a hand over Mark's heart. “You still hope and love and have faith. You haven't given up, and you're still fighting. As long as you have that, nothing can stain this heart. And nothing will stain mine, either. Love doesn't work like that.”

Mark had never believed that about himself before. As a demon, he'd always imagined his heart as a black rock inside his chest, something that could never be cleaned or redeemed. But Jinyoung was right. His weakness had never been in hating others or being cruel. It was in being lost without love and being unable to hold onto the people he cared about the most. And this was his precious second chance to prove that he wasn't eternally destined to fail.

Smiling, he leaned in to kiss Jinyoung again. “You really are an angel. I'm sure if I ever brought you to Hell, you'd redeem every demon in sight and make it a second Heaven.”

“Except Heaven isn't so great. I think if it were up to me, I'd make a new Earth.” He rested a head on Mark's shoulder. “What would it have been like to meet as humans?”

“I don't know what would have happened if we had met during our first life. We would have lost each other and been in pain all over again. But if we could have been reborn...”

“Our souls could have met in different bodies.” Jinyoung smiled fondly. “We could have our own house in the country, surrounded by fields and no silly people forcing us to do all their pointless work for them. We could paint the walls and ceiling using ladders, not wings.”

“If we were even still good at painting.”

“Even if we weren't, we could still make it as hideous as we wanted. Because it would be for us, and no one else.” Jinyoung pressed his face into Mark's neck. “I want to do that. I want to live with you and love you as a human, and die with you as a human in a place where we don't have to think of sins or grace or anything but us. I'm terrified we won't be able to be together forever if we stay here.”

“I know,” Mark said, Jinyoung's hair.

“Even if our revolts in Heaven and Hell work, there's always going to be a Heaven and Hell. And they won't forgive us for ruining their plans. I don't want us to be apart.”

“Me either.”

“If one day I was able to walk into the Pool of Rebirth, would you walk with me?”

Mark didn't know if that was possible. Rebirth was denied to demons, and the Pool was tucked safely away in Heaven. He'd only have the chance to see it if he was somehow able to go there and wasn't imprisoned on sight by the Ace of Angels for trespassing in their realm. It would all come down to how the balance of power tipped in the conflict between Heaven and Hell, so he wasn't sure if he could promise Jinyoung anything or guarantee a future that was in every particular uncertain.

“If I had the choice,” he said finally, “yes, I'd go with you. If you're by my side, I'm pretty sure I'd go anywhere. I'd give living another try.”

Jinyoung lifted his head, beaming up at Mark. Happiness like that was such a fragile thing that Mark wanted to bottle it up and protect it. He had no idea what would be coming in the next days, but he wanted Jinyoung to keep smiling and having that faith. He wanted to never give him a reason to be unhappy again.

“I don't know if we can be reborn or if we're stuck here forever,” Jinyoung said, gently placing a finger on Mark's black wings, treating the scratchy surface with as much care and tenderness as Mark had shown his feathers. “But if we can, I promise to find you again. No matter how long it takes, we'll be together.”

Mark nodded. “I hope that day comes, too. But for now, be with me here. Heaven and Hell might not be perfect, but you are. Being here with you like this is.”

Jinyoung nodded. “Yes. I don't mind being here a little longer. Humans don't have wings, after all.” He wrapped his around Mark, pulling him into his arms. “They can't do something like this.”

“Now there's a good argument in favor of Seraphim.” He captured Jinyoung's lips beneath his, relishing the way fire shot through his body all over again. “Forget about going to Heaven. I've already found it right here.”