Haneul's miracle had come at last.

“Which one of you s is next?” Baro shouted angrily as he whirled the obsidian sword in his hands, scowling at the remainder of Haneul's aggressors. Haneul had not noticed during the harrowing assault, but the rain had picked up considerably, whirling around them in thick sheets. As he swirled thr dark blade in his hands, it slung water droplets through the air, and its sharp edge sliced through the falling rain drops. His dark hair was slicked to his head, and water rain in rivulets down his flushed face. Baro’s angelic wings were flared out behind him, the black feathers shining with a silvery sheen as the raindrops on the soft fibers caught the sparse light of the moon, giving him a threatening appearance. Haneul was not afraid, though. As she sat on the wet asphalt, shivering from the chill of the pouring rain, she smiled shakily. He came for me, she thought, giddy with relief.

“Baro,” she murmured as she shakily stood up, her hand trembling as she held the tattered pieces of her shirt together. His furious expression softened slightly as his dark eyes came to rest on her, and he beckoned her over with his free hand. She moved to step forward, then shrieked as someone grabbed a fistful of her hair, winding the strands around their fingers as they yanked her backwards. Baro's expression turned thunderous again and he moved to run forward, his feet throwing up water as he dashed over a puddle, but he skidded to a stop when a dagger was placed to .

“Not so fast, . This is our prey,” the demon sneered as he held the blade against her artery, poised to strike if Baro made any move to rescue her. “I ain’t done with you, honey,” the demon purred in her ear, jerking her head back to take a whiff of her hair. “I’m still pissed at you for hitting me with that damn crowbar.” Baro, unable to do anything but pace side to side as he watched the demon, his eyes flashing like a feral cat's.

“Let me go!” Haneul snarled angrily as she wriggled in the demon's grasp. At the sight of her beloved, her courage had returned full-force; she was not going to come so close to reclaiming her love and fall short. She in a breath as he forced the dagger harder against the soft skin of , biting into her and sending blood dribbling down her neck. The demon began to edge backwards, forcing her to shuffle along lest she meet a bloody end. Baro watched guardedly, and then abruptly he grinned widely.

“I was wondering when you would get in on this,” he mused, smirking at a point over Haneul's shoulder, and as the demon glanced quizzically over his, he was met with Jinyoung's fist. As the demon recoiled, Jinyoung grabbed hold of the hand holding the knife and pried it from Haneul's throat. The demon snarled as Jinyoung wrapped an arm around his throat in a headlock and forcefully wrenched the dagger from his hand.

“Well, you know. I figured I would give you a chance to show off in front of your girlfriend,” Jinyoung mused. The remaining pair of demons rushed to their comrade's aid, but before they could even get close, a winged form swooped down from the roof of the theatre, planting his feet in the two demon's backs and knocking them on their faces.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” Gongchan mused as he planted his glittering crystalline blade in a crack in the concrete. At the sight of the deadly blade, the demons' faces grew pale, and they ceased any efforts to struggle. Gongchan smirked in satisfaction before plopping down on the rain-soaked ground, one foot on each demon's back to keep them in check. With the three demons subdued, Haneul was now free.

“Baro,” she whispered again. She shuffled forward, unaware of everything happening around her as she stared wide-eyed at the boy she loved, the boy she had grieved for, the boy she had left behind. Abruptly, all the fear and sadness and happiness hit her at once in a raging storm of emotion so fierce that she lost all the breath in her body and her knees buckled as her strength gave out. Baro rushed forward, dropping his obsidian blade to catch her with both arms around the waist. “Baro,” she sniffed as she began to cry, and she buried her face into his chest, her fingers twisting into the fabric as she clutched him tightly, like her life depended on it. Perhaps, at this point, it did. “You came for me,” she sniffled, her quivering lips forming into a smile as she managed to reach up and caress his face. Somehow, she could not believe that it was really him, and she had to touch him, to feel him, to be sure. Baro caught her hand and gently pressed her fingers to her lips, kissing the knuckles softly.

“Of course, Haneul. I couldn’t be without you,” he answered warmly, holding her securely as she leaned against him for support. He was her lifeline, her anchor, and she realized that as she lay in his arms.

“I’ll never leave you again,” she sobbed. “I want to go home, Baro… I want to go back…” As she dissolved into desperate tears, he gently shushed her and pulled her close to him, pressing kisses into her hair, but she kept going. “I did it for you… I wanted to protect you… I tried to like it here; I really did. But I kept thinking about you. I couldn’t stop myself. I can’t be without you either, Baro, I can't…”

“I know. We're gonna get you home, Haneul. I’m gonna take you home,” he assured her strongly. She looked up at him, tears and raindrops blurring her vision, but she could still make out his loving smile as he reached up to softly brush her tears away. He tilted his head slightly, drawing his face close, but before their lips could touch there was a polite cough.

“I hate to interrupt your touching reunion, but are we going to less these guys go or what?” Gongchan sighed and motioned to the demons, who were still restrained. Baro glanced over at them, his expression turning murderous as his dark eyes fell on them. He let Haneul go to retrieve his obsidian blade, twirling it expertly as he regarded them thoughtfully. He then turned to her, catching her by surprise.

“What do you want to do?” he asked her quietly. She swallowed and glanced between the three demons, feeling pressured that their lives were literally in her hands. Her grip tightened around the tattered remnants of her shirt. Those two were just going to stand there and watch, she thought as she glanced down at the two demons that the angel held captive. But they’re weren’t necessarily interested in hurting me… But him… Her gaze flickered to the one that Jinyoung was forcefully restraining, and she gulped, imagining him on top of her like the other had been, intent on assaulting her on the most vile way possible. She knew she would never be able to rest easy knowing that he was prowling through the dark, preying on other vulnerable girls like her.

Even so, Haneul could not bring herself to give the kill order, and she turned her face away in slight disgust.

“You make the call, Baro. I can't,” she whispered and shook her head. At this, the two demons on the ground began to panic, terrified that her boyfriend would happily end their existence.

“Look, man! We get you’re pissed off, but you know how it is! We were just in it for the meal! Honest! We weren’t gonna touch her!” one of them squeaked, squirming underneath the angel's weight. He helped as Gongchan planted his foot in the back of his head, pressing his face into the wet asphalt. “Agh! Really! He was the one going on about how he wanted a turn!” he whined as he pointed fo Jinyoung's captive. At this accusation, the demon abruptly growled, and, without warning, slammed the back of his head into Jinyoung's face.

On instinct, the red-winged demon released him to hold his bleeding nose, while the other demon took off frantically down the alleyway in an attempt to build up enough speed for a feverish take-off. Haneul whipped around with a gasp at the new development, while Gongchan and Baro dashed after him in pursuit, but it was unneeded. Abruptly, the glaring lights of a car kicked into life, blinding the runaway demon and causing him to skid unsteadily to a stop. With the shrill screech of tires, the car surged forward and slammed into the helpless demon, who promptly flew backwards and landed roughly at Baro's feet. Baro stomped down hard on his chest, causing him to cough pitifully. Blood was leaking out of his mouth from the impact with the car, an indication of broken bones and internal bleeding.

“Haneul?” Baro barked, and she stiffened at the severity of his tone. “Is all that true?” She gulped and glanced at the pair of demons, who had remained on the ground despite the fact that Gongchan had sprung up to chase after the renegade demon, and then back at him. She nodded firmly, then squeezed her eyes shut, unable to watch the grim deed. It needs to be done, she told herself as she heard the whistle of the obsidian blade through the air. There was a strangled cry, and that was it, and when she opened her eyes the black dust was being swept away by the water current. She watched as Baro stomped back to the remaining two demons and unceremoniously jerked them to their feet by the backs of their shirts. “Get the hell out of here, before I change my mind!” he spat, and the demons spluttered “thank you's" and “sprry's" before hastily making a retreat. As they took off into the rainy sky, Baro exhaled deeply and ran a hand through his dark hair. Before Haneul could go to him, however, the nearby car's horn blared angrily. Haneul glanced over to find that the driver had rolled down the window and popped his head out.

“Sandeul?” she cried in utter disbelief. Her best friend was pouting angrily as he glared at her boyfriend.

“That is it! I wanna know what is going on right now!” he shrieked. “First you drag me out to Seoul, then jump out of my car to run behind a theater, and what do I find? You guys have wings, those guys have wings, Baro and Gongchan have goddamn swords, and you killed a guy and he exploded into dust! What is happening?” he howled, banging his hand on the car with every syllable of the last sentence. His cheeks were flushed pink with frustration.

“I guess we have a lot of explaining to do, huh?” Baro sighed with a chuckle as he looked at the angry high school boy.

It took a long time to explain the story in full to Haneul's friend, but explain it she did, from the first encounter with Jinyoung and Baro to the appearance of the crazed angel Dong-woo. Sandeul listened to the tale quietly, and to his credit, accepted it easily. With the harrowing ordeal finally over, the supernatural beings and two humans piled into the car to head to Haneul's aunt's house for the next struggle: convincing the woman to allow her niece to return to Daeyang. The ride there was silent and tense, due to both the brutal assault and the surprising revelations of the night, and Haneul stressed in the backseat, pressed between Baro and Gongchan.

Baro came for me. My miracle came true… but does it fall short here? What if my aunt doesn’t let me leave? I’ll end up back at square one. Baro could stay here, but even so… I want to go home… I want to be where my mother was laid to rest. I want the beaches, and the little bookshop with the cat, and my high school, she lamented silently. She continued to worry right up until the moment that Sandeul pulled into the driveway of the quaint home in the suburbs and parked. To keep from arousing suspicion from her aunt, Baro lent her his sweatshirt to hide her torn shirt. She held her breath as she walked up to the door. She fished her keys out of her pocket, but when she went to insert the house key into the lock, her hand faltered. She glanced up when a hand wrapped around her own and pushed the key into the lock.

“You can do this, Haneul,” Baro smiled reassuringly at her. Haneul nodded and breathed in deeply, then exhaled and unlocked the door.

“I’m home!” she announced loudly as she walked into the house. It was still early enough in the evening for her aunt to be awake, and sure enough, she heard her cheerful voice and shuffling of her slippers on the wooden floor floating down the hall.

“Hi, honey! How was your trip to the mov- Oh!” the woman explained as she came around the corner and clapped eyes on the gang of boys surrounding her niece. “Oh! You have guests! Handsome guests!” she exclaimed in shock. “Oh, dear, why didn’t you call me? I would have prepared something! And gotten dressed!” she twittered anxiously as she hastily tightened her robe. She shuffled to the kitchen, still babbling. “You boys go make yourself comfortable in the living room! Do you want drinks? I have sodas, and juice, and water-" she squawked as she pulled the refrigerator door open to begin rummaging through the contents.

“That isn't necessary, ma'am,” Gongchan quipped as he poked his head into the room, flashing her a dazzling smile. Haneul's aunt put a hand over her heart, falling open in slight shock at the presence of the handsome angel. Of course, to her, he just looked like a regular- albeit very attractive- high school student. Gongchan chuckled before joining the rest of them in the living room, and her aunt came shuffling back in, sitting down in an armchair and looking at Haneul pointedly.

“Are these your friends from home? I recognize Sandeul,” she remarked, making the indicated boy beam slightly with delight.

“Yes. This is Gongchan, Jinyoung, and… my boyfriend, Baro,” she introduced them slowly, pointing at each in turn before coming to rest at the boy at her side. Her aunt raised her eyebrows in slight confusion.

“Honey, you never mentioned you had a boyfriend,” she frowned deeply.

“Yes… I broke it off after learning of the move, thinking it was for the best,” she responded, looking up at him and taking his hand. After he gave it a reassuring squeeze, she looked back at her aunt determinedly. “He came to win me back, and he did. I want to go home, Auntie. I’ve known it all along, but Baro coming here was the final straw,” she explained firmly. Her aunt stared at her with wide eyes, then laughed, much to Haneul's shock.

“Dear, I know it's been hard for you these last few days, but this is your home now. There is nothing but grief for you there! Besides, it's so dreadfully boring. You’ve made a friend here, too! Surely you and Baro can have a long-distance relationship. People do it all the time! Trust me, dear, it is what your mother would have wanted,” she refuted with a chuckle, but Haneul's face flushed slightly as she stood her ground.

“No, Auntie! My mother would have wanted me to be happy, and I am not happy here!” she responded hotly, making the middle-aged woman gasp lightly in surprise. “You have taken very good care of me, and I appreciate that, but I am never going to love this place like I do Daeyang. I can't stand having to cram my way on a subway where men grab me and look at me. I can't stand how cold everyone is here, how you can't even say a simple ‘hello’ without getting funny looks. I can't stand being shoved in a high school with thousands of people that I don't know. I want peace, and quiet. I want to walk through town and enjoy the scenery, or to go down to the beach and put my feet in the water… I want to go to the little book shop on the corner and pet the cat and talk to the old man… I want to see my friends, and my boyfriend,” she insisted with a glance around the room. They came for me, and they aren’t leaving here without me. “I want to be with my mother. I want to be where she died. There, I feel like she's watching over me. Please, Auntie. I can't stand it here. I’ll die if I stay.”

Haneul knew that was a little dramatic, but that is how she felt. Being without Baro had been the hardest thing she had ever done, even living under the oppressive rule of her stepfather. Now that he was back, the idea of going on without him made her heart stop and her chest constrict. She bit down on her lip as she gazed hard at her aunt, who stared back until she abruptly released a heavy sigh.

“You are just like your mother,” she mused with a forlorn smile. “You even look like she did back then. She was so full of life, then, so defiant. Her parents wanted her to stay in the city, to be a doctor or a lawyer, but your mother wanted a more simple life. She wanted to make dresses and live by the sea with the man she loved- your father,” she chuckled softly. “I was fond of your mother. I admired her. I could see why my brother loved her so deeply. It was a shame you never really got to know him, Haneul. He loved you very much.” With a soft smile, she nodded slightly, making Haneul perk up. “I realize that I can't stop you from leaving. If that is what you really want, dear, then you go on home.”

“Oh, thank you, Auntie!” Haneul cried in delight and jumped up from the sofa to embrace the woman. “I love you! I promise, I'll write, and come to visit when I can!” she assured her, and the woman chortled as she patted her niece's back.

“I’ll hold you to that, dear. Now you go get your things packed up, and in the meantime, I want to know about these handsome young gentlemen!” she grinned and flashed them all a grin, and they all gulped slightly in discomfort. Haneul obeyed, running off to her bedroom to begin hastily shoving her possessions into boxes and suitcases. She had almost finished packing when there was a light knock on her door, and she glanced over her shoulder to see Baro standing in the threshold of the door.

“I’m almost done. My aunt done interrogating you?” she chuckled as she zipped up a suitcase and set it on the carpeted floor. Baro chuckled softly at her comment and sidled forward, his hands in his pockets.

“Yeah. She's a nice lady,” he mused as he fiddled with a loose string on the suitcase. Haneul crawled onto the bed, sitting up on her knees as she reached up to pluck the black feather she had hung there when she had moved in. She gasped lightly when Baro placed his hands on her hips and kissed her neck from behind. “I never thought she would give me the chance to be alone with you,” he purred seductively in her ear, making her hair stand on end. He reached up with one hand to turn her face toward his, and she breathed in sharply as his lips enveloped her own in a passionate kiss. Her eyes drifted shut as she melted into him, savoring the feeling of his mouth moving rhythmically with hers. The tip of his tongue traced it’s way across her bottom lip, begging for entry, and she eagerly complied; as his tongue slipped inside and tangled with hers, she exhaled with a soft mmmmmmm. The deep kiss made her head swim while her senses went on high-alert, barraging her with information. As Baro slid his hands underneath the sweatshirt to run softly over her skin, she shuddered as it felt like electricity sparked over her entire body. Suddenly, as Baro's fingertips met the torn fabric of her blouse, he pulled back with a sad look. “Were you scared?” he asked quietly, regretfully.

“I was at first,” she admitted, her voice breathy from the intense kiss. She reached underneath the sweatshirt to enclose her hands around his. “But… Then I wasn't. It was like I knew you were coming for me, and I didn’t need to be afraid anymore,” she added with a tiny smile. In the other hand, she held the black feather close to her heart. “It was the strangest thing… But then again, maybe it wasn’t strange at all.” Baro smiled happily, squeezing her slightly as he propped his chin on her shoulder.

“It just makes me so angry…” he sighed deeply. “The things he said… The things he did… The things he wanted to do…” he growled. Haneul nodded, her close brush with an agonizing, torturous end making her mute. Baro pressed his lips to her neck once more. “I’m never letting you go,” he murmured against her skin. “I need you, Haneul. Dong-woo can say and do what he likes. I don’t care. I’ll take on all of Heaven and Hell combined if that’s what it takes to make you mine.” Haneul was shocked to feel a slight wetness against her neck that could only be tears. Smiling softly, she rested her head against Baro's, still holding his hands that were around her middle.

“I’m not going anywhere, Baro,” she assured him quietly.

Haneul did not know what the future held for them, but one thing was obvious. They belonged together. No matter how high the odds were stacked against them, no matter what obstacles appeared in their way, they would face the coming storm, side-by-side. As they sped down the interstate with her things piled into the trunk of Sandeul's car, with Haneul curled up beside him and his arm around her waist, Haneul had never felt safer.

Even though they were heading towards certain danger…