Jinhae stretched her arms, making a small noise. As she stumbled around her room, she slowly changed out of her School uniform, and into a pair of black jeans and a tee. As she attempted fixing her haphazard hair in the mirror, she suddenly felt that cold chill once more.

She felt as if she wasn’t alone.

Turning around, she quickly checked if she really was.

***

Changjo held his breath, looking right into Jinhae's slightly panicked eyes, he felt like he was home. A smile creeping on his hard features, Changjo moved to sit on her bed, continuing to watch her get ready. Did he know he looked like a complete stalker? Yes. Did he care? No.

"She looks just like I remember her…" he whispered to himself, letting his wings rest on her bed. The feeling of her bed sheets against his feathers made him snicker as he remembered that one time so long ago…

"Yah! Jonghyun what are you doing?!" Jinhae stood in her doorway, staring at how her angel was sprawled on her bed.
"Nothing?" Changjo replied, smirking as he sat up.
Jinhae stared for a moment, focusing on his wings. Changjo caught her staring, and shuffled his feather s a little. Jinhae smiled, looking away before sitting on the edge of her bed. She stared at her floor, decorated with clothes, schoolbooks and feathers. Noticing how many feathers decorated her floor, she turned to look at Changjo with unamused eyes.

Changjo looked back, smiling slightly. "What?"
"Messed up my floor."
"And?"
"Clean it."
Laughing, Changjo shook his head. "Later."
Jinhae stared at him for a minute, taken aback by the sound of his laugh. It sounded so...bright.

"What's the matter?" Changjo asked, noticing how Jinhae was clearly unresponsive to his remark. Shaking her head, Jinhae smiled, before pinching Changjo's cheek.
"Nothing's wrong, Jonghyun."

Standing up from her bed, Changjo sighed, moving toward the window before stopping dead in his tracks. He stared at her bookcase, his jaw tightening as he saw one of his feathers. It was sitting there, separated from the other objects, but what made Changjo freeze was the fact that it was the feather he left in her room that night. After looking at it for a few more moments, he proceeded to jump out the window, landing on the footpath with ease. Turning around, he saw Jinhae walk out the front door, past him, and down the road.

Changjo watched her with cautious eyes, wondering what to do next.

***

L.Joe sat by the front door, waiting for Changjo to come back. Even though L.Joe had been sitting in the same spot for at least 3 hours, he didn’t move. Niel on the other hand, had just come back from a training course, his feathers rustled, and hair messed up.

"How long have you been sitting there?" Niel asked, running a hand through his hair in an attempt to neaten it.

L.Joe shrugged. "For a few hours, I think. Why?"
"He hasn't come back yet?"

"No."

Niel moved to stand next to L.Joe, his Teal coloured feathers standing out next to L.Joe's smoke coloured ones. The air was slightly tense, and the both of them knew exactly where Changjo was. L.Joe sighed quietly, moving to stand from his chair, placing a hand on Niel's shoulder.
"I'll go down and keep an eye on him." L.Joe said, breaking the silence.
Niel nodded. "Do you think she'll…"
Shaking his head, L.Joe removed his hand off Niel's shoulder. "No, she wouldn’t remember."

"But if she sees you…"
"I'll be familiar to her, but she wouldn’t be able to remember. It's been 5 years. A lot happens to a mortal in that timeframe."

Niel nodded. "Good luck."

L.Joe smiled, walking out to the balcony and spreading his wings. "I don’t think I'll need it."

***

Jinhae knocked on Eunjung's door patiently waiting for her friend.
"Hey," Eunjung smiled as she opened the door, stepping out and closing it behind her as she began to lock it.
"You better have woken me up for a good reason, Eunjung," Jinhae replied playfully.
Eunjung dropped the keys into her bag, taking Jinhae's hand and dragging her down to the sidewalk. "Of course it's a good reason, we're going to eat."
Jinhae rolled her eyes, a smile on her lips. "Yeah ok, that seems good enough." 

The two continued to talk and walk, oblivious to the fact that Changjo was watching them on a nearby rooftop.

As  the sunlight hit Changjo's feathers, one single thought was in his mind. He thought about the consequences. Would she remember? Would she run away? Would he be able to let go? His eyes continued to follow Jinhae and Eunjung, and he twisted his lips.

It wouldn’t hurt. He thought to himself, jumping down to land on the pavement. Closing his eyes and letting his power flow through his veins, Changjo's wings began to withdraw into his back, leaving two rather large scars between his shoulder-blades. As he continued to concentrate, he slowly made himself visible, catching the attention of a few people as his shirt had no back. "Oh." Changjo opened his eyes, quickly walking into a nearby store.

"Hello how ma—" the shop attendant stared in shock as Changjo walked further into the store.
"Hi." Changjo replied curtly, before walking into the men's section.

The attendant continued to stare, nudging her co-worker. "Uhm, since when did we have a customer that gorgeous?"
Looking up from her log book, the co-worker glanced around the room, finally seeing Changjo pick a jacket from the rack. "Holy crap."

"Should I help him?"
"In what way?" the co-worked snickered.

Fighting off a giggle, the attendant moved from the counter to stand next to Changjo. "Do you need any help?"
"No thank you." Changjo replied, his voice impassive.
"A-are you sure?"

Changjo looked up, flashing the attendant a smile. "I'm very sure, thank you."

Blinking, the attendant moved away to stand behind the counter once more. "Jesus, how old is he?"
Shrugging, the co-worker continued to write in the book. "I dunno, 20?"

Meanwhile, Changjo stared in the mirror, ignoring the open back of his shirt, and putting on a black leather jacket. Running a hand through his jet black hair, he fixed the jacket to his liking, before walking to the counter.
"Is that all you'd like to purchase..?" the attendant asked timidly.
Nodding, Changjo took the tag out from the cuff of the jacket, letting the attendant scan the barcode. "Yes, thanks."
"That's uh, $35."
Changjo nodded again, moving his hand behind his back to produce a $50 note from thin air, before giving it over.

After completing the transaction, Changjo walked out of the store, ripping off the tag and placing it in his pocket before continuing to follow Jinhae and Eunjung.

***

L.Joe flew comfortably, making sure he wasn’t visible before landing on the roof of a skyscraper. As he walked along the edge, he scanned the area for Changjo's aura.

Hyung. What are you doing here? Changjo's voice echoed in L.Joe's mind.
I could say the same to you. L.Joe replied.
Look, I don't want you babysitting me.
And I don't you getting hurt.
Who said I was?

L.Joe sighed, stepping off the edge and landing softly on a bench 50 stories down. You said it yourself, you didn’t want to see her again.
Well I broke that promise.

So you're going to see her?

A few minutes of silence passed and L.Joe knew Changjo had ended the conversation. Focusing on his aura once more, he decided to follow wherever Changjo was headed. Being on Earth again felt weird to L.Joe, the feeling of pavement under his shoes, mortals walking past him discreetly…

It had been a very long time since he had done this. Walking to a nearby store, and into the change room, he withdrew his wings and made himself visible. Spending a good five minutes fixing his hair, he proceeded to do the same as Changjo, purchasing a jacket.

"Is that all for today?"
L.Joe nodded, a slight smile on his face. Walking back out he continued to follow Changjo's aura, a small smile on his face as he breathed the same air as the mortals around him.

***

Jinhae and Eunjung eventually reached a restaurant, walking inside and sitting in a nearby booth next to the window. After discussing about what they would have, the eventually gave their menus to the waitress and began to wait.
"Any luck? Eunjung asked, resting her chin in her hand.
Jinhae shook her head. "None at all. I still cant seem to find anything on it."
"So there isn't a species of bird that has that type of feather?"

Jinhae shook her head once more. Nodding, Eunjung started to draw patterns on her glass with the condensation of the water. "What are you gonna do then?"
"I don't know. But if it's been bothering me for 5 years…" Jinhae trailed off, her eyes moving to look out the window.

Shrugging, Eunjung decided that a few moments of silence was good for her friend. Although she had no idea why it would bother her so much, Eunjung knew that the story behind the feather was going to be a big one. Continuing to draw patters into her glass, the door opened to the restaurant and another person walked inside.

Changjo held his breath, walking in and making sure he didn’t look at Jinhae. As the waitress welcomed him, he merely nodded his head and moved to sit at a table away from the girls, but with a decent view of them. He needed to make sure he could see her, before hearing her. Chewing on his bottom lip as anxiety gnawed at his insides, he wordlessly made his order and began to drink the complimentary water, finishing the jug in three minutes. God, why is it so hard for me to be in here? He thought to himself quietly, almost crushing the glass in his hand as he continued to drink. Watching the girls, he decided to focus on hearing them as they began to speak once more.

"Jinhae, you alright?" Eunjung asked, slightly worried.
Shaken from her reverie, Jinhae nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine."
Changjo felt his heart sting as he continued to listen. She's not ok. I know that tone…
"I know a good way to distract you," Eunjung began, moving her hand to discreetly point to Changjo.
Jinhae followed the path of her friends finger, before quickly glancing at Changjo then looking back. "Uhm, I don’t get it."
Eunjung laughed. "Isn't he cute?"
Changjo smiled a little.
"And this is supposed to distract me how…?" Jinhae murmured as the waitress moved to give them their food.
"Oh come on, look at him! He's all mysterious and he's looking this way!" Eunjung laughed, picking up her chopsticks at the same time.
Changjo hung his head a little, letting his hair cover his eyes and he felt Eunjung's gaze.
Jinhae shook her head, before turning her head and moving to look at what Eunjung was so excited about. "He's not all th—" abruptly stopping mid-sentence, she blinked as Changjo lifted his head to look at her right in the eyes.

Hi. Changjo reached out to Jinhae's mind, testing the waters.
Jinhae stared in shock, opening to say something, but closing it just as quickly.
"Are you going to eat?" Eunjung asked, motioning to the almost cold food on Jinhae's plate. Nodding, Jinhae looked away, breaking the eye contact and moving to eat.
Changjo smirked, reaching to her mind once more. You're not going to say hello? Jinhae's figure froze for a split second, before continuing to eat.

After a few seconds, Jinhae decided to see if that voice inside her head was real, so she spoke inside her head. Is this...real?
Changjo didn't notice the waitress giving him his meal. Do you think it is?

Please leave me alone. Jinhae began to shift uncomfortably in her seat.
Alone?  Changjo swallowed nervously.
Whoever you are, please leave me alone.

Changjo sighed, withdrawing himself from her mind before beginning to eat and murmuring to himself. "Bad idea, Jonghyun. Bad idea." Focusing on his food, he didn’t notice the door open, and a person sitting at his table. Lifting his head, he blinked a couple of times in shock as he stared L.Joe in the face.
"What the hell are you doing here!?" Changjo hissed, his eyes darting between L.Joe and Jinhae.
"I'm keeping an eye on you." L.Joe replied bluntly.
"I told you, I don’t need it!"
"Did you talk to her?"

Changjo kept his jaw tight. "I may have talked to her mentally…"

L.Joe sighed, rubbing his forehead. "What were you thinking?"
"I was experimenting."
"So you're calling your ex girlf—" L.Joe stopped mid sentence as Changjo held up his hand, before pointing to his ear.

"I don’t get it. Tell me again." Eunjung frowned, putting down her chopsticks.
"I just had a voice in my head, and I think it was that guy from over there." Jinhae murmured quietly.
".…a voice in your head?"
"Yes, a voice. Is it really that hard to believe?"
"Uhm, Jinhae, you just said that you were talking to that guy in your head."

Jinhae sighed. "You're probably right. I think I just have a headache."
"Should we get you tested?" Eunjung laughed.

Jinhae rolled her eyes, before poking out her tongue. "Yeah, yeah, whatever."

(omg an update!) Hello again guys, sorry for keeping you waiting for so long, but here it is! Another update! :D I have no idea why it took me so long, but my motivation is coming back slowly, so keep an eye out okay?

Hope you enjoyed (this rather y) chapter! 

Till next time~