In the blackness that is behind Jongin’s eyelids, he feels a strange warmth and comfort. There’s a calmness in this space that he is accustomed to despite being unfamiliar with the oppressive darkness. Light shifts from somewhere unknown and he feels his skin warm in response to it, changing his range of color from black to a brighter red. Frowning lightly, his eyes scrunch up in response to this brightness as it assaults the other side of his closed eyelids and wakes him from his previously dormant state.

 

He shifts his body slightly and feels the muscles in his limbs contract in an odd and unfamiliar way. This is the first ask and comply response his brain and body have communicated, as this is the first body he’s ever occupied.

 

It takes another moment of these small muscle spasms of communication before he can raise an arm, and glide his hand over the smooth skin of his face in an attempt to shield his eyes from the light. The tiniest fragments of something unfamiliar fall on Jongin’s face, causing him to squint yet again as they fall into his eyelashes and roll down his cheeks. His forearm falls heavy on his face, the weight of his own arm still so new and different and heavy.

 

“If you’re just going to lay there sleeping you shouldn’t have agreed to come.” Comes a voice he thinks he’s heard before, but can’t seem to place.

 

Jongin fights with the tiny beads of something unknown to get them away from his eyes. His motions are jerky and it’s hard coordinating his body. His brand new muscles tense and loosen over and over again as he figures out a fluid motion and the proper bodily response to his neurons requests.

 

Eventually, when he’s sure his face has been cleared of the debris, he opens his eyes to see who’s speaking. Light seers into his pupils and he instantly shuts them with a cry of pain. They water and turn colors behind his eyelids – green, blue, purple.

 

Whoever the other is, they don’t speak another word, but they make a sound that Jongin doesn’t really understand. It’s something like a hiss, or a laugh, but unreadable without sight. Relying on his ears, he can hear the other fumbling with something just slightly out of reach.

 

Jongin wrestles with the sun now, and it takes a while before he can fully open his eyes and focus on what’s in front of him. He realizes now that the mess of particles that fell on his face before was actually tiny fragments of shell along the shoreline of a beach. So this is sand, he thinks, starting to piece together things from memories that feel as if they are thousands of years old (and they are, technically).

 

Jongin then continues scanning the horizon for the source of the voice from earlier. It doesn’t take long for him to spot the other male human, as he’s the only one in sight. He takes note of the small figure, slanted shoulders, and boxy frame of this male, quite distracted by whatever movements he’s making with an ease that’s so natural you’d never guess his body was just as new as Jongins.

 

The male turned towards Jongin as he noticed movement and gave him a scoff of arrogance or annoyance, though Jongin couldn’t read these emotions well enough to really know for sure if he meant anything negative by it. “It’s about time you got up. Jeez, I didn’t even take that long my first time.” He muttered, tossing something in Jongin’s general direction. It was fabric of sorts – clothes – and Jongin watched it fall into the white sand.

 

He looked blankly at the clothes on the ground, then up at Kyungsoo questioningly.

 

“Holy you’re helpless.” Kyungsoo blurts, shoving a pointed finger towards the clothes now covered in sand. “Pick them up, and put them on, like this.” He instructed and pulled at his own clothes to emphasize how they were supposed to look. “You can’t just walk around in only your body, people will think you’re psycho.”

 

Confused, but unsure how to voice his confusion, Jongin focused on the task he’d been given in the moment. It took all his might to push himself to sit up, his arms shaking lightly from the strain of use. Panting softly, he reached in a jerky motion to grasp at the fabric and pull it to him. This caused a small snicker from his partner, similar to the sound before, and an unfamiliar emotion swelled in Jongin in response. It was something close to embarrassment, only it wasn’t so mild.

 

This pushed him to try harder, finally getting ahold of the clothing and with a grunt he tugged the clothes up from the sand and tried his best to figure out how they were to be worn. After what felt like hours, and with much angry coaching from his counterpart, all his shirt buttons were secured and his pants were in place.

 

“There’s a REASON I only ever go on SOLO missions.” The angry little man shouted up towards the sky, clearly exasperated from the babysitting he had to endure. He sighed then and turned to Jongin in his defeat. “Okay kid, now you have to stand up, do you think you can handle it? Or should I just come back in three hours and see what you’ve managed?” He asked sarcastically as he, himself, stood in example.

 

Though annoyed at the rate this was taking the new kid to adjust to his body, Kyungsoo was actually kind of impressed at how well he was catching on. As for himself, he had been in many bodies to the point that his adjustment time had diminished to about 15 to 30 minutes. He felt weak and somewhat sick at first, always, but once he got going his strength quickly built and he was ready to go.

 

Kyungsoo glanced up at the midday sun, then to Jongin as he struggled getting his legs up under himself to stand. Frankly, he looked like a newborn foal trying to get a grasp on his limbs. At this rate, both of them were going to suffer sunburns and possible dehydration before they got near the city, as they needed to travel there on foot.

 

“No, no, no; you’re doing it wrong.” Kyungsoo grumbled. If they wanted to get anywhere anytime soon, he was going to have to step in. He walked up to Jongin, still sitting in the sand, and made him stop moving. He straightened the tallers’ legs out from under him and then pushed them from the ankles towards Jongin’s to show him the basic motions of how to balance. He then took the boy’s hands and pulled his upper torso forward until Jongin was doing some sort of squat, then tugged him up hard to get him standing.

 

Jongin let out a grunt as his stretched his legs out for the first time. He clutched onto Kyungsoo for dear life and his legs slid around on the sand trying to keep balance. He nearly knocked the both of them over as his legs were so weak and shaky.

 

Luckily Kyungsoo was pretty stable and held them both still within a few minutes, though he was breathing a little heavier after all that and Jongin was leaning heavily into his chest. “C-Christ.” He cursed under his breath, and when he looked up at Jongin’s face, he found himself regretting helping.

 

“W-What?” Kyungsoo spat angrily, brows knitting up at him. “Can’t you speak, dummy? It’s not that hard. Or don’t you remember how?”

 

Jongin peered down at him, just as confused as ever, and searched Kyungsoo’s face as if it held the answers.

 

“Never mind.” Kyungsoo spat, exasperated, and pushed Jongin away from him to make the man stand on his own. “Get walking, we have a lot of ground to cover Dummy.”

 

This caused Jongin to let out a tiny yelp and fail his arms a little as he went unstable. His heart pounded in his chest in fear of falling, but eventually he balanced himself out a little and panted as he regained his composure. The sound he’d managed to elicit, though, connected something somewhere in his head.

 

“..E- Explain..?” He tried, voice small and hoarse from inexperience. Where were they? Why were they there? Who was the shorter, angry man? And who was Jongin himself for that matter? There were a lot of things he didn’t understand. He just couldn’t seem to remember-

 

“Oh Lord Jongin, I’ll explain it all along the way. Let’s just go before we end up getting burnt up by the sun.” Kyungsoo explained, pointing up to the blinding orb in the sky. He started taking steps in the direction of the tree line, away from the shore. “Just like this – one step, then two.”

 

Jongin glanced up, then instantly regretted it as his eyes burned and watered from the bright rays of light. He saw speckles of color again and blindly tried to step in Kyungsoo’s direction. He nearly fell over the first few steps, but eventually adjusted as he felt his weight shift from foot to foot in a rhythmic and predictable motion. This was it – he was walking.

 

He fell in step behind Kyungsoo, and he didn’t realize how hot he’d felt until they were under the shade of the trees leading away from the beach. His skin started to perspire and he felt uncomfortable with the fabric of his clothes sticking to him. He gripped at it and tugged like a child, and Kyungsoo reached to bat his hands away.

 

“Don’t do that. Leave them on so you’re protected from the sun when we get out of the trees. Besides, you’ll need clothes once we’re in the city.” Kyungsoo explained as they treaded lightly on the sand and earth. “We’ll need to get shoes – I didn’t see any on the beach, but our house is near.”

 

Jongin suddenly had flashes – an image of a blue, worn, beach house in a secluded area, and knew instantly that his was the house Kyungsoo had mentioned even if he didn’t understand how he knew. “Blue.” Jongin added, looking at Kyungsoo for confirmation.

 

Kyungsoo glanced back at him, facial expression reading surprise, and nodded. “Yeah – it’s blue. And you’re Jongin, and I’m Kyungsoo, and we’re both here on a mission. Do you remember now?”

 

Jongin frowned and tried wracking his brain for more information about what the mission might be, but he wasn’t gathering much. As his body and mind grew stronger, however, things gradually started to come to the forefront of his mind.

 

“Basically, God wants us to right some wrongs. And instead of just letting me handle it on my own, he insisted I take your to train you. So, here we are, 3 hours behind schedule and you’re still clueless and unable to remember anything.”

 

As Kyungsoo spoke, Jongin had clips of visions dance across his mind. Dreams of wings, bright lights, the sound of music, dancing, and laughter all flooded his mind. An angel – with pale skin and big eyes and a voice of honey as it sang and he danced in circles with his wings spread wide as the melody coaxed him near. They were angels. “Angels.” Jongin gasped out, feet stumbling as he was more in his head than his body in that moment, and broke his visions.

 

He smiled over at Kyungsoo, who nodded matter-of-factly. “Bingo kiddo. And God said “Let Kyungsoo suffer”, and poof, here we are.” He murmured sarcastically. “But in all honesty, I’ve been on countless of these missions now. You must be something special for the big boss to be so adamant about being trained by me. Usually it’s Jongdae’s duty to train the newbies. I mean, it’s not that I don’t like you kid, it’s just that when it comes to my job I don’t tolerate inconveniences.”

 

“Friends.” Jongin pointed out in a soft voice, eying Kyungsoo. “I remember – your singing.”

 

This statement threw Kyungsoo off a bit, and for once he was the one searching his memory. “Uh.. I wouldn’t call us friends but…” He started, but was cut short as the memory took over.

 

 

God called them all in attendance, angels from far and wide coming in droves to join in celebration for the coming of a new generation of angels. Heaven held infinite room for all to join, and God held no reservations when it came to the creation of angels and humans alike. For every human he made on Earth, an angel was made in Heaven. After all, humans were in need of the help.

 

There was happy chatter from all those that gathered around, and Kyungsoo was among them, though not quite so happy. He was gathered with the angels he typically spent his time with for the last few hundred years or so since he had accepted the task of Going Under, or so they called it. Jongdae, Chanyeol, Junmyeon, and Minseok were the main members of this task group, although others came and went as needed. Kyungsoo, however, was one of the most efficient, and therefore often solo.

 

The five of them were well known angels amongst the crowd gathered. It took a lot of courage to do what the five of them did, and it was evident to the other angels that whatever the tasks were they did on Earth, it was immensely hard, and they were somehow different due to it. For this, they were honored as part of the most high, and regarded as the most heroic among them (for who willingly would leave heaven to suffer a mortal death on Earth countless times if not required by God?).

 

They typically kept to themselves as it was easier than trying to socialize with angels unfamiliar with their experiences. This particular day was no exception to this, as the five of them stood closely together and made their way to the gates of Heaven high above the crowd.

 

They had been hailed specially or this event as the ceremony called for hymns to be sung in honor of the new angels’ arrival, and their voices were the most immaculate in the heavens. The angels closest to God’s favor were always graced with the best gifts, and due to their personal sacrifices, the five of them were part of that highest graced elite.

 

“Hark, as we rejoice in the presence of our new brothers and sisters!” Chanyeols voice boomed towards the crowd as the five stood at the highest peak of the heavens where the gate was located. His voice resounded like thunder and they all applauded in awe as the Lords presence filled the air.

 

Though ever present, God spent most of his time out of sight, keeping an eye on the humans. Angels were allowed some freedoms that humans were not – and limited supervision was one of them. Angels were by nature all good beings, so there was no reason for God to keep tabs on them. There was also no need for him to present himself physically. They could sense him in their being themselves.

 

Chanyeol was overly excited, per usual, and it kind of annoyed Kyungsoo, but he would be lying to himself if he didn’t admit to liking at least some of these ceremonies. It was mildly interesting to see the new faces created emerge from the clouds and enter the gates to join them in their new life.

 

As if on cue, a hush fell over the crowd now. The new angels descended the peak of the clouds were the gate rested and the five angels stood, but one in particular caught Kyungsoo’s eye. There was no time for admirations though – their time had come to start the Song of Ages.

 

Kyungsoo started to sing a soft tune that gradually built and filled the air. The melody drifted and it was as if the Heavens were glowing from the sound alone. There was a soft hum that started among the crowd as those gifted with the Sound of Song accompanied the tune Kyungsoo had started, and shortly after, he began to sing the words first spoken by God alone in the Dark Times.

 

The whole crowd was awestruck and so taken by the sound of the song Kyungsoo was singing and Jongin, like a child, stared too from the open gate. It was as if he couldn’t control his body. He had to move. He stopped his motion towards the crowd and let his wings guide him closer to the voice. This of course was far from what was supposed to happen during the ceremony, but as everyone glanced curiously at the new angel, the Lord presented himself at the gate to watch Jongin and smiled, so very pleased with his creation.

 

Jongin danced, graceful and light as if he’d been doing it for eons. His wings fluttered and twisted in beautiful shapes around his body and his motions were unlike any the angels had been graced with before. The light glimmered off of his feathers and his bronze skin, illuminating the clouds around them. It was instantly apparent - he was, truly, a favorite of God.

 

Jongdae and the rest joined in once their initial distraction went away, the chorus of them together creating perfect harmony, and those gifted among the crowd with the Sound of Song sang with such sweet unity that flowers bloomed on the thawed mountaintops of Earth, and as Jongin danced, vines and trees grew heavenward towards his light.

 

He was, Kyungsoo thought, truly breathtaking.

 

 

“We’re.. We’re not friends. You’re just one of us unfortunate few, and I got stuck being the one training you.” Kyungsoo murmured, now at the other side of the tree line at the city’s edge. “It’s a blessing and a curse. You’re gifted the freedom from Gods peering eyes, and sometimes you’re lucky enough to get a few extra gifts, but you’re also cursed to suffer in service to him. What we do is one of the hardest jobs there is, because each time we become human in service to him, we have to die to get back home. It’s a concept totally foreign to most angels to the point they can’t comprehend it because we’re naturally immortal, you know? But once you experience it… well, it changes you.”

 

Kyungsoo trailed off then, and Jongin’s face looked scared and unsure over at his partner.

 

“Don’t look at me like that. Do you think dying is fun? No matter how you do it, it’s still terrifying. Your body isn’t made like normal humans. It doesn’t just ‘expire’ naturally. We’re only allowed the time we’re given here, and once that’s up, he takes us. Sometimes if we haven’t finished our task we can barter for more time, but it gets really risky staying in a body already near wilting.”

 

Jongin audibly gulped and tripped over the edge of the sidewalk as they emerged from the trees. He let out a small cry of pain at his stubbed toe. He’d never experienced pain before, because in heaven there was no such thing. “I don’t understand.” He cried over at Kyungsoo. A small tremor run through his body. “I don’t understand why we’re here. Or why it’s like this.”

 

Kyungsoo stepped out with him onto the sidewalk. “Because it’s the price we pay for all that Glory.” He answered easily, the words of the great Father himself resounding in his ears. “Every virtue has a vice.”

 

He grabbed Jongin’s forearm then and pulled him towards the nearest convince store to buy them cheap shoes, his feet already feeling tender. He reached into his pocket and sure enough there was a wallet in there with seemingly endless cash. God at least made their time on Earth as cushy as possible in this way. He then tried to think of a better way to explain to Jongin.

 

“Angels don’t have bodies, Jongin. They don’t breathe, eat, drink, nothing. You have no clue what a human being is compared to an angel, do you? Because all you know is the small bit of Heaven you’ve experienced so far. There are things in this world that can crush your being into the tiniest pieces imaginable.” He nearly hissed as his bare feet padded along the warm sidewalk, making a light pitter patter compared to Jongin’s thuds. “There’s more pain and suffering in this world than anything else – but damn does it feel good to be alive.”

 

This really threw Jongin for a loop, but he didn’t bother pressing anymore as he followed behind him. He didn’t understand at all, and honestly he doesn’t really want to. So instead, he tried to focus on understanding the now instead of worrying about the then. He focused on the tiny frame of the man in front of him, and remembered the intoxicating sound that came from his lips, and wondered how his bitter companion could create such a sweet sound.