“Kyungsoo.. my feet hurt.” Jongin’s voice barely rose above the noise of the coastline traffic as they trudged back in their new sneakers. There was no response from Kyungsoo, so he tried something else.

 

“Is the mission we’re supposed to complete really hard?” His question was met with only silence. Kyungsoo still didn’t answer him, instead just staring ahead as the plastic bags draped over his arms rustled like the trees.

 

Jongin didn’t like the way the bags felt in his hands. They were heavy and cut into his soft skin. He looked down at them, wobbling a little as he still couldn’t coordinate his walking well. He noted the lines the bags made on his hands, and the red skin underneath, and whimpered.

 

“Shut up kid, we’re almost there.” Kyungsoo grumbled, though his hands and feet were hurting too. It was going to take time to build calluses most adults already had. This was always the worst part about inhabiting new bodies.

 

The large blue beach house was halfway between the coastline and the highway, though relatively secluded from prying eyes. It had 2 stories and a garage, complete with a car and running water. For some reason Kyungsoo was always shocked by the amount of things God provided for them during his trips to Earth. He didn’t question it though. Obviously God could do what he wants, and Kyungsoo wasn’t about to complain.

 

He walked up to the house and touched the door handle, turning it gently to open it. The door opened easily and Kyungsoo pushed his way inside with Jongin at his heals. He flipped his shoes off and sat his bags down in the kitchen before motioning to Jongin to do the same.

 

“Take your shoes off.” He instructed, pointing at the door.

 

Jongin did as he was told, and scurried quickly to the kitchen to get the bags away from him as much as possible. His hands were throbbing from the plastic handles and he didn’t understand why they even needed all that stuff they’d bought.

 

Kyungsoo scuttled around opening windows and letting some light in, filling the dim place with a natural glow and a soft breeze. He then went back in the kitchen to put the groceries into the fridge. Even these new bodies required food for sustenance.

 

Eventually with everything in its proper place and Kyungsoo fully accustomed to his new surroundings, he turned to a confused looking Jongin standing in a corner of the room.

 

“I’m going to make you something to drink okay? It should bring back all the memories you’ve forgotten, because Lord knows, I don’t have time to explain everything to you again.” They were now a total of 6 hours behind schedule, and after they slept it would be even longer.

 

Kyungsoo fumbled in the kitchen with some of the things he’d bought earlier, throwing things into a pot on the stove and chanting small phrases in Latin over the concoction. He placed his hands over the pot and closed his eyes, focusing on the brew so intently he didn’t notice Jongin now looming over his shoulder. He finished with a small Amen, his eyes opening as the Lord answered his request for Jongin’s memory regain.

 

The brew settled in the pot as he turned the stove off. He poured it quickly into a cup, and handed the mug to Jongin. “Come with me.” He instructed before going down a hallway and into the nearest bedroom he could find.

 

He made Jongin sit on the bed and blew gently in the cup to cool it. “It will be hot when you drink it, but it won’t burn you.” He promised. “You’ll fall asleep for a while but when you wake up you’ll know who you are and what we’re doing here. You’ve been briefed on all this before, but since it’s your first time in a human body there’s a disconnection happening in your brain.”

 

“K-Kyungsoo I don’t want it to hurt. I’m scared.” Jongin whimpered. His eyes were wide and his palms were starting to sweat. He stared down at the dark greenish brown drink in his hand and felt an unfamiliar bitterness in his mouth and his throat closed up.

 

“Jongin please. We really don’t have time for this. Just put the cup to your lips and drink.” Kyungsoo urged him, taking hold of the cup in his hands and pushing it up towards his face. Jongin whimpered reluctantly, but he didn’t fight Kyungsoo. He parted his lips hesitantly and poured the thick liquid into his mouth.

 

He nearly vomited on the spot, but Kyungsoo forced his hand against Jongin’s mouth to keep it closed. “Don’t you dare.” He hissed, waiting for Jongin to swallow what he’d managed to put in there before moving his hand away.

 

That was all it took, apparently. Jongin’s eyes drooped and his body started to slouch. He sagged back onto the bed, nearly spilling the drink everywhere, but Kyungsoo caught it hastily.

 

Sighing out in relief, Kyungsoo propped his head up with a pillow and sat the cup to the side. Jongin was probably out for the night, and just in time as the sun was setting.

 

He took a moment to look at the boy – really look at him. He was naturally bronzer than Kyungsoo, which he also recalled from their moments in Heaven, and he was tall with lengthy limbs that seemed almost unfair in comparison to Kyungsoo’s. He looked down at his stocky body and limbs, and wondered what it must be like to see the tops of everyone’s heads as you passed by.

 

Then he noticed his features – his eyebrows, eyelashes, nose, lips, jawline, neck, collarbones…

 

He stopped. An unfamiliar feeling swelling in himself, and he turned slightly ridged. Was it jealousy? He’d never been jealous of anybody that he could recall, but even that didn’t quite feel right. Maybe it was something else. He ended up chalking it up to some stupid human thing rather than think about it farther.

 

He his heels and walked out the door, closing it behind him and padding to the living room to start getting things done. He sat down with a notepad and laptop and began instantly searching for their target of interest. At least with the child asleep, he would have no more interruptions.

 

Jongin listened to the Lords instructions carefully, intent on doing his absolute best. He knew he had been specially made for these sorts of tasks because God had given him the gift of Dance. Very few angels were blessed with a gift outstanding in its category. It was even as if he’d summoned God himself to watch him dance on the day of the ceremony because he’d specially shown himself at the event despite being busy. He felt proud of this honor, and he wanted to be sure God knew just how thankful he was to be made this way.

 

The Lord taught Jongin about humans and their world. He showed him how it was made, the creatures in it, and the way it functioned to take care of itself. He even taught Jongin astrology so he could fully understand the universe around it. He learned simple mathematics and language, and the evolution the world took to formulate modern society.

 

The only thing Jongin couldn’t fully comprehend was time. In Heaven, time is infinite. It is non-linear and virtually non-existent. Only God has the power to manipulate it on Earth if he so chooses. As inconceivable as time was, Jongin was told he would understand it far too well during his mission.

 

He was introduced to all of the elite five, and spent his time learning things from the group in order to prepare for his first mission on Earth.

 

Kyungsoo was picked to be his mentor by God for reasons undisclosed. It was the first time Kyungsoo had be asked to train anyone. He was fully capable, but he didn’t have the natural temperament for it. Kyungsoo was annoyed by this, but there was no way he could argue with God about it.

 

God then spoke to Kyungsoo and Jongin privately. “Your mission this time is to erase the existence of Chanyeol in the mind of a human. He had a… mishap while on Earth the last time. It’s not something anyone needs to worry about, but human emotions are strong, and they lured Chanyeol to sin. I just need the two of you to locate this human and erase their memory of the existence of Chanyeol.” God instructed the two of them, but mostly Kyungsoo.

 

Kyungsoo had done something like this before. He knew this wasn’t such a simple task, but there was two of them, so he didn’t give it much thought. It seemed mildly strange that God would send them down for a simple memory mission, but maybe he had much more to prioritize himself with. Usually it was the duty of the sinner to correct their wrong. It must have been relatively serious for Chanyeol to not be on this mission.

 

God explained the fine details to them like the house, car, location, time frame, and other important details that were case related. “I will send you the fine details once you get down there. And remember, I’ll check in periodically as well. You’re on Earth to serve me, not yourselves. Human emotions can be hard to manage. I don’t want any more slip ups from my elite. And if you disobey me there will be punishments. You have been warned, and this is your only warning. To sin is to fall short of the glory of my kingdom. You will pay in ways unimaginable thus far if you break your angelic vows. If you break your vow to me, it will be up to you to fix it or suffer the consequences. Chanyeol would not take the burden he created upon himself to fix it, so it is up to you. I don’t know if Chanyeol has performed any incantations surrounding this person so please be careful. Now, go on towards the gates. I’ll send you down.”

 

The pair did as they were told, and Jongin glanced over at Kyungsoo as they waited for the gates to open. He wondered what sort of punishment Chanyeol had to endure, and if Kyungsoo had ever had to experience that before. He didn’t look like the type that would ever disobey God, but if the human world was as tricky as it seemed, then maybe he had.

 

The gates opened wide and the clouds dropped off just beyond it. Jongin stepped tentatively towards the drop off and nervously reached for Kyungsoo’s hand. His hand swallowed Kyungsoo’s smaller one, and the shorter male glanced up at him slightly surprised.

 

“I-I’m nervous.” Jongin admitted, seeking comfort from Kyungsoo, but his eyes were just as scary and piercing.

 

“You’ll be fine. Just follow me.” Kyungsoo answered somewhat coldly and pulled his hand away. He stepped off the edge then, and was instantly out of sight.

 

Jongin panicked slightly but felt a hand fall gently on his shoulder. The Lord gave him a soft and reassuring smile. “I made you for this. You have me in you. And you’ll always have Kyungsoo to help you. Trust in him, and trust in me. Time is something I created. I can see now, and I can see in the future, because its mine to manipulate. So trust in me, and know that all will be as it should.”

 

Jongin relaxed then, the touch itself soothing him into a dreamy state. He closed his eyes slowly and felt his knees give way under him. There was no feeling of falling, only the warm embrace of slumber.

 

Jongin’s eyes flicked open instantly. He sat up in bed, everything dark around him, and he wasn’t sure if he’d actually opened his eyes for a second. They adjusted quickly, however, and he could make out some of the bedroom of their beach house. The alarm on the nightstand read 3 A.M., though he did not fully understand what that meant.

 

He crawled his way off the bed and stood, though it still took him a minute as his body wasn’t fully adjusted to this new life yet. He stretched out his arms and looked at the muscles beneath move in the moonlight from his window. He wiggled his fingers and stared in awe at himself. He touched the skin on his arms and shivered slightly as goosebumps rose from the tickle of his fingertips. His human body was an enigma, but he liked it.

 

When he had finished examining his new body, he stepped towards the door and opened it. He wandered out of the room and down the hall to the living room to try to find Kyungsoo. Upon realizing Kyungsoo wasn’t there, he turned and began back down the hall to open the other rooms.

 

Eventually, he found Kyungsoo asleep in another bed. It was a large room with a bathroom attached and a bed twice the size of the one Jongin awoke on. Because of this, there was room for him to carefully climb into the bed beside Kyungsoo and settle down there. He wasn’t sleepy, but he didn’t want to wake Kyungsoo, so he just kept very still and quiet.

 

Sleep was also new to Jongin. Angels had no reason to sleep. They also didn’t have a range of temperature because it’s unnecessary to have that in Heaven. All of these bodily functions were a mystery for him to comprehend.

 

He listened to Kyungsoo breathe softly and slowly beside him, and he couldn’t help but glance over to watch him curiously.

 

He could make out Kyungsoo’s facial features in the moonlight from the open window. He had such full lips, and their silhouette was alluring. Through the darkness he could see a slight pink tint compared to the rest of his face, and he had to keep himself from reaching out to touch them to see if they were as soft as they looked.

 

Now that he could remember and understand most of the human world, he wanted to know more about Kyungsoo who was still the ultimate mystery to him. He decided from then on he was going to make that a private personal mission.

 

Kyungsoo stirred in his sleep and rolled towards Jongin. A soft little snore escaped him and Jongin gave a muffled chuckle at the sound. Scared he might wake Kyungsoo, he instantly settled back in the bed in and burrowed under the blankets with Kyungsoo.

 

The shorter was warm and his skin of his arm was soft against Jongin's. He felt the warmth seep into his skin and tug at his eyelids. Jongin yawned and felt his new heart thumping softly in his chest as he exhaled and his body stilled.

 

The gentle thumping lulled him into sleep then, breathing falling in time with Kyungsoo’s.