Two lights, nearly blinding, suddenly soared into view. Descending and hot. Leaving streaks in the sky. Jihyo nearly swerved her truck, staring up with wide eyes.

 

“What the hell?” she murmured as she lifted her foot off the gas slightly, slowing down to get a better look.

 

Falling stars. Heavenly bodies, entering the atmosphere.

 

Jihyo pulled over to the side of the road, pulling out her phone from her purse. She quickly opened up her camera app and began to record.

 

The lights grew closer, and closer. Jihyo looked around at the landscape—she was completely alone in the quiet night air. Was anyone else seeing this, too? The lights were getting awfully close. Too close for Jihyo’s liking. She quickly opened up her side door, staggering out of her truck while still pointing her phone up at the sky.

 

It appeared as though...they were headed straight toward her...whatever they were.

 

The reflection of the lights became bigger and bigger in Jihyo’s eyes.

 

She jumped out of the way, nearly dropping her phone in the process, as the lights crashed into the field beside her. Surprisingly, the impact was soft, as though the lights had slowed as they descended closer to the ground.

 

Jihyo, who had covered her eyes in anticipation for the impact, timidly peaked at the scene before her.

 

What she saw was impossible. Certainly nothing she would have ever imagined.

 

She was expecting chunks of rocks, even an alien space ship. What she saw, however, were two very normal looking girls, laid out on the ground with their eyes closed. They were dressed in all-white, simple gowns. On the ground where the two girls laid were glowing lines which traced perfect circles in the earth surrounding them. There was some sort of design to the lines—patterns that looked almost like an ancient language. Jihyo quickly made sure to record the sight in front of her as well, before she stopped the recording and anxiously slid the phone into her back pocket.

 

She gulped.

 

Slowly, she began to approach one of the girls, who had yellow-blonde hair. The girl looked totally perfect—there was no way she could have been one of the things hurtling forward through the atmosphere.

 

And yet, there was no other explanation. They had to be other worldly beings.

 

Very carefully, she stepped around the glowing lines on the ground, hopping between them to get closer to the girl in the center. Was she even alive?

 

Jihyo crouched down, examining the girl more closely. The girl did not appear to be breathing. She reached out with trembling hands, to try to feel for air under the girl’s nose.

 

The girl in front of her shot up fast, gasping for breath. Jihyo screamed, falling backward onto the ground. The girl had wide, almost feral eyes, as she scanned the world before her, until her eyes settled on Jihyo.

 

Jihyo didn’t hesitate to scramble backwards, preparing to hop into her truck and drive away at any moment. Then something even stranger began to happen—the girl looking at her began to glow.

 

It was like something underneath her skin was pulsating, vibrantly. It happened a few times before the light died out, and Jihyo was left dumbfounded. “You...you’re…” she stuttered.

 

“Don’t be afraid, please,” the woman begged, slowly pushing herself off the ground and onto her feet. Her voice was lovely, much like her appearance. She wobbled slightly as her feet were planted, as if her legs were weak and new.

 

“How in the world…” Jihyo whispered to herself. She found the strength in her legs to stand up too. They stood, facing each other. Jihyo with a look of terrifying fascination, the other woman with a look of pure curiosity.

 

“You fell,” Jihyo began. She pointed up toward the sky, wordlessly.

 

The woman followed Jihyo’s finger, glancing upward. Her eyes shone with something—an emotion Jihyo didn’t see often. It looked as though the girl in front of her were looking up for the first time.

 

“It’s beautiful,” the woman replied, breathlessly. She began to spin, taking in the entirety of the night sky before her. Then she laughed, with a giggle of a giddy child, and the sound was enough to nearly send Jihyo to her knees. It was the most beautiful thing she’d ever heard…

 

A groan snapped the girl back to reality. She looked down at the other girl, a few feet away, still lying on the ground. “Momo!” she cried, running to the girl and crashing down onto the ground beside her limp body. “Momo, can you hear me?”

 

She lightly caressed the girl’s face in her hands, willing the other girl to open her eyes. There was another groan, and the girl’s eyes fluttered open. The blonde woman smiled softly when they made eye contact. “We’re here!” the woman explained to her comrade still lying in the field. “We’ve landed successfully!”

 

The woman helped the black haired girl sit up. After a moment of observing her surroundings, the other girl’s eyes settled on Jihyo, who was awkwardly standing to the side, watching this all unfold.

 

The blonde hair girl noticed Jihyo again as well, and gave her a bright smile. “Our first human encounter!” she exclaimed. The two girls were now on their feet, holding hands, and staring at Jihyo expectantly.

 

“So you’re not human, then?” Jihyo asked. As if on cue, the glowing circles in the ground faded. Blinking a few times, Jihyo pressed her lips together and hoped this was all a dream.

 

Some people, presented with this situation, might have been a bit more skeptical—incredulous, perhaps, but Jihyo— directly assaulted with the images of two unidentified objects of light hurtling toward the earth’s surface, only for them to turn out to be two young and beautiful women—was at quite a loss. Her brain had stopped searching for any semblance of logic to explain what she was experiencing.

 

It really did feel like a disjointed dream.

 

The two girls in white exchanged glances, then turned to face Jihyo again. “I would lie and say we’re human, but you witnessed our fall, so I don’t think that would do much good. Also, we’re angels, so we can’t lie in the first place,” the blonde explained.

 

Falling from the sky. The white dresses. The glowing. The sculpted look of their faces and bodies as if they were works of art brought to life. Yes, Jihyo supposed the word angel should’ve come to her mind much sooner.

 

“Lying is technically human behavior,” the other girl reminded her friend. “We’re trying to act more like humans, right? Since our wings are…” her voice trailed off, as she patted her friend’s normal, completely wingless back.

 

“Oh!” the blonde explained, straining her neck behind her and spinning in a circle, much like a dog trying to bite its own tail. She was searching for something that obviously was not there.

 

Jihyo raised a brow, still a bit shaken up but somewhat amused by the duo’s actions. “You have wings?”

 

The blonde stopped spinning and nodded enthusiastically at Jihyo. “Indeed! Well we did have them, anyway. They’re temporarily gone for a month while we’re here, though.”

 

“Here, as in on Earth?” Jihyo asked. Both girls nodded. “You’ve never been on Earth before?”

The blonde shook her head shyly. “No, this is a first time for both of us. It’s so much more beautiful than I could’ve imagined.”

 

Jihyo could feel a headache coming on. She began to rub her temples. This was all too much.

 

“We’re sorry to have disturbed you,” the blonde replied, sensing Jihyo’s anguish. “I imagine this is hard to understand.”

 

You have no idea , Jihyo thought. Why haven’t I run yet—just gotten in my truck, driven off and never looked back? Every inch of my body should be screaming at me to get the hell out of here and yet...I feel no danger. And they’re so...beautiful.

 

“Thank you. I believe all angels are what you might consider attractive , by human standards. And I assure you, we are not a danger to you,” the blonde said. Both Jihyo and the other girl called “Momo” looked at her in confusion.

 

The blonde tilted her head, confused herself at why the two of them were looking at her like she was out of her mind.

 

Did she just...read my thoughts?

 

“Your thoughts?” the girl asked. She blinked a few times, realizing that the girl standing in front of her had not opened . “Oh...you didn’t say any of that out loud, did you?”

 

Momo put a hand on her friend’s shoulder. “You can read this human’s thoughts?” she asked, looking both amazed and concerned.

 

The blonde turned from the girl in front of her to Momo in surprise. “I...I suppose so?”

 

Great, as if I thought this night couldn’t possibly get any stranger. “I’d ask how that’s possible but, at this point I’m beginning to think unicorns are real.”

 

“I can’t read your thoughts,” Momo replied, pouting. “How is that possible?”

 

Jihyo thought for a moment. “It doesn’t have anything to do with those glowing lines on the ground, does it? I mean, I didn’t step on any cause I was paranoid but…”

 

The blonde girl’s eyes lit up. “You entered my circle, yes?”

 

Nodding, Jihyo explained: “I wanted to see if you were breathing.”

 

“Maybe it has something to do with that? She entered my circle, but not yours,” the girl said to Momo. “We may be connected, for the time being.”

Jihyo sighed. “Well, this is a lot more than I bargained for. So, what are you planning on doing while you’re here on Earth?”

 

The blonde and black haired girl exchanged blank glances.

 

“You’re telling me you gave up your wings for a month—whatever that means—to come to Earth, only to have no plan whatsoever.”

 

Both girls grimaced, suddenly looking sheepish.

 

Jihyo sighed again. “I don’t suppose I can just leave you out here in the middle of nowhere, now can I? I have a futon you both can share.” She gestured to her truck. “Hop in, and you can stay with me until we get things sorted out. Besides. I have a lot of questions.”

 

“I suppose we owe you some answers,” Momo stated, beginning to follow Jihyo to her truck. Sana hesitantly jogged after them. “This is just like the movies!” Momo explained, as she opened up one of the back doors and climbed inside the truck.

 

“You watch movies?” Jihyo asked, getting into the driver’s side and closing the door behind her.

 

Momo nodded. “I love watching movies! TV shows, too!”

 

“I don’t suppose you have Netflix in Heaven,” Jihyo joked, starting the truck.

 

“The subscription is free,” Momo deadpanned.

 

Jihyo opened to say more, but just shook her head and put the car in drive. “Make sure you both buckle up. And what are your names, by the way?”

 

Jihyo looked into her rearview mirror, watching the two girls struggle with their seatbelts for a minute. The blonde was able to get hers with a satisfying click. She cried in delight, before turning to help her friend get buckled up as well.

 

“No, that’s the wrong buckle,” she explained to her friend.

 

“Why are there so many buckles!” The Momo girl asked, clearly frustrated. Jihyo nearly burst out laughing. After they were both situated, the blonde spoke up.

 

“I am Sana, and this is Momo,” she stated. “Thank you, Jihyo, for taking us in for the time being.

 

Jihyo was about to ask her how she knew her name, before she remembered that Sana was literally in her head. “Don’t thank me just yet. Wait until you meet my roommates.”

 

And on that note, Jihyo lurched the truck forward, and continued down the long and narrow road with two strangers in her backseat.

 

Mina descended only a minute after her friends, and yet, it was if there were miles between them. She struggled to keep her friends in sight as she fell through the atmosphere. She willed her body to fall faster, but it was almost completely out of her control. She was trembling with the weight of her decision—and her stomach was dropping faster than she was falling.

 

She’d find Sana and Momo, report the plot to any angel she could find, and then they’d return to Heaven and retrieve a grave punishment. Mina so wished she could tell Sana “I told you so.”

 

Another object came into sight—large and bird shaped. An airplane, she realized. Mina’s eyes widened once she realized she would collide with it if she continued down the same path. Leaning to the left, Mina attempted to steer out of the way. She gritted her teeth as she just missed the plane’s right wing.

 

Now that her path had slightly changed, Sana and Momo were even further away. Leaning back to the right, Mina attempted to steer her path toward them, but it was no use. The ground was approaching closer and closer at an unsettling rate. She shut her eyes and gulped, bracing for impact.

 

She woke up groggily, at the sound of cars honking. Lifting herself up off the ground with what little strength she had, Mina surveyed the area she had landed. It looked as though she was in some sort of urban area—surrounded by empty cars. A parking lot. Standing up and brushing off the gravel from her dress, Mina huffed. Luckily she hadn’t felt the impact at all, although her body felt slightly funny, as though a great weight had been lifted off her shoulders.

 

Momo and Sana were nowhere in sight, of course. She was alone. How would she find them on this expansive Earth that she was almost entirely unfamiliar with? She’d have to find another angel as soon as possible—a field agent who was familiar with the land—to help her.

 

Determined, Mina began to walk toward the nearest building—a place with a neon sign reading “The Tap.” She swallowed the fear lodged in as she hesitantly opened the heavy wooden door. Immediately she was hit with a wall of bass-boosted music that was so loud it made Mina’s nose scrunch up in distaste. How did humans consider this music when it was a bombardment of aggressive sounds? Sana had attempted to get her to listen to it once, telling her it was all the rage on Earth, and Mina had turned it off immediately.

 

Despite the large mass of people standing around with glasses and bottles in hand, her entrance seemed to catch the attention of many of the humans inside. She ignored their odd looks, praying she’d find an angel inside this somewhat grungy-looking establishment. Her attire—a simple, white gown—made her stick out like a sore thumb.

 

She spotted a woman sitting at the bar counter, alone, looking lost in thought. Dressed in simple jeans and a black t-shirt, the girl still managed to shine amid the crowd of other young people. Mina’s breath caught in slightly when they accidentally made eye contact, feeling herself getting lost in the girl’s hypnotic gaze. She shook her head, blaming the human air she was breathing for making her feel this...weird.

 

The other girl had to be an angel, it was the only explanation. Mina walked forward toward the girl, determinedly.

 

“Excuse me, but are you an angel?” Mina asked her, earnestly. The woman before her was anatomically flawless, and from up close, Mina could sense a very ethereal glow about her. It would not be a stretch in the slightest to be one of Heaven’s own field agents. In fact, many angels lived among humans, always unnoticed.

 

The woman’s eyes snapped up, boring into Mina. Her lips were set in a straight line. She did not look amused. “Are you gonna ask me if it hurt, next?”

 

“What?” Mina didn’t follow this being’s logic. Maybe it was Earth-talk beyond her level of understanding?

 

“If it hurt when I fell from Heaven?”

 

Mina’s face immediately lit up. “Ah, so you have fallen too? I actually just fell a few minutes ago, and my body hasn’t yet adjusted to this atmosphere. The landing however, was surprisingly soft. It felt different than I—“

 

The girl wordlessly began to walk away. Mina’s mouth remained open mid-sentence, in shock that another angel would rudely walk away like that. These field angels must’ve gotten so familiar with human customs that they’d forgotten standard angel conduct!

 

“Excuse me,” Mina called after the girl. She quickly fast-walked to catch up. “I’m sorry to bother you, but this is my first time on Earth, and I could really use some help in finding my two friends who also came here.”

 

“First time on Earth, huh?” the girl mused.

 

Mina nodded. “I’ve never been assigned field work, before. But I actually have been here once for a short period of time. I actually work in the central office back home. Lots of paperwork, as you could imagine.”

 

The girl raised an eyebrow. “You’re really committed to this story, aren’t you?”

 

Sighing and crossing her arms, Mina huffed. “I sense...disbelief? You think I’m human?” There was a hint of offense to her tone.

 

The corner of the woman’s mouth twitched slightly. Normally she wouldn’t play these games, but this odd girl was awfully beautiful. She let her eyes pointedly trail down the girl’s slender frame, and then drift back up again to meet her eyes. “Yup, you look human to me.”

 

Scoffing, Mina tapped her foot impatiently. “I can’t believe you—” she stopped herself, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. “Sorry. I’m quite anxious to find my friends. What can I do to prove to you otherwise? I don’t have any ID, but I can tell you my full address. I can recite the entire history of the War of the Sons of Light Against the Sons of Darkness in complete accuracy—”

 

“Okay, okay fine,” the woman held up a hand, interrupting the girl from rambling further. “These friends of yours...they’re angels too?”

 

Mina’s face lit up. “Yes! Sana and Momo. They were so set on living among humans that they were willing to strike a deal with a demon! God, they’re so stubborn…”

 

There was a beat. Suddenly, Mina gasped and put a hand to , eyes wide with realization. “I just said the Lord’s name in vain...t-that’s not possible...I’ve never...I can’t...unless…” She closed her eyes and furrowed her brow, thinking hard. Opening her eyes, she reached behind her, feeling for wings that weren’t there. It was standard procedure for an angel to hide their wings on Earth with glamor, but something about this sensation she felt wrong and too real.

 

“M-my, my wings,” she muttered with cloudy eyes. ‘They’re...gone.”

 

Mina’s eyes rolled back in her head and her legs gave out. She felt someone’s arms around her, preventing her from hitting the ground, before her world melted into a deafeningly quiet black.