The world before me is filled with so much happiness.

Happiness… an emotion that I wish I could feel.

I can emulate it, but it’s not the same.

It’s not the same.

But that’s alright.

If I can save the people of this world, if I can help relieve them all of their suffering, if I can help them all feel happy…

Then maybe, just maybe, I can be happy too.

New York City, aka the Big Apple.

Like most cities, this city is constantly active with life. If something happens, it's in the people's eyes for a brief moment before something else takes its place. It's just how life is.

Of course, like any other city or town, there's always something happening in the background that most people just aren't quite aware of. Though, in their defense, they couldn’t see what was happening anyway.

A small orb of light floated down from the sky above. Its warmth radiated and embraced those that passed by. The light hovered around the streets, people completely unaware of the orb as they walked by. Each person had an aura around them, each with a color representing their current emotion. The light encircled around a few people with white auras, drawn to them like a firefly, before coming to a screeching halt.

“Why do you have to be like this! It’s none of your business who I talk to!” a woman’s voice yelled.

The orb spun around to the source; a couple fighting in front of an apartment building.

“It’s every bit my business when you’re seeing people behind my back!” the man yelled.

“What the hell are you talking about? Why the hell are you a jealous !” the woman screamed.

The orb zipped around the two before it came to a stop behind the man. In the man’s hood, a colored glass shard laid hidden within. The orb engulfed the glass shard and immediately, all anger left the couples’ faces.

“I’m sorry. I just, I want to be sure,” the man said.

“I know. After your last relationship, I, I should be more understanding of you,” the woman said.

As the woman pulled the man into an embrace, the orb of light circled around them before flying off.

The little ball of light floated through the city, taking more shards of glass from unhappy patrons and leaving behind feelings of happiness. After a few more minutes, it came to a stop on the rooftop of an apartment complex. Hovering in the center of the rooftop, it lowered itself just a few inches above the ground.

Soon, the ball of light shifted and expanded until finally, it formed a human shape. The light dissipated and in its wake, a male that looked to be in his mid-twenties stood there. He wore pure white with a satchel that slung across his torso. He moved his brown fringe out of his eyes before pulling his satchel in front of him and peering inside.

Inside of the satchel laid many shards of glass, all different shapes and colors. He smiled and moved the satchel behind him.

“That should be enough for today,” the man said.

SLAM.

The man spun on his heels, his eyes immediately locking in on the source of the sound. Another man in a plain gray hoodie, black jeans and a pair of converse walked through the doorway. His face was scrunched up as he mumbled something under his breath. The man in the hoodie paused, however, as the two made eye contact.

“Dammit, another spirit? Why can’t you just leave me alone,” the man in the hoodie said.

The man in white looked around, confused for a moment. He then pointed to himself, to which the man in the hoodie responded with a nod.

“I was already here before you got here,” the man in white said.

The man in the hoodie scoffed.

“Whatever. Just stay out of my way,” he said.

He walked passed the man in white, not giving him a chance to respond. The man in white hovered after the man in the hoodie. His eyes flashed a light blue and immediately, a red aura appeared around the man in the hoodie.

“I… Uh, I’m Young Jae! Let me help you,” the man in white said.

“Daehyun, and no. I don’t need your damn help,” the man in the hoodie said.

Young Jae’s eyes turned back to its normal appearance. The corner of Young Jae’s lips moved downward as he shook his head. He reached a hand out, but immediately, Daehyun turned towards him.

“Look, I’ve had enough of you spirits asking me to help you pass on or close open ends or whatever the else you guys need. I’m ending it all, so go find a different medium to bother!” Daehyun yelled.

The power of Daehyun’s voice forced Young Jae to take a step back. Daehyun huffed and turned as he walked towards the ledge of the rooftop. Young Jae straightened himself out for a brief moment before his eyes widened.

Daehyun climbed on top of the railing and stood there, his gaze locked onto the ground below. Young Jae flew forward and just as Daehyun leapt off the edge, Young Jae grabbed hold of Daehyun’s hand. Daehyun glared up at Young Jae as he twisted and turned in Young Jae’ grasp.

“What the hell are you doing? Let go of me!” Daehyun commanded.

“No! What're you thinking? Let me help you,” Young Jae said.

“You can help me by letting go!” Daehyun said.

Carefully, Young Jae floated back towards the middle of the rooftop. No matter how much Daehyun tried to slip from Young Jae’s grasp, it just couldn’t be done. Young Jae’s hold felt dream like, almost ethereal. The longer he was in Young Jae’s grasp, the calmer Daehyun became as he realized that Young Jae wasn’t like any of the other spirits that bothered him.

“W-What the hell are you?” Daehyun asked.

Released from Young Jae’s grasp, Daehyun landed with a light tap onto the rooftop. Daehyun’s gaze never left Young Jae as he landed softly in front of him.

“I’ve been sent to spread happiness to humanity,” Young Jae said.

He examined Daehyun for a brief moment before he nodded.

“And it’s now my mission to help you,” Young Jae said.

Daehyun rolled his eyes and turned away.

“Gee, thanks,” he said.

Without waiting for a response, he walked away. Young Jae frowned as he followed after Daehyun.

Through the door and down the steps, Daehyun’s footsteps bounced off the walls as he rushed downwards. He would glance over his shoulder every now and then and when he noticed Young Jae still following him, his eyebrow twitched, then he’d turn forward again.

This process repeated until the pair made their way out of the building. Daehyun adjusted his hood and turned to his right as he continued forward. Young Jae followed behind as he examined his immediate surroundings.

Everyone went about their day, a wide variety of emotions spread among each person. Young Jae couldn’t help but smile as he felt the emotions from every person he passed by.

“Watch where you’re going, bastard,” a voice intruded.

Young Jae’s gaze immediately glued itself upon the source of the intrusion. Two men stood in front of a store, a tall burly man with an angry gaze on his face and a slightly shorter male with a hint of annoyance on his face. While most people ignored what was going on, there were a few onlookers.

“How about you watch where you’re going? I wasn’t even walking, damned idiot,” the man said as he turned away.

“What the hell’d you call me!” the burly man said as he grabbed the shorter man’s shoulder and spun him around.

“Wait a minute, Daehyun,” Young Jae said.

Daehyun paused, his eyebrows furrowed. He closed his eyes, took in a deep breath and turned around. His gaze landed on Young Jae, who held a grin on his face. He shook his head and leaned against the light pole next to him.

“What?” Daehyun asked.

“Here, watch this,” Young Jae said.

Young Jae floated over to the men, whom had started to push one another. Once he got to the duo, he peeked here and there, his eyes scanning every inch of the duo. His eyes glistened as he reached forward and pulled a shard of glass from each of the two. Almost immediately, the two stopped pushing one another and stood there, almost as if they just awoke from a dream.

While the duo started apologizing to one another, Young Jae floated back over to Daehyun as he put the shards away into his satchel. He stopped in front of Daehyun, a triumphant smile graced his lips.

“See? I’m supposed to resolve problems caused by these shards of glass,” Young Jae said.

“You expect me to believe that shards of glass are causing people to get pissed off at each other?” Daehyun asked.

“Yes?” Young Jae said.

Daehyun shook his head and continued towards his destination. Young Jae stared for a moment, confused, but shrugged and smiled as he followed after Daehyun again.

“Hey, where are we going?” Young Jae asked.

“I’m going home,” Daehyun said.

The streets, while it lacked in car activity, made up for it with the amount of litter piled on the ground. All around, people of either shady or homeless characteristics stumbled about. The buildings were run down with cracks of all shapes and sizes running along the ground and floors. Paint faded away years ago, leaving most images either partially there or completely gone. Iron bars also lined the windows of every building, making the area feel as unwelcoming as possible.

Young Jae glanced around, a worried look on his face as he saw all the sad or mean looks on everyone’s faces. His eyes landed on the back of Daehyun’s head, waves of thought crashing around in his mind, at least until Daehyun suddenly turned and went into one of the many rundown buildings.

“Wait! You’re going in there? Is this your home?” Young Jae asked as he chased after Daehyun.

“Yeah? What, you expected a damn castle? I’m not ing rich,” Daehyun responded.

Passed the lobby, Daehyun made a straight line for the elevators. With the up button pressed, he waited patiently before the elevator finally made a ding to announce its arrival. He stepped onto the elevator and pressed the button labeled ‘25’. The elevator doors closed with a wide variety of creaks and moans and made its rickety way upwards.

With his arms folded, he sighed and leaned against the wall behind him. He stared downwards and let his mind wander, or rather, he would’ve let his mind wander, but a certain ‘angel’ stood staring directly at him. He wiped his face and let out an annoyed groan as he looked Young Jae in the eyes.

“What the hell are you looking at?” Daehyun asked.

“This elevator isn’t safe. Why do you live in a place like this?” Young Jae asked.

Daehyun sighed and said, “Because I don’t have money? Look, can you just shut up for, like, a few minutes? I’m getting a headache.”

He closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose as his face scrunched up. Young Jae frowned a bit, but his smile came back as he reached forward. With little to no hesitation, he put his hand on Daehyun’s head and his hand began to glow. Daehyun opened his eyes, his eyebrows furrowed. He was about to say something, but he decided against it.

As soon as the elevator came to a stop, Young Jae pulled his hand away and grinned as he said, “There. Your headache should be gone now,”

“I didn’t even, wha- it. I don’t care anymore,” Daehyun replied.

The elevator doors opened and Daehyun walked passed Young Jae. Young Jae smiled happily as he followed after Daehyun. Down the hallway, Young Jae’s smile vanished once more as he noticed how rundown the hallway appeared. The lights were dim with one of the lights being completely out, the wallpaper was barely holding onto the walls anymore, and the carpeting on the floor appeared to have faded long ago. Even the doors appeared to have lost its luster.

“Do you really have no money to live elsewhere?” Young Jae asked.

“No,” Daehyun said coldly.

Once they reached the end of the hallway, Daehyun came to a stop and turned to the door on his left. He fished through his pockets for a moment before he managed to produce a set of keys. He unlocked the door and with a turn of the knob, he stepped into the apartment.

Without a second thought, Daehyun closed the door behind him. However, that wasn’t enough to stop Young Jae, whom merely phased through the door with no problem. He watched as Daehyun took his shoes off and made a beeline towards the worn-out couch. Had Young Jae been a live human, he probably would’ve shivered as he watched Daehyun sit on the couch.

He made his way into the apartment, his eyes taking in everything that his surroundings had to offer. Cracks ran up and down the walls in various places, the furniture was all old and shabby with questionable stains on some of them, the carpet looked as though it hadn’t been thoroughly cleaned in years and it was a question as to how the electrical appliances still functioned. From the living room, he could spot the kitchen over the bar and regret immediately ran its course as he spotted the pile of dirty dishes all across the counter and sink.

“Do you really live here?” Young Jae asked.

“Yeah? What’s your point?” Daehyun asked.

“It’s, um, dirty,” Young Jae said.

“So? It’s not your house, so you can either shut up or get the out,” Daehyun said.

Daehyun picked up the remote and turned the flat screen tv on. Out of everything in the apartment, the flat screen tv was probably the newest and nicest looking item present. He flicked through a few channels before stopping on a cartoon that appeared to be playing.

Young Jae stood there, a frown on his face as he took one last look around. The environment was poor at best and it appeared as though Daehyun lived by himself. It was clear that he wasn’t happy here, but he couldn’t see a glass shard anywhere. Was there even one here?

“Are you happy here?” Young Jae asked.

No response. Young Jae moved around the couch and stood as close to Daehyun as possible without blocking the tv. Daehyun briefly glanced up at Young Jae before refocusing on the tv.

“Are you happy here?” Young Jae asked once more.

Daehyun sighed and focused his gaze up at Young Jae. He examined his face for a moment before he sat up and turned back to the tv.

“If I were happy here, I wouldn’t have tried to kill myself earlier, right? If I had a damn choice to live wherever I wanted and live however I wanted, I’d be the ing happiest guy in the world,” Daehyun said.

He adjusted his position, his gaze locked onto Young Jae as his eyebrows furrowed.

“Look, I don’t ing want you prying into my life. In fact, I don’t care what you do, just leave me the alone. You already saved me when I tried to kill myself. Isn’t that enough Mister Angel?” Daehyun said.

Young Jae pursed his lips as he fought the constant urge to furrow his brows. He reached back, his hand patting the top of his satchel. With a deep breath, his gaze hardened.

“I want everyone to be happy. If they’re not happy with their life, then I have to help them,” Young Jae said.

Daehyun scoffed as he turned his attention back to the tv.

“Yeah, whatever,” Daehyun said.

Young Jae frowned, noting the abrupt end of the conversation. He sat down next to Daehyun, his satchel laid next to him. He put his hand on top, his eyes locked onto the ground.

Words exchanged, but nothing’s heard.

I want to do my best, but is my best good enough?

There has to be a way to make everyone happy, but how?

How do I accomplish that when they don’t want my help?

Or maybe...

They want my help, but they’re wary about it?