D-84

 

Park Jaehyung, a newly turned human, has a lot to complain concerning humans’ habits and lives. Or maybe everything. 

 

First, why is it so hard to maintain a human body? Maintaining corporal hygiene didn’t turn as easy as humans made it look. Regular showers, brushing teeth, combing hair, washing hands practically after everything, and the list goes on. It’s all extra work. Cupids are always immaculately clean. They never need to change their clothes. Cupid J159 has never wore anything other than his uniform. Now, as Park Jaehyung, he needs to change his clothes at least twice a day, and it’s so hard to find something that fits. What a joke! 

 

Next, there’s the constant need for hydration and nutrition. Water is so plain, totally tasteless, but God forbid he can go a few hours without it, otherwise his mouth will get dry. He tried other beverages, of course. Coffee was a nightmare, not that tea was any better, anyways. Juices, smoothies and fuzzy drinks are okay, but nothing could beat hot chocolate so far. 

 

Jaehyung’s second nightmare came in the form of spicy food. The first time he got a taste of it, he felt like his mouth was on fire, so he swore to never try it again. Now, he settled for simple meals with a little bit of non-spicy seasoning. Hyeji has forced him into trying all kind of different food so that he can match everything to its taste and smell. To think that one day he was curious about what tasting was like, the humans had him fooled for so long. 

 

Discovering that he has a sweet tooth was the only thing that made it worth it. It’s probably the only food he finds joy in eating. Hell, even coffee tasted more acceptable after he added an abominable amount of sugar to it. Fruits, pastries, sweets, and his all-time favorite, Chocolate! He has no calms having chocolate for breakfast, lunch and dinner. If only his so-called aunt would allow it, but no! he needs to have a balanced, and healthy diet. that! 

 

 

The list goes on and on, but what Cupid J159 hates most about being human, is not being able to fly. For obvious reasons, his human body doesn’t have wings. When he took off his shirt to have his first shower ever, he disappointedly glanced at his back in the mirror. He knew that his beautiful white and golden wings were no longer there. However, he did not expect seeing a black-lined tattoo of folded wings covering all of his back. At the time, he was too shocked that his screams alerted everyone in the neighborhood. 

 

“It’s because you’re not fully turned, so you still have your wings but in another form,” was aunt Hyeji’s explanation. She even shown him glimpses of her wings tattoo. It might be beautiful, but totally useless. Now, Jae has to endure the humans’ mundane ways of moving from a place to another. 

 

As if walking was not bad enough, having to enter everything through a door or any kind of entrance is the real struggle. Jae has lost count of how many times he’s walked right into a wall or a door in these past few days. If the rock didn’t give him a concussion, then his inability to get used to doors will, and sooner than he thinks. 

 

Besides his ability to fly and telekinesis -don’t get him started on that one or he won’t shut up-, Jae misses seeing people’s emotions. Before, one look at a human would tell him their current mood, or if they were having any romantic thoughts about someone. He was used to reading auras, not facial expressions and gestures. So now, without the colors to guide him, it’s really challenging to figure out what the people around him are feeling. 

 

Some humans wear their hearts at their sleeves. Some are more discreet, and unfortunately, Brian falls into that category. Just Jae’s luck. He thought that after years of watching Brian, it would be easy to read him, but the guy is just too guarded. Him keeping a distance was expected, even though he has kept his words and came to check on Jae twice. Both times, he only stayed for a while, asked Jae a few questions about his health, then left in a hurry to go back to work. It’s been two days since he’s last visit already.

 

So, because of Brian’s distant nature, and since he’s been too busy getting used to humans’ weird antics, Jae didn’t make any progression with his mission. The most he’s done in the last few days is learn how to use his new phone. Jinyoung has introduced him to the internet, thus, he’s been killing time by googling all kind of absurd questions, and laughing at the more absurd answers he gets in return. Who would’ve thought that he out of all people would become that addicted to a smartphone. 

 

 

“How am I supposed to find him his one and only if I don’t even see him?” He complains to Hyeji. He’s came to her office about an hour ago and started ranting about the lack of progress in their plan. He’s yet to notice that she’s been totally ignoring him, all her attention on her computer screen.

 

When Jaehyung finally finishes complaining, he notices the lack of response on her part, so he slams both his hands on her desk.

 

Park Hyeji jumps startled, “You scared me!” She puts a hand over heart, “You’re still here?” she asks, irritated. 

 

“Where else can I go? It’s not that I want to be here, but I don’t have a ing choice!” 

 

And that’s the truth. Jae was banned from going outside alone after he almost got arrested that one time he did. It’s not his fault though. The variety of chocolate in the convenience store was mouth watering, and he completely forgot about the infamous monetary system of the Human world. Luckily, Jinyoung came to his rescue after his phone call. He apologized and paid for the chocolate. Jae knows for a fact that the shop owner let him go so easily because Jinyoung pointed at the bandage around his head and whispered something about Jae being ‘a little bit crazy after he hurt his head’ to the man. 

 

After that incident, Hyeji has provided Jae with a debit card for his own use, but she’s also prohibited him from going outside alone. Ever since, he’s been seen loitering around the café or inside of her office, whining about how boring humans are. Or maybe he’s getting lonely. That’s why he’s been annoying the people he knows, which is a very limited number. 

 

There’s Hyeji, of course, but she’s most of the time out, ‘taking care of things’. Wonpil and Jinyoung are both baristas at Cupid Café, so they’re always busy. They were the ones responsible for educating him on how to interact with humans and how to live like them. They both are pranksters, and they enjoy teasing him a little bit too much, but they’re not harmful, whatsoever. He’s growing to like them and to trust them more, day by day. 

 

The only fixed human employee of the café -other than Wonpil- is Jaebum, who’s the pastry chef. He doesn’t look like he knows anything about them being cupids, (or maybe he does but doesn’t give a about it. That’s more like it). 

 

Jae was not warned and has learned not to get on the guy’s nerves the hard way. Jaebum almost stabbed him once because he caught him stealing a pice of the chocolate cake. ‘Almost’ because Youngjae, Jae’s favorite part timer, saved his by begging Jaebum to spare him. Youngjae also seems to have his doubts. He probably think they’re drug dealers or hiding a body somewhere, that’s why he never asks. The rest of the part-timers are college students who seem too done with the world. They refuse to acknowledge Jae’s existence altogether. 

 

So yeah, Jaehyung is slowly losing his mind from loneliness and boredom.

 

 

“Okay, okay, calm down,” Hyeji closes her laptop and turns all of her attention to him, “You still got more than eighty days, why the rush?”

 

Jaehyung rolls his eyes, “You speak like your plan is flawless, while we’re not even close to achieving the first step!”

 

Hyeji’s plan was simple. Get close to Brian, throw someone in his way, then wait for some cupid to shoot him. Jaehyung finds it too vague and reckless, but that aunt’s strategy is to be flexible and figure things out along the way. In other words, she’s just relying on their luck. What a great strategy!

 

Park Hyeji, flowing with overconfidence and optimism as usual, smiles brightly at him, “Who said so? You have me, so don’t worry! Starting today, consider yourself Brian’s best friend!” 

 

Jae is about to call her out for the bull she’s spluttering, when a knock on the office’s door interrupts him. It’s Youngjae.

 

“Boss, you have a visitor,” he brightly says. 

 

“Let him in.”

 

Surprisingly, the visitor is none other than Brian. Hyeji seems like she’s expecting his arrival.

 

“Brian! You came just in time,” she happily welcomes him in.

 

Jaehyung waves awkwardly at him, even though they’re sitting across each other. Something about really interacting with Brian makes him nervous. 

 

“Jae, how have you been?” He politely asks, “Is your head better?”

 

Before he gets to answer, his aunt butts in, “His head got better on the expense of mine,” she complains, “He’s been bothering me for days with his endless questions. Look how much unfinished work I have!” 

 

Out of respect to Brian’s presence, Jae holds back from smacking his ‘aunt’ really hard, and sticks to only talking back, “Don’t blame your slacking off on me. And again, I’m only here because I don’t have anywhere else to go,” he then adds with a small voice, “And Wonpil sent me here after I annoyed him too much.”

 

Brian lets out a small chuckle, having heard the last part. 

 

“I’m free this afternoon. Do you want to go on a stroll with me? We can have dinner together, too,” he friendly offers, taking Jae by surprise.

 

“YES PLEASE!” Hyeji jumps at the offer, “You’ll be doing me a favor!” 

 

Jae tries to mask his excitement by fake annoyance. The plan is officially starting, and he’ll get to spend a few hours away from this woman. 

 

“Try not to miss me too much when I am gone,” he stands up to leave, followed by Brian. 

 

“As if!” is the response he gets before he’s out of the office. Wonpil not so subtly winks at him when he sees him leaving with the guy. He, and the rest of the staff seem happy though, so Jae promises himself that he’ll annoy them twofolds when he’s back. 

 

Once they’re in the street, he takes a very deep breath. He didn’t realize how much time he’s spent inside until he’s hit with the late afternoon breeze. Even though he found breathing to be a hustle at first, the feeling of cold air filling his lungs is so refreshing. He should add it to his short list of his favorite things about being a human. 

 

“Do you want to walk around, or do you want to drive somewhere else?” Brian asks, but Jae has already chosen a direction and is walking away, so he catches with him.

 

“Let’s just wander about, it’s been a while since I’ve been out,” he answers with a carefree grin. 

 

They walk in silence for a while, none of them daring to talk. Well, it’s not that Jae doesn’t want to talk, or doesn’t know what to say. After all, he’s very familiar with Brian, as well as talking to Brian. However, he doesn’t want to slip and say something stupid that could scare the other away. He should wait at least until Brian gets more comfortable around him. Brian willingly taking him out is already a good start.

 

All of Jae’s self-restrain, however, are thrown out of the window once they walk past a small playground. He runs to the swings like an excited toddler and jumps on one of them. Ignoring his proportions that shouldn’t fit in such a small swing, he lift his legs and lets his body sway back and forth, back and forth, until he gets the hang of it. 

 

“Wow, this is actually fun!” He happily chirps. Brian is still outside of the playground, watching him in shock, so he waves him over. 

 

“Why are you still standing there? Come here, let’s have some fun!” 

 

Albeit hesitant, the human still walks over, keeping a safety distance between them. 

 

“Aren’t you going to sit on the other swing?” Jae demands. So again, with a lot more of hesitation, Brian sits on the other swing. 

 

Jaehyung goes back to swinging, using much more force this time, “Oh my god! This is really exciting!” He excitedly shrieks as the swing goes a little bit higher, and his insides suddenly feel too empty. He keeps doing so, until he feels that the swing can’t go any higher, and he hears Brian asking him to be careful. 

 

This feels different from flying, yet, he quite likes it. It takes a while for Jae to calm down and let the swing slow down. When he steals a look at Brian, he finds him swaying a little bit as well. It seems that he too couldn’t fight the temptation to imitate him. 

 

“Why are you holding back?” He questions in amusement, “No one’s watching us.”  

 

Brian stops monumentally when he realizes that Jae’s attention is now at him, “I’m too old for this,” is his lame excuse.

 

Jae scoffs at his reply, “What does age has to do with playing in a playground?” 

 

“Everything?” 

 

“That’s bull and you know it,” he stands from his swing and walks to stand behind Brian. He ignore the latter’s protest and start pushing him, “You’re telling me it’s acceptable for kids to play such a dangerous game for fun, while adults can’t? What kind of logic is that?” He gradually pushes harder, then steps away, letting Brian go back and forth in the air. The protests has long stopped and turned into occasional giggles. When the swing started slowing down, Brian himself gave a strong push with his feet to make it go higher. 

 

“That’s what I’m talking about!” Jae encourages him, before going back to his swing and doing the same. 

 

 

“Was the hit that strong or you’ve always been like this,” Brian comments once they finished playing and decided to resume their stroll. 

 

Jae can detect the teasing tone easily. He still gives him a flat look, “Says the one who insisted on trying the seesaw.”

 

Brian laughs in response, his posture much more relaxed than earlier. Who could’ve thought that playing in a kids’ playground would be such a good icebreaking activity? 

 

They decide to have dinner at a noodle place, recommended by Brian of course. Jae has lost all of his interest in food- he only eats to survive now-, so he allows the other to order in his place, warning him of his intolerance for chillies. 

 

“How’s your memory though?” 

 

It takes Jae a moment to remember the reason behind Brian’s worried question. His memory is really bad, it seems. At least he still recalls his life story that aunt Hyeji came up with. 

 

“Almost back, some recent memories are still blurry,” he tries to sound serious while reciting his previously-taught lie, “especially the few days before the accident.”

 

Brian nods comprehensively. It seems that he still feels guilty.

 

“No need to worry though, the doctor said everything is good, and I’m healing really fast!” Jae tries to lift the other’s mood with another lie. He hasn’t seen the doctor since the day he got discharged, but Brian needn’t know that. On another note, Jae is really getting better at lying, he must be a natural. 

 

When the food arrives, Jae asks for forks to eat the noodles with, since his chopsticks skills are completely nonexistent. 

 

“I grew up abroad,” is his excuse. Jinyoung has assured him that it will work anytime he does something out of the norm. It’s working with Brian right now, so he must be right. 

 

“Your aunt has told me that you only came here a couple of days before the accident. Does that mean you’re here on vacation?” 

 

“I’m visiting,” Jae cautiously replies. He can’t just declare that he’s staying for three months, but then stays forever -in worst case scenario-, or say that he’s staying, but suddenly disappears. It all depends on whether he succeeds or not. So he tries to be a little bit vague, “But I’m not sure for how long.”

 

Thinking that he’s had enough playing with the noodles, he decides to try it. It just doesn’t look so appetizing, its colors too bland. However, he’s pleasantly surprised by how good it tastes. His eyes widen in shock as he swallows a second and a third mouthful, “Oh wow! This is actually delicious!” He says with his mouth full. 

 

Brian watches him in amusement, and then points out, “You didn’t seem eager to try it though.”

 

Jae nods genuinely, “True. Hyeji’s cooking skills are awful, so I’m losing interest in food,” he dives again into his bowl. Honestly speaking, her cooking skills are not that bad, it just doesn’t fit with his ambiguous taste.

 

“You sound like a picky eater.”

 

“Am I?” Jae consider it for a moment, “Well, I guess I am.” 

 

After stuffing themselves full, they are back in the streets. It’s already dark, so Brian offers to walk him back home, afraid that he’ll get lost on the way. Jae doesn’t have the heart to decline, plus it’s a chance to spend more time with Brian, so he lets him. 

 

“I feel like I’ve ruined your vacation,” Brian says when Jae keep talking about his boring routine, “If you want, you can call me whenever you feel bored or you want to go somewhere, I will take you there,” he suggests, and Jae is over the moon. He enthusiastically gives him his phone number, agreeing right away on this arrangement. 

 

Jae will definitely succeed with this mission and will go back to his previous life. Ninety days are turning out to be too long of a period, and he can’t wait for them to end.

 

-TBC-

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An early update cause I'll be too busy to update during the next two weeks :/ (I will proof read it later)

so how was their first of too many dates (yes you heard that right :p)?