They were finally on the way home after having gone through numerous detours, not wanting to go their separate ways just yet. It was then Sinb felt a faint buzzing in her mind that was indicative of someone trying to communicate with her.

"Yewon?" she thought, "You're already back up there?"

[The threat to my charge's already been dealt with, I told her I had to go somewhere far away,] she answers in a sad tone, [There are no more threats to Yerin-ssi, I'm surprised you aren't here yet. I get she knows about us, but it's better to say your goodbyes now, right?]

"I-I know…" Sinb bit her bottom lip almost too hard, falling silent a while after.

[...I'll tell them your return will be very delayed. I don't know how much time I can buy you though…]

"That's more than enough Yewon, thank you." she said sincerely, and very grateful to her friend and fellow angel.

[Of course. Also, tell her the truth and that I say hi.]

"We can't lie anyway." she mused, "But yeah, alright. Thanks again."

[No problem. Goodluck.]

Sinb felt the connection disappear and her gaze once more refocused on the person walking happily in front of her with a skip in her step, the sight alone made her heart feel heavy at the impending news she was about to break to her. However, she has no choice but to do it. She doesn't know how much time she has left and if there's anything that she will regret doing is being unable to say farewell when she still can. Yerin doesn't deserve not knowing, and being left in the dark with regards to her duties.

She just wanted more time, but sadly, it wasn't a luxury she can afford.

“Yerin-unnie.” Sinb called, garnering the attention of the woman with her.

“Hm?”

“I need to tell you something.”

Pausing in their tracks, Yerin faced her fully, giving her undivided attention as she noticed how serious Sinb sounded and how there was a feeling of dread that came along with. Yerin probably guessed that she wouldn’t like what she is about hear.

“What is it?”

Sinb breathed in deep, bracing herself and rehearsing in her mind again and again the explanation she's formed on the spot.

“About the details of my duty as your guardian angel.” Sinb mumbled, looking anywhere but Yerin, “When our charges no longer have any threat to them, we’re deemed unnecessary for their guidance.”

“What are you saying?” Yerin’s expression fell at the sad look Sinb was sporting, "Do you have to stay away? We can do something abou--"

Her words fell short when Sinb shook her head.

“...Are you saying that you have to leave?”

The feeling of dread multiplied the moment she saw Sinb nodding her head regretfully.

“Will you be back?” she inquires, even though she already knew the answer before she asked.

Sinb shakes her head again. Every shake becoming more difficult as the previous.

“I… I don’t understand.”

“When we’ve successfully dealt with threats to our charges, we’re no longer needed.” Sinb’s frown deepened as she tried to explain it to Yerin as much as she can, “We’re just there to protect, but if there’s nothing to protect you from we aren’t really necessary beings in your lives.”

Yerin laughs bitterly, “So is that it then?” she asks, “You just leave and we forget everything that’s happened?”

“…I’m sorry.”

“Do you really have to go? Can’t you stay?” Yerin grabbed her arm, making Sinb face her properly, “Sinb.”

“I want to.” Sinb admits, “But it’s no longer my call.”

“That doesn’t seem fair now does it?” Yerin took a step back, expression blank, “You can’t expect me to just accept this and hope that I’m okay with it.”

“In the first place we weren’t supposed to be close. I was never supposed to approach you because it leads to this.” Sinb gestures to the both of them, “You get to find out that I’m an angel so you understand, but for others, it’s hard to explain their sudden disappearance.”

“How come you can’t stay?”

“Humans have to learn and grow on their own.” Sinb replies seriously, “If they become too dependent on us, they will never understand how life works, so we have to stay out of their personal endeavors and only meddle when devils are involved. It’s what we were made to do in the first place.”

“There has to be an exemption somewhere.”

“Unnie…”

“You can’t just leave me alone with my feelings like this.”

Sinb stares.

Yerin lets her arms fall to her side helplessly, her face contorting slightly as she tried to hold her tears back and just stares at Sinb straight in the eye.

“I like you.”

Sinb froze up, speechless.

“I like you more than a friend. When I realized that, I know what that devil managed to plant in me.” she continued to say, "It was envy.

“I was envious of how Yewon took up your entire attention even when you were with me. I was going crazy assuming something was going on between the two of you and then you would come along and give me mixed signals but then you’d start caring for Yewon again.” she breathes out, “And then I find out about you being with me just because it was your duty. I didn’t even know what to feel at that point. I felt like I’ve just been played for a fool, how everything that we’ve done together was a lie.”

“Yerin, I already said–”

“I know what you said.” she smiles slightly, “But then you’re doing it again. Just when I thought everything was finally okay, you drop this on me. How do you expect me to even react to this? No, Sinb what exactly do you think of me?”

Yerin understood that she was pushing it, placing Sinb under the spot like that, but she wanted to know so that she knew what to do from now on.

If Sinb rejects her, then she can start moving on if not, well…

“I think I have the right to know your honest feelings before you leave.” she adds.

“This is unfair, you know I can’t lie.” Sinb swallows thickly, her voice quivering slightly as she spoke.

“If you lie to me right now, I will never forgive you.” Yerin threatened.

Sinb soon fell silent, thinking deeply about her answer. She would be lying if she tells her she doesn’t feel anything, but she was completely inexperienced with the matters of human emotion. When she was a human, her life wasn’t that long and she hasn’t experienced much. With things like this, she’s normally attributed the attraction she felt was due to admiration but not anything deeper than that.

She knew what she felt for Yerin wasn’t just admiration. There was something else there, something that kept Yerin in her mind in whatever she did. She thought back into the down times that they’ve spent together and Yerin’s smile kept on popping in her head randomly that it took her off guard.

Not to mention the moments when Sojeun finally appeared. She didn’t notice at first, but now that she thinks of it, she was a tad bit overprotective in making sure Yerin didn’t interact with that devil as much as possible.

Still, it didn’t give her the answers she wants. She still feels confused and conflicted, wanting to have the time to understand exactly what she felt for Yerin but unfortunately, she doesn’t have the time and she needs an answer now.

So all she could do was be honest. It’s what Yerin deserves at the very least.

“I don’t dislike you.” Sinb finally spoke, “But I still don’t know if I feel the same way as you do for me. I’m still confused, I’m inexperienced with things like this, and I’m sorry I couldn’t give you a better answer. But,” she looked up, seeing Yerin looking a bit crestfallen, “What I do know is that I care for you a lot more than I should beyond my duties and being your friend and spending time with you has been the best experience in my life, human life included.”

“And if I was given a choice, I would never leave.” she continues, Yerin hanging onto every single word, “I want to spend more time with you, experience more things with you, maybe I’ll finally understand these feelings better and maybe give you a better answer than what I have for you now.”

She frowns once she realizes that those things she mentioned were not possible now.

Sinb suddenly notices her chest feeling tight, “What is this…?”

Before she knew it, tears had begun to cascade down her cheeks, her eyes widening in alarm as she brought a hand up to her cheek just to make sure she didn’t mistake the cold feeling for something else.

“Sinb?”

The angel laughs off-handedly, as if trying to convince herself that her sudden crying was just a product of something that got into her eye, “This is weird. S-Sorry, I…” she sniffles as she blinks rapidly, hastily wiping the tears away but they just wouldn’t stop, “I don’t know what’s going on–”

Her movements stopped completely upon feeling a pair of arms wrap around her and pulling her into a warm embrace. It was then that she didn’t fight against it any longer, letting Yerin’s warmth envelop her as she returned the embrace. She felt Yerin guide her head to the crook of her neck where she sobbed silently without care, all the while thinking to herself how everything was so unfair to them right now.

“Thank you, Sinb.” Yerin shakily tells her, and she understood that she wasn’t the only one shedding tears between the two of them.

“I don’t want to leave.” Sinb found herself saying, almost begging, “I want to stay.”

“…Then don’t go just yet.” Yerin replied, “At least stay with me until they have to take you away.”

Sinb just tightens her embrace and nods.

The following day, Yerin finds herself waking up to an empty bed, a silent house, and all traces of Sinb gone.

I AM SO SORRY