Meaning: A spell that makes you forget pain. 

Prompt: “Let’s pretend that the snow isn’t the only thing falling fast” -Unknown 

Seulgi was a firm believer in not believing. 

Whether it be religion, superstition, or even the prayers her mother held for her every week, Seulgi preached that only science was the truth, and that was the philosophy she applied to her athletic lifestyle as well. Supernatural things were merely fictional fantasies to her, because quite frankly, God (or Allah or Yahweh or Buddha or whoever else she knew from mainstream religion channels) wasn’t going to help her make the perfect serve or absolutely annihilate her opponent. That was all her pure skill and grit, whether for better or for worse. 

So when Seulgi got up at three in the morning to get a drink of water and saw something that looked an awful lot like a human being with wings plummet through her ceiling and crash into the hardwood floor (ouch), she for a moment doubted her beliefs and wondered if it was worth praying to a higher being to take her out of her current, miserable condition. 

“Ow…” 

“The ?” 

The ‘something that looked an awful lot like a human being with wings’ lifted its head, long golden hair draping around its face. Seulgi pressed back into her dining room table, a bit anxious that she didn’t have her trusted tennis racket with her for such an emergency situation. 

“Am I in the right place?” 

The entity looked up to reveal to Seulgi what seemed like a ridiculously beautiful woman, and that in itself scared Seulgi even more. In a period where organ harvesters used all sorts of methods to lure their victims, beautiful women were no exception to being the bad guys. And people like Seulgi—people who were ers for pretty faces, man or woman—had to be cautious and fend for themselves. 

“Who are you?!” 

The stranger woman (who Seulgi noticed did indeed have massive wings on her back) blinked a few times before hovering her hands in the air like she was accessing some sort of invisible portal and nodding assuredly. Seulgi watched silently, unsure of what to do. 

The woman smiled. “Kang Seulgi?” 

Seulgi furrowed her eyebrows, debating whether or not it’d be smart to give away her identity to a stranger. But oh boy was she a simp for pretty faces. 

“Yes? Is there a reason that you’ve destroyed my ceiling and broken into my house?” 

At least she managed to maintain some rationality and question the stranger. 

The woman got up, wings disappearing almost instantaneously, and extended a hand to Seulgi, who was still quite far away. “I’m Irene,” she said, finally answering Seulgi’s first question. 

“Well okay, Irene.” Seulgi noted the foreign name. “Can you tell me why you’ve trespassed into my house?” 

“Well…” Irene squirmed, prompting Seulgi to narrow her eyes in suspicion. “I, uh…” 

“Go on.” 

“I’m here because I was assigned to you.” 

“Assigned?” Seulgi frowned. Like a soldier overseas? 

“Yes.” Irene nodded enthusiastically, glad that Seulgi was finally getting around to her (this was not necessarily true). “I’ve been given an order to be your guardian angel!” 

Seulgi crossed her arms and stared at the still-extended hand in front of her. “I have no idea what you’re on.” 

Irene pouted, taken aback by the lack of reaction from Seulgi. “Your wooden floors?” 

“No, not…ugh!” Seulgi slapped a palm against her forehead and dragged it down her face. “Are you a druggie?” 

“Druggie?” Then, after some thought: “No, I’m an angel.” 

“No, I mean, like, a person who takes drugs.” 

“Oh!” Irene raised a finger. “I know an angel of healing who sometimes uses drugs.” 

Seulgi blinked, getting more confused by the moment. “I don’t know why you keep talking about angels.” 

“Because I am an angel?” Irene answered confusedly. 

Seulgi sighed. She grew up experiencing many different things, from sports to music to art, but nothing really prepared her for these types of situations. In fact, her entire philosophy was being uprooted by this weird stranger who kept claiming to be an angel, so Seulgi decided that it’d be easier to just think of her as a crazy person. 

“Listen, Irene.” Seulgi took one step forward, just to seem harmless. “I think you might be a bit hurt after falling through my ceiling, so I’ll take you somewhere where you can get yourself fixed up.” 

…And preferably taken away by the police far, far away from her house. 

At this, Irene dusted her limbs and shrugged. “I’m fine.” 

No way you’re fine, Seulgi thought. You ing bodyslammed into laminated wood from who knows how high. 

“All angels heal very quickly.” Irene showed Seulgi her arm, where a bruise was slowly disappearing. “See?” She smiled at Seulgi. “I’m glad though. You seem like a good person; I was worried that my first assignment would be mean.” 

“What do you mean ‘first assignment?’ Are you seriously still talking about that guardian angel stuff?” 

“Yup! I was sent specifically for you, and once my mission is complete, I go back.” 

Seulgi plopped down criss-cross to think. So far, the woman didn’t seem like a threat to her, but the words Irene said in themselves were indicative of someone who wasn’t quite reliable. This meant she had two options: question Irene until the truth came out and send her to the appropriate institution or trust Irene and house the poor, lost soul until she came about. 

“What is your mission?” 

Irene brightened up at Seulgi’s interest. “I’m here to watch over you until you get better.” 

“Better?” That was a vague area, because Seulgi was not only dealing with a major shoulder injury, but she also was in a huge slump despite being one of the most promising upcoming tennis players in the nation. “What, are you gonna do my homework for me or something so I’m not suffering in college?” 

“I’m not sure about the details either; I was just told I’d be sent on my first mission, so I came here as quickly as I could. Sorry about your ceiling by the way…I’m still new, so it was a bit of a clumsy entrance.” 

As crazy as it sounded, Seulgi was starting to be a little convinced by Irene’s story. It definitely wasn’t because Irene was crazy attractive, no no. 

“I mean…she does have the wings, right? And I’ve got nothing to lose if she’s offering to help me,” Seulgi muttered. 

Somehow Irene caught it. “Yeah! Do you wanna see them?” Without waiting for Seulgi’s answer, she unfurled them from who knows where. “Usually they match our hair, but mine run more silver than gold.” 

“I can’t believe I’m starting to believe you.” 

Irene looked a bit annoyed. “I’m not crazy.” 

“I don’t know you.” 

“I’m here to help you!” Irene threw her hands up in the air, frustrated. 

“Anyone can say that!” Seulgi barked back. “For all I know, you could be a stalker, because I never told you my name.” 

“Gosh, I take back what I said about you being nice. You’re a…a meanie!” 

The room fell silent in awkwardness before Seulgi snorted. “Meanie?” 

“Yeah!” Irene’s eyes shifted about. “You’re a very, big—” 

“?” 

“No!” Irene looked horrified. “I can’t say words like that. I was gonna say bully. Bully.” 

Seulgi rubbed her forehead. “Jesus ing Christ.” 

“Don’t say the Lord’s name in vain.” 

“You’ve gotta be kidding me.” Seulgi groaned. “Are you really playing it this far?” 

“I’m not playing anything,” Irene snapped. “If you can’t take a blessing with grace, then I don’t want to help you either. Bye.” 

With that, she started heading out the door. Seulgi watched without action, glad that the weird woman was finally leaving. 

------- 

But damn her kind soul, it was almost four in the morning, Seulgi realized. And it was raining outside, from what she could tell of the water dripping into her house from the gaping hole in the ceiling. Irene was probably getting all wet in her thin robe. Not one to be a complete douchebag, Seulgi grabbed an umbrella after sighing heavily and headed out to find the other woman. 

“Irene? Irene!” 

It was completely dark with the exception of a few streetlamps, which worried Seulgi. The rain was sharp and cold, the sidewalk slippery. Despite her brain’s reasoning not to, Seulgi started jogging slightly to look for Irene and found her silhouette about two blocks away. 

“Irene!” 

Irene turned around in surprise to see Seulgi sprint up to her. When Seulgi reached her, she noticed that Irene wasn’t wet at all. 

“Are you using those wings as an umbrella?” 

Shivering from underneath a huge pile of feathers, Irene scowled. “What are you doing out here? This isn’t good for your shoulder!” 

“Huh?” Seulgi nearly slipped. “How do you know about that?” 

Irene gave her an unamused face. “I’ve explained myself quite simply, I think. You should be able to piece things together by now.” 

Seulgi furrowed her eyebrows, really unsure now of what to believe. She knew supernatural entities weren’t real, but Irene knew too much and she had those damned wings that really appeared and disappeared like magic. Scanning Irene from head to toe, Seulgi weighed her pros and cons. 

Pros: hella attractive, cool (seemingly waterproof wings), seems kinda cute and childlike, very nice for a stranger 

Cons: claims to be an angel 

Okay, to be honest, Seulgi thought the one con was the biggest problem, because it completely squashed everything she’d built up until now. She hated the idea that there were things that couldn’t be explained and that probabilities could truly just be luck. She hated the possibility that her injury and losing streak wasn’t because she had not yet figured out her opponents’ strategies quick enough or found a more efficient regime but because she was just not fated to fulfill her goals. She hated that in the face of it, some supposedly existing higher beings sent her some happy-go-lucky baby angel like some sort of sloppily-slapped-on bandage because it wasn’t a problem she could solve on her own with her own knowledge and abilities. 

“I know,” Irene started, voice gentler than before, “that you might not be able to trust me, but if anything, just know that I’m not here to hurt you. I can’t possibly make things worse for you, because I’m not built to do that.” She smiled cautiously at Seulgi. “Give me a chance to help you, because you deserve it.” 

“What do you mean?” 

“Guardian angels are only sent to people who have led fulfilling and honest lives. Theoretically, anyone who seeks out their potential and strives to live without harming others should be happy. But because of some outdated stuff in our texts—which we’re working on reforming, by the way—everyone’s a sinner, blah blah, you know all that, so we guardian angels were created to start the first process of changing things. If you are kind and diligent, we believe that when bad things happen to you, you deserve some guidance or a second chance. And that’s why I’m here.” 

“Am I really worthy of that with whatever values you have?” Seulgi questioned. Sh