“The Folk and The Foe” 

And birds came flying from the speed of sound

To show how it all began

Birds came flying from the underground

If you could see it then you'd understand

{ Speed Of Sound, Coldplay }

It was still dark yet Park Bom was already wide awake. The sun was nowhere in sight but she was sure that it was already morning. She slept on that dark alley she had found last night, and woke up in an alarming screaming of scampering folks. In fact, she barely slept at all. The town was chaotic even in the darkest hours.

She was roaming the place, hoping to find her temporary charge, but he was nowhere to be found. She frowned at herself. All she could witness were the people sprinting around, vendors shouting at sneaky little thieves, and she even saw kids beating each other. Early in the morning and everything was already running out of hand.

She sighed. The stress was consuming her to the core of depression.

“Where are you going?” she heard somebody shouted. She glanced at the direction where the voice came from. She saw a man standing aloof to a lady. She didn’t mean to eavesdrop but as of now, that was the only thing she could do.

The lady was already in the verge of breaking down when she said, “Anywhere but here!”

She hurriedly picked up her suitcase only to be stopped by the man’s firm grip. “Can we talk about this inside? My goodness, Sunny, the sun’s barely rising!”

“We are done talking about this and so am I in here,” she retaliated. “So, goodbye.” She pulled her suitcase and succeeded in taking it off the man’s grip.

“But Sunny!” He shouted but within a glimpse, the girl was already too far. He didn’t bother going after her for he might have realized that she was nowhere to be convinced to go back.

Park Bom has a kind heart. She always ponders about other people’s feelings. Though she was sent above in an early age, a year old to be exact, she coped by the teaching of the elders she met there. They did good deeds and were punished when failed to do so. That was why she was a much disciplined child. But maybe, thinking why she was exactly here, she had too much fun interacting with the people of below. Park Bom was twenty, and two years ago, she stepped foot for the first time on this world. And it was a very different world, she concluded. She’s been dreaming of becoming more than an archangel. And when she was six, she learned about the Harbor of Guardian Angels where Lee Chaerin was the Head, was eighteen and stil is. You stop aging when you've proven, incredibly, yourself in the eyes of the Highest of the Highs. And Lee Chaerin had done it at such young age. Archangels were sent below to deal with temporary charges, and Lee Chaerin succeeded on her first mission, and entered the Harbor immediately. Hence, becoming a Guardian Angel. And within months of becoming a great Guardian Angel, she was promoted as the Head. To be a Guardian Angel is like being a soldier with wings. And that was what Park Bom wanted from the start.

Brushing her thoughts off, and having the thoughtful heart she has, she headed to the man left in amiss. “Um, excuse me?” The man turned his head, and found himself drowning in Park Bom’s beautiful gaze.

“Are you okay, mister?” he heard her say. He found himself still locked on the lady's eyes, and stammered, saying, “Um, I – uh, wait… no,” He saw – only saw for he was in a wonderful trance caused by the lady in front of her, and he couldn’t hear anything else but his heart beating inside his chest – her laughed. Did he just hear the charming melody that would awaken his dull living? Possibly.

And he hadn’t realized he said his thought aloud until she asked, “What?” 

He blushed a faint shade of crimson. “Nothing. W-why are you here?”

She smiled, her eyes and lips radiating beauty. “I just thought you were scathed with her leaving you,”

“Oh, no... um, not really,” he shyly responded. He both didn’t know what to do with the case he was currently on and intend to look like a lovesick fool, but well, she didn’t look like she was troubling herself over it so he started to feel slightly calmed down. She sure was having an affect on him, and she wasn’t in notice at all. 

“Oh, I’m Park Bom,” she suddenly said.

“I'm Lee Donghae,” he said, nervously offering his right hand.

“Oh, Lee Donghae,” he heard her replied, and he thought that his name sounded beautiful coming from her lips. She retrieved her hand from Donghae’s latch. “Yes, I’ll remember that.” 

“I’m sorry,” he muttered and blushed some more when he'd realized that he'd had hold her soft hands for long that she herself pulled it away. “Are you from here?”

“No. Actually I just came here yesterday,”

“Oh,”

“And I don’t have any place to stay in,”

“Wait – what?” he blurted out. And out of nowhere, washing away his inhibitions and talking all the chances that have been sprawled in front of him that all he needed to do was to grab it, he said, “You can stay with me.”

He expected her to be confused, at least, but she wasn’t. In mere fact, she was delighted, something that he was sure of. “Really?”

“Yeah, really. Do you want to? Sunny just left, and my place, it’s not that spacious but it can handle two people,” he said in an intake of breath.

“Really? That’s so nice of you!” she beamed. Donghae saw her eyes twinkle even in the dark. “Can I move in now? I am in much need of sleep.”

“Oh, sure! Where are your things, by the way? Do you want me to help-”

“I don’t have things with me so don’t bother,” she cut him. “Where’s your house?” The eagerness for a house to stay in couldn’t be mistaken by the timbre of her voice. Donghae felt slightly lightheaded. He found Bom a beautiful woman, but he’s in question for her not having a place to stay in and decision of moving in this crooked town – out of all places.

“That one,” he pointed to a modest house with a beautiful garden. Donghae liked flowers – it was his passion, and he has never seen one as stunning as Bom. “I’m sorry if you will find it messy. Well, Sunny just smashed two pretty pots of mine,” he wasn’t even finished talking when Bom lifted her feet from the ground and jumped her way to his house. “Just make sure you won’t step on the broken pieces!”

A genuine smile drew on his face. To him, she was lovely. He watched Bom jump happily away from him. He noticed her perfectly sculpted and pearly white legs that could go on for days, her auburn hair which reached the small of her back that swayed on every move she made, and her unawareness.

Haven’t she told not to talk to strangers? And above all, not to reside with them when the only thing you know is their name?

***

Choi Seunghyun woke to the irksome ringing of his mobile. He tried to open an eye to see who the hell was calling only to be greeted by the terrible aching of his head. He was sprawled by the stomach on his black worn out leather couch. He reached for his interrupting phone provided by Teddy on the back pocket of his pants. He couldn’t take the light emitting from his phone’s screen, and it added to the pain his throbbing head was feeling so he put it down, totally holding resentment to his caller, and rested for a few minutes.

Seunghyun had went back to sleep for another hour, and woke again to the ringing of his mobile. The aching of his head had slightly watered down. He rubbed his temple for practical purposes, and strained a bit to get up. He reached inside his pocket, and realized that his phone wasn’t there. His eyes landed on the marbled ground the moment he remembered he had put it down a while ago. He reached for it, and found thirteen missed calls all from Teddy. He almost cursed, get up, and stall to the sink while dialing his faintly pursuing caller.

“What is it?” he asked groggily the second Teddy picked up the call.

“The , man? I called you a lot of times. What the hell were you doing?” he coughed up. You could always tell when he's annoyed. He would give you the ‘the , man?’

“Sleeping. Can’t you figure that out? Jeez, you’re an idiot,” he taunted, putting the phone between his shoulder and head. He picked his toothbrush and toothpaste he had placed beside the sink last night.

“Okay, quit with the bull,” he paused for a moment before saying, “I need you, man.”

“Aw, that’s so sweet, but I like girls. Oh, how can I be so dense-”

“ it. I said stop the bull right now,” he firmly cursed. Teddy Park’s biggest pet peeve was to be teased. And sometimes, it annoyed Seunghyun that even the littlest tease could send Teddy to madness. He surely didn’t like the idea of being the center of ridicule. That was why he did his greatest to gain the reputation he has now. But here's one thing about Teddy that had caused him into several troubles: he could be pretty ambitious. 

“What now?”

“I need you,” Teddy’s tone became more serious, and it was Seunghyun’s cue to consider the moment important.

“I’m listening,”

***

“Oh, you’re awake,” Donghae greeted. He left Park Bom sleeping soundly on Sunny’s old bed to buy lunch for them. He carefully stepped on the freshly mowed grass, noticing the broken pieces of pots tidied up on one side. “You cleaned them up? Oh, Bom, you shouldn’t have bothered.”

Bom looked up from watering the plants. “No, it’s fine. Really,” she smelled some beautiful aroma, and her eyes landed on the container Donghae was carrying. “That smells great. What is it?”

“Oh, I bought lunch for us. Are you hungry?” he smiled to her. “Good thing Sunny chose to leave some of her clothes. She pretty much hurried packing her things. Oh, but you know what's much better?" He waited for Bom to reply but when she just stayed silent, anticipating words from him, he continued, saying, "That you have the same clothe size as Sunny. That way, we won’t need to buy clothes for you.”

On the other hand, Bom was in very much appreciation of her new folk’s kindness. She knew that not everyone in this dangerous town were bad. That in every false pretense of evil things, there are also good in hiding.

“Come on, let’s go inside,” Donghae commanded and turned off the valve. Bom placed the hosepipe on the ground where she had found it. She went inside after Donghae, excited for the first meal she would take since she stepped on this world for the third time.

***

Choi Seunghyun decided to come over Teddy’s house. The talk a while ago on the phone needed some alleged personal conversation. Good thing the throbbing of his head had already deceased. He needed nothing of it.

He was still three blocks away from his old friend’s house when he decided to stop by a store and buy some drink. He has no food to consume back in his house. His stomach grumbled. And he soon departed the street to search for a store.

He found a small beverage store, and his thoughts of stealing rapidly came to his mind. He didn’t really know what was behind Teddy’s words a while ago but the last thing he said was, “Don’t rob a store again. We’re going to be more than that in a short period.” And he fully understood that, he guessed. Surely the word ‘that’ didn’t mean criminal, did it? It meant that they’re going to be big, and robbing a mere store was going to be a shame for their part, right? He wasn’t so sure.

He fought the urge to steal. He had been doing it since he was fourteen, and thinking of the opposite didn’t feel right. He would have never thought that the one who taught him how to steal was the very same person to stop him from doing it. Teddy was the only person he trusted in this world. He was the one who kept him when his loving mother died. He was the only one who believed in his words when he told him that he didn’t kill her mother’s killer. That incident happened when he was fourteen, nine years ago, and since then, he has been Teddy’s ally, was 23. Teddy was the one who became his family when he had nowhere to go to. And he was also the one who taught him how to keep living. Even if it meant surpassing the odds by immoral doings. He lived that way. And he just couldn’t get the bad off of his system.

His thoughts wander off when he felt a push from his back.

The culprit’s words were instant. “I’m sorry, mister. I didn’t mean to-”

Park Bom stopped mid-air when she saw his temporary charge’s face. Her eyes doubled in size and her jaw could almost drop to the ground. Her blood ran cold. Wasn’t she supposed to be delighted to see him? Why was she feeling fear instead? This could be bad, she thought as she bit her bottom lip.

It was like as if his horrendous thoughts about the seeking for vengeance crashed down when he saw the supposed-to-be acceptor’s face. How her eyes ogled at him without her own knowledge and how she bit her lip in between of innocently and sensually.

“Oh,” she practically moaned. His ears were on their way to bliss. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to – I am sincerely repentant, forgive me,” she said as she continuously bowed before him.

That turned him off. His thoughts scattered off into cold air. He didn’t fancy sweet girls and most of all, a girl of good manners. And a girl with too formal language, in this matter. He scoffed. How pathetic.

“Stop apologizing. You look terribly pathetic,” he groaned, and she followed his words instantly.

Park Bom was a bit shocked to hear his voice. It was deep, profound, and husky. And it sounded very commanding that she followed his words without second thoughts.

Seunghyun exited the scene with no words, his thirst completely vanishing. The girl was pathetic enough in her shape that he lost all the energy to get even from their last encounter. He didn’t like being surrounded by girls like her.

“Excuse me!” he didn’t look back. Now her voice did nothing but annoy him. “Excuse me, mister!” he quickened his pace, holding back his temper.

But lost it when he felt a tap on his shoulder. He pinned her to the nearest wall, his arm across her chest, and his eyes boring into her soul. “You don’t know me,” he hissed, “and the things that I can do,”

Bom stammered, fear building inside her chest. She could feel her heart beating rapidly. She had never been this close to a human before, and it built terror that she wished to quickly disappear. “I’m… sorry, I – I didn’t-”

“Stop apologizing, and don’t ever show your pathetic self in front of me again.” He released her. Bom coughed, tears already welling her eyes. He strode off her sight, and in seconds, he was entirely gone.

She clasped her hands on her chest, wishing for her heart to calm down. His words of dismissal tremendously hurt her. She was right. It was going to be tough. And she knew that the only method to surpass the obstacles blocking her way was to be tougher.

She braced herself then, waiting for their next meeting.