“I love you.” I breathed out with difficulty, as I stared down at the soft faced angel underneath me.

   He was staring at me as if I was some wondrous work of art, his usually small eyes were wide, open to take in the beauty of the world around us, and a small coy smile playing at the corners of his lips. “And I, you.” Junho said as smoothly as ever.

   I could never tire of that voice, whether he was talking softly or my name, I would forever want to hear that soft music that he made by simply speaking. I loved everything there was to love about him. From his soft chest rising and falling next to me, to the fingertips he used to roam across my body as our legs tangled and he nestled closer to my side. He was watching me, like he was still unsure if I was real.

   Of course I was, his chin jutted forward and I read his mind, kissing his soft lips until I felt his finger trace my left arm. I glanced down to follow his curious gaze, watching his index finger go up and down the hideous scar that marked my body. He frowned.

   “I broke my arm in a bar fight,” I said as I grabbed his hands and interlaced our fingers. He looked so worried, it made me want to smirk, but I couldn’t quite manage when the memories of that night flooded through my head. “Don’t worry, it’s healed nicely.”

   I knew he wasn’t convinced, Junho was clever, much more attune to me than I’d ever given him credit for. In the time it had taken for Junho to awake, after I’d been left alone with him, I’d done quite a bit of realizing and understanding. But mostly, accepting of the fact Junho knew far more about me than I could even imagine, with the ability to watch over me – as I’m sure he did – while I lived unsuspectingly. It eased my mind, knowing that he never really left me alone, all those times. But there was still that mark on my body that reminded me of my darkest times, the times that I lost hope of ever seeing him again, which inevitably led to an excruciating injury and a few thousand dollars in court fines.

   Junho’s hand covered my cheek gently, turning my head to face him and I saw his lips part, as if he wanted to speak, before closing again. I waited for his words, eagerly . . .

   And just as he opened his mouth to speak, the door suddenly opened and I quickly covered both of our bodies with the thick blankets, looking up just in time to see Wooyoung turn his head away from the two of us with a statue-like expression, right as another entered the room from behind him.

   This man was neither short, nor tall. His dark eyes were piercing, like his scowl, as he looked upon the two of us, only for a moment, before speaking.

   “Junho,” The man’s voice was relatively calm and rather begging for the expression on his face, he reached up and pinched the bridge of his nose as he continued. “I could not believe the audacity of my own flesh and blood, when they informed me that you were doing this in a sacred temple . . . so I had to see for myself . . . Now I’m wishing that I hadn’t.” He spoke with quiet conviction, inching his way to the side of the bed where Junho sat with cheeks and ears red in both embarrassment and fear, before suddenly turning his head towards Wooyoung murmuring a command. “Leave us.”

   I blinked at the way Wooyoung simply his heel without a sound and left, shutting the door with a loud clank of the hinges.

   “I’m sorry, Junsu.” Junho’s voice pulled my attention back to the two men next to me.

   “Do not attempt to fill me with lies, brother, for I understand the game of love far more than you,” The man Junho called Junsu flashed his eyes to me, almost pitifully. “I know where your heart lies.” So this was my Junho’s brother, the one Wooyoung had only mentioned briefly.

   Junsu let out another sigh and turned away from us. “And I was stupid to try and control the situation the way I had, I understand that . . . But now we must finally put this game to an end . . . Your name is Taecyeon, is it?” He asked me and I nodded, looking back at him as our eyes met and his gaze softened. “Thank you for saving my brother’s life, but I’ll be taking that pendant back, now.”

   This again? I rolled my eyes and protested. “I already explained–” Junsu silenced me by holding a finger up.

   “Do not question,” It sounded like he murmured as he came over, pulling the blanket away from my stomach and placing his hand over the bare skin.

   Over the last day, I’d seen my fair share of crazy things. But it was safe to say that this was by far the craziest thing I’d ever seen in my life. Junsu’s palm seemed to glow – yes glow – with light before he closed his fist. When he opened it, the light was gone and a familiar gold necklace took its place. I gasped a hushed curse word and jumped back, tugging the covers with me and staring in shock.

   Did he just . . .?

   Junsu handed the pendant to Junho, who simply took it and carefully hooked the chain around his neck.

   The door opened again, but this time, Chansung slipped inside and promptly shut it, bowing to Junsu, who looked annoyed with the added presence in the tense environment. “What is is?” He growled.

   Chansung spoke promptly, almost soldier-like. “It’s Nichkhun . . . he’s requested Junho’s presence.”

   Junho flinched next to me and I wrapped an arm around him, comforting him from what I had no idea was going on. The two others looked as us when I kissed Junho’s cheek and murmured that it would be okay, one face in compassion and sympathy, the other face with a painful kind of disappointment.

   “Both of you dress immediately.” Junho nodded at his brother’s command, and with a movement that was too quick for me to see completely, Junsu had tossed a pile of clothing at us and untied the ropes to the drapes around the bed, enclosing Junho and I in a dark canopy of cloth that hid us from the view of all else.

   By the time the initial shock of the situation was leaving me, Junho had already wrapped himself in a soft cream robe-like thing, and had begun helping me with my own clothes. I watched his timid face as he buttoned up the front of my shirt, lifted my hips with he pulled my pants up my thighs, grabbed his hands before he could turn away from me. I didn’t like this sudden distance he was putting between us, I hated it, and I could tell from his eyes that he hated it too. But we both knew that a fabric barrier gave no privacy to words, so instead, he spoke to me through teary eyes that said ‘I love you’.

   The drapes around the bed opened, ruining our beautifully painful moment when Junsu cleared his throat to gain our attention. “You can say your goodbyes . . .” Junsu whispered, looking right at me, and I could tell I wouldn’t like the next words to fall from his lips. “Chansung will you home shortly.”

   “But you can’t!” Junho yelled, his voice thick with emotion and cracking, like he was being tortured. In a way, he was. We bother were. “Junsu, I will die if you do this . . . I will die in my heart and I will never feel happiness.”

   “You’ve broken the law Junho!” Junsu now returned a yell even Chansung flinched from. “I cannot protect you from everything no matter how powerful and mighty you think I am, and I cannot allow you to die . . . I refuse lose the only thing I have left.”

   “P-Please don’t send me to Nichkhun . . . I h-hate him.”

   “Hate is a human emotion, little brother, as is love.” Junsu had settled for taking a seat near Junho, and I felt strangely out of place, quietly listening to their now soft exchange of words. “No matter what feelings you hold in your heart, they will eventually pass – just as everything in the universe has a beginning, it has an end too. Emotions are not excluded from that rule . . . Love – my dear brother – is dangerous.”

   “You were in love once.” Junho was now crying, his cheeks glistened as his shoulders slumped and my heart ached to protect him. But I was frozen, listening to the conversation between them and putting puzzle pieces together. “What would you do if it were Nichkhun, and not Taecyeon? What would you do if you were me?”

   So Junsu and this Nichkhun guy were–my thoughts were silenced by a sudden outburst.

   “That was different, and you know I paid the highest price for that!”

   Junho opened his mouth to speak but I couldn’t hold this in anymore. It was getting out of hand. “Is it different?” I spoke up, and when all three sets of eyes were upon me, I cleared my throat. “I-I mean . . . you guys are supposed to be angels and what not . . . but you’re just as ed up as humans.”

   I took a deep breath, deciding my words carefully. “Though, I doubt you guys blow each other up with bombs and war over money and stupid like that . . . But we also understand that love is love, and without it there’s no point in existing, because it’s pretty damn important. It’s what makes fighting wars worth it, to protect love. If angels can’t figure something as simple as that out, then . . . maybe you’re not as high and mighty as you think.”

   Chansung was the only one who made any reply, in the form of a lousily suppressed, breathy chuckle as he stepped forward. “I admire your tenacity, Ok Taecyeon . . .” With those few words, the tall angel had gained the full attention from everyone in the room and a knowing smirk twisted his thin lips. “But it seems you’ve all been neglecting one important possibility – another way, as you may call it.”

   “What are you saying?” Junsu stood and faced the other, but Chansung only looked straight at me, that eerie smile still playing across his lips.

   “Taecyeon would make a fine guardian, wouldn’t you agree?” I stared into Chansung’s dark brown orbs as he spoke and then, like a key being turned, his words clicked in my head and I understood.

   The thought was crazy, but now was not the time to be scared of irrational things. Now was not the time to rethink my life, or have second thoughts. Now was the time to stand tall in my every decision, ready to fight and hold on, for the rest of forever.

   Looking over to see Junho’s wide eyes, I nodded; ready to do anything for awestruck boy next to me.
 

Sorry for the short chapter. I hope you guys are excited for the ending, and OTL I'm like...95% sure that I'm going to do another part to this too...Okay, I'll be honest, I've actually been planning a part 3 since I decided to make part 2 LOL. I just can't seem to end this fic just yet, idk why, I think it's one of my better pieces but that's just my biased opinion. Anyway, enough of my rambling. *goes back to writing updates for fics*