“Jonghyun, you do not understand. I really couldn’t tell you…” Jinki said, trying to persuade his upset best friend that he really had no choice but to keep secrets from him.

Jonghyun merely looked up from his book briefly before he returned his gaze to the page before him. If this angel was human, Jinki had a feeling that he would truly be seeing the wrath of a vicious beast. But Jonghyun was not and so he was only able to show his disapproval with this silent treatment.

“I had to find out things about my best friend from a human. Changmin, tell him that I’m very offended as his closest friend….” Jonghyun told the other angel that sat opposite him with a pile of books in front of him as well.  It really seemed like Jinki has been making these two sweep every book in the library just to find answers to his many questions. Changmin looked up at Jinki helplessly before returning to his book as well.

“Tell me honestly, Jonghyun. What would you have thought if I came up to you some day and told you that I’m in love with my human?”

“I would have thought that you were losing your mind…”

“Exactly!” Jinki exclaimed.

“I still think that you are. Your human too. I’m going to get to the bottom of this…” Jonghyun said, determined. Jinki sighed.

“Even the Elders said that this thing between Minho and me is odd. We’re not crazy, Jonghyun…” Jinki tried to convince the other that this is not all merely imagination.

“I’ll believe that when I see proof…” Jonghyun said, pulling another book after being done with the past one.

Jinki watched Jonghyun for a while, trying to figure out just what his best friend thinks he can do by reading all these books. True, the books in this library are a sea of knowledge that even angels have yet to explore. That doesn’t mean that Jonghyun is going to be able to look up the reason as to why exactly Jinki and Minho were supposedly cursed. Even parties who were supposed to be almost all-knowing (the Elders) were baffled by Jinki’s curse.

However, Jinki supposed that what Jonghyun was doing was much better than what he himself was doing. At least Jonghyun was trying to look for answers. Jinki, on the other hand, has been so caught up in his whirlpool of emotions that he has had barely enough time to comprehend anything going on with himself, much less to seek for extra knowledge on the subject.

Jinki could only pray at the moment that whatever his curse is, there would be a way to lift it, so that he will be forgiven by God and most importantly, so that Minho too would not be bound by some curse anymore.

Even if it meant their separation. Even if it meant Jinki’s banishment.

~~~~~

“Minho…” a soft voice called to him, the tone so gentle and motherly that it lulled Minho further into sleep rather than doing its purpose of waking him up.

“Minho…” the voice called a little more insistently, accompanied by a shake on his shoulder. Minho blinked his eyes open, lifting his head off of the hard surface the side of his face had been lying on. He vaguely recognized a tell-tale wetness at the corner of his mouth and it registered even in his hazy mind that he had been drooling. Minho quickly wiped himself off, scrambling to wipe the evidence on the table off as well.

After a few more seconds of waking up, it dawned upon him where he was and what he was supposed to be doing. Minho’s eyes shot wide open and he stared around him. The others were just beginning to settle down and class hadn’t begun yet. He released a long sigh of exhaustion and relieve, glad that he hadn’t slept through first period.

“Someone seems like they didn’t get enough sleep last night…” the same voice sang, teasing.

Minho turned to his side and found Gwiboon sitting at the table beside his with an eyebrow raised. She had her arms and legs crossed as she studied him, the perfect picture of a demanding lady boss. Minho managed a small, tired smile to be civil to one of the few people in his life that truly cared about him.

“Yeah… I had a fitful sleep last night… Nightmares…” Minho answered vaguely. He was, of course, telling the truth. He barely slept a couple hours last night and that too restlessly. What had he been doing the whole other time? Well, he tried burying himself in studying for a while to distract himself and it worked to an extent. Minho had been so immersed in his trigonometry that he had killed an hour and was ready to hit the pillow.

But as soon as he laid down, Taemin’s words had begun to haunt him again. Giving up on trying to ignore it, Minho finally clambered off the bed and kneeled at his bedside, elbows propped up on the mattress and in position to pray. Except he couldn’t. He didn’t know how to speak to the big man. He had been so afraid of opening himself up, so afraid of saying those words in his mind out loud as if he was confessing to his sins out loud. It was one thing doing so to Jinki or even the people he had wronged, like Sohyun and Taemin. But it was a whole other thing doing it with God. Similar to confessing to a policeman of your crimes, Minho supposed- you know it will make everyone’s life easier but you still don’t have the courage to say it anyway.

Then, Minho ended up giving up on that as well, only left with the pain in his knees and the heaviness in his heart as he tried to fall asleep. Sleep came, bearing a handful of nightmares that seemed so scary to Minho even when he couldn’t understand half of it. They were about betrayals, conspiracies and abandonments. Sometimes, there was blood. Sometimes Minho caught a gist of what was going on, someone betraying someone else and getting punished for it, someone leaving someone else at their time of need and sowing the seed of vengeance. Minho understood bits and pieces of it, but he could not get the whole picture.

It was frustrating and terrifying. It kept him up and awake for the most part of the night. Now, here he was, snoozing in the classroom before class started because he was so tired.

“How are you, Minho?” Gwiboon asked then, concern written all over her face from Minho’s answer.

“I’m fine, Gwiboon. Everything’s fine…” Minho tried to convince her.

Gwiboon didn’t seem convinced, though, and she was right not to trust Minho. She didn’t push for more answers. Instead, she settled for tucking Minho’s hair (that was getting a little too long to be appropriate for the regulations in school) behind his ear and smiling at him warmly.

“You know you can talk to me about anything, right?” Gwiboon said and that started Minho on a guilt trip that he had forgotten in the midst of all his other problems.

“Yes, thank you…” Not about this, though, Gwiboon.

Gwiboon smiled at him again, her hand still touching him. Minho reached up for it and held it in his for a while, trying to think of a way to apologize to her for the kiss the other day.

“Gwiboon, listen. I’m sorry for the other day. I acted on impulse and it was a stupid thing to do…” Minho began. Gwiboon kept the smile on her face even as she moved to tangle her fingers with his.

“It was not stupid to me. I li