Chanyeol awoke with an explosion of a headache. It was as if all the atomic bombs in the world collided together in his cranium. He groaned long and deep, rolling to one side of the bed. Since when did he get on a bed? The last thing he remembered, he was in an ambulance with Kris nearby… Kris…

Kris!! Chanyeol jerked, shooting himself up so that he was sitting on the bed. In a few seconds, he felt his head swim in a sea of dizziness. “Ugh…”

Placing a hand on his forehead, his eyes slowly opened to have a good look at where he was. He was in a pristine white room, with a small round table in front of him and a television beside it. There was a door that looked like it led to the bathroom and to his left was the door with an empty white chair by his bed. No one was here but him.

“… Where… Where did that angel go?” Chanyeol mumbled softly, still rubbing his head as it throbbed painfully every now and then. He was starting to feel sick, or maybe that was just because he felt like he hadn’t eaten at all. Where was he, anyway?

The door creaked open and a nurse entered. Ah… the hospital? She smiled upon seeing him conscious. “Oh good, you’re awake, Park-sshi.”

“…” Chanyeol remained silent as he watched her walk towards him, a clipboard in her hand. She began to monitor his vital signs and IV. “Um…”

“Hm?”

“Wh…” Chanyeol didn’t really know what to say. “What happened?”

She gave a kind smile, “You had an accident. But I’ll save that for when your family comes over. Do you have any number we can contact your parents?”

“…” Chanyeol shook his head, but if she was talking about someone. “Um, actually, there is someone with me…”

“A friend?”

“Y-Yeah…” Chanyeol’s eyes grew slightly but then he realized that he was just leading her astray. After all, Kris was an angel and apart from Chanyeol, Kris was invisible to everyone else. “Um… well…”

Sensing her patient’s hesitation, she reached out and patted his shoulder. “That’s all right. We can wait a little longer for you until you feel better. Have you been feeling nauseous lately?”

“Yes…”

“That must be the effect of the anesthesia.” She said. “I’ll give you some medication for it. The doctors had to give you a lot because you kept going in and out of consciousness. It felt like you were looking for something… or someone…”

“…” Chanyeol looked at her blankly. She smiled warmly at him one last time before leaving the room. That was a strange thing to say yet it felt incredibly truthful to Chanyeol. Right now, he was feeling nothing more than curiosity as to where Kris’s locations were. Where is that angel right now when his client nearly lost his life?!

Chanyeol lay back down on the bed, secretly wishing the comfort of the pillow his head was laying on never to disappear. The white room reminded him so much of Kris’s pristine white coat. Oh, how he wanted to rub that coat down a sewage canal right now as he lay still in bed, mulling and worrying over that divine being.

Stupid Kris…

“I thought you were going to take your sweet time.” Kris said, arms crossed as he walked into a great chamber room. He was in the ethereal realm mortals and mankind could only dream of – he was in heaven – and right now, his soft steps echoed endlessly as he walked towards what looked like a simple yet elegant chair sitting in the middle of the room. His eyes hardened upon seeing the man before him – a man dressed in a white robe all the way up to his feet and he was barefoot for his pale feet peeped shyly from the ends of his robes.

The man on the chair had no accessories on him, he was simply dressed and for some reason, the light from the many windows and the ceiling above made seeing his face almost difficult.

“You need to fix your greetings when you get the chance, Kris.” His fatherly voice came and unlike Kris’s, his words did not echo in the vast room.

Kris made an unsatisfied noise, his stare hardened further, “What did you just do now? You cancelled my powers when I needed them the most!”

“No, Kris. I stopped them for it was a time you did not need them at all.”

“CHANYEOL WAS DYING!”

“Whether he dies is between him and me.”

“YOU--!” Kris took a step forward but the man on the chair did not budge, flinch or move at all. “Didn’t you say it was my job to protect him from anything that’ll endanger his life?!”

“Yes, but only in terms of his bad luck.”

“THAT TRUCK--!”

“Kris, Chanyeol’s bad luck had nothing to do with this. It wasn’t bad luck that caused this event to occur, rather, it was Chanyeol’s own choice. He saw the young girl in the middle of the street and took it upon himself to act. That is why I stopped you from healing him. If he wishes to visit this place, I will welcome him.”

“That’s…!” Kris bit his bottom lip. That’s just not right! Chanyeol…! The last thing he wanted now was to see Chanyeol walk in from those heavenly gates and see him here.

“Though, you must know… it seems that Chanyeol had wanted to delay his visit here further.”

Kris gasped. “So… you’re saying…” His balled up fist loosened and he felt his heart palpitate quicker, not from anger but from excitement. “He’s alive? He’s alive?!”

The man’s silence merely reaffirmed his suspicion and Kris smiled, like a little kid no less. He made to turn and leave when God spoke again.

“However, your visit here is not yet over.”

“…” Kris stopped midway from turning around to leave. He looked back and his mouth was a tight line. “What do you mean?”

“Your actions earlier have displeased me.” The man on the chair said, not moving an inch. “You acted based on your feelings and it did not only hurt you but other innocent people as well.”

“That truck driver was no innocent man. He should’ve looked at where he was heading!” Kris retorted.

“This was an accident. No man was guilty. Chanyeol’s choice just made it--”

“IT WASN’T CHANYEOL’S FAULT!” Kris spat and when he ended his sentence, he was panting hard, hearing his echoes coming back to him in the chamber room.

“…” The man lay silent for a while before he said, softly, “Kris… you have feelings for him.”

“..!!” Kris’s eyes widened and he took a step back. “No. No I don’t! He’s just a client..!”

“I do not lie, Kris.”

“I don’t love him!” Kris spat. “I don’t… I shouldn’t… He is…”

“You were once human too.”

“I can’t…” Kris held his head, feeling his knees touch the ground – or whatever surface they were standing on. “Chanyeol is… my client… How could I have…?”

God sounded like he was chuckling, “This was definitely out my expectations.” He said. “That Chanyeol truly is an extraordinary child.”

“…” Kris lay still for a moment, feeling his heart beat against his rib cage. He had kept spouting out how he did not love Chanyeol yet his actions earlier surely contradicted that. Chanyeol was his client. It should not be. What’s more is that they had already shared heat… skin… love with each other. “You…”

“Yes?”

“You knew didn’t you? You knew what I felt towards him even before I did.” Kris said softly.

“Because I am your ‘Father’.”

“…” Kris closed his eyes for a moment before his lips parted and he said, “I love him, God.”

“…”

“And because I love him…” Kris slowly pulled himself together and stood up. He looked at the man in front of him squarely. “Because of this feeling… I… will stay by his side.”

Twilight had passed and Chanyeol lay still on the bed. He had rolled to his side to look out at the window in front of him. The window’s translucent curtains gently swayed with the breeze. He sighed for the nth time of the day. Every inch of his body hurt. He didn’t know what he broke or what kind of scar he had received from his accident. He doesn’t even know how long he had been asleep.

“… This .” Chanyeol hissed under his breath. “It’s boring here.”

“Then, should I do something to entertain you?”

The voice sent chills down Chanyeol’s spine – the good kind. He turned around, throwing his blankets off his body as he did so. Once the blankets were out of his view, his eyes widened at the person in front of him. It was Kris! Yet this time, Kris wasn’t wearing the pristine white coat he had gotten used to. He was wearing black – jet black, like a raven’s feathers.

“Kris…” Chanyeol whispered as the elder walked towards his bed. “Your clothes…”

Kris smirked. “I’ve always wanted to try wearing black.”

“Wh-What… Why?” Chanyeol croaked.

“…” Kris didn’t reply. He smiled back down at the younger male, catching him off-guard. “What? You don’t like me in black?”

“I…! I didn’t s