“Wait! A divorce!?” Niel yelled out. Ricky merely smiled at him before nodding. “How long have you two been together?!” He yelled out.

“Five years,” answered Ricky

“Five years? Oh gosh, oh gosh. Is this my fault?!” Niel yelled out, but before anyone could answer, Niel stood and started pacing. “Did I cause this?” He asked more so to himself. “It’s my fault! I broke up a marriage! I was the paramour, and I destroyed a sacred union.” Niel started mumbling to himself but did not stop pacing. He was starting to shake, and Changjo couldn’t take it anymore.

“Niel?” He called out, but he didn’t stop. Changjo stood and grabbed onto Niel’s shoulders so that he could stop moving. “Niel!” He called out again, and this time Niel did stop. “It’s not your fault!” Niel looked up at him as his tears started to flow.

“How is it not my fault? You two have been together for five years while I was with you for three. How is it not my fault?” His face was steeled over, and the only sign of his sadness was in his tears.

“This is what I wanted to explain to you today, but you have to calm down and sit so that both Ricky and I can explain this to you.”

“Why didn’t you explain this three years ago?” Niel snapped.

“Because it’s not just my business.” Ricky sighed as he stared after Changjo and Niel. She knew from when they were children how much Changjo looked after her and protected her. If anything, Changjo was like a protective brother. Ricky stood and made her way over to Niel and pulled him to her side.

“Niel, sit down sweety. Let me help you understand why Changjo decided to be an over protective idiot,” she said as she had him sit next to her with Changjo to the other side. Ricky pulled a handkerchief from her pocket and dabbed away Niel’s tears.

As Ricky looked at him, she couldn’t help but feel connected to him. He reminded her so much of a little boy that he used to play with when she was younger. Whenever Changjo was away and couldn’t come over to her house, she would play in the neighborhood playground. There she met a boy with thick lips, similar to Niel’s, who would always play on the swings.

“You’re really pretty,” he would always say. Ricky would always smile at him as a thank you, because other than Changjo, no one ever called her pretty. “Just like my mom.” Ricky had seen the boy’s mother every time he had to leave, and her breath would always catch in wit how beautiful she was. Her hair was long and black, and she always wore a red lipstick with a black colored liner. It became a habit for her to bring them both a snack. They became friends quickly.

“What do you want to be?” Ricky asked him one day. The boy jutted out his lip in thought.

“I want to be an angel,” he said. Ricky had looked at him in confusion.

“But you can only be an angel when you’re dead. Do you want to die?!” Ricky had yelled out in horror. The boy had shaken his head.

“No. I just mean that I want to be able to do good in the world, so that when I do die, God will be able to accept me into his home.” The boy smiled as he looked up to the sky. Ricky looked to him in awe. They were only children, and the boy was only a little older than her, yet he was already thinking like that. They had spent the rest of the day playing.

“Who is God?” Ricky asked him. The boy smiled at her as he swung his legs on the swing. He shrugged, as he was unsure of the answer himself.

“I don’t know.”

“Then why do you believe in someone you don’t know? My mom and dad always told me not to trust strangers.” The boy laughed as he swung higher and higher.

“I guess you can say that God is someone that I know will always be watching over me to make sure I’m okay. I trust him, because he’s watching over me.” Ricky nodded as she swung her legs lightly.

“But I my parents told me that God hates people who don’t follow his rules and who are different from what he wanted,” she said sadly. The boy started to slow down and came to a stop. He came over to Ricky and kneeled before her before shaking his head.

“God does not hate his children for being different. He made rules to be a good person, but he would be so sad to see someone hate one of his other creations for being different. If he really did not want you to be this way, then he wouldn’t have made you this way.” Ricky smiled he she looked at the boy before enveloping him in a hug.

The next day, the boy had given her a small old chain with a gold charm. It was circular with a small cross inside and hearts around the edges that made it look like a sun. On the back was a small inscription that simply stated, “You will be taken care of.”

After that day, she never met him again. At times, she wondered if he really was an angel. It didn’t help that she never asked his name. Despite that, she wore the necklace every day and never took it off. It always helped her when she needed the extra push.

“Ok Niel. I need you to promise me that you won’t freak out,” Ricky pleaded. She put her hand to her chest, right where her necklace was hidden under her dress. Niel nodded, and she took a deep breath.

“I’m a boy.”