2014

“Again, from the top!”

With beads of sweat covering their bodies, the boys pulled an all-nighter with their dance practice as they were preparing themselves for their showcase in honor of their upcoming comeback that was scheduled for the next night.

Over and over again, they went through the chosen numbers they were going to perform, putting all their energy they had left into the last hour before practice was over.

Once it had passed, they packed up their stuff and left with their manager bringing them back to their respective homes for a good night rest before the big day.

With Cheondung back in front of his apartment building, he looked up at it and sighed, dreading to walk inside his own home. He slowly made his way up until he arrived standing in front of his door. He pressed his security code and walked inside a dark apartment before closing the door behind him and turning on the lights.

As he took off his shoes, he saw his cat walking up to him looking for attention while himself around the boy’s legs. Giving him a quick pat on his head, Cheondung made his way to his bedroom where he threw his bag onto the floor, next to his closet, before taking off his coat and walked out, feeling his stomach growling.

He made his way to the kitchen and picked up something from the fridge. Once he turned around, his living room window came to his view; the light from the moon was shining through the glass, giving an ache inside his heart.

Though it wasn’t the sun, he couldn’t help but imagine Haneul standing there and looking at him with that spark in her eyes that showed him how much she loved him; it was like that every single time he would stare at that window.

Already three years passed since their only night together.

After waking up by himself on the next morning, all he could see on her side of the bed were white feathers; without even getting up and searching for her, he knew that she had been taken away.

That realization broke his heart and put him in so much pain, there wasn’t anything that anybody could do to bring that smile back on his face. He returned to be the shy and closed up member he used to be. This left the others quite upset since they didn’t know why he was like that so suddenly.

Even after all this time, he could still feel the ache linger inside of him. He never thought that the heavens could be this cruel to pull them away from a happy ending; he never thought that he had to live, yet another existence, all by himself with nobody to love like he did with her.

It was tearing him apart and he couldn’t do anything about it.

‘I miss you Haneul… to the moon and back.’

He barely slept in his bed ever since, not finding the comfort he used to have even before he met the girl. Somehow, after her presence, even the simple idea of sleeping in that bed all by himself left him in a slight ache; the couch wasn’t that comfortable but it was enough for him.

He even devoted himself to his composition to ease his mind but all he could pour out through his music was the feeling of missing her, of missing someone you knew was meant for you.

The dreams he used to have of their past lives together never came back. After she was gone, it was like she was never here in the first place; it was as if she never existed. He even tried to go back to the police station to see if there was any news but the officer that had helped them in the beginning had no recollection of that case; even the related papers were missing. The same went with the hospital.

He was the only one that remembered she was ever here. All the troubles that had passed during the time she was here never happened in his friends’ minds. It left him to dwell on the loneliness well… alone.

As for Haneul, she was as miserable as him.

The notion of time never existed up there which made those three years seem like an eternity.

To her that was her punishment.

She never understood why she couldn’t go back; she even fought with the High Power but got no satisfying answers to her questions. She still couldn’t understand why they were being this cruel to separate two beings that were obviously supposed to end together.

The answer that angered her the most was telling her that if she had just let him die like he was supposed to, she would’ve had the chance to see him in her next life.

“You’ve disrupted the Grand Design and the only way to fix it was to end your existence on earth.”

“Who the hell created that crappy Grand Design anyways! Damn it!”

From where she was, she followed Cheondung’s life and knew how sad and angry he was of their situation; she knew because she could feel it. The tears, the pain, the sorrow, every hit, she received them right in the core of her soul leaving her breathless every time.

‘I miss you too Sanghyun… I miss you too…’

Even though she wasn’t allowed to fly back down, she did it anyways. The only problem was that she was left invisible even to his eyes. Day and night, when he would be home, she would even stand in that spotlight in front of his window just to try and see if he could see her but deep down, she knew that he couldn’t and that he was looking right through her.

The white feathers she had left on his bed turned grey with the days passing by until they completely disappeared without a single trace, just like she did; her wings weren’t as white anymore, but its not like she really cared anymore. The serenity of an the angel was what made those wings purely white but the chaos in her heart was just tearing them apart, also hurting her in the process.

She tried to clip her wings several time but it never worked. Every time she tried, an unbearable pain was felt throughout her body; the same pain she had felt when she watched her husband die. It was a way to remind her of what she had caused, of what she went through to be able to bring him back.

She was afraid that if she had ever succeeded, things would be worse for him and so she stopped trying.

“Haneul? We need to speak with you.”

From her cloud, she turned around to see the People that made her who she is. A bitter look in her eyes, she simply ignored them before turning her back.

“I did nothing wrong. Leave me alone.”

“Haneul.”

With a sigh escaping from her lips, she turned around to look back at the four of them as they were firmly standing in front of her.

“What more do you want from me?” Haneul looked back at the Elders with a glare, ready to make her anger and annoyance explode. “The Angel of Destiny is here and he wants to see you.”

“Me?” She arched an eyebrow, not understanding why someone from a higher power would want to talk with her. “Come with us.” She followed them until she found herself standing before the same Elders along with the Angel of Destiny who was standing right in front of her. “If you’re really that Angel, did I disrupt your Grand Design again? What’s the problem this time.”

“I’m here because you have to make a choice.”

“A choice? What kind of choice?”

“A second chance, if you may.” She could feel her heart suddenly palpitating against her chest, trying not to get her hopes up with whatever words was going to come out of his mouth. “Truth be told, your wings have caught our attention.”

“My wings? What about them?”

“They are grey Haneul. Any further and they might turn… black.”

“Well, with the pain and suffering you put me through for the past two centuries you might understand why.”

“Haneul, pain or not, your wings aren’t suppose to be this way and you know that. It’s not… It’s to the point that its affecting all of us as well.”

“I don’t understand…”

“In other words, you’re disrupting the peace we’re suppose to have here.” Another one of the Elders spoke out with the snide comment earning a glare from Haneul. “Why should I care? You’ve put me through so much and yet you are complaining because of it?! Can you even understand how miserable I am?!”

“We do. That’s why we’re offering you this chance to change your destiny.”

“My destiny?” She looked back at the Angel, trying to comprehend what he had in mind. “Yes.” He took in a deep breath as he lightly lifted his head up before he started to speak again. “You can either go on with being an angel and have the chance to be a guardian or you can go back down on earth and be human.”

She stood silent in front of the small crowd letting her thoughts scramble one on top of the other. “What’s the catch?”

“What do you mean?”

“You really think that I’m that stupid?”

“Haneul-”

“Don’t! When I died and you guys pulled me up here, you erased my memories of my life as a human in consequence of saving my husband from that sickness. After more than one century, I finally meet him again except that I have no clue of who we were until the very end and then I got dragged back here. Now, you’re giving me an opportunity to go and join him again. Am I going to be killed on the way down or what? Why are you even doing this to me? Do you take my pain as a joke?!”

One of the other Elders took the turn to talk, trying to reason with the girl. “Haneul, you’ve got it all wrong. It is because of that pain and suffering we’re giving you the choice to choose. That fall was a surprise to all of us; it wasn’t even suppose to happen! But because it did, it changed everything.”

“What do you mean it wasn’t suppose to happen?”

“It wasn’t written on your path.” The Angel of Destiny took his turn to speak once again. “There was a crack and it shifted your future.”

Another moment of silence passed through them as Haneul was processing the words that were coming out, slowly letting her heart beat fast as the endless minutes passed by. “Why even give me the choice when you know that I would go for Sanghyun over anything else.”

“Because there’s a catch.”

She scoffed at his reply. “I knew it. Things are never easy, are they?”

“If you choose the second option, both of you will lose your memories. From your previous life and from the present one. And it’s not even guaranteed that you will see that boy again. If you are truly meant to be with him, then with time you will eventually meet him-”

She didn’t let him finish as she took a step closer, showing her determination through her words and voice. “We are meant for each other. We met twice already; we will meet again. He’s a part of me and I’m a part of him; we’re meant to be together no matter what. If it wasn’t the case then you wouldn’t even have offered me that option.”

The Elders glanced at each other before looking back at Haneul, waiting to see what they had to say. “Things might change this time. You might not even meet him the way you previously did.”

“So you’re going to send me back without anything?”

“Not anything; we’ll whip up some memories of a human life you lead until now and from there, you’re on your own.”

“I won’t have any contact from here?”

“No.”

“Haneul… You have a great potential to be a guardian; we even considered elevating you to that status.”

“I appreciate the thought but my heart belongs to him… I need to have the life I was meant to live with him. I can’t let him go, I can’t let him live a life without me. His previous lives, he wasn’t even able to live it fully because I wasn’t there; I need to change that, I need to give him the life he deserves and that’s with me.”

“Then I guess you’ve made your decision.”

“I did.”

“And if he ever dies, don’t do what you did last time… we won’t help you this time, understood? You’ll have to let his destiny run its course, whether you like it or not.” She hesitated for a moment, thinking that it might happen again if that’s why they were warning her but in the bottom of her heart, she knew they wouldn’t be that cruel; they were giving her the chance to start over and she was going to take it. “I understand.”

“Then I guess this is goodbye… And good luck.”

From here 'til the end, you will see some parts that are in italic.

Just so there won't be any confusion, it's just to let you guys know that the occurences that are going to happen are what happened exactly when Sanghyun^{past life} and Haneul met ^{versus Cheondung and Haneul's meeting}.

 

“Yah, Cheondung-ah, want to come with me?”

“Hmm? Where?”

“It’s nice outside and I want to bring Gom out in the park and it looks like you need some fresh air.”

“Hmm, yea sure, why not.”

Picking up his dog, Seungho waited for his friend by the door of their dorm before they went out to walk to the closest park. In its spring season, the sun was warm and the sky was blue, inviting the people to come out of their houses and enjoy the weather.

As they were slowly walking by while Seungho was holding onto his dog’s leash with Cheondung just by his side, they went by a tree for Gom’s rest until Cheondung suddenly found himself on the ground with a girl on top of him.

As she had fallen from the tree through a broken branch, both of them let out painful groans before realizing the position they were in. Blinking her eyes open, the fallen girl suddenly found herself staring into two brown eyes, clearly seeing the shock and fluster across them. Both of them were left speechless for a moment, completely forgetting where they were until the boy’s friend helped them get back up on their feet.

“Sanghyun-ah! Are you alright?” Helping him back up on his feet, the boy in question nodded his head as he dusted himself off before lifting his head back up to look at the girl who had her eyes wide open, bursting out her worry. “I’m so sorry! You’re not hurt anywhere, are you?”

“No, it’s okay, I’m fine -”

“Are you sure? We could go to the hospital and -”

“Don’t worry, I’m fine.”

Their conversation was soon interrupted with the loud barking of Seungho’s dog as she was looking up with her paws scratching the tree. Just then, the girl realized why the dog was barking and cursed at herself as she went back to the tree to try and climb back up.

“Wh-what are you doing?”

“My cat… she’s stuck on one of the branches.”

“Your cat?”

“Yea… She escaped from me and now I’m trying to get her back down, but she’s a stubborn little one!” At those last words the girl looked up at her cat with a pout across her lips, showing her discontent.

Sanghyun chuckled at this sight as he scratched the back of his head. She looked back down at the boy and apologized for her behavior. “Sorry about that… I really should’ve gotten a dog instead.”

“Don’t worry about it, I know how cats can be; I have one of my own too.”

She smiled while shaking her head before looking back up at the tree seeing her cat letting out a mewl while she was comfortably sitting on one of the branches. “Seriously though… How the hell am I going to get her back down here?”

“She’ll come back down eventually. It’s too cold for her anyways, so she’ll want to get warmed up… How long did you have her?”

“Hmm…” She looked at her wrist watch before looking back up at Cheondung, trying to hold in a smile. “… About 45 minutes?” She laughed at his expression and explained to him that she had just bought her new pet from the store not to far from here. “I thought the weather was nice enough, so I walked through here to get to my place, but she escaped from me and I ran until she got up on that tree and now here we are.”

They haven’t realized that the barking had stopped and that Seungho was no longer by their side; she couldn’t help but stare at Cheondung, letting her heart flutter at the sight. Something about him was strange yet, she felt drawn to him as if some kind of rope was pulling her his way. As for Cheondung, looking at her doe eyes made his skin tingle. The gaze she was giving him made him feel like he stared at those eyes before; he could feel his heart beat quicken a little bit more than normal, and just for a slight second he couldn’t breathe.

Just then, they were suddenly brought back to reality with the girl’s cat jumping on her shoulder making her jump. From there, she picked her up and placed her in her arms while softly her pure white fur, taking off the small residues of the leaves and branches.

“She’s beautiful… Does she have a name?”

“No, not yet… I guess that’s why she was so grumpy, weren’t you little kitty? Hmm?” She held the cat in the air, in front of her, so she could be ‘talking’ to her. Sanghyun smiled at the girl, and took this chance to look at her once again, noticing the features that he didn’t see before.

She was simply stunning. The summer dress she was wearing hugged her figure perfectly with her dark brown hair covering her shoulders without hiding her beautiful face. He could feel his heart beat out of his chest just by looking at her and it was leaving him all tingly with the rush of emotions swirling inside of him. He never felt like this before and being the shy man that he is, he couldn’t feel that anymore; he wasn’t capable of acting timid.

He didn’t know what was wrong, but he felt… different. He had this sudden urge of doing something bold, something that would just put him out there; to take a risk, but just by gazing at her, he suddenly lost his train of thoughts, leaving him to stare blankly at her while she was still holding onto her kitten.

She placed her back comfortably in her arms before looking up at Cheondung who didn’t realize that she was staring back at him until she waved her hand in front of him, catching his attention. “Are you okay? You were spacing out…”

“O-oh, yea, sorry about that…” She giggled at the flustered expression on his face as he scratched the back of his neck, noticing the light blush on his white cheeks. “I’m Haneul, by the way.” She stretched out her hand as she formally introduced herself. He smiled back at her and responded to her gesture by shaking her hand. “I’m Sanghyun, it’s… nice to meet you.”

The sudden contact of their hands sent some kind of electric shock through both of them as it traveled throughout out their bodies, leaving their hearts to suddenly beat faster before pacing back normally.

From where he was standing, Seungho saw everything. Sitting by the bench on the other side of the road with his dog on his lap, he was carefully observing the interaction between his friend and the girl and if he didn’t know any better, he knew that Cheondung was smitten by that girl and the same went for her; the fact that they haven’t released their handshake after ten seconds could pretty much show that they didn’t feel like parting from each other.

“It’s nice to meet you too, Sanghyun…”

She didn’t feel like letting go of his hand because of the warmth it gave her; some sort of new feeling she never felt before. He didn’t want to let go either. In fact, he wanted to hold on, along with the rushed feeling he got the moment their skin came into touch. It made him feel… wonderful, like he could do anything that was presented in front of him.

“It may sound strange but… I don’t think I ever saw you in the village before-”

“I moved here just a few days ago… It’s a long story.”

He could see a glimpse of sadness across her eyes and it made him wonder about what had happened to make her feel whatever ache she had. He noticed that she had tightened her hold onto her kitten after breaking their handshake and she went back to holding onto the pet with both her arms.

“I think I should go… It’s getting kind of late and I still have a lot to do… It was really nice meeting you Sanghyun.”

He was surprised by her sudden goodbye since he felt like he was missing out on something but seeing her facial expression change, he let it pass. “Will I see you around?”

She looked back at him with a small smile on her face as she nodded her head. “Sure, I’d like that very much.”

He watched her walk away until he suddenly got his shoulder pushed by his friend who was looking at the boy with a big smirk on his face.

“Did you at least get her number?”

“H-hmm, no… I forgot to ask…”

And who knew that they would see each other so soon?

Right inside the super market, at the pet food aisle, Cheondung just spotted Haneul looking through the various cat products. He could feel his heartbeat suddenly rise as it was strongly pounding against his chest, wanting to be out of its cage.

He lost his trail of thoughts and stood there, frozen in his spot.

He could only stare at her while she searched through the different racks, with a questioning look on her face. She was slowly walking towards him with her eyes still on the products lined up, with him still not moving.

Gazing at her like this, he felt his throat dry up with his breath out of his lungs. He was left in awe at her appearance, letting a sudden smile slowly stretch across his lips. Seeing her come closer to him, he straightened himself up and let out a short and determined breath before walking up to her.

“I use this brand of food, they’re probably the best you could find.” Using their pets as the start of their conversation since it was a point in common they had, she quickly turned her head to look at the stranger and saw Cheondung standing at her side with a soft smile across his face, leaving her breathless for just a moment. She tried to form some words through her lips but was left without a voice, leaving her standing in front of him looking like a fool.

She could suddenly feel heat creeping up her cheeks, letting Cheondung notice the slight pink blush slowly spreading across her white skin. She broke eye contact with him as she turned her head back to look at the stash of different cat food leaving the boy to smile even more, somehow liking the response she was giving him; he thought that even a slight joke might make her laugh, wanting to show that he could be funny.

“I hope your cat didn’t get your tongue… it would be sad not to hear your voice anymore.”

Breathing in and holding her breath, she tried to suppress her laughter at his somewhat attempt for humor. Replaying his words in her head though, she couldn’t help but happily giggle as she placed her hands over . He joined her too, also believing that he should’ve kept his mouth shut. “I-I’m sorry, in my head it sounded funnier.”

She calmed herself down as she lightly tilted her head to the side without breaking eye contact with him; she softly spoke out to him, finding the compliment in his joke. “Does that mean you like the sound of my voice?”

“You sound just like an angel.” The words that just came out of his mouth felt just right to say it since he said them from the heart, but it took him a moment to realize he actually spoke his thoughts out, leaving his heart to skip a beat at his sudden bold move.

She quietly giggled at his reply, amused at his attempt to flatter her before breathing in several times to calm herself down as he scratched the back of his head, slight embarrassment taking over him. “What else would you recommend for a small cat like Snow?”

“You named her Snow?”

“Mhmm, she is white as snow after all~” A childish grin appeared on her face, leaving Cheondung to admire the corners of her lips going up to see the beautiful smile that mesmerized him. She bit the corner of her bottom lip while she was still staring at him, taking in his good looks. She wanted to take a chance with him, wanting to see him again. She didn’t know what it was about him that made her feel like this, but the feeling was too addictive, wanting to let it linger longer.

“Since I’m new to owning a cat… how about helping me a little? You could show me how to take care of Snow…”

“I-I’d lo-ove too.” He could feel his heart beat quicken so suddenly, ready to explode at any second.

“Great! It’s a date then~” She winked at him, leaving him to blush with his breath cut short. He didn’t know how to respond to her conclusion and its not like he wanted to reject the idea; he’d love to spend more time with her. The spark he constantly felt since yesterday just fired up his whole body and it made him go crazy inside his heart. He could barely sleep last night because she clouded his mind and now that he had a chance to spend more time with her, he wasn’t about to say no.

Once again, the shy boy that he usually was, wasn’t around anymore, leaving him to freely act what his heart was guiding him to do. It made him feel more comfortable and more open towards the girl in front of him, thinking that he might even fall in love with her, not caring if it was too sudden. “When can I see you?”

“Are you free today?”

“Yea… I could help you with your boxes too, you know… make a full day out of it.”

“You wouldn’t mind helping?”

“Of course not! And plus, I’m sure you would need someone with strong arms to lift heavy boxes.” She giggled at his reasoning while nodding her head, impressed by his confidence. She looked down on the floor, feeling her heart flutter once again, the butterflies in her stomach flying around. “I never thought I’d bring a boy home after just two days of knowing him.”

“Well, I’m not just any boy, I’m special~”

“Yes you are.” With a soft smile on her face, she locked eyes with him, trying to figure out that special factor that made her heart jump every time he would speak. Somehow, the more she stared at him, the more she felt like she could give her life to him, the more she felt like she knew him, as if they had met before; and not only him but ever since she fell on him from the tree at the park, a sense of déjà vu kept nagging her about the events and also about their conversation, like she had already said those words before, and to him.

“I-I’m sorry for staring but… It feels like we’ve been here before-”

“Like a déjà vu?”

“Exactly… Even yesterday at the park when we met it felt like-”

“Like it happened before but can’t tell when?”

She nodded her head while biting her bottom lip, hoping that he wouldn’t think she was crazy or something of the sort. That feeling kept pushing her towards him, making her think that for some unknown reason, the universe was trying to tell her something. What it was? She was dying to know. “It’s strange isn’t it? We’re strangers and yet… I feel like I’ve known you my whole life even though technically I don’t really know you…”

“How does it feel?” He knew exactly what she meant and it surprised him, thinking that he was the only one that had this sense of connection between them. “It feels like I should be closer to you…" Once again, the sense of rationality he would usually have was swept away with the pounding of his heart. Completely forgetting that they were in public, he took one step closer to her looking at her doe eyes, knowing that it would give him everything he ever wanted.

“Do you want to be?” She nodded her head, feeling her heart in as it was overtaking every nerve in her body; it made her black out for a moment just to realize that she had her lips pressed against his, kissing him sweetly. Realizing what she was doing, she looked back at him with her eyes wide open and quickly backed away while apologizing to him.

“Oh my God, I’m so sorry! I don’t know what happened, it just- it just- I’m sorry-”

“You don’t need to apologize, I didn’t mind.” His bold answer took him by surprise once again. Under normal circumstances, he wouldn’t even have carried this conversation that far but with her, he felt like he could do anything and it made him feel like he was alive; she was making him feel alive. Though the kiss was short, it was strong enough to let him know that he didn’t want to let her go; he was confident enough to know that she was something out of the ordinary and he just adored that, no matter how short in time he knew her.

‘I guess she really knocked something out of me…’ He thought.

She looked back at him, surprised by his response while a part of her, in the pit of her stomach, wanted to smile and giggle like a happy little girl. Believing herself or not, her instinct was telling her to do it again. That kiss sent a wave of warmth through her body, a sensation she had never felt before with anybody else.

He got lost as he was still staring in her eyes, letting his emotions take the better of him, knowing that his mind wasn’t in control anymore; he couldn’t care less. “I might be saying something I can’t control but… I’m never letting you go.” He let those words softly reach her ears, making her heart burst out of her chest.

Her chest heaved up and down, letting that same uncontrollable sensation take the better of her as her voice spoke out her thoughts without any consent on letting them out.

“It sounds… heavenly perfect.”

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