A/N: This chapter is a little bit longer than I used to post as an apology because you know... I haven’t updated since like... forever (>/////<)

            This update is for my little sister, Dina, who goes by dingdonghun in aff. She is my new fans now, yay! (Tsk, I told you I’m awesome, sist). By the way, she is going through a national exam right now and it’s really really really important for students in my country to pass it. Hwaiting, ok?

            Ps: The chapters before this is written in present tense, I want to change that so that’s why this chapter is written in past tense. I don’t know when I would edit them, though.

              Ps2: you should thank my sistah, because without her nagging urging at me to update, I won’t write this right now. Kekeke. (^o^)y

He could feel something had changed inside her. It was subtle, but it never stopped. Her existence was a shade of blue; a human one. However, as the time passed, the blue disappeared and turned something else.

Her color was an ash grey now. The kind of color you’d usually see at a busy road on a winter. The color appeared when the pristine white snow trapped at the side of the road and blended with dust.

Angel was white, demon was black, and human was blue. Her color didn’t included in any of those. She was a glitch in God’s scheme, an obstacle that shouldn’t have existed. She was anomaly that needed to be erased, and he was the one who had to do that.

He was ready, actually. He knew he was the one for this task. His power oozed within him, and it few through his veins before it stopped at his fingertips. They were tingling, and ready to strike. Just one little touch and she would vanish from this world. Nobody would be able to remember her. She would be like cinders, remnants of burned woods, gone with the wind and ceased to exist.

However, every time he looked at her eyes, he couldn’t. He didn’t understand. The Archangels’ order rang loudly in his head, but it seemed like it had lost its power. She wasn’t a sinner. She didn’t deserve to be killed and plunged to the depth of hell.

Moreover, from the color of hers, she was in limbo now. If she died, she wouldn’t go anywhere. She would stuck in nowhere, wandering through the maze of nothingness. She wouldn’t be able to go out, and she would rot in there, forever. It was the only punishment that able to compete with hell.

The rain was falling like billions of cold icy bullets. He didn’t feel it, though. They moved past through him. However, the girl in front of him was a different story. She breathed into her shaking hands, trying to craft some warmth underneath all the icy rain around her. Her knees wobbled and she tried to stop it by circling it with her arms.

She was sitting inside one of the empty gap between stores and cafés. She could have just entered one of them, to escape from the rain, but she didn’t. She decided to conceal herself. The less people who went near her, the better it was.

So there she was, trying to keep herself warm, which was practically useless. There was no roof above her, and her clothes had already drenched. Her lips had turned blue and she was already sleepy. It was in the middle of winter after all, it was no wonder if she died in hypothermia.

It was easy for him to send some warmth for her so she would be able to survive through the night. However, he isn’t supposed to do that. It was forbidden for angels to meddle with human’s affair unless it was a heaven’s command.

But the question was, could he restrain himself from helping her? Watching her tortured like this, was the same thing as killing her, something he was ordered to do. He was the reaper after all, the angel who always did Heaven’s dirty deeds. However, a voice within him was protesting. It was unfair for her to die, whether from cold or anything. He is an angel; he should do the right thing.

But at a time like this, which one was the right thing?

He stood for awhile, battling with himself. It was an ugly battle; both sides claimed they were right. Both of them had their own reason too, He was stuck in jumble. He was unable to do anything, and could only watch her tiptoeing on the edge of death’s cliff.

            “I see what you’re doing.” said a voice behind him.

            He jumped in surprise. There was another angel leaning on a wall lazily while smirking at him. “Whoa,” he said in a mocking gasp. “This is the first time I saw you looked so shocked. Did something happen to our baby angel?”

            Jongdae had always been a jokester, and the fact that Jongin managed to climb the Heaven’s hierarchy even though he was still pretty young had always been his favorite teasing material.

            “What do you want, hyung?” They had always been a close friend, but Jongin was not in the mood for joke now.

            “Well,” he answered slowly while checking his nails for nonexistent dirt. “I’m wondering why you are being like this, you had always been a cold blooded angel until now.”

            Jongin sighed; he didn’t know the answer either. “I don’t know, the Archangels has ordered me to erase her, but I just... can’t.”

            Jongdae started to scrutinize him, before letting out a bitter laugh that resonated in the alley. “They didn’t tell you anything, did they?”

            “Tell me what?” He knew that his hyung had never liked the Archangels, even though they were their superior.

            The older angel scanned the area around them before whispering, “There’s a reason why the Archangels are really scared with this girl.”

            Scared? It couldn’t be. Why would they be scared just because of a girl, although a very special one. It didn’t make any sense. “Why?” he asked in puzzlement.

            Jongdae’s face flashed with panic. “I can’t tell you more than this in here; this is not a safe place.” He said in a barely audible voice. Then, he started to glow, a sign for angel that was about to disappear.

            “Where are you going, hyung?!”

            “Shh! Don’t be noisy, just follow me!”

            Jongin hesitated; he couldn’t leave the girl alone, something dangerous might happen. Seeing indecision danced in his dongsaeng’s eyes, Jongdae groaned. Then, he sent a little bit of his spirit to keep her warm and, more importantly, to keep her safe from dangers that lurking around in this filthy world.

            The spirit of Jongdae did wonder to that girl. She stopped shivering, and red healthy colors slowly crept into her face. After a little bit relieved seeing her state, Jongin managed to hold Jongdae’s hand at the last second before both of them evaporated.

            Without knowing what had happened in front of her, Jun Hee took a relieved breath. The temperature was so low; she was almost freezing a few minutes ago. She knew she could die by letting icy air surrounding her completely, but she had no other option.

            She had decided that being a complete loner would be the best for everyone, including her. She could just find a warmer place and protect herself from hypothermia, but she didn’t want to go near any living creature, that way, she couldn’t hurt anyone.

            It was a relief, though. Out of nowhere, her body was able to get warm and she didn’t have to chatter her teeth anymore. Her clothes were still freezing wet, but her entire body was warm, really warm, and she didn’t feel sleepy anymore. It was weird, to get warm so sudden in the middle of winter’s rain like this. However, she was Moon Jun Hee, she was not a usual person. She had learnt from a very long time ago that it was best to ignore weird things that happened around her.

            Now that death had given up waiting to trap her into its hand, another matter awaited her. With a groan, she clutched her stomach, tried to coax it to forget food for a while. However, nothing listened to her, as usual.

            When she was berating her stomach, a pair of foot appeared right in front of her. With dread, she looked up and found another pair of eyes looking straight at her. She clenched her fist and gritted her teeth, ready to fight.

            “What do you want?” she said frostily.

            Jun Hee had never been fond of Mrs. Gook, an elderly woman whom Mr. and Mrs. Moon gladly kneel for. Mrs. Gook wasn’t cruel or evil on Jun Hee, but she always had this strange gaze when looking at Jun Hee. Sometimes, she thought it was hatred.

            Pure hatred.

            Mrs. Gook stared at her with a cold gaze. “Follow me.”

            Jun Hee contemplated a few things. She had no shelter, and she was starving. Besides, she was sure Mrs. Gook wouldn’t take her back to her—used-to-be—house. So, she stood and decided to follow the old woman.

∞

            A second later, they popped into an empty part of heaven. Even in such a sacred place like heaven, there was always an area whom being left out. A part whom deserted and different than the rest.

            Angels rarely came into a place like this. They preferred... grander area than here. That was why Jongdae chose this place. The best way to hide your secret was not a place where it was hardest to find, but a place where your enemy wouldn’t think about. In here, no soul could hear them, even the Archangels’. Jongin’s veins shivered with anticipation. The secret must had been really important.

“Don’t you think it is strange for us to leave that girl alone without being watched at all after all this years?” Jongdae said hastily.

It seemed that the question was a rhetorical one because Jongdae didn’t let Jongin to answer that. “That girl is a cursed human! But you know what? She is innocent! She doesn’t deserved to be slaughtered like a pig! We could’ve avoided murdering this girl, if only The Archangel aren’t putting their nose too high in the heaven, we wouldn’t have to kill her!”

Jongin’s mouth opened in shock. Jongdae’s dislike was not a secret for Jongin, but this was not dislike. The way Jongdae spit out words was extreme detestation. “What—Why are you blaming them?”

Jongdae let out a frustrated noise. “Do you remember the first time war broke out between us and hell?”

Jongin flinched. He clearly remembered it. Lucifer betrayed God and created armies of devil, wanting to overthrown God and ruling the world. It was a terrible chaos. The earth was affected too. Humans, angels, even devils were dying. Even the gate of Heaven was dirtied by blood and filth.

At that time, there was no balance. The world was sick and filled with debris of war. Only by the help of God, Heaven managed to restore the balance and put everything where it should be. The monster of Hell, Lucifer, was wounded even until now. He was an immortal so he couldn’t die, but he was too weak to even lift his finger from his throne of fire.

“Tell me what you know.” said Jongdae.

A few second had passed before Jongin managed to process the indistinct order. “We managed to defeat Lucifer and throw him to the depth of hell. He lost his power for good—.”

“No.” Jongdae said, cutting his brother’s word. “He didn’t lose his power, at least not forever.”

That sentence succeeded to throw Jongin into utter surprise. “Wh—What are you talking about, hyung?” he demanded.

“His power didn’t disappear. Our strike to hell weakened him. However, when he was at the edge of losing, he managed to send away his power to earth so we wouldn’t be able to take it from him.”

“To... earth?” Jongin stuttered. It meant that...

“Yes, you’re right. The power of the Lord of Hell is inside that girl’s body.”

It explained everything. It explained why the girl’s color was undefined. It explained why the Archangels sent him to murder an innocent soul. A tainted innocent soul.

“But why the Archangels didn’t do anything about it? Why only now?”

Jongdae laughed bitterly. “The Archangels are too busy cleaning their wings in their thrones. They thought that they are more brilliant than Lucifer. They didn’t think this kind of thing would happen. But by the time they realized their mistake, it had been too late. That girl had been born. At that time, she was still a baby, so we didn’t have any power to kill her. However, she has grown up now, and no matter how innocent she is, she still has some sins. It wasn’t big enough to throw her into hell, but it’s enough for us to slaughter her.”

“If you think that the Archangels are pure graceful angels, you are wrong. They are nothing but cunning wolves. They didn’t want to stain their hands, so they made you the black sheep to do this cursed thing.” Jongdae said.

The rage burning in his hyung’s eyes were spreaded to Jongin’s eyes rapidly. He now knew why he just couldn’t kill that girl. Now that he already found the reason behind all this madness, he just gone mad. That girl didn’t deserve any of this. He didn’t deserve this either.

“The power inside her body will reach its peak on her next birthday. I don’t know why Lucifer hasn’t done anything about that girl, though. But I’m sure it’s not a good thing. If Lucifer managed to lay his hand on her, the war will be replayed again. But this time, I doubt we would win it.”

“But hyung—,” Jongin stopped talking abruptly because Jongdae’s face had gone pale unexpectedly.

“What happened, hyung???” he asked, panic creeping from his back.

“Th—that girl, I felt something happened to her.”

Jongin looked at Jongdae’s eyes in shock. Then, Jongdae said a sentence that a shiver down his spine.

“I think she is being attacked by devil now.”

Dun dun dun!!!