Fifth Paradise : Dongwoo

I woke up to a loud crash coming from the front of my room. Bolting up immediately with a pillow as a makeshift weapon in my hands, I was prepared to bludgeon whoever it was to death when I noticed Dongwoo and Woohyun sprawled at the foot of my bed, with my door lying underneath them.

“Is this how you treat your guests?” I asked amusedly. They were struggling to untangle themselves from each other and it was rather endearing watching them look like a pair of hyperactive puppies.

When they finally freed themselves from the tangle of limbs, they hastily propped the red door against the doorframe. The hinges squeaked pitifully as they swung in their places.

“Please don’t tell Sunggyu hyung,” they said in unison.

“I’ll consider. Leave immediately,” I threatened maliciously. They were gone in seconds.

Laughing underneath my breath, I jumped off the bed and made myself presentable before heading downstairs. The door, despite it being ripped off its hinges turned a bright green when I left the room, surprising me for a split second. A loud cracking sound that came from downstairs diverted my attention away from my colour-changing door.

“We’re sorry!”

Looks like I didn’t even have to let Sunggyu know about the little fiasco from earlier since he was already dishing out punishment to the two younger men with no mercy at all. He prowled in front of them like a lion, small eyes reduced to mere slits as he eyed them like they were his prey, mouth set in a thin line to display his obvious dissatisfaction.

Sungjong motioned for me to come over and I quickly slipped into the seat next to his to watch the entire scene unfold. I had to hold in my laughter when I saw Dongwoo balancing a dozen books stacked on his head. Woohyun fared slightly worse than his hyung, he was balancing a cup instead of books. Unfortunately, the cup was filled to the brim with cooking oil that left greasy marks wherever they spilled onto.

“Does Sunggyu ever get punished?” I whispered to Sungjong who was looking at his hyungs with an expression that was a mix between smugness and pity.

He shook his head. “He’s the oldest among us so he gets a free pass whenever he does something wrong.” He sighed dramatically, eyes glazing over slightly and I could only imagine that he was picturing the amount of horrendous punishments he would let befall onto one very poor and unsuspecting Sunggyu.

Hoya and Sungyeol slid into the seats next to mine with Myungsoo taking the seat directly opposite from me.

“What did they do this time?” Hoya wondered out loud.

“They broke noona’s door down,” Sungjong suppressed a laugh when one of the books tumbled off Dongwoo’s head. It was instantly replaced by another two heavier looking volumes, resulting in a moan from the dirty blonde.

“No wonder he’s mad. He has to fix the door later on.”

“Sunggyu does it? I would expect him to order one of you to do it,” Woohyun’s cup tipped over, drenching his entire front with oil. His shirt clung to his body, exposing his well-toned torso and just a hint of his abs. The cup was replaced onto his head in a flash and refilled with oil.

“Ugh. He shouldn’t have given Woohyun hyung oil, it’s going to blow up his ego to even more uncontrollable proportions by letting him show off his body,” Sungyeol moaned, displeased.

“We have zero knowledge on these type of things. Anything that needs fixing around here, Sunggyu hyung handles alone,” Hoya answered my question. I nodded. It made sense, being the leader meant holding more responsibilities. Especially when dealing with a group of overgrown babies such as these boys.

“Although, he’s letting them off easy today. Probably because hyung needs to accompany you to the Mortal World today,” Sungyeol piped in.

“Which hyung?” I asked curiously.

“What colour’s your door today?”

“Uh. It’s a bright green.”

“Which hyung do you think is a bright green?”

I looked at the two boys and decided on Dongwoo. I told them this and they nodded approvingly. Sungjong then explained to me that the door changes colours to correspond with the Guardian in charge of the day. I asked him why but he shrugged his shoulder, shaking his head.

“You’re good at this, what colour do you think I’m going to be?” Sungyeol asked excitedly.

“Yellow? Or maybe baby blue? I’m not sure.”

“Me?”

“Pink, definitely,” We laughed as Sungjong pouted.

“Hoya hyung’s no fun because it’s sure to be purple.”

“Hey! Purple is a beautiful colour alright?”

“What about Myungsoo hyung and Woohyun hyung?”

It was easy picking a colour for Myungsoo. Woohyun however, I kept trying to pick one that would reflect his flirty personality but there was one colour that stuck in my mind even though it was nothing close to being greasy or cheesy.

“Black and white,” I finally announced to the three boys.

“White? For Myungsoo hyung?” Sungjong asked puzzled.

I shook my head, casting a glance towards Myungsoo’s direction. He was happily snacking on a marshmallow stick and seemed oblivious to our little conversation.

“Black for Myungsoo. White for Woohyun,” I concluded.

“What’s white for me?” An oily Woohyun butted in, dripping oil everywhere. Sunggyu immediately dragged him away by the collar, yelling about dirtying the carpets and leaving him more work to do.

“White for Woohyun hyung? Are you sure noona?” I nodded. It was strange but it was the only colour I could associate with him oddly.

All three of them shook their heads and launched into complaints about how much of a womanizer he was despite the amount of women was close to none in Paradise and how there was no way his colour could be something so pure and innocent.

Dongwoo jogged over, the large stack of books in his arms discarded happily onto the countertop.

“Good morning Hyeri, you’re with me today,” he smiled widely, showing off his entire row of sparkling white teeth that nearly had me blinded.

“Good morning to you too,” dressed in a simple white graphic tee and low cut baggy jeans, he was completely unfazed by the earlier punishment as he munched happily on the apple he had gotten his hands on.

Eradicating the apple to its core in seconds, Dongwoo smacked his lips in satisfaction. “You ready?”

Nodding, I grabbed his hand as we made our way towards the portal. He looked at me confusedly but brushed it off. The others all waved lazily at us, with the exception of Myungsoo, he just stared as usual. I sent a little wave their way before Dongwoo dragged me off and we were swirling in the portal. I held onto Dongwoo’s hand for dear life to make sure we wouldn’t be separated like how Sunggyu and I were blown apart from each other yesterday.

My hand slipped from his grip and I was about to yell out when the tossing and turning stopped abruptly with me falling onto a carpeted floor. I almost thought I had been transported back to Paradise when I noticed the sunshine streaming through the window above me. There were no windows in Paradise. Pushing myself up, I recognized the room I was in. It was the spare bedroom in my house. The adjoining bathroom door clicked open and Dongwoo came staggering out. His face was a pasty white and he shook his head blankly when I asked him if he was alright.

Giving him some time to recover himself, I peeked out into the hallway. There was nobody in sight. The pink door at the end of the hallway was ajar. I looked at the clock, it was almost time for Mija to head to school. I abandoned Dongwoo in the spare room and ran towards her room. Not surprisingly, my little angel was still snoozing in her bed, drooling all over her pillow. I shook her awake, yelling her name to quicken the process. She sat up sleepily, rubbing her eyes as she looked at me blankly. I shoved her into her bathroom and skipped downstairs. Dongwoo was already lounging on the settee in the living room, chewing on another apple.

“Mija’s going to be late,” I moaned when I passed him, making a beeline for the kitchen. I ripped opened the plastic covering the loaf of bread and threw a few pieces into the toaster carelessly. Dongwoo nearly scared the life out of me, pun not intended, when I turned around and he was standing behind me.

“Hyeri. Calm down. I’ll handle the food, you take care of Mija,” he lifted the bottle of milk out of my hands and gave me a gentle push out of the kitchen. I looked at him a little skeptically as he brandished the butter knife with a smile.

“No peanut butter for her sandwiches, she’s allergic,” I told him before rushing upstairs to check on for Mija. Luckily, she was already out of the bathroom and halfway into her uniform. She rolled her eyes when I helped her put her socks on.

“Aish umma! You didn’t wake me up!” She complained loudly as she finished buttoning her shirt.

“Sorry Mija. I overslept. And I didn’t buy you that alarm clock just for decoration you know,” I reminded her while tying her hair into a messy ponytail. I picked up her small backpack and we rushed downstairs together.

Dongwoo was already waiting by the door, Mija’s lunchbox in one hand and a plastic bag filled with more sandwiches in the other. Mija looked at him curiously as he handed her the lunchbox while I fumbled to get her shoes on. Shoelaces ugh. The three of us burst out of the door after Mija successfully put her shoes on by herself, pushing my clumsy hands away. Our shoes slapped loudly against the pavement as we ran towards the school, hands linked together.

“Umma! Who’s this oppa?” Mija yelled as we ran.

 “Nice to meet you Mija-yang. The name’s Dongwoo,” Dongwoo answered Mija’s question directly, flashing her his gummy smile.

I huffed, checking my watch every five seconds. We were going to make it. Just a little more—

“WAIT!” I screamed. The school was in sight and the gates were halfway closed. I ignored the strange looks from the other parents. There was only one goal in mind and that was getting my daughter to school on time. The ahjusshi manning the gate stopped when he heard my scream. He looked up, surprised but his surprised expression morphed into an amused one when he saw me.

“Mrs Lee. Cutting it a little close today aren’t we?” He joked, holding the gate open for us.

“Sorry. Mija here is such a lazy little girl,” I pinched Mija’s flushed cheeks.

“Don’t believe her ahjusshi! Umma overslept today!” Mija defended herself frantically.

“She’s right. Hyeri was the one who was late,” Dongwoo added in. Mija gave him a high five and flashed a wide smile at him.

“Oh. And who might you be? This isn’t Mr Lee,” the ahjusshi scrutinized Dongwoo with his old eyes, scanning him up and down. “In fact, this isn’t the same man as the one from yesterday am I right?”

“They’re friends of mine,” I answered hastily before he could ask any more questions. “Alright Mija, see you later. Behave yourself okay?” I kissed her forehead and pushed her into the school. She sent flying kisses towards Dongwoo and me before disappearing into one of the buildings.

We bid the ahjusshi goodbye and made our escape back to the house. I collapsed face first onto the sofa while Dongwoo settled himself gracefully into the armchair next to mine.

“I’m not built for running,” I mumbled into the pillow my head was buried in.

Dongwoo let out a loud chortle that sounded rather distant. He proceeded to poke me in the back with his foot. I tried ignoring him but he was adamant. I gave in and sat up, attempting but failing to look graceful as I smoothened my flyaway hair.

“About time you woke up. I thought you died again or something,” Dongwoo looked at me with wide, worried eyes.

“What?” I croaked out. My voice was hoarse and my throat was itching horribly. I checked my watch and let out a small yelp. It was already two in the afternoon! But I just dropped Mija off a few minutes ago in the morning, where did those few hours go?

“You fell asleep after we dropped Mija-yang at school. You didn’t look too well so I let you sleep,” Dongwoo explained.

“I’m really sorry. I shouldn’t have slept. Let’s go get lunch, you must be starving,” I lifted myself off the couch quickly. Bad, bad move. The world spun and I was on the verge of falling face first onto my floor. I caught myself before I could fall, taking in deep breaths to steady myself. Dongwoo missed my little fiasco since his back was turned and I grinned at him, hiding the throbbing headache I was having.

“Actually, I made some stuff while you were asleep,” he scratched his head timidly, bowing his head. I cocked my head at him and he led me towards the kitchen.

“I hope you don’t mind me using the ingredients in your refrigerator.”

On my tiny countertop-slash-table was a feast. Okay, that was pushing it a little but with the way the scent of the dishes wafted in the air and the persistent grumbling in my stomach, the dishes were already sparkling in my eyes. I stalked over to the table, admiring the way the meat shone juicily, the way the rice was steamed perfectly, the way the cheese on the omelet was melting oh-so-slowly and seductively.

“It’s not much,” he mumbled, earning a disbelieving stare from me.

“It’s amazing,” I was this close to drooling as my eyes ate up the wonderful scene before me.

I sat down quickly, dragging him with me. He mumbled a shy thank you as I dumped a mountain of rice into his bowl. He really was adorable with the way he was so bashful about the stream of compliments that I showered unto him. I dug in contentedly, urging him to do the same. His shyness disappeared when he started eating, wolfing down the food in an abnormally fast pace. If I weren’t as hungry as I was, he would probably have eaten everything. We ate in silence, gobbling the food down within minutes.

After all the dishes were cleared, I stood up and stretched, feeling extremely content after the great meal. Dongwoo moved the dirty dishes to the sink and began cleaning up. I joined him hurriedly.

“Let’s do it together,” I smiled at him happily, rinsing the plates that he had soaped.

“I didn’t know you cooked,” he blushed visibly, fumbling with the plate he was washing.

“I picked it up from Woohyun, he’s the one who cooks all our meals. And over time, it became a hobby.”

He then went on about how Woohyun was such a great cook and the dishes that he made were a thousand times better than his. He soon branched out away from Woohyun and into the other boys. Everything he said about them was about how wonderful they are. The way he spoke of them with such enthusiasm and the way his movements got increasingly more animated as he spoke was endearing to watch.

“You guys have been together for a long time haven’t you?” He smiled contently, nodding lightly.

“It’s always been the seven of us, ever since the beginning.”

“The beginning?”

“I don’t remember it very well. Actually, I’m not sure whether there was a beginning at all. We were just there. All I knew was that I was a Guardian and I had a duty to carry out. It was the same for the others.”

“Were you…” I struggled to find the right word. “Human?”

He shook his head. “I don’t know. God could have created us for the sole purpose of carrying out our roles as the Guardians. Maybe we were once human. I have no idea.” He became pensive as he mulled over his own thoughts.

I felt a sudden wave of pity for him, for them. They might be old in reality, but they were all actually still so young. Young, hot-blooded men that was supposed to be enjoying their prime of their lives, not stuck in some unknown dimension and carrying out their eternal duty that bound them to the place they called Paradise. It wasn’t Paradise, not if they were bound there against their will, never knowing who they truly are.

“It doesn’t matter,” Dongwoo said suddenly, breaking me out of my train of thought. “What is past is past and what is hidden shall remain hidden.”

“But don’t you ever wonder, why me?” I felt angry for them, felt angry that they were bound to their fate without any reason or explanation.

“It’s not like I hate it, I’m just happy I don’t have to go through this craziness alone,” he confessed, smiling sheepishly.

We let the matter drop and went back to washing the dishes.

I wondered about the sudden burst of anger I had felt earlier. I was getting attached to them. It was something I should avoid at all costs but they were growing on me despite the amount of time I had known them. I was about to die, my life was slowly expiring, but that didn’t mean my heart had stopped feeling. It didn’t mean my heart had stopped loving.

And the worst part was, I didn’t want to stop myself.

∞

“You definitely have to cook dinner later,” I voiced out to the playful young man next to me who was busy sticking his head out of the window of the bus.

“Sorry. What?” He pulled his head back in, a look of pure enjoyment on his face.

We were currently on the way to my workplace. It was a one-hour ride by bus from my house. I had already missed two days of work without any prior notice and I shuddered at the amount of work that was sitting on my desk waiting for me. I felt bad for my boss, Mrs Jung. She was a nice, well-tempered lady that took me under her wing despite me having zero work experience when I had applied. She taught me everything I needed to know, never once losing her temper or getting frustrated. I had asked her the reason for her patience once, but all I managed to squeeze out of her was an enigmatic smile. I later learned that my appearance was strikingly similar to her deceased sister when she was younger.

I was going to let her know I was resigning after finishing the last batch of work she assigns me. That way she wouldn’t be stuck with my unfinished work when that truck rams me down on that faithful afternoon. Dongwoo had opted to tag along when I let him know my plans as opposed to just lying around at home. He had been extremely excited when he found out we were going by bus.

“I’ve never been on a bus before!” He had exclaimed happily.

I found that hard to believe since I rode the bus to work everyday for the past few years but offered him the window seat when we got on. It was a little stuffy in the bus so I had pushed the window open, letting fresh air circulate through the enclosed space. Dongwoo was ecstatic when he felt the cool wind hit his face and had promptly stuck his head out for the past twenty minutes. I ignored the weird looks the ahjummas sent us. A young, impish looking man in a bright pink hoodie even had the nerve laugh out loud. I sent him an evil glare, shutting him up immediately.

“I said, you should cook dinner later, for Mija. She’s going to love you,” I repeated my sentence. He agreed enthusiastically, sticking his head out of the window again.

I shook my head amusedly and let him be. Soon, we were at our destination. We got off the bus and headed towards the large building looming in the distance. I left Dongwoo in a small diner, assuring him I would be back before taking off on my own. Mrs Jung knew about my divorce and of course, Mija. I would like to avoid being interrogated by my soon to be ex-boss about any possible new men in my life.

I rode the elevator up to the fifth floor. The doors dinged open, revealing the spacious office space. The receptionist counter in the front was empty so I let myself in. The office was empty as well and I realized it was breaktime. The first place I checked was my corner of the office and sure enough, a large stack of papers sat waiting on my desk. I sighed at the sight of the tower of papers, it was going to take me the entire night to finish everything. I made my way over to Mrs Jung’s office. I knocked hopefully and cheered silently when a gruff yes came as a reply. Cracking the door open, I spotted her hunched over a few documents, eyebrows furrowed together. She looked up, her frown melting away instantly.

“Han Hyeri. I was wondering when you were going to show up,” she stood up, made her way over to me and patted me on the back.

I apologized to her and she lectured me a little. The headache was back, albeit on a smaller scale. It had completely disappeared earlier. I excused myself from Mrs Jung, assuring her that I would complete all the paperwork by tomorrow morning. Cradling the large stack of papers in my arm, I bid her goodbye as she watched me leave with a worried expression.

I met up with Dongwoo at the diner. He jumped up and lifted the papers out of my arms despite my insistence to carry them on my own. I gave up arguing with him and paid for his meal. We took the bus home, Dongwoo refrained from sticking his head out this time and picked Mija up from school. She latched onto Dongwoo’s free hand, ignoring me yet again but I didn’t really care this time around. We stopped by the supermarket to pick up some groceries before heading home.

I locked myself in my room, ordering them to eat without me since I was busy. I buried myself in my work and by the time I was done it was already well past midnight. Tossing the pen aside after I put down my signature on the last piece of document, I stretched, my joints popping in various places. I left my room and checked on Mija. She was already fast asleep, curled in her blankets. I made sure to set her alarm before kissing her forehead and whispering a goodnight.

There was still light coming from the living room when I headed downstairs. Dongwoo was crashed on the couch, snoring lightly with the television on. I shook him gently but he didn’t wake up. I shook him harder but he remained stubbornly asleep. I finally resorted to splashing his face with cold water after almost ten minutes of futile attempts of trying to shake him awake. He bolted up with a start, blubbering at the mouth.

“I’m really sorry,” clapping my hands in front of my face, “but we have to go back right?”

“Huh? Uh. Yeah,” his speech was slurred as he got up from the couch groggily. We stumbled upstairs, with me supporting most of his weight and made our way towards my bedroom.

The portal was already there, crackling noisily. We jumped into it, I gripped Dongwoo’s arm tightly to stop us from being separated. We landed in the common room again, the force combined with Dongwoo’s somewhat dead weight forcing us to our hands and knees. My headache had magnified tenfold after travelling through the portal, it felt like my head was about to split with the continuous throbbing. Dongwoo rolled onto his side and I noticed that he was already asleep.

“Finally! I thought something had happened,” somebody exclaimed.

Looking up, I saw Sunggyu running towards us with a frantic look, Myungsoo and Woohyun trailing behind him. Sunggyu lifted me up while Myungsoo and Woohyun struggled to get Dongwoo onto his feet.

“Are you okay?” Sunggyu asked me as he supported me up the stairs. I nodded, too tired to open my mouth. I forced myself to speak after he left me in my room. “Dongwoo’s fine, I think. He fell asleep while he was waiting for me.”

“Don’t worry about him. Worry about yourself, Hyeri,” Sunggyu smiled before wishing me goodnight and closing the door.

I let myself fall onto the bed, the pain in my head was becoming unbearable. Unconsciousness took over quickly and swiftly, knocking me out.