After the incident her friends had done all they could to keep her occupied. They arrived back at Mellow a few minutes past twilight. All thoughts of the incident were forgotten, laughing their heads off over the lame jokes Jongin cracked as it started drizzling lightly outside.

It wasn’t until night that Mei finally arrived back home. Anna had to leave with her parents for some urgent family business. Despite Sehun’s insistence that she stays over at his place because she’d be home alone, Mei had insisted otherwise. Normally she would have taken him up on his offer; however today there was a lot she needed to sort out on her own. Strangely she was not afraid of being home alone.

She took a shower and changed her clothes. Her thoughts were occupied with the day’s events. The things that Chen guy had said about a being of light with her, someone she’d called upon and then… him…

The one who came out of nowhere, saving her life, appearing and disappearing just as suddenly.

The way he’d looked at her, his smile and then…

Her eyes landed on the shirt she had taken off. She knew it was not just her own imagination. The blood stain on her shirt was proof that he was real and he was hurt… because of her.

He needs you more than you need him…

Chen’s words rang in her mind. If what he’d said was true, then the only one she had called upon was…

Not sure what she was going to do, Mei ran to her room. Picking up the angel journal she had been reading from her bed side, she opened it carefully, turning pages… searching. A tiny paper slipped onto the floor.

She bent down to pick it up. It was the one she’d read aloud at the hospital. Ever since, she’d felt…

In a beautiful script there was written the name.  Luhan… Luhan… Luhan… below which another sentence was written in a small font, barely visible.

Once invoked, an angel is bound to the human who called them and absolutely cannot stay away from them.

Mei stood dumbfounded. She hadn’t believed any of this when she’d read it. But if what Chen said was right, what she had been feeling all along, what she had seen today was true then… she really had invoked him?  

She started to fold the paper when she saw what was written on the other side. She hadn’t seen this the last time she’d read this.

---

Angel Book of Duties

(From the personal collection of Guardian Angel, Byun Baekhyun)

---

To invoke an angel, a human must call out to them thrice, aloud.

VXII

---

You can thank me later ;)

---

 

Thank who later? Guardian Angel Byun Baekhyun?

She folded the paper and put it back into the journal; coincidentally the page that opened up was the one she had read the first time she’d started reading this journal. 

This was beyond crazy. Either some kind of a practical joke or she really was losing it. It’s just someone’s journal and how was it even possible??? Angels? Like seriously??? Lost records???

And then Luhan, the one she’s apparently invoked if that was even possible – unknown, no one’s ever heard about him? And he’s not Xhizer? And what’s with the “three of them could be just one angel? Something like aliases of a single angel? Did that even make sense?

It didn’t make sense and yet it did. And crazy as it sounded, she couldn’t just ignore that fact that she had been feeling someone’s presence beside her ever since that day at the hospital. Then he had saved her from dying today and she had seen him – Luhan, if that was even his real name – the blood on her shirt was evidence of it.

“You’re not crazy,” Mei told herself before she took a deep breath and called out to him. She didn’t know if it would work.

“Luhan”, she said out loud. And then she waited. The drizzling outside had turned into a rainstorm by now. 

No reply.

It wasn’t like she’d excepted otherwise – it seemed crazy but she continued anyway.

“I don’t know if you can hear me, maybe I’m just being silly but I know what I saw. I know you are hurt and I’d like to help you… I don’t know…maybe if you could show yourself?” she said looking around her room at nothing in particular.

Still nothing.

Mei sighed. If Anna were here today, she’d take Mei to an asylum, she thought, shrugging her shoulders. Thunder rumbled outside.

“At least give me a sign or something that you are here,” she said to no one in particular, finally giving up when nothing happened. She laid down on her bed, dimming the side table lamp. Her room now barely lit.

Mei recollected everything once again.

She was being stupid perhaps but she just wanted to see him again. She closed her eyes, reminiscing the expression of relief he had held in his eyes when he’d saved her… and if she wasn’t daydreaming, something much more… like adoration perhaps.

Maybe it was her mind making things up, which would be absolutely normal considering the amount of handsome he was. If she was to use one word to describe him, it’d be perfection. Yeah, she was definitely insane because now she could even smell that beautiful scent that calmed her to the core.

A loud thud broke her out of trance. As if something fell on the floor. Thunder rumbled outside and Mei jumped out of her bed, turning on the lights.

“Who’s there?” She called out instinctively, glancing around before her eyes fell on...

“Oh my God!”

Inside her room, right beside her window, a man lay faint on the floor. There were two huge scars running along the length of his back and one side of his shoulder was bleeding from, as if something, a cart perhaps, had pierced though him.

Panicked, she rushed to see if he was breathing. She calmed a little when she felt it, though it was very faint. She turned him around and almost fainted herself.

It was him! It was Luhan! Maybe she should call someone, an ambulance but… he’s a freaking Angel! “What should I do?” she said out loud panicking. How is one supposed to treat an angel?

Right now her mind was too occupied with the wound on his shoulder to care. But she knew it would create a bigger problem if she called anyone; her best shot was to tend to his wounds herself. If anything, she was the one responsible for them.

Suddenly, she was thankful for the emergency first aid classes she’d taken as a scout. There was no time to waste, she’d move him on the bed after she’d cleaned his wound. Mei ran out for the first aid kit she kept in the dressing room.

After she came back, she got to work. She was kind of glad he was unconscious or it would have hurt him as she cleaned his wounds.

However, the moment her hand touched his skin, a strange energy rushed through her skin and to her astonishment the bleeding wound on his shoulder started healing, a bright light engulfing it entirely, along with her fingers.

Surprised, Mei started to pull her hand back but the light seemed to cling to her fingers and the moment they lost contact with his skin, his wound started bleeding again. Mei noticed, though, that it appeared to have closed up a bit.

Even more bewildered now, she put her hand back on his wound and the light started shining again. At first it was too bright but as her eyes got used to it, she could see his skin knitting itself back together at the places where her fingers touched.

Gently, experimentally, she trailed her fingers along the length of his wound and to her delight, the skin began healing itself. In a few minutes, the light vanished and she blinked rapidly to get rid of the bright spots in her eyes.

When she could see again, she peered closely at his now-healed wound. Only a few scratches remained, barely more than surface cuts. The two huge scars on his back remained as it is, and although Mei was no expert, she could tell they were quite old and deep.

She checked him, finding his breathing had stabled although it was still very faint. Hesitating a bit, she traced a finger over one puckered scar, the skin thick and coarse underneath the tip, half expecting the light to come back again.

To her slight disappointment, no such thing happened, yet she let her fingers linger. She wondered what could’ve happened to cause scars like this, wondering… he was an angel, if she was right. Weren’t angels supposed to have wings? What happened to his…?

Just then, an image flashed through her head, too blurred and quick to be caught but leaving behind a phantom ache in her back. It was disturbing enough to make her pull her hand back, heart suddenly racing.

It had felt like someone had torn off a part of her body. She stared at him for a moment, bug-eyed. Had she just experienced what he’d gone through? Her heart ached at the mere thought. A bit more gently, she traced her fingers over his shoulder, taking care to avoid the deep scars and turned him around.

And closed her eyes in a hurry, covering them with a hand, a loud squeak escaping her.

In her frenzy to treat him, she hadn’t noticed an obvious fact – that he was completely, utterly . And she’d turned him around, so everything was on display… and when she said everything, she meant… EVERYTHING!!!  

Mei blushed. And then slapped herself on the head. “He’s an angel, you idiot.”

For once she was glad for the spare clothes Jongin, Kyungsoo and Sehun kept at her place. Blushing profusely still, she somehow managed to get him into some pants and for the record, she almost died doing it, trying not to peek. But she’s also only human and needed her eyes to navigate in the dark and to make sure she didn’t step on any delicate bits… so she peeked. Sue her!

She didn’t put a shirt on him though because she was afraid it might hurt his wounds although there were barely scratches remaining.  Okay fine, she wanted to look at his abs. He was hawt, geez – let a girl be. 

Mei then carried Luhan and laid him on her bed. Yet another thing she was not sure how she was able to do. For some reason he was really very light for someone that built & tall. She dimmed the lights once again.  

Too many questions were unanswered about this strange, beautiful man lying asleep in her bed.  Mei sat next to him, mostly studying the refined perfection of his features. Her mind was busy churning up all sorts of absurd scenarios. The thunder rumbled once again outside and the lights went out but she was not afraid.

Somehow, today the darkness seemed to have lost its dread. She didn’t remember when she held his hand or when she fell asleep in a peaceful slumber beside him, strangely feeling complete and whole for the first time in her life. 

…………………………………

Earlier that day…

The strangest thing happened today… Could it be that this case was more than what he thought it was? Why else would the Elder…?

Things really didn’t make sense. He had gone to that – what was it that humans called it… Yes – the carnival because he had detected Angel energy; however, by the time he arrived it was lost. The humans had scattered because of some ride cart falling incident.

Concerned, he found that no one was hurt. That was when he suddenly detected it again. Much stronger this time and he was surprised to find the Elder there. Although Yunho, the Elder, dismissed him without any specific answers. Just that he was distressed by the panicking humans and had decided to visit to see if everything was okay.

It surprised him because the Elder could simply have sent another Guardian Angel for this purpose. Surely the matters of the heavens are of much more importance. And why was he, Suho, detecting unregistered energy surges, like those of the Elder? Just as strong but definitely not his. If it wasn’t the Elder, then who was it?

He knew how things at the heavens worked. Suho was not done. This was not over and the fact that the Elder was there made him even more sure of it. An Elder does not simply leave the heavens for the humans. It must be something really big. The Elder could not lie, he was an Angel and Suho could hear the echo of truth in his words, loud and clear. But there were details he conveniently may not have mentioned.

There was definitely more to this whole Xhizer thing. Maybe Suho was missing something.

……………………………………

Baekhyun rushed out of the Cat’s Lair. He might be high but his senses weren’t dead. What if he was too late? The child was in danger and he had hurt himself; how could he risk it? Dammit. He stopped midflight to look around – It was the pain-in-his- guardian Angel Suho again.

“Oh cut me some slack, you prick!” Baekhyun cursed under his breath as he rushed back to the ground to blend in with the humans. With the smoke and all, his aura was dulled so no one from the heavens could detect him. And then, Baekhyun saw him – the Elder; his jaw clenched as he clenched his fists.

He could hear them talking from afar, thanks to their super hearing abilities. This was not good. Why was that… that Elder getting involved? Baekhyun thanked heavens a billion that Luhan and the girl had already left. It didn’t stop him from getting a little worried though.  

Dammit I’m a rogue.

He decided it was time he checked up on them and maybe paid them a visit.

……………………………..

Suho thought he detected angel energy again and he immediately latched onto it, following the trail even though it was really faint, mixed with a hint of smoke… which was surprising really, because angels and smoke didn’t go together.

He kept himself alert, hearing amped so he could hear the slightest rustle of a leaf in the wind and the indistinct rush of cars going along the mountains; his eyes were peeled for the slightest sign of angel energy when…

‘Yo!’

Suho was struck with strange energy this human exuded and stopped out of curiosity. He smelled of the same smoke that Suho had detected on the angel’s trail and… wait, how could this human see him?

He turned around, sure that he’d been mistaken. The human was probably calling someone else, maybe another human…

‘Yo angel dude!’

Suho blinked, both at the informal address – dude? He was a Guardian Angel of the heavens! – and at being the obvious addressee.

He still pointed at himself to make sure. ‘Me?’ If the humans couldn’t see him, they sure as hell couldn’t hear him.

‘Yes you, glowing man!’ The man neared, the strong smell of smoke accompanying him and engulfing Suho as well. The man grinned, a deep dent appearing in his cheek.

‘Why’re you all showing up today? Something big happening up there?’ he wiggled his brows, grinning in a disturbing manner.

‘Excuse me?’

‘First that cute guy without the wings, then the naughty cute one… there was the old dude as well and now you…’ he glanced around curiously. ‘Where’s your friend? I have something he’ll definitely enjoy.’

‘I’m not sure who…’ Suho could only blink, unable to find words which was a rare thing indeed because Guardian angel Suho did not run out of words.

He arched a brow, blowing a stream of smoke on Suho’s face and making him cou- okay, no, he didn’t cough, he was an angel – but the smoke did make him a bit lightheaded.

‘A bit taller than you,’ he murmured, smoke emitting with every word, before grinning again. ‘No offense but you’re tiny.’

Suho was definitely offended and puffed his chest to retort that height wasn’t everything and as an angel, it was his piety that mattered but he overrode his forming protests.

‘Cute face, naughty smile… black hair, dresses like a punk, a bit heavy on the liner…’ Suho had no idea what half those things meant – punk? Liner? – but one thing was sure, he wasn’t talking about the Elder because Yunho did have good features but naughty smile? He rarely cracked a smile, let alone give it any character.

If what this man was saying was true, then there had been two more, unidentified angels here. Suho knew he was on the right track.

‘Excuse me…’ Suho opened his mouth and inhaled a large amount of the potent smoke. He resisted the urge to cough because this smoke couldn’t affect him. ‘Can you tell me more about this?’

The man puffed out another stream of smoke, before ing his hand forward, ‘Name’s Lay. Welcome to the Cat’s Lair.’

……………………….. 

A/N

So I hope this clears up some of the things. I know its still confusing but you'll understand soon. Do Comment & lemme know what you think :) *cough*... Mei/Lu Progress ... *cough* ^.^  

Belated but still Happy Ramadan Everyone. 

P.s: Really excited for Lu's new Drama "Fighter of the Destiny*, although I’m not sure if I can handle the romance :P Give him Love & support <3