The first Noel the angels did say

Was to certain poor shepherds in fields as the lay;

In fields where they lay, keeping their sheep,

On a cold winter’s night that was so deep.

Noel, Noel, Noel, Noel, Born is the King of Israel.

They looked up and saw a star,

Shining in the east, beyond them far:

And to the earth it gave great light,

And so it continued both day and night.

 

“Noel, Noel, Noel, Noel, Born is the King of Israel,” Woohyun sang lowly as he walked down the street. The way was lined with twinkling lights, stars plucked from the sky only to be hung alongside a dingy, city street. But they were still beautiful all the same.

Follow the star. Follow the star, Woohyun chanted in his mind as his feet picked up the pace.

“And by the light of that same star,

Three Wise Men came from country far;

To seek for a King was their intent.

And to follow the star wheresoever it went,” he continued to sing along with the tune playing over the crackling speakers of the stores. They were all playing the same song. It was the first day of the winter festival of this town, whose name Woohyun couldn’t remember. He didn’t know much about this place at all. He was from somewhere else, somewhere far-far-away. He would be wandering aimlessly down the street, lost in the crowd of festival goers, if he wasn’t following the star, his star, which he had not only been following both day and night but for years, nearly three decades.

This year, however, this glorious year, a gift from God himself, Woohyun was finally going to catch his star.

His feet picked up from off the ground as speed off into a sprint. He couldn’t wait any longer, narrowly dodging the others on the streets as he ran towards that shining star. Faster and faster he ran until his lungs hurt from breathing in the ice-cold air. It was worth it though. It was all worth it.

Then he stopped and looked up, grinning so broadly. “I found it,” he spoke quietly and chuckled. A golden star topped the large Christmas tree in the middle of the town square. This was it. This was the place. His star was here.

“Oh,” Woohyun gasped as he felt something cold glance off of his cheek. He bent his head back even further. Snow was descending from the dark sky in great, white clumps. It was the first snowfall of the year, and it was as if the clouds had been scarcely holding it back this whole time. The snow was coming down heavily and quickly. Woohyun could feel the snow gathering in his hair, melting against his cheeks. It was wet and cold, and it was his first time feeling something as wonderful as this. Woohyun lowered his head back down, giggling like a child as he shook of the snow from his head, creating a miniature snowstorm all of his own.

“I didn’t know it was supposed to snow.”

Someone apparently had a differing attitude towards this than Woohyun. The man’s voice was low and annoyed, grumbling to himself. Woohyun looked over, seeing a man dressed in a thin coat, sleeves tugged down and gathered in his fists, teeth chattering underneath a mask. The man obviously wasn’t prepared for the weather, especially since he was wearing shorts albeit long ones. And yet, here the man was, lured towards the tannebaum like Woohyun was and his eyes fixed on the golden star at the top. With a sigh, the man dropped his gaze and hooked his finger under the masking, pulling it down and revealing his face.

Woohyun’s eyes widened and his jaw dropped. “Y-you!”

***

Indeed, Woohyun was from a far, far away place, almost as far away as you could get. He was an angel in Heaven, with a glowing halo around his head, broad wings sprouting from his back, and a harp slung at his side. He resided with his fellow seraphim, performing God’s Will. Each angel held a specific purpose. Whether it was in orchestrating Fate, assisting humans, fighting demons, or acting as messengers, every angel was special. Woohyun was no exception. Some angels, like himself, served as an embodiment of what humans would call “an abstract concept,” but they are as real and concrete as you and I up in Heaven. Those angels help humans whenever they need a little bit more Hope, Justice, Love, etc. and are summoned by prayers. And Woohyun was the angel of Curiosity.

Angels of Curiosity aren’t long for in Heaven. As the saying goes, “Curiosity is a dangerous thing.” It kills cats, pushes scientists to cross over terrible boundaries for the sake of ‘what if’ and ‘can we?’, and causes angels to fall from Heaven. Woohyun’s predecessor had been infatuated with human ingenuity and inventions and fell to Earth for the chance to drive in a Ford Model T automobile. The one before that sunk even deeper, into the caverns of Tartarus in Hell, at the steps of Pandemonium, so that he could see the Devil with his own eyes. Each one eventually fell, and very few returned back to Heaven as a departed soul.

And as for Woohyun, why did he fall? His fall was among the most common, for angels and for humans: he fell in love.

This fall began with a small stumble by the name of Dongwoo. Dongwoo was an angel of Meetings who helped to plan out Fate, step by step. His job, in Woohyun’s opinion, was extra-special because he set up the Meetings between Soul Mates. Where? When? How? All of those details were meticulously planned by Dongwoo before the Soul even entered the human body. He would sit on his cloud, surrounded by newborn Souls, whispering to them how they meet their one true love before handing them off to the angel of Dreams and Desires. Woohyun would sometimes sit by his friend and listen, wondering how Dongwoo thinks of these Meetings, because some were mundane, like meeting as coworkers, while others were wild and complicated, involving lies and trickery.

“They just come to me,” Dongwoo answered. “And the Meeting really depends on the particular Soul. What they look for in life and love. What moment will make them think, ‘Ah, this is the one I’m meant to be with.’”

“What about this one?” Woohyun asked as he plucked a Soul from the pile and handed it over to the other.

“This one,” Dongwoo muttered below his breath as he scrutinized the orb of the Soul, eyes narrowed and trying to peer through the haze. His eyes narrowed tighter and tighter until they finally shut. Dongwoo blinked his eyes open several times and shook his head. “Ah,” he whined as he rubbed his eyes. “I don’t see it.”

“See what?” Woohyun crawled closer to look at the orb himself. Although he couldn’t read Souls like Dongwoo could, Woohyun could tell that it was a difficult one to read. It was too cloudy.

“A Soul Mate,” Dongwoo responded as he picked up another Soul. He quickly glanced at that one and whispered, “On a bus. He spills water on you.” As he was handing the Soul off to the other angels, he explained a bit more, “Not every Soul has a Mate. This one,” he said as he patted the Soul next to him. “This one will probably fall in love very much later on in life with someone who lost their Mate. They won’t be perfect, but it’ll be close enough to keep him satisfied. He won’t know any better.”

Woohyun picked up the Soul and rolled it around in his hands. No matter where he looked, the fog wouldn’t lift, unlike the other Souls he’d seen before. Woohyun pouted and asked, “Why doesn’t he have one?”

“That Soul is too particular. Too picky,” Dongwoo replied with a shudder. “Actually, there’s a chance that he’ll be a bachelor for his entire life. He may never settle down.” He picked another Soul from the pile and glanced over at his frowning friend. “Eh, don’t worry,” he exhorted the other. “He’ll know about lust, care, and affection, but not real love.”

Woohyun let out a great sigh as he squeezed his hands tighter around the orb. “That’s what makes me worry,” he whispered.

“Don’t,” Dongwoo commanded with more authority in his voice than Woohyun was used to. Woohyun snapped his head up and slackened his grip on the Soul, which allowed Dongwoo to snatch it away. “This isn’t your job,” he continued in the same tone. Then a smile softened his hard face, and he giggled. “It isn’t even mine. Not if he doesn’t have a Mate. So it’s time to say ‘Bye Bye!’ to this Soul.” He handed off the Soul to the next angel and waved. “Bye Bye! I hope you find somebody!”

But Woohyun didn’t wish farewell to the Soul so easily. He followed it down the line, and once the Soul was complete and its Fate intact, Woohyun offered to send the Soul to its Guardian Angel. So once again, the Soul had found its way into his hands. Woohyun lifted it high, up to his eye level, peering in once again, wondering what secrets the Soul had been given inside.

The soul was opaque and almost impossible to see through. It was a dirty white color, like a white shirt that gradually turned into a light grey after being worn so often. It tried to be pure white, but couldn’t. It was flawed. The Soul was warm to the touch and yet slightly prickly. The palms of Woohyun’s hands were already tingling. Were all souls like that? This was the first time that he’d ever held one for so long, and so carefully. Woohyun was cautious not to hold it too tightly because although the Soul had a hard surface, it felt as fragile as an eggshell, threatening to break if Woohyun applied pressure in the right ways (or the wrong ways depending on his intentions).

But then, it was finally time for Woohyun to say his farewell as he handed the Soul to its Guardian, who would then deliver it to the expecting mother. Woohyun watched carefully as

the Guardian fused the Soul with the Body of a baby boy. The angel hung around for a few moments longer, lingering and watching the Soul that piqued his curiosity.

But then he flew away, chasing after a new fascination.

***

Woohyun would return back to check up on that Soul, every so often, whenever his curiosity about the Mateless human had won him over. So the next time that he saw the Soul again, it was no more than 5 years old, and it went by the name of Kim Sunggyu. Woohyun knew this because the child’s mother kept yelling his name as the child remained hidden in the cupboards underneath the kitchen sink. You see, Sunggyu was a curious one too. He’d always wanted to know what was inside the ceramic jar on the mantel in their living room. This curiosity grew over the years, especially since his mother had always told him that the jar was “off limits.” So one day, when his mother was busy cooking dinner, Sunggyu grabbed a chair, drug it next to the mantel, stood up on the chair, and peered inside the jar. To his disappointment, there were no sweets, toys, or coins in the jar; there was only dirt. But as he set the jar back down onto the mantel, his clumsy, 5 year-old hands lost their grip on the it, and the jar came tumbling down onto the floor, smashing into pieces.

What Sunggyu didn’t know at the time was that the jar wasn’t a jar at all. It was an urn. He also didn’t know that the dirt meant something, a whole lot of something for his mother. They were the ashes of her deceased father. But Sunggyu, being only 5, couldn’t understand why someone would keep such things or put them on display. He hadn’t even met his grandfather who had passed away before he was born. He was a mere child, who hadn’t even learned about death yet, who knew only life.

But he did learn something that day: curiosity doesn’t always pay. It was an important lesson to learn: how to restrain one’s curiosity. What things are worth knowing. What things are better off not knowing at all. Sunggyu learned that lesson at an early age, and so Woohyun wagered that the child wouldn’t need his services for a while. The angel flew away to assist someone who did.

***

The next time Woohyun visited Sunggyu, the boy was now 10, still young, still learning, and still curious. However, Sunggyu geared his curiosity towards his studies, earning him second place in the entire school. This time, Woohyun lingered a bit longer, seeing where else Curiosity could lead him. The angel inspired the boy a bit more, piquing his interests. And finally, it took him away from the desk, covered with open books and notebooks, away from his beloved studies. Woohyun led the boy down the street, searching for an outlet. But after a few moments, the angel realized that he wasn’t being followed anymore, because Sunggyu had found it. His curiosity was sated.

The ten year-old was parked in front of a store, with his eyes wider than ever and his mouth agape and slowly turning into a smile. Woohyun walked up to the boy’s side to see what had captured his attention, and once he saw it, a smile appeared on his face too. It was a guitar, a simple acoustic one. It wasn’t flashy or expensive. But that didn’t matter to Sunggyu. His broad grin was reflected in the polished wood of the instrument.

It was a spark, flashing in the dark night, and igniting Sunggyu’s heart on fire. The boy had found his passion, and Woohyun had led him there. While Sunggyu had found what he’d been missing in his young life, it wasn’t what Woohyun was searching for. It was still too early. Sunggyu learned of passion, but he did not know of the fires of Love just yet. The boy was closer, but he was not quite there yet. And so the angel flew away again. After all, Woohyun did have a job to do and could not spend his time satisfying his own curiosity.

***

Under Woohyun’s watch as the Angel of Curiosity, humans flourished. It wasn’t necessarily an age of invention and discovery; it was one of improvement. Phones came with the angel before him. But with Woohyun, phones became small enough to fit into pockets but then large again, large enough to hold the capacity of a computer. And while writing and printing were discovered in the times of several angels before him, now people had their own personal printers that could print even in color. But more astounding was 3-D printing, now not only in plastics but in liquid metal as well, forming objects like in The Terminator (which may or may not be Woohyun’s favorite movie). There were discoveries as well: the God Particle, advancements in medicine, and atomic and biological warfare (not everything that he’d inspired was peaceful or good).

However, some of Woohyun’s favorite accomplishments were on a more personal level: when people learn things for the first time and it changes their perspective on the world, when they push the envelope a bit further than they should and it pays off, and when people discover their passion for something...or someone.

And it was Sunggyu’s turn now.

***

Sunggyu’s First Love came at 15, right on time. It was more of a fascination akin to a puppy following around its new owner than a full-blown love affair, but it was appropriate. She was a year older, which meant she was more experienced in these matters, slightly. She had a boyfriend before, and Sunggyu was determined to treat her better than her ex did. His First Love was touched by that sentiment, at first. However, she grew weary of Sunggyu’s constant competition with the ex. “I bet you didn’t do this with your last boyfriend.” “Did he ever buy you beef? I bet not.” And after a few months, she finally snapped.

“Sunggyu! You talk about my ex more than I do,” she complained, clutching her birthday gift tightly in her hand. Sunggyu had just bragged how he did better than the crappy doll her ex had won from a claw machine the year before. “Do you even like me? Or do you just like beating him?”

“Don’t be stupid. Of course I like you,” Sunggyu argued. The truth of the matter was this: he never been in a relationship before, and so his naive mind thought that if he did better than someone she’d broken up with, then he was doing it correctly. But he had missed the mark. He’d missed by a long shot.

What he didn’t know was that she still harbored feelings for that boy, but they’d broken up because he was studying overseas. And Dongwoo had told Woohyun that Sunggyu’s girlfriend and her ex were Soul Mates. They would meet again when they both were 30 and pick up right where they left off, as if they hadn’t been apart for 15 years. And Sunggyu couldn’t beat that, no

matter how hard he tried. The spark between them was only a flicker in comparison to the firework-like chemistry she’d had with her ex. And now, that flicker was dying.

“I can’t do this anymore, Sunggyu,” her voice cracked as she was choking down the tightness forming in . Her fingernails dug into the box in her hands. “Let’s break up.”

“Huh?” Sunggyu felt as if he had the wind knocked out of his lungs. This wasn’t how he imagined this going. He’d expected a hug, maybe even a kiss if she’d really liked it, but he didn’t expect ending up broken, in spirit and heart.

“Let’s break up,” she spoke more strongly this time, more firm. Her mind had been made up. It was too late to change it. “That could be my gift from you. So, you...you can have this back,” her voice lost its power as she the gift back into Sunggyu’s hands. She then quickly ran around the corner before Sunggyu’s mind could process everything that had happened.

But his thoughts coalesced as soon as he saw her plaid skirt disappear around the edge of the school. “Fine!” he yelled to no one in particular. “I don’t need you! And I lied! I don’t like you either!” His eyes fell down to the box in his hands. He sighed. “Not anymore.” He then threw the box into the trashcan and stomped away.

But Sunggyu returned just moments later to rescue the gift from the trash. He’d spent a pretty penny on it, and it would be wasteful to throw it away out of a fit of anger. He opened up the box, and once he caught sight of the silver heart dangling at the center of the necklace, Sunggyu snapped the jewelry box closed. He shut his eyes tight as he groaned. What was he going to do with this? What was he going to do with his heart?

HIs mother. Later, he could give it to his mother for her birthday. Yes, he’d give it to the only woman that truly loved him. This, what he had with his girlfriend wasn’t truly Love. If it was, it wouldn’t have died so fast. But what was it then?

Woohyun had the answer for him. He had seen enough to know that most First Loves typically burned hot and fast, ending as quickly as they had begun. First Loves were fueled by pure passion and fascination with the feeling and were rarely grounded in reality. It was one of the few times that you could be reckless with whom you loved, with disregard of background or occupation. But it was for those reasons that the love would crumble apart. It rarely lasted.

What Sunggyu was experiencing wasn’t unique. It was just part of life.

But Woohyun couldn’t tell the teenager that, even though he wanted to. They were in different realms. However, Woohyun was still by Sunggyu’s side, and there was one thing he could do: inspire. The angel let Sunggyu’s dangling question fester in his mind and consume him. Woohyun lead the student with his dragging feet back into his bedroom. A guitar found its way into Sunggyu’s hands, and before the student realized it, he was playing and humming along to a maudlin tune. Sunggyu tried his best to figure out what song his hands had been playing. The lyrics to it wouldn’t come to him. Finally he realized that the lyrics didn’t exist, yet, and that he’d been playing a new piece on the spot.

At this, Sunggyu immediately sprung up from his spot and ran to his desk for a notebook to record the notes and the lyrics that were now flowing forth. For years, Sunggyu had tried to write a song, but he’d never found the inspiration for it. But now, after experiencing his first heartbreak, he finally felt inspired, as cliché as it was to write a song about a breakup. And in spite of the pain in his chest and tightness in his throat, a small smile broke out onto his face.

And Woohyun returned the smile. He was happy that he could at least give the other some solace at this time. His job was done here. He’d come back when Sunggyu learned about True Love and not these puppy-like First Loves. Woohyun would have his answer soon enough to the question that had been consuming him for 15 years: What happens to a Soul without a Mate?

Would all of his relationships end up like this?

That seemed to be the case. Sunggyu’s First Love seemed to be symbolic of all of his other relationships to follow. Things would eventually fall apart because they couldn’t understand each other. He broke up with his second girlfriend because he’d waited outside her house for three hours and she’d never came down to see him. However, she wasn’t at home at the time, and Sunggyu was too proud to admit that he was wrong. Neither wanted to put in the effort to overcome this mishap, and so they never reconciled.

Once Sunggyu was in college, he tried again, with a man this time. He had slowly come to grips with his desire and wanted to sate his curiosity. However, the result was the same. Even though he was with a man and it felt more right, it was still wrong. His boyfriend found Sunggyu to be petty and thought it was juvenile. And Sunggyu felt like he was never taken seriously. So they broke up too.

His relationship after that was the shortest and most tumultuous of them all, leaving a bad taste in his mouth and a heart that was too scarred and broken. Woohyun had always known that Sunggyu’s Soul concealed a soft heart, as fragile as an egg. The angel could see the cracks forming in the Soul.

This was what happened to Souls without Mates, Woohyun figured. They became battered and broken without any genuine, unconditional love to heal it. Dongwoo had been right all of those years back. Sunggyu now knew of lust, care, and affection, but he didn’t truly know of love. What it was like to perfectly meld with another, to be in harmony. And now, at the tender age of 23, Sunggyu had given up on love. He was too battered and bruised to continue the fight.

So Sunggyu turned to his passion, to music, and threw himself wholeheartedly into his career as a songwriter. Music could understand him and express his heart when he couldn’t. And he became quite successful, churning out hit after hit for idol groups. It wasn’t the most-grounding work, but it was music that people could relate to and could understand. Through his songs, people finally understood Sunggyu’s clouded heart and could see it perfectly. And that was enough to make him happy.

He worked in partnership with a man named Lee Howon, who had a sharper ear for the flow songs and was not afraid to share his true thoughts. And his bluntness worked. Sunggyu appreciated it, and he was frank right back. It was this openness that their partnership thrived on.

And so when Howon asked an unexpected question one day, Sunggyu’s answer came pouring forth without a second thought. “Do you have a muse?” Howon asked as he spun around in his desk chair to face his partner.

“Eung,” Sunggyu grunted in response as he tuned his guitar, the one that he had since he was 15 and wrote his first song with. He thought it was lucky and was reluctant to get rid of it. “Sort of.”

“What do you mean?” Howon raised an eyebrow, perplexed.

Sunggyu sighed and set his elbows on the guitar as he attempted to put his thoughts into words. “It isn’t a person, per se. It’s a feeling,” he clarified. He then glanced over at his partner, whose eyebrows were now furrowed as his confusion only grew. “Curiosity,” Sunggyu revealed to Howon before he developed wrinkles. “If I were this kind of person, how would I love, how would I fall out of love. What would make me happy or upset. You know, like that.”

“That isn’t a muse,” Howon corrected him with a smirk on his face. “That’s just imagining.”

“Either way,” Sunggyu began as his attention returned to tuning his guitar. “I can’t live without my Curiosity.”

That answer was music to Woohyun’s ears, or maybe it was actual music. He was plucking away at his harp as Sunggyu was strumming on his guitar. Truth be told, Woohyun had been at Sunggyu’s side when the songwriter composed several of his hit songs. It truly was Curiosity that inspired Sunggyu. Even now, when the human was at the studio and Howon was nearby at the switchboard, Woohyun was there too, sitting next to Sunggyu on the couch.

“Ah, no not like that,” Woohyun chided him as their song fell out of tune.

Sunggyu clicked his tongue and cocked his head. “That doesn’t sound right,” he muttered under his breath. And with a few changes, his song matched Woohyun’s again.

The angel smiled and gazed at the man next to him. “You can’t live without me, huh?”

***

After a few more days like this, Sunggyu’s next song was completed. It was supposed to be a debut song for a solo singer, something impactful, different but mainstream enough so that the singer could gain popularity. It was a love song, like many of his other songs. But something about this song in particular was different than his others. He wasn’t just imagining it.

“This...is the love that I want,” Sunggyu blurted out as the song was playing over the speakers of their small studio.

“Your love? Yours and not anyone else’s?” Howon challenged. Sunggyu nodded. His partner then chuckled. “That’s surprising.”

“Why?” Sunggyu asked, immediately regretting his small confession. He’d always thought that his heart clearly shone through his songs, but judging by Howon’s reaction, Sunggyu was just as misunderstood as ever.

“I didn’t really think you were into relationships,” Howon responded with a shrug of his shoulders. “For as long as I’ve known you, you’ve never been in one.”

Sunggyu turned away from the other and grumbled, “It’s not like I didn’t try.”

Howon stared at the other for a few seconds. He clearly put his foot in his mouth and said the exact wrong thing to turn his partner into a sack of sadness. Sunggyu had pulled his hood over his head and leaned deeper into the couch. Howon got up from his seat and walked over to the couch. He patted the other on the shoulder and said, “Okay, well, the song is good. We’ll let the company hear it tomorrow.” And with those somewhat encouraging words, Howon left the room and let Sunggyu steep and wallow in his sour mood. Sunggyu’s dark cloud slowly

enveloped the entire room, clashing against the happy melody echoing in the studio. Woohyun could see his star-like Soul slowly dimming in his chest.

 

Shine You’re The Light

Did you come into my heart?

Tell me, since when?

When I turn my head

I think about your eyes

Can I Could I Be Your Man

Time seems to be flowing toward you

At your wordless gestures

I can’t close my eyes

You get even clearer

So Give Me The Light

Give Me The Light

Your shining smile melts me

It reveals the world, it shines in front of me

Even if everything changes and disappears

I only feel your light

Light in my eye

I, I, I I’ll go to you

I try to avoid it but I can’t, I can’t wait anymore

You, you, you, hold my hand

You can’t avoid it, I will have that light right now

Your shining smile melts me

It reveals the world, it shines in front of me

You Light Up My Night You Make Me So Right

Making me see everything

Give Me The Light

The light that always shine in front of me

I Wanna Kiss You

I Wanna Hold You Tight

I want to share everything with you

I hope you’ll lean on me

You, You, You, come to me

Even if this moment gets erased, I won’t let you go

I, I, I, hold your hand

Can’t Let You Go

Wanna Make You Feel My Love

Lady, Lady Cuz You Are The One For Me

Even after time passes

Wanna Be Love Your Love

So your heart won’t hesitate

I’ll carefully go to you, little by little

Naturally, I will show you

 

Woohyun couldn’t even smile at the heart-warming song that he helped to inspire. No, how could he? Not with the tears cascading down Sunggyu’s face. The human was alone, not by choice, but because Fate had determined him to be this way. There was nothing that Woohyun could do to change that, or wipe the tears away. And even though the angel was at Sunggyu’s side right, neither of them felt any less lonely.

So Woohyun left, tired of feeling helpless, and flew back up to Heaven where he could be of use.

***

“It’s not fair. This is all he’ll know,” Woohyun complained to Dongwoo, as he laid on the cloud and looked down onto earth at the Mateless human with a star in his heart. The angel had returned to Heaven to become productive, useful, but he was just distracted. His own curiosity had been snatched away, completely stolen by the human; he had none left to foster the minds of mankind.

“I told you not to worry. It’s not your job,” Dongwoo replied after handing off an orb down the assembly line of angels. He then crawled over to Woohyun and brought his lips to the other’s ear. “Let me tell you a secret,” he whispered. Now his friend had arrested Woohyun’s attention. “Not every Soul is matched with another human Soul.”

Woohyun turned to face the other. “So what? Is his Soul Mate could be a puppy or a bunny…” The words stopped in his throat. His eyes widened as the realization dawned on him, “...one of us?”

Dongwoo pulled away and nodded. “You know it happens. Angels fall. And God made preparations for that too,” he explained. He then cocked his head and clicked his tongue. “But it’s hard to tell. Sometimes God’s Plan remains a mystery to us all.”

Woohyun suddenly crawled closer, startling the other. The angel placed a hand over his chest, wings spreading broadly behind him as his excitement grew. “What about my Soul? What does it look like?” he demanded in a loud tone.

Dongwoo took the other’s hand away from his chest and held it in his own, comforting his friend for what he was about to say. “You know I can’t see it,” he reminded the other, squeezing the hand. “I wish I could though.”

Woohyun’s wings folded behind his back, and he hung his head. “Do we even have one?” he grumbled as his free hand played with the mist of the cloud.

“I don’t know,” Dongwoo answered honestly. He then lowered his head to meet the other’s gaze. He smiled warmly as soon as he caught it. “But there’s a chance that we might.” At that Woohyun sighed as his eyes drifted back down to the human, the Soul inside glimmering faintly. The corner of his mouth picked up. That slight shine was the glimmer of hope he needed.

Then there’s a chance that we have a Mate too.

***

Now that he had hope, Woohyun found it hard to stay away from Sunggyu. Even when he tried to help other humans and inspire them, he always came back to the songwriter’s side, following the light of his Soul like a star. At the moment, he was following Sunggyu around his apartment, his footsteps lightly padding behind the human’s heavy steps. Sunggyu must have heard him, or sensed him, because every-so-often he would look behind him, his searching gaze matching Woohyun’s. He would then shake his head, sigh loudly, and return back to the task at hand. Each time, Sunggyu grew sadder when he realized that he was still alone.

“You really can’t live without me, huh?” Woohyun asked as he hooked his chin over the edge of Sunggyu’s desk. The human was paying his bills, very slowly and distractedly. But paying these bills were the only thing that he had on schedule for the entire night. So he was going to draw it out as long as possible, waste the time that he had in abundance. The angel studied the other’s slow pen as he addressed the envelope and bit his lower lip. “I’m sorry,” he apologized.

Woohyun then tapped his fingers nervously on the desk, becoming nervous, anxious. “You know what? I don’t think I can either.”

Sunggyu’s head whipped around, looking for something again. His eyes lingered for a few moments on Woohyun, at the pile of papers in front of the angel’s face. Eventually, the human gave up and ran his fingers through his hair in frustration. “Where’s the bankbook?” he was exasperated.

“In your top desk drawer,” Woohyun answered.

“Here it is.” Sunggyu found it, exactly where the angel said it was.

Woohyun was losing his patience. He stood up from the floor and paced behind the other. “I’m your Mate, right? I have to be,” he argued as he waved his hands in the air, wings fluttering as he became more flustered. “Ugh! I can’t stand not knowing.”

Sunggyu cursed as he threw a pen down onto the desk, “Aish! This is infuriating.” He picked up another pen, but it was out of ink as well.

“Isn’t it, though?” Woohyun agreed as he returned back to the other’s side, his hand gripping the edge of the chair.

Sunggyu threw his head back and closed his eyes. Woohyun looked down at the human, wondering which one of them was the angel. Then Sunggyu opened his eyes. “I give up,” he spoke in a low voice. He then pulled out his chair and stood up.

“No. Don’t,” Woohyun fought back as he followed the other down the hall. “We can’t. It’ll all work out. I’m sure. It’s all part of The Plan...right?” he lost his confidence as he continued talking. He leaned his head against the doorway as the other began changing into his pajamas.

“I’m going to bed,” Sunggyu announced as he tore his sweater off and pulled over an old t-shirt.

“Right,” Woohyun agreed, nodding his head. “There’s nothing we can do about it now. Might as well.” He watched Sunggyu as he flopped onto the bed. A few moments later, after Sunggyu settled himself underneath the sheets, Woohyun crawled onto the bed next to him, brushing his knuckle softly against the other’s cheek. “Dream of me, okay?”

Sunggyu pulled away, causing Woohyun to immediately withdraw his hand and pull it towards his chest. The angel held his breath as Sunggyu rolled over to turn off the light on his nightstand. Woohyun let go of his breath. He didn’t know what he thought could happen. Sunggyu couldn’t feel it, probably. “Good night,” the human muttered as he laid back down on the bed, facing the angel laying next to him. Sunggyu then sputtered into a laugh and to his back. “Who am I even talking to?” He rolled onto his side and curled up.

“Me,” Woohyun answered, speaking to the other’s back. He then rolled onto back, head still turned towards Sunggyu. “Good night, my star.”

***

Woohyun rolled and rolled and rolled on the cloud, wrapping himself in its mist like a blanket, hiding in his own bed of fog. He couldn’t see. He couldn’t see his own hand in front of him, or the tip of his nose. He couldn’t even see what was going on in his mind.

“This isn’t good,” Woohyun whispered to himself. He couldn’t do his job. He hadn’t done it in a long, long time. It was only moments until He would reprimand Woohyun, or...The haze drifted from his eyes, and his vision cleared. Earth was below him; the lights from the cities could be seen from where he was, twinkling. Or it was only moments until Woohyun slipped and fell.

But there was something still tethering him to this place: doubt. Sure, he was a curious one, but he was also cautious. He wanted to know if he was the Mate. He had to know. But he didn’t know if he was willing to risk everything for a hunch. Also the hand on his shoulder was holding him back.

Woohyun craned his neck to see Dongwoo behind him, holding a shining golden orb in his hand. The angel’s eyes fixed on the orb in his friend’s hands. At first Woohyun thought it was golden, but he was wrong. It was mostly golden. It was also iridescent. Hues of pink, greens, and blues swirled around the orb as Dongwoo twisted it in his hands, showing off the colors. There were so many colors, so many sides, but Woohyun could also see straight through it, seeing the lines of Dongwoo’s palm pressed against the surface. Bright, vibrant, wore his heart on his sleeve, that’s the type of person that this Soul belonged to. Dongwoo then lifted up Soul up to his lips as he whispered, “Follow the star.” He lowered the orb, giggling and grinning at his confused friend. Dongwoo then handed the orb over to Woohyun. “It’s time.”

“Huh?” Woohyun gasped as he accepted the Soul. The orb was hot against his palms, scalding them. Woohyun’s eyes widened. “Do you mean—”

“Yes,” Dongwoo broke the other off. “That’s yours.”

***

In the beginning, Woohyun’s hope was just a glimmer, a small spark, but now it was a conflagration, setting his fresh Soul on fire. And once he caught sight of the star on top of the Christmas tree, Dongwoo’s words echoed in his mind. “Follow the star.”

He did. And by following that light, he found his own. “Y-you!” He found his star, Kim Sunggyu.

Sunggyu glanced over at the other, shaking the newly fallen snow from his head as his hands remained hidden in the sleeves of his coat. His eyes quickly scanned Woohyun up and down, and then he scanned again, more slowly, scrutinizing every detail. “Do I know you?” the question wasn’t meant to be offending, but genuine, like Woohyun was a face that Sunggyu couldn’t place.

“Not yet,” Woohyun replied. And it was true. Even though Woohyun had known Sunggyu from the moment his life was created, the songwriter didn’t know him, but they had an eternity to become acquainted with each other. After all, they were Soul Mates. And perhaps it was because of that fact, Woohyun had gotten a bit carried away.

Sunggyu could finally see him, hear him, feel his presence. The fire consumed Woohyun. Adrenaline coursed through his veins, quickening his already anxious heart. He didn’t know that Sunggyu’s simple acknowledgement would make him (oh so) terribly happy. Sunggyu could finally see him, hear him, feel his lips upon his own. Woohyun may have been out of his right mind when he kissed Sunggyu, but he wasn’t too worried. They were Soul Mates, and this would all work out.

Sunggyu didn’t even push the other way. He remained rooted in his spot as Woohyun slowly pulled away. The clouds formed by their heavy breaths mixed in the cold air.

“Wh-why did you do that?” Sunggyu stammered. His fingers raised to touch the traces of Woohyun’s kiss left behind.

“Mistletoe,” Woohyun retorted.

Sunggyu’s head immediately whirled around, searching with narrowed eyes for that festive sprig. “Where?”

Woohyun shrugged and chuckled, “Somewhere.”

Sunggyu’s gaze fell back down onto the other. “You’re weird,” he announced with a deep pout.

“Yep!” Woohyun immediately chirped back. He had no shame in admitting that.

“Well, okay,” Sunggyu drawled out and turned away, unable to keep the other’s gaze. “I’m going to go now,” he declared before he spun on his heels and began walking away from the town’s square.

“Can I come?” Woohyun asked as he easily caught up to the other.

An amused smile played on the songwriter’s lips. “You know, some people would consider this ‘stalking’?” he suggested to the other.

“Well, do you?” Woohyun asked to check if he was overstepping any boundaries in his excitement (he’d already trampled over several that he knew of).

Sunggyu only sputtered into a slight laugh as an answer to that question, so Woohyun figured that it was alright. But then Sunggyu posed a question of his own, “Who are you?”

“Nam Woohyun. And you’re…” Woohyun almost blurted out the other’s name, but then quickly bit down on his tongue, drawing blood for sure, but it was a small price to pay for not freaking the Hell out of the human. “What’s your name?” he quickly corrected himself.

“I don’t tell strangers my name,” Sunggyu immediately retorted with a sly grin. He then picked up his pace. But it wasn’t as if he wanted to leave the other behind, not with those furtive glances that he kept casting back at Woohyun with that sly grin. No, Sunggyu was only pretending to run away because that’s what a sane person would do in this situation. However he kept looking back to make sure that the other was still following, still chasing him. He wanted to get caught.

And so Woohyun gladly did, easily jogging up to the other’s side and tugging on his arm. He gave the songwriter a pout and whined, “Eh, don’t be like that.”

***

“We’re not strangers. You know my name,” Woohyun insisted. They were now at another part of the festival and eating hoddeok that Sunggyu purchased for the both of them. Or at least Woohyun assumed that he did. What really happened was that Woohyun snatched a hoddeok that Sunggyu had bought for himself, thinking that it was his and thanked the other profusely, and that left Sunggyu with no choice but to buy another for himself.

Sunggyu shrugged. “It’s not my fault that you’re too trusting.”

“We’ve kissed already.”

Sunggyu choked on the pancake. The hot syrup spilled out onto his face. “Ah! Hot, hot,” he yelped as he roughly wiped it away. “That...I didn’t want it!” he stammered.

“Liar,” Woohyun fought back, sticking out his tongue. “You liked it.”

Sunggyu scoffed, “No I didn’t.”

“You kissed back,” Woohyun plainly pointed out as he took a bite from the dessert.

“Th-that was a reflex!” Sunggyu stuttered, his voice loud and high. His hand flew to his mouth again, no longer wiping away syrup but gingerly touching those traces again. “My lips just...I can’t control it,” he grumbled underneath his breath and lightly hit his mouth as a reprimand.

“You liked it because you’re still talking to me,” Woohyun pointed out, enjoying the effect that his words finally had on the other. He enjoyed seeing Sunggyu grow flustered, squirm, fight back back a smile. The former angel enjoyed it immensely. Woohyun nudged the other with his elbow as he tried to push the other over the edge, “Why? Do you like me?”

“Like you?” Sunggyu repeated with a mocking scoff, throwing his head back. “I don’t even know you.”

***

“Are you sure that we haven’t met before? I feel like we have. That I know you,” Sunggyu asked. He fiddled nervously with the coffee mug in front of him. The two of them were now in the cafe in order to escape from the cold and the snow that was falling heavier outside, painting the streets pure white. Sunggyu ran his fingers through his now matted down and wet hair, pulling at it slightly in frustration. “It’s driving me crazy,” he admitted with a slight chuckle.

It was the easiness between them that made Sunggyu feel that way, the instant connection. He never had that before. He had never fallen so quickly. But there was something about Nam Woohyun that drew him in, and now he was falling as heavily and quickly as the snow outside...and just as softly. And just like the snow, this felt white, pure, and magical. And it put him on edge.

“If we did, I would know your name,” Woohyun pointed out and then took a long sip from his hot chocolate, which once again Sunggyu had paid for, but at least this time the songwriter offered to. Woohyun was shivering, and the tip of his nose was as red as a holly berry. He needed to be warmed up, taken care of, and Sunggyu wanted to be the one to do it.

So Sunggyu looked at the effects of his acute care. Woohyun hadn’t stopped smiling. His shivers had turned into excited jitters. And Sunggyu felt...proud, enjoying his effect on the other. “Kim Sunggyu. That’s my name,” he finally revealed and waited to see how the other would react.

Woohyun put down his mug, whip cream painting his lips, smiling more broadly than ever before. “Is that so?”

Sunggyu nodded, grinning himself. “Yea.”

***

“So where do you live, Sunggyu-ssi?” Woohyun asked as they walked slowly down the lamp-lined street. The night was winding down, the sky had grown darker, and the snow had stopped. The snow was crunching under their feet, showing where the two had been but not where they were going. And Woohyun was curious to find out.

Sunggyu whipped his head to give the other a confused and narrowed look. Woohyun gave the other an innocent smile and chuckled. “I don’t really have a place to sleep. I’m new here,” he revealed.

Sunggyu shook his head and chuckled too. “Why are you so weird?! We just met,” he chided.

Woohyun raised an eyebrow. “Is that a ‘no’?”

“No,” Sunggyu immediately responded, causing Woohyun heart to sink to the bottom of his boots. Sunggyu grinned cheekily and reached for the knob of the door that they had just reached. “It’s not a no. Come on in. I have a couch,” he offered as he opened the door and nodded towards the inside.

Woohyun didn’t need to be told twice. He ran straight inside, straight past Sunggyu before the songwriter could change his mind. The former angel quickly knocked off his boots and shrugged off his coat at the doorway as his eyes scanned the room. He had seen this apartment several times before. He had been here before. But this was the first time he was actually here, in the same place and realm, with Sunggyu. And because of that, this small apartment looked brand new.

The songwriter pushed the other further inside and gestured towards the couch. “There,” he announced and then walked past the other into the living room. Sunggyu laughed loudly as his steps slowed to a halt. “This is the dumbest thing that I’ve ever done. Letting a complete stranger into my house,” he spoke in disbelief. Sunggyu then turned towards Woohyun and wagged his finger. “Don’t kill me in my sleep, alright?”

“So I should do it when you’re awake?” Woohyun joked.

And Sunggyu’s face paled. “This was a bad idea,” he concluded and his hand dug into his pocket, looking for money. “There’s a sauna down the road—”

“Sunggyu! Sunggyu-ssi, I’m sorry,” Woohyun interrupted, stepping closer to the other. “It was a joke. I promise. Just let me stay,” he insisted, but he had nothing to convince Sunggyu other than the desperation in his face and voice. “I have nothing. Not even 100 won.”

Sunggyu froze. “Nothing?” he repeated, dumbfounded.

“Nothing but the love in my heart,” Woohyun replied, honestly.

“Gross,” Sunggyu muttered with a wince. But he quickly shook it off and approached the other, eyes searching the former angel for the answer. “But why? Did something happen? Are you hurt?” he asked in genuine concern.

“Something did happen, but, aish, it’s complicated,” was all the answer that Woohyun could give for now. And Sunggyu turned his head to the side, disappointed. Woohyun reached over and grabbed his hand. “I want to tell you. I really do, but...I’ll tell you later, okay?” he begged, squeezing the hand in his.

Sunggyu looked down at their conjoined hands. “Promise?”

“Promise,” Woohyun responded.

The other nodded and wiggled his hand from Woohyun’s grip. “Okay,” he muttered. Sunggyu then lifted his now freed hand to cup the other’s cheek. He leaned in, planting a soft kiss on the angel’s lips. “Good night,” Sunggyu whispered as he pulled away and began to walk towards his bedroom

“Good night,” Woohyun whispered back reflexively as his mind worked what had just happened. And it was as Sunggyu reached his door when everything clicked. “I knew you liked it!” he exclaimed.

“Shut up!” Sunggyu hollered back as he slammed the bedroom door behind him. And after the door closed shut, Woohyun could hear the other’s muffled voice through the door. “Why did I do that? Stupid.” After being alone for so long, Sunggyu probably figured that being out of the room meant being out of earshot.

Woohyun grinned and fell back onto the couch. He rolled onto his side and clutched a pillow to his cheek. “Yea. He likes me,” he mumbled happily as he closed his eyes, falling into his first sleep of his existence. And it was a pleasant one.

***

So Woohyun spent the night on the couch, and the night after that, and the night after that. He spent countless nights on that lumpy old couch, and Woohyun couldn’t have been happier. Sunggyu seemed happy as well, if the chipper tune constantly on his lips was any indication. And he kept telling others, whenever they asked why his mood had drastically changed, that he had found the Light in his life. He wasn’t wandering around in the dark alone anymore.

Sunggyu also not only gave Woohyun shelter, but a job as well. At first, it was a nightly janitorial position at Sunggyu’s studio. However, it didn’t take long for Howon to notice the former angel’s musical talent. Woohyun had come into the studio with good suggestions about how to improve their songs and would play Sunggyu’s guitar whenever it was abandoned in the corner, singing along to the tune like a seraphim. And so they changed the songwriting duo into a trio, and the company flourished.

Eventually, when Woohyun wagered that their relationship was stable enough and that they trusted each other, he revealed his angelic secret to Sunggyu. That night, he spent at the sauna with worries that he’d just broken the trust that they worked so hard to build.

But the following night, Sunggyu looked for Woohyun at the sauna and apologized. Things felt wrong without Woohyun, even just for a night. So if things were wrong, then maybe that meant Woohyun was right. And Woohyun was an angel and they were Soul Mates.

Sunggyu could definitely live in a reality where that was true. So he took Woohyun back to their apartment. But Woohyun didn’t sleep on the couch that night. He never slept on the couch ever again, but he slept basking in the soft, happy light of his star, burning brightly in the winter night.

 

 

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This was just wonderful! I'm such a er for soul-mate stories, and this was perfectly wintery, which is also one of my favourite things— yep. Perfect for the season. Thank you for this masterpiece! I hope you have an amazing Christmas, penguin! :)

~ ibreathe-flames