“So pretty,” Sanghyuk smiled slightly, hands moving to genially cup the glowing ball, the soul that was floating before him. It was so white, so pure, that he couldn’t help but gawk at its beauty.

“Will you hurry up,” Hongbin hissed, pulling his coat a little tighter around himself, “it’s freezing out here.”

“Right,” the demon nodded before focusing on the soul.

A small smile lit up his face as the pure white soul darkened to black all thanks to his magic.

“Done?” Hongbin questioned.

“Done,” Sanghyuk nodded, allowing the soul to return to the poor human he’d taken it from, “I added a few spells this time. Should make the job of whatever angel comes a bit harder.”

“Hakyeon will know it’s you,” Hongbin scowled, “even if he’s not the one who undoes the spells, he’ll hear about it and come to chase you down.”

“Good,” Sanghyuk smirked, “I’ll enjoy seeing him again. It’s been years.”

“What did I do to be cursed with such an angel loving moron for a brother?” Hongbin sighed.

“Just lucky I guess,” Sanghyuk laughed, “hey, maybe when Hakyeon comes, he’ll bring Wonsik.”

Sanghyuk laughed at his brother’s blushing face, running away when the other tried to hit him.

--

Sanghyuk was a normal looking young man. Tall and handsome with a strong jaw line and a beautiful smile. But he wasn’t so handsome that people would stop on the street just to watch him – no, that was more his older brother Hongbin. He was just ‘normal-guy handsome’ as he called it. Just handsome enough for people not take note if they looked, but not enough for them to recall later.

He liked it that way, made his job easier if he didn’t stand out too much.

You see, Sanghyuk was not a normal human. He wasn’t even human. He was a demon, centuries old, with the job of spreading wrath to humans. Corrupting their souls with it. He was one of the seven personifications the seven deadly sins.

Sanghyuk was pretty darn proud of his work too, so much so that Hongbin often joked that he should change jobs with another of their brothers named Taekwoon. As Hongbin often joked, Taekwoon was filled with much more anger then Hyuk so the job switch would be perfect for them both.

But Sanghyuk had a very good reason not to change his job.

For each sin, there was a virtue. Something to balance things. For lust there was chastity. For pride there was humility. And for wraith? Patience.

And just like each sin personification, there was a virtue personification to match. A wonderful, kind angel with white wings and soul beyond pure. Their job was to encourage the spread of their virtue. But they had an additional job as well. They had to undo the hard work of the sins. Thankfully for them, they had other angels to help them. Sanghyuk and his brothers all worked alone.

That didn’t matter too much, Sanghyuk liked working alone. He shuttered at the idea of having underlings doing any of his work. He wished that Hakyeon, the personification of patience, didn’t have underlings. Hakyeon had so many that Sanghyuk rarely got to see his other half – well, he called Hakyeon his other half, Hakyeon despised being called that greatly. It implied that they had some kind of deep, loving relationship.

For him to actually get to see Hakyeon, he had to be very, very bad.

And that was, thankfully, something Sanghyuk was very, very good at.

--

“I’d ask for you to stop,” Hakyeon said, dropping down onto the roof beside Sanghyuk, “but I think we both know how that would turn out.”

“Yeonnie,” Sanghyuk smiled, quickly wrapping his arms around the other to prevent his escape, “I’m missed you so much. It’s been ages since I last saw you.”

“Let go,” Hakyeon sighed sadly, “Sanghyuk, please. I….I can’t do this.”

“What’s wrong?” Sanghyuk frowned, pulling away.

He was used to Hakyeon denying the…..whatever there was between them. It was something that Hakyeon needed to do, make himself believe that he’d tried to be good and pure and resist Sanghyuk. Sanghyuk didn’t get it, didn’t see anything wrong with what they had. But Hakyeon was different. He was an angel.

“We can’t do this,” Hakyeon explained, “not any more. I’ve…..I’ve been ordered not to let things go there.”

“Why?” Sanghyuk scowled, “who ordered such a thing?”

“My boss,” Hakyeon hung his head, already knowing that this was going to hurt Sanghyuk so very much.

“Why?” Sanghyuk growled, “your boss has never cared before if we were together? Why now?”

“Evil is winning,” Hakyeon said, already wishing that his conversation was over, “and my boss…..he thinks that it’s because us virtues are too busy with you and your brothers. So….so we’re forbidden from being with our partner until everything is balanced once more.”

“Oh,” was all Sanghyuk managed to say.

He honestly thought that was bull. Hakyeon was just as focused on his job as he’d always been. Sanghyuk was still turning up the same quota he’d always turned in. He knew that his brothers were in the similar boat, same as their partners. So then their relationship couldn’t be causing this shift in balance.

And yet what would saying any of that change?

Hakyeon already had his orders. His boss wasn’t going to change his mind any time soon and he especially was’t going to change his mind because a demons said to.

“Sanghyuk?” Hakyeon asked, hesitant to say anything when he saw the empty look in the other’s eyes.

“Come back to me,” Sanghyuk finally said, “as soon as things are balanced again, come back to me.”

“I will,” Hakyeon promised, “the second I’m allowed, I’ll come find you.”

With that said, the pair spread their wings – Hakyeon’s white, Sanghyuk’s dark gray – and took off in different directions.

--

“Sanghyuk,” Hongbin sighed, opening Sanghyuk’s bedroom door to find him curled up on the bed hugging a pillow tightly to his chest, “come on, you need to get up.”

“Too miserable,” Sanghyuk muttered, hugging his pillow tighter.

“You’re such a child,” Hongbin sighed, “nothing like the wraths of the past.”

That got Sanghyuk to look up.

Unlike the virtues, the seven sin personifications were not the same as they had always been. You see, sometimes one of the sins would…….get a bit out of control. The damage that they caused the humans did more than just unbalance the world, it destroyed it.

Or at least parts.

When that happened, one of the archangels was sent out to kill the sin. As Hongbin and Taekwoon had told Sanghyuk countless times, wrath had died the most at the hands of the archangel Michael.

With each dead sin, their boss had to create a new personification. After all, balance had to be kept and if there was less than seven sin personifications running around when there were still seven virtues…….well, that wasn’t really balanced now was it?

“What were they like?” Sanghyuk asked, “the other wraths? Did they…….did they make Hakyeon’s job hard?”

He’d never asked about the past wraths before. Specifically their relationship with Hakyeon. He didn’t want to think about something like that, not when he loved Hakyeon with all his heart.

“Very,” Hongbin sighed, “all of them were filled with so much hate. Even more then Taekwoon. They hated everything, even the rest of us. They hated Hakyeon, too.” Hongbin sighed, “they all caused so much suffering and death, I think even our boss was pleased when you were born. When we realized that you weren’t like them.”

“Hakyeon didn’t like them?” Sanghyuk laughed, very pleased.

“Not at all,” Hongbin couldn’t help but laugh, “I think he was pleased as well to find out that you were nothing like them.”

Sanghyuk nodded, recalling his first ever meeting with the one who held his heart.

Hakyeon had glared at him, voice cold. Sanghyuk had actually been a bit scared of him, only a few days old and still not sure what he was doing. It hadn’t taken Hakyeon long to warm up, so very quick to realize that the sin before him was nothing like any of his processors.

“Things will be sorted out before you know it,” Hongbin assured his youngest brother, “before you know it, Hakyeon will be back in your bed, begging you to go faster and--!”

Hongbin was cut off by a pillow before smashed into his face and Sanghyuk yelling at him to shut up.

--

Hongbin was wrong.

It did take long for the virtues to fix things.

“How long as it been?” Sanghyuk heard one of his brothers ask from the kitchen, only to get snapped at by Hongbin.

“Almost two years,” Sanghyuk found himself saying, the words strengthening the cold and bitter feeling in his gut.

“That’s why I wanted you to shut up,” he heard Hongbin whisper, “it kills him to remember.”

“It’s been a while since I last saw him smile,” another of his brothers whispered, “is he…….is he alright?”

Sanghyuk wanted to tell them no, that he wasn’t alright. But they knew that already.

In almost two years, he hadn’t seen Hakyeon once. He’s managed to get it out of almost all his brothers that they’d seen him once or twice and that made the cold feeling inside of him. How was it fair that his brother had seen his soul mate, but he hadn’t?

It wasn’t fair.

Hongbin glanced out into the living room to see Sanghyuk on the couch and frowned. He could feel it, Sanghyuk’s goodness slipping away with each day. His anger was growing, dulling all other emotions. Hongbin wondered…….was his baby brother going to end up like the others? Oh, he hoped not.

He didn’t want to lose sweet, lovable Sanghyukkie.

But only Hakyeon could stop this. If Hakyeon came back now, everything would be fine, Sanghyuk would be fine. Hongbin found himself wishing – not for the first time – that Hakyeon would walk through the apartment door.

Oh, how he wished that he hadn’t gotten his wish.

Two days later, Hakyeon came through the apartment door, but not alone. He was with Taekwoon. Sanghyuk and Hongbin missed their entrance, but they arrived in time to see the aftermath.

Clothing discarded across the floor, moans still echoing through the halls, and the smell of still in the air.

Sanghyuk was the one who found them.

Hongbin was a few steps behind and watched as Sanghyuk’s wings turned black.

Sanghyuk stormed out of the apartment and Hongbin turned his attention to the pair in bed, knowing that following Sanghyuk would end in death.

“How dare you,” Hongbin growled at the pair who looked down in shame, “Taekwoon, how dare you do that to our brother. And you, angel, get the hell out of here. After this, you deserve all the pain coming to you. He loves you. More than anything. And you do this? Get out of my sight.”

Hakyeon gathered his cloths quickly and fled.

“Sanghyuk,” Taekwoon started to say, but Hongbin cut him off.

“Don’t you dare pretend you care,” Hongbin scoffed, “because if you did we wouldn’t be here.”

Taekwoon hung his head, knowing that his brother was right. He should have stopped himself. He should have stopped Hakyeon. At least Hakyeon had reasons to snap the way he had; stress, missing Sanghyuk, a hundred other things. What reason did Taekwoon have? Nothing.

“His wings,” Hongbin finally said, “they turned black.”

“What?” Taekwoon looked up, horrified.

Ever since he was born, Sanghyuk’s wings had been gray. It was a dark gray, but still gray. If his wings had turned black……become the same shade as his processors………this couldn’t be good.

--

“So pretty,” Sanghyuk said, looking down at the soul in his hands, “it will be even better black.”

Without another word, he pushed his magic into the soul until it was just as dark as his wings before letting it go. The soul rushed away from Sanghyuk who giggled to himself. It ran away so far it seemed like it was afraid of him.

Sanghyuk turned his attention to the results of his other work, laughing merrily to himself as he watched one group attacking some poor soul. All thanks to him filling them with hate.

“No wonder the others before were like this,” Sanghyuk grinned, “this is fun.”

Burning the world, destroying the people that Hakyeon loved so much, was a joy Sanghyuk would never bore of.

He couldn’t wait to see Hakyeon’s face when he found out what he was doing.

--

“Sanghyuk!” Hakyeon yelled, flying as fast as he could through the sky as he searched desperately for the one he loved.

The one he had hurt so badly that it killed him.

Sanghyuk watched the other fly by from the shadows and a dark smile took over his face.

Hakyeon was probably looking to apologize. He probably thought that a simple ‘I’m sorry I let your brother me’ would fix everything. Maybe he’d even throw in a ‘I’m sorry I haven’t even stopped by to see you once in two years’ if he thought that might fix things.

But nothing would fix things.

Hakyeon had shattered things beyond repair.

Had broken the goodness in Sanghyuk.

The sin filled young man had no interest in trying to fix things, either.

“Come find me, Yeonnie,” Sanghyuk whispered, “try and fix things. Apologize a hundred times if you think it will help. I want to see your face when you realize that you can’t.”

Sanghyuk headed off in the other direction, humming a cheerful song as he passed by all the people whose souls he’d darkened.

--

“Finally caught up to me?” Sanghyuk said, not needing to look behind him to know that the one who’d landed on the roof was Hakyeon, “about time, angel.”

“Sanghyuk,” Hakyeon said, wincing at the fact that Sanghyuk had failed to use him real name, “I…..”

“Am sorry?”Sanghyuk cut in, still not turning around, “for sleeping with my brother? For not even sending me a note to tell me how you are over the past couple of years?”

“I,” Hakyeon struggled to find words.

“Shut up,” Sanghyuk finally turned around, glaring darkly at Hakyeon, “just shut the up, Hakyeon. I don’t care, no one does. So just shut up and off.”

“No,” Hakyeon snapped, finally finding his voice, “I’m not going to leave. I’m sorry, Sanghyuk. I did more than just mess up by….by sleeping with Ta--.”

“I said to shut up!” Sanghyuk yelled, black wings spreading wide and making him look bigger. Making him look scary to Hakyeon for the first time ever.

“Sanghyuk,” Hakyeon took a small step back.

Sanghyuk felt a flash of hurt at that. Did Hakyeon really think he would hurt him? That he would hit him?

Sanghyuk’s rage burned all the brighter.

“Look around, angel,” Sanghyuk said, moving to the side and waving Hakyeon forewords, “take a look at what you’ve inspired me to do.”

“Sanghyuk?” Hakyeon did as Sanghyuk wanted, slowly walking forewords, “What did you do?”

“What I’m supposed to do,” Sanghyuk replied, returning his gaze to the chaos he’d caused, “I’m spreading anger through the people.”

“Sanghyuk,” Hakyeon recoiled in horror when he finally caught sight of what Sanghyuk had done, “what….what have you done?”

“My job,” Sanghyuk replied, “now why don’t you return to doing yours?”

Hakyeon reached out for Sanghyuk’s arm, wanting to pull the other to him. Wanting to talk things out and fix everything that had gone so very, very wrong. But Sanghyuk was already gone and Hakyeon was alone on the roof.

“Sanghyuk,” Hakyeon cried, knees giving out, “please…….I’m so sorry. Please don’t do this.”

Hakyeon’s brother Jaehwan found him like that. Looking out on the city before them, he figured out pretty fast what was going on.

Sanghyuk was going the way of his processors.

“Let’s go home,” Jaehwan said, deciding not to mention the rumor he’d heard before heading out to find his brother, “You need to rest. We can look for Sanghyuk again later.”

“I don’t understand,” Hakyeon cried, holding onto the other for support, “how….how did he….he turn into this. Sanghyuk……he’s not like the others. He’s never been like them.”

Jaehwan didn’t know what to say to that.

Looking at the people fighting below……Jaehwan wondered himself how sweet little Sanghyukkie had become this……..this monster of hate.

Yeah, what had happened with Hakyeon had hurt him. But this……….this disaster that Sanghyuk was creating………

Jaehwan honestly didn’t know anymore.

--

This time when Sanghyuk heard someone landing on the roof behind him, he turned around.

“So they’re finally sending an archangel, huh?” Sanghyuk said, “about time. I was starting to think you guys didn’t care about your precious little humans anymore.”

“Sanghyuk,” the archangel said, pointing his broad sword at the demonic  being, “personification of the sin wrath. You have been the cause of countless deaths, of so very much destruction, that we of the heavens cannot allow for you to exist within this realm any longer. Not as you are, not with your soul so twisted by rage.”

“Can’t you just come out and tell me that you’re going to kill me?” Sanghyuk rolled his eyes, “cut all the ceremony. No one is going to care.”

“Fine,” the archangel replied, “I’m here to kill you. You’ve over stepped your bounds, Sanghyuk. My superiors don’t want to give you a chance to change, they just want you dead.”

“So go and kill me,” Sanghyuk told him, spreading his arms and wings wide.

“Do you have any last words?” the archangel asked, “do you……do you want me to deliver a message to anyone?” he paused, “……to Hakyeon?”

“No.”

The archangel nodded after a pause before lunging forewords.

For a moment, just before the blade pierced Sanghyuk’s chest, he wondered if it was all worth it. Yes, Hakyeon had hurt him, but was that pain worth everything he had done? All the lives he’d ruined and the pain he’d caused people who’d done nothing wrong?

And what of Hakyeon?

Sanghyuk……..Sanghyuk wasn’t sure if he wanted his lover to suffer like this. With losing Sanghyuk. He knew, deep down inside, that Hakyeon loved him, that everything had just been a horrible mistake that Hakyeon regretted with every fiber of his being.

Had Sanghyuk……..had he messed everything up? Had be done something horrible? If he had the chance to take it all back, would he? Go back in time to when he’d found Hakyeon in bed with his brother and just……..not do what he’d done in response?

Sanghyuk didn’t have the time to answer that question.

He felt the blade sink into his chest.

Blood splattered against the roof.

Sanghyuk fell to his knees.

Sanghyuk’s world went dark.

Elsewhere, Hakyeon felt it.

He felt the moment Sanghyuk stopped breathing.

Hakyeon fell to his knees and started to cry.

--

Hakyeon lay in his bed, hugging a plush toy Sanghyuk had given him to his chest. He wished that he could go to Sanghyuk’s place, wished that he could lay in Sanghyuk’s bed and be surrounded by the smell of the other.

But Hongbin refused to let him in the front door, yelled at him to leave and never come back.

None of his brothers seemed to hold much love for Hakyeon either, glaring at him when they crossed paths.

It all just made Hakyeon wish that he had died along with Sanghyuk.

He…..he loved Sanghyuk so much and now……now he’d lost him.

Hakyeon could help but recall all the moments he’d had with Sanghyuk, the times he’d never get to relive again because he’d broken Sanghyuk’s heart.

The first time he’d met Sanghyuk, the younger looks so small and cute. So innocent. Hakyeon had probably fallen in love with him right then and there.

Then there was the time when Sanghyuk had first kissed Hakyeon. Hakyeon smiled sadly recalling his Sanghyuk had been so shy, so hesitant because he was scared that he’d be rejected. A small part of Hakyeon wondered if maybe he should have rejected Sanghyuk, maybe that would have spared them both the pain that had come. And yet…..that would mean missing out on all the good times and Hakyeon never wanted those time to go away.

After that first kiss, Sanghyuk had steadily gotten bolder in his advances.  Hakyeon ignored it, pretending that Sanghyuk was still that innocent kid he’d first met.

……and then Sanghyuk had him pinned to a wall with a hand down his pants.

For the next couple of decades, their relationship had been about as deep as a kiddy pool. They’d met, , and head off to do their jobs. Hakyeon had felt a bit disheartened by it, but this was the exact same kind of relationship his brothers had with Sanghyuk’s brother so……..it was normal.  To be expected.

Still a bit that Sanghyuk didn’t seem to want anything deeper.

Well, at least that was what Hakyeon though until Sanghyuk had asked him on a proper date. Like the love sick fool he’d been, Hakyeon had agreed. He’d said ‘damn the consequences’ and gone out with the demonic creature that he soon realized he’d fallen in love with.

The date had been perfect. Sanghyuk had made Hakyeon smile and laugh. He was sure that he’d never felt this happy and content before.

And then he got his first warning from his boss.

Casual with one of the seven sinful siblings was fine. But a relationship? That was prohibited.

So Hakyeon started putting on that whole reluctant act. Sanghyuk didn’t ask, just assumed that Hakyeon needed to do it to convince himself that he wasn’t falling into sin or something like that. Hakyeon was grateful that he didn’t ask for an explanation, but he was even more grateful that the act kept his boss off his back.

Life had been good since then. Every so often Sanghyuk would take him out for a date, sometimes he’d even have Hakyeon stay over. It was times like that, when Sanghyuk was curled up in Hakyeon’s arms after a fun day of acting like a normal couple, that Hakyeon was able to trick himself into thinking that they were exactly that; a real couple.

But that had to come to an end eventually.

To be completely honest, Hakyeon was surprised that he’d had so long with Sanghyuk. A couple hundred years together and happy. That was pretty good all things considered.

And then everything had gone to hell.

It was all Hakyeon’s fault, too.

He shouldn’t have left Sanghyuk’s side for so long, shouldn’t have expected that time to have no effect on his lover and their relationship.

And then falling into bed with his lover’s brother?

This pain Hakyeon was feeling was something he felt he deserved, that much was for sure.

“Hakyeon?” he heard one of his brothers calling from the other side of his door, “are you there?”

Hakyeon didn’t respond, he just hid his face in the fabric of the stuffed toy.

“I have news,” this time it was Jaehwan’s voice that called out to him from the other side of the door, “Taekwoon told me that…..that there’s going to be a new wrath soon.”

Hakyeon bit back a sob. He knew that this was coming, he just didn’t want to admit it. There always had to be a personification of wrath and with Sanghyuk dead……….

There was always a wrath.

But it still hurt so much.

“Hakyeon,” Jaehwan sighed, “you need to…..you need to move on. Sanghyuk………he wouldn’t want you to be like this.”

“Yes he would,” Hakyeon finally managed to form words, “he….he hated me, Jaehwan. At the end, he despised me so much for the pain I caused him. He’d want me to suffer, to feel some of the pain he felt.”

Jaehwan didn’t respond and a few moments later Hakyeon could hear him walking away.

That was perfect for Hakyeon, he wanted to be alone with his self pity.

Especially now that he knew someone would soon be replacing Sanghyuk. Someone his soul would always have a link with because they would always be perfectly matched; yin and yang.

“Sanghyuk,” Hakyeon started to sob, tears soon wetting the toy in his arms, “I’m so sorry. I miss you. I love you. Why…..why did you leave me? Why did I have to drive you away?”

--

“Come on,” Jaehwan huffed, dragging Hakyeon down the street, “you have to meet the new guy some time.”

“No I don’t,” Hakyeon huffed, “I’ve been able to avoid him for the past hundred years. I don’t see why that has to change now.”

“Hongbin thinks you two should meet,” Jaehwan said, knowing that hearing that would catch his brother’ interest.

Ever since Sanghyuk’s death, Hongbin had refused to let Hakyeon near anything that related to Sanghyuk. That included the new wrath. Everyone knew that a large part of why Hakyeon hadn’t met the new wrath was Hongbin not allowing it to happen.

For him to change his tune…….

“Fine,” Hakyeon sighed, falling into step with the other virtue, “I’ll met him.”

“Just don’t cause a scene,” Jaehwan told him, “promise me you won’t.”

“I’m not gonna cause a scene,” Hakyeon rolled his eyes. What did Jaehwan think he was gonna do anyway? Get pissed over the new wrath taking Sanghyuk’s place or something? He’d already done that ages ago when he felt the new wrath being born. He was passed getting angry. Or sad for that matter.

Well, sad in public. Hakyeon had learned to hide his sorrow very well and only cried for his lost lover when he was completely alone at night.

That…..sounded way more pathetic then he wanted it to.

“No,” Jaehwan frowned, “I want to hear you say the words ‘I promise not to freak out.’ Say them.”

“I promise not to freak out,” Hakyeon sighed, “why are you so on this, Jaehwan?”

“You’ll see,” Jaehwan sighed, “just…..come on, Hongbin hates waiting and we’re already running late.”

“Fine,” Hakyeon let the subject drop, but a few short minutes later he regretted that.

They pair found Hongbin sitting outside a small café, drinking coffee and laughing at something the young man sitting across from him had said. Hakyeon knew right away that this was the new wrath and pain ignited in his stomach. Pain and loss and sorrow.

“Oh,” Hongbin looked up, “they’re finally here. About time.”

“Hakyeon didn’t want to come,” Jaehwan sighed, dropping down into the empty seat beside Hongbin before turning to the new wrath, “well? Aren’t you going to introduce yourself?”

“Right,” the young man nodded and Hakyeon had all of two seconds to prepare for what was about to come before the man turned around, “Hi, Yeonnie.”

“S-Sanghyuk?” was all Hakyeon managed to get out, voice freezing along with his heart.

It….it couldn’t be.

Sanghyuk……Sanghyuk was dead.

He’d been dead for the past hundred  years.

And yet…..there he was…….sitting right in front of Hakyeon.

“That’s me,” Sanghyuk nodded, smiling softly at Hakyeon.

“You….you’re,” Hakyeon couldn’t form the words, tears already running down his cheeks and Sanghyuk was up in an instant to take Hakyeon into his arms and wipe them away.

“I was reborn,” Sanghyuk explained, “my boss…….he talked to your boss. Somehow, he convinced them to allow me a second chance. Lucky for me, I had a long history of not screwing the world over or…..I’d be like all the other wraths.”

“I…..I don’t understand,” Hakyeon cried, “You….I felt you die. You were dead.”

“All things considered,” Hongbin said, “should you really be acting like death is the end of all things?”

“He’s right,” Jaehwan nodded, “Sanghyuk’s just as alive as any of us.”

“To be fair,” Sanghyuk said, “they didn’t exactly go ‘hey, you’re reborn with all your memories. Go crazy.’ They put a lot of rules so that I don’t……repeat history.”

“Rules?” Hakyeon asked, still not understanding any of this. Still convinced that this was a horrible trick.

“I couldn’t see you for a hundred years,” Sanghyuk frowned, “and even now our bosses aren’t pleased about it but……..they’re sick of seeing the pain being apart causes us.”

“….what?” Hakyeon couldn’t believe it. Did……did this mean that……that he could be with Sanghyuk?

“They’re probably gonna put some bull rules in place,” Hongbin spoke up, “try to limit your exposure to each other or something like that but……..”

“We can finally be together as we wish,” Sanghyuk smiled, leaning down to press a kiss to Hakyeon’s lips.

“I’m so sorry,” Hakyeon started to cry anew, the memory of what he’d done to cause everything appearing in his mind.

“Shh,” Sanghyuk was quick to hush the older, “Yeonnie, it’s alright. I’m not mad anymore. I….I should be the one to apologize. The way I acted……..I should have been more mature or….or more moral or something. If anyone should be apologizing, it’s me.”

“You both ed up,” Hongbin spoke up, “so both of you should apologize for it.”

“But then again,” Jaehwan said thoughtfully, “you’ve both forgiven the other already, right? So an apology isn’t really needed.”

“True,” Sanghyuk nodded.

“Very true,” Hakyeon smiled slightly, reaching up to take hold of Sanghyuk’s hands that were cupping his face.

--

“I’ve missed you,” Hakyeon said, curling up closer to Sanghyuk as the pair lay in the younger’s bed.

“I’ve missed you, too,” Sanghyuk replied, tightening his hold on the other, “I love you, Hakyeon.”

“I love you, too,” the older smiled softly, “I just…..I wish we hadn’t had to go through all of this. It….it hurt so much, being without you. Thinking that you were gone and that I’d never get to see you again.”

“I know,” Sanghyuk’s smile turned regretful, “I wanted to tell you that I had been reborn, that we’d be able to see each other one day. But Hongbin……”

“He was still mad at me, right,” Hakyeon sighed, “even now, I know he blames me for taking away his beloved little brother.”

“Yes,” Sanghyuk nodded, “but….he’ll get over it. He’ll have to, won’t he? Since I’m never going to let go of you again.”

“I guess,” Hakyeon smiled brightly, “And I’m never going to let go of you again either.”

Hakyeon pulled Sanghyuk in for another kiss, thoroughly enjoying being able to kiss his lover again. This time without anything to hold him back.

“I love you,” Sanghyuk whispered, pulling back slightly before reconnecting their lips. Hakyeon didn’t respond verbally, but Sanghyuk knew he was saying ‘I love you, too’ from his kiss, from the way his arms wrapped around Sanghyuk’s shoulders and their legs tangled together under the sheets.

The pair spread their wings – white and dark gray – and wrapped them around each other, creating a cocoon of sorts to shut out the outside world so that they could just be together. Just as they always wanted.

A/N: that last couple of lines…….not sure if I should have kept them or what. Hopefully you enjoyed this au! I know I liked writing it.