Archive of Our Own

it has been some time now that an angel has come to bless their village. it’s common, almost a yearly thing, for the beings to descend and send blessings throughout the land — sometimes they bless an entire populace, other times it’s just to bless a few who are in need of it. but always, they are thanked for their hard work before they ascend back wherever they come from.

but that hasn’t happened for a while now; years even. there is a reason for it, or so villagers claim.

he appeared one evening years ago, the brown horse carrying him to the little soup shop. seokjin was his name and it was the only name given — no last name, nothing to identify his lineage. just seokjin.

no one suspected anything; he wore no satchel nor carried any weapon. he seemed just a wanderer from a nearby village looking around at other pastures, so to speak. the only strange thing about him was the way his back seemed to be enlarged, a long black cloak covering him, discouraging any questions. he’d been served a warm meal and offered a bed for the night. he declined it for reasons unknown at the time.

instead, he’d asked if it was true there was an old hut hidden in the forest, lying unclaimed for several years now. ‘there is,’  a man from behind him had said, ‘but, why do you ask?’  seokjin had been silent afterwards before showing that the hut now belonged to him.

rather than a wanderer, the village received a new resident. it was nothing to be celebrated, but he was congratulated on his ownership, and given a ‘good luck’  from the owner of the soup shop as the hut had been abandoned for many years now, it would likely take a miracle to clean it and make it livable again.

seokjin was said to have chuckled a little and muttered something along the lines of ‘suits me perfect then.’

no one understood why that had been uttered until months later when a villager was out gathering berries. the girl screamed bloody murder when she saw him. she ran all the way back to the village and told them of what she’d seen — and how could they call her a liar when seokjin had acted so strange since arriving.

out in the forest, working on a little garden, seokjin had gotten warm and sweaty; what better time than now to enjoy a cool bath in the river nearby? his cloak had long been abandoned on the porch of the little hut, but when he wandered down to the river nearby, he shed the remainder of his clothing. veins blackened, stretching like webbing along his forearms and legs, originating from his chest; and scars stretched over his skin, the worst of them being one long line across his back underneath where a set of decaying wings grew from his shoulder blades.

he smelled of earth, but not the soil of this earth — no, this was the scent of something primordial, something untouchable by mere mortals.

seokjin was an angel, but unlike any seen before.

the villagers were too scared to approach him, too scared to drive him out. angels are powerful beings and if this one looked so diseased, rotten, then he must be some kind of demon. he rarely set foot in the village, so they counted their blessings on that and made sure he felt unwelcome should he ever wander in for something.

soon enough, seokjin stopped wandering in for anything. that was a whole six years ago. the village remains on edge, but the younger generation had soon let themselves forget about there being a whole demon in the forest. even as they aged, they didn’t listen to their parents as well as they should have.

seokjin never harmed anyone; he sent every child away.

~   *   ~

jimin wanders through the forest, plucking mushrooms and berries to add to dinner, his head down and a sigh exiting his lips. this whole gathering idea is his own; anything to get just a bit of praise from the man who took him in after his mother died. the old farmer isn’t one for much affection, but jimin still hopes one day the man will say he’s proud of him — or at least compliment him on something without being vague about it.

it’s not common for anyone in the village to go past where he’s already searched, but he looks down at his small satchel, already half filled with mushrooms and a sprinkling of berries. there’s not much, really, and he’d hoped to make something special for his ‘dad’ when he returned. with just this, there’s barely enough for anything.

further into the forest there’s said to be demons just waiting for their chance to take some hapless fool and do all manner of vile things to them. jimin doesn’t want to be one of those people, but he also doesn’t want to return home having wasted his time. so, he pushes through, moving further into the forest until it’s thicker and blocking out the bit of sunlight still spreading over the earth.

he knows he should have brought a torch now, but it’s too late to go back. he can’t see which mushrooms and berries aren’t poisonous so he’s careful in gathering them into his robes rather than the satchel, lest the whole batch be useless.

a twig snaps behind him, making his skin crawl. he won’t be scared easily, even as he shakes and moves a bit quicker to get away from the location of the sound. he can do this, he’s okay; everything’s okay—

another twig snaps and he gasps when he feels something crawl across his foot, dragging heavier than any creature he knows of. a shriek leaves him and he rushes through, losing his way through the forest.

it’s then he slips and falls, his head hitting a rock on the way down a small incline. as his whole world goes dark, the last thing he sees is someone, or something, looming over him.

~   *   ~

the fire crackles as seokjin tends to it, a soft humming coming from his throat. it isn’t a pleasant sound as his throat is half charred with angel-rot that his usually soft and sweet voice sounds rough. it’s what wakes jimin, the sound of the crackling fire and the unpleasant humming.

seokjin raises his eyebrows as jimin comes to, wiggling around in the bed of blankets he’d placed him upon hours ago. it’s into the nighttime hours, when most villagers know better than to be awake. but he waits and allows jimin to sit up and gather himself together.

“who… who are you?” jimin asks, throat scratchy. seokjin wordlessly hands him a small glass bottle filled with today’s purified water. “where am i?”

seokjin hums, voice crackling just like the fire. “you’re in my home. i go by many names — most of them unpleasant… seokjin is the name i prefer.”

jimin blinks, eyes puffy and the bandage on his head making him look the injured young man he is. “i’m jimin…” he goes quiet then as he swirls the name ‘seokjin’ around in his head. it’s obvious when it clicks; jimin’s hands grab the blankets and he yanks them around him, receding away from the firelight, away from seokjin. “you!? ”

“yes, me… is that a problem?”

“what did you do to me?” jimin reaches up and feels of the bandage. huh, strange — his head is bandaged, why would a demon do that?

it’s as if seokjin can hear  his questioning. he’s amused at first, but then jimin glares at him. “yes, jimin? if there’s something to be said, say it.”

“you’re a demon — a heathen!” jimin whispers, fear settling into the pit of his stomach as he looks over the man before him. the fire casts a rather ominous glow over seokjin’s face, which would be beautiful if not for the black marks stretching up over his chin and cheeks from his jawline and neck. his eyes are grey, or red, in color and he looks unhealthy.

here, jimin notices two large lumps at seokjin’s back. wings. but they don’t look like the wings of angels he’d been told of. no, these are bare in some places, the skin underneath a dark color just as the black upon seokjin’s neck and face and even his hands. it’s as if he’d had ink spilled upon him and let it trek down his skin to stain it.

just as he’s observing the wings, they shift as seokjin stands up, both of them flaring out a bit to help him maintain his balance. what must have once been pure white wings, now look a bit hazy in coloring, a light grey maybe, and half of the feathers look one good breeze from falling off.

“a demon you say?” seokjin hums, voice scratchy as jimin’s had been. “if you think that, then perhaps you might leave — you’ve been tended to well enough, you can have a torch and make your way home alone.” seokjin’s tone is angry, annoyed… maybe hurt.

jimin can’t focus on it, wide eyes remaining on the wings and how awful they look. it’s tragic something that should be so beautiful now looks like it’s rotting.

it’s a loud rumble of thunder that finally gets jimin’s attention, head snapping towards the door where the wind makes it shudder from the force of it. now he has a choice — stay here in the home of what could be a demon ( one that, he notes, has actually been quite nice to him ) or brave what seems to be a pretty bad storm to get back home. slowly, his gaze turns back to seokjin who merely stands there, arms crossed. being looked down at by this creature sends a chill down jimin’s spine so he opts for the second — braving the storm to get home.

as soon as he stands up a wave of dizziness hits him and he reaches out for something, anything, to stabilize himself against. seokjin offers his hand to jimin but the younger only slaps the hand away and stumbles to the door. he pushes it open and rushes through it, without a torch or any kind of cloak to cover himself from the pelting rain.

the trees are thick after he’s left the clearing the little hut is located and he doesn’t know exactly how far his village is. no one ever wanders far in this way, so he’s not sure of any landmarks to look — not that he has the light to notice them.

he runs, and runs, but nothing looks different until he stumbles across a clearing. the same clearing the hut is in. by this time, jimin’s so tired and cold and wet, that he just wanders towards the hut and crawls under the little roof covering the porch to keep away from the freezing rain. his feet and legs are muddy from the multitude of times he’d fallen into mud and the bandage might as well have been left behind as it’s soaked through and useless now.

with a small shift, he tries to get comfortable as the shivering takes over. he hugs his knees to his chest, curling into a ball to keep warm but there’s no warmth to take since he’s freezing all over. he coughs loudly, then freezes, clapping a hand over his mouth and cursing his luck.

the door slides open to his right and seokjin leans out to look around, eyes landing right on jimin. his face isn’t too clear now, but the small glow from the fire inside lights it up enough to show that seokjin doesn’t look too pleased to see him again. just as an apology bubbles up, seokjin comes out and reaches for him.

“no, please! i’m sorry,” jimin whimpers, closing his eyes tight, scared of what seokjin will do to him.

“jimin… you’re safe. i mean you no harm — let’s get you inside, yes?”

before he even answers, seokjin scoops up jimin’s balled form and totes him into the little hut.

~   *   ~

after getting cleaned up and changed into some of seokjin’s clothing, jimin sits close to the fire with a hot cup of tea in front of him. and he knows he shouldn’t accept the demon’s kindness, but what could seokjin want from the village outcast?

with the thought of nothing to offer seokjin, jimin finally persuades himself to sip at the tea, which slides down his throat, coating it in the herbs to soothe whatever sickness he’s likely to get from being out in the cold rain.

“thank you,” jimin whispers to seokjin who sits across the fire, sewing together pieces of cloth with nimble fingers.

the angel looks up at jimin and gives a slight smile that still holds reluctance behind it. “you’re welcome, jimin… in the morning, i’ll show you the way towards the village.”

jimin nods, going quiet as he sips the remainder of the tea and seokjin goes back to his sewing.

“why are you here?” he asks suddenly, gaze still on the fire.

a soft sigh. “why do you think i’m here?”

“to curse us all.”

the room goes so silent not even the fire makes a noise. jimin is too scared to look away from the flames, but he feels that glare on him. he draws in on himself as he awaits seokjin’s next words.

“you’re still on that, yes?” seokjin replies finally, voice calm but as cold as the rain still pelting down outside. “i am not a demon.”

jimin’s grip tightens on the cup. “then what are you?”

“i’m—”

“don’t say angel — no angel looks like you.” jimin doesn’t know how to stop his mouth now that he’s gotten it up and out.

“i am  an angel… but unlike my brothers and sisters, i’ve fallen.”

if there are records of fallen angels, jimin doesn’t know them, doesn’t have access to those texts nor the knowledge to read them.

“isn’t fallen just another term for demon?” he whispers, his resolve slowly but surely weakening. what resentment he could feel towards seokjin for being a demon is beginning to fade. jimin isn’t all knowing, there’s no way he can confirm or deny seokjin’s words — in this case, he just has to listen and determine if he thinks seokjin is a liar.

“it isn’t. you humans think with black and white — things are either good, or bad, and that isn’t how it works. there are grey areas, jimin. you humans don’t understand these areas and so you don’t listen to reason when grey is standing right before you.”

by now, seokjin’s placed aside his sewing and it gazing a jimin, curious to see how he reacts. meanwhile jimin isn’t sure how to react, the cup still gripped tight between his hands. “i don’t know anything anymore…”

“you’ve no idea the power of that statement, do you?” seokjin asks softly.

jimin is confused and so, he asks, “what do you mean?”

the little smile on seokjin’s face grows. “you humans act like you know everything there is to know about anything — that is your problem. but you just admitted to not knowing anything anymore. it’s a good thing. you should always question everything as most is not what it seems all the time.”

jimin nods to his, feeling a bit better about things. but it still bothers him. “you still didn’t explain what a fallen angel is.”

“a fallen angel is one who has gone against the angel’s code…”

silence takes over after that, seokjin gazing into the fire as jimin finishes up the tea that had been made for him. jimin wants to know more about it, wants to ask seokjin to explain more, but he doesn’t feel he has the right. so he lets the silence drag out until he’s struggling to keep his eyes open.

“it’s time for you to rest, jimin,” seokjin whispers over the wilting flames. “you’re safe, i won’t let harm come to you.”

instead of questioning him, or trying to pick a fight about it, jimin nods his head and crawls to the bedding behind him to curl up in it. seokjin stands to help tuck the blankets around jimin before he retires to the corner of the room across from the bedding where another blanket is folded for him to use.

as seokjin settles into a position of leaning against the wall, against his half molted wings, the blanket wrapped around him, jimin is filled with a sense of sadness. maybe he’s judged too harshly, especially after what seokjin’s done for him. jimin promises to at least be civil the next morning, and any days afterwards that he’ll come across seokjin.

~   *   ~

being back in the village after meeting seokjin is strange. there’s an odd quiet as he goes through his daily chores and passes through the village on errand runs for his father. he’s used to the whispering, that was never something he went without. being the son of a disgraced handmaiden for the queen garnered him a reputation before he even knew what having a reputation meant.

days go by slowly, the storm of that night having been odd and said to be the work of witchcraft. sometimes jimin wonders what made it storm that night when the skies had been clear beforehand, but the more he wonders, the more he gets an answer he’s not sure he likes.

seokjin had assured jimin he wasn’t a demon and jimin was determined to believe him. certainly no demon would be as gentle as seokjin had been while cleaning the mud off of him after his tantrum had led him to getting kicked out. demons ate humans, didn’t they? jimin had been vulnerable to an attack last night and all seokjin had done was glare at him across the fire ( and kick him out of the house in the pouring rain — but jimin knows he deserved that for the disrespect ).

all in all, seokjin has been the only one to truly be kind to jimin. it’s not as though he’s mistreated by everyone, but he knows the whispers about him, knows they all think he’s some kind of witch like his mother was rumored to be. for all he knows, the villagers might think he’s some form of demon as well since no one knows who his father is.

it gets tiresome trying to smile at the village children and then watch as they back away from him and head another way. he thinks maybe seokjin feels this same way; given the ‘angel’s’ nurturing ways, it wouldn’t surprise him if that’s why he’s in isolation now. he just got tired of it all.

this leads jimin into seeking seokjin out a week after his return to the village. the whispering has died down a bit and he knows it’ll only kick start it once again, but jimin finds himself not really caring. he wants to see seokjin, share in this lonesome outsider feeling.

he makes sure to pack some flowers and some vegetables — a peace offering of sorts — and then heads out to the forest with the sun peeking through the limbs and leaves.

~   *   ~

jimin doesn’t know what he’s expecting when he finally finds his way back to seokjin’s hut, but seeing the angel out in the little field nearby isn’t it. his molting wings rest against his back getting some sun as he kneels among the soil, tending to it with his gentle fingers. his dark hair is tied up and out of the way of his grey eyes that are sharp with concentration. he doesn’t seem to realize jimin is there.

until…

“why are you here, jimin?”

jimin almost drops his basket when seokjin speaks so suddenly, his voice carrying over the distance of the field even if he hadn’t yelled. strange, but perhaps it’s a power of his — it’s all jimin can guess.

“i wanted to apologize properly.” he holds up the basket which draws seokjin’s attention, grey eyes moving from jimin to the basket and back.

it’s a minute before seokjin gathers his tools up in his robe and stands up. “come in,” seokjin says as he passes jimin to head into the hut, the door wide open to allow the fresh summer air in.

jimin stares at the open door, at seokjin within as he cleans himself up and puts things away. even with the wings on his back, jimin can see nothing but seokjin — just a lonely man in a hut with a little field of vegetables and herbs.

“jimin?” seokjin calls, standing in the doorway as he looks at jimin with concern.

he snaps out of his thoughts and smiles, “coming.”

~   *   ~

a friendship slowly blossoms after that; jimin visiting every few days to see seokjin, always bringing him something to eat or cook one. sometimes there are little flowers woven into the basket and sometimes seokjin takes those flowers and weaves a little crown out of them and places it upon jimin’s head.

seokjin is gentle with everything. his fingers work the earth, coaxing life from the seeds jimin helped to plant before. seokjin who sews together his own clothes, reusing any old cloth for rags. seokjin who rescues little animals, healing their wounds and setting them free ( many occasions jimin would bring them as he wandered to the hut ). seokjin who begins greeting him with a smile and a tender hug each and every time jimin comes to see him, and then almost clinging when it’s time for jimin to leave.

the angel is silly as well, something jimin doesn’t expect of him. but he is. he teases jimin endlessly, playing little pranks on him and cooing at him when he huffs like a giant kid, arms crossed in annoyance ( not that jimin can stay annoyed at seokjin ). there’s laughter and jimin feels so free playing around with seokjin, running around the little field to avoid being caught by seokjin, or splashing water on him when they head down to the river to clean up.

what was once just a need to defeat loneliness with the one person who seemed to know it just as well as he did became something more for jimin.

~   *   ~

jimin doesn’t have a family of his own, so whatever family his ‘father’ has is who jimin has as well. they make the trip to a nearby village to see the man’s daughter twice every month, the entire trip taking only a few hours of traveling on horseback. they’d go and spend the night there and then head back the following day.

for the longest time the girl has been trying to have a child with her husband, but nothing works. jimin has sat with her for hours at a time comforting her the best he knows how. he would try to learn more about how to help, but he knows it isn’t really his place. still, he knows he has to do something. the last couple of years of trying in vain have left the girl unhappy and she was one of the few people to treat jimin so lovingly, almost like a real little brother, so jimin just knows something has to work out.

on the ride back one day jimin thinks to visit seokjin before heading home so he splits from his father and takes his horse through the same familiar path to seokjin. there, he ties the horse and seokjin comes out to greet him as usual ( a couple of carrots in tow to feed to jimin’s horse ). jimin opens up to seokjin about his ‘sister’ in the next village and how he wants to help, but he knows he can’t do anything because he’s just a simple person.

“you’re extraordinary, jimin,” seokjin whispers to him as they sit on the porch together, feet dangling over onto the ground. “you’ve told me of how the villagers treat you and yet you still talk fondly of them and of your father…”

jimin blinks and then shrugs. “despite how they treat me, they allow me to shop at the stalls, they still greet me. it’s not everyone that treats me unfairly, just most. if there’s at least a little good in some, doesn’t that defeat the bad?”

seokjin smiles at jimin’s words, nodding his head slowly to confirm what he’s said. “i have something that might help your sister… but it would require i travel to see her.”

it takes a moment for jimin to realize what seokjin said, but as soon as he does, he hops up from the porch and rushes to his horse. “then let’s go! please—” he looks at seokjin, pleading with his eyes. “we mustn’t waste time… she really deserves this, seokjin…”

with a chuckle, airy and unsure and a bit nervous, seokjin stands and disappears inside to grab a pouch that he slides into his robes. jimin’s already on his horse waiting for seokjin to climb up behind him.

once he’s situated, jimin clicks his tongue for the horse to begin walking. the air punches out of his lungs when he feels seokjin’s hands resting on his waist, long fingers squeezing him. the warmth of it sends a familiar sensation through him that he promptly ignores. now is not the time for that kind of thinking.

“do you suppose she will be scared of me… of what i am? of what i seem  to be?” seokjin whispers to jimin as the horse trots out of the forest and is guided down the road that leads around the village rather than through it.

jimin frowns as he looks ahead. he can’t say for sure what his sister will think of seokjin, but she’s an open-minded and loving soul, surely she wouldn’t be harsh to seokjin. “i will talk with her… make her see you mean no harm to her — if she’s even worried in the first place.” he releases the reigns with a hand and lays it over one of seokjin’s on his waist. “don’t worry.”

it’s a fleeting touch meant to comfort seokjin, but he feels that stir of emotions again. he’s thankful when he needs to return his hand back to the reins to guide the horse along the path.

silence overtakes the journey as the sun dips lower in the sky, the afternoon cooling off slowly but surely. it’s evening by the time they arrive but his sister is sitting outside to enjoy the night air when they ride up.

“sister,” jimin greets with a tender smile, sliding off the horse to give her a tight hug. “come with me… i need to talk to you about something…” he gives a look to seokjin before leading his sister further down the porch to talk in private. several times the girl looks over jimin’s shoulder at seokjin who stays beside the horse tending to it as it huffs and pushes at him for pets.

it seems like an hour passes before jimin finally comes back over with his sister trailing behind. “is it true?” she asks, voice strong, unwavering even as she looks the very image of a scared deer. “you’re a fallen angel?”

“yes,” seokjin nods his head, glancing at jimin who looks away, biting down on his bottom lip in shame. “is this a problem…?”

the girls looks him over before shaking her head. “jimin speaks highly of you… i know you’re a good man if jimin assures it.” she looks towards the house and frowns, fingers twisting the fabric of her sleeves. “can you really help me?”

seokjin smiles softly and walks a bit closer to her. she doesn’t move, doesn’t flinch away when he reaches to stroke her cheek. “yes,” he replies simply, “let me examine you…” he closes his eyes as he holds his hands up, palms facing her. it isn’t long before he blinks his eyes open and frowns. “the problem is not with you — your body is healthy and fertile…”

“my husband…” she starts, “he had problems as a child— he would never say what, but perhaps that could be the issue…” it isn’t a question, but she seems resigned to never having children upon hearing it isn’t even her own body that is the issue. “i love him, i could never be without him even if it means there will be no children…”

seokjin says nothing as he reaches into the folds of his robes and pulls out the pouch. only when he presses it into her hands, does he speak, “take this… make nightly tea for him for an entire week with this and then lie with him. you will be pregnant before the dawning of next week.”

“how…” she looks at the pouch, turns it over in her hands. “how are you so sure?”

“i have blessed the herbs in this… before i fell, this was a common issue i would bless. each couple i helped couldn’t have children until they drank the tea i’d mixed for them. i promise you that it will work.”

she still looks skeptical, but seokjin doesn’t dare waver his focus on her. he allows her the time needed and soon enough she nods her head. “i will try this, then…” she still doesn’t seem to believe him, but seokjin holds no ill will to her.

the pouch is clutched to her chest as he gazes between jimin and seokjin before glancing back to the door of her home. “i wanted to invite you to stay the night, but my husband, he…” she chews on her bottom lip, head hanging. “you should go now.”

“ah, that’s…” jimin starts, lips pursing but he doesn’t meet seokjin’s eyes.

silence takes over before seokjin chuckles softly. “then we shall head back then…” he looks to jimin who finally glances at him, eyebrows pinched together with worry. “it’s okay, jimin,” he whispers, hoping to soothe any worries jimin has. then, he turns to jimin’s sister. “thank you for seeing me — i wish you well, my dear.”

jimin says a soft goodbye to his sister before climbing onto his horse, seokjin following after him. they leave afterwards and the ride back is quiet, only the wind and crunch of dirt beneath the horse loud enough to break through the silence.

“i’m sorry,” jimin whispers, fingers gripping the reins tighter.

seokjin blinks, tilting his head to gaze over jimin’s shoulder at his face. he still doesn’t see clearly, but he knows the other is looking down and not at the road. “you’ve nothing to apologize for.”

“i do though! doesn’t it hurt — to be so easily shunned like that?”

he doesn’t answer jimin right away in favor of thinking about his words carefully. it hadn’t hurt, no, seokjin has lived with this sort of treatment for some time now. if anything, it’s acceptance that shocks him.

“don’t fret, jimin. i hold no ill towards you nor your sister. it was best she not allow us to stay than to let us in and us both be insulted by her husband.”

jimin huffs. “but you’re helping  them! couldn’t she have told him—” a frown at his own outburst turns his lips before he mumbles, “i didn’t bring you here to be treated like that.”

with a little smile, seokjin wraps his arms around jimin’s waist, leaning against the younger’s back. “calm, little one… i know you didn’t.” instead of pulling away from jimin, seokjin continues leaning against him as they ride back towards the village.

it’s late at night when they arrive back and most of the villagers are in bed asleep, or inside doing the final bit of chores by lantern glow. jimin attempts to take seokjin all the way home, but the angel insists he drop him at the edge of the village and then retire for the night.

“are you sure?” jimin asks from atop the horse, fingers petting through the mane to calm the animal.

seokjin smiles up at him, arms crossed to keep the chill of the night out of his sleeves. “i’m quite sure, jimin. please, retire home so that i may be assured you’re safe.” he nods for jimin to head off, so jimin finally sighs and turns the horse around to head back into the village towards his own home.

“goodnight, jimin,” seokjin calls to him and jimin looks over his shoulder and waves gently before nudging the horse to move a little faster.

~   *   ~

a terrible storm blows in the following week, nearly drowning the crops and leaving the lower part of the village flooded in ankle deep water. jimin braves the weather outside to help his father dig ditches for the excess water to run off. neighboring farmers pitch in and soon there’s lines of ditches leading from the fields to an even lower part of land outside the village.

it isn’t as effective as it could be, but the crops aren’t as drowned by the end of it at the very least. now all they can do is hope and pray the rain stops and the sun dries the water quickly.

with the weather taking this turn, jimin hasn’t been able to see seokjin for days, not since that night he helped jimin with his sister. he struggles to think if seokjin is on high enough land that his little garden is safe — even though he helped to plant some herbs and vegetables there, jimin can’t remember if the clearing is on a hill or not. he worries for seokjin and his garden and he hopes they’re well.

above all of his worries though, jimin wonders if seokjin misses him as much as he misses the angel.

~   *   ~

when the weather calms a few days later, it’s been over a week and a half since jimin’s gotten to see seokjin. he wakes early in the morning, prepares a light breakfast for his father to wake to and then heads out towards the forest. villagers watch him as he goes by, many of them shaking their heads and some even scoffing. none of them can take away the excitement he feels in seeing seokjin so their little displays of disgust roll right off of him like water on a duck.

as usual, the trek is harrowing with low hanging branches and overgrown roots slowing him down. he makes it soon enough, but before he heads to the door to knock, he peeks around the hut to the garden at the back.

save for the little ditch branching from one corner of the garden and the obvious weeds growing, it looks as though the storm barely bothered the garden. it’s strange not to see seokjin outside, already fixing the weed situation, so he worries the other fell sick. he’s quick to knock after that.

“jimin,” seokjin calls softly, “come in.”

another strange thing is seokjin not letting him inside himself, so jimin quickly pushes the door open and steps inside. the sight that greets him sends a chill down his spine.

feathers litter the floor, some pure white and others tainted with black and grey tips. seokjin’s usual spot against the wall by the fire is undisturbed but there’s a person shaped lump in the bedding that moves gently when the door is closed.

“s-seokjin?”

the lump shifts, covers moving aside to reveal seokjin looking rather pale, black veins a little darker and eyes more sunken. “jimin.”

“what happened!?” jimin gasps, dropping his basket to get on his knees by seokjin’s bed. he brushes seokjin’s long black hair out of his face, cupping his cheek only to yank his hand away when he feels how cold seokjin is. “you’re so cold, seokjin—” he turns to the fire pit and begins working on getting a fire started.

there’s a soft cough behind him. “i blessed the garden so the rains would not destroy it.”

the fire slowly grows, sticks crackling when jimin turns back to him and frowns. “do the gardens mean so much that you would overuse your powers? i could bring things from the village, seokjin. you could live off of other things the forest offers… why risk sickness for the garden…?”

seokjin smiles at jimin, his gaze soft and fond. “because we planted some of it together, jimin. because you  love it so much… how could i let it be destroyed?”

the sentiment is sweet, it makes jimin’s heart flutter and stomach flip, but that is quickly dashed when he sees the state of seokjin’s wings. he can see more of the skin than before, feathers bunched up on the bed behind seokjin.

“you’re a fool,” jimin whispers, hanging his head as his shoulders tense up. “you could’ve died, couldn’t you? just to save a stupid garden?”

“jimin…” seokjin’s smile fades, replaced with a worried frown. he reaches out for jimin, resting a hand on his thigh. “it’s not that bad…”

“‘not that bad’!?” jimin gasps, lifting his head. “you’re an idiot, seokjin — i care more for you than a stupid garden. we can replant  the garden but there’s no replacement for you!” jimin places his head in his hands and sighs heavily, lets all the air out of his lungs. anger, sadness, worry — all of them form a knot in the pit of his stomach, adding to the numbness he felt when he’d first seen seokjin’s appearance.

“do you mean that?”

“of course i do,” jimin huffs, crossing his arms as he lifts his head to look at seokjin. “i know it’s wrong, i know i’m just a simple farm boy, but… i care about you seokjin. as more than a friend…” while his voice was strong at the beginning, it wanes near the end, a whisper instead of a declaration like before.

seokjin shifts on the bed, sits up slowly so he can gather jimin into his arms and pull him close, right into his lap. “i love you too, little one.”

jimin’s face flushes and he pushes at seokjin halfheartedly. “who said anything about ‘love’?” he mumbles, still trying to act mad with seokjin even though relief floods through him once he sees that seokjin has the strength to hold him so tight.

“i did,” seokjin replies, voice still rough from the charring in his throat, but warm against jimin’s shoulder where he rests his chin. “i won’t pretend it’s anything but love, jimin… no matter how ‘wrong’ it might seem.”

jimin hums softly, agreement in his tone as he leans into seokjin and presses his face against the man’s neck. despite seokjin’s appearance, how his veins are dark and his wings are in horrible shape, he smells of the earth, of the forest and berries.

quiet reigns for only a bit before seokjin speaks again, voice a whisper to keep the gravel sound from grating on jimin’s ears. “angel-rot,” he says softly and when jimin gives a confused noise in reply, he explains, “you’re wondering what causes my wings to molt, my veins to blacken, yes?” jimin nods slowly, hugging seokjin tight. “it’s angel-rot.”

“what’s that?”

seokjin doesn’t answer jimin right away. he holds him tighter, kisses his shoulder, runs his fingers down jimin’s back as if in preparation for something heartbreaking. “it’s a disease angels get when they fall… many are consumed by darkness, both the negativity of the stigma of falling and their own thoughts of their worthlessness, of failure.”

“what happens to them…?” jimin whispers, fingers gripping seokjin’s robes.

“eventually they die a very painful death.”

jimin’s heart seizes at the words, breath punched out of him as he struggles in seokjin’s grip. “w-what?! you— how do they know when they’re about to die then?” he asks instead of the real question of ‘how long do i still have you?’

“some take weeks, some years…” seokjin whispers. “it depends on the negativity they’re surrounded with and if they use their powers.” his voice trails off, letting jimin’s mind work out the rest.

the villagers have been unkind to seokjin for years, longer than jimin can remember, and the angel is always blessing something — animals, the plants, sometimes even jimin himself.

“seokjin,” jimin starts, voice shaking, “are… are you saying you’re dying?”

the angel smiles softly, reaches up to cup jimin’s cheeks. “angel-rot can be reversed a bit… or at least extended…”

“how?” jimin asks quickly, desperation buzzing through his veins. “tell me how, seokjin, please.”

“this,” seokjin replies cryptically before revealing it outright, “being loved, jimin. you’ve been kind to me since after that first night. i’d felt like a failure, been told as much and i let it fester — but you… through seeing the love you hold for even those who have wronged you, i’ve gained some of that love for myself.”

jimin looks at seokjin like he doesn’t believe him, fingers trailing along seokjin’s neck, following the lines of veins. “you make me sound like the angel…”

“perhaps you are, jimin.”

they lock eyes and the tension in the room slowly transitions to another type, warmth slowly filling the room. “i love you, seokjin… please stay for a long time.”

it’s jimin who leans in and gently kisses seokjin’s lips, but the angel brings him in closer, tangling their limbs together as they kiss until the need for air breaks them apart. “i will, my love,” seokjin replies, “this is only worse from using so much of my power, but i will get better. don’t fret.”

they kiss again and lie in bed for a time before hunger begins to take over. jimin is the one to get up and tend to the fire, warming the small meal he’d brought. he goes a step further and insists on feeding seokjin who complains for only a second before jimin hushes him with a kiss. after that, he relents to jimin tending to him, kisses being traded for his ‘good behavior’.

after a meal, jimin coaxes seokjin into sitting on the back porch while he works in the garden. seokjin sings with his scratchy voice as jimin carefully uproots weeds and tosses them into a basket to be gotten rid of elsewhere. soon enough, jimin is singing with seokjin, not at all bothered by seokjin’s coarse singing.

they spend the entire day together switching between tending the garden to cooking together to seokjin pouting because jimin doesn’t allow him to get up and move around ( not even to clean his own hut ).

~   *   ~

everything goes wonderfully for a while. jimin spends his days splitting his time between seokjin and tending to the chores his father gives him. the crops are growing well and the livestock is as healthy as can be. no one would ever know there was once a flood on the lower side of the village. if anything, their vegetables look better than the upper side of the village when the time comes for selling.

time spent with seokjin amounts to sewing new clothing that seokjin claims to receive from a kind old woman he helped years ago. she sends him fabrics and he makes his clothing from them. other times they’re tending their garden together and trading little kisses and gentle touches.

seokjin’s condition has improved beyond when jimin first saw him. the black veins slowly turn grey, his eyes clear up from their dulled out state to something vaguely resembling blue, and his wings don’t look quite as ashen as before. the feathers are still gone and they won’t ever grow back in, per seokjin’s words, but his wings look healthier and don’t seem to cause seokjin as much pain as before.

time spent in the village is nice enough too, even if the villagers back away from him and whisper awful things about him ( ‘he’s a witch i say, just like his mother! he’ll bring the heaven’s wrath upon us consorting with that creature in the woods!’ ). he forgives them for all of it and continues with loving seokjin. it stings, sure, his heart is bruised and beaten with every little jab towards seokjin, but he never lets his angel hear of the villager’s terrible words. seokjin doesn’t deserve it.

despite their bitter and petty ways, the village prospers. the cows give milk a-plenty and the chickens lay more eggs than some families can count. the vegetables are wonderful quality and sell at a higher price than many know what to do with. jimin suspects for the longest time that seokjin is to thank for the amazing blessings the village gets ( especially when he catches seokjin’s wings molting a little more when they’d nearly stopped before ), but he doesn’t ask the angel about it.

he does kiss him more to show his appreciation.

~   *   ~

it’s a month later that calm comes to an abrupt halt — the villagers wake to see their crops rotting. the animals are sick and refuse to give milk or eggs. no one knows what to do, even jimin’s father who’s the smartest man he knows, just shakes his head and tosses down a rotting carrot before heading to the village square to talk with the others. jimin stands in horror, mouth agape as he gazes over the crops his father had worked hard in planting, the crops they all saved from the flood just a month and a half ago. how could things have gone so wrong?

he snaps back to attention when he hears yelling in the square. he sets aside the basket he would normally take to seokjin and rushes to see what’s going on.

in the square an older man stands in the middle, shouting about ill omens, about demons, and the fate that’s befallen the town. “you see!” he shouts, pointing at the garden nearby, the flowers wilted on the ground. “i warned you all this would happen!” he shouts, pointing each villager who grow tired by the second.

when the man spots jimin, he shouts louder. “here he is! the disease bringer!” he points a crooked finger at jimin who frowns. “he consorted with that damned demon in the forest and now look! i told you all i saw that thing  wandering the village nights ago and here we are — our crops are dead, our animals dying! and this child is the one to blame!”

rational thought seems to leave the villagers as they all look at jimin, each one of their faces blank but slowly shifting into one of acknowledgement. 

whispers fill the square, one farmer to another, a widow to her neighbor — even the children! all jimin can do is stand there, eyes wide and fingers clenched by his sides. “who are you to say it’s my fault? seokjin isn’t a demon — he’s just an angel who lost his way, but he’s finding it again!”

“tell me child, did this demon say why he fell?” the old man says as he advances on jimin.

everyone’s eyes are on jimin, that ever present curiosity belying the hatred they feel for seokjin ( and for jimin as well ). jimin steps away again before replying, “no… he’s never told me. but i’ve not—”

“you see! ” the man turns to the villagers, talking over jimin who is trying to assure people that seokjin isn’t a bad man, just misunderstood. but being misunderstood himself, jimin has no voice. the majority that find jimin despicable outweigh the few who either don’t care or don’t mind.

“please, just listen to me!” jimin shouts, trying to take back control of the situation even as the villagers slowly close around him. “seokjin isn’t a demon! he’s just a wayward angel! he’s never harmed anyone!”

his protests fall on deaf ears.

“if we offer this child to the heavens, we could be blessed once more! the demon will leave when his toy is gone!” the superstitious man shouts above the crowd as jimin struggles against farmers who grab at him. he looks to his father who just stares on, his face devoid of emotion save for the ever so slight widening of his eyes.

he pleads with them as they tie his wrists together, then his ankles. he doesn’t know what they plan on doing with him, but the dread that drops from his throat to his stomach tells him that he won’t be making it to see seokjin today, nor ever again. all this time, he’s been wanting positive interactions, craving love and affection, and when he’s finally got it — where does it get him? he doesn’t regret loving seokjin, never will, but he doesn’t want to die either.

tears slide down his cheeks, sorry after sorry tumbling from his quivering lips as he’s taken across the square. he’s sorry to the villagers for being a stain on their lives, he’s sorry to his father for not being a better son. he’s most sorry to seokjin for missing their afternoon together, for leaving him all alone. the crowd stops and he’s strapped to one of the poles the torches are tied to to offer light in the square at night.

“please don’t do this,” jimin begs softly to the farmer who comes to test the ties. “you know me, so please believe me…”

the man ignores him in favor of turning to the superstitious man, the leader of this entire thing. “what now?”

“witches have to be burned…” is the reply given.

jimin doesn’t give up, he struggles some more, cries louder, begs harder, but no one listens to him; even his father has disappeared from the crowd. he’s all alone. it seems he has no choice but to accept his fate, so jimin tilts his head back and looks up at the sky. “i’m sorry, seokjin. i’m so sorry.”

“what in heaven’s name is going on here!?” a familiar voice yells as thunder rumbles in the distance. clouds slowly grow together, darkening in the sky.

as if summoned, seokjin pushes his way through the crowd, shoving aside the villagers without a care as he makes his way to jimin. “what have you done? what were you thinking !?” seokjin growls as he quickly unties jimin, rubbing his wrists with shaking hands.

no one answers him.

“i said what were you thinking?” seokjin says, voice a low hiss as he rounds on the villagers, spreading his nearly bare wings out, the dark flesh looking more like a bat’s wings than an angel’s.

“leave. leave our village and don’t come back,” a voice says from the crowd. soon all the villagers are whispering among themselves again, many of them agreeing with the lone villager, but too scared to say it for themselves.

seokjin glares at the villagers, arms around jimin now. “happily,” seokjin growls in his gravelly voice before guiding jimin through the crowd of villagers. when the man who started this stands in front of them, blocking their path, seokjin stops and stares at him for a long while.

“shall i move you myself, human? or would you kindly get out  of my way?”

the man shakes his head at seokjin. “leave this world. do us all a favor and leave this world .”

seokjin’s gaze hardens, but before he can say anything, jimin is tugging on his robe. “please, seokjin, let’s just go.”

so they leave, seokjin gazing back at the village over his shoulder, hands shaking with anger while jimin shivers as his uncertain future hangs over him like a wraith intend on sucking his soul out of his body.

~   *   ~

back at the hut, seokjin tends to jimin’s wrists where the rope had dug into his skin. they don’t talk, don’t air out any thoughts on the situation they narrowly escaped from. it’s only later in the night, after picking at a small dinner, that jimin turns to seokjin in bed and whispers to him.

“why did you fall?”

he thinks seokjin’s genuinely asleep when he doesn’t readily answer so he closes his eyes to go back to sleep. “because of love.” jimin’s eyes snap open to gaze as seokjin, eyes following the line of light highlights seokjin from the fire going behind him.

“love?”

“yes,” seokjin confirms with a gentle hum, carefully pulling jimin against his chest. “it was many years ago, but i felt for her what i feel for you — i feel more  for you, if i’m honest.” there’s a smile in his voice and jimin returns it against seokjin’s sternum. “she was my charge — someone i was supposed to take care of. one of many i was tasked with, honestly.”

jimin hums. “what was she like?”

“ah, she had a temper. she was the only daughter of many sons and she developed a knack for building but no one took her seriously… so she pretended to be a male and got things done that way. her determination is what i loved most about her.”

“what happened to her…?” it’s not a question he’s sure he should ask, but he wants to know if seokjin is willing to tell him.

there’s a long exhale as seokjin tenses in his arms, which jimin counters by rubbing up and down the angel’s back, careful of his wings. “sickness took her before she met thirty-five… she kept me going for the longest time and when she was gone, the rot took over so i decided to come here to live out the last few years of my life.”

“you wanted to die?” jimin mumbles, burying his face against seokjin’s neck.

“i did, but not anymore. i still have things i’d like to do — spending time with you is one of them.”

comforted by seokjin’s words, jimin pulls away so he can press a tender kiss to the angel’s lips. “i love you, seokjin… i was so scared today. i didn’t…” he pauses and swallows hard, voice thick, “i didn’t want to leave you.”

“shh,” seokjin whispers, cupping jimin’s cheek. he rests his forehead to jimin’s, soothing him with a gentle hum. “i love you too. you’re safe now.”

after more kisses and whispers are exchanged, jimin slowly drifts off to sleep, leaving seokjin up alone. he waits until jimin is hard asleep before leaving the bed and heading out to his little garden, careful not to open and close the door too hard.

the vegetables and herbs are dead, rotten like in the village. when seokjin had awoke this morning and seen the state of his crops, he wandered into the village — just to see — but then the shouting had drawn him in further. he still feels so angry, but jimin’s words from before calm him — ‘if there’s at least a little good in some, doesn’t that defeat the bad?’

seokjin touches the dead leaves of the vegetables, the damp wilt of them flopping over his hand. “i wonder…” seokjin whispers. carefully, he coaxes some of his blessings into the tips of his fingers and lets the plant bask in the gentle glow.

slowly, the leaves perk up and the vegetable is restored. seokjin cuts it open with the small blade he keeps on him just to see if it worked for the entire plant. sure enough, the carrot is restored to its former edible state so seokjin begins blessing the entire garden, bringing it back to life.

his power hums under his skin, alive with the need to be used. he’s promised jimin he wouldn’t overdo it anymore, but before he can stop himself, he’s wandered back into the village to bless the fields, the cows, and the chickens. like jimin’s own loving and giving way, seokjin can’t just allow the village to die because of unexplainable rot. he has to do something.

~   *   ~

the next morning, jimin wastes no time in looking for seokjin when he wakes to an empty bed. not in the garden, it’s the first place he looks. not by the river, which is the second and only other place jimin would think seokjin would go this early. his heart sinks as he turns towards the village. he thinks — hopes — seokjin wouldn’t go there, but…

he finds seokjin in the middle of his father’s field by following the trail of feathers. his wings have darkened once again, nearing black now, and they droop on his back as if too heavy to hold up. “seokjin!” jimin yells out, walking into the field, avoiding the fresh vegetables seokjin had obviously healed. “seokjin, what are you doing? if they catch you, they’ll kill you!” he grabs seokjin’s wrist and tugs, and the angel goes with him.

“i was helping— wait!”

seokjin grabs jimin as they pause at the edge of the field just as villagers begin coming out of their houses. a stench fills the air, the smell indescribably horrid, like rotten meat setting out in the sun to cook, becoming putrid and infested with maggots.

“get inside,” seokjin hisses, his grip on jimin’s arm tightening. “go to the nearest kindest villager and you stay in their house…” he looks at jimin and his expression says it all. something’s wrong.

“i don’t want to leave you,” jimin says even as seokjin is marching him to some nearby villagers who look kind enough. “seokjin, i don’t want to leave you!”

“get inside. now!” he orders the villagers just as a loud howl sounds near the edge of the village. the smell worsens as the howling grows closer until something resembling a wolf stalks into the village.

the creature is twice as big as a wolf, black tar dripping from its fur as boils line its blood caked legs and mouth. it pauses, bright glowing white eyes on seokjin as it sniffs the air. its jaw snap once its smelled what it wants.

“seokjin!” jimin cries from one of the windows, “please, what are you doing?!”

the angel stands his ground as the wolf stalks closer, though his hands shake. “pestilence…” seokjin whispers to himself, identifying the creature before him by name, but jimin can’t hear him.

“seokjin, please!”

“it’s pestilence!” seokjin says louder, not taking his eyes off the creature now just half a field away from him. “it’s why the crops are rotted. it’s poisoning the earth…” he takes a step back as the creature advances closer, now at the edge of the square, just a house length away from where seokjin stands. “it’s drawn in by angel-rot… it feasts on celestial beings.”

the second the words leave his mouth, the creature lunges and seokjin ducks, lets it fly over his head. he could try to kill it, but pestilence will only find the next creature near death and take it over, continuing its vicious cycle. there’s only one thing he can do.

“seokjin, what are you doing!?” jimin shouts, hands reaching through the window to grab the angel. he’s so close, yet so far. the family that’s taken jimin into their home refuses to open the door for him so he’s helpless as the wolf turns for another go at seokjin.

“doing what i need to,” seokjin replies and when the creature lunges for him this time, seokjin doesn’t duck low. he dips. and instead of flying over seokjin’s head as before, it crashes right into him, right into seokjin’s open arms.

it snaps its jaws right at seokjin’s ear, but the angel doesn’t let go. he holds the creature in the tightest embrace he can as he calls upon his powers for a final time. “sh,” seokjin whispers, turning his head to the wolf’s neck below its ear. he begins praying, hands spread out on the creature’s tar and blood soaked back.

jimin calls out to seokjin as the angel continues his prayers, a soft song of worship leaving his lips as the creature thrashes and howls with rage, trying to shake the angel off of him. “you’ve been hunting me for some time, haven’t you?” seokjin questions, knowing he’d get no answer. “you can’t have me, pestilence and you can’t have this village either.”

the whispering of hymns continues until the creature collapses on top of seokjin with a wheezing whimper. its white eyes close slowly and when seokjin pulls away from the creature, it dissolves into black smoke that drifts up towards the sky. with it, the stench is gone and so are the drops of tar and blood wherever it touched, until every trace of the creature is gone.

the door slams open and jimin runs out to seokjin who lies on the ground still, arms and neck taken over by black veins, his face ashen, devoid of color. his wings look near skeletal with no feathers, the soot colored skin thin on his bones. “seokjin…” jimin whispers as he settles on his knees by seokjin, “what… what did you do?”

seokjin gives a faint smile, reaching up to stroke jimin’s cheek. his skin is freezing cold, the sting of it against jimin’s warm cheek causing him to flinch even as he leans into the touch. “i sent him back where he belongs… i suppose my brothers and sisters are listening after all. i thought i’d been abandoned.”

“but you… you’re dying…”

“not yet,” seokjin whispers, wrapping his arm around jimin, using the younger’s frame to hoise himself up, leaning on jimin heavily. “not until i tell you i love you one more time.”

jimin puts a finger over seokjin’s lips. “then don’t tell me. you’re not…” jimin swallows thickly, “you’re not allowed to ever tell me it. not ever again.”

“jimin…”

“no— i said you’re not allowed.” jimin’s shoulders square and he whimpers, holding seokjin to his chest. “no, no, no… you can’t say it. you can’t say you love me and then leave me. how cruel is that?”

seokjin sighs, low and long, and then doesn’t take another breath. jimin pulls back quickly. “seokjin, don’t you dare leave me! i said you couldn’t!”

“sh,” the angel’s chuckle turns into a vicious cough, his entire body seizing from the force of it. “i’m not dead, my love. i’m just so tired… please let me rest.”

jimin shakes his head, rocking seokjin forward and backwards. “no, not at all. you can’t close your eyes, you can’t tell me you love me. not anymore.”

the angel merely smiles and hugs jimin loosely ( it’s the tightest he can manage ). “okay, my love. okay.”

as jimin holds seokjin, the angel looks around with dulled eyes at the same time the villagers begin coming out of their houses to look at the young lovers, at their savior. the whispers start up again, but this time it’s in wonder of what to do — seokjin just saved them all from a monster. there has to be someway to save him.

a clear voice speaks above the crowd. “seokjin… making friends with pestilence i see.”

seokjin shifts a bit, eyes on the spot where an angel gently moves through the crowd to get to them. a soft glow surrounds him, large white wings folded against his back.

“namjoon, my brother,” seokjin greets, voice full of fondness. “you came.”

the angel with bright wings smiles, a dimple indented on his cheek. “how could i not? you sent pestilence back where he belongs. and now i’ve come to get you.”

“no!” jimin interrupted, holding seokjin against him, pulling him away from namjoon. “n-no! if you take him, he’ll never come back…” jimin sniffles, burying his face in seokjin’s hair. “c-can’t you heal him and let him stay?”

namjoon tilts his head at jimin and smiles kindly. “the type of healing he needs cannot be done here, especially not in the presence of humans.”

“little one,” seokjin whispers, reaching up to stroke jimin’s cheek. “i’ll come back to you — i said i had many things i’d like to do…” he trails off, looking at jimin pointedly

“and one of them is spend time with me…” jimin finishes for him, voice soft. his gaze lifts to focus on namjoon who stands there with that same kind smile. he doesn’t look like the type of angel to lie or go back on his word.

slowly jimin nods his head. “he’ll come back to me?”

“yes, he will come back in time. i cannot promise when…” namjoon says as he leans down to gather seokjin from jimin’s arms. jimin doesn’t let go of seokjin’s hand just yet, standing up to be as close to the angel as he can for as long as he still has him.

“jimin, you must let me go so i can come back,” seokjin whispers. jimin looks like he’ll protest again before leaning in to kiss seokjin’s lips. “hm, i love you,” he whispers when jimin pulls away.

“l-love you too…”

the villagers give namjoon a wide berth as his wings spread out, gasps of surprise sounding out around him. even though there’s tears sliding down his cheeks, jimin watches in awe as namjoon gives one powerful flap of his wings and disappears from sight, seokjin gone with him.

“i’ll be waiting…” jimin says to himself as he looks up towards the clear blue sky.

~   *   ~

days turn to weeks, then a whole month has gone by and still no seokjin. jimin holds onto his hope though. his days having become brighter since the day seokjin had to leave. he’s not exactly the favorite of the village, but many of the ones who attempted hurting him have since apologized profusely. many have sent him vegetables and milk and eggs, so much of them that he eventually had to ask them to keep them and sell them for themselves.

he’s done a good job keeping seokjin’s little place clean and peaceful. along with that, he’s also made a proper path to the village now so he and seokjin can visit the village once the angel has returned. he uses it often.

his father is as neutral as ever, but he praises jimin every so often, thanks him for a job well done whenever he comes around to help out. a week ago, jimin had gotten news of his sister’s successful pregnancy and she’d been the one to hold jimin when he cried over how much he missed seokjin.

everything has changed, but for the better.

he wants for nothing now, but seokjin’s return.

it’s one autumn morning when it happens. jimin is curled up in a blanket on seokjin’s porch, enjoying a small nap in the fresh air. the crops have been harvested, the herbs protected, and the hut cleaned. he’s tired and is enjoying some time to himself when the sound of gentle laughter reaches his ears. it’s a distinct laugh too, high pitched and a bit squeaky.

jimin’s eyes snap open immediately. “seokjin?!”

seokjin stands just a stone’s throw away from jimin, arms crossed over his chest. he’s beautiful with his warm skin and bright white wings spread out behind him, blue eyes sparkling in the sunlight. there’s no more angel-rot, no more gravelly voice.

the laughter cuts off and the angel speaks in a clear voice, “look at you, having made this your home — who are you to intrude like this?”

“seokjin!” jimin cries, knocking over his half finished tea in his haste to throw the blanket off of him. he hops down from the porch and rushes right into seokjin’s open arms. “you’re back! you’re home !”

the angel laughs and it sounds so silly to hear nothing but a wheezing squeak exit the man’s lips. but jimin falls even more in love with him. “yes, i’m home! they weren’t going to let me leave after i’d done such an amazing service for them.”

“service?” jimin asks, pulling back to look up at seokjin.

“yes, apparently, i didn’t break the angel code by falling in love with a human?” seokjin sounds just as confused as jimin feels. “rather, they saw an opportunity to use my placement on earth and make it seem like i’d fallen to draw pestilence to me. that creature had been on earth for quite a while now — no wonder it looked so awful.”

jimin shakes his head. “so… how did you get to come back?”

“oh, well, i told them since they’d used  me so happily, then they’ll be just as happy to let me have my time on earth with you. either that, or they get to listen to my complaints for the next century. and, as you know, i love  my complaints.”

jimin throws his head back and lets out a hearty laugh, shoulders shaking and tears of mirth sliding down his cheeks. “and so now?”

“well, now i’m back to spend that time i promised with you. i do hope you weren’t attached to my decrepit appearance?” seokjin raises his eyebrows, a teasing smirk on his lips.

“you fool,” jimin whispers, leaning in to kiss him. “i love you no matter what you look like. now and until the end, i will love you.”

seokjin cups jimin’s cheeks, blue eyes meeting brown, and he smiles happily. “and i, too, will love you until the very end of everything.”

— fin —