Work Text:
Love is hard. Loving can vary from feeling like a dim ember to a scorching fire. The heat can make your skin crawl, or give you the warmth you need to take on the day. Sometimes love burns. Jaehyun's job isn't to stop people from burning each other. His job is to help bring those together who have the least chance to turn their love into ash.
Everyone on the planet has a soulmate, and it's Jaehyun's job to make sure that each person finds thiers. Obviously he can't make everyone meet their perfect matches at once. He goes one by one, and creates a scene that brings them together. The fates help him by bringing the two people where they're supposed to be, but the rest lies in his hands. Once he gets the scene right, it's all up to the two souls to work it out.
His schedule is jammed packed as one would assume. He goes from one case to the next without any breaks in between. Lunches and dinners are always the same; some kind of sandwich that Taeil makes him before he leaves for work, and breakfast is always skipped.
For a man that deals with love 24/7, he doesn't have much time to find it for himself. But to be fair, angels don't really need love. Some are lucky enough to find it amongst coworkers, but most are okay doing what needs to be done and making sure the earth turns as it should. No one ever gives much thought to the fact that the earth turns on it’s side, not until something reminds them.
Jaehyun has only ever been reminded of this fact a handful of occasions throughout his hundreds of decades as Cupid. His life is on all accounts pretty simple, and can be summed up in one word.
Work.
Jaehyun would even go as far as to say he’s content where he’s at. Even though the workload is beyond aggressive. But he can look past that! Because at the end of the day, knowing that he helps people find love makes him happy.
Or it usually does.
There's two different kinds of work days for Jaehyun. One where he's busy and he loves it, and one where he's busy and he doesn't.
Today is the latter.
“Holy fuck, i hate my job”
Taeil looks up from his book while seated on the couch in their shared living room. “Interesting. Was it the people or was it the love this time?”
Jaehyuns groans while taking his shoes off by the door.
“Everything dude, it's everything. I’m so sick of working all day, getting home at fucking 10 pm waking up at 4am and playing matchmaker for awful people”
“Ah” Taeil says softly “so it’s the people?”
Jaehyuns ponders hitting the wall or hitting himself to knock himself out while recounting the day in his head.
“Its always the fucking people”.
Taeil laughs to himself, dog ears the page he was on, and closes the book in his hands. He turns toward Jaehyun while patting the seat next to him, inviting Jaehyun to sit with him.
“So the people were bad, huh?” Taeil asks as Jaehyun takes up the invitation and slumps next him on the couch.
“Oh they were the absolute worst. I know I say that a lot but this time I mean it. They're both snotty rich ceos who could care less about the human race and only care about building up their empires. I guess if you look at it, they are perfect for each other, but getting them together is bad news. They may not suffer, but others will. And I have to deal with that guilt ya know? Cuz im the one who physically has to push them together”
Jaehyun sinks into the couch as he finishes his mini rant.
“Well” Taeil says carefully while turning his head toward his friend “how many good people did you help today?”
Jaehyun groans, “A lot. Like, too many to count man.”
Jaehyun knows what Taeils is doing, and he appreciates it. He knows his job isn't the worst in the heavens. In fact, he really really loves it. He knows that on the best days its the most rewarding job in the world. But todays not the best day, and he wants to complain and rant and sulk in peace.
“Instead of thinking about all the good people i've helped today, let's discuss the bad people i've helped today. They were atrocious and mean and i'm so sure that bringing them together is gonna start the next world war”
Taeil looks pensively for a second before deciding on a shrug, “Then i guess it was meant to be.”
“Well,” Jaehyun shifts uncomfortably in his seat, sifting farther into the couch, “You're not wrong, but why do I have to be the bringer of chaos? I'd much rather tell someone else to do it for me” Jaehyun finishes with a grumble.
“Huh,” Taeil looks at Jaehyun for a minute, the look of someone who's finally solved the last piece of a puzzle written on his face, “so you want an intern?”.
“No, Taeil. I want a different job.”
Jaehyun slouches so far into the couch, feeling vaguely defeated, and a bit like he and the couch may be molding into one. He’s not mad about it though. Perhaps being a couch would be easier.
“Nah” Taeil says, much more level headed than Jaehyun thinks he should be listening to his best friend’s anguish. “I think you just don't want the feeling of guilt that comes from watching two people you physically pushed together start ruining other peoples lives”.
“Isn't that what I just said” Jaehyun deadpans.
“Yeah, but you didn't get the point Jaehyun,” Taeil says as if he’s waiting for Jaehyun to solve the last piece of the puzzle.
Jaehyun was never great at puzzles. That's what Taeil’s for anyway.
“Dude” Taeil looked at Jaehyun with just a pinch less than a glare, “your problem isn't with your job. It's with the fact that you physically have to push these people together. The best way to handle that, just like you said, is to get someone else to do it for you. Make a fucking app or something. How many of your cases meet on dating apps anyway these days? It's simple really”
“Holy fuck” Jaehyun whispers, “Taeil, you're a genius”.
Jaehyun jumps from the couch and runs back to his room with a vigor that wasn't there before. He begins his descent into research hell that same night; researching algorithms, formulas, other dating apps formats, etc.
In the weeks to come he plans dozens upon dozens meetings with supervisors and colleagues about how human technology and the magic of fate can coexist together. If it's possible to create an app that can make it simpler and easier for soulmates to find each other.
Jaehyun works twice as hard, finally seeing a way out.
When Jaehyun looks back on where this all starts, he realizes it starts as a simple moment, in a mundane conversation about work. And just like that Jaehyun's life had changed forever, in ways that he would have never expected.
___________
“Hey, what's the big boss doing down on the ground floor with the rest of us losers” Donghyuck teases as Jaehyun walks toward him and Mark down one of the brightly lit corridors of the HQ for the wildly popular La La Love Inc.
La La Love is the product of the conversation Jaehyun and Taeil had about 3 years ago. The La La Love App has been up and running for about 3 years now and had an incredible surge of popularity about 3 months in, when all of its user reviews came back with 5 stars stating they were in a relationship and off the app in 2 weeks time.
La La Love has a 100% match rate, everyone on the app finds love. And as far as the past 3 years can tell, everyone stays in love too.
It has the perfect formula, and the app almost never crashes. It runs as smoothly as the earth turns, and everyone wants to know the developers secret.
That's the main reason that no one knows Jaehyun is the CEO of this wonderful company. In fact, no one knows if there even is a CEO. Jaehyun has kept his tracks as clear as possible, and locked the La La Love doors sealed tight in hopes that no one ever finds out.
With that being said, Jaehyun would never be able to run this thing on his own. He has a whole company of guardian angels working part time at La La Love.
Each guardian angel is assigned a human, and starting 3 years ago, La La Love was added as a part of their job description. The guardian angels look over their human and make sure they're on the right path, and part of being on the right path in today's day and age is downloading La La Love.
The guardian angels only work in the agency for as long as their humans are on the app, and since the app works fast, with fate as its main driver, most angels leave in no time at all.
That is except for Mark and Donghyuck, they've got an incredibly tough case.
“I see you're still with us Donghyuck, not working us hard on you’d like us to think huh” Jaehyun chuckles as he stops in front of Donghyuck and Mark, “nice to see you again Mark”.
“Excuse me,” Donghyuck says affronted “Did you forget my name? It’s Donghyuck, not Mark and I know full well it's a pleasure to see me”.
“Oh, Donghyuck how could I forget, you remind me everyday,” Jaehyun says in an airy voice “and I was just checking in on your case. It's been what, 3 months now?”
Donghyuck tenses up, looking as fed up as he always does when talking about his case.
“Well-”
“It's horrible!” Mark cries as he interrupts Donghyuck, “Renjun still wont download the stupid app and Jenos just sitting there on the app hoping that one day he’ll find his “perfect match”. Imagine going on a dating app that has a 100% match right and not finding the love of your life? He's suffering, man. My human is suffering and it's your humans fault” Mark turns to Donghyuck accusatorial, arms crossed and an angry pout on his face.
“Wow” Donghyuck says slowly. “Did that feel good? Do you feel better now? Because I feel fine and I’m gonna get back to work and keep it professional in front of the boss. Please feel free to step aside to take a minute to cool down, we won't be long”. Donghyuck is looking at Mark with a dangerous glint in his eyes and a sharp smile to match.
“I'm gonna go get a coffee” Mark grumbles, “nice to see you though Jaehyun, no offense but i hope I wont see you as much in the future”
“None taken, same goes for you” He calls back to Mark's retreating figure.
“So you heard some of it already,” Donghyuck starts as casually as he can without completely melting down. And to be fair, with a case this difficult, Jaehyun really wouldn't be able to blame Donghyuck for having a breakdown. Jaehyun’s been there.
“Renjun wont download the fucking app. No matter what thoughts I put in his head, or what commercials I make play on his Youtube ads, nothing works. This whole divine intervention shit goes right over this boy's head. At this point I think we may have to go back to the basics, physical intervention” Donghyuck trails off at the end, seeming to try to feel out Jaehyun's response to the ideas.
Jaehyun physically shivers. He sincerely hopes he never has to do a physical intervention ever again.
“Okay Donghyuck, I see your point but let's not get ahead of yourselves. Lets try a different tactic. Maybe we can try to find a way to get his computer stuck on an ad, and maybe he’ll just go on it in a desperate attempt to make it stop?”
Donghyuck gives him a look dripping with judgement.
“Hey, I'm just spitballing here. I don't want to give up yet. We want 100% user positivity so people keep using the app. The world has been a lot less lonely since this algorithm was made, we need to keep it that way”
Donghyuck sighs and lowers his shoulders as he looks at Jaehyun “You're right. This is important. I’ll try my best to get through to him”.
“Thank you Donghyuck” Jaehyun's voice is filled with soft sincerity as a small smile forms on his face.
“Of course boss, just trying to do my job” Donghyuck smiles back, but the hesitation and unmistakable look of guilt that flashes across his face is almost impossible to miss.
Almost impossible, unless, of course, you're Jung Jaehyun.
_____________
“So when the hell are we gonna tell him that we’ve been intervening” Mark asks Donghyuck as he sips on the coffee in his hand. Unfortunately, it tastes a bit like cinnamon, but thats all they had left.
Donghyuck grabs Mark's hand, hides inside of the closest grey cubicle in the area, ducking on the floor and making Mark duck with him as he rushes out an angry whisper.
“Dude shut the fuck up he just left, who knows how far his hearing range is”.
“Dude” Mark complains while trying to put his coffee out of harms way, “ you know, he’s an angel too. He can hear as far as we can, which is to say, he cant hear shit now” Mark deadpans as he gets up from the floor and walks out of the cubicle, arms crossed while looking expectantly, “now, answer.”
Donghyuck clears his throat and pats the imaginary dust off his thighs after getting up from the floor.
“Well, I guess we tell him when it works” Donghyuck says with what he thinks is a pretty calm disposition. But Mark’s worked with him for too long. He knows when he’s bluffing and this is one of those moments.
Donghyuck is terrified.
“Hey, everything's gonna be okay, we won't mess up the fate of the world or anything, no need to be afraid”. Mark tries to reach for Donghyuck’s hand to give him at least a bit of comfort but Donghyuck pulls his hand away before Mark can reach it.
“I'm not scared” Dongyuck whispers softly, almost as if he’s trying to convince himself, “I just don't want Jaehyun to find out before anything happens”.
Mark takes a minute to look at Donghyuck, rolling over in his mind if he should call him on his bluff, or let it go.
He decides to let it go.
“Thats fair” Mark says with some delicacy, “I guess we've got to start making some progress”
Donghyuck laughs with all the nervousness someone fearing the end of the world would, “yeah, let's get to it”.
____________
Jaehyun is the secret CEO of La La Love corporation. And as a secret CEO it would turn some heads if the same guy kept walking into the high security building everyday.
And now that Jaehyun's got the algorithm and a bunch of angels to help do his job for him, naturally, he’s got a lot of free time on his hands.
Too much free time.
When your whole life is your work, what do you end up doing with your life without work?
For Jaehyun, the answer is obvious, create more work to do.
And thus the Sweet Cheeks coffee shop was born. Jaehyun loves coffee, although he barely had any time to enjoy it previously. So, this was the perfect chance for him to settle down here on earth and enjoy himself. He can work and enjoy coffee at the same time!
Ofcourse, a coffee shop ended up being a lot more work than he originally thought. So he did what he did best, orchestrated a plan to get two people who were meant for each other to meet to apply for the same job at the same time.
That's how he got his employees Johnny and Taeyong.
Johnny and Taeyong are third year graduate students studying at a university nearby. They've been together for about a year now and always tell everyone they met their soulmate through work. It's rare these days to find a partner outside of La La Love, so they felt their story was special. And in a way, it kind of was.
Johnny and Taeyong ended up being some of Jaehyun's best friends. When you work so closely with people for a while, it's bound to happen. Especially when they all assume they're around the same age.
Jaehyun may have been alive for hundreds of years, but he doesn't quite look it.
He became an angel at 23 years old in human years. He doesn't remember his human life, or how it was cut short.
All that he remembers is waking up in a new world, higher than the familiar one below, as the previous Cupid’s next successor.
It’s strange to think about now; being thrown into something with little to no knowledge just because it's written in one's fate.
But to be fair, that’s what everyone goes through, and at least his fate brought him here, in front of two of the kindest beings he has ever met.
Jaehyun's never had a chance to make human friends before, and to be honest, he really shouldn't start now. But everything is changing around him, and he's got enough free time to finally start enjoying life. And part of enjoying life, he discovers, is trying new things.
That's another thing he realizes while having more free time. That contentment doesn't equal happiness. That being okay with life doesn't mean you’re living.
Jaehyun has never lived as much as he has now since he woke up all those hundreds of decades ago.
And maybe living is for humans. Maybe angels weren't created to live. Maybe their purpose was to be content, never search for more, work all day so that the world turns as it should.
But damn does Jaehyun want to live.
Maybe angels can be selfish too.
Jaehyun learns a lot about being selfish while living in the human world. Especially when he meets Doyoung, Taeyong and Johnny's 2nd year friend from university.
A year into working for Jaehyun, Taeyong brings Doyoung into work and ever since then he’s been a permanent fixture in the Sweet Cheeks coffee shop.
Doyoung has got to be the most beautiful person Jaehyun has ever seen. It’s not everyday that you meet someone who can easily outshine an angel, but Doyoung seems to do it with ease. That’s one of the first things Jaehyun notices about him.
He shines like he’s meant to be seen.
Jaehyun never wants to look away.
Maybe Jaehyun is selfish.
He’s always ever been content. He’s always ever been practical.
Jaehyun never takes more than what he needs.
He only needs two employees. But he cant stop thinking of the light that enters his coffee shop every once and awhile, and how nice it would be to see that light every day.
Maybe the world doesn't turn on its side, maybe it revolves around Doyoung.
That’s the only explanation Jaehyun can think of for offering Doyoung a position at Sweet Cheeks Coffee Shop.
“Doyoung please we need another employee, you come here often enough that you may as well be working anyway” Jaehyun leans across the little coffee shop table sporting his best puppy dog eyes while he looks at Doyoung over his laptop.
“Jaehyun, please let me study in peace” Doyoung groans, not even bothering to look up from his laptop.
Honestly Jaehyun saw this coming. Puppy dog eyes never work on Doyoung, he's an unbreakable force when he needs to be. And right now, three hours before a lab report with little to no work being done previously sounds like the perfect timing.
“Fair, but please think about it.” Jaehyun pauses. There's a bit of hesitation in the words he says next, but an underlying sincerity that stops Doyoung in tracks and makes him finally look up from his lab report. “It’d be nice to see you a little more often”
Doyoung stares at Jaehyun with an incredulous look, and then, to the utter surprise of Jaehyun, laughs out loud like it's the most ridiculous thing he’s heard all day.
“If you wanted to hang out with me you could have just asked to hang out, you don't have to give me a job in order to see me more often” Doyoung laughs, a fond look on his face and a spark in his eyes that wasn't there before.
Jaehyun decides as their eyes meet that the world really does revolve around Doyoung, because Doyoung holds the sun in his eyes.
“Maybe, but extra help from a friend for me, and getting paid for hanging out with us three seems kind of like a win win to me” Jaehyun tries laughing off his thoughts with a joke to break the tensions he’s creating in his head.
Jaehyun’s getting way too comfortable thinking poetic beauty of the boy sitting across from him.
“Alright Jaehyun,” Doyoung sighs, with a light smile “I’ll think about, now leave me alone and get back to work”
Doyoung opens his laptop up again and starts typing, effectively ending the conversation.
Jaehyun laughs a bit under his breath, gets up, and starts to walk toward the back of the shop where he knows Johnny and Taeyong are probably making a mess in the kitchen.
“You’re right, my people need me. You go right ahead and continue using my resources and Taeyong's employee discount for your gain while we work hard to provide for you”
Jaehyun glances back at Doyoung before opening the doors to the back of the shop, wanting to catch a sight of the sun one more time before night falls upon him.
Doyoung doesn't turn back to him, he doesn't need to to get his message across. Jaehyun can read that sign without Doyoung facing forward.
Jaehyun shakes his head with a laugh as he turns to face forward and opens the door to the back, the image of a student hard at work, with their middle finger to the sky in the back of his mind.
_ _ _
After months of complaining about all the employee discounts Doyoung gets as someone who very clearly isn't an employee, Doyoung finally caves and starts working at the cafe.
And if Jaehyun schedules him during the times he and Doyoung are both free, no one needs to know.
Jaehyun never understood why humans were so selfish all of the time. What good did it do to throw away the thoughts of others in favor of your own needs? Humans never see the bigger picture.
But when he’s down here on earth, making a nice rich cup of coffee in the mornings with Doyoung talking about the wild T.A. antics that occurred the other day, he thinks he finally gets it.
The bigger picture doesn't matter when the masterpiece is right before your eyes.
__________________
Mark and Donghyuck slump into their respective cubicles after another long day of uselessly trying to get their humans to at least look at each other.
“I can't believe we broke one of the biggest rule today, and even that didn't help” Mark sighs as he slumps even further into his desk chair.
Donghyuck swivels his chair to face Mark “I really don't know what else we could do Mark. We literally talked to them today. With our mouths. In real life”
Donghyuck gets closer and closer to Mark with each word, becoming more and more frantic as he speaks.
To be fair, Donghyuck should be scared. He and Mark did just break one of the biggest rules in heaven.
Do not, under any circumstances, talk to your humans.
Humans should never have the need to see a guardian angel face to face. No good thing can come from that.
Mark and Donghyuck don't know why this rule exists, but they don't want to be the first ones to find out either.
“Honestly, fuck them” Mark throws his hands in the air in exasperation, “they can be alone forever for all i care”
The bitter part of Donghyuck agrees with the sentiment, but before all else Donghyuck is a guardian, and he’s gonna lead this damn boy to the love of his life whether he wants it or not.
“Enough with the dramatics Mark, taking care of them is our job, and this should be the easy part. If we can't do this then we might as well just give up”
There's an eerie silence that weighs on both of them after Donghyuck speaks. A foreboding for the future, or a sense of hopelessness for the task at hand.
Maybe it's both?
“You boys still having trouble with project noren?”
Donghyuck and Mark visibly flinch and turn their heads so fast at the newcomer.
“What the actual fuck Taeil, are you serious? You can't just sneak up on us like that, I thought you were Jeehyun!!!” Donghyuck raises his right hand to his heart while his left hand fans his face. Mark may be well versed in dramatics, but Donghyuck isn't all that far behind.
“Jaehyun forgot his lunch at home, so I decided to come drop it off” Taeil says nonchalantly, ”and I thought I may as well drop by my two favorite guardians while I’m here!”
“Well here we are” Donghyuck sighs “still right where you left us last time”
“So, no progress then” Taeil looked at them both with a bit of pity.
“Nah” Mark confirmed, “Absolutely nothing. Renjun won't even look at Jeno”
“Well, Jeno wont look anywhere except for his stupid fucking phone” Donghyuck counters.
“Only because he's waiting for his soulmate who still wont download the fucking app” Mark shoots back.
“Hey guys, lets stop fighting over which is worse and try to find a solution” Taeil gets in between the two boys while raising his hands, signaling for them to stop for a second, “Have you tried doing things the old fashioned cupid way”
“Are you saying we should shoot them with an arrow?” Mark asks in a way that makes it sound that he actually believes this is a plausible idea.
“Uhhhhh, no, don't do that” Taeil looks over at Donghyuck confused, only to see Donghyuck looking back at him with a look that screams ‘do you see what I have to deal with everyday’.
“What I meant was have you tried pushing them together through chance? Like guiding them to the same place and tripping one so they fall in the others arms? I believe the humans call it meet-cute?”
“Yeah, Taeil. We tried that too” Donghyuck sighs. He’s not even frustrated anymore, he’s just tired.
“Honestly, I really don't think there's any helping them. Maybe we should just leave the company and guide them somewhere else. Maybe they aren't ready to meet yet?” Mark says as the last saving grace on his mind.
“No” Taeil says softly, with the kind of care one would give to a wounded animal, “If you're here at the company, it means it's time for them to meet. The algorithm is never wrong”
Donghyuck groans while looking up at the ceiling.
“I’m so fucking sick of this shitty algorithm. If it really did work 100% of the time then why the hell are we still here”
Donghyuck isn't really asking Taeil that question. Taeil understands.
Donghyuck is not the only angel that aims his frustration at the sky.
But answers never appear in ways like this. Some angels believe they never will. That they're just talking to the sky and that's all there is to it.
Maybe those angels are right. Or maybe the answers are given in more subtle ways. Ways that one doesn't fully understand at the time.
Maybe the answers lie in the people around you.
“I have an idea” Taeil pauses, looking apprehensively at the boys, as if to decide whether or not he should speak before continuing on “but it's dangerous and most likely extremely illegal”
Donghyuck laughs “Taeil, I already met my human, I don't care about breaking the rules anymore”
In any other circumstance this encounter would be funny. A new angel telling an inexperienced angel they met their human out of frustration and last minute efforts. But it’s not funny. It’s not, because the fact that this didn't work led Taeil to tell them what he says next.
“This is confidential and stays between us, do you understand?” Taeil looks at both Mark and Hyuck waiting for the nod of agreement.
“Aright,” Tails sighs under his breath. “I helped Jaehyun make the algorithm” he says a bit louder. “So I know that it is a possible to extract a tiny bit of Cupids essence from the algorithm”
“I know it sounds crazy” Taeil added on after looking at the shock that painted the other angels’ faces, “but it could be worth it. Jaehyun's essence acts as a love potion of sorts. He carries it with him everywhere he goes, which is why he was made to physically push people together. When we found out how to extract his essence and create a program for it, things became easier. He doesn't carry much of Cupid's essence anymore. Just enough for the random passerby, but this program, the algorithm, holds so much more of the essence then Jaehyun ever could. We programmed it to multiply onto its itself and through that its reach is immeasurably”
Taeil stops for a second to let this information sink in.
“So,”Donghyuck says slowly, eyebrows bunched in confusion, “let's say we extract this essence. It's a love potion now. But where do we hold it? What does it look like? Are we supposed to carry it in our bodies like Jaehyun?”
Donghyuck lists question after question, moving closer to Taeil with each one, and getting more and more worked up. Whether it's from stress or excitement is something Taeil doesn't know.
“I can extract the essence since I’m an older angel. Once I have the essence every part of my body will be touched by this essence. That means my sweat, my tears, my blood, even my spit will have this essence within it” Taeil looks a little more uncomfortable at this part, but continues on anyway “I won't take a lot, but when I do take some of it, in order for you guys to carry it to your humans, I would probably have to spit in a vial and you’d have to put it in a drink for them to take”
Taeil looks extremely uncomfortable now after saying it out loud. Imagining drinking someone's spit is disgusting, but imagining someone drink your spit is disgusting and weirdly enough a little bit embarrassing. He almost regrets putting the offer out, but Mark and Donghyuck have got to get out of this place at some point, and what kind of angel would he be if he didn't help those in need.
Donghyuck looks almost as uncomfortable as Taeil does, and a little green too.
“Taeil, that is absolutely disgusting, I don't know if I could do that to Renjun”
Mark laughs at that before adding under his breath “I definitely could, Renjun deserves it”
“Hey! What did I say about making fun of my-”
“Guys,” Taeil cuts them off from the start of another argument over their humans, “I’m gonna need an answer”
Donghyuck sighs and looks at Mark tilting his head in a question that only they can hear. Mark looks back at him and nods.
“Were in”
And if Donghyuk face becomes a little brighter, hope entering his body and etching itself across his feature, no one needs to know.
_ _ _
“Oh, I'm gonna be sick”
Mark is currently holding a vial of his supervisor's best friends spit in his hands, planning to spike his humans drink with Cupid's Essence.
If you asked Mark a month ago if he thought he’d be in this situation, he’d laugh and say no, he believes in his humans.
Oh how wrong he was…
“You know Mark, I've got the same vial in my hands and you dont hear me complaining”
Donghyuck’s temper has been getting shorter and shorter recently, and it's kind of bugging Mark if he’s being honest.
Like yeah, he gets it, Renjuns the worst human ever, and he’d be angry if that was his human, but does Donghyuck really have to be so mean all the time?
Mark just huffs in response while taking the lead and walking towards the front of the SMU Dining Hall.
Donghyuck and Mark are currently at SMU in order to get jeno and renjun to kiss plan Q underway.
And although they may be a bit cranky, eyes a bit sunken from lack of sleep and stress that these boys have caused them, they're also extremely excited.
This could actually work, and even though it’d be great to finally leave the corporate part of the angel world, their honestly more excited to see their angels fall in love than anything else.
Their plan is simple, they split up, meet up with their humans, and lead them toward the cafeteria where they’ll all sit together and meet. Donghyuck and Mark will grab their humans some drinks from the cafe, spike it with Cupid's Essence, and the rest is history.
“Are you ready” Donghyuck asks, vibrating with fear and the tiniest bit of excitement.
Mark looks up at Donghyuck and smiles his confident 100 watt smile, “Always”
_ _ _
“I can not believe that actually fucking worked!” Donghyuck yells with the biggest smile in a while gracing his features. “I honestly feel such an adrenaline rush right now dude, like we did that”
“I know” Mark draws out. “For a second there I thought maybe they actually were not meant to be together and someone just made a mistake, but no, this shit really does work” Marks pointing at the empty vial in his hands with a giant smile on his face.
“Thank God it does” Donghyuck said, “because if it hadn't, we could have been in big trouble”
“Yeah” Mark agrees with relief. “Hopefully things get a bit easier now”.
__________
Things don't get easier, In fact, things get a lot worse.
The very next day, the entirety of heaven has a mental breakdown
“What the fuck is this” Jaehyun mumbles under his breath, to low for anyone else to hear him as he looks down at his wrist.
Tied across his wrist, seemingly appearing out of nowhere, is a little red string. And on the otherside of that string is Doyoung Fucking Kim.
Jaehyun looks at all the people in the coffee shop quickly to see if they can see the strings too.
Considering all of the customer’s calm composures, he thinks it's safe to say no.
And that's a relief, it really is because humans shouldn't have to understand the process. They just need to live their lives to the fullest, while angels help the world turn, unseen in the background.
Angels live in the background of human’s lives. They are supposed to go unseen. They are supposed to live in contentment, perfectly okay with spending eternity making the turn smoothly.
But for the first time in a while, Jaehyun is reminded that the earth has never turned smoothly, it turns on its side.
If Doyoung is the sun and Jaehyun is the earth, then the earth is in trouble. Its orbit is getting smaller and smaller, getting a bit too close to the sun that could burn him alive.
Jaehyun can't let this happen. He goes to the back of the cafe and tries to cut the string with scissors, knives, anything he could find to no avail.
Bringing Doyoung into the cafe was bad enough, falling for him was worse, but being soulmates with a human? It’s unheard of.
Humans stay with humans, and angels stay in the background, never to be seen or heard. Both are content with their ways of life.
Angels never want more, and humans live without the guise of free will.
All is well. And all must stay well. Which is why Jaehyun has to get this fucking string of his wrist.
After many failed attempts, Jaehyun realizes that this shit won't budge. Angels don't have human soulmates, angels don't have soulmates at all. So Jaehyun knows this must be a mistake. Only angels can see the red string of fate, and the red string of fate never touches those who can live without love.
He only has one option left.
Jaehyun takes out his cellphone and dials a number he hasn't needed to talk to in decades.
“Hello Cupid?” The angel on the other side answered.
“Hey Yunho, I could really use some advice”.
_________
“So, you've got yourself a soulmate I see” Yunho goes to touch Jaehyun's string with a hint of curiosity and a semblance of what could be concern, “wanna tell me how that happened?”
Jaehyun and Yunho are in Yunho's apartment in Heaven. Yunho doesn't live down on Earth like Jaehyun, and he never will. In fact, most angels look at Jaehyun in confusion when he says he decided to move down to Earth a few months ago. Why would anyone want to leave heaven for a place they're supposed to run? Angels need to keep their work and personal lives separate.
What Jaehyun doesn't understand though is how they can’t see that they don't have personal lives to begin with. Their purpose is work, but that doesn't mean it has to be their life. And angels won't fully understand that unless they walk alongside the earth, not in its shadows.
Jaehyuns only been in heaven for about 30 minutes and he cant stop thinking of his home on earth. When his mind drifts to Doyoung, he regains his wit and focuses on the task at hand.
“That's kind of what I wanted to ask you about”Jaehyun answered back while leaning his arms on the table while crossing his hands under his chin, “why is it that none of the angels i passed by on the way here, you included, have a red string tied to your wrists”
Yunho takes a moment to consider this before shaking his head with a sigh.
“I really don't know how this could have happened Jaehyun. Humans and angels aren't meant to cross paths the way you already have with them, and especially should never be founded by fate itself” Yunho looks up at Jaehyun from across his coffee table. “I have heard of a legend before that sounds similar to what you're going through.”
That peaks Jaehyun's interests.
“Please, go on” Jaehyun waves his hands forward in a motion to keep going.
“This hasn't happened in many centuries, and I’ve personally never seen it happen as I only know of the Cupid before me and the Cupid after me, you. But the legend of the original Cupid is that her essence was stolen from a fallen angel, and because she no longer had the essence of Cupid, she was no longer needed in heaven. As such she was cursed to live as a human for the rest of her life. With that being said, there was a need for a new Cupid at that point. The essence that was stolen no longer worked as a new Cupid was created. And now we have generations of Cupid, and pass our essence to our predecessor”
Jaehyun looks increasingly stressed as the story goes on.
“So let me get this straight” Jaehyun says leaning on the back of his chair and staring up at Yunho's ceiling to compose himself. “you're saying that my essence is stolen, and I assume the reason I can see the red string of fate on my wrist right now is because fate is confusing me as a human?”
Yunho reaches over and places his hand over Jaehyuns on the table, making Jaehyun look down from the ceiling and return to the present.
Jaehyun looks at their hands, he hadn't realized his hand was clenched into a fist until Yunho soothes it out.
“Relax Jaehyun,” Yunho says, rubbing the back of Jaehyun's hand softly with his thumb, “I’m sure that whatever happened can be fixed with divine intervention. We just have to get advice from a higher up”
“Yeah” Jaehyun says rolling his eyes “and they definitely won't strike me down from the heavens for being so careless about my work” The sarcasm practically dripping from his lips.
Yunho purses his lips, unsure of how to help Jaehyun in this situation. This is new territory for him too.
“Jaehyun, the worst they can do is open a case against you and search for the missing essence” He pauses to gather his thoughts, considering how he should say this next part. “I understand the fear. If it was stolen from someone who could use it for evil then you’d be in big trouble, and I honestly don't know what would happen then” He pauses to check Jaehyun's reaction.
Jaehyun's tense of course, but gives Yunho a nod regardless. He’s willing to listen.
“But, only a bit of your essence seems to have been stolen. You very clearly have cupids essence coursing through your veins, even if it's small. I can feel it within you” Yunho says while smiling softly.
“And I know your app is working just fine. Earth has been a lot less lonely since you’ve given some of your essence away to it. So honestly, there is still a reason for you to be here” Yunho says with confidence, willing Jaehyun to understand.
“They won't take Cupid away from you”
Yunho thinks he's being helpful, but Jaehyun isn't thinking about his job right now, he hasn't for a while. He’s thinking about the boy with stars for eyes.
“Thank you Yunho” Jaehyun rubs his hands over his face and sighs, “but thats not what I’m worried about”.
- - -
The higher ups reach Jaehyun 2 days later asking for more questions about the situation.
“When you saw him before did you notice a red string on his wrist leading to someone else”
“No,” the tiredness Jaehyun feels seeping into his voice, “I just assumed that he and his soulmate weren't ready to meet yet”
“That is probably the case” the angel on the other side of the phone replied, “perhaps the reason fate chose him is because he and his soulmate aren't ready to meet”.
“Yeah,” Jaeyun says, feigning disinterest. He really doesn't want to hear this.
The angel clears her throat and the phone makes a bit of a crackle sound, “With that being said, at the moment it seems that your fates’ are tied. He and you are soulmates with strings wrapped around your wrists. It will hurt both of you to keep you apart, so I suggest you keep your soulmate close” The angel pauses for a second before continuing, “but remember, you are just an angel, and he is just a human”.
Jaehyun doesn't know what she means but he mumbles a noncommittal okay anyway.
“The last order of business is the case. We’ve opened your case. All we need to do is find your missing essence. Once it is found we will try to bring it back to you, and fate will handle the rest. The only reason you can see the string now is that it's confusing you for a human. We don't know how long it will take us to find your essence, and we don't know what consequences that will meet us once we do. But rest assured, once we find it, things will go back to the way they were”
Jaehyun wonders why everyone thinks telling him that is reassuring. Is being content with life really that reassuring? Is going back to the same place you've always been something to look forward to?
He’s not so sure of that anymore.
_____
Since fate has decided to mess with Jaehyun, Jaehyun decides to make the most of it while he can.
If he and Doyoung are soulmates, even if for a little while, that must mean there is some kind of connection there.
So he does the unthinkable.
“Hey, Doyoung, what are you doing after work today?” Jaehyun says, trying to be as inconspicuous as possible.
“Just studying some more, maybe working on my schedule for next recitation. Why?” Doyoung asks with a tilt of his head. It's not everyday that Jaehyun asks Doyoung about his plans, and Doyoung is more than a little intrigued.
“Oh, nothing. I was gonna say, if you are free maybe we could catch a movie or something? I heard theres this really bad rom com about Cupid in theatres now and it's always more fun watching bad movies with company” Jaehyun looks up at Doyoung from across the counter he’s cleaning “but it sounds like your busy and I wouldn't want to take up what little time you have watching shitty movies”
Jaehyun tries to sound like he’s not disappointed, giving Doyoung an excuse to not take the movie offer, but he’s new at this whole “wanting” thing, so he’s not as discreet as he hopes.
Doyoung laughs a little as the bright lights of the cafe dance across his eyes.
“Hey, don't look so disappointed!! I haven't even given you my answer yet” Doyoung shoots back playfully. His face changed then into something softer, a fond expression, bordering on longing as he takes a minute to consider Jaehyun's offer.
“Let's go watch a shitty movie Jaehyun”
The movie ended up being just as shitty as they expected it to be. They laughed through the whole thing making comments under their breath about how particularly shitty dialogue was. And perhaps there may have been a slight pinky to pinky touch. Maybe Jaehyun reached for Doyoungs popcorn by accident, but maybe, just maybe, they grazed hands in the buttery popcorn bowl on purpose.
Only one thing that can be certain, heaven and earth both now know at the end of that night, that there is no maybe about it, angels can be selfish.
____
This ends up happening a lot more often than Jaehyun should have allowed himself.
Every other night they hang out. Doyoung takes Jaehyun to see his favorite museum thirty minutes before closing and Jaehyun takes Doyoung in the guise that they're running out of time before the shop closes while leading him to his favorite book shop around the corner.
They discover bits of each other in the restaurants they go to and the movies they see together.
They discover bits of each other in the beliefs they share, and the futures they wish to have.
Doyoung discovers bits of Jaehyun past 9 pm under the moon, and Jaehyun, as always, discovers Doyoung through the sun shining in his eyes.
And Jaehyun discovers a lot about himself as he looks at yet another unsent goodnight text on his phone.
Falling for each other is easy. I mean, they are bound by fate, it was only a matter of time.
But Jaehyun doesn't fully realize the weight of his actions, of what he let himself and Doyoung fall into until the dinner at Litmans Drive.
“Wow, this place is beautiful, and the food is delicious” Jaehyun mumbles around a piece of the best steak he’s had in the human world.
He takes some time to appreciate the beauty of the restaurant Doyoung picked for their dinner tonight. The restaurant’s theme seems to be red. There are outlines of flowers painted in black across different spots of the wall, and tiny specks of gold flying across the room in shapes of beautiful butterflies.
Their table is quite small and there's a lit candle in between them on the table. The tablecloth is black and matches the flowery details on the walls. Although the place itself is large and crowded, the restaurant does a great job at making each spot feel incredibly intimate.
As Jaehyun scans the other customers he realizes that maybe the restaurant doesn't make the place feel intimate. Maybe it's the clientele.
“Yeah, I was looking up places with great food in town and this one had some of the best reviews” Doyoung looked at Jaehyun more seriously now, resolute, as if he’s made a decision right there at the table “I’ve been wanting to come here for a while, but I’ve never really had the reason to before”
Doyoung tries for nonchalance but fails, much like Jaehyun does most of the time due to lack of practice. What Jaehyun doesn't know though is that Doyoung is just as new to this whole “pining” thing as he is.
Although Jaehyuns new to hiding feelings, he knows more about falling in love than anybody in the world. He’s got experience seeing people fall for each other first hand. He knows how to make it happen too! So right now, at the restaurant, with Doyoungs eyes begging him to catch on, he has only two options.
Option 1). Jaehyun lets Doyoung down gently so that once this whole temporary soulmate debacle is fixed, Doyoung can find his real soulmate in the future.
Option 2). Pretend he doesn't understand what Doyoung is insinuating and hoping that Doyoung lets it go without further explanation.
Jaehyun goes with Option 2 despite how much he hates how stupid he looks because of it.
At least Option 2 has the capability of buying Jaehyun more time.
“It’s really a lovely place Doyoung” Jaehyun repeats “I have a hard time believing there was a reason you haven't been here before” Jaehyun tries to laugh it off, to move on from this conversation, to buy more time in this in between state they've caught themselves in.
He’s begging Doyoung to understand, to realize that what they have now is the best it's ever going to be; because falling is fun, it's the adrenaline rush that just won't stop, but once you reach the ground, it hurts. Jaehyuns likes falling, but he hates the fall. He doesn't want Doyoung to go through that, and honestly, he doesn't want to go through more pain either. Because the only thing worse than the fall is seeing the one you fell for get back up again on their own, leaving you behind.
If they continue down this slippery slope of romanticism, that will be Jaehyun's fate. And he knows it’ll hurt Doyoung too, but at least fate had given Doyoung a soulmate to take care of him forever, even if that soulmate may not be here now.
“Jaehyun” Doyoung starts a little perturbed at the game Jaehyuns is playing. “Have you not noticed the type of crowd that comes here?
“No?” Jaehyun squeaked out, a little higher pitched at the end
“Was that a question or a statement” Doyoung asks
Jaehyun sighs. He knows Doyoung isn't about to give this fight up. Its a shame to know that Doyoung just started a fight he can't win.
Jaehyun wants to let him win. He always wants to let Doyoung win, but how can you win when the order of the world is against you.
At least Doyoung won't be losing alone, Jaehyun thinks to himself.
“Its statement”
“Doyoung looks hurt, but he continues on anyway, “Everyone around here is a couple Jaehyun. I was thinking that maybe that's what we could be too”
Doyoung is scared. Who wouldn't be when the chance of rejection is sitting heavily on the air. He knows that Jaehyun likes him, he’s seen the signs, he was so confident that they were on the same page. But that confidence is slipping as Jaehyun's face falls.
“I-” Jaehyun sighs while looking down. “I really don't know what to say,” Jaehyun finishes off sadly, unwilling to meet Doyoungs eyes.
“Maybe say yes?” Doyoung hesitantly says with a smile, maybe cracking a joke will break the tension. Maybe it’ll ease the tension in Jaehyun's shoulders. Maybe he’ll crack a joke back , take Doyoung’s hands, and say yes.
Maybe heaven and earth are wrong.
Angels don't know how to be selfish.
“Im so sorry” Jaehyun chokes out, “but i can't be with you, or anyone for that matter, in that way at least”. It feels like he's pulling every word out of himself. The words falling out one by one, feeling so unnatural on his tongue, “Im so sorry”
Doyoung hurt, more so then he’d like to admit for someone who was never in a relationship in the first place, but as always, he tries his best to hide the pain.
“Hey, don't say sorry” Doyoung tries for a smile It turns out looking a lot more like a grimace, “It was my fault for misreading the signs” He starts packing up his things in a faster pace, looking like he's getting ready to go.
Jaehyun frowns ever deeper than before feeling absolutely devastated by that. How can he let Doyoung go thinking that Jaehyun's world doesn't revolve around the boy sitting right in front of him?
His world continues to tilt, but he's hurtling farther and farther out of orbit.
“I'm so sorry” This time Jaehyun's saying it to himself.
Doyoung gets up from the table fast burying his knee into the table, making a sound and then grimacing. “Sorry,” he mumbles. “I'm just gonna head out, sorry Jaehyun. I might need some time off from work too” he stops to look back at Jaehyun then to confirm, “Is that alright?”
“Yeah” Jaehyun whispers, barely over his breathe as he looks away from Doyoung “that's fine”.
And there goes the last bit of hope that either of them had.
When Jaehyun looks back up at the boy he loves, what he sees breaks his heart even more than what he thought possible.
Doyoung is looking at him with a bit of anger, confusion, and a whole lot of sadness as tears well up in his eyes.
He clears his throat while looking up to the sky.
“Well, I’ll be going now,” Doyoung's voice cracks as he pushes his words out, “I guess I’ll see you around?”
Even like this, even with his heart broken and confused, it seems like Doyoung still looks forward to seeing Jaehyun.
He is human after all. He’s built for heartbreak.
“See you around” Jaehyun confirms softly.
Doyoung smiles a little softer and gives a little nod before turning to walk away.
Jaehyun stares at Doyoung's retreating figure, leaving behind a half eaten steak, glass of wine, and a world spinning out of control behind him.
Jaehyun stares at Doyoung's back with longing, he wants to reach out, call him back, tell him that they are fated to be with each, even just for a moment.
The door to the restaurant opens and closes, taking Doyoung out of Jaehyun's sight. He takes a shaky sigh and leans on the table for support, putting his head in his hands thinking about humanity as he lets a few stray.
Humans are strong, they're built for heartbreak.
Angels are built to work. Their only purpose being to keep the world turning slowly.
Jaehyun loves the human world. He loves being selfish.
Jaehyun loves feeling human, but he isn't built for it.
______
The next morning Jaehyun gets a call from some higher ups.
“Hello?” Jaehyun says into his phone.
“Cupid!!” an angel says excitedly into the phone and Jaehyun has to fight the roll of his eyes that comes from that “We have excellent news”
Jaehyun highly doubts that. Nothing could possibly make him feel better at this point.
“What is it?”
“Well,” The angel drawls out in excitement. Jaehyun can practically feel them getting closer to the phone, “We found out what happened to your essence!!”
That immediately perks Jaehyun up.
“What are you talking about?”
“Cupids essence! We don't know exactly who stole it, but we found hints inside of two human boys on earth” she pauses for a second and hums in consideration “I believe their names are Renjun and Jeno?”
Jaehyun audibly face palms. Of course it had to do with Mark and Donghyuck. Leave it to them to make Jaehyun's life a lot more difficult than it needed to be.
“Okay, so we found the essence, what next” Jaehyun says with a sigh, rubbing his eyes and willing the headache starting to form at the top of his head away.
“Nothing!! We’ve got you covered. Your essence may have been stolen, but it was just a bit and seemed to have been used for good! Everything's alright and we’ve decided that you are still fit to be Cupid!! In about 5 minutes everything will be as it was and you won't have to worry about that pesky string on your wrist ever again.
Jaehyun feels hollow. He’s heard that losing a soulmate can do that to a person. He’s not a person though, and this feeling isn't exactly welcome.
“Thank you for letting me know” It sounds almost robotic coming out of Jaehyun's mouth.
He clicks the end call button and plays with the string on his wrist. The only reminder that what they felt for each other was real. That even in a world of mistakes, at least they had each other for a little while.
Jaehyun hopes Doyoung’s real soulmate shines as bright as he does, another part of him, a new more selfish part hopes he doesn't. He doesn't need any more light, he’s already got the brightest one inside of him.
______
A week goes by without a red string tying Jaehyun to Doyoung.
And a week goes by when Doyoung finally enters the Sweet Cheeks cafe with his uniform on.
“Hey friends” Doyoung enters with a smile on his face, this one reaching his eyes, “its been a while” he says a bit softer.
“Good to have you back man!” Johnny walks out from behind the counter and gives Doyoung a bear hug, “Hope you had fun on vacation, but next time don’t take so long” Johnny pulls back and looks at Doyoung, feigning seriousness, “We were a mess without you”.
The atmosphere is light as Doyoung laughs with Johnny and catches him up on his vacation getaway at home on his laptop catching up on work. Ofcourse, Johnny makes fun of him because what kind of friend would he be if he let this opportunity pass?
Jaehyun watches them in a comfortable silence, finally feeling at home again seeing Doyoung talk to Johnny in the world he created for them.
“Are you gonna go say hi, or just stare at him all day?”
Jaehyun jumps and turns back to see Taeyong looking back at him with a knowing grin on his lips as he cleans one of the glasses with a little towel. Taeyong looks down to put the glass on the counter. He leans back on the counter and looks up at Jaehyun with his arms crossed.
Jaehyun knows he’s in trouble.
“You know” Taeyong starts, looking at Jaehyun expectantly “he’s not going to wait for you forever. If I were you I’d get my head out of my ass while I still had the chance, something to think about” Taeyong drawls out as he pushes himself off the counter and walks past Jaehyun to greet Doyoung.
Sometimes he forgets that Taeyong is Doyoung’s best friend.
“Mhm” Jaehyun groans to himself while running his face. He’s not ready to face Doyoung right now. And now that he knows Taeyong knows too, he doesn't know how he’s supposed to face him either.
“Hey, Jaehyun, come over and say hi!” Taeyong calls to him, a smile on his face but eyes sharp, telling him silently that if he doesn't walk over in the next 10 seconds he’ll get Johnny to kick his ass.
Message received. Jaehyun silently composes himself and smiles over at Doyoung.
“Long time no see huh?”
“Too long,” Doyoung says back with a small smile, looking at Jaehyun with all the fondness he doesnt deserve, “How have you been?”
Funny question to ask Jaehyun. He’s the one who broke their hearts. It should be him asking that question. But Jaehyun’s new to feeling human.
He doesn't know how to be brave yet.
“I’ve been alright. Trying to keep this place running without my best man is harder than it looks”. Is this okay Jaehyun thinks to himself? Is he allowed to joke around with Doyoung? Does he deserve his smile, his laughter, to be giving the opportunity to shine in his light?
Maybe not. But Jaehyun takes what he can get.
“Sorry I wasn't there too help” a bit of this weeks tiredness seeps into Doyoung’s voice, “Catching up on some work and gathering my thought, you know”
“Yeah” Jaehyun whispers, “I know”.
“Soooo” Taeyong says holding onto Doyoungs arms while looking at Jaehyun,“wanna hear a funny story”
Jaehyun can already feel that this isn't going to go down well.
“I got Jaehyun to download that one app everyone uses, La La Love? Idk, anyway!! He made account the first day he was off from work. And you know what happened Jaehyun?”
Jaehyun's heart sinks and he starts hearing a ringing in his ears. Of course he knows what happens next. He made the app.
The app has a 100% effectiveness rate. Even with the Jeno and Renjun situation, Heaven still found out they were soulmates because Jeno signed on the app.
“Taeyong shut up” Doyoung whispers angrily as he pushes him away from him, “listen-”
Taeyong cuts Doyoung off before he can finish his sentence.
“Nothing Jaehyun!!! Nothing happened” Taeyong exclaims, “Maybe the app doesn't work when the users already have someone in mind” each word pointed as he gestures from Doyoung to Jaehyun.
“Way to make it obvious Taeyong” Doyoung is red all over, trying to disguise it as anger, but failing miserably. He’s incredibly embarrassed.
“Oh, please” Taeyong waves dismissively, “I just told him what he already knows”.
There's a tension building in the air that Doyoung and Taeyong are unaware of until they both turn to look at a shell-shocked Jaehyun standing in front of them.
Jaehyun's confused and hurt. How is it that Doyoung hasn't had any match yet?
“Can you guys give me just a second” Jaehyun rushes out as he goes to the back of the cafe, leaving behind a very confused Doyoung and an angry Taeyong.
_ _ _
“What the hell do you mean he doesn't have any soulmate?” Jaehyun seethes down the line of the cell phone.
“Hey” Mark complains, “I don't even have to be in this damn building anymore, but I’m trying to help you out”
Jaehyun's laugh is laced with sarcasm, “Oh, please. You owe me one” He says pointedly.
“Ah” Mark understands now, “We’ve been found”
“Yeah,” Jaehyun rubs his temple trying to head of the very distinct Mark and Donghyuck headache making home in his head, “But we can talk about that later, right now I need to know why the computer says he doesnt have a fucking soulmate”.
“I'm sorry man, I wish I knew” and to Mark's credit, he does sound sincere. The only problem with that though is that Doyoung is left in this world without the other half of his soul.
“Nothing about deceased soulmates either?” Jaehyun asks
“No” Mark sigh’s down the line, “nothing comes up at all”.
“Thanks Mark” Jaehyun slides down the wall he's leaning against, all strength leaving his body.
“I’m sorry Jaehyun,” Mark whispers. “It's not your fault”.
Jaehyun cuts the line.
On the floor of his kitchen in the back of his cafe, Jaehyun wonders how the hell he can go back to the front and face everyone.
How can any of them when his fuck up caused Doyoung to lose his soulmate?
If it wasn't for his selfishness to keep Doyoung close to him, then fate wouldn’t have brought Doyoung into Jaehyuns orbit.
Angels aren't made to be selfish.
They don't know how to handle the consequences.
Jaehyun doesn't have to think about facing Doyoung for too long though, because the back door opens up and Doyoung is there, right in front of him.
“Hey,” Doyoung approaches Jaehyun gingerly, “I just wanted to check how you were doing. Taeyong wanted to come in too, but don't worry, I convinced him not too. He and Johnny are up front getting ready to open”
Jaehyun laughs wetly and looks up to the sky “They’re great people, more than I deserve” Jaehyun trails off quietly, “to be honest, I'm not doing so great” he says, silently begging the sky to have mercy on him.
Doyoung sits down next to him and reaches out to place his hand on Jaehyuns.
Jaehyun looks down at their hands. A soft hand over a clenched fist, then looks back up to the sky.
Maybe he’s alone after all.
He pulls his clenched fist out of Doyoung's comforting grasp.
“Sorry, but I don't deserve that right now” he whispers, so softly that Doyoung almost misses it.
But Doyoung catches it, and with that he takes Jaehyun's hand again.
Angels don't know how to be brave, but maybe humans can teach them.
“You keep saying that Jaehyun”, Doyoung tries looking at Jaehyun who’s pointedly looking away, “please” he says softly rubbing the inside of Jaehyun's wrist, “I just want to understand”
Out of all the things that could break the thread keeping Jaehyun together, it’s the touch to Jaehyun's wrist, just where the red string used to sit that does him in.
Jaehyun sits in a pile of his tears in the middle of a bakery kitchen when he breaks heaven's number one rule.
“I’m an angel, Doyoung” Jaehyun chokes out. “I'm meant to serve the people and help make the world run smoothly. It's my only purpose. But I forgot about it for just a second and ruined everything”
Jaehyun is sobbing at this point, hugging himself as he tries to make himself even smaller in the space he’s in.
“Shh” Doyoung wraps his arms around Jaehyun, rubbing circles in Jaehyun's back soothingly. “Calm down and tell me when you're ready”
Once Jaehyun calms down he tells Doyoung everything. About the history Cupid, and the way he never asked for this job. He was chosen, bound by fate to live to serve for the rest of his angel years. He tells him about the app, about how he was so tired of always pushing horrible people together. How he didn't want to take accountability. He tells Doyoung about Mark and Donghyuck, all of their antics included, a small smile on his face. And then he tells Doyoung about the red string of fate. How cruel it was for her to tie them together for a short amount of time, and sever Doyoung's connection with the one he’s meant to spend the rest of his life loving.
It's hard at first for Doyoung to wrap his head around this. I mean, when you live your whole life thinking that what you see is all there is, it's hard to believe anything else.
“Prove it” Doyoung crosses his arms and looks down at Jaehyun whose head is in his lap.
“What?” Jaehyun lifts his head a bit as he asks.
Doyoung laughs and puts his hand on Jaehyun's head, lowering it back into his lap.
“I’m asking you to prove to me that you're an angel,” Doyoung says with a laugh.
“Huh” Doyoung can feel Jaehyun humming against his body, “I’ve never had to prove this before. I don't even know where to start” Jaehyun looks back up to Doyoung with a smile. “But I’ve got a pretty cool party trick if you want to see it? I gotta get up first though if that's alright with you” Jaehyun says cheekily.
“Oh that's perfectly fine” Doyoung counters, “I don't want you monopolizing my lap anyway”
“Yeah right” Jaehyun groans while getting up from the floor.
He pats the dirt of his clothes and faces Doyoung.
“Are you ready for this,” Jaehyun asks? He’s talking more to himself at this point than anyone else. Showing a human his wings is unheard of. It's an act of vulnerability that not even angels who've known each other for decades let each other see.
But Doyoung has been brave all by himself for too long, it's time that Jaehyun catches up.
“Born ready” Doyoung whispers, excitedly gracing his features.
He has no idea how true that is. Humans are born with bravery. Jaehyun wonders for the first time in his life why angels try so hard to keep them from the unknown.
“Here goes nothing” mumbles Jaehyun, just loud enough for him to hear.
He broadens his shoulders and rolls his back, closing eyes and counting to three.
Showtime
Doyoung gasps as he sees Jaehyuns wings rip through his shirt and sprout from his back.
“Damn” Jaehyun's face forms a small pout, “that was my favorite shirt”.
Doyoung laughs loudly and looks at Jaehyun with what can only be seen as awe and a bit of unmistakable love.
“Out of all things to say, you would say that” Doyoung is grinning so much right now that Jaehyun can feel his happiness sink into his own.
Maybe being brave has its good points.
“So” Jaehyun asks, stretching out his wings to get them more comfortable “you believe me now?”
“Hard not to when I just saw you sprout a pair of wings right in front of me” Doyoung says with a laugh.
“You're not scared?” Jaehyun asks, a bit of unease showing through.
“No” Doyoung steps forward until he’s right in front of Jaehyun, “the only thing I’m scared of is losing you” he whispers while caressing Jaehyun's face. Jaehyun starts to lean in but before he finds his destination Doyoung continues, “even if you are the biggest idiot I've ever met”
“Wow” Jaehyun opens his eyes and steps back, holding a hand to his heart, “1). I’m very offended, and 2). Way to ruin the fucking mood Doyoung”
“Oh you're the one to talk” Doyoung says crossing his arms, eyebrows raised. “I don't if you recall, but I took you, my soulmate, to a fancy dinner only for you to say you aren't ready for a relationship. What makes you think I’m gonna kiss you before we have an actual discussion”
Doyoungs got a point. And it makes Jaehyun uneasy. Living life just passing by is easier than living life to be happy, but the latter is worth it.
“I was thinking” Doyoung begins, “that maybe heaven pretends to know everything, but they're just as confused as the rest of us down on earth. Maybe angels and humans can be soulmates. I don't think fate was trying to be cruel when they tied me to you. I think their fate was just doing its job in bringing me to you” Doyoung fills up the space between them.
“Lets date, Jaehyun” Doyoung whispers.
The ball is back in Jaehyun's court, and Jaehyun is selfish. Maybe he always has been.
Jaehyuns selfish, and he takes more than he should. He’s living, he's taking, he;s greedy, and he’s fallen in love.
Maybe, that's not such a bad thing after all.
He takes Doyoung’s hands in his own and looks back into those chocolate brown eyes. Doyoung was wrong. Fate didn’t lead Doyoung to Jaehyun, it led Jaehyun to Doyoung. He feels it when he stares into Doyoungs eyes and finds the same light that led him here in the first place, before he ever saw a string tied to his wrist.
“Okay” Jaehyun whispers softly, smile beginning to grow wider than he’s ever smiled before, “I’d love to”
_____
Work is interesting that day.
Taeyong looks like he wants to kill him as soon as he walks out of the back room, but the look is quickly wiped off his face when Doyoung pulls Jaehyun around to give him a quick peck on the lips.
“Oh my god finally” Taeyong yells slamming his hands onto the counter.
A couple of customers look over surprised. Jaehyun's smiles over at them apologetically, but Taeyong doesn't seem to care.
“I cant believe how long I’ve been waiting to see you guys get together. I have so many double dates planned and I was truly about to throw them all in the trash, Jaehyun. Not even lying” Taeyong looks over at Jaehyun with a warning.
Threats don't seem as harsh though in past tense, especially when the giver of the threat is failing at forcing down a giant smile.
“I look forward to all of these double dates then” Jaehyun says with ease, “especially know that I know that they were almost taken from me”
“Thats right” Taeyong huffs, “I’m not as patient as Doyoung, so count yourself lucky that you're still in my good books”. Taeyong says over his shoulder, going over to give one of the customers a fresh croissant they ordered.
The rest of the day was perfect. Everything was as it had been before. Maybe the angels are onto something when they say the status quo can be reassuring.
But the humans are onto something too. Although change is hard, it can be extremely rewarding. And Jaehyun feels like he’s been rewarded for a lifetime between all of the kisses he receives today.
Unfortunately, Doyoung’s busy after work today, has a late night meeting at the lab he works in, so they can't have their first actual date night tonight.
Jaehyun’s a little disappointed as he walks over to his new apartment around the corner from the cafe, but it's hard to be disappointed when everything seems to have turned out perfect.
“So I see you guys are finally together”
Jaehyun nearly jumps out of his skin.
“Taeil what the fuck, you cant just sneak up on people like that” Jaehyun puts a hand on his chest, trying to calm his heart down.
“That's actually not the first time I’ve heard that” Taeil laughs softly, like he made an inside joke, “but you didn't answer my question”
Jaehyun smiles over at his best friend, excited to tell him the news.
“Yeah, we’re together, officially” Jaehyun stresses.
“Oh, fucking finally” Taeil shouts looking at the sky, “holy shit dude. ur case was so hard”
“Uhhh, what?” Jaehyun looks over at him with confusion written all over his face.
“Doyoung’s my human dude.” Taeil pauses to look over at Jaehyun with an annoyed expression, “and you're his soulmate”
Jaehyun feels like he’s about to faint. He and Doyoung are together, sure. And he knows that they love each other, but soulmates? That's impossible right?
“I know you're probably confused right now, I would be too, but even though this is incredibly rare, it isn't unheard of. Angels just keep it on the down low so that they don't rock the boat and upset the balance of things.” Taeil says all of this casually as if it isn't the most mind boggling thing Jaehyun has ever heard,
“A lot of angels don't hear about it too because most angels who have a human soulmate have a choice to make later on in life. Do you want to live on without your soulmate once they pass, or do you choose to give up mortality, and be with them, by their side, throughout all of your lives.” Taeil looks over at Jaehyun, pausing with a heaviness in the air. “As you can probably tell, all have chosen the latter”. Taeil chokes up looking away from his best friend.
Jaehyuns not surprised. The choice is a no brainer, but that still doesn't mean it's an easy choice.
“Hey” Jaehyun whispers to tell, “I’ve still got a lot of years left in me, don't go mourning me yet”
Taeil laughs wetly and hugs his best friend.
“I’m gonna miss you so much” Taeil whispers into Jaehyun's neck.
Jaehyun rubs circles into Taeil’s back and pulls back to face him “I'm gonna miss you too buddy, but I know that we’ll meet again. And when we do, maybe you’ll be my guardian angel”
Taeil laughs looking over at his best friend, “I’d really like that”
“Alright sap, no more crying” Jaehyun says as he uses his sleeve to wipe the snot of his nose, “we’ve got a lot of years to go, might as well enjoy it”
And enjoy it he did, with Doyoung by his side the entire time, and a family of angels watching over them.