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Gabriel had always followed a human named Yoo Joonghyuk since he was born into this world. As he grew up and became a fine man, Gabriel stayed beside him as a silent guardian, watching over him days and nights.
However, there was something that Gabriel could hardly help him with, which was his bad mental state. Yoo Joonghyuk somehow developed a suicidal tendency with mild depression, and today, he decided it should be the end of his life.
Yoo Joonghyuk was standing on the top of the tallest building in the city. The sky was cloudless as sunlight tenderly caressed his skin, but still, his eyes were lifeless and dark as if they carried all the misfortunes of this mortal world.
He didn’t know how he had come to this choice, but he just felt like his life was next to nothing. Reality was harsh to him, and even when he had overcome most of the difficulties he had faced, suddenly he became exhausted, longing to be released from the chains of living.
From above, Gabriel observed her human, still couldn’t hide her sadness. No matter how she tried to light up his will to live, she couldn’t interfere with his own decision. Thus, she was ready to carry out the last task as guardian: bringing his soul back to Eden - where he righteously belonged.
Unfortunately, Gabriel had forgotten a minor problem.
“Heyyyyy, Gabriel. Long time no see.”
A guy seemingly popped out of thin air, stood next to her and grinned brightly.
This guy is that minor problem: The notorious Demon King of Salvation, or Kim Dokja - his preferable name. Despite being rumoured as the cruelest among the 73 Demon Lords, he seemed incredibly harmless, and strangely joyful.
“Today is so nice, isn’t i— Wait, what the heck is that sunfish bastard doing again? Lord Satan, I was only absent for 3 months and things have escalated that quick?” Kim Dokja exclaimed, ignoring the discontented face Gabriel made.
Let’s take a look back at the past, from the very beginning when Yoo Joonghyuk came to this world.
August 3rd, 1991.
On that fateful day, God bestowed a precious soul, who possessed incredible talents and an unrivalled beauty upon this mortal world. Since God had put tremendous effort into creating that sole human, he assigned Gabriel with an honorable mission: protecting him from all mishaps and taking him back to Paradise after his demise.
Gabriel listened carefully to every word God had told her, then left for the mortal realm. The first time she saw her baby human - Yoo Joonghyuk, she immediately fell in love with him. Thus, as a benevolent angel, she blessed him with the best things in this whole world.
“Yoo Joonghyuk, may you live a fulfilling life full of joyous moments with those around you.” Gabriel said as she gently touched the child’s forehead.
“I hope you can live a life without having to give a fuck to anyone.” A strange hand also grabbed the child’s head. “Also, bless you with a huge schlong—“
Gabriel held her sword tightly, poking in right under the strange man’s neck as if she was ready to penetrate it. Her eyes were filled with anger, as she gritted her teeth. “Who. Are. You?”
“Hey, take it easy.” The man jokingly said as he grabbed her sword with ease, then crushed it into pieces without any struggle.
Gabriel was in shock. That was when she eventually recognized who the man was, and fell into despair. Out of every misfortune that could happen to her human, The Demon King of Salvation - one of the greatest catastrophes - had laid his eyes on him.
“Why would you do this, Demon King of Salvation?” Gabriel asked, trying to remain collected. She was determined to sacrifice herself if this monster had any ill will towards the child. “Or perhaps, are you intent on provoking another Great War, once again?”
“Stop with the ‘Salvation’ things, what the heck. Just call me Kim Dokja.” The demon carelessly replied. “And why are you angels so petty? You won’t simply let that go, huh?”
The last Great War was about two thousand years ago. Kim Dokja wondered why Eden was so obsessed with it that whenever they encountered a demon, they would bring this up to complain.
Kim Dokja pinched the child’s cheek and laughed when he saw the kid frown his little eyebrows in displeasure, which made Gabriel panic. Not giving her a chance to rant about nonsense, Kim Dokja calmly spoke. “I just want to find a companion, you know. Ruling hell is kinda boring, and strenuous.”
“What?”
“You are his guardian angel, right? Can I be his guardian demon, then?”
“No, that’s not how it supposed to work—“
“It’s settled.” Kim Dokja said as he put his symbol on Yoo Joonghyuk’s back. A sly smile appeared on his face as he offered Gabriel a firm handshake. “Nice to meet you, my colleague.”
Since then, both of them had stayed by Yoo Joonghyuk’s side as his guardians. Gabriel never took her guard down when Kim Dokja was around Yoo Joonghyuk since she couldn’t know what kinds of sick thoughts this monster was carrying in his head. She wanted to eliminate him once and for all to ensure Joonghyuk’s safety, but his power was simply unrivaled, and all she could do was to reduce the impact Kim Dokja had on the child.
Nevertheless, Gabriel’s effort was in vain because Kim Dokja was an unstoppable asshole.
It went something like this.
The day baby Yoo Joonghyuk took his first step, Gabriel cheered him on silently, but Kim Dokja tripped him and made Joonghyuk fall miserably.
The first day Yoo Joonghyuk went to school and got picked on, Gabriel whispered to him in the form of a wind, that “forgiveness was an act of compassion” to calm him down and help him find altruism within himself. On the other hand, that psychopath just encouraged the innocent child to beat the hell out of his bullies, which later resulted in Joonghyuk’s expulsion.
The day when Yoo Joonghyuk got his first confession from a really lovable girl, while Gabriel hoped they would be together, Kim Dokja disguised as his inner voice and told him something along the lines “Virginity is cool, remain pure”, causing Joonghyuk to reject the girl, painfully.
A lot of other things had also occurred, but to sum it up: While Gabriel made great effort to help Yoo Joonghyuk become a good human being, Kim Dokja decided to fuck him up by making him go for the most stupid decision because “it was funny”.
Back to the present.
Because the Demon King was absent for almost three months for some unknown reasons, Gabriel forgot about him for a while.
Kim Dokja bit a piece of Murim Dumpling and started to talk non-stop. “Man, this dumpling is so good. I can never have enough of it.”
“Kim Dokja.” Gabriel criticised him. “Do you know what this moment is?”
Kim Dokja looked at the figure right in front of him and replied nonchalantly. “This dude is about to jump from the building, right?”
“And you still talk about Murim dumplings?”
“Why not? They are amazing.” Kim Dokja widened his eyes in disbelief. “And death isn’t real. It’s just a social construct.”
“What?” Gabriel could hardly understand the nonsense that Kim Dokja kept making up.
“To be honest tho, I kinda wish Yoo Joonghyuk would stay in the mortal world for a bit longer. It’s really fun here, definitely better than the Demon realm.” Kim Dokja shrugged in disappointment. “Guess I have to take him to my world then.”
Gabriel glared at him fiercely. “Yoo Joonghyuk is a child of Eden. You can’t take him away from his predestined home.”
“Predestined home? You angels have a weird way of saying.” Kim Dokja smirked as if he had just heard a pathetic joke. He looked at Yoo Joonghyuk from afar, seemingly drowning himself in trains of thoughts.
Gabriel calmly spoke. “You have ruined his life by tempting him. You should be ashamed.”
“Ruined his life?” Kim Dokja was taken aback, but he soon burst out in laughter. “Everything was up to him. Both you and I gave him some advice, but neither of us had the ability to control his life. Out of everyone, you should know it the best.”
Gabriel appeared to be offended, but Kim Dokja ignored her.
“You know what? It shouldn't be this way. Lemme try to talk him out of this.”
“Wait wh— Hey!” Gabriel was taken aback, but before she could stop Kim Dokja, he had already patted Joonghyuk’s shoulder. Yoo Joonghyuk turned his head over with his eyes widened.
“Oy, Yoo Joonghyuk.” Kim Dokja grinned brightly. “Can we talk a little bit?”
Gabriel became anxious. Having worked with this Demon for 28 years in a row, she had already experienced his insanity as Kim Dokja was a complete psychopath. He must want to mess with that poor soul one last time. Nevertheless, Gabriel just stood helplessly, watching the whole scene unfold. If she tried to stop Kim Dokja now, she would reveal herself to the mortal eyes and go against Celestial orders.
“Who the hell are you?” Yoo Joonghyuk looked at the man in the fancy demon costume in confusion.
“Your guardian demon.” Kim Dokja made no effort to hide it.
“!” Gabriel was in shock, but Kim Dokja winked in her direction. She could sort of hear his thoughts as well.
“Trust me sis.”
Gabriel was in disbelief, wondering what Kim Dokja was going to do.
Before Yoo Joonghyuk could process that information and respond, Kim Dokja said to him. “Hey, I’m not here to stop your suicidal plan, so no worries. I’m just asking you if you’d like to go with me to hell after your death.”
“I FUCKING KNEW IT, YOU SON OF A B—” Gabriel cursed accidentally. She knew that Demon had hidden an evil scheme up his sleeves, and he was up to no good at all.
“Calm down lol.”
“…What?” Yoo Joonghyuk said.
“It’s a long story but I’m like, your godfather I think?”
Yoo Joonghyuk was visibly bemused. He frowned and said. “Get lost, freak. Stop wasting my time.”
After that, Yoo Joonghyuk ignored Kim Dokja, thinking to himself how unlucky he was when encountering such a weirdo at this kind of time. Gabriel saw that and unconsciously let out a sigh of relief. Even though the Demon king was somewhat of a lunatic and Yoo Joonghyuk was also mentally unstable, there could be no way that Joonghyuk would listen to his nonsense.
However, there was no such word like “give up” in Dokja’s dictionary. He pulled Yoo Joonghyuk’s arms. “Hey, don’t be like that.”
Yoo Joonghyuk became angry and pushed Kim Dokja away. However, the sudden threatening aura that came from Kim Dokja sent chills down his spine.
“Are you willing to hear me out? I swear it won't take long.” Kim Dokja smiled, wickedly.
Gabriel got anxious again.
Yoo Joonghyuk gave in and muttered. “...What do you want?”
“I said it, please go with me to hell after your death.”
“What if I don’t want to?”
“Well, then you will go to Eden, I guess.”
Yoo Joonghyuk’s face became bemused as he tried to make out everything the man told him. Kim Dokja casually explained everything to him, from the Great War to the Guardian things, which was basically anything related to the other two realms.
Forty five minutes passed. Gabriel was clearly discontented. Information like this was forbidden to be told to a mere human, but, since Kim Dokja was the one who did it, she wouldn't get into trouble, probably.
Yoo Joonghyuk wondered if this was his fever dream or if the man just had some truly vivid imagination.
“Are you saying, you, and another person, have followed me since I was born, and guided me through implications?”
“Yeah.”
Now Yoo Joonghyuk finally got an answer to the strange bickering sounds, some weird jokes and even the voice telling him to eat dirt whenever he was by himself.
“And now, because I was about to commit suicide, both of you want to take me to your own place, which is either Heaven or Hell?”
“Your learning ability is incredible, you know that?”
Yoo Joonghyuk was almost speechless. “...Where is the other person you mentioned?”
“Oh, she’s shy.” Kim Dokja called loudly. “Gabriel? Gabriel?”
Gabriel wished she could annihilate Kim Dokja out of his miserable existence.
“Haha, so, anyway, have you made a decision?” Kim Dokja asked.
“Honestly, after your long-ass lecture, I don’t want to go with any of you.” Yoo Joonghyuk replied in a nonchalant manner.
Kim Dokja couldn't help but smirk. “How arrogant. So you refuse the offer of both Heaven and Hell. Are you not afraid of what may befall you?”
“So what? Both of you seem desperate to have me.”
“I could devour your soul right here.” Kim Dokja licked his lips and his eyes darkened as if he was holding some ill intentions. “After all, I have been dying to taste it, for quite a long time.”
“!” Gabriel glared at Kim Dokja fiercely as her grip tightened on her sword.
“Do it then.” Yoo Joonghyuk, on the other hand, was collected. “I don’t mind.”
After all, he originally came here today to die. It wouldn’t make that much difference.
Kim Dokja laughed. “Just kidding. See? This is why I like you so much. You are entertaining.” He continued and looked at Joonghyuk deeply in his eyes. “Come to me, Joonghyuk.”
“Not interested.”
Yoo Joonghyuk was ready to leave the building. After hearing all of the things Kim Dokja told him, suddenly he got the will to live again.
“Huh? Where are you going?” Kim Dokja followed behind his back.
“Not your business.”
“You are not going to jump down anymore?”
“No, so leave me alone. And, also, tell your other counterpart to stop violating my personal life.”
Yoo Joonghyuk knew the moment he died, he would have to go with these annoying mythical creatures, which sounded even worse than continuing his life.
Kim Dokja didn't hide his disappointment at all. But he still grinned, then spoke softly. “What a shame, Joonghyuk-ah.”
There was no response.
Meanwhile, Gabriel was still shocked as she stood motionlessly. Nobody in their right mind would think that actually worked.
“‘Ruined his life’, huh?” Kim Dokja appeared beside her out of the blue again. “You probably should take that back right now.”
Gabriel remained silent.
“Are you feeling upset because I happened to know him more than you?” Kim Dokja said. He laughed gleefully. “I told you to trust me.”
“...”
“Here, take this.” Kim Dokja handed a piece of dumpling to Gabriel. “I literally spent 3 months travelling to another dimension just for these. They are out of this world.”
Gabriel held the dumpling in her hand. This was the first time she actually accepted something from the Demon she had been working with for 28 years. After some serious consideration, she took a bite.
“Is it good?”
“...Yes.”
“Glad you like it.” Kim Dokja smiled warmly, and he shook her hand, just like years before. “Pleasant to work with you, my colleague.”
Gabriel noticed his eyes were still fixed on Yoo Joonghyuk when Joonghyuk was on the street. Then in a blink of an eye, she saw Kim Dokja standing next to Joonghyuk again, appearing to tease him, and Joonghyuk blowing his stacks.
For a brief moment, Gabriel thought of Yoo Joonghyuk, and Kim Dokja while she recalled all the memories she had with them. It gradually dawned on her that Yoo Joonghyuk was a being of his own, rather than a beloved child of Eden, hers, nor Kim Dokja’s. And Kim Dokja, despite being a proclaimed guardian, also wanted the best for Yoo Joonghyuk, just like her.
Then Gabriel looked at the sky where Eden, her home, lay.
…
It was winter. Everything was covered in white snow and the freezing breeze was howling outside.
“The broth smells so good, can I have a taste?”
“No, it’s not done yet.”
Yoo Joonghyuk frowned and pushed Kim Dokja sideways, to which Kim Dokja protested. Joonghyuk clearly didn't want to have any of this bullshit, but somehow he could keep his patience and not beat Dokja up.
“Why are you still here? I’ve told you to go away countless times.”
“Never. I’m not leaving.” Kim Dokja said. “Especially not until I could eat this hotpot.”
“You also said that last time.”
“Sorry, demons have a short memory. Can’t remember.”
Meanwhile, Gabriel was sitting on the sofa, watching TV peacefully. A lot of wild things had happened since that memorable day, which could be summed up by one major event: Gabriel’s downfall.
Fortunately, with the help of Uriel - her close friend, and the presence of the Demon King of Salvation, she had managed to avoid her eternal damnation and somehow, became a citizen of Hell. Gabriel couldn’t tell if that was a right decision, or just a stupid act of her to refuse to comply with God’s command.
But either way, Gabriel had made a choice and wanted to be responsible for it. Yoo Joonghyuk also acknowledged her existence, and even told her he was grateful for her taking care of him.
“Hey, dinner’s ready.”
Kim Dokja spouted as he pulled Joonghyuk’s sleeves. “Why are you so friendly with Gabriel but only fierce towards me?”
“Because she only visits occasionally, unlike you who stay in my home rent-free, you thick-skinned bastard.”
“Well, I can treat you to a trip to the Demon realm.”
“No thanks.”
“Hey, Gabriel, c’mere, what cha waiting for?” Kim Dokja hurried her while Yoo Joonghyuk glared at him balefully.
“Okay, I’m coming.”
The warmth from the boiling hot pot contrasted sharply to the freezing temperature outside. Although the three of them had stayed with each other for more than twenty years, this was the first time they all enjoyed a winter night together.
And Gabriel couldn’t help but smile, as she saw the other two arguing with each other relentlessly.
The End.