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Gunwook had always been an incredibly studious university student who took his academics very seriously. He wakes up at the crack of dawn to leave his cozy apartment, taking an hour commute just so that he could get to campus by 7 am to spend his time pouring over his textbooks in the library; getting in some serious and well needed study time. If there was a club, Gunwook was in it. Which is why when things suddenly go downhill, the perfect routine that he curated over the past year of university starts getting a little too much for him. Gunwook, who has never been on such a downward slope before, didn't have any sort of coping mechanism for whatever you call this. He couldn't help but feel in over his head about it, being consumed unknowingly from stress.
When the results day finally arrives Gunwook already shamefully knows he didn't do a great job. Usually, he's able to submit his assignments with ease, but these days, something was holding him back– it's like some kind of entity was sapping his creativity right from the source.
He's brought back to the present by his phone pinging incessantly, his group chat asking how he did, talking about how they managed to pass, and sharing their scores happily. He sighs, knowing he wouldn't have any good news to share. He logs onto his university portal, navigating to the section of his course and clicks on 'Results'.
Gunwook holds his breath with trepidation as the site loads. When he sees the '0%' , he nearly cries, already on the verge of a breakdown but he's just too tired. He'd worked so hard through the mental block and it felt like no one recognized just how hard he worked or how many sleepless nights he's lost just trying to finish this assignment so he could stop stressing about it.
Already feeling like he's at his lowest, too tired to even think about eating dinner, he shuts down his laptop and climbs into bed, cuddling his massive Cinnamoroll plushie and wishing his life would end.
He thought this was just a one-off occurrence, but it keeps happening. And he's far too ashamed to reach out to anyone to ask for help, blowing off his friends and ignoring the real world. Even when his teachers send him concerned emails asking what's going on, he can't seem to bring himself to reply. They were his favorites and he didn't want anyone to see him in such a state. Soon, he stops attending university altogether, associating the establishment with dread and his own inadequacy. He spends his days in bed, trying to escape the real world, watching series after series, movie after movie, and keeping up with his favorite manhuas when they've been updated.
He doesn't feel real. It's as if life has come to a standstill. Everything in his life seems to be going wrong, and he can't put his finger on why or where it started.
Gunwook finally went out for the first time in about a month a few days ago, casually dressed in a hoodie that practically drowned him and some gray sweatpants. He just went to a local cafe to order something simple, a latte, for while he planned to study, hoping that a change of scenery would help his mental block. However, as soon as he retrieved his drink, someone was also trying to get theirs–spilling their hot drink all over him.
They apologized profusely, and Gunwook, not wanting to make a big deal, said he was fine even though he felt like he was on fire. And to make matters worse, he slipped on said split drink and landed painfully on his ass. To even more of his embarrassment, everything seemed to stop, all conversations suddenly came to a screeching halt. The silence was so jarring that you could hear a pin drop. The stranger apologized some more and even tried to help him up. Gunwook kindly accepts before grabbing his drink, and running home.
The rain continues to fall as he starts making his way to the bus stop and a car driving past douses him in water. He doesn't even yell, he's drained of all his energy. He shivers as he continues to walk, but then the bus seemingly comes out of nowhere. He curses under his breath as he sprints down the pavement and frantically waves at the driver to let him on. The driver takes one look at him and is kind enough to open the door, but then after he fumbles around for his bus pass, he realizes it must've dropped out when he was running. He's kind enough to just wave him through and he finds a seat at the very back, feeling even worse than he did before.
When he gets dropped off at his stop, the driver tells him to take care and he nearly cries at that, constantly on the verge of tears. He's trudging slowly to his apartment, dirty water already starting to dry and be quite sticky, making it difficult for him just to walk, but he breathes a sigh of relief when his apartment comes into view. He turns his key in the lock and exhaustedly drops his bag by the door, making sure to bolt his door shut and drags himself to his bed, too tired to change out of his outside clothes and flops down, finally letting out the tears he couldn't for so long.
He clenches his eyes shut, only opening them when he feels a presence looming over him. Curious dark brown eyes staring at him. "Ah!" He falls out of bed and jumps up immediately. "What the hell! Who are you? How did you get in?"
The guy holds his hands up in surrender. "Ah! Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. I'm Matthew! Your new… Roommate?" He scratches his neck and looks around shiftily.
Dazed, Gunwook doesn't even question it. He just sits on the floor and accepts his fate. "Right… Nice to meet you, Matthew. I'm Gunwook."
"I know."
"Huh?"
"I mean, your umm... Landlord, she told me that I was moving in with a guy called Gunwook, haha."
"Right… Let's um… Get along."
Matthew nods in agreement. Then Gunwook realizes the state his room must be in, the poor guy must be way too polite to say something. "Oh my god. My room… Please… Wait outside. I need to fix this." Matthew starts to argue, but Gunwook places his hands squarely on his chest and pushes him out of the room. It is surprisingly difficult as Matthew digs his feet into the ground, but he slams the door behind him, remembering to lock it before Matthew can try to get in again. He probably would–He's like a sneaky little fox.
"Hey!" Matthew says indignantly from outside the door, slightly muffled. No way… Can he… Hear my thoughts? He can't, right? There's just no way…
Matthew must be an angel. Is the conclusion Gunwook comes to right at that moment. He doesn't see any wings. Trust– he's tried to peer and look for them while Matthew lets him feel him up and giggles, confused. "Dude, did you lose something on me? What are you looking for?"
"Um, I was just thinking about how buff you are! Yeah! I needed the routine!" He lies.
Matthew just giggles. "Wookie, you know you can just like… Ask, right? You're not going to figure out what I do by feeling me up, not that I mind or anything."
Gunwook blushes and clears his throat, looking away, suddenly shy. "R-right."
So– No angel wings. But, three weeks later, Gunwook was still convinced! Like the time they were hanging out, and someone bumped into him. Gunwook expected Matthew would blow up, but he just smiles and Gunwook is nearly blinded by it. Gunwook immediately asks if Matthew is okay and checks to see if he's hurt, considering he is now on the floor, but he assures he's okay somehow still smiling despite the big bruise on his knee.
The other person is in a hurry and leaves in a daze but doesn't have time to question what just happened and why a stranger calls some the air 'Tthew hyung.' So they just dash away after shooting him a dirty look.
Now that he thinks about it, no one ever seems to acknowledge the older whenever they're together. Like when Matthew accompanies Gunwook to the grocery store to help him with the ingredients for his latest experimentary dish and hauls the basket onto the counter, the shopkeeper only greets him, ignoring Matthew completely, much to Gunwook's dismay.
Matthew doesn't seem to be bothered by it, but after a family pays after them, the shopkeeper greets them all one by one even pulling a silly face at the baby being held in its mother's arms, so why couldn't they greet Matthew too? Another thing that proves his ongoing theory is that Gunwook has never seen Matthew get angry once. Seriously! The guy has the patience of a saint. Gunwook doesn't understand how he keeps his cool. He could fall and trip but still laugh while Gunwook's heart is in his throat. Matthew seems to have no concern for his own life, adding to his theory that he's an angel of some sort.
Sometimes, Gunwook is convinced that he entirely dreamt Matthew up, and he's still in a very long dream that he hasn't woken up from yet. They spend more and more time together, but Gunwook still doesn't feel like he really knows who Matthew is (that doesn't stop his heart from doing backflips every time he sees him though). On the other hand, he must have spilled his entire life story to Matthew. But in his defense, Matthew makes it very easy. He's a good listener, interjecting at the right spots in his stories, and gives good advice, so he's always happy to tell him anything and everything.
Bit by bit, Matthew seems to help him find a new routine that doesn't feel as monotonous as it once was. He guesses he has Matthew to thank for that. He inspires him to want to get his life together and measure up to his hyung, who seems to have it all together. Besides, each day has become new and exciting when he wakes up to the smell of a nice home-cooked meal and Matthew trying out a new recipe he found on TikTok.
So Gunwook finds himself waking up extra early so he has time to try out Matthew's new dish of the day, and he swears people share these so-called recipes to troll because presentation wise; they don't look great, but somehow Matthew manages to pull it off every time and it tastes surprisingly good. He's finally been easing himself back into going back to university slowly but surely and decided, much to the surprise of everyone, to reign it in a bit with all the extracurriculars he was once doing. But when his friends notice how much his stress seems to have lessened with no more pressure on his shoulders, they compliment him for putting himself first.
"New recipe?" Gyuvin jests when Gunwook joins them for lunch today.
Gunwook smiles, "Yeah, Matthew hyung made something extra special today."
"Who's Matthew?" Jiwoong asks as he sits at the table, joined by the others.
Before Gunwook can even get a word in edgeways, Ricky interjects, "Probably his secret boyfriend or something."
"That's not-"
"Who has a secret boyfriend?" Hao asks.
Gunwook just sighs, "No one, hyung."
"So… When are we gonna meet your Not- boyfriend?" Taerae teases.
Gunwook shrugs and pretends to be nonchalant while he flushes from head to toe and is clearly flustered, "I'll ask him, I guess."
"When I see him, I'll have to thank him for bringing our Gunwookie back to us," Hao says with a dazzling smile.
As they're eating dinner together and watching a new episode of an anime that Matthew had enthused about, Gunwook tries to slip in the request as if it were something he'd just come up with on the fly and not been brooding about since lunchtime. "So, what do you think about meeting my friends?"
Matthew turns to him, "Oh?"
"Yeah, I mean, like– you don't have to if you don't want to, of course! I just think you'd get along with them. They'd like you for sure."
Matthew smiles at him, rambling through his defense (as if he'd ever say no to him), "Sure, I'd love to meet your friends."
Gunwook sighs in relief. "Okay, that's good."
It takes a lot of Matthew's mental energy to prepare for this meeting, terrified of how he'd be perceived. If Gunwook's friends truly would like him as much as Gunwook had assured they would but after about two weeks of psyching himself up, he finally tells Gunwook over breakfast that he's ready and Gunwook couldn't be more than overjoyed.
"Really?" Gunwook near yells, "You're really ready to meet my friends?" His eyes have never been more full of life in the past few weeks the way they are now.
Matthew chuckles nervously, "Yeah! I guess I am, haha. I really hope they like me."
Gunwook rolls his eyes teasingly, "Hyung, like I said. You really have nothing to worry about! Seriously, they're just curious about the guy who did what they weren't able to these past few months.”
Matthew stays silent at that. Of course he already knew what Gunwook's situation was like before he was assigned to him but unfortunately he was getting a little more attached to this human than he should. The truth was, Matthew should have actually been preparing to leave Gunwook soon so he can be reassigned and repeat the process again, but there's just some unexplainable pull he feels with Gunwook that he's never felt before.
Something that tugs at his heartstrings whenever he observes him that makes him want to stay forever. He knows that he'll outlive Gunwook and be left to pick up the pieces of his shattered heart, but there's just something about Gunwook that makes him think these dangerous thoughts– Like plans for the future with a human. It's unheard of back where he comes from. He's getting way in over his head, considering the fact that now Gunwook's life is 'back to normal', Matthew is due back at HQ by the end of the week. He feels his heart clench again as Gunwook chats his ear off, not seeming to notice how quiet he is and wonders the best cause of action. He doesn't want to leave cowardly without telling Gunwook at least a half truth, but he knows the moment Gunwook begs him not to go, he'll cave instantly– consequences be damned.
As luck would have it, the day that Matthew agrees to meet Gunwook's friends is actually supposed to be their last day together. Gunwook has no idea and the more Matthew thought about it, the more he thought this was the best thing for him to do. Sure, Gunwook might be a little sad, but he would definitely get over it. He's sure. He could always force Gunwook to forget him, yet a selfish part of him wants Gunwook to remember him, even if he's just a distant memory in the future. Matthew is still lost in his thoughts when he senses a presence. He looks up to see Gunwook beaming at him from where he’s leaning on the doorframe, "Mashu hyung! Are you ready?"
Matthew puts a brave smile on his face and nods, "Mmm. Let's go."
Gunwook grabs his hand and they start the walk to Gunwook's university together. Matthew keeps spacing out, but Gunwook is too busy excitedly telling Matthew about his friends one by one for him to notice.
When they arrive at Gunwook's campus, Matthew is already feeling a little overwhelmed and in over his head, riddled with anxiety and that's when Gunwook notices just how pale Matthew is. "Hey," He says gently, squeezing his hand to bring him back to the present. When Matthew looks at him with a watery smile, he continues, "Are you okay? If you're not ready or don't feel up to it, you don't have to. I'm sorry if you felt pressured by me-"
"No!" Matthew bursts, causing people to look at stop and stare at them. He doesn't mean to draw so much attention to himself and it makes him feel small. He clears his throat with flushed cheeks, powering through his embarrassment. "I mean- I'm sure. Let's go." He powers ahead, not knowing where he's going and pretends he meant to go in the right direction when Gunwook subtly pulls him in the opposite direction and towards the courtyard.
Honestly, Matthew is already starting to regret it, anxiety plaguing his mind, worrying if they'd truly like him or not, if they'll see right through him and realize he had feelings for Gunwook.
What if they just straight up booed him like in medieval times and started pelting him with tomatoes? The nearer and nearer they got to Gunwook's assumed friends, the more Matthew thought this was a terrible idea. But he was never one to break a promise, so he'd see this one through too. It's the least you can do. He reasons with himself. This is the last time you'll see him ever. So he puts on a brave smile and sits awkwardly next to Gunwook.
"Guys!" Gunwook says excitedly, grabbing their attention. Their eyes feel like hungry sharks to Matthew who is practically quivering under their weighty stares. "This is Matthew! Or as I call him, 'Tthew! My roomie and the guy I told you about!" He introduces Matthew with a proud smile and Matthew feels that tingle in his chest again. He should really get that checked out.
"Oh wow, I really thought he was imaginary," Ricky remarks.
"No I'm real? I'm real, I guess." Matthew says, hesitation coloring his tone as he looks over to Gunwook for guidance but he just smiles softly at him and nods as if to tell him to keep on going.
"It's nice to meet you, Matthew." Jiwoong says kindly, "I'm Jiwoong." The rest of them introduce themselves quite briefly and Matthew feels less and less tense. Although he can't help but feel like Hao and Taerae are particularly judging him, he pretends not to notice it and conversation flows pretty easily with them all. He feels like he's known them all his life and he wishes that he could bring Hanbin here too. But since Hanbin's having a challenging time with his own assigned human and can't leave him untended even for a single moment, Matthew doesn't want to inconvenience his best friend.
"Oh by the way, do you have any of those… Questionable looking dishes that Gunwook keeps coming to school with?" Gyuvin asks eagerly, "I've really been wanting to try one of them."
Matthew beams back, "Yeah! I actually packed a few different things today, let me…" He fumbles around in his comically massive backup and fishes around for the plastic bowls that contain his newest concoctions and triumphantly pulls out about six different lunch boxes with a little huff.
"Oh wow…" Hao says, eyes practically bulging out of his head as he takes in some of the dishes in the plastic containers laid out on the table. Gunwook, who has no qualms about anything, gets his special cooked lunch from Matthew and doesn't even hesitate before digging in much to the dismay of his friends. Matthew smiles at him fondly.
Gunwook rolls his eyes at the feeling of judging eyes on him, "Guys, I promise it really does taste good! You just have to give it a chance!"
Unconvinced but not wanting to hurt Gunwook's new friend's feelings, they dig into them one by one and just like Gunwook said, are pleasantly surprised at how some of the oddest-looking food combinations really do taste as good as Gunwook says. Matthew feels like a weight has been lifted off his chest seeing Gunwook's friends enjoy his cooking and doesn't sense any pretense from them so he feels more and more like he can let his guard down.
"So," Hao sidles up to him, causing Matthew to stiffen up a little not expecting him to be so close.
"Y-yes?"
"What's your secret?" Taerae accuses with a raised eyebrow, looking at him suspiciously.
"M-my secret? What do you mean?" Matthew starts to pale assuming the worst in his head. Are they onto me? Do they know that I'm a guardian angel? Do they know about my plans to leave without saying a word?
"Oh my god, you guys. Stop trying to scare him." Gunwook comes to his rescue, "Tthew, ignore them. They're always like that. They get less intimidating with time, I swear." But I don’t have time. The sinking feeling in his chest returns at his bleak reality. He's starting to wish that he hadn't met his friends after all. He feels like maybe in another life, they would all be good friends, Hanbin too.
Hao and Taerae pout, clearly feeling scolded. "I was just trying to get to know him!" Taerae protests.
"Exactly! Is it so wrong of us to know more about the guy who single handedly did what none of us could in months?" Hao joins in.
"I.. I really didn't do anything though," Matthew interrupts meekly.
"There's no need to be modest." Jiwoong jumps in (un)helpfully.
"Hyung," Gyuvin starts, eyes already shining and pulling Matthew in immediately, "You should've seen what Gunwook was like a few months ago…" He starts dramatically. Gunwook groans, putting his head in his hands, clearly embarrassed. But I did.
Before all of this happened, it was like any other day for Matthew, except since completing his training, he'd yet to be assigned a single human. Feeling disheartened and wondering if maybe he just wasn't good enough, he'd gone to his overachieving best friend Hanbin when it was time for their nightly gossip sessions. Hanbin had surprisingly snuck some soju into their dorms, so they sat at their low table and drank as they gossipped. Matthew, always being more of the lightweight between the two of them, had spilled his guts after just two shots of the beverage and had cried about how inadequate he felt as a guardian angel. He complained that everyone his age had already seemingly gotten ahead and would boast about the humans they'd been assigned to and how they did such an amazing job they were getting assignments after assignments. They'd all finished their training that year at the exact same time, so why was everyone else getting recognized and not him? It just wasn't fair. Hanbin had listened carefully, eyes brimming with concern as he worried his lip at Matthew's unusual outburst.
"I'm sorry, Seokmae-yah. I had no idea you'd been dealing with this all this time…" He brings him into a comforting hug and strokes his back as Matthew continues to cry and sniffle. When he starts to hiccup, Hanbin pats his back and reassures him that everything will be okay. It's not long before he feels Matthew falling asleep and so he diligently tucks him into bed and sneaks out.
Matthew remembers waking up the next day feeling extremely groggy, not remembering what had transpired the night before, but was able to infer from the empty soju bottles left on his table that he had maybe gotten a little too deep. His head was pounding as he sat up until a yellow post-it note caught his eye. He groans as he reaches for it, willing his eyes to clear as he tries to focus on the note. Take these painkillers and drink the hangover soup I got you. Don't worry, everything will work out, trust hyung. - Hambin :3
Matthew giggles before clutching his head for dear life. He remembers the instructions from the sticky note so he reaches for the strip of painkillers, quickly pops the tablet in his mouth and drinks the water by his bedside before scarfing down the soup. He hadn't realized how hungry he was until he started eating. A while later, after he's freshly showered and had brushed his teeth, he was feeling a bit more alive again. And just in time too because a knock startles the living daylights out of him.
"Hello?" He calls out.
"Seokmae! It's me! Can you open up?"
Relieved, he opens the door and smiles when he sees Hanbin until he realizes that he wasn't alone. Upon realizing it's their principal, his heart plummets to his stomach and he starts to shake when he sees her stoic face. "Please don’t kick me out! I swear I'll be better!" He sinks to his knees, arms clasped as he begs for mercy.
Hanbin and the principal look at each other puzzled. "Seokmae, what are you doing? Get up." Hanbin whispers, embarrassed.
Matthew dares to open an eye, "Wait, am I not getting kicked out?"
"Why would you be getting kicked out?" She asks kindly, expression still as scary as ever, but she does look concerned.
"I don't know… Maybe I'm not good enough to be an angel."
She shakes her head in disbelief, "Get up first. You're making me feel weird."
Matthew stands and clasps his hands in front of him, prepared to get the scolding of his life but she just sighs. "You're not in trouble, young man. There's no need to be scared. I was just talking to your friend here. He says you haven't been assigned a human yet despite completing your training. Correct?"
"Y-yes ma'am."
"Well, firstly, I do deeply and sincerely apologize for this. There seems to have been an error in the system and that would explain why you've not been getting any work just yet. But luckily for you, we've matched you with a human who we feel would be perfect for you."
Matthew gasps as he looks up, joy returning to him in waves. "Really? You really mean that? I'm going to Earth?"
She nods with a kind smile, "Yes, really. If you come with me, I can brief you on your assignment and go over the rules with you, just so you know what to expect."
Hanbin standing behind her nods frantically and shoots Matthew two thumbs up. Matthew trails excitedly after the principal, not unlike a puppy and leaving his friend behind.
They were brought to sit in her study, with her behind her massive desk and Matthew opposite, letting his eyes roam over her office. He's never been here before, considering that he keeps to himself and never gets into any trouble, so he's always had a little bit of a curiosity for what the inside of their beloved principal's office looks like. He's not really able to take it in for too long before she clears her throat and brings his attention back to her.
"Okay, so let's go over your assignment and what we expect from you. Your first ever assignment is an overachieving university student, Park Gunwook. This is him." She begins, turning her computer screen so that Matthew can get a good look at him. Pretty. Was his first thought. He wasn't able to look at his face for too long before she turns the screen to face her again and she leans in, placing her chin on her hands as she observes him, rimless glasses sat perfectly on her nose.
Their principal was truly the epitome of perfection, she never had a hair out of place and practices perfectionism in everything she does. Matthew had always looked up to her so it was quite surreal being so up close and having her direct attention on him, scrutinizing him and taking note of every facial expression. "So, first of all, you'll need a backstory. You must stick to it no matter what. You can keep your real name, that's fine, but since you'll be living with him, you'll tell him that you are to be roommates and you can make up any of the other details. Under no circumstances must you reveal your true identity or form any kind of close relationship with him. That means falling in love with a human is strictly prohibited. I'm serious. Your job is simple. Gunwook seems to have run himself into the ground with taking on too much and has fallen into a depressive slump and has been ignoring his friends and responsibilities and no one seems to be able to get through to him. This is where you come in, you need to get him motivated again through any means possible and get him back to his normal self again. You must also make sure that you protect him from any kind of danger and keep him safe and sound. You have two months for this assignment. And if you do well with this one, we can assign you to more humans. So, what do you think? Are you up for the challenge?"
Matthew nods determinedly, "Yes, ma'am! I can do it for sure! I promise I won't let you down!" He punctuates with a little salute– just like a soldier would.
Matthew nods along with Gyuvin's story, acting like this is the first time he's become aware of what Gunwook's been going through.
"Anyway," Jiwoong cuts in, "Despite everything, we're really glad Gunwook has you. He probably hasn't said it, but you've seriously changed him for the better. We haven't seen him this happy in a really long time, so thank you, Matthew."
Matthew blushes, "I'm just doing my job."
"What do you mean?" Taerae asks sharply.
"I-I mean, my job as a roommate. Gunwook is my friend, so I should look after him, right?"
"I guess you have a point…" Matthew breathes an internal sigh of relief. His cover was nearly blown. He checks his watch and realizes, "I-I have to go soon." He blurts.
"Huh? Go where?" Gunwook jumps in.
"I just have to go, sorry." Matthew looks apologetic and dashes away, ignoring the pang in his chest and not noticing the way Gunwook clutches his chest as he feels the same kind of pain. His friends look at him worriedly as he doubles over in pain, wondering what's going on with him.
Even after Matthew gets back to his own world, back to his own dorm, the pain in his chest hasn't stopped and it's getting increasingly harder for him to breathe. He feels exhausted and depleted of his energy all of a sudden, so he climbs into bed. His eyes are about to close when Hanbin bursts in. "Matthew! You're finally back! How was it to be back on Earth after seven years? Was it fun?"
"Hyung…" Matthew whines pitifully.
"Matthew!" Hanbin is by his side in an instant, "What happened? Did you get hurt? Are you okay?"
"Hurts…"
"Hurts where?" Hanbin's voice climbs up in pitch as he tries to check Matthew for injuries.
Matthew grabs Hanbin's hand and places it where his heart is. "Here… It hurts so much, hyung," He croaks, "I don't understand what's happening to me.”
"Oh, Seokmae…" He sits by him, "When did this start happening?"
"Um? It's actually kinda hard to say… I would just get these pains in my chest from time to time, but I don't know. I haven't been on Earth for so long, I thought maybe it was just like a side effect or something?"
Hanbin hums, "Okay, well, what would you usually be doing when this pain started?"
"Um. I guess I would feel it sometimes when I looked at Gunwook."
"Gunwook?"
"The human I was assigned to…"
Hanbin's eyes light up in understanding. "It can't be…"
"What do you mean?"
"I'll be back. Stay there."
"I don't think I could go anywhere right now even if I wanted to."
Hanbin nods distractedly and dashes out again. Huh. Matthew thinks with a frown. Wonder what that was all about.
He's not left to wonder for long when Hanbin comes back with a massive book and slams it down on the table before furiously flipping through the pages and muttering to himself. Matthew truly doesn't have the energy to try and question his friend further, so he just plans to rest his eyes for a little while. He doesn't fight it when his eyes start to flutter closed, he'll only rest his eyes for thirty minutes.
He's woken up about two hours later to Hanbin frantically shaking him awake. "Hm?" Matthew replied groggily, "What's wrong?"
"You have to go back."
Matthew sits up straight, wincing at the sharp pain that throbs in his chest, "Hyung, what are you talking about?"
"You said you felt sharp pains whenever it came to Gunwook, right? And it got worse by the time you came back?"
"Yeah, why?"
Hanbin pinches the bridge of his nose, stress evident on his face. "Matthew… You're having soulmate withdrawal symptoms."
"What?"
"I really thought it was a myth that guardian angels would have soulmates, but it's written here." He clears his throat, "Every few centuries a human and guardian angel fairy are fated to be soulmates. When they meet, the two will quickly form a strong bond and feel sharp pains whenever they're apart."
Matthew is stunned by this revelation. "This can't be… There must be some kind of mistake!" He clutches his chest as the pain gets worse. "There has to be another explanation for this… The first human I get assigned is my soulmate? There's no way..." He says firmly.
"Matthew, I don't think you understand how dire this is." He says seriously.
"You're scaring me…"
"Both of you could die if you're separated." His voice is merely a whisper, as his eyes fill up with tears.
"What?" Matthew exclaims. "You're just making this up to scare me. Show me." He grabs the book from Hanbin and skims through it himself and it's really true. He slides down to the floor in despair. "I can't die. I'm too young!"
"You're already- never mind."
"You should check up on him. If you're not doing great, chances are he's doing even worse." Hanbin urges.
"You're right… But this is just so fucked up. Why did I have to get assigned to him? And why did I have to fall for him? I thought it was just a silly crush that would fade with time, and now you're telling me that it might cost me my life? This is so sick and twisted." Matthew laments.
"You can pity yourself later. Go check up on him." Hanbin pushes him out of his room and Matthew sighs as he walks to the library, pouting as he goes.
He logs into his account to see that his assignment has been marked as complete and his score is still pending. He takes a deep breath when he accesses Gunwook's portal to check in on him and when his feed loads, what he sees breaks his heart in two. Gunwook seems to have completely reverted back to the same state he was in. His room is a mess with clothes and tissues strewn everywhere. And what makes things worse is he can hear sobbing and his gut feeling tells him it's Gunwook. Tthew. He hears and he almost jumps a foot in the air from how close the voice is, it's as if his voice is bouncing around in his head and he looks around as if Gunwook would just magically appear. Where did you go? Please come back, I miss you. I don't know what I did, but I'm sorry. I need you. Please, Matthew hyung. Matthew shuts his eyes as he feels a wave of nausea wash over him. This really wasn't fair. You didn't do anything, it's all my fault.
"Wookie never cry." He whispers and immediately the sniffling stops.
He gets up on bambi legs and logs out. He feels terrible. Whether he meant to or not– he hurt Gunwook. It was never supposed to be like this, he wasn't supposed to fall as deep as he did in such a short amount of time. Maybe he should've questioned it more when he didn't want to leave and envisioned a future with the two of them. He'd always been a hopeless romantic, falling hard and fast which led to him getting his heart broken more than he'd like to admit– but he always managed to pick himself back up again. He felt like maybe this time was different, but then again, he felt like that every single time and nothing ever changed, so he thought it would be like that this time too. He had no other choice but to go back. It was against the rules and he'd already broken the biggest one the principal had sharply set, 'falling in love with a human is strictly prohibited'. He just hoped that she wouldn't resent him too deeply.
He waits until nightfall to put his plan into action (aka sneaking back to Earth). His heart is in his throat when he sits up in his bed, moonlight already streaming through his window as he checks the clock by his bedside table. The time reads 3 am and he groans as he gets up, wishing he could sleep a little longer, but he really doesn't want him or Gunwook to die, so that sense of urgency fuels him to get out of his bed.
He opens his door as quietly as he can and peers around the landing to make sure there's no one about before he tiptoes down the creaky stairs. He breathes a sigh of relief when he makes it past the front door and squeezes himself through the front gate. After that, he plummets down to Earth and his wings suddenly remember their existence as they unfurl from his back and he sighs in relief. He lands rather gracefully and muscle memory leads him straight to Gunwook's front door.
Surprisingly, the light is still on and scared–he hides, wondering what's going on. His wings fold themselves neatly back into his back with a little bit of discomfort, but since Gunwook had no idea what he is, he'd rather not scare him. So he tries to stay as hidden as he can as he crouches by the window and peers in from the back, only to see Gunwook wearing a headset and clearly locked into some sort of game, still surrounded by filth. He shakes his head in disbelief, silently mourning all the hard work he'd put in to keep Gunwook’s place clean being undone in just a day or two, but oh well.
After a while of just observing, he decides he should probably make his presence known. Although he's scared that Gunwook will curse and swear at him, he shakily makes his way back to Gunwook's front door and rings the doorbell. Silence. He sighs and rings it a few more times and he hears a curse from inside the house and then the sound of feet. "One minute!" He hears Gunwook yell. He's already freezing, teeth chattering as he breathes on his hands and rubs them together trying to get some warmth into them. Just then, Gunwook finally flings the door open and snow starts to fall. "T-thew." He breathes in disbelief.
"Hey…" Matthew starts.
Gunwook tears up as he throws his arms around Matthew, squeezing him tightly like a boa constrictor. "I missed you so much, I can't believe you came home." He wails.
Matthew awkwardly pats his back, "Don't cry, Gunwook-ah."
"I can't help it," Gunwook shoots back, "I thought I lost you forever. When I came back from uni and you weren't there– I thought something terrible happened to you."
"Hyung is sorry." Matthew soothes, patting his back awkwardly again, hoping to make him feel better.
Gunwook eventually pulls away and takes a good look at Matthew and remembers where they are. "Oh shit, you should probably come inside, you look like you're about to freeze to death." He doesn't wait for an answer before he tugs Matthew inside and closes the door behind him, locking it as if Matthew would suddenly change his mind and choose to escape instead. "You're here to stay this time, right?"
"Of course, I'm not leaving this time." HQ and the principal might feel differently, but he'll cross that bridge when he gets to it honestly.
"You promise?" Gunwook is skeptical, and clear hurt is in his tone. Matthew can't blame him honestly.
Matthew nods and smiles even more brightly, "I promise. this time I'm really here to stay."
Gunwook smiles back and steps forward to clasp Matthew's hand, "Good. I know we really haven't known each other for that long, but you really did change my life for the better. You were only gone a day, but I was in so much pain I thought I was dying."
Matthew feels a pang of guilt at his admission and Gunwook notices how his face falls because of course he does. "Not literally! I'm not saying to make you feel bad! I've just never felt so strongly about someone before."
Matthew jokingly pushes him, "Oh my gosh, what are you saying right now?"
"I really like you, Mashu hyung. I couldn't stop thinking about you for even a moment." His eyes shine with sincerity as he makes his confession. He stares at Mathew to gauge his reaction and then seems to lose his confidence immediately, his grip loosening. "Oh my god, was that weird? Did I make it weird? Just forget I ever said anything-"
"You're so silly, Wookie. I like you too. I like you so much it drives me crazy."
"So then… What now? Like, what are we?"
"Boyfriends." And then as an afterthought he adds, "But only if you want to."
"Tthew, I literally just confessed to you."
"Well I don't know! Maybe you could be having second thoughts!"
Gunwook giggles, "Of course I'll be your boyfriend, hyung. But only if you promise not to leave ever again."
"But I already promised! Twice!"
"Hmph." Gunwook pretends to sulk, folding his arms and turning away slightly.
"Nooo… Don't be mad."
"You should make it up to me."
"How?"
Gunwook leans forward, lips pursed and Matthew tilts his head in confusion. "I don't get it." Gunwook rolls his eyes and wraps his arms around Matthew’s back.
Then Matthew realizes. Oh my god, he wants me to kiss him. So he leans up on his tiptoes and tries to kiss Gunwook, only for him to realize that he's still not tall enough. Fuck, this is so embarrassing. He starts to pout until Gunwook finally closes the distance, their eyes naturally closing. And like that, it's like the two of them become one. Matthew never knew happiness could ever feel quite like this and in that moment, he's glad that he risked everything to be with Gunwook.