Archive of Our Own

There’s proper etiquette to courting an angel. Certain steps must be taken to express one’s interest and to convey one’s feelings.

It’s only formalities, of course, but Heaven seems to thrive on tradition, rules and obligations. Both for the smooth running of the angels’ society and to keep romance between them special and pure.

Seungcheol’s never been an angel, however, and the libraries and archives of Hell hold no tomes on this topic. Trickery? Sure. Spells of illusions, potions and incense made to hide one’s nature? Of course. But no genuine advice as to how you’re supposed to go around romancing an angel.

Seungcheol is reaching the end of his rope here.

The angel he wants, no, needs to be his is too clever to be tricked. If anything, he’s a little too sly himself. Too strong and fast to be simply caught by Seungcheol, at least without injuries on both sides. And, surprisingly, Seungcheol finds he doesn’t truly wish to hurt the angel. He worries the angel would hate him for reasons outside their conflicting natures, or fear him. He doesn’t seem afraid of Seungcheol now. 

Maybe it’s in part because the demon can’t overpower him. Their evenly balanced strengths suggest that the angel is of high position. That he, just like Seungcheol, hides his true form.

It only makes the demon crave him more. He wants to meet him, masks discarded, one monster to another. To see his true face, to show him his - to be seen in his full glory and to witness the angel’s own radiance. 

Sometimes he thinks the feeling might be mutual.

The angel’s eyes sparkle with curiosity when they notice him, or that’s what the demon thinks anyway, and he seems to glow with mirth seeing him. As if he enjoys the challenge.

He runs and Seungcheol chases. He hasn’t even touched the angel yet. It’s frustrating.

He tried to get over this, as embarrassing as it is to admit, crush . He found other angels he found beautiful, desirable even, he chased them down and pinned them to the ground. Had them right where he could take them. He could’ve just stolen those from Heaven and kept them, could’ve claimed ownership over them, but he didn’t. It wasn’t right. There’s only one that calls to him on a deeper level than humans would attribute to the soul.

Seungcheol doesn’t want to hurt the angel. He simply wants to own him.

He doesn’t even know his name, yet he feels like the angel belongs with him.

And because the means of Hell won’t work, and because it seems like the feelings stirring inside his chest are more than abnormal, Seungcheol needs to find the way of Heaven.

Which turns out to be harder than expected. 

Of course he knew it’d be hard, but not like this. 

He supposes it’d make sense for angels not to act in a way he needs them to where they can encounter demons. But can’t they make an exception? Can’t they sense how pure - for the most part - his intentions are?

He’s getting desperate. For demons, some show of strength, power, cruelty for some, is enough. It’s not unusual for the interested party to simply overpower the target of their affection to express their feelings. Seungcheol is more than equipped, in his humble opinion, to seduce any demon he’d like. But how to woo an angel, that remains a mystery.

His efforts and dedication, resolution, drive him to take bigger risks. To approach places where he could be ambushed. To get too close to Heaven.

And while he did manage to sneak a few peeks at angels acting affectionate, he has yet to find any hints. Mostly because he gets noticed too easily. Even if he uses all the tricks demons have to mask their presence, he gets spotted too soon. On more than one occasion by no one else but his angel, who exposes him to the others and they flee. 

Maybe it’s just Seungcheol’s imagination but the angel seems confused, disappointed, perhaps, when the demon doesn’t try to hunt him down in those moments.

It goes on like this for a long time, weeks, though in the demon’s mind it might as well be centuries. No clues in sight. No hope. All that he notices is the new, unpleasant feeling in his stomach.

Anxiety.

Fear he won’t find a way. That perhaps one day he’ll be forced to take the angel by force.

And then one day - the cruelest revelation comes.

He’s started to see less and less of his angel. And although finding means to court him still remains the end game, it seems to have taken too much of his time. He misses the heavenly creature. So today that’s his goal - to track him down. To give him a good chase, to perhaps partake in playful banter. 

He’s never seen other angels talk like that, or play fight with their partners like that during the rare chances he got to observe them. They seem, well, soft to each other. Loving. Gentle. It makes Seungcheol feel something he’s pretty sure he isn’t supposed to feel. Perhaps he’s gotten cursed by Heaven for spending too much time within its territory and that is where all these unfamiliar feelings are coming from.

Yet he’s too soon startled out of going through all that he’s observed and learned during his research when he finally spots his angel.

His heart cracks and out comes the nature he was born with.

The angel’s halo is decorated by thin chains of tiny crystals cut to look like stars raining down upon his head. He’s watching his reflection in the pond he’s sitting by, tilting his head with a soft, shy , smile on his lips. 

Seungcheol is filled with rage. And pain.

Who dares the angel smile for like that? Who dares to give his angel-

And suddenly it clicks. 

He’s seen plenty of angels wear accessories, sure, but there was a common denominator - most of them were part of a couple. All of the pairs he’s seen wore clothes decorated with trinkets, they wore jewelry on their bodies and halos. It was rare to see a singular angel decorate his halo or clothes, body like this.

He should’ve realized sooner. The only way it’d be appropriate for an angel to be dressed in more than the plain clothes they wear would be if they were wearing gifts given to them by someone.

The anger boils down to disappointment. Uncertainty. Sadness. The pain remains.

Has the angel found a mate?

Seungcheol is of course aware that they’re not meant to be. Demons and angels are anything but what you imagine a couple to look like but he’s sure it’s not unheard of. There’s of course plenty to worry about, and he’s sure he hasn’t given it a proper thought, too caught up in his head thinking about what to do, how to even get a chance with the angel. He definitely hasn’t addressed all the issues that would arise should his courting bear fruit.

Now, however, it seems like it might’ve been a waste of time if he did anyway.

What’s he supposed to do if his angel can’t be his?

Would he still take him away? Would he hurt the angel, physically and emotionally like that? Would he steal him from his mate? He’s read that angels may die if they’re separated from their lover. He can’t have that. He’d rather… He can’t admit that. His pride as a demon is still there. He’s still a creature of Hell. That’s not something he should feel or think.

The angel spots him then and for the first time ever he looks shocked. Caught. Guilty . Demons usually have a hard time reading angels because they express so many emotions unfamiliar to them but guilt is an emotion native to Hell. Seungcheol wonders about it before he turns to leave. 

“Wait!” the angel calls and Seungcheol feels like he’s been struck by lightning. He’s never heard the sweet voice in a distress like this. His body would normally react carnally to such an arousing sound. Yet he barely feels anything.

He looks at the angel over his shoulder. The chains are gone from his halo. The demon frowns.

With just that one word, though, the angel seems at loss for words. He opens and closes his mouth like a fish out of water. Then he closes it for good, looking almost frustrated with himself. As if not knowing what else to do, he takes flight. Not up towards the high skies, not away from the demon - but straight at him. 

Seungcheol doesn’t move. He can’t find it in himself to move, as pathetic as it is. So he’ll let the angel do as he wishes. Let him make the first step this time. Then Seungcheol will decide what to do. 

The angel doesn’t attack, though. It makes the demon blink up in surprise. Instead the angel circles around him in elegant and smooth, long figure eights. He never stretches his wings towards him, remaining cautious, always turning his body so that his one wing points to the sky and the longest of his feathers on the other wing gently brush the earth.

It forces the demon to move. To wake up - to shake off the conflicting and sticky, uncomfortable feeling, rather. Because the gentle breeze of the angel’s wings around him feels just like a dream. One that, right now, he doesn’t wish to get trapped in. 

Noticing him moving, the angel settles and hovers not far from him. The look in his pale eyes is less challenging and more hopeful. Seungcheol doesn’t know what to do - what he should do is leave, what he wants to do is give chase. And when the angel’s face starts to fall, it doesn’t matter at all. Nothing matters.

His feet move before his brain can get a word in.

It feels different. Different from before, different from what Seungcheol expected of himself.

He expected the rage to return, to manifest in full demon fashion and strength. Part of him was scared he’d hunt the angel for real and throw away all of his true feelings. But that doesn’t happen. 

Instead, the chase is pleasant. They’re not using all their strength, they don’t run at full speed. It feels instead like they’re running together . The angel twirls around him in the air. Teasingly brushing his fingers over Seungcheol’s arms and shoulders. Once he fully runs a hand through his hair and the demon swears he sees Heaven as angels are supposed to see it.

The demon’s pride reawakens, naturally. He sidesteps the angel, and either something about what he feared comes through or the angel is more unguarded because he does take him by surprise a few times. They come face to face, close enough that once Seungcheol smirks and in the split second before the angel flaps his wings to get away, he nudges his nose against the other’s. 

He doesn’t try to touch him even though his hands itch to.

They dance around each other until Seungcheol decides it’s enough for the play. He lets himself roll down onto the soft grass and rest. The angel stops too, seeing him fall behind, but he hesitates to come closer. 

“Don’t worry,” Seungcheol sighs, eyes focused on the blue skies above, “Just go now, angel.”

The joy slowly dissipates from his body. It was nice. Really nice, while it lasted. But dreams never go on forever. This is a good point to write the very last sentence of their story.

“Return to your flock,” he says as numbness spreads throughout his body.

Right. He’s never belonged in Heaven. There’s no place for him, never has been - if he fell, then at least there would be a place from where he’s missing. But he was born and raised in Hell.

“I…” the angel tries to speak but it seems he’s at loss too. He seems sad. Seungcheol wonders why that is.

“Will you come again?” his voice is vulnerable. And as full blooded, hellish of a demon as Seungcheol is, he feels as though he should repent for the sin he’s committed by making the angel upset. 

Seungcheol turns his head to look at the angel. His lip is trembling, he’s holding his own hand tightly like he can’t get through this alone. It’s a complete one-eighty from the angel the demon knows - confident, almost cocky, always acting like he’s one step ahead of the demons trying to hunt him down.

“I don’t know,” he admits. He feels too dazed to care much. 

“Please do,” the angels whisper. And then he’s gone.

Seungcheol remains lying there in the grass and thinks for a long time.

After all that time, though, he doesn’t reach any conclusion as to what he should do next.

Because he wants to keep seeing the angel. He wants to court him properly now that he knows how to go about it. 

But if the angel is already spoken for, then what’s the point?

He holes up in his mansion, empty and lonely and figuratively cold. He overthinks his situation to the point of insanity.

So eventually, he drags himself outside. Outside of Hell too. It’s too depressing there.

What he doesn’t expect is that he won’t get much time alone to nurse his wounds because the knife itself spawns in front of him. For a second he believes he’s actually gone mad. 

The angel looks, well, perfect. As always. Seungcheol couldn’t say why he chose the proximity of Heaven as his destination, really he couldn’t. But the sunrise makes the angel glow, his wings look almost translucent. His hair looks like the sun rays themselves. And he’s looking at Seungcheol like he is his rising sun. 

So what the demon does, of course, is run away. 

He panics, and he thinks it’s a valid response because nobody in the centuries that he’s been alive looked at him like that. Much less an angel . An angel that he has a fucking crush on. An angel that’s probably already courted by someone at best and already mated to someone at worst.

Yet the way the angel looked at him was most definitely not how you’d look at someone when you’re already with someone. Especially not if you’re an angel. Angels don’t lie.

So Seungcheol paces inside his empty mansion again.

Because of course it could all be a trap. Of course it could be an angel taking revenge on demons, playing with the foolish one’s heart only to shatter it and humiliate him. Of course. But on the off chance that it isn’t, Seungcheol needs to step up.

If it is, then, well, what’s gonna happen if he dramatically kills himself? Will he go to Hell? Oooh, how scary…

First, he makes a battle plan. Then, he gathers his tools. And then all that’s left is to carry out the plan. 

This time when he sets foot into the territory of Heaven, he’s ready.

Or as ready as he could be. 

He tries not to read too much into the fact that once again it doesn’t take long for him to find the one he’s been looking for. And he’s unspotted, the angel’s back turned towards him.

So he focuses all his strength into this one shot that he’s been given.

He gives it his all and with the speed of light passes by the angel, swiftly carrying out his task, before disappearing into the shadows of the treetops.

Yet he remains watching. And his heart immediately drops.

The angel looks horrible - or as horrible as an angel can actually look. He looks exhausted, sickly, and like he’s been crying and he’s about to cry again. Seungcheol wants to drop his plan immediately - what happened to the angel? But he doesn’t get the chance.  

With trembling hands the angel reaches into the pocket of his robe. The demon holds his breath, can only watch helplessly as the angel pulls out a thin platinum chain decorated by delicate diamonds. They’ve been expertly cut to glimmer in the sunlight and set tastefully into the chain to imitate drops of water sticking to the metal. At each end, the diamonds seem to wrap around the chain and sit at the ends, weighing it down slightly, looking like tears about to fall. There was no expense spared to have it made, that much is clear. 

Seungcheol can hear the sharp intake of breath, can see the angel pressing the facechain to his chest while he wildly looks around, presumably in search of the demon. But he doesn’t show himself. He only watches as the angel admires his gift again before, carefully, trying it on. 

He looks perfect. He always does. Something inside Seungcheol’s chest flutters as happily as the angel’s wings while he squeaks, the cutest sound the demon’s ever heard. 

Still he tries to find the demon. He looks like a thirsting man invigorated by an oasis. 

This time, Seungcheol remains strong. The angel might want to see him, just as he did before, but he won’t give in. He has a plan.

“Run along, little angel,” he chuckles, loud enough for the angel to hear over the rustling of leaves, “Or I will take it as a rejection of my gift.”

There’s a slight hesitation, a slight sign that the angel will argue. To the demon’s surprise, however, the angel only ends up smiling, biting his lips as turns around and skips away.

Seungcheol thinks his heart will beat right out of his chest and run after the heavenly creature.

Since that day, they fall into a new routine.

Seungcheol knows that certain resources are rare, just short of impossible to acquire in Heaven and through heavenly means, and he takes full advantage of it. Close to the core of the world, Hell is naturally rich in minerals and gems and ores. Many of Hell’s residents are quite skilled artists and some of them have come to know Seungcheol very well in recent times.

One day it’s an ornate veil of silver chains and gems in the light pastel hues of honey and pink that make the sunset come to mind that fits perfectly over the angel’s halo.

Another it’s a simple pair of bracelets. Or anklets.

Another it’s one more face chain, this one gold and bolder, with small shards of ruby resting under the angel’s eyes like a broken line and hanging from the ends, sharp and dagger-like. Unexpectedly, Seungcheol often sees the angel wearing this one when he, pathetically, stalks the spaces he might encounter the other to see if his gifts are to the angel’s liking.

Most importantly though, he checks on the angel. Even though he seems to be back at full health, looking - in Seungcheol’s humble opinion - better and healthier than ever, he can’t shake off the worry stemming from not knowing what drove the angel into such disarray that he saw him in on that first day.

Some selfish part of him wishes it was heartbreak. That whoever gave the angel the gift that woke him up is gone and the angel was simply mourning them. And that he’s over them now.

Because even when the demon chases the angel through the sky or the expanse of the world separating their homes, the angel seems more than fine. He’s so playful, often teasing the demon with brief, innocent touches over his arms, a slight brush that could easily be written off as the angel simply being clumsy in his attempt to evade the demon’s harmless faux attacks.

Seungcheol now tends to stay a distance away before they part. Only long enough to see whether the angel will find the trinket waiting for him that day.

Sometimes he slips them into his clothes, sometimes he guides the angel to a certain location where his gift awaits.

Not only accessories, but little animal figures made of gems or glass. When they choose the human world as their playground, he discovered the angel to be quite fond of the plush toys humans make. Sometimes he goes through the trouble of acquiring one for his angel - the proper way, of course. He wouldn’t want the angel to feel guilty if the demon committed the sin of theft for him.

It’s good, Seungcheol thinks. Things are good.

The angel looks at him with soft eyes and like he wants to say something but he never does. Eventually he always ends up bashfully lowering his gaze and biting back a smile while holding his new gift to his chest. 

The demon thinks he wouldn’t mind doing this every day.

Seeing the angel everyday.

It doesn’t matter if he never gets to touch him or hear him.

He just wants him to be his.

His to make happy. 

His to adore.

His.

So naturally, cursed being that he is, his luck has to run out.

And, as it always is, he doesn’t see it coming.

Maybe because he’s too lost to the world pretending to hunt his angel, blinded by his radiance, deafened by the angel softly humming a song he’s never heard before. 

The angel, although dutifully playing his part of a prey running away from its predator, lets himself be herded in a certain direction. His heart is beating fast, his wings beat against the wind but they also flutter in excitement. His stomach is tight with joy but also anxiety. 

Will he be brave enough to speak to the demon today? 

When did he grow so shy?

Jeonghan stopped taunting the demon when they play like this too, hoping to convey the same feeling with his eyes and mischievous expressions alone. He hopes the demon feels his intention while he hums the song, hopes it’s going to spur the demon on and make him faster, more competitive, more determined- He doesn’t see him.

He turns in fear. He almost calls out.

Where’s the demon? 

Seungcheol is stuck in quite a tricky situation. 

Behind him - the bouquet of crystal roses meant for his angel. In front of him - two angels ready to fight and protect his angel from the threat that he poses.

He wants to laugh and cry out in despair. 

Can’t these two sense his genuine, pure - as pure as demon can get - intentions with the angel? Can’t they see his gift, so thoughtfully presented on a stump where the sun reflects off the smooth surface of the petals and makes the flowers sparkle?

He doesn’t want to fight these two either. That wouldn’t make a great impression on the angel. Though he supposes if it comes down to it, he won’t have a chance. 

More like when than if . 

There’s no way his explanation of what’s going on would be met with understanding.

He’ll have to figure something out, though, and do it quickly because the angels are ready to attack. Immediately. He can see it in their posture and he braces himself. He readies himself to fight, he thinks about how to flee or how to disarm them.

He doesn’t want to lose his angel, and he supposes injuring another would only have that one possible outcome.

The angels attack. He prepares to counter.

Only the hit never comes. 

Instead, Heaven opens his gates to him.

Time seems to stop.

The angels freeze on the spot when his angel flies down from the sky to stand in front of the demon. To protect him. Although Seungcheol supposes it’s to save them as well. Maybe only that - but he doesn’t allow himself to spiral.

It’s hard. It’s so hard when they speak in a language he doesn’t understand. They’re arguing, that much he can tell, but not more. Not if this is good for him, for his angel, nothing. Voices get raised, arms gesture wildly. And then there’s a silence that he understands to be stunned.

How? 

Because he himself is stunned into standing completely motionless by the angel hovering behind him. Then his hands touch his shoulders from behind, sliding lower until the angel can rest his head against the demon’s. 

Seungcheol feels like he’s either about to pass out or be killed. He doesn’t know. He can’t think. He can’t breathe. He can’t even care. His angel is touching him. He’s so cold to touch, not icy but like a gust of wind when it’s spring and the temperature is barely high enough to be called warm. But his weight against him is reassuring. He smells divine, a pure clean scent. And despite being a demon, Seungcheol loves it. 

He must’ve zoned out - he was literally standing surrounded by enemies and he spaced out. All because of a single little angel. He only realizes when he feels something - someone - gently rub their cheek against the top of his head and remove himself from the demon’s body.

The other two are gone. 

Seungcheol is fucked. If this is what the angel does to him, then he’s as good as his. Not the other way around that he had in mind.

He hears the angel giggle as he flies to stand in front of him and lands. The grass barely bends beneath his feet. But he’s not as close as Seungcheol would want him to be. Now that he knows what it’s truly like to have the angel close, his body yearns for his touch.

Still mindful that he could scare the angel off in some way, he turns around to pick up the flowers he brought for him. And only with the bouquet in his arms does he close the distance between them.

“Thank you,” he offers them to the angel. Slowly, carefully. The first time he’s ever offered him something directly.

“Are they a thank you gift?” the angel asks, stopping himself before he can take the flowers.

“You know they’re not,” he whispers, hesitantly, “Though I do want to thank you.”

Satisfied with the answer, the angel smiles and takes the crystal bouquet from Seungcheol. The demon steps back - wants to - but the angel follows him, stepping right back into his personal space with a small frown on his face. Seungcheol shakes his head.

“They look prettier in sunlight,” he explains.

“Don’t go,” the angel counters, “They are breathtaking anyway.”

“Begging me to stay and you don’t even know my name,” the demon teases, he can’t help it. He figures if the angel is comfortable to ask something like that of him, he’s comfortable - period.

The angel blushes, hugging the flowers closer to his chest nervously.

“What’s your name?” he asks, bright eyes staring right into the demon’s.

“Seungcheol,” he introduces himself, his fingers itching to touch the angel now that he’s standing so close, “And yours?”

“Jeonghan,” the angel shares, and Seungcheol can’t believe he actually gets to speak with the heavenly creature.

But where do they go from here?

There’s so many concerns to address, and more immediate issues such as now that they got to this point, what do they do? Seungcheol’s brain is racing and that’s never a good thing it seems. And he still can’t read the angel at all. He doesn’t know what he might be thinking.

Thinking about it, he doesn’t know much about him at all, just knows that there’s something that’s pulling him towards the angel. Something that makes him feel hopeless should the angel disappear from him.

“I really liked all your gifts, Seungcheol,” the angel says, coyly. Flames like up his spine when the demon hears his name from the heavenly lips. “I didn’t expect you’d actually… well…”

“You make it sound like you accept more than the flowers,” he tries to make the smirk cocky, arrogant even, while still playful, but even to his own ears he just sounds pitifully hopeful. The angel studies him, for a second he looks taken aback. Then slowly, he smiles.

“Because I do,” Jeonghan says, clearing his throat, “I mean if that really was your intention.”

“Of course it was,” Seungcheol takes the risk and listens to his body, stepping just an inch closer, “I wanted to have a chance.”

There’s a bitter aftertaste to his words as he remembers the angel admiring someone else’s gift. What happened to that one? To the one who also intended to court his angel? 

Jeonghan frowns again like he can sense the demon’s unease. For a moment he seems to consider something, blush creeping up his neck. 

“You always had a chance,” he murmurs in the end, “I got so scared when you started pulling away. When you started to look at others.”

It’s a fragile confession, and Seungcheol not for the first time wonders if it’s the angel himself or the time he spent at the edge of Heaven that caused this change inside him. He should get aroused, excited, or even outright aggressive hearing the angel speak like this. Instead he wants to reassure the angel.

“I wasn’t looking at them,” he admits, exchanging vulnerability for vulnerability, “I was looking for the right way to court you.”

Jeonghan chuckles - without any malice, without mocking him, just a simple delightful sound of amusement. 

“I never cared for the right way,” he shakes his head, “If you caught me, and if you didn’t hurt me once you did, I’d agree to be yours no less than I do now.” 

Seungcheol feels like someone dumped a bucket of ice on him. He blinks at the angel in confusion - that soon melts into adoration when the angel laughs at his expression and his lips settle into a little smirk.

“So you won’t start running away if I try to touch you now?” the demon pulls the rug from under his feet in turn. The angel’s wings flutter, his face betrays his shock. He shakes his head. “Do you want to keep holding your flowers? I promise I’m not taking them back.”

Jeonghan seems hesitant to part with them, more hesitant yet to step away from the demon - much to his pleasure - but he bravely does so. Seungcheol has to admit that he’s glad for the shy nature of angels that seems to make Jeonghan slip up in times like this, it helps him get back some of his own confidence. 

The angel seems lost now, not knowing what to do with his hands, he can’t evade the demon’s gaze to pretend he’s admiring the flowers. So Seungcheol hopes he can help guide him back into feeling more comfortable by taking the first step.

Without the obstacle posed by the bouquet, he can get close enough to Jeonghan that he feels the chill radiating off his body while the angel himself seems to feel the heat of Seungcheol’s. The demon carefully watches the angel’s face for any sign of discomfort as he slowly raises his hands and places them on his waist. If anything, however, the angel seems to express more excitement than the demon.

Seungcheol is surprised by how cold the angel feels. Though that’s only natural - Heaven is cold, the sky is cold. The angel would, of course, be that way too. It doesn’t help to make him think clearly, however. All that’s running through his head is how perfectly the angel’s waist accommodates his hands, how well he’d fit into his arms, on top of him- 

Isn’t he getting too close? 

Jeonghan on the other hand seems more than unbothered - he seems to enjoy the warmth of the demon’s body. The demon barely stops himself from gasping when the angel, sly as a fox, closes the distance and melts against him. His arms wrap around Jeonghan and he was right - he does fit into his embrace perfectly.

“You’re so warm,” the angel purrs, against his ear. 

Seungcheol believes if he left behind this inferior form of his, he might tower over the angel, but as it is, he’s perfectly content with their matching heights.

“Doesn’t it hurt?” he asks. He’s not an embodiment of hellfire, but he worries nonetheless.

“Not at all,” Jeonghan seems to only melt further into him, “I’ve always liked basking in the sun to warm up. This is nicer.”

The demon chuckles. This might be the first time anyone else likened him to the sun.

Jeonghan’s fingers run down his arms, tracing the lines of his muscles, and Seungcheol’s chest vibrates with a satisfied rumble. The angel slightly rubs his cheek against his chest too. He’s never been more grateful for his strong body.

He musters the courage to touch his angel in turn. Only slowly stroking up and down his back while his other arm holds him steady against his body. He rests his head against Jeonghan’s, closing his eyes. He can feel the rise and fall of the angel’s chest with each breath and he thinks it’s all he’d ever need to feel satisfied.

He strokes up his spine again, between his wings and his hand lingers there this time. The question doesn’t get asked before the angel tenses up, his hand curling against the muscle on his arm.

“They’re sensitive,” Jeonghan murmurs, yet even so he seeks refuge curled further into the demon’s body. 

Seungcheol makes his decision then and there to never let anyone so much as look at his angel the wrong way.

“I’ll wait for you to ask then,” Seungcheol reassures him, resuming his gentle caresses.

It’s relaxing. It must be the angel’s influence that he finds himself to feel so calm. Even so…

“You won’t change your mind, right?” Seungcheol can’t help but say. His traitorous mind still keeps going back to the image of the angel sitting by the pond, the pretty chains hanging off his halo. Who’s that person to his angel? Where are they now?

Yet the angel only shakes his head, turns it to prop his chin against Seungcheol’s sternum while he looks into his eyes.

“I’ve rejected Heaven once I turned down their offer to help,” he smiles slightly, “Even sooner by accepting each of your gifts.”

Jeonghan trembles slightly, seems to fight with himself to keep looking at the demon.

“You’re the one who might change his mind,” he whispers, even so his voice is strained, “Since I… I will fall.”

Seungcheol hugs him tighter, leans his forehead against the angel’s. He seems scared, uncertain. The demon thinks how stupid and selfish he has been, always only concerned about his own safety and dignity - but what about the angel? There’s much more to lose for him, much more to fear. 

He’s lived in Hell his whole life. He’s seen how bad angels can end up.

“The angel I want was always a little rebellious,” Seungcheol hums, making Jeonghan chuckle and avert his eyes, “He always smirked at me and taunted me. He wasn’t scared or bashful at all when he got cornered. He never prayed for help.”

“Sounds like someone has a lot of experience chasing angels around,” Jeonghan whispers and his hands shake a little against the demon’s arms.

“I was young once,” Seungcheol cringes, “It used to be a fun exercise.”

“Was I also an exercise?” Jeonghan still refuses to look at him, but Seungcheol doesn’t force him to.

“Never,” he tells him honestly. That finally gets the angel to, cautiously, return his attention to him. “I’ve wanted you ever since I saw you. I’m a demon - at first I wanted to hunt you down and make you come with me right away. But you’re too strong, so it wasn’t as easy as just wanting to make it happen. And I never wanted to harm you.”

Jeonghan looks at him for a long time as if assessing whether he’s lying. He’s not. Even though it’d come to him naturally. In the end, the angel smirks.

“If I’m strong, then what does that make you?” his fingers run down Seungcheol’s arms again. If Jeonghan doesn’t want to delve deeper into it, the demon won’t either. He’s perfectly happy to let the angel feel him up.

“Strong as well,” he growls playfully, “Demons just have to flaunt it.”

“I like it,” Jeonghan scratches down along his triceps. Seungcheol wonders if he’s testing his patience - if he knows what trouble he’d be in if the demon snapped. “Nobody will try to steal me away.”

“It’s not that easy, angel,” Seungcheol teases, “But yes, nobody is taking you away from me.”

It seems to put Jeonghan at ease. When the angel’s body presses completely against his this time, it’s simply to soak up his warmth. Seungcheol finds it strangely endearing.

“Won’t it cause problems, though?” the angel asks, “Won’t other demons try to attack you?”

“They might,” Seungcheol admits, “But I don’t plan on dragging you to Hell. So that should improve our chances.”

“I don’t think I can return to Heaven, though,” Jeonghan says, a little sadly - Seungcheol thinks, “They… Maybe they wouldn’t try to hurt me, but I won’t be welcome.”

Of course not, Seungcheol knows. And he beats himself over not thinking about the angel and what’s at stake for him more. Although this time - this time he at least thought about the alternatives. He never planned to keep the angel in Hell. That’s no space for an angel, much less one that’s his.

“There’s a space between Heaven and Hell, little angel,” Seungcheol reminds him gently, “We’ll carve out a space for us there.” 

Jeonghan smiles, his wings fluttering slightly.

“I don’t want to separate you from where you belong,” the demon says, although he knows it’s inevitable. 

Jeonghan will fall, as he said himself. It’s only a matter of time, only a matter of how much, but regardless, Heaven won’t embrace him anymore.

But they can still venture along the borders, if only for sentiment.

It’s said that angels crave Heaven and the godly light even after the fall, that many still keep their essence, their only crime being disobedience and curiosity.

Seungcheol truly doesn’t want his angel to hurt or suffer.

“I already belong with you now,” Jeonghan corrects quietly.

“As do I,” the demon smiles, “So let’s figure out our new start together. Without Heaven or Hell.”

The angel snuggles up to him.

And suddenly Seungcheol doesn’t care what happens next, as long as he gets to have his angel in his arms.