Chapter Text
Ivan is a certified Cupid.
He has his own Bachelors of Matchmaking (Honours) from the Celestial Academy of Heaven. He considered doing his Masters degree in Lovemaking but the programme is far too intense… in both courseload and content. Ivan is fine just shooting love arrows instead of having to counsel humans on… whatever that is. At some point, he needs a chat with God, because why in the world do humans look… look like that when they… copulate? Mate? Procreate? Why are there so many words for the same thing?
In any case, Ivan is a certified Cupid with a certified job in the Department of Love. As a junior member of staff, he is a foot soldier in the battle against solitude. His job is to make sure humans continue populating the Earth, because they are the Man Above’s favourite creatures and all that. What can Ivan do but obey? Especially when his boss, Hyuna, is constantly breathing down his neck regarding his quota. It’s not Ivan’s fault he prefers seeing couples fall in love all by themselves instead of forcibly shooting them and igniting that initial spark.
It makes Ivan wonder what it’s like to fall in love with someone. Between angels, there is no such concept. They don’t need to create more of themselves—God’s there for that. There is no reason to take part in such frivolous acts that contribute nothing to the glory and fame of Heaven. It’s not like falling in love with another angel would bring in more believers. As such, Ivan is quick to brush off the prospect of falling in love himself.
But of course, that is all about to go downhill, as Ivan will soon find out on his next fateful assignment.
“Ivan,” Hyuna says. It really sounds more like a command.
Ivan stands, his chest puffed out, his hands behind his back. He raises an arm as he salutes her. “Cupid Ivan here, ma’am!”
“I’m giving you one last chance before I reassign you to the Department of Sex,” Hyuna says. “Where you will work as a lowly administrative officer for the rest of your eternal life.”
Ivan gapes. No, anything but the Department of Sex! He has no career progression there because he doesn’t have the requisite qualifications to climb the corporate ladder! That is to say—his Masters Degree in Lovemaking.
“Yeah, that’s right.” Hyuna chuckles, tacking on the unspoken subtext: “Fear me and my managerial powers!” “Now, this one’s an easy assignment. If you mess this up, then you really deserve that demotion.”
Ivan bows a full ninety degrees. “Consider it done, ma’am.”
“Read through that dossier and familiarise yourself with this poor, pathetic excuse of a man, as well as the lady that he has fallen hopelessly in love with,” Hyuna says sternly. “Tomorrow, he will confess to her in KAIST’s courtyard. Your job is to shoot her and have her fall for him. Understood?”
“Y-Yes, sir! I-I mean, ma’am!” It’s hard to remember the correct honorifics when Ivan is also acquainted with her brother as his colleague. They look very much alike after all.
“Good. Now, get out of my face.”
“Yes, ma’am!”
With that, Ivan leaves the room. He shuts the door behind him.
Twenty seconds later, he darts back into the room, retrieves the dossier with profuse apologies, and he leaves for his quarters for good.
The assignment is starting on a good note.
*
The poor, pathetic excuse of a man goes by the name Akugetsu Till. He is half-Korean, half-Japanese, with a Japanese mother, but he lived in Korea all his life. He has silver hair, silver brows drawn together and the corners of his lips pulled down like his face is permanently stuck in a frown.
The girl that he’s pursuing is, at a glance, far above his league. She looks put together, her shocking pink hair neatly combed and tucked behind her ears. The shine of her golden eyes shows even from behind her spectacles. Her smile is comparable to a thousand suns.
According to the dossier, they are childhood friends. She saved him from bullies when they were merely five and since then he’s taken a liking to her. It eventually evolved into a crush. Unfortunately, she has her eye on someone else on campus, leaving no room for that pitiful man in her heart. Not that she would give him a second glance anyway, considering that she loves women.
Ah, how unlucky, Ivan thinks, lying on his back on his cot as he reads the papers. Then, he proceeds to sit upright, eyes narrowed. Does this mean that his assignment is to… to forsake the natural love between this woman—Mizi and another girl, Sua—so that Mizi could fall in love with this pathetic man?
Something about this situation just feels… wrong. It feels like it goes against his morals, and Ivan is morally upright. At least, he hopes so. If he isn’t, then he can say goodbye to his angel friends in Heaven and hello to his devil friends in Hell.
Surprised he has devil friends? Heaven and Hell don’t operate alone, after all. They are one booming corporation, one company, if you will. Think of Heaven and Hell as two branches of the same office. Hell—no pun intended—Hyuna’s boyfriend is the head of the Department of Lust.
Still, despite his misgivings, Ivan doesn’t want to lose his job. Not to mention that there is a severe lack of psychological safety in Heaven. If he so much as raises a question to his superior, down he goes to Hell. And Ivan can’t have that—black wings are not in fashion right now, and the heat and humidity would certainly ruin his hair.
Therefore, the only way to save his job is to do his job. On the morrow, Ivan will set out for KAIST in South Korea and ensure that this couple falls in a love so deep they’d never manage to swim out of and will drown in it.
*
The “morrow” comes faster than Ivan thought it would. He wakes up at the blare of his alarm clock. It’s a human invention, because angels aren’t ever late. But with so many angels servicing Heaven, there are bound to be one or two with defective internal clocks and thus require an external one. Ivan slams his fist on the clock, the infernal ringing finally halting. He leaps out of bed like a sprightly human and prepares for his work day ahead.
After making his bed and preening his feathers, that is. What sort of angel wouldn’t want to look their best, especially in front of humans whom they are usually invisible to?
Ivan bounds, skips, and hops on over to the portal to the human world. As soon as he’s through the portal, he’s instantly teleported to the air right above the futuristic buildings of KAIST. One of Korea’s prestigious universities specialising in science and technology, KAIST attracts students of the highest calibre in the field. His target is currently walking alongside his crush, to whom he’s about to confess to in the next few moments.
Ivan follows them. Like a stalker. Except, it’s his job. He’s starting to contemplate the moral righteousness of stalking, whether or not he—and every other Cupid—has committed a grave sin by virtue of doing their jobs alone.
In doing his job, as he’s so proud of, Ivan makes a grand total of three mistakes.
The first: he almost misses the window of his shoot. He hurriedly readies his arrow, nocking it on his bow and…
The second: He aims it at Till. Ivan may have been too preoccupied with Till’s handsome face that he assumed his role was to shoot Till… so that Mizi would fall for him. Ivan’s logic has flown out of the window along with his common sense.
The third: Ivan misfires so terribly that the arrow actually flies backwards and slams into his foot. If that is not a feat of archery, then nothing is.
When Ivan blinks, all he can see is Till before him. His handsome face, his handsome eyebrows, handsome nose, handsome cheekbones, handsome jaw, handsome teeth, and, of course, handsome eyes. God, who could find someone as stunningly perfect as he?
It was an actual plea; not a slip of the tongue. He was actually pleading to God.
Till stares at him, a horrified look on his face. Mizi too covers her mouth, her eyes wide. A scream rings out from a university student a fair distance away as every other student, faculty, and member of public stares at him. Ivan’s feeling a little shy—he’s never gotten this much attention before…
Wait.
Humans aren’t supposed to be able to see them.
It’s only then that Ivan realises that he’s somehow made visible, perhaps by his unconscious, innate desire for the object of his affection to see him, unhindered by illusions and glamour. He’s also dressed in his traditional Cupid’s outfit—which had recently been revamped from their birthday suits to white skirts and an equally white sash that reveals more than it covers.
In his hand, he also carries a bow and arrows shaped like hearts. Now, he’s not sure what the law of the land dictates regarding the use and carrying of weapons…
“Someone, call the police!” a student yells as ten others film Ivan with their phones. This is not good. Ivan must flee, but the handsome man is right in front of him. He’s right there, within reach, and Ivan must not let him go. He hastily slots his bow onto its strap and lunges at Till. Till yelps, tries to dodge him, but Ivan is much too fast. He sweeps Till off his feet—literally—as he ascends to the skies, his wings materialising and beating mightily.
“W-What the…? Put me down!” Till cries, his cheeks flushed and his eyes shining with tears of fear. “Put me down right now! I swear to God—”
“Do you know that whenever you say that, your plea goes straight to the Department of Prayers?” Ivan says. “With the number of people saying that every day, their work is nearly insurmountable.”
“Why me?” Till sniffles, the tears leaking from his eyes as he trembles in Ivan’s arms like a scared rabbit. “Where are you taking me? Who are you? What are you?”
“I’m glad you asked,” Ivan says, and he grins widely, which, for some reason, only serves to aggravate the trembles into full-blown shaking. He doesn’t understand why—Ivan just wants to express his pure joy that Till wants to know more about him. “You’re the love of my life. I’m taking you somewhere where no one can disturb us. My name’s Ivan, and I’m a Cupid. Do those answer your questions?”
Unfortunately, Till is unable to reply as he promptly faints. Partly due to fright, and partly due to the lack of oxygen at their altitude, coupled with his hyperventilation.
*
Ivan has a home base on Earth. Most angels who come down to Earth do. It’s not in Seoul, but stuff like that doesn’t matter for an angel like him. As a Cupid, he prefers Paris. After all, it’s the city of love. Even if it’s not, it’s the city of the Louvre Museum, which, honestly, is close enough to the word “Love.”
He owns a five-room flat situated along a quiet street, save for the rumbling of cars as they pass by the building. He drops Till’s unconscious body onto the bed, and he proceeds to tuck Till in. He looks so angelic like this, more so than Ivan’s brethren. Ivan could stare at his face all day.
He should start thinking about carving a life for himself and Till. He could bring Till up to Heaven, but something tells him that Till wouldn’t want that very much. Few people willingly go up to Heaven when they still have time on Earth. They only want to go to Heaven when they expire.
Ivan has watched enough dates and marriages happen to know what’s next. He must make Till fall for him. He should pursue Till and do things that Till likes. According to the dossier, Till likes action movies and rollercoasters. His favourite foods are matcha products, and he likes cats. He also likes Mizi, but Ivan wisely chooses to ignore it.
Ivan’s plan is set. He shall bring Till to the movies and to the amusement park, and then to a cat cafe selling matcha products because that is apparently what Till likes best. After that, Till will surely fall for him and he and Till can happily bound off into the sunset.
Ah, what a dream come true, to elope with his beloved and live out their lives on the run. Hyuna would surely not be happy about that but what does Ivan care when he’s with the love of his life?
Now, all he has to do is to wait for Till to wake up.
*
When Till wakes up, he lets out the world’s loudest and most blood-curling shriek that could originate from his throat. His eyes are wide and his face is ashen, as though he could fall back into a coma anytime soon. He grips the edge of his blanket, his entire body tensed as he stares at Ivan.
“Hello,” Ivan greets cheerily. “How are you feeling? Are you ready to head to the movies?”
“T-T-T-T-The what?” Till stutters so badly that Ivan can hardly make out what he’s saying.
“The movies. Big moving pictures on a screen—”
“I know what a movie is! Why are you… You drugged me and kidnapped me. That’s what this is. I…” He glances down at his ankles, and he breathes a sigh of relief. “Oh, thank God…”
Ivan has no clue what he’s so relieved and/or excited about. “The Big Man appreciates all gratitude directed at Him. Also, I didn’t drug you.”
Till’s brow twitches. “At least you’re honest enough to admit you kidnapped me.”
For someone who believes he’s been kidnapped, he sure has a lot of lip. But that’s okay, because Till is cute and Ivan likes adorable things. He can surely forgive Till for any insults, any transgressions, anything. Because that’s what being in love is, right?
“Please bring me back,” Till begs. “I-I have a life to go back to. My roommate would be worried about me. And everyone’s gonna be wondering where I went, and you! They’ll be wondering about you!”
Ivan points a finger at himself. “Me?”
“Yes, you! I mean, you literally snatched me from the ground and carried me into the air with those… those big wings of yours! If that’s not gonna be the talk of the university bulletin boards, I don’t know what is!”
Speaking of which, Till should really check the news. Maybe someone’s got a picture of Ivan. He slips his phone from his pocket, opens Naver, and he’s greeted with an endless loading screen. He glances at the Wifi symbol, only then realising one important thing.
He’s in a foreign country with no WiFi and no roaming data that won’t cost him an arm and a leg.
*
Ivan had no choice but to strike a deal with Till, because Till would faint again if he didn’t. In exchange for bringing him back home, Till would go out on a date with him. Of course, the deal is rather questionable, considering Ivan was the one who put him in this situation in the first place, but hey, what Hyuna doesn’t know won’t hurt her.
He’s just sad that his romantic walk in Paris didn’t quite pan out the way he expected it to.
With a “poof!” Ivan and Till returned to Korea, Till snug in Ivan’s arms. They are back in KAIST, right in the middle of the courtyard. The only difference this time is that Ivan made himself only visible to Till. Other students milling about begin to snap shots of the third-year floating in the air.
Ivan gently lets Till down, and Till shivers, rubbing his arms. Ivan doesn’t understand why, because it’s not like it’s extremely cold. Summer’s just beginning.
“When are we going on that date?” Ivan asks, batting his lashes.
“Uh… maybe tomorrow? Yeah, tomorrow sounds good,” Till says, but his gaze is elsewhere and he fidgets incessantly. If Ivan were not a better angel, he would have read Till’s mind and noticed that he’s thinking of ways to leave the country in a day. That said, Ivan is not a better angel, so he’s rather confused why Till would want to come back to Korea and then leave again so soon.
“Great!” Ivan cries, and he throws his arms around Till. Till coughs, the force of a half-naked man-thing wrapping himself around him completely throwing him off balance. He lands on the floor with a thud. He desperately tries to ignore the cameras pointed his way, because getting accosted by a half-naked man-thing is surely enough to earn him the privilege of being the hottest news on the university forums.
Thankfully, all the photos going up onto SNS are those of him on his posterior. If not for the very real sensation of a man-thing with wings leaning over him, Till would have questioned his sanity and wondered whether he imagined the whole thing.
“I’ll see you tomorrow, Till-ah!” Ivan cries, and he shoots back up into the sky with a beat of his wings.
Till remains speechless for a good ten minutes, but by that time, Ivan is already back in his quarters, screeching into his pillow at how cute that human was.
*
Till has no clue what happened today. As he lies in bed, staring up at the ceiling, listening to his roommates blasting loud music and partying to celebrate the end of their examinations, he can only think about the strong, handsome winged man who appeared before him, whisked him to Paris, and brought him back in the blink of an eye.
That man must have been an angel. An honest-to-goodness angel. That’s the only explanation that Till can think of.
Either that, or Till’s losing it. Or lost it. His finals must have fried his brains and now he’s seeing things.
Well, at least the encounter with that man distracted him from his failed confession. At least he’s known for being dragged to the sky bridal style instead of the loser who got rejected in front of literally everyone and anyone. He still remembers Mizi’s cold glare as she delivers that blunt and direct rejection. He’s known her since their childhood years, so he thought there was a spark. But he guesses that it’s been one-sided all along.
Ah, a broken heart hurts.
To top it all off, as though his week can’t be getting any worse, he’s set to go on a date with that strange man tomorrow. With any luck, he was hallucinating the whole thing and he would spend the day lying in bed and wallowing in self-pity. And playing singleplayer Mario Kart.
Till resists the urge to cry into his pillow as he turns onto his side. He hears a burst of laughter echoing from the shared living room. He fumbles for his earplugs on his bedside table and he stuffs the foam into his ears. Not the most effective noise blocker but good enough.
He squeezes his eyes shut, a lone tear running across the bridge of his nose and down his cheek, and he tries his best to fall asleep.