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Sunghoon suddenly felt like he couldn’t feel anything, anymore. He was completely numb.
It wasn’t because of how gravely wounded he was, neither was it because of how tired he felt.
It was because Jay disappeared right in front of his eyes. And he couldn't do anything, but watch.
He saw how Jay, disappeared, one part at a time, to save HIM. While all he could do, was just watch.
Watch, as the snake devil ate the ghost devil.
Watch, as he saw the other’s - Sunoo, completely paralyzed with fear, whereas Riki, was still unconscious - until suddenly, he jerks up, transforming.
Sunghoon could feel a small part of him, a more rational, still ALIVE part of him, scoffing at Jay’s sacrifice, on how till the very end, he tried his best, going as far as giving his entire self to the ghost devil, to fight their opponents, to revive Riki, just so that they had a chance to win.
But at the very same time, a far more larger part of him, still couldn’t comprehend what had just happened. It was all too sudden,
It was like how he first felt, when he saw his sister, enter their house to get her gloves,waving and smiling happily at him, only to see their entire house be whisked away, along with his entire family.
“It’s all just a nightmare… nothing more…” was the last thing which went through his mind, as he closed his eyes, hoping, praying, that this indeed, was all just a really bad dream, and continue living his normal, happy life.
—-- time skip —-- (a few hours later)
There was darkness all around. Sunghoon couldn’t see anything. Where was he? Was he dead already? Before he could finish off the gun devil? That wasnt right - he had so much to do. He had to take care of so many things-
“Sunghoon?” a voice called out softly. He recognised it, but wasn’t able to put his finger on who it belonged to.
“Sunghoon? Are you there? Can you hear me” the voice further spoke. He tried saying something back, but when he tried, no sound came out.
“It’s alright… I know you can hear me.” the voice said, sounding relieved. It suddenly hit Sunghoon with a jolt - this voice, it was Jay’s. He tried desperately, to call out his name - but it was all futile.
“Hoon, i need you to promise me one thing. It’s nothing big, trust me.”
“Promise me, that you’ll live. No matter what. Live life to the fullest, as much as you can.”
Sunghoon felt the tears prick his eyes, threatening to spill out any second. He nodded vigorously.
“It’ll be hard, but try your best. I know you’ll be able to do it.” Jay said, his voice tinged with a hint of sadness, but at the very same time, determined, like he had full faith, and knew that Sunghoon would be able to do so.
“And one last thing - thank you, Sunghoon. Thank you for always taking care of me.”
For a brief moment, Sunghoon felt like he could suddenly see some light - he squinted, trying to focus on the figure ahead of him. It was Jay.
Before he could do anything, the light swallowed him whole.
— time skip — (6 months later)
“Sunghoon..” drawled Heeseung, as they walked ahead together, through the hallway.
“Yes, sir?” Sunghoon asked, breaking out of his trance.
“Due to your former partner, Mr. Jay Park, unfortunately passing away while on duty, i have assigned you a new partner.”
“A new partner?” Sunghoon asked, unable to mask the curiosity from his voice.
“Yes - he’s going to be a part of Division 4’s new line-up of non-human agents.” Heeseung said, pausing, before opening the door in front.
“This, is Jungwon, or more commonly known as the angel devil.” He said, a small smirk on his lips.
“A devil?! Of all things, he had to pair me with, a fucking devil?!” Sunghoon thought to himself, internally cursing his luck.
The devil in question, on the other hand, was busy eating a soft serve, completely indifferent to what was happening.
“Jungwon, is a very, rare case, you could say.” Heeseung continued, sitting down on a nearby chair.
“He has no interest whatsoever in harming humans, although he is still, pretty dangerous. One touch from him, and you can lose a chunk of your lifespan.”
“Anyways, i’ll leave you both to get more, acquainted with each other. I have a feeling that the both of you will get along well.” Heeseung said, before getting up and leaving.
“Pleased to meet you.” Sunghoon said stiffly, although inside, he was very far from being pleased.
The devil - Jungwon - merely nodded, still busy with his soft serve. He was pretty short, compared to Sunghoon, and looked a few years or so younger than him - almost around Sunoo’s age. He had a very, cat-like look to him as well, making Sunghoon feel even more wary of him, wondering if his new partner was going to be as cunning and sly as a real cat.
Him also being very beautiful - so divine that he was almost hard to look at - wasn’t helpful.
“Is it just going to continue eating..” Sunghoon thought to himself, irritated.
“Well, you better finish this off fast - we’ve got to get going.” Sunghoon said, rather haughtily.
Jungwon sighed. “Fine. although, i’d prefer that i just stay here and eat some more soft serve.” he got up, trudging behind Sunghoon.
“Listen here, Jungwon.” Sunghoon spat, turning to face him. “We’re not here to just, faff around, and eat soft serve. We’re here to do work, and not make the lives of others around as miserable as ours. Although it’ll be impossible for a creature like YOU to know.”
Jungwon merely shrugged, indifferent to what he was saying, which further angered an already pissed off Sunghoon when-
“Look out.” he sighed, a loud whoosh noise, followed with something that sounded like bullets being deflected.
Sunghoon quickly turned to see a wing - Jungwon’s wing, in front of him.
“Crap. they’ve already caught up.” Sunghoon muttered, realising the situation.
—time skip— (about 2 weeks later)
Sunghoon and Jungwon hid behind the remains of a wall, panting, having narrowly escaped death.
“Why… why do you choose to do this?” Jungwon asked, after a while of being in silence. “You could’ve lead a completely normal life, and have been in a much happier place. Why this?”
Sunghoon scoffed. “It’s because i’m determined. I’m hell-bent on bringing the gun devil to it’s downfall and i am equally determined to bring my family’s death to justice. I don’t care how much it further shortens my lifespan and i don’t care about the fact that i will be in constant danger. I will bring an end to it.”
“Well that’s stupid.” Jungwon yawned. “If i were in your position, i’d just try my best to live a life as mundane as possible.”
“Guess we don’t have much of a choice, do we?” Sunghoon laughed bitterly.
“No, we don’t… All i want right now, is to eat some soft-”
But just as Jungwon could complete his sentence, there was a loud noise.
“Typhoon. She’s here.” Jungwon sighed, speaking as though it were a minor inconvenience.
Before Sunghoon could react, there was a strong wind blowing them towards the direction of where the typhoon devil was.
“Crap!” Sunghoon yelled, quickly taking hold of a signpost in order to keep himself grounded, whilst his other hand managed to grab Jungwon by the shirt.
The winds intensified. Sunghoon could feel his grip on Jungwon’s shirt weakening by the second.
“LET GO OF ME!” Jungwon yelled, as the winds further became harsher.
“NO!” Sunghoon yelled back, but before he could say anything, his grip on Jungwon’s shirt slipped.
"JUST LET GO! IT DOESN'T MATTER IF I DIE!" Jungwon screamed, shutting his eyes. This was the moment he was waiting for all along. "Finally..."
“Huh?” he opened up his eyes, to see that it wasnt his time - but rather Sunghoon’s already shortened lifespan further decreasing.
“WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! WHY’D YOU GRAB MY HAND?! DO YOU WANT TO DIE?!” Jungwon yelled, as Sunghoon pulled him closer.
“HELL NO, I DON'T WANT TO DIE! BUT I’M NOT GOING TO LET YOU DIE JUST LIKE THAT, EITHER!” Sunghoon screamed back at him, feeling all his composure break.
“I’ve already lost my entire family - my parents, my sister, Jay, and almost lost those stupid kids, Sunoo and Riki. i can’t…. I can’t afford to lose another person in my life. If you want to die, go ahead and die somewhere im not present. I’ve had enough of watching people die in front of my eyes. If you want to die so badly, go ahead and die - but NOT in front of me.” he sobbed, letting out all the emotions he had suppressed this entire time.
Jungwon remained silent, his own mind whirring with memories, and also processing whatever Sunghoon said.
“You’ve lost 2 months of your lifespan.” Jungwon said, sounding sorrowful.
“It doesn’t matter anymore.” Sunghoon croaked. “I didn’t have much left anyways.
For a while, both were silent.