Chapter 14
Book Chapter 7
“You’ve gotten much better, Yuri.”
“Ah…”
“You don’t doze off, and you concentrate well.”
“…Yes.”
Yuri, who had been tidying his books, looked at the archangel standing before him and nodded with an embarrassed smile. “I won’t do it anymore.” The moment he answered proudly at the long-awaited praise, the archangel patted Yuri’s head with a generous smile.
“Still, I’m not shortening your confinement. Work hard until the very last day.”
The touch was gentle, but the words were firm. Yuri smiled brightly as if it didn’t matter at all and answered, “Yes.” At the answer, which came out forcefully with no trace of disappointment, the archangel looked down at Yuri with a slightly puzzled expression. But Yuri only packed up his books and pen, humming a song.
It’s fine even if I can’t go down. When the sun sets and the moon rises, Ian will come. Thinking of his demon, dressed in white just like an angel, Yuri tried hard to press down his fluttering, excited heart.
“I’m going now, Archangel-nim.” He bowed and jumped to his feet. Every step Yuri took as he hurried out of the temple brimmed with excitement.
Only ten days remained until the confinement was lifted, and in the meantime the demon had visited Yuri’s house twice, knocking on the door and waiting, or quietly sitting by the window with his footsteps hushed.
The small house, with nothing to see and nothing to do, felt all the more peaceful just for having one more person in it. They sat on the clouds together and listened to music, and drank the fizzy drink they’d had when they first met. This time, without fumbling, Yuri opened a can in one try and held it out to the demon with a proud smile.
“Ha…”
The moment he got home, Yuri flopped onto his bed and curled his body up, breathing in the demon’s scent left on the sheets. Even when he bit his lip hard, a silly smile kept slipping out. The thought that the demon, who had left so much of his scent behind in just two visits, would come again in only a few hours made his mood float so high it gave him shivers.
Ah, this is so good… His head was filled with the demon without the tiniest gap. Smiling dazedly, Yuri rolled around, even kicking his feet, then pulled the blanket over his head again.
Somewhere, a pleasant scent drifted. A black, fluffy blanket wrapped Yuri’s body snugly. In a sky mixed with pink and purple, stars like grains of salt sparkled.
Humming a song while plucking at the soft grass with his fingers, Yuri blinked in puzzlement at the feeling of something squeezing his body. The waist held just right felt less stifling than soft and steady.
What is it? He thought about it for a bit, but either way it felt good, so he just smiled and closed his eyes. He lifted the corners of his mouth, feeling a peace like sinking into water of exactly the right temperature.
“…”
Sleep still heavy in the corners of his eyes, Yuri pushed his eyelids open. He felt as if he’d dreamed something pretty. Blinking his dazed eyes slowly, he glanced at the soft touch on his waist and groggily raised his head.
“…You’re awake?”
A low, quiet voice settled against Yuri’s ear. A touch, gentle as if handling something precious, brushed his still-drowsy eyes.
Yuri, who had been on the border between dream and reality, blinked a few more times and then smiled, clear as if melting. He leaned back against the demon’s arm beneath his head and burrowed deep into his embrace.
The demon wrapped his arms around the back of Yuri, who was burrowing into him, and cradled his head. His fingertips stroking through Yuri’s hair were unbearably gentle.
“When did you come?”
“Just now.”
“You should have woken me.”
“I just kissed you in secret and held you, since you were sleeping so soundly.” A subtle smile threaded through his light words. Yuri, pulling the demon closer, also smiled faintly and slowly lifted his head. “You don’t have to do it in secret…” Still drowsy, Yuri mumbled, then smiled as if embarrassed.
Looking at Yuri’s clear face, the demon paused for a moment, gazing at him as if he were unbearably cute.
“You can just do it?”
“Yeah, you can just do it.”
“Not ‘you.’ Say only I can.”
“Hm? Yuri, only I can, right?” Yuri, his eyes squeezed shut in a smile, slowly reached out and cupped the demon’s cheek preciously. “Only you can. You know that, so why ask…”
It was a slightly sulky whisper, but the smile never left his lips.
The demon smiled as if he’d known the answer all along. He pulled Yuri’s hand from his cheek, kissed it, and leaned in.
“Open your mouth, Yuri.”
The demon wrapped Yuri’s hand around his own shoulder. Yuri, led by the gentle touch, draped his arm over the demon’s shoulder and pulled him close. He slowly swallowed the soft breath winding around his tongue.
***
Ian looked around leisurely from atop a white cloud that seemed to float alone in the sky. The angel’s house had been quiet, like that one thing alone in the night sky, but this place his angel had brought him to with a bright smile truly had no sound at all. All there was were sparkling stars and soft moonlight.
“I know a lot of places in Heaven too. I don’t know the human world well, but you know it well…”
Listening to the words that began proudly and trailed off into a mumble, Ian felt as if his mind were melting.
Since he’d taken the angel all over the human world, the angel must have wanted to take him somewhere in Heaven, at least. Ah, even the thought was cute.
Ian swallowed an itchy breath and turned his head. The angel, now fully awake, was peering into and rummaging through the bag Ian had brought.
After fumbling for a while, the angel pulled out a piece of candy. Watching the angel peel off the crinkly wrapper, Ian lifted the corners of his mouth in a deep smile. He poked one cheek, puffed out with candy, and asked quietly, “So why did you fall asleep so early today? Were you tired?”
“No, not that… I fell asleep without realizing it while smelling your scent in the bed. It felt like I was being held by you… Even in my dream?”
Candy-sweet breath wafted from the angel smiling innocently. Ah, how can he say things like that so casually? It should be familiar by now, but still, every so often, it felt like something gripped his heart tight. Ian gazed at the angel’s mouth, where the candy rolled around, and then just quietly smiled.
“Well, since you slept soundly from the daytime, you’ll be able to keep your eyes open late, right?”
“Yeah… But you have to leave later.”
“Today I’ll put you to sleep and then go.”
He’d have no choice but to go down when the last gate opened. The angel, listening to Ian’s light, calm voice, smiled happily at the words about being put to sleep, then opened his eyes wide again. Then, as if something had come to mind, he met Ian’s gaze hesitantly. His expression had grown a little serious, but his cheek was round and puffed with candy, so Ian felt like laughing. Managing his expression with effort, he asked, “What’s wrong?”
“Um… Angels get scolded really badly if they don’t do their duties properly, but demons don’t?”
“Well? I’ve never heard of a demon getting scolded for that.”
“Really?”
“It’s not the duty itself that’s the problem, it’s that things get big if the balance breaks, so demons actually don’t have much to do.”
The angel, looking as if Ian’s vague answer was hard to understand right away, stopped blankly and thought for a long time. Ian stroked the angel’s head gently.
“The demons in the zone we’re in are relatively laid-back. If anyone’s busy, it’s the angels. People’s hearts have grown harder and darker than before. If only bright energy hung around all the time, the demons would be busy balancing the dark energy, but that’s not how it is these days. This zone even more so.”
“…Yeah.”
“That’s probably why the demons living here are especially more idle than anywhere else.”
“…”
“Well, I’m glad, since it means I can be with you.”
At the words, spoken at last with a smile, a sweet feeling rippled. The angel, sensing it too, nodded with a slightly flushed face.
“Oh, right. There’s a reason I brought you here.”
The angel, who had been leaning on Ian’s shoulder enjoying the breeze, suddenly sat up straight, his eyes sparkling. His bright face was full of excitement. “What is it?” Ian asked, swallowing a light laugh.
“When I couldn’t even go down to the human world yet, I got scolded by the Archangel-nim and was just wandering around, and I found this place.”
“Yeah.”
“It was quiet and no one was here, so I was crying alone, and then suddenly from below, something went pop, pop. So I peeked down…”
“Yeah, and then?”
“Fireworks burst big like flowers and sparkled. I watched them for a long time, and my tears stopped and only my heart pounded. They were so, so pretty. They say it’s fireworks they do in the human world.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah, have you ever seen them?”
Looking at the angel’s excited face and the cautious eyes that didn’t suit it, Ian quietly lifted his lips. He himself had been wandering the human world long before this angel even became an adult. Granted, once angels and demons become adults, age loses its meaning, but he had definitely experienced far more. Even when the still-young angel came all the way to this cloud, where the human world could be seen, and gazed down with fantasies, Ian had already been spending time somewhere in the human world.
Ian recalled the fireworks he’d once happened to see while enjoying the breeze from a tall building. The loud noise had been a bit annoying because he couldn’t hear the music, but the countless colorful lights bursting and falling in the night sky had felt quite beautiful to Ian too. He’d thought he’d like to see them again someday, and afterward, whenever there were fireworks, he’d stopped what he was doing and watched them.
But still, since my angel is looking forward to this so much…
“No, I only know of them. I’ve never actually seen them.”
At Ian’s slow answer, the angel smiled brightly, exactly as expected. His sparkling eyes drew a little closer to Ian as he whispered, “I’ve seen them twice. They’re going to do it again soon, and, um… at that time…”
“Yeah, at that time?”
“At that time… I want to watch them with you, Ian.”
“Here?”
“Yeah, could you come…?”
Ah, my angel must think that since he’s confined, I have no choice but to come up here. Seeing him ask in such an ill-fittingly cautious voice.
Ian slowly looked around the quiet night sky, then lowered his gaze back to the angel. The face waiting for an answer, lips fidgeting, was cute. “Yuri, when I’m with you, wherever we watch and whatever we watch, how could it not be beautiful?” Ian curved his dark eyes and nodded.
“Okay, I will.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
Yuri beamed and hugged Ian’s waist tight. Ian steadied his pushed-back body and stroked the angel’s back. When he’s happy he snuggles in, when he’s displeased he sticks his lips out in a pout… When such an honest angel smiles brightly, Ian felt as if even his own mind brightened.
“Sing me a song, Ian.”
Look at that, how honest. He had no idea why the thought of a song had suddenly come up, but he couldn’t refuse his angel’s request. Ian pulled the angel, who was urging him, close by the waist and whispered in a suggestive voice, “Kiss me, and I’ll sing for you.”
The clear face froze blankly for a moment. The angel soon bit his candy-sweet lips hard. Rolling his flustered gaze here and there and mumbling, he muttered with an unsure expression, “Me, first…?”
“Yeah, you first.”
“I’m not good at it…”
“…”
“It’s okay.”
“Still…”
Ian laughed languidly, listening to the sound of the candy rolling in the angel’s mouth.
“Think of it as melting the candy in my mouth.”
The angel suddenly stopped his tongue, which had been busily rolling the candy, and blinked with a flushed face. Ian smiled quietly, as if he had no intention of yielding, and watched that face. The angel, who had stopped blankly for a while, swallowed hard and whispered, “Until the candy all melts…?”
…Ah, really. He says such dangerous things all by himself with such an innocent face that knows nothing. Ian barely swallowed the laughter bursting out and nodded. “Yeah, until it all melts.” His voice was full of the laughter he’d barely held back.
“It’ll take a long time.”
“Then bite it.”
“No. What if you get hurt?”
The angel, who had been mumbling, finally made up his mind and approached cautiously, and Ian, his eyes half-lowered, parted his lips slightly. The hesitantly pressing warmth was hot. Between the clumsily moving tongue, the candy rolled around and around. A sweet scent lingered at the tip of his nose.
Ah, I don’t know if the candy is sweet or my angel is sweet.
Ian, smiling with their lips still joined, patted the angel, whose breath was growing labored, to soothe him, and closed his eyes.
In the end, the angel, gasping for breath, went limp, and the candy passed into Ian’s mouth. Patting the angel’s cheek, colored with disappointment, Ian soon sang a slow song in a quiet, calm voice. The angel, his head pillowed on Ian’s lap, quickly erased his sulky expression and smiled as if melting away. To the song that seemed to melt a corner of his heart along with it, he slowly closed his eyes.
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