IF I WERE THE DEVIL ; YANG JUNGWON

CARD XXIV: Take the chance.

Unable to form a proper sentence, she remained silent, just letting it sink in. After a while, only one question was able to form in her mind, and that was the question she had every time she thought about Jake and the knowledge he possessed. "Seriously, what are you to know all this?"

"The creator."

She tilted her head and stared at him with a blank expression. "'The creator' as in 'the creator of the archangels?'" She wasn't sure what point of credibility they'd reached by now.

"Yes, exactly that one." Assuring his honesty, he nodded.

Her eyes widened at the realization he was being serious. Her hand immediately covered her mouth in shock. "Wow-, I-, You-, Woah."

She ran a hand through her hair as she suddenly remembered the way she had been talking to him up to that point. "Holy flying shit." Not only had she been disrespectful to him the whole time, but she had been seriously sarcastic about what his words.

She stared at him with the thought that it was already too late to do anything about her attitude to him anyway.

"But how is it that you don't work with the archangels?" She could see him tensing, but he tried not to let it show, continuing to force himself to smile.

She gulped to muster up enough courage to continue. "You are the most powerful of all, aren't you? So why do I have to kill the devil when you can do it with the snap of your fingers?"

Jake glanced at her and deeply sighed. "Miss Angel, it's not that simple," he started, frustratedly running his hand through his brown hair, eventually making a mess.

"Moreover, I have told you that there is a way for you other than to kill the one who, in your opinion, is the devil." He narrowed his eyes at her sternly, wondering if she had even once done what he had told her to do.

Eyun crossed her arms over her chest. "But you can't tell me, can you?" Her head snapped to his side, glaring.

He broke eye contact, somewhat embarrassed at the reminder of who he was. In spite of all his wishes, he couldn't do it. He was too scared of the consequences, of an outcome way worse than the one he already knew. Deep down, Jake was aware that he couldn't be freed from his limitation, ever.

"I'm not supposed to," he admitted, dropping his head into his hands as they clenched his hair in a fist. He let out a deep breath. He was the biggest disappointment here. "No for now."

Frustrated with the boy, she closed her eyes. "Just why?" Her head hung low. "You're making this unnecessarily complicated. I hope you know that," she muttered under her breath.

"Because I am not part of this knot of fate." He looked up from his lap and locked his eyes with hers. "I can't interfere the way I want to, it's not my place and out of my reach, Miss Angel."

He gave her a comforting, puppy-like smile. "The most that I can do is to help you, or at least to try to help you to make the right decision."

His smile slowly dissolved. "As I said from the beginning I am merely someone who can watch from the sideline. With whatever advantage or disadvantages that brings." He shrugged with a deep sigh following.

The angel's lips formed a thin line. "Even by knowing all this, it doesn't change anything for me." She lifted her half-empty milkshake, eyes darted on the sweet pink liquid inside. "Everything stays the same with sugar rush and without it."