Angel of Sanctuary [Block B]

Chapter 6

•• Later ••

"What about this?"

"Poisonous..."

"This?"

"Indelible..."

"That?"

"That's a tent Kwangsu..."

He shrugged and retorted, "That doesn't mean that we can't eat it!" I rolled my eyes and he sighed with a small nod. "Right, it's made of nylon..."

"Well we need to find something to eat!" Jinyong whined. "I can't keep my fashion sense alive if I don't eat!"

"You're going to the military, you don't need a fashion sense," I pointed out, continuing my hike in the freezing cold. "Oh, we can eat these!" I exclaimed, pulling some herbs out of the ground. "Let's just go catch more fish."

Kwangsu crossed his arms and popped his hip out. "You're the only one that's good at fishing Rin."

"So?" I demanded a bit too harshly.

"I can't eat food that I haven't worked for..." he whispered.

"I'm going to catch something..." I grumbled, snatching my herbs out of the ground and stomping off into the woods. "Have fun starving tonight Kwangsu!"

"I will!" he retorted.

Daejung looked up at me curiously as I stormed over to him and handed him the things that I had found on my hike. "Something wrong Rin?" he asked me innocently. I shot him a glare as I grabbed my fishing pole and plopped down cross-legged on the huge rock by the river. The rock had absorbed lots of sunlight throughout the day and was warm and comforting as I caught fish after fish.

Jinyong and Kwangsu returned, arguing profusely and I rolled my eyes as their voices got steadily louder. After a certain point, the fish stopped biting and I turned and stared at them. "Would you both shut up? You're scaring all of the fish away!" I screamed at them angrily.

"Sorry Hyorin..." Jinyong grumbled, pushing the opening to his tent and going inside. Kwangsu went into his own tent and attempted to slam the nylon entrance shut. Finally, he jerkily zipped it shut and began muttering to himself inside.

"Those two are not going to survive the military together..." Daejung sighed, joining me and picking up the fish that I had caught from the river. "Do you want sushi?" he inquired with a gentle voice. "I brought rice, vegetables, and seaweed if you do."

"Sure," I replied with a sigh and a nod, standing and following him to the fire. "Hey Dae, if those two don't survive the army... Will you come back to me at least?" My voice cracked as I asked him this and he looked up at me with surprise.

He nodded and confirmed, "I will. That's a promise. I think we might be going home earlier than planned." I laughed as he made crazy signs at Jinyong and Kwangsu's tents and then prodded the fire with a stick before shoving the stick in as well. The sun had almost completely disappeared from the sky. I rested my head on a log and stared at the darkness that swam above me.

"You know Dae, when I was little, I used to think that the stars were the eyes of gods watching us?" He smiled softly and rested his head on the log as well. Gently interlacing his fingers, he placed his hands on his chest and sighed.

"I barely used to see stars because I was born and raised in the city... This is probably the first time that I've seen this many stars," he admitted. Jinyong and Kwangsu quietly unzipped the doors to their tents and crept out, stretching their hands out for the fresh sushi that Daejung had prepared. Without looking at them, Dae threatened, "You touch the sushi and I swear one of you will lose a finger."

To reinforce his threat, he held up his sushi knife twirled it in his fingers with a wicked grin. "Yes Sir..." they mumbled, their voices cracking slightly from terror.

"Hyorin eats first." I sat up at Dae's comment and then snatched some sushi from the plate before popping a piece in my mouth. "I can eat second." He took his own share of the sushi and the boys stared at him with puppy dog eyes.

I sighed as I looked at them and then gave them a nod. "Thanks Hyorin..." Kwangsu murmured, hanging his head to avoid my eyes as he chewed on his sushi. "I'm sorry... I really shouldn't have said what I said. I didn't mean it in the way that it sounded. I meant that I felt bad that you were catching all of the food for us and I felt bad that I wasn't able to help you."

"I understand... Try not to offend next time!" I laughed good-naturedly. "It doesn't suit you to offend people!" I tossed him a bag of marshmallows that he tore open and handed each of the boys a roasting stick. They impaled their marshmallows and then stuck them in the fire. Jinyong, the perfectionist, slowly rotated his until it was a perfect, gooey, golden brown.

Kwangsu burned his until it was black and peeled away the ash before dipping his graham cracker in the melted marshmallow left over. Daejung singed his slightly and then popped the whole thing in his mouth. I rubbed my eyes and yawned before crawling into my tent and falling asleep. Daejung put out the fire and retired to his tent with Jinyong. Kwangsu was snoring away in his tent and I buried my head in my pillow to block out the noise before falling asleep.

•• Angel ••

"Always keep an open mind?" I asked myself as I read through the book Hyorin had given me at a bovine pace. "What the heck does that even mean?"

"The number one thing to remember about the design world, is to always keep your head held high. No matter how many times your designs are rejected, keep a light heart and tweak designs before trying again."

I frowned and stared at the pages with confusion. Groaning, I then turned the page with a heavy heart and continued to make my way through the book while I supervised Hyorin on her camping trip. I was stretched out on a tree branch in one of the trees above their campsite. I know that I had promised her I would stay away...

I was her Guardian Angel for crying out loud! The entire purpose of my being deployed to her, was to protect her. I was not about to let her push me away after so little time. Whether we both knew it or not, we had to be together as long as I was deployed to her.

Did I leave that part out when I explained Angels' roles?

Right, well here's a fun fact. Humans and their Guardian Angels can't be miles apart for an extended period of time while the Angel is deployed. It drains energy from both of them and can cause death if prolonged. I had known some good Angels that had left too soon due to stubborn humans.

Likewise, I had known some good humans in my time on Earth with U-Kwon. Hyorin was the only human that I had met personally, but it was pretty much the same meeting them through my doppelgänger as it would have been meeting them personally. I yawned and tucked the book into my messenger bag. With a yawn, I floated into a standing position and stretched my arms over my head.

Being a deployed Angel was tiring... You didn't just sleep all day anymore, you actually went out and helped people. Well... You went out and helped a person, but close enough. Same difference.

I did a couple of somersaults in the air before returning to the branch and curling into a wedge in the branches with a satisfied smile. I slowly drifted to sleep, imagining a safe Hyorin sleeping soundly beneath me.