Strike A Match ✓

PROLOGUE

An ember coloured hue paints the horizon, contrasting the bright clouds and shines upon magnificent pearly white wings as they steady down, waving past the owner's side two times before the individual steps foot on the lookalike of the tastiest, softest cotton candy.

Gushes of wind caused by his strong organ of flight managed to send some of the silky floss to float away from him in smaller amounts, causing a smile to break out on his lips.

"Ah, just the guy I was searching for!"

The sound of a familiar voice makes his head turn around, his pure, shimmering halo always above the middle of his head as an even bigger grin takes over his mouth.

"Seokjin, hi! I just got back from duty, you were looking for me?" He retorts, walking towards the other man with his giant wings heavy on his back as his natural form always appears the moment he's back home.

"Taehyung, I have good news for you! Follow me, you're going to like this, trust me." The elder winks, grabbing the aforementioned by his wrist and pulling him with him. His own wings flutter every now and then, showing how excited he is.

The younger softly giggles, picking up on it.

It doesn't take long before he finds himself in a hall he has long familiarised himself with. His snowy eyes grow wide noticing they are nearing a royal board with dozens of names.

"You ranked up! You get to perform more duties now, such as─"

"─oh come on, not fair! I just made one silly little mistake, why did I move down the ranking?"

A whiny voice suddenly chimes in from behind them, causing both of the other two males present to laugh.

"Jiminie, you know you can't make mistakes here, no matter how small or irrelevant they are. I'm sure you'll get your rank back once he sees how hard you're trying!" Taehyung assures his dear friend, watching as he softly sighs out and nods.

"You're right. Wait, did Seokjin say you ranked up? Holy frickity frack! Again?! You're able to go on call with Namjoon now!" The blonde's mouth gapes in astonishment.

With his chest full of pride, Taehyung hums, smiling from ear to ear. His silky white locks dangle in front of his eyes for a brief moment when he nods happily.

"I heard my name?" A fourth voice joins the conversation and the three men in front of the board turn around, giving the male before them a short bow of respect.

"Yes! Our little Taehyungie here is doing such a great job that he moved up a rank! He's allowed to join you on your duties now." Seokjin states, patting the boy next to him on his shoulder.

"Is that so?" Namjoon winks at him, causing Taehyung to cower and a pink tint to spread on his cheeks.

"I did, Namjoon-hyung. So, if you ever need any help, just ask me. I'll be more than happy and proud to lend you a hand." The boy says, playing with one of his feathers that had fallen from his wings.

"That's amazing news, Taehyung! I'm so proud of you. I bet the rest of your friends are, too. Now that you mention it, I am supposed to retrieve two lost and misplaced souls tomorrow morning. I'm short an angel, would you mind?" The tallest male asks.

The youngest glances up immediately with big eyes, mouth running dry and hands ever so slightly starting to sweat. It seems as if both of his friends next to him have abruptly lost their ability to speak along with him.

His heart starts to pick up its pace in its confinements,

"R─retrieving duty? T─that means we'll be going to Hell.." He stammers, gulping.

"Only for a short amount of time, yes! Due to obvious reasons the good news is we aren't staying there." The man chuckles, waiting for a proper answer.

Taehyung swallows dryly, trying to push down his nerve-eating anxiety wanting to come across as brave.

"Y─yes, of course I'll help you! Whatever you need."

"Very well then, I'll be waiting for you tomorrow morning 6 AM sharp at the gate. I'll take my leave now. Thank you, Taehyung."

As said, the male turns on his heels and disappears out of the hall seconds later.

It's silent for a full minute before the highest voice next to him shrieks out,

"You're going to Hell, Taehyung! Oh my goodness gracious, what if you don't make it out alive with those─ those, awful beings?!" The blonde yelps.

"He'll be fine, Jimin. It's his first time, yes, but don't forget the rules! No one may harm him, no one can." Seokjin assures the shortest male.

The boy in the middle hums, voice cracking.

"Yes! I'll be fine. No one can harm me or come near me. There are a few higher-ranked angels like me who have done this countless of times before and they made it out just great!" He tries to reassure himself.

"Exactly. Nothing will happen, I promise you that. And if you really aren't up for it just yet, you can always say you need some more time, Taehyung-ah." The eldest adds to his earlier words.

"No, no I'm ready! Also, Namjoon-hyung asked for my help specifically. I mustn't let him down, I already agreed to it. I'll do it," The innocent angel smiled softly.

"I'm going to mentally prepare myself for tomorrow and get some rest. I'll see you guys after duty to update you on how it went."

His friends hum in agreement, watching as the boy exits the hall and disappears around the corner. They take one look at each other and sigh, shrugging, looking back at the board.

"Whatever is meant to happen will happen. Nothing happens without a reason so I'm sure he already knows Taehyung will perform his task excellently as always, otherwise he wouldn't have ranked up." The silver haired elder states in determination.

"Yeah, you're right. Can't help but feel a little jealous, though─" Jimin tries.

"Oh, shut up!" He gets a soft push to his left shoulder, laughter filling his eardrums and a smile erupting on his own face.