Shadow | Huang Renjun

19

The two Demons and Nightmare have been utterly miserable all day.
Donghyuck cheered up slightly after the hug, but he continued to avoid Miyeon's gaze when she and Renjun came back to the table.

Not sure what happened, Eunah tried her best not to antagonise anyone and just be as nice as possible.

She's currently in the library, headphones on and a murder-mystery book open on the table in front. So absorbed in the story, she doesn't notice an unfamiliar woman pulling out a chair opposite.

The woman ties her long, blonde hair into a low ponytail, pulling a massive folder out of her bag. She grabs a pencil case and a full notebook, sliding sheets of plain paper out of the back of the folder for writing neat revision notes.

Faint pop music comes from both her and Eunah's headphones, coincidentally the same song.

A little while into revising, the woman finds her pink highlighter has run out of ink. She sighs, trying to shake more out of it before giving up.
Taking her headphones down to her neck, she reluctantly reaches forward to tap Eunah's arm.

Eunah looks up, also taking her headphones down with a curious look.

"Do you have a pink highlighter I can borrow? Mine just ran out."

"Yeah, of course."

She digs into her bag, pulling out six pink highlighters.
"Take your pick. I have plenty, so you can keep it."

"Thank you so much. I'm Heesun, by the way."

"Eunah. Nice to meet you."

Heesun smiles, continuing to highlight important terminology in her psychology revision.
"You're an Angel, right?"

Nodding, Eunah pauses her music to listen better.

"My best friend's half-siren. You played dodgeball with her at some point, I think."

"Oh, you mean the pretty one with pink hair? Not that you aren't also very pretty."

"Yeah, that's her."
Heesun chuckles, it not having even occurred to her that Eunah accidentally implied she wasn't pretty.

"She helped us win the game, I've got to thank her for that."

"I'm sure she's probably forgotten by now."

The two chat for a little longer, asking about their chosen courses and finding common interests in music.

Heesun is actually a Human, taking great interest in the psychological aspects of human-supernatural relations. She's currently preparing to write a thesis on the symbiosis between Angels and Humans, so is finding Eunah's input to be invaluable.

"Protecting Humans is only half the job, and–"
Eunah pauses, frowning in confusion when an exhausted-looking Renjun yanks out a chair to sit at the table and buries his head in his arms.
"Renjun? What's wrong?"

"Ignore me. I'll be fine," he mumbles.

"Do you need blood?"
Heesun offers her arm, at which point he shakes his head.

"You wouldn't have any left. I'm not allowed to drain people here, anyway."

Sharing a glance, the women raise their brows before continuing the previous conversation.
Eunah explains the role of an Angel, fully aware that Renjun is silently listening in.

"Guardian Angels have to go through rigorous training for a year before they're assigned a case."

She has a sip of water.

"Generally speaking, Angels are to protect Humans if needed at the time, but a Guardian Angel is usually assigned to a specific human who has gone through significant hardships. Each country has its own set of Guardians, so the work can be split properly."

Fascinated, Heesun writes all this down in a new notebook labelled 'First-Hand Information'.

"What about Archangels?" she queries, eyes sparkling.

"Archangels are usually the sons or daughters descending directly from God. Currently, we only have one descendant who's still working with us directly. There are others working in different sectors, but it's really complex and I don't know much about it.
To become an Archangel outside of family ties though, it's an incredibly difficult process that very few have managed to do."

Humming, Heesun nods and jots that down.

"Their main job is to protect Heaven from outside threats. Think of them as kind of like an intelligence service. They find as much information about threats as possible and work with the Divine Guard to eliminate them.
They're also the ones who welcome and guide newcomers, whether that's new souls or new Angels.
We have schools and teachers, but they're usually just regular Angels who qualified for the job. You don't need to be a specific type of Angel to work as a teacher."

Heesun highlights some important words and phrases before turning the page.

"Is it like a hierarchy or something?"

"I suppose," Eunah hums, shrugging.
"We all answer to God, but Archangels have more status. Then the Divine Guard, then Guardians, then Angels."

"Aren't there other Gods?"

Eunah nods.
"Gods, Goddesses, every religion and mythology you can think of, exists. They have their own domains though, and tend to only answer those who believe in them.
For Atheists, it depends on the most believed-in religion for each country as to who they get to protect them."

"I see... that's pretty cool."

Having got plenty of notes for now, Heesun thanks Eunah with a smile and closes her book. By this point, Renjun has fallen asleep and is muttering to himself incoherently.

Heesun gets a text from her friend and states that she has to go. She bids Eunah goodbye, promising to come to the library again soon.

Once the blonde is out of sight, Eunah turns her attention to Renjun. For him to fall asleep next to her, he must be incredibly tired.

She takes off her white cardigan with a cherry blossom pattern, gently laying it over him. Putting her headphones back on, she resumes her book with pop music blocking out the world.