Soul Breaker {Kaisoo § Chanbaek}

Bonus

Heaven, postbattle

"You and I, we are worth more than orders, Chanyeol. We are worth more than anything. I thought... I thought you knew that."

"Why are you trying to do this? How can you be so selfish, to tempt me like this, make me give up all that I care about?"

"Give up what, Chanyeol?"

"Heaven."

"Heaven, Hell, what does it matter? Nothing matters but us. But you."

"Can you promise to love me unconditionally, forever?"

"I can't. I can't and I won't. It's the whole point, Chanyeol. Love is beautiful because it is unsure. It could faint, disappear. But you have to have enough trust to throw yourself into it, and be damned with the consequences."

"I could never do that. Baekhyun, I..."

"You have to choose. I cannot choose for you."

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Chanyeol lets his head bang against the marble pillar, again and again.

He keeps replaying the conversation in his head. He doesn't know how he got there exactly, how he became so unsure, so tempted.

He used to be such a pure soul, a beacon of hope and trust. He embodied everything that was good in the world.

But now... Now, he doesn't understand what he is.

His head, his head tells him that he knows what is right. And of course, he does. Light is the answer. Helping humans is just what he does. What he's always done. It is a noble and just cause. It is right.

His heart, however.

His heart remembers every little smile, every little touch, every little word. Every single dream.

And he's had so many. So many dreams. Of Baekhyun. Of...

He can't help but see it again, can't help but imagine the smaller under him.

Is he this kind of person now, this kind of man? Is flesh all that he really wants?

No. No, it's not. He wants his brother back by his side. He wants his smile when he talks to him. He wants every sweet nickname. He wants his attention and...

He wants his body.

Did it feel like this for Baekhyun when he fell? Was he confused like he is? Was he afraid?

Chanyeol feels the remorse creeping underneath it all, the guilt he's felt for longer than he can remember. It's his fault his brother fell. He didn't pay attention when he should have. He didn't prevent it from happening.

How very ironic the same thing should happen to him now.

Yixing is treating Yifan while Junmyeon stands beside them, eyes staring at the damage Jongin has inflicted upon his brother. There is no unnecessary movement, no words spoken for the sole purpose of comforting each other, no touches other than those strictly necessary.

It didn't use to be like this. It is now, however. Every second of every day a rigid cold, his brothers as obedient and determined as good little soldiers. They fitted well with the marble décor.

They were never a perfect family, but their decay never reached such heights before, their loss so deep. Jongin, for all his faults, has only been the instrument of a hatred and anger harbored by more than just the most famous of fallen angels. Feelings have always been all too human. Something they loathe in Heaven and yet cultivate in the hearts of men. They have failed their mission to keep those feelings at bay.