A Rose-Colored Dream; Soonhoon

08

A/N: AHHHH THE WAY I DIED ON THIS FIC I'M SO SORRY

i needed a big ol' break from this because i just ,, was not feeling it. i just felt like this wasn't turning out good and my writing was getting worse and it was really hard to write under that mindset. but !! with a little bit of support and encouragement (cough i love u ava cough) i got around to finishing it ! it's a bit shorter i admit, and it might not be the most perfect ending, but it's what i needed to feel comfortable enough to move on to writing something new :)

if you've stuck through with this fic & my inconsistent updates then thank you !! all the lovely comments and kudos mean the world to me <3

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IT'S UNFORTUNATE THAT this has to happen in his sleep. Soonyoung has a vague, dreamy memory of feeling warm and content, blissfully unconscious - and then, suddenly, he's gasping awake. He blinks, eyes darting around frantically when he realizes the room he's in is entirely unfamiliar to him, and scrambles to his feet. It's cold, the floor is marble and the walls so white they almost blend together, so Soonyoung feels like he's not even in a room, but floating out in an empty space. He knows, after taking a second to catch his breath, he isn't really awake. Lucid dreaming, but for angels. It's real, but happening somewhere else, in a deep recess of his mind while he sleeps soundly on Earth.

And he knows. He knows what he's here for.

Honestly, he's never thought of actually going to see the Council. In his mind, it's a group of five or six old men sitting at a long table somewhere in the clouds, hooded and bitter-looking, but he's never seen them in the flesh. Most of his contact with them comes in the form of paper notices in his mailbox and Jeonghan's reports.

Which, speaking of Jeonghan, there he is.

"Jesus Christ," Soonyoung gasps again, hand clutching at his chest. "What the hell is going on?"

"Sorry, this was the best time to do it."

"You could've warned me! I'm not ready for this."

Jeonghan looks uncomfortable, avoiding Soonyoung's stare in favor of the floor. He says, "I don't really know how this is going to go. You know, nothing like this has ever happened before."

"Great. I hope they write about me in the newspaper, let all the other angels know."

"Soonyoung." Jeonghan looks up at him, then, seriously. "I'm trying really hard to make this work for you, but you're going to have to talk to them yourself. Don't make a dumb joke and screw it up for yourself."

"Why do I have to talk to them? Don't they trust you? Jeonghan, you know these guys, you know how to handle them. I-I've never even seen them before."

"Just be respectful and be sincere ... I think that's the best you can do."

It hits Soonyoung like a bright, hot flash of light; this is it, this is him about to make his case. And it could go wrong.

It's almost as if Jeonghan reads his mind. He says, "If this doesn't work out, you'll still have us."

"I thought I was fired?" Jeonghan cracks a small smile.

"Well, that's one thing ... I mean, what the Council did was illegal, pretty much. Corrupt. They agreed to make it up to you by letting you keep your job. If nothing else. At least, that's what they told me," he adds.