Archive of Our Own

in a dim bedroom in a small little house that stands in the middle of nowhere, an angel opens his eyes. there’s nothing in particular on his ceiling, nothing of note, and yet he stares up at it as though he’s seeing it for the first time.

he sighs.

next to him, the absence of heat is glaring. where there should be a warm, slumbering body, he finds only stillness and cold. an empty spot where his demon should be. he knows it’s only temporary and it doesn’t come as a surprise to him, but it does nothing to lessen the disappointment he feels.

without taehyung, the bed feels infinitely colder to seokjin. he’s used to waking up to anywhere between one to four limbs wrapped snugly around him, to the softest little snores, followed by disgruntled whines when seokjin attempts to remove taehyung’s sticky limbs. he’s used to the most comfortable warmth next to him, like his personal, portable heater.

seokjin’s used to turning onto his side and seeing taehyung pretty face. he’s used to seeing his slack mouth and his mop of curls. he’s used to combing his fingers through it when he feels like it, used to tracing the gentle slope of his nose and resting his finger right on the tip of it.

with another sigh, he turns onto his side and pouts at the empty pillow next to him. he rests his hand on it, feels how cold the soft fabric is under his fingertips.

sleeping in the same bed is a fixture now. they’ve lived together for ages and have been together for a little bit more than that. even before getting together, they’d share a bed sometimes.

he’s always liked it. the intimacy of it, even when they weren’t intimate with each other yet and couldn’t fathom ever wanting that between them.

seokjin still remembers the very first time. he knows he lived in the kingdom of silla at the time, but he forgets what year it was. not that the year matters all that much. to humans, years are important, but to an angel like himself they tend to bleed over into one another too much. he distinguishes time periods by what he did in them, whether he liked them or if something of note happened in them.

he remembers a war happening around that time, but that’s not what stands out to him from that period. it’s taehyung he remembers. it’s their first time sharing a bed that he remembers. that’s how he identifies that time.

it was late at night. he remembers not having eaten yet, but that he was about to. he remembers a terrible storm outside of his humble abode that made every living being hunker down to wait it out wherever possible.

he remembers loud knocking on his front door, just as lightning struck. like something out of a horror movie.

“a week without your powers. reflect on your actions while you live like a lowly human. leave.”

taehyung crawls out of hell with a scowl etched deeply into his face. it’s already raining when he makes it back to the surface, but the floodgates open as soon as he straightens. a last fuck-you from hell. or maybe bad luck.

his home is far away. he’d flown here in record time, but he knows walking is going to take a few days. he’s sort of stranded in pouring rain, which means he’s very fucked. his superiors had done this on purpose, he guesses. spiteful assholes.

taehyung’s instinct, as it always has done, leads him straight to seokjin as the easiest and possibly only solution out of this mess. life on earth may be messy and tumultuous, but he knows there’s one constant that’ll never let him down.

the angel.

his archnemesis. his counterpart. seokjin. sometimes hyung.

somehow, seokjin is always there for him. he’s close enough that it’ll only take about an hour of walking through this horrid weather. he can’t think of a better alternative than that.

he walks. and he walks. and he walks. his shoes are soaked, toes cold and feet aching. his hair is wet and dripping rain into his eyes and even into his mouth.

his fine silks are beyond ruined. they’re drenched and muddy, and he may as well burn them as soon as he makes it home.

by the time he makes it to seokjin’s small little home and sees soft light inside, taehyung nearly cries. he stumbles into the yard, stomping straight through a giant puddle and growling childishly at it. when he knocks, the skies light up. thunder strikes somewhere behind him. it’s loud enough for him to wince.

“hello, angel,” he grumbles, as soon as the door swings open.

seokjin blinks slowly, dumbly. taehyung wants to yell at him for no reason, but he also wants to weep. never before has he seen a more welcome face. he’s desperate enough that he wants to kiss it.

“demon,” seokjin says. “you look like a drowned rat.”

“yes, thank you,” taehyung says stiffly. “let me in. i am suffering.”

“say please.”

taehyung narrows his eyes.

seokjin narrows his own.

that word... that one word. it brings excruciating pain to taehyung’s chest, but he knows he has no choice. the overhang he’s standing under does nothing to keep him dry since the rain is coming in almost vertically due to the wind. on top of that, he’s frozen to the bone. perhaps, if only his angel bears witness to this, it’ll be okay. “p…”

seokjin’s brows rise in anticipation.

“p-please…” taehyung whispers. his chest burns with rage, but he needs to keep it all neatly tucked away if he wants to stay somewhere warm and dry. “let me in.”

seokjin beams. he steps back and opens the door wider. before taehyung can step inside, however, he holds up his hand quickly. “wait! just a moment.”

taehyung balls his hands to fists, feels himself beginning to stew. he presses his lips into a thin line. his nostrils flare. if he had his normal powers at his disposal, he would have let seokjin’s entire home go up in flames.

before taehyung completely drowns, seokjin shows up again. he puts down some rags right inside and grasps onto taehyung’s wrist to pull him inside.

taehyung heaves a sigh of relief as the door closes behind him. the loud thundering and rain is quieted down just slightly. safety. 

with his hands planted in his sides and his head cocked, seokjin asks him why he’s here, what he’s doing, why he’s so wet.

“they took my powers,” taehyung grumbles. having to explain feels like a slight, but he knows he should consider himself lucky to even be let inside; it’s better not to piss the angel off. who knows what angelic rage he’ll rain down upon taehyung?

seokjin throws his head back as he laughs.

perhaps he’ll brave the wet and the cold, after all. taehyung begins turning around, reaching for the door to leave again. it’s true that his dignity has taken a beating, but that doesn’t mean he’s going to let this offense slide.

“no, no,” seokjin says. he reaches for taehyung’s wet shoulder and holds him back. gently, he turns him around again and smiles. with little more than a blink, he manages to get taehyung dry almost completely, except for— “hm, your curls are very stubborn, demon. they’re holding onto all the moisture.”

taehyung’s eyes widen when seokjin’s delicate fingers slip inside. he watches with bated breath as seokjin smiles to himself while ruffling taehyung’s unruly hair. if this goes on for any longer, he fears his cheek will start to heat and redden. how utterly embarrassing.

“your natural hair is out… as well as your horns, and your claws…”

taehyung looks down at his fingers, the way they taper off into black, sharp claws that could cut through the thickest materials. subtly, he hides them behind his back. he’s not ashamed of them normally, but the stark contrast of his almost brutish claws compared to seokjin’s delicate, dainty fingers is a little too much to bear right now.

if seokjin’s powers were taken from him and he were stuck in his full or half angelic form, unable to hold onto his human vessel, he’d still look breathtaking. taehyung, on the other hand… his demon form isn’t what one would consider beautiful. not by a long shot.

“but you’re not in full demon form. how come?” seokjin cocks his head.

“they thought it best i didn’t scare off everyone i ran into,” taehyung answers. he purses his lips and sighs softly. “i’ve already made them believe in witchcraft once… don’t want a repeat.”

seokjin hums. absentmindedly, he tangles his fingers in taehyung’s curls, until he bumps them into the base of one of taehyung’s horns. he trails a finger up, following the elegant curl of his horn.

taehyung blushes the higher up seokjin’s finger goes. he looks down at his feet. “i don’t have a pretty, shiny halo like you do, angel. i hope that’s no bother.”

“not at all,” seokjin murmurs. “i like your horns. their colour is striking, and i like how they curve up.” he follows one of them up, all the way to the very tip. “i think they’re beautiful. elegant.”

taehyung blinks quickly. he glances up just in time to catch seokjin looking at him, smiling at him. blushing furiously, taehyung, looks back down at his feet.

“how about some food?” seokjin suggests. he pulls his hand away and lets it dangle at his side again. when he smiles, his eyes crinkle in the most friendly way. “as one, a feast isn’t quite appropriate, but two is a good number for a feast, don’t you think? i was just about to eat, so you’ve come at the right time.”

they eat in comfortable silence, the way they have before. they eat their bellies full. taehyung especially. he hasn’t felt this hungry in a while.

“why were you punished?” seokjin inquires, after putting down his chopsticks.

taehyung looks up at seokjin from underneath his lashes. he shoves another bite into his mouth to give himself some time to think. “ravagingly handsome,” he mumbles eventually. “they couldn’t stand it.”

seokjin snorts. he softly shakes his head and watches with a pleased little smile while taehyung continues to stuff his face. only once he’s put his chopsticks down, does he speak again: “where do you plan on going now that you’re wingless? your place is awfully far from here.”

taehyung wastes no time in answering. obviously, he’s already thought of his answer. his grin grows to a disproportionate size, which already tells seokjin all he needs to know. putting on his best, his brightest puppy dog eyes, he plants his elbows on the table and deposits his chin in his palms. “why, won’t you offer me a corner in your beautiful, warm and comfortable home, most delighted angel?”

seokjin lifts a brow and stares at taehyung for a while, watching for a crack in his pleading look, but not finding anything. taehyung is much too stubborn.

“alright,” he concedes begrudgingly. with a lazy gesture, the table is cleaned off. he gets up and feels taehyung right on his heel, following him around as he gathers some extra bedding and sets it up in the corner opposite of the one he sleeps in. the room he sleeps in isn’t big, but it’s spacious enough for the both of them.

they don’t speak much as they get comfortable, although taehyung does set aside his dignity for a little longer to thank seokjin for the clean set of clothes to sleep in. they settle down slowly and quietly, bidding each other goodnight in soft and sleepy voices.

seokjin wakes to a rustling sound. it’s still raining outside, and lightning strikes at just the right moment to reveal a horned, clawed figure crawling over to him on all fours, dragging something behind it. taehyung. with his bedding.

why?

“what’re you doing?” seokjin slurs, as taehyung settles down right next to him. he rolls heavily onto his side and groans. “you’re so close… demon… what are you scheming now?”

“‘m cold,” taehyung mumbles. “i can’t keep myself warm. still feel cold…”

after some unintelligible grumbling, seokjin lifts a corner of his duvet and holds it up until taehyung gets the hint. once taehyung’s crept right under, dragging his own blanket with him, and burrowed right into seokjin, he lets the duvet fall back down.

“demon...” seokjin sighs, as limbs wrap around him, almost snakelike. he feels curls tickling right underneath his chin, a cold nose pressed into his neck. right in front of his face, miraculously not poking him in the eye, are taehyung’s horns.

“for heaven’s sake,” he mutters. “your horns, taehyung. your horns!”

“you said you liked them,” taehyung says, voice muffled. when he speaks, his lips brush over seokjin’s delicate neck. it makes him all but shiver. with a pleased little sigh, taehyung holds on tight and settles in comfortably.

seokjin lies still for a while, listening to the rain and thundering, to taehyung’s soft sighs and little snores. he stares at the dark outlines of taehyung’s horns, until his eyelids grow so heavy that they droop closed all on their own.

they fall asleep eventually.

throughout history, taehyung has often lost both his powers and his wings for varying amounts of time. as a demon, you’re supposed to rebel, as seokjin understands it, except… when it comes to hell. you’re not supposed to rebel against them.

taehyung either still hasn’t gotten that memo, or he simply doesn’t care. seokjin thinks it’s that last one. seokjin knows that taehyung is only selectively stupid.

still, he’s there when taehyung is power- and wingless. he’s there to lend his own powers and wings to him, to take him home and halfheartedly scold him.

mostly, seokjin just teases him for an entire day. the last time such a joyous occasion happened was only a few months ago.

“hyung, can you pick me up?” taehyung immediately asks, upon seokjin picking up his phone. “i have no wings and my horns and claws are out. don’t want to walk through seoul with them and scare off the humans again. would you come pick me up?”

“alright,” seokjin sighs. “the usual dump?”

before taehyung can finish humming, seokjin’s already there.

“stop showing off,” taehyung complains. “travel at a normal speed!”

seokjin raises a brow. “i’m sorry, would you like me to come back in a few hours?” he begins stepping back and turning around, spreading his wings and preparing to set off again.

“no!” taehyung quickly says. he rushes forward and hooks his fingers into the back of seokjin’s coat. “no. hyung, can we go home? i should’ve dressed warmly. i should’ve expected they’d take my powers again.”

“you’ve gotten overly confident,” seokjin agrees.

“confidence is key,” taehyung just says firmly. he shivers a little.

seokjin hums vaguely. he opens his arms to taehyung, waits for him to step in. they could have both taken a car, but why do that when you have such environmentally-friendly wings to your disposal?

“you know,” he begins pensively. “i don’t think you have to worry about scaring humans anymore. people these days, they see horns and think you’re dressing up. i think you could walk all the way home without incident.”

taehyung cocks his head a little. in thought, he purses his lips. he shakes his head eventually. “i don’t know, hyung, i think people sense that something’s off about me. hell’s stench doesn’t wash off easily.”

seokjin loops his arms around taehyung’s waist and holds on tightly. their feet lift off the ground. “i think you smell nice. your new body wash is very pleasant.”

“thanks.” taehyung beams at seokjin and kisses his cheek.

seokjin teases taehyung throughout the day, like he usually does, anyway, but he has a more legit reason now than he usually does.

still, he’s a fair angel, so he doesn’t take it too far. he pampers taehyung more than normal, because he knows how shitty it is to lose such an important part of yourself, even if only for a short while.

as such, taehyung is in a relatively good mood right up until the moment they’re about to go to bed.

“why are you pouting?” seokjin asks, as he watches taehyung linger by the foot of the bed and pout down at the mattress. he lowers himself onto it and regards taehyung curiously. “come to bed,” he says, patting taehyung’s side of the bed.

taehyung directs his pout toward his feet. he pulls his shoulders up and curls in on himself just a little. “i can’t…” he mumbles. “hyung… my horns,” he explains. “too tall. they’ll poke against the headboard.”

seokjin bites back an amused smile. “so scoot down.”

taehyung whines childishly. “i don’t want my feet to hang off the bed. i’ll have to sleep on the couch.” his pout grows in intensity.

with a little sigh, seokjin gets back up to shuffle around the bed and stand in front of taehyung. he takes taehyung’s face between his hands and kisses him right on the nose. “oh, you lovely dummy…” he presses their lips together and kisses him again. “we can just sleep upside down until you can hide them again. watch this...” he says, wiggling his eyebrows.

taehyung watches seokjin walk back to his side of the bed to grab both his own and taehyung’s pillow. he plops them down by the foot of the bed, and takes the duvet and turns it around as well to complete the switch.

“there!” seokjin grins. pleased with himself, he makes a grab for taehyung and gets both his arms around him. with an almost maniacal laugh, he tackles him to the bed and wrestles him beneath the sheets, until he’s satisfied with the level of cosiness he’s achieved.

they cuddle. taehyung kind of purrs, the way only demons can, and seokjin kisses him on the head, right in between his horns.

“you and your stupid horns,” he murmurs lovingly.

taehyung’s pout can be felt from miles away. seokjin’s heart skips a beat.

“i’m only joking,” seokjin reassures him. he pats one of taehyung’s horns and tells him that he loves taehyung’s pretty horns. he kisses one, and then the other and smothers him in a warm and tight hug. taehyung’s head fits under his chin and his horns are there again, right in his face, the way they often are.

sometimes, seokjin thinks he loves taehyung’s horns so much because he sees them when they hug. they’re all up in his face then, menacingly.

“you’re just saying that,” taehyung grumbles. he nips at seokjin’s collarbone.

seokjin laughs. “shut up,” he says. he kisses the top of taehyung’s head again and waits for him to wrestle out of the embrace so that they can kiss properly. they do exactly that until they doze off eventually.

taehyung’s horns nearly poke seokjin in the face a few times, but seokjin doesn’t mind. if he has to sacrifice some safety to hold onto his demon while he sleeps, then so be it.

in a dark and sleepy seoul, where everything is still, quiet, slumbering, a great rumbling starts. the ground shakes. the trees in close proximity shed the few leaves they have.

an earthquake.

or is it?

out of the sewers it comes. something great and black, something fast and not-quite-monstrous. it soars up, breaks the surface and shoots into the sky. it uses the momentum gained from shooting up to catapult its body as high as it’ll reach, before...

taehyung reaches a hand out, toward the sky. if he outstretches it just a little more, maybe he’ll be able to grab onto a cloud. maybe he can rip a piece off and bring it back home. a gift for his hyung.

finally, he loses momentum. gravity beginning to pull on him again, realising belatedly that taehyung isn’t abiding by its laws, he feels a tug on his stomach as he starts plummeting down. he should probably be spreading his wings right about now and fly off…

but why do that, when you can just fall?

he did that once. a very long time ago. he’s actually done it many, many times, but none with as much impact as that very first time. the first time he came to earth. consequently, the first time he met seokjin.

he’d been freefalling back then, too. his superiors had just given him the assignment back in hell and they’d given him no notice. no time to pack. no time to find out what earth was all about. he was shown the way out and taehyung had leapt down, because he had no other choice; if he didn’t jump down himself, someone would probably just push him over the edge.

demons were like that. no camaraderie. only chaos.

taehyung has never fallen like this before. usually he just vaguely saunters down, hands in his pockets with as little interest on his face as possible. he doesn’t care. he cares very much about not caring at all.

now, he falls. it only seems appropriate he do so. one has to make an entrance, after all, when arriving at a new job.

while tumbling down, taehyung keeps a certain level of disinterest on his face. he may be plummeting from a great height, but that doesn’t mean he should lose his composure. if he so wishes to, he could unfurl his wings and slow his fall, which means there’s no hurry to stop plummeting now.

he falls for a bit longer, enjoys the wind on his face, between his fingers, tugging at his robes. below him, he sees only white; much like the clouds he’s falling through.

briefly, he wonders why it’s so white, when he’d been promised gross, luscious greens and vivid blues and every other such description that made the average demon feel sick to its nasty, rotten stomach.

when he spots some black and gold down below, the only bit of colour he’s seen so far, he decides to land in that area to check it out. the world already looks so boring from here that he’ll take any excitement he can get.

he realises his mistake, however, the closer he gets to the ground and the more in focus his black and gold target becomes. the thing he’s falling toward isn’t actually a thing, it seems, but a creature of some sort.

the only reason taehyung realises that is because it moves, although only a little. from up high, he can vaguely make out humanoid features, but it’s hard to tell what exactly he’s about to crash into.

in an attempt not to crush something to death right upon landing—taehyung’s very much not in the mood to clean insides off himself so early into a mission—he spreads his wings and tries to slow his fall a little. he’s going so fast that he can’t veer off course anymore, but spreading his wings does help; when he finally comes into contact with the surface of the earth, he can throw out his hands and knees just in time to painfully plant them on either side of the person’s body with a loud oof!

the creature beneath him only gazes up. taehyung realises fairly quickly that what he’s gazing at is an angel, except in what appears to be its human form. at least, he’s pretty sure this is what they’re supposed to look like.

taehyung knows he should be getting off, that he should stop straddling the angel beneath him and get as far away from it as possible, but… he can’t. below him is possibly the most beautiful creature he’s ever had the pleasure of laying eyes on and he doesn’t know what to do, other than stare.

similarly, the angel only stares back, pretty lips parted, sharp eyes boring right back into taehyung’s. the angel lifts a hand and places delicate fingers on taehyung’s face, presses a warm palm to his cheek. “you’re beautiful,” the angel says.

shocked, taehyung continues to only stare, wondering why any angel in their right mind would call a demon that. he knows he’s being mocked, but mockery has never looked so sincere and so beautiful before. it’s never come from such an objectively kind face.

with pain in his heart, taehyung has to admit that none are as striking as angels. so for an angel to call a demon beautiful…

taehyung leans down a little and pretends to sniff with very clear disdain on his face. it’s the only way out of this situation, he thinks. the only way to preserve his dignity. “you smell like an angel,” he grumbles. he pulls a face.

devastatingly, the comment only makes the angel giggle. his eyes crinkle cutely and almost close completely while he laughs, and the halo atop his head shimmers a little more brightly. perhaps it’s time for taehyung to start crying.

in a last effort to get away from the humiliation, the torture he’s being subjected to, taehyung rolls off of the angel. while he does so, he touches the white stuff all around them. for the first time since crash landing, he realises how cold it feels to the touch. “what’s this?” he asks curiously. he holds up a handful in his open palm and cocks his head at it.

“snow,” the angel beams. “have you never seen it before?”

taehyung slowly shakes his head.

“as i understand it, those clouds up above us hold moisture. when it’s cold enough, instead of rain, little crystals fall down.”

“rain?” taehyung asks.

“water falls down from the sky,” the angel clarifies.

taehyung grumbles a little. the idea of water falling down from the sky sounds particularly horrifying. perhaps there is a worse place to be than hell.

the angel laughs softly. “so, you’ve just been assigned to earth? you look like this is your first time down here.”

taehyung hums vaguely. he’s not in the mood to give everything away so quickly. not to an angel.

“i am, too!” the angel shares. he clearly has no qualms about telling taehyung. “i’ve been here for a few days now, so i’ve had some time to get acquainted.”

“i presume that makes you my nemesis, then,” taehyung declares, in his deepest and most dramatic voice. he’s not sure how he’s going to treat the angel like the enemy, because he doesn’t think enemies are supposed to look like that, but he hopes that by saying it he’ll be able to trick his brain into thinking that he only feels hatred in his heart, and not… whatever he’s feeling right now.

the angel barely responds to taehyung’s declaration. he lazily lifts a shoulder into a shrug of sorts and offers taehyung a smile. he doesn’t seem to take it too seriously.

“so what’s there to do around here?” taehyung asks. another attempt to steer the conversation as far away from where they were before.

“not much, as of yet,” the angel says, stretching his arms above his head and yawning loudly yet annoyingly gracefully. “we’re at the dawn of civilization. they’re only just beginning to wake up and organise. it’ll be some time before we have any work to do. we have a little while to get acclimated.”

taehyung nods while pursing his lips. “so what do we do?”

the angel raises a perfectly manicured brow. he looks so ridiculously angelic and beautiful that taehyung huffs. “why are you asking me, demon?”

“you’re an angel,” taehyung says. “aren’t you supposed to know everything?”

the angel guffaws. “why would you say that?”

“you angels are know-it-alls,” taehyung says. “you’re telling me you don’t know?”

“we are not!” the angel exclaims. he sits up quickly, a tiny, cute frown appearing between his brows.

in an effort to see more of the cute frown, taehyung ramps up his teasing a little more, until the angel starts reciprocating and provoking taehyung in return. they bicker back and forth, until taehyung grabs a handful of snow and shoves it down the back of the angel’s delicately embroidered tunic.

with a yelp, the angel gets to his feet and spreads his wings. they’re stark white, groomed to perfection. not a feather out of place. taehyung hates the angel already, but he knows he could stare for hours and still find something to marvel over.

he watches the angel leave, watches the elegant movement of his wings as he flies away. taehyung sighs dreamily. he’s going to have a jolly old time down here.

taehyung laughs. he finally spreads his wings, just as he’s about to crash into a tall apartment building. he plasters his wings to his body and speeds down along it toward the rapidly-approaching ground. at the very last second, he changes trajectory to start climbing up again, back home to his angel.

finally, after spending some time reminiscing in bed, petting taehyung’s empty pillow next to him and wishing it was taehyung’s unruly mop of hair he were caressing instead, seokjin decides to roll out of bed. he sits on the edge, swinging his legs and brushing his toes over the ground.

he gets up. stumbles into the bathroom, where he gazes into the mirror and sees his sleepy reflection stare back at him, unimpressed by what it’s seeing.

there’s no particular reason for the memory that pops up into his head next. perhaps it’s related to the fact that he’s been thinking of their earlier days, or maybe it’s purely coincidental.

during the time period of that memory, taehyung and seokjin still considered each other rivals to some extent, but they were pricklier toward each other than necessary. seokjin suspects it has everything to do with the fact that their feelings for each other were getting quite serious and they didn’t really know what to do with them, nor did they want to admit to them.

they did a lot of denying back then, as well as lying and some mild scheming. everything not to have to admit how you’re truly feeling about the person you’ve been pretending is your rival for a good few centuries now.

in the memory that pops up, seokjin is busying himself in his kitchen when a loud knocking startles him. he sort of already knows who or what it’s going to be, so past seokjin isn’t very surprised to open the door and find taehyung there.

he’s drunk, swaying stupidly on his feet and leaning against the door frame for support once the door is opened. he frowns angrily at seokjin and barges in without waiting to be invited inside.

“yes, do come inside,” seokjin finds himself saying, irritation evident in his voice. “thank you for asking so politely.”

it’s not that he minds taehyung coming in. he never has. he likes having taehyung over. but something about him, about his frown and his stupid drunken swagger annoys seokjin today. maybe it has more to do with himself than with taehyung, but that’s something he doesn’t really want to explore just yet.

“oh, shut up…” taehyung grumbles. he kicks his shoes off and walks further in. they bicker lightly the moment seokjin brings up taehyung’s state, which isn’t out of the ordinary; they often end up bickering about the smallest of things. it’s their little game, in a way. it’s playful and fun and bordering on teasing rather than actual arguing.

there’s something different about it this time, as they end up standing in seokjin’s living room, facing each other. with each little quip, one of them takes a small step forward without realising, until they’re so close that the lack of distance between them can no longer be ignored.

for a moment, seokjin holds his breath. it looks like taehyung’s doing the same. they both lean in slightly, the anticipation too much to bear, leaving them on edge and… waiting. their gazes flicker between each other’s eyes and mouth, leaning in closer and closer and closer until their lips are just inches apart.

just when it looks like they’re finally going to kiss, after years of tip-toeing around it, seokjin recoils. he doesn’t mean to. he doesn’t know why he does it, either, when kissing taehyung has been on his mind for so long.

that’s the thing. the moment he realises what’s happening, he finds himself jerking back. for once, he’s actively thinking about it and not denying that he is. he’s accepting it.

he doesn’t hate the fact that he accepts it; he’s just shocked, is all.

unfortunately yet understandably, taehyung misinterprets seokjin’s reaction. he sees him recoil and staggers back in response. very quickly, his facial expression goes from openly shy to hurt.

seokjin goes to outstretch his hand and grab hold of taehyung to pull him back and apologise for the response, explain that he didn’t mean it like that, but it’s already too late. taehyung is already staggering back, face going sadder and sadder with the minute.

before seokjin can open his mouth and apologise, taehyung’s stepped back far enough to stumble into the pedestal standing behind him.

seokjin has a lot of art in his home. they both enjoy art and like collecting it to a certain point, but seokjin doesn’t hold any piece dear, except for… well, the piece right behind taehyung. specifically, the piece taehyung gifted him. a beautifully crafted, one-of-a-kind vase of a time period long gone.

when taehyung backs into the pedestal, he clumsily turns around in surprise, arms swinging. one of them comes into contact with the vase and sweeps it right off.

if seokjin weren’t so preoccupied with making sure taehyung knows he wants the kiss just as much, he would’ve responded in time to save his most precious belonging. instead, like taehyung, he just watches in horror as the beautiful vase tips over slowly, almost elegantly… and ends up on the floor in a million different pieces.

“taehyung-ah!” seokjin shrieks. in an instant, his worry to let taehyung know how he feels dissipates completely. all that’s left is shock and sadness. it feels silly to mourn over a material item, but it’s his most cherished gift. taehyung had given it to him. he’d gone through quite some trouble to get it for seokjin, so for it to end up like this on his floor feels horribly wrong. “you stupid, stupid demon,” he mutters, feeling tears prick in the corners of his eyes. he’s not sure if it’s only due to the broken vase, but he doesn’t care to find out what the real reason behind his impending tears is.

“why are you getting mad?” taehyung slurs. he toes at a big piece right next to him. “it’s just a stupid vase. i’m sure you can get a new one.”

hearing taehyung say that makes seokjin just a little bit more angry. if he’d remembered that this was the vase he’d gifted seokjin, he never would have said such a callous thing. he would’ve remembered that there’s no easy way to get a new one, that it’s nearly impossible, that getting the original vase was already almost an impossible feat.

taehyung had been so proud when he’d presented it that seokjin’s heart had skipped a beat.

“it’s not a stupid vase,” seokjin says. he bites his lip until he tastes blood. “it was… it was… expensive! it means a lot to me.”

taehyung rolls his eyes and scoffs. “expensive…” he mutters. “i can just put it back together. hell, you could put it together. it’s fine. it’ll be good as new. hold on, i’ll—”

“no,” seokjin interrupts him, feeling childish. “it wouldn’t be the same vase. i’d always know that it’s really broken. i’ll know how cracked it truly is. it’s ruined now.”

once he’s said it, he feels even more childish. he presses the heels of his hands to his eyes, sighs heavily and feels the first tears trying to push their way out. finally, he points to the door with a shaking hand. “leave!” he shrieks. “you stupid, brutish demon! i don’t want to see you right now. stop ruining everything. i’m sick of you!”

“wh—”

“out!” seokjin says again.

taehyung looks beyond hurt as he turns around, retreating with his tail between his legs. seokjin watches him leave and waits until he hears the door fall shut, before he sinks to the floor and sobs into his hands.

taehyung soars over the sleepy skyline of seoul. it’s only just beginning to wake up; he feels it in the slow stirring and hears it in the quiet rumbling of cars, the whirring of machines coming to life.

the streets are still mostly empty as taehyung looks down on them. stop lights going from red to green to let no one pass. the stop lights change colours dutifully, waiting for the first users to grace the streets.

stray cats are beginning to return from their nightly ventures, as well, yawning dramatically. they’re aware of taehyung flying up overhead, but they don’t respond other than to perk up their ears momentarily. taehyung is aware of them, but doesn’t acknowledge them, either.

demons and cats are alike in a lot of ways. they tend to ignore each other because of that.

below taehyung, only the earliest of workers as well as those of whom work during the night are about. he supposes there are humans only just returning home after a night of partying, feeling strung out and positively dead inside, and taehyung salutes them sincerely. he loves when humans feel miserable, loves knowing they’ve been sinning for entire nights and coming home now pretending like they haven’t.

aside from the strays, and possibly the rats and the cockroaches, everyone on the streets beneath his wings are entirely oblivious to the black creature flying up overhead. they’d be blind not to notice the menacing cloud of black shooting past at a ridiculous speed, but then humans have always been just that—blind as a bat. poor little buggers.

as taehyung gets little glimpses of the modern city stretching out beneath him, he recalls a time long past. civilization was just beginning to settle in, which meant that it was the perfect time for both angels and demons alike to strike.

the best time to form humans was then, when their minds were still beautifully underdeveloped.

arguably, they still are to this day, but back then, oh, back then it was almost too easy. a whisper here, a vague suggestion there, a little push… that was all it took. like manipulating a baby.

for whatever reason, during that prime time, seokjin and taehyung ran into each other a lot. taehyung knows it wasn’t that uncommon of an occurrence, but to consistently run into the same angel? yeah, that was a little strange.

if they were only running into each other, taehyung wouldn’t have minded terribly, but the pesky thing was that they worked in the same area and constantly undid each other’s hard work.

taehyung can’t remember how many times they’ve ran into each other to argue about a carefully crafted plan falling to shit because of one little push and two carefully spoken words from the other.

it’s around that time that a rivalry is accidentally created. it’s fueled mostly by every single time they’re called into a meeting by their respective superiors to congratulate them on their hard work, only to find out that it isn’t their work at all, but rather their rival’s.

you’d think that the work of an angel and demon are easily distinguishable, but, as it turns out, it isn’t.

in fact, both taehyung and seokjin get called up or down so often to either be asked or praised about something the other has done that they eventually know something has to be done about it.

it’s unclear who calls for a meeting. they both just sort of show up at the same place, the same time and aren’t surprised to find each other there. they’re not surprised by their almost identical frowns, either.

“this has got to stop,” taehyung says, folding his arms in front of his chest and giving seokjin an even more disapproving stare than before.

“right,” seokjin agrees. he rubs his forehead in annoyance, spreads his wings dramatically and ruffles his feathers a little. “i can’t do this anymore.”

“my supervisor just asked me what i was going to do about the spanish inquisition. that was my doing. i went places and said some things.”

seokjin squints in confusion. “but i went other places and said more things.”

“were you trying to prevent it or make it worse?” taehyung questions.

seokjin doesn’t know how to answer that. he’d been scolded about it, too, but it was unclear what exactly he’d been scolded on. he couldn’t figure out whether they believed he’d failed in preventing it or failed in making it reach its full potential. “i don’t know…” he says eventually.

“so whose fault is it, then?” taehyung asks. he cocks his head. “it was a most dreadful time. should have never gone there and talked to—” he shakes his head. “anyway.”

“we should try to stay out of each other’s hair from now on,” seokjin says. “i’d love some peace and quiet, demon. you’ve been awfully loud and disruptive.”

taehyung snorts derisively. “i could say the same thing, angel. your heavenly stench irritates me.”

“it is settled, then,” seokjin says, nodding his head almost cordially.

the meeting proves successful in that they stay away from each other and, miraculously, don’t interfere with each other’s business for a while. by all means, they’re living their best life, except that…

well…

it’s just soul-crushingly boring.

they try staying away from each other for about five decades. by all accounts, they’re wildly successful. the problem is that they fucking hate it.

there’s nothing to do. there’s no one to be annoyed at, except for themselves, which is never fun. they miss the rivalry. they miss the extremely sexually charged banter. they miss blaming someone else for their own mishaps.

they miss each other.

everything is just so straightforward now. being on earth is no longer enjoyable, because the one being they can have fun with isn’t around.

they try to hold on for a while, but end up caving eventually and show up once more at the same place around the same time. they’re still not surprised to find each other there. it’s expected. they know they can count on each other.

“so…” seokjin begins. he purses his lips, clasps his hands behind his back.

taehyung nods along slowly. like seokjin, he purses his lips. it should feel very awkward and embarrassing to be here, but it’s not. the relief at seeing each other again greatly outweighs any shame they may feel.

“i don’t think this is working,” he says.

seokjin hums in agreement. “back to the way things were?”

when taehyung nods quickly, seokjin sighs in relief.

they honestly do try to revert everything and go back to the normal order of things, but one little thing they’ve come to realise during their time off is that, well…

“i just don’t think i can do a lot worse than they can,” taehyung complains, when they’re hanging out in some dingy place, drinking among all the sad little humans he’s supposed to corrupt. “i come up with a brilliant plan, and then it turns out they’ve either already thought of that themselves, or they’ve outdone me. what’s that all about?”

“right?” seokjin agrees readily. “they do wonderfully on their own. they can be good without my guidance!”

taehyung frowns at seokjin for a little, before he grins stupidly and leans his shoulder into seokjin’s a little. “hey… hyung,” he says. he likes the way that word feels in his mouth. it feels a little heavy. a little more consequential. it has a different weight than when he calls him angel, which doesn’t necessarily have negative connotations. it’s just… different.

“hm?” seokjin grins. his cheeks and ears are turning red, which may be from the alcohol.

“the humans are doing our job for us,” taehyung says, leaning in to whisper conspiratorially. “what if… we… took a step back?”

he knows seokjin won’t object. he knows seokjin loves a lot of the stuff earth has to offer and that doing his job as an angel severely cuts his free time in half. he knows that seokjin, although supposedly a good boy, an angel, would slack off in a heartbeat.

but only if he has a good enough excuse. one he could tell himself and make it sound believable to his own ears. taehyung’s trusting seokjin to come up with one on the spot.

seokjin’s a hard worker, but he’s also a smart one. taehyung really admires that about him.

“it’s about time we let them run things on their own. as a… sort of experiment, as it were, to see how effective our work has been so far,” seokjin comes up with. he smiles triumphantly.

taehyung could kiss him right now. “right!” he exclaims. he pats seokjin on the back. “that’s exactly what i was thinking.”

and so they come to another agreement quite easily. they get more free time and spend it on new and old hobbies alike. they learn a lot of new things, try a lot of new experiences and go a lot of places with no other reason than to vacation.

what truly makes it worthwhile is most likely the company. they don’t spend every waking moment together—after all, who in their right mind would spend all their time with their rival? nay, their archnemesis?—but they do spend a lot of moments together.

it’s hard to deny that they have the most fun when they do stuff together, or when one shows up to save the other from a sticky situation they’ve gotten themselves into. they’re there for each other, and it makes their experience on earth a lot more pleasant.

around that time, too, as a new sort of hobby he’s picked up, taehyung finds out about the wonderful art of flirting. it isn’t something particularly new to him, but never before has he realised there’s a way to refine his skills.

after freeing up his schedule and having a lot of free time to himself all of a sudden, taehyung decides to give it a shot. romance has always been something of particular curiosity to him, for some reason, so what better way to spend your time than to learn such a useful new skill?

he does a lot of research on techniques from different areas, from different places and different social classes. he learns what works and what doesn’t, and which ways he’s more adept at. it’s fun. it’s confusing. it’s… thrilling.

throughout it all, taehyung is certain of one thing: seokjin will always be there for him to practice his skills on. for each new technique, he can come back to him to test it out.

it’s perfect, and it’s only for fun, of course. they both know that. it’s always just been about that; having fun. nothing more.

taehyung doesn’t realise it as it’s happening, but he often looks back on that time and wonders when exactly his feelings for seokjin had started sprouting in his deepest and darkest reaches.

he knows it happened before the flirting, but he doesn’t know to what extent. had he been beyond saving even then? had he always been beyond saving?

had his feelings for seokjin been birthed the moment he first laid eyes on him all those centuries ago?

was it that first moment in the snow, when he’d landed right on top of seokjin and subsequently been called beautiful by him?

perhaps.

once seokjin’s all washed up, he trudges into the kitchen, where he stands at the counter for a long while contemplating absolutely nothing.

once he’s had enough of that, he finally decides to start functioning again by reaching for a cup and turning on his coffee maker. he watches dully as it starts blinking and making quiet noises and waits patiently for it to stop and signal that it’s ready.

after getting his coffee, seokjin turns toward his fridge and starts rummaging through it. he gets everything he needs, sets it on the counter, and proceeds to stare down at the surface for another good minute.

he’s tired. he misses taehyung. he needs coffee.

coffee…

seokjin pipes up when he realises he has a solution to two of his three problems. he lifts his cup up to his lips, sips it slowly and sighs in quiet relief.

slowly, he starts preparing breakfast. he’s got his back toward the windows, as well as the door. since he misses taehyung, he’s reminded of another time, a long while back. he’d been with his back toward the door then, too, minding his own business.

while he still had to maintain a level of awareness because of potential customers walking in—owning a bookshop, and all, it was expected that people would walk in sometimes—he’d been a little preoccupied glancing over his books and wondering how much of his finances he was going to have to fix with a little magic.

understandably, he hasn’t been paying attention to what’s potentially happening behind him, although he doubts much could happen. he does get customers every once in a while, but they’re few and far between; just the way he likes it.

he’s been running the shop for a while now, in many different locations depending on which political climate is the most suited for him. he prefers not to get customers if he can help it, because he doesn’t really want to part with any books. the shop is just an excuse to keep so many books around. that way, back when taehyung was still around and would side-eye him, seokjin could just say that they were only temporarily his, waiting for their new owner.

he hears the little bell above the door ring when someone steps inside. he hears heavy footsteps, is aware of the steadfast gait. the customer that’s just entered has come in with a purpose, is what the gait tells him.

still, seokjin doesn’t turn around. he’s busy. he’s trying to quickly do the mental gymnastics needed to weasel himself out of whatever trouble he may get into. it’s not that he couldn’t get himself out of it otherwise, but preventing is much easier than fixing messes.

“i’ll be with you momentarily,” seokjin says, waving a hand over his shoulder, carelessly. since customers mean he’ll have to part with one or more books, it’s in his best interest that they leave as quickly as possible.

the footsteps continue, closer and closer. undeterred.

somewhere along the line, seokjin realises that the stranger isn’t a customer. books aren’t on their mind. the quiet customer isn’t a customer at all, but rather…

it’s so very clear now, as seokjin slowly lifts his head. he doesn’t yet turn around. he gives himself a moment to stare at the wall of books in front of him while he breathes in the heady smell of demonic smoke.

hellfire gives off such a distinct smell that seokjin would recognise it anywhere. it crowds the senses in a way you’re not fully aware of. it creeps up on you slowly but steadily, before smothering you completely.

it’s not an unpleasant experience. it’s meant to lure people in, meant to keep them trapped and interested.

seokjin doesn’t find the strength to turn around just yet. he’s not sure he wants see taehyung’s face after going without it for a decade. they left things off on such a sour note—over a stupid fucking vase of all things—that he’s almost ashamed to face him now.

he feels embarrassed. ashamed. he wishes he could take everything back, while simultaneously feeling like he’d done exactly what he should have.

after all this time, he’s still a little angry and a little sad about it. taehyung’s vase. that little part of taehyung he’d always had in his home, suddenly gone.

he hadn’t seen taehyung for a decade, but he’d thought of him every single day. to know that they’re so close now, after such a long time…

it’s true that time doesn’t pass the same way for demons as it does for humans. a decade isn’t very long. it shouldn’t be very long normally, except the decade without taehyung had been terribly long. endless.

seokjin holds his breath. he hears taehyung step around the counter, feels the very soft, gentle grip at the back of his sweater, feels the press of a forehead to his back.

“angel,” taehyung says softly. “i’m sorry for breaking the vase i gave you.”

seokjin shudders out a sigh. “you’re a decade too late,” he sighs. “go away.” he pouts, hoping taehyung won’t actually leave this time, wishing he’d never told him to leave; not now, not a decade ago.

luckily, taehyung only holds on tighter once he hears those words. “hyung, i’m really sorry.”

seokjin closes his eyes. he sighs slowly, as he begins turning around to finally lay eyes on taehyung again. after all this time.

taehyung leans forward, chin on seokjin’s shoulder. their faces are so ridiculously close now that he can feel seokjin’s warm breath on his face.

“why are you giving me those puppy dog eyes,” seokjin murmurs. he attempts to frown.

“hyung, you put a new vase on the pedestal,” taehyung says. he pouts. “i took it off and put a new one on it.”

“you broke into my place?” seokjin asks. his brows rise. he tries not to smile, but the corners of his mouth tremble, fight to curve upward.

taehyung hums. “i made it myself.”

“a decade…” seokjin just says. he doesn’t care about the fact that taehyung broke in. he doesn’t care that taehyung quite possibly threw away his stupidly expensive vase. the only thing he cares about is that taehyung’s here, in front of him. finally.

“i had to learn pottery…” taehyung says, laughing sheepishly. “and then i learned how to glaze. then i considered painting you, instead, so i went back to painting and spent some time capturing you on canvas, but there was always a small detail here or there that eluded me, and…”

it’s only partially a lie. he did, in fact, learn pottery and glazing, and then he abandoned it all in favour of painting seokjin. the sad truth, however, is that it took taehyung so long because he got distracted by capturing seokjin’s beauty on canvas. depicting him in art was just way easier than actually facing him. taehyung had hidden away like a coward, really. he’d wallowed in self-pity for far too long, missing seokjin violently the entire time.

seokjin smiles lightly. he glances down his nose at taehyung, arms coming around to rest on his hips. he holds him very gently against his own body, hoping he won’t have to miss him for another decade like this.

a decade without taehyung takes for fucking ever. seokjin can’t go through it again. he won’t.

after ten years of yearning, it feels less scary to stand here, so close, gazing at each other. it feels less scary to take taehyung’s face in his hands, to angle his face up. it feels less scary to press a soft kiss to his plush lips.

“i’m sorry for making you think i didn’t want to kiss you last time,” seokjin murmurs against taehyung’s lips. he goes back in, nips at his bottom lip, and smiles at the way taehyung’s eager to kiss back.

when they part, taehyung smiles back. “hyung.”

“hm?” seokjin lightly presses his thumb down onto taehyung’s bottom lip. how he’s missed the demon. he’s never going to admit to it, but he has.

“you should close your shop for the day. i want to… show you the vase i made.”

seokjin huffs out a small laugh. he has a sneaking suspicion they’ll do more than look at the vase once they make it home, but he doesn’t mind that at all. it suits him just fine, actually.

he nods slowly. presses his lips to taehyung’s once more and tastes hellfire on his tongue. “alright,” he says.

when taehyung finally zips out of the city and leaves behind buildings upon buildings upon buildings, it doesn’t take long for greener areas to start appearing. the further he gets away, the more he flies, the quieter it gets.

it appears that even nature is still somewhat asleep. it’s beginning to wake up, sure, but for now taehyung gets to enjoy the peace and quiet without having to worry about a thing.

“hyung,” taehyung pants. he doesn’t necessarily have bad stamina, it’s just that he’s not used to hiking like this. not for so long, up a gradually steeper slope with the sun beating down on his neck.

seokjin hums. he looks over his shoulder and smiles easily, as though he’s going for a casual stroll, having a great time, not doing anything strenuous at all. “yeah?”

“whose idea was it to go hiking?” taehyung complains.

“mine, but it was your idea to come along. i didn’t force you to. i asked you to, very politely, and you eagerly said yes.”

“hyung!” taehyung just whines.

“don’t be such a baby,” seokjin laughs. “fly to the end of the trail and wait for me there, if you can’t make it on these legs of yours. i won’t judge!” he says, knowing he’s absolutely going to judge later on and use it as ammo for another round of teasing. he knows that taehyung knows, as well, which means he’s never going to give in and fly the rest of the way.

as expected, taehyung pouts childishly. he stops walking, folds his arms in front of his chest and waits for seokjin to notice and turn around.

“what?” seokjin inquires. he bites back an amused smile and steps back into taehyung’s direction. he regards his sullen expression, smiles fondly. “come on, you baby demon,” he says, stepping even closer, until he’s able to pull away taehyung’s hand tucked between his body and his arm. he slips his fingers into taehyung’s and holds onto his sweaty hand.

taehyung squints, but lets seokjin pull him along eventually.

seokjin slows his pace as they walk hand in hand. he teases taehyung a little about how grumpy he is, but he goes easy on him and figures he’ll save it for later, when they’re at the top and taehyung will be a little more agreeable.

at the top, taehyung’s mood doesn’t fully lift, but he does smile and sigh in relief once they reach the end. there’s supposed to be a beautiful view at the top, which was seokjin’s entire reason for walking this route. taehyung’s not sure he agrees with the description of the view, though.

“why would humans find this beautiful?” taehyung asks. he cocks his head as he leans over the wooden railing. there’s nature below them. just nature. trees and hills. some rocks. it’s nothing new; it’s all stuff they’ve seen along the way. by all means, it’s pretty average.

seokjin snorts. he leans over the railing as well and glances at taehyung. “humans have a different perception of beauty, i guess.” he looks away from taehyung to admire the view again. “although i do think this view is exceptional. i understand why they’d call this beautiful.”

he smiles a little, although he remains staring ahead. “i think you just don’t appreciate beauty enough.”

taehyung’s still looking at seokjin. he studies the side of his face, takes in every tiny little detail. he takes his time with it, now that he has the opportunity to. he’s wanted to do exactly this for a long time now.

“i do appreciate beauty,” he says. “i appreciate it just fine. i can’t help that my standards are a lot higher.”

seokjin grins. he still doesn’t look over. “oh, yeah? what do you find beautiful, then, if you’re such a connoisseur?”

taehyung keeps gazing at the side of seokjin’s face. he follows the pretty slope of his nose, the sharp edge of his jaw and his beautifully-sculpted cheekbones. his lips are curved up in a small smile that makes his cheeks bunch up just slightly. they look soft and squishy and taehyung wants to kiss them.

he wants nothing more than to say you, but he holds back. there’s no way he can say that. there’s no way he can admit to that.

sure, they’ve kissed. they’ve slept together. they’ve cuddled. but that’s all friendly. it’s just… convenient.

maybe it’s not convenient for him. it probably isn’t. taehyung knows it’s not, and that his feelings run a lot deeper than that, but he couldn’t quite say in what way.

when seokjin eventually looks over, curious as to why taehyung hasn’t said anything in a while, he lifts a brow. “what?” he asks gently. “is there something on my face?”

taehyung huffs out a small laugh. he shakes his head. afraid he’s going say something stupid if he tries to lie about what he’s thinking about, he figures he could just change the subject instead and avoid messing up.

unfortunately, since he’s got the icky topic of feelings on his mind, the first thing he thinks of is— “hyung, you know all those romance books you like to read sometimes?”

seokjin nods slowly. “what about them?”

“what… is the appeal of love?” taehyung asks. the moment the question is out there, he realises it’s probably a mistake. in his attempt at straying from the topic of feelings, he’d accidentally marched into it headfirst.

seokjin cocks his head slowly. a small frown appears right between his brows while he thinks about an answer and taehyung has to fight the urge to lean over and smooth it out. “it makes people feel good,” he finally settles on.

“feel good how?”

“it… gives you… a fuzzy feeling?” seokjin says. he purses his lips and narrows his eyes a little, like he isn’t fully sure of what he’s just said.

still, taehyung’s eyes grow wide. “where?”

seokjin rubs his chin in thought. “your chest.”

“where in my chest?” taehyung looks down slowly at it.

after some hesitation, seokjin reaches out. he rests his hand somewhere over taehyung’s heart, fingers digging into his jacket a little.

the hand on his chest feels heavy, but taehyung doesn’t mind the weight of it, nor does he mind the warmth it provides. he stares down at seokjin’s pretty fingers, down at his own chest and the spot seokjin’s pointing at, and tries to discern what he feels there. “feels fluttery. kind of… weird. like a buzzing, but a warm buzzing. do you think there’s something wrong with this vessel, hyung?”

seokjin just smiles softly and shakes his head. “i think it’s doing just fine. don’t you worry your pretty little head. i feel fluttery there, as well. it’s normal.”

despite the fact that seokjin’s just claimed that it’s a normal feeling, taehyung’s still concerned when he’s told that seokjin feels it, too. he’d hate for anything to be wrong with seokjin’s beautiful vessel. he’d hate to have to get used to a new one all over again, when taehyung so likes this one. it’s just the right size, just the right shape for him, and he thinks seokjin’s quite taken with it, as well.

“hyung?” he begins, frowning heavily. “fluttery in your chest? we must make sure there’s nothing wrong with your precious, precious, beautif—with your body.” he blinks. presses his palm to his mouth, as though he’ll be able to take his words back like that.

seokjin just laughs at him. fondly, he shakes his head. “it’s alright, taehyung-ah. our vessels are fine. there’s nothing wrong with them.”

taehyung’s not so certain of that, but seokjin seems convinced, which is enough for him. for now.

once the major preparations for breakfast are done, seokjin takes a small break. he picks up his cup of coffee and gravitates over to the window, where he can gaze into the yard and sigh at how empty and devoid of taehyung it is.

he keeps the gazing up for a little, until the lack of movement is making him feel too chilly. he could probably use some of his powers to warm himself up with little but a snap of his fingers, but he likes the cosiness of a blanket. nothing beats a blanket, really.

he goes for the one in the living room, draped over the back of the couch. as he unfolds it and pulls it around his shoulders, he’s reminded of yet another memory starring taehyung.

he doesn’t really remember when this was. he knows they weren’t dating, but that there were definitely feelings there that hadn’t been talked about yet.

at this point, it felt like they never would, like they’d just walk around with this knot in their stomachs until the end of their days.

he remembers how resigned he felt, willing to accept his fate only so that he could still have taehyung around him.

that type of desperation had led him to making some questionable decisions. both he and taehyung had let their duties slide for a while now, leaving everything in the capable hands of the humans, but there were instances where either of them got an urge to interfere, to stir up something bad or good. sometimes both.

most of those instances went under the radar, or they got praised for it by their supervisors, but hell broke loose when it went wrong one day.

seokjin spends the entire meeting cringing, unable to meet his supervisor’s eye. there’s a lot of talking being done, a lot of i’m sorrys being mumbled by seokjin, too ashamed to do anything else.

it made sense, of course. in his desperation to keep taehyung by his side, he’d let him play with his flaming sword. he’d told him it was fine, that the sword was an extension of himself and that it was therefore his decision what happened to it.

if he wanted a demon to play with it, then a demon would play with it.

taehyung takes it out for a spin, as seokjin had expected. he causes some chaos, as seokjin had expected. it’s a lot tamer than he’d envisioned, but taehyung still has his fun, which is all seokjin ever wanted.

the problem, of course, is that heaven finds out. seokjin doesn’t know how. maybe another angel saw taehyung. maybe the sword worked as a beacon of sorts. who knows. it doesn’t matter.

the only thing that matters is that the boss upstairs knows, and she isn’t happy with seokjin. she doesn’t yell at him, but her voice raises and raises little by little, until she’s moments away from yelling.

the entire time, seokjin’s head is hung in shame. it’s still hung in shame when he walks back down and tries not to think about what’s just happened. the disgrace he’s brought upon himself, all because of a cunning demon who has managed to worm its sneaky way into seokjin’s…

into his heart.

it’s not uncommon for a demon to lose its powers and wings. sometimes, when a supervisor is in a particularly bad mood, a demon loses its wings for the hell of it. just because. he’s heard taehyung complain about it plenty of times.

angels don’t typically know what it’s like to go without. it’s unheard of. it’s a disgrace. it’s shameful.

for an angel to be stripped of its powers, they had to have seriously fucked up.

seokjin’s never fucked up before. he isn’t the best angel out there, but he’s mediocre enough not to have been punished like this until now.

seokjin tries not to think about it, so, naturally, he thinks about it all the way down, up until the very moment his feet touch the earth again.

it’s snowing.

they’re in the middle of winter and seokjin didn’t think to bring a coat, because it was only supposed to be a quick trip up. he had his wings. his powers. he could protect himself easily without having to worry about any pesky elements. after all, he wasn’t a weak human.

except that’s exactly what he is right now. in a way, at least. he’s as weak as a human. probably as mortal as one, too, for however long his supervisors decide to punish him, which they hadn’t said.

seokjin stands shivering in the snow, looking left and right, in the middle of nowhere. he’s so very far away from home that there’s no point in trying to make it back on foot, so he starts walking aimlessly. he figures the cold will take him eventually, that he isn’t going to outrun or outsmart it, so that he may as well embrace it.

he feels fucking miserable, wondering how long it’ll take him to start crying and how long before the tears will simply freeze on his cheeks, when a great gust of wind makes everything just a little bit more awful.

he stands still, closes his eyes. he rubs his arms in a pathetic attempt to generate some heat. so close to crying, all he can do is bite his lip painfully and hope he can keep the tears at bay for a little longer that way.

he hears footsteps behind him, hears the way the snow rustles as it’s being compressed by something heavy. the smell of taehyung’s hellish smoke has never been more welcome than it is now. seokjin nearly cries in relief.

when he looks behind him, he finds taehyung there. his great, black wings are spread impressively wide, his hair is a windswept mess and his face is warm and full of comfort.

seokjin’s always loved the shape of taehyung’s wings. his own are, or were, a lot softer in shape, a lot more friendly looking and fluffier.

in contrast, taehyung’s have a much sharper edge. his feathers are black, but they have a red sheen to them that almost makes them sparkle in the right light. they’re angry-looking and some would even describe them as spiky, but…

seokjin knows better than most how soft they are to the touch. he knows how warm they are when you’re lucky enough to be wrapped up into them. he knows that they can be used as a pillow, as well as a blanket. he knows how pretty they are, and how strong, how silky.

with the very tip of one of his scarily soft wings, taehyung strokes the top of seokjin’s head. he wipes the snow off, and ends up leaving it hovering over him to offer him a shield from the snow that’s continuing to flutter down slowly, lazily.

when taehyung notices the way seokjin shivers, he immediately shucks his coat off and helps seokjin into it. he makes sure he’s all wrapped up and protected, patting his chest and arms, his hair, while looking at him in concern.

“can i take you home?” he asks softly.

seokjin nods defeatedly. the shame he feels at this entire situation is almost unbearable. he doesn’t want taehyung to see him like this; so helpless. so bare. so useless.

for a moment, taehyung just holds his arms open and waits for seokjin to come to him. he waits patiently, offers a reassuring smile. once seokjin steps in, he wraps him up with both his arms and his wings and holds him close.

“let’s go home, angel…” he says, as he picks seokjin off the ground. seokjin doesn’t mind that taehyung lifts him bridal style. he’s tired and cold and embarrassed, but taehyung’s warm chest is so easy to burrow into that he can put it all aside for a moment and hide his face in taehyung’s neck.

taehyung lifts off the ground slowly. seokjin feels more gusts of wind around him as taehyung’s wings carry them up.

“i’m sorry…” taehyung says softly. “i shouldn’t have played with the sword.”

in response, seokjin just sniffles a little. he twists his fingers into taehyung’s nice dress-shirt, knowing how he hates getting wrinkles in the expensive fabric. he doesn’t say anything, only presses his face further into taehyung’s neck and wraps his arms around him.

they go home in silence.

taehyung slows the moment he sees their little home in the distance. it stands on a hill, amid an explosion of nature that takes even taehyung’s breath away. every single time.

he loves their place, loves the look of it, loves that they’ve built it themselves. what he loves most about it, though, is that he knows seokjin’s inside.

maybe he’s still in bed. maybe he’s slowly stirring, getting up, yawning cutely.

maybe he’s moving about. who knows. taehyung has only been away for a few hours, but he’s been longing to cling onto seokjin the entire time he’s been gone.

they aren’t together every waking moment, but something about not being there while seokjin sleeps doesn’t sit right with him. taehyung hates that he’s had to abandon seokjin in bed, that there’s the possibility that seokjin’s woken up to a cold left side of the bed.

slowly, he starts losing altitude. he comes closer and closer to the ground while staring at their house from afar, wondering when he’d gotten so lucky.

the house is only a house, but what’s inside of it makes it a home so precious he may just be the luckiest demon to have ever crawled out of hell.

of course, it’d taken a while to get to where they are now. taehyung recalls many painfully failed attempts at sitting seokjin down and telling him how utterly breathtaking he is.

he remembers all his flirting attempts that’d all seemed for fun at the time, but most certainly weren’t, as well as the small moments of clarity sprinkled in here and there where he’d started figuring things out.

particularly, one of the things he started to figure out little by little was that he was deeply in love with the person he’d considered his nemesis up until that point. perhaps nemesis has never been the most accurate description, but taehyung likes using it to this day.

even after they’d kissed that first time, after they’d slept together multiple times and kissed some more, it took an awfully long time for taehyung to realise there was more involved than simple entertainment.

he knows now that there were many feelings involved from the very beginning; long before the kiss and long before the flirting. he considers the fact that feelings had probably been involved from the very beginning and that it was only his oblivion that’d been in the way.

his understanding of his feelings had come very gradually. there hadn’t been a decisive moment where it’d suddenly hit him; it just grew over time, until he had a very clear idea in his head of what was going on. like a giant puzzle that he’d been putting together without knowing what it was going to look like, and the image had become clear to him only after enough pieces had been put into place.

finding out that the fluttery feeling in his chest was love and that he’d been in love with seokjin for a ridiculously long time didn’t magically fix everything. there was still the problem of telling seokjin, after all, which seemed like a hurdle too big for taehyung.

taehyung tried. he really did.

he’d gather the courage needed to sit seokjin down and start the speech he’d prepared, but he’d fail each and every time. they were always interrupted. something went wrong every single time, ensuring that taehyung never reached the end of his speech.

not even once. like a fucking curse.

their love confession did eventually happen, but it wasn’t at all like taehyung had imagined. it was on the fly, and took him completely by surprise; he didn’t even get to use his speech.

taehyung loses his wings again, as well as his demonic powers. he sits sulking in the middle of the city, letting everything pass him by and not paying attention to anything or anyone because he’s too annoyed.

he could probably send for a telegram to beg seokjin to come find him and help him out, but he feels slightly too humiliated to. seokjin has had to help him so often, sometimes for the dumbest reasons. this one in particular had been quite dumb.

so dumb, in fact, that all he can do is sit on the curb, groan loudly and hide his face in his hands. stupid, stupid demon, always getting into trouble…

despite not having called for seokjin, the angel still shows up. he sits down next to taehyung without a care for his white pants and looks at him with a raised brow. taehyung can feel it even with his face covered.

“come on, demon,” seokjin says. he bumps his shoulder into taehyung’s. “let’s go home.”

taehyung is sullen on the way back. he doesn’t comment on the fact that seokjin’s parked them on the roof of taehyung’s home; he just goes to sit with a sigh and squints at the city laid out beneath him.

“what did you do this time?” seokjin asks conversationally. he plops down next to taehyung and pats his knee.

taehyung can’t be bothered to explain. he just turns to look at seokjin, regards his face silently. he’s relieved to find that there’s no amusement on seokjin’s face. no pity, either.

seokjin’s smiling softly, hand still on taehyung’s knee. “why are you rubbing your chest?” he asks, lifting his hand and placing it over taehyung’s.

it’s only then that taehyung realises he’s been rubbing the same spot for the last few minutes. it feels weirdly warm, kind of buzzing. it’s not unpleasant, but it’s just… strange.

“did they hurt you?” seokjin asks. his brows knot together in concern. “can i do anything for you?”

taehyung blinks softly. he shakes his head. “hyung, you said you feel the fluttery feeling, too.”

seokjin nods.

“that’s…” taehyung starts. he licks his lips. “... love… isn’t it? that’s what you said. right?”

seokjin nods again.

taehyung thinks about his next words very carefully. he’s rehearsed a very different version of them many times, but his speech no longer feels right. he doesn’t want to explain his feelings in detail and give seokjin a grandiose, long-winded summary of their history together.

none of that stuff is needed.

“i’m in love with you,” he says.

once again, seokjin nods. there’s no doubt on his face, no surprise. he knows. he’s known for a long time.

taehyung takes seokjin’s hand, squeezes his fingers. “and…” he hesitates. “you’re in love with me.”

finally, seokjin pauses. there’s still no doubt on his face, only a little bit of shyness. he smiles softly and nods ever so slightly. the tips of his ears are starting to glow red and taehyung feels the stupid urge to kiss them.

“how long have we been in love with each other?” taehyung asks. it feels like such a silly question, but it’s important to him.

seokjin tugs taehyung’s hand into his lap. he holds onto it with both of his hands, regards it for a bit, before slowly looking up and looking out over the city in front of them. “forever,” he guesses.

“how long have you known?” taehyung asks, voice a little quieter. he leans into seokjin, rests his cheek on his shoulder and snuggles up to him, the way he’s done countless times before.

“for a little bit,” seokjin says. “not too long.”

“you could have told me,” taehyung mumbles. he glances up at seokjin, before reluctantly pressing a kiss to his shoulder.

seokjin laughs softly. “nah… i thought it was better to let you figure it out for yourself. you’re too stubborn; you would’ve never believed me.”

taehyung wrinkles his nose, pulls a face and lets out a small noise of complaint. he doesn’t say anything, because he knows seokjin’s right.

“silly demon,” seokjin murmurs.

“stupid angel,” taehyung murmurs back. he smiles.

seokjin does, too.

when seokjin turns back to the window, all bundled up nicely in his favourite blanket, he spots something black painted against the sky. once he realises it isn’t just a giant bird, but actually taehyung, he smiles and heads for the door immediately.

it’s cold outside, especially when he’s only wearing his pajamas, but seokjin braves the cold for taehyung. he has before, multiple times, and he can do it again.

he waits in the door opening at first, until he realises how much cold he’s letting in and he steps out, instead. after pulling the door shut behind him, he steps out into the yard, bare feet hitting the wet grass and getting cold and wet.

there, he waits for taehyung’s feet to hit the cold ground, waits for him saunter up coolly and wrap his arms around seokjin’s shoulders. he lets taehyung kiss him and leans into him comfortably, takes in his comforting scent and revels in his calm presence.

“you feel so cold!” seokjin gasps, the moment taehyung pulls back and he feels two icy cold hands in his neck, attempting to pull him even closer.

taehyung beams. he crowds seokjin, goes to press his cold nose against seokjin’s cheek and fails when seokjin pulls him against his chest, wraps them both up in his own blanket and starts rubbing taehyung’s arms.

when taehyung laughs softly at seokjin’s concern, seokjin laughs along, too. his ears go a little bit red, but it’s doable. he doesn’t mind sacrificing some of his dignity if it means he gets to hear taehyung laugh.

“if you really want to warm me up,” taehyung says. he starts grinning teasingly and seokjin holds his breath for whatever he’s about to suggest. “you should dance with me.”

taken by surprise, seokjin just laughs. “what?” he asks. he hadn’t expected such an innocent suggestion.

“yeah!” taehyung says. he pulls himself out of seokjin’s embrace a little and finds his hands. “come on… it’ll be fun. we used to dance quite often. whatever happened to that?”

begrudgingly, seokjin lets taehyung’s hands slip down to his hips and guide them into a gentle sway. his idea of fun isn’t typically standing out on the cold, wet lawn so early in the morning, when he could be inside with his warm coffee and a potential breakfast.

still, he humours taehyung. the two dance slowly and sweetly, out in the cold morning, with only each other for warmth. and their powers, obviously, but neither of them feels like using them when they so conveniently have a warm body right in front of them.

the blanket ends up sliding off their shoulders, but taehyung’s got his wings as a replacement. they’re not as effective as seokjin’s blanket, but they’ll do the trick.

on a very rainy day, when every human around them is visibly grumpy and not having a great time, taehyung and seokjin are walking around slowly, playing tourists in a city they lived in many, many, many, many moons ago.

they’re happy to be back, but they’re mostly happy to spend some time together. it’s not like they don’t do that—some would argue that they spend too much time together—it’s just that they really like doing it, so every moment spent together is a moment exquisitely spent.

they’re just crossing an incredibly busy street, where two crossings overlap each other to let a horde of people pass from all different directions, when taehyung pulls on seokjin’s hand and twirls him around out of nowhere and without any regard whatsoever for the people around them. he cackles maniacally while he does it, which is why seokjin lets things play out for a moment, curious to see what he’s up to.

“what are you doing, taehyung-ah?” seokjin murmurs, as taehyung pulls seokjin flush against his body for a moment, before pushing him away again. he’s obviously dancing, but seokjin doesn’t understand why .

“dancing!” taehyung says, stating the very obvious.

“but why?” seokjin throws his hand out, adding flair, because he should. because he can’t not be elegant about it, even if he doesn’t want to dance, even when he isn’t that great of a dancer.

taehyung only shrugs. he makes it into a dance move of sorts that should look ridiculous, except it doesn’t. it looks fabulous and planned and seokjin hates him for it.

“we’re going to disrupt traffic,” seokjin says eventually. he furrows his brows, although he doesn’t stop moving. if taehyung’s going to make a fool out of himself, then he should, too. it’s only fair. “i’ll be doing a bad job at being an angel,” he adds, pouting heavily. “we’re only doing hell a favour like this.”

taehyung shakes his head in time with his hips. “it works out for both of us,” he claims. he spins seokjin around once more, before letting seokjin spin him. “people will enjoy seeing two idiots dance in the rain. it’ll cheer them up on such a dreary day and, perhaps, inspire them to do some good. on the other hand, those who get annoyed by two idiots dancing in the rain will get more annoyed! maybe, if we drag it out enough, we’ll be able to stop traffic, too. we can both do our jobs; it’s perfect, hyung!”

seokjin knows very well that taehyung’s logic is flawed and that it doesn’t really work like that, but he still lets taehyung convince him. after all, he’s in love with him and he’s having at least a little bit of fun.

the two dance along without paying attention to anyone around them. there’s no music to accompany them, but that’s no matter; they dance to their own music. they’ve always kind of done that, really.

some people stop to look at them and smile, while others scoff and give them a wide berth. it’s exactly as taehyung had expected. or pulled out of his ass, really.

seokjin and taehyung don’t really care, though. they only have eyes for each other; they don’t see anything or anyone but each other.

after letting taehyung have his fun for a little, seokjin manages to coax him inside gently. he gets him all the way into the kitchen—but not before taehyung has them stop in front of the vase he’d made for seokjin a long time ago as a replacement for the one he’d broken. it’s plain white, with a cartoonish depiction of an angel and a devil standing side by side. seokjin loves it with his entire being, and taehyung often argues that seokjin loves the vase more than he loves him—where he sits him down and wraps him up tightly in the blanket once more.

“what’re you making, hyung?” taehyung asks. he plants his elbow on the table and leans his chin in his palm. he looks a little sleepy, but he’s smiling sweetly.

“you’ll see,” seokjin says. he throws a teasing smile over his shoulder, before busying himself with the last steps of breakfast.

it isn’t long before taehyung pipes up and exclaims: “crêpes!”

seokjin laughs softly. he nods and tries to push taehyung back when he comes to stand behind him to wrap his arms around him.

“hyung…” taehyung begins. “this is just like when we both lived in paris for a while… do you remember?”

“of course i remember,” seokjin murmurs. “how could i forget?” they may have been dating for a few decades by now, but that doesn’t mean he’s about to confess to the fact that part of his reason for moving there had been because taehyung was living there at the time.

it’s too embarrassing.

“isn’t it such a coincidence that we always ended up living in the same cities, hyung?” taehyung asks innocently.

“uh-huh…” seokjin clears his throat awkwardly. he hopes his reddened ears are sufficiently hidden underneath his hair. he doesn’t want to have to explain why they’re turning red.

luckily, taehyung is too busy pressing his face to the back of seokjin’s neck to pay attention to his ears. “we were in love there before it was even called the city of love,” he mumbles, voice muffled in seokjin’s shirt.

seokjin guffaws. “what do you mean? we were so deeply in denial back then. you most of all! you thought you were flirting with me as a hobby!”

taehyung murmurs something into seokjin’s back, but it’s too muffled for seokjin to make out. he sounds a little whiny, though, which is exactly what seokjin was trying to achieve.

they bicker back and forth lovingly, the way they usually do, while seokjin finishes up breakfast. taehyung staunchly maintains that he knew exactly what he was doing, that it wasn’t just a hobby; that his hobby has always been loving seokjin.

they continue to bicker as seokjin sets a plate of crêpes right in the middle of the table. they sit down and seokjin calls taehyung out on his bullshit with a large grin on his face, having a grand old time with his idiot demon lover.

“there’s chocolate sauce all over your chin,” seokjin tuts, finally shutting taehyung up for a blissful moment. he takes taehyung’s chin between his fingers and tugs his face closer. “messy…”

he kisses taehyung on the mouth first, before moving on to lick and kiss away the sauce stuck to his chin. while loudly complaining, taehyung lets seokjin do his thing.

they eat and bicker and seokjin kisses taehyung’s face again every so often with the excuse that he’s got more sauce stuck to it—which is a blatant lie—until they’re all done and they’re resting back in their chairs with sleepy expressions.

“hyung,” taehyung says. he yawns, stretches his arms above his head and contorts his body in an attempt to stretch. “can we go back to bed again for a little?”

seokjin smiles softly. he’d love nothing more. it’s all he’s been longing for since leaving the warm and safe environment of their bed. he nods, gets up and takes taehyung’s hand. “come on,” he says, tugging taehyung along.

finally back in bed, all cuddled up to each other and both on the brink of sleep once more, taehyung nudges seokjin gently and rolls on top of him a little more. “hyung? can i ask you something?”

seokjin doesn’t open his eyes, but he can still very clearly feel taehyung’s curious eyes on him. “of course.”

because of all the impromptu reminiscing he’s done, taehyung’s still thinking about that first moment they’d met, in the snow. just the two of them, taehyung on top of seokjin. he’d looked as beautiful then as he does now.

taehyung strokes his face, smiling softly and enjoying the comfort of seokjin’s warm, comfortable body. it’s always been the best place to take a nap, in taehyung’s humble opinion.

“why did you call me beautiful the first time you saw me? in the snow, remember? i fell on top of you and you looked at me. the first thing you said to me is that you thought i was beautiful. why?”

seokjin frowns a little. taehyung traces the small wrinkle lines with another smile. “because i thought you were the most striking being i’d ever laid eyes on.”

taehyung blinks. he’s about to ask if seokjin hadn’t seen himself in a reflective surface until that point, but it seems like a silly question to ask during such a serious moment. “i thought you hated me,” he says instead. “i thought you looked down on me, because i was a demon.”

“oh, little demon,” seokjin sighs. he takes taehyung’s face between his hands and pulls him down for a kiss, before pulling him into a hug. he rests his hand on the side of taehyung’s face and plays with his hair. “i could never hate you.”

“‘m’not little,” taehyung mumbles.

seokjin just laughs. “okay. big demon.”

“your big demon.”

“my big demon,” seokjin amends. he kisses the top of taehyung’s head.

“i thought you were the most beautiful being i’d ever met, too,” taehyung admits, after lying in silence for a while. “i thought you were mocking me when you called me beautiful. i didn’t understand how someone as striking as you, as an angel, could say that about a demon.” he lifts his head, leans his chin on seokjin’s chest and quirks up a corner of his mouth.

seokjin runs his finger along taehyung’s nose and boops the tip of it. “i’ve never mocked you. i love teasing you, but i’d never mock you.”

“but i was in, like, at least half demon form. it just seemed… weird.”

“i mean, i love your demon form. i think you look hot and mysterious, but you know i’m an angel, right? i can see inside of you. i wasn’t just talking about the exterior.”

taehyung pulls a face. “you were talking about my soul? that’s so gross, hyung…”

seokjin laughs. “shut up…”

“also, i’m a demon,” taehyung begins, offering seokjin his widest, cutest boxy smile. “i don’t have a soul.”

“yes, you do,” seokjin argues. “i wish you could see it for yourself, taehyung-ah…”

taehyung hums. “what’s it like?”

“it’s beautiful.”