Life in Purgatory ch 40

[saengiephile]

Title: Life in Purgatory
Chapter: 40/40
Rating: R
Pairing: KyuJong/YoungSaeng, HyunJoong/JongWoon, JungMin/Zhou Mi, Kevin/KiBum, HeeChul/SiWon
Crossover: Super Junior, DBSK
Genre: Angst, AU,
Summary: Society is crumbling; salvation walks the earth once more.



Looking behind them, JungMin stepped out of the way for YunHo.  The angel entered the circle, going to the fallen hosts of the horsemen and touching their foreheads lightly.  It was only then JungMin noticed the sky had cleared, the darkness that had arrived suddenly gone just as quickly.

Zhou Mi let out a heavy sigh, letting go of HyungJoon's hand leaning against JungMin. He felt drained, mentally exhausted, but happy. "Will they be okay YunHo?" he asked, watching the angel.

"They will need time to recover...but yes."  YunHo looked up at them.  The other three angels stood just outside the circle, Henry leaning on KiSeop for support.

"We did it?  It's really all over?" JongWoon asked, dizzy.

"It's really over," Zhou Mi nodded. "What happens now YunHo?"

"Now I think everyone needs to go and get some rest," GyuRi said, joining YunHo in the center of the circle.

"But...what happens now? What do we do now?" HyungJoon felt a little lost, looking at Zhou Mi.  For over a year they'd searched for the reason they had these abilities, why they were who they were, but they'd never given thought to what would happen afterwards.

"Now...the roles of the sins and virtues have been fulfilled.  It's time for them to leave this world behind until they are needed again."

"Leave...?" JungMin's fingers tightened on Zhou Mi's.  "What do you mean, leave this world."

"We have to go Gabriel," GyuRi said. "Before they wake up."

"Wait, what does that mean? What happens to us?" Zhou Mi asked, brow furrowing in confusion. "Are we going to be ending up like the horsemen? Or are we... going to die?"

"Spend the night with your loved ones," YunHo smiled sadly at Zhou Mi.  "By the time dawn arrives, the sins and virtues will be gone."

"Hey, wait!"  HyungJoon stepped forward, but the angels and the limp bodies of the horsemen hosts were gone in a flash of light.

"...Gone?" KyuJong repeated, pulling YoungSaeng closer. "We'll be gone?"

"Is he for real? After everything we went through?" HeeChul said. "We're just going to what, disappear into thin air or something? Like we never existed?"

"Maybe that's not what he meant," Zhou Mi said, shaking his head. "Why can't he ever give straight answers?"

"They gotta get their kicks somehow I guess," JungMin grumbled, angry now.  What if that was exactly what YunHo meant though?  Now that the horsemen were gone, was there really no point for them being here?

"Guys, we should go somewhere else," HyungJoon said after a moment, hearing the sirens getting closer.

"The restaurant," JongWoon's eyes snapped up to HyunJoong's in sudden fear.  His parents.

"We're not too far from there, hopefully it was spared," HyunJoong said, but fearing the worst. The horsemen knew that's where JongWoon's parents were, what if they had done something?

"We'll go with you," Zhou Mi said, glancing at JungMin.

"We should call mom," HyungJoon looked at KiBum, worried now as he fumbled for his cell phone.  She lived far enough away she should be okay, but she would be worried for them.  JongWoon turned and hurried down the street, not waiting to see who was following.  JungMin followed along with Zhou Mi, YoungSaeng and KyuJong.

"I'm sure we'll all be getting worried phone calls from family soon," KyuJong said as they hurried after JongWoon. "What are we even going to say?"

"What can we say?" Zhou Mi shook his head. "Other than we're okay, and we don't know what happened. I wonder what the news will spin this as."

"Probably a North Korean attack, or terrorists," HyunJoong said, trying to keep up with JongWoon.

The area weren't looking any better as they approached Babtol's, ambulances and police cars navigating the torn-up streets.  They were all covered with dust and dirt at that point, but none of them really cared.

Seeing the windows of the restaurant smashed, the door falling off it's hinges, JongWoon's eyes widened and he broke away from them to run into the building, yelling for his parents.  Running after him, YoungSaeng's throat constricted as he took in the damaged furniture inside.

"Mom! Dad!" The shouts of relief came from the kitchen, and by the time they got there JongWoon was holding onto both his parents tightly, miraculously unhurt.

"I wonder if the school is a pile of rubble at this point," Zhou Mi said quietly, looking around. The usually pristine restaurant was trashed, and would take a few days at least to fix. They didn't have a few days though, and seeing JongWoon with his parents hurt Zhou Mi's heart. "I think we should go," he looked at JungMin with a sad smile. "I want to call my parents."

"Yeah," JungMin nodded, wrapping one arm loosely around Zhou Mi's waist.  He wasn't sure what they were doing at this point...were they really going to just disappear?  Die?  What did you do if you only had until dawn to live?  He gave the others a tense smile before they turned around and left.

"Kyu?" YoungSaeng asked quietly, feeling lost as he held onto his boyfriend.

"You want to go home?" KyuJong said, looking over at YoungSaeng. "I don't know about you, but I kind of just want to be alone with you right now."

"...Yeah," YoungSaeng nodded, the smile strained as he looked back at the younger man.  But, if this was really going to be the end...  "One moment."

Turning around to HyunJoong, he wrapped his arms around his ex in a tight hug.  "I don't know what to say," he murmured quietly to the older man.  "But if this is really...it, I'm glad to have known you."

HyunJoong was a little surprised at the sudden hug, but that didn't stop him from putting his arms around YoungSaeng's waist. "I'm glad to have known you as well Saeng," he replied, closing his eyes. "I'm glad I was able to call you my friend."

"Me too," YoungSaeng smiled, closing his own eyes momentarily.  Whatever had happened between them, they were friends now, and he would never forget that.  "At least, we know we'll see each other again...in another thousand years or so," he gave a watery chuckle, pulling back slightly to look up at HyunJoong.

"Yeah, and next time hopefully I won't be such a jerk," HyunJoong said, returning the smile. He pulled away from YoungSaeng, giving KyuJong a small nod.

Drawing in a breath, YoungSaeng looked back at KyuJong, taking his boyfriend's hand.  "Let's go," he said, stepping towards the door.  He didn't know if he could stand actually saying the word 'goodbye'.

KyuJong led him out into the street, glancing around as they started towards their apartment. There weren't many people out, and those that were looked confused and scared. Some buildings were destroyed, some looked like Babtol's with broken windows. KyuJong worried whether or not their apartment building would still be there. "I don't think we'll be watching a movie tonight," he said, trying to distract them.

"No," YoungSaeng said quietly, mind strangely blank.  It was just too hard to take in.  What were they going to do?  "I didn't think, having this fighting stuff over means...everything's over."

"Me either, but they didn't really say what was going to happen afterwards," KyuJong said. "Guess I know why now. I guess... if this is what we were born to do, then what purpose do we serve now."

YoungSaeng nodded.  All their hopes and dreams...what did those even serve for them, other than give them a way to mix with society until they had to face the horsemen?  "We still have the rest of tonight," he said, wishing he could put more strength into his voice as he looked down at their linked hands.

"I guess we'd better make the most of it then," KyuJong said, glancing at him with a sad smile. "How about we do this, before we're crying all over each other... tomorrow is just another day. We'll make plans and go on with our lives. But tonight is still a special night, so we'll treat it like a... anniversary or something."

YoungSaeng's lips quivered slightly.  "Okay.  Let's do that."  If he kept thinking about how in several hours at the most it would all be over, he really would start crying right there.  "Can we start with a shower?"  They were still caked in dirt.

"I think a shower would be nice," KyuJong chuckled. "And then we'll make a nice dinner... if we still have power. If not we'll find something to eat and just enjoy each other's company for the night."

"Hopefully there isn't much damage to the building," YoungSaeng said, leaning lightly against KyuJong as they walked.  "Did you want to call your parents?"

"Yeah, they'll be worried about me," KyuJong nodded. "What about your parents? Do they live in the city?"

"Suburbs, I'll need to call them too," YoungSaeng replied.  "Let them know I'm still alive..."  His voice caught slightly.

KyuJong didn't know what to say to that, freeing his hand from YoungSaeng's to put around his shoulder. His parents would be worried about him too. What would happen if they really did disappear? Would their parents even remember having their sons?

Pushing those thoughts aside, he looked up and saw their apartment building. Luckily it was still standing, and didn't look like it had taken that much damage. "Well, small favors I guess."

Looking up at the building, YoungSaeng nodded mutely, ducking his head to wipe at his eyes discreetly.  After a moment he drew in a breath and wrapped his arm around KyuJong's waist, leaning against him as they stepped up to the building entrance.  "Let's go see about that shower."

Not far away, JungMin and Zhou Mi arrived at JungMin's apartment, the building escaping damage as well. Zhou Mi was trying to put on a brave face, not let what had happened get to him, or what he knew was to come. They had opted for a shower as well, letting the warm water rinse off the dirt and grime.

Leaning up against JungMin, arms around his shoulders, Zhou Mi sighed a little. "Do you think it's silly of me to be mad at Gabriel for not telling us beforehand?"

"You're asking the person who gets mad at a spilled drink."  JungMin had his own arms around Zhou Mi, leaning back against the shower wall and just relaxing with his nose against the Chinese man's shoulder.  "Though I guess they had their reasons."  He'd fumed about it up until the shower, frustrated and angry and hopeless.  He wanted to find those angels and shake their feathers out until they gave him a straight answer why, but there was nothing he could do.

"I guess so, I don't know if all of us would have done what we needed to do if we knew that... it would just end for us," Zhou Mi said. That was the only justification he could come up with why the angels hadn't told them. "I guess being angry about it won't change anything."

"That's why you're Patience," JungMin chuckled wryly.  "That whole thing was...weird.  When we were fighting them, doing...whatever we did.  I felt like I was someone else, or maybe two people at once."

"Same," Zhou Mi nodded, pulling back enough to look up at him. "I felt a lot older than I really am, and that this wasn't the first time I had done that, and wouldn't be the last."

"Do you think it would ever happen that we wouldn't be able to stop them?" JungMin asked, running his hand along Zhou Mi's back.  "We did it this time, but what about the next?"

"I don't know, how long could this go on? As long as humanity is still around? it's not something I really want to think about," Zhou Mi said, shaking his head. "We just got through this, I don't want to think about the next time."

"In a way I'm glad we can't remember anything about whatever happened before us.  If we could, I have a feeling we'd be very, very bored with the whole thing."  JungMin kissed Zhou Mi softly.  "We all clean now?"

"I suppose so," Zhou Mi smiled. "And you're probably right about not having the memories of the ones that came before us. I guess in a way, learning about all this was fun, if not maddening."

"Learning about it was not fun, finding you was," JungMin grinned, pinning Zhou Mi against the other wall to kiss him deeply.

Zhou Mi returned the kiss, his grip tightening around JungMin's neck. When he finally pushed JungMin away slightly, he chuckled against the other man's mouth. "I'd say it was fun... that first time we saw each other, you dragging me to a store room to have your way with me... very fun."

"Until your roommate decided to deafen us both."  JungMin smiled at Zhou Mi, kissing him again before pulling away.  "Come on, before the water goes cold.  Again."  He turned off the water and pushed the shower door open, stepping out.

Zhou Mi followed him out, grabbing a towel and drying off. "So what should we do now? I'm so tired... but I don't want to sleep."

"Me neither."  JungMin glanced at the time.  The sun had set, it wasn't that late, but each passing second scared him.  No, sleep could wait.  "Didn't you want to...call your parents, before it gets late?"

"Yes, I should do that," Zhou Mi nodded, padding out of the bathroom, still with just a towel around his waist. "What about your parents? I don't think I've heard you say anything about them."

"I wouldn't go near them with a ten-foot pole."  JungMin followed Zhou Mi out after drying himself, shaking his damp hair.  "I'd much rather spend my time with you.  Do I have to get dressed?"

"I wasn't planning to, I didn't see the point," Zhou Mi said, frowning slightly. "What do you mean? Do you not get along with your parents?"

"That's putting it mildly," JungMin replied.  "Let's just say being Wrath might have been hereditary."  He dropped down onto the bed, pulling a brush through his hair to get rid of the knots.  "Like I said, my attention's on just you."

Zhou Mi's eyes saddened and he moved to sit down next to JungMin. "I'm sorry, I didn't know," he said softly. "My family and I... aren't really on the best of terms either. They don't approve of my lifestyle, it's one of the reasons I came here to Korea, and stayed. I don't know if calling them is the right thing or not, but I don't want to leave things unsaid."

Looking over at Zhou Mi, JungMin's lips quirked slightly.  "Well, I hope it does work out for you.  For me, it's better this way."  He leaned over and kissed the corner of the other man's mouth.  "Make the call, I'm gonna see if I can work a microwave."

"Be careful," Zhou Mi chuckled, leaning down to pick up his discarded pants, his phone in the pocket. He stared at the cell phone for a good five minutes before he got the courage to dial the number.

It was close to a half an hour before Zhou Mi emerged from the bedroom, towel still around his waist and eyes red rimmed and glassy. The conversation hadn't gone as well as he would have liked, but he got to say what he wanted to. Even if that meant if somehow he woke up in the morning he still wouldn't have parents to talk to, at least he had made the call.

Looking over from where he was reheating leftovers from the night before, JungMin sighed softly at the expression on Zhou Mi's face.  He walked over to the other man and folded him into his arms, kissing the side of his boyfriend's head.  He didn't need to ask.

The very thin wall that kept Zhou Mi from breaking down completely disappeared when JungMin's arms went around him. Everything they had been through, not knowing if they would wake up in the morning, all of the stress of it all came crashing down on him. He clung desperately to JungMin, his knees buckling. If JungMin let go, he'd crumple to the floor like a rag doll.

Somewhat expecting the collapse, JungMin secured his arms around Zhou Mi properly and helped him get to the couch, sitting down.  He couldn't say 'it's okay' like he wanted to, because it wasn't, far from it.  Any comforting words he had were taken away from him, and all he could do was cuddle Zhou Mi close and rub his back in slow circles, kissing the sobbing man's temple.

Sniffling a little, Zhou Mi looked up at JungMin, his lip trembling. "It's not fair," he whispered, touching JungMin's jaw. "I just found you, why do I have to lose you?"

Blinking back the prickling in the back of his eyes that started at that broken question, JungMin sighed softly, brushing a thumb over Zhou Mi's cheek to wipe away the tears that kept on falling.  "You're not losing anyone," he murmured, kissing the trembling lips.  "We'll see each other again."

"Doesn't mean it's fair," Zhou Mi said, leaning against him. "I wanted to take you shopping with me, get a dog, grow into old men together. Is that so much to ask?"

"No...no, it isn't," JungMin sighed, not sure what to say.  Holding Zhou Mi against his chest, he continued to kiss him softly.  "Let's just enjoy tonight, okay?  I love you, Mi."

"I love you too Min," Zhou Mi replied, returning the kisses with as much emotion as he had energy for. "I love you so much." He pulled away, looking into JungMin's eyes, lips curled in a watery smile. "Let's stay up as long as we can, make the most of this. I don't even care how tired I am... we'll just keep going until we pass out."

"Sounds like a plan to me," JungMin chuckled.  "We'll watch the sun rise."  He kissed Zhou Mi again, wiping at the older man's eyes before circling his arms around his boyfriend's waist, keeping them close.

"Or try to at least," Zhou Mi smiled, nuzzling into JungMin's neck. "Any success with working the microwave?"

"Yes, I didn't starve before you took over my kitchen," JungMin huffed.  "I'm glad you made enough leftovers for a small island, cause I wasn't about to try working the stove."

"I think leftovers is a fitting last meal," Zhou Mi said, patting JungMin's cheek. "We have some wine too, I think that will go nicely," he said, getting to his feet, padding over to the kitchen.

"Well I didn't want you to spend hours in the kitchen tonight," JungMin shook his head, standing as well.  "You lost something," he bent down to pick up the damp towel.

"Hm, wonder if that was on purpose," Zhou Mi mused, glancing over his shoulder, giving his butt a little wiggle. "I hope you don't mind."

"Depends, do you mind dinner needing to be reheated a second time?"  JungMin snorted, grinned as he straightened.  This was what he wanted to remember, above all.  If they were going to be dead by morning, he wanted to spend every last second with the person who made him feel complete.

"Not particular, though I'm not really hungry right now," Zhou Mi said, opening up the fridge and pulling out the bottle of wine. "Thirsty maybe."

"Well then, what are we waiting for," JungMin chuckled, reaching past him to open a drawer and get the wine bottle opener.

They ended up drinking more than actually eating, but neither of them really cared.  Nor did they bother with the mess left behind when they gave up eating completely.  It wasn't like they were going to have to worry about the state of the apartment come tomorrow.

When they finally fell into bed for the third and final time, giggling from alcohol, the space between the window curtains was starting to lighten.  Dawn.  JungMin wanted to suggest they open the curtains and watch the sun come up, but he was so tired all of a sudden, even the effort it took to cover them with blankets seeming too much.

"I don't want to sleep," he mumbled into Zhou Mi's shoulder, eyes slowly closing then opening again.

"Me either," Zhou Mi replied, giving up on trying to keep his eyes open. "I'm just going to rest my eyes for a minute, wake me up in five minutes."

"Mhm," JungMin nuzzled against the older man, already drifting off and sinking into darkness.

Until Zhou Mi's cell phone suddenly started ringing on what had to be the loudest setting, vibrating right off the nightstand.

Zhou Mi jolted, eyes snapping open. For a second there he thought the world was ending. Again. Pulling away from JungMin, he leaned over the side of the bed to pick up his phone, answering it without looking at who it was. "I was just drifting off to die, who is this?"

"MI! Mi, we're not dead!" HyungJoon yelled into the phone, sounding way too awake for being Sloth making a phone call at the crack of dawn.  "We're alive! I mean, we went to sleep a few hours ago, and SooHyun's stupid alarm went off, and we woke up!  We woke up!"

"Joon?" Zhou Mi blinked, having to pull the phone away from his ear HyungJoon was being so loud. "You... woke up? You're fine?" he asked, sitting up slowly.

"We're fine! I could kiss that alarm clock right now, before smashing it.  No more alarm clocks.  We're alive!  It's morning, and we're still alive!"

Zhou Mi wasn't sure what to think at that moment, staring unseeingly down at the comforter. "You're... you're okay," he said quietly, laughing softly to himself. "How do you feel? Do you feel the same?"

"I...don't know.  Kinda dizzy.  But I'm awake.  Really really awake.  It's too early to be so awake."

"What's going on," JungMin mumbled, sitting up slowly.  He felt like he'd just closed his eyes for a few seconds.

"It's Joon, they went to sleep a few hours ago and just woke up," Zhou Mi said, looking at JungMin with a wide smile. "They're fine."

"Joon, hang up, it's too early." Zhou Mi could hear SooHyun in the background grumbling at HyungJoon.

"Min and I were just going to sleep Joon... I guess we'll call you later when we wake up," Zhou Mi said, the grin not leaving his face.

"Yeah, yeah, us too.  And what do you mean too early, it was your alarm in the first place," HyungJoon was telling SooHyun as he hung up.

"So...wait, they woke up?"  JungMin blinked tiredly at Zhou Mi, alcohol and lack of sleep making it hard to process the other man's words.  "We're going to be okay?"

"... I think so," Zhou Mi nodded, setting his phone back down before curling up around JungMin again. "We're going to be fine Min, all this worrying for nothing."

"...I'm going to pluck all the feathers off YunHo's wings the next time we see him," JungMin grumbled, a wave of relief making him smile as he wrapped both arms around Zhou Mi.  He vaguely wanted to ask what the angel had meant by that cryptic message earlier, but exhaustion was pulling him under again.  "See you in the morning," he mumbled, smiling softly as he finally fell asleep.

"Probably more like early afternoon," Zhou Mi replied in a mutter before he too dropped off into sleep. And for the first time in months, he didn't have a single nightmare.

*********************************

The ritualistic noise of KyuJong's neighbors woke YoungSaeng up from a long sleep, the older man mumbled tiredly into KyuJong's hair.  Absently curling up more around his boyfriend, he pulled the blankets over their heads to muffle the commotion and tried to go back to sleep.

Considering how light of a sleeper KyuJong was, he was already fully awake by the time YoungSaeng had pulled the blankets over them. Which meant now he had to use the bathroom. Giving YoungSaeng's arm a kiss, he slid out from under the covers and padded over to the bathroom.

Two seconds later the bathroom door swung open with a bang. "Saeng! Saeng, wake up! We're okay!" he said, leaping back onto the bed, yanking the covers down.

"Mmm?"  YoungSaeng squinted at the sudden brightness, blinking blearily up at KyuJong.  "We're what?"  Sitting up and rubbing at his face, his mind finally caught up with him as he saw the sunlight from behind the curtains, and the expression on KyuJong's face.

"We're...we're alive?  We're not dead?"  His eyes widened, and a wide grin stretched across his face before he grabbed KyuJong by the shoulders and kissed him fiercely, clinging to the younger man.

KyuJong returned the kiss, his arms going around YoungSaeng's waist and holding him tightly. They had gone to sleep the night before curled up together, both seeing how long they could stay awake. He had never felt so helpless as he had the night before. None of that mattered now because it was morning, they were alive, and YoungSaeng was still in his arms.

Pulling away after a few minutes of the passionate kiss, he looked into YoungSaeng's eyes, smiling brightly at him. "I... I don't know what's going on but I'm not complaining."

"Neither am I," YoungSaeng laughed, wrapping his arms around KyuJong's neck and just smiling at the other man.  "We're...we're going to be okay.  That must mean...the others are okay too."

"I should hope so," KyuJong said, not able to tear his eyes away from looking at YoungSaeng. "Maybe we should call JongWoon and HyunJoong, they're probably sleeping still since I didn't get a phone call from JongWoon yet."

"Let's wake them up then," YoungSaeng laughed, kissing KyuJong deeply before rolling over to fumble for the cell phones on the bed, holding KyuJong's out to him.  "You call JongWoon, Hyun isn't waking up for any amount of good news."

"Didn't think so," KyuJong chuckled, scrolling through his contacts and finding JongWoon's number. He leaned over to give YoungSaeng another kiss while he waited, listening to the ringing.

After several rings the call was picked up.  "Mrrrng?" It sounded like JongWoon was trying to eat his pillow.

"JongWoon! Wake up! We're okay!" KyuJong chirped brightly. "Saeng and I just woke up, we're perfectly fine... far as we can tell. Wake up! Wake up Hyun!"

There was silence over the other end of the phone as JongWoon's sleepy brain pieced together KyuJong's words.  "....Oh my God!  Hyun! HYUN! Wake up wake up wake up wake up-" Thump.

KyuJong waited, trying to listen for any signs of life from the other side of the line. "Is he okay?" he asked, glancing at YoungSaeng. "Does rolling Hyun off the bed sometimes not work?"

"Unless he brained himself on the nightstand, it should have worked." YoungSaeng blinked at the phone.

"...He's still sleeping!" JongWoon whined into the phone.  "I can't believe this.  I'll call you back later Kyu, time to get the cold water."

"Tell him to get the tweezers and pull out his armpit hair," YoungSaeng mused thoughtfully.

"...Ow," KyuJong looked at YoungSaeng with raised eyebrows. "I don't even know how you know that works," he said, hanging up the phone. "He'll call us back when Hyun's awake. Yesterday probably took a lot out of him... well all of us really."

"Yeah," YoungSaeng leaned against KyuJong, still feeling giddy beyond belief.  "All that worrying...and we're okay.  But then, what did YunHo mean?"

"I.. don't know," KyuJong shook his head, putting an arm around YoungSaeng's waist. Something occurred to him, and he looked down at where he was holding onto YoungSaeng. "I don't... feel you anymore. Not like I did."

"Hm?"  YoungSaeng blinked, looking at KyuJong and realizing the same thing.  "...Neither do I."  It didn't feel like they were being held together by an invisible string.  "But..."  Eyes widening, he scrambled off the bed and to the window, opening the curtains.

"Kyu...the auras are gone."  He looked down at the few people walking around the street.  "The green auras, I can't feel them anymore either."

"What?" KyuJong got up, stepping up behind YoungSaeng and looking down. YoungSaeng was right, the auras were gone. He couldn't feel anything from them either. Just like he didn't feel that strong bond with YoungSaeng. Settling his hands on YoungSaeng's shoulders, he tried to make sense of what was going on. "So... when he said the sins and virtues would leave, he meant the parts of us that were the sins and virtues. We're not opposites anymore Saeng."

"We're not?"  YoungSaeng looked back at KyuJong as he took that in.  He wasn't Envy anymore, nor was KyuJong Kindness.  They were just themselves.  Relief was short-lived though.  "What...does that mean for us, though?" He asked quietly.  He loved KyuJong, even without the bond, the attraction was still there.

KyuJong looked into YoungSaeng's eyes for a moment, wondering what that did mean for them. After a moment though, he just shook his head and lean in to give him a kiss. "Absolutely nothing as far as I'm concerned. I still love you, I still feel like you complete me, and I still think you're hot as hell. That's all I need."

Lips curling into a grin, YoungSaeng wrapped his arms around KyuJong's waist, pulling him close.  "Me too.  So...we can be a normal couple now?  With normal couple problems, not saving the world problems?"

"I'll gladly take any normal problems," KyuJong chuckled. "Like paying bills and getting groceries. As long as I have you, that's all that matters."

"Yes," YoungSaeng chuckled, resting his cheek on KyuJong's shoulder and closing his eyes.  "We should go see if they need help fixing up Babtol's after.  It looked like it's going to be a while before they can get up and running again."

"We can do that, but... I think I want you all to myself for a little bit longer," KyuJong said with a smile. "I think I deserve that."

"Yes, yes you do," YoungSaeng chuckled, pulling the younger man back to the bed and tackling him onto the sheets.  KyuJong deserved that and more, and YoungSaeng was going to give him everything he possibly could.

Maybe it had been some kind of unspoken agreement, but KyuJong wasn't even surprised when he looked up from where he was righting one of the tables to see Zhou Mi and JungMin standing in the doorway of Babtol's. He and YoungSaeng had spent the better part of the morning celebrating the fact that they were still alive until hunger had driven them from bed and out the door. HyunJoong and JongWoon were already waiting for them when they arrived, and they set about cleaning up the mess.

"Hey, I hope you weren't looking for breakfast," KyuJong said with a grin. "I think we'll get some lunch in a couple hours though, if you're not too busy to help."

"Nah, can't stand to see our favorite restaurant out of commission for too long," JungMin chuckled, stepping into restaurant.  All things considered, the damage wasn't that bad.  A few tables would need to be replaced along with the windows and door, and some of the decorations were torn up and would have to be removed, but it was something they could recover from.

"We had no power so the fridges needed to be emptied, but my parents are out getting more food now," JongWoon said, getting HyunJoong to help him remove the damaged remains of the large window.  "New windows and door are already ordered, will need to keep the place boarded up until they come in."  He was in a good mood though, despite all the damage.

"Insurance will probably cover it, it could have been a lot worse," HyunJoong said. "Got a call from my work earlier, the building had been destroyed. So I'm out of a job. Not exactly the worse news I've ever got."

"The building was going to fall over from all the cranes smashing into it anyways," YoungSaeng said, frowning at a broken chair and placing it with the other damaged furniture out by the street.

"You could work with us," JongWoon grinned happily at his boyfriend.  "Wait on tables and stuff, it's fun!  You're probably better at manager-stuff than me anyways."

"You mean forklifts Saeng, and that was one time!" HyunJoong called over to him before looking at JongWoon. "I'm not really made for being a waiter, too many things to remember. But, I'm good with the books, maybe we could get your parents an early retirement. You cook, I manage."

"We'd be the best team ever," JongWoon laughed.  "Just don't swap positions."  He yelped as he sliced his finger on a sharp edge.  "Ow ow ow ow," he sucked on the wound unhappily.

"...Maybe we should hire a cook," HyunJoong sighed, shaking his head. "Come on, let's go wash that and put a bandaid on it before you bleed all over everything."

Trying to whine that his cooking skills were perfectly fine over the finger in his mouth, JongWoon walked dejectedly towards the kitchen.

"Well, this place is still looking better than I thought it would," JungMin said, taking care of the damaged decorations.

"Shouldn't take long to get this all fixed up," Zhou Mi said in agreement. Considering his usual abstaining from anything resembling manual labor, Zhou Mi was surprising himself in helping pull down broken decorations from the wall. "It looked like the school didn't get hit too hard either, which is good since classes will be starting next week."

"Small miracles then," YoungSaeng shook his head finding the broken leg of a chair.  Sighing, he strode towards the door to toss it in the growing pile of broken wood.

Glancing behind himself at KyuJong, he turned back to the door and came face to face with Pestilence.

His yell of alarm startled a shout out of the other man, who stepped back out of the doorway before doubling over in a coughing fit.

KyuJong blinked at the commotion, setting down what he had been working on and stepping towards the door. It wasn't just Pestilence, but... "YunHo?" That got Zhou Mi's attention and he looked towards the door.

The librarian was busy rubbing the back of the man coughing, blinking at KyuJong in confusion.  "...Hi?"  There was no recognition in his face, like KyuJong was a stranger who just happened to know his name.

"I'm okay," panted the man who used to be Pestilence, straightening.

"...I don't think they're open Chun, we might have better luck down the street," YunHo frowned at the inside of the restaurant.  "We're sorry for the scare."

"No, no need to apologize," KyuJong said, immediately smiling at the two. "I'm sorry, we haven't really met... Saeng, my boyfriend goes to the school, you work in the library right?"

"Yes, he does," Zhou Mi said, coming closer to the door. "Nice to see you YunHo, I hope you're enjoying your break."

Looking to Zhou Mi, YunHo smiled as he seemed to recognize the teacher, nodding.  "Yes, I have been, I hope you have as well?  We have no power right now, and were hoping to find somewhere still open to eat."

"What the hell could do this much damage," the man with him was looking down the street with a frown, one sleeve over his mouth against the dust.

It occurred to JungMin then that they were talking to YunHo... Not Gabriel speaking through him, not the angel, but YunHo himself.  From the look on his face, he had no recollection of anything, and the same seemed to be true of Pestilence's host.

"I saw a couple food stalls open down the street," Zhou Mi said, pointing further down. "A lot of people lost power, so they're pretty busy. I haven't even heard what the "official" reason was for what happened last night, I'm just glad to be alive."

"Guess we should all be," YunHo chuckled ruefully.  "Is the school still-oof," he winced when the man beside him elbowed him.  "Sorry, this is Zhou Mi, a teacher.  Zhou Mi, this is my boyfriend, YooChun."

"Sorry I can't shake your hand," YooChun said, still covering his mouth with his sleeve.  "I'm contagious."

"Oh, no apologies, I understand," Zhou Mi said with a smile, trying not to look too concerned. "Nice to meet you YooChun, YunHo never told me he had such a cute boyfriend." he pointed over his shoulder to JungMin. "That's mine, before you think I'm getting any ideas."

"Redhead," YooChun mused.  He looked over at YunHo.  "I wonder what you would look like with red hair."

"Nowhere as good as him, don't get any ideas."  YunHo wrapped his arm around YooChun's shoulders.  "Well, we'll be on our way then, good luck here and see you in school Zhou Mi," he smiled at the Chinese man.

"You as well," Zhou Mi nodded to them both, watching them walk away. He sighed a little, leaning against the doorway. "Gabriel had told me that YunHo was in a relationship... I just didn't realize who he was in a relationship with. No wonder he was chosen."

"I wonder who became a host first," YoungSaeng murmured.  "And if the other noticed."  He remembered the deranged smirk on YooChun's face from when he'd been Pestilence, and thought it would have been impossible for the real YunHo not to have noticed a difference in his boyfriend.

"Well, that's all settled now," JungMin pushed away from the wall.  "Guess all eight hosts are back to normal now, and don't remember a thing.  Probably better that way."

"Probably," Zhou Mi nodded. If YunHo had retained his memories of being Gabriel, it could have changed his relationship with YooChun. "I wonder why we got to keep ours then?"

"Who knows, I'm glad they didn't," KyuJong said, shaking his head. "Makes me wonder then about the other angels. We knew about the backgrounds of the horsemen, but nothing about the angels."

"I doubt we'll ever know," Zhou Mi said. "It's probably for the best."

"Well, I'll have to go back to work eventually, so I can see if GyuRi is still around," JungMin shrugged.  "She came in a bit after me, since the club's new and all."

"That KiSeop guy was at the library downtown," JongWoon said, leaning out of the kitchen.

"Why are we stalking people who we don't even know," YoungSaeng sighed, going to continue cleaning up.  "Let's try and have this wrapped up more before your parents get back with the food."

"You can't tell me you aren't just a little bit curious?" KyuJong asked, coming up beside YoungSaeng to help him. "I mean, the angels knew everything about us, but we only knew their names. It's not like we would go and tell them they were angels for the past year or so"

"I don't think they'd believe us anyways," YoungSaeng chuckled, with KyuJong's help pushing the podium back upright.  "I just think, if everything's back to normal, we should leave well enough alone.  If we're supposed to know them, then it'll happen."

"Where's the fun in that?" KyuJong grinned at him. "And hey, obviously we're supposed to know who YunHo and YooChun are, since they stopped by here of all places."

"You just want an excuse to go snooping," YoungSaeng smirked, shaking his head.

"Hey, our lives are going to be pretty boring after this, gotta have something interesting to do," JungMin chortled.

"If you get bored, I can think of a few things for you to do JungMin," Zhou Mi mused. "Let's get back to work, the sooner we get done with this the sooner I can go home and shower again. How do people stand doing this kind of work all the time?"

"Cause if we don't we don't get food," JongWoon declared, pulling gloves over his hands as he went back to tackling the window.

"Speak for yourself," JungMin hopped out the door to help JongWoon's parents who had just showed up with the food.

Laughing quietly, YoungSaeng pulled KyuJong back out of the way and rested his chin on his shoulder.  "I thought it would feel horrible," he murmured.  "Not being bonded anymore.  But it doesn't."

"No, it really doesn't," KyuJong said, leaning up against him. "I think I like it better this way."

"Yeah," YoungSaeng chuckled, holding onto the younger man from behind.  "Me too."  He knew this attraction was real, not something that had been decided for them thousands of years ago.  Maybe they wouldn't get along as flawlessly as before, maybe there would be a few arguments and fights, but that was okay because the fact they could do that and still love each other was what made their feelings real.

And in another thousand years, they'd be back doing the same thing.  Now that he knew their lives didn't end when their jobs as sins and virtues were complete, he felt comforted by that.  Because even after this life was over, he and KyuJong would meet again in a different place and a different time, to share another lifetime together.  They would all have another lifetime together, even if their names and faces changed.

They were Zhou Mi, JungMin, JongWoon, HyunJoong, HyungJoon, SooHyun.  But they were also Patience, Wrath, Humility, Pride, Sloth and Diligence.  Even if he couldn't feel like Envy anymore, YoungSaeng knew somewhere inside him he still was, they all were.  Beings that stepped forward time and time again to defeat the horsemen, guided by angels, and were rewarded for their courage with endless lifetimes next to the people they loved.

YoungSaeng spared a moment to ponder who they would be next in another thousand years, before laughing at the fight for food that had started without them.

Let their future stay as mysterious as their past.  Being here right now, that was all that mattered.

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Thank you all for reading and following along with this story and we hope you enjoyed reading. There will be an epilogue posted on Tuesday, and next week our newest story will be posted on Sunday. Enjoy the teasers while you wait!

Thank you again, from the writers - Copy & Paste