Mod Post: Round 3 Lightning Drabble Round (Open to Everyone!)
Hello!
The mod team (roebling and myself, almostblue) just want to say again that we are so incredibly grateful to everyone who has written, read, and commented for this third round of TBB. Thank you for your time and effort and talent! It's been amazing to see so much great enthusiasm and energy ( Read more... )
The mod team (roebling and myself, almostblue) just want to say again that we are so incredibly grateful to everyone who has written, read, and commented for this third round of TBB. Thank you for your time and effort and talent! It's been amazing to see so much great enthusiasm and energy ( Read more... )
Yongguk’s having a good day. He’s landed back in Incheon after 2 weeks spent flying between international airports. His sister’s picked him up from the airport and taken him home. He likes being a flight attendant - loves that he can step into a different country or continent everyday, but he still misses home. He misses Tigger, his puppy who’s living with his brother. Maybe getting a dog wasn’t the best idea, given his job, but Yongguk is lonely, and Yongnam doesn't mind taking care of him when he is away.
Yongguk is walking back from the convenience store - he’d decided to stop by before going to his apartment, where he’d left an empty fridge - when it happens. He hears a thud, the sound of a tree branch breaking, and next thing he knows he’s lying on the concrete, crushed by a man literally fallen from the sky.
“Ouch,” the man on top of him hisses.
“What the fuck,” Yongguk groans, rolling the man away from him and sitting up, head spinning. He winces, holding the back of his head, and squints at the man.
He’s dressed in white from head to toe. His hair is a fair shade of silver, covering his face. He’s looking down, clutching his wing against his chest.
“I think it’s broken,” the man whines, looking up. Yongguk gasps. He’s got the most mesmerizing pair of grey eyes Yongguk has ever seen, the most beautiful face and - hold on, he’s clutching his wing.
Exactly how hard did Yongguk hit his head?
His name is Himchan.
“You’re an angel?"
"For the hundredth time, yes."
"And you fell on Earth?"
“Obviously."
“How?"
"Damned if I know."
Yongguk scowls
“What,” Himchan squints at him. Yongguk pinches his nose bridge.
"Do you know how to fix your wing?"
"Nuh-uh,” Himchan says, shaking his head.
Yongguk feels his head pulsing. He probably got a concussion, because there’s no way this conversation can be real. There’s no way the angel sitting on his couch can be real.
“I probably need time to heal on Earth.”
“How long?”
“I don’t know, a week?”
“A week?” Yongguk almost yells, high pitched and embarrassing.
“Look, I don’t know.” himchan says, irritated. "Be patient with me, alright? I plummeted from the skies.”
“On top of me,” Yongguk mumbles.
“On a tree, that you happened to be walking under.”
Yongguk sighs. He collapses on the couch, rubbing his temples in circles. It’s silent for a while.
"I’m sorry," Himchan says, softly. When Yongguk glances up at him, he looks genuinely apologetic. "I don’t know why this happened, or how to fix it, but I’ll figure it out. If I could stay here, if you could just pretend I don’t exist-"
"Pretend the ethereal being in my living room doesn’t exist?"
Himchan smiles, a small, shy smile. Yongguk can’t help but return it. "Pretty much."
Yongguk stares, and thinks. He’s got ten days before his next flight, and it’s not like he was planning to have guests. He can see Tigger on his next break. Himchan won’t be a nuisance, right? He’s an angel, after all.
“Okay."
Yongguk figures a broken wing should be treated like any other bone. He immobilizes Himchan’s left wing with a makeshift splint and tight bandages. Himchan pouts and sulks for hours, curled up on the couch, and Yongguk feels sorry for him.
Turns out Himchan is anything but angelic. He’s loud and demanding and intrusive and frankly irritating. If every angel is like this, Yongguk thinks, paradise is overrated.
He’s not used to the noise, not used to someone else living in his house, taking up his space, and being noisy in the process. Himchan looks so ethereal, with his absurd eye color, the proportions of his face and his fluffy white feathers, but he is so human, in the worst ways. He never stops talking, asks the most ridiculous questions. Yongguk finds it annoying. He’s never had to explain the internet, or television, or food to anyone. It’s frustrating. Himchan wants to know everything about the earthly world, about Yongguk, about his job.
"I don’t understand. You say you fly, but you don’t have wings."
"We fly on planes. Planes have wings."
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On the fifth day, he asks Himchan, "were you human before?"
Himchan shakes his head, "I’ve always been like this.”
Yongguk hums. He blows softly on his bowl of ramen. Himchan doesn’t eat, doesn’t need to.
"But humans turn into angels, when they die.”
"Who told you that?" Himchan asks, confused. Yongguk thinks, it’s not so simple.
"It’s what they make us believe."
Himchan falls quiet for a couple of minutes, and Yongguk eats in silence. "I think it’s true. There are always new faces up there. Why do you ask?”
Yongguk thinks about it. “You act like a human. You swear like one, too.”
Himchan laughs.
On the sixth day, Yongguk wakes up to loud clatter and the smell of burning food. He bolts into the kitchen and finds Himchan hysterically flapping his good wing to blow air on a burning hoddeok. Yongguk runs to snatch the pan and throws it in the sink, turning on the tap. The pan sizzles loudly and the fire dies out. Yongguk exhales and slumps on the counter.
“Himchan, what the hell were you doing?” Yongguk croaks. He clears out his throat.
“Um, I wanted to make you breakfast?” Himchan answers, playing with his feathers.
“You can’t cook,” Yongguk says, staring at him like he’s crazy.
“I watched you..”
“I can’t cook either,” Yongguk hisses loudly, eyes even wider. Himchan stares back and tries to hold back a snort. He fails.
Yongguk hits him.
“You’re the worst angel ever.”
One week after their crash, Yongguk realizes he’s gonna miss Himchan when he’s gone. He tells him - in the half-joking way they speak about everything - and hopes Himchan doesn’t notice how much he means it. That night, he goes to sleep early. Thirty minutes later, Himchan sneaks into Yongguk’s bed, into Yongguk’s arms, and curls his good wing around Yongguk.
“I’ll miss you too.”
On the eight day, Yongguk kisses Himchan. Himchan kisses him back. They kiss for hours.
On the ninth day, they order chicken. Himchan whines that he wishes he were human, wishes he knew what food tasted like, because everything Yongguk eats looks delicious. They’re on the couch, watching a variety show. Yongguk thinks about something, and almost chokes on a piece of chicken. He stares at Himchan. Himchan glares at him.
“What?”
"Did it hurt..."
"Don’t say it, don’t you dare saying it.”
“When you fell from heaven?”
Himchan has to punch Yongguk until he stops laughing.
It’s the tenth day. Tomorrow, Yongguk has a flight to Singapore. Himchan’s wing is healed - to be fair, has probably healed days ago. Yongguk doesn’t let Himchan leave the bed, kisses him until his lips are cherry red, and he can’t feel his own. Himchan holds him with his wings, pretends he doesn’t feel Yongguk’s tears falling on his cheeks.
The next morning, Yongguk takes Himchan to the rooftop of his building. He watches him spread his white wings - wide, majestic, beautiful - and feels his heart flutter. He watches Himchan flap them hesitantly, until he finds the familiar rhythm, and his feet leave the floor. Yongguk holds his hand and pulls Himchan down for the last kiss, whispers, "I won’t forget you,” and watches Himchan leave.
Two days later, Yongguk comes home with a heavy heart. He unlocks the door of his apartment, steps inside, and it’s never felt emptier. When he looks up from his feet, Yongguk stops breathing.
The man in front of him doesn't have wings. He isn’t wearing white, but a red plaid shirt and jeans. His hair is dark and his eyes pitch black, but Yongguk doesn’t doubt for a second.
“Himchan.”
His smile is still the same.
When Yongguk stops kissing him, he asks him how.
“Well,” Himchan grins, “They said I didn’t quite belong there anymore."
(ps: this isn't supposed to be religious or anything, i confused myself too writing it
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I loved Himchan trying to learn human skills & curling his good wing round Yongguk in bed ;_;
Super cute!!
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i love their exchange on the fifth day ahahaa
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