Invisible Halos | San

10

His breathing stills as he hears footsteps steadily approaching. The wall he's hiding behind doesn't offer much coverage and he'll have to move quick. The golden gates are just in sight of the ambitious Jongho, which motivates him even more. He spots another wall not too far away, so he stealthily dashes towards it, still crouching.

"Jongho?" He is stopped in his tracks when he hears a familiar voice call out his name. "Why are you bending down like that? Is everything alright?" Soojung and Yeosang's mother's concerned voice strikes some guilt into Jongho. He'll have to leave her without a word too, just like her only two children. She may not be showing it but she probably felt a great amount of grief. Should he just leave as well, without warning?

"I just dropped something, sorry to worry you!" he quickly comes up with an excuse. Jongho decides that it's too risky to reveal his true intentions and that he's too set on reuniting with his best friends to change his mind. Her face visibly relaxes at his words. "Well that's a relief. I have somewhere to be right now so I'll see you around!" She waves at him, not realising this will be the last time she'll be seeing him. Jongho once again feels the sharp pang of guilt in his chest as he replies, "See you!" before getting up and walking away.

He knows he's not yet finished with in terms of his "act of violation", but Hongjoong left so suddenly and Jongho can use that to his advantage. He approaches the gate he used to spend so much effort guarding mere days ago.

"Everything okay now?" His colleague asks him. What a snake Jongho thinks to himself while forcing on the fakest smile he's ever had. "Absolutely! I'm fit to work again" He responds, full of brightness in hopes of convincing the other angel that he's been brainwashed. He feels horrible for lying to someone's face but he has to use whatever means possible to escape once and for all. "Wonderful! Let's get back to it then." he concludes before turning to face forward again.

Jongho quietly lets out a sigh of relief as he cautiously glances around for any authorities that could recognise him. He whips his head around to the angel on the other side of the gate and notices how his attention is definitely not on the gate itself. Slowly, he slides closer and closer to the edge.

He takes in a deep breath, preparing to finally leave. He takes one last look at where he's spent his whole life so far. The soft pastel colours, the glowing decor. Whether it be in the day or the night, everything seemed to glow, either from the intense sun or the calm moon. He currently observes the moonlit structures for a final time. He's not sure if he'll miss it until he sees Earth, but he knows for certain that he'll never be able to forget the beauty. 

He feels grateful that he was never really close to his parents, because now he won't have to go through the pain of missing them. The only person he'll miss is his best friends' mother, who also behaved as his own. His real parents knew of his different personality and no matter how much they tried to accept him, internally they were always disappointed. For something Jongho had no control over. He could never forgive his parents for that.

Now's not the time to feel sorry for myself. When the coast is clear, jump.

As soon as he's sure no one's looking, he mentally says his last goodbye as he switly goes over the edge.

The strong wind in Jongho's face gives him a feeling he isn't used to feeling very often: freedom. A smile grows on his face at this foreign feeling and quickly a laugh escapes him too. A deep and hearty one. A shiver runs down his spine which exhilarates him even more. He's free!

Unless someone decides to follow him.

Stop being paranoid, you checked before jumping and no one saw you. It's safe!

Jongho doesn't let his paranoia stop him as he continues to shoot down towards Earth. He wonders if humans can see him while he still has his wings. If so, his luminescent halo would cause him to resemble a shooting star from his sheer speed. He smiles at this thought and accelerates even more.

Finally, he emerges from the bright, fluffy clouds. The wide tooth smile on his face stays put while he observes the beautiful scenery, however he doesn't stop moving. Ignoring the cramp in his cheek, he moves forward.

Suddenly, at the thought of seeing his two friends again, he gets a surge of energy and he shoots forward unexpectedly. Jongho loses control over his body, simply moving too fast. All he sees is the ground rapidly approaching.

At least it's grass is the last thought that runs through Jongho's mind before his arm roughly makes contact with the ground. His wings vanish in the blink of an eye and his whole body lurches forward. He can't help but scream in pain, but thankfull he only got injured after his wings disappeared. Otherwise he wouldn't have survived the fall.

He wearily stands up, legs wobbling like jelly. As soon as he's standing on his two feet, a sharp pain shoots up his leg and he collapses again. He looks at his ankle and realises that it's multiple shades of purple as well as severely swollen. He let's out a sigh and sits down in the grass in defeat.

I wonder how far the closest sign of civilization is.

He holds his head in his hands while he tries to compose himself. "It'll only take a week or so to heal, right? All hope isn't lost yet...if I try limping to shelter and then maybe I can rest until I'm fit to search again." Jongho mumbles to himself while trying to stand up again, carefully brushing off any dirt from his legs. 

Suddenly, an arm emerges in front of him. "It's definitely going to take more than a week." a voice calls out. Jongho shivers at the familiarity of the voice. He takes the hand offered to him. "Thanks-" He begins, before he looks up to face this mysterious being, only for his heart to speed up in alarm.

"Hongjoong?!"