"Have you heard about angel numbers?"
"Sorry?" Taehyun repeated, the sudden question piquing his interest as he looked up from his laptop.
"Angel numbers," Mr Yoon replied. "'Angel numbers are short recurring sequences of one particular number that you keep seeing over and over again to the point where they stand out,'" he read out loud from the tablet in his hands.
"And why are we talking about this again?" Taehyun asked, trying to stifle a frown.
"Must everything we talk about be work-related?" Mr Yoon replied with a pout. "You didn't answer my question, by the way."
Taehyun looked up to the digital clock framed against his wall, the time reading, 5:53 in the early evening.
"53," he replied.
A smile crept across Mr Yoon's face as he began to read the blog on his tablet. "Angel Number 53 is a sign that your guardian angel is working closely with you as you go through changes in your life. These changes may seem challenging, but rest assured that they are necessary and will prove to be most beneficial in the long term.'"
"That's nice," Taehyun smiled, trying to be polite before going back to his work. It wasn't that he wasn't interested in what Mr Yoon had to say (maybe he was a little). But it's more of him wanting to use his time more productively at the moment. And to him, getting this proposal done and over with his much more important than idle talk about angel numbers.
"How about following me to a tarot card reading session when you're free? I heard their predictions are crazily accurate—you can ask them everything and anything, from your identity in your past life to your future prophecies!"
"Mhm," Taehyun hummed in response, everything delivered to him going through one ear and coming out of the other as Mr Yoon frowned at his boss' lack of attentiveness.
"Well, if you ever feel like knowing about your past or future, we could go to that reading session, you know?"
"Of course," Taehyun replied.
There's no way angels exist, he thought to himself. He had always been the type to put science above everything else. If he hasn't seen it with his own two eyes, then it's hard to believe one is true.
The same applied to this matter. Mr Yoon was probably bribed or bewitched by a shaman to be falling for all of this talk about angels and prophecies, he thought before turning his attention back to his laptop and work.
"So, Angel No.53, your update?" Sol asked the younger.
After giving the reason for him having an appointment with a friend, Beomgyu had an hour to himself and Sol to tell everything about his progress with his assigned human, Taehyun.
"Everything's alright so far," Beomgyu smiled. Sol raised an eyebrow, as if he knew there was more going on than that, but he didn't pursue the matter any further.
"Really? If it's that simple, then I guess there's nothing to worry with you then," he replied. "From what I remember, the day of his death is coming soon. Do be sure that no other mishaps will happen that will cause him to die earlier or live longer than that."
Beomgyu's smile faded, the weight of Sol's words piling on his chest as he remembered his conversation with Hueningkai the night before. It was as if the moment itself last night didn't convince him enough that Taehyun's death would be arriving this soon.
Now with the facts being said out loud, Beomgyu couldn't help but feel daunted by it. Unease fizzled in his stomach as he looked up to see his senior smiling back at him. He mustered a smile back.
No, Sol must never know about this.
"But, I do have a question in mind," Beomgyu started.
"Well, ask away then, my boy," the archangel smiled back.
"What happens if an angel falls in love with a human?"
The smile on Sol's face instantly vanished as he looked at Beomgyu seriously. Gone was the light-hearted mood as Beomgyu suddenly wished he hadn't asked that at all after seeing his godfather look so dour.
"If an angel commits the sin of falling for a human, their silver heart will turn into an hourglass. Once the image of an hourglass is present, there's no turning back, for if the angel fails to cut its ties with the human they've fell in love with, they'll perish. Similarly, the person will lose all memory they have of their angel. It depends on every angel how long they have to redeem themselves. It's a matter of how deep their love is. The stronger their lust is for its human, the faster the hourglass will run."
Beomgyu could feel his palms go sweaty at the thought of him perishing.
"And what happens if the angel tries to change the course of the human's life?"
"The difference is that when falling in love, there's a second-chance is given. But if an angel tries to change one's course of life is a sin far too great to be forgiven. Their silver heart will turn to the colour of coal as all they do is wait for the day of their departure to come."
"Which means..."
"They'll die. One way or another."
As soon as Beomgyu arrived home, the smell of takeout food seemed to have melted his worries away as he found himself fluttering towards the dining room. Taehyun was already there, laying out the food onto plates.
"That appointment sure took a long time," the latter noted.
"Yeah, it definitely did," Beomgyu replied, the sight of Taehyun standing in front of him, alive, washing away any worries created by Sol earlier. Beomgyu knew he was lying to himself. And that the truth of Taehyun dying would come soon. But he chose not to believe it and to give in to false hope.
"Why do you look so worried?"
Beomgyu looked up to see Taehyun's eyes staring back at his. No, you have to keep it to yourself, he thought.
Keep it to yourself. Taehyun must know nothing of this.
"It's nothing," he shrugged, placing his coat aside as the two began to eat their dinner. "Have you been receiving any more letters from that anonymous person?" Beomgyu asked, trying to divert the topic away to something else.
"For the time being, no. It seems like I'm not getting any closer to finding out who has been sending those too either," Taehyun sighed.
"You said it's your siblings. Won't it be easy to deduce who it is from there?" Beomgyu asked.
"I have three siblings: Kang Baekhyun, Kang Seri and Kang Doyoung. No matter how much I view it, all of them seem equally capable to be behind all this, considering our relationship and each of their desires to prove they're more successful and influential than the other. I can't really say for sure who I think is behind all this."
After saying that, Taehyun got up and made his way towards the dry kitchen only to see a wrapped parcel perched on top of the kitchen counter. Perhaps it arrived while I was out, he thought.
Not putting much thought into it, he opened it gingerly. Its first content was a card:
You're coming to Ms Kang Seri's party this Friday, huh? Shall we meet there then.
Taehyun dropped it, eyes following as it fell onto the floor.
His mind malfunctioned momentarily as he rummaged through the parcel once more. There was something else inside. Something heavier. Taehyun reached a hand inside until he felt something firm. With his bare hand, he attempted to hold it before feeling a razor-sharp edge sliced against the skin of his palm.
He quickly withdrew his hand from the parcel, slight discomfort and pain brimming on his freshly-cut wound. A dagger clanged against the kitchen counter as Taehyun held the parcel upside down, the tip painted with his own blood.
Hearing the sudden sound, Beomgyu rushed inside. "Taehyun, are you alright—"
His voice trailed off as his gaze rest upon the letter and the dagger. Worried, he turned to Taehyun, who seemed slightly shaken from the sender's sudden advance in threats.
"You're hurt!" Beomgyu cried, noticing his palm dripping with blood. With haste, Beomgyu folded the latte's sleeves upwards. His heart stopped for a moment.
It wasn't because of Taehyun's injury.
There was a beeping timer glowing on his wrist. Flickering brightly in white like a little changeling fairy flashing back at him. It blinked every second as the last digit goes down by a number. Beomgyu stood there, transfixed in place.
12:08:52:08
He understood what it meant.
12 days, 8 hours, 52 minutes, and 8 seconds.
It means that he has that much time left until Taehyun dies.
This time, the proof of the latter's inevitable death clearer than ever.