Chapter Text
1.
"Hey, does it hurt-"
Jeonghan silently heaved a long-suffering sigh before turning to face the owner of the voice. The stranger'd only made out half of Jeonghan's face under the dim club light, but it was enough for him to decide to try his luck. Jeonghan blinked; long, delicate lashes brushed porcelain-like skin and it was nothing the other man has prepared for as he stopped in his tracks, dumbstruck to the person who he'd hit on.
Jeonghan felt uncomfortable before the stranger's blatant gaze and squirmed a little bit. The other seemed to notice it as he regained his composure to finish the previous sentence: "Does it hurt, when you fell from heaven?"
As Jeonghan was about to politely decline the other's advance, his eyes caught a familiar figure. He quickly stepped away from where he was leaning on the bar and turned to stare straight into the stranger's eyes. A small smile appeared on his lips: "Don't you know? All Angels who fell from Heavens end up becoming Demons". And then, without waiting for a reply, he quickly went and disappeared in the dancing crowd.
2.
Kim Mingyu was enjoying his night to the fullest. The woman before him was enthusiastically pressing her voluptuous body against his, and through the blasting music, he heard her low, breathy suggestion: "My place or yours?" As Mingyu was about to answer, he caught a whiff of something quite unpleasant but not unfamiliar.
A flash of white crossed his sight, he saw Yoon Jeonghan stood there staring at him across the dance floor. His body unmoving admits dancing bodies. His gaze bright, upright, crystal-clear and contained not so much as a flick of dust. Mingyu clicked his tongue, before gently pushing the woman who was holding on to him to the side and made his way over to Jeonghan. Without saying anything, he grabbed Jeonghan by the wrist and pulled him through the back door, out of the bar and into a narrow alley.
Jeonghan had remained calm all of the way, albeit being treated a little bit too roughly. He barely bat an eyelash even when he was pushed against the wall. It had rained just a bit a while ago, there was puddles on the ground. The musty smell of dampened metal mixed with Mingyu's dark, dangerous scent of tobacco, roses and cinnamon was faintly intoxicating. The taller man stood only half a foot away. Jeonghan watched as Mingyu's dreamy chocolate brown eyes that were so loved by the ladies slowly turned scarlet red. The black irises stretched into a thin, vertical line resembling those of amphibians. Jeonghan knew, right then, that it was the sign of the younger being unhappy.
And he was right, because Mingyu almost growled, the sound rang in Jeonghan's ears even though his lips barely moved in a whisper: "What the hell are you doing here?"
Jeonghan felt that he should have been scared, but he wasn't. A part of him was elated, even in mirth; because the question, while a menacing one, was rather appropriate given Mingyu's identity. And he might have let it shown a bit, by the small chuckle that somehow escaped through small, thin lips. Mingyu frowned, his pointy tail that had appeared in the midst of wrath curved into something like a question mark. The black mist that was emitting from his body vanished as Jeonghan's melodic laughter rang in the narrow alley. It was all sorts of endearing and Jeonghan titled his head at his old friend. With twinkling eyes, he said softly: "I came to find you."
Mingyu's voice came out rumbling like an angry beast. "What for?" Belatedly, he put his hands on his hips, dangerous red eyes slowly returning to that velvet, rich, chocolaty colour. Most of the time, Mingyu could never stay mad for long and Jeonghan smiled a little bit. "It's just... we haven't seen each others for so long, I just wanted to see how you are doing."
At this, Mingyu shifted the weight to the other foot and scrunched his sharp eyebrows together. "I've been good. Better actually. Much more freedom than when I was with you guys. Don't really have to follow the rules and shit- wait, you're talking bullshit! We ran into each others yesterday. You and Seokmin was going for waffles at the campus cafe where I was working."
Jeonghan bit his lips. "Well, I-"
"Leave."
Mingyu growled and was about to turned when Jeonghan said innocently: "I forgot my wallet, can't get home. Can you give me a ride?"
"What? Why don't you just fly home? It'd be much quicker. What are the wings for?"
Jeonghan blinked. "My energy got contaminated."
Mingyu looked incredulous. Jeonghan quickly explained: "I spent too much time in the bar looking for you, and, well, there was a lot of impure activities going on... I don't have enough pure energy to maintain flight."
Mingyu got mad again, baring his pointy teeth this time. He growled: "Then why the hell are you even here in the first place?!" But his anger quickly died down. Mumbling something about 'missing the fun', he turned and crouched down in front of Jeonghan. The latter's eyes twinkled with excitement as Mingyu's bat-like wings sprouted from his back.
"Come on," he said, voice dragging as if he was ready to give up on life. "Just get on."
Jeonghan blinked, unmoving. Mingyu turned to give him a long-suffering look: "I did not drive here so as far as "rides" goes, this is your only option."
The older nodded and made to climbed onto the younger's back. Jeonghan was temped to touch Mingyu's wings which were twitching agitatedly, but refrained from doing so, knowing the other would not have taken kindly to it. He settled for putting his hands on Mingyu's broad shoulders, feeling it tensed just a little bit. He heard Mingyu say: "Your energy will be corrupted more quickly if we're in contact. So remember to bath in holy water and eat a lot of sweets when you get home."
And Jeonghan thought, when he held Mingyu a little bit tighter and feeling himself being taken off of the ground, that the other was right. He could feel his energy, which was a pool of crystal clear water, slowly became contaminated with dark spots that spread like ink. It was unpretty. But as he burried his face into Mingyu's sun kissed neck, breathing in the sweet, sickly scent, he found himself not caring anymore. He missed Mingyu, and just tonight, just tonight he will let himself be corrupted. Just a little bit.
3.
Joshua Hong found Jeonghan in the largest bathtub in their home. It was five minutes to two in the morning; if bathing at this hour of the day was not a strange enough occurrence, the tray of assorted desserts (red velvet cupcakes, macarons, chocolate truffles) on the edge of the tub explained everything. "Did you see Mingyu again?"
There was a little bit of white, cotton-like foam on Jeonghan's chin. His gaze lazily moved. He looked at Joshua who was leaning against the archway from the corner of his eyes. Slowly, Jeonghan hummed in confirmation. At this, Joshua gracefully stepped inside and sit down carefully on the edge of the tub, his fox-like eyes glued on his friend in contemplation.
"What do you want to say?" Jeonghan sighed after a while of inaction from both of them. He could feel Joshua's concern and it made him sink a little bit deeper into the bubbles. The other politely moved his gaze, delicate fingers reached towards the dessert tray and picked up a beautiful macaron. "Your energy," Joshua said slowly, "it's darkening."
He stopped a little bit to examine the little cookie he was holding, took a bite and closed his eyes as if to savor the taste before continuing: "I can feel it. Maybe He too, feels it."
At this, Jeonghan lifted a hand out of the water. He shook it a little to get the foam off. There, on the nail of the ring finger, what used to be a healthy, pearly pink shade was then covered in faint dark spots. Joshua saw it, and he waited for an answer from Jeonghan but the other remained silent. Seeing that he was not going to get a reply, Joshua continued: "You should stop meeting Mingyu. At least until you know what will come of these meetings."
This time, Jeonghan looked up, and even though what came out of soft, pink lips were an affirmation, he did not seem too sure: "I don't want to fall."
Joshua glanced at him before popping the rest of the cookie into his mouth. He gently clapped the crumbles off, and after a while, he smiled: "I want to, though."
Jeonghan blinked. Joshua looked at the crystal chandelier and the Renaissance painting above them. Slowly, he threw Jeonghan a teasing smile: "But only if I found a good reason to. Like Mingyu did."
"Mingyu?" Jeonghan frowned, and he asked, not for the first time. "Why did Mingyu fall?"
The water in the tub made small waves as Jeonghan moved suddenly. Joshua looked at a few drop of holy water that had got to his forearm, smiled and reached out to push a strand of wet hair behind Jeonghan's ear. And then slowly he crouched, pressed a light kiss to his friend's forehead. "Oh, like very other reasons for an Angel's fall - having feelings you should not have, such as Greed, Envy, Wrath..."
"... or Lust."
4.
Mingyu had sinned. That was all Jeonghan knew.