east of eden | (g)i-dle

29; soojin

soojin didn't know what to think when they'd finally crossed the border between eden and Heaven, but now that she was out of the Palace and into the bright sunlight, what shuhua had told her before when they were in minnie's room, seated cross-legged facing each other, about the land above the sky now rang in her ears.

"it's beautiful, more beautiful than anything you can ever imagine. and so bright! way brighter than Hell, but it never feels hot. it's impossible not to feel happy when you're there, i swear."

the demon didn't quite get it then, but she got it now. being in Heaven felt so...... light.

"that's the saint's market, the saints run stalls there that sell things like herbs, dried flowers and incense. well, it's not exactly selling, because we don't have money or currency here. it's kind of like...... giving gifts! but you get to choose what your gift is," shuhua laughed, pointing out the square of wooden stalls. "it's really beautiful during the nighttime, you'll see!"

soojin found herself paying less attention to what shuhua was saying, looking at her delighted expression instead. her face lit up like a lightbulb when she talked about her home, and soojin realised that she hadn't seen shuhua smile so big for a while.

the thought made her heart beat out of time.

"-and there's the place where the fledgelings go to classes! i used to go there too, it's lovely and the elders are so friendly."

"fledgelings?" soojin asked.

"yeah, younger angels." shuhua looked at her strangely. "we aren't created looking like human adults, you know."

"it just never occurred to me," soojin defensively replied. "by the time the angels wind up in Hell, they've already become old enough to sin."

"shh! someone could hear you," shuhua pressed a finger to the demon's lips, looking around quickly. for some reason, the contact made soojin blush, and she was suddenly grateful for shuhua's short attention span. "but i suppose you're right. i guess i didn't think of it that way."

soojin barely had time to nod before the angel continued. "as the angel of youth, befriending the fledgelings is sort of my thing." shuhua's wings spread out a little prouder when she said it. "do you want to meet them?"

"you didn't even have to ask," soojin smiled.

"what are we waiting for, then?" shuhua grinned. "i'll race ya!"

the demon cracked her knuckles. "prepare to lose, angel."

"eat my dust, demon!"

༻ ༒ ༺

soojin won by a landslide, but she decided not to mention her victory after seeing shuhua arrive huffing and puffing behind her.

the elders inside the building didn't seem fazed at her arrival, probably used to her constantly dropping by. from what soojin gathered, she was a frequent visitor, going there as often as she possibly could without interrupting their lessons.

shuhua knew the interior like the back of her hand, and when she reached a set of wooden doors, she burst through them with an exclamation of "girls! did you miss me?"

faster than a bolt of lightning, a fledgeling barrelled into shuhua while speaking so quickly that soojin could barely pick out bits and pieces from her sentences.

"where have you been?"

"did you forget about us?"

"are you gonna be queen already? is that why you're so distant?"

the last question came from a fledgeling with long black hair, who stood at a distance from the other. she was seated on her desk with her arms crossed, a delicate frown painted on her face.

shuhua brushed the questions aside. "no, i didn't forget about you. i've been at the Palace a lot helping her majesty. and no, i'm not going to be the queen yet, miyeon has a long way to go!"

queen?

shuhua seemed to sense her confusion and muttered a quick "i'll tell you later" before returning her attention to the girls. not that soojin minded, she would be lying if she said that watching shuhua deal with the fledgelings didn't fill her with awe.

it wasn't anything magical or stunning, but the way shuhua expertly guided their conversations and spoke calmly despite all the chaos they brought was a sight to see. she seemed to be in her element, sitting with the fledgelings, and for a second, soojin felt bad about dragging her into minnie's mess of a situation and their trip through the east of eden.

was i being too selfish that day? by making her help us, i basically took all of this away from her. but she agreed to it, didn't she? she wanted to help minnie, right?

right?

"where's lia?" shuhua asked, doing a quick headcount and realising that one of the group of fledgelings was apparently missing.

"she's not feeling well," a brunette responded. "so she's resting"

"i see." shuhua's features relaxed, but soojin doesn't miss the way her eyebrows furrowed slightly with worry. "where is she-"

"who's that?" the black-haired fledgeling from earlier suddenly interjected, pointing at soojin, who was leaning on the doorway with her arms crossed.

soojin jumped. "uh-"

"that's soojin! angel of...... tranquillity!"

"i haven't heard of her before," the same fledgeling noted with narrowed eyes.

shuhua gave soojin a look that meant 'follow along'. "you probably haven't met her before because she doesn't up with other angels a lot. just like the way you lot prefer to hang out together all the time, soojin likes being alone."

"nice to meet you, soojin! i'm chaeryeong, and that's yuna." the other pipes up. soojin, grateful for the excuse, waved at her with a small smile.

"well, we can't stay for so long," shuhua, sensing soojin's discomfort, quickly wraps up their conversation. "soojin and i have things to attend to back at the Palace. be good, okay?"

"wait! i have one more question," yuna called. soojin didn't like the way yuna was looking at her, her eyes seeming to pierce through her being. "is minnie alright?"

shuhua froze. "of course she is, just busy like i am-"

"i know you're lying, because that's yeeun," yuna smugly replied, gesturing to the blonde fledgeling in the corner who was fast asleep, her head pillowed on her hands. "the new angel of the near future. now tell me properly, shuhua, is minnie really alright?"