Burnt Feathers and Blessed Horns

Bare Hearts

"But... why are you trying so hard to help me ?"

His words echoed in his head and Minho wondered too. He stared at the ceiling, fingers carding through Jisung's hair who had cuddled against him.

He had noticed Chan a first time when this latter fell off the stairs in front of him. He remembered the sudden flash of pain he had that stopped him from doing anything and the blood seeping in between the tiles of the floor coming from Chan's head.

And without knowing why and how, he always found himself around Chan, silently watching him from the sidelines of his life. It was as if he was drawn to him, an invisible force pushing him more and more towards him.

Or maybe a call for help.

Chan seemed to be alone for a long time and yet he kept trying. He kept hoping everything would be better. It was understanding when people usually said that when you hit rock bottom, you couldn't go deeper. But Chan seemed to dig himself deeper and deeper or maybe his pit was just endless and his suffering would just keep going until he was the one breaking down from it.

He wasn't sure, but with how everything was against him, and the familiar black misfortune crawling on his back, he knew he was cursed.

But cursing a simple human without being around to watch his masterpiece of pain wasn't normal. Whoever cursed him might have done so with pure hatred if they weren't here. Or they might not like to waste time watching some guy.

But now that he knew Chan was a fallen angel, everything made more sense. The only way to become one was to fall in love with a demon or kill an angel. And punished by God was their sentence.

And when he watched him with his broken leg, limping to the bridge, a familiar anxious drop in his stomach and cold sweats took his body. As if it was warning him.

Warning him to go and help him. To not let him go like that.

But why ?

He carefully moved away from Jisung's embrace, sitting up on his bed. He glanced at the younger still asleep and he left the room quietly.

His eyes locked on Chan's who was already awake, "Hey," his voice was hoarse and Minho smiled until he noticed the dark bruises under his eyes. Possibly from the fever and the pain that might have kept him up all night.

"Hey, how do you feel ?" He asked quietly, gently pressing his hand on his forehead and feeling how warm he was.

"I'm tired and cold," He mumbled, "and my back hurts."

Minho hummed, sitting at the edge of the couch, "What about your head ?"

Chan shrugged a bit, "Pound a bit and there's this sharp pain here," he touched just next to his temples, in the crown of his hair and Minho swallowed thickly.

It started.

"Alright, the transformation started," He told him softly and Chan stiffened at his words, "you're gonna have two horns and your back's gonna grow wings."

Chan looked even more concerned, "Is it like... gonna tear my skin ?" Minho nodded with a sympathetic smile.

"Yeah, but you'll have a badass power."

Chan snorted and Minho relaxed a bit, he could still laugh in those moments, "But you don't have horns or wings."

Minho grinned, "I actually have but I usually hide them," he trailed, seeing him nod in understanding, "and now that my powers are sealed I can't show them anymore."

He could see a flash of guilt pass through the fallen angel's gaze and he looked ready to apologize, but Minho talked first, " Don't, don't apologize. It's not your fault."