The two families gathered around the garden picnic tables, enjoying a cozy barbecue party filled with laughter and boisterous chatter. The children sat a little away from the adults’ table, enjoying a plentiful feast of rice, various barbecue meats, and copious amounts of side dishes. Jin scanned the many plates, surprised at the amount of food set out on their table. He doubted they’d finish everything, but Hyun’s father continued to supply their table with endless barbecue— not that Yoo-jin minded. 

Yet, despite the friendly atmosphere, Yoo-jin felt a prickling gaze from across the table. Averting eye contact, Jin ignored Joon’s envious glare. Man, did that guy have a brother complex or something?! Geez. Glancing at his gullible, naive friend, Yoo-jin sympathetically patted Hyun’s head. There was no way Hyun would have an easy love life with such an overprotective brother in the way. 

“Poor thing….” Yoo-jin muttered under his breath as Hyun looked over with a questioning look. 

“Eh? Did you say something?”

Hyun gazed at Yoo-jin with wide eyes, his little mouth making a tiny ‘o’ shape. Shaking his head, Yoo-jin stabbed his piece of samgyeopsal*, amused that his friend was still clueless about who he was. Well, then again, Hyun probably didn’t expect that his best friend from a past life would come to haul his butt back home. 

Taking a big bite of the meat, Yoo-jin innocently grinned at Hyun, his black eyes full of mischief. Hmm~. Should I tell him that I’m Ye-ji? Yoo-jin paused for a second, contemplating his decision, before shaking his head. Meh, that’s no fun! It’ll be better to have this dunce realize it all on his own! 

“Jin?”

“Oh, it’s nothing. I’m just sad that we won’t be able to hang out for a while.”

“Wha– Why?! Are you leaving?” Hyun whimpered, mid-bite of the kimbap* that his mother had made for him. 

“Well, we’re going to Seoul tomorrow.”

Hyun dropped the kimbap in his hands as he gawked at Jin, “WHAT?! B-But–!”

“So that we can pick up a few boxes that my dad shipped to my grandparents’ house.”

“...Huh?” 

“We still need to finish organizing our things but taking a day off to rest and recharge wasn’t too bad… Except for that mishap earlier. Tsk, he ruined the vibes.” Jin grumbled, unaware of the fact that he had given his best friend a mini-heart attack.

“Why’d you have to say it like that?! I thought you were never coming back!” Hyun pouted while his brother gazed at them like a pitiful third wheel caught in the middle of a lover’s quarrel.

“I’d like it if he didn’t come back.” Joon muttered, resting his cheek on the palm of his hand while he shot daggers at Yoo-jin, who merely rolled his eyes in response. 

“Oh… Guess I should come by often since our house is right there.” Jin pointed to one of the houses next door with a smug smirk. Heh, it’s oddly satisfying to see that dude so peeved.

“That’s your house?! This is amazing!” Hyun’s ruby red eyes glimmered excitedly. Unable to contain his glee, he hugged Yoo-jin, his grubby little fingers smearing grease and food particles on the disgusted 7-year-old.

“Ugh, Hyun—!”

“So, you’ll be staying here in Jeju-do?! Forever?!”

“… Not forever. But I guess we’ll be attending the same schools for a while.” Jin grimaced, peeling the clingy child away from him. “Here, wash your hands instead of wiping them on my shirt.”

“Ah. Hehe, sorry about that, and thank you—!” 

“Hmph.” 

“Why are you being so grouchy, hyung?” Hyun asked, raising an eyebrow at his pouty older brother. What was up with him?

“You’ve been ignoring me since earlier! I even bought you TWO cakes, but you just ran off with your new friend.” Joon pouted, his lips quivering while his olive green eyes tearfully shimmered under the hanging fairy lights.

“…?” 

Hyun slowly blinked at his older brother, surprised that Joon had been pouting over something so trivial. Wasn’t it a given that Hyun would be more excited to hang out with a new friend than a sibling he saw everyday? Hmm… I was an only child in my past life, so I have no idea if older siblings usually cling onto their younger siblings like this. But isn’t it usually the other way around? 

“Um… But hyung, aren’t you being a hypocrite?” Hyun asked, his ruby-eyes wide with wonder as he innocently tilted his head to the side. 

“What? Wait, how do you know that word?” Joon asked, gaping at his younger sibling’s extensive vocabulary. 

“Hmph. I’m not dumb! I can read and write at my age!” Hyun huffed, crossing his arms across his chest, “Anyway, you get to hang out with your friends, so why can’t I?”

“I never said that you can’t hang out with your friend. I’m just upset that you’re ignoring me.” Joon scowled, irritated that Yoo-jin was witnessing their argument. 

“When did I ignore you—? Wait. Is it because I ran off with the cake?”

“…”

Hyun felt his jaw drop as he balked at his older brother. This is getting embarrassing. I thought older brothers weren’t affectionate or cordial with their siblings. So why is mine acting like an abandoned puppy?! Is it because this world is in a fictional setting? Or is he just stupid? Hyun paused, feeling bad that he was being too critical about his brother’s affections. Okay, maybe that’s a bit harsh. I guess “overprotective” is better.

Jumping down from his seat, Hyun marched over to his brother and climbed onto the bench next to Joon. Then, with a cute smile, Hyun began to pet Joon’s head like he would for Cloudy. 

“There, there. It’s okay. Even if I make new friends, you’ll always be my older brother. So don’t be jealous, okay?”

“Pfft.” 

Hyun whipped his head towards the next-door table to find the adults struggling to keep their composure. Hyun’s father, Sun-woo, even pulled out his phone to record the adorable moment, his hands shaking from his stifling laughter. 

“Ack. Eomma, Appa! You guys were listening the whole time?!” Joon gasped, his tanned cheeks turning dark red. 

“Of course! It’s a parent's duty to eavesdrop on their children!” Eun-ha giggled, finding the entire situation unwittingly hilarious. 

“Argh…!”

“I feel bad for Yoo-jin. He had to witness all of this first-hand.” Sun-woo smiled, winking at Jin, who grinned right back.

Shrugging his shoulders, Jin smirked at Joon, “Eh, it’s okay, it was rather amusing to watch.”

“Ergh! You all suck…!” 

~~***~~

Unbeknownst to the two families, a certain mint-haired angel was perched on top the rooftop, peering down at their boisterous gathering. A pleased smile lined the dominion’s lips as he affectionately gazed at the children down below. The dominion angel hadn’t planned on visiting Heeyoon and Ye-ji, but after hearing of their reunion, Zadkiel had to come see for himself. 

Zadkiel felt a pang of guilt as he remembered the terrified expression Ye-ji had worn when Hades had whisked her away to his domain. He hadn’t anticipated the innocent mortal to be swept into the gods’ feud. 

The political rift between Heaven and the Underworld was growing rampant each passing day, with the gods of the netherworld taking sides on whether God or Hades should have jurisdiction over the runaway soul. They even started to place bets on whether Ye-ji would succeed in hauling back the little troublemaker. 

Resting his chin on the palm of his hand, Zadkiel gazed at the playful children. 

“Look at them messing around without a care in the world. Meanwhile, I’m stuck meditating on the situation between the gods. Ha…” The angel sighed, holding up the glimmering ear cuff against the bright moonlight, “But what in the world am I supposed to do with this…?”

Zadkiel had planned on returning the earring but the angel couldn’t seem to find the right opportunity to approach Yoo-jin without exposing the boy’s identity to Hyun. After multiple failed attempts, the angel thought about leaving the earring in Yoo-jin’s room, but Zadkiel didn’t want to traumatize the poor child. So, the dominion angel now found himself crouching on top of Hyun’s home, waiting for a chance to return the missing item to its rightful owner. 

“… Should I just drop it onto her plate?” Zadkiel muttered, eyeing the bird nest on the overhanging branch above him. “Birds like shiny objects, don’t they?” 

Tossing the earring up into the air, Zadkiel was about to let it fall to the ground when he noticed a peculiar engraving glowing on the inner side of the cuff. Eyes wide, the angel barely caught the earring, nearly tumbling down the roof in the process. Heart hammering against his chest, the angel quickly crawled back to his hiding space. Zadkiel hesitantly peered down and let out a sigh of relief upon seeing everyone continue their festivities.

The strange artifact gave off a soft glow, the engraved microscopic runes shimmering against the dominion’s mint eyes. Hmm. Ancient script again? I didn’t think I had to study at my age, ha… Let’s see if I can decipher it. A golden light illuminated from the angel’s hand as the artifact slowly levitated into the air. 

“Hmm? I can’t read any of it. What is this supposed to be?” Zadkiel frowned at the odd jewelry. He doubted this was a holy relic, then did it belong to Hades…?

The angel smiled darkly, his mint eyes narrowing as he watched Yoo-jin run after Hyun around the small garden. Do you truly believe the gods of the Underworld will allow you to return to your world without expecting something in return? 

“What an utter fool. How disappointing.” 

With a defeated sigh, Zadkiel combed back his colorful hair. He was sure that God knew that Ye-ji possessed an item from the Underworld. But why did he allow her to enter this world? This world wasn't stable enough to accommodate someone associated with the Underworld. Don’t tell me… does God intend to support whatever decision she makes? 

“Dammit. I suppose there's no point in agonizing over this trinket, even if it complicates things.”

Zadkiel groaned as he reluctantly stood from his hiding spot. The most the dominion angel could do was to watch over the children and hope that the barrier into this world was left uncompromised. ...If that was even possible.

“I doubt I'll be able to leisurely watch over them with what's going on in Heaven. I already have enough on my plate as it is. Why do I have to do administrative work on top of managing the seventh order?! What happened to just watching over Song Yoo? Ha… I should head back and start on those reports.”

Stretching his majestic wings, Zadkiel leaned forward and was about to take off into the night sky when he felt a prying gaze on him. Turning slowly toward the unexpected intrusion, Zadkiel froze, his heart caught in his throat. Peering up at him was a shimmer of ruby-red eyes and a giddy child jumping up and down in excitement. 

“Wow! An angel?!”

Ah, crap….

SIDE NOTE:

Samgyeopsal*: Grilled pork belly.

Kimbap*: Korean rice rolls. It’s similar to Japanese maki sushi, but instead of rice vinegar and mirin, the rice is seasoned with sesame oil, salt, and sesame seeds! :) 

**NOTE: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.**