~~A Few Moments Prior…~~

“Bye-bye! Have a nice trip tomorrow!” Hyun giggled, waving at Jin, who tiredly waved back from his father’s arms.

“Haha, thanks, Hyun.” Ryan smiled, ruffling Hyun’s fluffy black hair before turning to Hyun's parents, “Thank you for inviting us. We had a lovely time.”

“Call us if you ever need anything. We’re always happy to help.”

“Will do. Well, good night!” Hye-su smiled, waving goodbye as she and her husband crossed the street.

“Good night!” Turning to her children, Eun-ha herded them inside, “Okay, come on, kids! Time to get ready for bed.” 

Struggling against her touch, Hyun held up his flower garland, “Eomma, can I stay in the garden a bit longer? I want to finish this.”

“No, it’s getting late. You can finish it tomorrow.”

“But by then the flowers on my garland will have already wilted!” Hyun whined, showing the wilted bits to his mother.

“That’s unfortunate, but you need to sleep if you want to grow big and strong like your brother. Come on.”

“But hyung isn’t strong. He’s average.”

“Pfft!” Sun-woo quickly turned away from Hyun, unable to keep from laughing at Hyun’s honest opinion of Joon’s strength. Thank goodness Joon’s already inside. One crisis averted, whew.

“… What if someone tries to kidnap you? Won’t you be sad if you don’t see us again?” Eun-ha attempted to drag Hyun inside, but the 7-year-old firmly planted his buttocks on the ground. 

“Then just ten minutes! Let me stay for ten minutes!”

“Why don’t you let him stay for a bit? I’ll make sure to keep an eye on him.” Sun-woo tickled his youngest son, making the little boy roar with laughter. 

“Seriously? You’re just spoiling him by letting him do whatever he wants!” 

“Ah, come on. Kids in Seoul even take the subway by themselves. Don’t you think our backyard is safer than a crowded street? Besides, we used to play outside for hours when we were kids.” 

“Eommaaa! Pretty please? Cloudy will be with me, too! I’ll be super safe!” Hyun chirped excitedly.

“That’s not nice. Cloudy also needs his sleep. Look at him, he’s exhausted!”

       Hyun and his father turned to the family dog, prancing around the yard without a care in the world. The duo looked back at Eun-ha, whose cheeks turned pink with embarrassment. 

“Anyways, no means no!”

“Hnng… Eomma, I promise to be good! Pleaseee?”

       Eun-ha pursed her lips, trying not to smile at her son’s adorable face. But the longer she stared at Hyun’s puppy eyes, the more she felt her resolve crumble. With a sigh, she glared at her innocent husband.

“You'd better watch over him like a hawk!”

“Of course, I will! Go on, Hyun. I’ll watch you from inside the house.”

“Yay! Thank you, Eomma and Appa!”

~~***~~

Humming to himself, Hyun picked some wild flowers growing near his mother’s garden while Cloudy kept watch. “Okay, Cloudy, let’s go sit on the bench. After I finish this garland, I’ll make a crown for you— huh?”

Hyun stared at the huge pair of majestic wings peeking out from the overhanging branches. Was that an angel? The little boy’s eyes lit up in surprise. Was God finally answering his prayers? Hehehe. I guess it was worth tagging along with my parents to church. I knew God wouldn’t abandon me here without any guidance! Gods in reincarnation novels always help out the main character! 

Feigning surprise, Hyun let out a loud gasp as he giddily jumped up and down, “Wow! An angel?!”

“Uh….”

“Mr. Angel! Hi! Are you here to check up on me?!”

“Er, h-hi.” Zadkiel mumbled, offering an awkward wave. Oh no, what should I do? I didn’t expect her to notice me! Let’s sneak away for now—.

“Are you going to leave already?” Hyun asked, his smile turning into a small frown as he caught Zadkiel trying to take off into the night. 

“Yes?”

“Wait, please don’t go yet! Didn’t God send you to see me?”

“Um, no. I came of my own volition.”

“What?”

“…?” Zadkiel raised an eyebrow at Hyun’s shocked expression. Hmm? Is it that surprising that I came to check up on him? 

“Why?”

“Huh? Uh, well, because I was—.”

“No, I’m not asking about you. Why is God ignoring me?” Hyun asked, his face now full of anger.

“What do you mean?”

“I prayed to him every single day, asking for some guidance! So why is he ignoring me? If he made a deal with me, he should at least check up on me, no?!”

“Mm.” Zadkiel awkwardly looked away from Hyun’s blazing eyes. You would be shocked to find just how much time God spends cooing over you. I heard there was a backlog of reports idly sitting on his desk because he’s been too busy observing this world. What has the universe come to? Ha….

“Does God even listen to people's prayers?” Hyun asked, stomping his foot on the soft grass.

“I suppose when he has time. The Lord is often too busy handling the affairs of Heaven to listen to every single prayer. Most of that duty falls on the guardian angels.”

“Then are you my guardian angel?”

“Oh, no. I am far too busy managing my own duties. I only came to see you because of Ye— uh….” Zadkiel clamped his mouth shut. Exposing Yoo-jin’s identity was not part of his duty, and Zadkiel refused to be held responsible for ruining their friendship. 

“Because what?”

“Er, because I was curious about you!” Swooping down to the little boy, Zadkiel teasingly booped Hyun’s nose. 

“Hmph. I got excited over nothing.” Hyun swatted away Zadkiel’s hand and slumped over the picnic table, crushing his flower garland. Why did God even bother making a deal with him if he was going to abandon him? This was so unfair! 

“You’re thinking that God abandoned you, huh?” Zadkiel mused, petting Hyun’s head as the little boy hissed at the sudden touch.

“It’s not a thought, but a FACT! And don’t touch me!” Hyun growled, baring his tiny teeth at the amused angel.

“So vicious. But you should know, God truly cares for you in his own way.”

“Doesn’t seem like it.”

“I promise you, no matter his silence, the Lord wishes only the best for you.”

“Yeah, yeah. Whatever.” Hyun muttered, rolling his eyes. I don’t care what this angel says. That bimbo doesn’t care about me at all! I haven’t even met Song Yoo yet! My handsome Song Yoo…! Wait!

Hyun suddenly perked up from his seat as he eyed the confused angel, “I guess you’ll do, for now.” Jumping down from his seat, Hyun skipped towards Zadkiel with a mischievous grin. 

“What are you…?” Zadkiel backed away from Hyun, who inched closer and closer.

“Ahem. You see, I have a ton of questions for God. But since I can’t get a hold of him, I figured I could air out my grievances to you! Do you mind answering some questions?”

Zadkiel pursed his lips, regretting his decision to check up on this devious child. “Three. You get three questions.” 

“Tch. Stingy.”

“Then only one question—.”

“Ahh! I take back what I said! Three questions are enough!”

“Well, go on. I don’t have all night.” 

“Give me a minute! I need to choose wisely if I only have three questions.” Hyun grumbled, fiddling with the flower garland while adding new flowers to the intricate design. “Okay, first question. Am I in a fictional world that is based on a particular novel or webcomic?”

“What a difficult question right off the bat,” Zadkiel murmured, stumped on how he was supposed to answer Hyun’s question. “I can’t simply reply with a yes or no as this world doesn’t quite fit the mold of a fictional setting. But I also can’t say it isn’t.” 

Hyun itched to ask what Zadkiel meant, but the adorable child didn’t want to risk losing his two remaining chances. Instead, Hyun cutely tilted his head to the side, his red eyes pleading for an explanation. 

Clearing his throat, Zadkiel suppressed his urge to laugh at Hyun’s burning curiosity. “Ahem. What I mean is, while God took some inspiration from the novels and webcomics that you read, he didn’t send you to a particular fictional world. He simply created an environment that encompasses some elements of those stories. For example, the color of your eyes is one characteristic you typically wouldn’t see in the real world.”

“Oooh. I guess that’ll also explain those weird effects I’ve been seeing. But that means I’m not the main character or villain of any particular story, right?”

“Correct.”

“T-That wasn’t my second question! I was just talking to myself!” 

“Oh, really? I didn’t notice.” Zadkiel muttered dryly, “What’s the next question?”

Is he really an angel and not a demon? Why is he so mean? Crossing his arms, he carefully thought of his second question. “After I accomplish my goal, will I return to my life as Heey-oon or remain in this world?"  

“I can’t guarantee what will happen as I am not privy to the covenant between you and God. However, from my understanding, those who held a similar agreement to yours were given the choice to return to their world or stay within the realm they reincarnated in. So, it’s highly likely that you will have to make the ultimate decision in the end.”

“There were others like me?! What happened to them?”

“Is that your third question?” Zadkiel asked, his piercing mint eyes carefully studying the little boy in front of him. 

“I…” Hyun hesitated. 

Was this more important than finding Song Yoo? But wouldn’t it also be helpful to know what happened to the people who had once been in his shoes? Hyun scowled, frustrated with his growing curiosity. This angel purposely mentioned the other contractors, didn’t he?! Three questions aren’t nearly enough to satiate my curiosity! Are all angels so uptight like him? 

“Time’s ticking. If you don’t ask your last question within the next 30 seconds, I will have to leave.”

“What?! You didn’t say anything about time limits!” Hyun banged his small fists on the table, flabbergasted by the sudden rule.

“You should’ve asked. You have approximately twenty seconds left.”

“Why, you!”

“Fifteen.”

“Fine! Fine, I’ll ask my last question!” Hyun glared at the smug angel. “Who, what, when, and where will I meet Song Yoo?”

“… What?”

“What’s wrong?”

“You placed four interrogative words into your ‘question.’ It makes no sense.” Zadkiel frowned at Hyun’s proud expression. This was Hyun’s attempt to beat the system? What a lousy way to go about it. 

“You said one question, so I asked you one question. What’s so hard to understand?”

“I refuse to acknowledge it.”

“Why not?! It ended with a question mark, so it’s a question!”

What kind of logic was that?! Dumbfounded, Zadkiel shook his head at Hyun’s odd reasoning. “It still doesn’t change the fact that you didn’t follow the rules. But I’ll be nice and answer one out of the four implied questions.”

“What?! But—.” 

“Let’s see… Among the four, I’ll choose ‘what.’” Zadkiel grinned at the fuming child. Clearly, that wasn’t the one Hyun had been looking forward to. “What will Song Yoo be when you meet him… any guesses?”

“No.”

“How unfortunate, that was your only chance to win another round of questions.”

“Wha— You jerk!”

“That’s why you should have guessed! Anyway, Song Yoo will be an actor in this life as well.”

“What did you just say?” Hyun whispered, unable to comprehend what Zadkiel had told him.

“An actor.”

“Why would he…?” Hyun clenched his chest, feeling the rapid palpitations thrumming against his fist. Why would Song Yoo willingly choose that path again? After all that he’d been through?

“I answered your three questions, so I’ll be on my way. Until next time.”

“Hey, wait—!”

Hyun blankly stared at the space before him. He got what he wanted, so why did it feel like he had more questions than before?

“ARGH!!! What the heck is going on?!”

**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.**