Lacing up his shoes, Hyun happily hummed as Jin folded away his clothes in the closet. Luckily, the two best friends were roommates for the school year– though Jin was starting to doubt if he would be able to survive for the next year with this idiot in tow. Irritated, Jin glanced over at his friend who was grinning from ear-to-ear while checking his phone. Who the heck was he talking to that he was smiling so much?

“Whatcha looking at?”

“Hmm? Oh, Woo-jae hyung sent me a message. Ahem. Almost done?”

“...Yeah. Let me just get my keys, and we can head out.”

“Okay!” 

Yoo-jin glanced over at Hyun, who was still on his phone, typing away. Dammit, that kid…! Why was he always so gullible? Who’d believe that Hyun previously lived a life of 90 years when he was acting like a gullible five-year-old sometimes?!

“Hyun.”

“Yeah?” the ruby-eyed teen innocently looked up to find his friend scowling in response. What was up with him?

“Don’t get attached too quickly. That actor is still a jerk for posting your drawing on social media.”

“But–”

“I already know you gave in ’cause of his good looks, but you’re on a mission here, remember? Shouldn’t you look for Song Yoo? Don’t you miss your parents?”

Hyun couldn’t say anything as guilt bubbled up inside him. Damn, leave it to Jin to bring up their predicament when they were about to get some free donuts. With a dejected sigh, Hyun nodded his head. He knew his best friend was right; he had to look for Song Yoo, but how was he supposed to find him when he didn’t even know what the actor looked like? Song Yoo could be anyone! Wait, that was it!

“Jin, we need to go to a church.”

“...? What?”

“I need to go to a church! Preferably a Catholic one since I was a Catholic in my previous life… Maybe God might send me a message about how I’m supposed to find Song Yoo if I go to church!”

Flabbergasted, Jin rubbed his hand over his face. Why was Hyun always coming up with these things at the last minute?! This kid had never even set foot into a church in the past twelve years! Now he wanted to go? When they had other plans? 

Grabbing Hyun by his hoodie, Jin stopped the college student from excitedly running out of their dorm. “Hyun! You made plans to meet up with the upperclassmen from the student council! You can’t just go to a church right now! Besides, it’s 10 pm, dude!”

“Well, we could go after– Oh. Well, I never said we need to go right now….” Hyun mumbled, sliding his gaze away from Jin’s deadpan expression.

“Sometimes I wonder how you even survived for 90 years in your past life….” Jin muttered, shaking his head in disbelief.

“Wha– You’re badgering me to hurry up and find Song Yoo!” 

“You’re the one who made that deal with God! Tsk. Your attention span is that of a three-year-old.”

“HEY!” Hyun puffed his cheeks out as Jin merely rolled his eyes.

“Never mind; there’s no point in arguing with you. Let’s just go get some donuts.”

“Okay~!”

…Seriously?

~~~

Woo-jae half-heartedly faked a smile as he chatted with his group of friends outside The Magnes while they waited for the bubbly freshman and his friend to arrive. He stifled a yawn while occasionally glancing behind him, hoping to spot the happy-go-lucky teen. Standing next to the restless Korean actor, Da-bin rolled his eyes as he nudged his best friend in the ribs.

“Dude, stop making it obvious that you’d rather be elsewhere.”

“... Whatever.”

Tsking, Da-bin glanced around to find a handful of girls from their past classes standing around the vicinity, hoping to catch the actor’s eyes. The heck? How did they find out about this small meet-up? Suppressing a sigh, he awkwardly looked away– feeling sorry for their wasted efforts. No matter how much they dolled themselves up, right now, Woo-jae was fixated on getting to know a particular freshman. Who… also happened to be a guy– sort of? Wait. What was that kid supposed to be…? A guy or a girl? Or both?!

“... Ugh, so complicated.”

“What?” 

“Nothing. Oh, there’s your little egghead–” 

Before Da-bin could even finish his sentence, Woo-jae was already beelining for the naive freshman with a huge smile. Well then…. He clearly didn’t appreciate his “best friend’s” company at all! Jerk.

“... Just get together already so I don’t have to deal with this annoying cr*p anymore!”

~~~

Yoo-jin narrowed his eyes, studying Woo-jae’s outfit from head to toe. Did this dude seriously dress himself up for a donut run?! Shaking his head, Jin glanced down at Hyun, who looked excited to be getting donuts this late at night. Well, then again, the kid’s overprotective brother would never let Hyun leave the house after 8 pm. If Joon saw them now, the dude would probably faint.

“Hey, you guys made it.”

“Of course! I’m the one who asked if we could meet up to go together to the donut shop… I’m surprised they have a 24-hour donut place around here.” Hyun bounced on his feet like a tiny bunny, too giddy for this “late-night” excursion.

“Yeah, it’s a popular place among students. Come on, let’s go join the others.”

Woo-jae motioned for the two freshmen to follow him while ignoring the swooning girls glaring at the  ruby-eyed freshman. Oblivious to his surroundings, Hyun happily followed after Woo-jae– his thoughts fixated only on how many donuts he’d manage to mooch off from the upperclassmen. Jin, on the other hand, grimaced as he let out a quiet sigh of annoyance. Well, this was going to be fun, wasn’t it?

“Hey guys, our new additions have arrived. This is Hyun and… uh….”

“My name’s Yoo-jin; nice to meet you guys.” Jin grinned while offering a shy wave.

“Welcome, I’m Ji-eun. Sorry for the huge crowd. I’m not sure how people found out….” she awkwardly smiled while shooting a glare at the group closest to them.

The guy beside her shrugged nonchalantly as he rolled his eyes at the crowd, “It happens all the time when hanging out with the infamous Woo-jae, haha. I’m Steve, by the way, and that’s Da-bin–”

“We’re acquainted already. I didn’t think we’d run into each other again, but congrats on getting into the best public school in Cali!”

“Thank you! Um, but can we go to the donut shop now…? I’ve been waiting all day to go!” Hyun immediately asked, his eyes sparkling in excitement. 

The four upperclassmen stifled their laughter while  Jin wished he could go hide in a cave. Could this dude forget about desserts for like two minutes?! 

“Of course! Let’s go, guys!”

Laughing, the group began to walk down the block as some of the girls from before followed after them. Slightly on edge, Yoo-jin felt himself gravitating toward Da-bin, hoping to keep some distance from the girls. The mint-haired upperclassmen smiled, finding Jin’s behavior cute. Leaning to whisper into Jin’s ear, Da-bin smirked at the black-haired freshman’s jolt of surprise. 

“Don’t worry; they won’t do anything if they want to look good in front of Woo-jae.”

“... You sure? ’Cause they looked hella mad earlier.” Jin whispered back, distrustfully eyeing the girls behind them.

“100% sure. By the way, did you enjoy the first day of orientation?”

“It was okay; a bit long to be honest,” Jin grumbled while shooting Hyun a death glare.

“Noted. I’ll let the faculty know.”

His curiosity getting to him, Jin side-glanced the upperclassman, “Say, are you an actor, too?”

“...? I’m not; why do you ask?”

“Well, you’re always hanging out with Woo-jae, so… Are you his manager then?”

“I wish I was; then I’d get paid for babysitting that idiot.”

“Pfft. Hahaha. I guess we’re in the same boat, huh?” Jin grinned, his black eyes sparkling like Tahitian pearls. 

Da-bin quickly looked away, his cheeks starting to get hot. Yoo-jin was really good-looking every time he smiled– Wait. Dammit, why was he like this?! Focus, Zadkiel! This is the human you’re supposed to be babysitting along with Woo-jae! 

Clearing his throat, Da-bin shyly glanced over at Yoo-jin. But it wouldn’t be bad if he got closer to this human, right? It would help him watch over those bumbling fools… 

“W-Wanna be friends? You know, so uh… We can help each other in babysitting those idiots over there.”

Bursting out in laughter, Jin nodded his head, “Sure! I need all the help I can get!”

Hiding his smile, Da-bin felt his heart thrumming with happiness as he matched his footsteps with Jin's. Maybe being away from Heaven wasn't so lonesome after all!

**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.**