"Man, so much stuff has been happening whilst I left the celestial realm. I'm missing out on a lot." Yangyang muttered as a small frown appears on his face.
"Who told you to turn back into a human, hmm?" Hendery stated as Yangyang could just roll his eyes.
All six of them were currently over at Lys café to catch up with Yangyang. Although, he wasn't alone though, Jian had work that she needed to attend to, so Yangyang was over with his son, Haoran.
"At least I get to see baby Haoran. Look at him, he's so adorable." Ten chanted as he talks to the 9 months old baby that was on his lap. "You're lucky Haoran, you were born into a loving family." He then sighs.
"Can't relate." Ten and Hendery then says in unison.
"Hey that's entirely not true, I wasn't born into a happy family." Yangyang stated.
"You were born into wealthy family and you were rich, what more could you want?" Winwin says.
"Nu-uh, I was born into a family who had high expectations of me as well ever since I was a kid. You don't know how many times my dad forced me to be the next him so I could take over his company. But I proved myself that-that isn't me, and that I wasn't meant to be some heiress. I was just me, Yangyang. Someone who wanted to design and make clothes. My parents would've kept pressuring me and I would've ended up going through the path that they've carved for me if it wasn't for Jia." The youngest explains.
"Sounds like my parents. Look at me now. The Messenger of hope, yup, those strict Angels made me into a carbon copy of them." Winwin stated sarcastically as invisible tears ran down his face.
"I want to know more about Kun-ge's parents. Were your parents supportive?" Hendery asks in curiosity as all eyes were on Kun. Even Haoran was staring at him.
"I don't remember. It's been so long that, I don't even remember their faces. I don't think... I had parents, if I'm being honest. The Divine just—created me. I grew up and worked under his care." He replies as everyone looks at him in distraught.
"The Divine is your parental figure? For fuck's sake, no wonder why you were cursed for eternity. If the Divine was my father, I'd be dead right now." Ten shivers.
"The only person here who has normal parents is... Xiao." Hendery then says as everyone looked at Xiaojun. The Angel only smiling.
"Don't look at me. I was blessed to have supportive parents." He stated with both his hands in the air.
"Why can't we have those Cupids that fixes families in the celestial realm. Surely, we'd all be living a nice and peaceful life by now." Winwin complains as he lets out a tired sigh. His eyes then trailing down to look at Haoran as it made a small smile appear on his face.
"Because the purpose of Cupids is to help mortals and their own kinds. They weren't created to help fix our complicated lives, besides, they won't even be able to handle the celestial realm. The heat and amount of light there would destroy their very being." Kun explains.
"But, we aren't in the celestial realm right now." Hendery chimes in before he tells everyone to go quiet.
"I sense a Cupid." The devil grins before he stood up and disappears into the shadows.
"What is he doing now?" Xiaojun mumbles whilst shaking his head.
Hendery then returns as he held onto a Cupid. He held onto the back of their collar like they were a cat being held as the Cupid tried to get out of his hold.
"H-hey, put me down!"
"Hendery." Kun says sternly.
"Ryo??" Yangyang calls out in confusion as Ryo looks at him in surprise. "You're a Cupid?" He then says as the younger lad could just stay silent.
"Why is he not speaking?" Ten questions.
"Cupids aren't supposed to reveal their secrets to anyone or else they'd get executed." Kun explains as the Cupid nodded his head.
"Well, it isn't really a secret if we already know." Hendery says as Ryo sends him a glare.
"How did you even know?! And... why is Yangyang-ge hanging out with people like you?!" Ryo whines as he sways his hands in the air before Hendery drops him to the ground.
"Because I could sense Cupids, heheh... you're one of those Cupids that fixes families, correct?" Hendery answers as Ryo eyes him peculiarly.
"Maybe." He answers.
"Oh come on, help us a little. Our friend Ten here needs help. His dad is the evil king of the underworld. Could you give us one of your arrows so we can pierce it through his heart? We're Celestial beings, much like you... kind off. But we're the real deal." Hendery explains.
"No! I can't just hand off random arrows. I need your name in the database in order for me to shoot you, and to ensure that the arrows would work. And it still doesn't explain how Yangyang is still friends with you lot?"
Yangyang lets out a nervous laugh. "You see Ryo.."
"Yangyang's special. He once helped us and then we became friends, the rest is history." Xiaojun quickly interjected.
Ten lets out a sigh.
"I'm glad that you're all trying to help me. But I think I can handle my father on my own. Rafael did say that the only way for me to get through to him is if I betrayed him. I'm trying to find my way. Anyways, it was nice talking to you, but I have somewhere to be right now." Ten stated as he hands Haoran back into Yangyang's arms before bidding his goodbye and leaving.
"W-wait, did he just say Rafael?" Ryo says in disbelief as he looks at the five guys in hysterical.
"Yeah, he's a good friend of ours. Why? You wanna know more?" Hendery answers as the Cupids nodded his head.
"Nope. That's our secret." He then says before grabbing onto Ryo's shirt and then dragging him through the shadows again.
"Omg, Renjun is so going to kill me." Yangyang groans just thinking about it.
✎ᝰ.ᐟ⋆⑅˚₊
Vivienne's brush hovered over the canvas, her eyes locked on the swirling sea of colours beneath her. Each stroke was a desperate attempt to release the tension coiling inside her chest, but no matter how much she painted, no matter how much she poured herself into the ocean's endless depths, something wasn't quite right. The usual inspiration that she felt when creating wasn't there. She had been painting for hours, yet it felt like she was only scratching the surface of whatever storm was brewing inside of her.
Her brush strokes grew erratic, each one feeling more like a question than an answer. Her emotions were tangled, impossible to decipher. She was drowning in a flood of feelings she couldn't make sense of, trapped in her own head. Every inch of her art seemed to mock her, as if the ocean she loved had become a prison, not an escape.
Ten had been coming to visit her more often lately. It was clear he enjoyed watching her paint, but Vivienne couldn't shake the feeling that something had changed. He hadn't pressed her for details about her life, about what had been weighing on her for weeks now, but she knew him well enough to sense that he was starting to see through her facade.
She dipped the brush in a fresh shade of blue, trying to focus on the gentle curves of the waves. But no matter what colour she used, the painting refused to settle into something coherent. It was as though her emotions were refusing to be captured, slipping through her fingers like water.
The sound of footsteps behind her made her freeze. She glanced over her shoulder to see Ten standing in the doorway, his usual calm demeanor replaced with a slight furrow in his brow. He had been coming by more often, and she found herself looking forward to his visits in a way she hadn't expected.
"You're still here," he said quietly, his voice softer than usual.
Vivienne didn't answer immediately. She stared at the canvas in front of her, as if the answer to her unease could be hidden there. But it wasn't. She dropped her brush, letting it fall into the jar of water with a soft clink, then turned to face him.
"What's on your mind?" Ten asked, stepping into the room, his eyes searching her face. "You've been quieter lately."
Vivienne forced a smile, but it didn't reach her eyes. "Just a little... distracted," she said, the words feeling hollow in her mouth. "You know how it is. Sometimes the art doesn't come out the way that you want it to."
He studied her for a long moment, his gaze unwavering. "I don't think that's all of it, though."
Vivienne looked away, suddenly uncomfortable under his scrutiny. Ten had always been good at reading people, but lately, it seemed as though he could see straight through her. She felt exposed in a way she wasn't used to. She wasn't ready to open up to him, not yet.
"I don't know what you're talking about," she said quickly, picking up the brush again and swiping it across the canvas with a force that startled her. "I'm just... not in the mood today, I guess."
"Is that so?" Ten took a step closer, his eyes never leaving hers. "You're hiding something, Vivienne. I can see it in your eyes. You've been restless. More than usual. What's going on?"
Vivienne's heart skipped a beat. She didn't want to talk about it. She didn't want to admit how overwhelmed she felt, how suffocating her life was becoming. She didn't want to tell him that the ocean, which had always been her refuge, now only felt like an endless void that threatened to swallow her whole.
"I'm fine," she said, her voice a little too sharp. "Just... dealing with a few things."
"Things," Ten echoed, his tone gentle but insistent. "You know you can talk to me, right?"
Vivienne swallowed hard, her gaze falling to the floor. "It's not that simple," she murmured, her voice barely above a whisper.
There was a long pause, and then Ten stepped closer, his presence steady and grounding. "It's always that simple, Vivienne. You don't have to carry everything alone. You can't. No one can. Especially not someone like you."
Vivienne's chest tightened at his words, and she finally met his gaze. "Someone like me?"
He smiled, but it was a small, soft thing, one that held more understanding than she was prepared for. "Yeah. You've got too much heart to carry that weight on your own. I can see it. You're not as invincible as you make yourself out to be."
Vivienne's lips trembled slightly, and she took a deep breath, trying to push the emotions threatening to overwhelm her back down. She couldn't let him see her break. Not yet. Not when she still hadn't figured everything out for herself.
There was a sudden silence between them, heavy and thick. She wanted to change the subject, to turn away from the emotions he was drawing out of her, but something in his steady gaze held her in place.
"Why do you keep coming back, Ten?" she asked, her voice almost too quiet. "I know you don't need to. So why do you keep visiting me? Why keep watching me paint?"
Ten paused, his eyes narrowing slightly as if the question caught him off guard. He took a moment to answer, as though weighing the truth.
"I come back because... I enjoy watching you create. There's something about the way you pour yourself into your work that fascinates me. You're so... alive in it. But I also come back because, honestly, I don't really have anywhere else to go."
Vivienne furrowed her brow, sensing something deeper behind his words. "What do you mean by that? You always seem like you have everything together. Like you're... someone who doesn't need to rely on anyone."
He shifted uncomfortably, as if the vulnerability of the moment had caught him off guard. "It's not like that. I may have... responsibilities, but that doesn't mean I don't get lost, Vivienne. Sometimes I don't know where I belong either."
She tilted her head, sensing the shift in his tone, the way he had let his guard down. "You? Lost? That doesn't sound like you."
"I'm more lost than you think," Ten admitted, his voice quieter now. "But... I guess that's something I can talk to you about, too."
Vivienne stared at him for a moment, her heart twisting with an odd sense of sympathy. She wanted to tell him everything. She wanted to tell him about her own struggles, about how the weight of her secret was starting to eat away at her. But she couldn't bring herself to do it. Not yet. There were too many things she still couldn't understand herself.
Instead, she simply nodded, a small smile tugging at the corner of her lips. "Well... thank you for sharing that with me. Even if you're not ready to say more."
Ten gave her a small, almost reluctant smile in return. "You're the first person I've ever said that to. So... I guess that's something."
Vivienne's gaze softened, and she turned back to her canvas. "I'll figure it out," she said, more to herself than to him. "I just need to get it out of my system."
"I'm sure you will," Ten said, his voice warm. "You always do."
They stood in silence for a moment, the quiet weight of their unspoken words filling the space between them. Vivienne felt the stirring of a strange connection, one that felt as if it had always been there, waiting for both of them to recognize it.
As she picked up her brush again, she found herself grateful for Ten's presence, even if she wasn't sure how to fully let him in. For now, his silent understanding was enough.