Chap. 48 (Side story)

A/N; here is the side story about their friendships with Kris before his downfall..I guess you guys feelin' quite strange when Kris suddenly wanted to bring the reader (which is you) with him to pay Minho a visit.. If you don't want to read it,that's okay, you may proceed to the next chapter 😊💓

The weather was nice and the green of the fields sent calmness to whoever watched the beauty of nature. Angels spread out to every corners of the Earth, guarding the ones they were assigned to until they grew up. Four angels flew down gracefully on the green fields where there were no humans set their track on.

"This is nice"

One of them said before closing his eyes, inhaling the fresh air around them.

"Yeah. I guess we could take a vacation for a while here"

They were all nod in reply, too occupied by the beauty of the Earth. Taemin suddenly jumped on Jonghyun's back and locked his legs around the man's slender waist.

"Taemin! What do you think you're doing?" Jonghyun groaned with the lad's boyish manner, while Taemin squealed.

"It's called piggy back ride, Jong. I saw Tia used to do it with her brother so I'm gonna try it on you" he said, excitements could be heard in his voice. Jonghyun sighed exasperated.

"Why me? Why not Minho? He's taller than me, that's for sure" Jonghyun said, able to make Taemin stop his wiggling. Minho widened his eyes to Jonghyun who was smirking and wiggle his brows.

"You're right. Minho!"

"Oh no no, young man. My body isn't capable with your-- hey!"

Minho didn't finished his sentence as the lad already jumped on his back. He could feel Taemin's weight started to burden him and made him groan.

"Taemin-ssi, why are you so heavy? Judging by your looks, I could say you at least..40 kilo or so" Minho tried to spill his words as Taemin's weight wasn't helping him. The others laughed watching the lad's immature manners bullying Minho.

"Hey, where's Kris, by the way?" Onew asked after their laughter piped down.

"Yeah. Didn't he say he wanted to join us on this little break of ours?" said Taemin, which still latched on Minho's back. He turned to Minho who were shot him with eyes like a dagger.

"You should've known better," added Taemin. The others were silence, waiting for his answer. Minho shrugged, knowing that his friend bares the duty of being a Prince and hardly hung out with them.

"He is, and I'm here now. Sorry for keep you waiting"

One voice appeared from nowhere making them stand on the ground instantly, in case their enemies attacked.

"Woah! It's me!"

Kris put his hands up with a shock face of his, afraid that his friends might advance their stance and charged towards him. Taemin burst out in laughter as he saw how the Prince didn't expect that would happen. Jonghyun smacked him in the head and earned him a grunt from Taemin.

"Oi! What was that for!?"

"For your highly childish and immature acts against his Majesty" Jonghyun said with a strict voice of his, made Taemin flinced. The others stand up straight and lowered their head down, as they giving the Prince a respect from them. Taemin joined in later.

"Forgive me, Your Highness, for my childish manners a while ago" he squeaked in a small voice.

Kris sighed. It doesn't matter how many times he told them to adressed him casually, they still didn't want to listen.

"Taemin, it's okay. And guys, stop calling me that, it's tiring my ears. Listening to 'Your Highness, Your Majesty, My Prince' everytime and everyday. Even my parents didn't call me by my name" he exclaimed. Yes it's true. Sometimes, he just wanted to be called by his name, that's enough for him. But his parents always adressed him as 'my son, my boy', so the chances to call his name was slim, even his maids.

"Geez, sorry" Onew said after lifting his head. Somehow, Kris's explanation made them felt sorry for him and decided to listen to him. Taemin's already smirked and the others knew what was he planning to do.

"So, am I forgiven?" He asked.

"Yes you are" Kris replied.

Minho cleared his throat playfully, which was soon joined by the grinning faces from Jonghyun and Onew. The Prince was puzzled with their behaviour but all of that gone like the wind when a sudden weight pulling him down on his back. Now he knew the reason why they grinned.

"Taemin! Get off me!" Kris wailed and spun around hoping the lad would let go. But Taemin's grip tightened more and threw his head back, laughing loudly.

"Taemin, that's enough. Guys, foods here" Onew called out after snapped his fingers, where a white sheet laid on the grass with good foods on them. Add water to the list. Just one look, it looks like a group of family having a picnic together.

Taemin rushed down and scurried away, leaving Kris panting hardly after his failed attempts on trying to make Taemin loosened his grip. Jonghyun joined in later and sat down, eating the foods and having a conversation with them. Kris stood a little far away from them where they having their little picnic and decided to go there. But he felt someone tapped his shoulder and turned around.

Minho stood beside him, watching the three angels having a great time. Onew and Jonghyun would talk for a while. Taemin, on the other hand, stuffing the foods most of the time.

"I need to ask you something" Minho's voice sounded serious.

"Shoot"

Exhaling a breathe, Minho asked without looking at him.

"Were you the one who made Jesse murdered his father and his sister?" He asked in a low tone, not wanting the three of them heard of their little chat. Kris flinched a bit hearing that from his friend. He never knew Minho would be the one who first noticed about his doings and the one would asked him face to face.

But he stayed calm.

"Yes, I did." He said, honestly.

"Why?" Minho asked with a calm tone, although he mentally wanted to smack Kris on the head countless times. Who would've thought a Prince like him could do such a thing that would disgrace a family name and a being of an angel?

"Because I liked it. I like to see how the humans easily overshadowed by their own human nature until they forgot the ones that they called mercy and love" Kris explained. Minho inhaled deeply, trying to figure out what had happened to Kris. What made him like this?

He, who was filled with passion, kind and gentle, would do what an angel wouldn't do. This was not him. In the depth of his heart, Minho believed that someone or something changed Kris. He refused to believe that Kris would do something bad by heart.

"Just don't do it again, Kris. I don't want anyone else besides me know about this. They maybe doing something far more than that, I'm afraid" Minho finished, finally looking at Kris with  pleaded eyes. All he ever hope was Kris would realize it sooner what had he done to the innocent people.

Kris remained silent after Minho's little advice. Minho decided to cool off the situation by pulling Kris to the group. Although they were having loads of conversation, Minho couldn't forget the little chat between him and Kris. Time passed by, they already leaving home to the ones they take care of.

The piece of advice given by Minho was being ignored and Kris still kept doing the wrong things. The group were already a worried mess when crimes kept increasing in the neighborhood and didn't even know who was the culprit behind this. Especially Jonghyun because the one whom he was assigned to namely Clara, a 16 year old girl often hang out with her friends until late night so it worried him a lot.

Same goes to Onew, Minho and Taemin too as they sense danger near them. The trio didn't have any problems taking care of them. Like Onew, he take care of Adam who was a 14 year old boy. Adam didn't give him much problems but still, Onew still worried about the boy. For Minho and Taemin, theirs were best friends, Avery (Minho's) and Tia (Taemin's), which made them easier to help each other out. Avery and Tia was in the same age (17) so they got along fine.

All of the angels who is assigned to watch the ones they supposed to take care of learned to love them. Because of the dangers that came very close with their homes, the group decided to scout the perimeters twice a day. Jonghyun waited Clara back from school patiently in her room, who would pacing around sometimes. When the front door closed was heard, he was happy when he heard her wailing 'I'm home!' and heard her footsteps climbing the stairs.

(Truth be told, Jonghyun's a bit jealous when he knew Minho loves you because both of you remind him of his past with her . He didn't show his feelings to others as he still remembers her. And this is the reason why he act in such a cold way 😊)

Once Clara was inside her room, Jonghyun engulfed her in a bear hug and spun around making her squealed. He put her down and cupped her face, showering her with kisses.

"Jonghyun, stop. It..tickles" Clara couldn't hold her laughter as Jonghyun stopped his actions, resting his head on hers. Clara find him a bit strange today 'cause the way he treated her was unlike before.

"Are you okay, Hyunnie?" Clara asked, tracing his face with the tips of her fingers. She was worried that Jonghyun might leave her because of the boy she's seeing. Jonghyun shake his head.

"I know what you're thinking. And no, I'm not leaving you because of him. It's just..." Jonghyun trailed off, couldn't find the right words to tell without scaring her. Clara felt the tension around him so she cup his face in her palms.

"Tell me, Hyunnie"

Jonghyun took a long, deep breathe before look her straight in the eyes.

"I want you stay in the house for a while. Please, if you have any plans for tonight, just cancel them. I don't want anything happen to you when I'm gone" he explained. Clara panic when he said the word 'gone'.

"No no shh, I just have to do something.  Won't be long, just..don't go anywhere, okay?"

"Tell me please!"

Jonghyun finally gave up and tell her.

"Okay okay! Look, what do you know about danger these days?" He asked. Clara wondered off before turning to him.

"I heard that the Collins had lost one of the family members recently. Well, his cousin said he saw what happened to him" she said.

"Where did it happened? Did his cousin knew what the criminal looks like?" He asked

"Five blocks away. He said it's not someone that he saw, it was something. Something with wings. Big wings and...tall, if I'm not mistaken"

Lines started to appear on his forehead as he listened to her. Big wings? Tall? Not a human being, obviously. After giving her a non-stop 'be careful', he flew off away meeting the group in front of Adam's house. Onew's face was like filled with rain and sadness. His heart felt heavy leaving Adam alone. Minho and Taemin didn't worry at all when both of them thought of the same thing, bringing the two friends having a sleepover at Tia's place.

"Where should we start?" Taemin asked. Everyone looked at each other but Jonghyun stayed like a doll, wondering off as Clara's words kept replaying in his mind.

"He said it's not someone that he saw, it was something. Something with wings. Big wings and...tall, if I'm not mistaken"

It couldn't be from one of them, because angels swore an oath they would never hurt humans, unless the ones whom they protect got hurt. Minho noticed the sudden change in Jonghyun, because normally he would be the one take the lead in these kind of things. He seems a bit distance from them so Minho approached him.

"Are you okay, Jonghyun? Is this about Clara?" He asked and laid his hand on Jonghyun's shoulder. He startled upon the touch and shake his head.

"I'm fine. Something's bothering me though" He said, not wanting to hide the new information from them any longer. He then avert his gaze to Minho, who stood beside him. His head went from his feet until his head, silently checking his height. In their group, Minho was the only one tall apart from them. His instinct loudly denied it wasn't Minho, but still, he wanted to ask him.

"Say, you know the Collins family?"

Minho nod.

"Avery spent a lot of her time with them. Why?"

"Did you know what happened recently?"

"From what I heard, one of the family member got killed. That was all I know from Avery."

Jonghyun slowly nodded and turned to the rest of the group. He gave orders to them which place they would start first and separate into two search parties. Jonghyun and Minho flew to the west of the neighborhood, while Onew and Taemin flew the opposite way. The searching went for three hours straight and they decided to continue it at night. The group was relieved to see their dears in a good shape. But not for Jonghyun eventhough he was still happy to see Clara.

While searching for the culprit, Jonghyun finally knew who Clara meant. Big wings and tall. He refused to believe it though. No way a Prince would do such a violent crime. The sun finally closed its curtain and the night was warm. Stars were twinkling brightly but couldn't make Jonghyun feel better. The time came for him to search again and make him felt heavy to leave Clara alone. Clara insisted she would be safe and not going out of the house.

Once again, the search parties went off to another place which they assumed the culprit was hiding. Both of them, Jonghyun and Minho flew around the neighborhood until they heard a scream came from the nearby forest. They rushed to the place and they didn't expect to see who it was. Before them, stood a Prince with blood stained on his white attire, choking a woman against a tree. One hand choking, the other was holding a knife which already had been stabbed into her stomach.

Minho was clearly surprise to see Kris there. He thought Kris had stop killing people but now, it looked like Kris had passion into killing. Jonghyun was the opposite. He was calm, knowing the fact that it was Kris all along. He turned to see Minho who was still in shock.

"Well, hello! I didn't see you there" Kris said with a sickening smile. His smile was no longer genuine and sweet. It was filled with terror and cruelty. He let his grip on the woman's neck loose and the lifeless body fell to the ground. In seconds, there was a shadow figure stepped beside Kris. This time made Jonghyun surprised as well as Minho.

"Tao? How could you?"

Jonghyun and Minho could not believe his eyes to see their friend, Tao stood proudly beside Kris with a smug face.

"How could I? This? Oh, it was nothing! I'm sure you know who's this woman by now and you may have to be quick" said Tao and grinned. Kris step aside to give Jonghyun a better look and when he did, Jonghyun's eyes widened and without a word, he flew off in such speed leaving Minho behind.

Minho was speechless when he got the closer look. It was Clara's mother. No wonder Jonghyun left so sudden. Kris started to laugh out of the blue and soon joined by Tao.

"I thought I told you not to do this anymore" Minho felt the anger rushing in his blood and it was boiling in him. His fist was balled up and his jaw was clenched.

"You don't have the power to make me. After all, why would be a prince when you could be a king? Angel is an immortal being and I know Father won't be dying soon and the title remain to him always as Mother. Here, I could be one. The more I killed, the stronger I get. I realize that from him. I should be thanking him though" he explained, then gave a smiling Tao a pat on the back.

"Minho!"

A voice caught their attention. It was Taemin's alongside with Onew.

"Remember this Minho, don't start something that you can't finish" was all Kris said before vanish with Tao in a thin air. Minho narrowed his eyes as he just realized something. They could vanish in a blink of an eye. The power to do that was hard and it could take years to control it. Kris must've learned it and he brought Tao with him.

"Who were you talking to? And tell me you did not do that, do you?" Onew asked after noticed the dead body nearby. Minho blink a few times before he remembered it was Clara's mother.

"We have to go to Clara's house now!"

When they arrived to her room, they saw a crying Jonghyun on his knees, hugging a girl in his arms. Minho suspected it must be Kris's doing. Who else woud it be? They got a closer look.

Clara was lying lifelessly in Jonghyun's arms, a big claw marks was visible on her stomach, arms and neck. Jonghyun's sobs were getting louder in every minute and it was heartbreaking for them to see. So they gather around him and hugged him from behind, hoping to give him comfort as he just lost someone that he cared so much.

"I f-f-found her laid on the floor and she didn't b-breath. I tried to heal her..but it was too late," Jonghyun said and his breathing was unstable. The others remained silent just to give him space. Minho knew what he was going to do.

Few days later, while Jonghyun was still mourning for her death, Minho decided to tell the King the truth. And so, he went up to his Majesty and bowed down.

"Minho, the selfless and the courageous one, what needs of you to be here?"

King Theodore's voice was full of authority and glory made Minho felt he wanted to bow lower than ever.

"My King, there is something I wish to speak to you alone"

"Brave angel, you can't wish you speak to my husband alone. We are one you see"

A soft and gentle voice chimed in. Queen Moon has always been known as the deer, gentle and kind. But behind them, laid a very fierce lady who would kill without mercy. Minho cleared his throat.

"Forgive me, my Lady, I wish to speak to you both. About your Prince"

After delivered the news, a war between angels and demons broke out. Taemin was injured badly and the only one who lost his wings. With rage and fury, with a single wave of his hand, Jonghyun's wrath wiped out every single of one of them. Even the King and Queen who joined the fight  witnessed Jonghyun's incredible powers. After the war ended, the Prince was sentenced to be banished from the Kingdom by King Theodore himself, his own Father.

Before escorted out from the court, Kris gave a death glare to Minho and his parents. He knew Minho reported to his Father about the wrong things he had done and he didn't even regret about it. Since then, Kris was banished and every angel in the Kingdom hope to never see him again.