Banished Divinity: Learning to be Human

On the way home, both Minjae and I were quiet.

I wasn't sure why Minjae was quiet. But for me, it was because Human Sera had returned and was bombarding me with questions.

"What happened upstairs? How was the food? What did you have? What else did you talk about?" She floated beside me, her form flickering with curiosity. Then she came out with a crazy thought: "Did you guys kiss?"

"NO!" both Minjae and I said at the same time.

I looked at Minjae. He looked away.

"No, this can't be," Minjae said quickly. "I forgot to pay Mr. Vance half the bill."

"I thought he said he was paying?" I asked.

"Yes, well, while you were in space, I whispered to him that I would pay half, and he agreed. You know, since this was your first experience, it's not nice for someone else to pay." He shrugged.

"That sounds reasonable," I said.

Then I frowned. "And why are you on the same bus as me?"

"Well, it's late, and I think it's best I accompany you, right?" He spoke with a matter-of-fact tone.

"I fought those girls, remember?" I said with pride. "Five of them, one shot. I do not need mortals to protect me now."

"Yes, mortal girls. Not, mortal men. You have no idea what people at this hour would do." He shrugged.

"OMG! He is so sweet!" Human Sera lit up with excitement. "He is totally into you! He is trying to protect you even though the time on your phone says eight o'clock, and it's not as if the area we live in, is dark and gloomy and dangerous."

We got off the bus.

---

The alley toward home was dark. And gloomy. And looked dangerous.

Because the streetlamps had decided to not work this night.

I can't believe this, I thought.

"See?" Minjae laughed. "You need me. Now, come on warrior."

I sighed and walked.

Human Sera floated beside me, looking sheepish. "Sorry for predicting," she whispered.

"Predict something else," I said with venom on my tongue. "Like get my powers back."

---

As we walked, something strange happened.

Our footsteps fell into sync.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

The same rhythm. The same pace. Like we were dancing to a song only our feet could hear.

I noticed it and felt oddly comforted. I had never walked in sync with anyone before. The rhythm was soothing. Almost meditative.

"So," Minjae said, "what would you be doing tomorrow?"

"Same as always. Studying. If not staring into the void and meditating to connect to the Tribunal to ask for help from anyone so I can plead my case."

"Ah, I see," Minjae said.

Strange, I thought. He didn't even look puzzled by my words. It takes a celestial brain like mine—and no one else's—to detect such strangeness.

"Hmm..." Human Sera floated beside Minjae, examining him like a bug under a microscope. "He doesn't seem affected by what you say. Most people would call you crazy or give you that 'poor thing' look. But Minjae has no reaction. Strange."

"Do you think we could hang out tomorrow?" Minjae asked, turning to face me. "I promise to bring you to that cozy place for real street food."

"Hang out tomorrow? OMG! I've had enough. I can't take this anymore. Eww...gross… I'm going inside." Human Sera floated hurriedly with a speed of a mosquito back toward the house.

I looked at Minjae.

I really looked at him.

My heart pounded. My hands started sweating. I noticed things I had never noticed before—the dimple on his left cheek, his defined nose, his face so soft and smooth it looked like he had used tons of inhuman products on it. His hair was a slightly messy tousle. He smelled good.

I tried not to stare. I tried to do my usual hard, straight stare.

But I felt it came out... different.

Minjae was looking down at me—because he was so tall—and he was close. And getting closer.

What the hell is he trying to do? I thought.

Before I could react, I was pulled aside.

SMACK!

---

A glowing rectangle—which Mina called an "iPad"—hit Minjae directly in the face.

Mina—Tangled Menace—stood there, her eyes blazing with fury. She looked like a Mahanbaian—one of those fearsome creatures from the realm of Mahbana, where female monsters devour anything male, from flowers to actual men. They were terrifying. They were also the best monsters to work with when hunting, because I was a Celestial woman and they respected that.

"So," Mina said, her voice dripping with venom, "my little sister goes out with you, and you decided to kiss her? That's such a dick move, Jae Jae."

"Erm... he's not Jaehyun," I said. "That's Minjae."

"Gate-Rammer. The Gate-Rammer." Mina's eyes widened. "I'll be damned! Two boys after my sister? Where did that Jae Jae go?"

"His beast got sick, and I missed his messages," I explained. "So, Minjae came to pass me these flowers and invited me to go have dinner with him."

"Maybe you made his beast sick, Gate-Rammer, and then took my sister for yourself." Mina pointed a finger at Minjae, who was still standing there with the glowing rectangle pressed against his face. "Dick move again."

"Mina, your glowing rectangle. " I said.

"Oh yes! Sorry. Needed to keep him there." Mina cleared her throat. "So, what do you have to say for yourself before I unleash the Big Humongous Dragon—aka our Dad, who is by the window right now staring laser beams and huffing and puffing with smoke from every hole from his face at you? You're lucky it's me. If it's him, not sure you'd live."

"I was not trying to kiss her," Minjae said in a matter-of-fact tone. "I was looking at her because she had something on her face."

"Wow! The cover-up. Another dick move." Mina said. "You've just earned yourself the title of Dick Moves instead of Gate-Rammer now."

Before I could speak, a voice came from the shadows.

"Sera... Sera..."

Mina freaked out. She jumped onto Minjae's arms and screamed, "OH MY GOD! THAT'S A GHOST! I CAN HEAR IT! Oh my, you're really strong!"

Minjae looked at Mina with one eyebrow raised. "Says the big sister who called me a dick move. Are you taking advantage of me now? Because I'm handsome?"

"Wha... wha..." Mina stuttered.

"Sera... Sera..." the voice came again and out of the shadows stepped Jaehyun.

"Uh... Who is that?" Mina asked, still in Minjae's arms.

"That's the real date," Minjae said and dropped Mina.

She landed hard on the ground.

"You could have just put me down like a normal gentleman!" Mina shouted.

"You'll be fine," Minjae said monotonously. "Besides, you have more fats than Sera. I’m pretty sure the impact has been cushioned."

"Ooh... burn..." Human Sera floated down beside me. "I came out to see what was taking so long."

Then she turned around, saw Jaehyun, and screamed, "OH MY GAWD!!!! HE'S HERE! MY MAN! HE’S HERE!!!"

She floated quickly towards him. He couldn't see her.

Jaehyun walked up to me, his face apologetic. "I'm so sorry about today. My dog fell ill, and I couldn't make it. He's really sick—in the hospital. I took time to come see you to apologize."

"See?" Mina pointed at Jaehyun. "Gentleman." Then she pointed at Minjae. "Asshole."

"Whatever. Bye. See ya around Bro" Minjae turned and walked off.

"Ooh... someone is hurt really bad... Boo hoo..." Mina made a cry-baby gesture. "I'm going in, Sera, to tell Dad you're still alive."

Before Mina went in—like, totally went in—she made a "I'm watching you" gesture toward Jaehyun and said, "Don't you dare try to kiss my sister. She is innocent. She is close to being a saint. She is pure. And she is still a 'V.' Get it?"

What is a V? isn’t that part of an alphabet? Or is that something you can eat? I thought.

"OH MY GAWD!!" Human Sera screamed at the top of her voice, as if anyone could hear her except me. "She did not just say that? I AM AS VIRGIN AS THE HOLY MOTHER OF EVERYTHING!! I CAN BE A NUN. I mean, A DEAD NUN! I can join THE CONJURING NUN! Is she even a nun? She is scary. But she is a nun. This is so confusing!"

Human Sera was twirling around while holding her face and screaming more—something along the lines of, "This is so embarrassing. Mina actually said that. I shall make sure I finally able to tip her cup of bubble tea whenever she is working on her webtoon."

Ouch. My ears.

Mina slammed the gate so hard that the sound echoed through the street.

"Point taken," Jaehyun whispered.