Tian wiped the tears off his face as best as he could and went about stacking the shelves. The optimism that he had summoned till now had mysteriously melted away. "It's all this Hua Lang's fault!" he grumbled under his breath as he threw the chips onto the shelves.
Bacon nudged his leg gently as if asking why.
"You don't understand, Bacon. That bastard Hua Lang really ruined my life, you know."
Bacon let out an oink and jumped onto the shelf.
"Aww, are you trying to comfort me?" he cooed, squatting down to its height, but it seemed like the piglet was much more interested in the snack on the shelf. Sighing, he went back to his work. "I wish that bastard suffers a lot," he grumbled under his breath.
Hearing all this, Hua Lang was left even more confused. He had never personally offended the angel in any way possible. Why did that guy cry and curse because of him? It left him completely confused and conflicted.
He followed behind the angel as he stacked the shelves while rubbing his reddened eyes.
The sight alone was pitiful to watch.
'What have I done to you…' He gently nudged his leg.
"Sorry, Bacon. I have much to do. Why don't you go play in that corner?" The angel gently pinched his pink ear tips and walked away with a heavy box of canned meat to the other shelves.
Hua Lang sighed, plopping down on the ground. 'I have no explanation for anything. Nothing makes sense… I fucking hate it… fucking sucks…'
He gazed up at the shelves, peering at the shelves of junk food he had never eaten in his life. His sight suddenly caught a small, pale hand reaching for the packet of pickled cucumber. The small pale hand disappeared instantly.
He shot up and glanced around. 'What the… I didn't hear anyone enter the store.'
The little hand appeared again and disappeared, taking a small sauce with it. Stunned, he ran after the hand, only to see a little boy squatting in the corner of the store with his back to him. What stunned him even more was the small white pair of wings that were twitching on his back.
'What…'
Hua Lang tottered closer.
'Are you kidding me…' He walked around to see the angelic being's face.
It looked like a ten-year-old boy and was munching on a pickled cucumber with relish. His small face was covered in pickle juice that was dripping from the packet, but ignorant of that, he seemed to go to town on it. "Oh my God, nothing beats human food."
It… it was a fucking angel!
A real angel!
His eyes frantically searched Tian's figure. The older angel seemed ignorant of the new arrival and was stacking the shelves very close to them.
"Oink!" He let out a squeal. "Hey! Your kind is here!"
Tian gazed his way with a small smile. "Bacon, are you hungry again? I'll feed you in a while. Just be a bit patient, okay?" he said and went back to work.
Eyes wide open, Hua Lang peered at him. 'He can't see this kid?'
His beady eyes met a pair of pale blue eyes looking at him, eyes slightly wide. "You can see me?"
"Of course I can see you… You… you are gonna have to pay for that. Or it comes out of his paycheck." His small oinks came out hesitant.
The little angel fully turned towards him. "You can really see me?" He poked his little head hesitantly. "No, that's impossible."
The kid shot up and walked around, inspecting him like a prized calf. His hands gently touched his small curly tail. "My brother didn't tell me about a heavenly animal being born?"
Hua Lang shook his butt, pushing his offending pickle-soaked hand away. "Stop touching me. And I'm not an animal! I'm human."
Ignoring his squeals, the angel kept circling him, pulled his ear, lifted his hoof, and even looked under his belly. "That's… that's not possible."
"I'm human, okay! Knock that out!" He kicked his hand off.
The kid seemed quite shocked at this. "No way…" His smile disappeared. His small wings twitched.
"Yes way! I am human, I swear… I have no clue why I'm a pig, but I used to be human. You're an angel, right? Can't you help me?" He hopefully gazed up at the little boy.
The boy dropped the half-eaten pickled cucumber from his mouth as his mouth fell open in shock. "What in Heaven's name… how can you be human! It's not possible at all!"
Hua Lang moved closer. "Take a good look at me. Do I look like a pig to you?"
"Yes."
"Okay, that was wrong sentence structuring. I mean, if I was a pig, how can I talk to you? Wait, how CAN you understand my oinks?" He was beyond shocked, to say the least.
"I… I don't know… Good heavens… who made you this way…"
His enlarged face peered into his eyes. "Crab and biscuit! You were cursed!"
"W-what! How! Why! Tell me how to get rid of that curse!"
"I don't know…" He backed away slightly, blinking rapidly. "I don't know how to cure curses… I didn't listen when my brother was explaining…" He looked away guiltily.
"Your brother knows how, right?! Can you ask him?!"
The kid bit his lips and looked away.
"What on earth! How are you a respectable angel, huh! You can't even help a small human!"
"If I tell him, he will scold me… and ban me from Earth for a while…" the kid pouted.
"What the…" He took a deep breath. "Listen here, kid, your brother is the only person who can help me. You have to ask him, okay? I'll make sure to convince him not to punish you."
That barely seemed to convince the kid.
"I'll buy you a lot of snacks, as much as you want, after I turn human!" he added in a hurry.
The kid looked at him with shining eyes. "Really?"
"Really, really. Anything and everything you want."
"Okay. I'll call him here. And he went to a meeting with the other angels. I think he can reach the human world in about a few…"
As he was saying something, Tian walked up to them and plucked Hua Lang up from the ground.
"You can't keep squealing like that. It will disrupt the customer," he whispered gently, pinching his snout. His eyes fell on the empty packet of pickled cucumber and the half-eaten treat on the ground. "Did you eat that? You can't eat stuff without paying for it," he chided him and picked up the waste from the ground.
Just as his hands touched the pickle, he saw a glitch.
A flickering trace of something appearing and disappearing.
The kid angel froze up, his wings starting to twitch even more rapidly. "I can't let humans see me! Oh no!" He dashed up and ran for the door.
"Hey, kid! Wait! You have to help me. Hey!!!" Hua Lang let out a loud squeal.
But the kid had long disappeared from the store.
"Something is wrong with my eyes…" mumbled the stupid angel as he carried his limp piglet body around the store. He placed him on the padded ground and placed a bowl of porridge. "Eat up and rest." He smiled softly.
Hua Lang blinked up at him. His eyes regained a bit of their shine. 'Now I know what is going on with me… a curse, huh. Who the hell cursed me?'
On the other hand, the little angel who ran out of the store in a hurry paused, panting, his little wings twitching vigorously. "Phew, that was close." He patted his pounding heart and took off to the sky.
His little wings flapped vigorously as he flew over the clouds and into the golden gates that flew open for him. Holy light fell on him, wiping all the mortal dust and debris off him. His blond hair, which was a tangled mess, turned shiny and flew, flowing and floating all around him, and his food-stained face regained its pink flush.
"You're back soon, Haily," a short, red-haired male angel by the heavenly door waved.
He happily waved back as he landed on a fluffy cloud close to him.
"Tell me, did you get to eat human food again? How was it? Did it taste sweet? Oh, I wish I could go too. Tell me, tell me…" He grabbed him by his shoulders and shook him vigorously.
"Yes, yes, I ate human food again. This time I ate something called a pickle. Roa, listen to me."
"Oh, I want to eat it so bad! It sucks being a messenger. I can never travel to the human world," the red-haired boy pouted as he clung to him.
Haily pushed him off. "Roa! Listen! Have you heard from my brother yet?"
"No, he is still at the meeting. If you want, I can have someone send him a message."
"Hmm." Haily seriously peered at him. "Roa, I met a human who was a pig!"
"Cheese and crackers! A human pig! Wait, how can a human be a pig? Is he a pig who is human or a human dressed as a pig?"
"No!" Haily grabbed his shoulders tightly. "A human who was cursed into a pig."
Roa's eyes widened. "It only happened like a thousand years ago! When that prince was turned into a frog!"
"Yes! You have to inform my brother! Immediately, if you can."
"I'll do it immediately." Roa immediately shot up and flew up into the golden clouds floating above.
His figure disappeared into the clouds, and soon his figure appeared close to another golden door where the angels were all gathering, floating around and discussing recent events.
Roa quietly snuck in between the angels towards a man in the center. His long blond hair floated around him, angelic, while his holy six wings stretched out behind him and twitched softly as he listened to the angels report to him.
He quickly clutched his lapels and tugged at them.
His blue eyes peered down at him coldly. "Did he set anything on fire again?"
"M-My Lord Gabriel, the young lord snuck into the human world again, and he said he ate a lot of human food and… and… he said he met a pig human." He hiccuped in fear.
The blond-haired angel paused, gazing down at the trembling messenger.
"What are you trying to say?"
"A human pig… a-a human as a pig. Lord Haily said that he met a human as a pig."
Gabriel sighed. "I don't have time to listen to you ramble. Go back and take care of my brother. If he sets food in the human world again, I will clip your wings off."
Roa hiccupped loudly, trembling. "O-Okay." He flew away quickly.
Gabriel rubbed his forehead. "Continue your reports."
He turned his attention back to the reports. 'A human pig? Tsk.'
The matter left his thoughts as quickly as it had arrived.
Completely unaware that Heaven had just dismissed the only clue to his curse, Tian returned home exhausted after work. Being in a human body was never fun. As an angel, he would have flown anywhere and everywhere he wanted, but as a human, he had to use his human legs to walk anywhere he wanted, and that was too tiresome. Sighing, he entered the house. "Aunty, I'm home."
"Ah, Tian, come in. I've made some braised pork for dinner."
Tian washed his hands and collapsed into the dinner chair. The moment the steaming dishes were placed on the table, the exhaustion from the day seemed to melt away.
Rubbing his hand, he chomped down a piece of pork. The juicy flesh melted in his mouth, releasing delicious spices. "Ummm…" he let out a soft moan.
The piglet in his arms stiffened up.
Noticing this, Tian frowned ever so slightly as he gazed down at it. "What is it? Are you hungry too? But I just fed you."
The piglet just peered up at his face and turned over, showing him his butt on his lap.
Chuckling, Tian patted his small butt. "I swear you're much more of a foodie than I am," he mumbled as he continued to eat the food.
Soon, Lu Chen came back from work.
"Tian, you're blowing up!" he exclaimed as he quickly removed his shoes and ran up to him.
Tian froze up, peering down at his body and then touching himself in panic. "I'm blowing up? Am I growing fat? Oh my God, just a few days and I've grown fat?!"
"No, you silly goose. I meant this." Lu Chen handed over his phone. His social media post was open, showing a photo of him working in the supermarket with Bacon sitting on the cash counter. "You are Insta-famous. Look at those comments. You're all everyone is talking about. Even a news page had posted you." He showed him photos after photos.
Tian just scratched his head. "What is special about this? Why are humans this curious about me?" He leaned close with his eyes narrowed. 'Do these humans suspect something?' But as he read the comments under each post, his expression became… vivid.
"Marry me."
"Step on me."
"I want to be that pig so that you can hug and squish me in your arms."
His eyes widened as he read more and more of those outrageous things.
"…Humans are terrifying."
"It's all 'cause of your face," Lu Chen chuckled, pinching his cheeks.
Pouting, Tian rubbed his slightly sore cheeks. "But my face is nothing special. Everyone in Heaven looks like this."
Lu Chen let out a chuckle. "Heaven must have ridiculously high beauty standards."
The piglet in his lap perked up at this discussion, his small pink ear twitching behind his head.
Chuckling, Tian gently massaged his ears. Under the electric lights, his ears looked slightly transparent. It looked awfully cute. Bacon, though, looked annoyed by this, shook his hand away, and let out oinks.
"I swear he looks like he is trying to talk to you," Lu Chen mumbled as he ate a piece of braised meat.
"Aren't all piglets like this?"
"No, he seems much smarter. That's why I was suspicious that he was someone's pet. I even posted his photo around, but no one seems to know him."
Tian curiously gazed at the piglet, who also seemed to be looking up at him with those black, beady eyes. "Can you understand me, Bacon?"
Bacon let out a sharp oink.
"See, that's what I told you. He is too smart. Sometimes he looks at me with so much contempt, just like those rich guys I meet at the restaurant do," Lu Chen casually said as he finished eating the meat dish.
Tian frowned slightly. Thinking about everything this small piglet does was weird. That morning, he tried to use his phone early in the morning. He had just assumed that this little guy was hungry and was munching on random things. But that was not true. This guy had somehow unlocked his phone and was on the browser.
His fingers unwittingly twirled around the small curly tail.