“I didn’t expect it to be like this, but this is a relief. I think I was becoming too much of a nuisance to my nephew already,” Jongkook said as he took his seat.

He was in an unfamiliar environment. It was a small room, with a modest sink and kitchen just beside the door from which they entered. There were modest decorations around him - a set of paintings hung up on the wall, a small console table with some knick-knacks on top of it, and a bookshelf across from the kitchen. There was a staircase just behind the bookshelf, but he didn’t have time to check what was upstairs, because he was immediately led to the center of the room, where there was a table set for two.

The man listened to him from the kitchen as he scooped up some tea leaves and let them steep. Jongkook watched in awe as he moved skillfully; clearly, the man was used to what he was doing. His movements seemed as instinctive as the movements Jongkook would make at the gym.

Ah, the gym. That was a long time ago. It had probably been more than two decades since he last went to the gym. But that wasn’t really up to him. The doctor gave strict orders, so he had to resort to more elder-friendly types of exercises.

He was taken out of his thoughts when the man walked towards the table with a mug. “Hope you’re okay with black tea without anything mixed in,” he told Jongkook. “I was thinking you’d prefer something a bit strong.”

“Oh, thank you for this,” he replied as he grabbed the mug. “But if I’m being honest, I usually prefer coffee instead of tea.”

“You’d think that the road to the afterlife would be prepared enough to have a wide range of drinks. Unfortunately, the only update we were able to do after two millenia was to have different flavors for the same drink,” the man laughed.

Jongkook gave in to a chuckle, as he gripped the mug tighter in his hand. He knew what it was for. As he got older, conversations with friends morphed from talking about how to live a normal life to how to make the most out of their remaining days, which meant that discussions about death and reincarnation were inevitable. Still, those were all speculations, so he had to ask, “How does this work though? Does this really work to do that?”

“Why? What have you heard about that?” the man threw back the question.

“This is supposed to erase all my memories, isn’t it?”

“Only if you want to.”

“Oh,” Jongkook found himself saying. “Does everyone usually drink this?”

“Well, people usually wish to go to their next life with a clean slate. But occasionally, I’ve had people choose to keep their memories intact,” the man explained. 

“And why exactly do people want to do that?” Jongkook asked. Then, when the man looked puzzled for a moment, he added, “Keep their memories, I mean.”

The man pulled back, and let himself lean on the backrest of his chair. He smiled at Jongkook and answered, “There’s a variety of reasons, but it’s usually fueled by a regret that’s been haunting them for their life.”

Jongkook knew quite a bit about regrets, and the man’s answer had him staring at the drink in front of him. The conversation died down into silence, as Jongkook pondered on his life.

“So, are you not going to drink that?” the man asked after quite a while.

Jongkook looked up to find the man expecting an answer. “I’m not sure,” he said.

The man smiled, “That’s fine. People usually need time to process things before they decide.”

“I’ve lived more than ninety years though, and we’ve discussed this among friends. I should have an answer for this already,” Jongkook mused.

“No one can really fully understand the effect of death until it’s actually happened to them, Jongkook-ssi. When I fetched you, you looked prepared, but you obviously weren’t done reflecting on your life,” the man answered.

Jongkook’s eyebrows knit together in curiosity. “Grim reapers are mind readers too?”

“No. But I know a man with regrets when I see one,” the man said.

“I think I’ve lived life to the fullest though,” Jongkook felt defensive.

The man scoffed, “I don’t want to judge, but let me just say it. Sure, you led a successful career and you built one of the biggest gym franchises in South Korea in just a short span of time. And yes, of course, you had friends, but your closest ones died quite some time ago. To top things off, you died in the guesthouse of your nephew. Alone.”

“For someone who doesn’t wish to judge, you definitely judged my life.”

The man continued as if he hadn’t spoken, “You wanted your own family, but you didn’t get married, Jongkook-ssi.”

“Well, marriage was probably just not for me,” Jongkook answered.

“Scratch that. You didn’t marry the person you love.”

That hit the bullseye. Still, Jongkook tried to recover and divert the conversation, “Grim reapers read hearts too?”

“No, but some of us watch variety shows and the news. Anyone with eyes could see who you were in love with,” the man said.

This wasn’t the first time he heard it. His friends spent a lot of time encouraging him to just confess his feelings. When they were younger, some of them even went to the extent of fooling him with alcohol and bringing him to her doorstep. Still, they were no match for Jongkook’s high tolerance for alcohol; every single time, he managed to bring himself home even before Song Jihyo got to open the door to find him there.

“Out of curiosity - and bear in mind that you don’t need to worry about the news getting out to the presses - why did you never tell her?”

Jongkook faked a smile, “Are you eyeing a promotion so you could be one of those who get to try the souls for their deeds? It seems to me like you’re using me for target practice.”

The man laughed, “Fine. Suit yourself. I may be the last being you get to talk to with all your memories of her. If you want to let go of the chance to finally talk about it, be my guest. Just drink your tea and forget about her. At least this time, you actually get to bury your feelings instead of just keeping them all inside.”

That hurt. Jongkook knew he was a coward, but to hear it definitively at the end of his life made it feel worse. He sighed, “I guess I just missed my chance.”

“You knew her for decades, Jongkook-ssi. Have you really not had a chance?”

“Touche. But you have to remember, for the first decade, she was either in a relationship or unwilling to get into one. After that, I thought she already designated me as a brother. What could I have really done?” Jongkook said.

“You were sure that’s all she saw in you? You were that sure?” the man asked.

Jongkook answered, “She used to say it a lot before. I mean, we did go through that loveline phase, but I always thought whatever she did, she did it purely for work.”

“Wow, I thought you were smart, but you were defin