Kyungsoo waited anxiously, impatiently pacing quicker and quicker on the beach, each painstaking minute feeling more like an hour. He longed to rush back to Jongin the moment he hung up but he knew he had to lead the rescue team there; they wouldn't be able to reach there otherwise. He had a nagging feeling that Jongin wasn't simply lying there waiting for him with his legs broken, but that something worse was lying in wait. He hoped with all his heart that it was just his imagination running wild and when he got back Jongin would be still there, cracking jokes and grinning even when he was in pain, but he knew all too well his feelings of foreboding were never wrong.
The tables and colourful balloons that Jongin picked out were still there, the ridiculously jubilant colours seemingly mocking him. He had taken off his suit jacket and ripped off his tie long ago, and the latter curled around a balloon's string and fluttered in the wind like a black ribbon, a symbol of death.

A flack-flack-flack noise gradually came nearer, but it wasn't until it became so loud that Kyungsoo couldn't hear his own thoughts that he realised it was a helicopter--- help had come, and much too late in Kyungsoo's opinion.

A rope dangled down and half a dozen uniformed beings carrying bags on their backs came whooshing down one by one.

"About time you came!" Kyungsoo said hysterically.

"We came as fast as we could, sir," one of them said calmly, a tall blonde. "Lead the way." Kyungsoo darted away to the hole in the rocks, and the rescue team had to run to catch up.

"You climb up here then climb down here!" He shivered, partly because of the wind which was growing cold as the sun started to set, and partly because of the déjà vu, where he had stood at that exact same spot and Jongin had yelled those exact same words. He shook his head to clear his thoughts.

The rescue team broke into a jog and followed him with almost robotic precision, their footsteps falling in rhythm with the others' until only Kyungsoo's footsteps sounded out of place.

Kyungsoo, meanwhile, ran until he felt as if his lungs were about to burst but still he continued, terrified that with each second that passed, the possibility of something happening to Jongin increased tenfold.

When they neared the break in the path, Kyungsoo yelled desperately, "I'm coming, Jongin! I'm coming! Hold on!" only to brake to a sudden stop right at the edge to see Jongin's lifeless body bathed in blood.

"NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!" Kyungsoo screamed, and the only thing preventing him from jumping down was the tall blond gripping him tight  his strong arms wrapped around him and fighting his fruitless attempts to reach Jongin.

The rest of the team swiftly assembled their ropes and other equipment Kyungsoo couldn't name and couldn't care to name, laying out their medical supplies next to Jongin as if he was a mere specimen in a laboratory, while Kyungsoo watched helplessly.

Then the dreaded words came out of the dark-haired man's lips, professionally nonchalant, as if he was announcing the weather forecast: "He's dead."

And the glimmer of sympathy in his feline eyes were the only trace of emotion as Kyungsoo's hysterical wails echoed through the cavern.

The closest big city was Kalamata, Greece. Jongin was taken to the best hospital for his autopsy. Kyungsoo had insisted he had merely broken his legs when he left him and was still perfectly fine, and demanded to know what exactly had happened to his Jongin.

When the doctor finally approached Kyungsoo, both faces could not be any graver.

"I'm sorry," she said quietly. "He was bitten twice by a snake, a Levantine Viper, once in the shoulder and once in the bicep. The venom..."

Kyungsoo was stunned. The doctor continued to give a detailed autopsy report, but it was all in a blur. Kyungsoo only knew that Jongin died in pain and alone, and that was enough to make up his mind.

天涼了 雨下了 你走了 (The sky has grown cold; rain has fallen; you’ve left)

"I'm sorry," the doctor repeated, solemnly but kindly.

"Thank you," Kyungsoo said hurriedly, and left, clutching the papers at his chest.

It was raining heavily outside and in seconds he and the papers were drenched.

Kyungsoo stood at the entrance of the tiny, run-down village at the edge of Glyki, Greece, having passed the larger villages and towns cleaned and decorated prettily for tourists. He was out of the tourist area now, and the difference was tremendous.

Kyungsoo took out a piece of folded paper from his pocket. He was told not to use his phone or anything that even looked high-tech or modern, because he needed the villagers' help and he definitely could not afford to scare them off--- which explained his coarse clothes, simple shoes and straw hat, with a tattered backpack slung over his shoulder, vastly different from his usual tailored outfits.

The paper was badly creased, having been folded and unfolded hundreds of times. It was a crude map, along with useful Greek words scrawled at the bottom. The villagers probably knew very little English, he was told.

He spotted a girl, around 12 years old, standing in front of a house, and hurried over to her. She looked terrified at the sight of a stranger, but Kyungsoo quickly gave her a reassuring smile, making sure he squinted a little so that he gigantic eyes would not scare her even more.

"Excuse me," he said in broken Greek, "where is the well?"

The girl looked at him in confusion. His Greek was comprehensible, just barely, but she could not make out the last word.

Kyungsoo mimed drawing water out of the ground and drinking it with a smack of his lips. "Where?" he said again. The girl's eyes lit up happily and jabbered out a string of Greek. Kyungsoo looked at her helplessly.

落葉飄在湖面上睡著了 (Fallen leaves drift down onto the lake surface and fall asleep)

"I'm sorry," he apologised, minding his pronunciation. "I don't understand." The girl nodded and took his hand, small, slim fingers wrapped around his big ones, and led him scattered leaves floating on the surface to the outskirts of the village, to the mountain at the edge of the lake, scattered leaves floating on the surface at the skirts of the village.

At the foot of the mountain was a well, looking like the typical wells on TV, with a circular wall of bricks surrounding the hole in the ground and a metal stand above with a rope tied securely to it, a bucket on the other end. The well was roughly big enough for a person to climb into.

He smiled gratefully at the girl and uttered a simple "thank you". The girl smiled back at him before running off.

Kyungsoo tested the rope. It seemed strong enough. He took a deep breath and jumped into the well, hands grasped firmly onto the rope. His heart hammered in fear as the rusted metal creaked, but it held and he breathed a sigh of relief.

He couldn't die. He could not, not when he was so close. Sure, death would be, literally, the highway to hell, but then he wouldn't be able to leave the Underworld and he wanted to live with Jongin among the living.

若角色對調 你說好不好 (Wouldn’t it be great if we could switch roles?)

Kyungsoo took out a mini flashlight from his pocket, turned it on, and clamped it between his teeth. He shone the flashlight at the bottom of the well, and gulped when he saw that the bottom was a long, long way down. If this was Jongin he would have slid down the rope in no time.

The map was practically imprinted in his mind, which was a good thing as he doubted he could take it out and study it in this position.

He climbed down slowly, one hand under the other. Thankfully, the well was small enough that he could place his feet firmly on one side and leaning against the opposite side when he needed a rest, all the while shining his flashlight around to look for an opening the size of a brick.

When he stopped again for a rest, his foot got stuck in a hole in the wall. Irritated, he yanked his foot out when he realised this might be the opening. He swung around and gripped the uneven bumps on the wall, peering at the hole.

According to his map, there should be two rounded stones on either side of the hole. He let go of one hand and tugged at the stone at the right, which came out easily. He threw it down and it landed after a few seconds with a splash. Where the stone had been wedged was an enlargement of the original hole, and he reached his hand inside until he could make out something like a door handle. He smiled. This was it.

Kyungsoo tugged at the handle, but it did not budge. Frowning, he pulled at it with both of his hands and suddenly the door popped open with a musty smell, and Kyungsoo was left dangling precariously in midair. He quickly regained hold of the rope and awkwardly climbed into the large gaping hole, closing the door behind him.

He took the flashlight from his mouth and shone it about. It was an extremely narrow opening and there was a flight of stairs cut from the rock, leading down to darkness.

Kyungsoo walked down the stairs, knees knocking against each other in cold and fear. Minutes later--- or maybe hours later, he didn't know--- he turned round a corner and reached an enormous cavern. Something big on the ground reflected his light and he realised it was a gigantic underground river, black as shadow.

我的手 忘不了 (My hand can’t forget)

你手的溫度 (The warmth of your hand)

There was an extravagant boat at the edge of the water, sitting still on the eerily calm river. The cavern was cold but his hands were warm.

He ventured forward and a hooded figure materialised in front of the boat. Kyungsoo didn't know if he--- he? Her? It--- had just appeared or simply blended in too well with the darkness.

The figure held up a long skeletal finger, with skin that appeared and disappeared with wisps of smoke, gesturing him to stop.

"Return in death," it rasped, its low, breathy voice echoing around the cavern. Kyungsoo shook his head, swallowing because his throat had just gone dry with terror. He had arrived at the entrance to the Underworld, and this was the great River Acheron.

"No," he said, silently glad that his voice sounded firm, "I must enter."

"I require payment," it insisted.

"And what is the cost?"

"Death," it chuckled at its own joke, sounding like rattling bones. "Or a drachma." Kyungsoo marvelled at the fact that Charon--- who he supposed it was, the ferryman of Hades--- actually had a sense of humour.

Kyungsoo sighed. He knew this was going to happen, which was why he had a plan B.

"I don't have a drachma..." he said slowly, digging into his backpack, "but I do have this." He pulled a lyre out. He had gone to great pains to find this particular ancient instrument. He could have brought something more modern and easier to acquire, but the more ancient the better.

Charon lowered his hood, revealing his skull, a bluish-grey fire burning within the eye sockets.

"What are you going to do, sing me to sleep then steal my boat?" He barked out a gravelly laugh. Kyungsoo chose not to reply, merely running his hand across the strings, the simple chord instantly calming him and giving him strength.

"天涼了 雨下了 你走了 (The sky has grown cold; rain has fallen; you’ve left)

清楚了 我愛的 遺失了 (It’s clear that my love is lost)

落葉飄在湖面上睡著了" (Fallen leaves drift down onto the lake surface and fall asleep)

Charon stared at Kyungsoo, who was entirely engrossed in his song already, skilled fingers flying across the strings while his voice echoed hauntingly within the cavern.

"想要放 放不掉 淚在飄 (Want to let go but I can’t; tears are running)

你看看 你看看不到 (Look; you can’t see)

我假裝過去不重要 (I pretend the past doesn’t matter)

卻發現自己辦不到..." (But realise I can’t do it)

"Stop!" Charon cried. The music came to a halt, the last notes still lingering in the air. "That's enough. You lost your lover, right? Didn't have to sing about it."

Kyungsoo bit his lip nervously, eyes never leaving Charon's fire. What if this didn't work? He seriously doubted he could overpower an immortal being. Charon looked as if he was in deep thought.

"Alright, fine, fine. I'll take you," he finally muttered. Kyungsoo beamed. "Get in."

Kyungsoo stepped onto the boat in wonder, but the moment he touched it the extravagant façade shimmered and disappeared.

"Shocked, eh?" Charon cackled. "I will never get tired of everyone's reactions when they realise this is just a dingy old boat."

"It will support us, right?" Kyungsoo asked uneasily.

"Oh, I don't know," Charon replied breezily. "Usually the dead people don't weight anything." A long pole appeared in his hand and with a mighty push against the river bed, the boat took off.

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Sorry it took so long! It's been, what, 2 weeks? 2 and a half. But then this is super long. Sorry. I've been super super busy lately, what with tests and club stuff. But I'll never forget to update. NEVER.

If you don't understand the Chinese lyrics, the English translation is right after it. Just highlight it and you'll see the hidden translations. Or is this too annoying? Should I just make the translations visible?

Also, here is the song, Shuo Le Zai Jian (Said Goodbye).

the translation on my tumblr :3

Next chapter will be the last. Heehee I'm kinda excited cuz it's gonna be so, so sad. Maybe I'll cry. Maybe I'll make you cry, eh?;)