The light was blinding.

Junhong blinked rapidly, trying to adjust to the bright white light which invaded his vision the moment he tried to open his eyes. Shielding his eyes with one hand, he slowly lifted himself to sitting position. Something he felt under his palm was smooth, but not the fresh-sheet type of smooth. It was grass.

Grass? Junhong didn’t remember sleeping anywhere near a field. He remembered walking home from his part-time job, a little girl playing a little too close to the road, a screeching sound, screaming peoples, a loud thump when his body came in contact with the asphalt after yanking the girl off the road, and the split second of pain when the drunk driver didn’t manage to step on the brake…

It came to his mind clearer than ever. He was hit by a car.

Considering that fact, he should be in a hospital with tubes and stuff connected to his body. But the place didn’t even remotely look like a hospital. He found himself sitting on a field of grass, tiny colorful flowers everywhere, warm rays of sun and calming breeze grazed his face. The sight was heavenly, but he didn’t have much time to admire it. He was lost, okay. And remembering the incident, he should have at least several fractured bones, however, he strangely felt no pain. His body felt as light as a feather.

His gaze scanned around the beautiful scenery in front of him and all of a sudden, he saw a building several meters away from where he was sitting. The building’s color was a dull white and it looked just like a giant box, not matching the surroundings at all. He found it somehow weird, but in hopes of finding any human being inside the building, he forced himself to stand and walk towards the weird thing.

As he arrived in front of the building, he found out that the building had no windows and the only entrance was a white wooden door with ‘AAD’ scribbled carelessly on it.

“Hello?” He knocked the door three times, but no one answered. He waited for what felt like hours (actually, it was not even a minute) before getting impatient and pushed the door open.

He stepped in.

Everything inside that building was white, from the tables to the sofas and the lamps; the interior reminded him a lot of the waiting room in a clinic. Several bottles of water were placed on a small table in the middle of the room along with a pile of old magazines from God knows how many decades ago. Junhong scratched his head in confusion when he heard a voice behind him.

“Mr. Choi Junhong?”

A silver-haired man with an all white outfit had come out of nowhere when Junhong was busy observing the room. The man was holding a white clipboard with some white papers in one hand and a white pen in the other. He smiled slightly at the confused Junhong.

“Well, hello, my name is Jung Daehyun and welcome to the AAD.”

“What does AAD stand for?”

“It is the acronym of Association of the Almost Deceased.”

Junhong blinked.

Once.

Twice.

Thrice.

“Association of what?!”

“I believe you have heard me well.” The Daehyun guy led Junhong to one of the sofas. It looked like an old leather sofa at first, but Junhong had to admit it was actually quite comfortable, it felt like sitting on clouds.

“The AAD, or Association of the Almost Deceased, is the place where human souls wait for the decision, whether they can come back to life or they die. When someone’s in a comatose or critical condition, their souls are sent here to wait while God makes the decision.”

“So am I dead right now?” Junhong frowned.

“You see, the doctors are still trying to save you. So technically, you aren't dead yet. If they failed, you will die and your soul will be sent to where you belong - heaven, hell, or nothingness. If they succeeded, then your soul will be returned to your body.”

Junhong didn’t reply, his mind was too busy accepting the fact that his life is now literally on the line.

“While you wait, you might as well make yourself comfortable here. We have prepared food, drinks and some magazines for your entertainment. Enjoy your stay.”

Daehyun turned and walked away, but after a few steps, he stopped.

“Some souls might join you later. Have a nice talk with them. I’ll see you again later.”

Then he disappeared into thin air, whether he walked out of the door or just vanished, Junhong was too immersed in his thoughts to actually notice that. He stayed quiet for a good few minutes, completely unaware of someone walking inside. He kept ignoring the other person until said person talked to him first.

“Hello.”

Junhong almost jumped from his seat due to the sudden intrusion. He half-glared at the other, but his gaze softened when he saw the person’s slightly confused face.

“You’re not supposed to be here.”

“Why?”

“The doctors are trying their hardest to save you. And aside from the massive blood loss, the impact of the car accident is not supposed to be that bad, isn't it?”

“How’d you know I’m here from a car accident?” Junhong asked, confused.

“Well… I was there. Sorta.” That guy scratched the back of his neck. “The drunk driver died, by the way. I’m not sure if it’s the alcohol or the crash which killed him, though; I’m pretty sure it was the booze.”

“Oh I see. Well, have a seat, then. I’m Choi Junhong, nice to meet you.”

“I’m… Jepp. You can call me Jepp. That’s what my friends called me.”

The older male sat across from Junhong. He scanned Junhong’s features very carefully, until his gaze stopped at the bunny necklace the latter was wearing.

“What’s that?” He asked.

“This?” Junhong asked back, pulling the necklace off his neck. “Old thing I got from my older brother years ago.”

“So you have a brother?”

“Yeah. Six years older than me. Haven’t seen him in a while, though.”

Junhong’s face suddenly turned sad, and the other male probably noticed it. “Something wrong?”

“If, just if… I can do one last thing in the world before I die, I want to find him.”

Junhong’s eyes were there, but his mind was not. Because if he paid attention to the man in front of him, he would surely notice that the latter tensed up.

“And if you meet him… what will you do?” Jepp asked quietly.

“I want to throw this necklace on his face along with some dirt. The stupid brother who left me on the streets after our parents died without any relatives who could take care of us, thirteen years ago. Back then I was only 4, and that damn brother of mine just left me as if I was an old toy, or a pile of trash. He never came back to take care of me like he should. He sent me to an orphanage where I stayed for a few years until a kind couple adopted me. Until this exact moment, I haven’t seen him ever since. I don’t even remember how he looked like. Dunno, maybe he had died on the streets because the irresponsible piece of doesn’t have the rights to live. He should rot away in hell.”

Junhong let out an airy laugh and looked at the man in front of him, who was staring at the water bottles as if they were the most fascinating thing on earth.

“Hey Jepp,” he called. “If you can do one last thing before you die… what will you do?”

Jepp looked up and let out a deep sigh. “I… want to apologize.”

“To whom?”

“My… little brother.”

“Apologize… for what?”

“For being such an irresponsible piece of .”

Silence.

“Life on the streets was hard especially for kids like us. I couldn’t bring my little brother with me, I didn’t want him to suffer. I wanted him to have a better life. I wanted him to be happy. That’s why I left him, because I know the social service people or foster parents would take care of him better than I could.”

Jepp paused to inhale deep breaths, and then he continued with shaky voice. “I tried to find him. I wanted to know if he was happy. I wanted to know if he was living a good life. But no avail. I tried to find him in almost every orphanage in town, urging them to let me know where he was. No one told me. Then one day during my usual way home, I saw a boy who had painfully similar features with what I remembered from my younger brother. And he got hit by a car right in front of my eyes.”

The mixture of emotions hung in the air, slowly enveloping both of them, silence filled with distress. None of the boys spoke a word within the agonizing minutes. Slowly, in an almost too quiet voice, Junhong spoke.

“If you were not the driver and I was the one getting hit… why are you even here?”

Jepp smiled. “Your blood type is rare, you know that? You can’t accept transfusion from a random person. It’s the best if your parents or siblings donated blood to you. And in this case… your parents are unavailable.”

Junhong’s eyes widened.

Just then, Daehyun walked back into the room holding the same white clipboard. “It is decided.” He announced.

“Choi Junhong, 17 years old, you may come back to live. Please use your second chance well and don’t waste your time living because you wouldn’t know when you will die.”

He flipped the paper and turned to the other male. “Bang Yongguk, 23 years old. It’s time.”

Jepp, or revealed to be Yongguk a.k.a Junhong’s long lost brother, stood up and walked over to Daehyun’s place. Right then, Junhong’s mind snapped.

“What kind of bull is this?!” He shouted. “I… I waited my whole life to meet my brother again and that’s all I get?! You must be joking!”

“Unfortunately, the staff of the Association of the Almost Deceased does not joke. It is a violation of our rule.” Daehyun turned to Yongguk who was standing beside him calmly. “Do you still have anything you need to do in the real world before you die? You only have one chance.”

Yongguk shook his head. “I have done the last thing I want to do before I die, meet my brother and make sure he’s okay.”

He then turned to Junhong, a smile on his lips. “Junhong, you’re still young. You still have plenty of time before you turn into a lifeless mound of flesh and bones. You know… I’m sorry I’m such a terrible brother. I’m sorry that I couldn’t give you a better life. I’m sorry that I couldn’t stay beside you this whole time. I’m sorry that I’ll have to leave you again…”

Junhong felt his mouth dry. He wanted to say something, but something constricted his throat.

“If only I could come back to thirteen years ago, I wouldn’t let go of your hand on that day. But what have been done couldn’t be undone. I know this means nothing for you, but I’m glad. At least, I can do something for you before I die. Please live well. I love you, my little brother…”

He then turned away, walking slowly with Daehyun tailing behind him. His whisper was low, nearly inaudible, but it reached Junhong’s ears anyway.

“If only there’s life after this, then I would want to be your brother again…”

Junhong wanted to run to his brother and stop him from leaving. But he remained frozen on the spot, his feet began disappearing slowly as it was time for him to come back to live. Right before his whole body disappeared and Yongguk completely out of sight, he managed to let out a voiceless shout.

“Hyung!”

***

Junhong’s eyes snapped open, white lights almost blinded him again but he knew he was in a hospital room. Doctors and nurses ran around checking this and that. Junhong grabbed the arm of the nearest nurse he could find and questioned her with hoarse voice.

“Where… is… him?”

“Him…? If you mean the driver, well, he…”

“Not… him!” Junhong yanked her closer. “The guy who… saved… me… he must be here…”

“Oh, yeah… the guy who brought you here… it must be fate that he has the same rare blood type as yours and is willing to donate his blood to you.”

“I… asked you… where is him…!”

She sighed. “Look, we are really sorry to say this but... he had a special condition where the blood regeneration is too slow. He donated blood without telling us about his condition and he…”

The nurse didn’t complete her sentence but Junhong knew what word would come next. Died.

Junhong let go of the young nurse’s arm, his arm traveled to his neck. The necklace was still there. Everything around him became a blur, doctors’ and nurses’ words turned into white noise. He felt warm tears trickling down as he gripped the pendant tightly.

I’ll live.

And when my time comes, we can be reborn as siblings again.

In a world where we’ll never let go of each other’s hands.

just in case someone doesn't understand the story:

junhong got hit by a car. he (his consciousness) then went to a place where human souls wait for the decision whether they will die or not. at that place, he met a guy (Jepp) and told him about how much he hated his long lost brother without knowing that it was his brother he was talking to. Right after Jepp (aka Yongguk) told Junhong the truth, Daehyun came and announced that Junhong could come back to life but Yongguk would die. As Yongguk walked away, Junhong regretted everything he had said but he couldn't take it back as he was unable to say a word.

loosely based on a chapter from Yakitate! Japan manga series (when Pierrot almost died and was saved by his father)

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