.

.

SHIIIIT.

WHY AM I WEARING A DRESS?

I swear I’d rather be inside doing the cha-cha with those reapers than plunging to my dead in a freaking dress.

Hahahaha, I can’t believe this.

Arms crossed forward, something that slipped my mind before came back rushing from all the heated blood: I. CAN. FLY.

SO

WHY

AREN’T

I

FLYING?

“Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy!” the wind was so strong that my eyes were tearing up “JUNG MIIIIIIIN!” how does he do it? How can he fly around without sweating? Why am I screaming his name out of all the names in my life? I saw my shadow around the staring people.

Eyes closed and ready for impact, it felt much softer than I thought. Actually, it felt like a carpet and the crackling noise of burning wood woke me up in an instant. Rolling around on my back, it was safe to say I landed on the study room’s floor, so that was either one of Death’s horrible jokes or he somehow teleported me back in that room. Either way, his smug was on top of me.

“Scared?”

I smacked his head and my knee rocketed between his legs. One constipated expression later which deserved two more punches, Death got the message of how messing with a mother is something nobody should do unless they are insane. The only surprising thing was the way he squirmed after those hits and didn’t bother to dodge them at all. Maybe he only pretended to be the great Death and was actually a demon with illusion powers.

Only after he grabbed onto his stomach and struggled to keep up on his feet with his free hand stretched forward and shining of pure energy I understood that, sometimes, it was good to first talk and then beat my enemies.  The light went straight through me and it was my turn to hold onto my stomach and pray my legs would stop trembling as he appeared out of nowhere and drilled his punch down my chest. What I’m saying is that it hurt a lot and my stomach couldn’t handle it well. Pouring its contents out on the expensive looking carpet, he wasn’t far from me, panting and gripping the couch for balance.

“I’m...” of course I had to answer him one way or another “not ing scared of anything, not even you.”

“Charming,” he smirked and then coughed, his nose twitching from the way I so humanly acted in front of him. Wiping my mouth and getting back on my feet, closer and closer to him, he stepped backwards when I tried to get back to our fist fighting. I swear it felt liberating. After so many supernatural encounters, I could have never guessed I would end up boxing with the Other World ruler.

Only after he twisted my wrist and slammed me to the ground with a final scream from my side had we finally calmed down. White light healed us.

“...who are you?”

“Death,” he gasped and crawled over to the couch. One drink down his throat, he patted the empty seat near him. Ignoring him, I sat on the floor near the table and waited to have a one on one moment with the bastard that decided to ruin my life.

“Okay, Death, what the heck is going on?”

He played with the glass for a moment before he got up to pour some more alcohol into them.

“Rogue reapers, burnt Carriers, rebel reapers going against me, fairies are collaborating with humans, hiding demons...” scoffing and another gulp down, he grabbed the bottle “the world is ending.”

If I hadn’t stolen the bottle from him, I might have seen the first ever drunken spirit.

Or whatever he was.

Alright, it was getting awkward. His head fell in his palms. I blinked and he trapped me again between another surface and his chest. And he was eyeing me with complete white orbs.

“What about Jessica?” he tilted his head to his right “Hasn’t she died?”

“Spirits cannot die,” he barked “they end up in the Other World or stay blocked here. I just need to find them again and recycle their souls.” frowning, he let go and furiously checked the cabinet nearby for another drink “Unfortunately, it weakens them, so I could only bring her back as a Seeker... some do not survive and become demons.”

“You just force them into becoming your minions?”

“They enjoy it,” he spoke softer than before with his fingers eager to grab onto my face. I slapped them away every single time until he finally cupped my chin and placed a kiss over my forehead “forgetting what they are, forgetting what they were, getting out of the miserable life they have once had and which repeats every single remaining hour of their afterlife. Believe me, they’d rather be on the battle field than watch those horror movies.”

Slapping and shoving him against the wall nearby, one more punch and the same white light healing our wounds and some mocking smiles from Death, we were interrupted when the doors opened and the same female reapers who chained Daesung and Jung Min raised their eyebrows.

“What are you looking at?!”

“Excuse me,” one of the coughed “we are ready to proceed.”

“Good,” Death chirped, vanished and embraced me from behind. In a flash, we were back in the ballroom, at the balcony’s edge, his hands upon mine as we grabbed onto the railing. “The Dragon was born Sooyoung,” he whispered as we watched the show before us. Reapers danced to the music blasting from every corner “and the Dragon is hungry, we must feed it” the dance become faster and faster, each reaper a blur through the hypnotic symphony “what better food is there than souls? Their tortured souls, lost in the sea of Chaos, never to return, never to be reborn.”

I had no more energy to elbow Death and escape. Each reaper shone its color, hues of red and green leaving their bodies in a grotesque whirlwind hurrying towards the ceiling.

“What the are you doing?!”

“Sacrificing them for the greater good,” it was becoming harder to breathe, white light peeling off my skin “so we can take this world back and rule once more.” Eyes closed, heavy breathing, his voice became an echo in my mind. It was an echo too distant for me to hear. Ah, Changmin, mommy promised to be strong for you. “What is this?!”

Death howled and all I could see was darkness engulfing me and waves of purple violently slashing through all the other shades.