Kai blinked his eyes open, disoriented. He was in a small, all-white room, lying in a strange bed. His brow furrowed. He didn’t remember coming here. He didn’t really remember anything.

He glanced uncertainly around the tiny, cramped room and his eyes fell on a boy sitting in a chair in the corner. He was dressed in all white as well, but he was sleeping- mouth wide open, head rolled back. As Kai watched him, he let out a small snort and shifted in his sleep. Maybe he knew where they were.

Kai carefully swung his legs over the side of the bed, testing them. He felt a little shaky, but his legs held. The floor was cold and smooth under his feet. Quietly, he padded over to the strange boy. Kai cautiously extended a hand and gave him a small poke in the chest.

The other boy’s eyes flew open. “Jesus!!!” he shrieked, clutching a hand to his heart. Kai jumped at least a foot backward, startled. This boy had the biggest, roundest eyes he had ever seen. It was a little terrifying.

“Oh, sorry, I must’ve dozed off while I was waiting for you to…” the other boy trailed off and gestured toward the bed.

“Um” Kai said awkwardly, heart still racing. “That’s okay. I was just wondering if you happen to know where I am? Or how I got here?”

The boy let out a small sigh and resettled himself in the chair, crossing one leg over the other. His gaze softened, now sympathetic. “Yes, I do. But you may want to sit down; this won’t be easy to hear.” Kai sank back onto the bed.

“You were in an accident.”

“An… accident?” Kai echoed, uncertain.

“Yes.”

“So am I in the hospital then?” That would explain all the white.

 “No” the strange boy said gently. “No… you died.”

“I- what?” The room seemed to spin suddenly.

The boy nodded sadly, eyes still fixed on Kai. “It can be hard to accept at first. Most people don’t remember it happening.”

It was painful, too painful to think about, so Kai chose to ignore it and asked another question instead. “Who are you?”

The strange boy straightened a little, looking rather proud. “I am Kyungsoo, your Angel-of-Crossing-Over” he said smoothly. It sounded very well-rehearsed.

“What’s that?” Kai asked dumbly.

“Um, well, you know. Crossing over, moving on. Dying.” Kyungsoo grimaced slightly. “In the past we used to call ourselves Angels of Death. But people didn’t really take that well, there was a lot of screaming and crying and general hysteria. So the higher-ups changed it, and now we go by Angels-of-Crossing-Over. It’s a mouthful, but at least people don’t lose it and start trying to beat you to dea- I mean, well.” Kyungsoo trailed off awkwardly, clearly worried he’d offended Kai.

“I don’t mean to be rude” Kai said. “But if you’re an angel, how come you haven’t got any wings?”

Kyungsoo’s expression fell a little. “Well” he muttered, not quite meeting Kai’s eyes. “I’m still kind of in training for it.” He fiddled uncomfortably with the clipboard he was holding. “But you’re my last assignment, you know!” he said, brightening considerably. “As long as I do a good job with you, I’ll graduate and finally get my wings! Then Baekhyun will have to stop gloating so much” he finished smugly.

“Who’s Baekhyun?”

Kyungsoo waved the question away. “Oh, he’s just a choir angel. He got his wings like seven months ago and keeps shoving them in my face, all ‘oh, I’m sorry Kyungsoo, I didn’t mean to hit you, it’s just that these darned wings are so hard to get used to’ and ‘don’t worry, someday you’ll finally get your own pair and then we can fly places together.’ Of course I know he’s just rubbing it in my face! But it’s not like he did anything sooooo impressive, I mean choir angels are just… well, you know” he said pointedly to Kai, raising his eyebrows conspiratorially.

“Er, no sorry, I don’t know” Kai said, now feeling completely lost.

Kyungsoo let out a dramatic sigh. “Well, it’s just that anyone can be a choir angel! You just have to have a pretty little face and be able to sing decently, and that’s it. No training or anything. I mean-” here he rolled his eyes, “-even I could be a choir angel. Please don’t think me arrogant, but people always do say I have the most heavenly voice! But it’s really just so much more fulfilling to help those who are in need. Which, of course, is why I chose this line of work” he finished, smiling easily at Kai.

Kai paused for a moment to digest that. “Can I ask how it happened?” he said quietly.

“Sure” Kyungsoo replied easily. “I just applied to the University of Angels, got my prerequisites out of the way, and then applied for the College of Crossing Over when it was time to declare a major. I would’ve graduated last year if it wasn’t for that witch who failed me” he grumbled, scowling a little.

“No” Kai interrupted, before Kyungsoo could open his mouth again. “I meant how I died.”

“Oh, right, of course” Kyungsoo said, shooting him another sympathetic look. He shuffled through a few papers on his clipboard. “Kim Jongin, 23 years old-”

“I go by Kai, not Jongin” Kai corrected automatically. Kyungsoo made a little note on his paper, tongue poking out slightly.

“Kai, 23 years old, died in a car accident.” Kyungsoo scanned the report. “Another car hit yours after running a red light. Four others were involved, but they’re all okay. Unfortunately you suffered a nasty hit to the head and fell into a coma. You were on life support for 12 days before they let you go.”

Kai closed his eyes and nodded slowly, trying to come to terms with his death. It didn’t work, but then again he didn’t really expect it to.