He had been born to die. At least, that was what he had decided. It was his heart: From the moment it had started beating, it had started to fall apart. First it had been the holes, which the doctors tried to patch. Then an artery collapsing, which they propped open after his first heart attack at age nine. And then it had simply begun to struggle to beat. His chest was covered in a latticework of scars from all of the different surgeries doctors had performed on him: thirty-six from birth to the age of seventeen. He could tell that the doctors were beginning to lose hope; they talked a lot about trying to get him a new heart.

The first time Daesung had died had been during surgery number seven. His heart had simply given up, his pulse had flat lined, and the doctors had to fight for thirty minutes to get him back. That was when Death first noticed him.

The second time Death came for the boy, he had been surprised to find the child standing beside his body – watching with a thoughtful frown as the doctors worked to save him. “Kang Daesung?” Death had murmured, causing the boy to look up.

A wide, toothy smile broke out across the boy’s lips. “They’re trying so hard,” the boy said simply, his gaze returning to the doctors. “They must care a lot about me.”

Death hesitated. “.. I would suppose so.” Talking to his victims was not exactly something Death did on a regular basis; he was unnerved by this strange child.

“Are you going to make them lose?” Daesung spoke without fear or sadness, as though he were simply asking about the weather or when the cake would be finished baking in the oven. Curious, Death supposed. The boy was curious.

“Not today,” Death murmured.

By the time Daesung was seventeen, he had died enough times he felt like it was a bit old hat. Well, at least the being dead part of it. In some twisted way, he actually looked forward to those moments when his heart would stop, because it meant he would catch a glimpse of bottomless dark eyes and lips turned in a quizzical frown. It meant exchanging a few words, perhaps even turning that frown into a smile, before the doctors were able to bring him back. But, in the past two years, his exchanges with Death had grown longer and longer; he was close to dying.

When his heart stopped yet again, Daesung sighed softly and stretched his arms out in front of him. The sound of Jiyong crying out his name as he was pulled from the room was background noise; it was as though a muffler were put over Daesung’s feelings when he was parted from his body. And then came the familiar presence at his side. A shiver raced through the brunette’s body as he turned to face Death. “We meet again,” he managed to quip.

Death nodded slowly. “Yes.”

Daesung snorted softly. “You still aren’t very good at conversations, are you?” The young man shook his head and sighed teasingly. “What am I going to do with you, hm?”

When Death blinked at him, it felt as though an eon had passed during the motion – so slow and precise were his motions. “I should think the concern would rather be what I am going to do with you,” Death mused, his voice curling around the base of Daesung’s spine pleasantly.

“Oo, that was nearly flirtatious,” Daesung said, not quite managing to laugh. “You’ve made so much progress. I’m proud of you.”

One of Death’s finely shaped eyebrows arched. “You are a strange mortal. Do you not fear dying?”

That made Daesung hesitate. “Not anymore. It used to, I think, scare me really badly. But then I met you.” Reaching over, he gave Death’s hand a squeeze. “Nothing could ever be scary with you around.”

Death looked down at their joined hands, the frown on his lips deepening. “If they do not replace your heart soon, you will die,” he murmured. “Permanently.”

“I kind of figured that was the case,” Daesung said softly. “They’re trying to get me a transplant or an artificial heart. But I don’t think they’ll get one in time. I can feel how tired my body is – how much it wants to give up.”

“It has fought many battles,” Death agreed. “But…do you never wonder what your future would be, if you were to live?”

That got the brunette’s attention. “Are you saying you know what my future would be if I lived?”

Death his bottom lip. “The many facets of your possible realities are one and the same to me. I can see them all.”

A wistful sort of smile turned Daesung’s lips as he gazed out the window of his hospital room. “Are any of them happy?”

“It depends on how you define happy,” Death said simply. “Would..you like to see them?”

Daesung turned to stare at his lifelong friend. “Is that possible?”

Nodding, Death took a small step closer. “It might give you something to fight for, knowing what your future could hold. And I can show you three of them.”

There was only a heartbeat of pause before Daesung nodded; he was endlessly curious. “I would like to see them. If only so I know how it could’ve been. If I lived.” Because, in all honesty, Daesung was not certain he wanted to live. Ever since he was little, he had wanted to join Death on countless adventures and find out what was on the other side of the grave. What could be in the future that could hope to compete with such a wonderful dream?

Without a word, Death shifted the fabric of reality so Daesung could view his first future.

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Alright, so this piece is going to have a collection of little glimpses at Daesung’s possible futures. I will be posting them throughout the day today, so expect updates. What do you think awaits Daesung? Do you think he’ll choose to fight or will he join Death forever?