I hate A/N's at the beginning of a chapter, but I thought it was important to mention that if you accidentally stumbled across this then it might be a good idea for you to read this first. It's the first story in the Devil's Playground series and it's pretty necessary to understand what's happening in this one.

            Sehun liked to call what he did “post-life decision management.” He realized that the recently departed had options as to where they wanted to spend their afterlives, and he’d made it his career goal to make his Devil’s Playground businesses their obvious choice. That’s why the still-living could go to his nightclubs: Sehun figured that if people recognized something familiar from their pre-death state among the options for their afterlife destination, it made sense that that would be the choice to which they naturally gravitated. (Obviously there was nothing Sehun could do about the Judgments, but when faced with fire and brimstone or an eternity of endless dancing, club music, and strobe lights, Sehun knew that he at least would rather suffer the hell of the second.)

            His version of Perdition was also supposed to involve an endless supply of alcohol—alcohol that burns on its way down. (No hangover, but no chaser either.) And there lay his current problem: not in the alcohol, more like in the lack thereof.

            It wasn’t fair really. When Sehun had first agreed to this job—some thousands of years ago it must be now—the Judgments hadn’t told him he’d have so much to deal with. The whole point of his Devil’s Playground creation was to delegate work to his subordinates, with himself acting as a sort of overseer for the entire operation. That’s why Kyungsoo owned Perdition and Sehun basically owned Kyungsoo. (His ownership wasn’t a weird or possessive kind of thing, but Sehun had recognized part of himself in Kyungsoo and when offered, the latter had chosen to trade an eternity of contentment—and boredom—in Sehun’s pre-nightclub Elysium for the freedom—but still eternity—which accompanied his new position as owner/moonlighting bartender of Perdition.)

            Kyungsoo’s club had been the first business Sehun formed under what he called the Playground Project. Before Sehun, Perdition and Elysium were basically the only two options someone had if they wanted to go forgo the religious options and choose the EXO way. Today, Devil’s Playground had five successful nightclubs, each catering to its own type of customer. Well, kind of. Technically only three belonged to Sehun—Perdition, Elysium, and Nementia—and the other two were Junmyeon’s.

            (Sehun had thought he was being clever when he’d first named the third club Lethe-l because it was a reference to the river of forgetfulness and a play on words. He’d pouted for years when he realized the customers of that particular club were so out of it—which was the goal, actually—that they pronounced the name more like “level” than the “lethal” it was supposed to sound like. Seriously, the things Sehun has to deal with. So now Yixing’s establishment was called Nementia and ironically, Junmyeon and Sehun were a few of the only ones who still remembered the club’s initial title—Sehun because he owned it and Junmyeon because he was the one who recommended the change in the first place.)

            He’d never admit this to anyone, but Sehun thought Junmyeon’s two clubs—which existed under Devil’s Playground’s partner brand, Romantic Entanglements—were equally clever in their names. It was a bit of a mouthful but LethosBenthos as the name of a club populated by ever-separated lovers was pretty genius. If Perdition was hell for the forever-alone, LethosBenthos was a cruel place which fostered eternal emptiness; the word itself meant the habit of forgetting how important someone is to you until you see them again in person, and lovers who selected Jongdae and Minseok’s club looked forward to an endless cycle of love lost, forgotten, painfully remembered, and then lost again. The second nightclub was called Kairos and it was essentially a lovers’ Elysium.

            Junmyeon had another place in the works—Aphrodel—but Romantic Entanglements dealt with couples and Junmyeon wasn’t willing to split either of his current owner/bartender pairs to man this third club. Sehun, who only ever dealt with single people and didn’t really get the point of co-ownership, tried convincing his friend that business would boom if they just took Chanyeol or Baekhyun from Kairos. (It wasn’t like running that particular establishment was particularly taxing work for one person, let alone two.) But Junmyeon had always been more feeling than Sehun, so Chanyeol remained with his lover and Aphrodel remained “under construction.” At this point, though, Sehun couldn’t even be bothered to worry about the unopen club because really Aphrodel was under Romantic Entanglements and that business was Junmyeon’s problem.

            Sehun’s problem was much more immediate. And annoying. Because something was going on with Perdition’s bartender and suddenly Kyungsoo didn’t feel like serving anybody. This wouldn’t be an issue at any normal place, but each of the Devil’s Playground clubs only had one bartender so Kyungsoo’s refusal to do his job meant that Sehun couldn’t do his job either. Not to be cold—although really, he was—but at the end of the day Sehun had quotas to fill just like everyone else. (There’s a reason even the punishments of Perdition or LethosBenthos were presented as clubs—they had to be appeal somehow.)

            And really, if Kyungsoo didn’t serve the people of Perdition and Sehun couldn’t keep the establishment running, then the Judgments would hear about it and that was simply dangerous for everyone involved in the Devil’s Playground-Romantic Entanglements operation. Essentially, Kyungsoo’s choice was tantamount to assisted suicide; if he didn’t perform his duties, his immortality would be revoked by the Judgments and he’d be sentenced to an eternity of falling into the swirling darkness of the Tunnel. That was the worst possibility in this situation, but Sehun wasn’t willing to take chances when Kyungsoo’s failure would prompt an internal review and Sehun might end up in the Tunnel too.

            No way was he going to let that happen.

            Sehun called a meeting between the owners of his three clubs, Junmyeon, and himself. Aside from the whole Kyungsoo issue, he’d heard that the newest addition to his company, Luhan, had an unhappy customer in Elysium which was not only unheard of throughout Sehun’s entire tenure, but was also almost as dangerous as the situation in Perdition. Yixing was as forgetful as ever but Nementia seemed to be running smoothly, for once, so he was really just there because Junmyeon had once mentioned he thought Nementia’s bartender was kind of attractive and Sehun might be single, but he wasn’t completely heartless.

            He and Junmyeon met ahead of time to discuss the issues at hand. Sehun’s business partner suggested they deal with Luhan’s problem first because it was much easier to please a customer who had probably just picked the wrong place to spend his afterlife than it was to convince a much more lucid immortal that he needed to start working again or else. And anyway, Junmyeon figured the Judgments would be more forgiving of a temporarily lost soul than they would be for someone who knew what he was getting into by working for Sehun in the first place. Sehun was inclined to agree, especially when it was finally time for the actual meeting and Sehun himself had a hard time being forgiving when Kyungsoo initially skipped and then had to be physically dragged by his boss into the Devil’s Playground offices.

            “You have to stop this,” Sehun commanded, forgetting momentarily that he’d decided to deal with Luhan first. Kyungsoo didn’t respond, even when Luhan flicked him in the forehead and told him he was being rude. That movement brought Sehun’s attention back to the problem actually at hand, and he ignored Kyungsoo’s lack of respect, turning on Luhan instead.

            “I know you’re new here, but you’ve got to do better!” he said, exasperatedly. “Elysium is a place where people go to be happy. Clearly, you must be doing something wrong.” Luhan rolled his eyes because that wasn’t fair. It wasn’t his fault.

            “Maybe the Judgments made a mistake!” he said in his defense. Sehun thought that maybe Elysium’s bartender was even more stupid than he was cute, and he and Junmyeon gasped in tandem at Luhan’s words.

            Suddenly there was a sixth presence in the room. “We don’t do that. Ever,” the newcomer said, settling into an armchair in Sehun’s office and making himself comfortable as if he owned the place. Which he did, in a way.

            Sehun tried to say something, “Kris—,” but the Judgment cut him off with a sharp look before continuing. “If a soul in your establishment is not content, it is not the Judgments who are responsible. We merely select their level of deserved happiness; where they choose to spend their afterlife is on you.”

            (That definitely didn’t make Luhan or his boss feel any better about the situation.)

            It isn’t fair.

            No, Kyungsoo thought, it really isn’t.

            When Kris was finished chastising Sehun’s employee, the Judgment disappeared as quickly as he’d come in the first place, and Yixing had rushed out right after, dragging Junmyeon with him. (The two had basically been devouring each other with their eyes the entire time anyway so Sehun figured he was better off without them and didn’t make much of a fuss when they left.)

            Kyungsoo didn’t really have any reason to stay either since Kris’ visit practically guaranteed Sehun would be too upset with Luhan to even deal with Kyungsoo; in his depression, however, Perdition’s bartender couldn’t be bothered to leave because he really just didn’t have the energy for it. (That’s also why he’d tried to skip the meeting in the first place.) And if Kyungsoo hadn’t stayed, Sehun would never have heard him groan in pain when Luhan explained that Kim Jongin had just appeared one night—as customers in Sehun’s business tend to do—and had moped at Elysium’s bar ever since. Kyungsoo hadn’t said a word the entire time so his outburst was startling. Sehun was even more surprised when Luhan asked Perdition’s bartender if he knew this Kim Jongin person and Kyungsoo nodded sadly before bowing his head and covering his face with his hands dejectedly.

            Kyungsoo didn’t get sad—that’s why Sehun had given him Perdition in the first place. The guy was almost as cold as Sehun himself and Sehun had needed someone who wouldn’t be bogged down by what was essentially Hell disguised as a club. That’s also why Luhan worked Elysium; if Kyungsoo and Sehun were cold and unfeeling, Luhan was bubbly, cheerful, and sometimes more emotional than even Junmyeon who owned a chain of afterlife clubs for couples, for goodness sake. Sehun had actually bartended Elysium himself before he’d met Luhan there and offered him the job, and he thought Luhan would have lost his spark if he’d been tasked with managing Perdition instead.

            (Luhan didn’t know any of this, obviously, but he did resent Sehun’s constant hovering. He thought it was an indication that the Devil’s Playground owner regretted his choice or at the very least considered Luhan less capable in the role of nightclub owner/moonlighting bartender than Perdition’s Mr. Perfect Do Kyungsoo. In reality, Sehun had recently realized Luhan had the looks to match his handsome personality and that the entire package was really unbearably attractive. So Sehun frequented Elysium under the pretense of “checking up” on his newest employee, but really Luhan just looked super fine in his work uniform of black slacks and a crisp white button-up with a few buttons always undone at the top, and Sehun was just being appreciative of the view.)

            The real point was that Sehun hadn’t realized Kyungsoo even had a spark to lose in the first place, and now he felt kind of bad that his usually stoic employee was seemingly so depressed. What Sehun couldn’t figure out, though, was how Kyungsoo even knew Luhan’s customer—it’s not like the bartenders of Perdition and Elysium ever interacted with the customers of each other’s clubs. Maybe Kyungsoo knew the guy from when he was human? But no, Sehun thought, that wasn’t possible because it had been at least a few centuries since Kyungsoo was even a soul himself, let alone an alive person. Or perhaps Kim Jongin had visited Perdition before his death and Kyungsoo had met him then? That was a little more possible but Kyungsoo’s main duty was to the dead so it didn’t make a lot of sense that he’d be so concerned over someone while they were living.

            Sehun was startled out of his thoughts by the feel of a fingertip pressed to his forehead. Luhan coughed awkwardly when Sehun met his eyes, but he didn’t remove his finger until he’d smoothed the lines from his boss’ face. Kyungsoo was still mired in his misery and missed the interaction but when he finally glanced up at Sehun, he could practically see his friend’s brain working overtime and decided to give Sehun a break. (Yes, the two were friends; if Luhan had worked under Devil’s Playground for as long as Kyungsoo had, he’d be friends with Sehun too.)

            “He chose Perdition,” Kyungsoo said in a small voice. Luhan’s eyebrows furrowed and his mouth transformed into an O. Sehun had to actually pinch himself to stay focused on Kyungsoo’s explanation and not get distracted by the pink lips of Elysium’s bartender.

            “Then why…?” Luhan asked in confusion.

            “Because then he chose me,” Kyungsoo replied, and this time it was Sehun who mouthed an “Oh.”

            Kyungsoo nodded and sighed. “I knew what would happen,” he said, “but I let myself love him back anyway.”

            If an afterlife not serving its purpose properly—no alcohol at Perdition, for example—was bad; and Sehun’s turning of Perdition, Elysium, and other post-life destinations into a conglomeration of nightclubs had never been done before and was, by default, potentially awful as well; for a soul that was meant for any version of Hell to fall in love was the absolute worst. One of the first things the Judgments taught their overseers was that love changes people, usually for the better. For that reason, those charged with the Heaven-like destinations were instructed to foster the feeling. Those over the Hells, on the other hand, were told explicitly that love must be avoided at all costs because then the Judgments would be forced to reconsider their initial determination of deserved happiness and that just couldn’t happen.

            Apparently love was too good for those people destined for eternal punishment. Kyungsoo knew this, and Sehun did too. Actually, if Sehun stopped for a moment to be honest with himself, that’s part of the reason he’d hired Luhan in the first place. The sweeter man hadn’t been placed into Hell or chosen Sehun’s version of it, but he’d still been a soul and an overseer being interested in a customer was just as forbidden as a soul finding love in Perdition. Unluckily for Kyungsoo, though he hadn’t been placed into Hell as a soul either, he did happen to work there so in this whole situation with Kim Jongin, Perdition’s bartender was doubly guilty.

            Privately Sehun felt that a person couldn’t help who he loved and he certainly shouldn’t be penalized for it. Sehun couldn’t really remember what it was like to be alive but he was gay, and he knew enough about the world today to know that he’d be judged for his choices. Even Kris, who’d never even been a human but was also gay, had to consider what it must be like to be told he’d fallen in love with the wrong person. So if Sehun wanted to mend Kyungsoo while solving Luhan’s problem at the same time, he figured he should talk to Kris and try killing two birds with one stone.

            There has to be a way to fix this, right?

            Kris was still angry at the impudence of Sehun’s underling and the Devil’s Playground overseer almost didn’t get an audience with him. The Judgment hadn’t been in love with a person in a very long time, but he did have a love for the rules and he wasn’t in the mood to have Sehun attempt to change them. Driven by his fear of the Tunnel and his concern for his friend, however, Sehun was persistent in his requests.

            First, let Sehun meet with Kris. That was accomplished eventually because, again, Sehun can be annoyingly persistent when it matters.

            Second, convince Kris that Sehun’s solution is the best option in a bad situation. Yes, Kyungsoo messed up, Sehun could admit that. In Kyungsoo’s defense though, Kim Jongin had basically seduced Sehun’s employee and Kyungsoo had at least tried to do his job properly by initially resisting. (Kris didn’t bother pointing out that Sehun’s argument was a terrible one—if Kyungsoo had really been doing his job, he’d never have reciprocated the assassin’s feelings. Since he did eventually, despite being very well aware of the rules that Kris loved so much, the Judgment figured Kyungsoo hadn’t done his job at all.) So this request of Sehun’s failed—in a way—because Kris remained skeptical of Kyungsoo’s intentions, but did agree that allowing Perdition’s bartender to reunite with his lover solved both of Sehun’s problems.

            Yet if Kris recondemned Kim Jongin to Perdition, the soul wouldn’t remember his past time with Kyungsoo and the bartender would likely remain heartbroken. Additionally, the rules said that love could not exist in the Hells because those were supposed to be places of suffering, not happiness. So even if Kris agreed to Sehun’s Request #3—that Kris allow Sehun to hire Jongin on as an owner/moonlighting bartender—Jongin and Kyungsoo couldn’t be allowed to work together in Perdition.

            Which is where Sehun introduced his fourth and final request. Before going to see the Judgment, Sehun had visited his business partner and inquired after the progress of a certain Romantic Entanglements’ establishment that was still unstaffed and, therefore, also unopened. (Sehun hadn’t knocked before entering Junmyeon’s office—he’d never had to before—but he quickly wished he had because the sight of Junmyeon passionately making out with Sehun’s employee was definitely something Sehun wanted to unsee. The fact that Sehun’d essentially set Junmyeon up with Yixing in the first place was irrelevant—his poor eyes.)

            After everyone composed themselves, Sehun had tried to subtly suggest that Junmyeon would have an easier time meeting his quotas with a third club under his belt. Junmyeon had chuckled and responded that he had no trouble meeting quotas since his clubs catered to people in twos. Logic was never quite Sehun’s strong point, so he’d just huffed and resorted to begging. In the end, Junmyeon, who liked Kyungsoo enough that he felt bad about the guy’s situation, told Sehun that, “Sure, if you can get Kris to approve it, Kyungsoo and Jongin can come work for me at Aphrodel if they want.” Sehun was loath to lose someone who’d become such a close friend over the many years they’d worked together, but Kyungsoo’s happiness was more important to Sehun than keeping his friend as the bartender of Perdition.

            Maybe Kris was feeling particularly benevolent, or maybe he was just about done with Sehun, but miraculously the Judgment agreed with his overseer’s final request. It was actually more of a “Whatever; just get out of my office!” but Sehun decided he would take what he could get and actually caught himself thinking that if Luhan was this easy to convince, he’d have asked Elysium’s bartender out ages ago. It’s too bad the guy was as oblivious as he was cheerful and he had no idea that Sehun was interested.

            If only, Sehun thought, if only.

            Sehun felt that good news is always best delivered in person, but he also felt that he wasn’t the person Kyungsoo would be most happy to see; which is why he stopped by Elysium to officially hire Jongin in Junmyeon’s stead before going to Perdition to inform Kyungsoo of his reassignment. Since Aphrodel was actually going to be under the Romantic Entanglements brand, technically the hiring and notifying of any new staff was a task reserved for Junmyeon and not Sehun. Since the former was more concerned with Yixing at that moment than anything else, however, he was more than willing to allow Sehun the pleasure instead.

            When Sehun arrived at Elysium he took a moment to bask in the aura of contentment which always seemed to emanate from the place before heading to the bar. Luhan’s problem customer was easy to spot—if this were a cartoon Sehun would have drawn a little raincloud above Jongin’s head—but for Sehun, Luhan was even more noticeable. As always happened when Sehun stopped by, the gloriousness of Luhan in his uniform took Sehun’s breath away, not to mention the way Luhan smiled as he served the other people at the bar or the way his slim but muscular arms looked when the bartender shook the hands of any Elysium newcomers. (Sehun had to keep his jealousy at bay when Luhan finally noticed his boss standing near the dance floor and stopped smiling at the new customer to instead frown in displeasure—because Sehun thought that Luhan’s frown should be for someone else and the bartender’s welcoming smile should only ever be directed at him.)

            Sehun kind of got his wish when a smaller version of Luhan’s dazzling smile reappeared at the realization that Sehun wasn’t there to hover but actually to fix Luhan’s problem.

            (Well, one of Luhan’s problems. Life as an immortal nightclub owner/moonlighting bartender was simple so Luhan’s problems were admittedly few. The whole issue of Kyungsoo and Jongin’s separation was one. What Luhan thought was his unrequited love for his boss was another. Truthfully Sehun’s hovering didn’t bother Luhan as much as the fact that the owner of Devil’s Playground often visited Elysium but never actually tried to talk to him—which is why Luhan remained convinced that Sehun regretted choosing him as the club’s replacement bartender. )

            Under normal circumstances, souls could only interact with each other and their overseers, and weren’t permitted to leave their afterlife destination after choosing where they wanted to go. Actually, if Sehun hadn’t been bartending at Elysium when he’d made his employment offers, first to Kyungsoo and then later to Yixing and Luhan, he wouldn’t have even been able to communicate with them because at that point all three were still souls. Though he was no longer direct overseer of any Heavens or Hells, Sehun was armed with special dispensation from the Judgments, and he was able to take Jongin to his office without incident.

            Returning to lucidity after the numbing mindlessness of being a soul was like being dunked into ice-cold water to Jongin and he was suddenly overwhelmed with a crushing sense of loss as he remembered Kyungsoo—and the fact that Perdition’s bartender had essentially been taken from him. At that Sehun saw a bit of what must have sent Jongin to a Hell in the first place because Kai briefly reappeared at Jongin’s momentary contemplation of revenge; Jongin didn’t know who was at fault but Kai at least wanted someone to suffer like he’d had to. But then Sehun had offered Jongin a chance at an eternity with Kyungsoo, not as a soul, but as a bartender and Kyungsoo’s equal, and Kai was once again buried to wherever he went when Jongin first saw Kyungsoo and fell in love. Jongin didn’t even stop to think about it and said “Yes!” before Sehun could even fully finish his proposition. It didn’t even matter to Jongin that he’d just realized he was actually dead or that he had been for a while. He loved Kyungsoo completely and everything else fell to the wayside when Jongin considered the possibility of a future where the two of them could be together.

            Because, really, that’s all that mattered.

            Kyungsoo was still depressed after he left the mess of a meeting Sehun had dragged him to. He hadn’t wanted to go back to work but he didn’t have anything else to do and anyway, Sehun had said he’d try his best—whatever that meant. So Kyungsoo was bartending like he always did when he felt the inevitable tingling on the back of his neck which signaled that his club had just gained a new regular. Kyungsoo had been getting a drink for a customer so his back was to the bar as he internally sighed at the pointless repetition of it all before turning to face the newcomer.

            “Welcome to Perdi—Jongin?!”

            “Did you miss me, Kyungsoo?” his lover asked. “Because I didn’t know it but I felt it, and I missed you.”

            Kyungsoo could only gape as Jongin moved closer to him, grabbing the bartender’s wrists in a repeat of that fateful moment which seemed so long ago. Jongin leaned forward, his body crossing over the bar as he pulled Kyungsoo’s face toward him and kissed him. The kiss was desperate and full of longing for missed moments which could never be recovered. Kyungsoo pulled back and cupped Jongin’s face between his hands.

            “How?” he asked in wonder.

            “I was offered a chance to come back to you,” Jongin responded with a kiss, one that Kyungsoo thought tasted like the hope for a future he’d wanted but didn’t ever think was possible. “And I took it because I still love you. I think I’ve always loved you.”

            Jongin kissed Kyungsoo again. “Do you still love me?” he asked, his voice low and his words tentative.

            This time it was Kyungsoo who kissed him. "Pabo." he whispered in response.

            I never stopped.

07/18: I've decided to leave this as a one shot because it felt rushed for al the characters to suddenly get together, especially if Sehun had been alive for as long as it seemed. Regardless, I hope you enjoyed this and if you did, please don't be shy! Let me know by commenting/upvoting/subscribing and by checking out my other fics too!