Realize
E.R
Day 01
“And this is where you multiply – oh, my God!”
Joohyun's eyes widen as she sees Joy staring over her shoulder. The short-haired grim reaper frowns at the textbook placed on the table across Joohyun – Joy never did like numbers.
“Unnie, is something wrong?”
Joy looks up from the bland textbook to find a young girl sitting next to Joohyun, confusion painted all over her eyes.
“N – no, nothing's wrong, Yerim-ah. Say, why don't we have a short break?”
“Yes!”
The young girl – Yerim – stands up from her seat at lightning speed and proceeds to smooch Joohyun on the cheek. Joohyun giggles as Yerim pulls apart.
Joy grimaces at the public display of affection (she ignores the fact that Joohyun and Yerim are alone in some corner of a library).
“I thought my head was going to explode! Wanna get some fresh air together?”
Joohyun hesitates and steals a side glance at the grim reaper. Joohyun clears .
“I have to.. make a phone call. I'll join you in a minute.”
Joy makes a disgusted sound as Yerim pouts at Joohyun's answer. The older woman stealthily steps on the grim reaper's foot for a split second and Joy frowns at her brazen action.
The nerve of this woman.
“Unnie, I'll wait for you at the ice cream stand. Don't make me wait too long or I'll eat your share.“
This girl's not even that cute.
Joohyun chuckles and ruffles the younger girl's blonde hair.
“Yes, yes. Now go and enjoy your break.”
The girl beams another smile at Joohyun before leaving. Joohyun waits until Yerim is out of ear-reach before she turns to Joy.
“What do you want?”
“Isn't she a little too young for you?”
“She's my sister.”
“Ah.”
Joy picks up the Math textbook, mindlessly flipping through its pages. She stops at a random page when a yellow piece of note catches her eye.
Hi, I love you. Get well soon.
- S
The note finishes with a simple drawing of a bear with hearts around it. Joy's left eye twitches at the disgustingly cute note.
Joohyun raises an eyebrow at Joy's gesture and she glances at the source of Joy's annoyance, her eyes softening when she sees the yellow note. Joy closes the textbook with a huff and puts it back on the table (because Joohyun looks like a lovestruck idiot and Joy has a more important issue to address). Joy tilts her head nonchalantly as she looks at Joohyun.
“Hi.”
Joohyun only fiddles with her wristwatch in response, her timid eyes struggling to meet Joy's steady gaze.
“Enjoying your extended life so far?”
“Why are you here?”
Joy scowls at the human's curt reply.
“You should be more polite to me. Have you forgotten who, or rather, what I am?”
Joohyun flinches. She looks as if she wants to bolt out of the room and get the hell away from Joy (which is rude, because Joy thinks that Joohyun should be grateful for being graced with the grim reaper's presence). Joohyun grits her teeth as she mutters under her breath.
“I apologize for my rude behavior.”
Joy nods her head in satisfaction, lips curling into a grin.
“I hope you don't work in retail, because if I were your boss, I would fire you on your first day of work.”
“You sure know a lot about humans.”
Joy shrugs off her shoulders.
“We pick up a lot of things from observing you guys. It just happens.”
Joohyun doesn't reply to Joy's remark. She goes back to fiddling with her wristwatch (Joy wonders if this is a quirk of hers), eyes on the ground. When Joohyun speaks, her voice sounds pathetically desperate.
“Please don't take me away yet.”
Joy scoffs, but her reply comes out softer than she would like to admit.
“Geez, you look like a five-year-old whose candy was stolen and replaced with a piece of rock, and you were dumb enough to bite into it and break your teeth.”
Joy sits on a table, facing Joohyun with her legs crossed.
“I'm not here to drag your to hell. You still have another twenty-nine days.”
Joohyun gives her a confused stare.
“I'm here to see if you're using your extended time wisely. It's not everyday I extend a human's life, you know. You should be grateful.”
Silence hangs in the air before Joohyun nods her head hesitantly.
“Thank you.”
Joy hums in approval at Joohyun's sincere gratitude.
“That's better. Now if you'll excuse me, I have another life to take in a minute. I'll see you again some other day.”
Joy swiftly leaps off the table and makes her way to the exit. Joohyun looks like she has something to say as Joy passes by her but the grim reaper brushes it off.
—
“She said she wouldn't take long. What a liar.”
Yerim puffs her cheek in annoyance as she makes her way back to the library, holding two cups of ice cream (she made sure to pick a purple cup for Joohyun).
The young girl sighs as thoughts of her elder sister run through her head.
Yerim hopes that the ice cream would make her sister feel better, even just a little bit.
—
Yerim comes back to their studying spot to find Joohyun sobbing quietly on the floor, head buried in between her knees. The two ice cream cups slip from Yerim's hands as the younger girl rushes to Joohyun's side. Yerim cradles Joohyun's head in her arms, whispering words of comfort.
Joohyun doesn't know how long they stay in that position, her hands clutching desperately to the back of Yerim's shirt (Joohyun feels like Yerim is going to slip away from her if she doesn't hold on strong enough).
—
Yerim doesn't let go of Joohyun's hand as they walk home, and she makes sure to keep Joohyun safe in her arms as the elder sibling falls into sleep.
Day 02
“If you don't stay at home today, I won't make you dinner tonight.”
But Yerim-ah, I could easily order takeout or do the cooking myse-
Joohyun stops her train of thought as she realizes she has very little, no, too little time left to enjoy Yerim's cooking.
The elder sibling puts her hands up in defeat, a smile slowly forming on her face.
“Fine, but you'd better make our dinner extra special tonight.”
Yerim grins victoriously as she approaches Joohyun. She squeezes Joohyun into a warm hug and plants a brief kiss on her elder sister's forehead.
“Take a good rest, okay, unnie?”
Joohyun only smiles and pats the younger girl's hair in response before Yerim leaves for school.
—
Joohyun lies lazily on the couch as she mindlessly flips through random channels. She gives up on finding a decent show after going through dozens of channels and turns off the television. She grabs her phone from her pocket and goes to her list of contacts.
'Seulgi-bear <3'
Joohyun wonders if she should be selfish and ask Seulgi to come over.
Call her.
But she's at work right now.
And you're dying.
She said she has an important meeting today.
Death is knocking on your door in three, two, one-
Joohyun jumps as she hears a series of knocks on the door. She nervously gets up from the couch and makes her way to the entrance.
It can't be-
When she opens the door, she is greeted by a bouquet of sunflowers.
“Delivery for Miss Bae Joohyun!”
A smile immediately blossoms on Joohyun's lips at the familiar voice. She asks playfully.
“Who is it from, I wonder?”
Joohyun takes the bouquet of sunflowers, eyes twinkling at the taller woman before her.
“It's from your super-duper awesome girlfriend.”
Joohyun giggles as the black-haired woman leans in and presses a gentle kiss on her cheek. The brunette sighs in content as they press their foreheads together, eyes locked in a tender gaze.
“Yerim told me what happened.”
Joohyun makes a mental note to go to a nearby bakery later – strawberry shortcake has always been her little sister's favourite.
The black-haired woman cups Joohyun's cheeks, and the brunette purrs with delight at the soothing gesture.
“I got you bubble tea.”
The taller woman pulls back as she removes her hands. Joohyun whines at the loss of contact but soon brightens up as the woman pulls out a drink from a plastic bag.
She always gets a purple straw for Joohyun.
“You're the best, Seulgi-ah.”
“I know.”
Joohyun only smiles at the cheeky reply, feeling like a huge weight has been lifted off her shoulders.
—
Joohyun spends the rest of the day with Seulgi in Joohyun's apartment, the younger woman rambling excitedly about her recent project. She rests her head on Seulgi's shoulder as the younger woman doodles in her sketchbook. Joohyun listens attentively as Seulgi tells her stories that she makes up on the spot (she's always been amazed at Seulgi's creativity).
“The cat promises she will see the dog in heaven. The dog waits patiently but the cat never shows up. The end.”
Joohyun pouts.
“That's too sad. I want a happy ending.”
“But my editor wants it to be a tragedy.”
“It's a children's book, Seulgi. I'm sure kids would much prefer a happy ending.”
“True, and you're proof of that.”
Joohyun sticks her tongue out and Seulgi laughs.
—
Seulgi recommends watching Joohyun's favourite movie together and the brunette happily agrees. She dozes off twenty minutes into the movie with Joohyun (fully awake) in her arms.
Instead of watching the movie, Joohyun tries to memorize every single detail of Seulgi's features.
—
When Seulgi wakes up, Joohyun's eyes are slightly red and puffy but the older woman brushes it off.
“You know how emotional I get whenever I watch The Notebook.”
Seulgi's smile is painfully gentle as she kisses Joohyun.
—
Yerim comes home later to find her elder sister napping peacefully in Seulgi's arms. The younger woman tries her best to assure Yerim that everything is okay, but Seulgi's uneasy eyes tell her otherwise. The young girl walks slowly towards Joohyun, careful not to wake her up. Yerim bends down to delicately tuck a lock of hair behind her elder sister's ear.
Seulgi points to the coffee table across them and Yerim smiles when she sees a slice of her favourite strawberry shortcake.
—
Joohyun wakes up in Seulgi's arms and Yerim makes Joohyun's favourite meal for dinner.
—
“So.”
Joy pretends she doesn't hear Wendy talking to her.
“Please tell me you took that human's life.”
“I did.”
Wendy stares at Joy. She pulls out a knife from her jacket and swiftly aims it towards Joy's back.
“I gave you the answer you wanted - ”
The knife misses Joy's side by a fraction as she turns around.
Wendy clicks her tongue.
“Wendy, you .”
“I don't know what you're planning, but you'd better prepare yourself for the consequences.”
Joy rolls her eyes.
“As if the old geezers would notice anything. They're probably busy playing chess or complaining that there are too many people dying and committing suicide nowadays. Speaking of which, don't you have you have a suicidal human to take care of right now? Gosh, I feel so sorry for humans who have to see your face when they die. They deserve better.”
Wendy sighs as she opens her journal.
Another day, another suicide.
This time, it's a forty-seven year old man.
He probably lost his job or family.
Wendy has seen enough, no, too many people ending their lives due to stress in workplace or loss of family members.
Goodness, this is the worst job in the world.
She glances at the next person in her list and sees that it's a ten-year-old boy.
Wendy tries not to think why a little boy would kill himself.
At least Joy doesn't deal with suicidal people everyday. Why is the underworld so unfair -
“I saw Joohyun yesterday.”
Wendy looks up from her journal to see Joy playing with her rubik's cube again.
“She's doing fine. She didn't seem crazy to me, at least. I'll visit her again some other time to make sure she's not doing anything stupid. It would be annoying if she somehow dies before her thirty days are up.”
Wendy shakes her head in defeat.
“Do whatever you want.”
Joy hums and continues trying to complete the puzzle in her hands. She only realizes five minutes later that Wendy is gone (Joy is thankful that Wendy didn't try to impale her head when she was busy solving the puzzle).
How the hell do you solve this stupid cube?
Joy furrows her eyebrows. It bothers her seeing various colours on each face of the cube.
.. maybe Joohyun could help her? Humans are good at this, right?
Joy decides to visit Joohyun again tomorrow.
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