Gift for chiyun13

Gift from ???

Title of the gift: Heaven or Hell

Pairings: MarkJin

How many words: 2681 words

Rating: 10-13+

Warnings: Extreme angst ^^"" Also a little bit of blood, etc.

Note to my giftee: Hey! I hope you have a very Merry Christmas! Or a happy holidays if you don't celebrate Christmas! I tried extra hard on this, so I hope you enjoy it even if my english isn't perfect. I mean, it's the thought that counts right? I hope you enjoy it!
 

Heaven or Hell

Jinyoung could remember it like yesterday. The laughter. The happiness. The members. That perfect time had already slipped through his hands, yet it only seemed like a day had passed since. In reality, it had already been six months - six months since he had passed away.

“What are you thinking about, Jinyoung?”

Jinyoung’s eyes, staring into the rain, slowly came into focus, his ears twitching slightly at the sound of his name. “I’m just thinking.” His answer was simple but blunt, almost void of emotion as he addressed the person standing next to him.

“Thinking about?” The figure pressed gently. It hadn’t always been like this - while Jinyoung had never been a loud person, he had never been blunt either. He’d always been talking with integrity. But that had changed with death.

“I don’t really want to explain, Mark.” Jinyoung sighed and turned to look at the figure. He was the same height as Jinyoung, and although his frame was smaller. The life that had always burned within his eyes were strong.

Jinyoung took a few seconds to gaze deeply into Mark’s eyes. Within them, the fire that had always been there was now somehow gone. Mark was dead as well.

“Fine, then. No need to explain.” Mark shrugged his shoulders and lifted his hand upwards as he gazed into the heavens, raindrops slipping in between his fingers. “Hey, Jinyoung. Do you think there’s a God?”

Jinyoung squinted his eyes. “A God?”

“Yeah. Someone up there that’s watching us, watching the members, watching all of us…” Mark’s voice trailed off and disappeared under the pitter patter of rain.

“Do you think someone that cruel exists?” Jinyoung’s words struck Mark as odd and he pulled his gaze from the clouds to his partner. His eyes were empty, fists clenched tightly together. “Someone that split us apart, took our lives away and didn’t even let us rest in peace?”

“Jinyoung…” Mark couldn’t stand to watch him like this, his eyes filled with anger. It was like he, too, was fading away from Mark. “At least we get to see the members.”

“I'm tired, Mark…” Jinyoung sighed, his eyes lost in the dark sky. “What good is it to see the members when all they do is cry? They can't move on.”

Before Mark could open to respond, Jinyoung shook his head and his heels. “Let’s hurry up and get to work.” He ignored the fact that his footsteps never disturbed the water beneath him, that his hair never became wet from the rain, and that no matter how long he stood outside, he was never cold.

Jinyoung’s cry was empty as he woke up on the cold, wet pavement in the middle of darkness. “W-what happened?” His eyes shifted in and out of focus, and he saw the overturned black car that he and Mark had been riding home in.

Mark.

Jinyoung let out a small whimper as he noticed Mark’s still body lying not too far away. “M-Mark!” Jinyoung’s voice cracked as he fell to his knees - scratches and bruises covered Mark’s body, blood seeping out from his wounds. His eyes were still open, staring into nothing.

“Park Jinyoung?” Jinyoung turned around. There, not too far away, stood a man. He was tall, wearing a black top hat, with a matching black and white suit. In his right hand, there was a dark wooden cane.

“W-who are you?” Jinyoung stammered. “Help me call an ambulance! Mark is hurt!”

“There’s no point in calling an ambulance.” The man’s voice was monotone and empty. “He’s already dead.”

Dead? Jinyoung looked back down at Mark, and a shiver ran down his spine. Mark’s eyes were so empty.

“And so are you.”

What?

”Someone call 119! Please! Don't leave me!” The girl's voice was hoarse, cracking several times, as she held onto the unmoving body sprawled out on the wet pavement.

“He's leaving, isn't he?” Jinyoung's voice was monotone and fuzzy. “There's no way to save him, right?”

“Not that I see…” Mark answered, kneeling down beside the pair, a white haze forming around the unconscious man. “His soul and body are already splitting.”

“Please don’t leave me! I need you in my life! I-I can’t live without you!” Her tears blended in with the rain, falling down her face and disappearing into the gravel. There were lights all around them. People from their cars and pedestrians with umbrellas in their hands watched helplessly as the woman’s cries filled the emptiness of the night.

It was a tragic, but unremarkable death. To the girl, it was obvious her life would never be the same, but to the reality of life, it was just a simple casualty among the millions that died everyday.

It was the same for Jinyoung - just a simple death in his mind.

The man stood to his feet, taking in his surroundings: his wife weeping, his car overturned just meters away, the onlookers, and his own body lying dead before him.

“Sir,” Jinyoung called to the man. “You are dead.”

The man pulled his gaze away from his wife, looking Jinyoung and Mark in the eye. His voice was low. “What did you say?”

“Time of death: 9:58 PM, October twenty-second, 2016. Cause: Car crash. Comments: None.” Mark said as he scribbled it down in a notebook, ignoring the fact that the rain passed straight through the sheets of paper.

“I’m dead?” The man blinked several times, looking down at his slightly translucent hands. Then something clicked in his brain, and he stammered, “There's no way I'm dead! I can't die! I have to take care of my wife. She's pregnant, I can't lea-”

“You're already dead!” Jinyoung burst out, surprising both the man and Mark. “You can't change anything! We can't do anything for you, just admit it and move on!”

A silence filled with the sound of rain ensued as Jinyoung stared at the ground, Mark stared into the dark sky, and the man stared solemnly at his crying wife.

“I love you, dear… take care of the baby, for the both of us.” The man looked longingly at his wife one last time before turning to Jinyoung and Mark. “Take me away… whether it be heaven or hell.”

Jinyoung stepped forward, ignoring the tears that had begun streaming down the man's face. “As you wish.”

“We’re home.” A husky voice, so nostalgic to Jinyoung, filled the empty dorm as several boys kicked off their shoes and entered the dark living room. Jinyoung and Mark, who had been waiting patiently for over an hour, jumped up and approached the figures immediately. “Let’s hurry and pay our respects.”

“Hyung…” Jinyoung said emptily, his eyes falling on Jaebum. His eyes were dark from lack of sleep, and his hair was frazzled. He looked so tired.

Jaebum and the other members, Jackson, Bambam, Yugyeom, and Youngjae, immediately took off their coats and knelt down beside a large altar made of wood, which leant against the dorm’s wall. The members individually lit incense rods, sticking them upright within a pot filled with ashes. On the wooden surface of the altar, illuminated by candles, were two photo frames.

“Yah, don’t cry, Youngjae…” Jaebum murmured, patting the younger man on the back. He pulled a handkerchief from his back pocket. “They wouldn’t want us to cry, would they?” Jaebum said, feeling his own eyes sting despite his words.

“It just doesn’t feel real, Hyung…” Youngjae sniffled, burying himself in Jaebum’s embrace.

Mark watched grimly as all the members stared longingly at the two photo frames. The photos were so nostalgic, reminding him of the exact time they were taken.

“Why do they cry like this…?” Jinyoung whimpered silently himself, glowing tears falling from his face, disappearing before they hit the floor.

Mark couldn’t find any words to answer Jinyoung, not because he didn’t know, but because he himself asked the same question. The members cried at the altar everyday when they came home. On the first day, both Mark and Jinyoung cried along with them for at least an hour straight. But as time passed, less tears came from the two, and eventually they were just left with questions. Why?

The pair stood there for at least twenty minutes, watching the members as they knelt beside each other. “Come on, we should go all wash up and sleep.” Jaebum eventually rose to his feet, saying the words in the most leader-like voice he had. Time’s up.

“We should head back now, Mark.” Jinyoung looked at the members one last time, before turning his back on them.

“You sure you don’t want to stay longer? There isn’t any more work to do on the log.” Mark suggested, glancing between Jinyoung and the members that were getting up to leave.

“The longer we stay every day, the longer it will take us to move on,” Jinyoung’s voice was bitter, his eyes cold. “Let’s go.”

Jinyoung walked away and disappeared into the dark night. “Maybe it’s better to not move on…” Mark whispered, taking one last glance at s before following Jinyoung into the rain.

“Take us away then, whether it be heaven or hell.” Jinyoung faced the man amidst the pouring rain, Mark standing blank faced beside him.

“You two won’t be going to either,” the man answered, reaching to pull two small notebooks out of his back pocket. “Here.”

“W-what do you mean?” Jinyoung stammered, barely catching the book. I can hold this book, he realised. “Where are we going, then?”

“You two were chosen to be ‘angels’, or ‘devils’, or ‘grim reapers’, or whatever you humans want to call it.” The man lifted his finger and motioned towards them. Appearing out of nowhere, two feathers followed his movements and landed in Mark and Jinyoung’s hands. “You will help lead souls to the afterlife.”

“W-we don't get to die?” Jinyoung said the words aloud, as though he could not believe it.

The man nodded more gently. “It might sound horrible at first, but you'll be able to see your friends when there aren't any deaths to take care of.”

“The members…” Mark's voice was low. Jinyoung’s eyes flitted over to rest on him.

That's right. This can't be that bad. We’ll get to see the members...

”Jinyoung,” Mark called out as he caught up to the man. “There's a new job scheduled tomorrow, let's go rest.”

Jinyoung stopped dead in his tracks, reaching into his pocket to pull out the notebook. “What's the new job?”

“Uh…” Mark also pulled out his notebook. “Tomorrow, at nine twenty-seven, two people die. It doesn't say anything about the cause though… that's weird.” That page of the notebook, usually filled with information and pictures, was bare in many parts.

“That is weird.” Jinyoung's eyebrows were furrowed, his eyes fixed on the bare sheet of paper. “We should report this to the headmaster.”

“Yeah,” Mark agreed, closing his notebook and slipping into the side of his jacket. “That means we might be able to visit the members earlier tomorrow.”

Mark's face had brightened significantly at this realisation, and Jinyoung could not help but be slightly taken aback by his partner's reaction. Hesitantly, his face spread into a small smile.

“Yeah.”

“Thank God the headmaster let us skip the job, now we get to see the members,” Mark said, the pair walking down the sidewalk in the midst of the rain and thunder. Night had fallen, the clock hands at nine-fifteen.

“Yeah. He said something really weird though.” Jinyoung wracked his brain for some sort of answer to the headmaster's words.

“What do you mean?” Mark inquired curiously.

“He said we’ll find out soon.’” Jinyoung bit his lip. “That means that we are still doing the job technically…” The headmaster's word had left Jinyoung puzzled in a way that it would not leave his mind.

The pair reached a main intersection, the sign reading Shimdal Street. “Hey, Jinyoung, I think there was an accident.” Mark commented.

In the distance, an overturned car obstructed the centre of the road. It was a black car, with tinted windows. “Let's take a closer look,” Jinyoung said, the pair walking at a relatively relaxed pace. “Still, this seems like a pretty serious accident. Why did no one show up on our notebooks?”

“Maybe they got really lucky?” Mark suggested as they neared the car. There were sounds of cars screeching as they reached the intersection, their headlights flashing. Jinyoung swallowed hard.

“Wait.” Jinyoung stopped in his tracks. There were five figures lying sprawled out on the cold wet road. Their faces were obscured by blood and the rain, but they were unmistakeable. “I-it can't be…” Their clothes and their hairstyles struck Jinyoung hard.

“No!” Mark let out a guttural cry, almost tripping over his own feet as he sprinted towards the closest body. He fell to his knees, hands quivering as they came near the unmistakeable face. He cursed under his breath as his hands moved right through Youngjae’s skin

Jinyoung felt his vision blur as if his whole world were being turned upside down. Tears sprung to his eyes before he stumbled to the next closest member. “J-Jaebum…” Jinyoung fell to his knees. This shouldn’t have been possible. His teary eyes wandered to the other figures - Jackson, Bambam, and Yugyeom.

No.

“Headmaster!” Jinyoung's voice erupted, eventually being drowned out by the rain, until all that was left were the sound of his sobs.

“They're all going to die.” A single, steady voice interrupted the sound of the rain. Mark and Jinyoung turned their heads - it was the headmaster. “You know that, don't you?”

“No! They're not in the book, this can't be true!” Jinyoung leapt to his feet, running and grabbing the man by his collar. Fire burned in his eyes.

“You can change something!” Mark joined Jinyoung, glaring the man down.

However, they were simply answered with a chuckle. “What are you, stupid? Do you think their existence is any more important than anyone else? In our eyes, they're all just humans.”

“You can change it!” Jinyoung yelled. This wasn’t what they wanted. But it was just an average casualty: five people found dead in a late night car accident. It was a headline you’d find everyday on the news. They weren’t special in the least.

“I can't change it, but you two can,” the headmaster smiled. “You two can die instead of them.”

“W-what?” Jinyoung's hand fell from the man’s collar and the man calmly straightened his suit.

“You two were once humans. You can change their fate and go to the afterlife instead of them - ”

“I'll do it!” Jinyoung yelled. I won’t accept this fate! They can’t die!

“I will as well!” Mark accompanied Jinyoung, both pairs of eyes burning fiercely. This isn't what we wanted.

“I knew you would come to this conclusion.” The headmaster smiled. “Time of death: Nine twenty-seven, PM. October twenty-third, 2016. Cause of death: N/A. Comments: None.” The man waved his finger again and both Mark's and Jinyoung's notebooks came floating from their pockets. “I said you would find out soon, didn't I?”

Jinyoung glanced wearily at Mark as the truth had hit him. The two people were us.

“Any last comments to your members?” The headmaster said as an ambulance pulled up on the site.

Jinyoung and Mark stepped closer together until they stood in front of the other members. “I'm sorry that we had to leave you all behind…”

“We will always be GOT7,” Mark bit his lip, his voice quivering.

“Be safe.” Jinyoung said lastly before turning to Mark, “You ready?” Jinyoung felt tears from his eyes as he looked deeply into Mark’s eyes. That fire - all of a sudden, it seemed to be back.

It’s finally over.

Mark took one last glance back as paramedics began to work on the other members. Finally, he nodded.

The pair turned to face the headmaster. “Take us away… whether it be heaven or hell.”

The headmaster smiled widely. “As you wish.”