Carrying the stack of books, I headed towards the old dusty wooden desk that probably have not been touched for ages. As I dumped the black velveted books on the table, specks of fine dust flew right up into the air and landed right at my nostrils.

"AHHHH~ AHHHH~ AHHHH~ CHOOO!" With my mouth covered using both of my hands, my eyes danced from side to side, worried that I have awoken the not so friendly 'person' snoozing off at the nearby couch.

"What's with the ruckus early in the morning?!" It was a mere second when she appeared before me, words tumbling out of readily. The look of annoyance was imprinted on her face, showing to me clearly the mistakes I have made. However as usual, that look disappeared within seconds. "I always knew this library is not compatible with me. Or maybe you are the one not compatible with me. It's all because of you that... Nevermind. What exactly are all the loud noises for? Making noise pollution be known to me?"

"Just carrying out the duties you asked me to..." Evading her eyes, I tried to reply as clearly as I could but the fear within me only made me stutter. Step by step, I moved towards her as I struggled to make my explanation clear. "I mean... It's not exactly my fault! This library is so big and dusty, filled with black velveted books that looks like they haven't received any human touches since the beginning of civilisation. The thickness of the dust on the table is probably as thick as one of the books... How can I even..."

"Excuses." Before I could complete my sentence, she cut me off impatiently. Slowly, the death angel walked to the desk, finding comfort as she read one of the books picked up from the table, while leaning against the old wooden table. It looked like something out of a painting-- A beauty reading a thick book within a big library. Probabaly just short of a thick black rimmed glasses sitting on that sharp nose bridge of hers. With her index finger brushing through the books on the table, she continued without looking up. "Well it's true that no human have touched them. No human could have entered here. Besides, I doubt any travellers have been here before, you're in here because I took you. All that has been here are probably death angels who broke some rules..."

"Then why are you tasked to do the reorganisation of books then? Perhaps you... Broke a rule?" I asked, out of pure curiosity.

"Err..." For the first time, she was speechless before me.

"Is it? Is it? Is it you broke a rule?" My excitement meter started to rise as I pressed on for an answer.

Someone who seems so 'by the book' like her would break a rule?

"That's something you don't have to know." She stood up from the desk, seemingly trying to leave the conversation by leaving this room. "Just organise them. You promised me a favor."

My shoulders slumped, knowing that the words were a warning for me to get to work immediately. Sorting the books according to the letters carved on the spine of the books, I mumbled under my breath. "I'm glad you only have to organise one shelf of books. Can't imagine if you need to tidy up all of these shelves! There's probably a hundred?"

"There's a million, or even billion. No one has the chance to count it. And no one would want to either." She replied since her sharp ears had picked up what I was saying. Instead of leaving the room, she had settled back on the desk with her legs hanging off the edge of the table.

"How many trees did you guys kill exactly?" Reprimanding the creator of these books-- which caused my sufferings, I glanced towards the death angel who was busy enjoying her relaxed afternoon without 'work'. As she shot me a look with her eyebrows knitted, I immediately stiffened for I knew that I had just challenged the authorities again. "I mean... All the books aren't very environmentally friendly... HA... HA..."

"They are not made of paper. They would have been all disintegrated if they are. They are made of... You don't have to be curious over that either. Just organise the books." Her poker face returned as she stared out of the window through the black meshed curtains. Even though it has been a painting which I saw for the past two weeks, the view has always put me in wonder.

How could such a beauty exist in this world without anyone knowing?

Or even, existed as a death angel?

And what... What is always up in her mind?

"Stop staring and get back to your work, traveller." Those words were expressionless but had deifnitely served the purpose of snapping me out of my thoughts.

"Stop calling my traveller either. You know my name... Why don't you ever call me by my name?" I sulked.

"I only call names when I'm at work." She turned to look at me before she continued. "Unless you're a soul I'm taking away, I'll call your name. Would you like me to then?"

"I mean... I mean... Not my full name." I lowered my voice, not wanting to cause any unforeseen circumstances which I may have predicted. "You can call me Wheein instead of Jung Wheein. It makes us seem closer since we are going to spend two years together?"

"To be exact, it's 23 months and 2 weeks." Same, expressionless but serious tone.

"Okay okay... So call me by my name?" I asked once again.

"A traveller doesn't order a death angel." Pointing towards the stack of books that I was carrying, she continued. "Focus on organising the books, traveller." 

"You..." Hundred of swear words were already brewing up in my head but I know that nothing would go my way. I shook my head as I sighed. "What's inside them by the way? There's so many of them..."

"Life and death." She replied nonchalantly.

With my head cocked to the right, I let the curious cat within me resurface once again. "Life and death?"

"They record your past lives and also your past deeds." Not once has she turned to look at me, all I saw was her side profile. Still, she was expressionless.

"Of every living person?! The whole world?!" The topic has just picqued my interest. Picking out one of the books I started to flip through it. It was similar to the other books that were around-- covered with black velvet cloth, old and worned out yellow pages were filled with calligraphed hanja letters. The only difference were the initials carved on the spine-- 

K. Y. S.

"Probably, of every person..." This time round, her chin seemed to tip lower, as though something was up in her head and she was pondering over it.

"Does that include mine too? Byulie's and yours too?" I asked even though I was focused on reading the current book in my hands. After two blank pages, the first characters that I could recognise appeared.

1779

Before I had the chance to read the remaining hanja words on the page, the book flew out of my hand and into the death angel's.

"Perhaps all of those are in there. I'm not very sure about mine though..." She brought the opened book to a close and placed it by her side. "Anyways, why are you asking so much?"

"Because I'm curious and I want to read them all~! I mean... Haven't you read yours? Aren't you curious about your own past?" I stood up, slightly annoyed that she snatched the book I was reading. Talking about manners, she probably has to learn how to respect others first.

"No. Why would I?" She shrugged her shoulders.

"Because it's your past! I mean I would want to read it all... Knowing why Byulie is my destined love and everything... And how you became a death angel." The shelves and shelves of books are all silently sitting there. However, each of them seems to be eager to tell their own story of the written person's past. 

"Why are you even curious about me?" The voice was now coming from right beside my ear. With the close proximity, I could feel her cold breath brushing past my earlobe as each word left .

Cold chills ran down my spine due to the eerie atmosphere brought about by her emotionless words. "Because... You being scary is all an act." I turned to face her, gathering all my courage to form the sentence. "Actually you're a person filled with warmth. I don't know, but I just somehow feel it coming from you... You do look cold and harsh on the outside, but you don't seem like that after being with you for two weeks... I just wonder... What made you this way..."

"I don't have a past." Taking a step back, she widened the distance between us. A slight frown was about to form between her brows but she stopped it from happening, allowing the poker face to continue claim its territory.

"Eyyy! That can't be true! You said everyone's past is stored here!" Trying to lighten the atmosphere, I delivered a teasing slap onto her shoulders. "Don't lie! You said death angels never lie!"

"I don't have a past. All death angels don't... Don't have one." There was sorrow in her eyes. I could swear that it was there in her eyes. Even though it was for a split second, she was feeling human emotions. 

"Why though? Is it like a first life