1. Grim reaper

 

 

In contrast to the loudness inside the café, the atmosphere between certain two people were rather silent, so silent as to there being a tension. The glass with iced latte in front of Jaein was still full with water droplets formed along its exterior. On the other hand, the table was empty on the side of the male that sat in front of Jaein.

" I'm going to die after 100 days. "
" Precisely. "

The words that left the male's mouth within the previous 5 minutes sounded like anything but realistic. Jaein could not come to believe that she, who was in her early twenties, was going to face her death even before her parents. Never mind her parents — pretty much the majority of the population who arrived into this life much before her. He was clearly not making any sense to her.

" Hey, Mr. Daniel, or Mr. I don't even know. I'm - "
" I'm the grim reaper. "
" Do I seem like I care right now? "
" Well, no. "

Rather angrily, Jaein reached out for her beverage, finally taking a sip and leaving her hand mark on the countless water droplets on the surface of her glass. 

" Basically, I, Song Jaein, am going to die after 100 days for whatever reason you have up in your sleeve, and you're here to keep a watch on me. "
" Pretty much. "
" Because somehow, I might decide to go 'Well, that. I'm not going to die.' and choose to run away? "
" To be exact, you can't stop yourself from dying. It's just that I have to collect you on the assigned date, and if I don't, then that causes some trouble on my side. "

Even in Daniels' eyes (yes, the eyes of the grim reaper are no different from those of humans), she was not just confused about the significance of the information he had conveyed, but also rather angry. She was ticked off. Actually, she has been ticked off since a few hours ago when this self-proclaimed grim reaper creep decided to crash into the once-in-a-blue-moon chance of eating at the same table as her senior Hwang Minhyun, and dragged her away to discuss some "urgent" matter. Someone has said that when one is faced with a sudden event, one loses the rationality in making the right decision and go with the flow of that abruptness. That truly was the case, seeing herself sitting in front of this male she had never once met before.

" But I'm not sick? "
" You don't have to be sick to die. The Divine has its own reason behind your due time and the method. "

The seriousness was so evident that she thought she could actually come to believe whatever statements that left his mouth despite how ridiculous they sounded. Then again, how could everything they have said be true? Grim reaper? The Divine, or whatever it was called? Then, the girl had a moment of eureka. She took her umbrella, which was a rather long one than the portable kind, and hit the male's side.

" What was that for?! "
" Oh, I thought if you're really the grim reaper, the umbrella would go through. "
" What? "
" That's what the grim reaper was like in 'Goblin'. Y'know, he wore this hat and was invisible to the others. "

First he is assigned to keep his eyes on this rather random young girl; second she keeps him running for half an hour by running away from him all around the campus; now he was assaulted by an umbrella. Daniel knew humans were odd from his seniors, but a first-hand experience truly did the magic.

" I don't know what the heck you've read or seen, but I'm not a hallucination. People can see me, touch me, and do whatever the hell they want. "
" Sorry. "
" Media has such a detrimental effect on humans. "
" But you should also note that it's hard the so-called "human" like myself to come to believe everything you have just said. "

That is a valid point, Daniel could not deny. Rationally, he would also find himself off guard if someone were to walk up to him and say 'Hey, you're being reincarnated. Pack your bags and attend the Divine.' Of course, this was a positive matter as opposed to the current matter about her dying, but the shock was assumed to be similar. For Jaein, this could have been just another one of the pranks that Seongwoo could have organized very strategically — and for those who do not know Ong in person, he was more than capable of wasting his time to pull off something like that.

" You will need to prove that this is all true. Everything. "
" And I've already mentioned that such is difficult unless you witness one for yourself. "
" But how am I supposed to believe everything a stranger has said, especially when they sound like absolute nonsense? My mom has taught me better than that. "

Daniel placed his hand on his forehead; with his power limited in usage in front of humans with much time ahead of them, it was not a minor difficulty, trying to prove himself to the girl. He did find it very frustrating that he had to put an effort to keeping Jaein convinced enough to place her near him at all times. Frankly, he wouldn't have minded if she decided to go hedonistic during her last few days, trigger the Divine to send an Executive to drag her down to the purgatory. One less hassle to deal with.

Just as he was about to begin further explanations, she stood up from her seat, refusing to hear more of the nonsense that continued to roll out of his mouth. She was very ready to give Ong a death threat for having organized a prank that she had nearly fallen for.

" I'm gonna get going. Tell Ong I said I will rip each of his fingers off one by one for a slow and painful death. "
" Who the hell is Ong - wait up! "

Though he expected things to be very difficult, an advice he had received from his seniors when trying to convince human about what they are about to face, Daniel clearly did not see himself following the girl around like a puppy. The weird look she gave him every now and then evidently communicated 'Hi, I'm being followed by a creep.' which earned multiple looks from the other pedestrians on the street. His pride as the formidable grim reaper was nowhere to be found.

 

-

 

 

' So Ong must have paid him a lot to go through this . '

The girl thought to herself, seeing him having followed her all the way up the top of the hill to where her tiny studio was located at. Now that she was standing in front of Daniel, she could then realize how big he was, matching the whole 'formidable' image of the grim reaper she had read in children's book. Then again, the brown hair that moved so faintly as he let out multiple heavy breaths made him look like a huge golden retriever. Unconsciously, she let out a small laughter.

" This is funny to you? "
" No, I mean, sort of. I didn't think you'd come all the way up here. "
" Don't tell me you live here. "
" If not, why would I be here? "

She knew she had to keep her guard up, and keep in mind of the possibility of being fooled; however, what if everything he was saying were true? What if she really were to die after 100 days?

" Can I ask you something? "
" Yes. "
" Why me? "

Truthfully told, Jaein did not exactly expect a concrete answer to the question; Daniel, also, did not have an answer to the question. But when the end was near, the male had seen too many who would ask why they were chosen in particular before the others. Did they commit any serious wrongs? Were there debts to be paid? The purpose and mechanics in deciding the death, unfortunately, lied solely in the hands of the Divine, and the decision was not reachable by the grim reapers.

The face of his — rather blank — was self-explanatory: he didn't have the answer for her. In resignation, she sat on the rail just in front of her small studio and looked at the view of the city below. Half of her wished that this was all a lie, yet she could not deny that she was being convinced every second. Daniel was also able to notice this subtle hint of puzzlement and resignation in her face that looked out to the far and beyond. When selected as the grim reaper, they were ripped off of much of human emotions, yet he found himself pitying the girl who had just received her death sentence.

" You still don't believe me. "
" Aren't you a smart one. "
" Let me prove it to you. "

The extent to which he had to go through to come to convince her was ridiculous, but it was Daniel's job to lead them to end humans' lives easily. And when it was that of a young girl, who haven't even had the opportunity to bloom fully, the responsibility he bore felt much more significant.

" Tomorrow, 8PM. The Clock Tower."

 

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