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Wendy’s jaw drops aghast.   

    “You’re dead.”

    Just then the deafening cry of the heart monitor flatlining echoes off of the miserable walls of the hospital room.

    I’m dead.

    The door flies open with a thud against the opposing wall as various nurses and doctors rush into the room, attempting to somehow save the lifeless body as the warmth ebbs from its being.

    Wendy can hear a series of hysteric voices seemingly arguing out in the hallway. She is all too aware of the redhead woman’s scrutinizing gaze following her as she hesitantly crawls a little ways along the wall to be able to see past the doorframe. Wendy’s eyes fall upon two nurses attempting to calm down an anxious woman right outside the door. Her eyes are blown in panic, her long black hair is disheveled, and her movements are jittery.

    Joohyun?

    “Please that’s my girlfriend in there. I just want to know if she’s okay. Please,” the voice that once was overflown with overwhelming love and affection is now broken and hoarse as she begs the nurses blocking her way.

    Every part of Irene’s current appearance screamed fatigue and worry. Her once creamy skin is now impossibly paler. Cheeks hollowed and eyes bearing dark circles, indicating her loss of appetite and sleep.

    She was waiting for me again. She always does.

    “And she always will,” Wendy jumps slightly as she is brought back to reality by the tall woman’s voice. The brunette turns back to the redhead, acknowledging that she heard her. The woman brings her attention back to the cold body on the hospital bed with a wave of her hand and raises an eyebrow, “Believe me now?”

    Wendy’s mouth is dry. The yelling and clatter filling the room was making it hard for her to focus, so she just gives a slight nod of her head and puts her attention back onto Irene.

    “‘The loneliest moment in someone’s life is when they are watching their whole world fall apart, and all they can do is stare blankly,’ F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby, ever read it?” Wendy looks back to the woman quizzically, “I mean I know you’re currently dead and all, but we both know that girl out there is your life, and seeing her become a shell of her former self right now is tearing you apart. And what’s worse? You can’t do anything about it. At all. You’re the embodiment of that quote.” Her gaze pierces through Wendy, making even the deepest parts of her soul feel exposed.

    Irene was her everything. If Wendy was considered a ray of sunshine, Irene was the moon and her stars. The moon cannot survive without the light of the sun, but what people don’t realize is that the sun depends on the moon just as much. It’s the love story of two hopeless romantics that would selflessly give everything to the other. But in reality, they are each other’s everything.

    Movement catches Wendy’s eye and she looks over to see the other woman walking away from her.

    The redhead strides casually over to the foot of the bed, looking at the lifeless figure currently occupying it, “Wendy Son Seungwan, 26, a prodigy when it came to the medical field and became a doctor at the age of 23 after four years of medical school. Was a well known professional at one of the largest hospital’s in Seoul, a master at her job. Girlfriend of three years to Irene Bae Joohyun, 29, a world class attorney. Met her in her first year at the hospital when she was on her way from interviewing a client. They had a happy and healthy relationship up until about three months ago, May 13th,” she looks back at Wendy who is still sitting against the wall opposite of the bed.

    Her eyes widen in fear when she realizes where the girl was going with this, “Wait-”

    The taller ignores her and continues, “She made a deal with the owner of this hospital. Who would be none other than Ms. Bae’s father! What a turn of events!” she releases a maniacal chuckle, “How unfortunate it was that he had never approved of their relationship in the first place, but the two of them always fought for each other, how sweet,” her tone drips with mock adoration, “But that wasn’t good enough for Mr. Bae.”

She makes her way back towards Wendy’s curled figure, “No, Wendy had to prove to him that she would do anything for his daughter. So they struck a deal. She would work directly under him for a year,” she bends down, coming face to face with Wendy, “He decides the hours and the work. In return, he would approve of Wendy being with his daughter,” the redhead grabs Wendy’s chin and forces her to meet her searing gaze, “but only if she didn’t break after that year of over exertion. She wouldn’t tell a soul, not even Irene, or else the deal would be void and he would ruin her entire reputation as a doctor,” the snarl that leaves the woman’s lips causes Wendy to flinch slightly and the taller tightens her hold on her face.

“That didn’t matter to Wendy though, what mattered is that he would take Irene away from her as well if she failed. So she accepted the wager, anything for her... beloved,” the woman spits the last word into Wendy’s face with such disgusting sweetness that it makes her cringe.

“Which leads up to our current situation! The stress was too much to bear alone, it led to countless arguments with the one person she wanted to confess to, but couldn’t. And one night,” her nails dig into the sides of Wendy’s jaw, making her eyes well with tears, “she snapped.” She shoves Wendy’s head back into the wall and lets go.

    Wendy groans and squeezes her eyes shut at the force of impact. A flurry of events flashes behind her eyelids. An anguished cry of her name. The blinding glare of headlights. The deafening screech of tires skidding along pavement. A scream of sirens accompanying bright flashing lights. The blurry silhouette of Irene holding her and the overwhelming sense of pain. She brings her hand up and rubs the back of her head.

    So that’s how I ended up here.

She opens her eyes again to discover that the redhead had made her way back to the bed overlooking Wendy’s dead body once again. The doctors and nurses seem to have been frozen in time, and as she looks around she sees everything is in a similar state.

    “Who are you,” her voice has never seemed so small and terrified.

    “Oh my heavenly LORD how RUDE of me, forgetting to introduce myself,” her tone has taken a complete turn from the sneer she held a few seconds prior, to cheerful and giddy. “My name is Joy, part time model, full time legend,” She directs a teasing smirk towards Wendy, causing her breath to hitch.

    “Model?” Wendy’s face contorts in confusion at her introduction.

    And Joy? What an odd name. She seems… anything but.

    “It was a joke,” Joy sighs before laughing to herself, “well the modeling part, but I think I could be if I really wanted to, I mean, look at me,” she drags a well manicured hand down her figure, “I’m breathtaking.”

    Wendy gives her a look of disbelief and ponders for a second before realizing something, “... And, uh, if modeling was a joke... then what about legend?”

    Joy scoffs at her as if it was the most absurd question anyone could possibly ask, “Instead of answering that, how about a question for you,” she brushes some hair out of her face and over her shoulders, “If you’re dead, then there are only a handful of possibilities of who I could be. So, who do you think I am?”

    Wendy racks her brain for the possible answers to Joy’s seemingly easy question, but her head is bursting at the seams and she can’t possibly be expected to think straight. Another dead person? No. She knows too much. An angel? What angel acts like that? An angry spirit coming to seek revenge on any passing innocent soul it comes across? Maybe.

    Noticing the small brunette’s silence and that her face was contorted with how hard the cogs of her thought process were working, Joy releases an exaggerated sigh, “Wendy Son, you’re hopeless.” She walks back to Wendy and holds out her hand, “Joy Park Sooyoung, better known around the world as lucifer, satan, and the devil. Nice to meet you.”

    Wendy’s eyes drown in fear as they widen impossibly bigger at the revelation, “S-satan?”

    “Yes. Satan. Y’know the legend passed for generations that you either choose to believe or not. The embodiment of pure evil and mischief. I hate relating to this, but that fat red creature with horns and a pointy tail, sometimes in the form of goats. Honestly, humankind is so creative, but why do they have to relate me to something so ugly. It’s offensive, really,” Joy takes her hand back and moves to sit on a chair near the door.

    “So… Am I going to hell?” Wendy’s throat has gone dry and she can’t act upon the panicked commands of run that her mind is screaming to the rest of her body.

    “Well,” The redhead cross her legs and leans back onto the chair, “I’m actually not here for that purpose. I mean, unless you want to,” she releases a hearty laugh at Wendy’s vicious shaking of her head in response, “I’m just playing around.”

    Wendy releases the breath that she had been holding. She attempts to calm down and keep her tone steady to voice her thoughts, “Then why are you here?”

    Suddenly all humor is drained from Joy’s eyes as she locks her gaze on Wendy, “To torture your soul." The look she gives her sends shivers down Wendy’s spine and forces her entire body to be paralyzed in pure, unadulterated fear.

    Wendy gulps and gives a nervous laugh, “Haha… ‘Just kidding!’ Right?”

    Joy slowly gets up from her place on the chair and makes her way towards Wendy without breaking eye contact. She stops when she is towering over Wendy’s small folded figure and Wendy lifts her arms up to protect herself.

    Oh my god it’s over. I pissed off Satan of all people.

    As Wendy is just about to beg for forgiveness of whatever mortal sin she committed to be tortured by satan, Joy falls to the ground bursting with laughter, “You should have seen your face! You were so terrified, as if I could possibly kill you! You’re already dead, oh my god I didn’t think someone could be so clueless and yet so fun to mess with,” she mockingly wipes a ghost tear from the corner of her eye, “Wendy Son you’re a real gift.”

    Wendy sinks into herself out of embarrassment. God why does she have to be so gullible?

    Joy sits up once she has calmed down a bit and looks at Wendy, “I do have a purpose for being here though.”

    The brunette just looks at the other girl questioningly, not wanting to say something stupid again, or anything that may actually anger the flaming redhead.

    “Well before coming here, I was messing up people’s lives in the living world. Torturing disembodied souls in hell gets repetitive after awhile. Plus, you get the same reaction every time, screams of help, cries for mercy, and so on. Those coming from the same people the fun out of everything,” the devil rests her chin on her knees and looks directly at Wendy, “So I came to the living world to ruin people’s lives before they were sent to me,” she releases a maniacal chuckle.

    The redheaded devil then heaves an exasperated sigh, “But then I was starting to get bored running around and just causing direct misery to people,” she smirks at Wendy, the fire of mischief that was present previously returning at full force, “Until I came across a soul that was chained to the living world by her own regret,” she uses her thumb to point to the bed behind her, and Wendy realizes that she is referring to her.

    Seeing as Wendy still couldn’t figure out the devil’s intentions by herself, Joy decided to be blunt, “I guess I’ll get to the point,” she points at Wendy, “I have a deal for you, and you can either accept and go through with it, or decline and go through to whatever afterlife you’ve been chosen for.” Joy maintains her malicious smile, but shrugs nonchalantly as if she didn’t have Wendy’s fate at the palm of her hand.

    Wendy looks at her pointedly, signaling her to continue, “I’ll give you one chance. A chance to redo your last day in the living world. Before you were confined to this depressing hospital bed. One last opportunity to fix all that you’ve broken and erase the regrets that are keeping you in the limbo between afterlives,” she tilts her head in thought, “There is a catch though.”

    Of course.

    “Yes of course. I mean besides the obligatory ‘you can’t tell anyone or the contract is void…," she pauses to send Wendy a pointed look, "heh sound familiar?” Wendy throws a glare towards the devil, “Okay I’ll back off that one. The actual catch is that you’ll still die. The same way, at the same time, and there is nothing you can do about it. So you only have the one day. No more, no less. You can change and do whatever you desire, but just keep in mind that it’s unarguably your last day to do so. I guess in your case you’ll still go through the car accident and die later from critical injury.”

    She sees Wendy begin to ponder what was laid out in front of her, “and if you break the contract… Well, I’ll let you use your imagination for that one,” she winks at Wendy, causing her to swallow, terrified, and nod her head vigorously.

    Wendy takes a deep breath and gives herself some time to calm down. She couldn’t make any mindless decisions when the stakes were so high. And when her business partner was, well, Satan. She gathers her thoughts before articulating some questions for lucifer.

    “Am I allowed to know what afterlife I was chosen for,” Wendy was already beginning to lean towards accepting the devil’s offer, but she had to make some things clear first.

    “Wendy you were one of the heavenly bastard’s favorite children,” Joy scoffs at the other woman’s question, “I mean until your recent bad decisions that is. Basically, I can’t tell you, but you can try and figure it out yourself if you would really like,” she shrugs, “But if you chose that it wouldn’t be any fun.”

    Wendy’s heart was motionless and cold with death, but it still felt the tendrils of fear that gripped it as she contemplated on her decision. What if she screwed up again? Could she really risk shattering Irene’s heart a second time?

    “‘The things we fear the most have already happened to us,’ Robin Williams was a wise man. And as for you, I’m not too sure you could mess up any more than you already did in your first life. I mean, you’re already dead. There’s not much more that could happen at this point. Whatever you’re afraid of that is keeping you from taking this deal has probably already happened,” Joy duly inspects her nails, “But do decide soon, I’m starting to get bored again.”

    Wendy looks down at her worn shoes. Relive her last day?

“Goodbye Joohyun.”

Reliving her last day would mean being able to interact with Irene again. If she went through with this, she could dedicate her day making sure Irene knew how important she was to Wendy. She was going to die in the end anyways, Irene’s father wouldn’t have much of a chance to go after her for breaking their contract if she took the day off. She could attempt to fix the distance that had wedged itself into their relationship during the last few months. Wendy could make Irene her first priority, just as she always should have been.

Being able to take her to the park and stargaze like they used to. Seeing Irene’s smile one last time, instead of her scowl caused by a petty argument. Her smile that, although small, held the moon and the stars captive, and never failed to revive the lively spark in Wendy’s heart.

She would die again. But she had a chance to repair Irene's broken heart that she left shattered.

Reminiscing on some of the good memories she had with Irene made her realize something.

I didn’t get to tell her that I loved her.

Sure she had said it numerous times throughout their relationship. But her last few months were filled with nothing but work, and she just never found the chance to remind her lover that she meant the world to the brunette. The last memory Irene would have of her voice is of Wendy saying goodbye and abandoning her. What kind of girlfriend was she?

    “I’ll do it,” Wendy surprised herself with how quickly she landed on a conclusion, but she realizes that Joy was right earlier. She would truly do anything for Irene. She was hopeless when it came to the slightly taller girl, and she always will be, even in death.

    Joy looks up from her nails in surprise, “I honestly didn’t think you would be able to decide that quickly, from someone as slow as you are,” she chuckles to herself, “You really are insane.”

    The tall redhead cackles as she snaps her fingers and a contract appears in front of Wendy on the floor, “Now just take this,” she throws a pen over to the brunette, “and sign your name at the bottom of the paper that just states everything I had just gone over with you.”

    Wendy looks down at the pristine paper and pens her name without hesitation. The second she lifts her pen, the paper and pen disappear. The smaller girl’s gaze follows Joy’s figure as she slowly gets up and walks towards the door.

    “It was a pleasure working with you Ms. Son, good luck on your redo,” she walks out of the room and Wendy can hear the echo of her cackling get fainter as she gets further away.

    Suddenly everything takes motion again as the doctors and nurses continue their frantic procedures over the dead body laying on the hospital bed. There are nurses scrambling and doctors barking out orders.

Wendy herself is beginning to become drowsy and is finding it difficult to keep her eyes open. Her eyelids are weighing down as she tries to fight the tempting lull of sleep.

All of the personnel in her room suddenly stop their useless attempts at saving a soul that had already escaped. She spots one of the nurses walk outside to a still panicking Irene.

    Wendy hears the voice that once lulled her to sleep and promise her the stars release a bloodcurdling scream and is cut short by a heart breaking sob.

    The brunette turns towards the door and tries to reach out and comfort the love of her life.

    I’m still here.

    She blacks out.

    “Wendy Son Seungwan, time of death 8:15 AM, August 15th.”

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(A/N) Ahhhh next chapter is the end.