He was running. Why? He didn’t really know. He could tell from the burn in his lungs that he had been running for a long time. But he didn’t stop. The very idea of ending the long run felt like a bad one. He felt free. He felt the wind hitting him in the face, but it wasn’t an unpleasant feeling since the breeze was warm. But then, he saw a little archway that led to some woods. The sight of the archway soothed him, and he felt drawn to it. So in he went, slowing his wild run into a slow jog. The birds were chirping, and leaves fell softly to the ground whenever a bird landed on a branch to rest. Soon he made it to a clearing, and in the middle of it were two boys. They seemed to be playing from what he could see. They were in the middle of the clearing, laughing and play wrestling with each other. He decided to go and have a chat with them, but suddenly it got dark. And the two boys stopped playing, staring in horror as a figure emerged from the shadows. He was frozen in place as he saw the shadow approach the two boys. The figure wrapped its hands around one of the boys’ neck. He felt the hands on his own neck, and when he blinked, the figure was in front of him. Everything began to fade as the figure continued to press on his throat, harder and harder with each passing minute. He tried his best to escape the figure’s grip. He swung his legs wildly, trying to make any contact he could with it. But his feet connected with nothing, and the hands around his neck continued to get tighter and tighter. Everything before his eyes faded to black.

Wonshik bolted upright in his bed. His hands flew to his neck to protect it from danger. Soon he started to take in huge gulps of air, and he could feel the cold sweat pouring down his back from the fear running through his veins. His eyes darted around the room for any signs that the dark figure from his dream was lingering there. He let out a sigh of relief when he finally realized he wasn’t in any danger . He closed his eyes and let his hands slide off of his neck, still trying to get his breathing under control. Once his breathing returned to normal he opened his eyes once again. He glanced at the clock and groaned when he saw it was only three in the morning. He flopped back onto the bed, knowing he wasn’t going to get any more sleep after that nightmare. He didn’t understand why he bothered sleeping anymore since he had nightmares every night. They always started out so nice looking, but they would soon take a turn for the sinister. He noticed that the same two boys would visit his dreams each night. The most frustrating part was he never remembered what the two boys looked like. It seemed that the harder he tried to remember the more he forgot. Wonshik let out a long sigh, wondering if he would ever be able to get rid of the nightmares. He had tried everything. He had tried therapy, medication, meditation, he even tried hypnotism videos on YouTube. None of them worked. If anything they would make him sleep so deeply that it was harder to escape the nightmares.

After mourning the loss of the few hours of sleep he had left before the alarm for school rang, Wonshik decided to start getting ready. Just as he finished styling his black locks into place his phone rang in the other room. He walked over and found his best friend, Hongbin, had texted him. He and Hongbin had been friends for as long as Wonshink could remember. They were basically attached at the hip whenever they were together. Unfortunately, Hongbin didn’t go to the same school as him. He didn't really know why since they lived in the same neighborhood and Wonshik’s school was closer. Whenever he asked Hongbin why he didn’t go to Hwang Sejun Academy, he would tell him it was because of the uniform policy snuffing out his creativity, or he would change the subject altogether. Eventually, Wonshik just stopped asking about it. Nonetheless, Wonshik and Hongbin stayed close friends even with them going to separate schools.

They had a daily routine of sorts. Hongbin would text him in the morning with a place he wanted to stop to eat before school started. After going to the place Hongbin chose they would walk to school. Since Wonshik’s school was closer, Hongbin would drop him off at the front gate. After saying his goodbyes to Hongbin, Wonshik would join his school friends under their favorite oak tree. After school, he would say goodbye to his school friends and meet Hongbin back at the front gate. Then they would walk to Hongbin’s house, where they played video games until Wonshik had to go home for dinner. Wonshik thought it was a good system since he got to see his best friend and play video games every day. Although, sometimes Wonshik wished that his friends from school could come over. But whenever he brought that idea up to Hongbin it was immediately rejected. Still he was more than happy with the ways things were. When Wonshik opened his phone, he saw Hongbin was in the mood for some coffee before school from the local diner. He smiled before texting his reply as he got ready to leave the house.

When Wonshik left his home after shouting goodbye to his parents he was greeted with the same sight he was greeted with every morning. Hongbin sat at the bottom of the stairs, his pink hair sticking out like a sore thumb amongst the grey concrete. Hongbin looked up at the sound of the door closing, flashing Wonshik a large smile as he came down the stairs. “Sup man?” Hongbin asked as he stood up. Wonshik shrugged his shoulders. “Same old, same old. Another night ruined thanks to a nightmare.” Hongbin let out a small hiss and a grimace in sympathy. “Again?” “Yup, third time this week.” Hongbin shook his head in pity. As they began their walk to the dinner Hongbin asked another question. “So what happened in this one?” “I got strangled in the middle of the woods.” Hongbin hummed.”We really need to figure out what’s causing all of those nightmares so you can get some proper sleep.” Wonshik let out a snort. “Maybe my nightmares come from you not meeting my friends from school.” He teased. Hongbin tensed up beside him. “I’m joking. But I don’t understand why you don’t want to meet them. With how much I talk about you they really want to put a face to your name.” Hongbin gave him a dimpled smile. “Maybe one day I could meet them. But right now the house is such a mess I wouldn’t want to give them a bad first impression.” “Is your mom remodeling the living room again?” “Yeah, so we might need to go to your’s for video games tonight.” The rest of the trip was filled with pointless chatter. The chatter continued until after they had breakfast. They walked to Wonshik’s school in silence, taking in the calm scenery of the town beginning to wake up. Soon they reached the gate of Wonshik’s school. “Alright, see you later!” Hongbin said as he began to walk to his own school. Wonshik gave a final wave before walking through the gate and meeting with his school friends under their tree. “Sanghyuk! Jaehwan!” Both of his friends turned towards him as he called out their names. They greeted him back as they started to walk towards their classes. They made it to class on time and soon the lessons began. On a typical day, Wonshik had enough sleep despite the nightmares to stay awake during classes. On that day, however, he found it hard to stay awake. By the third period Wonshik could feel that his eyes were too heavy to keep open. He tried his best to concentrate, but soon enough he was asleep.

Wonshik sat in the middle of a bed in a white room. The room had no windows or doors in it. Other than the bed he sat on it was completely empty. Something about the room was unsettling. It was so cold, and the room never seemed to end. Suddenly, he felt a large gust of wind whip past his face, forcing him to close his eyes. When he opened them again, he noticed that the room had changed. It was still the same blinding white that it was before, but now it had some windows as well as medical equipment. He also noticed that there was a curtain separating one side of the room from the other. Through the light peaking through the windows, he could see the outline of a figure lying on another bed. Wonshik moved from his own bed, curious as to who was on the other one. His feet slowly touched the cold linoleum floor, sending a shiver up his spine from it’s coldness. He walked up to the curtain, making sure that there was no one else in the room other than him and the figure. When he saw that the coast was clear, he pulled back the curtain, but when his eyes met the figure, he let out a horrified gasp. The figure laying on the bed was him, or at least at first glance it looked like him. The man in the bed seemed to be nothing but skin and bones. His eyes had circles of exhaustion so dark that they looked more like bruises. His skin was so pale, but it also had a greyish tint to it. He was breathing through an oxygen mask, his shallow and wheezy breaths being the only sound in the room beside the soft beeping of the heart monitor he was connected to. Wonshik stumbled back, not sure how to process what he was seeing. He turned his head, and at the foot of the bed stood a shadow. It’s shoulders were slumped. “I’m so sorry,” The shadow said before walking up to the man in the bed. The shadow put its hands on the man’s throat. Suddenly the heart monitor went crazy. Wonshik felt like his own heart was about to burst and it was so difficult to breathe. He slumped to the floor holding his chest. He closed his eyes and heard the heart monitor go silent. He thought he heard someone calling his name before taking one final gasp.

“Wonshik! Wonshik wake up!” Wonshik bolted up in his chair after receiving a series of soft slaps on his back. He kept his gaze to the desk in front of him, trying for a second time this morning to get his breathing under control. “Wonshik are you okay?” He looked up from his desk to see that the teacher was the one speaking to him. He didn’t trust himself enough to talk so he shook his head, swallowing back tears. The teacher looked concerned. “I think you should go and visit the nurse.” She said, writing him a slip so he could leave. He packed his things before leaving the room, but he didn’t go to the nurse. He walked right out of the school, not wanting to stay any longer. He was on his way to his house when he heard someone running up to him. “Wonshik!” He turned around and saw Hongbin there. “Hey, shouldn’t you be in school?” Hongbin asked, shaking some of his hair out of his eyes. Wonshik didn’t answer him. Instead, he dropped his bag to the floor and walked into Hongbin’s space, laying his head on Hongbin’s shoulder. Hongbin didn’t hesitate to wrap his arms around his friend. “What’s wrong?” Wonshik just shook his head, still not ready to talk. “Okay, let’s go to your house and you can relax. Okay?” Wonshik didn’t have to answer since Hongbin began walking him home.

Wonshik opened the door to his house, letting Hongbin in after him. He walked to the living room and sat on the couch, resting his head on one of the decorative pillows his mom loved to put around the house. Hongbin came in after him, sitting on the floor in front of where Wonshik’s head was. “How are you feeling?” Hongbin asked while carding his fingers through Wonshik’s hair, freeing the locks from the gel prison they were forced into. “I fell asleep during class.” When Wonshik said those words, Hongbin immediately looked more concerned. “Did you have a nightmare?” Wonshik nodded. “What happened?” A deep breath. “I dreamt that I was in a hospital bed. I looked like I was dying. There was a figure there. It said sorry and put its hands on my throat. I died right after from a heart attack.” Hongbin’s eyes widened. “That sounds like a terrifying dream.” “But that’s the thing.” Wonshik sat up straight, looking Hongbin in the eyes. “This time it felt so real. I mean every nightmare feels real, but this time everything felt so solid. It felt like I had been there before you know?” Hongbin sat next to him on the couch. “Wonshik, it was just a dream. Now come on. Let’s cheer you up. How about a movie marathon? We can break into your mom’s secret stash of ice cream.” Wonshik felt better at the idea of watching movies with his friend. “Okay!” They spent the rest of the day eating junk food and watching all the movies Wonshik wanted.

The next day Wonshik was back in school. His friends asked him where he went after class had ended and he told them about the evening he had with Hongbin. “You seriously need to introduce us to this Hongbin guy.” Said Jaehwan. “Yeah, with how much you talk about him it would be great to finally meet him.” Sanghyuk agreed. “I keep telling him that but every time I bring it up he gets so tense,” Wonshik said after eating a bit of his lunch. “Well, maybe we should just meet him when he picks you up from school. I mean you said he told you that his house was being remodeled. So since you’ll be playing at your house you should be able to invite who you want” Jaehwan said. “I mean you have a point there. I just don’t want to upset him.” Sanghyuk flung a french fry at him. “Come on Wonshik. He can’t be mad that you want to invite your friends to your house.” “Well, I guess there wouldn’t be any harm. I mean he would have to meet you guys sooner or later.” Jaehwan and Sanghyuk cheered before all three of them got back to enjoying their lunch break.

At the end of the school day, Sanghyuk and Jaehwan waited with Wonshik by the gate as they waited for Hongbin to come. Wonshik saw his pink hair in the distance and gave him a huge wave. “Hey, Hongbin!” He shouted as Hongbin got closer. When Hongbin noticed the other two waiting for him, he tried to walk the other way. “No way you’re getting out of this that easy!” Wonshik said as he threw an arm around Hongbin, guiding him back to his school friends. “Wait Wonshik I-” Hongbin tried to say more but before he could Wonshik cut him off. “Jaehwan, Sanghyuk this is my best friend, Hongbin! Hongbin these are my school friends Jaehwan and Sanghyuk!” He said with a huge smile on his face. But when he looked at Sanghyuk and Jaehwan he noticed they both looked confused. “What’s up with you two?” Jaehwan looked at Sanghyuk and back at Wonshik. “Uh, Wonshik? There isn’t anyone there.” Wonshik looked at where Hongbin was. “What do you mean? He’s right here! How could you not see him his hair is bright pink!” Wonshik said chuckling as he ruffled Hongbin’s hair. “Stop playing around! There isn’t anyone there Wonshik!” Sanghyuk burst out. “What are you talking about?” Wonshik finally turned to Hongbin, who looked just about ready to cry. “Wonshik. I’m so so sorry.” Wonshik’s arm slid off Hongbin’s shoulders. “Why can’t they see you?” Hongbin just continued to apologize. “I was going to tell you. Really I was. But you always looked so happy when we hung out. I just couldn’t tell you.” “What do you mean? Is this a joke? Because it’s not funny.”

He looked back to Jaehwan and Sanghyuk when he noticed that they weren’t there anymore. He also saw the school wasn’t there anymore. He and Hongbin stood in the middle of a large white room. “Hongbin? What’s going on? Where are we?” Wonshik began to shake in fear. Hongbin, meanwhile, had his hands clasped tightly together. “Please forgive me.” Wonshik looked back at him. “What the hell is going on?!?” Hongbin took a deep breath before slowly walking over to Wonshik. “I’m sorry.” He said before placing his hand on Wonshik’s head. Suddenly a bright light appeared in the room. The light became so blinding he had to close his eyes.When Wonshik opened his eyes back up he noticed he was in a hospital room. He stood in the middle of two beds. Each bed had a boy on it, and he realized they were the boys from his dreams. But they also looked really familiar now that he saw what they looked like. He realized who they were after looking more closely. They were him and Hongbin from when they were kids. Why was he here? He tried alerting the boys of his presence, but they didn’t respond to him. “They can’t hear you.” Wonshik whipped around to see Hongbin standing by the bed that contained his younger self. “This is just to jog your memory.” “My memory of what?” Hongbin put a finger to his lips and pointed at the boys, who were giggling and talking to each other.

“What are you going to do when you get out the hospital Wonshik?” The younger version of Hongbin asked. “That’s easy, I’m going to go back to school. I haven’t been there in months because of all the treatments. What about you Hongbin?” Hongbin thought for a moment. “I’m gonna grow out my hair. That way I can get rid of this itchy wig. And when I grow all of my hair back I’m gonna dye it pink!” The younger Wonshik let out a laugh. “But Hongbin, pink is a girl color!” “Nuh-uh.” “Uh huh!” “Nuh-uh!” “Uh huh, times a hundred!” “Nuh-uh times infinity!” “That’s not fair!” Hongbin let out a loud laugh at Wonshik’s pouting. A gust of wind was felt, and suddenly it seemed like years had gone by. Young Wonshik, now a teenager, looked worse for wear. His skin hd gained the grey tint he had dreamed of before, and he looked exhausted by the very act of breathing. Young Hongbin didn’t look as bad as Wonshik, but he still looked sickly. “Hongbin are you awake?” Wonshik asked. “Uh huh,” Hongbin answered. Wonshik took several weezy breaths “What do you think is in heaven?” Hongbin turned to Wonshik. “Why are you asking that?” Wonshik sniffled. “Because I don’t know if I’m gonna leave the hospital this time.” Hongbin slowly got out of his bed and curled up in Wonshik’s. “Don’t say that Shikie. We’re both gonna make it out of here. You’ll see. And then we can hang out and play video games all we want.” Wonshik sniffled again. “And we’ll eat all the food we want to eat without worrying about it coming back up later.” Hongbin continued, taking Wonshik’s hand in his. “We can get coffees together, and my hair will finally be pink.” Wonshik giggled at that. “And we could stay best friends forever.” Wonshik tightened his hand on Hongbin’s. “I would like that.” “We both have to make it out of the hospital to do any of that, okay?” Hongbin held out his pinky. Wonshik wrapped his own around it. “Pinky swear that when we get out of this hospital we’ll be best friends,” Hongbin said as Wonshik started to drift to sleep. With their pinkies still locked Hongbin added, “Best friends, or maybe even more than that.” Hongbin fell asleep not long after.

When Hongbin woke back up he almost screamed. There was a dark figure standing next to the bed. It’s pale hands were cupping Wonshik’s jaw.. “What are you doing?!” He yelled at the figure. The figure looked up. It looked like a boy around their age, with plump cheeks and sharp eyes. “You can see me?” The boy asked. “Yeah and I want to know what the hell you think you’re doing to my friend!” The boy tilted his head to the side. “It’s his time to go. I’m simply doing my job.” “Your job?” Hongbin asked, fearing the answer. “I am death, and it is his time to die.” Hongbin laughed nervously. “Yeah right. If you’re death why aren’t you a skeleton? And where is your scythe?” Death looked less than amused. “Is that really what humans think I look like?” Hongbin tried to take Death’s hands off Wonshik’s jaw, not wanting him touching Wonshik anymore. But when his hands met Death’s they went through him and he felt an immense cold pricking across the skin that went through. Hongbin sat stock still. “You-you are death.” “See? Now if I can get back to work?” Death reached for Wonshik again. Hongbin grabbed onto Wonshik. “You can’t take him!” He held onto Wonshik as tight as he could. His eyes watered. “Please. Please don’t take him from me. He’s the only reason I’m still here.” Death looked at Hongbin. “It’s his time to go.” “Don’t take him away!” Death let out a sigh. “I’m sorry but I can’t let him go. He has no more time left here” Hongbin began to sob. “I’ll do anything. Anything! Just please let him live! There has to be something that you can do.” Hongbin buried his face into Wonshik’s bony chest. Death was not as cruel as humans thought, so he wracked his brain for something to help the situation. It was then that the idea hit him. “There may be something.” Hongbin’s head lifted so fast his neck cracked. “Anything. I’ll do it!” Death let out another sigh. “I will still have to take his soul, because his time here is over. But what I can do is make you a reaper.” Hongbin looked confused. “But aren’t you a reaper?” “No, I am death. I usually use reapers to collect souls when I am away on other business, such as when I have to meet with Father Time and Mother Nature. But I haven’t had to use a reaper for a long time.” Hongbin nodded in understanding. “If you become a reaper, I will let you have his soul. He has to die, but you can create an illusion of what his life could have been had he lived. However,” Death cautioned, “Only he will be able to see you in this illusion, and if he ever figures out about this the illusion will be broken. Do you understand?” Hongbin nodded once more. “I understand. Make me a reaper.” Death granted Hongbin his wish, and Hongbin let out a scream of pain from the changes his body was going through to become a reaper. It felt like he was burning alive. Once the pain stopped Hongbin sat on the bed, looking the healthiest he had ever looked. He reached up and felt that he had actual hair on his head, and he saw that it was a bright pink color. “Now my reaper, the first soul you must collect is his.” Hongbin looked down at Wonshik and placed his hands under his jaw, where Death had his hands earlier. The memory began to fade, but Wonshik heard the familiar sounds of his heart monitor stopping and Hongbin’s “I’m so sorry.”

Wonshik sat up in bed. He looked around seeing the familiar white walls of the room he was in before. Hongbin sat next to him, unable to look him in the eye. “I’m . . . dead?” Hongbin nodded. “How long?” Hongbin looked up at him. “How . . . long?” Wonshik glared at him. “How long have I been dead? How long have you been lying to me? How long ago did you decide that my soul was yours to control?” Wonshik got angrier and angrier with each question he asked. Hongbin mumbled an answer. “Repeat that.” Hongbin inhaled deeply. “You’ve been dead for five years.” Wonshik’s glare was poisonous. “And not once did you think to tell me that I was dead?” Hongbin shook his head and grabbed Wonshik’s hand. “I thought about it every day. I thought about when and how I was going to tell you, but the moment was never right. You always looked so happy. How could I tell you that you died when you looked at me with that smile as bright as the sun? Please Wonshik. I have hated myself every day since I made that deal with Death. But I couldn’t take it back. I couldn’t let you just move on when you had so much to live for. Please forgive me. I just . . .” Tears were pouring down Hongbin’s face at this point. “I just couldn’t lose you. I didn’t want to be alone. I didn’t want the person I loved the most dying before we could really live.” Hongbin held Wonshik’s hand tighter as he got on his knees by the bed. “Please forgive me. Please, I’m begging you Wonshik. I loved you too much to just let you die in that cold hospital.” Wonshik sat in silence for a few moments, and Hongbin didn’t move from his position the entire time. Soon Hongbin began sobbing. He whimpered out more apologies, begging for forgiveness, as his head stayed tilted to the floor. He felt hands on his shoulders, and then one hand moved under his chin to tilt his head up. Wonshik was there, kneeling in front of him. “I forgive you Hongbin. Because I know that if Death had come for you I would have done the exact same thing.” Wonshik wiped Hongbin’s tear with his thumbs. “But Hongbin. I think it’s time for me to go.” Wonshik looked over at a bright light that was on the other side of the room. “No please Wonshik don’t leave me. The only reason I’m a reaper is because of you. If you cross over I’ll have nothing.” Wonshik smiled at Hongbin. “Come with me. Remember that Death said he hadn’t used a reaper for a long time? I’m sure he wouldn’t mind not having one again.” Wonshik grabbed Hongbin’s hands and helped him off the floor. “Come on Hongbin. I think we deserve eternal peace after all of this.” Hongbin sniffled and smiled largely at Wonshik as they both crossed over to the other side through the blinding light.

Death stood up from where he sat in the corner of the room. Another man who was sitting next to him rose as well. “Well, Death I think that’s a new record for how long you’ve been able to keep a reaper.” Father Time stood next to Death, his tanned skin glowing in the white room. “And he was one of the best ones too. Shame that I’ll have to go back to working full time. I was actually starting to like our time together.” Death answered back, staring fondly at the bright light still glowing in the room. Father Time wrapped his arms around Death’s broad shoulders. “I’m sure you’ll find another one soon enough.”

Death smiled.