everything's great / clau veux

in front of me, a man begins to materialize and take shape. he looks around in confusion, and then in a horrified realization.

“my wife and baby.” he wails, his voice thick with anguish. “they’re still in there, please you have to save them…”

i step back in shock. xiumin places a reassuring hand on my shoulder.

“they will survive.” the reaper says, and i turn to look at him.

but there is still a light in the vehicle…

“and me?” the man turns back toward my direction, relief washing over his face. “what will happen to me?”

“sign here.” i say quickly, awkwardly shoving the book in his direction. “you will be able to leave the world in peace.”  

i look up at my reluctant mentor for feedback on my performance. he seems unimpressed but not quite disappointed.

“will i… be able to watch over them?”

again, my eyes dart to the reaper.

“no.” xiumin answers solemnly. “but in that is an immeasurable blessing. to never forget is its own hell.”

the man glances back at the vehicle again. i start to wonder how much time we have as the light brightens.

it hadn’t seemed as if joohyun had taken this much convincing. maybe she had a lot she wanted to forget.

the man shakily reaches toward the pen, the book flipping open to its final page. he gives xiumin another apprehensive glance before signing.

instead of disappearing, the man continues to stand in front of us. i gape at xiumin, confusion swirling around in my brain. i distinctly remember that joohyun had disappeared in a puff of smoke. or maybe not a puff of smoke, but she still was just… gone.

and yet this man is still here.

the corner of xiumin’s lips curl as he begins to walk toward the ambulance parked in the middle of the street.

“what are you doing?”

he opens the back door of the ambulance, looking back with a smirk as he beckons me and the now serenely faced man to follow.

i should know by now that nothing is what it seems. i climb up into the ambulance and am instead faced with a bleak and vast field of grey.

the gloomy landscape is nothing like the office building we had just been in. each time i thought i understood the beyond i was reminded i knew nothing at all.

“where are we going?” i whisper to xiumin, watching as the man beside us slowly wandered forward. it’s as if there’s some invisible force pulling him.

(i wouldn’t doubt it.)

“we will the soul to the veil.”

“the what?”

instead of answering, xiumin frowns. he walks ahead as