If something could happen… if anything could happen… if everything could happen, would you be happy? Or would you be scared?

The possibilities of the question had kept Kyungsoo awake many times when he was alive. Now that he’s dead, it doesn’t hold the same weight anymore. No, it holds more weight.

After all, now that he knows death isn’t the end, there’s more things to be scared of. And today might just be one of them.

Kyungsoo doesn’t feel very happy to greet the morning. He is not looking forward to the ceremony.

Baekhyun and Jongdae explained to him how they hold a small ceremony to hold his soul onto earth. And it doesn’t sound very fun.

The trio walk silently along the wet grass. It’s raining but somehow, none of them get wet. Figures, they don’t really have a solid form. But why can he feel the damp grass? And how can they all use the furniture without passing through them? Kyungsoo thinks there’s a lot he doesn’t understand yet.

The gathering is very small. Not much of a surprise there, Kyungsoo thinks. He recognizes the three figures crying the most immediately.

His mother looks tinier than he’s ever seen her. Dark circles cover her eyes and she looks like she hasn’t eaten anything in a few days. His father is none the better. He isn’t blatantly crying as his wife, but he still looks heartbroken. His brother looks vacant. Like he still can’t believe Kyungsoo is gone.

Kyungsoo feels a pang of guilt. But the regret still doesn’t kick in.

“Remind me again why I have to witness my own funeral?” Kyungsoo asks, not taking his eyes off the scene in front of them.

Baekhyun scoffs. “So that you could see for yourself and reflect on your selfishness.”

Jongdae snaps his head towards Baekhyun, frowning at his choice of words.

“And why is it not selfish of them to want me to live until they are satisfied?” Kyungsoo asks, still not moving his focus.

Baekhyun and Jongdae seem to be taken by surprise.

“Humans are all selfish, no exception,” Baekhyun says after a pause.

Jongdae still doesn’t say much, which comes as a surprise to Kyungsoo. He thought angels are always ready to meddle out of the goodness of their hearts.

The ceremony ends soon after, with only his family remaining to mourn his passing. The trio walk to Kyungsoo’s funeral picture. Kyungsoo stares at his laughing photo. His brother was teasing him about his large eyes when the picture was taken. Maybe one year ago.

Baekhyun produces a string out of nowhere. It’s black and looks extremely dull. Kyungsoo notices that it’s a three-end string when the reaper gives one each to Kyungsoo and Jongdae, clutching the third end in his own hands tightly.

Soon enough, the string lights up and Kyungsoo feels weird. Like his soul is connecting to something else. Someone else. Two souls to be precise. It’s like he was floating away before and now he’s floating away with two others beside him. It’s a weird feeling. He isn’t sure if it’s a good or bad yet.

Kyungsoo doesn’t look at his family as he leaves the funeral.

“So, when do I start the lessons?” Kyungsoo asks Baekhyun as they enter their house.

The latter gives the human a stony look. “Not for a couple more days at least. You come with a lot of paperwork,” he pauses and glares, “thanks for that.”

“Baekhyun,” Jongdae says suddenly, obviously disapproving of the tone and words of the reaper. He turns to Kyungsoo and smiles, “Don’t worry Kyungsoo. I’ll keep you company when Baekhyun has his duties.”

Baekhyun rolls his eyes distastefully.

Kyungsoo shrugs and walks into the kitchen. “Don’t I have to eat?” he asks when he looks at the almost empty kitchen.

“You don’t have to. But if you want to, we can stock up the kitchen for you,” Jongdae offers, still smiling.

“I don’t want any mess in my house,” Baekhyun declares immediately.

Jongdae frowns at the reaper. “You don’t even seem to use the kitchen!”

“But I might use it!”

“Okay stop! I will not stock up the kitchen and if I do, I will make sure it’s clean for you to use,” Kyungsoo pipes in to stop the two from arguing.

Jongdae looks sheepish and Baekhyun, as usual looks annoyed at Kyungsoo for cutting them off.

“Why should I have had to have the ceremony?” Kyungsoo asks the duo. “Is there a reason?”

“It’s a soul-bond. We bonded all our souls together so that you don’t turn evil,” Baekhyun says, sneering towards the end.

Kyungsoo doesn’t understand why the reaper seems to perpetually hold disdain towards everything. Especially humans. But he decides it’s none of his business.

“Does everyone turn evil if they don’t get a soul-bond? Even people like Mother Teresa?”

Baekhyun chuckles, amused. “No one is inherently good or bad. That’s why good people…souls, can turn into evil spirits. Even this sweet little angel here would have turned evil if he was a human spirit.”

Jongdae shakes his head at the mockery, albeit agreeing. “It’s a sacred ceremony, despite it being so short, because it means the reaper, or the angel is taking responsibility for your soul. Whatever you do wrong, or right, is theirs to bear. Depending on your conduct, they are praised or punished.”

“Hopefully, the punishment is halved in this case. It’s the least I deserve after having to soul-bond with two!” Baekhyun grunts, earning chides from the angel.

Kyungsoo heads back to his assigned room, leaving the two beings to bicker. He’s quite surprised that Jongdae has it in him to argue and scold Baekhyun. He always thought angels would be the ultimate selfless saints.

It’s been a week.

He doesn’t understand either of them. The angel is weird. He smiles all the time and is very patient. But that’s about where his expectations coincided. He is opinionated, stern and quirky. He also is not as naïve as Kyungsoo painted his image to be. He’s… interesting.

The reaper is different. He has a permanent scowl locked on his face. But Kyungsoo sees how he sometimes smiles lopsidedly when he sees children playing or cute animals. Even if they are on the TV. It’s… kinda cute. Although Kyungsoo would never say that out.

There’s not been any lessons so far. Baekhyun stays out most of the day, only coming in at odd times to grumble about the “disgusting humans”. He goes straight to his room, barely sparing a glance at Kyungsoo’s couch potato positions.

Jongdae also seems to have some paperwork and meetings. He does try to spend time with the human, taking pity on the boring afterlife he’s been living.

They don’t talk much though. Kyungsoo prefers to stay quiet, and despite Jongdae being bubbly, being tired makes him give up sooner than normal and head to bed.

Jongdae told him soul-bonding to a human soul makes them adopt a few human characteristics like feeling tired and needing sleep. They also seemed to need food, though not often. Baekhyun only grumbled and blamed Kyungsoo for his “misfortunes”.

Tired of just lazing about near the TV, Kyungsoo decides to cook for the three of them. He’s been cooking for himself often, but it gets kinda boring to cook for one. He’s glad for the soul-bond for once. They won’t refuse to eat if they need to eat at some point.