"Uhm... So... yeah..."

Donghyuck begins to fidget with his scythe, his eyes scanning the living room he's seen far too many times before as Mark's begin to burn holes into his forehead.

Oh, if only Death himself wasn't unable to effectively die, Donghyuck would be willing to bet that Mark's stare could easily do the trick.

Sure, maybe he shouldn't have tried that new approach, but everyone makes mistakes, right? Can't the Grim Reaper have a bestfriend pass?

Apparently not.

Usually, Mark would only stay suspicious for around 15 minutes (Donghyuck even tried timing him once) before giving in to his pleads, often along the lines of "just chill with me for a bit! Come on!"

But this time, they were already 26 minutes in and Mark wasn't showing any signs of letting his guard down. Sure, he did look relieved after Death changed his shape into that of the boy he had come to unknowingly trust, but that had only lasted for a few seconds. And it was starting to make Donghyuck uncomfortable.

He just wanted to spend a fun afternoon with his closest friend, they only had one day each week, so why couldn't he do that? Was he asking for too much? He had been thinking this for a while, but the whole "he must forget" ordeal was starting to seriously drive him insane, and that was the exact opposite of a fun afternoon.

"Listen Mark... Er..."

"How"

Donghyuck's head snaps back towards the voice, eyes wide. Did Mark really just talk to him? Or was it just his imagination? "What do you mean?"

"How can I trust you? Do you realize how... weird this whole thing is, right?"

Finally, the Grim Reaper jumps out of his seat, eyes sparkly, stretching his body over the tiny coffee table, trying to get a bit closer to Mark. "At last! The question! Ah... I was so worried I would have to give up to today's meeting, but I see we're back on track! So, to answer you... wait... hold on... I had the perfect reply written on a note somewhere... uhm..."

"How can you have it already written down?" Mark furrows his brows, getting more confused by the second, before grabbing a piece of paper sticking out of Donghyuck's pocket. "Is it this one?"

"Yeah! Thank you! And I told you already, didn't I? We're best friends. We've met so many times, you have no idea. Actually, you're the one that told me to write this down. When was it...? Like a year ago or something...?"

"A year?!" Mark almost yells, and this time, he's the one getting up from his seat. "I've known you for a whole year and I have no recollection of it whatsoever? Now you're really pushing it."

Still sprawled over the table, Donghyuck looks up at his friend, eyes resembling those of a puppy. "I'm not lying! We've known each other for five years now. Please don't get mad at me... Here, let me read you this, okay? You're the one that told me what to write so don't be angry!" Death clears his throat, carefully unfolding the tiny note. "Hello Mark, I know this is really weird, but you have to trust him. If the scythe and the ugly skull weren't good enough proof, just ask him a bunch of questions about the Afterworld. He gets scary accurate and excited when he talks about it. If you're still suspicious, ask him to change his shape a few times, and you'll see that it is not a trick. As much as I hate to admit it, he really is your best friend. And most importantly, trust your guts, okay? There's a reason you feel like this."

As soon as he's done reading, Mark snatches the piece of paper away from his hands, going over it once more. "Did I really tell you to write this?"

Donghyuck nods almost too fast, so much so that if he wasn't immortal, his neck would probably snap. "Yes! I don't really know what the last line means, I don't have guts so it's pretty unclear, and you always say no when I ask you to tell me..."

"This is crazy." Mark lets out a nervous, almost exhausted chuckle as he flops back down onto the sofa. "Death is my best friend...? Who would have thought. Not me, that's for sure. Death..."

Feeling like he's finally gotten a grip on him, Donghyuck dares inching a bit closer, now sitting on the ground next to the older's leg. "So, do you believe me or..."

Mark hesitates, but words just slip out of his mouth as his eyes fall on the boy looking up to him. "Yeah, I guess. That did sound like me. In the note, I mean."

And all of a sudden, Death's face breaks into a huge smile, one that contrary to what most would imagine makes Mark feel like he's looking at the sun itself. "That's such a relief! I really thought you would lock me out of the house once and for all." Without thinking, he engulfs Mark into another bone-crushing hug, blatantly ignoring his painful grunts.

"Okay, fine, fine, now let me go. You're a lot stronger than what you look like, you know?"

"I do! You always say it."

"Of course I do." Mark sighs, a tiny smile lingering on his lips.

Yeah, this Donghyuck guy is weird. Maybe too weird. He claims to be the Grim Reaper, yet he acts so childish, to the point of it being unsettling. Not only that, he had the nerve to come ringing at his doorbell fully covered by some dark, ominous cloak just to then transform into the -possibly- prettiest boy Mark had ever seen. He bothered him, made him run down the stairs, scared him, threatened his life with extremely powerful hugs multiple times and, on top of that, he dropped the "we've known each other for 5 years" bomb on him as if it was nothing serious.

Surely, he should be screaming at him to get out. But he just can't. Now it's more than a mere gut feeling - this guy... no, this entity, holds a place close to his heart in a way that he struggles to understand.

It's almost painful. He feels so strongly towards this creature, yet he has no memory of them ever spending time together. Perhaps... Perhaps, if he lets him stay over for a couple hours, he could clear out some of his doubts... right?

"Alright Donghyuck, since we've established I'm not just gonna throw you out... How about some coffee? Can Death even drink coffee...? Well, I'm making it anyways."

***

"He was so nice! So nice, I tell you! He's always the best!"

Death sighs happily, snuggling itself into its own cloak of darkness.

"You talking about that Mark boy again?" One of the three Harpies says, looking down on Death from the top of a dead tree branch.

"Of course it's that boy again."

"Listen... Not to be the party pooper of the situation, but isn't this getting too risky?"

"Risky? What do you mean?"

The Harpy looks away, in the direction of the stairs that led to the human world. "I'm just saying... The higher ups are going to find out soon. I can feel it."

"So what? I'm Death. I literally rule over this place. Can't they just let me be? Come on! I only want to spend some time with my best friend!"

"That's quite sad." The first Harpy says, chuckling under its breath.

"You try and say that again, Renjun! I'm gonna get you thrown into oblivion!"

"Annoying..." Renjun scoffs, before taking off. The Grim Reaper was always talking about that boy. Either him, or humans in general. Over and over and over again. It had come to the point where Death had started giving human names to all its underlings. It was getting tiring, but most importantly, it was getting dangerous.

At this point, everyone knew about him. And in the Afterworld, that wasn't a good thing.

"Hey! Wait for me!" The second Harpy, Chenle, takes off as well, leaving Jaemin and Donghyuck by themselves.

After a brief moment of silence, Jaemin speaks quietly. "Just be careful. I don't feel too good about this. It's not going to end well."

Death closes its eyes, head resting on fallen leaves. "You think so...?"

The Harpy is about to nod, when suddenly, something makes it stop abruptly. "Boss."

"Huh?"

"They're coming. They're almost here."

"Who?"

"The higher ups."