Hyukjae rushed back to Yesung's apartment after his audition. He was glad that Shindong was the same friendly and heartwarming guy that he remembered because otherwise, his nerves would have gotten the best of him and he sure would have failed that audition. Meeting Death...or whatever it was that grabbed him in the waiting room really shook Hyukjae to the core. He turned to each unfamiliar face in the crowd wondering with great anxiety whether or not one of them was Death just lingering around and watching him closely waiting for him to make a mistake.

By the time Hyukjae reached Yesung's apartment, he shut the door behind him as quickly as he could then leaned his back against it, before finally breathing a sigh of relief. He was really close to hyperventilating and he wasn't sure how much more of it he could take had he not reached the house when he did. At the sound of the door slamming shut, Yesung walked to the entrance of his house to greet Hyukjae. 

"You're home! How did it go?" Yesung asked excitedly but his smile slowly dropped when he saw how pale Hyukjae's face was. "What's wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost."

Hyukjae looked up at what he said, face white as a sheet and scowled. "Worse."

Yesung tilted his head to the side in confusion and followed after Hyukjae once he finally took off his shoes and entered the house to go to the living room. Hyukjae dropped himself on the couch and covered his eyes using his arms but as soon as darkness consumed him, the image of Sungmin with golden eyes appeared behind his closed eyelids causing him to immediately snap his eyes open in shock. Yesung took notice of this strange behavior and got worried. 

"Eunhyuk-ah, what's going on? What happened?"

Hyukjae took a deep breathe before slowly shifitng his head a little to talk to Yesung. He was hesitant to start as he didn't know what were the proper words to say. It all sounded so ridiculous but then again, wasn't him coming back to life a lot ridiculous as well? Swallowing down his nerves, Hyukjae decided that if anyone could help him with his situation it would be Yesung. 

"H-Hyung...I think...I saw Death today." Hyukjae observed Yesung closely to see how he would react. He was kind of hoping that the other would laugh at him and tell him how silly he was being because there's absolutely no reason for Death to appear before him, but when he saw Yesung's breathing stop and freeze, he knew he was in a lot deeper mess than he thought. "Do you know why he came for me?"

Yesung tried to not show how surprised he was at Hyukjae's revelation but the way his adam's apple bobbed up and down when he swallowed his the lump in his throat was more than enough give away at how scared he really was that Death would appear just like that out of nowhere. Things might not be so simple afterall. 

"What did he look like?"

Hyukjae's brows furrowed, a little perplexed as to why that would be relevant to his question. "He-He looked normal. Why does that matter?"

"Normal how?" Yesung insisted for Hyukjae to be specific. "Did he look human or did he look- you know, like Death?"

"No...he-he just looked like a normal person except his eyes were different." Hyukjae's brain immediately recalled the eyes of Death and it was enough to cause him to shudder. "His eyes were like a golden color but you could see darkness in it."

Yesung nodded his head slowly but then noticed a mark on his wrist and immediately grabbed it. His eyes were wide and the way Yesung yanked Hyukjae's arm towards him startled Hyukjae. "Did he touch you!?"

Hyukjae flinched when Yesung pressed on his skin which was strange because he didn't feel the latter put any pressure in his touch whatsoever. "Y-Yeah." 

Hyukjae looked at where Yesung was touching him but saw nothing there. However, the way Yesung's fingers were gently grazing over his skin, Hyukjae knew he was seeing something he wasn't. Yesung's fingers followed a pattern on Hyukjae's arm starting from the base of his wrist up to middle part of his forearm. The burnt mark of a snake eating its own tail caused Yesung to bite his lower lip in slight alarm. 

"Hyung," Hyukjae called to grab Yesung's attention once again. "What is it?"

"Death's mark you, Hyukjae." Hyukjae's eyes slightly widened hearing Yesung use his real name. It very rarely ever happens since the latter wanted him to get used to his new life as Eunhyuk, so now he's confused as to how being marked by Death changes things. "Getting your place back might not be so easy after all."

Hyukjae gulped and was almost too afraid to ask but he knew he needed to know the answer. Ignoring the tears that welled up in his eyes, Hyukjae braved the question out of his lips. "Does this mean I'm going to die again?"

"No," Yesung answered too quickly. "I-I mean, we won't let that happen."

"What does this mean, Yesung hyung?" Hyukjae sounded so lost and afraid that Yesung felt bad that he couldn't reassure him better. "He-He said he didn't like to be cheated, Hyung. I-I didn't cheat, hyung. I swear I didn't! I just wanted to stay by Donghae's side!" The tears that Hyukjae tried to hold back started to fall simultaneously as his thoughts got away from him and all he could think about was losing Donghae again. The simple thought of getting separated form him again was too much for Hyukjae to handle and all he could do was cry to release some of the ache in his heart out. 

is words started to blur together in inchorent stutter and there was nothing else Yesung could do but pull him in for a hug and offer his arms to cry on as Hyukjae got more hysterical. 

"I don't want to leave Donghae, Hyung," Hyukjae sobbed against Yesung's chest as he gripped his arm tight trying to get a hold of something solid to try to keep some of his sanity together. "I don't want to leave him again!" Yesung hushed Hyukjae and gently patted his head as he whispered words of comfort in his ear so the latter could hear him over his sobbing. Yesung's mind already thinking about the dozen different ways he could find out about Death's purpose with Hyukjae but he knew there was only one sure way he would get the answer he was looking for. He just hoped it wouldn't cost him too much this time around. 

~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~

 Donghae entered his apartment completely exhausted after today's work. He dropped his keys in the small fish bowl on the side table before taking off his shoes. He hung his coat behind the door before dragging his feet towards the living room and dropping his body on the couch, lying flat on his back. He closed his eyes for a moment just to rest them a little but his position on the couch was so comfortable that before he knew it, Donghae's breathing has evened out and he was already falling deep in slumber. 

"Hae! What are you doing?"

Donghae looked up from the table where he was chopping onions and smiled seeing Hyukjae so happy in front of him. 

"I'm making you your tteokbeoki. You've been dropping hints all week and I finally have some time to make them today."

Hyukjae laughed and went around Donghae to check on the boiling pot of water. "So you can take a hint then."

Donghae chortled at Hyukjae's sarcasm before pushing the latter aside lightly with his hips so he can add the onions and the red chili paste in the pan. He stirred it around to mix the flavors together before placing the lid back on top and waited for the sauce to thicken. He turned towards Hyukjae who was just pulling away from the fridge with a carton of strawberry milk already attached to his lips. Donghae couldn't help but laugh at his lover's routine. 

"Yah, I'm t