"You were instructed to leave Lee Hyukjae alone."

Death looked up from where he was watching earth and gave her a bored look. "Since when do I listen to you?"

She glowered and waved a hand making the globe disappear causing Death to grunt in annoyance. Walking away from her, he grabbed his robe and decided to watch the person up close instead of in her company. 

"He's been given a second chance. Do not ruin their story."

"You're a hypocrite," Death criticized. "You reprimand me for using them for my amusement but you gave Hyukjae a second chance because you find their story amusing." He sneered causing the Divine to squint at Death. "You're no better than I am."

"We do not interfere with destiny." 

"Obviously, Fate and I disagree." Death put on his hoodie to get ready for his travel. "Unlike you, I don't cheat. If he and Donghae were really meant to be together, then Lee Hyukjae has nothing to worry about."

She watched Death disappear before her eyes and muffled a growl. Stomping her feet she turned around and stalked to her chair and sat down while rubbing the side of her head. Her time alone was short-lived as Fate entered the room dragging the globe that was set aside earlier with her. 

"Still trying to reason with Death?"

"He's too stubborn!" She complained and as though to futher prove her point, the globe lit up a black light indicating Death's location on earth. Fate watched with great interest seeing him take on the form of a janitor while walking pass Donghae's office. "Why couldn't he just leave him alone?"

"Hey, I'm with you, sister." Fate grinned at her but Divine just glared at her response. "I don't doubt that Hyukjae and Donghae's destiny would lead them to each other."

"Stop toying with them," she warned. 

Fate raised her hand up in resignation as she looked back down to where Death was on earth and smirked seeing him take on the form of an elderly man whom Hyukjae was helping cross the street. 

"I've completely given him his autonomy to fulfill his destiny." Fate said to reassure her she was no longer involved in manipulating Hyukjae's decision. "Death, on the other hand, just like you, I have no control over what he does or what he's up to."

She snarled and made a fist to keep her frustrations in check. "What does he want with them?" She muttered. 

"I told you already," Death answered as he came back from his little trip on earth making both entities in the room look at him. "It's fun."

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

Yesung and Zhoumi sat across each other in the back corner of Haru and One Day. They were out of sight from incoming customers and a good hearing distance away from the counter so they were able to have their semi-private space to have their conversation. Zhoumi was wearing a black thin sweater and a scarf despite the humid weather outside. 

"There's no one here who would recognize your marks, Zhoumi." Yesung said as he felt himself sweat just by looking at him. "Most people don't even know what they are. They probably just think you have weird tattoos on you."

"It only takes one person to mess it up for me," Zhoumi argued while sipping the watermelon shake that Ryeowook made for him. "Besides, I don't really wanna hear from any strangers right now telling me that no person would want to lay with me because I've damaged my skin. As if I had any choice on the matter."

Yesung smiled sympathetically before he removed his own jacket to hang behind his chair. "Well, thank you for coming out. I know how hard it is for you to be outside like this."

"Eh." Zhoumi shrugged his shoulders as a response. "After 30 years, you learn to grow a thick skin."

"Still. Thank you." Yesung fiddled with his fingers, not sure whether or not he should just ask straight up for the information or if he should keep the small talk going. Zhoumi sensed his hesitation and helped him out by starting the conversation himself. 

"I spoke with Jihae. You remember her, right? She was the little girl who was with Hyukjae before he crossed over."

Yesung nodded his head. "Yeah, but...shouldn't she have been reincarnated by now? It's been some time since she crossed over."

"Yeah, but I guess she's not ready for her new life yet. She said that they were planning on putting her on a different part of the world."

Yesung hummed as he processed the information. "Well, she did die young. I suppose they're giving her the opportunity to experience the world."

Zhoumi agreed and took another sip of his shake. "I thought the same thing. She seems to be doing well other than her refusal to get reincarnated but when I asked her if I could talk to other ghosts, she said that they were afraid to cross over." He paused and strained his neck as he tried to think of the right words to say in order to make sure that he conveys the information correctly. "She was also worried for Hyukjae."

"Why is that?"

"I think the other side knows that Death is roaming earth. She confirmed that Death is looking for Hyukjae but she didn't say why." Zhoumi then stopped abruptly causing Yesung to look at him with anticipation. He could tell that the former looked conflicted which raised his anxiety as to what Zhoumi could be holding back from him.

"Zhoumi, what is it?"

"It-It's nothing...probably." Zhoumi unsurely reassured. "But, Jihae also mentioned something about a forced reincarnation of a messenger."

"A messenger?" Yesung himself sounded surprised at that. "Why would they reincarnate a messenger?"

"Well..it-it could happen. Just unusual and never forced." Zhoumi bit his lower lip which showed just how confused and nervous he was about the fact. "Messengers, like angels, can choose to be reincarnated after they've finished service but no one's ever done so against their will since they mess with the mind and soul of the person they come to be."

"That-That doesn't sound good."

Zhoumi sighed and looked down on his hand. "No, it doesn't." He took another pause and felt one of the marks on his neck heat up which automatically made him wince in pain as he brought his right hand over the area and hissed. Yesung noticed his discomfort and got worried. 

"Wh-What's going on? What's wrong?"

Zhoumi tried to talk but the pain kept getting worse by the second. It got so bad that Yesung started to see a hint of smoke behind Zhoumi's scarf where the heat was burning him. His eyes widened and immediately panicked. 

"Zh-Zhoumi! Your neck!" He pointed obviously while the latter held onto his mark tightly while gritting his teeth to keep himself from screaming. "Wh-What do I do? What can I do?!"

Zhoumi couldn't even hear what Yesung was fussing about as his entire body started to heat up. It was like something was setting him on fire. He tried to stand up to see if that would help distribute the pain from his neck but it was too much for him to handle and he just ended up falling down from his chair. Yesung immediately stood up from where he was seating to check on him. His eyes and hands frantic as he was at a total loss on what to do. 

"Mi! Talk to me. Tell me what to do."

"Yesung hyung?" 

Yesung looked back and was surprised to see Hyukjae looking down on him with a worried look. At the same time, Zhoumi finally gasped a breath of relief as the heat and pain on his neck finally subsided. Yesung looked at Zhoumi and saw his color return to normal but wa