Death observed from above and watched Hyukjae tip-toe around Donghae for two weeks. Other than the studio and the cafe, Hyukjae has kept himself recluse in Yesung's apartment much to the latter's protest  that keeping himself caged would not help anybody. Death was so immersed in watching Hyukjae watch TV in the living room that he missed it when his sister Fate entered the room. 

"Back to watching your favorite show, Brother?" She asked with a playful tone. 

Death didn't bother to look at her when he gave his response. "I don't understand what is happening."

Fate looked at him curiously then turned her eyes down on earth to see what had Death puzzled. 

"What do you mean?"

"He's indecisive but also resolute." Donghae pondered out loud. "He wants but doesn't take."

"Well...isn't that good for you?" Fate could sense Death's hesitation and wondered why it would trouble him. "This means we win."

Death had no reaction to what she said and only peered closer when he saw Hyukjae move from the couch only to slump his shoulders in disappointment when he saw it was only so he could go to his room and sleep. Fate could see the change in her brother's demeanor and was completely confused by it. 

"Death, what is going on with you?"

"I want to do an experiment." Death stated.

"An experiment?" Fate repeated dubiously. "What kind of experiment?"

Death turned off the globe that showed him earth so that he can properly look at his sister for the first time. "I think it's time we find out the truth."

"What truth."

"Is love really greater than death."

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

Hyukjae sighed heavily and dragged his feet out of bed as another day greeted him. He glance at the calendar and felt glum as he crossed out another day off of it and saw his end day get nearer. He had a little over two weeks left on earth and his choice to pull away from Donghae was starting to take its toll on his mental health. Each day he would wake up wanting to see him then proceed to spend the rest of the day fighting the urge to find him because he just couldn't risk Death lurking around Donghae like that again. He'd gladly sacrifice himself over again if it means keeping Donghae safe. 

Walking out to the kitchen, Hyukjae was a little surprise to see Zhoumi and Yesung chatting with each other. 

"What are you doing here?"

Zhoumi turned around and smiled in greeting. "Oh, hey Eunhyuk. Good morning!"

Hyukjae just nodded his head in in greeting back with a small smile. Somehow, seeing Zhoumi's big bright smile first thing in the morning dampened the gloom he was feeling inside him even more. 

"Donghae asked for you again yesterday," Yesung tried to casually bring up when Hyukjae walked pass him to the fridge. "I think he's starting to worry that you might just be a figment of his imagination."

"Good." Hyukjae took the strawberries out and shut the door of the fridge. "Let's keep it that way."

Yesung heaved a heavy sigh knowing that Hyukjae was still in one of his dark moods and watched him go back to his room. 

"Still stubborn, huh," Zhoumi commented as soon as the other was out of earshot. 

"Yeah, and I'm starting to really worry that he's not gonna budge on this one."

"I've spoken with a few spirits but none of them has heard anything from Death." Zhoumi sighed and stirred the tea in front of him. "Apparently no one's seen him either."

Just then, somebody rang Yesung's doorbell. 

"Oh, that must be Wookie." He stood up and went to open the door. Zhoumi was left behind in the kitchen and poked around his plate. He smiled to himself when he heard Yesung's excited greeting as though he hasn't seen his boyfriend in a long time despite the fact that they literally work with each other every single day. He got up from his chair and was about to go greet him in the hallway when his neck started to burn like it was on fire. He flinched and stumbled off causing the chair and some items around him to fall, startling Yesung. 

"Zhoumi!" He yelled then knelt down on the floor to see if he was okay. "What's going on? What's happening!?"

Zhoumi groaned and tried to talk but the pain was too much to handle. He saw Ryeowook's feet in front of him and suddenly had a very bad feeling of what was causing his pain. Yesung was still oblivious of the ongoing encounter between the two of them. He looked at his lover in panic, hoping he could do something to help Zhoumi out but after Ryeowook touched his cheeks he ended up losing conciousness. Zhoumi's eyes widened in shock; afraid that Death had done something awful to his friend. He was about to check on him when the pain he was feeling suddenly disappeared and he was forced to look at a grinning 'Ryeowook.' His eyes glowed golden while he offered a hand for Zhoumi to take. 

The latter looked at his hand skeptically which illicited an amused chuckle from the other. 

"Don't worry. The reapers do the grunt work." He said. "Although, if ever your time was up, I might make an exception and take you in myself."

Zhoumi shook a little in place but eventually took the offered hand and got up on his feet. "What are you doing here? Why are you here?"

"I'm here for Hyukjae." Death looked around the place but found no sign of the person he was looking for. "I'm here to place a wager on him."

"A wager?"

"Yes." Zhoumi didn't know how to feel seeing Death use Ryeowook's charms against him. "You see, it seems I've found something in them I haven't seen with anybody for a very very long time."

"What do you mean?"

"Hey, Yesung hyung, are you going to-" Hyukjae's words were halted when 'Ryeowook' turned around and revealed his true self to him. Hyukjae was left completely frozen in place trying to process what was going on in his head. He glanced back and forth between Death and Zhoum making sure that he wasn't imagining things.

"W-What are you-...Why are you-..."

"Ah, there you are!" Death cheered and clapped gleefully. "I'm here to tell you that I've accepted your offer."

"My offer?"

"Your life in exchange for Donghae's." He supplied naturally. 

Zhoumi and Hyukjae both felt a moment of fear run through them hearing Death's words. Out of reflex, Zhoumi placed himself in between Death and Hyukjae with the latter taking a stepback behind him. 

"This violates the contract," Zhoumi hissed. "Even if you disagree you can't just walk in here and claim a soul that's been rightfully gifted by The Divine."

Death narrowed his eyes at Zhoumi's bold words. "Watch yourself, mortal. You may hold supernatural gifts but your soul is still mine to claim." Zhoumi gulped but didn't back down. "In any case, I am nothing but fair, so," he looked behind him and peered into Hyukjae's soul. "Just keep in mind your time here on earth is numbered." Then he grinned before Ryeowook's face changed into one of confusion. "Uhh....what's going on?"

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

Donghae was restless. He's been weary of every person in the office ever since the day he got drunk. Sooyeon and Dongjun both seemed to be back to normal but when he asked them about the eye color thing they just looked at him like he was crazy. It didn't help that as of late he's had a strong urge to see Eunhyuk and the disappointment he felt at not seeing him was almost as strong as his feelings of yearning for Hyukjae and that bothered him quite a bit. He rubbed his eyes together trying to figure out what was going on with his life when it was interrupted by a knock on his front door. 

"Donghae? Your mother's here." Sooyeon informed while peering her head in cautiously. "Should I let her in?"

Donghae let out a long heavy sigh already knowing the reason for her arrival. "I suppose." 

Sooyeon gave him a single nod before she disappeared back outside to let his mother in. He fixed his position on his office chair and tried to tidy up a little before her arrival. A minute later and he heard his door open then shut indicating his mother's arrival. 

"Hello, Mother." He greeted blandly. "I haven't changed my mind about it."

She merely looked at him with slight disappointment and furrowed eyebrows. "I'm not telling you to marry any of them, Donghae, but a friend of mine has suggested that this is a good stepping stone to move on with your life." 

Donghae slowly exhaled hearing her rant about "getting back out there" again. She's been trying to set him up on dates with people and after giving her the silent treatment for a week, she decided to force him into talking with her by showing up at his place of work. He couldn't fault her for trying but he was just not up for arguing about it today. 

"Umma, I'm busy."

She frowned at his usual reply and pursed her lips together. "You're always busy."

"Then you know the reason why I can't go back to dating."

"Donghae," she called slightly exasperated. "Son, I'm worried about you."

"There's nothing to worry about." He assured her then looked up when she placed two tarot cards in front of him. "What is this?"

"I went to see my fortune teller yesterday." 

Donghae tried to his best to not roll his eyes and opted to keep his mouth shut in order to not offend her. Because, of course, her psychic friend would be behind her constant irrational insistance for him to move on. 

"You're still wasting your money on that