The elevator opened and Jessica was greeted with pitch blackness. Her intended destination had been her office, where she was meant to meet Taeyeon, but she had felt the elevator move downwards instead, as if it had other intentions. The thought that it was a power failure did cross her mind, but it seemed unlikely because the elevator itself was fully functional and brightly lit. She took a few steps forward and the elevator doors closed behind her, leaving her in complete darkness, ironically easing her worries.

“Hello?” Jessica called out, the echoes informing her that she was in a wide space. She the flashlight from her phone and recognised that she was in the basement, flanked by two rows of posh cars. Jessica snapped her fingers a few times, expecting the neon lights to turn on, but they never did. She dialled a number and heard a faint ringing in the distance. “Taeyeon, this isn’t funny,” Jessica said sternly as she moved towards the sound, attempting to convince herself that it was nothing more than a bad prank, burying the sinking feeling she had in her gut.

The red Audi stood out like a sore thumb among the row of cars – with its front damaged and smashed inwards. Jessica could smell burnt metal and a mix of other chemicals she could not identify. The phone stopped ringing, the sudden dead silence snapping her out of her initial shock. She braced herself and slowly lifted her light towards its passengers.

Taeyeon felt a bright white light piercing her eyelids. She blinked a few times, finding it difficult to keep her eyes open. She wanted to block the light with her hands but realised that she could not find the strength to do so. Her head was leaning against the car window, so she could feel the vibrations of repeated gentle knocks, but lifting her head seemed too much of an effort. She had never experienced such exhaustion in her lifetime.

The light moved upwards, revealing Jessica’s concerned face on the other side of the window. was moving, but the sound that reached Taeyeon was too muffled for comprehension. She heard a click as the door opened, falling as the wall supporting her was moved away, her body powerless against the effects of gravity. She was caught by a pair of waiting arms, her head finding a new resting place at the crook of Jessica’s neck.

“Please say something,” Jessica prayed, voice shaking. She concluded that there had been a car accident, but the fact that its passengers, though seemingly unscathed, were lying unconscious in a damaged car, parked perfectly aligned with the others, in a basement that wouldn’t light up - the whole setting just didn’t make sense in her head. “Tiffany… Tiffany!” Jessica cried out, trying to reach for the other girl, but Taeyeon’s weight was pinning her in place.

“I put her to sleep,” Taeyeon said feebly, inviting more questions in Jessica’s mind. “Top floor…tree…” Taeyeon whispered, unable to finish her sentence, but the instructions were clear. “Hold on to me,” Jessica said as she lifted Taeyeon from her seat, carrying her towards the elevator, which was visible at the end of the lane, already waiting to be boarded, its open doors revealing a light at the end of the path.

“Taengoo, what did you do?” Jessica asked, not expecting a reply. Jessica could feel her heart beating rapidly in her chest and presumed that Taeyeon felt it too. “I’ll be okay,” the response that came was barely audible, but reassuring, nonetheless. The elevator ride had been excruciatingly slow and when the doors finally opened, Jessica hurried towards the tree and gently lowered Taeyeon right below in. A blue light outlined the surface where Taeyeon’s body was in contact with the tree, emitting heat. Jessica sat next to Taeyeon, arms hugging her knees, and waited.

After more than an hour, Jessica felt Taeyeon’s head stir against her shoulder. “Thanks,” Taeyeon said, still sounding out of breath, though not as weak as before. “You really scared me,” Jessica admitted, finally letting her tears flow. “Sorry,” Taeyeon murmured, her responses limited to one word at a time. “I feel like I’m living in a new reality where you can get hurt and maybe die and it’s the most horrible thing to have to accept,” Jessica said, wondering how anyone could bear the perpetual unease.

“You wanted to be human,” Taeyeon whispered, reminding Jessica of her most fervent desire. Taeyeon and Jessica had met many spirits and deities in their lifetime, but the most interesting of them all was the deity of time – Shi Jian. They had encountered the deity when they were travelling past a remote village in China more than 400 years ago. While most deities presented themselves in a youthful body, Shi Jian had chosen the form of an old man, had joked that it suited him more, his sense of humour making them instant friends. Upon parting, he had bestowed upon them two hourglass necklaces, explaining that breaking the hourglass would end their immortality. “Everyone should have a choice.” he had said before vanishing, not bothering to elaborate.

The choice had caused a lot of conflict in their relationship, a recurring argument that no one would win, the decision repeatedly postponed, until it was no longer an option. Jessica had lost her necklace more than a century ago, initially convinced that Taeyeon had taken it to avoid another argument. “If it means so much to you, take mine,” Taeyeon had offered, hurt from being accused. “You’re missing the point. I wanted a human life with you” Jessica had replied, sounding broken, feeling the grief of the loss. The mystery of the missing necklace was never solved.

“I believe that if time was limited, and if we truly feared losing each other, we would live and love differently.” Jessica contemplated out loud. “Speaking of humans, why did you put Tiffany to sleep? Will she be okay?” Jessica asked, not wanting to elaborate on her previous musing. “She will be. We just need to wipe her memory.” Taeyeon said, her steady voice indicating that her strength was returning. “Why don’t you tell me the whole story from the beginning?” Jessica requested, tired of guessing.

“It was Seohyun,” Taeyeon said, lifting her head from Jessica’s shoulder, her expression darkening. She remembered getting a glimpse of the young girl before the car swerved and rammed into the divider. Taeyeon had felt her body ache from the impact from the collision, suspected that she had broken a few ribs, victim to another loophole of immortality because Tiffany was at the wheel. “We crashed because Tiffany avoided hitting Seohyun. She was badly hurt from the crash, with a large gash on her head.” Jessica tried to reconcile the account of the accident with the image of the peaceful figure asleep in the basement, with no signs of ever being hurt. “I saw a hooded figure reached for Tiffany through the broken window and at first I thought this was kidnapping attempt, but it wasn’t. They weren’t planning on taking her body, Jessica, they wanted her spirit.” Taeyeon stopped, her voice trembling with anger. 

“The mysterious soul-snatcher,” Jessica gasped, remembering her meeting in the morning. Jessica had met up with a grim reaper who wanted to work for the hotel. She was charismatic, funny, and seemed to have decades of experience collecting souls in Japan. It all went well until the very end of their encounter, when the grim reaper extended her arm for a handshake. “I would love to work with all of you. Your human manager Tiffany seems fun” she had said, which would not have brought up any red flags, had Jessica mentioned Tiffany’s name.

“I held onto Tiffany’s arm, though I could feel her soul slipping away. I would not have won the tug-of-war anyway – grim reapers have a better hold on spirits.” Taeyeon’s emotions were reflected in their surroundings – the sky darkened, the wind howled, causing the tree above them to sway, leaves falling like autumn. Jessica released her hold on her knees to grab Taeyeon’s hand instead, and the weather calmed.

“Promise you won’t freak out at the next part?” Taeyeon turned to face Jessica, biting her lip. “No, but tell me anyway.” Jessica demanded, gaze intensifying, imagining the worst. “Okay, but keep in mind that everything worked out in the end,” Taeyeon nudged Jessica’s shoulder, attempting to lighten the mood, but failed as Jessica’s stared at her with unwavering attention.

“While Tiffany’s human body was unconscious, her spirit was awakened by the struggle.” Taeyeon winced, remembering Tiffany’s deafening screams. “I tightened my grip, not knowing what else I could do. That was when I started losing strength, as if my life force were being drained by the hold. Whatever it was, it seemed to work because Tiffany’s wounds healed, and her spirit returned to her body.”

“You brought her back to life?!” Jessica stood up abruptly, letting go of Taeyeon’s hand. She wanted to scream, but all she could do was pace, a million thoughts coursing through her head. Taeyeon wanted to comfort Jessica but was cemented to the ground, her body still too weak to support itself. “I don’t think I would have been able bring her back if she were actually dying. The fact that I am still here means that I didn’t cross the line. It wasn’t her time.” Taeyeon insisted, certain that Tiffany was not at the brink of death, that it wasn’t a failed soul-snatching effort, it was attempted murder.

Jessica kneeled as the hotel guestbook and folders appeared on the ground in front her. She checked each of them in silence, deep in concentration. She realised that she did not know Tiffany’s full name and had to read each folder carefully, confirming that none of the descriptions fit the human manager. “It wasn’t her time,” Jessica repeated, wondering if two wrongs made a right. Even though deities were not allowed to change the course of human lives, there was still a chance that preventing that course to be disrupted by other beings was not considered as interference.

“I need to lie down,” Jessica said, exhausted, as she rested her head on Taeyeon’s legs, feeling calmer as she stared at the tree swaying with the light breeze, leaves and purple flowers dancing in the wind. “If we stop threading along this grey area of unknown rules and abilities… If Tiffany was really dying and you had the power to save her life, fully aware of the consequence, would you?” Jessica asked, curious as to what she herself would have done as well.

“Definitely.” Taeyeon replied, without hesitation.

Jessica immediately sat up and punched Taeyeon on the arm, hard, wishing that she had the ability to inflict pain. “Kim Taeyeon! How could you...” not think about me, Jessica thought but paused, guilty that the alternative she was implicitly suggesting was to let Tiffany die. She reasoned that either answer would have upset her and found it ironic that no one had the answers when it came to morality, not even thousand-year-old deities.

“I thought about this a lot after you left. If I had that much power, I won’t actually care if I’m a deity or a demon. Sure, the source of my power would ultimately be from hate, conflict, wars, and everything stupid, but isn’t it poetic to turn that into a force of good?” Taeyeon smiled, sincerity apparent in her eyes. “You’re…really something,” Jessica said, not knowing how else to describe it, simply managing to return the smile. Jessica sometimes found herself feeling relatively ordinary contrasted with Taeyeon’s idealism, often craving normalcy and the simple life. Her previous efforts in convincing Taeyeon to lead a human life with her seemed hopelessly futile in retrospect, though the fact that Taeyeon still wore the hourglass necklace was a sign that she remained open to the idea.

“Do you still want to be human?” Taeyeon asked, having caught Jessica eyeing her necklace. “It’s not impossible to find Shi Jian, you know. It’s not like we’re running out of time,” Taeyeon chuckled, though thinking it would be useful to find the old man and at the very least learn more about the unspoken rules of the after world. “Would you ever?” Jessica replied with a more relevant question. “It’s my retirement plan,” Taeyeon stated, laughing at her own joke. “If that’s what you still want,” Taeyeon shrugged, taking the decision more lightly than she used to. "You've really changed," Jessica concluded, seeing Taeyeon in a brand new light, wondering how much she had missed. 

“To die by your side is such a heavenly way to die.” Taeyeon sang Jessica’s favourite lyric and continued humming the rest of the tune. Considering the events of the day, it was a terrible choice of song, but Taeyeon had the most soothing voice, and Jessica found herself humming along.

--------------------------------------------

Stay safe and well :) 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3-xlJ6aBxE