Lim Hyunsik- In Your Heart

With Death gone, Minjae glanced at Fei and saw her look disheartened by the news.

"Well, I'll go take a look around from above and tell you if I see her." He mumbled quickly getting his jacket too.

"I'll look around her jurisdiction then. If she met this man, it must have been somewhere she worked."

They nodded at each other and left the library with the message that they will be back shortly.

"Why did they ask me to do this, what if she puts up a fight...?” Fei moaned to herself as she wandered the city. "I can't fight, I'm old..." she added feeling like protesting in the middle of the street.

What was supposed to be a maximum two hours mission, ended up taking the whole day. With Hikaru, their only worker, in his messed up state they couldn't even do business right. And Death just left, taking no responsibility for the library. Minjae returned with his feet on the ground and they split to cover more ground.

It was already dinner time when Minjae called Fei.

"I asked around and it seems she was last seen at a hospital in Dongdaemun. Let's meet there and check it out." He said and immediately hung up.

Flying there and changing into his human form in a shadowy corner took just a few minutes. Minjae entered and went straight to the information desk. The nurses didn't expect someone so charismatic to appear in front of them, smiling cutely above everything else.

"Can you help me with a name? I'd like to know if my...friend was brought here in the last 24 hours." He asked with a boyish attitude.

The nurse was flustered for a moment but nodded anyway.

"Was he brought in a bad shape?"

"...he was in the worst shape." Minjae replied not being a very good liar. "He must have been sent to the ICU as soon as he arrived."

"I'm sorry but I need to know his name in order to search for him in the database." The nurse informed him with a sorry smile.

"Ah, ok." Minjae bowed his head and had to walk away. He bit his lower lip and looked around the entry hall, reapers moving among humans. They were really easy to spot since they were black dots in a sea of colour. One of them must have seen the rogue recently.

"I'm hungry," Fei complained once more wanting to take a seat and not care for the reaper.

After all, what was the worst that could happen if she didn't do the mission? No, no, she shook her head. She became too lazy to fight the authority and the last time she did, she was punished to live in seclusion.

"Where are you Number 898, formerly known as Jiah?" She sighed and stopped feeling tired and annoyed. "I hate this!" She complained loudly swinging her hands in the air.

People glanced at her as if she had grown another head.

"You are being too loud."

Fei stopped and glanced over her shoulder at the subject. The reaper was dressed in her usual black clothes and she seemed very sad.

"It drew your attention." Fei stated as a matter of fact.

"It didn't. I saw the raven and figured it's better to come willingly."

"Why? Do you really want to die?" Fei asked turning to face the reaper. "Ah, Jiah, I really didn't want to find you. Do you think that after working for so, so long in war logistics, I can't capture a reaper in this digitalized world?" Fei asked with a tinge of disappointment.

Jiah stared with her eyes wide and mouth agape, not knowing what to do next.

"But Death-"

"Death wouldn't be able to say anything if I couldn't find you...he'd give me a long lecture but not punish me. I'm already a slave anyway." She mumbled feeling like cursing the afterlife.

"Then, what now?"

"You run, I follow you. We fight a bit and then you manage to get away. I'm not sure for how long because Death is everywhere and will eventually catch you." She was very blunt but it comforted the reaper. "Do you want a drink?"

It wasn't necessarily odd to see a woman standing on a bench on the park with two bottles of soju and two plastic cups. But it was weird seeing her drink and talk to an empty spot next to her.

"Why do you want to help me?" Jiah asked sitting with her legs together and hands on her knees like she was being scolded.

"This is not help, it's just buying you some time. I don't want to get immersed into your sad love story. I already learned my lesson." Fei replied taking a shot of soju. It felt refreshing.

"I heard. Your story is like a fairy-tale among reapers. You weren't even born on this land and yet you are forbidden to leave."

"Yeah well, Greece is not what it used to be anyway so it doesn't affect me. The people that believed in me are all dead too so I am fine living here."

"You have the raven, which must mean something." Jiah said and sighed sadly. "I died right before the change in dynasties. I and my whole family were so poor and we all died painfully, one after another. I witnessed people giving their last breath even before I became a reaper."

Fei sighed and they clinked their plastic cups before they gulped down every drop of soju.

"Why did you save this man? You know reapers can't take such decisions on their own." Fei asked what she wanted to know.

"He's not the most handsome or the smartest or the most touching human I was appointed to, but he was so ready to die. I told him I can wait for him to finish all his earthly problems for a day but he refused. He just stood there by his bed and looked at his body. He didn't cry, he didn't cling onto me asking for a second chance like others do."

"And yet you saved him. Death thinks you are in love with him."

"He is only 16 years old, how can I love him." Jiah said and laughed at the idea. "That's the age when my brother passed. He was the last one in my family to go before me. He was such a lively kid, always there for his noona and I couldn't do anything for him. I watched him struggle to take care of me. He was murdered by a lord because he stole some wood and garments for me. I felt so helpless watching him get beaten up until he died. He looked at me and smiled and that is my last and more poignant memory of him." She explained more and more tears dropping down her cheeks.

Fei didn’t say a word, she just listened which seemed to be what Jiah really needed.

"When I saw him on the list I couldn't believe it. It was like my brother was reborn only to have the same bad fate. Seeing him not regret and not feel sorry for himself, I just..." she looked down at her lap and closed her eyes as she cried. "If that means I have to be erased, then it's fine." She said through sobs.

Fei leaned back and breathed out slowly. She was an empath and she couldn't help but be touched by the story. On the other hand, helping a rogue reaper was going to add years of slavery on her card and she already had many to come.

Her phone rung and she questioned if she should answer or not. In the end, she didn't. She was sure Minjae was annoyed with it but that was irrelevant now.

"Come on, get up. You should run before they find out I'm with you. Then they will come and arrest you for sure."

"But where can I go?" Jiah asked with worry.

"The human you saved. He can keep you hidden for a while. Being around a person who is alive will work as a wall against you and Death. And you'll be able to protect him if Death comes after him again." Fei replied and both women got up.

They looked at each other and smiled until a long sceptre went straight through Jiah's chest. She became dust and vanished in the void.

Fei remained there frozen. The reaper was erased so quickly and out of nowhere. She blinked, still not quite sure of what she witnessed. And then something even more shocking happened. Death walked to her and slapped her really harshly. It was like a scene in a drama where the slapped character couldn't move or talk afterwards. His hand was a man's hand, maybe even stronger. It didn't cause Fei to fall but she did stumble and her head turned really fast from the slap. Her short blonde hair couldn’t hide the expression on her face and she didn't have the emotional state to look into Death's eyes.

"Do not cross me, Fei. Just because your life was prolonged by a God, that doesn't mean you will not die in the future. That God isn't around anymore to save you so be careful what hand you bite." He scolded her in a voice that could scare even the biggest monsters.

He faded away but she stood there, not moving a muscle in her whole body. She was angry and she wanted nothing more than to just disappear.