A/N (Please read!)

Hello. The reason why I killed Bora off was because I decided to scrap off from writing EXO Files. For some reason, The Bracelet Club (as much as I love this story because I wrote it) has made me feel very anxious for a very long time so I kept putting it off. That being said, I did some talking with Sora and decided to write down Epilogues in request to some of you that wanted a happy ending, and also if I do end up writing EXO Files in the very far future, at least I have something to go back to.

Please keep note (!!)

1) This is just an alternative to after her dying (!!!!!) , a full circle, going back to what Hermione had said in the previous chapters. Bora can remain dead because without EXO Files, I don't think I'd write her anywhere else anymore. EXO Files would be focused on romance like N-CITY Series except with EXO members, (Soo, Yeol, Baek, Jongin, Minseok, Sehun) taken place in 2030. Kyungsoo out of the priesthood, lol. Tho I have a feeling I might not even get to writing it and if that's the case #dieded. 

2) These are requested by two of you who wanted a The Rise x TBC + N-CITY cross-over (damn, the math). It's not much but I hope the crumbs are enough.

3) If you haven't read The Rise of the Mages and still want to read the Epilogues and get a happy ending, it's all good too. 

4) these epilogues aren't like IO2BK and TroTm, they were written very fast. zoom zoom, es. 

Last but not least,

Thank you for staying and thank you for reading. I want to reply to every comment but I feel like I'd say the same thing to all of you. I know I always say it means so much but it really does because writing is my escape from my job and knowing someone enjoys and reads whatever crazy ideas I have in my head gives me a certain feeling of comfort. I had a few written stories that I will just publish (done or not, don't really care) so I guess be prepared for messy new stories and just random stories that I had written the past year. I'll be focusing on N-CITY full-time now and taking a long break while I'm at it. Sending love. 

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

One year after, 2020

“Ouch,” Matthew gasped out, his long legs crashing against the window sill. The boy’s dorm always smelt of french-fries and maple syrup. Sometimes, Matthew wondered if it was a stereotype, the grim reaper sliding against the glass and falling onto the ground. “Ow!”

“Hyung?” Mark murmured, blinking rapidly. He had been sleeping, the tuffs of hair on his hair unkempt and Matthew jumped up, dusting himself off. “Oh, Hyung!”

Matthew had just finished his tasks, making sure most of his time was kept busy. Sometimes with Baekhyun, sometimes with Mark. A lot of times with Mark, actually. These days, he has also found the pleasure of aiding Kyungsoo with his little orphanage.

Bora’s apartment was now used by Chanyeol and Suho since Baekhyun got a job and moved out; it was used as a base for their daily club meetings. He couldn’t remember the last time he saw Sehun and Kai or Minseok, all three of them busy with their own lives as they desperately tried to forget.

He understood now, why Peniel had told him that being a Grim Reaper was both a blessing a curse. Immortality was good, you get to see people around you grow but in turn, you can’t void yourself from the pain of loss. You still felt and thought like a mortal.

“Aye,” Matthew mumbled, looking around his younger brother’s room. He would portal straight into Mark’s room if he could but he couldn’t risk his brother seeing him do that. Not when Mark wasn’t registered as someone who knew of the afterlife.

No, he’d protect Mark from all that.

He snapped out of his thoughts when he felt Mark’s arms around his waist, Matthew looking down and blinking. He smiled, a hand going to pat Mark on the head when his younger brother made him turn around, pushing him into the bathroom and slamming the door shut.

“What—”

“Hyung, give me a moment! I didn’t clean my room!” Mark hastily said and he heard aggressive rustling of boxes and plastic bags. Matthew’s jaw dropped before he realized that he felt annoyed. He and Mark had been closer than ever but that also meant he no longer babied Mark like he used to. He loved his brother, Matthew thought, but his brother wasn’t the neatest.

“Mark,” Matthew said Mark’s name, and a thud sounded. “I’m giving you five minutes—”

“You didn’t tell me you were coming, Hyung! I would have cleaned my room if you told me! Oh, no!” A crash and Matthew’s eyes widened, his hand going to the handle to open the door when Mark told him to wait, Matthew stilling. “I have four more minutes!”

“Okay, okay.”

Another series of crashes and thuds when Mark finally knocked on the door, his eyes twinkling at his older brother. Matthew stepped out of the bathroom, looking around when he pointed.

“Aw, man! Does it help if I say Imma use it later?” Mark asked Matthew, his older brother softening and nodding. Mark hopped to the side and grabbed the sock (only one of them, god knows where the other one went) and stuffed it back into the cabinet. “You’re back, Hyung. Did you finish your to-do-list in the farm?”

Matthew didn’t know how long he’d had to keep up his lies but he guessed it was for the rest of Mark’s life. He nodded, telling his younger brother that he also got another shot of Botox, would explain why his skin was glowing. It was the little hints here and there.

“How’s everything, Mark? Where are your test papers?” Matthew asked, Mark proudly showing him his papers. Matthew sat at the edge of the bed and he smiled when he saw that Mark had doodled Muffin’s name on the top of the page. A good 98 was plastered on top and Matthew felt the familiar sense of pride. “This is great.”

“The charades we did that night helped me,” Mark admitted and Matthew looked back, smiling at his brother. “I also went to a frat boy party the other day. I left early, though. Muffin got mad.”

“Why?” Matthew asked, Mark shrugging.

“Equality, Hyung. If I tell her she can’t go, I can’t go.” Mark smiled cheekily. “but I know she’s just saying things to rile me up. She doesn’t like alcohol as much. And I don’t see the point of being in a frat house…”

“Did they invite you into their house?”

“Yeah. Alpha Taka Caupah Pow Pow?” Mark squinted into a blank space. “No idea, some weird frat boy house. I’m leaving for Korea soon anyway; it’s been a year. So, what’s the point, right? Oh, you want a fry?”

He whipped out fries from his food drawer and Matthew laughed at his brother’s dorkiness, the male settling on Mark’s bed as his brother flipped on the TV and connected his HDMI. He kept apologizing when Matthew visited on day that they never had anything to do and because his on-school dorms had curfew, Mark didn’t want to sneak out.

“How were you able to go to a frat boy house with a curfew?” Matthew asked casually, Mark going to move through the dramas that they had gone through. “Did you sneak out?”

“Would you be mad if I did?”

Matthew shrugged, Mark nodding slowly, the brothers suddenly laughing out loud.

“Oh, Mark. How did you do it? Did you jump?”

Mark let out a small “Yeah!” and Matthew chuckled, both of them high-fiving each other.

As the movie began to play, Mark then reached under the bed to give Matthew a box. It was wrapped very nicely and Matthew raised an eyebrow, knowing what it was.

“Your present to Muffin?” he asked Mark, Mark nodding. Matthew had brought it up one day when he saw Mark mailing items to Muffin, that he would help him mail them through express delivery. Of course, he never really did that. He just portalled to Muffin’s street and placed them on her door step and walked away.

Mark was in awe how fast express Canadian delivery worked.

“Damn, Muffin said the snow I sent her was still cold, Hyung!” Mark had told him one day on a December afternoon. Matthew had frowned at his brother’s words. “Did they keep it frozen for me?”

“And what would you have done if it was all melted?”

“Ask her to freeze it again.”

God knows what Mark thought in his little mind sometimes but Matthew found it endearing. As they watched Rush Hour, another movie that Mark always chose when he saw Matthew somewhat off- Matthew absentmindedly munched on the fries.

Mark had looked up at his cousin, his breathing shallowing as he realized that Matthew seemed blank. Another one of days, Mark thought to himself. He knew what Matthew was like on some days and he knew why Matthew came to see him. His senior’s death had hit cousin very hard and even if Mark didn’t know what had happened to her, he knew that Matthew and Bora weren’t just friends.

He sighed, the younger male reaching over to pat Matthew on the hand. Maybe, that’s why Matthew didn’t sleep as much. He was always coming at night and leaving and Mark always saw Matthew travelling. He couldn’t imagine losing Muffin, just the thought made Mark scrunch his nose up.

It would have been almost a year now since he came to Canada and as time went on, he hoped Matthew would heal from it. Matthew sighed, the words on the screen coming up when he patted Mark’s hand that was on his.

“I’m going to send this to Express delivery and then I’m going to check on the cows,” he told Mark, his brother giving him a hug. Before they said their goodbyes, Matthew reminded Mark to close his windows and lock them but Mark insisted that he’d leave them open because Matthew could come back any time.

It made him smile and as Matthew jumped down with Muffin’s present, he had portaled straight to Kyungsoo. There were a few things that Matthew learned—and that was that the longer he waited to send the package, the more believable it was. He would wait a few more hours, even though it was impossible for a package from Canada to reach in a few hours, and bring it to Muffin.

Kyungsoo was doing well in his own way, the priest waving traffic signs up in the air as his little minions marched back and forth across the play area. Kyungsoo looked up and grunted when he saw Matthew, the priest lifting up an eyebrow before he accidentally dropped the red stop sign.

Of course, the kids took it as a sign to run, screaming bloody murder and ramming against each other.

“If they were cars, wooooh….” Matthew said, holding the box in his hands and shaking his head. Kyungsoo grunted in return, calmly bringing the red stop sign up, every child stilling. Their eyes darted back and forth, waiting for the change of signal.

“You’re here. Went to see Mark?” Kyungsoo asked, Matthew nodding. Kyungsoo raised a hand to call in a teacher assistant, to which Matthew knew was of great help. She looked scared of the kids, however, and Kyungsoo stepped out of the play area to lead Matthew to his office. “I see you have another box to send off to Cookie.”

“Muffin,” Matthew corrected, Kyungsoo closing the doors behind him. “Going to see Baekhyun after this, going to check out how he’s been living.”

“You do that every two days,” Kyungsoo pointed out, Matthew shrugging. “I have another case in Rome. Peniel is coming to bring me there.”

Matthew smiled, leaning back and telling him that he just finished his tasks. He was no longer the over achiever he once was and resorted to just finishing the little things and calling it a day.

“How’s Baekhyun doing?” Kyungsoo asked suddenly, Matthew looking up to see Kyungsoo eyeing him.

“It’s fine, it’s been a year,” Matthew answered as Kyungsoo sighed. “We did talk the other day. It’s funny how we can’t even get a hold of her records. They were wiped—”

Like how an obliviated soul would be like.

Kyungsoo coughed, nodding slowly. He had a pained expression on his face, Matthew sighing.

“I visited her grave the other day.”

“You do that every two days.” This time, it was Matthew who pointed it out, Kyungsoo chuckling and telling him that Bora’s grave was right by the entrance of the cemetery. “Did you write a letter?”

“Please. As if she’s in the afterlife to even get to read it,” Kyungsoo cleared his throat.

“I asked for Mile’s records, too,” Matthew blurted out. “Wiped clean.”

“He was obliviated,” Kyungsoo whispered before making a face. “A soul that is gone from the world has their records wiped clean, Matthew. As a Grim, you’d know that.”

“Yeah, but… I was just hoping…” Matthew’s voice trailed and he shook his head. “I don’t know what I was hoping.”

Kyungsoo remained silent and leaned forward, stretching.

“It’s fine,” Kyungsoo told Matthew. One thing Matthew loved about visiting Kyungsoo was the fact that he still talked about Bora. The others… The others irked him because even if they still acted like she was around, they never talked about her. It pained Matthew to notice that. “Go, you have a Fed-Ex delivery.”

He said this almost teasingly, Matthew rolling his eyes and standing up.

“I’ll see you next week. We have a gathering, don’t we? Mark is also coming back soon; his exchange program is almost over.”

“Ah, that kid,” Kyungsoo mused. “Talk to Kai about the plans. How’s Suho?”

“Hardly around us,” Matthew replied. “Lingering around his muse.”

“Ex-Muse.”

Matthew passed him a small smile, backtracking his steps and bidding his priest friend goodbye. His days went on like this, keeping himself moving as he went along. He snapped his fingers and portaled himself into Baekhyun’s apartment, the yelling of Bora’s younger brother echoing through the living room.

“DIE! DIE! DIE!” Baekhyun yelled almost barbarically. “Woooosh--! Oh, Hyung!”

“Eh, is Matthew Hyung there?” Sehun’s voice came out of the speaker, Baekhyun humming into the microphone. “Heyyyyy.”

“Baek, don’t you have work?” Matthew asked, placing Muffin’s present onto the table.

“The idol I’m managing is sick so I just sent him to the hospital and gave him food. Called it a day,” Baekhyun answered, his eyes not leaving the screen. “Did you go to Canada, Hyung?”

“Yeah. Sehun, isn’t it office hours?” Matthew asked, Sehun letting out a yelp when there was a rustle, Harin’s voice greeting Matthew. “Hey, Harin.”

“Hi, Oppa,” she said sweetly. “Right, can you tell him to stop playing games when he’s not supposed to be?”

“Oh, c’mon, Baek!” Sehun complained, Baekhyun letting out a victorious laugh. “Hey, Hyung. To be fair, I completely nailed the management meeting today.”

“Nailed it?” Harin sounded astounded at her husband’s words. She lowered her voice and spoke, “Sure. Sounds great.”

A smack and Sehun grunted.

“That’s all he said in the management meeting!” Harin told Matthew, the grim chuckling. “Three words! I bet he wasn’t even listening.”

“I was!” Sehun argued. “I listened to your parts.”

“Sehun, all I said was “Hello, welcome to our weekly management meeting.”.”

Matthew laughed at the exchange and he could almost picture Sehun’s ears turning pink as Harin tried to get his attention. With another bang, Baekhyun let out a frustrated sigh, shaking his head.

“Oh no…” he mumbled; the words “LOST” plastered on the screen. “Not very nice. Aight, I’m going to hang out with Matthew Hyung for a bit. See you guys soon!”

“Bye, Baek… OW!” Sehun yelled and Matthew guessed that Harin had pinched him, the male obviously scared of his wife. “See you!”

The game went off, Baekhyun disconnecting the speaker to his computer and changing it to his phone, the male finally putting on jazz music.

“I have something to deliver to Muffin,” he pointed at the box, Baekhyun grabbing his keys. This is how both of them ended up in Baekhyun’s company car, driving to the N-CITY district as a form of hanging out. Matthew had conjured up his hat, the male sneakily looking around. The sun was soon to set, Baekhyun waiting a few blocks away as Matthew moved to Muffin’s house.

He had slipped on his hat, forgetting the fact that he couldn’t make items invisible. Maybe it was because he had such a long day, maybe it was because he was out of it; but Matthew held the box and was about