To die will be an awfully great adventure...

Even though it wasn’t what I had in mind when I decided to get up from my chair to run down to the convenience store, I have to admit that it was the first thing that came to my mind when it happened.

Of course, at first you’re terrified, but who isn’t when they see a truck speeding at them with no indication of slowing down. But when it’s done, it’s done.
I did expect it to be cooler, more dramatic with me hanging above my dead body and watching it being taken care of, and then floating away into the light.
I guess death’s just far too common for that drama. It’s like falling asleep.

The only problem is: You’ll never wake up where you went to sleep.

I remember darkness and very vague chanting. Softly, like a lullaby sung by over a thousand harmonized voices in a non-existent language.
I felt so small. That familiar feeling of being on the verge of sleep, listening to the TV in the livingroom.

Before I knew it, I was gone.

Now, you’d expect it to be like that, or that you’ll wake up in a completely white room with angels or whatever you believe in around you.
I woke up in the one place I wanted to be most.

Home.

There was the smell of food in the kitchen. The sounds of the TV and other things I realised I had taken for granted. But lingering beneath the sounds and senses I discovered an eerie silence. A silence which could only be taken away by the sounds of human footsteps, laughter and talking. Unfortunately, there was no-one.

I took slow steps towards the livingroom, listening to every sound I made and capturing it carefully, storing it away between the memories I would never forget.
I opened the door and gazed at the TV. There was a distorted sound when the channels were being changed and the car-race suddenly turned into a Korean drama and back into a religious channel.

Suddenly there was mumbling coming from the couch.

“All the channels in the world and yet there’s nothing on tv. How lame..”

I jumped and felt my heart race, which I thought afterwards was quite remarkable considering my condition at that moment.
I peeked around the door at the couch to see who was there.

It was a guy, my age who I’d never seen before.

With one click he turned the TV to a jazz-channel and stood up, gazing directly at me.
I took a couple of steps back, overwhelmed by the sudden focus on me, even though it gave me a good view of him.

He was definitely a head taller than me. The next thing I noticed was the fact that his hair seemed to have been cut by a 5-year-old. The reddish wisps had no real model to them.
It reminded my of my own hair as a child. I had been a clumsy child and one of my favourite things to do was to get gum stuck in my hair. This in its turn resulted in a messy haircut and a scolding from my mother, who made me go to school looking like a fool as a punishment.

His eyes were huge, but unmistakably Asian. Yet there was something in his face I couldn’t put a name to, as if he were from everywhere I could imagine. For a moment I even doubted if he was really a he, seeing as his build and face were so astonishingly androgynous. I couldn’t even tell how old he was. His dark eyes looked wise, yet the smile that appeared, was that of a child.

“It’s alright to ask you know. Most people are a little lost when they see me. Don’t be embarrassed.”

I swallowed and nodded a bit sheepishly, yet I did not speak. Instead, my gaze went around the room. I took in even the smallest detail and discovered things that had never seemed relevant to me when I lived there such as the carpet being in a drastic need of change.
Everything was so perfectly imperfect that the question slipped before I knew it.

“Is this heaven?”

I heard a soft laughter and looked back. He was still looking at me with a delighted expression on his face. His joy made me slightly embarrassed and I shook my head, lowering my gaze to the ground.

“No, heaven is much bigger. Let’s just say this is, how do you call it, an in-between? You still have a long way to go before you’re in heaven let me tell you that.”

“Then why does it look like my parents’ house?” I spoke as I walked towards the big windows that made up one of the four walls of the room. Even the garden was identical, apart from the fact that it had no life in it.

“I figured it would make it easier to talk if you felt comfortable.”

I turned around.

“Talk about what?”

I watched him sit down on the couch and pull one of his legs up. He beckoned me to sit down and placed his hand on the empty chair next to him. I sat down.

“You know who I am, right?” he asked and his smile vanished, leaving his expression gentle but serious.

I shrugged. “I figured you’re a ghost of my past or something..”

A choked sound arose from the male’s throat as his face became overly dramatic. “You have got to be kidding me!” he whined and proceeded to lean on his hand with his lips pouting, frowning a bit.

“A ghost, of all things..” he muttered to himself, leaving me wondering what the hell he was talking about.

“Then..”, I said, “Who are you…?”

Apparently this question pleased him for his theatrical pose came to an end and was replaced by a very confident and rather showy front.

“I’m Gabriel.”, he cried with a proud grin on his face that reminded me more of a little kid who knows that he’s getting away with something he did than an archangel.

Before I knew it I had chuckled, something which obviously displeased him. He frowned deeply. His dark eyes stood stern and I heard my laughter die away until there was nothing but the sound of relaxing piano-music in the background.

“I am perfectly serious. And I expect you to be so too.”

I nodded and the stern look on his face softened to the gentle smile from before.

“You are here because I need you, Kyungsoo. I have plans for you, plans that will provide you with hope and a future, because this is not where you should be..”