Chapter 2

First and Final Date

8:36 A.M. November 2, 2014
33 hours and 24 minutes remaining

Yunho woke up in the morning only to find himself in Changmin's embrace. It reminded him of the good old times with "that" man -- the man who he gave his heart to. For these past five years, he always wished for this to happen again - for his love to embrace him for another time. But even though it was impossible, he couldn't help but just hope that something like this would happen again.

Changmin... Changmin... Changmin... Just the sound of his name made him too regretful of the past. If only he was able to save that person then they would both be happy and it wouldn't be like this.

He was really having a hard time. As much as he accepted the death of his lover,five years ago, there's an exact replica of him only a breath away. It wasn't just by looks but also by attitude. Everything. At first, after seeing this reaper in front of his door, he was too much filled with joy that he felt like he could live after jumping off a 20 story building. It was pretty hard to believe that his Changmin is not alive yet is still in front of him. It's pretty ironic how the man that he loved and still did would be the one taking his life.

Of course, he was surprised to see Changmin at the foot of his door that night but it also shocked him. He really thought his Changmin came back to life. At first he wondered, but now he knew. He knew that his Changmin was no longer the same Changmin who loved him before. This man was Changmin, the reaper, who will take his life away-- who had no memory of him left.

It's best for the both of them to keep it that way. He only had 2 days left anyways. Might as well enjoy the 48 hours of his life with him.

"You're awake now aren't you?" Changmin croaked out loud.

Yunho's thoughts just vanished when he heard Changmin's voice. No matter how cold and harsh sounding his words were, they were always successful in calming him down. So no matter how much hurtful words came out of those lips, he will never get hurt by them, "I don't ever want to wake up anymore," he finally replied.

"Don't you have to go somewhere?" Changmin asked. "It's best you don't waste your time and also my time. If you're not doing anything, I don't want to hang around with an almost dying person."

"Alright, I'll be up. Let me pack my stuff," Yunho said as he rolled out of Changmin's embrace. "Thanks for last night. It was helpful."

"You certainly did cry last night," the man lying on the bed finally sat up, the bed sheet draping on his shoulder. "But I'm not satisfied with your ... expressions and reactions. It's not fun."

"How long have you been doing this for Changmin?" Yunho asked all of a sudden as he took out clothes from his closet. "Five years maybe?"

Changmin was really confused. This man was guessing everything right about him. "How did you know?"

"I can guess can't I?" Yunho just replied with a question. "It's not my fault for getting things right."

This was his Changmin alright. There was no doubt about it. But as much as he was happy being able to meet his love again, the pain he felt was triple the amount of him being happy.

"That's what you told me yesterday when you knew my name," Changmin started to think really hard. "Is there any chance that..."

"Alright, just calm down," Yunho finally said when he felt the man on his bed starting to become suspicious of everything. "Let me pack my clothes, then we'll go get a bite to eat outside."

******

9:46 A.M November 2, 2014
32 hours and 14 minutes remaining

"You're sticking with me for the next 30 hours or so, right?" Yunho asked Changmin as they strolled down the city.

"I told you last night I will, so quit asking me," Changmin answered with great disinterest in what's happening.

"Then shall we go on a date?" Yunho smiled boyishly.

Changmin's head snapped to Yunho's direction. "You're kidding right?"

"Not really," Yunho mumbled. "It can happen right?"

"Whatever," Changmin paused to roll his eyes. "You're paying."

"Don't worry, I have two days to spend all the money I have in my bank. I'm pretty sure it'll last us a while."

"You sure are having fun," Changmin sarcastically said out loud. As time passed by with Yunho by his side, he couldn't help but become even more depressed because of the happy, cheery Yunho. Wasn't he supposed to be sad in the first place?

"I guess it's because you're spending time with me today," Yunho grinned.

"Fine, whatever, tell me where you want to go."

"Shall we go to an amusement park?"

Changmin's eyes almost bulged out of it's sockets in disbelieve. He couldn't believe what this man was telling him to go to.

In his head, he began to apologize to his friend.

Jaejoong, where ever you are, I feel stupid for being to nice to this man.

********

12:45 P.M. November 2, 2014
29 hours and 15 minutes remaining

"You know you're wasting your time in here right?" Changmin sighed as he looked at his stamped left hand.

"It's alright, as long as I have you wasting time with, I'm fine with it," Yunho said as they walked down the path. There were so many rides and games they could try. It's time to make new memories with this Changmin he found. It would be his last and most precious memory in his life.

"Why do you always act like we're close?" Changmin couldn't help but ask.

"But isn't this fine?" Yunho quickly covered up where he was making mistakes at. "I told you, I can at least pretend to have a friend like you to go around here with."

"Alright, then I'll pretend to have fun as well," Changmin said as he matched Yunho's purpose.

"Shall we try the scary rides first Changmin?" Yunho cocked his brow to challenge the prideful man beside him. He knew if this was really the same Changmin he lost five years ago, this man would always be afraid of machines he was buckled up and stuck to that moved faster than his eyes could follow.

"You're mocking me aren't you?" Changmin stopped walking and gave him a nastly glare. "I'm a reaper, I fly every time."

"No, I just want to try out all the rides! Maybe you can warm up to me by the end of the day," Yunho grinned sarcastically. "Come, let's try that rollercoaster over there."

"You can keep wishing that will happen you dying man. Are you sure your heart can take it?" Changmin tried to insult Yunho but as much as he tried to hurt the other man, there was always no change in his facial expressions.

Changmin looked at where Yunho pointed. He gulped. It was a coaster that went as high as the clouds coming down in an almost vertical slope finishing off with 3 loops at the middle of course and ....

His knees felt jelly. He loved flying but that's only because he could maneuver everything. But getting stuck to a seat... is pretty much not good.

"Are you scared already?" Yunho grabbed Changmin's hand when he noticed he wasn't paying attention. Of course, he knew that this man was at his limit already by just looking at the ride. It was mean of him to take advantage of this situation but it was his fault for forgeting everything.

"I'm not scared," Changmin tried to deny. "I'm just thinking how high that would be. Anyways, could you please stop holding my hand. I didn't give you persmission to. And it's weird."

"But we're on a date, it's perfectly normal right?" Yunho smiled some more.

"You can hold my hand when you've finally stopped smiling at me," Changmin gave a frown. He was a reaper. He enjoyed depressing faces and not these gentle yet so caring smiles.

****

1:15 P.M. November 2, 2014
28 hours and 45 minutes remaining

"You've just wasted your precious remaining life waiting to get on this ride," Changmin rolled his eyes as they got comfortable on the seats.

"Didn't I say already? As long as I'm wasting my life with you then I don't have a problem," Yunho smiled.

"You don't make sense," the agitated man sitting on the seat replied, tapping the metal bar repeatedly with his index finger. Buckles and even locks were placed on them. How could he take this off to fly when the coaster accidentally falls off the track?

"Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls!" a lady from the booth right next to the coaster started. "Please make sure you're seatbelts are tight and that the bars are locked inn place. There are going to be pictures taken and so, feel free to come up again and check them out! In 5 seconds, we shall blast off!"

"Oh dear Lord of the reapers," Changmin felt a bit faint.

The coaster started to move in a flat track for now, then it began to slowly get higher and higher. Each passin second was a nightmare to Changmin but for Yunho, he enjoyed every single priceless moment of it. At the coaster's maximum height, Changmin could see the steep tracks going down and down to an endless pit. His hands grabbed on anything he could squeeze at that moment and, in what he saw first was the metal bars that held them in place. He decided to grip the bars.

"Here," Yunho offered him his hand. "You always feel better when you hold my hand."

"Wha--? Why?" He asked in surprise and question. Why do I feel better when I hold your hand? He wanted to ask that. He meant to ask that. But before he knew it, everything just happened. Yunho grabbed a hold of his hand and the coaster just went zooming down, going upside down, sideways... everything. The questions he had in his mind just fell out of his brain-- completely forgotten.

*********

1:25 P.M. November 2, 2014
28 hours and 35 minutes remaining

"That was fun wasn't it?" Yunho grinned at him knowing the answer already.

Changmin kept his usual reaper face on and just nodded. "Let's go now then. You probably want to go on more rides."

"No, actually not anymore," Yunho told him. "We'll just walk around, get some food maybe? But before that I want to see the pictures."

The reaper's face suddenly broke down into shock. What if he looked really scared? As a reaper he should be scared of such trivial things.

A sudden laugh from the crowd errupted. And unfortunately, he knew who it was.

"Changmin-ah!" Yunho yelled out to him already at the photobooth, laughing. "Look at you. You're squeezing my hand so tight! And your face...!"

"Shut up," Changmin got angry at him. He was thinking about something. He knew he had a question but what was it? Somethign about hands...

"Miss, I'll purchase this photo," Yunho said as handed her some money.

"Alright sir! Thanks for purchasing!"

A photo in a see through plastic was revealed to the both of them on the counter.

"Keep the change as well," Yunho said and he grabbed the not amused man's elbow and walked off.

"Hey you," Changmin finally spoke. "Don't you think you should stop with this familiarity act with me? And don't you think it's quite useless buying something like this when you know you're going to die?"

Yunho laughed but only kept it to himself. "It's quite hard to have fun with somebody if I don't know them so I really do need to pretend. And as for the picture, it's alright. They're memories that can last when I die so I don't fade away. At least there will be memories of me here in this planet when I die."

"Unbelievable," Changmin rolled his eyes once more. He glanced at everything else in the park. Everything was moving-- there was too much smiling faces. The mood wasn't satisfying enough. "Don't you think we should--" He looked to his side to talk to Yunho but the man wasn't even there anymore. "Yunho?"

Not knowing what to do at this moment, he just stood still from where he was at. He heaved a heavy sigh. Where was he?

Small pokes on his shoulder were given to him and so he turned around to face this person.

"Would you like some cookies and cream ice cream?" Yunho smiled at him. "I'm sure you'll like them."

"How did you--" He was about to ask once more. This was his favorite ice cream. Ever since he became a reaper who couldn't remember anything, he became friends with Jaejoong and eventually, they tried everything together -- even to the last flavor of ice creams. Cookies and cream was his favorite.

"Everybody likes cookies and cream," Yunho expressed his answer with his gentle expressions. "I like them too! See?"

Not satisfied with the answer. Changmin decided to leave it alone. But really, he couldn't help but think that something was really off... And he didn't like it one bit.

************

5:45 P.M. November 2, 2014
24 hours and 15 minutes remaining

"Now that we've been to every single game, single foodstand and single resting benches of this park, shall we go somewhere else?" Changmin sighed. He couldn't believe what he was doing today.

Yunho giggled boyishly. "Yeah, I'm planning to return home to Jeju Island with my family for a bit."

"Jeju Island?" Changmin cocked his brow. "You don't have much time anymore. Don't go wasting it on plane rides."

"Like I said," Yunho looked at him with unreadable eyes, "as long as I'm wasting my life with you, I'm fine with it."

"Yeah, heard you say that one before," Changmin turned around and walked ahead leaving Yunho walking behind him. He didn't know what Yunho really meant every time he said that.

"Besides, I have our plane tickets already," Yunho told him, "I called up my friend and he set up everything for me."

"You what?"

"The plane leaves in about 3 hours," Yunho stated. "So we should hurry. I'll race you to the car."

"No."

"Yes."

"No!" Changmin snapped.

"Yes!" Yunho said as he bolted through the pathway dodging people walking, making sure not to hit them.

"Hey you!" Changmin called out to him to warn the man but he was too late. He knew something bad was going to happen right now. "Are you an eight year old kid?! You shouldn't cause me more trouble. You'll end up getting a --" Noticing that he was talking to himself now, he decided to leave it. He chased after Yunho who he couldn't even see anymore.

In his pocket, as he ran, he reached for a container with white tablets. Then, as quickly as he could, he tried to sense that man's aura with his powers.

"I see him..." he smirked to himself. "Oh, what a great expression. He's in great pain alright."

In that direction, he ran until Yunho's body was an arm's length away from him. He watched. He just watched. He looked at the man who clutched his chest ever so tightly. That must hurt like hell. He thought.

"You see, I told you Yunho-ah," he seemed to enjoying this. "But you can't die yet so easily here. You're having a mild heart attack. You shouldn't tire yourself out too much." He reached out his hands and gave Yunho the white tablets he had. "This is going to surpress and numb the pain for a while. I still need to keep you alive until six in the afternoon tomorrow or else I fail my mission."

Changmin watched Yunho sitting on the bench with his hands gripping his chest tightly, unable to breathe. It was such a marvelous sight to a reaper. The painful expressions and reactions of humans are the best.

"You know, Yunho," Changmin continued to talk. "You have a very weak heart even though you're a cardiac surgeon. Isn't it ironic? Heart surgeon dies of a heart attack." He laughed at his own joke.

These taunts, Changmin kept on throwing at the non moving man. It was suppose to make him sad and depressive but instead, he a got a smile in return.

"Th-th-than-ks... Chang...min.." Yunho said in between his breaths, grinning from ear to ear. He took a hold of Changmin's palm and with heavy hands he took the pills and shoved them down his throat.

What the hell was wrong with this guy? That's the first thing that popped up in Changmin's head. His expressions were so happy yet he's in so much pain. How..?

"Yunho..." he said in annoyance, "You're mind is ed up, you know that?"

Then, without hesitation, he walked ahead, leaving the half conscious Yunho sitting by himself.

There was about 24 hours left. With this little time, and his high success rate for completing his mission, Changmin felt quite satisfied but yet not satisfied. Tomorrow will go by pretty fast.

Every little thing comes to an end and that fact, Changmin knew. He lived and breathed this saying.

"Jung Yunho will die by the strike of six tomorrow just before the sun sets. What a pity," Changmin thought without personal feelings attached.

He smirked in realization. As he thought, he really didn't have a heart. There was no use of asking that man now. He knew the answer perfectly well already.