Luhan smiled to his roommate Yixing as he grabbed his coat from the closet in the hallway and put on his shoes.

“Yixing, I’m going out with a couple friends. I’ll be home in a couple of hours, okay?”

Yixing glanced worriedly at the clock. It was already 9 o’clock at night. “I guess it’s okay. Be home by 11, please. For my sanity.” Luhan smiled as he ruffled his roommate’s hair and nodded, walking out the door and shutting it behind him.

Yixing always thought of his best friend as beautiful. His sandy hair and doe-like eyes quickly caught the attention of girls all over Seoul. There were the usual crushes and late nights dancing at the clubs, phone calls and coffee dates, and hours of complaints about how she could have been the one. Both men had moved to Korea from China without their parents, and had quickly found comfort in each other when they were home sick or simply just needed a friend. They became protective of each other, especially in Yixing’s case. Luhan was one of the only friends he had in Korea.

Yixing sighed as he settled into the couch and the TV, looking for a show to watch and eventually settled on a rerun of an old drama. He would glance at the clock every now and then, watching the time and waiting for his roommate. They had dance class in the morning and Yixing didn’t want to be late for the third time that week.

As the clock neared 11, and then 11:30, and then 12, Yixing sighed and stood up angrily. “Damn it, I’m not waiting any more for his sorry .” He walked towards his bedroom and changed into boxers and a loose t shirt and laid down in bed. As sleep overtook him, Yixing couldn’t fight down the feeling in his stomach that something wasn’t right. I’m really worried right now.

“Except when she turned around to reply back to me, I realized it was my ex. Our friends had unknowingly set us up together, again.”

Kris snickered at the blonde boy’s luck, while Chen, Tao, and Xiumin simply laughed at their friend.

“Hey, Xiumin hyung, what time is it?” Luhan asked once the laughter had died down.

“11:45, why?”

“, I need to go. My roommate is probably worried less. Can I catch a ride home real quick?”

Xiumin smiled and nodded. “Sure. We can leave now.”

The two bid Chen, Kris, and Tao a farewell, left them some money to cover their part of the bill, and walked outside into the warm Seoul air and towards Xiumin’s car.

“Can we please hurry? I don’t like making Yixing worry too much. He can be a little over protective.”

Xiumin smirked but nodded and quickly started his car, pulling out of the parking lot and into the busy streets of Seoul. They had the windows down and were blasting 2NE1 from the car’s speakers, yelling out the lyrics into the night.

“, hyung, that’s the exit, the exit!” Luhan yelled as they came closer and nearly missed it.

Xiumin grimaced and jerked the wheel to the right, hoping to catch it in time. Luhan closed his eyes as he felt the car hit the guardrails and begin to tilt over. He felt the car flip and a sharp flash of pain made its way through Luhan’s head as he momentarily lost consciousness.

When he came to, he noticed that the car had finally come to a stop. He looked around for his friend.

“Xiumin?” he called quietly into the night.

A cough, and then a quiet voice followed. “Luhan?”

Luhan undid his seatbelt and crawled out of the broken window, crawling towards Xiumin’s figure now sitting on the side of the road. “Yeah, hyung, I’m fine.”

Luhan looked around slowly. There was blood everywhere. He couldn’t figure out where the blood was coming from, as Xiumin just had a few minor cuts and bruises on his body.

Xiumin was looking distantly at his phone as he hung up. “I called for an emergency ambulance, they should be -”

Xiumin had stopped talking and was looking at Luhan with wide eyes, a look of fear in his eyes. “, LUHAN. ! OH MY GOD, OH ! LU, CAN YOU HEAR ME?!”

Luhan stared at Xiumin in confusion as his friend ran towards the car. Luhan looked back and noticed himself still lying in the car, eyes staring into nothing. Luhan stood up and began to hyperventilate. He looked down at his hand and then back up at the lookalike of him still inside the car.

“Xiumin, I’m here, please, listen to me!” Luhan desperately called to the Korean man now crying and shaking the lifeless body gently. Luhan walked over to his friend and knelt down next to him, tears pouring down his cheeks. He tried putting his arms around his friend to comfort him and tell him that he was still there, but his hands went straight through.

Luhan stumbled back in horror, looking at his hands again. “Oh my god, what’s happening? What’s wrong with me?” Luhan felt himself hit a solid form and he stopped moving, looking up to see the gentle face of a man smiling down at him.

“Hello, Luhan. It’s good to see you.”

“Kris? What’s going on? Why can’t Xiumin see me? Why am I here, but also in the car? I’m so scared, Kris.” Luhan cried to the other man as Kris lent Luhan a hand and pulled him up.

“I know, Luhan. I’m sorry that this happened. When Xiumin wrecked the car, you lost your life. This is your spiritual body talking to me right now. And right over there, that’s your physical self, currently deceased.”

Luhan choked on a sob and fell to his knees. “What do you mean I’m dead? Then how can you see me? You were just at the café with Tao and Chen!”

Kris smiled and shook his head. “No, Luhan. I wasn’t real to the others. I guess you could call me your guardian angel. Only you could see me.”

“But, if you’re my guardian angel, then why didn’t you stop this from happening? Aren’t you supposed to protect me or something?” Luhan’s voice became quiet.

“We all have our jobs. I’ve completed mine, and now you must complete yours.”

“Your job was to ing let me die?! What kind of is that?!”

Kris smiled at Luhan sadly. “Luhan, everything happened this way for a reason. You’re dead, and now it’s your turn to help someone. Someone who will need your help very soon. Once you complete your task, you will be granted entrance into Heaven and can live happily from then on out. Until then, you will remain here on Earth, able to be seen only by the one you must help.” Kris smiled again and turned around, walking away and quickly fading away.

“Wait, Kris, how will I know what my job is?” He called to the night.

You will feel it when you are close.

Luhan felt the breeze wisp around him as Kris’ words echoed in the breeze.

Luhan closed his eyes and sighed. He looked again at Xiumin, now crumpled over his lifeless body as he waited for the ambulance to arrive.

Luhan stood up but quickly stumbled down as he felt blackness overtake him, and he surrendered himself to the dark.