Third Paradise : Seven Days

It seems like everything I was educated about on Heaven and God had been big, fat lies.

If Heaven was a letdown, I had no idea what to make of the man sitting behind the silver desk who had just declared himself to be God.

Lies, all lies.

He watched me, or at least I assumed he watched me, there was no way I could be sure with that helmet of his he had on, as I made my way across the room. There were a few yellow files sitting on his desk. He motioned me to sit down with one hand. I sank into one of the armchairs, glad to be able to rest my aching legs.

“Han Hyeri,” I snapped my attention towards him immediately, he was flipping through one of the yellow files, it resembled a resume of sorts and I suddenly felt like I was being interviewed.

“Why are you here?” His words came crackling towards me. He linked his fingers together and rested his helmeted head on top of his fingers.

“I…I can’t die yet,” I said while steeling my nerves.

“And why not?” He flipped through the file again, pulling out a single sheet of paper at the very end of the stack of papers.

“Han Hyeri, female, aged 22, Cause of death: trauma to the head following a car accident on 4th Avenue, Busan, South Korea. Time of death, 1634 hours, September 26th 2011,” he read off the paper simply.

It was then I realized what the thick stack of papers in the file was, it was my history log and he had just read off the last page of it.

“If that’s what I think it is, then you will know why I can’t die yet,” I said calmly, my chapped lips.

He said nothing as he pulled another file that was considerably thinner than mine towards him. Flipping the file open, he peeled the first piece of paper off and read off it.

“Lee Mija, female, aged 5 as of September 16^th. Offspring of Lee Byunghun, male, aged 23 and Han Hyeri, female, aged 22, deceased as of September 26^th.”

Deceased as of September 26^th. I couldn’t wrap my mind around that one simple line.

“It seems the reason for your appearance before the Guardians is your strong attachment for your daughter,” he stated simply.

“I can’t die,” I pressed on stubbornly, not knowing what else to say.

“Han Hyeri, even if you had escaped the car accident, you still did not have much time left to live.”

“What?”

He flipped through my file again, stopping somewhere near the end of the file and pulled out another piece of paper.

“Han Hyeri, female, aged 20, development of pancreatic cancer. Estimated life expectancy, 3 years.”

“I had…cancer?” I breathed unsteadily. I had cancer? 3 years? I was going to die when I turned 23? I had only one year left to live before I would inevitably die?

“Yes. Your life was coming to a close even though you did not know it yourself. The car accident you were involved in only quickened the process, unfortunately.”

I was stunned speechless. My mind was blank, my brain had shut down from the sudden announcement that I was doomed from the beginning. My vision was turning bleary, my arms and legs slowly losing feeling and I could feel the darkness engulfing me painstakingly slowly.

“Han Hyeri.”

His voice brought me back from the edge of unconsciousness. I lifted my head to look at him.

“I have a proposition for you.”

∞

“Here she comes!” Someone hollered from across the cubicles.

Everything felt unreal as I trudged towards them, a stoic expression plastered on my face. What Woolim, or God had told me was definitely not what I had came here to listen to. I had naïvely thought I would actually be allowed a free pass, another chance at life if I fought hard enough for it.

To think that I was going to be dead soon anyways.

“It’s impossible, I can’t have cancer. I’m only 22! And there was never any symptoms to begin with,” I yelled, holding myself back from flinging myself across the desk and grabbing His suit by the collar.

“What you have is a hereditary disease, your parents, specifically your mother was a carrier even though she herself did not contract the disease. Pancreatic cancer is also notorious for striking at the most unexpected times, lying dormant in your body for a few years before actually surfacing. When you are diagnosed, it is oftentimes already much too late.”

I slumped further into the armchair, burying my face in my hands as I attempted to digest everything he has said. What He said made sense, but the gravity of the whole situation was just too much.

“Han Hyeri. I will not ask again. Are you willing to give my proposition a chance?” His voice was too emotionless, even with the static crackling off his every word it was too calm.

This was my life and death we were discussing here. No one should be this calm about this. 

I looked up and stared him straight in the eyes, through the dark glass of his helmet and smirked.

“What choice do I have?”

“What did he say?” Sunggyu asked.

I let myself fall onto the empty couch, stretching my tired muscles. I was exhausted, both physically and mentally. I didn’t know you could get tired when you’re dead. Being dead however, was the least of my worries. Now the problem was how was I going to break the news to these seven men?

I was saved by Chaeeun, the receptionist. She received a call and ordered the boys to meet the Boss immediately. Sungjong gave me a strange look before realization dawned on his face. I just smiled sheepishly at him before he could open his mouth and was dragged away by the others.

When they were safely out of sight, I approached Chaeeun. She was flipping through the magazine from earlier. She directed her attention towards me, cocking her head to the side. “Yes?”

“God asked me to tell you Enferme moi dans le paradis. He said you would know what to do,” I told her uncertainly.

She blinked and let out a laugh. She pulled open a drawer in her desk, retrieving a small jar filled with a white powder. Unscrewing the cap, she grabbed a fistful, muttering under her breath about the mess it was going to make before tossing it at me. I coughed violently, having inhaled a good portion of the powder by accident. My eyes widened when I noticed my fingers glowing white. It wasn’t only my fingers, it was my whole body that was glowing.

“Welcome to Paradise,” She repeated what Myungsoo, Sungjong and Sunggyu had said to me previously, a mischievous grin playing on her lips.

That was all I remembered before I out.

Remember Han Hyeri. Seven days to change it all. Seven days to alter the course of time and ultimately your fate. The choice is within your grasp, the decision yours to make. Good luck.

∞

I was woken up from my slumber by a pair of hands that was roughly shaking me by the shoulders. I tried swatting the hands away. Then, my hearing returned and I heard the boiling anger in his voice.

“Han Hyeri! HAN HYERI! You have some explaining to do!” Sunggyu’s voice came roaring from above me.

“What’s she doing on the floor?” came someone else whose voice I did not recognize.

Forcing my eyes open, I came face to face with one very angry looking hamster in the guise of a man. His eyes were reduced to mere slits as he glared at me, lips pulled tightly together in a scowl.

“Hyung! You’re going to shake her head off!” Came Sungjong’s alarmed voice from somewhere behind Sunggyu.

“I don’t care, she’s dead anyways! Why do we have to get saddled with her in the first place!” Sunggyu screamed hysterically. I really wanted to give him a punch in the face to shut him up.

The iron grip on my shoulders was lifted suddenly but the intensity of Sunggyu’s screams only increased tenfold. I struggled to push myself up from the floor. My limbs were all wobbly and drained of any energy, the throbbing in my head so powerful it felt like my skull was about to split in half. What happened? All I remembered was a flash of white, a cheeky grin and…black.

“Hey, are you okay?” Woohyun’s voice was laced with worry as he lifted me up by the waist effortlessly from the floor. Shaking my head in the negative, he deposited me on something soft, which I vaguely recognized as the same striped couch from earlier before running off somewhere.

I moaned as the throbbing in my head escalated along with Sunggyu’s displeased screams. Woohyun was back again, do not ask me how I know this, and he dragged me off and away from the commotion that was going on. I was too tired to put up much of a fight and just let him bring me wherever he had planned to. Sunggyu’s yells were getting progressively softer, it finally disappeared after the slam of a door.

“I don’t know why Gyu hyung is making such a big fuss over everything. It’s not like we’re stuck with her forever,” someone said from next to me.

“He just doesn’t appreciate the extra work,” Woohyun answered the voice.

“What do you think Myungie? The Boss must have had a really good reason to extend her stay like this,” Woohyun’s voice sounded a little distant as he asked his question.

“Don’t know. I guess we’ll have to—oh damn I forgot about the stairs,” Woohyun groaned. I felt myself being lifted off my feet and into someone’s arms.

“Hey be careful! Don’t go dropping her now,” Woohyun hollered. Wasn’t he the one holding me now? No, this person, his grip was different, it was more careful. I wanted to open my eyes but they refused to open.

“Let’s go Hoya, we have to stop hyung from destroying everything in his path.”

The throbbing in my head did not subside despite the fact that it was eerily quite around us. I was surely going to pass out again. There was the sound of a door creaking open. I was deposited gently onto something soft that felt awfully a lot like a bed. I snuggled myself against the softness, releasing my death grip that I didn’t realize I had been holding from the person’s shirt. Sighing softly, I let myself be blanketed by the darkness once again.

“You really are strange, Han Hyeri.”

The person’s voice was strangely squeaky, it wasn’t high pitched and it wasn’t low either. It was just…weird.

“You have a really cheap accent,” I sighed before the darkness took over and plunged me into unconsciousness.