Chapter Text
The first time he died, it was an accident.
Jimin had woken up naturally, the sun peeping through the crack in his curtains. He sighed and rolled over to check the time on the clock on his bedside table.
9:12AM.
“No, this can’t be happening!” Jimin screeched, launching himself out of his bed. Why hadn’t his alarm gone off? Of all the days for his piece of shit alarm clock to fail him, this was the worst day it could have happened. He had a resit exam in less than twenty minutes that he absolutely had to pass or he would fail the entire year of university, and that simply wasn’t an option. With the university being a twenty-minute walk on the best of days, Jimin had exactly minus two minutes to get ready and get his butt into the exam hall. Which is what led him to overlook any sense of personal hygiene, throwing on whatever he could find on the floor (and ending up in a quirky red shorts and purple t-shirt combo. Not his finest fashion moment), and bolting out the door with nothing but a pen in his pocket and a sense of panic buzzing through his body.
And then it happened.
He was absolutely positive that there was no car coming. Sure, he hadn’t really looked, because he was a busy man with places to be after all, but he didn’t hear anything coming. Stop, Look, Listen he had always been taught, but apparently the listening part of that was of no use. Maybe it was the sound of the rain that was drowning out the sound of the traffic, or maybe it was the amount of revision swirling around his brain stopping him from processing anything else. Either way, Jimin didn’t expect the screech of tires skidding across the floor as a car braked sharply, followed by the high pitched scream of the blonde haired boy and ending with the gruesome sound of metal connecting with body before complete silence.
***
When Jimin awoke for the second time that day, it was to a blinding white light and a wide, empty space around him that seemed to go on for miles. The cold on his back led him to the conclusion that he was lying down and he blinked a few times until a figure came into focus standing over him.
“What the hell?” Jimin groaned quietly, his entire body in some weird limbo between absolute agony and feeling weightless.
“It’s always a shame when it’s the young ones.” Jimin heard a deep, raspy voice from above him, talking to himself it seemed, “Although they do whine much more than the older ones, so I can’t feel too bad.”
“Who are you? What are you talking about?” Jimin tried to push himself off the floor except none of his limbs were working, nothing would move no matter how hard he tried. The light was too bright and he was desperate to move his arms to shield his eyes.
“No point trying to move, kiddo. You’re dead.” The raspy voice stated and Jimin could practically hear the boredom through his voice, “I’m the Grim Reaper. But you can call me Yoongi. Or not, it doesn’t really matter because you won’t see me again anyway.”
Jimin was well and truly, for the lack of a better word, fucked. He couldn’t move anything from the neck down with a strange guy with an intimidating voice above him claiming he was the Grim Reaper. He prayed to every god that he was having some sort of stress induced dream because of his exam and he was actually in bed, the events of the morning just a figment of his imagination.
He knew that wasn’t the case, but a boy could wish.
“Dude, I just got hit by a car. I really don’t need you trying to convince me that you’re the Grim Reaper. What I need is someone to take me to the hospital because I’m quite concerned that I can’t feel the rest of my body.”
“Dude.” The man, so called Yoongi, mimicked and if Jimin could feel his body his blood would definitely be boiling, “Like I said, you’re dead . That’s why you can’t feel the rest of your body. Now let me just get a few details and then I can send you on your way.”
“On my way where?”
Yoongi sighed, as if the answer to the question was obvious. “To Heaven. Or Hell, if you’ve been an idiot. But with your face I’m going to guess you’ve got a one-way ticket to the sky.”
“Did I hit my head on the floor when I was knocked down? This is surreal. I can’t see because of that stupid bright light.” Jimin murmured and god, would someone turn it off before he gets a migraine?
“You talk too much.” Yoongi huffed, and then two loud claps resonated around Jimin before a weird feeling shot through his body and suddenly he was lying next to the car that hit him, nothing moving around him like some sort of freeze frame. Everyone around him was frozen into position, the birds in the sky hovering without a single flap of their wings, raindrops suspended above his eyes.
“Okay, I’m officially freaking out.” Jimin sputtered, “Can you please explain to me what the hell is going on?”
“Shit man, I already have. I get paid on commission, you know, I haven’t got time to hang around.” Yoongi groaned and in the normal daylight Jimin could finally glance at what this supposed Grim Reaper looked like. He expected a skeletal figure in a long black cape and holding a scythe, the way he was represented in just about any movie ever. What he didn’t expect was a short, sullen looking man, dressed in a black leather jacket with a baggy white t-shirt underneath and black ripped jeans. His face was somehow soft but sharp, with a mouth that sloped but eyes that pierced. His hair veiled his forehead in jet black strands, messy but in that perfect ‘I just stepped out of a magazine shoot’ kind of way. Oh, and also, he was extremely attractive.
Of course he wasn’t a skeletal figure. Because this was a crazy man and the Grim Reaper isn’t real. Jimin wanted to slap himself for even allowing himself to consider the idea.
“You got hit by a car, and it was pretty brutal and now you’re dead.” Yoongi sighed, “My job as the Grim Reaper is to find out if you were good or bad in your life and then send you on your merry way. The bright light was just for aesthetic reasons. It’s a pretty repetitive job so we put that in just to entertain us when people spook out.”
“That’s a bit harsh. It’s probably scary enough without burning out my corneas.” Jimin tutted, “Anyway, has everything stopped around me for aesthetic reasons too?”
He regretted saying that as soon as it slipped his mouth because he really shouldn’t be buying into this nonsense. Yoongi rolled his eyes, as if that was a pretty stupid question. “No, that’s because time has to stop for you to get where you need to be. I can’t just pop out in broad daylight in front of everyone, people would think I was a crazy man and try to arrest me before I get chance to send you all onto the next life. Time stops, your soul leaves, and then time starts again. Everyone realises you’re dead and I go off to my next client.”
Jimin’s head was spinning. How could he be dead? He had plans that night to go to a post-exam party; it was highly inconvenient for him to be dead. Those vodka shots weren’t going to drink themselves, after all. Plus, he really did have a lot to live for. His grades may not have screamed the next Einstein but he had a lot of hobbies he enjoyed, like sports and music, so he wasn’t too bummed out about university. He also had a really good network of friends and he didn’t really want to leave that all behind because of his carelessness.
The longer he sat with the cold pavement pressing against his back, the more he was starting to play along with the idea that yes, he was actually dead and that he needed to do something to bring him back to life. It was crazy, but at this point he would believe anything if it meant he could actually move and get back to his normal life. “Is there anything you can do to send me back?” Jimin blurted out, and Yoongi looked at him incredulously.
“What do you think I am, the Wizard of Oz?” Yoongi snorted, and even when his face was contorted in disgust he still looked gorgeous. He probably shouldn’t have been thirsting over the guy sending him to the afterlife but it had been a weird day in his defence. “Why don’t you try clicking your heels together and see if that sends you home.”
Yoongi had a dry sense of humour, it seemed. Jimin wouldn’t bite.
“I don’t know if you remember me saying this literally two seconds ago, but I cannot move any of my limbs.”
Okay, maybe he would.
“I would watch your attitude considering I’m your only option of coming back to life.” Yoongi half snarled, but his face was completely blank and Jimin’s head was reeling trying to work out if the man in front of him was genuinely angry or just bored of the entire situation.
“I’m sorry.” Jimin mumbled, “I just really don’t want to be dead. My family would be devastated and I have an exam to take.”
“Most people would use death as an excuse not to take a test.” Yoongi shrugged, before rubbing his forehead and sighing. “Kid, you’re driving me insane. Let me just ask these damn questions so you can go frolic in Heaven. Any criminal records?”
“This feels like a job interview. Don’t you guys know this before we get to this point? Couldn’t I just lie and go to Heaven?”
“So you do have a criminal record? Interesting.”
“No!” Jimin cried out, “I’m clean, please don’t send me to Hell. I was just curious.”
Yoongi chuckled lightly and wow, it was a pleasing sound to the ears. “Curiosity is a dangerous thing, you know. Seems like you still have a lot to learn about the world.” His voice trailed off and it had almost had a sad note to it. Flicking his eyes up and down Jimin, Yoongi sighed softly before speaking again. “You’re not ready to die. God, if my boss finds out I did this he’s going to fire my ass. I’ll cancel you as a client, as if this never happened. If there’s no Grim Reaper to take you then you can’t die, right? Go, live your life, learn some lessons, and I don’t want to see you back here for at least another sixty years. Got it?”
While Jimin was baffled at the sudden change of heart, he didn’t want to question the temperamental man and make him change his mind. The boy on the floor simply hummed in response, and without any warning Yoongi vanished into thin air and a bolt of energy shot through Jimin’s body. The scene around him was replaced by darkness as he felt his lids get so heavy he couldn’t keep them open anymore.
***
It wasn’t often Jimin woke up three times in one day, and it was even rarer for Jimin to wake up with a scene that can only be described as chaos unfolding around him. His senses were overloaded when so many sounds hit him at once; a woman shrieking above him, a car alarm whining behind him, the hushed chatter of onlookers trying to work out if the boy splayed on the floor was dead, the faint cry of ambulance sirens in the distance.
“He just walked out in front of me! I didn’t see him coming! Oh god, I’ve killed him, and he’s so young! What if he was close to discovering the cure for a disease?” The woman above him sobbed, her hands shaking in fear. It seemed to kick start Jimin’s body into gear, and suddenly he was choking on his own breath and his eyes grew wide, and the woman snapped her head to look at Jimin so fast it was surprising it didn’t fall off her neck.
“Oh thank goodness, he’s alive!” The woman cried, smiling through her sobs in relief before stepping out of the way for paramedics to help the injured boy. Jimin managed to calm his lungs down before wheezing out, “I definitely do not have a cure for a disease. I can barely tell you the difference between chemistry and physics.”
The next few hours passed in a blur. Jimin was strapped to a stretcher, told not to move just in case there was injury to his spine, and once they had pumped him full of morphine for the pain he found himself dozing in and out of a weird half asleep state for a while. He was x-rayed and miraculously only his leg was broken, although something told him that Yoongi had a part to play in that because there was no way he would have died without sustaining some sort of major injury. The doctor, a pretty and broad shouldered man called Doctor Kim with lovely ash brown hair, told him that he needed to rest because his body would be bruised and sore for the next couple of weeks. Luckily his broken leg was a simple one and just needed to be put into a cast, so there was no surgery involved.
“Make sure you get some sleep, your body has had a tiring day.” Doctor Kim told him, finishing up his notes before looking up at the exhausted looking boy in the hospital bed, “You were lucky today. Considering the speed limit of the road you had a high chance of being instantly killed. Make sure to be more careful in the future.”
“What are you, my mother?” Jimin huffed, but when the doctor fixed him a glare he quickly backtracked. “Thank you, Doctor Kim.”
“Yah, much better.” Doctor Kim scolded lightly, but he broke out into a smile that was so warm Jimin felt like he needed to open a window. “I’ll leave you to rest now. I think you have some visitors waiting outside.”
Jimin chuckled, “If it’s who I think it is I definitely won’t be getting any rest.”
With that, the doctor laughed brightly and made his way out the door, holding it open for the visitors to go through. Just as expected, two of his over-excitable and slightly gawky friends burst through, rushing over to Jimin and cooing over him far too much.
“You gave me one hell of a fright, Park Jimin.” His very tall friend Namjoon groaned, but followed it with a smile, his dimples making an appearance, “But we’re glad they managed to scrape you off that road relatively intact.”
“I mean I’ve lost the ability to walk, if that’s what you want to call intact.” Jimin huffed, earning a burst of hysterical laughter from his friends.
“It’s good to see the accident hasn’t changed you. Still the good old drama queen self you’ve always been.” His other friend Hoseok grinned, swerving away from a punch Jimin tried to land at the comment. The younger noticed that it was just the two boys that had come to visit him. “Where’s Tae and Jeongguk?” He asked.
“Taehyung is in that exam you were supposed to be at.” Namjoon replied, making Jimin wince at the reminder that he had missed a very important exam. The elder seemed to sense Jimin’s panic and tried to backtrack. “We’ve told the university that you had an accident though, they said you could postpone the exam until the summer resits happen as long as you provide a doctor’s note so don’t worry about that. Jeongguk is in a lecture but he said he’ll come straight here once it’s done.”
Jimin felt a little relieved at that. At least he hadn’t messed up his entire year of university. When Jimin didn’t speak any further, Hoseok piped up. “I would have come to see you sooner, but my appointment with a client overran this morning. She couldn’t decide if she wanted the cobalt blue or the Egyptian blue curtains for her bedroom.”
Right. While Jimin was still in university, Hoseok had graduated and gone on to find a job. Surprisingly, he went with interior decorating, after getting a taste of it one summer when he helped to decorate his cousin’s new house. Jimin still couldn’t quite wrap his head around this career choice for the boy, always being very athletic rather than artsy, but he was happy as long as it made Hoseok happy.
“I was only studying so I would have been here sooner, but I had to wait for 50 shades of blue over here to give me a lift.” Namjoon added with a shrug. He had decided to do a fourth year in university, studying a Masters in psychology. This meant the elder constantly analysing everything that came out of his friends’ mouth.. Annoying, but he was pretty good at getting to the root of an emotional problem. His blunt-but-true analysis had been the cause of many an argument in the past. Namjoon flicked his eyes over to Hoseok. “By the way, cobalt blue and Egyptian blue are pretty much the same shade.”
Hoseok shoved Namjoon roughly, a wide grin plastered on his face. “This is why I’m the interior designer and you’re wearing an eskimo hat with a dress shirt.”
“You didn’t have to rush over here to see me. Not like I can move any time soon anyway.” Jimin huffed, distracting the other boys and earning a chuckle from them, but this time more out of pity.
The next half an hour was dedicated to cheering Jimin up before Taehyung and Jeongguk both crashed through the door and the volume of noise increased tenfold in the small room. Jimin really appreciated that the boys came to visit him, that he had friends that cared so much, but all he could think about was the whole death experience. His friends quickly became white noise as his mind wandered back to the events of the morning. Was it a morphine induced dream? Was the slightly scary slightly hot Grim Reaper a figment of his imagination? Or did he actually die and get extremely lucky? Or unlucky, considering the guy was a bit of a pain in the ass. Jimin quickly kept a mental note for himself to google if anyone else in the world had an experience with the Grim Reaper when he was finally released from the hospital. Google always had the answers.
“Earth to Jimin?” called out Taehyung, and that snapped Jimin back into reality. “Did you hear anything I just said? You look pretty zoned out.”
“Sorry Tae, it’s all that morphine. I feel like I’m ascending into the sky or something.” Jimin lied. More like ascending into Heaven. “It’s been a weird morning.”
“I bet. Maybe we should let you rest up for a bit.” Namjoon offered, looking to the other guys for agreement. They all nodded with a small smile and Jimin sighed.
“Yeah, I think I just need to sleep it off. Thanks for coming to see me.”
The boys took turns to give Jimin the tightest hug they could, a little awkward with Jimin’s cast and bed in the way, before giving him a big wave and making their way home. He suddenly felt very exhausted, and his friends had barely walked out of the door before he slipped off into a much needed sleep.
***
Jimin must have had a bad omen following him, because dying twice in the space of a month was truly tragic. His leg hadn’t even healed yet.
In his defence, it wasn’t his fault this time. He entirely blamed his stupid friends.
Jimin hadn’t stayed in hospital long after his meeting with the bonnet of a car. Seeing as the break was a simple one, once he had slept off the morphine and had his stats checked a final time he was discharged. For a couple of days, he was pretty much housebound, as while he had crutches for his legs the rest of his body was so sore and bruised that his leg was the least of his concerns. But Jimin was a fighter, albeit a bit of a dramatic one. Even though he whined pretty much every waking moment, he kept himself dosed up with painkillers and slept as much as he could and soon enough started to feel a lot less achey.
In celebration of Jimin finally being on the mend, they had suggested they go to a bar for a few drinks. Namjoon had suggested his favourite bar, one on the rooftop of a skyscraper in the centre of Seoul. Obviously he had forgotten the fact that Jimin was still in a cast, and walking up flights of stairs was a tricky task for him. There was an elevator in the building, but it only went so far up, meaning you could only get up the last couple of floors by using the stairs. While the other boys had groaned in disbelief at Namjoon’s choice of bar given the situation, Jimin had plastered a sickly sweet smile on his face before saying, “Great choice, hyung. You can piggyback me up the stairs!”
So that’s how a few hours later Jimin was on a sweaty and breathless Namjoon’s back, being dragged up the stairs to a pretty swish bar. For someone so small, Jimin was incredibly heavy, densely packed with a lot of muscle. Namjoon wasn’t particularly strong, always more academic than athletic, and Jimin almost felt sorry for the elder for having to carry him up the stairs. But not that sorry. Served him right for being an idiot, after all.
Now, normally Jimin wouldn’t get too drunk at a place like this, because he was a poor student and he didn’t particularly fancy taking out a mortgage to pay for a drink. However, this time around the rest of the boys had decided to buy the drinks for him seeing as it was his celebration after all. It didn’t take much to get Jimin drunk on the best of days, and so having six other boys buy him very strong shots and spirits was never the wisest of ideas. Before long Jimin was rolling around on one of the plush leather sofas, his legs propped up on Taehyung’s lap and his head lolling against Jeongguk’s shoulder, cheeks rosy and giggling uncontrollably. Unfortunately, the rest of the boys were in a similar state and with no one to tell him to slow down, he was throwing down shots as if they were just plain old water. Maybe they were, because Jimin certainly wasn’t feeling a burn as they went down his throat anymore. Dragging himself over to the edge of the rooftop bar, he gasped at the view of Seoul in front of him. “Look how pretty Seoul is man, I could look out at this forever.”
“Park Jimin, stay away from that rail!” Hoseok slurred, still concerned about Jimin’s safety even though he could barely keep his eyes open. Jimin wasn’t even surprised at this point; Hoseok was definitely the most nurturing of their odd assortment of friends.
“It’s all gooooooood.” Jimin drawled, draping himself over the rail, “Look, I can even lift myself up over it and I’ll be fine!”
“Jimin, don’t be so stupid. If you climb over that rail, you’ll fall.” Namjoon added, slightly less drunk than the rest of them but still too drunk to actually make any effort to grab Jimin himself.
“Is that a challenge, hyung?” Jimin smirked, before hoisting himself up on the rail. Hoseok shrieked as Jeongguk egged him on. Jimin had always suspected their youngest friend was evil.
Drunk Jimin apparently wasn’t as agile as sober Jimin.
All Jimin had planned to do was to sit on top of the rail and look out, just to scare Hoseok and Namjoon before pulling himself back down and maybe ordering another shot or five. What he hadn’t planned for was to lose his footing and subsequently his balance, tumbling over the front of the bar and falling all the way down to the cold pavement some 30 stories.
***
“What the fuck? You again?”
Jimin hadn’t even opened his eyes before he heard the voice boom in his ears. He didn’t really want to open them, just in case the bright lights blinded him again. As if he could read Jimin’s mind, Yoongi clapped loudly and Jimin dared to open his eyes to find himself on the pavement below the bar, once again not able to move his limbs.
Yoongi huffed. “Didn’t I specifically tell you I didn’t want to see you again anytime soon?”
“I’m flattered.” Jimin replied sarcastically. In the distance he could see the faint dots of his friends leaning over the railing, frozen in position.
“It’s not even been a month! You’ll be paying my wages single handedly at this rate.” Yoongi sighed, eyeing Jimin’s cast. “You know, I could have healed you up completely last time, but I thought I should make it a bit believable. You wouldn’t have survived that hit without any wounds.”
“I thought I had dreamed last time.” Jimin muttered, ignoring Yoongi’s last comment, “But here I am again. Maybe it’s a sign.”
“It’s a sign you’re a pain in the ass.” Yoongi jibed, “Seriously, kid. I know I’m insanely good looking but you have to stop doing stupid shit to meet me like this.”
Jimin rolled his eyes, trying to act like that was the stupidest thing he’d ever heard (though in reality, Yoongi really was insanely good looking. He didn’t need to know that though). “Can you just send me home already? I didn’t mean to do this, I was drunk. Man, I’m still drunk.”
“How can I bring you back to life after that? There’s no way you would have survived a fall that high!”
“There was no way I would have survived that car accident either, but you saved me from that! Why are you being so difficult?”
Yoongi run his fingers through his messy black hair, looking slightly torn at what to do. He was kind of cute when he was pissed off. Like an angry Chihuahua. “Listen, kid. This is my job. I can’t be handing out refunds left right and centre. If I cancel too many clients, they’re going to wonder what I’ve been doing with all my time. Please just accept that you’re an idiot and let me send you where you need to be.”
Feeling his eyes starting to fill up, Jimin blinked furiously. This was a bad time for him to not be able to move his head. He didn’t want Yoongi to see him cry, as he knew that it was his own fault that he was in this mess. He just really, really didn’t want to go to Heaven yet and he was a frustrated crier. As if on cue, Yoongi peered into Jimin’s eyes. “Are you crying? Jesus Christ, aren’t you a bit old for that? What are you, eighteen?”
“I’m twenty-one, you dick!” Jimin spluttered, trying to hold back sobs and instead making strange little snorting sounds, “Anyway, who said crying has an age limit? It’s a perfectly healthy and normal thing to do when you’re literally at death’s doorstep no matter what your age. I’m pretty sure you’d be crying too if you were just told that it’s time for you to die.”
“Yeah, because I haven’t already had to go through that? How do you think I got this job?” Yoongi spat before sharply turning his head away, seemingly not meaning to divulge so much about himself. He coughed awkwardly, but Jimin didn’t seem to sense the tension. His eyes were bright with interest, albeit still teary and his nose still snobby, when he asked, “Oh, you already died? I just assumed you were some kind of spirit thing that had always been in the afterlife. What happened?”
Yoongi snapped his head back to look at Jimin, his eyes seething. “None of your goddamn business.”
“Are you always this rude? I only asked a question, jeez.” Jimin bit back, “I’m just curious to know how you ended up doing this as a job.”
“I said it’s none of your goddamn business, what part of that don’t you understand? You might have it all sunshine and roses back in your life but it’s not always the same for everyone else.” Yoongi barked, holding his eye contact with Jimin steadily. When the younger seemed to be shaken by the outburst, Yoongi took a deep breath and tried to calm himself down. “Whatever. This is the last time I send you home, three strikes and you’re out and all that jazz.”
“Yoongi, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to pry-” Jimin started, but Yoongi left no time for him to finish before speaking himself.
“I’m going to have to leave you a little worse for wear, alright. You’re going to be sore for the next couple weeks. Don’t you dare come back or I’ll make sure to murder you a second time when you get here.” Yoongi muttered, but his eyes were suddenly softer and they flicked over Jimin in almost pity. “And by the way, that’s hyung to you.”
Jimin didn’t even have chance to reply before he felt that familiar jolt of energy pulse through his body.
***
“JIMIN! HOLY SHIT!”
This was the first thing that pierced through Jimin’s ears as he slowly came back to consciousness and damn, Yoongi wasn’t lying when he said he’d feel rough. All of Jimin’s bones ached, his bad leg definitely a lot worse now, and he started to regret not taking up Yoongi’s offer to go to Heaven. He wasn’t sure who first screeched his name because his friends were now in hysterics, bounding away from the rail to presumably come to the pavement. Soon he felt the presence of onlookers crowding around him, too afraid to touch him in case he’d broken his neck or his spine. His eyelids felt heavy and he tried his best to keep them open, but they kept weighing down and down and eventually he surrendered and let them flutter shut.
When he finally became aware of his surroundings again, Jimin found himself lying in a private hospital cubical, the sound of a heart monitor gently beeping beside him. He could feel tubes and wires connected to his arms, and when he slowly opened his eyelids he was faced with all his group of friends staring back at him, their face painted with worry.
“Guys, I think he’s waking up.” Jimin heard Taehyung’s hushed whisper, but his eyes still felt a bit heavy to properly make him out. Still, he forced himself to open his eyes properly and when it had registered with the rest of the boys that yes, Jimin was now awake, they spared no second to crowd closely round the hospital bed.
When Jimin just groaned in response, there was a muffled chuckle before he could hear Jeongguk pipe up. “Yeah, he’s awake alright.”
“I don’t want to start with the third degree right from when you open your eyes,” Namjoon muttered, and now that Jimin’s eyes were fully open he could see just how bad a state Namjoon was in. He looked like he hadn’t slept for days, his fair hair sticking up on end, and his face was a mixture of stress, worry, relief and pure anger. It was times like these that Jimin realised how much of a brotherly relationship he had with Namjoon. “But what the fuck kind of stunt did you pull back in that bar? Do you realise how much of a freak of nature it was that you survived that?”
“Alright, I think you young men should take a step outside for a minute. I need to just do a quick check up now that Jimin is awake.” A familiar voice came from the doorway, and the owner of that voice made his way into the cubicle. As he got closer Jimin could see his lanyard with his ID in and, oh yeah, it was the pretty doctor from the first time he was admitted.
“Two times in one month, how unfortunate.” Doctor Kim sighed, scanning the notes at the end of Jimin’s bed. “You were even luckier this time than last time. None of us can quite wrap our heads around the fact you survived a fall that big. I didn’t think it was possible.”
“I’ve clearly got some kind of superpower. Hollywood should make a movie about me.”
Doctor Kim moved over to the side of the bed, placing a cold stethoscope to Jimin’s chest to hear his heartbeat. “Do me a favour and try not to test your superpower theory out. As lovely as you are I don’t really like having repeat customers here.” The doctor pulled the stethoscope away from Jimin’s chest. “Your pulse seems to be normal.”
“How long was I out for?” Jimin asked weakly as the doctor fiddled with wires that were in his arm.
“About three days. We put you under general anaesthetic because you needed some surgery on your leg, seeing as you made the break worse.” He replied, nodding at Jimin’s leg and pulling out one of the chords in his arms, quickly covering it up with some cotton wool. “All straightforward stuff. There’s also a cracked rib but there’s not much you can do for that other than let it heal naturally. You’re going to need to rest up for a while, but you really didn’t do a lot of damage considering the height of your fall. Your friends have been worried sick.”
“Yeah. I feel a bit guilty about that. Namjoon-hyung doesn’t usually hold a grudge though so I’ll make it up to him when I can.”
“Namjoon is the one who was giving you a lecture when I walked in, right?” Doctor Kim questioned, raising an eyebrow as he cleaned away all of his equipment, “The one with the dimple?”
“That’s him.” Jimin answered, smirking, “Why are you asking? Do you think he’s cute?”
The doctor scoffed. “Just wondering. I like to know people’s names so I can address them politely.”
“Sure thing, Doctor Kim.” Jimin replied sarcastically, “The rest of my friends you’re going to address rudely then, I suppose? Seeing as you didn’t ask for their names too.”
“You shouldn’t use that tone with me, Jimin. It doesn’t suit you.” Doctor Kim tutted, but the apples of his cheeks turned a rosy pink and Jimin knew he’d hit the nail on the head. “Anyway, I’ve finished my tests. Everything seems to be absolutely fine, so I think you must have someone looking out for you somewhere because to fall that height and not have any major injuries is astounding. I’ll let your friends back in now.”
“Please don’t, if I wanted another lecture I’d go back to university.”
Chuckling, the doctor swung the door to the cubicle open and motioned for Jimin’s friends to come back inside. The doctor’s eyes met Namjoon’s briefly, and when the younger smiled politely and his dimple popped to the surface, Jimin could see a flush of colour in the tips of Seokjin’s ears. He was obviously flustered, even without his ears giving it away, as he clattered into the door clumsily before scurrying out the room, a faint sigh trailing behind him. Namjoon seemed oblivious to it all.
“How are you feeling?” Taehyung asked gravely, reaching for Jimin’s hand.
“Hurts.” Jimin grumbled, using his empty hand to pull the duvet right up to his eyes, “I’m an idiot.”
“Damn right you are.” Namjoon started, but Hoseok placed his hand on the younger’s shoulder and gave him a look as if you say you need to chill, the poor boy just fell off a building. Namjoon coughed awkwardly. “We’re just glad you’re ok. Well, alive to tell the tale.”
“You had us worried sick.” Hoseok said softly, his eyes glazed and cast downwards. Jimin felt a pang of guilt.
“It was an accident. I’ll be more careful next time.” Jimin promised, before turning to Namjoon to try and diffuse the tension. “So, that doctor is pretty cute, huh hyung?”
“I think it’s against hospital policy for doctors to date their patients, so don’t even think about it Jimin-ah.” Namjoon sighed, and Jimin rolled his eyes so hard he was surprised they didn’t fall out of his head. How could someone so smart be so oblivious? He had passed his degree with the highest mark in his cohort and yet socially he had no clue. Namjoon tutted, “Besides, he’s a bit old for you, don’t you think? And you’ve just had a massive accident, is dating really what’s on your mind right now?”
“You say that like there’s years between us. Whatever, forget it.” Jimin huffed. For a man that owned a first class degree and was doing a Masters, Namjoon sure was dumb at times. Jimin continued, “Now let me sleep, I’m pretty sure I’m still hungover after clearing out the bar and I need my beauty rest.”
And so, the boys said their goodbyes, leaving Jimin to stew in the thoughts of a Grim Reaper with a sharp tongue but a pretty face.
***
“What do you think happens after you die?” Jimin asked the boys as they all crowded into his little living room. He was finally home, discharged after a week of observation and tests. With Jimin’s leg being in a pretty bad state, the group had resorted to spending most of their free time lounging around watching movies in the apartment Jimin shared with Jeongguk and Taehyung. This left a lot of time for deep discussions over a bowl of popcorn and a trashy rom-com. After Jimin had seen the Grim Reaper twice, that was all that had been on his mind, and his google search proved fruitless. No one seemed to have had an encounter with the Grim Reaper that Jimin had seen, always describing a person completely different, and so the boy assumed they were probably made up.
Hoseok shuffled around from where he was sat in front of the sofa (as it was difficult to fit five grown men on the loveseat) to face Jimin. “It kind of freaks me out to think about. Hopefully there’s some kind of afterlife.”
“No way. I think you just cut out. Like you never even existed.” Namjoon offered, shrugging.
“Dark, hyung.” Jeongguk muttered from next to Hoseok, “I kind of hope there’s no afterlife because I’m pretty sure I’m destined for Hell.”
“Definitely destined for Hell.” Taehyung agreed with a snicker, putting his hands on Jeongguk’s shoulders from above him, “I’m definitely going to Heaven, I’m the perfect boy.”
“You said that Shrek the Third was better than the first Shrek film, I think that’s reason enough to send you to Hell.” Jeongguk retorted, pushing Taehyung’s hands off.
“Why are you asking, anyway?” Namjoon questioned, raising an eyebrow.
Jimin paused for a moment. Did he want to be truthful to the boys and tell them about his experience with the Grim Reaper? They’d probably think he was completely crazy. But he felt like he was going to go crazy if he kept it all to himself, confused and slightly fearful. In the end, he decided to be semi-truthful. “I had a weird, uh, dream during both of my accidents. Of a guy named Yoongi, trying to decide if I was destined to Heaven or Hell? He was the Grim Reaper. Both times we kind of argued, he was super grumpy.”
“That’s so cool, hyung!” Jeongguk exclaimed, “I didn’t realise you dream when you get knocked out. What did this guy look like?”
“He was actually pretty hot. Had this bad boy vibe about him. Probably about my height, had jet black hair. A pretty sharp jawline but then his cheeks and his nose were so soft. Scary eyes though. Seems to only ever wear black ripped jeans and a black leather jacket.” Jimin described, blushing a little bit.
“Hey, what did you say his name was again?” Namjoon asked, suddenly very interested in the conversation.
“Yoongi, why?”
“I know a guy called Yoongi, he sounds a bit like that description. Started working in that little grocery store down the street, not long after you had your second accident. I pop in there every once in a while on the way home from here. He’s pretty chatty, seemed really grumpy at first but he always makes conversation to me while I’m there.” Namjoon explained, Jimin’s eyes going wide, “I see him about sometimes, like when I go shopping or whatever. You’ve probably seen him about somewhere. They say that every person you see in your dreams you’ve seen in real life.”
Jimin nodded in reply, opting not to say anything. Obviously the guy Namjoon was talking about wasn’t the guy he saw after he had died, because he didn’t dream any of it. Plus, after Jimin’s first accident he had barely even left his shitty apartment, so at what point would he have even seen the man? Even so, he was pretty curious to see who this new guy was at the grocery store. If he was halfway as cute as the Yoongi Jimin knew, then he was pretty darn cute. He couldn’t wait for his leg to heal up so he could get back to his regular routine and maybe find himself a cute man.
“We just had the deepest ass conversation at my favourite part of this film.” Hoseok huffed, grabbing the TV remote and rewinding, “Now, are you all going to shut up so I can watch it again?”
“Sorry, hyung.” Jimin mumbled, miming zipping up his lips. Hoseok chuckled slightly before settling himself down, immersing into the movie. Jimin had no such luck, however, because all that ever seemed to be on his mind anymore was Yoongi.