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“HOW CAN A GRIM REAPER BE SO HAPPY?"
hoseok listened to his friends talk among themselves. he was munching on his chips, watching news. but when he heard ‘grim reaper’ and ‘happy’ in the same sentence, his interest was piqued. seokjin sat on the floor next to taehyung, both of them thinking about the grim reaper they both caught sight of just yesterday.
“a grim reaper? happy?” hoseok mumbled as he shoved a mouthful of chips in his mouth, “how could a grim reaper be happy when i’m not? just go to heaven already and stop saying this bull.”
taehyung stood and started to angrily swipe his arm into the young man’s head. hoseok watched him with a smirk on his face, feeling basically nothing but cold air hitting his cheeks, “would you rather go to hell then?”
“stop it, you two.” seokjin mumbled with a exasperated sigh. taehyung stomped on the floor in frustration, “i swear to whoever’s up there that if only i had a body, i would’ve totally punched you.” the only living boy in the room stuck his tongue out and carried on eating.
“okay, we’re going to get going. ms. jung has some good food for dinner. don’t forget to eat properly either, alright hoseok?” seokjin smiled at him after he lazily waved the two spirits out his door.
“honestly, if you keep eating like that i’ll be able to be able to punch you in no time!” taehyung shouted before the door was shut fully.
soon, hoseok was left with silence again. instead of the usual lonely thoughts he had, he thought of the happy grim reaper they were so curious about. he remembered the young-looking, short-haired girl he met a few days back.
—
the sirens were deafening and hoseok could hear the screams of the victim’s loved ones who just arrived on the crash scene.
“my little baby! is my little baby alive too?” an old woman wailed.
“we haven’t seen her yet — ma’am, please calm down…” hoseok drowned out the rest.
sure, his ability gave him friends but he always swore that he’d give it up in a heartbeat when he experienced this part of it. he didn’t just meet those who’ve experienced death, he is cursed to see it happen. it was impossible to go to all, of course, but he was always led to the most sorrowful ones.
he choked back his tears – he should be used to this now. the grieving cries and faces were all too familiar to him, so why couldn’t he just ignore it?
“why couldn’t they have just taken a cab?” an angry, sad voice came from right beside him. he slowly pulled his eyes from the floor and looked at the young lady beside him. she wore a black trench coat and matching beret. her clothes looked expensive – made out of cashmere and seemed to be the darkest black hoseok ever seen. light usually showed on dark clothing, but her’s stayed in one consistent colour despite the bright streetlamp shining over both of them.
“why?” she growled loudly. he flinched in surprise and noticed how the bystanders around him never paid the lady any mind. it was as if they couldn’t hear her.
her teary eyes glanced at hoseok’s stiff form, but looked back when she realised he was totally staring at her.
“you’re–you’re not dead… right?” she asked him, confused to why he could see her.
“oh, n–no.” he stuttered.
it was the very first time he’s encountered a grim reaper. he heard about them from his friends, on how they didn’t show any emotion at all since it was part of their “curse”. so he found her sympathy and anger quite strange.
her head tilted in confusion but quickly turned to face the horrid scene again when she heard the scream of a little girl. hoseok watched as she ran towards him and realised only the two drunk teens and the child’s parents survived – leaving the young girl in the arms of a grim reaper.
“hello, i’m wheein. what’s your name?” she quietly asked in a warm voice.
the girl refused to answer her for a few minutes, but managed to mumble it when she calmed down, “…boreum.”
wheein gently carried her off the ground and held her close.
“will you come with me, boreum?” she replied with a slow nod and nuzzled her head into the woman’s chest as she sobbed some more. wheein looked up to catch a glimpse of hoseok again before shutting her eyes and disappearing with boreum, leaving white smoke behind.
hoseok’s legs trembled and he couldn’t hold in his tears anymore. it was as if all the emotions he was suppressing for years overcame him in that moment. thinking about the fact that a little girl whose eyes probably shimmered with love and hope just an hour ago was now gone made him lose grip on the little control he had then.
all anyone else did was just watch.