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Hoseok had fought with death more times than he could count. Bargained with him to allow him to see one more day, jump one more cliff, and roll down one more hill. Hoseok did all he could to see him again and again no matter how steep the cliff or how tall the building.
Death walked with a poise meant for royalty with a deep maroon gown trailing his every step. Long slits tore through the front, allowing a peek at his long legs that extended and flowed as if every move he made was a part of a dance. They were thin just like the rest of him. His cheeks were hollow and his face gaunt, but nevertheless he was undeniably beautiful. His charcoal black eyes were like an endless abyss that could ensnare any man within his presence and make him cower where he stood.
Hoseok was no stranger to it as he kneeled on the red velvet before the entities’ throne with his head bowed, and eyes focused. He admired his pale skin, comparable to the moonlight that constantly flooded the windows of his palace. It was always night within this realm, no sun to tan the skin of the entity before him.
Death was someone he gladly became familiar with. The velvet beneath him had sunken in, leaving a dent in the shape of his form with how often he sat bowed in front of him. He scoffed at the man’s every excuse of his presence. He could see right through his mediocre deception, see the dilation of his pupils and hear the fast pace in which his heart beat. Hoseok’s visits had become more frequent and though it is obvious that Taehyung sees him as nothing more than a bother, he still returns again and again.
“I see you have come again, little one. Another human so eager to be trapped like prey in a world you cannot escape,” he said impassively.
“You know why I am here. I do not desire death, just you.”
“But we are one and the same, are we not? Why deny something you want so badly Hoseok-ah? The very thing that keeps your heart beating in that horrid world you live in is the ecstasy you get when it stops. How about that, Hobi, you live to die.”
“Why must I choose one or the other? Can I not be with you while my heart still beats and my lungs still breathe? The feeling of falling from the highest of cliffs is incomparable to the rush I get when you look at me. Nothing can make me feel the way you do, no drug, no jump, no high. If I die, my lungs will no longer struggle to function when you touch me. Goosebumps will not raise on my arms when you whisper in my ear. Death cannot provide me the true bliss of being in your presence,” Hoseok explained.
Taehyung sat there, twirling his long ebony hair around one of his bony fingers. His eyes were squinted, calculating as they roamed over the man’s bruised form. It was not in his nature to feel emotion of any kind, and despite his beliefs, Hoseok was not an exception. This silly infatuation he had with him was something he could not ignore until he completed his only obligation. Kill those whose time it is to die. His pathetic obsession was sure to do nothing but get him killed, but of course, that was inevitable.
The air was still as the man waited for Taehyung to send him back to his realm, but he simply sat there frozen, his chest unmoving without the need to take a breath. Hoseok’s palms were sweating with the anxiety of waiting to hear his response, he was not ready to die. So in love with the feeling death could give him while he was still breathing.
“Perhaps it is only fair that I acknowledge your attempts. You are a very dedicated man Hoseok, it’s admirable really.”
“Thank you, thank you,” he gushed.
“You’re welcome, little one. I will have someone show you to your quarters. You are not allowed to leave unless I order you to. You will listen to every word I say as if it is law, as if every word that leaves my lips is that of the God you pray to. I could get into lots of trouble for allowing a mortal to remain in my realm, Hoseok. You don’t want that do you, darling?”
“Of course not, I could not stand to see you hurt. The end of your life would be the end of mine.”
“Mm,” he hummed.
Hoseok was led throughout the halls by a skeletal figure, ghastly and silent. The only sounds heard throughout the palace were the footsteps of Hoseok himself and the clatter of bones as the skeleton hobbled in front of him.
Hoseok had been coming to the palace for years. He was not sure how his life became something derived from fiction, but he remembers the first time he died and returned to walk among the living. It had been a terrible accident, a misstep while scaling a building. His mother always warned him that the thing he loved most would one day be his ruin, but the attention he received from it was something he could never abandon.
The screams of his name, whether in worry or encouragement pushed him to climb further up, never satisfied until he was on top of the world, looking at everyone below him and basking in his fleeting significance. That building was not his last, despite the crunch of his skull as he fell to the ground and the splatter of blood that painted the concrete a discomfiting currant red.
The onlookers screamed in horror, but Hoseok was happier than he had ever been as he was face to face with Taehyung for the first time. One time was not enough for him though, despite being allowed a second chance, a reversal of time, he kept coming back daring him to finally take his life. Hoseok was sure that Taehyung’s refusal to do so meant something. Why was he so willing to go through the trouble of keeping him alive, when it is the exact opposite of what he is meant to do?
…
Hoseok had laid awake, surrounded by mounds of pillows and maroon silk sheets. This had to have been the most comfortable bed he had ever laid in, but he could not bring himself to fall asleep. He had thought over the numerous times he had encountered Taehyung and how differently each scenario could have gone. The idea of not being with him made his eyes burn and his stomach twist. He could not escape the endless battle he had forced him to engage in. He wanted the one thing he could not have without truly having it.
The empty silence that encompassed the palace was ravaged by the roaring sound of sirens. They were loud and shrill and Hoseok felt the feeling of doom flood his veins. He stood paralyzed in the hall, wondering where Taehyung had gone. Was he safe? Is he responsible for the ringing of the bell?
Hoseok went to the throne room, which was filled with fuming mortals who hurled insults at Taehyung who sat gracefully in his throne with glee twisting his features. He had never been more beautiful than in that moment, basking in the frustration he instilled in the humans.
Taehyung never once worried about them unless he was meant to take their lives within his hands and stop their heart from beating, yet here they were completely irate over something as trivial as a flimsy human life that he has not ended.
“So I assume you want me to begin taking the lives of everyone who attempts to kill themself? Quite barbaric, don’t you think? Not much different from placing the gun in their hands,” he hypothesized.
Howls of anger erupted from the crowd in response and Hoseok pushed his way to the front to shield Taehyung from the harsh words. The crowd reacted by rushing towards the two, but Hoseok remained firmly in place despite the quivering of his breath. He had faced fears greater than this and died more times than he could count. He could do this. He could do this for him.
“Quite good with crowds, aren’t you Hobi?” Taehyung quipped.
“Why are they here?”
“Because of you of course!”
Taehyung watched as Hoseok was taken down by the man who seemed to be leading the vermin.
Hoseok once again knelt before Death, his positioning exactly the same and wonderment still clear in his glassy eyes. He sat with his legs crossed one over the other and his back tall. He was a commanding presence in the room full of mortals, making it clear who the superior was in the situation. Hoseok went slack as his head was lifted by a rough hand in his hair, tearing out thin strands with the rough treatment.
With a wince the man was facing Taehyung, once again allowed to take in his beauty as he scrutinized him once more. His eyes glowed with a subtle red around the irises that drew Hoseok in. He was beautiful and strong, everything the human had once pretended to be as he paraded on rooftops and bridges.
“What a delightful surprise, Hoseok-ah. As you can see we have visitors!” he beamed.
“It seems so,” Hoseok whispered in return.
“So tell me, why have you decided to infiltrate my realm? Mere mortals walking into the arms of death willingly happens often, but they welcome it, run over preparations for the event countless times in their head. It seems none of you are prepared to die.”
The man whose hand had found its way from Hoseok’s hair to the length of his neck spoke. “You have given Hoseok many chances have you not? Consoled him, then sent him back to Earth as if he were merely a child who had scraped a knee. Why does he get to die so carelessly then live once more when millions mourn those they lose?”
“Ah Seokie is just special I’m afraid,” Taehyung replied.
“Special? So I suppose you would hate to see his life end right now then?” The man questioned.
“I do believe his life is in my hands, mortal. How audacious of you to come here and bargain for death with Death himself.”
“Either you begin offering pardons to everyone who has and will die, or you watch your special Hoseok die right here in front of your eyes.”
Hoseok’s heart raced as the eyes of Taehyung widened. For the first time in his years of knowing him, he had shown some kind of feeling for him. Something different from the constant pity and sarcasm he exuded in his presence. It gave him a sense of hope. He was Death, he killed those whose time had come and saved those who were not yet meant to die. His life really was in his hands, and after saving him time and time again, he was sure he would do it once more.
With a tightening of his jaw, Taehyung looked away from the glassy eyes of the man who adored him. He could not stand to show him any more pity after wasting it on the useless mortal for years. Shivers wracked him form as he heard a hitch of breath from the man he should have killed long ago.
“Will you please? Just once more save me again?” Hoseok begged.
“I’m afraid I have done it too many times before, Hobi. Maybe it is finally your time to go,” he responded.
“Tired of playing the hero when you were always meant to be cruel, huh?” Hoseok mumbled as the hand around his neck forced him to lower his head to the ground.
Hoseok twisted and turned in the grip of his captor, desperate for escape.
“I wanna see him,” he huffed, “I need to see him!”
“Wanna see the man who's letting you die? You really are pathetic, kid.”
Hoseok was forced to kneel with his head to the floor once again, but this time turned so the left side of his head was pressed into the velvet flooring. Tears dripped down his face, darkening the fabric as he bit his lip until it bled.
“Is now a good time to admit that I love you?” He sniffled.
“You were quite obvious, don't you think, Hoseok-ah? You’ve always been quite the hedonist. Seeking out pleasure in the darkest of places. Maybe I can finally get some peace in this palace. I’ve started to get sick of the sound of your voice.”
Hoseok laughed at the harsh words as he heard a sword being unsheathed.
“It seems like it is time for you to say farewell. At least you can die knowing you were always my best entertainment in this dull palace. You were always so scared to die, but so desperate for me, when I couldn’t shake the image of you screaming for mercy as I watched you bleed out. Quite cruel of me, huh, little one,” Taehyung taunted.
“Well he’s quite the character, isn’t he? Not sure how you fell for that, but if degradation is your thing, power to ya, kid,” the man above him chortled.
Hoseok let out a choked laugh before the cold metal of his executor’s sword tore through his flesh. His body slumped over and his head rolled in front of the feet of the man who killed him. Blood flowed from his headless form, staining the carpet an eerily similar shade of red.
“So, you're sure you don't wanna take our deal? If you refuse we will ensure you have the same fate as this poor man. You cannot kill us all, love,” the murderer voiced.
“I wouldn’t be so sure about that.”
…
Taehyung peacefully returned to his own four-poster bed, decorated with jewels and canopied with flowing silk. A smile was permanently stretched across his face, as the energy of destroying so many mortals at once flooded his system. There was no better feeling than the blood that covered the soles of his feet and stained him chiffon sheets. Taehyung turned onto his side, facing the grand door of his room, basking in the gratifying feelings of all the lives lost within his own home.
Taehyung had become slightly fond of the emotions Hoseok’s face so openly expressed. The look of trepidation that painted his golden skin when he said something that so clearly worried him. It was almost cute in a way, and he simply could not let that go. The mortal served him amusement in life and light in death.
When given a tour, everyone who visited made sure to compliment the grand fixtures that lit up Death’s home, from chandeliers in the dining hall to floating lights on each balcony. Yet everyone favored his beautifully preserved bedside lamp. The most beautiful man they had ever seen illuminating a room with just a smile.