Chapter Text
A remote village resided far off in the countryside. Most of its neighboring villagers are mountains apart and would take at least half a day to travel to, even by horse, as it is surrounded by a rather dense forest.
Still, even with its rather unfavorable location, the village seemed to flourish fine by itself. Most of its residents live rather self-sufficiently by coexisting and helping one another: growing their own wheat and vegetables, raising their own livestock, and such.
'It sounds too good to be true, or too uneventful' Joonghyuk thought as he stood before the main gates of the village.
What use would a reaper be in a small village with only a small population of humans around?
Yoo Joonghyuk will be alive for a very long time.
He has a duty to fulfill now and is expected to accomplish his tasks responsibly and perfectly. He doesn't know who he was before nor how he ended up with this duty. He's starting to think it doesn't matter.
He was advised to strictly avoid such trains of thought to avoid future conflicts and could risk demotions and consequences. A deviation would be met with strict punishment.
{
Joonghyuk ignored how other peers avoided him.
Murmurs of something about an abnormality. With him or with his creation, Joonghyuk didn't bother to ask. It didn't concern him. As long as they kept out of his way, they can talk whatever they want.
He never cared. At least, not until an off-handed comment Namgung Minyoung had made on a day off.
"You, you really don't-- hic, realize how blessed you are." she cackled once, a dark blush present on her face giving away her intoxication.
"What do you mean?" he urged, eyebrows furrowed. He subtly hid the fifth bottle of soju away from his master's reach before she could move onto it.
Namgung merely grinned and wildly pointed at the new set of robes he had just received, alongside a plate of dumplings, "Not everyone has the luxury of getting offerings for this long."
Joonghyuk stilled at the remark.
"You've been here for at least a hundred years now but still get offerings on a nearly daily basis," she slurred on despite his lack of response, "I've lived for centuries and haven't had an offering from my descendants in centuries!"
She cackled louder after that, a stark contrast to her rather depressing confession.
And then proceeded to empty her stomach in the next breath.
}
Still, temporarily residing in this village might have some merit, Joonghyuk thought.
He'd get his peace and rest. He can make the most out of being away from any nuisance and enjoy some time to himself.
He opened the gates to the measly residence of his former master. Having surpassed her, he had gained her former position and allowed her to rest while he continues her duties for her. Thus, inheriting most of her mortal possessions and residence.
Though, Joonghyuk took note of the light coat of dust most of Namgung Minyoung's belongings had. In particular, her kitchen seems to be the most barren of life seeing as though his master, like any other reaper, didn't require mortal sustenance to maintain their form and figure.
The reaper sighed. It seemed he couldn't rest just yet, some heavy cleaning is needed before that.
Joonghyuk was starting to see why Namgung Minyoung risked coexisting in a mortal village despite her .. unique physical appearance and unchanging age.
After cleaning, he decided he wanted to scout the area he will be stationed, maybe buy something to give more life to the rather pathetic-looking kitchen he has.
Other non-human beings like himself were few and far between. Only a handful of them were out and about in the village, and only one of them seem to be strong enough to be able to tell what exactly he was.
“You really aren’t helping your cause,” a short demon snorted, mouth occasionally chewing on a piece of candy she had taken before striking a one-sided conversation with him, “You know how people here see grim reapers? All dark, broody looking– the glare could kill someone too woah.”
Joonghyuk scowled at her fearless jabs, internally pleased when she seemed to flinch back a bit at that, but she didn’t pull back.
How annoying.
“You may have a handsome face, I’ll give you that, but you have no chance of winning anyone over with that attitude problem of yours.” the demon tsk-ed.
Han Sooyoung, he later learned her name, was a persistently annoying presence that comes and goes whenever she pleases as he acquaints himself with the residents of the village.
Despite her personality, she doesn’t seem to meddle too much in the lives of the other residents. Rather, she seemed to help integrate him into society. Begrudgingly, he was thankful for the help.
“Travellers come and go around these parts, most that do end up staying usually cause trouble for the folks here,” Sooyoung explained off-handedly, “Without my help, you’d be cast out no sooner after you came.”
He hates to admit it but she did help him significantly when it came to introducing others over the course of the week.
Lee Hyunsung was the only guard of the village that Joonghyuk deemed competent. Lee Jihye and Kim Namwoon were young rookies that wanted to be guards or swordsmen. Lee Seolhwa, the graceful village doctor.
Many of the local villagers seem to be regular farmers and store clerks, thus Joonghyuk only really took note of these particular individuals.
A competent guard is definitely needed for a village and having a doctor is just as important as well.
Lee Jihye and Kim Namwoon are a lively bunch that insisted on training under Joonghyuk after taking one look at him, challenging him to a duel, and deeming him worthy to be their master. (in that order)
Chuffed, Joonghyuk relaxed against his seat back in the confines of his residence. With a peaceful village, there shouldn’t be any deaths happening any time soon.
The other beings residing in the village seem content with living out their everyday lives blending in with each other and living in harmony. It was almost too ideally peaceful.
Yoo Joonghyuk must’ve angered a god somewhere in his former and current lifetime.
The smell of death was prominent in the air, something only a handful of unfortunate individuals would’ve picked up on. This is the second death in the week, and it hadn’t even been a full month since Joonghyuk had moved in.
Joonghyuk took a deep breath and buried his face into the palm of his hand.
Perhaps, the most annoying part about the entire situation, other than Han Sooyoung’s increased jeers and bullying, is the fact that he can’t find it in himself to blame the villagers for immediately suspecting him. What were the chances that 2 people died in unexplainable circumstances in the same month as someone moving into their village?
He didn’t have a problem with the increase in workload but the rumors circling around the village hinder his mood and performance.
His mood further plummeted when a nervous-looking Hyunsung knocked at his gate.
Hyunsung apologized profusely at his gate and tried his best to raise Joonghyuk’s spirits by explaining that he really didn’t think Joonghyuk was the one responsible, but the reaper knew that Hyunsung’s hands were tied.
No doubt the other villagers were pressuring the poor man into keeping tabs on Joonghyuk’s activity.
He appreciated the kind guard’s gesture though, and after some “investigating” in his estate, Hyunsung had left with a promise to find the culprit to clear Joonghyuk’s name.
In reality, there was no reason for him to stay in the village. He doesn’t have anything of value in the village yet, and he can still execute his job even from the outskirts.
But, remembering the way Sooyoung cackled at him as he was once again inspected thoroughly by the eyes of some elders and some children were pulled away from his side by their parents from his last walk outside his gates, this problem became more of a matter of avenging Joonghyuk’s dignity.
Or so he told himself.
In any case, Joonghyuk can still conduct a private investigation of his own without the help of Hyunsung or the village guards. Not like they’d give him any information anyway seeing as he himself is a suspect.
He knew the two bodies found weren’t killed by a human. That much was obvious if their deaths were ambiguous enough to have stumped the villagers. While non-human beings weren’t exactly unknown to the human race, their understanding of the supernatural was filled with misinformation or prejudice.
Being a reaper, Joonghyuk was tasked with collecting the souls of the 2 deceased villagers– an elderly woman and a middle-aged man, both of which were less than pleased about their untimely deaths. Both died from haggard causes, bodies sliced open, and large bite marks visible all over their desecrated corpses. He noticed the lack of malicious intent or energy coming from their souls and ruled out the possibility of any form of foul play from witchcraft or demonic tampering.
This is a good start for his investigation. Though, he still isn’t sure of what to do when he does find the killer responsible for the deaths happening in the village. He’s a reaper, a being only meant to escort souls to the underworld. He doesn’t have the authority to go against the natural flow of life and death.
Maybe it was to satiate his own personality, he tries to justify himself. He won’t interfere with anything. He just wanted to see the cause of the sudden deaths, that was all.
The third death didn’t come for at least another whole week.
In the span of the short killing hiatus, tension was high within the village and Joonghyuk’s hands shook from where they rested as he resisted the temptation to punch something out of frustration.
For the entire week, he had endured provocations, whispers, nightly visits from the village guards, guarded stances, and stares.
Joonghyuk thought of himself as a patient man, but he was finally reaching his limit and was starting to have second thoughts about his initial idea of not doing anything to stop the murders. He was going to murder the killer for the hell they’ve put him through indirectly.
“I will avenge you, master!” Jihye cheered beside him, and when she noticed that his mood wasn’t improving, nudged Namwoon who was busy stuffing his face with his rice meal.
The poor boy promptly choked on his meal. Joonghyuk ignored the fuss they both made.
And then he smells it.
The reaper jumped to his feet instantaneously, ignoring the surprised reactions of the people around him as he charged out of the restaurant. Distantly, he hears Jihye calling out to him in surprise but it becomes background noise as he makes a beeline for the source of the smell of death.
It's fresh– a recent death. If Joonghyuk was fast enough, he might just catch the culprit leaving. The scent leads Joonghyuk to a quaint house in the middle of a quieter part of the village, only handfuls of its people going out and about.
Not paying them any mind, Joonghyuk let himself into the house after discovering the door was left slightly ajar.
His footsteps were heavy as they padded through the wooden floor. He takes a deep breath as he stands before a sliding door. The scent of a living being inside the room is strong; someone was inside with the body.
Without a second to waste, Joonghyuk slides the door open.
The first thing he sees is white. A man pale as can be wearing pristine white robes, average in height but shorter than Joonghyuk from what he can see. His black fringes parted just so to reveal round black orbs that stared at Joonghyuk in surprise.
He would've passed off as any other Korean man if it weren't for the fact that Joonghyuk could sense the abundance of spiritual energy flowing out of him.
A friend, or something worse. Joonghyuk's eyes wandered to the deceased man lying motionless in the comfort of his bed beside the suspicious man. The cause of death maybe?
On any given day, Joonghyuk would've thought the former but the corpse was clean, not showing any trace of supernatural foul play done by the man in front of him.
Regardless, there was something about the man before him that made him stand out to Joonghyuk.
"Oh, you're not ..." the man speaks before closing his mouth and shaking his head. He offers Joonghyuk a forlorn smile instead when he locks eyes with the reaper again.
Joonghyuk doesn't understand why.
"Did your predecessor finally get tired and crossed over?" the man asked, smile still ever-present on his face, "Namgung Minyoung sometimes mentioned something about retiring in our last conversation. Then does that make you her supposed disciple?"