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"No."
On shaky legs, the boy stumbled over to his sister, tears already springing up in his red rimmed eyes.
She wasn't moving.
"No." His trembling hands grasped the fabric, shaking at the bloodied corpse desperately. "Wake up. Wake up Yeji. Come on wake up. We have to go, you... Please... you have to wake up."
His tears dripped down onto Yeji's motionless face. Their tracks run down from her eyes–frozen wide open and empty, from her blood reddened cheek to her bruised jaw before finally dropping to the ruined floor.
His voice cracked as a sob racked his body. "You're all I have left." He whispered and pulled her close, stroking her natural black hair.
"You can't. You can't leave me. I w-..." He wheezes painfully, the air is so dusty that it gets harder to breathe. "I won't let you."
But she was already gone.
Then, a bright red light flashed from behind, creating menacing shadows that grew against the dirty blood splattered walls.
Instinctively, he turned.
The man that looked down at him was clearly not human.
Skin white as a sheet but the black attire he wore contrasted sharply. Ranging from the long plain black jacket down to the also plain but polished black shoes that gleamed abnormally bright. Nothing other than the head of striking silver hair that was styled back really seemed to stick out. It shimmered beautifully in the dim Seoul evening glow.
His thin lips pulled into a smile, devoid of actual happiness or any sort of positivity as fangs protruded from his pale gums.
"Sunghoon. Hello, my name is Thomas. You may or may not have caught on yet but my job is to collect souls." His voice seemed to echo from all around the boy.
Sunghoon swallowed hard, mouth painfully dry and sore from his sobbing but everything felt moist and humid. Almost in an uncomfortable way. "Y-You... Are you.. the Grim Reaper?"
The ends of his lips twitched upwards slightly. "I go by many, many names. But I guess that's also ok." He paused a moment. "I think you know why I am here, don't you?"
More tears stung at his eyes, throat constricting. "You're here..for Yeji aren't you? Please just.. do something. I know you can do something, anything. Just give her more time, please. Whatever it takes."
Grim Reaper frowned. "No."
The energy in Sunghoon's body left him all at once, and it felt like the world was ending. His world.
"Please..." He begged, begged, and begged. "Anything..."
The Grim Reaper's expression morphed into one of blankness. "No." Almost like he was amused by a babbling child, he tilts his head to the side. He then juts a long finger to the corner.
Sunghoon's eyes follow.
There was something there. A bit indistinguishable but still visible from where he was kneeled. The dust in the room that had yet to settle after the bomb dropped moments ago still drifted in the air and made it hard to see. But as he focused more, mind racing to understand, his lips parted in shock.
It was him. Well, what used to be him.
"I'm here for you Sunghoon." The Grim Reaper murmured nonchalantly, unfazed.
Sunghoon breathed in and out. In and out. In and out. Me?
"I... I'm dead. I died? But, I can't be-"
"Dead? Trust me, you are. Very much so. Debris crushed your skull to pieces, the large fragments tore through your brain and your ribs pierced through your heart. But luckily you were already unconscious from the impact of the blast so you didn't feel any pain." He smiled. Actually smiled.
"No, but..." He trailed off. A white hand appeared before him.
Grim Reaper reached out, death quite literally radiating in waves and eyes black with emptiness. Too empty.
"Sunghoon. I am here for you. There's nothing more I can do, my job is to simply collect the lives of those who have lost theirs."
This is really it. This is the moment.
Fuck.
His hands grasped the ice cold ones, shivers still managing to run down his spine. Does that even make sense?
"Wait, what about Yeji? If you're here for me and you collect lives, why isn't she awake? Or her soul at least?" Sunghoon asked confused.
"I'm here for you. Don't worry about her. She's already gone to the other side." He tugged at his wrist, just as the bright red light returned–opening a hole in the floor, so deep and dark that Sunghoon couldn't see the bottom.
"No but why is she, how did-"
"She's gone." He snapped, teeth bared angrily. "And she's not coming with us. She's already gone to Heaven."
Sunghoon quieted down. At least there were happy news. That's just where Yeji deserved to be. She had been an angel and he knew she'd be one in her next life too. That's if there are next lives at least. Who knows since he just found out that Heaven is real.
Sunghoon frowned as a thought came to mind. "But then, where am I going?"
To his horror, the Grim Reaper smiled again, his fangs peeking out and he pushes him back roughly. Without enough time to actually react, Sunghoon helplessly falls into the void with a terrified scream.
And for a second, he swore he heard the Grim Reaper say, "somewhere much worse" before his vision blackened, the darkness consuming him with welcoming arms.