☁ tales from dead friends
as hours move to minutes and minutes take longer to break
pre-sehun/baekhyun (baekhyun/chan-something)
pg-13
for pippopippo who asked for grim reaper au.
Byun Baekhyun is a terrible First Soul. Or First Soul to be because he won’t actually die.
Sehun groans as Baekhyun narrowly misses being hit by a car as he carelessly crosses the road, never once looking up from his cell phone. It would be fascinating how he always manages to avoid these incidents without so much as a scratch. Except. He’s supposed to be the First Soul Sehun collects but he can’t really do that when its dumb earthly vessel is walking around all bright smiles and obnoxious laughter and alive.
Sehun is too busy scowling at the car that had managed to miss running over Baekhyun- if it had been just a little faster he would be happily escorting Baekhyun to his afterlife right now- so he misses when Kyungsoo appears behind him.
“Sehun.” Kyungsoo sounds exasperated. “He’s still alive?”
Sehun is indignant. Kyungsoo is annoyed? Sehun is the one who’s been following Baekhyun for the past one year, waiting for him to die. It’s not like he hasn’t had plenty of opportunities to kick the bucket and go wander the Elysian Fields or whatever the fuck souls did when they passed on.
When Kyungsoo had first dropped Sehun off to where Baekhyun was, Baekhyun had been drowning at the beach.
“See,” Kyungsoo had said, patting Sehun on the shoulder. “I told you the First Soul is always easy.”
A second later, some long-legged guy with weird hair dove in and rescued him. It was sort of cool, really, except Baekhyun was still breathing and very much alive.
“Ah.” Kyungsoo had given him another pat on the shoulder, this one more consoling. “That happens sometimes. But don’t worry. He’s clumsy and accident-prone. I’m sure he’ll die some other way soon enough.”
That had been a year ago. Kyungsoo hadn’t lied. Baekhyun was pretty horrible at self-preservation, and yet, one year later, there he was. Walking, breathing, on his way to see his boyfriend, that asshole who had saved him at the beach- Chan-something because Sehun doesn’t give a fuck about him.
“He just won’t die,” Sehun complains. “Can’t I just kill him myself?”
Kyungsoo rolls his eyes. “You know we can’t,” he says. “We just help them get to the other side.”
Sehun sadly looks at the notebook in his hands. “How could you assign me to such a tedious First Soul?” He flips open the book and holds it out in front of Kyungsoo’s face. “Jongin is already on page 10 of his book. I don’t even have my List yet! It’s just his stupid name and then blank pages.”
Kyungsoo pushes the book away. “You know you can’t get your List until you get your First Soul.” He sounds comforting, which is a testament to what a problem Baekhyun has been because Kyungsoo is hardly ever comforting.
“You know what the problem is, right?” Sehun glares at Baekhyun’s lone name in the book before he closes it. “Chan-whatever-the-fuck. He keeps saving Baekhyun.”
And he really does. One time Sehun had been wandering around the grocery store- away from Baekhyun, because he figured if Baekhyun wasn’t going to inhale one of the two laundry detergents he was taking a million years to decide on, then he probably wasn’t going to die at the store so Sehun felt like he was free to walk away.
He’d been inspecting a kind of cookie- mint in cookies? Humans did such strange things these days- when he heard a loud crash followed by a shriek in the aisle where he had left Baekhyun. He had been so hopeful.
Come on, please please please let something have fallen on him, Sehun had thought. But when he got there, Baekhyun was being held upright by Chan-fucker-who-won’t-let-Baekhyun-just-die.
“Who’s his Grim? Tell him to come collect.”
“Nah. His name’s not in anyone’s book yet.”
Sehun scoffs. “Baekhyun is never going to die as long as he’s around.”
Kyungsoo shrugs. “Well, you know. There’s always disease and stuff. Chanyeol can’t stop that.”
Sehun frowns. “Who’s Chanyeol?”
Kyungsoo snorts. “Hang in there, baby Grim.” He grins when Sehun nips at his hand when he tries to pat his shoulder. “Baekhyun can’t live forever.”
“Wanna bet?” Sehun sighs as Kyungsoo disappears in a wisp of smoke.
ϟ
For the first time since he’s been assigned to Baekhyun, Sehun feels giddy. This is it. Baekhyun is finally going to croak. There’s no way he’s going to survive this sickness. He isn’t sure what Baekhyun has exactly, but he’s in the hospital and he looks like he’s a step away from death’s door.
Finally. He can reap Baekhyun’s stubborn soul and kick it off to the afterlife and he can finally get his List. He hopes Chan-douche ends up on his List, he would be glad to take his soul too.
Baekhyun actually sees him this time and Sehun is so relieved he wants to cry. When he had followed Kyungsoo around when he was training, he learned that people never saw their Grims unless they were actually dying.
“Who are you?” Baekhyun doesn’t seem concerned that Sehun has just randomly appeared in his hospital room. But the doctors have him hooked up on all kinds of medications so he’s probably not aware of a lot of things.
“Sehun.” Sehun drops into the chair next to Baekhyun’s hospital bed.
“Oh.” Baekhyun looks confused. “I’m Baekhyun.”
Sehun almost laughs because Baekhyun doesn’t even know who he is but he’s still being friendly. How has he not been killed by someone for this strange habit of his to talk to almost anyone? “I know,” he says instead.
“Are you sick?”
Sehun snorts. “Do I look sick?”
Baekhyun knits his eyebrows in confusion and he looks like he’s going to say something but he shrugs. “I’m sick. Really sick. I feel like I’m going to die.”
Kyungsoo had said that they’re supposed to try being comforting once their Souls can see them. “They probably know who you are,” he had said. “80% of the time, you’re going to be last person they see while they’re alive. So be comforting. Sehun, are you listening? Don’t give them that default passive look of yours.”
Sehun figures agreeing with Baekhyun doesn’t count as comforting so he just hums in reply instead.
“Is that it?” Baekhyun makes a face. “I tell you I’m going to die and you’ve got nothing to say to that?”
Sehun is amazed that Baekhyun is so sick and he’s still such a little shit. “I was thinking ‘probably,’ but I figured that’s not what you want to hear.”
Baekhyun pouts and he turns his face away. “I don’t like you,” he says, closing his eyes.
Sehun scoffs. “Same.”
ϟ
Sehun is livid.
And inconsolable.
“He’s never going to die,” he wails into Kyungsoo’s shoulder. “He saw me! How could he make a miraculous recovery? I thought this was finally it.”
Kyungsoo is stiff under him because he hates being this close to someone and usually Sehun does too, but Byun Baekhyun is still alive so fuck Kyungsoo’s personal space, Sehun is getting a hug.
“It’s modern medicine,” Kyungsoo says, taking a deep breath before he awkwardly puts an arm around Sehun’s shoulders. “They do extraordinary things these days.”
“Fuck modern medicine!” Sehun punches Kyungsoo’s free shoulder, but the older Grim doesn’t budge. “Am I going to have to throw Baekhyun off a cliff myself?” He pulls away and looks at Kyungsoo hopefully. “Please? Can I? This has to be the longest assignment a Grim has had.”
Kyungsoo laughs. “It’s not, trust me. And I told you. We can’t do anything to them. Besides we can’t even touch people. How are you going to push him off a cliff when you can’t touch him?”
Sehun frowns. “We can touch them once they can see us.”
“Sure, but I doubt Baekhyun’s going to randomly decide to take a walk on a cliff.”
Sehun pouts before he buries his face in Kyungsoo’s shoulder again and takes up his wailing once more. “I hate him so much. Why can’t he just die already?”
ϟ
Sehun’s sitting in an empty booth in a bubble tea shop when he sees the tendrils of light blue smoke appearing next to him. He knows Kyungsoo and the other supervisor Grims appear with white smoke, and blue smoke is for someone who has already started working on their List. Sehun is stuck with this gross, pale yellow smoke, and probably will be stuck with it forever because that’s how long Baekhyun’s going to live.
He punches out before the Grim even fully appears because he already knows it’s going to be Tao.
“Pretty boy’s still alive I see.” Tao rubs the shoulder that had gotten hit and smiles when Sehun scowls at him.
“What are you doing here?” Sehun eyes the tapioca pearls at the bottom of Baekhyun’s drink. So tiny, but all they had to do was get stuck in Baekhyun’s trachea and Sehun gets promoted to blue smoke.
“I’m ahead of schedule,” Tao says, tapping his own notebook fondly. “This old lady was supposed to pass away in her sleep next week, but poor thing got hit by a car today. She was really nice. She started seeing me a few days ago, I think she knew who I was because she didn’t seem surprised when I came to collect her soul today.”
Sehun hits him again. Ahead of schedule. Did the injustices of being Baekhyun’s Grim Reaper never end?
Tao looks over at where Baekhyun is talking to Chan-whatsit. They’re holding hands under the table. Sehun wants to sneer. They’re so happy it’s disgusting. “I thought he was going to die a month ago?”
“He obviously didn’t,” Sehun mutters. He glances at Tao’s notebook and he’s jealous of how worn out it looks.
“We’re taking bets,” Tao says, shamelessly. “Not about when he’ll die,” he adds hurriedly when Sehun glares at him. “Just how. There’s a lot of money riding on freak accident like a piano or something falling out a window and crushing him as he walks by. Personally I think it’ll be something simple, like electrocution or a bee sting or something.”
Sehun sighs. So many ways to die and Baekhyun just continued to live on.
ϟ
When Baekhyun gets jumped on the street and dragged into an alley, Sehun doesn’t blink. A month ago, maybe even a few weeks ago, he would have been excited. Hopeful. But now he just leans against the opposite wall from the one Baekhyun is being shoved up against as the stranger tells him to hand over his wallet.
Muggings don’t always end up in death anyway, Sehun tells himself. So Baekhyun’s not really escaping death.
Sehun sighs and wishes the mugger was more capable. He was taking too much time rifling through Baekhyun’s wallet single-handedly, while he uses his free arm to keep Baekhyun pinned against the wall. Sehun wants Baekhyun to die but he doesn’t particularly like watching how panicked and scared he looks right now.
Come on, he thinks impatiently. Kill him or let him go.
It doesn’t surprise him that the mugger isn’t pleased with what he finds in Baekhyun’s wallet. Sehun knows he hardly carries any cash with him, and when he does, he spends it fast.
Baekhyun, who has been quiet the entire time, finally says, “Let me go. I’ll give you the code for my bank card, just let me go.” He reaches up to push the man’s arm away and Sehun winces because that can’t possibly be a good idea.
He’s right because the man shoves Baekhyun back harder against the wall, and Sehun actually feels bad when he hears Baekhyun let out a tiny whimper.
“Give me your watch.”
Sehun’s eyes move to the watch on Baekhyun’s wrist. Stupid boy, he thinks. The mugger never would have noticed the fancy watch Chan-buys-too-much-expensive-shit gave him if Baekhyun hadn’t tried to move the mugger’s arm away. Of course that stupid shiny thing was going to catch his attention.
“No.” Baekhyun looks terrified when Sehun looks at his face but he’s still stubbornly refusing to hand over the watch.
Sehun can’t help how irritated he feels. It’s not like Chan-earns-too-much-money couldn’t buy him a new watch. Maybe Baekhyun really was going to die this way. But really? Sehun thinks about filling in the ‘Cause of death’ in his book with, ’Murdered because too stupid to hand over a watch.’ Wasn’t it bad enough that Sehun was already the laughingstock with most of the other Grims? Couldn’t Baekhyun just die some simple way?
“Sehun?”
Sehun realizes that Baekhyun is staring right at him. Huh. So he was going to die. How? As far as he can tell, the mugger doesn’t have a weapon, does he- oh. He’s not sure where the knife appears from because he wasn’t paying attention, but now the mugger is pressing it dangerously close to Baekhyun’s throat.
“Who’s Sehun?” he demands. “Is that who gave you the watch? I’m sure he can get you another one. Now give me the watch or am I going to have to cut off your wrist to get it?”
Sehun snorts. “There’s no way that knife can cut through bone,” he tells Baekhyun. He’s not here to see Baekhyun get his hand cut off. That wouldn’t kill him, so it doesn’t cater to Sehun’s interests. It would just be painful and bloody and Sehun doesn’t like blood. He wonders if the mugger knows anything about anatomy to kill Baekhyun quickly. He’d rather not have his First Soul bleed out in front of him because he definitely doesn’t have enough experience to be comforting for Baekhyun’s last moments.
“Why aren’t you helping me?” Baekhyun hasn’t taken his eyes off Sehun, and the mugger turns around to see who Baekhyun is talking to but of course he can’t see Sehun.
“I can’t,” Sehun answers.
“What do you mean?” Baekhyun is giving him a pleading look, but he also looks really confused about how Sehun is just standing there and refusing to help.
“Hey!” The mugger yanks on Baekhyun’s hair and he looks angry. “Who are you talking to? Are you just trying to weird me out?”
“Sehun, please.” Baekhyun pleads.
Sehun has to look away. “I can’t help,” he says. “Even if I was allowed to help, I can’t touch him.”
“What do you-”
“Stop talking!” the mugger yells. Sehun can see him digging his fingers into Baekhyun’s scalp and he cringes when he sees the knife press down against Baekhyun’s skin.
“Just give him the watch,” Sehun says desperately. He doesn’t want to watch Baekhyun die like this. “Or…kick him in the balls and run.”
Baekhyun’s eyes widen. “What?”
“Stop talking! Just stop talking and give me your watch!”
“Do it,” Sehun urges, and he can’t believe he’s helping Baekhyun stay alive. “Kick him in the balls and run.”
“Why don’t you attack him from behind?”
“Baekhyun,” Sehun says in exasperation as the mugger lets out an angry shout at how Baekhyun keeps talking to someone he can’t see. “Are you really arguing with me? I told you, I can’t touch him.” His eyes widen as Baekhyun lets out a yelp when the knife finally draws blood, but it’s enough to make him react.
Baekhyun knees the guy right in between his legs and Sehun winces despite himself. The mugger releases his hold on Baekhyun and he keels over in pain, dropping Baekhyun’s wallet by his feet.
Baekhyun picks it up and he hesitates for a second. “Sorry,” he mumbles before he takes off as fast as he can.
Sehun laughs as he runs after him. “Sorry? He could have killed you!”
“Yeah, but being kicked down there hurts.” Baekhyun doesn’t stop running until he reaches a main road and there are people milling about him from all directions. He frowns as he looks around. “Sehun?”
“I’m right here,” Sehun says, weaving through the crowd to get closer to him.
“Sehun? Where’d you go?”
“I’m right…” Oh. Sehun has moved right in front of Baekhyun, but he can’t see him anymore. “You’re safe now.” He says it more to himself than to Baekhyun, who can’t hear him anyway.
ϟ
“You helped him.” Kyungsoo doesn’t sound pleased but he doesn’t sound like he’s admonishing him either.
“I know,” Sehun groans, opening his notebook and staring forlornly at Baekhyun’s lonely name. He could have had his List by now if he had just not said anything. “I didn’t really help. It’s common sense.”
Kyungsoo fixes him with an ‘are you serious’ look. “Kicking a guy in the nuts?”
“Yes. I know it hurts like a bitch but so is having your throat slit,” Sehun says. “Aren’t there like…brownie points or something for when Grim Reapers do good deeds?”
“Sehun.” Kyungsoo sighs as he massages his temples. “Grim Reapers aren’t supposed to do good deeds. We’re not supposed to do any deeds. We’re just supposed to wait and then help the Souls move on. We don’t get attached.”
Sehun is so offended that he gasps. “I’m not…” He trails off because…maybe. There’s no reason Baekhyun should still be breathing right now as he sleeps peacefully- Sehun assumes he’s sleeping, he refuses to step foot inside Baekhyun’s bedroom, especially once Chan-loser is inside too. Sehun should have just let whatever would have happened happen.
“It’s not fair,” he says finally. “Of course you guys don’t get attached to your Souls. You only know them for a few days, a week at most. I’ve been waiting for Baekhyun for a year now. A year and a half almost.”
Kyungsoo reaches over and closes the notebook before resting a hand on top of Sehun’s. “Remember they asked you what you wanted to do after you completed your List?”
Sehun looks away. “Yes.”
“And is your answer the same?”
“Yes.”
“Then don’t intervene again, okay? Baekhyun’s a good person but no one can live forever. His name’s on your list so he’s meant to die soon.” Kyungsoo pats his hands. “Being killed by someone isn’t an ideal way to go but it’s not good when a Soul that is supposed to pass on is anchored by the body. You know that.”
“He keeps getting saved,” Sehun insists.
“Human intervention can’t be helped,” Kyungsoo says, “but don’t step in next time.”
“Fine,” Sehun mutters, pulling his hands free. “I’ll just let him be killed the next time someone tries to murder him.”
Kyungsoo laughs as he gets to his feet. “You’re upset, little Grim. Don’t be. First Souls are usually the easiest to reap but they’re also the hardest because it’s hard to watch someone die.”
“I’m bigger than you,” Sehun says spitefully, and he scowls when Kyungsoo ruffles his hair before he vanishes. Stupid punk supervisor Grims.
ϟ
Something strange is going on. Sehun knows it’s not possible but sometimes he swears Baekhyun sees him. It’s usually only for a few seconds but Baekhyun looks like he recognizes Sehun before he blinks and then he looks confused like he’s not sure what had happened.
When Sehun actually bumps into Baekhyun when the latter stops short, he knows something is wrong.
Baekhyun whips around the second he feels Sehun run into him, but even though Sehun is right there, his eyes see right through him.
Chan-doesn’t-have-his-own-life stops when he notices that Baekhyun has stopped walking. “What’s wrong?”
It’s strange to have Baekhyun staring at him without actually seeing him, and Sehun doesn’t want to move in case that sets something off again. He doesn’t know what’s going on. Grim Reapers are never seen until Souls are close to moving on and Baekhyun doesn’t have a scratch on him. In fact, as far as Sehun knows, he hasn’t had any near-death experiences in at least a week. Even once they can be seen, Grims rarely touch people when they’re alive. Sehun should have been able to walk right through Baekhyun, not bump into him.
“I don’t know,” Baekhyun says, biting his lower lip. “I thought someone was behind us.”
Chan-whatever looks around, but they’re walking home and their street is quiet, like it usually is. “Are you feeling okay?”
Baekhyun nods absent-mindedly. “Yeah,” he says, reaching for Chan-lame’s hand and Sehun makes a face. “I guess I’m just tired.”
ϟ
Sehun has been trying to stay out of view because he still isn’t sure what makes Baekhyun notice him. It’s hard because Grim Reapers are allowed to follow their souls freely since they remain unseen. He forgets that he’s trying to stay out of sight when he sees Baekhyun poking around in one of the chemistry labs at his workplace. He's leaning in too close to the pink mixture in the beaker that Baekhyun is attending to, when Baekhyun suddenly just- sees him.
He yelps and jumps back. “Who are you?” he demands, reaching out for the first thing he can grab at and waving it threateningly at Sehun.
Except it’s a test tube brush and not very threatening.
“How can you see me?” Sehun tilts his head, studying Baekhyun curiously. Baekhyun has to be an anomaly. How else would it explain the fact that he can see him? It would also explain why he’s still not dead.
“Of course I can see you,” Baekhyun snaps, jabbing the test tube brush harmlessly in Sehun’s chest. “How did you get in here? Why are you following me?”
“I’m not following you,” Sehun says defensively, even though he is actually following him. Just not in a creepy way like Baekhyun was implying. Although he supposes a Grim Reaper following someone, waiting for them to die could be considered creepy to some people.
“Then how come I’ve seen you so many times?” Baekhyun is still brandishing the test tube brush at him, but added with the safety goggles he’s wearing, he just looks ridiculous.
Sehun glances around the room. “Is there anything here that could blow up the lab?” he asks. It wouldn’t help explain why Baekhyun had seen glimpses of him before but maybe Baekhyun was going to die now?
“What?” Baekhyun looks around before focussing back on Sehun. “I don’t know. Maybe? Why?”
“Because you shouldn’t be able to see me.” Sehun points at the pink liquid in the beaker. “What’s this? Is it explosive?”
Baekhyun gives him a scathing look. “No, I’m not stupid. It’s just an experiment. I know what I’m doing.”
“Then how come you can see me?” Sehun complains loudly, slumping down on a stool.
Baekhyun watches him in puzzlement, but he’s put the test tube brush down and he approaches Sehun slowly. “Are you an angel or something?”
Sehun laughs. “What makes you think I’m an angel?”
Baekhyun shrugs. “I don’t know. The first time I met you was when I was sick in the hospital, and then I saw you again when I was getting robbed.” He takes a step closer and studies Sehun’s face. “And I thought I saw you a year ago. When I met Chanyeol.”
Who? “When you almost drowned you mean.”
“How do you- oh.” Baekhyun’s face lights up. “Are you my guardian angel? That would explain why no one else can see you and I only see you when I need help. You’re always saving me.”
Sehun is appalled. “I have never saved you,” he says. “Not once. I mean, okay, I helped you with the mugging thing but other than that I’ve never helped.”
Baekhyun wrinkles his nose. “What kind of lame guardian angel are you then?”
“I’m not a guardian an-” Sehun sighs. “You’re not supposed to be able to see me.”
“Why? What’s the big deal?”
Sehun points to the table. “Can you just clean up and leave? Maybe I’ll disappear again.”
“You’re very surly for an angel,” Baekhyun mutters, but he does start cleaning up. “How come you’re…” He blinks in confusion. “Sehun?”
Sehun sighs in relief. Good. Baekhyun can’t see him anymore.
ϟ
Kyungsoo fills him in when Sehun’s sitting in the back of the movie theatre, behind Baekhyun and his best friend. Sehun is a little annoyed that Kyungsoo chooses now to explain all the weird things happening with Baekhyun because the movie is interesting.
“Sehun?” Kyungsoo waves a hand in front of his face. “Are you listening?”
Sehun scowls and shoves the hand away. “Yes,” he says. “Baekhyun can see me sometimes because he’s escaped death so many times that he’s more sensitive to my presence now. Fine, I get it. I’ll try to keep a bigger space between us and try not to run into him again.”
“Well…” Kyungsoo shrugs. “You don’t have to. He doesn’t seem scared of you so I don’t think it’s a big deal if he keeps seeing you.”
“That’s because he thinks I’m an angel,” Sehun says, rolling his eyes. He turns to Kyungsoo. “Am I allowed to tell him what I am?”
Kyungsoo seems unsure. “I don’t know,” he says finally. “This is really rare. The boss says she’s only heard about it happening once and she wasn’t in charge then so even she doesn’t know what actually happened. I mean, I guess you can tell him? He’s going to die soon anyway. He probably won’t believe you though.”
“He believes in guardian angels,” Sehun reminds him. “I’m sure Grim Reaper isn’t that much of a high reach from there. So do I tell him I’m waiting for him to die?”
“Sehun,” Kyungsoo chides. “Just because he can see you doesn’t change anything. He’s still your Soul and you can’t be so offhanded about death with people.”
“Fine, fine,” Sehun says, waving an arm dismissively at him. “Can we watch the movie now?”
Kyungsoo rolls his eyes. “I have Souls to collect. You watch and enjoy the movie, little Grim.” He grins and ducks away when Sehun tries to hit him.
Sehun sees Baekhyun lean in to whisper something to his friend before they both break into quiet laughter and he sighs. “You should stay. It’s nice having someone around who can see me. All the time.” He turn towards the screen, but he can see Kyungsoo studying him from the corner of his eye.
“Okay,” Kyungsoo says, relaxing in his seat. “I’ll stay for a little while.”
ϟ
“A what?”
“Grim Reaper,” Sehun says again. It’s sort of nice when Baekhyun can see him but honestly, it’s tiring trying to hold a conversation with him.
Baekhyun looks at him dubiously. “Where’s your scythe? And aren’t you supposed to be wearing a dark cloak or something?”
Sehun rolls his eyes. “We got rid of the scythes when we realized we didn’t need them to actually reap Souls,” he says sarcastically.
Baekhyun grins. “And the dark cloaks?”
Sehun can’t believe he’s having this conversation. “Too morbid so we decided to keep up with the latest fashion trends,” he says.
Baekhyun laughs and Sehun doesn’t know if he should be offended or not. “So should I be scared of you?” he asks. Sehun isn’t sure why he’s asking because judging by the way he throws a few chips in his mouth and props his feet up on the coffee table, Baekhyun is clearly not scared of him. “Are you going to kill me?”
“You obviously know the answers to those questions,” Sehun says, kicking Baekhyun’s feet off the table even though it’s his apartment.
“What do you do then if you can’t kill me?” Baekhyun offers Sehun the bag of chips and it’s actually sort of endearing.
“Do you really want to talk about this?” Sehun asks, declining the chips. “People don’t generally want to talk about dying.”
Baekhyun muses over this as he continues munching on the chips. “I guess not. Does everyone have a Grim? Does Chanyeol have one?”
Seriously, who’s Chany- oh. That’s the rest of Chan-whatsit’s name. “Yes,” Sehun answers shortly, because it’s true. He doesn’t mention that Grims only appear when a person is meant to die soon because he supposes no one wants to know they’re about to die. Although he’s been with Baekhyun for almost a year and a half. Who knows when he was really going to die? It could be another year for all he knew.
“How do you become a- hey!” Baekhyun pouts as he looks around. “Why do you keep disappearing like that?”
Sehun shrugs even though he knows Baekhyun can’t see him because even Kyungsoo can’t tell him why Baekhyun just suddenly sees him and just as suddenly stops seeing him.
“Sehun?” Baekhyun tries again. He looks over to where Sehun is sitting and he reluctantly holds his hand out and reaches out for him.
Sehun watches curiously as Baekhyun’s hand gets closer and on a whim, he reaches out his own hand. But Baekhyun’s fingers brush right through his hand and he doesn’t know why he feels so disappointed.
ϟ
Baekhyun is treating Sehun like he thinks he’s Casper the friendly ghost or something. If he’s alone in the apartment, he calls out a good morning whether or not he can see Sehun, and he softly says goodnight before he disappears into his room. He guessed- and Sehun confirmed- that Sehun’s always generally around.
“Except bathrooms and bedrooms,” Sehun says. “Except sometimes you and the weirdo get frisky in the living room or the kitchen so I just leave whichever room you guys have chosen to defile.”
“Why?” Baekhyun says unabashedly. “We’re hot when we fuck.”
Sehun gags. “I’ll just take your word for it,” he says, suppressing a shudder.
“Don’t be a prude,” Baekhyun says, grinning.
Sehun isn’t a prude. He doesn’t have a problem with sex. He hasn’t had sex in a while because he’s babysitting Baekhyun's stubborn ass Soul, but sex is good. Baekhyun and sex is not entirely off-putting. It’s the other part of the equation he has a problem with- Baekhyun having sex with Chan-ning-Tatum-peaked-in-She’s-the-Man.
“Why are you still with that guy?” Sehun asks, following Baekhyun into the kitchen.
“Because I like him,” Baekhyun answers, pouring himself some coffee. “Do you want…” He looks at Sehun questioningly. “Do you guys eat?”
Sehun shrugs. “Yeah, but we don’t have to. You know, to survive and all since we’re technically not alive anyway.”
Baekhyun wrinkles his nose. “So is that a yes or no on coffee?”
“That weak mud water,” Sehun says pointing to the cup, “is not coffee.”
“Elitist,” Baekhyun says, pointedly taking a big sip from his cup. “So what? Do you want to go out for coffee?”
Sehun blinks. “What, with you?”
“Why not?”
“Because no one can see me. You don’t think someone’s going to think it’s weird that you ordered two coffees and you’re talking to yourself? Like I said, we can eat but we don’t have to. We don’t get hungry. We usually only eat if we curious about something.”
Baekhyun pulls a face. “You’re a very strange friend to have.”
Friend. Sehun rolls his eyes but he doesn’t bother to correct him.
ϟ
“Sehun!”
Sehun rolls his eyes. Baekhyun knows he’s always around, he doesn’t know why he feels the need to yell out loud for him when he can’t see him. “Dumb ass,” he mutters, and he tries not to think about how fond he sounds.
“Take note,” Baekhyun says, as he marches into his bedroom and promptly shuts the door.
Sehun sighs. Baekhyun is so tiring. He’s about to head to the living room when Baekhyun’s bedroom door opens and he peeks his head out. It’s obvious he still can’t see Sehun.
“You can come in,” Baekhyun says, his eyes shifting around since he has no idea where Sehun is. “I’m just changing.”
“That’s exactly why I don’t do bedrooms,” Sehun says.
Baekhyun’s eyebrows knit in confusion but he looks to where Sehun is standing. “Sehun?” he calls out carefully. “That’s weird. I just heard you but I can’t see you.”
Sehun groans. “Why do all these weird things keep happening with you?”
Baekhyun jumps. “Oh, there you are. Better. It’s kind of creepy to just hear you. Anyway come in. I always thought you never came into the bedroom because you assumed Chanyeol and I were having sex every other second.”
“No,” Sehun says, feet firmly planted outside the bedroom. “It’s because I’m not some creep who watches you while you take your clothes off.” After a pause he adds, “Also the sex thing.”
Baekhyun grabs his wrist and hauls him in. “Don’t be such a prude,” he says, shamelessly stripping down to his boxers. “It’s not like I have anything you’ve never seen before.”
Sehun is too busy staring at his wrist. He’s pretty sure this is the first time Baekhyun has touched him. He didn’t even know that was possible. Of course it’s possible, he tells himself. If Grims can touch people when they can be seen, then it made sense that they could touch Grims too. He tries to shake off this strange feeling but when he looks up, he’s presented with a whole lot of bare skin, as Baekhyun stands in front of his closet.
“Uh…”
Baekhyun casts a look at him over his shoulder. “What?”
“I had to take note of something?”
Baekhyun beams as he pulls out a shirt. “Yes! We’re going to a party tonight.”
“We? You and Chan-too-tall-for-you?”
Baekhyun snorts at that but he doesn’t seem offended by Sehun’s obvious disdain for his boyfriend. “Yeah, Chanyeol’s going to be there after work,” he says, bending down to dig through his closet. “But I actually meant you and me. I just thought you should know because it’s probably going to be loud. And full of drunk people.”
Sehun tries his best not to stare at Baekhyun’s ass, but he keeps sneaking glances anyway. What is wrong with him? “Great, drunk people,” he says. Maybe he’ll see another Grim Reaper at the party. It sounds like the kind of party where someone gets alcohol poisoning. He perks up. “Do you drink a lot?”
Baekhyun finally stands up, a pair of pants in his hand. “Yes,” he says cheerfully. “I plan to get spectacularly drunk tonight.”
Sehun returns his smile. “Perfect.” He’s not as enthusiastic as Baekhyun dying anymore but he’s still Sehun’s First Soul, and he can’t move on if Baekhyun doesn’t.
ϟ
Sehun isn’t sure how long they’ve been at the party. Long enough for Baekhyun to get spectacularly drunk like he promised. Or more like, “Speclacturty drunk,” as Baekhyun had slurred as he had leaned heavily against Sehun, who had to dump him on a couch before anyone realized that he was leaning on nothing.
Baekhyun slumps over right into the lap of the guy who’s sitting next to him, but it’s his best friend and the last time Sehun had checked on them, Baekhyun was smiling up as his friend- also speclacturty drunk apparently- braided his hair. Beautiful.
Chan-too-cool-to-show-up-for-a-party still hadn’t showed up and Sehun wonders just how drunk Baekhyun will be by the end of the night. Alcohol poisoning seems pretty promising at the moment.
He’s trying to figure out if he’s safe enough to sneak a drink when Jongin appears beside him.
“Kitchen’s empty,” he says, reaching past Sehun to grab a beer. So Sehun grabs a beer and follows him to the kitchen, that is actually empty.
“Still haven’t reaped your First Soul?” Jongin asks. He looks happy to see Sehun, and Sehun is pleased to see him too. They had trained together but he hasn’t seen Jongin since he was assigned to Baekhyun.
Sehun makes a face. “No. Tonight looks promising though.”
“Yeah?” Jongin raises an eyebrow. “What are you thinking? Alcohol poisoning?”
Sehun crosses his fingers. “I’m hoping.” He gestures at the notebook in Jongin’s free hand. “Who are you here for?”
“Some guy named Yixing. Apparently he gets so high that he jumps into the pool.”
Sehun frowns. “That doesn’t sound too bad.” He tries not to sound jealous that getting a List means also knowing how a person is going to die. Nothing’s for sure, because humans are always messing around but 95% of the time, the cause of death is right.
“It’s winter. There’s no water in the pool.”
“Oh.” Sehun winces. “Wow. That’s awful.”
“Yeah. You’d almost think he was a college kid because of the way he dies.” Jongin sets his beer down and opens his book to the latest page he’s filled. Sehun almost chokes when he sees that Jongin is almost halfway through his book. “I keep getting a lot of college kids. College kids die in some really strange ways.”
“I wouldn’t know,” Sehun mutters bitterly.
“You’ll definitely get college kids on your list,” Jongin says assuringly. “You’ll see. Maybe after tonight even.”
Sehun hears a loud, “Look, everyone, Jello shots!” in a voice that sounds suspiciously like Baekhyun’s, and it’s joined by another equally loud voice which Sehun guesses belongs to the best friend.
“You gotta love drunk people,” Jongin says, clinking his beer bottle against Sehun’s. “They make reaping so easy.”
ϟ
Jongin is wrong. Drunk people are awful.
“Sehun,” Baekhyun says mournfully, hunched over the toilet bowl. “M’ gonna die.”
Sehun tries his best not to breathe in and he wishes this was one of the times Baekhyun couldn’t see him because he would have preferred to stay away from this mess. But Chan-McLoser was nowhere to be found and neither was Baekhyun’s best friend, so Baekhyun had grabbed Sehun as he rushed to the bathroom.
“Maybe,” Sehun mumbles.
Baekhyun smacks him on the shoulder. “S’not comforting,” he says, eyes drooping. “You should be saying pretty things. You’ll be okay, Baekhyun. Not gonna die, Baekhyun.”
“I’m a Grim Reaper,” Sehun says. “You should have figured out by now that people dying is a good thing for us.” He’s still rubbing slow circles on Baekhyun’s back anyway. He figures it’s comforting.
“Don’t wanna die.” Baekhyun reaches out for the toilet paper to wipe his mouth clean and he collapses against Sehun.
“I know,” Sehun says, shifting his arms so Baekhyun is more comfortable in them. When Baekhyun had touched him earlier, it had felt fleeting, almost like a kiss of a touch instead of an actual one. He feels a lot more solid now and Sehun wonders if that means he’s actually dying.
“Don’t wanna die, Sehun,” Baekhyun says again, turning his head towards Sehun.
Sehun smiles at him. “Are you crying?” He wipes away a few tears with his thumb.
“Dunno. Am I?” Baekhyun reaches out to touch his face and he laughs when he sees his fingers are wet. “I guess I am. I don’t know why I’m crying.”
“Why’d you drink so much?”
Baekhyun shrugs before he attempts to curl in further into Sehun. “It’s been awhile since we’ve been to a party. Always work work work. I just wanted to have fun. Maybe I overdid it.”
Sehun reaches for Baekhyun’s hand and he sighs. “You’re really cold, Baekhyun.”
Baekhyun’s eyes are closed but they flutter open again. “Am I?” he asks quietly.
“You are.”
“What happens when you reap my soul?”
Sehun shrugs. “I’m not sure. I’m just here to make sure you don’t get lost and end up lingering in this world. I help you move on.”
“To where?” Baekhyun looks like he’s struggling to stay awake.
“I have no idea.” Sehun laughs when Baekhyun frowns at that, but he’s sad. He’s been waiting for Baekhyun to die but he didn’t want to be the last person Baekhyun sees while he’s alive. “I’m sorry. I know that’s not what you want to hear.”
“It isn’t,” Baekhyun says, and Sehun feels him squeeze his hand lightly. “Does this mean I won’t see you again after I move on?”
“No, probably not.”
“Sucks,” Baekhyun mumbles. His head lolls against Sehun’s chest and his grip on Sehun’s hand goes slack. He’s quiet for so long that for a brief second, Sehun thinks that it’s actually happened, Baekhyun has finally died. “Sehun?”
Sehun laughs. Partly because of course he’s still alive, but partly because he’s relieved. “Yeah?”
“Do Grim Reapers get to move on?”
Sehun’s throat tightens. “Yeah. We do. If we want to.”
Baekhyun shivers against him and Sehun tightens his hold on him. “What does that mean?”
“We get a List of souls we have to collect,” Sehun says. “When we complete our Lists, we get to decide if we want another one or if we want to move on.”
“How many more on your List?”
Sehun pauses because he doesn’t want to tell Baekhyun that he has no idea, that he’ll only find out when Baekhyun dies. “A lot,” he answers finally.
Baekhyun goes quiet again.
“Baekhyun?” Sehun shakes his shoulder but he doesn’t wake up.
ϟ
Sehun’s just going to kill Chan-can’t-stop-won't-stop-saving-Baekhyun. That’s the only way he’s ever going to get to reap Baekhyun’s soul. It had been less than a minute when Baekhyun went quiet when Chan-stupid-asshat had knocked on the door, calling out for Baekhyun before he opened the door and found Baekhyun passed out in the bathroom.
Sehun sulks in the backseat of Chan-asshole’s car as they drive back home from the hospital. Baekhyun keeps sending him glances in the rearview mirror but Sehun just looks out the window and continues sulking.
He’s still sulking as he sits on the couch, glaring at the bookshelf long after Baekhyun and Chan-what’s-with-those-ears-anyway have called it a night. He isn’t sure how long he’s been sulking and glaring at the bookshelf that hasn’t done anything. In fact Baekhyun had one of his near-death experiences when he had been reaching for book on a higher shelf when all the books on the top shelf had toppled over but Chan-dumb had yanked Baekhyun away in time. Of course. Asshole.
Sehun thinks he may have fallen asleep because he wakes up to yelling and it takes him a few moments to realize that Chan-screechy is yelling out Baekhyun’s name and he sounds panicked. Sehun hurries to the bedroom and he almost backs away immediately when he sees that all three of them are naked.
Wait. Three?
Sehun’s jaw drops when he realizes that there are two Baekhyuns. One is standing over Chan-weepy as he shakes the second Baekhyun’s body.
“What…” Sehun is confused because they’re in a strange position. Why is Baekhyun’s body so close to- “Dude.” He looks at Baekhyun’s Soul sharply. “Seriously?”
Baekhyun looks sheepish. “Seemed like a good idea at the time.” He presses a hand to his throat. “My throat feels really raw, and my jaw is sore. Is that going to stay?” He glances down at himself. “Am I going to move on to the other side butt naked?”
Sehun snickers. “The pain will go away soon. Not sure about the lack of clothes though.” He beckons him out of the room, if only to get away from Chan-apparently-has-a-big-dick’s crying. It’s kind of sad. Sehun didn’t like him, but Chan-whatchamacallit definitely liked Baekhyun.
He pulls out his notebook when they’re in the living room. Finally. He gets to fill it out.
“What are you doing?” Baekhyun inches over to see what he’s doing.
“I have to fill in your cause of death,” Sehun says, tapping at the space beside his name.
Baekhyun cringes. “Can’t you lie?”
Sehun snorts. “No. The book won’t let me write down a lie.” He laughs as he gleefully fills in the cause of death. “All those near-death experiences and you finally die choking on a dick.”
pre-sehun/baekhyun (baekhyun/chan-something)
pg-13
for pippopippo who asked for grim reaper au.
Byun Baekhyun is a terrible First Soul. Or First Soul to be because he won’t actually die.
Sehun groans as Baekhyun narrowly misses being hit by a car as he carelessly crosses the road, never once looking up from his cell phone. It would be fascinating how he always manages to avoid these incidents without so much as a scratch. Except. He’s supposed to be the First Soul Sehun collects but he can’t really do that when its dumb earthly vessel is walking around all bright smiles and obnoxious laughter and alive.
Sehun is too busy scowling at the car that had managed to miss running over Baekhyun- if it had been just a little faster he would be happily escorting Baekhyun to his afterlife right now- so he misses when Kyungsoo appears behind him.
“Sehun.” Kyungsoo sounds exasperated. “He’s still alive?”
Sehun is indignant. Kyungsoo is annoyed? Sehun is the one who’s been following Baekhyun for the past one year, waiting for him to die. It’s not like he hasn’t had plenty of opportunities to kick the bucket and go wander the Elysian Fields or whatever the fuck souls did when they passed on.
When Kyungsoo had first dropped Sehun off to where Baekhyun was, Baekhyun had been drowning at the beach.
“See,” Kyungsoo had said, patting Sehun on the shoulder. “I told you the First Soul is always easy.”
A second later, some long-legged guy with weird hair dove in and rescued him. It was sort of cool, really, except Baekhyun was still breathing and very much alive.
“Ah.” Kyungsoo had given him another pat on the shoulder, this one more consoling. “That happens sometimes. But don’t worry. He’s clumsy and accident-prone. I’m sure he’ll die some other way soon enough.”
That had been a year ago. Kyungsoo hadn’t lied. Baekhyun was pretty horrible at self-preservation, and yet, one year later, there he was. Walking, breathing, on his way to see his boyfriend, that asshole who had saved him at the beach- Chan-something because Sehun doesn’t give a fuck about him.
“He just won’t die,” Sehun complains. “Can’t I just kill him myself?”
Kyungsoo rolls his eyes. “You know we can’t,” he says. “We just help them get to the other side.”
Sehun sadly looks at the notebook in his hands. “How could you assign me to such a tedious First Soul?” He flips open the book and holds it out in front of Kyungsoo’s face. “Jongin is already on page 10 of his book. I don’t even have my List yet! It’s just his stupid name and then blank pages.”
Kyungsoo pushes the book away. “You know you can’t get your List until you get your First Soul.” He sounds comforting, which is a testament to what a problem Baekhyun has been because Kyungsoo is hardly ever comforting.
“You know what the problem is, right?” Sehun glares at Baekhyun’s lone name in the book before he closes it. “Chan-whatever-the-fuck. He keeps saving Baekhyun.”
And he really does. One time Sehun had been wandering around the grocery store- away from Baekhyun, because he figured if Baekhyun wasn’t going to inhale one of the two laundry detergents he was taking a million years to decide on, then he probably wasn’t going to die at the store so Sehun felt like he was free to walk away.
He’d been inspecting a kind of cookie- mint in cookies? Humans did such strange things these days- when he heard a loud crash followed by a shriek in the aisle where he had left Baekhyun. He had been so hopeful.
Come on, please please please let something have fallen on him, Sehun had thought. But when he got there, Baekhyun was being held upright by Chan-fucker-who-won’t-let-Baekhyun-just-die.
“Who’s his Grim? Tell him to come collect.”
“Nah. His name’s not in anyone’s book yet.”
Sehun scoffs. “Baekhyun is never going to die as long as he’s around.”
Kyungsoo shrugs. “Well, you know. There’s always disease and stuff. Chanyeol can’t stop that.”
Sehun frowns. “Who’s Chanyeol?”
Kyungsoo snorts. “Hang in there, baby Grim.” He grins when Sehun nips at his hand when he tries to pat his shoulder. “Baekhyun can’t live forever.”
“Wanna bet?” Sehun sighs as Kyungsoo disappears in a wisp of smoke.
ϟ
For the first time since he’s been assigned to Baekhyun, Sehun feels giddy. This is it. Baekhyun is finally going to croak. There’s no way he’s going to survive this sickness. He isn’t sure what Baekhyun has exactly, but he’s in the hospital and he looks like he’s a step away from death’s door.
Finally. He can reap Baekhyun’s stubborn soul and kick it off to the afterlife and he can finally get his List. He hopes Chan-douche ends up on his List, he would be glad to take his soul too.
Baekhyun actually sees him this time and Sehun is so relieved he wants to cry. When he had followed Kyungsoo around when he was training, he learned that people never saw their Grims unless they were actually dying.
“Who are you?” Baekhyun doesn’t seem concerned that Sehun has just randomly appeared in his hospital room. But the doctors have him hooked up on all kinds of medications so he’s probably not aware of a lot of things.
“Sehun.” Sehun drops into the chair next to Baekhyun’s hospital bed.
“Oh.” Baekhyun looks confused. “I’m Baekhyun.”
Sehun almost laughs because Baekhyun doesn’t even know who he is but he’s still being friendly. How has he not been killed by someone for this strange habit of his to talk to almost anyone? “I know,” he says instead.
“Are you sick?”
Sehun snorts. “Do I look sick?”
Baekhyun knits his eyebrows in confusion and he looks like he’s going to say something but he shrugs. “I’m sick. Really sick. I feel like I’m going to die.”
Kyungsoo had said that they’re supposed to try being comforting once their Souls can see them. “They probably know who you are,” he had said. “80% of the time, you’re going to be last person they see while they’re alive. So be comforting. Sehun, are you listening? Don’t give them that default passive look of yours.”
Sehun figures agreeing with Baekhyun doesn’t count as comforting so he just hums in reply instead.
“Is that it?” Baekhyun makes a face. “I tell you I’m going to die and you’ve got nothing to say to that?”
Sehun is amazed that Baekhyun is so sick and he’s still such a little shit. “I was thinking ‘probably,’ but I figured that’s not what you want to hear.”
Baekhyun pouts and he turns his face away. “I don’t like you,” he says, closing his eyes.
Sehun scoffs. “Same.”
ϟ
Sehun is livid.
And inconsolable.
“He’s never going to die,” he wails into Kyungsoo’s shoulder. “He saw me! How could he make a miraculous recovery? I thought this was finally it.”
Kyungsoo is stiff under him because he hates being this close to someone and usually Sehun does too, but Byun Baekhyun is still alive so fuck Kyungsoo’s personal space, Sehun is getting a hug.
“It’s modern medicine,” Kyungsoo says, taking a deep breath before he awkwardly puts an arm around Sehun’s shoulders. “They do extraordinary things these days.”
“Fuck modern medicine!” Sehun punches Kyungsoo’s free shoulder, but the older Grim doesn’t budge. “Am I going to have to throw Baekhyun off a cliff myself?” He pulls away and looks at Kyungsoo hopefully. “Please? Can I? This has to be the longest assignment a Grim has had.”
Kyungsoo laughs. “It’s not, trust me. And I told you. We can’t do anything to them. Besides we can’t even touch people. How are you going to push him off a cliff when you can’t touch him?”
Sehun frowns. “We can touch them once they can see us.”
“Sure, but I doubt Baekhyun’s going to randomly decide to take a walk on a cliff.”
Sehun pouts before he buries his face in Kyungsoo’s shoulder again and takes up his wailing once more. “I hate him so much. Why can’t he just die already?”
ϟ
Sehun’s sitting in an empty booth in a bubble tea shop when he sees the tendrils of light blue smoke appearing next to him. He knows Kyungsoo and the other supervisor Grims appear with white smoke, and blue smoke is for someone who has already started working on their List. Sehun is stuck with this gross, pale yellow smoke, and probably will be stuck with it forever because that’s how long Baekhyun’s going to live.
He punches out before the Grim even fully appears because he already knows it’s going to be Tao.
“Pretty boy’s still alive I see.” Tao rubs the shoulder that had gotten hit and smiles when Sehun scowls at him.
“What are you doing here?” Sehun eyes the tapioca pearls at the bottom of Baekhyun’s drink. So tiny, but all they had to do was get stuck in Baekhyun’s trachea and Sehun gets promoted to blue smoke.
“I’m ahead of schedule,” Tao says, tapping his own notebook fondly. “This old lady was supposed to pass away in her sleep next week, but poor thing got hit by a car today. She was really nice. She started seeing me a few days ago, I think she knew who I was because she didn’t seem surprised when I came to collect her soul today.”
Sehun hits him again. Ahead of schedule. Did the injustices of being Baekhyun’s Grim Reaper never end?
Tao looks over at where Baekhyun is talking to Chan-whatsit. They’re holding hands under the table. Sehun wants to sneer. They’re so happy it’s disgusting. “I thought he was going to die a month ago?”
“He obviously didn’t,” Sehun mutters. He glances at Tao’s notebook and he’s jealous of how worn out it looks.
“We’re taking bets,” Tao says, shamelessly. “Not about when he’ll die,” he adds hurriedly when Sehun glares at him. “Just how. There’s a lot of money riding on freak accident like a piano or something falling out a window and crushing him as he walks by. Personally I think it’ll be something simple, like electrocution or a bee sting or something.”
Sehun sighs. So many ways to die and Baekhyun just continued to live on.
ϟ
When Baekhyun gets jumped on the street and dragged into an alley, Sehun doesn’t blink. A month ago, maybe even a few weeks ago, he would have been excited. Hopeful. But now he just leans against the opposite wall from the one Baekhyun is being shoved up against as the stranger tells him to hand over his wallet.
Muggings don’t always end up in death anyway, Sehun tells himself. So Baekhyun’s not really escaping death.
Sehun sighs and wishes the mugger was more capable. He was taking too much time rifling through Baekhyun’s wallet single-handedly, while he uses his free arm to keep Baekhyun pinned against the wall. Sehun wants Baekhyun to die but he doesn’t particularly like watching how panicked and scared he looks right now.
Come on, he thinks impatiently. Kill him or let him go.
It doesn’t surprise him that the mugger isn’t pleased with what he finds in Baekhyun’s wallet. Sehun knows he hardly carries any cash with him, and when he does, he spends it fast.
Baekhyun, who has been quiet the entire time, finally says, “Let me go. I’ll give you the code for my bank card, just let me go.” He reaches up to push the man’s arm away and Sehun winces because that can’t possibly be a good idea.
He’s right because the man shoves Baekhyun back harder against the wall, and Sehun actually feels bad when he hears Baekhyun let out a tiny whimper.
“Give me your watch.”
Sehun’s eyes move to the watch on Baekhyun’s wrist. Stupid boy, he thinks. The mugger never would have noticed the fancy watch Chan-buys-too-much-expensive-shit gave him if Baekhyun hadn’t tried to move the mugger’s arm away. Of course that stupid shiny thing was going to catch his attention.
“No.” Baekhyun looks terrified when Sehun looks at his face but he’s still stubbornly refusing to hand over the watch.
Sehun can’t help how irritated he feels. It’s not like Chan-earns-too-much-money couldn’t buy him a new watch. Maybe Baekhyun really was going to die this way. But really? Sehun thinks about filling in the ‘Cause of death’ in his book with, ’Murdered because too stupid to hand over a watch.’ Wasn’t it bad enough that Sehun was already the laughingstock with most of the other Grims? Couldn’t Baekhyun just die some simple way?
“Sehun?”
Sehun realizes that Baekhyun is staring right at him. Huh. So he was going to die. How? As far as he can tell, the mugger doesn’t have a weapon, does he- oh. He’s not sure where the knife appears from because he wasn’t paying attention, but now the mugger is pressing it dangerously close to Baekhyun’s throat.
“Who’s Sehun?” he demands. “Is that who gave you the watch? I’m sure he can get you another one. Now give me the watch or am I going to have to cut off your wrist to get it?”
Sehun snorts. “There’s no way that knife can cut through bone,” he tells Baekhyun. He’s not here to see Baekhyun get his hand cut off. That wouldn’t kill him, so it doesn’t cater to Sehun’s interests. It would just be painful and bloody and Sehun doesn’t like blood. He wonders if the mugger knows anything about anatomy to kill Baekhyun quickly. He’d rather not have his First Soul bleed out in front of him because he definitely doesn’t have enough experience to be comforting for Baekhyun’s last moments.
“Why aren’t you helping me?” Baekhyun hasn’t taken his eyes off Sehun, and the mugger turns around to see who Baekhyun is talking to but of course he can’t see Sehun.
“I can’t,” Sehun answers.
“What do you mean?” Baekhyun is giving him a pleading look, but he also looks really confused about how Sehun is just standing there and refusing to help.
“Hey!” The mugger yanks on Baekhyun’s hair and he looks angry. “Who are you talking to? Are you just trying to weird me out?”
“Sehun, please.” Baekhyun pleads.
Sehun has to look away. “I can’t help,” he says. “Even if I was allowed to help, I can’t touch him.”
“What do you-”
“Stop talking!” the mugger yells. Sehun can see him digging his fingers into Baekhyun’s scalp and he cringes when he sees the knife press down against Baekhyun’s skin.
“Just give him the watch,” Sehun says desperately. He doesn’t want to watch Baekhyun die like this. “Or…kick him in the balls and run.”
Baekhyun’s eyes widen. “What?”
“Stop talking! Just stop talking and give me your watch!”
“Do it,” Sehun urges, and he can’t believe he’s helping Baekhyun stay alive. “Kick him in the balls and run.”
“Why don’t you attack him from behind?”
“Baekhyun,” Sehun says in exasperation as the mugger lets out an angry shout at how Baekhyun keeps talking to someone he can’t see. “Are you really arguing with me? I told you, I can’t touch him.” His eyes widen as Baekhyun lets out a yelp when the knife finally draws blood, but it’s enough to make him react.
Baekhyun knees the guy right in between his legs and Sehun winces despite himself. The mugger releases his hold on Baekhyun and he keels over in pain, dropping Baekhyun’s wallet by his feet.
Baekhyun picks it up and he hesitates for a second. “Sorry,” he mumbles before he takes off as fast as he can.
Sehun laughs as he runs after him. “Sorry? He could have killed you!”
“Yeah, but being kicked down there hurts.” Baekhyun doesn’t stop running until he reaches a main road and there are people milling about him from all directions. He frowns as he looks around. “Sehun?”
“I’m right here,” Sehun says, weaving through the crowd to get closer to him.
“Sehun? Where’d you go?”
“I’m right…” Oh. Sehun has moved right in front of Baekhyun, but he can’t see him anymore. “You’re safe now.” He says it more to himself than to Baekhyun, who can’t hear him anyway.
ϟ
“You helped him.” Kyungsoo doesn’t sound pleased but he doesn’t sound like he’s admonishing him either.
“I know,” Sehun groans, opening his notebook and staring forlornly at Baekhyun’s lonely name. He could have had his List by now if he had just not said anything. “I didn’t really help. It’s common sense.”
Kyungsoo fixes him with an ‘are you serious’ look. “Kicking a guy in the nuts?”
“Yes. I know it hurts like a bitch but so is having your throat slit,” Sehun says. “Aren’t there like…brownie points or something for when Grim Reapers do good deeds?”
“Sehun.” Kyungsoo sighs as he massages his temples. “Grim Reapers aren’t supposed to do good deeds. We’re not supposed to do any deeds. We’re just supposed to wait and then help the Souls move on. We don’t get attached.”
Sehun is so offended that he gasps. “I’m not…” He trails off because…maybe. There’s no reason Baekhyun should still be breathing right now as he sleeps peacefully- Sehun assumes he’s sleeping, he refuses to step foot inside Baekhyun’s bedroom, especially once Chan-loser is inside too. Sehun should have just let whatever would have happened happen.
“It’s not fair,” he says finally. “Of course you guys don’t get attached to your Souls. You only know them for a few days, a week at most. I’ve been waiting for Baekhyun for a year now. A year and a half almost.”
Kyungsoo reaches over and closes the notebook before resting a hand on top of Sehun’s. “Remember they asked you what you wanted to do after you completed your List?”
Sehun looks away. “Yes.”
“And is your answer the same?”
“Yes.”
“Then don’t intervene again, okay? Baekhyun’s a good person but no one can live forever. His name’s on your list so he’s meant to die soon.” Kyungsoo pats his hands. “Being killed by someone isn’t an ideal way to go but it’s not good when a Soul that is supposed to pass on is anchored by the body. You know that.”
“He keeps getting saved,” Sehun insists.
“Human intervention can’t be helped,” Kyungsoo says, “but don’t step in next time.”
“Fine,” Sehun mutters, pulling his hands free. “I’ll just let him be killed the next time someone tries to murder him.”
Kyungsoo laughs as he gets to his feet. “You’re upset, little Grim. Don’t be. First Souls are usually the easiest to reap but they’re also the hardest because it’s hard to watch someone die.”
“I’m bigger than you,” Sehun says spitefully, and he scowls when Kyungsoo ruffles his hair before he vanishes. Stupid punk supervisor Grims.
ϟ
Something strange is going on. Sehun knows it’s not possible but sometimes he swears Baekhyun sees him. It’s usually only for a few seconds but Baekhyun looks like he recognizes Sehun before he blinks and then he looks confused like he’s not sure what had happened.
When Sehun actually bumps into Baekhyun when the latter stops short, he knows something is wrong.
Baekhyun whips around the second he feels Sehun run into him, but even though Sehun is right there, his eyes see right through him.
Chan-doesn’t-have-his-own-life stops when he notices that Baekhyun has stopped walking. “What’s wrong?”
It’s strange to have Baekhyun staring at him without actually seeing him, and Sehun doesn’t want to move in case that sets something off again. He doesn’t know what’s going on. Grim Reapers are never seen until Souls are close to moving on and Baekhyun doesn’t have a scratch on him. In fact, as far as Sehun knows, he hasn’t had any near-death experiences in at least a week. Even once they can be seen, Grims rarely touch people when they’re alive. Sehun should have been able to walk right through Baekhyun, not bump into him.
“I don’t know,” Baekhyun says, biting his lower lip. “I thought someone was behind us.”
Chan-whatever looks around, but they’re walking home and their street is quiet, like it usually is. “Are you feeling okay?”
Baekhyun nods absent-mindedly. “Yeah,” he says, reaching for Chan-lame’s hand and Sehun makes a face. “I guess I’m just tired.”
ϟ
Sehun has been trying to stay out of view because he still isn’t sure what makes Baekhyun notice him. It’s hard because Grim Reapers are allowed to follow their souls freely since they remain unseen. He forgets that he’s trying to stay out of sight when he sees Baekhyun poking around in one of the chemistry labs at his workplace. He's leaning in too close to the pink mixture in the beaker that Baekhyun is attending to, when Baekhyun suddenly just- sees him.
He yelps and jumps back. “Who are you?” he demands, reaching out for the first thing he can grab at and waving it threateningly at Sehun.
Except it’s a test tube brush and not very threatening.
“How can you see me?” Sehun tilts his head, studying Baekhyun curiously. Baekhyun has to be an anomaly. How else would it explain the fact that he can see him? It would also explain why he’s still not dead.
“Of course I can see you,” Baekhyun snaps, jabbing the test tube brush harmlessly in Sehun’s chest. “How did you get in here? Why are you following me?”
“I’m not following you,” Sehun says defensively, even though he is actually following him. Just not in a creepy way like Baekhyun was implying. Although he supposes a Grim Reaper following someone, waiting for them to die could be considered creepy to some people.
“Then how come I’ve seen you so many times?” Baekhyun is still brandishing the test tube brush at him, but added with the safety goggles he’s wearing, he just looks ridiculous.
Sehun glances around the room. “Is there anything here that could blow up the lab?” he asks. It wouldn’t help explain why Baekhyun had seen glimpses of him before but maybe Baekhyun was going to die now?
“What?” Baekhyun looks around before focussing back on Sehun. “I don’t know. Maybe? Why?”
“Because you shouldn’t be able to see me.” Sehun points at the pink liquid in the beaker. “What’s this? Is it explosive?”
Baekhyun gives him a scathing look. “No, I’m not stupid. It’s just an experiment. I know what I’m doing.”
“Then how come you can see me?” Sehun complains loudly, slumping down on a stool.
Baekhyun watches him in puzzlement, but he’s put the test tube brush down and he approaches Sehun slowly. “Are you an angel or something?”
Sehun laughs. “What makes you think I’m an angel?”
Baekhyun shrugs. “I don’t know. The first time I met you was when I was sick in the hospital, and then I saw you again when I was getting robbed.” He takes a step closer and studies Sehun’s face. “And I thought I saw you a year ago. When I met Chanyeol.”
Who? “When you almost drowned you mean.”
“How do you- oh.” Baekhyun’s face lights up. “Are you my guardian angel? That would explain why no one else can see you and I only see you when I need help. You’re always saving me.”
Sehun is appalled. “I have never saved you,” he says. “Not once. I mean, okay, I helped you with the mugging thing but other than that I’ve never helped.”
Baekhyun wrinkles his nose. “What kind of lame guardian angel are you then?”
“I’m not a guardian an-” Sehun sighs. “You’re not supposed to be able to see me.”
“Why? What’s the big deal?”
Sehun points to the table. “Can you just clean up and leave? Maybe I’ll disappear again.”
“You’re very surly for an angel,” Baekhyun mutters, but he does start cleaning up. “How come you’re…” He blinks in confusion. “Sehun?”
Sehun sighs in relief. Good. Baekhyun can’t see him anymore.
ϟ
Kyungsoo fills him in when Sehun’s sitting in the back of the movie theatre, behind Baekhyun and his best friend. Sehun is a little annoyed that Kyungsoo chooses now to explain all the weird things happening with Baekhyun because the movie is interesting.
“Sehun?” Kyungsoo waves a hand in front of his face. “Are you listening?”
Sehun scowls and shoves the hand away. “Yes,” he says. “Baekhyun can see me sometimes because he’s escaped death so many times that he’s more sensitive to my presence now. Fine, I get it. I’ll try to keep a bigger space between us and try not to run into him again.”
“Well…” Kyungsoo shrugs. “You don’t have to. He doesn’t seem scared of you so I don’t think it’s a big deal if he keeps seeing you.”
“That’s because he thinks I’m an angel,” Sehun says, rolling his eyes. He turns to Kyungsoo. “Am I allowed to tell him what I am?”
Kyungsoo seems unsure. “I don’t know,” he says finally. “This is really rare. The boss says she’s only heard about it happening once and she wasn’t in charge then so even she doesn’t know what actually happened. I mean, I guess you can tell him? He’s going to die soon anyway. He probably won’t believe you though.”
“He believes in guardian angels,” Sehun reminds him. “I’m sure Grim Reaper isn’t that much of a high reach from there. So do I tell him I’m waiting for him to die?”
“Sehun,” Kyungsoo chides. “Just because he can see you doesn’t change anything. He’s still your Soul and you can’t be so offhanded about death with people.”
“Fine, fine,” Sehun says, waving an arm dismissively at him. “Can we watch the movie now?”
Kyungsoo rolls his eyes. “I have Souls to collect. You watch and enjoy the movie, little Grim.” He grins and ducks away when Sehun tries to hit him.
Sehun sees Baekhyun lean in to whisper something to his friend before they both break into quiet laughter and he sighs. “You should stay. It’s nice having someone around who can see me. All the time.” He turn towards the screen, but he can see Kyungsoo studying him from the corner of his eye.
“Okay,” Kyungsoo says, relaxing in his seat. “I’ll stay for a little while.”
ϟ
“A what?”
“Grim Reaper,” Sehun says again. It’s sort of nice when Baekhyun can see him but honestly, it’s tiring trying to hold a conversation with him.
Baekhyun looks at him dubiously. “Where’s your scythe? And aren’t you supposed to be wearing a dark cloak or something?”
Sehun rolls his eyes. “We got rid of the scythes when we realized we didn’t need them to actually reap Souls,” he says sarcastically.
Baekhyun grins. “And the dark cloaks?”
Sehun can’t believe he’s having this conversation. “Too morbid so we decided to keep up with the latest fashion trends,” he says.
Baekhyun laughs and Sehun doesn’t know if he should be offended or not. “So should I be scared of you?” he asks. Sehun isn’t sure why he’s asking because judging by the way he throws a few chips in his mouth and props his feet up on the coffee table, Baekhyun is clearly not scared of him. “Are you going to kill me?”
“You obviously know the answers to those questions,” Sehun says, kicking Baekhyun’s feet off the table even though it’s his apartment.
“What do you do then if you can’t kill me?” Baekhyun offers Sehun the bag of chips and it’s actually sort of endearing.
“Do you really want to talk about this?” Sehun asks, declining the chips. “People don’t generally want to talk about dying.”
Baekhyun muses over this as he continues munching on the chips. “I guess not. Does everyone have a Grim? Does Chanyeol have one?”
Seriously, who’s Chany- oh. That’s the rest of Chan-whatsit’s name. “Yes,” Sehun answers shortly, because it’s true. He doesn’t mention that Grims only appear when a person is meant to die soon because he supposes no one wants to know they’re about to die. Although he’s been with Baekhyun for almost a year and a half. Who knows when he was really going to die? It could be another year for all he knew.
“How do you become a- hey!” Baekhyun pouts as he looks around. “Why do you keep disappearing like that?”
Sehun shrugs even though he knows Baekhyun can’t see him because even Kyungsoo can’t tell him why Baekhyun just suddenly sees him and just as suddenly stops seeing him.
“Sehun?” Baekhyun tries again. He looks over to where Sehun is sitting and he reluctantly holds his hand out and reaches out for him.
Sehun watches curiously as Baekhyun’s hand gets closer and on a whim, he reaches out his own hand. But Baekhyun’s fingers brush right through his hand and he doesn’t know why he feels so disappointed.
ϟ
Baekhyun is treating Sehun like he thinks he’s Casper the friendly ghost or something. If he’s alone in the apartment, he calls out a good morning whether or not he can see Sehun, and he softly says goodnight before he disappears into his room. He guessed- and Sehun confirmed- that Sehun’s always generally around.
“Except bathrooms and bedrooms,” Sehun says. “Except sometimes you and the weirdo get frisky in the living room or the kitchen so I just leave whichever room you guys have chosen to defile.”
“Why?” Baekhyun says unabashedly. “We’re hot when we fuck.”
Sehun gags. “I’ll just take your word for it,” he says, suppressing a shudder.
“Don’t be a prude,” Baekhyun says, grinning.
Sehun isn’t a prude. He doesn’t have a problem with sex. He hasn’t had sex in a while because he’s babysitting Baekhyun's stubborn ass Soul, but sex is good. Baekhyun and sex is not entirely off-putting. It’s the other part of the equation he has a problem with- Baekhyun having sex with Chan-ning-Tatum-peaked-in-She’s-the-Man.
“Why are you still with that guy?” Sehun asks, following Baekhyun into the kitchen.
“Because I like him,” Baekhyun answers, pouring himself some coffee. “Do you want…” He looks at Sehun questioningly. “Do you guys eat?”
Sehun shrugs. “Yeah, but we don’t have to. You know, to survive and all since we’re technically not alive anyway.”
Baekhyun wrinkles his nose. “So is that a yes or no on coffee?”
“That weak mud water,” Sehun says pointing to the cup, “is not coffee.”
“Elitist,” Baekhyun says, pointedly taking a big sip from his cup. “So what? Do you want to go out for coffee?”
Sehun blinks. “What, with you?”
“Why not?”
“Because no one can see me. You don’t think someone’s going to think it’s weird that you ordered two coffees and you’re talking to yourself? Like I said, we can eat but we don’t have to. We don’t get hungry. We usually only eat if we curious about something.”
Baekhyun pulls a face. “You’re a very strange friend to have.”
Friend. Sehun rolls his eyes but he doesn’t bother to correct him.
ϟ
“Sehun!”
Sehun rolls his eyes. Baekhyun knows he’s always around, he doesn’t know why he feels the need to yell out loud for him when he can’t see him. “Dumb ass,” he mutters, and he tries not to think about how fond he sounds.
“Take note,” Baekhyun says, as he marches into his bedroom and promptly shuts the door.
Sehun sighs. Baekhyun is so tiring. He’s about to head to the living room when Baekhyun’s bedroom door opens and he peeks his head out. It’s obvious he still can’t see Sehun.
“You can come in,” Baekhyun says, his eyes shifting around since he has no idea where Sehun is. “I’m just changing.”
“That’s exactly why I don’t do bedrooms,” Sehun says.
Baekhyun’s eyebrows knit in confusion but he looks to where Sehun is standing. “Sehun?” he calls out carefully. “That’s weird. I just heard you but I can’t see you.”
Sehun groans. “Why do all these weird things keep happening with you?”
Baekhyun jumps. “Oh, there you are. Better. It’s kind of creepy to just hear you. Anyway come in. I always thought you never came into the bedroom because you assumed Chanyeol and I were having sex every other second.”
“No,” Sehun says, feet firmly planted outside the bedroom. “It’s because I’m not some creep who watches you while you take your clothes off.” After a pause he adds, “Also the sex thing.”
Baekhyun grabs his wrist and hauls him in. “Don’t be such a prude,” he says, shamelessly stripping down to his boxers. “It’s not like I have anything you’ve never seen before.”
Sehun is too busy staring at his wrist. He’s pretty sure this is the first time Baekhyun has touched him. He didn’t even know that was possible. Of course it’s possible, he tells himself. If Grims can touch people when they can be seen, then it made sense that they could touch Grims too. He tries to shake off this strange feeling but when he looks up, he’s presented with a whole lot of bare skin, as Baekhyun stands in front of his closet.
“Uh…”
Baekhyun casts a look at him over his shoulder. “What?”
“I had to take note of something?”
Baekhyun beams as he pulls out a shirt. “Yes! We’re going to a party tonight.”
“We? You and Chan-too-tall-for-you?”
Baekhyun snorts at that but he doesn’t seem offended by Sehun’s obvious disdain for his boyfriend. “Yeah, Chanyeol’s going to be there after work,” he says, bending down to dig through his closet. “But I actually meant you and me. I just thought you should know because it’s probably going to be loud. And full of drunk people.”
Sehun tries his best not to stare at Baekhyun’s ass, but he keeps sneaking glances anyway. What is wrong with him? “Great, drunk people,” he says. Maybe he’ll see another Grim Reaper at the party. It sounds like the kind of party where someone gets alcohol poisoning. He perks up. “Do you drink a lot?”
Baekhyun finally stands up, a pair of pants in his hand. “Yes,” he says cheerfully. “I plan to get spectacularly drunk tonight.”
Sehun returns his smile. “Perfect.” He’s not as enthusiastic as Baekhyun dying anymore but he’s still Sehun’s First Soul, and he can’t move on if Baekhyun doesn’t.
ϟ
Sehun isn’t sure how long they’ve been at the party. Long enough for Baekhyun to get spectacularly drunk like he promised. Or more like, “Speclacturty drunk,” as Baekhyun had slurred as he had leaned heavily against Sehun, who had to dump him on a couch before anyone realized that he was leaning on nothing.
Baekhyun slumps over right into the lap of the guy who’s sitting next to him, but it’s his best friend and the last time Sehun had checked on them, Baekhyun was smiling up as his friend- also speclacturty drunk apparently- braided his hair. Beautiful.
Chan-too-cool-to-show-up-for-a-party still hadn’t showed up and Sehun wonders just how drunk Baekhyun will be by the end of the night. Alcohol poisoning seems pretty promising at the moment.
He’s trying to figure out if he’s safe enough to sneak a drink when Jongin appears beside him.
“Kitchen’s empty,” he says, reaching past Sehun to grab a beer. So Sehun grabs a beer and follows him to the kitchen, that is actually empty.
“Still haven’t reaped your First Soul?” Jongin asks. He looks happy to see Sehun, and Sehun is pleased to see him too. They had trained together but he hasn’t seen Jongin since he was assigned to Baekhyun.
Sehun makes a face. “No. Tonight looks promising though.”
“Yeah?” Jongin raises an eyebrow. “What are you thinking? Alcohol poisoning?”
Sehun crosses his fingers. “I’m hoping.” He gestures at the notebook in Jongin’s free hand. “Who are you here for?”
“Some guy named Yixing. Apparently he gets so high that he jumps into the pool.”
Sehun frowns. “That doesn’t sound too bad.” He tries not to sound jealous that getting a List means also knowing how a person is going to die. Nothing’s for sure, because humans are always messing around but 95% of the time, the cause of death is right.
“It’s winter. There’s no water in the pool.”
“Oh.” Sehun winces. “Wow. That’s awful.”
“Yeah. You’d almost think he was a college kid because of the way he dies.” Jongin sets his beer down and opens his book to the latest page he’s filled. Sehun almost chokes when he sees that Jongin is almost halfway through his book. “I keep getting a lot of college kids. College kids die in some really strange ways.”
“I wouldn’t know,” Sehun mutters bitterly.
“You’ll definitely get college kids on your list,” Jongin says assuringly. “You’ll see. Maybe after tonight even.”
Sehun hears a loud, “Look, everyone, Jello shots!” in a voice that sounds suspiciously like Baekhyun’s, and it’s joined by another equally loud voice which Sehun guesses belongs to the best friend.
“You gotta love drunk people,” Jongin says, clinking his beer bottle against Sehun’s. “They make reaping so easy.”
ϟ
Jongin is wrong. Drunk people are awful.
“Sehun,” Baekhyun says mournfully, hunched over the toilet bowl. “M’ gonna die.”
Sehun tries his best not to breathe in and he wishes this was one of the times Baekhyun couldn’t see him because he would have preferred to stay away from this mess. But Chan-McLoser was nowhere to be found and neither was Baekhyun’s best friend, so Baekhyun had grabbed Sehun as he rushed to the bathroom.
“Maybe,” Sehun mumbles.
Baekhyun smacks him on the shoulder. “S’not comforting,” he says, eyes drooping. “You should be saying pretty things. You’ll be okay, Baekhyun. Not gonna die, Baekhyun.”
“I’m a Grim Reaper,” Sehun says. “You should have figured out by now that people dying is a good thing for us.” He’s still rubbing slow circles on Baekhyun’s back anyway. He figures it’s comforting.
“Don’t wanna die.” Baekhyun reaches out for the toilet paper to wipe his mouth clean and he collapses against Sehun.
“I know,” Sehun says, shifting his arms so Baekhyun is more comfortable in them. When Baekhyun had touched him earlier, it had felt fleeting, almost like a kiss of a touch instead of an actual one. He feels a lot more solid now and Sehun wonders if that means he’s actually dying.
“Don’t wanna die, Sehun,” Baekhyun says again, turning his head towards Sehun.
Sehun smiles at him. “Are you crying?” He wipes away a few tears with his thumb.
“Dunno. Am I?” Baekhyun reaches out to touch his face and he laughs when he sees his fingers are wet. “I guess I am. I don’t know why I’m crying.”
“Why’d you drink so much?”
Baekhyun shrugs before he attempts to curl in further into Sehun. “It’s been awhile since we’ve been to a party. Always work work work. I just wanted to have fun. Maybe I overdid it.”
Sehun reaches for Baekhyun’s hand and he sighs. “You’re really cold, Baekhyun.”
Baekhyun’s eyes are closed but they flutter open again. “Am I?” he asks quietly.
“You are.”
“What happens when you reap my soul?”
Sehun shrugs. “I’m not sure. I’m just here to make sure you don’t get lost and end up lingering in this world. I help you move on.”
“To where?” Baekhyun looks like he’s struggling to stay awake.
“I have no idea.” Sehun laughs when Baekhyun frowns at that, but he’s sad. He’s been waiting for Baekhyun to die but he didn’t want to be the last person Baekhyun sees while he’s alive. “I’m sorry. I know that’s not what you want to hear.”
“It isn’t,” Baekhyun says, and Sehun feels him squeeze his hand lightly. “Does this mean I won’t see you again after I move on?”
“No, probably not.”
“Sucks,” Baekhyun mumbles. His head lolls against Sehun’s chest and his grip on Sehun’s hand goes slack. He’s quiet for so long that for a brief second, Sehun thinks that it’s actually happened, Baekhyun has finally died. “Sehun?”
Sehun laughs. Partly because of course he’s still alive, but partly because he’s relieved. “Yeah?”
“Do Grim Reapers get to move on?”
Sehun’s throat tightens. “Yeah. We do. If we want to.”
Baekhyun shivers against him and Sehun tightens his hold on him. “What does that mean?”
“We get a List of souls we have to collect,” Sehun says. “When we complete our Lists, we get to decide if we want another one or if we want to move on.”
“How many more on your List?”
Sehun pauses because he doesn’t want to tell Baekhyun that he has no idea, that he’ll only find out when Baekhyun dies. “A lot,” he answers finally.
Baekhyun goes quiet again.
“Baekhyun?” Sehun shakes his shoulder but he doesn’t wake up.
ϟ
Sehun’s just going to kill Chan-can’t-stop-won't-stop-saving-Baekhyun. That’s the only way he’s ever going to get to reap Baekhyun’s soul. It had been less than a minute when Baekhyun went quiet when Chan-stupid-asshat had knocked on the door, calling out for Baekhyun before he opened the door and found Baekhyun passed out in the bathroom.
Sehun sulks in the backseat of Chan-asshole’s car as they drive back home from the hospital. Baekhyun keeps sending him glances in the rearview mirror but Sehun just looks out the window and continues sulking.
He’s still sulking as he sits on the couch, glaring at the bookshelf long after Baekhyun and Chan-what’s-with-those-ears-anyway have called it a night. He isn’t sure how long he’s been sulking and glaring at the bookshelf that hasn’t done anything. In fact Baekhyun had one of his near-death experiences when he had been reaching for book on a higher shelf when all the books on the top shelf had toppled over but Chan-dumb had yanked Baekhyun away in time. Of course. Asshole.
Sehun thinks he may have fallen asleep because he wakes up to yelling and it takes him a few moments to realize that Chan-screechy is yelling out Baekhyun’s name and he sounds panicked. Sehun hurries to the bedroom and he almost backs away immediately when he sees that all three of them are naked.
Wait. Three?
Sehun’s jaw drops when he realizes that there are two Baekhyuns. One is standing over Chan-weepy as he shakes the second Baekhyun’s body.
“What…” Sehun is confused because they’re in a strange position. Why is Baekhyun’s body so close to- “Dude.” He looks at Baekhyun’s Soul sharply. “Seriously?”
Baekhyun looks sheepish. “Seemed like a good idea at the time.” He presses a hand to his throat. “My throat feels really raw, and my jaw is sore. Is that going to stay?” He glances down at himself. “Am I going to move on to the other side butt naked?”
Sehun snickers. “The pain will go away soon. Not sure about the lack of clothes though.” He beckons him out of the room, if only to get away from Chan-apparently-has-a-big-dick’s crying. It’s kind of sad. Sehun didn’t like him, but Chan-whatchamacallit definitely liked Baekhyun.
He pulls out his notebook when they’re in the living room. Finally. He gets to fill it out.
“What are you doing?” Baekhyun inches over to see what he’s doing.
“I have to fill in your cause of death,” Sehun says, tapping at the space beside his name.
Baekhyun cringes. “Can’t you lie?”
Sehun snorts. “No. The book won’t let me write down a lie.” He laughs as he gleefully fills in the cause of death. “All those near-death experiences and you finally die choking on a dick.”