Chapter Text
Summer 2003
The July sun brings an unbearable humid heat that clings to Joong-gil with a warmth so fierce that he feels it in his bones. Temperatures have been increasing all over the world, record highs are dethroned year after year. Sweat drips onto his wristwatch from his brow as he checks the time. It’s noon now and Joong-gil is due to collect a soul in a few minutes.
Lee Ye-Jin is a twice divorced, failed businessman and Joong-gil’s fnal soul of the day. The old man currently steps into the park with a smile as he tilts his face toward the sun. He is blissfully unaware that his time in the Land of the Living is almost at its end. Lee Ye-Jin sits alone on a bench and opens a book to read. Joong-gil watches him from afar. His duty as a Reaper, to watch until the very end.
“Jeon Su-in!” A woman shouts, panicked. She brushes by Joong-gil and almost trips over her own two feet looking for her lost child. There’s a shrill to her voice that only a mother can manage. “Jeon Su-in, come out now!”
The child has been hiding behind a bench a few feet away from Joong-gil for about six minutes. She peeks her head up every few seconds, a victorious grin on her face. It’s pure ignorance that she has not been found yet. The gigantic red bow, if not her need to not be still, is a dead giveaway of her hiding spot.
“You’re not very good at hiding.” Joong-gil says.
“I’m the best hider there is.” The girl frowns, standing.
“The point of hiding is to remain hidden.”
Joong-gil’s memory has not failed him yet. All the souls he’s escorted and the lives he’s encountered roam around his mind ready to be recalled when needed. He remembers this girl from the hospital a year ago. She’s taller now, not much taller than the bench, and her shoelaces are still untied. The girl studies him with curious eyes. She recognizes him too, trying to place his face to a name. She opens her mouth to speak but her mother yanks her by the arm.
“I told you to never do that again!” Her mother says, wiping dirt from her jeans. Jeon Su-in only laughs.
As her mother drags her away, the girl looks back over her shoulder at Joong-gil and waves. A rarity for the Reaper. Most children tend to shy away from Joong-gil when he crosses paths with them. Not because they find him intimidating though many of the people he comes across fear him for that very reason but because he is a stranger to them. He never minds it; children are weird little creatures. They fear what they’re told to fear. Love who they’re taught to love. And laugh without a care in the world.
Joong-gil waves back at her. Jeon Su-in. It seems that wherever death goes she is somewhere around laughing. He lingers on that thought a bit too long that he fails to notice the soccer ball before it smacks him in the face. The force of it makes him stagger back a bit. He will be surprised if there isn’t a bruise there tomorrow. Joong-gil can’t remember the last time he was hit with anything.
“I’m sorry, sir!” A teenager runs over to him and drops into a low bow. “Please forgive me.”
“Pass the ball with the inside of your foot next time.” Joong-gil rubs his face. “Never with your toe.”
He leaves the boy with that advice. Anyone else would have berated him about his lack of respect for his elders. Mistakes happen; that is just human nature, youth nature.
Joong-gil crosses the park to where Lee Ye-Jin takes his last breath. The old man is slouched on the bench with his head bowed as if he were only asleep.
“Lee Ye-Jin, born 8:32 on May 6, 1936.” Joong-gil says. “This soul has been collected.”
The old man’s soul stares at his former body. His smile remains, though it doesn’t reach his eyes. He takes a deep breath free of the stresses of his human life.
“I take it that you can see me.” The old soul turns to Joong-gil. “It seems that you are the only one here that knows I’m dead.”
“I’m your Reaper, sir.” Joong-gil explains. “I will escort you to the Afterlife.”
“Ah.”
The old man follows without another word. He understands that his time in the Land of the Living has come to an end. Not a single person spares a second glance to the body on the bench. A pitiful way to go, alone in a crowded place. It reminds Joong-gil of his own lonely end in his past life.
They are only a few feet outside of the park when Lee Ye-Jin stops in his tracks. His gaze fixed on a young man as he crosses the street.
“Who is he?” Joong-gil asks, though the resemblance is unmistakable.
“My son.” Lee Ye-Jin answers. “I’ve come to this park and sat on that same bench every day for the last twenty years just to see him.”
Lee Ye-Jin goes on to tell Joong-gil the story of how he threw away everything he’s ever loved in his life. His monetary greed became the most important thing to him which resulted in his two divorces. He had two sons. One from each marriage. The old man lost contact with his oldest son and hasn’t seen him since his ninth birthday. He kept in touch with the youngest son up until he went abroad for university studies.
“He has a family of his own now.” Lee Ye-Jin sighs. “I have a granddaughter that I’ve never met.”
“Why didn’t you go to him?” Joong-gil asks.
“He doesn’t want to see me. Not after all this time.”
“Everyone wants more time with those they love.”
By the time they reach Jumadeung, the old man is crying. One of those ugly cries where his tears drip into his runny nose. Most of the souls Joong-gil escorts are in tears by this point. Death isn’t always the scary part, but what comes after.
“I feel like I can breathe again.” Lee Ye-Jin sobs. “No matter where I end up in my next life, I feel like I can finally breathe.”
“I wish you well, Lee Ye-Jin.” Joong-gil says.
Joong-gil leaves the old man with one of the Intake Reapers. A short, stocky girl with blue tipped hair. She will prepare him for his next steps. Wherever he ends up, Joong-gil hopes that he is happy and one day reunited with his boys.
A black eye has started forming on Joong-gil’s face. He knows because the Reaper from Intake gasped when she saw him, and he caught sight of it in his reflection on her computer screen. It isn’t until he sees the bruising that his mind registers the fact that he is in pain. Someone needs to get that kid into training.
Every Reaper Joong-gil passes on his way to the elevator gawks at him. A few of them do double-takes to confirm. The great Park Joong-gil, Jumadeung’s best Reaper, has a black eye. It’s probably the most shocking thing most of them have seen thus far in their lives as Reapers. He presses the button and waits. Right now, all Joong-gil wants to do is shower and sleep but he knows the latter won’t happen.
Three Reapers step off the elevator. Their conversation silences the moment they lay eyes on him. They bow and hurry off to speculate about his eye.
Koo Ryeon leans on the back wall of the elevator when Joong-gil steps in. She greets him with a bow as she always does but she doesn’t stare at his face like the others. A simple raise of her eyebrow is all she gives him.
“You should see the other guy.” Joong-gil says.
“Lee Ye-Jin, born on May 6, 1936.” Koo Ryeon recalls. “I bet he has a phenomenal right hook.”
Koo Ryeon had seen the case file earlier today and she of all the other Reapers in the building knows a sixty-seven-year-old man is no match for him. When you’ve known someone for as long as she has known him, you can see through their bullshit.
“Soccer ball to the face.” Joong-gil admits, stepping off the elevator when it opens on the eighth floor. Koo Ryeon follows him. Their destination is the same. “She distracted me and didn’t sense it.”
The hallway is empty which is a relief. No more gawking eyes.
“I’d love to see the woman that distracted Park Joong-gil.” Koo Ryeon says after a pause. Her voice is softer when she says this. As if she wasn’t so sure that she wanted to say those words. She only smiles when he turns to look back at her. This smile is vacant, only there for politeness. Koo Ryeon’s eyes never meet his.
X
Joong-gil has made peace with his insomnia. He spent years trying one remedy after the next just to get some sleep. Nothing has ever worked and eventually Joong-gil stopped trying.
Most nights he ignores his exhaustion, burying himself in work. Other nights he finds himself testing his limits at the Training Center. The center is a dome of glass and steel, a newer addition to Jumadeung. New Reapers are housed here where they eat, sleep, train and repeat until they’re fit to join the team that best suits them. A century ago, Reapers were assigned to teams and learned on the job.
The combat wing has always been Joong-gil’s favorite. Designated only for those Reapers who prove to become part of the Escort Team. The training is rigorous for them but when death is your line of work, one can never be too prepared. Joong-gil makes time to drop in on the training sessions from time to time. Mostly unannounced.
Joong-gil bruises his knuckle on a final blow to the punching bag. He’s been at it for almost two hours now with heavy eyelids. He lands another blow before his hand has had enough. Joong-gil flexes his fingers and listens for any movement across the hall. His original intent was to practice his swordsmanship, but the room was occupied. Lights out at the Training Center was hours ago, and Joong-gil could have easily scolded the young Reaper. Instead, he gives him the space to practice.
“Thank you.” The young reaper appears in the doorway behind Joong-gil. His soft voice does not match the hardness of his face. “For allowing me this time to practice, sir.”
Joong-gil waits until the Reaper’s footsteps retreat before he crosses the hall into probably his favorite room of them all. The Blade Room. The far wall is adorned in blades of all shapes and sizes from countries near and far. A mat covers the entirety of the floor. Perhaps the most savage of all Jumadeung’s training happens in this very room.
“I got your message, sir.” Koo Ryeon appears in the room next to him as quiet as a whisper spoken in an empty room.
Joong-gil left a note on his subordinate’s desk asking her to join him in the Blade Room once her schedule cleared for the day. Koo Ryeon has joined him in the Training Center before but Joong-gil can count that number on one hand. Each time was because his presence was needed someplace else.
“How are your blade skills?” Joong-gil asks.
“Blades have never been my weapon of choice.” Koo Ryeon says.
They both know that she is pretty damn good with a blade.
Joong-gil takes pride in his subordinate’s abilities. He oversaw much of her training, watching from afar as she grew to be an exceptional Reaper.
“I’ve seen you take down the best swordsman in Jumadeung.” He says. It’s true. Almost two centuries ago, he witnessed his subordinate cut down Kim Ji-hoon so effortlessly that all of Jumadeung was stunned.
“I haven’t faced the best swordsman in Jumadeung.” She says, a challenge in her words.
It has been a while since he’s last seen her wield a blade. And there’s a reason he hasn’t faced his subordinate one-on-one yet, after all these years. Joong-gil doesn’t like to lose but tonight he’s up for the challenge.
While Joong-gil takes his time selecting his weapon, Koo Ryeon picks one at random. They meet at the center of the mat. Koo Ryeon tucks a strand of hair behind her left ear as Joong-gil reiterates the single rule of the Blade Room: there are no rules. As Reapers they are immortal beings. Koo Ryeon can slit his throat if she wants to and he hers. It would be agonizing, but they would heal eventually.
Joong-gil advances first. Something he would not normally do, but he called Koo Ryeon here tonight. She blocks his advance with ease. She blocks all his moves with ease. Joong-gil pulls back, letting Koo Ryeon make her own advance. Her movements are quick yet meticulous. Even when he met his subordinate all those years ago, a blade was not foreign to her.
“Who taught you to wield your blade?” Joong-gil asks, blocking another of her strikes. The question catches her off guard, but she recovers quickly. “You were already skilled with a blade when I first met you.”
“I knew only the basics then.” Koo Ryeon replies.
“My question remains the same.”
“Someone from my past life.”
Joong-gil does not like her admission. Someone foreign to him should not make him angry like this. So sudden and unpleasant the feeling surges through him. Jealousy, he realizes. An emotion he has no right to feel. Koo Ryeon’s past life is her own business. Not his. Joong-gil pushes it down, not ready to explore that just yet. He’ll revisit it later.
His mind is only out of the fight for a second. A literal heartbeat, maybe two. But it’s enough time for Joong-gil to loosen his grip and for Koo Ryeon to seize the advantage. Joong-gil looks down just as his subordinate disarms him in one swift motion with the hilt of her blade. They both watch as it falls to the mat with a pronounced thud.
“Risky move.” Joong-gil says. They’re standing armlength apart now, his fallen weapon forcing the distance. “Taking your eyes off the blade.”
“Weapons move at the behest of the one who wields them.” Koo Ryeon explains.
All Joong-gil can do is stare at this marvel of a woman.
X
The night is a great relief from the heat of the day. Joong-gil doesn’t mind the walk from the Training Center back to his office. He takes the long way around tonight, enjoying the peace the night brings. The pain in his face is back. It may have never fully gone away but he feels it now.
“How bad is it?” Joong-gil asks, looking back over his shoulder. Koo Ryeon has been behind him since they left the center. Neither of them has spoken since. “My eye.”
“It’s awful, sir.” She answers. Straight and honest.
Joong-gil stops and looks up at the starts in the sky tonight. There have been many nights where it feels like it’s been just him and the stars. An infinite number of eyes that have witnessed him at his most vulnerable.
“He taught you well, Koo Ryeon.” Joong-gil says after a short while. He should have said these words back in the Training Center.
When he turns back to Koo Ryeon, she is already looking at him and though she blinks it away, the pain in her eyes is unmistakable. Joong-gil recognizes that pain. He’s seen it for centuries. The pain of a broken heart.
“I know.” She says softly.
They return to the office in silence.