𝙁𝘼𝙇𝙇𝙄𝙉𝙂 𝘿𝙊𝙒𝙉

Chapter 1

The floor is cold.

Minghao felt heavy. Heavy yet empty. His eyes opened to reveal a dark room with fog covering every corner of the floor. It wasn't smoke like before--

The crash.

Junhui.

He springs to his feet, eyes wide and face contorting in confusion as he pats himself down, not sure how he was okay. Not sure why he was in this place or what this place was.

He felt his breathing pick up as tears sprung to his eyes, his vision going blurry before the room turned blue.

It was a deep blue. Like something that could only be shown from a light.

He felt alone until this moment. Now he knew someone was there with him.

"Where...where am I? P-Please. I...Do you know Junhui? Do you know where he is?" He called out to no one, looking around the room which had no corners insight, all sides looking exactly the same except for how the fog dispersed.

Then he heard it.

A voice that should've sounded comforting.

A voice that probably would've been comforting had it uttered anything else.

"Xu Minghao. Time of death, 1st of June, 12:52 pm..."

He didn't want to believe it. He didn't feel dead when he woke up.

But he felt it now.

The emptiness.

The heaviness.

Feeling lost.

This is what death must feel like.

"What about Junhui...Jun..J-Junhui is okay, right?"

He was met with silence, making him break even more. He wanted to hit something, but what are you supposed to hit in an empty room?

He dropped to the knees, shaking his head as his tears failed to come out, only seething as he struggled to breathe. Why did he feel like this? If he was already dead, why did it feel like he was dying again?

"You have a choice, Xu Minghao." The voice was closer this time. Getting closer.

He refused to look up, only hearing the footsteps and squeezing his eyes shut as he clenched his fists, shaking with so many emotions.

"You are stuck in a place with a choice. You've been blessed, truly."

Minghao's face twisted again as he looked up, seeing a man in front of him who looked to be in his late 30s. Fear shot through his body, but he didn't care. He pushed the feeling down and stood up, looking the man in the eye.

"Where am I?" He asked coldly, looking like he could snap at any given moment.

"Where is my Junhui?"

The man nodded slowly, tilting his head before taking a deep breath.

"Your Junhui is alive. And you should listen to my offer."

A wave of relief passed over Minghao as he dropped to the ground, the tears finally burning in his eyes. His Junhui lived. But he died. He died and left him behind.

"You are currently stuck between life and death. Your death was...untimely. You weren't supposed to die yet." The man sighs softly, frustration hinting in his voice.

Nothing made sense. Yet, he sat and listened anyway.

"The choice is rather simple. You can live and be forgotten, or die and be remembered."

Minghao shook his head, trying to process the words.

"If you want to live, you can. However, everyone who once knew your name will forget you. Everyone."

Minghao understood now as his skin turned pale, his breath getting caught in his chest. "But if I choose to die...everyone will remember me. Junhui...Mingyu...everyone. They'll grieve."

They'll live their lives in pain.

The choice seemed simple in all the wrong ways.

"Who are you?" He suddenly asks, realizing he never asked the question he should've asked in the first place. The man gave a small smile before smoothing out his black jacket and clearing his throat.

"Jaehyuk." He simply states, earning a small nod from Minghao.

He thought the question over and over in his head.

To die or to live. To be remembered or forgotten.

He didn't want anyone to suffer.

"I...I'll go back.." Minghao murmurs softly, feeling defeated more than anything. He had nothing to go back to. All the progress he had made was wiped clean. No one remembered him, or so he thought.

Jaehyuk smiled at the choice, nodding his head and clearing his throat.

"Very well, Minghao. Stand up."

Minghao took a second before standing, trying to process everything but not being able to get past the fact that he died. What would change if no one remembered him? Would things change from the start? What was he even going back to?

"I'm sorry this happened to you, truly, I am." Jaehyuk hummed, patting his shoulder before moving behind Minghao. Minghao stood frozen, feeling his breathing pick up again as his memories flashed through his head.

He fiddled with the ring on his finger nervously, wincing as Jaehyuk grabbed his head, his vision disappearing in a flash of white.