"excuse me?" she called out, knocking on the wooden double doors, "is anyone there?"
"yes, yes," a baritone voice answered from inside. from outside, jisoo could hear the rustling of papers, "come in. the door's open."
she turned the knob and pushed the threshold open and entered into the room. it was nothing grandiose, it looked like a standard office-- book shelves lining the walls with a wooden desk perched in the middle of the room. folders and papers laid sprawled on the desk, and a half-drank glass of whiskey atop one of the lower shelves.
"state your name, age, and country of origin." a handsome young man commanded.
he had a tall stature and an obvious well-built physique. his head was bent as he surveyed the contents of the file in his hand, leaving stray tendrils to frame his face.
"uh... my name is kim jisoo, i'm 26 years old and i'm from south korea."
the man nimbly straightened his back and turned to look at her in the eye, resulting in immense uneasiness on her side. it took her a moment to notice that the papers he was holding a minute ago were now levitating in the middle of the room.
"you're here early," his features contorted in confusion. he crossed his arms and poked his tongue against the inside of his cheek, "i guess you could say you're here deathly early."
he chuckled on his own causing jisoo to furrow her eyebrows. she guessed he was into some dark genre of humor. while he bathed himself in mirth, she turned to look at the intricate architecture within the office itself. the ceiling was high, made of clear glass which allowed a peek into sparkling stars pinned against the darkened sky. she squinted even further and realised that the glowing crystalline figures had arrows pointing towards names.
names?
"if you don't mind me asking, how did you die?"
"excuse me?" jisoo was baffled at the question. was this man some poltergeist bounty hunter? was he so used to seeing dead people that he actually thought she was a ghost?
"well, do you know?"
"i don't." she rolled her eyes, "and as far as i'm concerned, i'm as good as alive."
"the paleness of your skin says otherwise, miss kim."
jisoo turned to look down as her arm. he was right-- her arms were pallid and her clothes were too. she looked like she was a mere semi-erased drawing on a piece of paper. she indisputably felt like one too.
panicked, she looked up at him once more. her eyes opened wide as she held up her arm. "am i on drugs right now? i must be hallucinating right?"
the intake of something so bizarre could only be the logical explanation behind her acid dream-esque experiences. floating objects, fading ligaments and whatever fictitious phenomenons she's encountered simply do not exist in the real world.
"i'm afraid you're not," he pinched his lower lip, "well, for the meantime, please make yourself comfortable. i have to call to the higher ups to help address your situation."
"what do you mean higher ups?" she furrowed her eyebrows, "what are you? some kind of drug dealer?"
he smiled. "no."
"who are you then?"
"my name is taehyung, one of the seven grim reapers in charge of taking the deceased into the afterlife."
***
"do you have a lot of cases like me, taehyung?" she wrung her wrists as they walked through the darkened hallways of the premises. the paths were deserted; however, there was an agitated voice at the back of her mind telling her that prying eyes were gazing at her as she walked by. "cases with mysterious and early deaths?"
"actually, you're the first one," taehyung spoke with a certain delicate edge in his voice. since she's arrived, he's never answered her questions with gruffness or irritation. he spoke with such joviality that made it hard to believe that he was working as something so morbid, "you could be the first one among multiple cases in the future, miss kim."
he paused and turned around. he placed his hand on her forehead, careful to thwart the possibility of her physique bumping into his. when she almost lost her balance, he immediately wrapped his arm around her shoulders and gingerly helped her to stabilise her footing.
"sorry about that!" he showed her a toothy, rectangular grin before pushing her lightly in front of a door. he fiddled with the loose strands in her hair with his fingers, making sure there was no lock out of place before opening the door for her.
"hello, namjoon." taehyung greeted after he entered.
a tall man was perched at his desk, his figure hunched over numerous papers and his left hand in the process of dialling a number on the telephone. after hearing taehyung's voice engulf the room, he released the transmitter from his hand; it remained hovering over the receiver.
"taehyung! i was just about to call you," he picked up a file from the desk and turned around. he halted himself from passing on the file when he noticed the other presence within the vicinity. he nodded at her before giving the document over to his accomplice.
"since the both of you are here, it'll make the briefing faster," he stuffed his hands in his pockets, "i just got an official letter from the secretary of the god of death. apparently, miss kim is a new recruit for the grim reaper department."
"that sounds great!" taehyung remarked in his usual merry tone, "a bit odd and shady, but great!"
jisoo was, once again, pushed into a trough of confusion. "what?"
"it means you'll be working here. with us." namjoon answered, "you'll be working under the arrival and departure wing with me, taehyung and the others. you're our first female co-worker, but i'm sure we'll all warm up to you in no time. after all, taehyung seems comfortable with you-"
"excuse me, there must be some mistake," she refused to believe it. in fact, she couldn't just grasp the idea of working here. there were so many questions-- so many whats and whys and hows. it was all too much to take in and it awfully felt like she was in some sort unending fantasised reality.
"there's no mistake, miss kim." taehyung handed the file over to her and as she read it, it felt like each word was there to disillusion her from the fact that she was never going to get out of here alive.
"there's no need to worry. taehyung will be touring you around the office and introducing you to everyone else while i arrange the request for your memories to be returned."
***
"this is gonna be your office!" taehyung merrily welcomed her into the room, "it's a bit too proper as of now, but i'm sure you'll be able to jazz it up as time passes."
jisoo surveyed her surroundings. the office seemed as thought it were an exact copy of taehyung's. the furniture, the shelves and even the books perched within them were identical. the only difference was this room was tidier than his.
"did you get your job the same way i did?" she couldn't help but ask.
"yes, all of us did."
"isn't it daunting? being stuck in this place for eternity?"
a nostalgic grin appeared of taehyung's face. "i would say it's better than life on earth; being aware of the inevitability of death, but that's just my personal opinion, of course."
he pulled out a few folders from the drawers behind the desk and neatly categorised them. "well, we should get started on the primary information, miss kim. we're here for an eternity of service; it's best to know how it all works this early on."
***
hello, everyone! i apologise for the lack of updates.
i sincerely hope everyone is feeling alright as of the moment.
keep safe!
-soo.
