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Jeno looked up. Millions of stars and the moon were there to give light to the midnight sky. His watch lit up and gave out a small sound. There goes his signal to stand up and do his job. He brushed the dust on his pants and looked at the breathless body in front of him. Maria, female, 25 years old, cause of death: blood loss. What a shame, way too young and with way too many dreams, too bad, death isn't something you can't prevent from happening. And too bad for him because he doesn't know how many deaths he had seen in his time as a guide to the afterlife and how many more he's going to see in the future. He looked at the girl looking at her own body drowning in blood.
"Shall I guide you to paradise?" She looked terrified.
Another day, another soul to guide to be a star in the wide, wide, sky. The wind blew harshly and as he closed his eyes, he silently wondered if it will ever stop.
Maybe he's losing his mind.
That's what he thought after seeing a guy that was dripping in blood before but after a few seconds, his wounds were slowly healing. Yeah, he's definitely in a dream. The man in front of him was giggling as he saw how his mouth hangs open in shock.
Seeing a clumsy guy bang his head on the signboard of a restaurant, he was expecting to see yet another name on his watch and was waiting for him to look scared as he slowly realizes he was dead, but here he was, laughing at his reaction. This is not what he was looking forward to happening on a Sunday morning, but he can't say it's not interesting.
"Sorry for the shock, I'm Mark. An immortal." He beamed.
The thing Jeno surely most didn't expect is the fluttering of his heart.
By some kind of black magic that his intelligence can’t seem to understand, he ended up seeing Mark everywhere. He is a grim reaper that only deals with dead people, so what are the odds of seeing a person, that will never die, on a daily basis? He is always attentive and observant of the surroundings, always on the lookout for a soul in need of guidance, or a spirit that seeks help. But for the first time in decades, he starts to constantly examine his surroundings for a boy with bright eyes and an even brighter laugh. A guy he knows he’ll never be accustomed to.
His friends, who happen to be guardian angels and grim reapers – his kind, too – start to notice the changes in his mood, but he’s very glad that they didn’t pry too much. There wasn’t a thing going on between them, but he was feeling better than before. Somehow, attending to dead bodies and hopeless souls seems to become a little bit tolerable. Admitting to being infatuated with someone indeed makes people appear glowing. Even for someone like Jeno.
Mark being an immortal means he’s always going to be there. Though it might seem ridiculous as a Satan’s follower, he found himself thanking the gods above.
It's not like he’s being a creep, he knows he’s not, because Mark also looks at him, smiles brightly, and waves his hand whenever he sees him. They never really talk, or hang out, until that one day.
A particular laugh that is engraved in his brain (and heart, actually) resounded on the shore where he’s sitting at. He found Mark trying to fight off a crow that is trying to take his slippers. A grin started forming on his face as the crow looks in his direction and flew away. The guy, who is now pouting and missing a shoe, starts walking to him.
“Why do I always see you at your worst moments?” He asked.
“In my 120 or so years of living, I swear this is just the tip of the iceberg.” He shook his head.
“I would love to hear a hundred-year-worth of embarrassing stories from you.”
I would also like to have a hundred-year-worth of memories with you.
Days became weeks, weeks became months.
Though very much unexpected, the pretty boy becoming a constant in his dull life is certainly not unwelcomed. When he’s with Mark, he seems to forget who they are.
“Do you know the Gospels of Mark?” He knows them, surprisingly for a supposed life-taker "guide", he knows a lot about it. He has angel friends.
“My mom named me like that because of the meaning, she also said it’s because it sounded pretty.” He muttered with a smile.
“It is and you are, too. I’m wondering… do you still remember your mom after all these years?” Shock struck his face and then his eyes saddened.
“I do not remember her face. I also do not remember my family, my friends, past lovers, literally everyone.” He sighed. “I was dying. I was 21 years old and was facing death at such a young age and I didn’t want to die. I don’t even know why, but the Heavens granted my wishes and made me like this. Being immortal was fun at first, but not when you see your baby sister getting much older and acquiring white and gray strands on her hair while you remain looking like twenty or seeing your lover in a casket… it gets overwhelming. At first, it was extremely difficult. I couldn’t take it. I tried killing myself you know. It never worked. But I still always try, nothing happens if you don’t try you know?” He laughed quietly.
And all at once, his memories of Mark make more sense. How he smiles so brightly but his eyes go back to being dead when he looks at a distance. How he’s always cheerful and talkative but he’d have moments of getting lost while thinking deeply.
“I used to put the effort into making the best out of my life, but it just gets tiring after so long. Now, I just try to live in the moment. Being with you is nice. Even though you still won’t tell me your name.” He raised his eyebrows.
“You know I already told you I’m-”
“-a grim reaper and yes, your name isn't that important. Why don’t you just take me to see the pearly gates right now?” He joked as he stood up from the chair. They both laughed but he saw how his eyes went serious and he was deep into thinking again.
Love indeed makes people do the dumbest things because the person that he was from the past year would be cursing him if he sees what he’s about to do. He stepped on the stairs of the temple of the gods. Heart on his sleeve, and a proposition at hand.
“I would like to ask for a request…” He started.
The next day, he goes to meet Mark, and like the clumsy being that he is, the man just had to trip and scrape his knee right in front of him. He winced in pain and shrugged it off, knowing the wound will heal instantly.
Their day was spent reading books in the local library, with Mark’s occasional side comments about his nostalgia for the books he found that he already read last decade or even century. The grim reaper just laughs at his dorkiness and oh how he wishes every day is like this one. Simple and happy. He’s with him.
They got out of the library after many hours and they noticed the rain clouds threatening to pour. Before they can even find a cover, raindrops started falling. Mark shrieked and they both looked at his knee, still wounded and with dried blood. They looked into each other’s eyes and Mark started to cry.
That night, the rain continued pouring hard. It was enough to drown out the cry that he let out as he saw, painfully slow, the name that appeared on his watch.
"Mark.”
He ran. So quickly that he managed to trip at least thrice, or maybe even more than that. He doesn't have the time to even think about it though. He reached the shore and his eyes widened when he saw him, still there and looking at him expectantly.
His heart which he thought was already dead became overflowing with emotions. His muscles hurt and his joints ache but he still marched toward him while maintaining eye contact. He wants to say a lot of things and wants to confess his love and his adoration for the man in front of him.
However, he slipped away from his reverie when he tried to hug him, but his hands passed through him. Aghast, he looked at the sea and ran towards it. Mark was looking at him from afar. His tears can't stop flowing as he saw how he found his physical body and cradled it until he was back on the shore.
Crazy to think that even after all this time, Mark was just another lost soul to guide.
Guess being a grim reaper will always be the one real thing Jeno’s ever known.