It was in the middle of the night and Yesung made sure that Hyukjae was fast asleep before he returned to the living room to make a phonecall. His anxiety grew with each ring that he had to sit himself down just to calm his nerves. 

"Hello?"

"Hey, Zhoumi. It's me," Yesung greeted nervously. 

"Yesung? Do you know what time it is?" He asked and by the sound of his voice, Yesung could tell that he was probably just about to go to sleep. 

"I know it's late but I need to talk to you."

"About what? Couldn't this wait until morning?"

"No." Yesung answered firmly. "Do you remember the soul I was telling you about - Hyukjae?"

"Yeah. What about him?"

"Well, I don't know if the angels were hiding something from me regarding his situation but...," Yesung paused unsure how to share the news with the other. Finding no better words in his head, he decided to just come straight out with it. "He was visited by Death today."

"What?!" The slight shrill in Zhoumi's voice was enough for Yesung to picture the latter suddenly sitting up on his bed from shock. "Why would Death visit him if the second life was given to him?"

"I don't know. That's why I'm giving you a call." Yesung bit his nail as he knew the favor he was about to ask would surely cost him a great price. "Listen, Zhoumi. You've always been better at getting in touch with the other side and the little angels likes you more than me anyways...could you...help me figure out what's going on?"

Yesung's request was met with silence. He waited with great anticipation Zhoumi's next words. Should the latter choose to not reject him, Yesung would pretty be much left on his own and he wasn't so sure there was much else he could offer Hyukjae after that. If Death says he feels cheated, he might not know about the contract that Hyukjae signed which puts Hyukjae in grave danger.

"I'll meet you at the cafe tomorrow."

Yesung released a sigh of relief hearing Zhoumi's answer. Agreeing to his plan to meet up tomorrow, Yesung hung up the phone then retreated to his bed for the night. There was still hope in his heart that things could still work out between them in the end. 

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The following day, Hyukjae woke up with his eyes feeling puffy from all the crying he did the night before. It served as a reminder that he might lose Donghae before he could even begin but somehow, today, that thought didn't pain him as much as before. A different set of thoughts entered his mind and although it was hard to bare in his chest, Hyukjae was somehow comforted that perhaps Donghae would be happier this way. Maybe they just weren't meant to be together for as long as he thought. Forever is, afterall, just wishful thinking to most.

A knock on his door snapped Hyukjae out of his thoughts as he told the person to come in. 

"Good. You're awake."

"Good morning, hyung." Hyukjae greeted with his raspy voice. A small smile on his face but still not enough to hide the sadness he was feeling. "I think I'm going to stay in today. I don't feel so good."

"Are you coming down with something?" Yesung asked worriedly then placed a hand on his forehead. 

"No, I just...feel tired." Hyukjae dropped his head down so Yesung wouldn't see through his lie. Not that it was a lie altogether since his body did feel like a thousand rocks was just dropped on him. 

Not wanting to push Hyukjae beyond his limit, Yesung conceded and decided not to question him any further.

"Okay, rest. I'm going to the cafe today to meet someone." Yesung's voice was calm but Hyukjae can hear the sound of hope in them. It only brought a bitter smile to his face. That's all anyone can ever seem to give him ever since his accident. Hope. "Zhoumi's really good and he's a much better psychic than I am. I'm sure if anyone can find out the answer to what's happening with you, he can."

Not wanting to disappoint or waste Yesung's effort, Hyukjae looked up at him with a grin on his face. "Thank you, hyung. I really appreciate it."

Even though Yesung could still feel that something was bothering Hyukjae, he chose to not say anything about and just patted his cheeks with affection. "I'll let you know more when I come back. Rest up, okay?"

"Okay, hyung." Hyukjae waved Yesung goodbye and as soon as the latter had shut his door, he went back to lie down on his bed and stared at the ceiling with only one thing in his mind. Already admitting defeat, Hyukjae pulled the blanket tighter over himself and got into a fetal position. Giving up on Donghae now would be the best and kindest thing he could do for the both of them. Afterall, when Death knocks on your door, he's going to come in one way or another. 

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Zhoumi looked at the clock and knew he would soon need to leave in order to meet up with Yesung. He sighed and looked at his reflection. Gently lifting his arm up to mirror, he put his left hand over the crescent moon tattoo he has on his forearm and lightly rubbed it. He closed his eyes then started whispering a small chant, ignoring the light burn he started to feel. Zhoumi repeated the same words over and over again until a gust of of wind swirled around his apartment and only stopped his chanting when he heard the mirror crack. Slowly, Zhoumi opened his eyes and turned around to greet his guest. 

"Hi, Mi!" A little girl greeted excitedly. "It's been a long time since you called out to any of us."

"Jihae, how are you?" Zhoumi smiled and crouched down so he was at eye level with her. "How come you haven't been reincarnated?"

Jihae pouted and crossed her arms. "I don't want to! They want to send me to be reincarnated in some other country and when I went to check I have no idea what words they were saying."

Zhoumi could only chuckle at her cuteness. "I'm sure you'd learn it the same way you learned Korean."

"That's no fun." Jihae whined. "I already know Korean. Why couldn't I just be born in Korea again?"

"I wish I knew but you get to explore the world more this way, don't you think so?" He tried to encourage but when Jihae's pout didn't let up, Zhoumi could only shake his head helplessly before he tried to hide his semi-disappointing smile. "Jihae-ah, you know I'm always happy to see you, right? But...are there any grown ups up there that I could talk to?"

Jihae blinked and tried to think of her answer. "I think so...but, they're all avoiding crossing right now. They're all afraid of something but no one would tell me what it is."

"Is that so? Is there anything else you think they're hiding from you?"

"Hmmm....well, there was this one messenger Oppa who got reincarnated the other day." Zhoumi saw fear cross her face and it alarmed him. "He was acting really weird when he got back from where he was sent to...and then, just out of nowhere, they decided to reincarnate him." She paused a little bit as she tried to shake off the images that appeared in her head. "It was really scary. They said you have a choice before they send you but...it was the first time they made someone disappear like that."

Zhoumi was just as confused as her since it was almost unheard of for the afterlife to force a reincarnation like that. Spirits don't really transition well into their human form when they get placed against their will and couldn't even imagine where they would have sent him to. His guess? Somewhere really far away from Korea. Zhoumi feels bad for the poor sap who would have to deal with his misplaced spirit. 

"Okay, Jihae. Thank you for telling me that." Zhoumi smiled then ruffled her hair. "Take care of yourself, okay?"

Jihae beamed and nodded her head. "Zhoumi?" She called out one last time before she crossed over back to the other side. "Tell Hyukkie to be careful. I may not know a lot to be helpful but...I heard that Death's looking for him."

Then, right before his eyes, Zhoumi watched her disappear. An unsettling feeling dawned at the pit of his stomach as he tried to put the puzzle pieces together but nothing seemed to match. Taking in a deep breathe, Zhoumi decided to just go to his meet up with Yesung and share the information that Jihae just shared with him. Perhaps the latter would be able to make more sense of it and figure our why Death is roaming earth surveiling Hyukjae. 

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Hyukjae, still deep in slumber, was brought out of dreamland when he heard the loud ringing of his phone. Still groggy from sleep, Hyukjae groaned out loud as he searched for said device around his bed - hands patting around the sheets with his eyes still closed. Once he felt the familiar shape of his phone against his hand, he pressed the answer call and lazily put the phone on his ear. 

"Hello?"

"Eunhyuk-ssi?"

"...Y-Yeah?..."

"Hi. Uhm...This is Cho Kyuhyun from Silver Jewel." 

Hyukjae let out an audible gasp and immediately sat up from his bed to pay more attention to what Kyuhyun has to say. "Uhm, y-yes! Hi!" Hyukjae mentally slapped himself for acting like an idiot. "S-Sorry, I didn't recognize your voice."

Hyukjae heard Kyuhyun chuckle on the other line and couldn't help but think that if the latter knew who he really is, he would be teasing him endlessly about getting old and losing his memory rather than reassuring him that it's okay and that it was his fault for calling too early (even though it was already past 10:30 and any functioning person would be up and running already.)

"I was just giving you a call