time diplomat | kim taehyung ✔

| A Grim Reaper's Date |

The Historical Branch of 2174 is more like a community of people called 'Clocks' who keep track of all the famous celebrities and people of the past. Once the person is nearing the end of their life, the branch sends a pair of people to the past to interview the person.

Their last question is always the same—"What if I tell you that you're gonna die tomorrow?" and the celebrity's reaction is what the viewers want.

A pretty cruel job. Even if a man was gonna die tomorrow, he could still enjoy the day but, when he knows he's gonna die, he'll spend his last moments trying to save himself. Even though that'll never happen.

If they were destined to die, they will.

Astra's chest tightened every time she got a new call and was asked to be a grim reaper. She was afraid of death herself but was still aware that it was something not to be cheated on. In the years she had worked for the branch, she had interviewed over 100 people—including her mother, grandmother, and great grandfather who were all once government officials.

Astra still remembered her mother answering her questions with a little version of herself on the lady's lap—the next day, she was gone forever. 

"Mrs. Xanthe, what if you die tomorrow?"

"Uh . . . I'll want my daughter to be somewhere safe and with someone safe but, I'm pretty sure I'll live until I see her achieving something great and making me feel proud."

The girl pulled a blanket over herself as she felt a hand wrapping around her waist from the other side. "Hey . . . I was planning to go out today. Wanna join me?" Yeonjun whispered against her nape, causing her to jab her elbow on his abdomen.

He shrieked away, groaning and clutching the bruise, and glared at her. "What?! I was just waiting for you to ask me out!"

"Okay then. Get out." He puffed his cheeks, refusing to leave, and made himself comfortable on an anti-gravity, purple as the rest of the room, chair. It continued floating off the ground with the grumpy boy on it.

The hands of the clock on the wall pointed to 7:30 silently—it was the only non-advanced item in the house with it being her great grandmother's. Astra finally made her bed, ruffling Yeonjun's hair on her way out. She sat down on a study table and picked up her notepad and pen. Asking the same questions to those people was getting boring—she needed something more interesting.

She clicked her pen, her sight out of the window in front of her as with each click, the view from the window changed from dawn to noon to dusk. When the pink evening sky slowly changed to night, Astra clapped her hand and dropped her pen, letting the little machine do its job.

Have you ever been in love?

"Yep. I have," she jerked and nearly fell off the chair as Yeonjun whispered in her ear, gently holding her sides and pushing her black with tints of blue hair lightly out of the way. ". . . With you."

"CHOI YEONJUN!" The boy was pushed back and before he could hit the ground, he stopped mid-air with a scowl on his face. He pushed himself ahead, dangling his legs, and faced the thick floor with his face first.

"Dude, you're my friend! I can't date you. How many times am I supposed to say it?!" He didn't get off of the ground but instead, pulled his legs to his chest and buried his head between his knees. "Why don't you try going out with me just once?" His voice was muffled but still perfectly audible.

Astra groaned at the boy and roughly rubbed her face, sighing. This thing has been going on for a few days now. She really didn't know what the man had found interesting in her. She did know that Yeonjun would make the best boyfriend anyone could ever have but, she didn't want him to be hers.

"I'm sorry, Yeonjun. After all this, you still want me?"

"Hmm. I do."

"Even after I beat up my previous ex for getting the wrong shade of purple for my room?"

"Hmm. Yes."

"Even after I nearly tied up my second ex in the basement because I saw him talking to another girl and got a little too possessive?"

"Hmm. Yeah. I love you and that's all I know." He sighed once again through his nose, digging his head deeper into his knees and his hands laced between his thighs. Astra always thought of Yeonjun as a playful boy who could never stay loyal and this side of him was confusing her.

She kneeled in front of him, rubbing his back with her palm, and sighed. "Alright. Just once—only if you promise me dinner and dessert. 'Kay?"