When Anjani awakens to face Death, he offers her a choice: become the living guardian angel of seven young boys on earth, but with one condition ── she must never seek out her killer.
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South Korea, Gwacheon - Seoul 7 September, 2009
── Kim Seokjin.
"Did we just follow him for nothing?" I asked incredulously, frustration creeping into my voice.
Death shrugged nonchalantly. "I thought he might have something more I could show you."
I raised an eyebrow, skepticism clear on my face. "Aren't you supposed to know that beforehand?"
He let out a long sigh, clearly exasperated. "I'm not a freaking seer."
"Then how the hell did you know so much about me?" I shot back, crossing my arms as I stared him down.
He paused, his eyes narrowing slightly as he considered his response. "I know what I need to know. Your life, death, and path are all part of my job. But I don't see the future like some crystal-ball-wielding fortune teller. I navigate the present, which sometimes means following threads that don't always lead where I expect."
I blinked, absorbing his words. "So you're telling me that you're just...winging it?"
He smirked, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly. "Not exactly. I have my sources, my instincts. But the future isn't set in stone. Even I don't have all the answers."
I frowned, not entirely comforted by the thought of Death himself improvising. "That's...a little unsettling."
He chuckled a dry sound that echoed in the night. "Welcome to the afterlife, pup. Nothing is as straightforward as it seems."
I couldn't help but roll my eyes. "Wow, I get to wander around with a creature who's just as clueless as me."
He gave me a sidelong glance, his smirk deepening. "Not clueless. Just adaptable. Trust me, I know enough to get you where you need to go."
"Just tell me whose next," I muttered, still trying to wrap my head around the idea of Death figuring things out as he went along. It was unsettling and oddly comforting to know that even he didn't have everything perfectly mapped out.
He sighs, glancing down at his clock-like device again, nodding to himself more than to me. Before I realized what was happening, he took my arm like a whoosh, and the world spun around us again.
When the spinning stopped, we stood in the warm light of day. The contrast to the dark alley and shadowy streets we'd just left behind was so stark that it took me a moment to adjust. I blinked against the sunlight, looking around to get my bearings.
We were now in a bustling neighborhood, the kind with neatly lined shops and the people hurrying for some thing or the other. The morning air was crisp, and there was a sense of chaos but liveliness that hung over the place. As I took in the scene, I noticed a young man standing a short distance away, near a bus stop.
