Jihoon woke up to beeps and whispers, the all-too-familiar sounds of the hospital. He kept his eyes closed to give himself time to gather his wits. As he let his mind adapt, he realized the whispers were low whimpers, like someone holding back sobs.
Jihoon opened his eyes, blinking a few times to adjust to the light.
Shane's head lay in his arms at the edge of his hospital bed.
"Shane?" It hurt his throat just to say the name.
"Jihoon!" Shane squeaked, startled.
"I'm fine." He pushed her probing fingers away. "Why am I in the hospital?"
"You started to convulse. It was . . ." Shane trailed off. "You scared me."
"I'm sorry."
"Don't say that. You shouldn't be the one who's sorry."
He shook his head, but it just worsened the dull pounding that lived behind his eyes now. "I didn't want you to see me like this."
Shane couldn't seem to meet couldn't eyes. Tears hung from his lashes, threatening to fall. Jihoon's throat tightened at the sight. Originally he hadn't wanted Shane to see one of his episodes because he didn't want Shane to think he was weak. And now he didn't because shane was obviously worried. He hated to worry people he loved.
Jihoon frowned at the unbidden thought. Did he still love Shane?
Then he sighed. Of course he did—only someone he loved could make him as angry as she did.
"Shane, come here." He patted the edge of the bed.
Shane sat precariously on the edge of the bed so he was more leaning han sitting.
With a heavy sigh, Jihoon gripped Shane's hand. It felt clammy, shaking slightly in his.
"Don't worry about me. I'm stronger than I look."
"Don't cry. I promise I'll be fine." Jihoon wiped at the dampness on Shane's cheeks and Shane hand came up to catch his. It no longer trembled.
"It's all my fault," he said again. "My soul is causing this."
"Why would you say that?"
"Because—" Shane paused, taking in deep breaths of air so quickly, Jihoon worried he'd hyperventilate.
"You're scaring me," Jihoon said. "Just say it."
"It's inside of you."
"What? How?" He didn't realize he'd pulled his hands back until they were cradled against his chest.
"You almost died when my sister attacked you. I didn't know if you'd make it." Shane stood, creating more distance between them.
"Your grandma told me to use my scythe. It transferred a part of my soul to you."
"My grandma?" Jihoon's brow furrowed in confusion.
"It started to heal you, but it wasn't enough. It needed more energy of a soul."
"Whose?" Jihoon asked, but the weight in his stomach told him he already knew.
Shane didn't answer. He couldn't look Jihoon in the eye.
"Tell me whose spul."
"Your grandma."
Disbelief spread through Jihoon, a wash of ice. He couldn't feel his toes, his fingers, his heart.
"She wanted you to live. It was her final wish." Shane's hands folded together, like he was begging him to understand.
"'Final wish'?" Jihoon spat out, anger twisting his gut. "That's why she won't wake up from her coma." Realization splashed over him like a winter wave breaking on rocks. "It wasn't Loralie. It was you."
"I'm sorry. It was the only way to save you."
"That's why you came back? Because you felt guilty after doing this to my grandmother?" Jihoon tried to catch his breath, praying he wouldn't throw up as nausea curled through him.
"This is what I'm talking about," Shane said, urgency in his voice. "Having my soul inside you is making you sick. A mortal body was never meant to hold a grim reaper's soul."
"You had no right." Jihoon wasn't sure what he was referring to.
Trading his grandma's life for his. Saving him only to leave him. Coming back and making him love her again.
"Jihoon-ah, I'm so sorry." Shane reached out, and he jerked back.
"Don't touch me." Jihoon's chest flared with heat that he would have attributed to anger, except it lingered, a warmth that washed over his ribs and into his shoulders. Then it centered in his chest, directly over his heart, like a ball of fire. If he concentrated, he could almost hear another heartbeat, one that mirrored his own. Shane's heart. Shane's eyes flashed as she brought her hand down in slow, jerking movements like he fought an invisible force.
Jihoon remembered something from his grandmother's stories: a mortal holding a grim reaper's bead meant he could control the reaper.
"That's why you came back." He almost laughed at his own naiveté. "Not to help my grandmother, but because you need your soul. That's what it's always been about with us. You lost your soul, and you've been trying to get it back ever since we met."
"No." Shane shook his head. "I came back for you."
"Stop lying!"
The heat in his heart receded into a dull glow. He closed his eyes, concentrating on his breathing. In, hold, slowly out.
When he spoke again, his voice was low but steady. "You're no better than your sister, or Eamon or Minjae. Manipulating everyone around you to get what you want." Jihoon didn't know what to feel. He was worried he'd lost the ability altogether.
"Please," Shane begged. "I was wrong. I was—"
"Stop!" It seemed he could still feel. And he was angry.
Shane fell silent so suddenly, it was as if Jihoon had pressed the mute button.
They sat for a moment, Jihoon still as stone, Shane racked with silent tears he couldn't shed.
There was a knock and Detective Roger opened the door.
"Ajeossi." Jihoon said it was like a plea for help. He needed someone to make sense of all this for him.
"Jihoon-ah, what happened?" Detective Roger stepped into the room, then stopped when he saw Shane. "Oh, I didn't know you had a visitor."
Shane hastily wiped his tears as he stood.
Detective Roger mumbled something before he left the room.
"He looks just like him. But he? No he can't be.," Shane mumbled incoherently.
"Like who?"
Shane looked at Jihoon. The look in Shane's eyes was clear- mixture of horror, shock and fear.
"That's my father, Death."
***
It wasn't true. It couldn't be true. Shane sprinted out of the hospital, ignoring the shouts of annoyed nurses and patients following her.
His father was Death himself. The present king of hell had himself come here to take Jihoon's soul.
But Detective Roger was an honorable man. At least that was how Jihoon described him. And he was a detective who sought to save lives.
There was only one way to find out. Shane called Jessica.
"Hello?"
At the sound of his sister's voice Shane froze. He didn't know how to explain that he felt. But he also needed to confirm more than anything right now.
"Hello? Shane? Is that you?"
"Jessica." The word was a croaked whisper. Shane coughed to clear his throat and tried again. "Jessica, I need to ask you something and I need you to be honest with me."
There was a long, pregnant pause before Jessica replied. "What is it?"
"Dad is here?."
"Shane, I didn't know you would find—"
"I met him!" Shane blurted out.
"I really didn't know you would know that."
"So you admit it! You knew he was in Seoul."
Jessica sighed. "I only recently found out where he was. Dad is too powerful, to predictable.. Do not go near him or that boy again. Not until Loralie get there."
"I can't."
"Promise—" With a beep, the line went dead.
Shane stared at his screen, wondering if his phone had died. But it blinked the time of the call at her before returning to the home screen. Shane tried dialing Jessica again but it went directly to voicemail.
Shane hung up, wondering where Loralie was now. Probably in an airport on her way back to berate Shane for all of his bad life decisions.
With a sigh, Shane pocketed his phone and walked without knowing where he was going. He just knew she needed air. And maybe a drink.