Shane waited in the bright sunlight. It felt good to be outside. Spring sat heavy in the air, filled with pollen and grass. he took a deep breath.
SHane's sense of smell had become muted. The same with his vision, his speed, his strength. It took some getting used to.
Shane didn't feel fully human, but he didn't feel the hunger for energy he once did either.
Shane was caught in some kind of limbo, not quite a grim reaper and not quite human. And though he hadn't told anyone yet, he knew that he was weak even for a human. Recovery had been slower than he'd hoped, but it wasn't something to burden anyone with. Especially because there was no precedent for his situation.
"Ya! You're not pedaling right!"
Shane glanced over, holding in his smile at the sight of Minjae chastising Seojun as they tried, and failed, to ride a tandem bike.
"Your legs are shorter than mine," Seojun complained as his limbs dragged over the ground to stop them.
"You have to watch my lead," Minjae instructed from his front seat.
Eamon leaned against the railing. "Isn't the taller boy supposed to sit in the front?" Behind him the Han River flowed peacefully, the smell of water saturating the wind that blew over Miyoung's cheeks.
"The better rider sits in front, half brother" Minjae corrected, sending him a glare patented just for the timekeeper.
A strange truce had formed between Minjae and Eamon. The timekeeper hadn't disappeared after Loralie's death like Shane had expected. And surprisingly, it had been Jihoon who'd told Shane to give Eamon another chance.
"It seems like he's sticking around because he needs to make amends," Jihoon had said. "I think we can both understand how that feels."
So Shane had begrudgingly accepted Eamon whenever he randomly showed up. Like today, as he arrived with the tandem bike Minjae and Seojun.
"Jihoon! Come save me from these boys!"Minjae called out.
Jihoon chuckled. "No thanks."
Minjae sighed, then gestured to Eamon. "Come and take a turn, then."
He sauntered over, a knowing grin on his face.
"You want me to take a turn, sweetheart?" Eamon asked.
Seojun was starting to climb off when Minjae stopped him.
"No, I think you guys will make a much better pair." Minjae grinned, climbing off the bike.
Eamon raised a brow, then shrugged and climbed into his seat.
"Okay, Seojun, let's show them how it's done."
He took off a bit too fast, Seojun shouted with alarm trailing behind them.
Once, SHane had caught Minjae staring at him.
"What?" Shane asked.
"I think you'll age well, half brother," Minjae mused. "You have the bone structure for it. I guess we'll get to find out now."
It had caused the brother's to break out into laughter.
"You look tired," Minjae pointed out said.
"Gee, thanks." Shane laughed, but he worried about Minjae's sharp eyes. "I'm fine, just didn't get a lot of sleep last night."
Minjae nodded and let it go. He knew Shane still had bad dreams about the night Loralie died.
"Do you really not want a turn on the bike? It's kind of fun." Minjae grinned and it pulled an answering smile from Shane.
"Maybe when Jihoon gets here."
Minjae rolled his eyes. "Good luck, that boy is worse than Seojun with hand-eye coordination."
"Heads up!" Eamon called as they rode by Minjae, a bit too close for comfort.
"Ya!" he shouted, taking off after them.
Shane was laughing at the sight when someone clamped their hands over his eyes. "Guess who."
Shane grabbed Jihoon's wrists and pulled until Jihoon was hugging him from behind.
"What are you doing?" Jihoon whispered in his ear.
"Nothing," Shane replied, releasing him so he could walk around the bench. "Talking to the sun."
"What does it say?" He sat and swung an arm around Shane's shoulders.
"Nothing much. Just hello."
"Not very talkative, huh?"
"It doesn't need to be," Shane said. "The sun and I have a good relationship."Shane put a hand around Jihoon's shoulder. His own personal sun, plucked out of the sky.
"You finally got to come to the Han River. Is it everything you thought it would be?" he asked. "Full of magic and unicorns?"
Shane snorted out a laugh. "Unicorns don't exist."
"I've learned never to discount the existence of anything." Jihoon winked. "And you didn't answer my question."
Shane grinned as she glanced toward their friends. Minjae was yelling curses as Eamon chased him on the bike.
"It's definitely nothing like I imagined," he mused.
"And?"
"It's perfect."
Shane linked his hand with Jihoon's.
He didn't know how long he had in this world. A hundred days, a hundred months, or a hundred years.
In this moment, as Shane watched his friends and held on to Jihoon,he was happy. And he would keep finding his happiness in each moment, until he had no more moments to spend.
From a distance, a woman watched them, her long silky hair shining in the sun. She was weak but her green eyes bore the mark that she had endured a lot.
"You have grown well, my little brother." Loralie said before she left to return to hell. Shane had played his part well.
The End.