-The other side-

"Are you sure you wish for this meeting to proceed?"

"I'm sure, Felix." Taehyung confirmed. "Seokjin may be a reaper but he is still my friend. I trust him."

"Okay..." The other boy shrugged. "You have exactly 30 Earth minutes. No longer."

"Thank you, brother." Tae smiled. "You don't know how much this means to me. I know that the reapers and angels aren't supposed to meet up, but if Jin requested this meeting, it must be beyond important. Heck - it may even be news about Namjoon!"

Felix stopped fiddling with his cuffs and looked at him with a sad smile.

"You really miss that guy, don't you?"

Taehyung nodded in response.

"I hope he is okay. I'm not allowed to see the mortals from here until I get my licence next year..."

Felix swallowed nervously and looked down.

"Just promise me that whatever this reaper tells you, you won't go Shadow on me?"

A negative feeling enveloped the room.

"Why would I go Shadow?" Tae asked, tilting his head. "Don't you trust me? Why would you even think that?!"

Felix bowed his head and apologised.

"Just don't let what he tells you change you. Okay?"

Tae nodded in a confused manner as the other man left the room.

What did Felix know that he didn't? Had something happened down in the mortal world? Maybe Jin would tell him.

They had gone through hell to arrange this meeting (not literally), and he had been waiting for 3 straight days.

Finally, after an entire year, he would be able to see Seokjin and hear about how things were going down in the mortal world.

Suddenly, a small  door on the other side of the room opened and a freezing wave of air hit him.

Kim Seokjin walked in slowly, an unreadable expression on his lips.

As for looks, the reaper had barely changed at all: his face was still young; his eyes were still dark; his skin was still pale.

However, he looked more tired than before...

Dark circles underlined his eyes which were riddled with sleep lines.

A small smile crept onto his lips as he let out a soft sigh and looked the Angel up and down.

The boy he had not seen for almost an entire year was clad in a white hoodie and torn white jeans. He hadn't aged a day.

To put it simply, he looked...

Angelic...

"It's been a while, Taetae." The reaper smiled.

Upon hearing his voice, Tae found it impossible to hold back and launched himself into the reaper's arms.

It was cold, but he didn't care.

Jin wrapped his cold arms around the boy and smiled. It had indeed been a while since they had seen one another - too long.

The reaper let the boy go and put his hands on his shoulders, grinning as he looked into his chocolate eyes.

"Holy Lucifer, Kim Taehyung, I've missed you!"

The two hugged again before Tae dragged him by the sleeve over to two small chairs that sat unoccupied in the corner.

"We only have 30 minutes..." The younger explained with a sad sigh. "So... Why did you ask to see me? Can you tell me about my friends too? I haven't got my licence to see them yet..."

Jin took a deep breath and let it out as a heavy sigh.

"Listen... Taetae... The truth is... It's about Namjoon."

At the mention of his best friend's name, the younger boy sat up straight.

"What about him? Is he hurt? You don't need to reap him do you? Oh god... Is he going to...die?"

Jin held up his hand to stop the barrage of questions and looked down at his lap.

"Tae... I don't exactly know how to tell you this..." He mumbled.

Silence flooded the room and Jin despised it. He knew that he would have to tell Tae eventually, but now still seemed too soon...

"What's wrong?" The boy asked. "Tell me what?"

Taking another deep breath, Jin took Tae's hands in his own and looked into his eyes.

"Namjoon... committed suicide..."

Jin had seen some terrible facial expressions in his time. Being a reaper meant that he often saw people as terror overtook them or sadness enveloped them, but the expression on Tae's face made him want to cry.

It looked like someone had just taken the boy's heart and torn it into a million pieces before throwing it to the ground and crushing it beneath their heavy boot heel.

He knew how much Namjoon had meant to Tae...

"No..." The boy whispered, tears misting up his eyes and threatening to fall. "No... no! NO! GOD NO!"

He began to sob heavily, pulling hard at his hair as tears streamed down his cheeks.

Jin grabbed hold of the boy and cupped his chin, forcing him to look up.

"Breathe Tae." He soothed. "Listen to me... This isn't what I came to tell you. I know it's hard, but you have to calm down okay? We don't have much time."

He pulled the boy to his chest and slowly felt the boy calming down. His breathing slowed and the strained sobs became little more than weak sniffles.

"W-when?" Tae managed to choke out. "When did it happen?"

"A few weeks after you died." Jin said softly, rocking him gently.

"But he isn't here..." Tae whimpered. "Why?! He never d-did anything wrong!"

"Suicide, Tae." Jin sighed, "It's seen as the ultimate sin... I had no option but to give him the choice..."

Tae looked up at him, voice shaking.

"What d-did he p-pick?"

Jin stroked his hair gently. What an odd situation this was - a reaper comforting an angel.

"Reaper." He said softly. "He is my apprentice now."

Another tear rolled down the younger's cheek and he wiped it away with his white sleeve.

"What about the o-others?" He asked.

Jin sighed.

"That's why I am here, Taetae."

When Tae was fully calm, they found themselves sat on the chairs facing one another in the bare room.

"Please, Jin. Tell me everything."

Jin took a deep breath and began his story:

"Namjoon chose reaper without a second thought, thus, he became my apprentice and I became a full fledged reaper. He was the last name on my qualification list you see. Anyway, it started fine: he is a good reaper. However, he has turned... ruthless. He is ploughing through his list faster than I can even register! He is...too efficient."

"What's the problem though?" Tae asked. "Isn't efficiency good? He will become a full reaper soon."

"I looked at his list." Jin sighed. "You may remember that they lose their memories in the reaper transition. He won't care who is on his list as long as they end up reaped."

"So? Isn't that good?" Tae asked, tilting his head. "He won't be hurt by his actions."

Jin looked at him sadly.

"One of the names on his list is Park Jimin..."

Silence...

Park Jimin: the ex-idol - the boy that Jin was supposed to reap long ago.

Tae sat up straight and cleared his throat.

"Can't... Can't you change the list?"

"It's out of my control." Jin sighed.

"You saved me!" Tae pointed out. "You can do it again! Please! You can't let Jimin die! He is too young! He is my friend!"

"I don't know how, Tae!" Jin whimpered.

"How did you save me?"

"I didn't save you." Jin sighed, burying his face in his hands. "It's my fault you're here!"

"It's not your fault." Tae insisted. "No one could control what happened, but we can this time. You really can't control Namjoon?" He asked.

"I can try but he doesn't really listen to me."

"Then do what you did last time."

Jin looked up.

"You can't be serious. I nearly got sent to hell for that!"

"Then I will do it!" The other argued. "I won't let him die!"

"I can't let him die either!" Jin sighed, "But I just feel like newspapers won't work again. I came to ask your advice..."

Tae sat back in the chair and let out a soft sigh, thinking hard.

"Can't you just tell Jimin what will happen?" He asked.

"That gets me instantly sent to hell..." Jin groaned. "That is why I had to tell you indirectly. I'm on my last warning."

The angel fiddled with his white hoodie strings and hummed in annoyance. Why couldn't anything ever just be easy in his life?

"Maybe.... maybe if I became a Shadow-"

Jin looked up at him, eyes wide with a mixture of shock and amazement.

"You would really give up all of this for one man? Come on Taetae. You have to be joking."

Tae looked up at him, dead serious.

"I would give up anything for my friends. I don't care what happens to me. I have to keep him safe."

A cold silence filled the room. Jin closed his eyes, wishing with all his heart he wouldn't have to do this.

Since he was the person who reaped Tae, he was the only one that could turn him Shadow. He didn't want to take this life away from the boy. Taehyung had no idea how tough Shadow life could be.

"Newspapers will work, Jin. I know it's dangerous for you, so I will only ask this of you once. Then, after my Shadow transition, I can take over. However, before we do anything, you must fill me in on everything you know... And make it fast. We only have ten minutes left..."

Jin filled the boy in on what he knew and Taehyung set about making a proper plan.

The stage was set. The curtains were rising. All that was left to do was perform...

Even if it did mean that they would be shaking hands with the devil...