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Taehyung isn’t sure if he regrets it or not.
He looks around the party around him and wonders if all humans are like this, but guesses probably not. At first, his actions were out of pure pity. Six suffering souls, brought together in a fit of desperation and need for love. They found solace only in each other and neither wanted nor needed anyone else.
A delighted laughter broke him out of his thoughts and Taehyung’s eyes softened when his eyes landed on a certain blonde in the room. Seokjin had dyed his hair recently. Taehyung had originally thought he’d look strange with anything other than dark-colored hair, but the blonde made Seokjin look even more angelic than before.
A shame, Taehyung thought, that it would be all for naught soon.
The thought made the smile on his lips disappear and he frowned. He’d originally come to earth to end the six lives. Choosing to prolong their lives out of sheer pity for their sad situation was probably the worst and best decision of his career at the same time.
Never get fond of your targets, V.
Right.
“Hey, keep making eyes at Seokjin-hyung, and Yoongi-hyung’ll flip out.” Taehyung rolled his eyes at Jimin’s snickering. “Want a drink?”
“Got one.” Taehyung shook the beer can in his hand. “What do you think Yoongi-hyung would prefer: him dying and leaving Seokjin-hyung by himself, or Seokjin-hyung dying and leaving him alone?”
Jimin gave him a look. “Uh, what, Taehyung. God, I’ve known you for five years and I still can’t predict what that head is thinking. Listen, no matter what, Yoongi-hyung would give his life to make sure Seokjin-hyung stays safe. No question. Not that the other choice would be better.”
Taehyung swirled the contents of his can. There weren’t much left and he needed something stronger. “And what if we all died, or the rest of us died and Seokjin lived? What would you like?”
Jimin rolled his eyes. “Don’t be dumb, Taehyung. You talk about the weirdest shit.” He downed his cup of beer and Taehyung followed his gaze to where Seokjin was laughing with Hoseok. Yoongi was sitting on the couch right next to where Seokjin standing, hand on the armrest with fingers just barely brushing Seokjin’s thigh. There was a light, almost-not-there smile on his face and Taehyung had no doubts the source of that was Seokjin. Yoongi smiled like that only for Seokjin and only because of Seokjin. Jimin finally says, “I guess if I had to choose, it’d be the rest of us die and Seokjin-hyung lives. He went through enough just for us. Shouldn’t have to die with us, too. Maybe he deserves a life without us dragging him through the ugly mud.” Jimin stood and snatched the beer can from Taehyung’s hands. “No more fucking drinking for you, man. You say weird shit when you’ve had too much.”
Taehyung shrugs and he glances at Hoseok. Sorry, he thinks. But you’re the first up.
Hoseok dies two weeks after that (or rather, Taehyung collects his overdue soul), and Seokjin passes out from crying. Jimin doesn’t think anything’s weird with Taehyung asking him about death and Hoseok dying so soon, but Taehyung doesn’t want anything complicated so he collects Jimin's next.
The two deaths hit him harder than he’s thought they would. He’s known these people for 5 years – almost 6 – now. It’s nowhere as long as Yoongi and Seokjin have known each other. He was the last to join the group (for obvious reasons), but he’s never realized or thought about how much he loved them all.
He buries his face so the others can’t see his expression. A grim reaper falling in love. Who’d have ever thought.
He raises his head again and glances over at Seokjin, passed out with his head buried in Yoongi’s chest. Yoongi’s holding him closely and Taehyung can’t read the expression on his face. Or maybe it’s more accurate to say Yoongi has no expression. Their eyes meet and Yoongi pats the ground next to him. Taehyung crawls over and Yoongi holds him tightly around the shoulders. He thinks this is ironic, Yoongi offering comfort for the cause of all their misery, but he finds his churning stomach ease when Yoongi’s fingers card through his hair and Namjoon and Jungkook come to huddle next to them only seconds after.
He needs time to recover, so he pushes the deadlines as far as he can until he can no more and takes Jungkook’s soul next. He’s not the one doing the killing – he’s merely collecting the souls from their deaths. In fact, he’s saved their lives, prolonged what should have ended five years ago. But he’s still filled with guilt when he collects their souls and he spends the next few days curled up with Seokjin and seeking hugs from Namjoon and Yoongi.
Yoongi is supposed to be next, but Taehyung loves Seokjin too much to take Yoongi away. And there it is, out in the open. Taehyung loves Seokjin. He loves the man who first found him on the streets, huddled in the darkness trying to figure out how he was going to take 6 souls at the same time. He loves the man who gave him a name when he was just V, told him now he was family and that they’d take care of him. He loves the man who held him late into the night, reassuring him everything was going to be fine. It’s a bit ironic now, Taehyung thinks. The thing bothering Taehyung was, after all, how he was going to collect the souls of the people he’d come to love.
So he takes Namjoon next, and holds onto Seokjin and Yoongi because they’re the only ones he has left. Seokjin falls asleep first, pretending he’s not crying even though he’s crying so hard his entire body quakes, and they pretend not to notice. Yoongi flicks his lighter on and off, on and off, and Taehyung tries not to see the way that’s how Yoongi will die and tries not to think about how much it’ll break Seokjin.
“When I’m gone, take care of him.” Yoongi says, flicking the lighter on and keeping it burning.
Taehyung’s voice shakes even though he’s going to be the one collecting the soul. He’s delayed Yoongi’s suicide long enough, so he knows what he says won’t have any effect on the man, but he can’t help but whisper, “Don’t, hyung.” He realizes he’s begging. “Don’t. He’ll die without you. I’ll die without you.”
“I won’t,” Yoongi whispers, and flicks his lighter off. “Just in case. He’s taken care of us for so long. He deserves to have someone take care of him.” He pauses and glances over at Seokjin. “Just. He just does.”
Taehyung doesn’t say anything. He pushes himself to the limit for the next two months while Seokjin heals (or tries), and when he finally can no longer, he steps into the burning hotel room. Yoongi stares right back at him and Taehyung flinches and clutches his scythe to him. “I knew you weren’t normal,” Yoongi says, and Taehyung stares. This is the first time any human has talked to him when he was collecting them. “The grim reaper, though, that’s a stretch.”
Yoongi’s dead. The body lies burnt and disfigured on the ground, but the soul is sitting in the middle of the floor smirking at him. The smirk makes Taehyung shiver, which is ridiculous. “I tried to save you all,” he tells Yoongi. “I’m not the one that killed you.”
Yoongi doesn’t say anything to that but fixes Taehyung with a glare. “Are you going to get Seokjin-hyung next?”
“It’s – I don’t have a choice,” Taehyung mumbles. He’s never felt so meek in front of another human, but then again Yoongi has always been a bit scary to him.
Taehyung swears Yoongi’s eyes are burning holes into him. “I’ll never fucking forgive you,” Yoongi hisses, and Taehyung just swipes his scythe to collect the soul.
Not surprisingly, Seokjin shatters. He tries to pretend everything is all right when it’s not, and Taehyung watches him stare off into space for no reason. Once, he sets the stove to make something for the two of them and stands there staring into space, almost setting the entire place on fire before Taehyung jumps in.
Almost every day, Jaehwan or Junghwan comes to visit and tries to convince Seokjin to come live with them. They’re worried about Seokjin as much as Taehyung is, but Seokjin refuses every time. He can’t get himself to leave all the memories.
After eight nights of Seokjin cries himself to sleep in Taehyung’s arms, Kidoh comes to visit. “You’re long, long overdue on him. Almost six years overdue. If you don’t take him soon, I will.”
Taehyung squeezes his eyes shut. “Kidoh, I can’t. Look at him. He’s miserable. He deserves to be happy. He lived his entire life for others and I can’t just take him away now. There has to be a way to save him somehow.”
Kidoh growls and grabs Taehyung’s chin, squeezing until Taehyung’s forced to look up from Seokjin to his fellow reaper. “I told you not to fall in love with your targets, V.” V. He hasn’t heard that name in years.
Taehyung wrenches his face away. He holds Seokjin closer to him, cradling his head against his chest. Seokjin isn’t waking up when he’s not normally this deep of a sleeper, so he figures Kidoh has something to do with that. “It’s not like I could help it.”
“He even gave you a fucking human name.” Kidoh snorts and he grabs Seokjin’s hair. Seokjin doesn’t wake up but he whimpers, and Taehyung yanks Seokjin away. “V. It’s not fucking worth it to save humans. They’ll die anyway. Just because you prolong their life doesn’t mean they’ll live a nice, long life.”
Taehyung jerks up. “So you do know how to save him. How do I do it? Kidoh, come on. You owe me one.”
Kidoh’s face twists but he crosses his arms across his chest after a while. “… You give up your soul for his.”
Taehyung blinks. “It’s that easy?”
“What?” Kidoh’s jaw drops. “That easy? Listen, V. You give up your soul. You stop being a reaper, you go to hell, you stay there for eternity like all the rest of them. You die. And for what? A mortal human? You give up your soul today, he lives to see another day, and maybe a car will run him over tomorrow and I have to come collect his soul anyway.”
Taehyung nods. “But that’s okay. That’s fine, that’s okay. He gets another chance. That’s all I want.” He runs his hands through Seokjin’s blonde hair. It feels so, so soft, unlike Yoongi’s dried haystack of hair that Seokjin tried to salvage. He presses their cheeks together and feels Seokjin’s warm cheeks against his. He grabs his phone, leaves a message to Jaehwan and Junghwan and hopes they’ll get here first thing in the morning.
He presses his lips to Seokjin’s cheek, his forehead, his nose, and anywhere else he can reach without having to let Seokjin go. Kidoh looks at him. “Seriously?” He whispers. “You’re going to do this for a mortal? A human being?”
“Yeah.” Taehyung smiles. “Oh god, I’m so glad this is so easy and it didn’t have to get complicated.” He grins at Kidoh and Kidoh just stares. “He’ll be okay.”
Kidoh holds his hand out and there’s a scythe in moments. “I can’t believe you, V.”
“Taehyung.” Kidoh frowns at him, but Taehyung just smiles. “It’s Taehyung.”
Kidoh’s eyes narrow. “Whatever.” He swipes his scythe and Taehyung closes his eyes. Kidoh has a mind to leave, but he growls in frustration and pulls Seokjin properly on the bed and tucks him in. Taehyung has no mortal body and he doesn’t leave one behind, so Kidoh tears a piece of his own cloak and wraps it around Seokjin’s wrist. “Taehyung,” he tries, and scowls at the name. “Right.”
--
Yoongi smirks at him and the fire of hell burns behind him. Taehyung wonders if somehow, in the short time that they’ve been here, they’d somehow taken over hell. He doesn't think it would surprise him. Yoongi offers him a hand, cold smirk still in place, and Taehyung feels a chill run down his spine, but takes it. His body erupts in fire but there’s no pain.
Yoongi’s smirk deepens as he lets go of Taehyung’s hand. The fire licks at Taehyung’s skin. “I’ll forgive you.”