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There are some misconceptions about people like him. People, he might say, but what he means is spirits. After all, the various inhabitants of the spirit realm aren’t complete humans with both body and soul.
Baekhyun is just one of many employees under Yeom-ra, ruler of the spirit world. Really, it’s Yeom-ra Junior who handles most of the administrative tasks these days, to Baekhyun’s relief. Even if he’s a bit particular, the younger boss tends to keep the working environment a little more relaxed for all the regular, everyday employees.
There are lots of them, too. Really, Baekhyun is thankful he gets to work in the field, because the spirit headquarters are chaos. There’s always a researcher running around or an ogre getting scolded.
But it’s true that working in the field means inconsistent hours and fewer opportunities to socialize with, well, people of his own realm. Baekhyun wouldn’t mind finding a special someone to spend eternity with, but such a task is easier said than done.
So there are a lot of spirit guides—or, uh, grim reapers, as they’re more commonly known—and the assignments aren’t random, either. It’s traumatizing to die! The responsibility of the spirit guide department is calmly but efficiently getting the spirits of the recently deceased to the Samdo River, after which point they can be judged for whatever misdeeds committed or virtues maintained during their lives in the human realm.
So reapers—er, guides—get matched with spirits who they’ll be more likely to succeed in providing some consolation to. Baekhyun tends to be good with people with a good sense of humor, who don’t take life too seriously—or didn’t. Those, and adult gay men. Maybe they can sense it on him, a community kinship, although he doesn’t see why any of that should matter once they’re free of earthly conceptions of romance.
There are five qualities that any spirit guide must have. Baekhyun is reminded of it every time he stops by headquarters to pick up a new death roster.
Remember to be
~ CRUDE ~
Careful - Ready - Understanding - Diligent - Engaged
If the motivational slogan weren’t, well, crude on its own, half the letters are peeling off the wall, too. It’s been up for as long as Baekhyun’s been working there, so several decades at least. They really need to hire more staff. Maybe someone with some experience in HR or communications.
There’s exceptions, but those who get recruited to work in the spirit realm tend to have these characteristics, or have a skill in demand. Baekhyun’s not convinced on the merits of another full time job straight out of humanhood, but it’s good to know he did something right back then, anyway.
It’s someone else’s job to track when and how a human will die. Baekhyun is forever grateful for the information and how clean Sehun’s notes are, but that doesn’t make Baekhyun want to transfer to headquarters, no sirree. Still, it’s useful to hang around for a few days before a death, get a grasp of the situation, of the person, or the soul, anyway, what it’ll need to move along peacefully after it leaves the body.
Baekhyun refers to his itinerary. Kim Minseok. Yeongdeungpo, Seoul, South Korea. He’ll die in a bicycle-car collision on his way home from a weekend leisure ride along the Han River. Well, at least he’ll have a nice last few hours. Baekhyun glides through the gray Seoul sky toward Kim Minseok’s current location.
Kim Minseok is a pretty normal guy on the surface. He does yoga in the mornings and works in a small office. He’s not in charge of anyone, but has enough seniority that he can keep to himself without getting ordered around, most of the time. He doesn’t make a fuss when he contributes during staff meetings, and the restaurant he chooses for lunch is pretty boring.
But Kim Minseok has his cute sides, too. He works at his desk with focus but is strictly resistant to overtime. His boss doesn’t notice, but Baekhyun does, those glances at the clock. It gives him a chuckle. Minseok spends an hour or two at the gym after work, and when he comes home, he throws together an ensemble of questionable already-half-prepared ingredients. Well, Baekhyun gets it; he never liked cooking, either. Kim Minseok spends what’s left of his evening watching InuYasha and facetiming a friend.
Kim Minseok is a sweet guy. Maybe even spirit guide material, although Baekhyun figures a disciplined man like that is more suited to office work than Baekhyun’s position. And Baekhyun suddenly imagines it, cute little Kim Minseok scurrying around at headquarters and sneaking out the moment the clock strikes five. Of him coming to meet Baekhyun for tea at the place he likes to hang out between reaping—er, guiding—assignments.
The following day is much the same, until nightfall. Minseok’s phone starts ringing halfway through his beauty routine—he doesn’t need it, Baekhyun tuts—and Baekhyun can’t hear the caller, but based on Kim Minseok’s expression, it’s not good news.
Baekhyun quietly follows Kim Minseok out, trailing behind him until they end up at a little neighborhood pub. Baekhyun still can’t tell what happened—the friend’s explanation is as weepy as it is lengthy—but by the time they part ways, the person is smiling, which means Kim Minseok must have done a good job.
Yep, Kim Minseok definitely has what it takes to be a spirit guide. Baekhyun will have to inform Yeom-ra Junior. And no, Baekhyun definitely doesn’t have any ulterior motives for recommending him, definitely nothing like wanting to give him a personal tour of the spirit realm that ends with a romantic candlelit dinner overlooking the flowing Samdo.
Baekhyun almost wants to say it’s a shame someone as endearing as Minseok has to die, but Baekhyun has already imagined their whole future together, so he figures whatever losses Minseok incurs with the loss of this life will be made up for in due time.
As Kim Minseok nears the end of his bike ride the next day, Baekhyun straightens his clothes and pats his hair back into place. Kim Minseok pedals fast! Corporeal or not, gliding through air at that pace had done a number on him.
That’s when Minseok goes down. It’s sort of a freak accident, even withstanding the involvement of an SUV. Kim Minseok’s helmet isn’t enough to prevent the unnatural way his body snaps as it hits the pavement. Even Baekhyun, experienced as he is, doesn’t like watching that part. He waits for Kim Minseok’s soul to drift his way.
“Huh?” Spirit Kim Minseok grabs his face, mutters, “What happened? How am I..?”
“Hi th–”
“Woah!” Minseok frights when he sees him. “Are you…floating?!”
Baekhyun nods in understanding. Accident deaths are common, but never fun. “I am floating. And you are too.”
Minseok looks down at his body, and lets out an “Ah!” when he sees it suspended in the air. “And who are you?!”
Baekhyun clears his throat and maybe bats his eyelashes a bit. “You may call me Baekhyun. I am a spirit guide assigned to escort you to the River Samdo.”
“A what?”
“A spirit—” Baekhyun sighs at Minseok’s look of confusion. “A grim reaper!”
“Aren’t you too colorful to be a grim reaper?”
Baekhyun knows there’s a stereotype that spirit guides only wear black clothes. But how boring! It’s only newbies and guides facing disciplinary action that are required to adhere to such strict dress code. Baekhyun, for his part, thinks he looks very handsome and professional in the light blue hanbok he’d chosen that morning.
“You may find that death is full of surprises~” Baekhyun answers instead.
Kim Minseok looks forlornly at his human body, crumpled on the pavement. A small crowd has gathered around, various onlookers phoning emergency services. If Baekhyun could be seen by the living, he’d tell them not to bother.
“So that’s it? I’m…dead?”
Despite his job, Baekhyun really doesn’t do good with dreary moods.
“Well,” Baekhyun starts, trying to sound optimistic. “Your life in the human realm has come to an end, anyway.”
Minseok looks at him, a little curiosity slipping into his confusion. Baekhyun tries to maintain his composure in the face of his cuteness. That, and the growing awareness that Kim Minseok is still in spandex, still has sweat dripping down his cheek. Even if Baekhyun hadn’t developed a little crush, he’s still only a man.
“Okay.” Minseok resigns himself after a moment. “Let’s go, then.”
Baekhyun splutters. “Is there nowhere you want to stop by the way? No one can see you, obviously, but maybe a last goodbye to a friend, or…lover?”
After his few days of observation, Baekhyun is pretty sure there’s no special someone in Kim Minseok’s life, but still, it doesn’t hurt to double check.
“There’s no one I need to see, but can we stop by the cat shelter?”
Baekhyun lets Minseok lead the way back to his neighborhood and through the door—literally—of what’s apparently his favorite cat rescue. Walking through the wall doesn’t trouble him, but when he goes to scratch a kitten behind the ears and his hand goes through its head instead, it brings a frown to Minseok’s and, in turn, Baekhyun’s face.
“Were you planning to adopt?” Baekhyun asks. He’s touched by how fondly Minseok looks at the creatures even when he can’t pet them.
“It’s one of those things I always wanted to do. One day. I guess I won’t get the chance now.”
Baekhyun thinks this is harder to watch than the collision earlier. He never gets animals on his death roster, but maybe he can find a dying cat whose soul to reap anyway.
“Well, their spirits also go to the Samdo River…” Baekhyun attempts to console his crush. “Maybe there will be some in the waiting room? I hear the judgement queue gets quite long when our boss is feeling fickle.”
Minseok smiles at him like he just said something very amusing. Baekhyun doesn’t really get it, but he likes it, anyway, the way Minseok’s mouth widens and sunshine seeps out like nectar.
“We also have ogres…?” Baekhyun tries.
“Alright, take me away, then,” Minseok announces. “This sounds like a place I’ve got to see at least once.”
They drift across the skies together, Baekhyun pointing out nice views and his favorite landmarks on the way.
“This neighborhood is where I had my first reaping assignment,” Baekhyun mentions as they fly over Deokpung-dong.
“Yeah?” Minseok doesn’t seem all that interested in Baekhyun’s work history, though. Even he knows he’s blabbering now, but the intensity of Minseok’s fond gaze will do that to a person, he thinks.
“Yeah, but, uh. As far as assignments go, it’s been a real pleasure to guide you.”
“Oh? Am I that interesting?”
He says it like he’s teasing him, and Baekhyun doesn’t know what he did right in his past life to get the chance to flirt with Kim Minseok, but it seems a much better reward than working full-time.
“Well, I think you’re interesting,” Baekhyun starts. “But there’s still a lot I'd like to learn about you, Kim Minseok.”
Minseok quirks his head at that. “Aren’t I dead?”
“Ah, well. There’s something like that,” Baekhyun says elusively, hoping Yeom-ra Junior received the signals Baekhyun sent him. “Oh, this is as far as I can take you,” Baekhyun laments when they arrive at the River Samdo. “But, uh, between you and me, I have a feeling we’ll be seeing each other again.”
Baekhyun grabs Minseok’s hand and places a kiss on its back. Minseok’s hands are cute, too, Baekhyun notices for the first time.
“Do you flirt with all your charges like this?” Minseok calls as Baekhyun begins his drift away.
“Only the ones I really like!” Baekhyun calls back. He leaves Minseok with a wave and, then, a peel of laughter, before he glides away for good.
He’ll have to stop by headquarters after his next assignment.