Jimin's P.O.V

I didn't waste any time in turning towards the sound of Jungkook's voice.

"I'm going to kill you!" I snapped at him as he stepped into the flickering light.

He smirked as I stormed over.

"It seems you've become too familiar with the humans' ways of expressing anger, Sasin."

I ignored him and grabbed his shoulders.

"I can't die," Jungkook continued.

"Then I'll just have to induce so much pain that you'll wish you could," I growled at him.

"Why so upset, friend?"

"Don't call me that!"

We stood still for a second, glaring at each other. Anger pulsed through me.

"I told you not to touch her," I reminded him slowly.

"I told you not to get close with the humans," he snapped back at me, suddenly glancing in Aera's direction.

I turned my head to look at her. She stood frozen, watching us in fear.

"Aera, go home," I told her.

We met eyes for a moment, and she gave me a slow, shaky nod.

"No. Stay, Aera," Jungkook said.

"Stay out of this!" I turned back to him, furiously. "Go now, Aera!"

"Don't you think it's time to let her know what you really are, Sasin?" He asked me slowly.

"N-no. Get out of here!" I told her again.

"You should know who the boy you 'love's true nature, Aera. Don't you think?" He asked, watching her with his snake-like eyes.

"Please!" I turned back to face her, my hands still gripped Jungkook's shirt.

Aera looked torn. I knew she wanted to know all the answers. But I couldn't let that happen. At least, not this way. She had to go home, where she could be safe. I watched her with pleading eyes. Please. Trust me. To my great relief, she gave me a small nod, and turned to leave.

But before Aera could even take a step, Jungkook had escaped my grasp, and shot towards her in the blink of an eye.

Aera's P.O.V

I trust you.

I turned around, about to take off running as fast as my legs could take me, because I knew I had to trust Jimin. But before I could finish taking a deep breath, a pair of arms grabbed me roughly. I cried out in surprise.

"Remember my warning?" Jungkook whispered to me.

He had one arm tightly around my waist and the other gripped my neck. Jimin stood for a moment, shocked at the sight, then took a step forward.

"Come any closer, and I'll snap her neck," Jungkook warned.

"J-Jungkook, release her," Jimin called out painfully.

"I warned you, Sasin. Yet you still broke the rules. You were never supposed to enroll in school, or make 'friends'. You even made a girl fall in love with you. You know you aren't allowed to grow close to humans," Jungkook told him.

"I didn't...I didn't break any rules...I--" He watched us with a tortured expression. "I was doing what I had to do. I didn't mean to become close to anyone."

"But you did. And now you have to pay." Jungkook's hand tightened around my neck. "I have to remove what made the Reaper fall."

Jimin's eyes widened at his words.

"No, stop! Jungkook, I-I'll leave town! I'll never see her again! Please don't hurt her!" He cried.

"I see it really is too late. You've become soft. I have to restore the bitterness that once dominated your mind."

I tried to comprehend all that was being said. Jimin really is a reaper? What does that even mean then? Am I really about to die? But my head spun, and the world became blurry as it became harder to breath.

"Release her!" Jimin yelled.

"You'll thank me later, after you realize how low you fell," Jungkook told him.

"Aera!" was the last thing I heard.

Jimin's P.O.V

"Aera!" I yelled in horror as her body became limp in his arms.

Without another thought, I came at Jungkook with full force. Aera fell to the ground as I grabbed him and drove him towards the tree.

"You'll pay for that!" I screamed at him.

I threw a punch at his surprised face, a sickening crunch sounding as my fist connected with his cheekbone. His head slammed against the bark and we both fell silent. After a frozen moment, Jungkook slowly turned back to me, the large gash I'd created slowly mending itself, until it had returned to the unblemished, pale skin it had been before. Of course, that didn't surprise me, but I shouted in frustration, though not before he threw me towards the ground. My head exploded with pain as we crashed into the dirt together.

"Pull yourself together!" He yelled at me. "We don't fall in love! We don't feel! We're Reapers!

I grabbed him and flipped us, so that I was on top of him.

"I don't care anymore! I don't want to be a Reaper! I don't want to collect souls for all eternity! I don't want to stand there and watch people suffering as I take away their loved ones!"

"You don't have a choice!" He growled, pushing me off. "You will always be this way! You will never feel anything! You can't! It's impossible! It's against our nature!"

"It's not against mine! I am in love! I do love! I'm going crazy because I've never felt this way before! Jungkook, I feel things! Emotions!" I shouted desperately, trying in vain to stand as he stormed towards me.

"I told you to stop talking nonsense!" Jungkook roared, grabbing my collar.

"When I see her, I feel happy," I croaked quietly, as he held my shirt, breathing heavily. "I feel warm...I feel like I'm not death."

He glared at me, silently, a crazed look in his normally lifeless eyes.

"She makes me feel like I am alive. Aera is life," I told him. "She is my life."

We watched each other, and I knew, even though I had explained my feelings perfectly, that he would never understand. Jungkook finally regained his cold, lifeless composure, and told me something I already knew. Something that killed me with every word.

"And that's why you can never be with her. Because life and death can't exist with one another."

"Yet, they cannot exist without each other," I replied slowly.

He laughed bitterly, shoving me back towards the ground.

"It doesn't matter." Jungkook looked towards Aera's lifeless body. "It's already too late."

I turned to her in fear.

"Why don't you do the honors of collecting her soul." He smirked and turned away from me. "Reaper."

With that Jungkook disappeared into thin air. I stumbled to Aera in horror.

"No!" I cried as I made my way towards her. "Please no."

I knelt beside her, feeling cold and feverish.

"Aera."

I couldn't feel the tears streaming down my face, or the aching throughout my body. I was numb. Completely numb. I shook her, seeing if I could wake her. Then I tried to feel for a pulse. But I didn't know where to look for one. I had no idea what to do. In all of my existence, I'd never tried to return life to someone. I only knew how to take it away.

"Aera, w-what am I supposed to do?" I managed to whisper.

"Take me to the hospital, stupid," she murmured, wincing.