Death Cast

02.1 | He Who Sleeps, Dreams

It was the next day when Jaerim woke up. His gaze was a bit languid at first, his eyes glazed as if he had fallen into an illusion. It took him a few minutes before his eyes gained clarity and he looked around his surroundings. He wasn’t familiar with the bleak white room that had four corners but no windows, but the presence of a certain white-haired grim reaper and the dark-blue uniformed middle-aged man answered his assumptions. 

He had finally come out. 

The evaluation process proceeded as expected. It didn’t take long before Jaerim’s final ending was changed from permanent to tentative indefinitely. However, he still didn’t have the same freedom when he wasn’t an Autumn since he had been marked down by taking away his human rights. Thus, he has now fallen into conservatorship with Officer Trivett as the conservator and is stuck as a freeloading pseudo-member of the Autumns Dispatchers Special Edition.

His scope of activities has been limited. His freedom consisted of only walking up the doors of the Special Division and the entirety of the endless hallways of the WIC Company (of course, he was not allowed to enter any of the nameless doors either and could only use the ones assigned to him). Jaerim has no complaints whatsoever. He doesn’t have any higher demands than being able to eat three meals a day and continue living the next day. 

The simulation lasted for five days, but it only happened for a few hours in the real world. When he got out, he still had fresh wounds on his body from when he was forcibly caught by the officers, especially the one on his cheeks—the injury he caused himself. He had scraped the wound without any preparation and proper equipment, so it was expected that it would inflame the day after. That’s why, in the proceeding weeks, Jaerim sported a half-bloated face that made him one of the most effective conversation starters amongst the people inside the department. 

The life extension given to Jaerim wasn’t too long--it’s only exactly one hundred days. He should have only been extended for at least three weeks, since the first world is just a trial world, but due to his excellent performance, the grim reapers gave him ample time. Barron also handed a good recommendation to the higher-ups while secretly adding the information about Jaerim’s peculiar deposition. 

Jaerim spent his days quite idly, just eating his meals every day properly while learning all the workings of the contract. And this time, the three months are enough to explain all the related clauses by Silvester, since Barron is too lazy to do it himself. Speaking of this, Silvester seems to have transferred to their department despite not being part of the same regional territory. Jaerim is seeing this unrelated grim reaper more often than the one contracted to him. 

In just a blink, the additional pseudo-member adapted well inside the department and created some connections. The closest people he has gotten are from the intelligence department, since they’re the ones that mostly stay in the office while the others are working in the field. He even met the person who called him about the issues in his apartment. 

Nilda and Jared, the core members, did not expect to become acquainted with the youth. Jaerim, despite having the most average face anyone could easily forget, is quite charismatic when it comes to socializing. Barron even approved of his good communication skills. 

Anyway, three months wasn’t really that long. Jaerim is sitting inside the quiet office of the Autumn Division’s intelligence department, playing solitaire on one of the free computers beside Jared, when Barron walks in from nowhere. The imposing figure of the white-haired, dark-skinned grim reaper created a contrast between the cold, tasteless surroundings that immediately attracted the attention of the three people working in the area. The grim reaper smiled as he sauntered around interestingly, looking at the connection between the three people. 

“It seems like you have adapted well here,” Barron commented, glancing at the glaring lights coming from the computers. He could see numbers and statistics running across the interface and asked nothing about it. Barron shifted his eyes toward the black-haired youth who looked up after catching his presence. 

“Good morning, sir,” Nilda greeted him politely. Jared followed suit, giving the grim reaper a short bow. Barron dismissed their greetings with a charming smile. 

“Working well, as usual, I see,” he nodded. “Keep up the good work. Hardworking humans will always be rewarded.”

Jared made a light laugh. Everyone revered the grim reapers since they are supernatural beings that are highly associated with Death. Yet, Barron just had this charm that made people around him feel warm, and thus would often make people lower their guard. Jared likes this grim reaper who will not look down on humans differently than others who always have a scowl on their face. 

“Sir, will the heavens give me an extension if I work very well?” Jared asked in amusement. Jaerim turned his head to the man, amazed at his daring to ask such a sensitive question. The grim reaper wasn’t bothered at all. 

“I’m not sure,” Barron said, shrugging his shoulders lightly. “Just don’t overwork yourself and put a strain on your health. People who ignore the limits of their bodies often end up getting listed up early. Just do your thing well and play occasionally.”

Jared nodded quite seriously. “I will remember that, sir.”

Barron hummed in recognition as he stopped walking behind Jaerim’s chair. He placed his hand on the youth’s shoulder as he leaned closer to say something. It wasn’t a whisper, since the two people beside Jaerim could hear his words very clearly. 

“Your time is almost up. We should get going,” Barron said. 

Jaerim nodded quite casually. “Okay.”

Both Nilda and Jared were shocked. Although they were aware of the life extension, they didn’t know exactly when it would end. It is confidential information only known by the related party, so they were surprised to know that Jaerim was about to die today, again. They were unable to detect any problems since Jaerim acted calm and carefree as usual. He doesn’t look like someone that is about to die. 

Actually, after hearing his status, Jaerim only minimized the solitaire window and stood up. He found the two people looking at him with their mouths agape. He smiled briefly, thinking about the faces these two people were making. He pushed the chair back under the table and stood beside Barron.

“Don’t worry, I will come later,” Jaerim said, as if reassured that he would be coming back. “I still haven’t finished playing the game.”

Barron took the lead first, giving the two other humans small nods, as Jaerim followed behind him. Nilda watched the back of the youth, who did not seem to be carrying anything heavy. She remembered the first time she met the young man who was very rude to her when she called. Actually, it did not give any impression aside from the person being just grumpy from getting woken up. 

Who would have thought that that person would become a resident of this place?

“I wonder…” Jared suddenly stated. 

Nilda turned her head around to look at Jarem. They don’t have much to do today. That’s why they were here working on the papers. That is also the reason for Jaerim's silently playing in the corner rather than usually chatting with them when he goes around. Due to the familiarity of the subjects they are discussing, Jaerim and Jared seem to share quite a connection. 

“Wonder what?” Jared didn’t continue his words immediately, which made Nilda curious.

“Hmmm… just thinking about his situation and about all of the Autumns. Life sure is fickle - so short yet so fickle. Who knows if we will be seeing him once again?”

Nilda thought of Jared’s words, then said, “Surely, he will.”

Jaerim will. 

The way he said his words earlier was quite confident. It wasn’t from someone who wanted to die an easy death.