The man's name was Park Junghoon and he was about to die in the next ten minutes.

From the file that Seokjin held in his hands, he could see that Park Junghoon had been a kind man during his twenty-nine years of living. Seokjin's eyes scanned over his brief list of accomplishments for a moment before lifting his head up when he sensed someone standing in front of him. The man was dressed in a utility looking gray suit with a tablet of sorts in his hands.

"Name please."

"Kim Seokjin."

The man hummed as he scanned down through the list. His eyes widened for a bit in surprise before he looked back at him again.

"Fresh graduate I see. Madame Life must trust you."

"Yeah, she..."

"But because you're so green I'm going to have to give you the lecture. It's in all the literature, so it shouldn't be unfamiliar."

Seokjin just nodded, letting out a small 'oh' as the file was temporarily taken from him so he could step into a nearby body scanner.

"These rules are in no particular order because they are all equally as important. Life on Earth is fragile - so if even one of these rules is slightly tweaked - it could end with catastrophic results."

"I'm listening," said Seokjin, jumping a bit when the body scanner he now stood in made an odd noise as it whirred to life.

"When on Earth, you cannot try to find out anything about your life before you died. Trying to do so will result in - not only your license to escort being revoked - but your ability to be a grim reaper anytime in the future completely forbidden."

Seokjin nodded, his eyes flicking from the no nonsense man before him to the yellowish white lights that flickered on along the rim of the device as it hummed. A light was soon scanning him from head to toe.

"Therefore - to ensure that nothing about your past life is able to be learned - you will also be given a different appearance while you are on Earth," continued the man. "You will not look anything like what you used to. It is a safeguard incase anyone that might know you is still alive and sees you."

"Makes sense," said Seokjin.

"And the last rule that you need to keep at the forefront of your mind at all times is that you're not to interfere in the life of the mortals you will be dealing with. Your job is to escort and that is it. Don't involve yourselves in any respect. You are not God."

Seokjin nodded. None of this surprised him. Out of everyone in the Soul Academy, he was probably the most familiar with the rules because of how many times he had tried to pass the exam. He knew that he would struggle with the last rule that was just mentioned. Seokjin was fully aware that his compassionate heart could be his downfall. He hated seeing anyone hurt.

"Whelp, that's the spiel! You can step off the scanner now. Your new look has been generated and the soul you're about to escort will be ready in three minutes," said the man as he consulted his tablet again.

Stepping out of the scanner, Seokjin caught a glimpse of his appearance in a nearby window. He came up short when he saw the unfamiliar man staring back at him. Instead of the dark brown hair he was used to, he was now instead sporting rusty red. His face seemed to have matured a few years making him look more rough and rugged. The only part of him that seemed even the slightest bit familiar were his deep brown eyes.

"Well, grab your file and get going. What are you waiting for?"

Turning from the window, Seokjin could see that the man had opened a portal that would lead him back to Earth. Seokjin grabbed his file off a nearby table just as the man moved to pin a name tag to the front of his shirt.

"Your new name," said the man, "At least for while you're on Earth."

Pinching the fabric of his shirt, Seokjin tilted it up to see that his new name was Kim Jihun. Flattening his shirt back out, Seokjin grabbed up the file for his escort and stepped through the portal, going back to Earth for the first time since his death.

- - -

The tranquility of the place that he had just left soon vanished completely as he stepped from the portal onto the side of a roadway in the middle of the night. Before him lay the scene of a fresh accident; smoke rising up from the twisted metal of former cars and into the starless night sky above him. The symphony of wailing emergency vehicle sirens could be heard in the distance, sounding like the cry of mourners already lamenting the soul that was lost.

"Why are you leaving me? WHY?!"

Kim Seokjin soon turned his attention from the cars to look towards the distraught woman a few feet in front of him. She was on her knees in the middle of the street; the shattered glass all about her seeming to be as shattered as her soul. Seokjin moved to stand near the pretzeled vehicle as the woman screamed out into the night, scooping the limp body with the bloodstained lips into her arms.

"I've lost everything! Everything! Why do you have to take him too?!"

Kim Seokjin turned off to his left where a translucent version of the battered body stood beside him. The man looked heartbroken to see the woman in the road so distraught.

"Please don't do this to her! She has already suffered so much loss in her life," begged the man beside Seokjin. "I'm the only person she has left. If you take me away, you're basically ensuring her death yourself."

Seokjin tried to tune out the man, looking at the watch on his wrist. He had a time schedule with delivering this soul. Plus this was his first job. He couldn't botch it.

"I'm sorry, Park Junghoon. There is nothing I can do," said Seokjin.

"Even if there is nothing you can do for me," Junghoon begged. "Please do something for her."

"That's not in my job description..." started Seokjin before the woman's animalistic cries from the road drew his eyes back to her.

Seokjin wasn't supposed to care about the pain of loss. After all, it wasn't him that caused that pain. Yet, he couldn't help but to feel a human part of him come alive at her loss. It may not be a part of his job description, but the caring heart within him made him want to help this woman live.