Alex had always known that Santorini was a stunning place from the images he had seen on the internet, but the actual thing was even more beautiful than words could describe. The quaint little buildings with whitewashed walls topped with blue domes for roofs, sitting in every possible angle on the Grecian slopes that met the crystal clear sea. Everything about the Santorini made him feel as though he had found heaven on earth.

Somehow standing on the balcony of their villa looking out at the open sea made Alex feel somewhat at peace with himself, more so than he had been ever since he found out the truth behind his current existence.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Daehyun mused.

The sun was rising in the horizon, signalling the start of a new day. Neither of them knew how many of such days they had left. The connection between Alex and Daehyun continued to get weaker and weaker. There were instances where Alex's voice would become so soft in Daehyun's mind that he could barely hear it, but then within a split second it was back to normal again. Vice versa, there would bbe instances where Alex couldn't hear Daehyun as well, and these periods of time were getting longer and longer as the days went by.

Time was running out.

"Yeah, it truly is. I guess this is why Eunri kept nagging me to take her here."

Alex wanted to laugh at the irony. Back in the days, he kept coming up with excuses not to take Eunri here because he simply didn't want to take time out of his music business. Now that he was finally willing to, he was here merely as a ghost in someone else's body, living on borrowed time.

"Daehyun, can I ask another favour of you?"

"What is it?"

"I just need one day. One day to be with Eunri, not as Lee Daehyun, but as Alex Yang. Could you help me with that"?

Daehyun sighed. "Alright. For today, you can be yourself. I'll go where you want me to go, do what you tell me to do, and say whatever you tell me to say. Just don't go overboard okay?"

"Thanks."

#

Eunri and Daehyun were standing on a yacht in the middle of the blue ocean, admiring the view of Santorini island from their vantage point.

"It's gorgeous!" Eunri exclaimed, turning to Daehyun in excitement. This was her first time on a yacht, at the holiday destination of her dreams.

Alex knew Eunri had always dreamed of visiting Santorini, ever since she saw the place in a drama she watched when she was eighteen. After years of bugging him to no avail, she had long given up hope of ever coming here. When Daehyun whipped out two tickets to Santorini and invited her to come along, she had said yes with little hesitation. He had graciously invited Miyeon as well, but the latter chose to head back to Seoul instead.

"It's not quite the same looking at it from the mainland and looking at it from the sea isn't it?"

Alex wasn't all that focused on looking at the scenery though, because his eyes were mainly fixed on her.

Eunri rushed over to the other end of the yacht, eager to take in all that her eyes could see.

"She's so beautiful, isn't she?"

"Yeah, she is."

"I guess I never told her often enough. When I'm gone, you make sure you tell her every day that she's the most beautiful girl in the world, got it?"

"Can you quit talking like you're going to disappear anytime soon? It's bad luck..."

"Daehyun, look! There are people riding on horses along the cliff!" Eunri pointed at a row of tiny horses in the far distance.

"I read on Wikipedia that you can hire horses to go visit the countryside around here. There are supposedly some pretty nice vineyard and cave houses that we can visit. Do you want to do that?"

Eunri nodded in excitement.

"Your wish is my command!"

He caught a brief flicker of recognition flash across Eunri's eyes. It was yet another phrase that used to hang off his lips, but it was more often an empty promise. This time, he was determined not to disappoint Eunri again. He leaned against the railing of the yacht, hair blowing in the wind, and in that moment he wondered if Eunri was seeing Daehyun standing there, or whether she as looking past Daehyun and seeing him.

#

Eunri wanted to go horse riding, but when she found herself on top of the horseback, anxiety kicked in.

"I'm going to fall off!" she shrieked the second she was up on the saddle. She gripped onto Daehyun's hand, refusing to let go so that he could get on his own horse. Instead, she shut her eyes in fear and kicked herself inside for choosing to ride horses. Some things were meant to remain in TV dramas instead of manifesting in real life.

"Don't worry, you'll be fine, the ranger will be guiding your horse throughout," Daehyun squeezed her hand and said.

It didn't help ease her nerves a single bit, and she still refused to let go. Without holding onto his hand, she felt completely insecure on top of the horse, fearing that she might be flung off any minute.

Daehyun leaned over to the horse ranger and whispered something into his ear.

Eunri's eyes were still tightly shut when she felt Daehyun's hand suddenly slip out of grip.

"Daehyun! Where are you? Don't let go!"

Suddenly she felt someone get onto the horse behind her and a pair of arms wrapped themselves around her waist, grabbing hold of her hands and placing them firmly on the horse reins.

"I'm right here. Open your eyes, you can't see the view with your eyes shut, you know," Daehyun's voice chuckled from behind her.

Eunri's eyes flew open in surprise as she turned around to find a smiling Daehyun sitting behind her.

"How did you get up here!"

"Um, the same way you did."

Eunri blushed when she heard that answer, silently scolding herself for asking a stupid question. Regardless of how Daehyun got up, Eunri realised that she did feel much more secure with him sitting behind her. The only other time she had ridden a horse, Alex also had to sit behind her before she was willing to even move a single inch. That time, she had frozen there for a good half an hour kicking up a fuss until an exasperated Alex had no choice but to get on with her.

As the horse trotted slowly along the side of the cliff, Eunri couldn't help but feel a sense of déjà vu, as though she had been transported back to the time when she was riding on a horse together with Alex back on Jeju island.

Except it would never be Alex again.

"Look over there." Daehyun pointed at a quaint little cottage in the distance, surrounded by a vineyard. As they approached the vineyard, they could see that there were dozens of ripe grape bunches hanging off the vines. The ranger helped them off the horse and they were free to roam around.

As they strolled down the rows of hanging vines, Eunri said, "I've always wanted a house like this. Wouldn't it be nice to just live out in the countryside? To have a vineyard in your own backyard would be an added bonus! Daehyun, what kind of house would you like to have?"

"A house by a river, with a little fishing boat moored to the dock so that I can go fishing as and when I like. There'd be a garden with rose bushes and a white wooden swing..."

Eunri stared at Daehyun in shock. "But that... that's..."

That's exactly the same as Alex's dream house.

The image of Daehyun standing in the midst of the vines faded away, replaced by one of Alex in front of her. It was as though when Daehyun was speaking, it was Alex who was speaking to her.

What's wrong with me? It can't be. Alex's gone...

#

As the afternoon went by and dusk approached, Daehyun and Eunri made their way to a spot on the island known as Oia, famous for its unforgettable views of the sunset in the horizon. They found themselves sitting on the balcony of a tiny cafe tucked away in a quiet corner, watching as the sun gradually set in the distance.

"I love watching the sun set. There's something beautiful about it, yet sad at the same time, don't you think?" Eunri said as she took a sip of her coffee.

Alex watched the sun set wistfully in the distance. He never appreciated the sunset like Eunri did, but today he felt like he could finally see the beauty that she saw. She was right, it was beautiful, yet sad at the same time, because it only lasted for the briefest of minutes, then it was gone and darkness would set in. If the sun rising in the east represented the beginning of life, then the sun setting in the west would represent the end of life itself.

"My sun is setting soon. In fact, it has already set, except I'm refusing to accept my fate."

"Stop being so pessimistic," Daehyun whispered.

Both Alex and Daehyun could see the irony in that. Usually the pessimistic one was Daehyun while Alex was the one with boundless optimism and enthusiasm. Now it was a complete reversal of roles, which made it kind of funny.

"I guess that's one thing off my bucket list," Eunri declared. "This is actually the number one item on that list."

Alex watched as Eunri stared dreamily at the setting sun, which had spread an orange glow over the entire city, making it seem all the more fairy tale-like and ethereal. He could sit here watching Eunri all day if he could, and now that he knew his time was limited, every second mattered even more.

"Do you have a bucket list?" Eunri turned to Daehyun and asked with a smile.

"Yeah. It's a secret though."

Alex had drawn up his own bucket list at the same time Eunri did hers, and only because she had forced him to. At that time, he had refused to show her what he had written on his list no matter how many times she begged him to, because he thought it was slightly embarrassing. Even till now, Eunri didn't know what Alex wrote on his paper napkin that day when they made their bucket lists.

"What's on your bucket list huh?" Daehyun asked curiously, when Eunri excused herself to go to the bathroom.

"Nothing I managed to accomplish. Maybe one day you'll manage to accomplish them all for me?"

"Don't be stupid, why would I want to do that? It's your bucket list not mine! You've probably written some stupid things like bungee jump without a rope or sky dive without a parachute."

Alex laughed at what Daehyun said. He had to admit that those things did cross his mind when he drew up his bucket list, but he didn't put any of them down in the end.

Across from him, Eunri slid back into her seat.

"Eunri."

"Hmm?" She turned to him with a bright smile. She looked so beautiful under the glow of the setting sun, and Alex felt his heart ache at the thought that he might never see her again.

"I may sound crazy for saying these things to you now, but if I don't say it now then I'm afraid I'll never have the chance to say it again. Please don't think that Daehyun is crazy after this, because although he's a little high strung and a severe workaholic, he's definitely not crazy." Daehyun repeated what Alex was saying word for word, just as he promised he would, even though it sounded completely senseless. "Eunri, I hope you had fun today, and I'm sorry I never had the chance to take you to Santorini before this even though I kept promising you that I would. If I had the time, I would also take you skiing in the Swiss Alps and scuba diving in Maldives so that you could tick more things off your bucket list, but I'm sorry I don't have the time anymore."

"I... How... How do you know all this? The only one who knows is..."

"I only have enough time to take you here, to watch the sunset like you always wanted. Over the past few days I've been angry and upset when I found out that my time on earth was running out, and I blamed everyone and anyone, but I won't do that anymore. Instead, I'm thankful that I've been given all this extra time to spend with you, time that I don't actually deserve. The day you packed your bags and left me was the worst day of my life, and I hope you know that I never wanted you to leave. I never wanted you to feel that you were less important to me than anything else, and I'm sorry I ever made you feel that way. You are the most important person in my life, and you deserve a lot better than what I could give you. Eunri, Daehyun— No, stop. I can't say that. Alex, don't make me."

"Just say it, Daehyun. Please. You promised."

"Daehyun... is a good guy. He can give you all that I couldn't give you before, and I know that he will. I think there's a reason why God put me in Daehyun's body for this brief period of time, it was so that I could hand you over to him properly before I left, so that I could leave knowing that there was someone else protecting you and looking after you in my place. I know you like him, and I know he likes you too. I couldn't have entrusted you to the hands of someone better than him. Don't let the memory of me get in the way of the both of you moving on."

By now, tears were streaming down Eunri's cheeks and she was shaking her head continuously as she listened to every word that Alex was saying.

"How is this possible? Alex... I thought I lost you..."

"You'll never lose me. Even when I'm no longer by your side, I'll always watch over you. I promise. I just... I just wanted to say goodbye properly."

"Alex, don't go! Why are you saying all this?" Eunri stammered in between her sobs. She grabbed hold of Daehyun's—Alex's—hand and held on tightly, as though afraid that he would disappear any minute.

Alex could feel Daehyun's indignation rising up within him. His friend wanted to lash out at him for delivering this farewell piece, but he had no choice. He was grateful to Daehyun for holding in those words, and for keeping to his word nonetheless.

"Daehyun, I mean every word I say. I'm leaving Eunri in your hands now, please take care of her for me, and give her the kind of love she deserves. In case I don't get the chance to say this again—thank you. I'm glad I got to know you, and I'm glad I got to be your friend. Thank you for everything you've done for me all this while. When I'm not around, remember to not be so uptight all the time. Get a life, you know?"

"Eunri, I have to go soon. I guess this is goodbye. Remember that I love you, always have, always will. I'll be watching over you no matter where I am, so smile for me wherever you are."

Daehyun suddenly felt a state of panic. This wasn't normal. He could feel Alex's presence in his mind diminishing rapidly with every passing second, and this time wasn't like the previous times. This time, a part of him felt like it was going to be permanent.

He shot up from his seat.

"Alex, what's happening? Are you okay? What's going on!" he burst out. It didn't even matter to him whether or not he sounded insane anymore.

"Goodbye Daehyun. Thanks for everything."

In his mind's eye, Daehyun thought he could see Alex smile.

And then he was gone.

#