"B-blood? Why is there blood-wait, don't tell me this is-oh no!"

Taehyung slammed his forehead on his palm when the realization finally struck him.

"I can't believe this. Is this for real? Ugh, seriously?" He pulled his hair in frustration while the other hand pressed his paining belly.

"Tae? Are you in washroom?"

He flinched when he heard the voice from outside, Jungkook must be back.

"What do I do? What do I do?" He grabbed a handful of the tissue papers in panic to use it as a lining over his underwear but it wasn't working.

Well, of course, it won't work because that's not how it works.

"Right. Sanitary napkins. They use those during this. But does she even have it here? I didn't see any in her bag tho. Do I have to go and buy it myself now? Woah, I can't believe a day would come where I buy those for myself this time."
He dropped his shoulder in defeat while all those times he used to go to stores to buy it for his sister replaying in the back of his mind.

"TAE!! ARE YOU ALRIGHT?! PLEASE ANSWER ME. TAE? TAEUN-AH!!"

The sudden bang on the door startled him bad that the whole roll of tissue almost slipped down from his hand inside the sink.

Jungkook's voice was almost like a scream when he constantly banged on the door until Taehyung opened the door only halfway to answer him because the pajama he's wearing now was already stained with blood.

"I'm alright. What's wrong?"

And a very concerned eyes peeked through the small gap.

"Taeun-ah! Are you hurt anywhere? Open the door properly. Let me see."

"No! No! Wait!" Taehyung clung onto the door knob with his dear life when Jungkook tried to open the door. "I'm alright, really. I don't know why you're saying this all of a sudden but I'm really alright, okay? I'm not hurt anywhere. I just-"

"Then why is there blood on the bedsheet?"

And that's when he realized the blood stain must be not only on the pajama but also on the bedsheet.

"Tae, it's okay. Just... let me see if you're alright, yeah? What's the point of living together if you don't let me help you in anything when something like this happens? You don't need to hide anything from me. I'm here to take care of you so please let me, yeah?"

That's very sweet and generous to come from a boyfriend. His voice was calm yet so concerned and worried at the same time. Jungkook misunderstood the whole thing but Taehyung could only smile quietly in amusement with the only thought, "he must be really worried."

"Jungkook, I'm not hurt anywhere. Really. It's just-" he reassures before pausing to clear his throat, hesitating a bit to say it out loud. "It's period. I'm on period, that's it."

A couple seconds of silence until Jungkook breath out a "Oh" awkwardly which made Taehyung chuckle again, with a grain of embarrassment, of course, when Jungkook finally let go of the door.

"You should've answered me then. I was so scared for a moment when you didn't answer me a first. I thought something happened to you."

Taehyung smiled imagining a pout on Jungkook while saying it-of course his concern was still clearly visible even in his voice. He should've really answered him before but he was busy panicking what to do with the blood.

"Do you have napkins? Want me to buy it for you? Should I bring something for you to change into?"

And it only took him a few minutes to be back with a pack of napkin along with another pajama pants just after Taehyung said a yes.
Even the bedsheet was already changed into a new one when Taehyung came out from the washroom.

"Lie down here comfortably. I already prepared the hot water bag just in case if you have back pain. I looked it up on internet and it said hot water bags will reduce cramps. And what do you want to eat? I'll cook it for you. I just read in an article that one shouldn't keep their stomach empty during this time."

Taehyung was kinda impressed at how considerate and well prepared Jungkook was in just a short time of less than 30 minutes while he isn't even sure if he could've been able to do all this to anybody if he was in this situation.

Jungkook wasn't really lying when he said he's here to take care of her. Taeun must've been really moved by all these little things just as it did to him.

Taehyung spent the rest of the day lying on the bed while the pain stays stinging on his belly-it didn't give him a second to rest without the pain, he couldn't even move.

He knew periods are painful because he tried the period cramp stimulator machine once with his colleagues when the product came to advertise at their company. He saw his female co-workers not reacting much to the machine while he couldn't stand the pain. But he finally get it now why they said the pain from the machine was nothing compared to the real pain. The mere pain stimulated by the machine didn't give justice to all the fatigue, exhaustion and uncomfortableness he felt the whole time at all.

"I didn't sign up for this. Why am I even experiencing this? I think I'm gonna die before even going back to my body." He mumbled on his own along with quiet whimper escaping with each breath.

"You won't die from only that. You're just experiencing only 3% of what all the women in this world are enduring for their life."

A pang of pain felt on his belly when he suddenly sat up straight at the voice, and as expected, he saw the grim reaper sitting on the chair in front of him.

Thank god Jungkook went out to buy pain killer for him, or else he would think he's crazy if he found him talking to air.

"It's been a while. How are you?"

Taehyung let out a long sigh at the question.
"As you can see, I'm very much in pain. Can't you do something about this pain? Like magically making it disappear from me? It's literally killing me."

"Well, as you know, I'm a grim reaper, not a magician so the only thing I can make disappear is you from earth by taking your soul with me."

"Woah, how can you say something like that so casually?"

"Because that's my job? I do that on a daily basis. Do you want to know how many souls I took with me today?"

"Ah, stop, stop. That's a lot of TMI. I don't need to know details about your creepy job." Taehyung waved his hand to make the grip reaper stop talking further.

"So? How is everything going on? Is your little helper helpful enough?"

And Taehyung instantly knew about whom exactly the grim reaper is talking about.
"You knew?"

"There's nothing I don't know about."

Of course he would know. In fact, Taehyung was getting anxious as to why the grim reaper hasn't shown up yet when he was already caught by Jimin. But he still let out a sigh as his shoulder dropped at the answer, eyes on his fidgeting fingers, unable to make eye contact with the grim reaper.

"Then, am I getting another punishment for getting caught?"

A chuckle from the grim reaper before a "no" was what made Taehyung rise his head finally with a wide eye.

"No? Really? But you said I shouldn't get caught?"

"Well, it's because I was the one who decided to let him find out about you. I thought you might need someone to help you. I chose him because he's the most suitable person."

Taehyung frowned at the grim reaper, trying to take in what he just heard in silence for a couple of seconds.
"So you mean Jimin recognized me right away because you let him?"

"Of course? What makes you think any human in this mortal realm could overtake my spell?"

No wonder Jimin knew the moment he saw him and still proceeded to believe him no matter how ridiculous the story sounded that even Taehyung was surprised how it all went so smoothly. Not to mention how he's been helping him in whatever he can. It's all making sense now. It was the grim reaper's doing all this time.

"So, no one will be able to realize I'm not Taeun until you let them?" Taehyung asks with a pair of hopeful eyes.

To be honest, he's tired of being cautious around everyone he meets. Even while working in the cafe or simply walking on the streets or while in subways or bus, he had to be careful and alert all the time since he don't know when he'll meet someone who knows Taeun. Not to mention the anxiety he had to deal with when Jin came.

That's why the nod as an answer from the grim reaper was like a blessing to him, as if something heavy had just lifted down from his head, he felt so much better-even the pain could be ignored for the mean time.

"But, just for your information, I can't guarantee for Jungkook."

And that made Taehyung's perked up ears droop instantly, the hope in his eyes turned terrified and confused.
"W-what? What do you mean? Why?"

"Well, yeah, no one will be able notice you're not Taeun even if you do the most obvious thing in front of them unless and until I let them. Except for Jungkook. Sure my spell was for everyone including him so he won't notice it too, of course, even if you decided to tell him yourself. But I can't control him all on my own. If I have to simply put, it depends on you."

And the heaviness that he just lifted down is back on top of his head yet again, but this time, even heavier than before.

So it's like a ticking time bomb for Jungkook. One wrong move from him and it'll be over. And the fact that he has been acting way too comfortable around Jungkook lately is really concerning.

"No but why? Jungkook is the one I'm literally sharing a roof with. I don't even know how often I'm going to meet the other people but I have to spend more time with him. He's the one I should be extra careful with and you left him to me? Shouldn't the safety measures be more strict to the disaster prone area?"

Lee Dong Wook scoffed as he stood up. "Woah, you're really unbelievable. I'm handling the rest of all the people who knows Taeun and you're here complaining for only one person? Didn't I already tell you on the first day we met about this?"

Taehyung couldn't even argue him back because, technically, it's true. The grim reaper did clearly tell him not to let Jungkook know about him, he didn't say about other people, probably because he already took care of them by his spell or whatever.

So all Taehyung gotta deal with is only one person. He shouldn't really be petty and whining over this but that one person is Jungkook. And it's a given fact that it's not going to be easy.

"If... just if... Jungkook happens to notice, if he find out the truth before I could go back to my body, what is going to happen then?"

The grim reaper let out a long sigh at the question, taking a few to and fro steps across the room without a word until he paused his feet to sit on the chair again.

"He'll be able to recognize you even when you're Taehyung as well."
The grim reaper stated, arms crossed as he look at the horrified look on Taehyung's eyes.
"That means, if you two happen to meet later, when he see you as Taehyung, he might despise you for his whole life for lying to him, or might forgive you for good but that's on him to decide. I don't have a hand on his decision. So the risk is on you, whether you take it, or not."

"And what if he doesn't ever find out the truth?"
That's what Taehyung asked after sitting there for a couple of seconds in silence.

"Then it's the simplest way. He will never be able to recognize you, nor will remember anything about you. He'll pass by you like a complete stranger even if you meet him later. He'll have nothing's to do with you. Even Jimin, once you go back to your body, you will be vanished from his memory. That means, you'll be finally free. Isn't that what you wanted?"

There's been days when he hoped everything would be just a dream, nights when he wished to wake up in his own body. There's been times when he was too tired of forcing himself to act like someone else and just hope times goes by fast so that everything ends soon.

So yeah. That's what he wanted-to be finally free from all this mess and not to be tangled in it anymore, to be back to his own body and finally live his normal life again.

Of course, it would be little hard to forget the people he met here but time heals, right? They all were and are supposed to be strangers to him, no one here will remember him as Taehyung.
If he endures for the remaining time here as Taeun, everything will be back to normal after two years, if he's careful enough, and that's what important now.

It would be best for him to not get too attached to the people he meets here, just do what he has to do as Taeun without getting caught, leave quietly when it's time and move on with his life like everything was just a dream.

Yeah, that's all he have to do now.

Or can he really?

***

Hope you're enjoying this book.

Leave comments and let me know how you think the story is going so far.

See you in next update. Take care.
I Purple You 💜