Earth, Solar System — Contrabass, near Hongdae, Seoul.

  Her mother’s sarcastic tone made Dahye’s chest tighten for half a second.Then her mind kicked in—fast, sharp, calculating.The anger that had almost twisted her face dissolved just as quickly.

  “Sure~ I’ll make you a really good coffee and bring it right over.”Her voice turned suddenly, unnaturally polite.

  Caught off guard, Yoonjeong stared at her daughter.What’s wrong with her?A cracked bucket leaks wherever it goes… so what is this act?

  Dahye paused, turned back, and smiled with exaggerated elegance.

  “Did I really look like a cracked bucket to you?Wow, Mom. Saying something that crude to your only daughter,and in a place like this, too.Ho ho ho.”

  Hit delivered.Dahye slipped into the kitchen.

  “She’s adorable,” Hyojeong said, smiling brightly.“Full of life. I bet your house is never quiet.Sometimes I think… I wish I had a daughter like her.”

  Yoonjeong waved it off with a laugh.“You’re being too generous.Live with her for a few days and you’d change your mind fast.Still, I appreciate you saying that.”

  But the distance in her tone lingered.Hyojeong noticed.

  “You don’t have to keep calling me formally,” she said gently.“Just call me Hyojeong.”

  Yoonjeong hesitated.Old habits—years of dealing with people at the district office—slipped out before she could stop them.

  “I just… it feels rude to be too casual.”

  Polite words.A quiet wall.

  Hyojeong bit her lip, then lifted her head.

  “Listen.”

  Her voice was steady.

  “Do you really think we’re people who’ll meet for a year or two and then walk away?”

  Silence.

  “If it weren’t for your husband, Baek Gyeongsu,I wouldn’t even be alive right now.And Hyunpil… I can’t even imagine what his life would look like without him.”

  Her voice trembled, but her words didn’t.

  “When you keep drawing lines like we’re strangers…that hurts more than anything.”

  She clasped her hands.

  “I’m not walking away.I’m your sister.Please… think of us as family.”

  Yoonjeong’s eyes flickered.

  “And the money I sent him—”Hyojeong took a breath.“That wasn’t charity. It was proper payment.Compared to high-end tutoring and coaching fees in Gangnam,it’s nothing.”

  Yoonjeong opened her mouth.No sound came out.

  “I know why you came,” Hyojeong said softly, her gaze unwavering.“But don’t ever think about abandoning us.Me and my son.”

  Everything Yoonjeong had prepared collapsed in her throat.

  “I made the coffee just the way you like it.”Dahye returned, offering the cup with exaggerated grace.“Enjoy.”

  Yoonjeong narrowed her eyes.

  “What’s this?Because Hyunpil’s mom is here, you’ve transformed?What are you—Cinderella?You’re not switching back the moment we get home, are you?”

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  Dropping the formalities helped, but the tension remained.Hyojeong made up her mind.

  “Be honest with me,” she said quietly.“When you keep talking like that, it hurts.Talk to me normally. Please.”

  Dahye glanced between them.Okay… this is weird.

  Yoonjeong laughed awkwardly.“Alright. I’ll try.”

  Dahye jumped in instantly.

  “Wow, Mom. That was terrible acting.Just be yourself.The yelling, angry version—that’s the real you.”

  The mood shattered.

  Hyojeong’s eyes snapped sharp.

  “Enough.Adults are talking.Kitchen. Now.”

  Dahye froze, realized her mistake, and vanished without a word.

  Hyojeong turned back, her voice soft again.

  “She’s a good kid. Really.With the right guidance, she’ll grow up fine.Just… try praising her sometimes.”

  Dahye peeked back out.

  “You heard that, right? Praise!I’ve never been praised in my entire life!They say praise can make even a whale dance!”

  Yoonjeong snorted.“You’re not a whale.Do something worth praising first, idiot.”

  Just as they were about to continue,Hyojeong shot Dahye a look.

  Enough.

  Message received.Dahye disappeared into the kitchen.

  Yoonjeong watched, impressed.

  “You’re good.How do you shut down that runaway horse so easily?”

  “She’s kind at heart,” Hyojeong said. “She just hides it.”

  “Doesn’t look like it.”

  A pause.

  “Hyojeong… for the past two days,Dahye’s dad hasn’t come home.”

  Her voice dropped.

  “Hyunpil hasn’t either, right?”

  Hyojeong blinked.“He said he’d be staying at the philosophy office with Gyeongsu.I thought it was fine… is something wrong?”

  Yoonjeong leaned in, lowering her voice.

  “Did he say why they weren’t coming home?”

  Hyojeong hesitated, forcing a smile.“No. Just that they were together.”

  Yoonjeong whispered.

  “They stayed up for two nights.Trying some… method to become an immortal.”

  Hyojeong froze.

  “In this day and age?An immortal?Come on… you’re joking, right?”

  -------

  At Reapers Inc.,there is one rule for which no exception has ever been permitted.

  The moment the Gate of Heaven opens,the routine of every soul is reset—automatically.

  The living world and the afterlife are, by design,completely separate domains.Outside designated time windows,no entity may descend from the afterlife into the world of the living,and no human may directly touch the flow of the afterlife.

  This separation is not a matter of emotion.Nor is it a matter of judgment.It is an absolute rule, enforced at the system level.

  And yet, within a single day,there exist two narrow exceptions.

  Only during these momentsdoes the Gate of Heaven open.Only briefly.

  1:30 a.m. – 3:30 a.m.

  The deepest stretch of night,when the world’s noise has fully settled.

  This interval is reserved for beginnings.

  Souls pass through the gate of reincarnation,are assigned to bodies not yet born,and have the routine of their next existence configured.

  Chuk Hour is the time of birth.Of entry.Of initialization.

  Humans, however,are incapable of perceiving this process.

  7:30 p.m. – 9:30 p.m.

  The moment when the energy of day fully fadesand darkness descends without resistance.

  This is the interval reserved for endings.

  Souls whose lives have reached their conclusionare retrieved into the afterlife, one by one.Once termination is confirmed,they quietly depart the living world through this window.

  Sul Hour is the time of closure.

  Most humans perceive these momentsas coincidence,or as natural death.

  Outside these two intervals,the Gate of Heaven remains completely closed.

  At that point,the living world and the afterlifeenter a state in whichno signal, no trace, no interferencecan pass between them.

  This is not a simple seal.It is a systemic severance—a measure that cuts the connectionbetween existences themselves.

  And above all these rules,there is one principleengraved more deeply than any otherinto the foundation of Reapers Inc.

  Never interfere with human life.

  Management is permitted.Record-keeping is permitted.Judgment and executionare essential components of the system.

  However—

  Changing a choice.Rewriting a fate.Injecting intent into a human life.

  These actions are absolutely forbidden.

  The moment this principle collapses,order can no longer be sustained.And with it,the very reason for the existence of Reapers Inc.ceases to exist.