Chapter 2: The Deal

His reaction was unreadable. His mind had once again shut down from the sudden revelation.

What kind of sick prank is this?

Cain grabbed her by the arm without missing a beat, not letting go and walked inside, pushing the door open with such force that it banged against the wall. The girl, who was unable to free herself from his grasp, had no choice but to tag along. His long strides made her run for her life as they descended the abandoned building.

"Hey. What are you doing?" She squirmed against his grip.

"Getting my stuff. I left my phone to charge downstairs."

"Weren't you trying to kill yourself? Why the hell did you leave it to charge? Why is it even charging? There's electricity here? AND WHY ARE YOU GETTING YOUR PHONE?"

"You're asking too much. I'm calling the mental institution. You know, the big building just walking distance from here? You know that, right?"

"WHY WOULD YOU CALL THEM? ARE YOU GONNA PUT ME THERE? I'M NOT CRAZY! NOW LET ME GO!" She screamed, trying to push him away, yanking her arms from his tight grasp of steel.

"No."

"Then why are you-"

"It's to ask if they are currently missing a patient." He answered nonchalantly.

"Hey, but kill yourself first."

"Don't boss me around, you're clearly hit in the head for thinking you're a grim reaper. As tempting as it is for me to jump off right this instant, the thought of a crazy lunatic who might do a double suicide with me is hurting my conscience."

Cain finally stopped walking and she breathed a sigh of relief.

"But I am, though." She rolled her eyes.

He shot her a glare. For a few moments, he pondered, and finally, he said, "It's only October."

She looked taken aback. "Maybe you're the one who needed to go to the mental hospital. WHAT DOES THE MONTH HAVE TO DO WITH THIS?"

"It's not Halloween yet, dummy." Cain hissed at her. "Your fantasies of being a Grim Reaper are one month early."

The girl, who was trying her very best in freeing herself from the grasp of this suicidal beast for minutes on end, had finally achieved victory. However, the moment she freed herself was also the moment Cain let go of his grasp, and since she was using force, she stumbled back, accidentally hitting her head against a doorknob, knocking herself out.

Once again, Cain's mind shut down. This girl…

For a few minutes, Cain contemplated his decision whether to bring the cuckoo girl home or just leave her be. He doesn't even know her and he sure as hell doesn't care. However, leaving her here vulnerable? Even if the possibility of guys sneaking inside this building is rare, someone might come here, and what if they're thugs or high school students doing god knows what?

Men these days after all, can't keep it in their pants.

"Damn this girl." Cain muttered, staring at her figure on the floor. Sighing, he bent down, checked her head for any injuries, then carried her back to his home in his arms, albeit a bit hesitant. He readied himself for the time that once she wakes up, the girl would probably label him as a pervert.

So here was Cain, bringing in a random girl that he just saw a few hours ago in his apartment.

The moment she woke up and found herself in a random guy's bed, thoughts of all kinds filled her mind, and she hurriedly threw the blankets on the side, making sure she still wore all her clothes. Without noticing the guy just sitting beside the bed, the girl lifted her skirt and tried to peer on her underwear, only to scream as a voice interrupted her from doing anything further.

"How low do you think I am to do such deeds when you're asleep?" Cain complained, looking at her with an expression of disgust. He sat on a wooden stool at the corner of the room, the darkness obscuring his face.

Without hesitating, she screamed at the top of her lungs, throwing the pillow towards his direction. However, Cain managed to avoid the flying pillow, and instead hit a glass bottle behind him. It fell down and with a crash, shards and bits of glass scattered across the room. A shard had almost pierced Cain's skin if he hadn't reacted just in time.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE!? GET OUT!!!!" She wailed.

Standing up, Cain walked towards her with a vexed expression, sitting on the bedside.

The girl crawled away from him. Clicking his tongue, he leaned his head on the side, staring at her up and down. Finally, he leaned in close to her ear until she could hear his breathing, and she flushed in embarrassment.

"I should be the one saying that instead of you, madam. You're on my bed."

His low, raspy voice made her ear tingle, his breath warm. She felt like she could melt at any moment. His analyzing honey-colored eyes looked at her that seemed to pierce right through her heart, and she felt her heartbeat quickened.

"Not only did you pass out and made me carry you to my apartment, but you also broke and made a mess."

"Ah, I just thought that maybe you kidnapped me or something."

"Why would I do that?"

"Because I'm pretty?" She said, straightforwardly.

With this, Cain couldn't help but snort. "For you, you are. Anyway, since you're in my bed right now-"

Her eyes widened, thinking she was right about him this whole time. He's going to act nice and then strip her off her clothes once she warms up to him! So, before he could finish what he was saying, she interrupted.

"I want to keep my virginity for the one I love only."

There was silence. The boy looked at her, his mouth half-open. With an exasperated sigh, he put his hand on his forehead, closing his eyes and muttering to himself.

"You really are too much..."

"What? Am I wrong?" She hurriedly took the blanket from the floor and covered herself with it.

"I was about to ask you your name."

"See? I told-" She stopped and she could feel her cheeks flushed once again as she saw him with a small smirk on his face. "So you meant to ask me my name? So you can call it out once we do the deed?"

With a forced smile, Cain replied, "How low do you see me?"

"Can't trust guys in the 21st century."

"So are you going to answer my question or not? I at least deserve to know."

"Lorelei. My name's Lorelei." She stared down. She could feel him get closer as the weight of the bed shifted. With his finger, Cain tilted up her chin and both their eyes locked.

His beauty is absolutely breathtaking. God, she could look into those eyes and would honestly not mind if he could get lost in them. Realizing she was thinking of such thoughts about her possible kidnapper, she blushed into a deep tomato.

Cain looked at her for a moment, then smiled. "Lorelei."

Lorelei could feel like her heart could explode. DOES THIS GUY NOT KNOW HOW HIS LOOKS AND VOICE COULD POSSIBLY KILL HER AT THIS MOMENT?

"You're too close..." She muttered as he inched closer to her ear. Sure enough, Lorelei was glad that Cain couldn't see her expression right now. After all, if ever he does, she might get labeled as a pervert.

However, Cain didn't listen and crawled his way near her ear. "You said you're a Grim Reaper, right?"

She nodded. Cain took out something from his pocket and made Lorelei hold it. Leaning closer than before, his hand supported her back while the other held onto her wrist, the object he made her hold, facing him. Lorelei was in a daze that she hadn't noticed the plan Cain was doing.

"Then kill me."

It took her a few seconds to come back to reality, and so the two sat face-to-face with each other silently. Coming back to her senses, Lorelei pushed him away from her. She looked down on her hands to see a pocket knife.

"HAVE YOU GONE MAD? WHY WOULD I KILL YOU?"

"You said you're a Grim Reaper and you said you wanted me to die anyway, so why not just kill me? You can just, you know, take out your scythe and hack my head off. Or you can explore other types of assassinations and slice me limb by limb and possibly shove my body parts in a hotpot?" Cain shrugged.

Lorelei sighed. "I'm a Grim Reaper, but I can't interfere in mortal affairs. I only take the souls of the deceased, I can't be the reason they die."

Cain looked at her. "You seem to be well rehearsed in speaking like that. You take your role-playing by being the Grim Reaper seriously, huh?

"Ugh, you're annoying!" With a snap, Lorelei's scythe appeared in her arms. "See this dipshit? I'm not role-playing!"

Lorelei looked at Cain's expression. He was surprised, and he clearly did not hide his expression. The scythe, which was the same height as him, towered over his room, glowing a faint red. With widened eyes, he fell silent. Lorelei took this as her victory, but the moment Cain once again spoke, made her fall into a pit of madness.

"...Why is your scythe pink?" He pointed towards the scythe's handle. "Why the fuck do you have waterproof stickers on the handle?"

This asshole...

Lorelei rolled her eyes and with a snap of her fingers, the scythe she was holding on to disappeared. She tucked her silver hair behind her ear and leaned on the wall.

"When will you die, anyways?" She changed the subject. "I've been wasting my time here on Earth for a few months already waiting for you to die and yet you can't. Even if your probability of dying is maxed, your suicide attempts always fail! If I can't take your life, I won't be able to get that promotion..." She sighed.

"Wait, what?" Cain looked at her, puzzled. "You've been here for months because of me?"

She nodded.

Cain frowned. Lorelei looked at him, studying his face. "No shit. I was following you around. Looking at your probability of death, I'd say it's a miracle you're still alive despite how many times you tried. If I'm with you, the probability of you dying also goes up from a hundred to a hundred AND TEN..." And an idea popped up in her mind. She stood up abruptly, surprising Cain.

"Hey Cain."

"How do you know my name?"

"Not important right now." She smirked and pulled him to her by the collar, and both their faces were too close with each other that Cain's eyes widened. Because of Cain's weight and her feeble hands, Lorelei had lost her balance and almost fell, if it wasn't for him holding her waist.

"Be careful, dumbass." He whispered to her and the both of them stared into each other's eyes. "So what were you going to say?"

Lorelei mused for a moment, before smiling innocently as she looked up to him. "How do you feel about a deal between the two of us?"