The Taste of Humanity

People hurried past Shinya with quick steps. He watched his surroundings without surprise, with the familiarity of someone who had been in places like that more times than he cared to count.

Doctors worked hard, doing what they could to comfort the patients and ease their pain and struggles. Through gaps in doors to rooms and operating theaters, he analyzed every intricate detail of what was happening inside. Surgeries, conversations, tests... He knew exactly why he was there. Soon, he would meet another soul in need of his guidance. Someone ready to be led to the beyond.

Feeling he was getting close, he noticed nurses rushing in and out of an operating room. His body was invisible to those around him, so he stopped to witness the last moments of the one he’d been called to accompany.

In the center of the room, a woman lay unconscious. Around her, several doctors worked tirelessly to stabilize her condition. Many wore concerned but focused expressions, the kind held by those who knew exactly what must be done.

The surgeon leading the procedure was the most experienced in the room, and he worked skillfully to ensure everything went well. He succeeded: he brought a critical moment under control, and the surgery continued safely.

Relieved, the surgeon stepped back from the woman’s body, leaving the rest of the operation to his team. A nurse wiped the sweat from his forehead, and it was at that moment that he noticed Shinya watching him gently, as he so often did.

The doctor staggered, and fell to his knees, but quickly stood up, walking toward the figure who still had his eyes on him.

“You shouldn’t be here,” he said. “You could contaminate the area.”

“Don’t worry. That won’t happen,” Shinya said calmly.

As the doctor walked, he felt his body becoming lighter. On reflex, he looked back and saw his own body lying on the floor, surrounded by fellow doctors trying to revive him in vain. Stunned, he stood frozen, unable to react.

“Now you’re starting to understand why I’m here,” Shinya said, approaching.

“So this is how it ends?”

“Yes. Did you imagine something different?”

“I don’t know… It all happens so fast.”

The doctor looked surprised, but there was something more in his expression, something Shinya couldn’t quite place. Few were ever truly ready for death. He knew that well.

“I wish I’d had time to at least—”

Before he could finish, the two of them were transported elsewhere. They now stood in a different setting. Shinya was behind a counter, finishing the last meal he would serve to someone who would soon no longer be there.

“Come on, have a seat,” the god of death said.

The man obeyed and sat on the stool near the counter. He ran a hand over his face as if trying to wipe away something that disturbed him. He stared down at the wooden counter, lost in thought. Many who passed through that place reacted the same way. And even though Shinya didn’t fully understand the feeling, he knew they were struggling against themselves, unable to accept they couldn’t go back to the life they once had.

The doctor remained silent as Shinya placed a plate in front of him. When he looked at it, he couldn’t hold back the tears that rolled down his cheeks.

“It’s been so long… Why...?”

In front of him was a plate of curry. Shinya knew it was a special dish to him, something he had craved for ages, yet hadn’t eaten in a long time.

“My mom used to make this when I was a kid,” the doctor said. “And later… I started making it for my son too…”

Hesitantly, he picked up the spoon beside the plate and, wiping his tears, took a bite.

“It tastes just like it did… back when I still had time to eat like this.”

Shinya walked over to a shelf filled with memory books and pulled out a blank one. He returned to the counter and placed the book next to the doctor, who was eating, mesmerized, like that dish had completed something missing from his life.

When Shinya opened the book, he watched as words began to appear across the pages. Words that told the story of that man’s life.

After finishing his meal, the doctor read the book alongside Shinya, reliving every forgotten detail: his childhood, the days with his family, and his final moments at work. When the reading ended, the man slumped over the counter.

“If I could, I’d do it all differently.”

“What do you mean?” Shinya asked.

“I… I regret so much,” he sighed. “I didn’t watch my son grow up… all I ever did was focus on my career.”

“You saved many lives. You dedicated your existence on Earth to helping those in need. Your actions will lead your soul to a good place.”

“But… if I had known it would end like this…” he said, straightening and locking eyes with Shinya. “I would have spent more weekends with my kids and wife, kissed her more… Because if I had known I’d lose them like this, I wouldn’t have chosen to live the way I did.”

The man’s words carried real weight. To Shinya, it had been a life well lived. But the doctor didn’t seem to care about the destination that awaited him. All he could think about was what he had left behind and the people who would be left without him.

“And now… where am I going?” the doctor asked.

“Your next destination is waiting behind that door,” Shinya said, pointing.

The doctor stood up and shuffled toward the door.

“Thank you… I got to taste something that made me feel truly happy, even if just once more,” he said with a smile.

It was the first smile the doctor had given since Shinya had met him. But for some reason, that smile didn’t feel whole. The love he felt for his family was stronger than any promise of reward. And the pain of absence overshadowed the peace of what was to come.

The doctor opened the door, and a wave of light surrounded him. Without looking back, he stepped into the vast space and disappeared.

Left alone, Shinya lingered in thought about the man’s final words. Many like him had passed through there before. But that feeling, that attachment to life, that anguish over absence… it always left him curious. No matter how much he tried to understand, he still couldn’t. But that didn’t stop him from trying. And he knew he needed to keep living among humans, with Hana, if he ever hoped to discover what haunted him.

***

When he returned to the apartment, Hana was already home. Sitting on the living room couch, she was watching something on TV. Her eyes immediately turned to Shinya as he walked through the door.

“So you really do have a job? I mean… I actually came back this morning because I forgot something, and you were gone.”

“Something like that. By the way, why do you care so much whether I have a job or not?”

“Because I’m not about to support someone all by myself,” she said, turning back to the TV.

Seeing how engrossed she was, he sat beside her, trying to understand what had her so captivated.

“What are you watching?”

“What? You’ve never heard of Flowers of Tomorrow? I’m obsessed with the lead character. In today’s episode, he cooked dinner for his girlfriend as a way of saying thank you… so cute.”

Shinya didn’t quite understand what she was saying, but there was something in the way she animatedly told the story that made him listen closely. He stayed there, watching the drama with her, occasionally glancing at her exaggerated reactions. Sometimes she laughed at a joke, other times she got furious over a character’s lie. There was something about her that made Shinya keep looking, even when he didn’t realize he was doing it.

When the episode ended, Hana stood up and headed for her room.

“Good night, Shinya. I’m keeping an eye on you, okay? Don’t do anything weird.”

“Good night. And I already told you. There’s nothing to worry about…”

She gave a small smile before closing the door. And without noticing, Shinya was smiling too.

Sitting there on the couch, he thought about how interesting Hana was, and how she seemed so relaxed around him, so carefree and… happy? There was so much he wanted to learn about humans, and the more time he spent with her, the more he felt he could. Maybe even understand what he had witnessed with the doctor.

He thought about what he had seen on TV, about the characters’ actions that provoked such strong reactions in Hana. Maybe he could act like them, watch how she reacted, figure out what it all meant. It couldn’t hurt to try, he thought.

Again, without realizing it, he was smiling, just thinking about what he might do to get a reaction out of her. To observe her. To study her.

And just like the night before, he summoned a book, preparing to spend another night in that place that, little by little, was starting to feel like home.