Waiting For Your Reincarnation

I lifted my hand and rubbed hard around the corners of my eyes. 

 

In my blurred vision, I couldn’t find a single hair on the man’s head.

 

Convinced that the man of my dreams was walking towards me, I lowered my hand in disbelief.

 

Only now did I begin to recognize the clothes I was wearing, one by one, were soaked with blood.

 

It felt like someone had placed a heavy stone on my chest.

 

I suddenly felt like I had forgotten all the things I had to do once I confirmed I was dead.

 

Even with my outwardly stoic demeanor, it was hard to fully accept my sudden death.

 

I leaned against the telephone pole as I tried to compose myself. With a dazed look on my face, I organized everything that had happened in my mind.

 “So, is this the afterlife, where I have to wait for the grim reaper?” 

Fatigue washed over me. I was frustrated, but I couldn’t stay sad forever. I couldn’t bring back what was already done, so it was time to think of a Plan B.

 

Likewise, I sat down and waited for some sort of grim reaper to come and pick me up.

 

‘Maybe it would be the man from her dream,’

I thought as this was a dreamlike world.

 

But even when the sun set and the day grew dark, no one came to pick me up.

 

Not even the man who had been so kind and polite in my dream.

 

There were only thousands of moving balls of light standing by my side.

 

A sense of emptiness washed over me, and I realized that I had been waiting for him all along.

 

I didn’t feel teary-eyed, lonely, or empty.

 

Because even if I had lived my life again, I would still be the same: orphaned, broken up with my ex-fiancee, and alone in the world.

 

I realized that even though I was dead, I was still there, so it was no different from being alive; however, I felt that I was completely lost.

 “It’s true what they say, a man who is not honored in life is not honored in death. If I knew I was going to die like this, I would have bought a chicken bucket instead of trying to turn the tables with him.”

I mumbled.

 

At the sound of the self-pity voice, the lights jumped into place. As if to say,

“Don’t think such gloomy thoughts.”

 

I watched in silence, intrigued, until another group of lights approached from the distance, swaying and bouncing.

 

My eyebrow furrowed slightly at the strange sight.

“What is that?” 

One of the lights jerked and spat on the ground, as if scooping up something, and the others began to make yelps as well.

 

What the lights pulled out was a fruit: Strawberries, bananas, blueberries, peaches. They were as varied as a fruit shop.

 

The lights chirped incessantly like baby birds as they took the fresh fruit out of their bodies, demanding me to eat their own first.

 “Fruits.”

I was puzzled for a moment, then laughed as I replayed the situation in my head.

 

Meanwhile, the lights peeled the fruit for eating and waited. I, who had never had a meal prepared for me, looked at the fruit with trepidation.

 

I hesitated for a moment, not knowing which one to touch first, and a fight broke out between the lights.

 

All the lights slammed their bodies together and made a loud noise.

 

The fight was fast and furious, and there was no time to stop it.

 

I panicked, so I jumped out of my seat and got in between the two hardest fighting lights, pushing them apart.

 “Ugh.” 

At that moment, my head throbbed and ached like the memory of a car accident, and I saw the image of a middle-aged man selling some kind of fruit.

 

Shaking my head, the image quickly faded from my mind, but the headache lingered.

 

As I stood robotically still in the strange vision, the lights gathered around me again.

 “What a world to be dead and hallucinating.” “Ming?” “Friends don’t fight.”

I scolded the lights as if they were children. 

 

To my relief, they seemed to understand me and stopped running around.

 

I picked up a handful of bananas lying haphazardly on the ground. The fruit was as warm as the plants there.

 “Warm, like you.”

A gentle smile tugged at the corners of my mouth as I swallowed the warm fruit. 

 

I chewed the fruit for a very long time, as if I was tasting a dish from a fine restaurant.

 

The sweet flesh floated pleasantly in my mouth.

 

After swallowing the fruit, the corners of my eyes slowly began to tremble.

 

The more I chewed the fruit, the more I could smell the charred odor from my nose. The lights, who had noticed my condition became restless.

 

It must be poison.

 

Tears inevitably formed at the corners of my eyes. I wiped away the tears and barely swallowed the fruit.

 

Just as I was about to ask why the fruit was so spicy, I saw a dark black cloud covering the sky in the distance.

 

It descended from the sky and gradually approached my location.

 

Sensing something was wrong, I stood up, but there was no way to evacuate.

 

Everything that touched the dark clouds melted helplessly, losing their form. Grass, flowers, fruit, and light.

 

It didn’t care what it was, it ate it all. I felt the hairs on my body stand on end.

 

If it touched me, I would disappear, too.

 

I walked backwards, my footsteps unsteady and silent, trying to slowly distance myself from the cloud monster.

 Sssssss— 

The creature hissed and slithered, and soon, as if changing its composition, it transformed from a cloud of mist into a liquid monstrosity.

 

It was smaller than it had been before, but the sense of menace was still there.

 

Despite my quick decision to flee, I had a strong feeling that I had locked eyes with the creature.

 Sigh—  

Why is it that my sense of danger is never wrong. 

 

The creature was fast, trying to devour me.

 

Deciding that I couldn’t dodge the attack with my bare body, I closed my eyes tightly and clenched my fists hard.

 

At that moment, a gust of wind came from nowhere. 

 

Every time the wind touched my body, I frowned at the pain, like a needle prick.

 “There you are, huh?” *** 

I opened my eyes as if mesmerized by a familiar voice.

 

The first thing I saw was a dark cloud that stopped in its tracks, unable to move any closer to me, as if bound by something.

 

Time also seemed to stop for a moment.

 

As I turned my head to survey the situation, I saw the figure of a man standing in the distance, slowly walking toward me with the languid gait of a predator.

 

I wondered if I was hallucinating like before, but I wasn’t.

 

Long legs, broad shoulders, and gray hair as graceful as a swan’s as he walks across a green field.

 

It was as if a great masterpiece was walking by.

 

It’s definitely the man from my dream, except for the gray hair.

 

One more difference from my dream was that I could now see the man’s face.

 

The closer he got to me, the more distinct his features became.

 

Lips that looked so moist I wanted to touch them, a nose that stretched straight up, and beautiful white eyes that looked like glass beads.

 

For a moment, my gaze met those eyes and my breath got caught.

 

I didn’t dare to look away from the piercing gaze that seemed to have found its prey. I felt like I was going to be sucked into him.

 

The man pushed through the clouds and stood right in front of me, the corners of his mouth tilted up.

 

He intercepted my hand and pulled it closer to him. It was natural and familiar, and I fell into his arms.

 

The distance between the dark cloud and me naturally closed. Perhaps it was a gesture to save me.

 

***

 

As the physical distance between us closed, I held my breath once again. It was strangely difficult to maintain eye contact with him.

 

As I stepped into his arms, the first thing that hit my nostrils was the smell of fresh grass that blended in with the field.

 

It was like a cool wash to my nose, which had been suffering from the foul odor of cigarette smoke.

 “Breathe in and exhale slowly, you’ll feel dizzy.” 

At the sound of his gentle voice, despite the piercing gaze, my body relaxed.

 

Feeling the refreshing energy enveloping my body, I buried my face in his chest and repeated my breathing.

 

The man relaxed his grip on the back of my head so that I could breathe easily in his arms.

 

Only when I could smell his scent around my nose did I come to my senses and lift my head.

 

The man’s arms were wide enough that when I looked up, all I could see was his black uniformed chest patch.

 *Whirring* 

Behind me, I heard the sound of the wind, like the wind before a storm.

 

The wind was blowing so hard that dust kept getting into my eyes, making them water. 

 

The man must have noticed my condition, because he quickly covered my eyes with his hand.

 

Every action was familiar and natural.

 

It felt strange to me that I didn’t resist this stranger’s touch.

 “We finally met, though I didn’t expect it to be so soon.” 

The gusts of wind that had been slapping at my body faded to a gentle whisper. The man withdrew his hand from my eyes.

 

A soothing voice came from overhead, like an old vinyl record.

 

When I finally opened my dusty eyes, the man with the white, semi-curly hair was looking down at me.

 “Wait. Finally met?”

I asked.

 

The man’s eyes narrowed slightly in displeasure at my question. His eyes were unusually white, like clear glass beads.

 

I didn’t know if it was the optical illusion of the white color or the sunlight reflected off him that made him sparkle from head to toe.

 

A small mole just below his right eye added to his languid, grown-up charm.

 “You look like a prince on a white horse.”

The words slipped out of my mouth. 

 

The man smiled slightly, and the corners of his eyes curved naturally.

 

Yes, I had never seen anyone so beautiful in my life.

 

As I was mesmerized by the fairy-like figure, I was examining his face again, one by one, when the man suddenly stared at me. I realized then that I had something to say.

 “I can’t believe we can talk again.”

The man suddenly spoke.

 “Thank you for your help— What?” “Oh, you’ve lost all your memories.”  

The man calmly assessed my condition. He seemed to have some knowledge of me.

 

The man stared into space for a moment, lost in thought, and then a faint smile appeared on his face. 

 

Then, with his face as clear and innocent as it was at first, he said something unexpected.

 “Would you like to try a kiss with me?” Visit my Ko-fi for discounted advanced chapters!!