Waiting For Your Reincarnation

I slumped over my desk and remembered the first time I’d fallen here. I had the urge to rip out all of Jaeho’s beautiful blue hair if I could.

 

Why did he have to put me through all that trouble by blowing up the dorm?

 

I didn’t pick any cards that day. I had given up the chance to choose a house and had voluntarily become homeless.

 

He knew that no matter whose house it was, it would always be more uncomfortable than the office.

 

‘Do I have to choose?’

 

Saeri gave me a grace period. The reasoning was that if I made a rash decision, I would regret it.

 

I pushed myself away from the desk and slowly stood up, leaning back in my chair.

 

Jaeho was out of the question from the beginning. At first I had considered Saeri’s house, but living with a high-ranking officer was too much for me.

 

Ryu Won recommended his house. It was a three-story house with a courtyard and good security, he said.

 

If it hadn’t been for what happened in the safe room, he could have spent a day pretending not to know.

 “Let’s just try to survive at the office.” 

In the end, no matter how many times I thought about it, the answer came back to the same place. 

 

I concluded that I would stay in the office as long as I could.

 

I stared disgustedly at the pile of papers on my desk. As the youngest member of the Soul Protection Center’s special team, the duties I’d been assigned were monotonous, to say the least.

 

Morning meeting > Training (skipped) > Village and forest guarding > Sly capture and other outside duties > Filing > Filing > Filing.

 

However, when I finally got to work, I realized just how much work was involved. 

 

There were so many cases that could only be solved by the special team, but the number of special team members was so small that there was no time to rest even if they solved the cases quickly.

 

I was lucky enough to be excluded from Snarl removal, which is one of the biggest problems at the center these days.

 

The only good thing was that they all had their own private offices, otherwise they would have done whatever it took to get reincarnated.

 

I let out a long sigh and sat up straight, sorting the papers in the order they needed to be dealt with quickly.

 

The red files, which were urgent and important, went on top, and the green files, which could wait, went on the bottom.

 

I opened the green file to see which requests had not yet been resolved.

      Tsk- 

I slammed the green file back shut as I looked at the list of requests filled with Sly captures. 

 

The eight hundred numbers in front of me almost made me faint.

 

Just then, my bracelet vibrated and a faint light flashed. 

 

Someone had asked it to communicate. 

 

I cut my bracelet from left to right and answered the call.

 “Yes, this is Kim Yeon-young, Special Team.” —How are you, Yeon-young? This is Lee Daeheon, head of the emergency team. I’m calling about none other than your recently captured Sly 320210. “What happened?” —I’ve been declared fully recovered, but there’s one thing holding me back, so if you’re not too busy, please come down to the emergency room. “I’m on my way down.” —See you later. *** 

Serial number 320210 Sly was Marie. I was not happy to hear that something was wrong with her.

 

It bothered me because I was the first person she met on the job, and more importantly, she was a spirit connected to Veronica.

 

I gathered the necessary documents and went to the emergency room.

 

Daeheon greeted me with a mop of milk chocolate hair.

 

He ran his hands through his hair as if embarrassed. 

 

Every time his hair lifted, it revealed a sharp neckline, and I could see the black spot in the middle of his neck.

 

I turned a corner to the right, past the capsule machines where I’d been lying earlier, into another corridor. 

 

The left side of the corridor seemed to be a stable room and the right side was an examination room.

 

At the end of the corridor was an operating room, but the sign was off, so it didn’t seem to be in use.

 

Daeheon entered Stabilization Room 3.

 “This is it.” “Huh?” 

Stabilization Room 3 had an interior that was very similar to the Iris Forest. Perhaps the souls seemed to be assigned to different environments.

 

A Sly was crouched in the far left corner of the room. He didn’t even move when Daeheon and I approached.

 “Her light is too weak.” “There’s nothing wrong with it, but it’s losing light, and no matter how much we try to mimic the forest, it’s not as effective. I think we’ll have to attach a tracking device and monitor her progress in the forest. I don’t think we’ll be able to proceed with her reincarnation at this rate.” 

Daeheon also looked at Sly with concern, and he handed me the yellow document in his arm.

 “This is 320210’s treatment report. After checking it, if there are no problems, I think we can send 320210 to the forest.” “Oh, right.” 

Sly shifted from side to side, clearly uncomfortable with the sound of the conversation.

 

Suddenly I felt a gaze on me. I turned my head and it was Marie. It was as if our eyes met.

 

Marie must have recognized her because she slowly came closer. She rubbed herself against me and bounced like all my other Slys.

 

For a split second, the light seemed to return to normal. She dropped the papers on the floor and bent down.

 “Marie, are you sick?” 

At the sound of my small, sweet voice, Marie bounced harder, as if convinced.

 “Marie, I think you need to calm down. You’re not…” 

Bouncing so hard that her head touched the ceiling, Marie bounced around the room like a bouncy ball.

 

Every time she hit a wall, the surface dented and cracked. Daeheon’s voice was filled with concern, and I was just about to pull myself up when I heard him agree.

 “Ouch!” “Ugh!” 

I scrambled to avoid the crumbling wall debris and hit my head hard against Marie, who was running around excitedly.

 

As soon as I hit Marie, I felt Sly’s energy drain out of me and I couldn’t stand.

 

My mind was filled with images of Veronica. It was as if Marie was showing me the most memorable moment.

 

Marie’s memory was filled with the Veronica she had briefly met in the pub, not the Veronica of her past life.

 “Yeon-young, are you okay? Is something bothering you?” “Did I black out again?” “Just for a moment.” 

Daeheon patted my shoulder reassuringly. Marie had gone back to the corner, unaware of the accident.

 

Seeing her like that, I gave her a small pat on the head. I knew what I had to do to find Marie’s light.

 

Touching the back of my head, I took heavy steps toward the special team meeting room.

 

***

 

The room was buzzing with other team members before I even opened the door.

 

Carefully, I grabbed the doorknob and opened the door without a sound.

 “What are you doing here?” “I was a special teamer in my day, I could have visited. You shouldn’t treat me this way.” “We only welcome you when you tell us something. And we’re using you for nothing. “Yeon-young, are you here?” 

The ghosts in the room continued to argue. They calmed down when Ryu Won acknowledged Yeon-young first. 

 

In the conference room, Ryu Won, Saeri and Veronica were sitting.

 “Hello, Yeon-young. You said you’d see me again, right?” “You should go now. I have a report for the youngest.” “I want to hear the cute youngest’s report, don’t you?” “Why should you listen? What if it’s confidential? Get out.” 

Saeri and Veronica growled and clawed at each other, unable to stop themselves. 

 

I, unable to find a gap in the dialog, stood there confused. Ryu Won approached me and leaned down slightly.

 

I could feel his face hovering near my ear. He tightened his grip around my waist.

 “Do you want me to help you?” “Yes?” 

As soon as Ryu Won’s voice faded from my ears, I heard a whimpering sound. The sudden noise startled me and I took a step back.

 

The desk Saeri and Veronica were standing in front of had broken in half. They stared at Ryu Won with a look of confusion.

 “Ms. Yeon-young, you can speak now.” 

He stuck his hands into his uniform coat and smiled an affectionate, fox-like smile.

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