Waiting For Your Reincarnation

Before I could react, the man casually cocked his head and stepped closer.

 

I could feel his hot breath on the corner of my mouth. My hands were sweaty and clenched into fists.

 

I wasn’t expecting him to actually try to kiss me, so I didn’t avoid my head.

 

He touched the back of my hand with one hand and the back of my neck with the other, gradually leaning his face in. Before I knew it, the back of my neck was burning.

 

Even his behavior was similar to that of the man in my dream.

 

I swallowed dryly. This all felt like a dream I’d always had. The sensations were nostalgic and familiar.

 

The moment our hands touched, my head tingled again, and the dream sequence unfolded before my eyes.

 

The only difference was that this time I was the audience instead of the main character.

 

I saw a woman walking in a field with a blond man from the perspective of the third person.

 

I tried to ignore the tingling sensation deep inside me.

 

‘Ah, so that’s why he wanted to kiss me.’

she thought.

 

The fantasy didn’t last long. The gray-haired man came into view again. 

 

His eyes were intent, as if searching my mind.

 

My breath was caught in my throat.

 

When I looked to the left, he looked to the left. If I look to the right, he will look to the right.

 

It was as if he didn’t want me to move away, even for a moment. After the vision, I was certain.

 

This man was the one who appeared in my dreams.

 

But why did this man often appear in my dreams? Does he know about my dreams? Where is this place?

 

My mind raced.

 

***

 

In front of my nose. A finger’s length away. At that distance, the man stopped. 

 

It looked like our lips were about to touch if either of us spoke.

 

Unlike me, who looked complicated, the man smiled so much that his eyes disappeared. 

 

He seemed to be happy at that moment, and seeing that smile made me feel nervous.

 

The sound of emergency sirens echoed in my head. This wasn’t a dream, and it had to stop right there.

 

I came to my senses and pushed the man’s chest with both hands. 

 

Quickly sensing my discomfort, he obediently stepped back.

 

Neither of us had intended to kiss in the first place.

 

“Do you remember? Every time we’ve met, we’ve said goodbye with more intensity than this.”

 

“Not like that… it’s just a light peck on the lips!”

 

“So, you do remember; do you remember anything else?”

 

I stopped biting the bait this man lightly threw at me. I took a couple more steps away from him.

 

He shrugged his shoulders once but didn’t come any closer.

 

“That’s it; I don’t remember anything more; you were in the dream in the first place, so you should know that’s all there is to it.”

 

“I was in a dream. Oh, a dream. So, I was in a dream. Then I’m still a long way off.”

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“I’m saying you have a long way to go. Let’s give you a dreamy, light kiss, and maybe something else will come to mind.”

 

“No thanks.”

 

He spoke in a language I didn’t recognize, so I pulled away a little further.

 

The man hadn’t even told me his name yet, so I felt suspicious that he knew mine.

 

At my toes, I could see the remains of the grass that had been melted by the monster’s attack, and the creature that had been wreaking havoc in the field since this gray-haired man had picked me up had disappeared without a trace.

 

The man smiled gently at me, who was looking around with my ears perked up like a rabbit.

 

He brought his mouth to the ring on his left hand’s ring finger. 

 

The ring’s gemstone, as clear and bright as a diamond, glowed for a moment, then faded.

 

The man who identified himself to the ring spoke in a jumble of unintelligible words. The ring’s diamond emitted light again, and a squeaky female voice was heard.

 “Special Team Leader Ryu Won. Snarl removal complete. Checking for missing phantoms.” —Ryu, please, please, please, don’t turn the receiver off and on at will. “Dangerous spirit, low-level Snarl, found and destroyed in the sanctuary. Missing spirit was also found. It’s a phantom.” —What? Is it the real phantom? After all these years? Is that our youngest? Is that our precious youngest? What are you doing? Get her to the center, check her out. 

The voice from across the ring was very loud, hectic, and angry.

 

On the other hand, the man called

“Ryu Won”

listened to the woman with an expressionless face and cut off the receiver, as if it was routine.

 

This was a completely different attitude from the one he had shown me.

 

Habits, perhaps?

 “Excuse me, Mr. Ryu Won…?” “Oh! You don’t know my name yet, do you? I’m Han Ryu Won, head of the special team of the Soul Protection Center’s first branch.”  “Soul Center what?” “The Soul Protection Center. You’re Ms. Kim Yeon-young, right? you don’t need to introduce yourself to me, because I know you.” “So, why do you know everything about me?” “Shall we move on? As you heard earlier, there’s someone waiting for you Ms. Yeon-young.” “I don’t mind going, but…, I’m sorry, where am I and where am I going?” 

Ryu Won rolled his eyes for a moment, unable to answer my reasonable question.

 

For the first time, the easygoingness vanished from Ryu Won’s face. 

 

Seeing his face darken, I swallowed hard.

 

Ryu Won had saved me from a strange creature, but I still didn’t know if he was a good guy or a bad guy. It seemed too suspicious that he knew so much about me.

 

But Ryu Won is also not in the mood to tell me everything.

 

The lights that had fallen in the forest and continued to follow me didn’t come to me as easily now.

 

Instead of jumping up and down, they were frozen in place, watching the situation unfold.

 

After a long moment of thought, Ryu Won made up his mind, bit his lip tightly once, and walked slowly over to me.

 

Ryu Won’s warm hands reached out and grasped both of mine. In his glittering eyes, I could see a glimpse of eagerness.

 “We’re going to go to the Soul Protection Center where we work first. We were supposed to go there first, but there must have been an error along the way, so we were stranded here. I’m sorry, I just missed you so much.” “Well, you don’t have to be sorry for helping, those lights— You missed me?” “The Slys must have helped you. They’re not exactly friendly to phantom souls like us.” “They’re not friendly?” “Anyway, I’m really glad you’re okay, I would have been really upset if you got hurt.” 

Ryu Won warmly checked my body for any injuries. 

 

Every time his large, warm hands touched different parts of my body; I felt a blush rise to my face.

 “So, where am I? Is this heaven, or is this a dream I’ve always had?” “Dream you’ve always had? Well, don’t be alarmed, but this is called the Tanato World, where souls rest before they are reincarnated, so it’s basically a resting place for souls.” “So, to summarize, I’m here because I’m dead?” 

His efforts to explain my situation by spinning me around in circles were in vain. 

 

Then, as if he had heard something he shouldn’t have, he stood up in surprise and approached me.

 

He gently placed his warm hand on my forehead and looked at me with concern. The leisurely playfulness of playing a quick game of keystrokes had long since disappeared.

 “Don’t overthink it, I know it’s hard to accept it right away.” “I-It’s okay, I already knew I was dead, I remember the whole car accident thing.” “What? You already knew you were dead? You shouldn’t remember more than that.” 

Ryu Won’s brow furrowed deeply, as if he had heard something very puzzling, and I did the same.

 

I couldn’t understand why I shouldn’t remember something like that.

 

Ryu Won and I gave each other a puzzled look, lost in thought.

 “Let’s move to the center and talk about it. Slys in the forest seems uncomfortable.” “You mean the balls of light?” “Yes, we call them “Slys” here. They’re pure, harmless souls who can reincarnate directly.” 

Ryu Won looked at the balls of light in the forest and referred to them as

“sly”.

 

Certainly, none of the lights had clung to Ryu Won since his arrival, and he watched their movements from the grass, hiding in the shadows with a nervous twitch.

 “Can’t we take them to the center together?” “Probably not. Spirits like you and me are called “phantoms” and the Sly’s like to live in packs, and the phantoms don’t.” 

As I approached the Sly’s alone, away from Ryu Won, they began to jump up and down and pounce on me.

 

I had heard that many people are born and die, but it was refreshing to see it with my own eyes.

 “Thanks for helping me back there.”

I said one last time. 

 

Ryu Won walked over to my side and stood next to me, and naturally, the Sly’s moved a little further away. 

 

Ryu Won gently took my hand and rubbed the back of it with his thumb.

 “Do you want to repay the Sly’s a little? I can help you.” “I want to repay them, I received their fruit, so if you help me, I’ll definitely repay you later.” “You can repay me now. Easiest way to pay.” 

Ryu Won tapped the corner of his mouth with his finger a couple of times, as if he had an objective assessment of his appearance.

 

Ryu Won’s smirking, foxlike appearance left me speechless.

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