Waiting For Your Reincarnation

Yeon-Young reflects on her pride in her knowledge of Sly.

 

Freshly dropped from the sky, the Sly had acted like a colt that had been unharnessed, as if it couldn’t see anything.

 

She felt the distance between her and Ryu Won grow unbearably far, but she couldn’t give up and turn back.

 

She confidently said that she would bring it back and followed the Sly.

 

Yeon-young followed with only one goal: to catch the Sly.

 “We’re in trouble. Where am I?” 

She managed to catch the Sly, but the problem was that she got completely lost on the way back.

 

With the Sly in her arms, Yeon-young looked around. 

 

From somewhere, she could smell the scent of water. 

 

Walking through the humid air, she found a secret lake.

 

The lake was so clear and transparent, as if it was made of polished emeralds, that she wondered if she had been transported to a fairy tale.

 

The lake glowed under the night sky, and Sly gave me a pleading look to let go.

 “Ming!” “Do you think I’m stupid?” 

Yeon-young firmly refused, and with the Sly in her arms, she walked closer to the Lake. 

 

She crouched down right in front of the lake.

 

The Sly, curious about the lake, suddenly let out a yelp and took a drink.

 

It swallowed, explored the water and spat it out with a strange sound, as if something wasn’t quite right.

 

Yeon-Young patted the Sly’s body and helped it spit out the water.

 

The Sly wriggled back into a circle and crawled into Yeon-Young’s arms.

 “Uh, but there’s water…” 

Upon closer inspection, the lake was steaming, not only from where the Sly had spit out the water, but also from the lake itself.

 

The Sly seemed to be spitting out the water not because it was tasteless, but because it was so hot.

 

Yeon-Young leaned down and brought her face close to the surface of the lake to feel the temperature.

 

As she did so, bubbles rose to the surface of the still water as if it were boiling.

 

It looked like the water was about to overflow and spill out of the lake.

 

Sensing that something was wrong, Yeon-young quickly hugged the Sly and turned to run away.

 “Hmph—”

Yeon-young sucked in a breath.

 

She didn’t know when Ryu Won had followed her, standing silently behind her and watching. 

 

She broke out in a cold sweat and felt her heart sank to her feet.

 

Ryu Won grabbed her shoulders with two firm hands and stopped her from falling.

 

His face was grim.

 “Mr. Ryu Won, how did you get here?” “I’m looking for you. If you’re planning to run away from me, you should get lost.” “I’m just lost.” “Anyway, I’ll find you, alive or dead. I’m sorry I jumped out of nowhere.” 

***

 

Ryu Won’s words stunned her, but she immediately lowered her head.

 

Even if it wasn’t her, she’s sure Ryu Won would be angry if his junior ran off at will and got lost.

 

Ryu Won caught his breath when he saw Yeon-young leaning over and hugging the Sly.

 “I’m suffocating.”

He mumbled lazily, looking a bit tired. 

 

The way his thick chest rose and fell made him look precarious.

 

Yeon-young felt guilty and pulled him down the tree. 

 

She took his hand, and he obediently followed her.

 “Do you feel sick?” “Yes, it’s hard to breathe.” “You can’t teleport now, can you?” “No.” 

Yeon-young touched his forehead with a cautious hand. 

 

His temperature was unexpectedly lukewarm, and she wondered if she should carry him down the mountain.

 

‘Why had his condition suddenly worsened?’

 

The sight of the sick man made her stomach turn.

 “Mr. Ryu Won? Mr. Ryu Won!” 

Yeon-young grabbed Ryu Won’s shoulders and shook him but he didn’t move. 

 

She touched his cheek with her small hand.

 

It was cold.

 

She wanted to reach between his arms to lift him up.

 “You were out of breath earlier, maybe it’s time to revive you.” “Is it time for artificial respiration?”

Ryu Won asked.

 “What?” 

Ryu Won’s head snapped up at the sound of the voice and he opened his eyes. 

 

He leaned back against the tree and stared at Yeon-young with pale eyes.

 

There was no sign of pain in his moonlight eyes. He was just playing a prank.

 

She was speechless at the absurdity of the situation.

 “Are you surprised?” “Isn’t it obvious?” “So am I. I thought so too. Let’s take a break over there.” 

He pointed to the lake, and she remembered that the hot lake with bubbles rising to the surface had frightened her for three months.

 

She was about to point at the lake and say that it was strange, but Ryu Won took off his uniform coat and started unbuttoning his shirt from the top down.

 “What are you doing?” 

While Yeon-young covered her eyes with her hands in surprise, Ryu Won walked briskly into the lake.

 

Everything was a natural movement.

 “You should come in too.” “Isn’t it dangerous there?” “I won’t drag Ms. Yeon-young to a dangerous place.” 

Ryu Won sat down by the lake and looked very relaxed. 

 

When she hesitated in front of the lake, he splashed warm water on her face. 

 

All of it. She sighed when she realized that she was soaked down to her underwear.

 

Yeon-young took off her uniform coat, folded it neatly and let it fall to the ground.

 

The Sly, who had been with her the whole time, cried that it wanted to go inside with her.

 

She took the Sly in her arms and slowly stepped into the lake.

 

The water was transparent, so she thought it must be quite deep, but it was only waist deep.

 

The bottom of the lake was littered with stepping stones, as if someone had been there before.

 

Yeon-young placed a suitable stone, sat down next to Ryu Won, and closed her eyes.

 

Her whole body felt tired and exhausted.

 

***

“How did you find this place?” “By chance. It’s a secret place that only I know about, but you found it. I heard that a husband and his wife are single-minded.” “You said that without batting an eye…”

Yeon-young shrugged at Ryu Won’s joke. 

 

Obviously, today was more strenuous than other days, so she was easily tired.

 

Ryu Won also pretended to fall down, but there were bags under his eyes. He was deep in thought.

 

Yeon-young didn’t ask any more questions and just looked at the night sky. 

 

She remembered the wish she had made before the Slys.

 

In the end, Ryu Won hadn’t told her what he wanted to wish for.

 

She suddenly wondered if he had a wish like hers.

 “You said you remembered all your past lives, right?” “Yes, I remember.” 

A large drop of water fell from Ryu Won’s hair and trickled down the curve of his face.

 

His wet eyelashes fluttered, then slowly moved upward.

 

Occasionally, the drops would catch Ryu Won’s eyes or mouth.

 

Feeling ashamed of herself for watching, Yeon-young looked away.

 “Ms. Yeon-young, tell me more about your past life.” “My past life?” 

Yeon-young dived nose-deep into the lake and blew out bubbles.

 

As far as she was concerned, her past life was so unremarkable that she didn’t know what to say.

 

An orphan from birth, she was always short of money and never had a real lover.

 

Yeon-young was never shy about talking about her past, but it always made her listeners uncomfortable.

 “It was normal, I didn’t have a family, I just worked a lot to make money.” “Did you work a lot?” “I worked a lot when I was young. From the butcher’s shop to the factory.” “What was the hardest job you ever had?” “The factory where we made triangular kimbap, but it was harder than working because it was so cold in winter, so I still hate winter.” 

She wasn’t ashamed, but it wasn’t a time she wanted to go back to.

 

In the silence, Yeon-young stole a sneaky glance at Ryu Won, who stared back at her without showing any expression.

 “You’ve lived a wild life.” “I just did what everyone else does.” “That doesn’t take away from your hard work, Yeon-young. You lived hard.” 

Yeon-young pursed her lips as if she’d just been hit on the head.

 

Those were the words she’d always wanted to hear, but never had. And now this man, whom she had only known for a few days, had said them for her.

 

Her chest felt heavy, like someone had poured cement into her heart. And her whole body felt like someone was holding her down.

 

His eyes, watery and intensely focused on himself, looked beautiful.

 “Ms. Yeon-young, is there anything else? Is there anything you want to tell me?” “What?” “Like your “ex” boyfriend.” “Is that what you want to know in this situation?” 

Yeon-young’s face crumpled like a sheet of paper. But Ryu Won turned to her, his jaw set and listening as if he wanted to hear her answer.

 

Yeon-Young sighed as if she couldn’t win.

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