I Don’t Want This Reincarnation

Late at night when darkness fell, I, alone in the room, lifted the mattress of my bed for the first time in a while.

I took out the hidden cell phone and dialled the only saved number without hesitation. The call barely connected, the long ringing tone just about to get disconnected.

“It’s me, Ha Tae-heon-ssi.”

[…right.]

Who knew if he expected me to contact him first, but Ha Tae-heon responded calmly. I was thinking about how to start a conversation, but surprisingly, Ha Tae-heon spoke first.

[That day.]

“Yes?”

[Have you been healing well since you’ve gone back?]

“Um… yes,” I answered with an awkward smile. I guess my condition was pretty bad, if Ha Tae-heon was asking me these sorts of things. I brought out the main point as I smiled.

“Are you very busy these days?”

[To some extent.]

“Well, I’d like to meet you once.”

Ha Tae-heon wasn’t even in front of me, but somehow I felt his eyes on me. As I gently stroked the nape of my neck and spoke carefully, Ha Tae-heon responded in a somewhat teasing tone.

[A date?]

“Pardon?”

I was wondering what the hell he was talking about all of a sudden, but then I remembered I called him about a date before. You were messing with me. What the hell.

“Yes, well… a date. Yes.”

After I answered in a lacklustre way, Ha Tae-heon returned to his normal tone of voice, as if he’d never teased me.

[Then we should meet now.]

“Now?”

[Come out.]

“It’s late… Is that okay?”

[We met even later last time.]

That was true. I checked the time on the clock hanging on the wall. 12:23 am. It was just past midnight.

“It’s a convenient time for me, but aren’t you tired?”

[You’re worried about unnecessary things.]

“……”

Right, you were better off than me—because you were SS-rank, right? I sighed and nodded.

“I understand. Where should I go?”

[Let’s meet where we met last time.]

“Last time… Near the hotel?”

[Right. It would be better to go somewhere where we can talk first.]

“All right.”

After ending the call, I hid the cell phone under the bed mattress again and prepared to leave right away.

I opened the window, dressed in a white T-shirt and a slightly thick cardigan. My breath scattered white in the cool morning air. Just like last time, I stepped on the window sill and jumped out with my ability.

‘If you were to go somewhere to have a conversation… then it should be the Roheon Guild, right?’

I tilted my head, pulling the cardigan fluttering in the wind closer to myself. If that was the case, then you could’ve just asked me to come to the guild from the beginning.

I arrived at the alley next to the hotel after travelling 20 minutes to the east. Finding Ha Tae-heon’s car parked in the same location as before, I landed and opened the passenger door.

“Ha Tae-heon-ssi.”

I smiled as I looked at Ha Tae-heon, who was sitting in the driver’s seat with his back bent. He was not in a suit for some reason but was wearing a black turtleneck and cotton pants.

“Were you resting?”

As I sat in the passenger seat and the distance between us lessened, I caught sight of slightly wet hair. Ha Tae-heon nodded his head and started the car.

“Where are we going? The guild?” I asked, securing myself with the seat belt.

Ha Tae-heon turned the steering wheel and answered indifferently, “House.”

“Pardon?”

House? Whose house?

“…Ha Tae-heon-ssi’s house?”

“Yes.”

Not even caring about my confusion, Ha Tae-heon threw out the bombshell and drove calmly.

“Are you taking me to your house? Right now?”

“Is there a problem?”

“……”

Was there a… there wasn’t a problem. I smiled and looked out the window.

‘Makes sense. Our relationship isn’t normal. I don’t think there’s a good place to talk.’

In the novel, Ha Tae-heon did not let anyone into his house, including Lee Joo-ha, who he trusted the most, and Min Ah-rin.

Was it okay for me to go to such a great place to talk about uncomfortable things? Was it because I wasn’t a woman like Lee Joo-ha and Min Ah-rin?

Even if the landlord invited me, it was a bit hard for a guy like me to go…

‘…let’s stop thinking about it.’

I thought deeply about it, but I didn’t have the courage to tell Ha Tae-heon that it was a burden. I glanced at Ha Tae-heon’s profile, reflected in the window, and covered my mouth with my hand.

‘Still.’

I felt pretty good. To cover the smile on my lips, I coughed. I could feel Ha Tae-heon’s eyes on me as he drove, but I pretended to not notice.

* * *

Beep beep beep, beep.

Ha Tae-heon entered the password on the keypad and opened the front door. I followed him in and looked around.

“Do you live alone?” I asked, looking around the spacious living room that had a grey sofa and a black table. Ha Tae-heon nodded and held out his hand. I took off my cardigan and handed it to him, smiling broadly.

“Sit down first.”

“Yes.”

I plopped down onto the couch and looked around intently. A book that appeared to have been left behind by Ha Tae-heon, a wall-mounted TV above the cabinet, and two small pots of flowering cacti—overall, the atmosphere was simple and clean.

The fact that only the necessary furniture and miscellaneous objects were placed here and there showed Ha Tae-heon’s personality. After looking around the living room for a while, Ha Tae-heon, who put away the cardigan and went into the kitchen, returned.

“Is… that wine?”

In each of his large hands was a bottle of wine and two wine glasses. I was surprised to see the label as I took the bottle of wine that Ha Tae-heon gave me.

“Château Lafite Rothschild… This is a very expensive wine. Is it okay to open it?”

“I got it as a gift after all.”

Ha Tae-heon used the bottle opener to remove the cork, looking disinterested in the wine.

To think that I was drinking expensive wine at Ha Tae-heon’s house—wine that, in my years of running a bar, were drunk by men who had money to play around*.

As I took in the scent of the wine, Ha Tae-heon said, “I don’t have any food prepared to go with it.”

“Oh, I’m fine.”

With this kind of wine, eating something might take away from the flavour—though, it was a bit disappointing that we didn’t have a decanter at hand.

It was only later, when I was looking at the red wine in my glass with a satisfied smile, that I came to my senses.

‘…wait. Why am I just drinking the wine so casually?’

I didn’t come here for this, did I? Putting down the wine glass, I started to address the reason why I suddenly came over.

“Um, Ha Tae-heon-ssi. I have something to tell you.”

“Is the wine bad?”

“No. The wine isn’t the problem…”

“I don’t have any other drink.”

Yes but… Wine or whatever other drink, why were we drinking right now?

I struggled to speak, facing Ha Tae-heon opposite of me. “Actually, the reason I asked to see you today—”

“I know.” He cut me off and took a sip of wine with a blunt expression on his face. “It must be because of the SS-class coat.”

Even though I was prepared, my heart still sank low at his words. I let out a sigh and rubbed the back of my neck.

“…yes. I think—I acted a bit hastily. I didn’t expect that the SS-class coat would be used to threaten you, Ha Tae-heon-ssi. I’m sor…”

“Han Yi-gyeol.”

“Yes?”

“Don’t look away. Look at me.”

I had looked down as I talked out of anxiety, but hearing those words, I slightly lifted my head and looked at Ha Tae-heon. Fortunately, he didn’t look as upset as I thought he would.

“I don’t know why you’re apologising.”

“I heard from Master Lee Joo-ha that Cheon Sa-yeon threatened you with the coat.”

“Yeah. Just like you said, Master Cheon Sa-yeon threatened to disclose it to the media.”

Suddenly, the image of Cheon Sa-yeon, who forced me to tell him what had happened on the island, flashed through my mind. I unconsciously pressed down on where my brow was about to furrow.

“But is that something you should apologise for?”

“That…”

“You said it yourself when we got the coat in the D8 Area. Whatever the reason you approached me, I’d get an SS-class item.”

An awkward feeling flooded into Ha Tae-heon’s appearance as he recited what I said. Did I really say that so rudely?

“The fact that Cheon Sa-yeon threatened me is a matter between me and Cheon Sa-yeon. There’s no need for your apology. I’m also in the process of finding a way to disclose the coat’s existence to the public.”

“Still…”

“Or, are the two of you close enough for you to apologise for what Cheon Sa-yeon did?”

There was something sharp in the question. I hastily denied it.

“No.”

“Okay then. Don’t apologise.”

At Ha Tae-heon’s words, I bit my lip and clenched my hand. Many complex emotions flooded in.

That wasn’t all I had to explain to him. After hesitating a few times, I finally opened my mouth.

“It may sound like an excuse, but the fact that Cheon Sa-yeon knew about the coat… I really didn’t know. I understand why you doubted me. I’m hiding a lot of things…”

“No. I doubted you based on no evidence—that’s on me.”

This time, he didn’t blame me. Ha Tae-heon, who spoke firmly, added, “Of course, that doesn’t mean I’ll trust you completely. That’s a different matter.”

“Yes. I know.” I nodded my head at his words. That was natural. I wasn’t that hopeful**.

“Let’s stop talking about this.”

Ha Tae-heon leaned back onto the sofa and nodded towards the wine glass in front of me.

“Drink.”

“Um…”

Was it really the end? Of this important conversation?

In the worst case scenario, I was prepared to get beat up, so it was with confusion that I lifted the wine glass.

‘Is… Ha Tae-heon doing this to apologise to me?’

Anyway, there was no reason to refuse. Looking at Ha Tae-heon sitting opposite of me, I took a sip of the wine.

“……!”

Oh, it was pretty good. As my expression brightened, Ha Tae-heon raised his own glass of wine again.

The silence that came whenever I was with Ha Tae-heon settled in the living room, but it wasn’t awkward like before. As I spent more time with him, I must have gotten used to this quiet atmosphere to some extent.

“At that time.”

When the wine glasses were just about empty, Ha Tae-heon spoke first, which was rare. I put the wine glass down on the table after drinking the rest of it and looked at him.

“Yes?”

“Inside the gate on Gureopdo Island.”

I tilted my head at the sudden topic of conversation. I looked at Ha Tae-heon blankly and waited for his next words. He hesitated for a moment and then continued.

“Cheon Sa-yeon, he was doing something.”

“Cheon Sa-yeon?”

He did so many bastard-like things that I had no idea what Ha Tae-heon was talking about. When I only rolled my eyes about in thought, Ha Tae-heon put down his wine glass and added an explanation.

“After I rescued Master Lee Joo-ha and Master Hong Si-ah underground, I went back to you right away.”

“Ah. Did you? Then…”

As I recalled the situation at that time, I felt something was off.

‘Thanks to Ha Tae-heon cutting off the tentacles, I managed to deal with the monster without dying. After that, Cheon Sa-yeon arrived late and gave me energy…’

Thinking that far, an ominous sensation slipped down the nape of my neck. Wait a minute. It can’t be…

“You were passed out, and Master Cheon Sa-yeon—”

“W-wait a minute!”

I hurriedly cut off Ha Tae-heon’s words, unwilling to hear any more of it.

“It’s absolutely not what Ha Tae-heon-ssi thinks!”

“Is that so?”

“It’s just, I got debuffed and he was trying to undo it. His posture was a bit strange, but…”

“How do you undo it?”

“……”

I didn’t want to answer, so I averted my gaze—however, Ha Tae-heon was persistent.

“I asked how to undo it.”

His hot gaze seemed to pierce through the side of my head. Don’t look at me like that. How was I supposed to win against you? After holding on for a while, I finally spat out an answer with a sigh.

“…I don’t really know either. According to Cheon Sa-yeon, SS-ranks can pass their energy to another person.”

“Hmm.”

As expected, Ha Tae-heon looked at me with a lot of interest. There was a certain ominous look in his eyes, so I shook my head resolutely.

“I don’t want to.”

“Why not?”

“Why are you suddenly so energetic after some wine? And it’s really painf… It’s not painful, but it’s uncomfortable. I really don’t want to under any circumstances. I told Cheon Sa-yeon not to do it, but he did it anyway.”

Fortunately, Ha Tae-heon didn’t force it when I refused resolutely. However, the strangely regrettable thing was that it was clear to me that he would try to do it if he had the chance.

‘I shouldn’t have told him…’

Holding back my tears, I regretted that I answered honestly. I just hoped that I wasn’t the one to receive Ha Tae-heon’s energy.