I Don’t Want This Reincarnation

When I closed the door as carefully as possible not to make any noise and stood in front of it, Yoo Shi-hyuk opened his mouth first.

“You’re not surprised. Did Go Dong-ju tell you?”

“No, he didn’t.”

I straightened my back with my hands behind my back. I couldn’t move until he allowed it.

“Dong-ju hyung-nim didn’t say anything.”

“Then?”

“I just luckily figured it out on my own.”

When I answered shamelessly, pretending not to know, Yoo Shi-hyuk smiled and pointed to the sofa with a glance.

“Sit down.”

As I meekly sat down on the other side of the sofa, he crossed his outstretched legs and lifted his toes. The tip of the black shoe gleamed smoothly in the light of the office light.

Yoo Shi-hyuk, who placed his elbow on the armrest of the sofa and tilted his head to rest his chin, stared at me without saying a word. I also shut my mouth and a suffocating silence fell in the office.

About thirty minutes passed like that. Yoo Si-hyuk, who had been watching me sitting without the slightest distraction, finally spoke.

“Do you have anything to ask me? For example… you want to know where Kwon Se-hyun has gone.”

Whatever the excuse, Kwon Se-hyun had no choice but to follow this man’s words. So, by now, he must know that I was meeting Yoo Shi-hyuk.

“He must have gone out for work. I’m not that curious.”

Upon hearing my answer, Yoo Shi-hyuk gently curved the corners of his eyes.

“Se-hyun picked up something really interesting… your name?”

“…it’s Han Yi-gyeol.”

“Yeah, Han Yi-gyeol.”

Yoo Shi-hyuk, who blinked slowly, continued speaking with a clear sneer.

“I think Employee Han Yi-gyeol must be very expensive. Or some cheap shit stuck in the mud.”

“……”

“The bastards I saw in the hall back then, including you… maybe nine people. I personally looked into it out of curiosity.”

There was no high or low voice as if talking about everyday life.

“Nine people, all unidentified, were living in the hotel on cash. With no previous records.”

Yoo Shi-hyuk, who said that he had done a background check very naturally, clicked his tongue inwardly.

‘I thought you’d only focus on me.’

Did he check all the faces of the other people behind him in that short time? This was clearly my mistake.

“An unidentified group who suddenly appears in Gangnam one day and works at Dies… how is it? Employee Han Yi-gyeol. Very interesting, isn’t it?”

“Well. I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Don’t pretend and explain it to me in a comfortable way. I really like this kind of shit.”

I tried in my head to think of a way to quickly change the subject or just ignore it. However, Yoo Shi-hyuk had been constantly asking questions as if he wouldn’t give me a chance.

“Looking at the situation, it seemed that the other guys were following the orders of our Employee Han Yi-gyeol. You’re a young bastard carrying as many as eight puppies.”

“…you seem to be misunderstanding something.”

Had I known this would happen, I would have asked Kwon Se-hyun what kind of conversation he had with Yoo Shi-hyuk in advance. I was very upset because I couldn’t have imagined that he would come to me.

“Everyone, including myself, is just helping the store under Boss Kwon Se-hyun. Nothing more and nothing less.”

In the end, the only answer I would spit out was an empty outer shell. But for now, this was the best.

“Just helping out with the store…?”

“Boss Kwon Se-hyun personally hired us. So we are legitimate Dies employees.”

Dies now belonged to Kwon Se-hyun. Therefore, Yoo Shi-hyuk couldn’t be involved in the events that took place here.

When I finished my words, the air became cool in an instant as if cold water had been poured on it. Yoo Shi-hyuk, who looked at me without any change in expression, suddenly bowed his head.

“Haha…”

A chill rose up at the sight of the man smiling blankly while covering his mouth with a scarred hand. Yoo Shi-hyuk, who shrugged his shoulders and smiled, raised his gaze.

“Fuck this bastard or that bastard…”

His silver-grey eyes that didn’t lose a single ray of light were like snakes. My whole body stiffened with fear.

Rumble, bang!

As Yoo Shi-hyuk hit it with his foot, the heavy table in front of him flew away and crashed into the corner. In the sudden situation, before my head could even follow, I was grabbed by the collar and my body floated up.

Kuung!

“Ugh…!”

Yoo Shi-hyuk, who threw me on the floor like luggage, slowly approached me.

“Yeah, yeah. I looked down on you too much, ung?”

“Cough, gasp…!”

At the same time as a strong shock to my abdomen, a burning pain spread. Yoo Shi-hyuk, who relentlessly kicked my stomach, grabbed my throat and lifted me up again as I coughed.

“Apologize.”

With his blurred vision due to his frown, Yoo Shi-hyuk’s bright smile and big fist were visible. Soon after, the sound of a blow rang in my ears and my head swung. I reflexively clenched my molars. Beep, the tinnitus was heard faintly.

‘Crazy bastard…’

Instinctively, the energy began to flinch at the continuous pain.

‘No.’

With my eyelids lowered, I forcibly suppressed the shaking energy as if it was about to come out at any moment. I had to hold on until this moment passed safely.

Yoo Shi-hyuk stopped when he saw that I was being beaten calmly without any resistance. He stopped beating and blinked with an expression difficult to explain.

“What?”

He grabbed my chin with a strong force and forced my face up. When the hit side was pressed with the thumb without mercy, a piercing pain welled up and tears welled up. When he saw it, his silver-grey eyes lit up.

“You…”

“Director!”

At the same time as Yoo Shi-hyuk opened his mouth, Kwon Se-hyun’s cry resounded. Kwon Se-hyun, who dropped the plastic bag he was holding on the floor, ran at an urgent pace and intervened between me and Yoo Shi-hyuk.

“What are you doing?”

Yoo Shi-hyuk, who had missed me, clicked his tongue with a look of displeasure.

“You are fast. Did you run?”

“This is my employee. Don’t touch him.”

“Tsk, nagging.”

Yoo Shi-hyuk, who lightly shook off his fist a couple of times, straightened his bent waist.

“Isn’t it okay if he said honestly from the beginning? He resembles his owner, you two are equally stupid.”

“Director.”

“Alright. I knew.”

Yoo Shi-hyuk, who wrinkled his brow furrowed annoyedly, pulled a cigarette out of his pocket and put it into his mouth.

“I just touched him a bit, you’re already freaking out. If he did well, would he get hit in the stomach?”

“Don’t be silly. It was Director who refused twice my request not to come to the store and even touched the employee.”

“You talk a lot, Se-hyun-ah. Did you already done that with that bastard?”

“……”

“Or did he just become so arrogant… ah, you poor thing.”

“Please go. The car is waiting below.”

“Ung. I was about to leave anyway. Seeing me off is…”

Yoo Shi-hyuk, who looked at me and Kwon Se-hyun again, laughed briefly and turned his back.

“There’s no way you can do it.”

Yoo Shi-hyuk left the office with the smell of cigarette smoke. As soon as the door closed, Kwon Se-hyun got down on his knees and checked my condition.

“Where are you hurt?”

“It’s not… that bad.”

I pushed Kwon Se-hyun away and tried to get up, but as I breathed in, the throbbing pain felt in my stomach. It had been a while since I had been hit like this, so it was very difficult for me to get used to it.

“Ha… I’ll bring you some medicine, wait.”

When I staggered into the bathroom, Kwon Se-hyun looked for the medicine box he had left in the corner of the office. My left thigh was sore, making it quite difficult to move. I must have fallen to the floor in the wrong way.

“Ugh.”

Checking my face in the mirror, I sighed. I didn’t get hit that much, but Han Yi-gyeol’s face was particularly badly injured. I didn’t know how long had it been since my face was already swollen.

‘I’m screwed…’

I put my hands on the sink and lowered my head. The right corner of my mouth and eye, which was hit hard, was swollen and torn, bleeding. The area was also wide, so it wasn’t in a state where it could be hidden from others.

After wiping off the blood and washing my hands, Kwon Se-hyun, who was sitting on the sofa, tapped the seat in front of him.

“Sit down.”

I thought about whether I should just take the medicine and treat myself, but then I became annoyed and walked over to the sofa, staggering. As I sat facing Kwon Se-hyun, he squeezed the ointment into the cotton swab.

“Close your eyes.”

As I meekly closed my eyes, a stinging pain came over my lips as well as the sensation of a cotton swab being pressed against my lips. Kwon Se-hyun, who applied medicine to all the torn wounds, took out the band and said.

“I think we should put the ice packs, too. Wait, I ordered Go Dong-ju to make ice…”

“No. It’s enough to apply the ointment.”

“Still…”

“It’s really okay. If possible, I don’t want to show this to other people.”

“Useless stubbornness.”

Kwon Se-hyun, who tore off the band wrapper, put two bands on the wound. It was fortunate that the torn part wasn’t long.

‘I’m sure everyone will find out in less than a day… How am I supposed to explain this?’

A wound like this could be healed immediately with Min Ah-rin’s healing ability, but the process seemed to be very difficult. While fiddling with the band on my face, I came up with various excuses and Kwon Se-hyun opened his mouth in a low voice.

“I’m sorry. I left him alone.”

“Well… it’s okay. I didn’t expect him to come back, either.”

“This will never happen again.”

“I’m really, really, okay.”

Kwon Se-hyun, who was staring at me with a complicated expression, shrugging his shoulders, brought a plastic bag that was lying near the office door.

“Here.”

He handed me a black mask and a hat. Everything else in the bag was cigarettes. It must have been a cigarette that Yoo Shi-hyuk ordered him to buy.

Cigarettes that weren’t available in this area must have taken some time to buy.

“I brought this because I thought it would be helpful when you left, but if I had known it would be like this, I would have just come sooner.”

“No. It must be useful.”

It was necessary to cover my face in this situation. After receiving the mask and hat, I asked Kwon Se-hyun.

“Can I spend some time here without going downstairs until dark?”

I didn’t want to walk around the store as it was now. Kwon Se-hyun, who understood my feelings, took out a pain reliever and permission.

“Sleep on the sofa. I will make sure no one comes in.”

I didn’t think I needed a break that much, but when I took the medicine and laid down on the sofa, the tension was relieved and sleepiness came like a wave.

As I blinked slowly at the rapidly blurring consciousness, Kwon Se-hyun took off the suit jacket he was wearing and covered it with me. Without hesitation, I fell asleep.