I Don’t Want This Reincarnation

That afternoon, I went to the store at 5 o’clock and looked around. Certainly, the Gyeongseong people who were wandering around the store had disappeared neatly.

“Oh, little guy. How’s your hand?”

Go Dong-ju, who found me on the second floor after I changed clothes and was about to go to Kwon Se-hyun’s office, spoke to me. After going through various things, Go Dong-ju was now quite comfortable with us and his attitude towards us wasn’t much different from those of store employees.

“It’s a lot better than it was in the morning. I think it’s because Dong-ju hyung-nim treated me.”

“Look at this bastard, useless flattery.”

Go Dong-ju snorted as I answered while raising my bandaged hand as if to purify him. It was effective enough to see the shoulders shrugging even though it was called useless flattery.

The hand that was cut by the jackknife was cured with Min Ah-rin’s ability. But the general public wouldn’t know about it, so I had to wrap it in a bandage.

The wounds caused by being beaten by Yoo Shi-hyuk were okay because only Kwon Se-hyun saw it, but the fact that I caught Park Seok-jae’s jackknife that was wielded with my bare hand was unavoidable because all the store employees, including Go Dong-ju, had seen it.

“Take good care of yourself. Don’t think it’s just a cut in the palm of your hand.”

“I understand.”

“And what, other than the ones who went to work today, are the others busy?”

“The others?”

I rolled my eyes at the random question. Since Ha Tae-heon, Park Geon-ho, and Kim Woo-jin went to work today, he was asking if Cheon Sa-yeon, Woo Seo-hyuk, and Kwon Jeong-han were busy?

The only thing they would do outside of work was going out with Edward, so it was leisurely, but… I didn’t know why he was asking, so it was vague to answer yes in a hasty.

“They may or may not be busy…”

“What kind of answer is so vague?”

“I have to ask, too. Why?”

“We decided to open until one o’clock today. After that, we’re going to have a drink together.”

“Pardon?”

I scratched my head at the unexpected words and asked.

“So… are you going to work until one o’clock and then play and eat?”

“Play and eat! Even if this bastard talks like this. Everything was suggested by Hyung-nim first!”

“Boss?”

“Yeah! You guys punched those annoying Gyeongseong bastards, so let’s celebrate it.”

“Aha.”

I thought he would interrogate Park Seok-jae, who was thrown into the underground right after work. Well, there’s no need to rush now.

Celebrate. If so, we are also welcome.

“Good. I will ask if others can come.”

“What is it, don’t be self-conscious, the cute girl last time! Call her and her brother, too.”

“Is that okay?”

“The more people there are, the better when we all hang out and drink together, man.”

“Yes, well…”

If it doesn’t matter. At some point, I forgot that my cell phone was left at the hotel, so there was a way to contact them. When Kwon Se-hyun asked me about my cell phone, I got an excuse, so it was fine.

“If possible, don’t take anything and just tell them to come. At a time like this, how good is it to eat free snacks and drink alcohol?”

“Yes, yes.”

I roughly replied to Go Dong-ju, who was talking like an uncle, and went up the stairs again. Behind me, Go Dong-ju swore and called me a rude bastard.

‘Kwon Se-hyun suggested it first?’

I remembered Kwon Se-hyun, who said that he would think about it at the construction site.

‘Not bad.’

When I imagined Kwon Se-hyun telling Go Dong-ju to hold a celebration party, a smile naturally appeared on my lips.

* * *

“Come on, put up all the drinks on the table!”

Go Dong-ju, who was the most excited, randomly placed various kinds of alcohol on the long table. From soju and beer to quite expensive wine, spirits, and vodka. In an instant, the table was filled with wine bottles and snacks.

“Oh, are you serious?”

“Since it’s a bar, there’s no shortage of alcohol.”

Kwon Jeong-han, who was watching the scene next to Park Geon-ho, who was whistling, left a short review.

I suddenly realized while watching the crowds gathering from behind.

‘Come to think of it, this is the first time we’re all drinking together.’

It was clear that this was the first time for a group like this, as there were only memories of drinking with Woo Seo-hyuk at Park Geon-ho’s house before.

Why didn’t I consider drinking together earlier? There was nothing like drinking alcohol to break the boundaries between grown-ups and get to know each other.

‘If I leave the space later, I’ll have to take time to make another seat, right?’

Cheon Sa-yeon and Ha Tae-heon, who still compete with useless things when they had free time, or Woo Seo-hyuk and Kim Woo-jin, who were still unfriendly… There were a lot of guys who were on good terms so it was worth trying. Thanks to Kwon Se-hyun, I got a good idea.

“Drink milk, baby. There’s also some juice here.”

“Tha, thank you…”

“Ahem. That one… should I ask the kids to make cocktails or something?”

“It’s okay. I like soju.”

Edward and Min Ah-rin, who came to the store after receiving my call, were also sitting at the table without much inconvenience and chatting with the store employee.

I was a bit worried about the store employee being so rude to both of them, but they were smiling brightly as if they had already adjusted. Rather, it was the employees who were nervous and snapping like a broken machine. Oigu, dear.

As I shook my head and sighed, I later realized that Kwon Se-hyun wasn’t here.

“Boss doesn’t come down?”

Go Dong-ju, who looked around at my question, scratched the back of his head.

“Oong? Right. Why isn’t Hyung-nim coming down?"

Was he still in the office? What did he do when he gathered people to drink first?

“……”

I was contemplating whether to go up to the office, but then I had another thought. Somehow, I felt vaguely convinced that Kwon Se-hyun would be there rather than in the office.

“I will look for him.”

“Sure.”

I went up the stairs of the hall with two cans of beer on the end of the table. I went straight past the office on the third floor, went up to the rooftop without stopping, and immediately opened the rooftop door.

“What are you doing here when the drinking party has started?”

Kwon Se-hyun, who was watching the night view with his arms raised on the railing at the far end of the rooftop, turned his face away without showing a sign of surprise at my words. It was as if he knew I was going to find him.

“Already? I thought it would take a little longer since we’re not gathering together first.”

“You can’t be late when it’s a party to have fun and eat.”

I approached Kwon Se-hyun and handed over a can of beer I was holding. He said as he accepted it and opened the can.

“Let’s leave it like that. Can you even drink?”

“Of course, I can. No wait, who told you that I shouldn’t drink in the first place?”

“The guy you’re thinking of right now.”

Was it Cheon Sa-yeon? What the hell was this kid talking about to Kwon Se-hyun?

As my forehead was wrinkled miserably, Kwon Se-hyun quietly raised the corners of his lips.

“It seems that people other than Cheon Sa-yeon don’t like it. I heard you secretly drank alcohol the last time you collapsed.”

“It’s not the alcohol, the problem is that the rain… ah, that’s it.”

What’s the use of making excuses here? Clicking my tongue, I opened the can of beer and gulped it down.

The white light leaking from the hospital across the street shone like a star. I drank beer with Kwon Se-hyun and fixed my gaze there.

Perhaps because it rained in the morning, the wind blowing was much colder than yesterday. After standing side by side with Kwon Se-hyun for a while watching the night view, I opened my mouth first when the beer can was about half empty.

“That was a good plan.”

“What?”

“Everyone gets together and celebrates. It’s small for a party.”

“Aa…”

Kwon Se-hyun, who understood what I was saying then, smiled.

“I said I would think about it, so I have to show this kind of sincerity.”

“Honestly, I was a little surprised.”

“Coming to think of it, I had never done anything like this before. If I had known that Go Dong-ju and the kids would like it that much, I would have done it sooner.”

“Well… it’s good to do this sometimes when the situation supports it.”

“Then should I say thank you for making the situation worthy of a celebration?”

“I don’t need it.”

I couldn’t talk about anything anyway. I drank the rest of the beer at once and crumpled up the empty can.

“Let’s go down. Still, Boss is the main character, so you can’t stay here.”

“Han Yi-gyeol.”

Kwon Se-hyun called me softly, who turned my back from the hospital first. There was some kind of regretful feeling on his face as I turned around involuntarily.

“You told me last time. Just as you hate me, I will hate you later.”

“……”

“Do you still think that way now?”

It was a sudden question, but Kwon Se-hyun’s low voice didn’t feel any playfulness. The wind from beyond the night sky blew me and Kwon Se-hyun’s hair.

“…I don’t know. What are you going to do?”

“I just wanted to let you know that you were wrong.”

The answer that followed wasn’t without even the slightest hesitation. It was seen at a glance that Kwon Se-hyun had already made a decision on his own and had accepted it.

So I was rather curious. What conclusions Kwon Se-hyun had made and what he had accepted.

“Which part is wrong?”

“That I’m going to hate you.”

Kwon Se-hyun smiled deeply under his dark hair.

“I don’t have a conscience enough to hate the benefactor who saved my life.”

“Ho…”

“How about you?”

Kwon Se-hyun asked me a new question as I exhaled a breath because I was dumbfounded.

“I don’t hate you, do you still hate me?”

This time, it was clearly a teasing tone. I frowned.

‘Do you still hate me?’

What are all these stupid questions?

When I first entered this space and met Kwon Se-hyun, everything was just terrible and unpleasant. To be honest, even now, the negative emotions had only diminished, but the hate was still there.

But if that were the case, it would never have helped. I hate him, but that wasn’t all. It was a more complex and deep emotion.

Suddenly, I remembered the word love-hate that I once heard. Yes, Kwon Se-hyun was love-hate to me.

“Do I not have a conscience enough to hate the person I worked with?”

“Ho…”

I followed what Kwon Se-hyun said and he burst into laughter this time.

“Still, I appreciate this a little bit.”

“……”

“Keep living like that.”

It was Kwon Se-hyun who had a different future from me. Now, it was difficult to even say that we were exactly the same.

So I sincerely hoped that he could be happy. Because this space, which was only a fake, was a reality to him.

I would take away all the terrible sins I had committed in the past, so he could continue living his life differently.