I Don’t Want This Reincarnation

“Welcome to Korea.”

Chloe, who shook hands with Park Geon-ho, who was standing behind, and Woo Seo-hyuk, immediately looked at me.

“You’re Talented Han Yi-gyeol, aren’t you? Nice to meet you. I’m Chloe Asner, the Deputy Master of the Athena Guild. Please feel free to call me Chloe.”

I smiled as I grabbed Chloe’s hand that reached forward.

“Yes. Nice to meet you, Chloe.”

“Things aren’t going well, but thank you for accepting the offer. Since it was an official visit, I needed a reasonable justification to hand over the item.”

It was then that I understood the terms of the contract sent to me by Athena and nodded.

“It’s fine. It wasn’t a bad offer for me either.”

“Then I’m glad. To be honest, I also had the desire to meet you personally soon. I saw a video of the Gangnam incident. It was really cool, Talented Han Yi-gyeol.”

I could have guessed what the video Chloe had seen, so I laughed awkwardly.

“Thank you for liking it.”

“I’m serious. I like it even more when I see you in person.”

Chloe said in a bright voice and took off her sunglasses. Then, the bright green eyes that had been hidden were revealed. Facing Chloe’s green eyes from a close distance, I noticed that a strange light appeared in her eyes and then disappeared.

“……?”

What? It was such a brief moment, so I wasn’t sure if I had seen it properly. As I tilted my head in puzzled, Chloe curled her eyebrows and smiled to Choi Mi-jin.

“Shall we continue the detailed story at the Requiem Guild? I heard that the management headquarters booked a hotel, but I didn’t have a lot of luggage, so I wanted to stop by. That’s okay, right, Head of Centre Choi Mi-jin?”

“Of course.”

In response to Choi Mi-jin’s answer, Chloe gestured with a satisfied expression on her face, handed her sunglasses to the bodyguard standing next to her.

“Okay. There is also the safety issue of Talented Han Yi-gyeol, so let’s move quickly.”

* * *

With the exception of Choi Mi-jin, who returned to the management headquarters, we returned to Requiem with Chloe and gathered in the spacious drawing room below the top floor.

After seeing that the attendant who had prepared tea and refreshments had left, Chloe spoke softly to me sitting opposite her.

“I saw Talented Han Yi-gyeol on the video of the Gangnam incident, but I actually knew your name before that. I heard that you met my brother, is that right?”

I glanced at Kim Woo-jin, who was sitting next to me, for a moment, and nodded.

“Yes. I owed him the other day.”

If it wasn’t for Chloe’s younger brother, Edward, Kim Woo-jin wouldn’t be able to be here now. Accepting Cheon Sa-yeon’s deal was a really good choice.

“You took a risk and came to see me, so I must pay for it.”

When Chloe tapped the green jewel in the centre of the bracelet she was wearing, a small accessory box appeared in the air.

“I hope it will be of some help to Talented Han Yi-gyeol.”

I picked up the accessory box and opened the tightly closed lid. The true identity of the thing shining through the red velvet was a small ring.

“Whistle.”

Park Geon-ho, who was standing behind and watching, whistled as if he was waiting. I could tell that it was a pretty good item just by feeling the energy.

“If you wear the ring and press the emerald in the centre, the effect will be activated. It is an S-class item and can invalidate the opponent’s ability. It is a one-time use, so it must be used with caution.”

It was an invalidated item. I expected to be given a decent item, but it was more than I expected.

“Can it stop blocking any ability?”

“Of course. This item is made by Eddy himself, so the effect will be certain.”

It was a pity that it was a one-time use, but it was a good enough item to use. In addition, you could use it with confidence because it was made by Edward, the item maker who saved Kim Woo-jin.

“If it’s a person with mental ability, there is a high probability that there are different trigger conditions. Always be careful of your surroundings, and if you encounter a suspicious person, don’t hesitate to use the ring before they use their mental ability.”

“I will keep that in mind.”

After the explanation, Chloe smiled. Looking at it this way, Edward’s face was clearly overlapping. They looked a lot like each other.

After realizing that fact, I suddenly remembered Han Yi-gyeol’s younger sister. Would that child be similar to Han Yi-gyeol?

‘…when I find out Han Yi-gyeol’s past properly, the problem with his sister will be resolved.’

It was no use worrying about it now. Driven away from my thoughts, I took out the ring. There were no inventory items, so it was better to put them on right now. If you wanted to press quickly in an emergency situation, it would be better to put it on your index finger.

After thinking for a while, I put the ring on the index finger of my right hand. The ring, which was slightly loose, was reduced in size to fit the circumference of the finger.

“Really, Master Cheon Sa-yeon.”

Cheon Sa-yeon, who stood with his back to the window and folded his arms, looked at me, turned his head to Chloe’s call.

“What?”

“I think Eddy will be arriving in Korea in two days, can we come over to play? He said he wanted to meet again with Talented Han Yi-gyeol and the Healer.”

“It’s okay.”

“Oh my, thank you.”

“Even if I refused, I’m sure you’ll bring him however you want… In that case, it would be more convenient to just allow it.”

Chloe nodded and smiled at Cheon Sa-yeon’s sullen remarks. She was also a person who maintained close acquaintance with Cheon Sa-yeon and Park Geon-ho. Even if the person looked good, she wasn’t arrogant.

“What do you think, Talented Han Yi-gyeol? Is the time okay?”

“It’s good.”

Even so, I wanted to see Edward one more time. Since I received a good item this time as well as the last time, it would be right to say thank you.

“Eddy is coming in two days? It’s been a while since I’ve seen his cute face.”

Park Geon-ho intervened with his eyes shining like a child who found an interesting toy. Chloe answered, gracefully lifting the teacup placed in front of her.

“Well. Our Eddy didn’t really want to see Team Leader Park Geon-ho.”

“Um? Is that so? He took good care of me every time we met, which is strange.”

Woo Seo-hyuk, who stood still at those words, frowned and looked at Park Geon-ho as if he was looking at a madman. It was obvious how Park Geon-ho had treated Edward in the past. It looked like he had been harassing him quite a bit.

As if my prediction was correct, Chloe shook her head with a sigh.

“If you tease him like that because he’s cute, no matter how kind Eddy is, he will avoid you no matter what, Team Leader Park Geon-ho. It’s a very bad habit.”

“There’s a misunderstanding, Chloe. It’s all my expression of affection.”

“To make fun of him is an expression of affection, how can you sound like Master Cheon Sa-yeon?”

“Don’t say things like that. Because I feel dirty.”

Cheon Sa-yeon opened his mouth with a rare disgust. I quietly sympathized with myself, but I was rather startled by the sight of Cheon Sa-yeon, who vehemently denied it.

‘Honestly, in my opinion, Cheon Sa-yeon and Park Geon-ho are the same.’

Park Geon-ho, who was rolling his eyes without showing any signs of being hurt by Cheon Sa-yeon’s reaction, shrugged his shoulders and said.

“If Master is cute, he tries to mess with me, but what do you pretend? If Han Yi-gyeol is a master, I think that’s the reason for dropping the crane.” (마스터도 귀여우면 괜히 건드리고 그러던데, 뭘 아닌 척합니까? 한이결 능력자가 마스터라면 학을 떼는 이유가 그래서인 것 같은데, not really sure)

“What?”

While leaning on the back of the sofa and watching leisurely, I lifted my head at Park Geon-ho’s words.

“Suddenly why I… don’t say weird things, Team Leader Park Geon-ho.”

“It sounds weird, don’t you think so? Master teases you every time he sees you. He teased you about marriage issues earlier.”

“Oh, my. Marriage?”

Chloe’s eyes twinkled with interest. No, why bring up the already finished problem again!

“Wait, that’s a misunderstanding. It’s not like that…”

Surprised, before I could even finish speaking, Cheon Sa-yeon opened his mouth with a shy voice.

“Actually, Han Yi-gyeol said this at the airport earlier. He will marry me when I turn 34 years old.”

“How romantic!”

Chloe blushed like a girl. Do you believe this now? It was so absurd that the words didn’t come out.

“No! What nonsense are you talking about?”

I barely came to my senses and shook my head, but Chloe, who was already obsessed with marriage, asked Park Geon-ho with a look full of anticipation.

“It seems that same-sex marriage is legalized in Korea as well.”

“Perhaps?”

“Perhaps what the hell with perhaps? It hasn’t been legislated! And Master Cheon Sa-yeon and I are not like that.” (아마도는 개뿔이 아마도입니까?)

Cheon Sa-yeon only smiled brightly at me, who reacted sensitively but didn’t bring out the word that it was a joke until the end.

“If you don’t like Master, what about me, Talented Han Yi-gyeol? I’m just old enough to get married.”

Park Geon-ho, who was standing behind, hugged my shoulder and tried to do unsuccessful tricks. What age to get married? Those words reminded me of Park Geon-ho’s age for a moment. He was 34 years old.

‘You’re out of your mind.’

You were 10 years older than Han Yi-gyeol. Frowning, I slapped him with the meaning of letting go of Park Geon-ho’s hard arm.

“What is it, what kind of marriage between men? I don’t want to.”

“Oh, my. I can’t believe you have such a closed mind about the world these days.”

I turned my head to stare at Park Geon-ho coldly, but Kim Woo-jin leaned close to me with an anxious expression and whined.

“Let’s go, Han Yi-gyeol. You got everything you need.”

“……”

That’s true, but how was I supposed to respond when Chloe was sitting right in front of me? Woo Seo-hyuk gave me a pitiful look at me suffering back and forth.

“As the red-haired friend said, shall we end here today? I’ll see you again when Eddy comes to Korea anyway. Is that right, Talented Han Yi-gyeol?”

Fortunately, Chloe brought out the words to end the situation first. Exhaling a breath of relief, I got up from the sofa, removing Park Geon-ho’s heavy arms.

“Yes. That would be nice.”

“Let’s continue the unfinished story in two days. I also have to go back to the hotel and rest today.”

Sweeping the blonde hair that had flowed down her shoulder, Chloe looked back at Cheon Sa-yeon.

“Master Cheon Sa-yeon. I would like to postpone the meeting separately for two days later.”

“Let’s do that.”

Cheon Sa-yeon nodded his head with a look that it didn’t really matter.

“Good. Then I’ll get going now. See you all next time.”

With the coat she had taken off, Chloe gave me a wink and neatly walked out of the drawing room. I let out a weary breath, feeling as though a storm had passed.