Waiting For Your Reincarnation Chapter 137

“I never thought I’d change that.”

 

“…….”

 

“Well…, this one was unexpected.”

 

Jaeho stopped walking toward them and looked at Yeon-young curiously.

 

It wasn’t the familiar, innocent look she’d always seen in his eyes. His gaze was curious, but with a hint of sinister intent.

 

Yeon-young was speechless, and she stared straight into Jaeho’s eyes, confused.

 

She couldn’t actually see Daeheon, but she felt like she could see him clearly through the cloudy aura.

 

‘How had Daeheon borrowed Jaeho’s body to speak?’

 

‘Where was Jaeho, the man who had betrayed him?’

 

Yeon-young clenched her fists and asked in a trembling voice.

 

“Lee Dae-heon. What the hell did you do to Jung Jaeho?”

 

“Wow, you must have studied me a lot to recognize me right away?”

 

He dodged the answer Yeon-young wanted to hear like a skilled slug. Daeheon, who controlled Jaeho’s body, seemed to be quite amused by the situation; he leisurely spun in place, mocking their inability to get out of step.

 

Ryu Won peeked through the gap, his brow furrowing slightly. Noticing the cold air that enveloped the lab, Jaeho said,

 

“Ryu Won, be more vicious. You’re good at it.”

 

He clapped his hands like an audience member at a circus, enjoying the situation. The way he held his stomach and laughed out loud at Ryu Won gave her goosebumps. Yeon-young slapped his arm and glared at Jaeho.

 

“It was too late the moment you stepped foot in here anyway. You’re not going to save any of them, not Jaeho, not the spirits, not Tanato.”

 

“What?”

 

“Do you want to know why Jung Jaeho was eaten by me?”

 

Boom—

 

Suddenly, Jaeho’s body was lifted into the air and slammed hard into the center of the capsule. 

 

He let out a shallow groan at the unexpected attack and rolled his eyes.

 

Yeon-young stared in the direction of the cold air with startled eyes. Ryu Won had a stern look on his face, as if he wasn’t going to listen to his bullshit anymore.

 

Jaeho’s face contorted in disgust, as if a heavy brick was crushing him. His sharp intake of breath mingled with sneers.

 

Jaeho’s eyes bulged as if his eyeballs would pop out at any moment. Instead of life, there was only madness in his blue eyes.

 

His whole body was being squeezed by Ryu Won’s strength, but he showed no sign of panic. 

 

He closed his eyes, muttered something, and reached out into the air.

 

When he clenched his fist, the sound was deafening, as if submerged in water.

 

“No.”

 

The motion of Jaeho’s hand in the air was all too familiar. At that moment, Yeon-young’s eyes widened as she remembered the past. A sigh escaped her lips.

 

“Brainwashing…”

 

The moment Yeon-young uttered the word brainwashing, Jaeho’s body plummeted from the air to the ground. He felt the weight of the air on his body disappear in an instant.

 

She swallowed dryly and turned her gaze toward Ryu Won.

 

He frowned, pressing his temples with his left hand as if he had a headache. The life in his white eyes was fading.

 

“…Ryu Won?”

 

“You’re not working, are you?”

 

At the sound of Daeheon’s voice, Yeon-young looked at him with puzzled eyes. He leisurely brushed off the dust on his white robe, the corners of his mouth twitching upward.

 

His gaze met Yeon-young’s in midair. For a moment, it felt like time stood still.

 

He approached her very slowly, taking one step after another, as if to tease her. She no longer backed away, nor did she bat an eye at him; she simply pursed her lips and watched his actions.

 

Daeheon reached out and stroked his index finger down the side of Yeon-young’s face.

 

“…You certainly have a charming aura.”

 

“The Chairman is gone.”

 

Hearing Saeri’s final words, he tilted his head slightly, the unspoken question of what it had to do with him.

 

Then he closed and opened his eyes. He seemed to be replaying Yeon-young’s words.

 

“What if the goddess disappears? Did you think that would be a reason to stop me?”

 

“…….”

 

“The land she made, the life she loved, and you she bore in her womb still exist.”

 

His gaze turned fierce as he remembered Saeri again. His eyes, glowing with life, were eerie to stare into.

 

Yeon-young stared at the two cores in Jaeho’s body. In his right earlobe, Jaeho’s core still existed.

 

So Jaeho may have been robbed of his self, but he hadn’t been destroyed yet. Yeon-young stroked his palm with her thumb.

 

He squeezed her hair without hurting her. She gripped his wrist, the energy clinging to it like rain-soaked clothes.

 

Then she read a memory from Jaeho’s aura that lingered in his earlobe. Yeon-young focused on the memory.

 

In the memory, Jaeho stood still in this place, staring at the white slys inside the capsule.

 

“You said you ran into Kim Yeon-young? You brought the sly with you?”

 

“…….”

 

Jaeho could hear Daeheon’s lazy voice behind him, but he only stared at the white Slys.

 

Before he knew it, Daeheon was standing beside him, his head turning to look at Jaeho, then back to the inside of the capsule.

 

“It’s a beautiful thing, isn’t it?”

 

“…….”

 

“Now that we’ve gotten the White Slys it’s not long now. We’re going to change the world.”

 

Daeheon stared at Jaeho with a hound’s-eye stare, as if sensing something. 

 

His eyes closed and opened slowly once, then he turned and strode to the front of the capsule, slamming his fist down on the button on the front of the capsule.

 

The spirits’ cries and moans leaked through the cracks. Daeheon turned around and studied Jaeho’s expression. He covered his mouth with his hands and smiled as he slowly approached Jaeho.

 

“You look like shit.”

 

“What are you doing?”

 

“You didn’t really want to bring it with you, did you, but your body had a mind of its own, didn’t it?”

 

Daeheon placed a cold hand on Jaeho’s shoulder. Jaeho frowned and swatted his hand away. 

 

With a coy smile, Daeheon exaggerated his pain and swatted his hand in the air.

 

“Aren’t you going to get your dirty hands off me?”

 

“You said it would be fun, but you don’t look like you’re having any fun at all.”

 

“…….”

 

“You didn’t even react when I was talking to you, and now you’re all emotional and weird. What, do you regret this moment now that you have all your memories back? Are you afraid that Kim Yeon-young will hate you?”

 

Jaeho’s body flinched at the question. Seeing that reaction, Daeheon turned up one corner of his mouth in amusement.

 

“You…”

 

“You’re a smart guy, but sometimes when it comes to important things, you’re blinded like a child. Did you really think I didn’t know anything? I mean, I’ve dropped every hint I could think of to Kim Yeon-young.”

 

“Tsk.”

 

Jaeho’s attack on Daeheon was swift, a short tongue-lashing that turned into a stream of water before he had time to catch his breath, aiming for the core at his ankle.

 

Daeheon quickly raised his ankle to dodge the attack, as if he’d seen it coming. Jaeho threw water, Daeheon dodged it.

 

The fight lasted longer than expected. The floor was covered in a pool of water that Jaeho had created.

 

“We’re already in the same boat, we’ve come too far, and you’ve made the same mistake again, like an idiot.”

 

“Shut up.”

 

Jaeho slowed his breathing and struck again. Daeheon frowned slightly as he dodged the water pressing in from all sides.

 

Bang–

 

*Thud*

 

The water on the floor was directed at the capsule, shattering the glass and forcing the experiment to stop.

 

Lights flashed in the lab. Daeheon looked up at the ceiling and sighed low.

 

“Ah.”

 

“Yeah, you should have watched your back instead of just your mouth.”

 

The lab began to fill with water. No matter how hard he bent his knees, the soles of his feet couldn’t stick to the ground.

 

But instead of panicking, Daeheon smiles with satisfaction. He stretched out his palm toward Jaeho and said,

 

“Senior, I was having trouble figuring out who to use as a base, but I just came up with a great idea.”

 

“…….”

 

“With that kind of power, I think you’d make a great host, so Jaeho. Please leave our project now.”

 

Daeheon smiled and clenched his palm hard. At that moment, the water that had risen until the lab floor was no longer visible disappeared all at once.

 

Jaeho rubbed his eyes as he caught his fading consciousness.

 

Once he was free to walk, he looked from leg to leg and opened the drawer, which held a vial of a liquid as black and shimmering as a black pearl.

 

He gulped it down and muttered, “Water is everywhere.”

 

“Water is everywhere.”

 

“…….”

 

“You told me about it, but you forgot, didn’t you? You should have been more secretive and suspicious, it would have been more fun for me.”

 

Jaeho clutched at his hair and pinched his flesh, trying to stay awake, but his eyes closed further and further and his body struggled to keep its center.

 

Eventually, his body slumped toward the floor.

 

Seeing this, Daeheon pulled a small syringe from his pocket, stepped closer, and stuck the needle into Jaeho’s earlobe.

 

Jaeho opened his mouth with all his might.

 

“When…, since…”

 

“You didn’t trust me from the beginning, huh? You want to know about brainwashing? I used your powers to remove the brainwashing the first day I saw you. Water is so easy, it can be used and fused with anything.”

 

“…….”

 

“The experiment is already over, you’re brainwashed and you’re about to lose yourself. Thanks for all your hard work, I’ll put this body to good use.”

 

He could hear a small voice muttering curses, and with those words, the last of Jaeho’s memories were completely blown away.

 

Tanato’s doom was one step closer.