Waiting For Your Reincarnation Chapter 73

“Congratulations on entering my lab.”

 

When she entered Jaeho’s lab, the door in the wall slowly disappeared.

 

Why Jaeho had connected the cave to the center was a mystery to her.

 

Yeon-young turned her head to see where the door to the outside was.

 

Luckily, unlike the cave, the door was directly in her line of sight.

 

She walked straight to the door.

 

“It is polite to offer my guests something to eat.”

 

“I respectfully decline. Don’t give me anything.”

 

“I know what I’ll give you.”

 

Yeon-young grabbed the door handle and lifted one eye.

 

Her mind flashed back to the potion Jaeho had given her and the fruit that had turned her into a Sly.

 

It made her shudder to think of it now.

 

He wrinkled his nose and grinned as if thinking the same thing.

 

“Maybe it’s for your own good.”

 

“I can handle myself, huh?”

 

The game was over and she turned the knob.

 

The knob turned to liquid and suddenly lost its grip. Yeon-young stared at Jaeho with puzzled eyes.

 

He sat cross-legged in an overstuffed chair and watched. His posture was that of an aristocrat watching a play.

 

“We haven’t finished talking and you haven’t served me yet.”

 

“Ha.”

 

“I hate waiting like an idiot and missing out. Sit down.”

 

In fact, the invitation was merely a ritual, and he was selfish.

 

Unless she gave him what he wanted, it seemed unlikely that she would be able to leave comfortably.

 

Yeon-young sat down in a random chair to clear her head.

 

At least it was a different atmosphere than when she’d been kidnapped. Somehow, she had a feeling that Jaeho wouldn’t hurt her today.

 

“I’m sure you need a welcome drink.”

 

“Let me rest for a minute.”

 

Jaeho smirked and walked into another room attached to the lab.

 

Seeing that he had entered the room, Yeon-young sat up. Time to think.

 

She rested her arms on the desk and gritted her teeth.

 

She wondered why Jung Jaeho had dragged her to his room.

 

She looked at the white papers and old books lying cluttered on the desk.

 

[Origin of Iris], [Principle of Snarlization], [Methodology of Snarl Removal], etc.

 

It seemed to be research materials for the problem of snarl acceleration. At the top of the document was a big capital N.

 

“He does research, too.”

 

Yeon-young stretched out her arm and pulled out a book called “The Origin of Iris”.

 

It was the most seemingly unrelated book on his desk.

 

Iris, the source of the world, punished and shattered by the gods.

 

And Zeppito, who had fought to protect her to the last.

 

“Zeppito.”

 

Saying his name out loud made her feel wistful, though she didn’t know why.

 

Yeon-Young frowned, trying to recall memories from her past life. Nothing came to mind except her life in Korea.

 

She tried to glimpse Ryu Won’s memories whenever she could.

 

However, due to the limitations of her abilities, certain parts of it seemed to be shrouded in a fog.

 

She had to force herself to find the rest.

 

“Hah, not easy.”

 

Yeon-young quickly flipped through the pages of the book, quickly grasping the table of contents.

 

She was about halfway through.

 

Suddenly, a small note hidden inside the book fell to the floor.

 

She picked it up, looked it over, and unfolded it.

 

[to Iris].

 

The letter began by addressing Iris.

 

“Is this the same Iris I know?”

 

There was nothing after the name.

 

Yeon-young traced her fingers over the name on the faded paper. The handwriting was familiar.

 

“Hmph.”

 

Startled by the pretense, Yeon-young slipped the note into her coat pocket.

 

Jaeho emerged from the inner room, carrying a drink.

 

He pulled a gold key out of his uniform coat and unlocked the door.

 

Yeon-young’s face fell as soon as she saw the drink.

 

“I don’t drink.”

 

“It’s normal.”

 

“No.”

 

He set the drink on the other desk and moved closer to Yeon-young.

 

His eyes were glued to the book she was reading.

 

Noticing his gaze, she closed the book and put it back in its place.

 

“You want to know?”

 

“Oh, I’m sorry, I was just reading.”

 

“So what did you think of it? Did you hate Snarl?”

 

“I don’t know.”

 

His eyes were unusually serious, with a hint of green in them.

 

Yeon-Young thought back to all the Snarls she’d met so far.

 

When she’d first come to the Center, she’d certainly dismissed them as something to be exterminated.

 

But reading the Snarl’s memories had shaken that hardened perception.

 

Especially when she thought of the souls who had been unwillingly turned into Snarls and destroyed by the experiments.

 

“Do they really need to disappear?”

 

She thought of a what-if premise.

 

‘What if her teammates became Snarls?’

 

Furthermore, Ryu Won… Snarl?

 

Yeon-Young remembered the time when Ryu Won’s core was blackened and closed her eyes tightly.

 

Just thinking about it made her chest feel heavy.

 

She thought about Daeheon Lee, the cause of all these events. Where is he, she wondered.

 

It was clear that he deserved to be punished, but she wanted to hear more, to convince him.

 

Sacrifice can only bring about other sacrifices. If it could be stopped here, it had to be stopped for everyone.

 

“I’ll find a way.”

 

“What way?”

 

“A way to cleanse Snarl as well.”

 

“Why?”

 

“Because I see them as souls who need protection too.”

 

Jaeho scratched his head, as if he’d heard something wrong.

 

Yeon-young, on the other hand, looked at him as if she had found the answer.

 

His emerald eyes were once again colored with curiosity as he turned to her.

 

“Of course, I’ll do my best to remember that I’m an employee of the Soul Protection Center.”

 

“But?”

 

“But Snarl…, if I can protect them, I will.”

 

“Funny.”

 

“Wouldn’t it be enough if I could save even one soul? Of course, we’d have to find Mr. Daeheon first.”

 

Jaeho was stunned by Yeon-young’s words.

 

She didn’t think this goal was impossible at all.

 

Just think of the power of the sly powder from the northwest mountains, and she wanted to at least give Snarl another chance to change.

 

Jaeho’s lips drew a slow arc.

 

“How can you be the same as you were before?”

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“You keep saying it, so I want to believe it.”

 

“Dude, your eyes are rolling.”

 

Jaeho stretched his arms out over the desk, trapping Yeon-young between them.

 

She remained frozen, unable to squirm.

 

Every time Jaeho breathed in and out, his breath smelled like clean, cool water.

 

He pulled an eraser from his uniform pocket and tossed it at Yeon-young.

 

“What’s this for?”

 

“To erase traces.”

 

“Didn’t they take this from you before?”

 

“You want to find Lee Daeheon?”

 

Conversations with Jaeho were always a bit of a slog.

 

But then, as if drawn to an interesting topic, he’d open up.

 

Yeon-young gave a small nod. Jaeho pointed to the papers on his desk.

 

“Most of the mutated Snarls that have appeared recently are missing persons.”

 

“What?”

 

“The secret organization conducting the experiments is called Negro. They’re aiming to destroy the world of Tanato, and their latest base was found to be underground, but there’s no entrance.”

 

Yeon-young sucked in a sharp breath in surprise.

 

She scrambled to her feet, forgetting that Jaeho was still relatively close.

 

He squeezed her shoulder again and sat back down.

 

Meetings about Snarl were held weekly at the center, but she had never heard or seen anything about it.

 

Such confidential information came out of Jaeho’s mouth.

 

“Is that information accurate? Where did you get it?”

 

“What, do you like the gift?”

 

“Of course I like it, and I’m not sleeping with it. What are you?”

 

“I’ve been remembering a lot lately.”

 

She didn’t know where this conversation was going.

 

Yeon-young’s eyes widened when Jaeho said that his memories had returned. He seemed to be in a different mood these days.

 

“Are you going to reincarnate?”

 

“I won’t. I just decided to help you.”

 

“You did?”

 

Even with his memories back, she doubted Jaeho would help Yeon-young.

 

He wasn’t the kind of person who would help unless there was a special deal.

 

Suddenly, Yeon-young thought back to what Jaeho had said earlier. Slowly, a thought dawned on her.

 

“Did we meet before?”

 

“Yes. And you saved me.”

 

“I did?”

 

She didn’t know what the hell she had been doing in the past.

 

Jaeho reached out and took Yeon-young’s hand. She could feel a chill, like a snake, on the back of her hand.

 

“Read my memories.”

 

“Your memories?”

 

“You said you wanted to know.”

 

It was a very tempting offer. At the same time, she hesitated because it was too inviting.

 

Yeon-young had a gut feeling that if she lost her memory, something would be irreversible.

 

But she realized that she needed to hold on to this connection so she could find the next one.

 

His eyes, as beautiful as the midday sea, looked at Yeon-young.

 

She took one of Jaeho’s hands and focused on finding the core of his power.

 

And then she was sucked into his deepest core.

 

In the darkness, Jaeho’s memories began to glow.