Am I Your First Kiss in This Life?
In this life, was I your first kiss..?
"Yu-won oppa..?"
"Darling!"
The forms of address were different, but both were calling out to me. Estelle, who was three years younger than me and called me "oppa." Liera, whose pet name had evolved from "friend" to "honey" to "darling." They were the women with whom I'd tied the knot as husband and wife in their respective worlds.
As they rushed toward me, they saw Ha-yeon holding me tight in her embrace and opened their mouths.
"Who are you to be hugging Yu-won oppa like that..?"
"What the hell have you done with my darling..."
From their perspectives, they'd chased me across dimensions only to witness their husband sucking faces with another woman. It was no wonder they'd react like this.
"That bastard Kim Yu-won... Pretending to be all pure on the outside while secretly keeping three beauties like that on the down-low, huh? Doing everything behind your big bro's back. You rascal... You've grown up. Grown up real good."
Shin-woo was sniffling from behind, tossing out those smug, proud remarks one by one. I couldn't have found him more infuriating right then. If he were in this situation, he wouldn't be saying crap like that.
"Yu-won... What are those lustful fools saying? I've never heard such words before."
Awakened hunters came with a basic translation skill, making it easy to chat with people from other worlds. But Cheonha Yeon, Estelle, and Liera weren't Awakened. They couldn't understand each other.
"What the...?"
Seung-ah had already given up trying to make sense of it and plopped down in her seat. Even I, who knew the full story, felt dizzy—how must she be feeling?
Han Shin-woo was the weird one here. With the two of them glaring daggers, Ha-yeon's expression was darkening too. If a fight broke out among them, things would spiral into total disaster.
In the end, I decided to extricate myself from the warm comfort of Ha-yeon's arms and step in directly.
"Everyone, stop!!! Just hear me out first."
The word "stop," proven so effective that the Education Bureau even made videos promoting it, halted everyone's actions successfully. No wonder cops everywhere belt out "Freeze!" The government wouldn't waste taxes like mine on something useless.
"I get that this whole situation is confusing as hell, but let's all sit down first. I'll answer every question you have. We'll go one by one, starting with whoever raises their hand first."
Was it the gravitas I'd built up over 137 years shining through? In the midst of this chaos, I'd restored order through dialogue and compromise. I wanted to pat myself on the back.
Estelle was the first to raise her hand.
"Could it be... that black-haired woman is the ex-wife you said you couldn't meet right now..?"
When she'd demanded I take responsibility, I'd turned her down saying I already had a wife. When she insisted on seeing her, I'd said I couldn't right now. In the end, Estelle never met Ha-yeon and kept pressing her pursuit. Having no lingering feelings for my ex-wife, I eventually fell to her charms.
She always poured her heart into winning me over, and after slaying the Demon King together, we'd built up all sorts of bonds. Rejecting her felt impossible. She'd even threatened to stay single forever and become a virgin ghost if I didn't accept her. She strong-armed me, saying if I didn't want to commit the sin of turning a saintess into a ghost, marry her right now. That burning passion and love finally conquered my heart, and we became husband and wife.
Thus, my second wife, Estelle, came seeking answers from me.
I opened my mouth to answer her question.
"Yeah. Ha-yeon was my first wife, and we broke up because of my ability."
Estelle bowed her head, looking dejected. On the flip side, Ha-yeon puffed out her chest proudly at being called the first wife, her expression brightening considerably. In the murim world, having multiple concubines was common, and the first wife wielded tremendous authority. She looked every bit the dignified principal wife claiming her throne.
Amid all this, Ha-yeon raised her hand.
"Then it means this seat was the first to marry you, the first to kiss you, and the first to share your bed, right?"
Her wording was blunt, but she was spot on. In my first life, I never had the leisure to worry about romance, and by the time I did, I'd Awakened and died. I nodded at her words.
"Across all my lives, you were my first in everything."
She nodded in satisfaction.
"Then that's settled. No matter how many concubines you add, if all your firsts belong to me... doesn't that make me the most special?"
Thank goodness the other women couldn't understand her. If Estelle and Liera caught the word "concubine," World War III would've erupted right there in the room.
Shin-woo raised his hand. I didn't really want to field his question, but I'd overheard it, so I had to.
"Uh... From what I gathered, it sounds like you've lived in multiple worlds, right? Like the world that black-haired lady's from, the one the green-haired lady's from, and the red-haired lady's world."
He often spouted nonsense, but every now and then he showed sharp insight. He'd pieced it together from the conversation so far.
Eh, no harm in telling him.
This guy I'd known for sixteen years was trustworthy; he wasn't the type to blab my secrets. Even if he did, so what if I was a reincarnator? It wouldn't shake the world unless I was a regressor. Just knowing someone reincarnated? Big whoop. Sure, it was intriguing, but that's it.
I hadn't stolen some sci-fi tech or anything. Martial arts, auras, magic—they were already widespread here. Reincarnator? Cool story, now what? A few scientists or oddballs might come sniffing around, but I could dodge them easily. As a former Heavenly Demon's direct guard, I was confident in my stealth skills.
I spoke up.
"Yeah. I reincarnated a total of four times, and this is my last life."
What worried me wasn't that. How would he react knowing I was a reincarnator? Would he feel creeped out learning his friend he'd known all these years was actually ancient? The thought that our bond might shatter was a little scary. This life's emotions wouldn't fade, since it was my final one. Losing my bro would hurt—a lot.
Still, hiding it forever would've built up more guilt, so spilling now wasn't a bad call.
"Whoa... But four reincarnations and only three wives? Shouldn't there be four?"
??
Disappointment. How'd you reincarnate? Shock. Headache. Were you lying all this time? I'd imagined those reactions, but his blew right past them.
In this situation, he zeroes in on me not having a fourth wife? What a guy.
"That's what you're curious about first? Nothing else?"
"Nah! Every life you got a new wife, but one life you didn't? That's wild. What else is there to ask?"
He was probably saying it this way to keep things light for my sake. Dodging awkward topics in favor of humor. What a pal.
"In my very first life, I stayed single till death—no wife. Happy now?"
I played along with a grin.
"Phew... Using that as a stepping stone, you made sure to get a wife in every life after... Well done. My little bro."
He patted my shoulder like a proud dad, barely holding back a laugh.
"Single till death... Pfft... Ngh..."
Annoyed, I threw a light punch at his gut.
"Gahk..."
One down, two to go—Liera from another world, my childhood friend there, and Seung-ah, my childhood friend in this life. Funny how only the childhood friends were left. Liera raised her hand first.
"You... didn't marry anyone in this life, right?"
Liera, my childhood friend and disciple. Her fiery crimson hair suited her perfectly, matching her vibrant, obsessive personality.
When I'd rejected her confession, saying I couldn't accept her feelings, she backed off temporarily. But I still remembered what she did next.
Exhausted, I'd crashed hard one night. Using magic, she sneaked naked into my room, stripped me, and forced herself on me. A classic midnight seduction.
Emotions reset, and in my twenties with a body full of vigor, I couldn't resist her voluptuous virgin onslaught. Her crazed declaration that she'd die right there if I rejected her, plus the guilt of taking her virginity—whatever the circumstances—I accepted her confession.
We became lovers, and when she founded her new kingdom, we married. She hadn't been like that as a kid. What about me had changed her so? Regrettable.
I answered my third wife's question.
"No one's marriage in this life yet."
"Then that's fine..."
Fine what? With her history of jumping me once, I dreaded what she might do next.
She wouldn't go after a minor, right?
Part of me wondered if she even cared about that. Fear shut down further thoughts.
A moment later, Seung-ah raised her hand last.
What would she ask? She'd always been the quiet type, so probably nothing big.
I regretted that thought immediately.
"In this life, am I your first kiss..?"
As an Awakened, everyone in the room could understand her. In the calming atmosphere, another bombshell dropped.
Ah...
To think even trustworthy Seung-ah would backstab me like this. No one in the world you can trust, huh.