Reunion (3)
Yoon-seo still wasn't coming to school yet, but from the voice I heard during our nightly calls, I could tell she'd quickly recovered her energy.
Although "recovered her energy" mostly just meant she kept saying she had a ton of missed work to catch up on.
The restaurant we'd come back to because we hadn't been able to properly enjoy the galbitang last time.
I watched Da-yeon spooning up the broth.
Da-yeon met my eyes and swallowed the food she'd been chewing.
"I decided to get a part-time job over break~"
"Really? Where?"
"At the café downstairs from my place!"
"Oh~ you want me to come help out sometimes?"
"That'd be awesome!"
Right around when Da-yeon and I were talking about the job.
Kim Tae-oh and Park Ji-hoon came into the restaurant together.
"Oh!?"
Da-yeon shot to her feet and greeted Ji-hoon.
"When'd you get out!? You should've told me!"
"Got out this morning. I'm starving, buy me food."
"No thanks~ ask Si-yoon~ Here, sit down."
She gave a little wave to Tae-oh, who did her security on weekends, and got both Tae-oh and Ji-hoon seated.
Tae-oh and Park Ji-hoon must not have eaten either, since they each ordered a bowl.
Da-yeon smiled brightly and with sparkly eyes asked Ji-hoon about his military service.
Da-yeon had no idea that no matter how curious you were, you should never give a man an opening to talk about the military...
Park Ji-hoon launched into military stories with great enthusiasm.
And thanks to Park Ji-hoon, who talked nonstop until we moved to a café after eating, Da-yeon had a valuable learning experience today.
Park Ji-hoon was especially bad about his Marine Corps pride, making him the absolute last person you should ever bring the military up with.
Since I knew that, I'd long been ignoring that Park Ji-hoon and only talking to Tae-oh.
Da-yeon's face started going pale as time went on.
Since I'd come on the Spotted One, Park Ji-hoon got in Kim Tae-oh's car.
Da-yeon, who'd been subjected to Park Ji-hoon, slumped beside me as if all her strength had drained out.
"I wanna go home..."
"Ahaha. Never ask a guy about the military."
"Yeah... I get that now. I'm already exhausted... Ji-hoon talks a lot, huh..."
"Also, there's a high probability, like 95%, that what you heard today is bullshit?"
"..... No way."
"I'm serious. No matter how much time you've put in, how the hell is a seagull the size of a person."
"Maybe its wings were spread..."
"Up in a tree?"
"....."
After I dropped Da-yeon off at home, I switched over to Whitey.
Then I picked up Tae-oh and Park Ji-hoon, who'd been waiting for me, and headed to the meeting spot.
Next to me, Park Ji-hoon asked, his mouth crammed full of my snacks.
"Who is it that we all have to meet together?"
"Because I think they reincarnated, same as us."
Tae-oh, also curious, listened intently and looked at me from the back seat.
"...? Well, I guess there's no law saying we're the only ones who reincarnated. So who is it?"
"I don't know. That's what we're going to find out."
"Mild, or that whoever, the Chink knife-fighter."
"Liu Xuan?"
"Yeah. If it's them, don't try to stop me?"
"Pfft. You think you could win?"
"....."
I drove the car to the meeting spot, and got the feeling someone was looking down at us from a window above.
Inside the quiet café sat a man in a white hooded zip-up.
I brought Tae-oh and Ji-hoon and took a seat across from him.
Han Su-ho looked up at us.
The small M tattoo under his left eye was striking, and
his looks, uncharacteristic for a Tiger, were oddly gentle and cute, with an almost dissonant softness.
Not quite Tae-oh's level, but good-looking enough to overshadow Ji-hoon...
"Hey?"
"Why'd you bring those two?"
"It's Park Gi and Jae-hyeong?"
"...!?"
I sat down and started ordering this and that, and Park Ji-hoon followed suit and ordered too.
Park Ji-hoon, who'd been sniffing the air, suddenly scowled hard and stared at Su-ho.
"Who the hell are you?"
"...It's really you ... Jae-hyeong..."
"...? Who're you to be talking down to me?"
I chimed in to back up Park Ji-hoon, who was posturing beside me.
"Yeah~ we already told you who we are. Why don't you say who you are?"
"... Could you get rid of the snipers outside? How many did you post? This isn't like you..."
"I can't go around alone anymore, man. I'm way too famous now, you see."
Han Su-ho looked me up and down and let out an exclamation...
"Whoa, that Boss... became this adorable..."
"? What's that supposed to mean? So who the hell are you?"
That was when he pulled out a leather glove and started fiddling with it in his right hand.
A white glove...
It used to be black, supposedly, but its shape was so spine-chillingly familiar to us.
"My former name... is... Cho-a."
Hearing that, Ji-hoon, Tae-oh, and I all stood up at once.
"?"
And we bolted outside like we were fleeing for our lives.
"We're fucked. Fuck! Why the fuck is that crazy bitch here!!!"
"You think I knew it was him?"
"Why the fuck!!! You should've gone and met him your damn self, not told us to come together!!!"
"How the fuck was I supposed to know, goddammit!!!"
We scrambled away, but Su-ho was already standing at the entrance... no, Cho-a...
Ziiiiip... thwip!
Judging by the way he let the fishing line in his hand go slack... he probably jumped out the window.
Cho-a, approaching us with a gaze that had settled into something flat...
"Why... are you running?"
We recoiled in horror and slowly backed away from Cho-a...
Once we went back up to the café and sat in our original seats, Cho-a smiled.
"Boss? Looking at you now... seems like a lot has changed...?"
Due to Cho-a's unchanged eyes, which looked at me like I was prey, I shrank back just like in the past.
And Tae-oh and Park Ji-hoon, who couldn't even muster the nerve to put themselves between him and me, were struggling to pretend they didn't notice.
These bastards are useless...
"Wow~ Park Gi and Jae-hyeong, you've gotten a lot stronger?"
""...Yes.""
"Is it because I look like this now...? Boss's current form... I really like it~"
"... R-right? Me too... I really... like it..."
The flow of conversation was off.
If things kept going this way, I could end up getting devoured by Cho-a in a different sense, so I took a moment to collect my thoughts.
I mean, I hadn't known, but... Cho-a had done something in this life that he really shouldn't have.
"Hoo... So... the Gwangsu Gang... is yours?"
"Yep."
"The kidnapping three years ago. You set it up?"
"I wasn't the boss yet back then, though?"
"What about my dad?"
"...Seong-min was the one who gave the order for that, actually... he really is a close friend, though... ah~ this is bad... but still, if you don't like it, want me to kill him?"
"Haaaaah..... Don't."
Cho-a leaned his face in close to my sigh and started sniffing.
"Your mouth smells sweet~"
I flinched again and pulled away from Cho-a once more.
Cho-a, who'd been reborn in a man's body...
I guarantee, seriously, if I threw down with him right now it'd be hard to say who'd win.
"You said you'd hold me later."
"When did I ever!"
"...You did... I'm sure you definitely said it...?"
"Wasn't that just a general notification? I never once said I'd do it?"
Suddenly Cho-a acted pitiful and spread his arms toward me.
Seeing that, some memories of the past came to mind, and I squeezed my eyes shut.
Why, of all things, did this bastard have to turn into a man...
Guess the gender you get when you reincarnate really does come down to luck...
I approached Cho-a for a second.
He used to be a woman too, so I figured, what could possibly happen—and that was when he put a hand on my back and, at a speed I couldn't react to, unhooked my bra clasp.
I felt a jostling sensation and locked my chest in place with my arms, and tried to get away from Cho-a in alarm.
But Cho-a grabbed my waist tight with one hand so I couldn't run.
And with his other hand, Cho-a started touching the buttons on my front...
I quickly shook off Cho-a's hand.
But because I was holding up my chest with one hand, I couldn't shake off the hand he had on my waist.
Cho-a pulled me in and lifted the leg he had between mine, trying to sit me down on his own thigh...
"Are you insane!?"
"Ahaha~ sweet, aren't you~ is this what it feels like? Holding a woman? Seeing Boss's expression... things are stiffening up down below, you know?"
"Oh my god..."
At the sensation that Cho-a's thing was genuinely getting bigger, I got goosebumps all over my body.
"You do realize that 'hold me' didn't mean a hug, right?"
I went into the bathroom and fixed my undone underwear.
When had he even unbuttoned my top? I straightened my clothes, looked in the mirror, and nodded.
I think it's about time I left Korea.
With Dad... and including Da-yeon, I'll take everyone and run.
I'll tell Taebaek to go 'handle it yourself' and just fuck off, then hide overseas and live a life of ease and leisure.
I can't handle the current Cho-a.
Whether it was speed or strength... Cho-a had become even more formidable than he'd been in the past.
I can guarantee even if I brought every Tiger I have now, I couldn't handle that.
I tried to escape through the emergency exit outside the bathroom, but there was transparent fishing line looped around the handle.
'What is this, he's not even a goddamn spider...'
At the chilling sensation, I slowly turned around.
Cho-a, holding the line and smiling...
Startled, I instinctively threw a high kick at Cho-a.
Cho-a lightly dodged the sudden high kick and grabbed my ankle.
"Boss~ where are you going~"
"You motherf..."
I was dragged back to my seat by Cho-a.
"Why, why are you running~ don't tell me you're afraid I'll eat you up?"
"... No, I just suddenly remembered an errand."
"Ahaha, what would that be?"
"....."
"Sir, ma'am, we'll be taking our leave now."
"Hey!"
Tae-oh also suddenly bowed his head like he was slamming it down, then tried to slip out together with Ji-hoon.
Cho-a, who'd been sitting beside me with his nose buried in my collarbone, sniffing at my scent, opened his mouth and tried to bite down.
I was pushing Cho-a's head away with my hand, and Cho-a, his face scrunched up, stared at the two of them.
The two of them, who'd lifted their hips but then sat back down naturally after seeing the look in Cho-a's eyes...
'Those bastards have never once shown me that kind of rigid respect.'
I sighed and looked at Cho-a.
"Enough's enough by now, let go a little?"
"Hmph..."
I warned Cho-a, who was reaching for my back again.
"If you unhook my bra strap again I'll actually kill you."
"Haha, Boss's expression earlier made my heart pound, though..."
Cho-a, who did actually listen to what I said, backed off for a moment, swallowing his disappointment.
"Don't tell me there are more people who reincarnated besides you...?"
"Not that I know of~"
"... More importantly. Why are you a Tiger?"
"Mmm, to keep tormenting the guy Gwang-il, who ordered you to get stabbed, from underneath him?"
"Right... that is just like you."
"He got really old, you know."
"I'm sure he did..."
Cho-a had backed off for the moment, but he was still fiddling with my fingers.
"Look at the baby hairs... wow... Boss looks kinda tasty..."
He suddenly tried to put my finger in his mouth, so I quickly yanked my hand back.
"You're not a virgin, are you? Oh my god... just in case, for my sake... Boss is smaller than I thought and I'm bigger than I thought, so you might hurt..."
Wow, fuck... the thought that I was screwed wouldn't leave my head.
Just when I thought I was getting used to him, he pulled this kind of bullshit. Wow...
In the past, Cho-a had...
somehow on her own, dressed in nothing but her underwear, bound up tight with red rope, waiting for me.
Saying she was all ready, that she'd packaged herself up nicely...
And yet, Cho-a has a personality more tiger-like than anyone...
If I got tangled up with him in his current state...
If the top-and-bottom dynamic flipped... it'd be dizzyingly dangerous.
"Ahem... Let's just respect each other's positions for now."
"By that you mean you're going to run away, aren't you? Then I really don't know what I'll end up doing, you can't handle it. Now that I know Boss is here..."
"I have no intention of leaving you and going anywhere."
I'd said something I didn't mean at all... but Cho-a's expression, tinged with madness, was dead serious.
Feeling a brief headache, we got up from our seats.
"I saved your phone number~"
Thinking that I was absolutely going to change my number today, I headed outside.
Han Su-ho...
When I explained this guy's existence to Team 7, led by Jong-hyeon, I had to stew over it with a pounding headache.
The person who controls the Gwangsu Gang from behind the scenes,
and known for extreme secrecy; aside from the rumor that he's incredibly young and the single Korean Tiger, nothing about him was known to anyone.
And his existence, which even Taebaek viewed with suspicion, has now been verified by Perion, who's gotten all old.
Cho-a, who brings on headaches...
He's definitely someone I have a soft spot for, but now that he's become a man and found out about me, he seems to be turning into an even crazier bastard by the second...
The texts, averaging one every ten minutes over twenty-four hours, are giving me a headache.
At the message asking if I'd go on a single date with him, I sighed and got dressed.
When I tried to leave the house, Dad, who'd been in his studio, poked his face out with ghost-like intuition, somehow knowing.
"Where are you going?"
"To see a friend I used to know."
"Used to know?"
"Yeah, a kid I was close with back in elementary school."
"Is it a guy?"
"Hmm... I guess he's a guy?"
Dad looked at me with suspicious eyes.
"What does that mean?"
"He's gay."
"Ah... okay. Have a good time."
Even if someone is a woman in mind, if their physical body is male and they like men, then that's gay. They're probably not what you'd call normal.