Idol of the Heavenly One - vanish into fiction

“What about that person?”

Usually, if it were someone strange he had encountered before, he would immediately reassure me by saying, “Don’t worry about them. They’ll be leaving soon.” But now, his face was filled with a questioning look, wondering if something strange had happened to me. It was a face that didn’t particularly know anything about that person. Could it be someone who wasn’t there in his previous lives?

“Is she someone you saw in your previous lives too?”

So, I first asked if she was someone who had existed in his past lives. At that, Jae-heon put down his phone and sank into thought for a moment. His eyes dropped as he searched his memories.

“She was there. In my previous lives too.”

Ah, she was? That was unexpected. Honestly, I thought she was someone who hadn’t originally been there. She was such a chilling person that there was no way Baek Jae-heon wouldn’t remember her. Or perhaps she hadn’t said or done anything strange back then?

“But why? Did she say something weird to you?”

Since Baek Jae-heon looked like he had no idea, I slowly explained what had happened at the shop earlier. The maknae staff member’s tone, the timing, and even the eerie feeling I had. While speaking, the thought crossed my mind that I might be overreacting, but I felt it was better to tell him than to hide it.

“Hmm…”

After hearing my entire story, Baek Jae-heon said nothing for a while. He looked as if he were trying to recall more, retracing his steps to see if he had missed something.

“That’s strange.”

With a short sigh, Baek Jae-heon spoke. As if confirming that nothing strange had happened before.

“She was just a staff member. Both times.”

“There were no threats or anything?”

“No. None.”

“No expressions of interest toward you either?”

Jae-heon shook his head.

“None. If anything, she went about her business as if she were barely there.”

At those words, the lingering discomfort grew even deeper. She had been there twice in his previous lives. Furthermore, she had been a presence that was barely there? Isn’t it even stranger then that she’s standing out like this now? Could it be that I became some sort of trigger and provoked her?

An unknown anxiety slowly crawled up from the nape of my neck. I couldn’t pin down the exact reason, but it certainly wasn’t the kind of feeling I could just brush off as “fine.” I leaned my back against the sofa’s backrest and looked up at the ceiling once before looking back at Baek Jae-heon. Baek Jae-heon also had a calm face, but somewhere in his eyes, there was a mix of anxiety and wariness.

Baek Jae-heon was probably more anxious than I was right now. Because he was thinking of the woman who had caused a scene with a knife last time. Because he was afraid that I might be harmed again because of him.

“You’re thinking about that day, aren’t you?”

In my words, the look in Baek Jae-heon’s eyes wavered very slightly. He didn’t deny it, nor did he answer immediately. That silence felt like an answer in itself. The woman screaming with a knife, the bodyguards rushing in, and Baek Jae-heon holding me as I collapsed. The memory of that day was something that hadn’t completely ended for us yet.

Whenever there was even a slightly strange person like this, it was inevitable that both of us would become sensitive. I wondered if I should have brought it up at all. That staff member hadn’t actually done anything yet, and I wondered if I was just looking for trouble based on a mere “chilling” feeling. I was only making Baek Jae-heon anxious for no reason…

“Bad things like what happened back then won’t happen again.”

I reached out my arm and pulled Baek Jae-heon into an embrace. Then, Baek Jae-heon crumpled his large frame against me. Seeing him even wrap his arms around my waist, I got the feeling he was taking this opportunity to satisfy a hidden agenda, but I just feigned ignorance and patted his back.

“You don’t know that. If something like that happens to you again… I’m seriously going to retire.”

“Don’t say things like that so recklessly. If you retire, it’ll be a great loss for South Korea.”

“I’m serious…”

“I’m serious too. And I’m agile now, I can dodge well.”

In my words, Baek Jae-heon gave my back a playful smack. As if telling me not to say such things even as a joke. At that, I chuckled and replied that I understood.

The anxiety still hadn’t completely disappeared, but I patted Baek Jae-heon’s back, vowing at least not to be swept away by it.