Chapter 1
“This is…”
A place where everything is white. A place where the sky and the ground are indistinguishable. The air is fresh and warm… this place is…
“It wasn’t a dream!”
Seungri, usually calm, couldn’t hide her excitement at that moment.
A row of receptionists in white uniforms sat at a long information desk.
People of all races, nationalities, and ages, who had just arrived here, were lined up in front of them, confirming their identities with these refined and neat-looking individuals.
The only difference was that there were far fewer people than four years ago.
Even though it was a scene she was seeing again after four years, Seungri remembered it as vividly as if it were yesterday.
Finally, it was Seungri’s turn.
She stared at the receptionist in front of her with a nervous expression.
She had been lucky last time, but what about today?
Is this what it feels like to win the lottery?
No, if things went her way, this would be even luckier than winning the lottery!
“Name?”
“Jegal Seungri.”
“Date of birth?”
“July 27, 1987.”
“Date of death…”
‘Please, please!’
Seungri anxiously watched his lips, and after a moment, the receptionist’s face suddenly hardened as he checked her identity on the computer.
The emotion that flashed across his eyes was bewilderment, as if something impossible had happened.
“Hey!”
Seungri, who had been impatient, frowned at the unexpected voice.
A burly man standing right behind her strode to her side.
He was quite tall, so much so that her neck naturally craned back, being only 5’7″.
“Where is this place?”
“Heaven.”
“No, no way… I’m dead?”
The heaven receptionist, alternating between the bewildered man and the anxious Seungri, said kindly.
“Ms. Jegal Seungri, please wait a moment. I’ll check the man’s identity first. Name?”
“Pee Junmo. Born May 5, 1986.”
Junmo nervously tapped the table with his fingers.
The hand with prominent veins was rough, resembling its owner’s impression.
Seungri, standing a step away, subtly scanned Junmo from head to toe.
She had thought he was just burly because of his broad shoulders, but his waist was slender and well-shaped.
‘Oh, men are all about the thighs, they say. Is he an athlete?’
His legs were quite long, and his proportions were pretty good.
His jawline, covered with stubble, was sharp, his nose was sharp, and his eyes were keen.
Added to his sleek, sharp, and keen features was a rough impression, as if he had been through thick and thin.
She didn’t know what kind of man he was, but how did he end up here at such a young age?
‘Wait a minute. He looks familiar. Where have I seen him before? Especially that sharp jawline. What is this fresh memory? …Oh, no!’
Whether it was amnesia from the shock of the accident, her memory, which she had completely forgotten, slowly returned.
“Hey you.”
Junmo looked at her with a troubled gaze only after Seungri called out.
Seungri became even more convinced when she saw his eyes shaking uneasily.
In a slightly prickly voice, she quietly asked.
“I died because of you… is that what you’re saying right now?”
One hour before going to heaven.
A villa on a cliff that would have a clear view of the East Sea during the day.
Deep in the forest, the front yard was lined with top-of-the-line imported cars.
As if the party had already started, loud music could be heard from inside the brightly lit villa.
Seungri, who arrived late, parked her car on one side and got out.
The mini dress that exposed her thighs and shoulders was quite uncomfortable.
The red jewel embedded in the cross necklace sparkled in the moonlight.
“Did I buy one that’s too high?”
She took off her sneakers and changed into high heels, her gait wobbling slightly, but she steadily walked towards the villa.
Seungri took out a card from her clutch bag and held it to the front door lock.
The door opened with a “ding-dong” sound, and she entered with a slightly nervous feeling.
Unlike the ordinary exterior, the interior was extremely luxurious.
As soon as Seungri entered, she shuddered at the overwhelming eerie energy.
As she passed through the long hallway and reached the entrance to the living room, she heard people laughing.
Peeking into the living room, she saw middle-aged men and young women, already drunk, hugging and rolling around on the sofas and floor.
They were members of a secret club and young women who would be their partners for the night.
‘What a sight.’
They didn’t seem to care who came, as it was a place where no one could come unless invited.
Rather, it was the ghosts hiding among them that glared at Seungri warily.
Some ghosts disappeared when they saw her, while others gnashed their teeth as if they would attack at any moment, and some were too drunk to even notice.
Seungri glanced at the people and tilted her head. The face she was looking for was not there.
‘Where is he?’
At that moment, she felt an unusual eerie energy above her head.
When she quickly looked up, a virgin ghost was staring at her provocatively from the second-floor railing.
Intuitively, she realized that the person she was looking for was on the second floor, so she quickly went up the stairs.
The virgin ghost, smiling and walking down the second-floor hallway as if luring her, was dressed even more lavishly and sexily than Seungri.
Long, yellow permed hair that reached her waist, a sparkly top with a bare back, hot pants, and killer heels.
Her nails were long and sharp, as if she could pluck out human livers, and her lips were as red as if she had drunk a bowl of blood.
Seungri, seeing the virgin ghost enter the room on the left at the end of the hallway, gave her signature smirk.
‘She’s got a lot of nerve.’
Not even telling me to catch her outright, but luring me in.
‘Let’s see what you’ve got.’
Seungri leisurely walked down the hallway and stood in front of the door of the room where the ghost had disappeared.
She twisted the doorknob and entered, but it was quiet without a sound.
She closed the door silently and listened for any signs of life in the darkness for a moment.
Except for the faint moonlight coming through the slightly open terrace door, not even a small sound could be heard.
‘Is she on the terrace?’
Seungri tiptoed to the terrace and looked outside through the glass.
‘She’s not there.’
She had come to catch the ghost attached to the client’s husband at his request, but the person in question was nowhere to be seen.
With a bewildered face, she turned on the light on the tall stand next to the bed and quietly looked around the room.
She wondered if he was in the bathroom, so she listened at the door, but there was no sound.
She opened the door to check, searched the closet, and even looked under the bed, but it was all in vain.
Yet, she still felt the eerie energy.
The ghost must be hiding and watching this, laughing to herself.
Only after confirming that there was no one in the room did she mutter quietly.
“Come out when I’m asking nicely.”
She touched the cross necklace, and she could feel the ghost flinching.
“You know I don’t catch nicely, right?”
Swoosh!
The ghost ran out of the room, and the moment Seungri reached out towards the door, the door burst open and someone came in.
‘Damn it!’
Seungri, flustered, unconsciously took a step back.
The person who opened the door was neither a ghost nor the client’s husband.
The man and woman from the first-floor living room were kissing and taking off each other’s clothes, lost in their passion.
Seungri, blocked from leaving by the two, quickly looked for a place to hide to avoid the embarrassing situation.
It was too late to hide in the closet, and too narrow to hide under the bed.
What caught her eye was the slightly open terrace door.
She rushed out there. And as soon as she went out, someone’s hand grabbed her arm.
Before she could defend herself, she was spun around and her back was against the wall.
At the same time, a large man’s body blocked her way!
Seungri’s heart sank as he covered her mouth.
‘Wh-what is this guy?’
“Shh! Just a moment.”
His quick whispering tone seemed quite urgent.
Seungri only raised her eyes to look at the other person.
He was too tall and it was too dark to recognize who he was.
All she could see was a sleek jawline covered with stubble and a Adam’s apple that was heaving greatly as if he was nervous.
Even then, only his lips and chin were barely visible because the shadows on his face were clearly cast by the light flowing from inside the room.
‘A, a thief?’
If he was one of the members, there would be no reason for him to be hiding here.
Seungri quickly grabbed his wrist and twisted it.
But he was faster.
Accurately predicting her actions, he turned his body as if dancing in the direction of twisting her wrist, and then covered her mouth with his other hand.
This time, he was hugging Seungri from behind while covering her mouth.
“Mmph! …Mmph!”
The man dragged her back to the dark side as she struggled towards the window.
The man, with his lips close to Seungri’s ear, whispered softly.
“I’m sorry, but let’s just stay like this for a moment.”
“Mmph… Mmphmmph!”
She thrashed about so much that even a burly man would have struggled.
The more she struggled to get out, the more the strong man only trapped her more tightly in his arms.
But at some point, the two people’s struggle stopped at the same time.
It was because of the loud moans coming from inside the open terrace door.
Seungri could guess what was happening inside just from the sound.
Her neck flushed red at the lewd sound.
‘I have to listen to a live porno with a thief.’
It was even more embarrassing because the man was hugging her from behind.
The explicit sound became more and more intense, and now it was an awkward situation to even appear in front of the two people in the middle of their affair.
‘I’m going crazy, really.’
Time was passing, but the two showed no signs of stopping, as if they were planning to stay up all night.
The man’s body, hugging her from behind, was getting hotter and hotter.
Perhaps it was because the sweat on her back was damp, making the place where they were pressed together even hotter.
She was regretting that it would have been better to just stay still.
“What kind of perfume do you use? It smells really good.”
The voice, heard softly in her ear, was quite deep.
If it weren’t for this terrible situation, it would have sounded like a sweet whisper exchanged between lovers.
Just judging by his voice, she might have fallen for him.
‘This is insane!’
He must have been listening to the live porno and had some strange thoughts.
With this, Seungri’s patience also ran out.
“Aah!”
She bit his finger so hard that she almost severed it, and the man couldn’t help but scream.
“You pervert!”
“Damn it!”
The man looked inside the glass door and then jumped in.
“Oh, you’re running away?”
Seungri also chased after him in a hurry.
The man on the bed was startled by the sound from the terrace, and when he saw the man who suddenly appeared, he started running away.
A naked pervert chasing a pervert of unknown origin.
The members of the secret club were busy hiding their drugs when they saw the naked pervert running down to the first floor like a shot and the man chasing after him.
While chasing the pervert, the man left a warning look and gesture to them and ran madly out of the villa.
“You bastard, stop right there!”
As if he had made thorough preparations to escape at any time, the pervert had not even locked the car door.
He immediately got into the car, found the spare key, and started the engine.
The man who was chasing him stopped with a troubled face.
He had parked the car in an inconspicuous place, but if he went there, he would obviously miss the pervert.
“Where do you think you’re going!”
Seungri, holding her high heels in both hands, screamed at the top of her lungs as she chased after him.
In desperation, he reached out to her.
“Let me borrow your car.”
“What?”
He quickly scanned her up and down and revealed his identity for the first time.
“Police. I need your cooperation.”
“Police? Ha!”
Seungri was dumbfounded, never expecting it to be the police.
So, she lost the ghost because of a perverted cop?
“How can I believe you’re a cop?”
He quickly pulled out his police ID from his wallet and showed it to her.
“Satisfied?”
Damn it.
Seungri muttered a curse under her breath. He really was a cop.
“Follow me.”
The man ran after her as she hurriedly put her heels back on, grabbed her car keys from her clutch bag, and ran.
He grabbed Seungri, who was heading to the driver’s seat, and snatched the car keys from her hand.
“It’s dangerous. Stay here.”
“I’m just worried about my car.”
“Are you sure you’re okay with this?”
“Aren’t you going to catch the criminal?”
Reluctantly, the two got into the car side by side and began chasing after the escaped pervert.
“Do you even know how much this car costs?!”
Seungri screamed, clinging tightly to the handle, due to the man’s reckless driving.
In her eyes, this guy seemed crazier than the naked pervert who had run away.
“It looks expensive.”
The man replied nonchalantly and focused on chasing the pervert.
They quickly caught up to the pervert with the speed he was driving.
The pervert and the perverted cop were driving like stuntmen on the rugged, dark mountain roads of Gangwon Province.
She couldn’t catch the ghost she was supposed to catch, and now this was happening out of the blue.
She regretted lending him her car, thinking that the police couldn’t be trusted after all.
“Aaaagh!”
Seungri shrieked as they almost collided with an oncoming car.
The man glanced at her and asked worriedly.
“Are you okay?”
“No!”
Seungri enjoyed speed to some extent, but this man was on a rampage.
She wanted to get out right away, but she didn’t think he would stop the car now.
His eyes were burning with the determination to catch the pervert.
“What do you do? You don’t seem like the kind of woman who would hang out with trash like that.”
On the terrace, he thought she was one of the women in the entertainment industry who came there, so he couldn’t reveal his identity.
He thought it would give the guy he was chasing a chance to escape.
But the moment he saw her chasing after him outside, he was convinced that he was wrong.
Even though she was wearing a revealing mini-dress, it felt awkward rather than sexy.
That’s how he knew she wasn’t a hostess.
‘Did he somehow recognize who I am?’
Seungri asked with a hint of expectation.
“How do you know that?”
“It’s a detective’s intuition. Your eyes are too clear.”
He even gave her a sweet eye smile.
“……”
Seungri stared at him blankly before snapping back to her senses.
‘Did he just flirt with me?’
A cop who not only drives recklessly but also flirts with the owner of the car he borrowed, the world is really going crazy.
“What’s your name? I’m Pee Junmo from the Violent Crimes Division of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency.”
Before he could finish speaking, the car the pervert was driving suddenly crossed over to the opposite lane.
A large dump truck was coming from the opposite direction.
The surprised dump truck driver swerved the steering wheel and headed straight for the car Junmo and Seungri were in.
The moment a white light covered the two, a tremendous roar echoed in the dark night sky.
“So, you’re saying I died because of you… right now?”
And so, she came to heaven, which she didn’t need to come to yet, because of this well-proportioned, no, crazy bastard.
Feeling wronged, Seungri glared at him.
Junmo also stared at her with a troubled expression.
A boyish woman with short hair, tall and slender, and somewhat lacking in femininity.
She had the aura of a ‘tough girl’ enough to steamroll any ordinary man.
In particular, her eyes without double eyelids were impressive.
Her black eyes were extremely clear, and there was a hint of sadness in them.
The reason he felt a strange feeling the moment he saw her at the villa must have been because of those deep eyes and her scent.
Her eyes, which shone brightly even in the darkness, and the strong scent that brushed past his nose.
“As you know, miss, at that time…”
‘At times like this, an apology should come first, you rude bastard.’
Seungri gave him a sarcastic smile, his excuse coming before his apology. Her usually calm voice also rose slightly.
“I should have known when you were driving like that.”
“That’s why I said it was dangerous…”
Her expression became even colder, as she didn’t have good feelings about the police.
“In my eyes, you look more dangerous than that pervert. You know that?”
“I know. But…”
“You can’t drive like that unless you’re planning to die.”
“Hey, let me talk too!”
It was a guide in a white uniform who interrupted the two people’s bickering.
“There seems to be a mistake.”
“A mistake?”
“Your arrival date isn’t today. You can both go back.”
“Go back? So, I didn’t die? Can I live again?”
Junmo nudged Seungri, who was standing next to him, and was happy.
He not only made gestures that were difficult to do unless they were very close, but also gave her a sweet eye smile.
‘What is this guy?’
Seungri’s brow furrowed.
His eye smile, which seemed like it had killed many women, was attractive even to her…
This guy’s charm is being displayed even after death.
Is this why they say old habits die hard?
‘Huh?’
Seungri suddenly felt a stinging sensation in her chest, as if it had been pinched.
It was because a childlike, innocent smile spread across the man’s face in an instant.
Good heavens.
She couldn’t have imagined that such an expression was hidden.
If the adult version of the eye smile was sexy, the innocent smile was a pure child version.
And this guy, who can perfectly use those two versions, is truly!
He must have become a cop after trying to become a gigolo.
Anyway, that’s not what’s important right now.
‘You can both go back? I wasn’t the only one who hit the jackpot?’
The first time she came to heaven, she thought it was a dream, and now she was just dumbfounded.
Her life had completely changed since she came here last time, so what will surprise her this time?
She had a throbbing headache.
“I’ll compensate you for everything when we go back, so calm down…”
“Compensation isn’t the problem. The problem is that you almost killed an innocent person while trying to catch a criminal.”
“I’m sorry. I sincerely apologize.”
It felt really awful to apologize with a smile.
“I’m the kind of person who spits on a smiling face.”
“Why is a young lady so harsh? You didn’t die. I don’t care if I die, but you’re alive. Let’s talk about the rest when we get back, okay?”
Junmo, who was walking on the fine line between innocence and slyness, and Seungri, who was constantly treating him coldly.
The guide’s solemn voice suddenly cut in between them.
“You won’t remember when you go back.”
“Oh, really? Hey, don’t worry. How can a detective pretend not to know? Even if he compensates me.”
‘You want me to trust a detective? I’d rather die than be sick.’
“You really don’t seem to trust me. I’m Pee Junmo. A guy who lives by his humanity.”
A person with proper humanity would never have caused such a car accident.
In her opinion, the pervert who was fleeing while ignoring the lanes was definitely crazy, but this guy who was chasing after him as if he was determined to die was not in his right mind either.
A sarcastic smile spread across Seungri’s twisted lips.
At that time, the guide subtly intervened.
Although such a thing was extremely rare, the situation of these two men and women was somewhat more unique.
“You two, it seems like you’re destined to be together.”
“What do you mean?”
“You were born on different dates, but you are destined to die on the same day.”
“What?”
“Die on the same day? This woman and I?”
“Yes. Unfortunately, that’s right. In particular, Pee Junmo is holding the woman’s lifeline.”
“Lifeline?”
“It means that if Pee Junmo dies, Jegal Seungri will also die.”
It was like a bolt from the blue for Seungri.
She was dumbfounded that this stranger was holding her lifeline.
If so, the car accident didn’t seem like a coincidence.
The fact that a man who lives so recklessly is holding her lifeline is a disaster.
My voice was so laced with anger that it dropped to a chilling, eerie tone, like a woman filled with resentment in the sweltering summer.
“What kind of dogshit are you pulling?”
“Are you kidding me? We’re meeting for the first time today. But to die on the same day, why?!”
“Think of plane crashes, disasters, or wars. Then you’ll understand why the two of you are clinging to the same lifeline.”
“……”
“……”
“Now, would you please leave? I wish you both the best of luck until we meet again.”
