Coming back from the Dead

Seojin stared down at the vast ocean that hid the judge's body. He didn't want to believe what had happened. Dizzy, he knelt near the cliff and peered behind the metal bar guarding the road, hoping to find a trace of Valentin's body. With injuries like that, he knew that it would be hard for the judge to survive; that's why they needed to find his body quickly and take him to the hospital.

After living with Valentin for more than a month, he began to believe that the judge was different from ordinary people. It was as if he could solve everything. From sending the assassins to prison and constantly helping other people, it was not something that other people could do.

Soon after, the police arrived and took the robbers with them. They will be punished for their actions. They also deployed a team with a ship to search for Valentin in the sea.

Late at night, the ocean was lit up with intense lights. The helicopters flew around the ocean to provide lightning. The ship circled the ocean as the divers dived into the water to search more deeply. Without luck, the divers got out of the water. It was too dark to see anything clearly, and the divers were getting cold from the hours of searching.

Valentin's parents were also on site; they asked that the police continue with their search. They didn't want to give up this early. Their son needed treatment immediately.

Days passed, weeks passed, and they still didn't find Valentin's body. Valentin's parents' hearts shattered. They were proud that their son saved the students, but saddened that he didn't escape himself.

They knew that it was almost impossible for their son to survive. However, they didn't announce their son's death. They still wanted to linger on the hope that their boy was safe and sound.

A few days after the accident, the news reported on the accident, and Valentin was described as the hero. Without any news on finding his body, everyone thought that the young master of the Vronsky family was dead and slowly forgot about the accident.

Knowing that their son had kept a kid under his wing, Valentin's parents promised to continue providing for Seojin until he didn't feel the need to.

After the accident, Seojin stayed holed up in his room. Staying in the judge's house made him feel as if the judge was still in the house. However, when it was time to eat, Seojin would always be hit by the harsh reality. He had to eat alone every day, resisting the sadness that kept eating his insides. He wished he were the one who got shot instead. He hated it when the ones close to him were hurt instead of him.

As days passed, Seojin's blue eyes blurred. He wished everything were an illusion. At school, he couldn't focus. He always slept during class, escaping from reality. The maids and butler in the house were saddened by the young master's disappearance. They hoped Valentin would come back before Seojin mentally collapsed.

When Seojin felt like he couldn't bear the sadness anymore, he would sleep in Valentin's room. The judge's scent calmed him down, making him believe that the judge was still present.

After two weeks without any news about Valentin's whereabouts, Seojin stopped eating. Without any energy, he accidentally tripped down the stairs and hurt his head. He was brought to the hospital, and because of the shock, he recovered memories of his past life.

At first, he was suspicious of the newfound memories in his head. But soon after, he was certain that it was the memories of his past life. It was as if the 22-year-old and the 17-year-old Seojin had merged.

Everyone else was the same as he had remembered. Valentin was the only exception. In his past life, Valentin was only a minor character. Seojin didn't have many interactions with him, but he remembered that he killed him because he was part of his uncle's evil plan. And the entire Vronsky family was after him after he committed the crime.

'Was he reborn too?' Seojin murmured to himself.

Did Valentin help him because he was scared of getting killed by him? Did he see him as a threat? Seojin shook his head in denial. The Valentin he knew in his past life was extremely cowardly; that's why he bowed down to his uncle, who had a lower status than him.

He was still suspicious of the judge, but Seojin wanted to wait for him so that he could hear the answer from the judge's mouth. He believed that Valentin had been truthful to him from the start. But Seojin couldn't figure out why the judge had been helping him without expecting anything back. It was as if the judge were a different person from the judge in his past life.

In an endless white space, Valentin rested peacefully. He was recovering in the system's space. After three weeks of resting and healing, his wounds were finally gone. He was amazed when there weren't any scars on his body. The rewards given by the system were something. They weren't humanly possible. It was as if the system were a higher form of civilization or perhaps a god.

Valentin took a taxi home as if nothing had happened. He hoped that everyone else was doing fine and that his absence didn't cause any trouble.

As he entered the code of his house and opened the door, a tall man jumped into his arms, crying.

"You are finally back!" the man wept.

"Who are you?" Valentin asked and pushed the man away. He didn't like having skinship with strangers.

The strange man was a bit taller than him and had black hair. His hair was long enough to cover his eyes. What was this handsome man doing in his house? Where was Seojin?

"Hyung, it's me, Seojin. You don't remember me anymore?" the kid cried harder.

Valentin pushed back the kid's hair and stared into those familiar eyes. Wiping away Seojin's tears, Valentin smiled and said, "I'm back."

"When did you get this tall?" Valentin added. It must have been all the good food he had been feeding him. The kid has surpassed him in height and has sharper eyes.

"I don't know." Seojin still hid in Valentin's arms. Seeing him in person, he became certain. He was more scared of losing Valentin. He didn't care anymore if Valentin was a possible liar. He was glad that the judge made it out alive. In the past, Seojin would've laughed at his foolishness because he didn't trust anyone but himself.

Seojin contacted the judge's parents. They had given him their phone number in case something happened. Valentin's parents rushed to the house as soon as they got the call. After seeing their son for the first time in a while, they hugged him for a long time. As long as their son was alive, everything would be fine.

It was the first time Valentin saw the original host's parents. He could tell that they were affectionate towards their son. It was a weird feeling because his parents acted like he didn't exist. They were renowned judges, so they had high expectations for him.

A sense of guilt hit Valentin; if the original host's parents knew that he wasn't the real Valentin, they would be disappointed. It would be best if he avoided them in the future, to not raise any suspicions.

He received a text message after his parents finally left, ensuring Valentin wasn't injured anywhere.

Glad that you are alive.

It was a message from Nikolai.