C 141
I could barely remember anything about the features of the guardian of the stars I saw in my dream.
It's been more than three years, and there's not much time left until my death. Until now, I haven't been either unhappy or too happy.
Yes, it was the epitome of mediocrity. I could do whatever I wanted, but that was it.
I wasn't happy because there was a place I wanted to return to. Since I gave up, I didn't feel unhappy.
"Hyung, what are you going to do for me today?"
"What Miso likes."
"Egg rolls!"
"No."
The two people I befriended had many interesting conversations.
Well, I'm not sure if they're "friends." What's certain is that the mysterious man whose name was not revealed tended not to like the puppy-like neighbor next door.
"I don't know when we became so close."
There was a possibility that both of them were jokes from the guardian of the star.
Isn't it?
Both of them casually slipped into my daily life.
The guy next door would come in and greet me every time I went out.
The other person I would often meet when visiting my grandmother in the hospital, and one day, I started talking to him, and we became friends.
When I told him that I usually fill my meals with delivery food or convenience store food, he suddenly burst into my house and offered to cook for me.
These two people saw each other almost every day.
"Even if I think he's a guardian of the stars..."
I've only seen these two people help me. They didn't specifically try to kill me or put me in danger.
"Unhappy..."
When is one unhappier?
I thought about it for a moment and then sighed.
I don't know, it would be nice if nothing like that happened.
"You don't look good, Cha Miso."
"No."
"Are you worried about your family?"
I shook my head in response to the man's smiling face.
"Absolutely not."
No, surprisingly, I didn't feel anything.
He quickly prepared delicious food and placed it on the table. Just two plates, mine and his, to be exact.
"Hey, hyung, which one is mine?"
"You should eat it with your hands."
"...It's embarrassing."
The puppy-like neighbor grumbled in dissatisfaction but shamelessly picked up food with his hands and sat down.
I stirred my food with a spoon and thought for a moment. There's not much time left.
"He asked me to blind him..."
Guardian of the stars, stars...
I stared up at the sky and sighed briefly.
"There's no answer... huh?"
Now that I think about it, there was only one of the two people, a person dressed similarly to the guardian of the star.
"Ah, this person is the culprit."
I chuckled briefly.
Now that I think about it, I think I understand a little. When is a person unhappier, more miserable, or more fearful?
"A few days left."
I tilted my head back and laughed softly.
Death is approaching, just around the corner. If my world is one where everything you wish for comes true...
In that case, I wanted to take everything away from those people.
Everything except their lives.
So, as miserable as they were, as unhappy as they were, just...
I wanted them to be simply unhappy, no more, no less.
To be ignored and despised by others, and miserably abandoned by the people they trusted the most.
As long as that came true, there was nothing else to wish for.
***
"Noona, why did you ask me to come here with you?"
"Today is the last day."
Tomorrow, I will die.
So, today, when I took the puppy-like neighbor to my old house, I smiled faintly and replied.
The moment when people are unhappiest and most miserable.
That could be...
"You're finally here! Damn bitch! Bitch! I told her everything you did to me!"
An elderly woman who had gone to a nursing home pointed at me with a finger and shouted.
"I'm disappointed that you did something like that. Cha Miso! How dare you do this to your grandmother?"
My father scolded me with the same expression as before.
"The problem was that I thought I could do my best for you. You never show your face even though your mother is sick... The fact that I gave birth to you is terrible."
Sometimes, my mother says the words that hurt me the most...
"Yes, sister. They said it was a sin that you were born. You weren't supposed to be born."
"Yes, it's natural to hate someone like you!"
When I was young, there were Cha Hyun and Yido who spat out harsh words.
Yes, that could be...
What you believed would be completely shattered, and the broken remnants would be the source of your trauma.
If there had been a moment of confusion, the guardian of the stars could have definitely gotten what he wanted.
I slowly lowered my head.
"Oh, God. I guess, after all, everyone hates Noona."
And that too, when I was betrayed by someone I trusted.
However, it wasn't a big surprise. The moment I realized the criminal's intent, I roughly expected all of this.
If there's a being in this world who can control a person's heart, why isn't there a being who can control their wounds?
However, if there's one thing the guardian of the stars overlooked, it's that I had already put my mind in order a long time ago.
These people couldn't leave me any wounds or scars anymore.
It's a pity my grandmother came back unharmed...
I slowly reached into my pocket and held the cold object I touched.
"But it's okay. Noona. You can be happy if you come with me, I love you with all my heart..."
The man approached me and put his hand on my shoulder.
**Pok!**
At that moment, his body, which had been smiling like a bright child, slumped with a chilling sound.
"Na-na...?"
Even though he had a fountain pen stuck in his eye, he didn't scream, nor did blood spurt.
"That was the right answer."
I pulled out the fountain pen and tried to stab it into his other eye. If only he hadn't moved so quickly.
"How...?"
He said, pressing an eye with his hand.
Something was coming out of his eyes. It wasn't blood, nor was it liquid.
Well, if I had to be specific, it was... like the Milky Way.
It was a black, sticky liquid filled with silvery stars, resembling a star worthy of its name.
I just exhaled as I looked at the cluster of stars the guardian of the stars was spewing.
Are there as many unhappy children in the world as those stars?
"You always wear a hat when you're in the sun."
"That..."
"But he does too. The guardian of the stars. That man always wore a felt hat."
So, it's fine.
When I added another word, he gritted his teeth.
The family members behind him were frozen in place, as if they had collapsed and weren't reacting at all.
"There are a lot of people with hats!"
"Yes, but... you were the only one around me."
"What...?"
"Stars emit light on their own, but the guardians of the stars are beings that bury themselves in darkness, hold the light of the stars, and move along the light of the stars."
It would be easier for the guardian of the stars to move at night when there is no sun.
Stars often lose their light under the sun.
"So, I wondered if I couldn't see the intense light."
I wondered if there was a double meaning in young Cha Miso's words asking me to blind him.
"No, you're mine. You can be happy after being born again! Shaking off that happiness...!"
"You know, I'm quite happy."
While I laughed, he muttered that it was nonsense.
"There's no way you can be happy. How can a dreamer be happy? Your happiness only exists in dreams..."
"Because..."
I smiled.
At that moment, a hand suddenly reached out from behind and instantly grabbed the neck of the guardian of the star.
"Keugh..."
One of the eyes of the guardian of the stars rolled back.
"There's someone who likes me and came here to protect me."
The neck of the guardian of the stars bent in a strange way.
"And my dream has already come true."
So, there's no way I'm not happy.
In response to my words, the remaining eye of the guardian of the star opened significantly.
But that was only for a moment. Perhaps because his body was broken, he melted and finally seeped into the ground and disappeared.
However, he didn't seem completely dead.
The fact that he could blind the eyes means that unless you blind both eyes, there's a good chance he'll come back to life.
"Thank you for your help."
"I prepared lunch."
The man who always came to the house every day and silently prepared the food suddenly appeared and said.
Although there was still a long way to go...
After all, if one side is a villain, the other is a prince.
"Lucilion."
"......"
"Why do you always prepare food for me?"
The man pursed his lips and then smiled faintly. It definitely felt different from the drawn smile he used to show.
"Well, if you don't recognize me, I can't talk to you first."
"...Ah, is it my fault?"
"It's not like that."
Lucilion reached out his hand.
"I was waiting for you to call me..."
"I wasn't sure until the end."
Since he said he had an assistant, I wondered if someone was my assistant.
"Don't worry about them, Master."
"...that damn word again."
"What?"
"It's nice to hear it after a long time."
While smiling, Lucilion grabbed my hand and pulled me.
"Let's go back."
"Yes."
"Don't worry; those people will always be unhappy in the future."
"What?"
"I did everything by hand."
"By hand? How by hand...?"
The man's smile, with the corners of his eyes curved, looked exactly like Lucilion's when he had mischievous thoughts.
Suddenly, bloodstains on his hands came to mind. I was about to ask whom he killed, but I kept my mouth shut.
"...No, yeah, sure. Let's go back."
"Yes. I'll watch over you to the end."
"Yes."
A few days later, part of the officetel where I lived collapsed.
One person died, a 30-year-old unemployed woman who had been reading a novel in the early afternoon but had the misfortune of not leaving.
