Late at night.
<Hey, creature.>
While I was working, Star Fragment called out to me.
“What?”
I looked over at him on the bed. Star Fragment, with a towel draped over his wet hair, was staring at me.
He seemed to have grown quite fond of living as a “person” rather than a Constellation in the human world.
Though he didn’t need to eat or bathe, and he could’ve easily taken the form of a fly or some such thing when we were alone, for some reason, he had kept his usual appearance—just tucking away his wings.
<…Well, I figured that since I’m playing the role of an average citizen, I might as well enjoy the act.>
That’s what he said, but the truth was probably simpler: he found Mika’s demands annoying and preferred the relative peace of road manager duties.
‘Well…’
To find that work enjoyable, you’d have to be a transcendent being like Star Fragment.
Anyway, he suddenly called out to me and smiled gently.
<How about taking a break? You’ve been overworking yourself these past few days. There are some answers you won’t find just by sitting at your desk. The longer you sit there, the smaller your world becomes.>
His uncharacteristically kind words gave me goosebumps.
“…Why are you telling me this?”
<Am I not allowed?>
“No, it’s not that…”
I scratched the back of my neck.
Except for his usual arrogant tone, his advice was so textbook and normal that it caught me off guard.
“Maybe I’ll go for a walk.”
I murmured and stood up, stretching with a groan.<A walk sounds good.>
Star Fragment got up from the bed too.
“…You’re coming with me?”
I asked him.
<Of course. I’m your Constellation. And your road manager.>
Then, he muttered—
<In fact, I was already planning to take you out. If you didn’t get up willingly, I was going to drag you out.>
“So that’s what this is about. You wanted to go out and have fun, and just told me to ‘take a break’ to get me to come with you?”
<‘Have fun’? Don’t be absurd.>
Star Fragment smirked as he grabbed the car keys.
Then he opened the wardrobe and handed me a long padded coat.
“You should dress too. If you go out looking like that, people’ll think you’ve lost it.”
I said as I took the coat.
Star Fragment was wearing a white T-shirt and blue flannel pajama pants.
Naturally, he wouldn’t feel the cold—but I couldn’t let him wander around looking like that.
I handed him one of my masks. With a cap pulled down over his hair, we left the dorm together.
The night air was chilly.
Our dorm was technically in Seoul, but it was in a fairly secluded area, far from residential zones.
We got into an old sedan Star Fragment drove, heading down an empty stretch of road.
I cracked open the window and breathed in the cold air. It helped clear my head a bit, though the wind was sharp against my face.
“So…”
I closed the window and said,
“…Where should we go? Maybe walk around a nearby park?”
<How boring. We’re finally out together, and that’s all you’ve got?>
He gestured toward the car’s GPS.<Be a good creature and type something in.>
“Yes, yes.”
I pulled up the destination search screen.
“What do you want me to enter?”
<I don’t know.>
“…What?”
<The names of buildings in the human world are so complicated. But it doesn’t matter. Our destination is already decided… and you know the exact location.>
With one hand on the steering wheel, he tilted his head toward me and asked,
<Let’s go visit where your father is buried.>
I was speechless at the unexpected destination.
“…Why there?”
<Why not? It’s your father’s grave, isn’t it? Humans always seem to visit their parents’ graves when their minds are in turmoil. Like clinging to their parents’ hems.>
He made the remark with his usual biting grin—
<And more than anything, I haven’t seen your father’s grave. Last time we were in Incheon, I was busy tracking Muddorok’s energy. And though I’ve been to Incheon a few more times since then…>
…for some reason, I never did meet your father.
He added.
“That’s true.”
I pulled up the address of my father’s grave in the GPS.
“…Life’s been too busy.”
I didn’t know who I was making excuses to.
“I meant to visit after CYB ended.”<Formalities for the dead are meaningless.>
Star Fragment began driving along the calculated route.
<The spirits of ancestors don’t show up for your memorial tables. They’re either stuck in hell or heaven. These ‘manners for the dead’ you humans created are nothing more than chains you put around your own necks.>
You…
He looked over at me again.
<…still haven’t come up with anything, have you? Something you want to accomplish without a Constellation’s help.>
“Yeah.”
I admitted honestly.
Everyone else had already figured out their direction.
In a world where Constellations had withdrawn their support—
Jung Noeul chose basketball, despite being short.
“Because it looks fun!” she said.
Han Iro would be a researcher trying to make flowers bloom in the desert.
“…Because I actually want to try it.”
Min Heejae wanted to play the role of a detective solving a mystery.
“Sounds interesting.”
And Madojin…
He decided to take on the role of an angel who watches over everyone else, without support.
“…Because it’s something only I can do.”
So then, what about me?
I was the one who came up with the concept… and yet, I hadn’t decided on my own path.
<When that happens, ask the dead.>
Star Fragment grinned.
<They won’t give you any answers anyway.>
You won’t get any answers.
There was weight in Star Fragment’s words.
The dead can’t respond in the language of the living.
So why do people talk to them anyway?
It’s like a prayer.
But the dead are not Constellations. Of course, some dead do become Constellations.
But those who achieve that were practically revered like gods even while alive.
My dad didn’t leave behind such accomplishments.
He hadn’t closed a high-level Gate, nor defeated a demon from the Gate. He hadn’t even achieved the kind of labor that everyday people might be proud of.
So my dad wasn’t a Constellation.
Prayer wouldn’t reach him.
So why talk to him?
No doubt, even after Constellations revealed themselves, atheists still prayed at least once in their lives. Not believing in gods didn’t mean you’d never utter a prayer.
So who were they praying to?
‘…To themselves.’
Probably.
For Constellations, prayer was fuel—faith from their creations.
To them, it was like profit.
For atheists, prayer was a way of confirming what they truly wanted.
What they were desperate for. What they hoped for.
In that sense, prayer was a process of uncovering and confronting your own heart.
Which is why—
“It’s been a while, Dad.”
I spoke toward his gravestone.
Whoooosh—
A sharp wind blew, stinging my eyes.
My father’s grave was located deep in the mountains.
The cold weather made the climb grueling, and my whole body felt stiff.
<Why not just fly?>
Star Fragment had suggested.
“I… I don’t want to…”
My fear of heights still hadn’t gone away.
Still, we came to pay our respects.
Star Fragment stood behind me, arms crossed, watching quietly.
Like he was studying what a human gravesite meant. His detached demeanor made me irrationally angry. Whatever I thought or felt, he’d pick up on all of it.
<Hey, Dad. I became an idol. Look at me, only showing up now to say it. I’m a terrible son, right?>
He said with a grin.
“D-Don’t say that…!”
I shouted, my face burning.
<I wonder if Dad reincarnated?>
“Be quiet!”
<Maybe he’s living a new life somewhere?>
“Enough, enough, enough! Just kill me!”
I lunged forward, grabbing Star Fragment by the collar.
“Stop reading my thoughts!”
Even though it was just the two of us, it felt like the entire world could see through me.
<Isn’t it nice, creature?>
His golden hair swayed in front of my eyes.
<Didn’t you once say this?>
While I held him by the collar, he whispered with a soft smile.
<If you won the world competition and received Papa’s blessing…>
…you’d wish to bring someone back from the dead.
That’s right.
It was true.
Winning the world championship had been a dream. And since it was already so far-fetched, I added one more dream on top of it.
After all, dreams are dreams—stacking one more wouldn’t change that.
<Indeed…>
Star Fragment said.
<…creatures cannot bring back the dead. Only Constellations can. Among them, only someone like Enoch has the power to revive a soul as he pleases.>
“I know. And…”
I didn’t even know anymore if reviving someone was the right thing to do.
I had come to understand reincarnation.
The dead had the right to dream of their next life.
I had seen Min Heejae enter CYB not to bring his friend back, but to grant her last wish—so that she could pass on in peace, free of regrets.
I had seen Madojin, brought back by Enoch’s hands, manipulated like a puppet without even understanding what was right or wrong.
Some dreams—even if impossible—bring guilt.
“…I don’t know if it’s really right to hold on to the goal of bringing Dad back.”
I whispered, head bowed.
<Look, creature.>
Star Fragment stepped forward, standing before my father’s gravestone.<This burial mound is just a mass of what remains of the dead.>
He pointed to the tall grave.
<But to me, it looks different. It’s like the earth is swollen with new life inside.>
Like the belly of a pregnant mother—
<I am a Constellation and yet not. If I wished, I could dig up your father’s bones, roll them around, and ignore Papa’s decrees to bring him back to life.>
“…And?”
<But if I did, I don’t think you’d like it. So I won’t.>
Star Fragment shrugged and smiled.
<Instead, why don’t you try it? Not using my method. Not even using Papa’s blessing. Just—try to bring the dead back your way, as a creature.>
“…What?”
What a ridiculous thing to say.
Humans can’t bring back the dead—no matter what they do.
<Is that all it takes to stop you?>
Star Fragment tilted his head and whispered teasingly.
<I think you could do it.>
Little Pink Starfish 
Leave a comment