SSS-Class Suicide Hunter Chapter 134

Chapter 134. < ■■. (2) >

Translator: thursdays Editor: Yahiko PR: LightBrin

“Mas…”

I could not finish saying both syllables of the word Master.

My heart was pounding.

There was a mixture of many emotions churning inside me at the moment. My heart had become a rag, and if I twisted it, all of my dark feelings would seep out.

Master. My strange destiny. The peony who had become my teacher.

“Mother.”

Master looked at me. Her eyes, always orderly, were shaking. It was the first time I had called Master my mother, and it was Master's first time being called Mother by me.

“…How strange.”

Master put down her pencil stub. Had she been working on her manuscript? Papers with Master's handwriting lined the living room table.

“I don't know how long it's been since you called me that.”

Sentences that could not be written. Words that couldn't become sentences. Sheets that could not become books, red manuscripts were scattered about.

“I feel like it's been a very long while since you called me Mother. No. Rather than being a long time… It's like…”

“I love you, Mother.”

The tips of Master's fingers paused.

“I wanted to see you again. Did you know? I now have someone I'll love forever. It's actually possible to love someone truly and be completely loved by someone. Holding Raviel's hand… I wanted to introduce her to you first, Mother, more than anyone else.”

“If it's you, Mother, you would definitely become good friends with Raviel. As for me… I'm surviving well. I'm living well. I am trying to live well. There are many days when I recall your words, Mother.”

Master.

“I wanted to see you one more time.”

Master slowly rose. She came to me. Master's long, thin fingers wiped my eyes.

“Did you have a nightmare?”

“I'm currently having a nightmare.”

“Life is no different from a dream. But that doesn't change anything. Is evil not evil if we say it is uncaring? Are wounds healed when we make excuses, citing ignorance? My son. Don't be fooled by words. You should always look inside your heart. Don't let your heart be governed by hollow words and flimsy sentences.”

Master hugged my shoulder.

“Whether or not you call me mother, I remain myself in your heart. As do you. A person isn't a person because they know how to memorize a few words or say a few lines. A person becomes a person by the weight of another whom they put in their heart.”

I shrank into Master's arms.

My mouth opened and closed several times.

“Mother wouldn't… couldn't have raised a child like Yoo Sooha.”

“Yes.”

“Someone who throws punches out of anger… You wouldn't call such a person to the dinner table. You would have kicked them out of the house. But before you kick them out, you would have taught them better. Before teaching them better, you would have already raised the child to be kind.”

“So I would.”

“That's why.”

I opened my mouth.

“Mother… isn't So Baek-hyang.”

Master smiled.

“Stay alive, Gongja. You have to live strongly.”

With a smile, she faded away.

Master's face dripped down.

Her smile melted.

The hand that held my shoulder was erased.

It disappeared, leaving only a shadow.

The shadow had no face. Its outline was blurry. Squirming, the shadow left the room like a giant earthworm.

Another layer of this world was peeled away.

That over there was the bare face of [my mother].

“—Ugh.”

I ran to the bathroom. I leaned over the toilet and lowered my head. Loss. Guilt. I threw up these dark feelings.

My heart vomited.

“Huh?”

Behind my back.

I heard a voice from the bathroom door.

“Hey, did you eat something weird? Why are you vomiting as soon as you get home? Brat, did you eat something crappy outside? Didn't your older brother tell you to watch what you eat, if nothing else?”

It was Yoo Sooha.

“Do you want me to pat your back a bit?”

“…Yoo Sooha.”

“Dude. Did you throw up your brain along with whatever you ate? Little brother. Where's your respect?”

I sat on the tile of the bathroom floor and looked up at Yoo Sooha. Yoo Sooha was standing on wriggling squid legs.

“You shitty…”

“You didn't vomit your brain—you dumped it out. Hey, sometimes in life, you hit people, all right? Your big bro was also scared when the news broke yesterday. Mom and Dad scolded me damn well. But we're a family, so you should root for me. Yeah? Don't you think so?”

“You crazy bastard…”

The world of the Constellation Killer.

Chapter end