Kim stood in silence… while the darkness coiled around his feet like an endless black sea.
As for his eyes… they were painfully hollow. It was as though Amon's final words had sliced open a wound inside him that he never knew existed.
> "Even love… has become something that frightens them."
>
He repeated it quietly. Then, he let out a very small laugh—but it sounded like someone slowly breaking apart.
He raised his hand to his face… and touched his tears with exhaustion, as if he no longer understood why they were still falling.
> "I feel like a curse."
> "Not because I kill people…"
> "But because I ruin the beautiful things inside them."
>
Silence fell. As for Amon… he couldn't find it in himself to answer. Because a part of him… knew that Kim was speaking the truth.
Kim slowly raised his head, his eyes terrifyingly weary.
> "In the beginning… I thought pain was something that could be endured."
> "Then, I understood later…"
>
He flashed a pale smile.
> "That some pains do not break a human all at once."
> "Instead, they eat away at you slowly."
>
He began to take a step… then another… and the darkness moved with him like a hungry shadow.
> "Loneliness is like the sea."
> "In the beginning, the water only reaches your feet."
> "So you think you are fine."
> "Then, you discover too late…"
>
His steps halted.
> "That you have been drowning for a very long time."
>
The eyes of the woman from the Children of Light quivered. As for Kim… he suddenly snapped his gaze toward her.
> "Tell me…"
> "When my mother saw me for the very first time…"
> "Was she afraid?"
>
Everyone froze. But the woman did not lie this time. She closed her eyes in pain… then whispered:
> "Yes."
>
Kim's heart shuddered violently. But she quickly completed:
> "But her fear was not of you."
>
She slowly opened her eyes, and the sorrow within them was agonizing.
> "It was of the world."
> "She knew that they would make you hate yourself one day."
>
Kim's head dropped slightly. As for the woman… she smiled sorrowfully.
> "And she always wept because of that."
>
Silence. Then, she added:
> "She once said…"
>
Her voice faltered.
> "'I fear a day will come when my son looks at himself… the exact same way the world looks at him.'"
>
Kim's breath hitched. As for the shadow behind him… it remained silent this time, as if it, too, was listening.
Kim's lips began to tremble slowly. Then, a very weak laugh escaped him.
> "And it happened."
>
He placed his hand over his chest.
> "I hate myself more than they do."
>
Silence reigned. Then, he looked toward Amon again, his eyes filled with an indescribable exhaustion.
> "That is why I understand your fear."
> "If I were in your place…"
>
He smiled a hollow smile.
> "I would also be afraid of having someone like me."
>
Amon's eyes widened instantly.
> "Kim—"
>
But Kim cut him off quietly.
> "A child is born…"
> "And then spends his entire life trying to convince the world that he isn't a monster."
>
His voice shook slightly.
> "How exhausting that is…"
>
Then, he looked at his hands again.
> "Worse than that…"
> "After a long time…"
>
He slowly raised his eyes, and the pain within them was terrifyingly calm.
> "You, too, begin to believe them."
>
The heavens shook above them, yet no one moved. Because Kim's words… were heavier than any power.
Then suddenly… Kim looked toward the shadow that resembled him—toward his true face. And he spoke in a barely audible whisper:
> "Tell me…"
> "Would I have become a good person…"
>
He paused for a heartbeat.
> "If someone had held me more?"
>
For the first time… the shadow did not smile. It did not mock. Instead, it looked at him in a long silence.
A silence… that resembled mourning.
Then, it finally whispered:
> "I do not know."
>