Chapter 357: Reunion (3)

“…Egostic.”

A rooftop under a rainy night sky…there, Stardus said to me, quietly.

“Honestly, it’s weird, isn’t it, that I’m doing this to you out of the blue?”

“…I’m puzzled.”

I replied, also calmly.

…Actually, I wasn’t just puzzled.

I wondered why she, the hero, would do this to me, the villain. Not just any hero, but the very embodiment of justice, Stardus, the heroine of this world.

And as  if to answer my question, Stardus looked up at the night sky and slowly, slowly, opened her mouth.

She began to tell her story.

“At first, I hated you, because you’re a villain, of course. I was just trying to get you.”

“But…When was that? Ah. Probably since then.”

“The day you dropped the plane.”

“When I realized I couldn’t stop it, I gave up. Do you remember what you said to me?”

After she said that, she looked at me, smiled, and said.

“…You called me, and you told me I could do it, that I was good enough to stop it.”

I said, ‘You can do it. Stop the plane from crashing.’

“Then. I didn’t believe you. I thought, how am I going to stop that? I thought you were trying to kill me. But then you said, there’s no reason for you to kill me. Why would you, when I’m completing you?”

‘Why would I do that?’

“You complete me, so go for it. Fly up there and save people. You can do it, because that’s who you are.’

And she did.

That’s when Stardus finally took to the skies, stopping the plane and saving people.

“That must have been it.”

“I cared about you more than ever before.”

When no one believes in her, not even herself, me, a villain was the first one to believe.

With that, Stardus smiled weakly and quietly rose.

Her gaze still fixed on the rainy night sky outside and her blonde hair whipping in the wind and I stare mesmerized at Stardus, the only light in the darkness.

Stardust, still in her damp red hero suit and staring out into the night sky, continued, not making eye contact with me.

“…And…a lot has happened.”

“The HanEun Group launching a massive terrorist attack, the Moonlight Maiden attacking Seoul, the demon awakening in the Trade Center…”

She looked up at the sky, listing off the past events one by one.

When she finished, she turned around and met my eyes.

“After all that time, do you know what I realized?”

“…What?”

“That I’ve always had you by my side.”

She looked me in the eyes, and spoke with honesty in her voice.

“I can’t imagine life without you, not anymore.”

“…..”

“…Haha. Funny, huh? I, the hero, was dependent on you, the villain. But what can I do, it’s true.”

That’s what she said with a smile that a hero shouldn’t show to a villain.

With tears in her eyes, she said.

“…Actually, you made me this way. You always say you’re a villain but you’re always the first to come to my aid when I’m in danger, protecting me at the risk of your own life. You’re always looking out for me, and you’re always…  You’ve always been by my side.”

“You’re the kind of girl I could never…”

“I, you, I…”

“Now, without you, how. How can I live on my own…?”

Shoot. Aaaaaaah….

Stardus confessed like that, with tears in her eyes, against the backdrop of the rain that was gradually stopping.

Then, smiling weakly, she looked me in the eye and said.

“You know, when you’re not terrorizing, I’ve been waiting for you to come around. Do you know why I was cold to you at the end? I was asking you to look at me because you weren’t paying attention to me…

When you told me you were retiring, do you know how, ahem. I couldn’t live without you anymore, and then you just left so suddenly…”

She sobbed for a moment.

Then, as if she’d made up her mind, she looked down at me and said, with more conviction in her voice than before.

“….So, I’ll confess here.”

Just like that, the sun disappeared over the horizon.

It was an evening where not even the moon was visible…just a backdrop of countless stars in the night sky.

Stardus took a step closer to me.

She looked me in the eye, smiled with tears in her eyes, and confessed.

“I love you, Egostic. I want you to stay with me, forever.”

“……”

And just like that, she confessed to me with a quiet smile on her face, as if she had let go of everything else.

…While listening to Stardus’ confession.

‘…How did it happen?’

…I felt a twinge of guilt.

Clearly, this was not my goal.

My goal was to be the villain, to put my hero, Stardus, on top.

My goal was to be her arch-nemesis, to make her climb over me.

I was to be her arch-nemesis, so that she would step on me and climb up… and I would be her enemy, so that she would grow as a hero…

‘…Where did I go wrong?’

Was it a mistake to approach her as a villain in the first place?

Should I have stepped in every time she was in danger?

…Should I have avoided spending so much time with her?

It didn’t matter.

…One thing’s for sure, I made a huge mistake along the way.

And that mistake has come back to haunt me in ways I could never have imagined.

A true hero stood alone in the midst of the most devastating of circumstances but because of me, she became dependent on me.

I suffered for a while, thinking about that.

‘…….’

As if craving my answer….In front of me, against the backdrop of the night sky, she looked at me with an uneasy expression…

Stardus was gazing at me with his blue eyes, slender and uncharacteristically heroic so with a certain realization, I had to admit it.

‘….Yes.’

That’s right.

The Stardus I see before me now is not the same Stardus I knew in the original.

She’s been changed by me, by Egostic.

The heroic Stardus that I knew was only in my memories.

I thought to myself….Then, I smirked inwardly.

‘Different.’

The Stardus of the original in my memory and the Stardus in front of me were definitely different.

…But what difference does it make?

After all, it wasn’t the Stardus in my memory that I liked, it was the Stardus in reality.

In the end, I couldn’t help but like Stardus. I was her fan.

Arguing with her, fighting with her, joining forces with her to defeat other villains.

Someone who always put justice first and never hesitated to save others.

In the end, my crush hasn’t changed so I was ready to accept her in all her forms.

Until now, I’ve always tried to stay away from her.

My presence could disturb and harm her.

I’ve always suppressed my feelings, pushed her away.

…But.

If she needs me, if being by her side completes her I will no longer hesitate.

I will no longer hide my heart….I will stand by her side, willingly.

“…I see.”

I stood up, wiped her tears away with my hand, and pulled her into my arms.

As if promising her and declaring to myself at the same time, I also answered seriously.

“I will never leave you again, I will always be here for you, if that’s what you want.”

“…Really?”

“Yes.”

Chuckling, I told her.

“…Didn’t I promise you, I’d be your arch-nemesis?”

“Can Archenemies leave Heroes?”

“…I’ve already left.”

When I say that, she replies with a pouty voice.

“Well…”

…I pause for a moment.

She takes a moment to collect her thoughts, and then says, through a cough.

“I was actually thinking of coming back. I just didn’t have the heart to tell you.”

I looked into her blue eyes and spoke with sincerity in my voice.

…It wasn’t a lie. I was going to come back as a villain under the guise of being the head of Cathedral Korean branch. I’ll just be managing from behind the scenes instead of leading from the front…

Anyway, in response to my answer, Stardus muttered in my arms, still pouting.

“I don’t believe you.”

“…I’ll prove it.”

I said.

She snuggled further into my arms, her blonde hair falling around her face as she looked up at me with her blue eyes.

I realized what I had to do next.

……

Under the starry night sky, I tilted my head slightly, still holding her body against mine.

“…..”

At the same time, Stardus closed her eyes, her face close to mine.

Just like that, we kissed each other.

“Mmm…”

The coldness of her suit against my arm, the contrasting warmth of my arms against hers.

As I kissed Stardus, holding her tightly in my arms, as if she wouldn’t let go of me, I thought to myself, “So far…”

I thought I’d fallen from this world and become a villain obsessed with heroes.

But no…I didn’t become a hero-obsessed villain.

I have, unknowingly….became a villain the hero is obsessed with.