"Hello, I'm Dokgeo-norin, which means someone who has fun living alone.".
A Star's Story, "My Day" (Episodes 1-5) (Episode 2) The Whisper of Fading Things
"The tears of the boss I thought was just a nagging '꼰대' (old boomer)... The hidden truth in 'Back in my day...'"
After getting a harsh scolding from Manager Sirius, I was ordered to move documents to the warehouse. It was the darkest, most remote corner of the company, a place where records of stars that could no longer shine and equipment that had reached the end of its life were stored. It was a place everyone avoided, but for me, who wanted to be alone, it was a blessing in disguise.
As I was moving the dusty documents, I noticed a faint light leaking from a corner. As I got closer, I saw it was Mr. Betelgeuse, the one who had hassled me on my way to work. He was looking intently at an old album he had opened. His shoulders were trembling slightly. It was so unlike him that I stopped in my tracks without realizing it.
"Senior... what are you doing here?"
He was startled and closed the album, but I had already seen it. Inside the album were pictures of his younger days, when he burned brighter and hotter than anyone else. It was a record of his time as the biggest 'popular star' in the galaxy, receiving praise from countless planets.
"...A rookie shouldn't be in a place like this." "...I'm sorry." "...Back in my day,"
He began to speak abruptly.
"I had days when I sparkled just like you. The whole universe buzzed just to see my light. Earthlings built temples and wrote songs in my name. I thought this light would last forever."
His voice was bitter.
"But that's the fate of a star. After a lifetime of burning to shine, you eventually shrink and disappear. Nowadays, the young ones whisper about me, calling me a '꼰대 star' or a 'ticking time bomb'. No one remembers how brilliantly I once shone."
I couldn't say anything. I could only gaze at his faded light. I never knew that behind the face of the 'nagging boss' who tormented me every day, lay such deep loneliness and a sense of loss. He was no longer teaching me how to shine, but showing me with his entire being how a light fades away.
"Rookie. Don't try so hard. If you try to shine too brightly, you'll burn out that much faster. Just... shine at your own pace, in your own color. If there's just one person, no, just one living being who recognizes it... that's enough for a star's life."
Leaving those words behind, he dragged his heavy body out of the warehouse. I stood there for a long time. Today, in the darkest place, I saw the warmest light. The final whisper left by fading things might be the most sincere cheer for those newly born.
My thoughts!
We are all beings who will one day disappear. Because nothing is eternal, the light of this very moment is all the more precious. Rather than only remembering someone's most beautiful and brilliantly shining "Hwayangyeonhwa" (the most beautiful moment in life), how about becoming someone who can also watch warmly over the process of that light fading? True empathy begins there.
