“…What’s wrong with you two?”
Saehyun was covered in bandages when he returned to homeroom after being dragged away by the Prez, and I was worn ragged by Narae’s beating when Mr. Junghyun looked at us and asked us that question. Saehyun sighed deep enough for the both of us and answered.
“I tried fighting the final boss without realizing it. Sunghoon probably got into another couple’s fight.”
“That’s enough out of you two. Hey, don’t you know that when you’re single, there’s no one to help you when you’re drowning?”
“Isn’t it time for homeroom, Mr. Junghyun?”
Narae’s pointed glare cowed Mr. Junghyun into immediately looking away. Ahh, my goodness. This was the state of Korea’s educational system. A student practically forced a teacher to his knees. Though, even I was frightened of the girl who could bend coins in half. Mr. Junghyun, however, with the dignity of an adult, refused to stop his conversation.
“Still, that really sucks, doesn’t it? You could’ve gotten to an event scene if only your level had been higher.”
“Mr. Junghyun. Life isn’t like a visual novel.”
“I don’t want to hear that coming from you.”
When they started this private conversation, Narae raised her hand high into the air. …On her hand was a glove with spikes on it.
“Okay, let’s get homeroom started. Hurry up and get in your sleep.”
“Got it!”
Narae quietly put her hand back down. They had good survival instincts. When Saehyun got in his seat, Mr. Junghyun took a look around the class and spoke.
“It looks like there aren’t any absences. I’m going to announce the results of the tests from yesterday, so everyone pay attention. You’re divided based on your scores, so this is important. If you mess up, don’t expect me to go easy on you.”
I raised my hand.
“What do you want?”
That was a typical response from Mr. Junghyun.
“Couldn’t you hand us our assignments instead?”
I wasn’t asking because I was scared that Narae would kill me if she heard my scores. Though I’ll admit that that was part of it, I was asking on part of the entire class in order to protect our right to privacy, especially for something so vital to us students as our scores. Mr. Junghyun responded to my request that he respect our rights by saying:
“It’s a pain in the butt, so no.”
Were our rights always so easy to ignore?
“Is it really that much of a pain?”
“Hey. Can’t you see the dark circles under my eyes?”
As he said, the bags under his eyes were a deep black, but that wasn’t too different from normal. Saehyun apparently thought the same, because he said, loudly enough for Mr. Junghyun to hear:
“What video game were you playing yesterday?”
“The video game called ‘Grading your damn tests. Dammit. We could’ve just had you all do this yourselves, but the chairman forced me to do this nonsense.”
“I completely agree!”
I had no idea why Saehyun was nodding his head so emphatically.
“Whatever, moving on. I’m going to announce the scores.”
No! I need to stop him! However, he spoke before I could raise my hand.
“First, Kang Sunghoon.”
My cursed last name. Because of my last name, Kang, there was only a single time that I had never been the first to be called. That time, the name of the one in front of me was Kang Gamchan. That’s enough wallowing in old memories. I wanted desperately to avoid drinking from this bitter chalice, but I had no choice but to resignedly accept my fate and write down my scores.
“Math 12 points, Language 20 points, English 10 points, Physics 12 points, National History 8 points, Chemistry 16 points … at this point, you’re absolutely~ worthless, aren’t you?”
He spoke solemnly, as if doing a dub for a game. The tone of his voice perfectly matched the gravity of his words, and I put down my pen.
“……”
It hurts! Narae’s gaze telling me, If you want to keep breathing, then tell me how that happened, seriously hurts!
“Hey.”
Mr. Junghyun sighed deeply. Unable to say anything, I simply lowered my head.
“In all my tenure as a teacher, I’ve never seen someone like you.”
That isn’t surprising considering he started teaching this year.
“If corporal punishment weren’t illegal, you’d be dead right now.”
I was fortunate to have been born in this era. However, don’t misunderstand. My actual academic ability isn’t this bad. I did so badly because, after cramming hard for finals, I forgot everything. If I had set my mind on studying, I’d have at least gotten a 30 point average. Though that wouldn’t have changed anything.
“You’re just in class C. Let me say it extra clearly for you. You’re in class C. Class C. I said class C. Dang, class C all the way, class C.”
Our Language teacher was mispronouncing his words in an unclassy way. (tn: Class C is shi ban in Korean. Shi bal basically means fuck. I wish I was a better translator…)
“I’m responsible for your performance, so don’t think about getting lazy and put in some effort. It’s still not too late for you.”
“…I will.”
Mr. Junghyun continued to announce the scores. He eventually called Saehyun’s name, but, even though his scores were similar to mine, rather than get mad, Mr. Junghyun simply looked at him pityingly as if he were a cow headed for the slaughterhouse. I also wondered why he would be getting one-on-one tutoring from the Prez. Though, honestly, I wouldn’t have cared if he were to study with the principal. In stark contrast to idiots like Saehyun and me, Narae’s scores never dipped below a 96. Whoa, it’s blinding. It was like there was a shining halo around her. Along with a murderous aura surrounding her. She was probably thinking something like, ‘Do you see what you did?’ But she knew full well that I spent the last week having fun. Why was she so upset?
The entirety of first period was spent announcing scores and our assigned classes. Before I could go to class C, Narae grabbed me and dragged me outside into the hallway. By dragged me outside, I actually meant that she simply looked at me, then looked at the hallway, and my body moved on its own as if she had used some kind of supernatural power. I raised my hands towards the ceiling without even having to think about it. Narae crossed her arms and bit her lip slightly as she looked at me pityingly and breathed a deep sigh.
“What’s your excuse?”
“It’s a side effect from cramming.”
“Is that all you have to say?”
‘Just try telling another joke’ is what Narae was broadcasting.
“…No. I didn’t study at all during first semester, so aren’t these scores to be expected?”
“What were you thinking when you chose not to sign up for supplemental classes?”
Narae probably already knew the answer to that question.
“I knew I’d have to seriously study when we’re sophomores, so I figured I might as well enjoy my youth and—aaaagh!”
Narae taught me with my body what would happen if I told any more jokes. Ouch, my arm. I thought she was going to tear off a pound of flesh. I think it might leave a bruise.
“A little pinch like that won’t leave a mark.”
“And what if it does?”
Narae smiled.
“And what if it does?” Narae asked sweetly.
For some reason, though she repeated my words exactly, the meaning behind them was markedly different.
“I would simply accept it and move on.”
My tail was in between my knees. She wouldn’t ask me to lie down in the hallway and show her my belly, would she?
“Then what’s your plan?”
“My plan?”
I racked my brain to remember the life plan I’d made ages ago. In other words, I emptied my head. A foreboding smile spread across Narae’s face as she grabbed my shoulder. With at least some of the Bear Clan’s power coursing through her, I was unable unable to ignore the strength of her grip.
“I-I think my collarbone’s about to snap.”
“My family will take care of the hospital bill.”
“Hahaha, what a wonderful joke, Narae-nim.”
“I wasn’t joking.”
Shine. It was still bright out, but Narae’s eyes were shining. What should I do? The answer was to tell Narae what she wanted to hear.
“I will make a plan! I will make a thoroughly exhaustive life plan detailing the next ten years!”
“Hm? I wasn’t hoping for that much, Sunghoon.”
Then why is your hand still clasped firmly on my shoulder, Narae-nim?
“I just wanted for you to raise grade during the supplemental classes to the class average.”
…Oh. Let’s see. The average score during finals was a 72. It was that low because Saehyun and I were included.
“You want me to raise my grades by 60 points?”
“It’s not like it’s impossible, right?”
Aren’t you being a little too blasé when talking about another person’s ability? I doubted she would think the same thing if she considered my current grades. R-right?
“If you don’t think you can do it yourself, then you can study with me. I’ll drill everything into you.”
I came to a sudden realization once Narae said that. Exactly. Narae was pressuring me into improving my grades for a reason! …Because having a student like me was a blight on her status as the class rep. Was I imagining things? Not at all. This conclusion wasn’t foolish in the slightest. Even so, I was reluctant to so readily accept Narae’s help. Maybe this was an example of a man’s short-sighted pride! No matter how fruitless my efforts would be, I wanted to try and study for myself before bothering Narae. I was about to tell Narae this when the bell rang. Shoot. First period is language class. There was no way I could be late to Mr. Junghyun’s class.
“I’m going to go now,” I said.
“Are you running away?”
“Hahaha, the bell rang, so I need to go.”
My dry laugh sounded hollowly through the hallway, and I waved to Narae before running away to class C.
“…I don’t even know if there’s a point of trying with that idiot.”
With Narae’s disappointed voice behind me.
It wasn’t nap time yet, so I managed to pay attention to the lesson while fully awake. Of course, that didn’t mean I was able to understand anything. The script written on the blackboard was definitely familiar Korean script, but, for some reason, I couldn’t decipher a character of it. None of it was even written the Chinese script, either.
Once class ended, I left the room and walked with Mr. Junghyun to the faculty office. He handed the papers he was carrying to me as if I were his servant.
“What, you want me to hand you a smoke?” he asked.
The heck kind of misunderstanding was he making?
“Not all bad students smoke,” I replied.
“Not all good students don’t smoke, either.”
“Let’s backtrack a bit: Mr. Junghyun, why would you offer a student a cigarette?”
“Who said I was offering? If I were going to give you a cigarette, it’d be right in front of your parents and Narae. I’d even light it for you with both hands.”
That’d be the day of my funeral, no doubt.
“Jokes aside, of all the students who could fall in love with me, why’d it have to be a friggin’ gay boy? If you don’t have a reason, then say goodbye to your breaks, ’cause it’s detention for you.”
“…And what if it were a girl who fell in love with you?”
“I’m an adult who knows the difference between games or manga and reality.”
What did that have to do with anything?
“I know no female student of mine will ever fall in love with me and follow me around. So there’s no point in entertaining that hypothetical.”
“That’s kind of sad,” I said honestly.
“Tell me about … dammit, never mind. Just tell me what you wanted to tell me and screw off to class already. Why should I have to commiserate with you?”
This teacher didn’t care about communicating with his pupils. But he didn’t look particularly upset, so it seemed like what he said just now was a joke. Was he actually being considerate of me? His attitude helped me more easily tell him what I wanted to.
“Do you know any way I can study better? I couldn’t understand your lesson at all.”
“Review the fundamentals, dumbass. If you can’t understand my lesson, then you’re seriously lacking. When you’re home, review everything we did in the first semester. Or go all the way back to middle school and study from there.”
“That’s proper advice.”
“As if there’s any other advice I could give.”
That was true, but I was actually hoping for some secret study tip.
“Why? Is Narae getting on your case?”
He was also sharp. I nodded my head, and Mr. Junghyun guffawed.
“Back when I announced your scores, Narae didn’t look happy, that’s for sure. I practically expected her to bite your head off right there.”
…I hoped that he was exaggerating.
“But how come you’re asking this now?”
He tapped me repeated on the head. I have no idea why Rangii likes it so much when I did that.
“I’d bet Narae would be shocked if she woke up one morning and your grades were suddenly all better. She’d probably go, ‘You’re not the Sunghoon I know!’ “
“It looks like you already know how bad my image is.”
“That’s fully your fault, so take responsibility for it.”
Mr. Junghyun chuckled and put a cigarette in his mouth.
“I’m right here. Your student is right here,” I said.
“I’m not gonna light it, you prick. I’m gonna smoke in there.”
I didn’t even realize that we’d walked to the smoking room. Mr. Junghyun put his back against the wall and stuck his hand out towards me. I handed back the papers.
“I mean, I always figured you’d end up marrying Narae and becoming a house husband, but I guess that’s not what you want.”
…I did used to dream about that. But after a sudden rush of common sense to the head, I gave up on that idea.
“In the past two weeks since summer break’s started, it feels like something’s changed about you. As your elder, I fully give you my blessing for taking a step in the right direction.”
He laughed derisively.
“Though I’ll bet it won’t last a week, ya shit bird.”
“…What about that is supposed to be a blessing?”
Mr. Junghyun didn’t answer, instead taking out a lighter and entering the smoking room. …Was this all just a waste of time? In an attempt to convince myself otherwise, I decided to ruminate over his words.
It didn’t work.
I somehow endured all my morning classes until my long-awaited lunch time arrived. I turned around and took out a triangle gimbap from my backpack. Narae entered the classroom with the same massive lunchbox yesterday, and she turned a chair around so that she could sit in front of me.
“Where’s Saehyun?”
I answered Narae’s question truthfully.
“He’s off having a one-on-one lesson with the Prez.”
“I-is that so?”
Narae looked a little taken aback. Hm? What’s wrong with her? Ah! I think I figured it out. With Saehyun here, the male-to-female ratio was 2:1, but now it’s 1:1. Man and woman. Though the meaning of that phrase doesn’t quite match here. Anyway! That frivolous topic isn’t important. Because I’m having lunch with Narae, just the two of us!
“…Sunghoon.”
“Hm?”
If I were Rangii, my ears would have pricked upwards, and I would have formed a question mark with my tail as I stared up at her with sparkling eyes. Narae’s cheeks were flushed red.
“Let’s go somewhere else.”
“Pardon?”
“Hurry up.”
Narae took off at a fast walk for the backdoor, her lunch in her hand. Only then did I notice all the gazes centered at where Narae used to be and me. …Ah. Understandable. I failed to think about that. Staying in Jirisan made me a lot less aware of my surroundings.
I followed behind Narae until we made it to the flower garden at the back of the school. The place was so rarely used that I was actually surprised to find out that the flower garden existed. I was also fascinated to find the garden was well cared for, with not a single weed to be found. Narae set out a blanket under the shade of a tree, and we sat. Life has gotten a lot more convenient since Narae learned magic.
“How much can you store with that magic?”
“I can’t store anything heavy, yet, so only a little.”
That made sense. Her breasts were already heavy, so they probably couldn’t handle much more weight.
“Sunghoon.”
“Hm?”
“I can tell what you’re telling. Do you want to starve through lunch?”
“…No thank you.”
“Then rein in your thoughts and eat.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Narae opened her lunchbox that had been kept cool with an icepack. It was hot out, and this showed how much thought she’d put into it. Granted, during the summer, food can go bad right away. Like with my lunch.
The second I caught a whiff of my triangle gimbap after tearing off the packaging, I couldn’t help but despair.
“…What’s wrong?” Narae asked.
“…It’s gone bad.”
“Where’d you keep it?”
“In my locker.”
“…Of course it’ll go bad if you keep it in a place without any ventilation.”
Narae looked at me pityingly, and there was nothing I could say in my defense. Actually, there was one thing I could say.
“Please take mercy on me.”
“I brought too much to eat by myself, so go ahead and have some.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Do you want the spoon or the chopsticks?”
“The spoon, please.”
My dad told me once that I’d have to learn how to eat everything with a spoon when I had to go the military. I was nearly overcome with gratitude when Narae handed me her spoon, and was about to take a bite, when….
Right then. Narae flinched and tilted her head back to look up at the sky. I followed Narae’s gaze and looked up as well. I saw a single magpie flying in the sky. If it were a normal magpie, there’d be nothing more to say, but there was something off about it. The magpie was carrying some kind of cloth container bigger than itself in its beak.
“……”
“……”
We were at a loss for words. The magpie looked around, spotted us, and then flew down in our direction. The moment our eyes met, the magpie transformed into my precious and adorable Chii, and she fell in her human form.
“Uwagh?!”
I flung out my arms in a panic when I saw her plummeting towards me, but my worries were unnecessary. Her arms transformed into wings like the first time we’d met, and she landed gracefully so that she was sitting in front of me. One would normally expect her skirt to fly upwards after doing something like that, but, strangely enough, the hem of her skirt had weights attached to keep it down.
…Though that detail was something I didn’t need to notice.
“…What are you thinking about, Big Brother?”
“The heck’re you thinking about?”
Was my face that easy to read? I immediately changed the subject.
“Wait, no, I was just really surprised. Why’d you come to our school? And how’d you know where it was?”
“Awooo, Pyeii gave me the adress.”
Is she a hacker?
“Also, this. You didn’t bring a lunch.”
The package Chii brought appears to be my lunch. Though Narae looks a little stone-faced at that revelation…. It must just be my imagination.
“Ah … there was no need to bring it yourself. I’m sorry about that.”
“Not at all, Big Brother. Doing this much is nothing.”
I patted her head after she said such gracious, considerate words.
“Awoooo….”
She didn’t seem too unpleased, because she only half-heartedly slapped at my hand by flapping her hair. However, Narae, who was watching Chii and me, was in nowhere near as good a mood. The last time I’d seen Narae make a face like that was … only a few days ago. I quickly said something in order to resolve this misunderstanding.
“Wait, it’s not what you’re thinking.”
The lolicon doth protest too much, methinks.
“Wh-what’re you talking about? I was just amazed at what a good girl Chii is.”
“Awooo. That is not true, Narae-unni.”
“Honestly, there’s no need to go so far for someone like him.”
Narae grabbed Chii’s arm and pulled so that Chii was sitting next to her.
“Awooo?”
Narae held a confused Chii to her busom, and she fixed me with a viciously territorial stare, like a bear who’d just discovered honey.
“I’m not going to let you do anything weird to Chii just because she’s cute.”
…What have I done to deserve being treated as a known criminal? Also, Chii. I know being hugged by Narae feels heavenly, but why is it that all you’re doing is staying there blushing without saying anything in my defense?
“Chii, have you eaten lunch?”
“Not yet, Narae-unni.”
“Then join us for lunch. That’ll be okay, right?”
Chii made a troubled face after receiving Narae’s invitation.
“I need to go home and eat with Pyeii. She doesn’t eat properly if I’m not around.”
“…The heck does she do when you’re gone?” I asked, honestly curious.
“She would only eat cup ramen and bread.”
Bad memories threatened to surge into my mind. I shook my head to clear my mind of those nauseating memories and spoke to Chii.
“Shouldn’t you stop spoiling her?”
“Pyeii is … someone I must look after.”
For some unknowable reason, there was a deep sadness in her voice. Every time Chii talked about Pyeii, regret weighed on her face and voice. Narae seemed to have noticed this as well. Narae and I are childhood friends. And because friends since we were kids, I knew full well that terrible drama could spark up between the closest of friends. Because we were like that. We went through that. I wanted to make use of this opportunity to ask more detailed to Chii about Pyeii. But I was also reluctant to ask her anything. But because of Chii’s desire to repay her debt, I might put her in an uncomfortable situation. That’s why I sent Narae a signal with my eyes, and she nodded in response.
“Did something happen with Pyeii a long time ago?”
Narae asked this with all the kindness in her heart, but Chii shook her head.
“This has to do with Pyeii, so I can’t answer.”
Of course, a friend couldn’t reveal her friend’s secrets. I got the feeling that it was best to end any questioning there. Even I can notice such obvious nonverbal cues. I’m sorry.
“Is that so?”
Narae changed the subject without missing a beat.
“Then why don’t you bring Pyeii with you tomorrow? I think it’d be fun for everyone if we all ate to together.”
“Awooo, Pyeii hates going outside, so I doubt that’ll happen.”
She definitely did seem against it.
“That aside, Big Brother.”
“Hm?”
I was content simply listening to their conversation, when I immediately snapped back to attention.
“I have something important to tell you.”
“Can you tell me it here?”
Chii glanced at Narae before shaking her head. Of course. She’d only just met Narae, and add to that the fact that she was a member of the Bear Clan, so it made perfect sense that Chii would be reluctant to talk with her nearby. Though I would prefer it if they could get along.
“All right. See you soon.”
Before I could say anything, Narae let go of Chii’s hand. There was a slightly gloomy, lonely smile on her face when I followed Chii to a place completely bereft of people.
“What is it?”
“I’m sorry, Big Brother.”
Chii bent down at the waist, giving me a deep bow in apology. I waited for Chii to continue.
“Because I had no way of talking with you alone with Pyeii in the house, I had to use giving you lunch as an excuse. That’s why I wasn’t even able to make you breakfast this morning.”
Ah, so that’s what happened. She pretended to still be asleep even though Pyeii had woken up.
“It’s okay. No harm done. So, what did you have to tell me?”
“There is something I need to tell you about Pyeii.”
That solemn, determined look in her eyes, the same look she had when we first met, made me tense up unconsciously.
“Pyeii didn’t come here to see Big Brother simply to fix her personality.”
I was thrown off a little by what Chii said, but it wasn’t difficult to understand. If Pyeii genuinely wanted to fix her personality, then she wouldn’t have acted the way she did yesterday. She refused to go outside, didn’t want to meet someone I vouched for, stayed at home all day playing video games, and, most of all, she didn’t ask me for a single thing after I agreed to have my picture taken. Even though she said the picture wasn’t the end of the favors she would ask of me.
Did that mean Pyeii didn’t actually care about joining that site? However, lacking the information to make any valid information, I urged Chii to continue.
“And?”
Chii blushed. …She was speaking so easily earlier, so what gives? I wanted to push her into answering, but I kept quiet. She was opening then closing her mouth like a little chick, and I decided to enjoy that adorable sight. I waited patiently, enjoying myself all the while, until Chii forced herself to speak.
“P-Pyeii wants to become an adult.”
Chii’s long-awaited revelation was so obvious and boring that I didn’t know how best to react. Every kid wants to become an adult—just like how every adult sometimes wants to go back to being a kid—and I couldn’t understand why this was so important.
“So what?”
“Kyawooo! Did you not understand what I told you?!”
Flapping just her hair was apparently not enough, because she also started flapping with her arms.
“The problem is that I understand all too well. But why does that matter?”
Something seemed to click in Chii’s mind, because, after raising then lowering her hair one last time, she breathed a deep sigh.
“Sigh~ How do you have so little common sense, Big Brother?”
…Did wanting to become an adult mean something else for phantoms than it does for humans. Regardless, I knew how to respond to Chii’s insulting question.
“Are you sure your expectations for a normal high schooler who lived 17 years of his life not knowing that phantoms exist aren’t too high?”
Not to mention the fact that Saehee never gave me that encyclopedia she talked about.
“Th-then please listen closely.”
I focused all my attention on her words.
“Since long ago, crows have been viewed as one and the same as the mythic three-legged crow, the Samjok-o. Humans believed the Samjok-o was a miraculous creature that would fly into the sun, burn to ashes, and then revive. However, the truth is a little different.”
“What’s different about it?”
“That is how crow phantoms become adults.”
“I thought phantoms needed maturity and strength to become adults.”
Chii answered, a hint of jealousy in her voice.
“Normally, that would be correct. However, crow phantoms are different. That is why there are two ways for crow phantoms to become adults.”
“Does that mean crows can seriously fly all the way to the sun?”
That actually made sense. In the story of Vega and Altria, crows were the seemingly invincible birds that formed the bridge for the two lovers to meet. Chii looked at me pityingly.
“It is just a figure of speech.”
“A figure of speech?”
“Since ancient times, the sun was viewed as a representation of yang (陽) energy. Just like how the moon represents yin (陰) energy. and also….”
I had a feeling I knew where she was going with this. However, Chii’s severe determination to continue her explanation convinced me to keep quiet.
“Even among us phantoms, men have strong yang energy, and women have strong yin energy! and that’s why!”
I definitely knew what Chii was trying to say. However … even though I knew it wasn’t appropriate with Chii blushing all the way down to her neck and her hair flapping, I wanted to tease her. I know! I really shouldn’t! However! Seeing Chii so embarrassed pushed the mischievous part of my psyche into overdrive, so what else could I do?! I did as my psyche demanded.
“So what?”
“Awoooo!! Have you really not figured it out yet?!”
Chii was so embarrassed that there were tears peeping out of the corners of her eyes. I felt guilty and was about to tell her that I understood, but I was too late.
“I’m saying that Pyeii wants to have s-sex with you so that she can become an adult!!”
An adult~ An adult~ Chii’s raised voice echoed through my brain.
“She thinks that everything will change once she becomes an adult, and she feels that it’s okay to do it with you, Big Brother! Because you’re a pervert! Because I trust you!”
Chii was on the verge of tears, and I realized that I had gone too far in my teasing. Also the real reason why Pyeii came to my house. It’s within the realm of possibility for kids to make misunderstandings like this. That they think that their dreams can come true and that they can live happily ever after just by growing up faster. It’s the same kind of mistaken idea as thinking while you’re in middle school, “I’m definitely smart enough to get into an ivy-league university.” But just like how a high schooler taking the SAT without studying will only be able to attend a community college, a kid who doesn’t work step by step to slowly blossom into an adult will stay a kid. I thought this was something even elementary schoolers know.
Does Pyeii not know this? Or is she hoping against hope that her plan will work? I began to worry. And while I was busy worrying, Narae sentenced me to death.
“Uguugh!”
Narae appeared from out of nowhere and hit me with a burning fist, sending me writhing on the ground and knocking me unconscious. Among all the times she’s punched me, this one was definitely on the powerful side.
“The heck’re you making Chii say?! You giant bully!”
I wanted to tell her that I never made Chii say anything and that I wasn’t bullying her, but I couldn’t speak a word. Was this how I was going to die? My consciousness was slowly beginning to fade. Was this the embrace of death? 17 years. What a pitiful life I led, with so many wishes left unfulfilled.