Although a Villain, My Wish is World Peace

Though his eyes still showed suspicion, he must have been too hungry to refuse the hot dog.

I wanted to tell him to wash his dirty hands before eating the hot dog, but I’d better skip that or who knows what curses I’d hear from this kid.

I plopped down next to him. His eyes went to my spotless suit pants and then to the hot dog in his hand.

“I won’t follow you even if you buy me things like this.”

“I told you, this mister has a disease where he can’t eat alone…”

“You expect me to believe that lame lie?”

“It’s easier on your mind to believe it, isn’t it?”

Pity or whatever. Thinking about the meaning behind my actions will only make you feel more miserable. At my words, the child quietly lowered his head.

While the child wolfed down the hot dog, I sat quietly beside him and tasted mine. The handmade sausage with a nice snap, mayonnaise sauce, and jalapeños cutting through the richness here and there blended perfectly for an amazing taste.

‘I should buy a few more to take home.’

—I thought you were going to say something grandiose.

‘I won’t.’

A hot dog is just a hot dog. I saw a hungry child and bought him a hot dog. That’s all.

I wanted to end it at that. I thought I could end it at that.

Until I saw the kid rewrapping the hot dog after eating only half.

“I can buy you another one.”

“It might be not today.”

His words left me speechless. He was already preparing for when I wouldn’t be around.

“It’s hard when your stomach grows.”

To the kid saying that while scrunching his nose, I found myself asking without thinking:

“Why are you here?”

At my words, the child who was wiping his mouth with the back of his hand glanced at me.

“Why are you asking?”

“Are you going to leave without paying after eating the hot dog?”

“That! I helped you because you have a disease where you can’t eat alone, right?”

“Did I say that?”

Adults are petty and mean. I said to the kid glaring at me with a face full of resentment:

“It’s better for you to just tell me your circumstances than to spit out what you’ve eaten.”

“Why do you want to hear my situation?”

Why do young kids care so much about reasons? Why, why do you want to know about me? I feel like I’ve heard these words dozens of times.

The reason was always the same.

“I’m a bit of a busybody.”

At my words, the kid sighed and said:

“The stories of kids here are all the same.”

It was too bitter a sentence to come from the mouth of a kid barely over ten.

Right, the stories of kids sitting in places like this are all the same. I turned my gaze from him to look at the sky. The sky dyed in sunset was damn pretty, unfitting for this situation.

“Who’s inside there?”

“Dad.”

“How many years has it been?”

“I don’t know, they say he’s been holed up in there since I was born and never comes out.”

“And you still wait?”

“He comes out when the money runs out.”

The kid who dropped his head to his knees said:

“So he’ll come out soon.”

That voice was particularly weak, making my heart ache. How long has this child been waiting here? And how much longer will he have to wait?

—Was this child’s father among those guys by the pillars earlier?

‘That’s right.’

He probably knows the child is waiting here too. He knows but doesn’t care. Because the most important thing to him is the slot machine in front of him.

“Don’t you hate the person inside?”

At my words, the kid scrunched his nose.

“I hate him, but what can I do? He’s all I have.”

“You know, people in there don’t change. No matter how desperately you wait for that person here, it means he won’t come back to you.”

It was a cruel thing to say. At my words, the child clenched his fists. Looking at him gritting his teeth so hard his jaw trembled, I continued:

“If you’re just here because you have nowhere else to go, no one to rely on…”

“I know. I know, but I’m waiting because I want to. Because I like Dad.”

The child’s words caught in my throat. Right, children have only one world.

No matter what shape the world given to them is, children don’t want to leave that world.

And the name of that world is parents.

Though the kid’s eyes looked unbelievably tired for a child, they held unmistakable affection for his father.

“So I’m not going.”

“Afraid I might do something strange?”

“No, afraid I might never see my dad again.”

At those words, I thought of Xie Haozhu.

What on earth is this thing called a parent, to make such irrational judgments?

Am I the strange one for losing my parents at a very young age and never thinking about them even once?

‘…I don’t know what to do when I hear words like this.’

In Zie Haozhu’s case, the decision was easy.

I knew her, and I knew her future. So I chose to interfere appropriately, volunteer as the villain, and save her.

But I don’t know this kid, and I don’t know his future.

‘And I don’t have confidence to take responsibility.’

Unlike Xie Haozhu who had the power to protect herself, this kid is just a kid.

He’ll need someone’s help. Not someone like me, but a really good person.

‘If only he was a slightly more cunning child, it would have been easier.’

If he was someone who could think of trying to use me appropriately. If so, I wouldn’t be worrying like this.

Seeing this kid who’s soft inside despite looking rough, I just don’t know what to do.

—What are you thinking of doing?

At Ray’s words, I quietly took a breath.

‘Well, it’s not like he could believe some suddenly appearing mister saying he’ll save his life.’

—If it’s you, you could go inside and drag out that guy who’s supposedly his father.

That’s right. With my abilities, it’s definitely possible.

Finding the child’s father and returning the existence of a father to this child.

‘I don’t want to do that though.’

—What?

‘I won’t save this child’s father.’

Even if that’s what this kid wants most. I absolutely won’t return the existence of a father to this kid.

‘I think there are people in this world who are better off disappearing. This child’s father is one of them.’

My lies can completely change someone’s life, but even so, they can’t change the underlying nature itself.

You hate gambling, you never return to this casino again. Even if I deceive that guy with such words, implant suggestions and change his life…

‘He’ll end up wandering in search of pleasure. Gambling will just change to something else. The so-called drugs or such.’

Is there meaning in rehabilitating a person who will eventually fall back into corruption?

—Even if that child’s only wish is for his father to return?

‘It’s better not to have one.’

Such a person.

‘The sooner he becomes independent from that bad guy, the better for that child.’

He may not realize it yet, but soon this child will realize too. That abandoning his father is the way for him to live.

Even if he goes through painfully harsh growing pains, he needs to realize and become strong on his own.

Until then, there’s only one thing this meddlesome mister can do.

“Here, for now.”

“What is it?”

“Payment for eating with me.”

I handed the child $100.

“Buy some food with that. And wash up.”

“You said earlier you never said such things to me…”

“The hot dog was separate.”

“Ha.”

The kid who looked dumbfounded soon accepted the money I gave.

“Thank you.”

“Don’t give it to your father.”

“You think I’m stupid?”

Seeing the child quickly stuffing the money I gave into his sock, I got up.

“Your butt…”

The child’s eyes went to my butt. The clean suit pants were now stained with dirt. I brushed off my butt.

“It’s fine.”

“B-but still…”

“Thanks for eating with me.”

At my words, the child’s eyes wavered.

“Take care.”

“Oh, okay.”

With those final words, I moved my feet. Ray’s voice echoed in my head.

—You’re going to leave like this?

‘What else? Should I forcibly take that kid?’

The child won’t abandon his father. I could forcibly make the kid forget his father or make him leave his father, but…

‘There’s only one thing a meddlesome mister can do. Just buy a damn delicious hot dog.’

Just because the child is pitiful doesn’t mean I can just pick him up.

If he asks for help, I can help as much as he wants.

But what the child wants isn’t my help.

It’s for his father stuck in the muck to return.

And I have no intention of returning a father to the child.

* * *

Returning to the room with hot dogs, I had to gape at the mess in the living room.

Never mind them sprawled out like corpses, but the living room was too dirty. Paper scraps scattered everywhere, even bamboo sticks underfoot… It looked like they’d robbed a stationery store and then completely trashed it.

All I left them were ordinary notebooks, what on earth happened here?

“What exactly did you do here?”

At my words, Han Seo-hyeon and Kim Jae-ho finally staggered to their feet.

“Well…”

“Where did Cha and Edward go?”

“Here…”

The dressing room door opened and Cha Song-jin appeared. Edward opened the bedroom door and came out.

“What’s all this? Why were you all separated?”

“Well, we couldn’t copy each other’s work.”

“Copy? What happened?”

At my words, Han Seo-hyeon, Kim Jae-ho, and Cha Song-jin all shut their mouths in unison. Did they glue their mouths shut or what? It seemed less like they were sorry for making the living room like this, and more like their pride was hurt and they couldn’t bring themselves to speak.

Well, even if the three of them didn’t want to talk, I had one more foreign speaker.

[What happened?]

[It’s nothing.]

[Nothing happened but the room ended up like this?]

[You said to make textbooks, right? So we tried to make textbooks.]

Saying that, Edward threw me a notebook. He said it was the textbook he made so far.

I opened the notebook Edward handed me.

For such a short time, the notebook was quite full.

Too full.

“What’s this.”

It was much more substantial and plausible than I expected!

Even the handwriting was extremely pretty.

I thought the handwriting would be terrible since he speaks like he has a rag in his mouth. I was dumbfounded by the cute, round handwriting.

[I don’t think I told you to make it this properly.]

What I said was just to roughly write down the curriculum and share it. Not to produce such an incredibly earnest book that could actually be used as a textbook.

However they interpreted my words, Edward said with a proud expression while rubbing under his nose:

[I, Edward Sihelis, am a man who can do anything.]

[So what does this textbook and this mess have to do with each other?]

[I don’t know either?]

[You don’t know?]

As if he doesn’t know.

“I’ll explain.”

Cha Song-jin, who appeared with an extremely tired face, slowly opened his mouth.

“This is how it all happened…”