Does Paradise Exist? (Short Story)
Does paradise exist?
WARNING! Before you read this, please note that this article contains information about mental illness! If you suffer from mental illness or have experienced trauma related to it, please refrain from reading! :)
Paradise: A place where one can live comfortably and happily without any suffering or pain.
-
After a long silence, Jimin, who could no longer bear this boredom, pushed through the fear that was rushing in all at once and asked the man in front of him.
박지민
...Why did you kill him?
The man stared intently at Jimin's face, then slowly turned his head twice.
민윤기
Well, is there a reason?
Jimin doubted his ears for a moment.
민윤기
Is there a reason?
민윤기
I just killed him because I wanted to kill him.
민윤기
There's something like that, you know? The smell of people who are outwardly mean and petty.
박지민
....
민윤기
Strangely enough, the organs of such people were all clean and beautiful, without a speck of dust.
박지민
What is that...
민윤기
Isn't it really funny? These people, who outwardly lash out at society and defile themselves with envy,
민윤기
The inside is so beautiful. It shines like a diamond, and it feels like I'm in a utopia.
민윤기
When I see people like that, I can't help but feel excited and ecstatic.
민윤기
So I killed him.
-
Jimin, who was quite shocked by the man's words, remained still as if he couldn't come to his senses, but came to his senses after hearing the last words.
"I have to finish what I'm supposed to do," he said in a rather sharp tone.
박지민
...Do you know how desperate the victims' families are right now because of you?
박지민
The people you killed for no reason
박지민
A father to an ordinary family,
박지민
For some, she is a bride-to-be who is about to get married, which is her whole life.
박지민
I was a 7-year-old kid who was excitedly running to the bus for the first time in his life to experience experiential learning.
박지민
Are you saying that I am mean and narrow-minded on the outside?
"These are the people?"
박지민
Isn't that a dystopia you created?
박지민
Everyone is enduring this harsh world, trying to be loved by someone in their family and dedicate themselves to their spouse.
박지민
Because of that shitty ideology you created, people who had something to protect ended up dying mercilessly without being able to protect themselves.
박지민
"Because of a piece of trash like you, innocent people are crying."
-
(court)
Criminal trial, Monday, March 25, 2019
판사
I will make a final judgment on this case.
판사
Defendant 'Min Yoon-ki'
판사
Defendant Min Yoon-gi has been assaulting and murdering innocent people at one-week intervals since December of last year, and has shown no remorse for his actions to the bereaved families during this trial. Therefore, the court determined that this was a heinous act that destroyed even a little bit of dignity.
판사
The judge then sentenced defendant Min Yoon-gi, who has consistently committed heinous acts while ignoring human dignity,
-
판사
"I sentence you to death."
After hearing the judge's final ruling, the tension in the courtroom, which had been frozen solid, finally eased.
Here and there, I could hear the bereaved families sighing in relief and the citizens' jurors' words of comfort, saying that it was truly fortunate.
Jimin, who was watching the trial from among the jurors, let out the breath he had been holding in, and slowly relaxed his tense, stiff body.
While the crowd was murmuring, Min Yoongi's wrists were tightly handcuffed, and he was soon led out of the courtroom by two detectives with both arms restrained.
But it was strange.
Jimin, who kept looking at Min Yoongi's face as he was being dragged away, was slightly flustered.
Even Min Yoongi, who has a psychopathic mental illness, would have been able to erase a little bit of his anxious expression at the death sentence that was right in front of him.
As if mocking Jimin's thoughts, he was handcuffed with his usual calm face and was walking ahead of the two detectives at a slightly faster pace.
Jimin had some doubts about Min Yoongi's actions, but soon he was quickly taken out of the courtroom by his fellow detective who came looking for him in a hurry, saying that another incident had occurred.
Meanwhile, Yun-gi's footsteps, which had reached the entrance of the courtroom, suddenly stopped.
Yoon-gi suddenly stopped walking, and the detectives next to him grabbed his arm and dragged him away, telling him to hurry up, but Yoon-gi held on with all his might and ignored the detectives' words.
Yoongi's gaze was sharply fixed on Jimin's back as he packed his things and left for the back door faster than the other detectives.
Yoongi, who had been watching Jimin's back as he hurriedly left the courtroom, whispered softly with a slightly mean smile.
민윤기
"....Utopia"
And as if he had finished what he had to say, he turned around and glared lightly at the detective who grabbed his arm and told him to continue, and then he took the lead and walked out again.
Fortunately, in this chaotic situation, not a single person saw the shape of Yoongi's mouth.
-
Friday, May 25, 2019.
What more could a detective do? Jimin couldn't do his job properly as a detective because he was busy calming down drunk people who were causing a ruckus as if the police station was his home.
Jimin, who had been dealing with the constant stream of phone calls from drunk customers, came home with a tired expression on his face, dragging his body along.
The police station was bustling, unlike usual, and I had been running around without a moment to rest, so I must have been overworking myself more than usual. As soon as I sat down on the sofa, my spine felt like it was going to snap.
박지민
... Seriously, fuck.. If it weren't for this job, they'd all be fucking trash..
Jimin hunched over the back of the sofa, grimacing at the unbearable pain radiating from his spine.
Even resting on the backrest for a moment, Jimin, who lived alone, felt very unfamiliar with the quiet of the house, perhaps because he had already become accustomed to the noisy police station.
박지민
.... Shall we take a look at how the world is going after a long time..?
Jimin, who always worked late into the night and came home at 2 a.m., had no time to enjoy hobbies, as his body would automatically go to bed without even having time to wash.
But today, the time must have changed. Jimin, who wanted to see the world go by himself for the first time in a while, picked up the dusty remote control that had been lying in the corner next to the sofa for a while and pressed the power button to turn on the TV.
Jimin's finger automatically pressed the number 9.
The news was starting on TV, and Jimin, who was excited to hear the familiar tone of voice of the announcers after a long time, placed the remote control neatly next to him and focused on the TV again.
아나운서 1
"This incident is one that will surprise the entire nation."
아나운서 2
"What's going on?"
아나운서 1
"Announcer, do you remember the serial murders in Sujim-dong two months ago?"
아나운서 2
"Of course. It caused a stir in South Korea for a while. It's one of those events I'll never forget."
아나운서 1
"Yes, of all the serial murders, the reason this case came to mind first is because the perpetrator suffered from psychopathic mental illness, which was the most surprising thing to us."
아나운서 1
"We call these people psychopaths in modern terms, and the concept of psychopathy has long been discussed to distinguish a type of person who habitually commits antisocial behavior and chronically exhibits emotional and psychological characteristics that are different from those of ordinary people."
아나운서 1
"Therefore, we cannot just look at these people normally."
아나운서 1
"Now, let's get to the main point. As soon as the death row inmate entered the prison after the trial, he began to act strangely, saying incomprehensible things and laughing as if he was out of breath, which made the guards around him flustered."
아나운서 1
"The guards said that several people tried to calm the death row inmate down when they first saw him acting strangely, but it was all in vain."
아나운서 1
"The prison guards, unable to bear to watch the death row inmate continue to exhibit seizure symptoms, called in a specialist to examine him, but unfortunately, the inmate had to be moved due to an overlapping business trip."
아나운서 1
"Having no choice, the guards called a special bus and sent the condemned man away."
아나운서 1
"At the time, no one knew it would be the worst choice."
아나운서 1
"About 30 minutes after departure, the bus was reportedly found on a remote mountain road."
아나운서 1
"The bus driver and two prison guards who were riding inside were said to have collapsed."
아나운서 2
"It's strange. That something like that would happen all of a sudden."
아나운서 1
"The police announced after their investigation that this was the work of a prisoner."
아나운서 1
"Because no prisoners were found on that bus."
아나운서 1
"The most obvious reason, of all, is that Ativan powder was found under the bus driver's steering wheel."
아나운서 2
"I've heard that Ativan is a sleeping pill that you take under duress in really bad situations."
아나운서 1
"Yes, that's right. When we analyzed the death row inmate's blood, we found traces of Ativan. It's likely he anticipated what was about to happen and boarded the bus with Ativan powder."
아나운서 2
"But how did no one notice? They must have checked my uniform several times."
아나운서 1
"It hasn't been officially announced yet, but it's highly likely that there was an insider deal with one of the current guards."
아나운서 2
"...So what happened to the death row inmate now?"
아나운서 1
"As many people as possible joined forces to search the nearby mountains several times and ask the villagers, but they said they could not find any traces."
아나운서 2
".. okay."
아나운서 1
"We sincerely hope that all of you are safe."
아나운서 2
"Yes, above all else, the safety of our citizens is of the utmost importance."
아나운서 1
"Oh, and one more thing."
아나운서 1
"We were able to discover something strange at the scene."
아나운서 1
"They say that there is small writing on the corner of the window frame where the death row inmate sat."
아나운서 1
"Let's look at the picture on the screen first."
After the announcer finished speaking, a picture appeared on the TV screen showing a small English sentence written in blood on the corner of the window.
[ The world we live in is just a dystopia. Follow me. I'll show, The world of utopia. S.G ]
아나운서 1
"The interpretation is that the world we live in is nothing but a dystopia. Follow me. I will show you. A world of paradise."
Jimin's gaze went to the English sentence on the screen, and for a moment, Jimin's shoulders shook in surprise.
아나운서 1
"Why did the prisoner leave fingerprints like this-"
Thump-
Jimin, who had been staring at the picture on the screen with a thoughtful expression, quickly grabbed the remote control next to the sofa and turned off the screen.
And, as if he was already terrified, he closed his eyes tightly with an expression that looked like he would cry at any moment if he was touched.
-
((Inside the police station
Two months after the trial ended, Jimin arrived at the police station and checked the notebook he'd kept in his bag. Inside the notebook, which contained the case log, was a long, unfamiliar English note.
Jimin, who had glanced at the sentence he had seen for the first time, didn't even have time to think about its meaning. He only now remembered how he had hastily closed his notebook and stuffed it into his bag when the chief called him.
I took out my bag, which I had carelessly thrown away, and opened the last page, quietly reading it out loud, remembering clearly in my head where the notebook was.
박지민
...The world we live in is just a dystopia. Follow me. I'll show, The world of utopia.
박지민
S.G
...
The notebook had long since fallen to the floor, and Jimin, unable to hide his trembling hands, collapsed to the ground on his increasingly weak legs.
I wished all these moments were a dream.
-
The English sentence written on the last page of Jimin's notebook and the initials next to it are,
It matched Min Yoongi's handwriting perfectly.
-
In this world we live in, paradise does not exist anywhere.
Any suffering or pain is sure to follow us as long as we exist.
So, won't you come with me to this faraway paradise, where human selfishness and suffering coexist?
-
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