Becoming the Terminally-Ill Villain Who Torments His Disciples - Chapter 7.2
‘Relying on a piece of trash like me and calling me his Master.’
Cielo reached out and gently stroked Oscar’s head.
Oscar flinched the moment their skin touched, but there wasn’t even the slightest trace of fear or avoidance.
“By saying not to abandon you… are you saying you want to be with me?”
Oscar nodded.
“If you stay with me, you’ll have to clean all day, listen to curses thrown by criminals, and get covered in dust.”
“I-it’s… hic… fine. I-I’m really good at cleaning. Really, really… hic… I can do it well.”
“Of course. I already know how good you are. But… if you stay here, I’m going to have a hard time. Is that still okay?”
“Give me orders. Just give me tasks… I’ll do everything I can. Anything at all, give it to me.”
At Oscar’s response, Cielo bit the soft flesh inside his cheek.
Everything Cielo had done to Oscar until now was, in essence, a way of saying he wouldn’t abuse him anymore and would fully let him go.
But Oscar had interpreted those actions not as the abuse stopping, but as Cielo’s attention drifting away.
As Cielo quietly sat in thought, he opened his arms and looked at Oscar.
“Come here, Oscar.”
Then Oscar, who had been hiding his eyes with his arm, slowly looked up at him.
Would he come closer? Was he scared?
Cielo worried, but Oscar quickly rushed over and hugged him tightly.
Cielo gently ran his hand along Oscar’s back, who fit snugly in his arms, and spoke.
“I need you, Oscar.”
“……!”
“Waking me up in the morning, drawing my bath water. Cleaning up neatly after every meal. I owe a lot to you, Oscar.”
“……”
“And if it weren’t for you, I would still be lying on a clinic bed, completely helpless. That was a tremendous help.”
As Cielo praised each of the things Oscar had done for him, Oscar slightly pulled away and looked up.
His eyes were red and swollen from crying so much.
“……Really… am I… helpful?”
“Have you ever seen me say something I didn’t mean?”
“N-no.”
“Then I believe that answers your question. Ah, and…”
Cielo paused for a moment.
Oscar, as if fully listening, lifted his head quietly and met his eyes.
Just yesterday, he couldn’t even look him in the eye.
The rapid change was both something to be grateful for and something that weighed heavily on Cielo’s heart.
“I will no longer lay a hand on you.”
“……!”
“I won’t curse at you, and I won’t force you to do anything you hate.”
Tears welled up in Oscar’s eyes once again.
“……Wh-why? Is it because I was too annoying… is that why you’re doing this?”
A child who had been abused for so long couldn’t tell whether what he was enduring was abuse or genuine instruction.
Cielo slowly shook his head and answered.
“It’s because I want to respect you.”
“Respect…?”
“I’ve done a lot of wrong to you. The way I was raised and educated made me think that was the only way to treat others.”
Cielo lowered his gaze as he spoke.
This was something that came from both Cielo’s past treatment of Oscar and from the experiences of Lee Eunwoo.
“You useless brat, Lee Eunwoo! Didn’t Mom tell you to get this done? Are you deaf or just stupid?”
A voice that could tear through eardrums.
A large hand that struck his cheek.
Kicks that wouldn’t stop, no matter how much he begged and said he was sorry.
Cielo knew all too well the terror of an adult, far larger and taller than himself, simply raising their hand.
That’s why he could understand Oscar’s heart better than anyone.
‘If only…’
There were words he had desperately wanted to hear back then.
From the people who were supposed to be his parents.
From the people he longed to be loved by.
Words he had wanted to hear just once in his life.
If only he had heard them once, he believed he could have grown up properly, without becoming twisted.
Perhaps then, he wouldn’t have ended up hating his parents.
And so Cielo gathered those long-held wishes into a single statement, words from the life that had ended as Lee Eunwoo, filled with its lingering shadow.
“You are someone who deserves to be loved.”
Words Lee Eunwoo had once desperately longed to hear.
“……I love you.”
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