city of stars | minsung

001 | one

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city of stars

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»Jisung, dear?«

The little boy stuck his head out of the blanket when he heard his grandma's voice. 

She sighed when she saw his puffy, red eyes, closed the door and sat down on his bed carefully.

»Were you crying?«, she asked softly, patting her grandson's head.

He nodded and pressed his plush-dog closer to his body. 

»Why is that, sweetie?«, his grandma asked. Her voice was hoarse, but the worry was clearly evident.

Jisung sniffled. »Mama and papa don't want me to be a songwriter.«

His grandma let out another sigh and continued stroking the boy's blond locks. »Why would they say that?«

»T-they say it's a d-dumb job«, Jisung said, tears starting to flow out of his eyes again. »I-it's useless, they s-said. They want m-me to be a l-lawyer.«

»What? How come?«

»Th-they need m-me to get p-paid well. B-but I don't w-want th-that!« He started to sob, hiding his face in his grandma's lap.

The woman sighed. »Music is your dream?«

Jisung nodded.

»Then chase after it«, she smiled, moving her hand to draw soft patterns on the boy's back.

»B-but they d-don't want me t-to.«

His grandma sighed. How could she cheer her little boy up?

»Let me tell you a story«, she started. »A story about the...uhm, city of stars. In this city, dreams come true, and there's always stars out at night to give you endless hope. You will be able to achieve everything you truly want there.«

Jisung raised his head and looked at his grandma with wide, sparkly eyes. »I-I can be a songwriter t-there?«

The elder nodded. »And you will find what makes you truly happy! Not just your dream job, but also someone that will be there for you every day.«

»L-like, a girlfriend?«

»Maybe. Or a soulmate.« His grandma chuckled at the boy's disgusted face. 

»But love is gross! I don't want to fall in love!«

A laugh escaped the woman's tongue. »You probably will one day, dear. But until then, focus on your dreams, focus on what you want to do. I'll have a talk with your parents, okay?«

Jisung nodded wildly, his blond hair now covering his eyes.

His grandma gave him another pat on the head, then wished him a good night and left.

💫

She had passed away less than a day later.

Jisung, who was merely seven years old back then, took it the worst.

His grandma had always been more of a parent to him than his actual mom and dad. And with her gone now, there would be nobody but himself to convince his parents about his dream.

As much as he tried to change their mind, it would always end with the same sentence: »Jisung, you have to accept that you can't have everything, especially if it's not good for you. Music will get you nowhere.«

Soon, he had given up on even trying to convince them otherwise. 

But he wasn't hopeless. Every night he dreamed of the city his grandma told him about before she died. 

He was determined to find it ever since. 

When he was ten, he had written a short letter to his future self.

»You must find the city of stars! Become who you want to be!«

On his eighteenth birthday, he burned it.

He had just entered senior year in high school, yet his parents had already enrolled him in a college to become a law student the next year, and that was his last straw.

He gave up on trying to achieve what he really wanted.

The city of stars was now just a dream. An imagination, unreachable. His utopia.

Now he was on the verge of turning twenty, about to move out and attend college.

Nothing had changed.

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601 words