Fly Me to Polaris 1999

Onion is a young man who has been blind and mute since childhood. He works at a hospital, transcribing documents into braille for blind patients, a job that lets him live in the hospital dorm and receive regular health checks from Dr. Wu, the kind doctor who cares for him. The routine of care and quiet days within the hospital walls shape his world, where every small detail feels meaningful and safe.

Autumn arrives as a cheerful, well-meaning yet wonderfully clumsy hairdresser who keeps visiting the dorm for Onion’s haircuts. She rushes in with apologies for being late, and her imperfect precision becomes a running joke between them. In a moment that seeds a deeper bond, she accidentally cuts Onion’s ear, but he doesn’t get angry. Instead, he consoles her with a warm joke, and a special connection begins to form. After that haircut, she bestows a lighthearted nickname on him—Onion—joking that he looks like an onion head, a tag that sticks and softens the walls around him.

Their growing closeness feels buoyant, and one day they stand together on the hospital rooftop, where Autumn excitedly describes an upcoming meteor shower and suggests that they should each make a wish. Onion, buoyed by the possibility of shared wishes and the prospect of new happiness, asks Autumn out. When she says yes, his joy is palpable, a moment of light before an abrupt turn in fate. As they hurry back to the dorm for her night shift, Onion steps onto a stray rock, is struck by a car, and dies. Autumn’s heartbreak is immediate and profound, and she is left to face a loss that reveals how deeply she has come to care for him.

Because Onion was the 6 billionth human to die and depart to Polaris, he is granted a wish to return to Earth, but with strict limits: five days, no telling anyone who he really is, and his face must be different so that no one recognizes him. He awakens back on Earth in the storage area of the same hospital where he once worked, now wearing overalls as he begins to explore the familiar grounds with his renewed senses. He can finally speak to colleagues again, and he learns that Autumn has left the grounds to attend the funeral of a dear friend—only to learn that this friend is Onion himself.

At the funeral, Autumn is inconsolable, with Dr. Wu by her side, tormented by the absence that Onion’s absence has created. Onion discovers an insurance broker’s card bearing the name “Cheuk Ji Mun” in his secret dorm storage and decides to assume that identity to get close to Autumn once more. But his attempts to reconnect fall flat: his approach feels wrong, and he struggles to convey who he is. A card and a voice recording meant to reveal his truth are thwarted by epileptic effects, a smudged card, and an empty recording, leaving him frustrated and increasingly desperate.

In a bid to bridge the gap, Onion turns to memory and storytelling, narrating his life story through his diary in hopes of sharing his experiences with Autumn. This indirect approach hurts her all the more, stirring up memories she has tried to bury. Undeterred, Onion embraces a quieter role—acting as a guardian angel and quietly supporting Autumn from the shadows: assisting with hospital duties, secretly loading her grocery cart with her favorite candy, and serenading her with his saxophone from outside her dorm window, just as he used to do. These small, faithful acts begin to rekindle a sense of his presence in her life, even as she remains unsure of who he truly is.

As time passes, Autumn’s memories begin to return in fragments, and she slowly realizes that the person she longs for is Onion. Yet the clock is ticking, and the meteor showers loom on the horizon. With only minutes left before his departure back to Polaris, she must confront the truth that he has returned to her, and that the bond they share might be enough to hold onto a future beyond five days. The story closes on the delicate edge of possibility, where love, memory, and fate collide as the meteor showers draw near and Onion’s second departure approaches.