Apotelesma •KookV•

일

26th November

'-Doors will open on the left. Please mind the gap.'

The doors of the train opened, bringing in the cold air of the winter. A figure stood up, his black leather jacket blowing in the wind as he stepped out. He didn't feel the cold.

He didn't feel anything.

He walked out of the station as if in a trance. He looked around. Darkness. The black of the night had swallowed the lights, leaving nothing behind. Except emptiness.

And he was glad.

His steps took him to a place he knew too well. The old bridge at the outskirts of the city of Seoul. His home as people believed it to be. People believed a lot of bullshit. And this was one of it.

His red hair blew with the wind, dancing across his pale forehead. His long fingers pushed away the strands from his eyes, the chocolate brown orbs dull.

He wanted it to end.

This numbness. This silence. This... This pain. He didn't want it. And he certainly didn't need it. He walked to the bridge, sitting down at the dusty floor of the old thing. His feet dangled from the gaps in the railing. Reaching into his pocket, he took out his phone.

11:58 pm. The clock on his phone notified him. The light from his phone illuminated his face.

The boy was ethereal. His fiery red locks framing a perfectly sculpted face with porcelain skin. His high nose, with bread cheeks and petal soft, heart-shaped lips. His eyes, a deep chocolate hue with one a double lid and one monolid.

A pity they had no life in them.

He scrolled through his phone, coming across the contact he wanted to text.

Ah... The clock struck 12. It wasn't 26th November anymore.

He tapped on the contact, the face of a boy emerging. Quickly typing in a text, he sent it.

'Jiminie, I'm sorry for leaving so suddenly. But I have no choice left now. It's either me or you and I don't want anything to happen to you. Thank you for being such a great friend to me. Tell hyung I'm grateful to him. I love you guys.'

After reading over the short note, he exited the app. Tossing the phone over the bridge and hearing a loud crash, signalling it had hit the rocks below. He let a faint smile cover his lips as he stood up.

He took a moment to look at the city lights. The brights whites and yellows glowing in the distance against the dark, black sky. He looked up as another breeze blew. The sky was clear, no clouds in sight. He could see the faint glimmer of the stars.

He reached his hand out, pointing his palm towards the sky. Oh how he wished to be free. How he wished things would have gone differently for him. He was tired.

So, so tired.

He was sick of this game of cat and mouse. And he knew who to blame. He knew exactly who turned the bright, lovely boy into a barely breathing ghost of his past self. He knew why.

And he hated him.

His fists clenched and he let his hands fall to his side. He was so done with this fucked up world. He was so done with him. But he wasn't going to hurt any longer.

'Kim, you just need to sign these papers and you'll be free.'

'Don't you get it?! I would do anything for you, baby!'

'Don't you see what you are?! Your parents died because you refused! Who else will you kill, you murderer!'

'Poor baby, let me take away the pain.'

The moments flashed in front of his eyes and he closed them tightly, a lone tear escaping. He quickly wiped it away. He wasn't going to cry any longer. He wasn't going to suffer any longer.

He reached into his pocket, pulling out a small notepad. He flipped its pages, finding a clean one. He took a pen from the front pocket of his shirt and scribbled a number on it. He wrote the name of the person under it before he pocketed the things.

And now, he had nothing holding him back.

He felt free. Free from all the expectations and all the hate. Free from all the responsibilities and work. Free from him. Free from life.

He knew what he had to do. He was ready. He lifted his hands, standing with them perpendicularly to his torso. He breathed out in relief.

Finally.

As he opened his eyes to look around, he watched the world in awe. The bright lights on the cold background. He looked down at the small stream. How it glistened with the moonlight reflecting on its surface. The blue of the water enchanting him.

He wasn't an Art Major for nothing. He wished he could have drawn the scene in front of him. It looked so peaceful. So alluring. He smiled wide.

He'll miss this.

He climbed up onto the railing. The narrow rail barely supporting his weight. He looked around once again. Etching the memory in his mind. He stood there for a minute, looking at the grey rocks beneath him. The stream a few steps away.

He had calculated this. He wasn't going to jump in the water but rather onto the sharp rocks. He sighed, his breath shaky.

'No time to chicken out now.' He told himself.
And closing his eyes, feeling his body go numb he did what he came to do.

He jumped.