“I can't meet you anymore after today.”

Lay said one day, just a few weeks after he told her about his dad. His expression was grim.

The girl’s eyes widened out of surprise. They were currently at the rooftop, the girl was sitting and eating her lunch while Lay was standing in his usual place, just like the days before.

“What? What do you mean? What’s wrong? What have I done?”

She asked Lay, her voice trembled. She literally couldn’t figure out what was wrong. These past few weeks were maybe the best days of her life. She never knew so much happiness could come simply from being with someone. Everything was perfect, and suddenly he told her this?

“No,no, it’s not you, it’s me. I am…not who you think I am.”

She barely heard his answer, it was so low, more like a whisper.

“What? What do you mean?”

Lay looked at her deeply in the eyes and inhaled slowly.

“I’ll tell you…I have to…but you have to promise me you won’t panic, can you do that?”

The girl nodded furiously, she couldn’t stand the suspense.

“Just, tell me please.”

“I’m not human.”

“What?”

Is he kidding me? Of course he is human! How can I see and talk to him if he isn’t?

“I am not human, I am a…ghost, well, not the usual ghost because technically I’m still alive, but, yeah I am a ghost.”

The girl let out an empty laugh and looked at him. Her eyes widened in disbelief.

“Why are you saying this to me? Please don’t joke with me Lay, it’s not very….”

The girl cut her words short because at the moment, Lay walked towards her, and when the sun shone upon him, she witnessed with her own eyes how his body become transparent. The girl gasped in surprise.

No! It can’t be!

But it could. Lay stopped walking and then he sit in front of the girl. The girl continued to stare at him, but strangely she didn’t feel afraid, on the contrary she felt comfort, and warmth. And when she managed got over the shock for a little bit and used her brain, it was like everything fell into place.

His sudden appearance, his lack of appetite, his habit of standing near the wall, under the shadow of the roof…….that’s when the girl accepted that as bizarre as it was, he was telling the truth.

“You’re a ghost.” She finally said.

Lay gave her his usual calm smile. “I am.”

“So now you have to go? Like to heaven?”

The girl asked, because she knew that there’s no way Lay would go to hell, he was such an angel.

“No, I’m not, I have to go back to…my body.”

“What do you mean? So you are not dead?” A glimmer of hope appeared in her tone.

“I am not, I got into an accident, and I was in a coma for the past few weeks, I still am, but my body is getting better, and its pulling me back.”

Happiness appeared in the girl’s face.

“Thank God! Go then! Where’s your hospital? I’ll visit you right away so you’ll see me when you wake up!”

Then suddenly, the grimness reappeared in Lay’s face again.

“That…that’s the problem, if I go back to my body, if I…….wake up, I won’t remember you, I’ll forget about you and what’s happen between us for the past few weeks.”

Tears sprang up in her eyes, making Lay clenched his fists, he wanted very much to wipe the tears, but he couldn’t, he was just a mere ghost, a vague shadow, after all.

“What…why?”

“That’s just the way it is, my being right now is merely a spirit, all that I do right now, my memory, it isn’t belong to my physical body and brain, that’s why if I wake up later, I won’t remember you.”

Now, tears dropped heavily from her face. Why? Why was life never fair to her? Why was life cruelly taunting her by letting her meet someone like him, only to take him away again after just such a short time? She wanted to ask him to stay, to not leave her, but she couldn’t. She knew Lay deserved a real life, a healthy and happy one at that.

“Go then. Go back to your body.”

She finally said in a raspy voice. Her tears were still flowing, but a small smile tugged on her lips.

Lay looked deeply at her teary eyes, his eyes were full with concern and sadness.

“Will you be all right?”

“I am not, but I will be. Don’t worry about me. Thanks to you, I realized now that life is hard, but somehow it’ll be worth it. That’s why I have to be strong, and I am strong, you have taught me so.”

The girl said with a newfound determination in her voice.

As sad as he was, Lay couldn’t help but smile at this.

“Yes, you are strong, promise me you won’t ever forget that, and that you will try your best to live your life as happy as possible.”

“I’ll try.” She could only whisper because she felt like there was a big lump on .

Lay smiled again and slowly brought his face forward, and he kissed her forehead lightly. Her heart fluttered, because of surprise, but also because she felt it, it maybe just her imagination, but the moment Lay’s translucent lips touched her forehead, she felt some kind of warmth on her forehead.

“Don’t cry. I won’t forget you, okay? My body maybe will, but I won’t, I’ll try my best to remember you.”

His usual light calm voice quivered a little at the moment. He looked straight into her eyes, trying to convince her.

“I know.” The girl wiped her tears with all the strength left on her body and then she forced herself to smile.

“Goodbye Lay, and thank you for being with me all this time, take care of yourself.”

“Goodbye ______, I’ll remember you, somehow…. I’ll find you.”

His appearance was getting more indistinct every second, and after the girl blinked once to get rid of the tears and see more clearly, he was gone.

She blinked again, but still, the boy was nowhere in sight. He was gone from her life. She lied her back on the rough floor, not really cared about getting her backside and hair dirty, and then she cried.

She was supposed to be strong, and she would be. But she had to cry first, she needed to, so she wept, for she just lost the one man that meant so much to her, the one who taught her the meaning of life.

Thank you for everything Lay, I sincerely hope you live a long and happy life, somewhere in this world.

Author's Note:

There will be an epilogue and then I'm done. If there's someone who is reading this I'd like to say thank you very much for reading! This is just the result of my chaotic thoughts so I didn't really think this story through, I'm just glad I let this one out. So I'm really sorry if this one turns out to be a disappointment. Thanks for reading :)