The moving platform and the shakiness of the stage that is normally supposed to be stable didn’t bother him one bit as he held himself up on one hand and twirled his body, careful to shirk his legs around the obstacles in his way.

 

            He switched to his other hand and stuck both legs into the air, coming up to a burst of applause. Zelo bowed and held out his baseball hat, grinning while panting hard as the people on the train placed their money into it. He bowed profusely and thanked them, recognizing some regulars who probably have seen his performances since he was young, and were still contributing.

 

            At the end of the day, he collected all the money and placed it into a bag and slung it over his shoulder, ready to head back to the shelter. He rolled his neck and rubbed the bruise he got when he accidentally banged against a pole.

 

            “Why don’t you actually go to lessons? Why do you only perform on the subways?”

 

            Zelo looked up and saw a girl staring at him. She looked at him curiously and he felt his mouth go dry. It was weird talking to someone he didn’t know. He had grown up at the shelter for the majority of his life and only talked to the other kids and adults there.

 

            “You have a lot of talent,” she continued. “You really should try to cultivate it so you can perform for large stages and not just be on the trains.”

 

            “What’s it to you?” He winced a little because that sounded rude, and he didn’t really mean to be rude. It just came out that way.

 

            To his surprise, the girl laughed. “Well, I’m sort of short on life right now and so I figured I might as well be an angel in this life and see if I can turn into one in the next life. So I made it my goal to help people in need.”

 

            “I don’t need help,” he grunted, a little miffed that she would see him as a pet project.

 

            “Hey, don’t’ get offended. I’m just saying. I’d like to see you perform on a big stage before I die.”

 

            This caught his attention and Zelo looked at her. She was young; definitely either his age or a little younger even. “Why are you being so morbid?”

 

            She had started walking with him and she wasn’t looking at him. “It’s the truth. I have stage three leukemia and it’s basically bordering on stage four. I shouldn’t be out here wandering by myself but I threatened to throw a hospital-wide tantrum if they didn’t let me. I’ve been watching you perform for a while and I’m interested.”

 

            Zelo blushed and shrugged. “I’ve been learning from a guy at the shelter and before he passed away, he taught me quite a lot. Now I just make up my own.”

 

            “Shelter?”

 

            “Yeah, my parents lost everything and we’ve been living in a homeless shelter for the past ten years. It’s about time I leave and go to college, but I don’t think that’s financially possible so I’ve been just trying to save money.”

 

            “How much did you make today?”

 

            Again a heat spread across his face. He made money, but being as he was only a street performer, it would take him years to save up the basic thousands for a community college. “Not enough.”

 

            She pressed something into his hand. “Call me when you think it through. I want to be able to help you.”

 

            “How?” She grinned and waved, before running across the street, nearly getting hit by a passing car going the other direction. “Watch out!” he shouted.

 

            She was across from him by now and winked. “I won’t die before cancer gets to me, don’t worry! And same time same place tomorrow!”

 

            He thought about the offer, and her, all night. Where had she come from? And why was she so eager to help him? Zelo the cot and scoffed. How could a girl like her, a sick one at that, be able to help him?

 

            But he still went there after a day of performances and saw her sitting on the bench. She had a mask and she grinned weakly. “Sorry, they were scared I got an infection so they me wear this. I’ll take it off.”

 

            He put a hand out to stop her. “No. I don’t want you getting sick because of me.”

 

            She smiled and told him her name. “Just because we didn’t introduce ourselves properly.”

 

            “I’m Junhong. But they call me Zelo.”

 

            “Zelo. That’s a great stage name.”

 

            “How do you plan on helping me?”

 

            She grinned slyly at him and cleared , and taking off her mask anyway. At his horrorstruck face, she waved her hand impatiently. “I told you, I’m only going to die once this cancer gets the better of me. I have a fund. It’s sort of like the Make A Wish foundation where you’re given one wish to go somewhere, all expenses paid, but I asked for just the money to do whatever I want. And I want to help you get somewhere.”

 

            “Why?”

 

            She giggled and tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear almost in a flirty manner. “Let’s say you’re the one guy who’s caught my attention for longer than a day.” He blushed and she put the mask on again. “So what do you say?”

 

            “I can’t take your money. What if you need it?”

 

            “To do what with?” she asked impatiently. “I wasn’t aware the dead could take their money with them into the afterlife.”

 

            “H-how are you so sure you’re going to die?” he asked awkwardly.

 

            She fluttered her lashes. “Flattered you want me to stay around, but I’m telling you. I can feel it in my bones.” Then she laughed. “That was a joke. My bone marrows are so shot, they can’t even produce the right amount of blood cells. I know, Junhong. I know.”

 

            And so they met like this every day. She would watch him perform and talk to him. Some days when she wasn’t there, he would see a note in a large, bubbly handwriting, telling him that “I’m sorry. Cant’ make it. I have a date with the hot doctor. Don’t worry. You’re still the number one boy in my heart.”

 

            She made Zelo’s heart squeeze whenever he saw her and it was a foreign feeling. She brought over newspaper clippings of advertisements for the schools and they settled on one. She got special permission to watch him audition and she was there when he somehow got the acceptance letter.

 

            She beamed at him. “I knew it! I knew it! Oh God, if you can see me now, save me a spot in your top ten angels list. I definitely deserve it.”      

 

            It made him a little sad and uncomfortable to hear her so openly confront her death. But being with her only made him feel more alive. She had a bright laugh and she never once reminded him that she was dying except for the occasional comments.

 

            They met for a continuous eight months before Zelo pushed himself to his limits. He asked her to be his girlfriend and was surprised to see her cry. “I’m sorry,” he stammered. “You don’t have to if you don’t want to. I think I may have misread the signals.” He wanted to hold her but felt only helpless.

 

            “No, stop,” she moaned. She straightened and wiped away her tears. “I just didn’t realize that it would feel this good to be proposed to. Can you ask for my hand in marriage too?”

 

            “Er,” he stared at her and she winked again.

 

            “Kidding, silly. Of course you can be my boyfriend. I’m honored.”

 

            Dating her was something new, and he asked for advice from the others in the shelter. She was fun to be around and dating her wasn’t much different from what they were doing. He found out her birthday by accident. She was wearing her hospital bracelet and he realized that her birthday was also on the day of his first recitation.

 

            He didn’t mention the birthday but invited her to see him perform. “Of course I’m going! I have to. It’s my dying wish, remember? To see you perform on the large stage.”

 

            He had laughed. “Hey, you’ll get to see it many more times.”

 

            She grinned at him. “I’ll wear a really pretty dress just for you.”

 

            He put his all into that performance that night. He executed the flips and the turns with perfection and managed to stay on rhythm. When he had to do the hardest spin, he thought about her watching and landed perfectly on his one hand. Zelo saw her cheering for him and she even threw him a bouquet at the end, tearing as she watched him shake hands with the principal.

 

            He took her to a fancy dinner for her birthday after and she cried right in the restaurant. People around them turned to stare and he had felt awkward but she said in her open way, “I’m so lucky to have the best boyfriend,” and they clapped for them.

 

            He didn’t’ take her directly back to the hospital. Instead, they walked back to the bench and he took her face in his hands. He saw the spark of anticipation in her eyes and thought about the techniques the hyungs at the shelter had taught him and leaned in. He pressed his lips against hers before moving and taking her bottom lip between his and nibbling gently. He pressed his hand against the small of her back and he felt her tears on his cheeks and her smile against his lips.

 

            Zelo pulled away for air and she looked up at the sky. “I’m so happy, I can die right now.”

 

            He placed a finger against his lips. “You’ve only had one kiss, and one performance. You’re not allowed to die until you’ve seen millions more and until I’m tired of your lips. Which is probably never.”

 

            They both fought back shy grins at his confession and she leaned into him and sighed in content. He had his arm around her and thought about the long way he had come in the past year. He stared down at her and closed his eyes, trying to fight the heaviness in his chest as he imagined himself sitting alone, with only the memory of her weight in his arms.

 

            They had exactly ninety-eight more kisses after that. One a day, and then as she got sicker, three times, once when he first saw her, once in the middle, and once when he was leaving. He had his entire class come perform for her and she had kept a brave smile on her face the entire time.

 

            Losing her was difficult, and at her funeral, he performed a difficult trick that she had requested to see but never could. When he spoke of her, his voice cracked as he thanked the angel who had brought him up to Heaven. He didn’t go home that day. Instead, he brought flowers and sat on the bench and waited, waited for her to come visit him like she had for the past twenty months.

 

            When she did, she was dressed in white, and smiling. “I saw that flip,” she grinned. “Good job not landing on my coffin.”

 

            Zelo smiled back at her and touched his fingers to his lips. She did the same and he could almost feel her again and he sighed in content, knowing that his angel would always be there to watch over him. 

 

 

Yesterday I said I wanted to write something new, something that would get my juices going, and I'm happy I wrote this.

This is what I want to do with my writing and I'm happy. 

I hope you guys can enjoy it as well.