Kai arrived to school an hour early. He wasn’t sure how much longer he could last in his house, he couldn’t stand it there. Every minute was unbearable, and felt like an eternity. But what he hated most was the emptiness, sure the house was filled with maids and servants, but his parents were barely ever home. As a child, he remembered longing for them. One childhood memory that stays etched in the back of his mind, on his 6th birthday he had waited up all night for his parents to come home. When they did, he was immediately told to go to bed. They didn’t say “happy birthday” or even give him a small smile. But now that he’s older and more mature, he understands that their busy, and that for them, work comes before family.

Most of the time, the house was quiet, almost too quiet. Whenever he was there, he felt emptier than he normally would. Although he had a deep hatred of his family, he still longed for them. No, he longed for anybody. Loneliness is all he could feel, and all that he’s used to, although he’d never admit it. But  for some reason, he felt a little better at school, he actually embraced the loneliness and longed for it during the school day, only to hate and be bothered by it after school.

He had spent the hour laying in the grass out side of school, and found himself drifting off to sleep. He tried to shake off the sleepiness, but was in a trance and found himself in a state between consciousness and unconsciousness. He snapped out of it when he heard the bell ring, signaling that school starts in five minutes. He sighed heavily and pulled himself up with all his strength. He didn’t get up though, he sat there, surveying the people around him. He looked over at two girls who were smiling and talking with each other and heard one of the girls’ thoughts, Eun Mi. Quit bragging, you’re nothing but a piece of . He shook his head and looked elsewhere. This time his eyes landed on a teacher, I hate my job. I hate these damn students. I can’t wait for my retirement so I can finally leave this hell hole.

The thoughts Kai heard were almost always similar. Most were superficial and others were rude. How could people think like that. It’s disgusting, he thought to himself. Some of the thoughts he heard were absolutely horrid and disgusted him. He remembered one time he heard a man wondering about how he was going to tell his pregnant wife that he had been cheating on her.  It’s scary what goes through the human mind, he thought as his eyes landed on an unfamiliar girl. She was crying and her clothes were completely drenched although it wasn’t raining. Kai cocked his head a little, as he tried to get a better view so he could hear her thoughts. I can’t take it anymore. Those words scared Kai a little, but what came next were even scarier. I’m just going to kill myself.

At those words Kai immediately got up and followed the girl, once he caught up with her, he didn’t stop her. He just silently followed her, before he began to get lost into his own thoughts. He was confused as to why he was following her, he never involved himself in people’s problems, he never even paid attention to or showed sympathy for anyone, not even himself. But it was the girl’s inner voice that scared him, it sounded frail and defeated. He empathized with her. He couldn’t just sit there and let somebody commit suicide. His thoughts were interrupted at the sight of the girl who had stopped walking. She tossed her bookbag over the bridge, her eyes beginning to tear up again. Panic began to spread through Kai’s body and he ran as fast as he could.

The girl closed her eyes tightly as she went to fling her body off. The next thing she expected was to feel the cold water, releasing her of all of her worries, but instead she felt arms wrapped around her body, then the hard ground. Someone saw her. She was slightly grateful but all she could do at the moment was cry, this time not holding back. She cried heart-wrenchingly and her body began to tremble. Her inconsolable sobs affected Kai in a way he’s never been affected before. At first, he was shocked at her sudden outburst of emotion, he was almost too afraid to move her. After staying completely still for a few seconds, he slowly turned her around. When their eyes met, Kai’s heart instantly began to ache. The girl’s eyes were full of sadness and emptiness. She looked completely defeated, and Kai didn’t know what to say. Once reality hit him, he stood up, and pulled the girl up off the ground gently, because her body was so frail and limp. He began to dust off her, still damp uniform, looking everywhere but her eyes. At this point the girl wasn’t crying anymore, she was silent as she gnawed at her lip, trying to hold back her tears.

Kai could tell she was holding back her tears. Not saying a word, he grabbed her wrist and walked her over to a bench, far from the bridge. While holding her wrist, he could feel how cold she was, probably due to the fact that her hair and uniform were damp from whatever had happened earlier. He quickly glanced at the girl, who was in a complete daze.

The girl, who was too lost in her own thoughts, hadn’t noticed until Kai slightly pushed her onto the bench and covered her with his school blazer. “Don’t hold back.” Kai told her, giving her a small, reassuring smile, before heading off to fetch her bag.

After about twenty minutes he came back, and found the girl in the same spot and position. Her thoughts were interrupted when her bag was dropped in front of her. Confused, she looked up to see Kai, who was now soaked from getting her bag. She felt bad and quickly stood up to give him his blazer back, but he shook his head and, gently, sat her back down, and then seated himself next to her.

Why did I do all of this? Kai thought to himself, as he looked at the ground, silently. The girl, too, looked at the ground, but broke the silence, thanking him, her voice almost a whisper. At hearing her voice, a smile began to appear on Kai’s face. Something that hadn’t happened in a very long time. The girl couldn’t help but to smile back at him, his smile was gorgeous and made her feel a little better. The two were enveloped in silence once again, both enjoying being in the company of another person.