The First Tale

He wasn't any more different than you, no different than any one of us living on this planet.

He was human, alive, and breathed the same toxic fumes of the same polluted air.

His movements were unstable, bumping shoulders with faceless strangers; yelled and shoved away by them in indignation.

His eyes remained devoid of emotion.

Yongguk was alone—having always been pushed aside by society.

Why was he so weird? What made him so different from everybody else?

Melancholy wrenched the beating heart of her chest; she sauntered the crosswalk, gazing at the blinking pedestrian signal. 

He had disappeared at this very same place—this very same crosswalk he strode on everyday.

Nobody knew. 

Nobody noticed.

But she did.

She hadn't reached her hand out to him on time. The moment she had finally held onto his, he had already made up his mind to erase his existence from the world.

She rubbed the tears that fell from her eyes.