In a dark room, a single light shone. The light seemed to be from a phone. A boy was holding the phone, swiping it down from time to time.
The boy had no notable features to speak of: black hair, an average face, and a blank expression. If you had to speak of one notable feature, it would be how average he looked.
"Ah..." A sigh echoed in the silent room. "Why isn't there an interesting story? Always about revenge and generic harems with dumb protagonists," Leon complained as he dropped the phone onto the bed.
"Life is boring," Leon echoed with a blank expression. Life was never interesting for him. Maybe some being had just cursed his life with mundanity and loneliness.
Leon was an orphan through and through. Apparently, his parents had abandoned him in front of an orphanage when he was a mere infant. He grew up in the orphanage from childhood through his school years and then moved out.
Leon was happy in his early years at the orphanage, but his childhood friends were adopted while he was not. Maybe this was the first and only straw that broke the little boy. No family considered adopting him after seeing his gloomy aura and expression.
He was the way he was because he had no friends, and he did not take the next step to socialize in school. Basically, he was an outcast, with below-average academic skills which didn't help his case.
While he was thinking of going out to take a smoke, a repeated knock echoed from the door. "Who would look for me at this time?" Leon was confused and walked towards the door to open it.
He switched on the light and opened the door to find a middle-aged lady with a scowl on her face. 'This She-Devil, why did she come at this time!!!' Leon shouted in his mind but still had a blank expression.
"Landlady, why did you knock at this time?" Leon asked the woman in front of him. The scowl on her face didn't disappear as she shouted, "Who would want to look for your sorry face if not for the rent you are already two months behind!!" in a single breath.
"I'll pay it back as soon as I get my paycheck. I also joined a convenience store for a part-time job," Leon reasoned with the landlady.
But her stern appearance continued as she said, "No need for the rent as you'll be moving out soon. I'll give you 10 days to clean up and get out of my flat." After explaining the reason for her visit, she scurried away.
Leon still had the blank look on his face as he closed the door. He leaned on the door for support to sit and buried his head in his hands.
"WHY, WHY, WHY, WHY, does every single shitty thing happen in my shitty life!!!" Leon shouted as he started pulling his hair. "Maybe this is what I should get for being a total gloomy piece of shit. Maybe this is what I should get for being an unsociable piece of shit. Maybe... I should die." Leon muttered with gritted teeth and had a blank look as he arrived at the final sentence.
As soon as he arrived at the thought of killing himself, the idea spread through his mind like the coronavirus spread throughout the world.
This was not the first time he thought about killing himself during his long years of life. But he always chickened out and told himself that he would improve himself and get his life together.
"Yeah, I should... It's not like somebody's going to miss me, it's not like I have some parents to take care of me, not like there's any friends who would stick out for me, not like there is any reason to live," Leon murmured with a gloomy expression.
Leon knew that this was going to be the final day of his life. He stood up, looked around the room, and sighed. He didn't have any particular memories of this place. He just took his only possession, his phone, and a cigarette.
He planned to go to an abandoned building in the periphery to jump off. He didn't plan to commit suicide in this room or building. He didn't want to be an inconvenience to anyone even after his death.
After exiting his apartment, he started walking towards the abandoned building near him. No one would know that the seemingly ordinary youth was walking towards death.
After five minutes of walking, he arrived at his destination. In front of him was an ordinary building of eight floors which looked like a withered tree. This gloomy building and Leon complemented each other.
'So this is where many suicides happen,' Leon thought to himself as he entered inside. He already knew this building because there were many cases of suicide reported. From all these cases, you would think someone would keep an eye on this place, but it still looked abandoned and beat.
'You are also alone, huh?' Leon thought about the state of the building as he made his way to the top floor. Only his steps echoed through the silence. After walking for two minutes, he arrived at the eighth floor. Beads of sweat could be seen on his young face. His chest heaved up and down, showing that his physical condition was poor.
'AHH...AHH...AHH... WHY...IS THIS SO HAR...D' Leon muttered with difficulty as he leaned against the nearest wall. Leon was poor in both academics and sports, which was evident from his reaction to the climb.
After catching his breath, he looked for the ledge. His final moments of life were coming, and he didn't show any expression on the subject. This showed that Leon had already given up on his life.
Leon stepped towards the edge and looked downwards to see the height, and it looked like his life was going to certainly end if he jumped from here. Then he climbed the ledge to prepare for his life's final action. As he looked towards the city, only one thought came to his mind.
'Beautiful.' Yeah, that's the thought that came to his mind. As the lights shone in the dark atmosphere, it gave a serene feeling. 'To think that I lived in this beautiful city but still had an unmeaningful life shows that my decision was correct.' He convinced himself with this wrong notion to strengthen his resolve to die. 'Not like anything is going to change my mind.'
As he stepped on the ledge and looked towards the city covered with lights, his whole life seemed to flash through his mind. Any childish naivety he had was extinguished as everyone around him was adopted while he was alone. Maybe if he had kept a sunny expression, he would have been adopted long ago. But how would a child know that? He didn't know that, so his life was the way it was.
These things acted as the base for his future, and nothing ever went his way. No adults to guide him through his childhood, no friend to spend time with in his teenage years.
If someone asked if he resented his parents for abandoning him, his answer would be no because who would love someone like him.
'Maybe... I would have led a different life if they hadn't abandoned me.' Leon shook his head to get rid of the thoughts of things that didn't happen. Anyway, he had already decided his end.
Leon took the cigarette he brought and when he kept it in mouth, he remembered that he forgot to bring a lighter. 'My shitty luck.' Leon threw the cigarette down.
'I wonder what others thought when they stood here.' He let out a sigh to clear his mind of distracting thoughts and looked downwards to take the next step. At that time, suddenly, a bright light seemed to be passing through the sky. When he saw the source of the sudden bright light, he determined it was a meteor passing through the sky. 'Who would have thought that I would see a meteor at the time I was going to take my life?' he thought as he identified the meteor passing through.
Then he remembered the saying that one should make a wish when they see a meteor. As he thought of this, he put his hands together to make a wish.
He wished with utmost sincerity, 'Please give me a painless death...'
As soon as he echoed his wishes in his mind, time seemed to stop. The meteor passing through the sky seemed to give off a pulsating light. When he saw that the meteor gave a small pulsing light as though it acknowledged his wish, he thought, 'What is this...' His words came to a sudden stop as he noticed the meteor giving a bright light.
All he could see was a blinding light that seemed to invade his mind through his eyes. As the light blinded his sight, his foot on the ledge slipped. As he fell towards his death, there was no screaming or such. Only one thought seemed to come to his mind, 'Who would have thought that even death wouldn't come from my own action?' Even when falling to his death, only white light filled his eyes. And then he hit the ground.
'THUD.'