[PROLOGUE]
The sound of muffled chatter echoed through the thin walls of the cramped apartment, a space barely wide enough to stretch one's arms without brushing against the wall. The air was thick with the faint scent of instant noodles , with a boy slouched over the dimly lit desk in the corner. The digital clock on his screen read 3:47 AM in harsh neon blue. His eyelids sagged.
He was studying; studying hard.
But not because he wanted to. He wasn't studying because he believed in the value of learning. No, he was studying because it was all he'd ever been told to do.
The boy pressed his fingers against his temples. "Just one more hour," he muttered, voice dry and humorless. His lips twitched upward, the faintest ghost of a smirk—his way of laughing at the absurdity of it all.
---
The streets outside were silent, bathed in the dull glow of streetlights. He stepped out of the apartment, the chill of the early morning cutting through his thin hoodie.
Somewhere along the walk, he found himself on a bridge overlooking the highway. Cars zipped by below, their headlights streaking through the dark like falling stars. He leaned against the railing, the cold metal biting into his palms.
For a moment, he closed his eyes, imagining what it would be like to let go. To fall into the void and leave behind everything behind.
A car horn blared below, snapping him out of his thoughts. He sucked in a sharp breath, his heart pounding as if to remind him he was still alive.
---
Hours later, the sun rose, painting the horizon in hues of orange and pink. He hadn't slept, but that was nothing new.
The day dragged on as usual—a haze of meaningless tasks and half-hearted interactions. He floated through life, disconnected, a passenger in his own body.
But fate, or whatever cruel force governed the universe, had other plans for him.
It happened on a rainy evening, the kind where the sky wept as if mourning something yet to come. He had been running late, his mind occupied with a thousand different things. A flash of lightning illuminated the dark street, followed by the deafening roar of thunder.
He never saw the truck.
One moment, he was crossing the road, his hoodie wet against the rain. The next, there was a blinding light and a sensation he couldn't quite describe—weightless, yet suffocating. Pain lanced through his body, sharp and immediate, before fading into a strange numbness.
Time seemed to slow as he lay there, rain pooling around him. People gathered, their voices a blur of panic and urgency, but he couldn't focus on any of them. His vision darkened at the edges, and for the first time, he felt something akin to peace.
But it wasn't peace. It was regret.
He tried to speak, but no words came. Tears pricked at the corners of his eyes.
As the world faded to black, a single thought echoed in his mind: I don't want to die.
And then, nothing.