𖤐⭒๋࣭ ⭑ this side of paradise: the remake

Chapter 2.

- I've never been in love, I've been alone

Emil shut the door of his room, then threw his backpack on his bed and laid on the floor.
His backpack landed nearby him. His aim sucked.

Why was life so draining?

"Why do you even exist?"
"Probably the world would be a better place without you"
"W- w- w- where d- do y- y- you th- th- think y- y- you're g- g- going, B- B- Bondevik?"
"Kill yourself"

What if they were right?
Maybe they were right.
If he died, the world would've been such a better place...
Maybe he just had to die.
Maybe he just had to end it all at that right time.
Maybe he was just a burden. He probably was... Matthias and Lukas probably hated him, didn't they? Who wouldn't hate him anyway? He was such a pathetic little human being...

Tears started streaming down his cheeks for the second time that day. He was crying again...
Damn, why was he so emotional?!
Couldn't he just fucking di-

As he thought that, he felt a buzz coming from his hoodie's pocket. Buzz... it had to be his phone, but he didn't want to check the notification. It had to be one of those bitchless assholes making fun of him on Instagram again.

At the third buzz, he took a deep breath and looked at the notification... and went pale as he read, "An unread message from +86 *** *** ****".

Emil had never seen that prefix in his whole life... not like he saw a lot of them. Only +47... Norway's.
He didn't even know how those things worked. For what he knew, that prefix could've been from the other side of the world.

He probably had to just ignore the message or block and report the number... but he was thrilled someone actually texted him.
So he did open the chat, shaking a little.

Unknown: yo random stranger
Nice to meet ya
It's midnight here and i cant sleep, wanna b friends??

Emil stared at the messages for a fair bit. That was... relatable. He decided to text back.

E: who r you? And how the heck did you get my number?

Unknown: lmfao random number generator

Emil was 99.9% sure that taking random phone numbers on the internet and putting them in a website was illegal.

Unknown: um anyway i'm gonna introduce myself if you dont mind
I'm Leon, 16 years old, and I live in China (but i was born in England)

... Was that information really necessary?
Emil was going to block and report anyway...

L: what about u???

OF COURSE Emil wouldn't tell him. They were a stranger, and Lukas would kill him if he gave personal information to a stranger.

E: "Stranger danger"? Ever heard of that?

L: no

E: i can tell
I'm not telling you my personal informations

L: oooooo come on, why not?? I just want friends ;-;
I'm not a ped0 or a murd3rer or a r4pist or anything yk?

How was Emil supposed to believe this guy?
He could be fifty years old for what he knew.

E: no

L: pretty please? <3

Emil couldn't help but cringe. He sighed deeply.