deceit • Han Seojun x Kang Soojin

67. if we have each other

When the world's not perfect
When the world's not kind
If we have each other, then we'll both be fine

- if we have each other (alec benjamin)

67. if we have each other

Yoon Jaehun never wanted to be a lawyer.

He was an average Korean boy whose parents had way too high expectations from him. He had no friends growing up because of his poor status. He was often bullied with remarks and jibes and laughter and mockery to a point his self-esteem had been buried underground. He hated being a miserable being with nothing to do than study.

When he could not clear his entrance examinations and was afraid to go back home which was a tiny town at the other end of the country, Jaehun decided it best to end the madness.

So he researched the best ways to die. More convenient, less painful and fastest way to leave this hell he was in. The most common way to die in Busan was by jumping in the sea and Gwangan Bridge was fairly nearer and less patrolled.

So Yoon Jaehun woke up in his dorm that day with a determined goal. He had one day to live and he decided to skip the lectures, the classes and the mock trial tests and made his way to the library. He returned the books he borrowed and thanked the old librarian, despite her not really remembering the timid boy seated in the farthest corner of the huge library.

He ate hot ramyeon in the convenience store, burning his throat with some spicy sauce and chugged a whole packet of his favourite drink.

The blueberry shake.

He did not have to spend money on caffeine today. He hated how he had to choose coffee over his favourite just so he could study more.

That made him smile.

He tipped the cashier because the boy reminded him of all the sleepless nights he spent behind the counter to get some extra cash. With more money to spend, Jaehun headed to the play he always wanted to see and sat through the entire two-hour play.

He missed how content he felt while watching theatre and cinema.

After the play, Jaehun headed to the bank and transferred all of the remaining money he had to the account of his mother. It was not much since he hardly earned anything, but it would cover his funeral expenses.

He had the exact change he needed for a cab fare to the bridge and a note typed in his mobile phone and tipped the remainder of the money to the cab driver who drove off from the middle of the bridge without a worry.

Anyone could tell that Yoon Jaehun was ready to face death.

The librarian who saw Jaehun share a smile, the one she had seen on students who had also killed themselves. She did not say anything because he wasn't the first. The cashier who met his defeated gaze and lowered his because he wasn't going to let a stranger hamper his mental. The cab driver who knew exactly why a young man wanted to stop in the middle of the bridge this close to a night but did nothing because he had a long day and two wailing kids to see back home.

Anyone could tell Jaehun wanted to die. But no one cared.

Except for that bike rider who sped past the boy who stood at the edge of the bridge and stopped immediately.

Kang Soojin looked once at the boy and was funnily enough for Jaehun to have someone who cared.

"You don't have to do this." She yelled from a safe distance so he would not do anything irrational. "Don't do it."

"You don't know me." Jaehun hated how he was near to tears for a strange woman riding a motorbike.

"If you jump, I'll have to jump." Soojin shrugged, and pointed at herself. "And then there'll be police here in no time, you will have to pay fine, I'll have to narrate the incidents, I'll be late to work tomorrow, my Team Leader will kill me and then you will have to pay for my funeral. Or, we could just step back and have a conversation."