Trigger Warning: Suicidal thoughts and violence are mentioned in this fictional story.
What’s the point? Ha-na pondered to herself. She had been bullied all her life for having a wealthy family. She took a deep breath. This was the most exhilarating thing she had ever done, climbing 50 flights of stairs to get to this rundown rooftop.
“They called me a coward, but I’ll show them, I’ll show them all,” she exclaimed before slipping on the dusty ledge and falling backwards.
She began to tear up. “I can’t do anything right,” she cried.
She laid there for a while, quietly weeping. Before this, her mind was in a haze. However, looking up at the clear, azure sky, everything felt so peaceful. The noise from the bustling city and endless traffic were nowhere to be heard. The wind ever so gently blew past her golden-brown hair, drying her tears. But something didn’t sit quite right. Not too far away, she heard thumping. Thump after thump, it started to get on her nerves. She decided to gather herself and got up to see where it was coming from. As she glanced around the desolate rooftop, she noticed a burly teenage boy, unusually tall for his age, punching a sandbag.
The boy quickly noticed that the girl was watching him, and said in a loud, gruff voice, “You done trying to kill yourself, missy?”
“Y-you saw!?” Ha-na softly shrieked.
“Yeah, go find some other building to do that,” he replied without a shred of sympathy.
“Fine! Maybe I will.”
Ha-na stormed back down through the rusty stairs, red with embarrassment. “How could someone be so insensitive?” she murmured to herself as she paced back home.
When Ha-na got home, her mother Angie ran and threw her arms around Ha-na. “Where were you? It’s late, we were so worried!”
But Ha-na marched straight into her room, unwavered by her mother’s compassion.
“Tomorrow,” Ha-na muttered to herself, “tomorrow for sure.”
Soon, dawn broke, marking the start of a new day. Ha-na went to school, where of course she got bullied. But at this point, it had already become a routine. She was used to being mistreated and isolated. She was sitting alone as per usual during lunch break, when TWACK, a large figure sat in front of her, slamming his food tray. It was the boy from yesterday. “I’m Evan Miao, what’s your story?” Flustered, Ha-na simply stood up and walked away.
The school bell rang soon after, and students rushed to leave. Ha-na was no exception. She slowly made her way back to the rooftop, the place where she was going to end it all.
When she arrived, she noticed the boy smoking by the ledge. As she approached him, he began, “Thought you’d never show up.”
“What kind of a sicko are you?” Ha-na demanded.
“No, no – it’s not what you’re thinking,” he chuckled. “I just think that it’s cute.”
“What’s cute? Trying to do that?”
“No. You are.”
Ha-na blushed.
“I mean, I don’t look bad, but cu… cute? No one’s ever called me cute and meant it.” Ha-na stuttered.
“But I do.”
The duo stood there awkwardly, looking at each other, eventually sitting down on the ledge together in silence. Hours passed, and Ha-na finally broke the silence, “Ha-na, Do Ha-na.”
“What?” said Evan, dumbfounded.
She raised her voice, “That’s my name, you big buffoon!” And began to throw a small fit, which caused her to lose her footing. This is it, she thought to herself. Then Evan, barely grabbing her arm, pulled her in, and held her close. She could feel his rough, meaty hands grabbing her tightly by the waist, just like a scene out of a movie. Snap snap – went his fingers. “Earth to Ha-na, helloooo, are you there?” Evan questioned sarcastically. Red-faced, Ha-na gently shoved him back and left for home without saying a word.
Months passed and the pair would meet on the rooftop every day and talk about all sorts of nonsensical things; from how her hair got caught in the door that one time, or how he ruptured a vessel from trying to do the splits. Days were good, and that was enough for Ha-na. From time to time, Ha-na would also help Evan with homework as she received top-of-the-line private tutoring, and Evan would teach her how to wash the dishes or complete basic house chores.
Evan lived alone, so no one ever questioned why she was always over. Of course, Ha-na’s mother was always worried sick, but seeing how Ha-na stopped coming home with a frown, she would never take her daughter’s happiness away like that by stopping her.
One night, the two were enjoying a movie together and lost track of time. “Look at the time Evan!” Ha-na gasped. “I’ll walk you home,” Evan offered.
A coy smile played on Ha-na’s lips as she simply nodded. As they slowly made their way to Ha-na’s place, they were stopped by two shady chaps.
“Lose the chick, and we’ll let you live,” one of them said as the other brandished his switchblade. Ha-na was unable to move; every fibre of her body was frozen stiff with fear. Evan inhaled sharply before striking the man with a heavy blow to the chest, rendering him immobilized. “You’ll regret this!” the other man berated, before picking up his accomplice and making a run for it. “Bad neighbourhood,” Evan remarked.
Evan dropped Ha-na off. Saying his goodbyes, he turned and left. Ha-na made her way inside. As she entered, lights suddenly flooded her living room, and there stood her sour-faced mother. Ha-na made a beeline to her room, but Angie stopped her in her tracks. “Where do you think you’re going, young lady?” she squawked.
“Urgh, to my room Mother,” Ha-na replied in a disdainful tone.
Angie’s attitude changed in a flash as she continued in a cheery voice, “Who’s the hunk? I want all the juicy details.” Ha-na grinned, and for the first time in years, the two connected.
Meanwhile, Evan was ambling his way home, but en-route, he came across the two chaps from earlier. This time, there was a much larger group with them. Evan played it smart, he pulled his hood down and began sprinting. FWEEEET came a loud whistle from behind. “That’s the lad that did Hickinbottoms in. GET HIM!” yelled a man in the group.
Evan escaped to the alleys, but being outnumbered, he was eventually cornered. Evan knew running was no longer an option. He steadied breathing, and made a beckoning gesture with his fingers. “Come!” he hollered. They charged at him, but he wasn’t afraid.
One at a time, he took them down. Like a tank, he ploughed through them. However, due to their sheer numbers, they eventually got the better of him. Try as he did, they overpowered him and brought him to his knees. Their leader, the man who first approached him while Ha-na was still with him, stepped up. “Not so tough now are ya, huh?” He snickered, spitting on Evan’s face.
The man walked off and made a gesture at his subordinates. They proceeded to beat him up. Nearby residents could hear the sounds, but none dared to interfere. He tried to endure it thinking, At least Ha-na is safe. Eventually, the police caught wind of this and went to investigate, but by the time they got there, Evan was no longer moving.
The next day, Ha-na went to school as usual but found it strange that Evan didn’t sit with her during lunch break. After school, the only thing on her mind was giving Evan an earful for ditching her. The 50 flights of stairs were now a breeze with how often she came to visit Evan. To her surprise, he wasn’t there. Ha-na grew anxious. She went to the 37th floor, where he resided, but he wasn’t there either, so she tried asking his neighbours. Door after door, she knocked, but none could bother to answer her. Finally, one of his neighbours finally answered her cries.
“What’s with all this racket?”an infuriated, grey-haired lady shouted.
“Have you seen a freakishly tall, young man by the name of Evan recently?” Ha-na inquired.
“I can’t say I have, sorry to disappoint, dear. But stop causing all this din.”
Ha-na started trudging off, brimming with disappointment. But he has never abandoned me before, she thought to herself as she was about to make her descent down the stairs. Just then, she heard some footsteps coming from below. Feeling hopeful, she hurried down the stairs, only to be disappointed once again. It was only a middle-aged couple, making their way back home. There she stood, about to burst into tears.
The couple paid her no mind, continuing their ascent, chattering without a care in the world. “Did you hear about the towering lad who got beat up last night by Mondstadt? Heard it was quite brutal.” said the man to his wife. Ha-na came to a spontaneous realisation. That’s the place we passed by last night on the way home where we saw the thugs. Ha-na bought the local newspaper from the nearby paper shop, and there it was on the front page: Teenaged Student Battered in Alley. She scanned through the article in disbelief, noting the hospital the student was currently being treated at – Mercy Hospital.
She hurriedly made her way there, barely being able to keep her emotions in. When she got there, she asked the receptionist where she could find the lad from the newspaper. “Sorry, but he is currently under police surveillance, thus no visitors are…” the receptionist monotonously spoke before looking up and seeing the amount of anguish Ha-na was in.
“Ward F, Room 7,” the receptionist said. “Thank you,” Ha-na hastily replied, running off to look for the right ward.
“The other way!” shouted the receptionist sympathetically.
“Thanks again!” came Ha-na’s fading reply as she ran off.
When she got there and took a good look at the patient, she knew, as disfigured as he looked. That was Evan. She was overwhelmed. Never had she ever felt such a strong surge of emotions washing over her, like a raging tsunami, pulverising her heart into smithereens.
This was too much, not even the years of bullying made her feel this way. She was crushed, shattered. She couldn’t stop it, her tears streamed down her soft, rosy cheeks like a river. Her cries echoed throughout the deserted halls of the hospital.
Hours passed, and a doctor was passing by and noticed the weeping. He happened to be a friend of her mother’s and recognized Ha-na. He called Angie up and told her about the situation. It wasn’t long before Angie arrived.
Before she got a chance to console Ha-na, the doctor updated her on Evan’s condition. “He’s barely holding on. There’s not much we can do, especially with his lack of financial backing. It’s most likely that we’ll have to pull the plug.”
Hana overheard this and wailed, “YOU CAN’T DO THIS! It’s… it’s not fair. He worked hard to survive, he doesn’t have his parents anymore, but that doesn’t mean you get to dictate whether he lives or dies. My mom will pay for his bills,” she paused, “won’t you Mum?” Her mother sighed, nodding with a worried smile. “We’ll do what we can.” said the doctor.
Weeks passed, there was never a day where Ha-na never visited him, and eventually, he began to regain consciousness. The first thing he saw when he opened his eyes, was Ha-na. Tears were welling up in her glassy, dark brown eyes. “You’re back!” she exclaimed, hugging him so hard that it was suffocating. Pop – came a sound from his ribs.
“Okay, maybe I missed you a little too much, I’ve been visiting you every day. Waiting for…” Ha-na began excitedly before Evan cut her off, mouthing the words, “I… love… you…” Ha-na smiled from ear to ear, “I love you too, you silly goose.” She proceeded to fill him in on all the things he had missed out on.
It took a while, but Evan was finally discharged. Both of them knew he only had a few years left due to the effects of the incident, so they made the most out of it. They got married at a young age, and had the time of their lives, whether it be travelling abroad or cuddling up by the campfire.
Eventually, the day came when he passed, but much earlier than expected. Initially, Ha-na was devastated. She had so many more plans, places to visit, and thrills to seek with Evan, but she knew she had to look to the future.
In time, she came to realise that there was no point in being sad that he was gone, but instead she should be happy that he was there.
