At the Rooftop

When did she start dreaming to become a detective? Iseul was not sure. It was probably because of Haneul who loved to watch mystery movies with her. It was probably because of all the crime solving films that the two sisters watched. Whatever the reason was, being a detective had became Iseul's dream. Her mother did not like the thought of it. The sisters were upset because of it but Iseul decided that it would be fun to live in that dream for a moment. Hence, their detective club came to light. It was like killing two birds with one stone, she lived her dream and there might be a chance that their mother would finally allow them to become detectives. That dream? It came crumbling down just because of the school rules. Sighing for the umpteenth time, she headed to the rooftop that lunch time after their confrontation with the old bald principal.

It was the place where she could clear her mind—no matter how cliché that was. She expected the cool breeze to embrace her frail body and for the silence to envelope the air. It did happen, just as she thought although not exactly what she expected. The moment she pushed the door open, she yelped in surprise. There was another person besides herself and that person was standing at the edge of the rooftop as if ready to jump into his death. Iseul did not need to think twice or to doubt, she could not let the man die.

"Don't jump!" She yelled, completely grabbing the attention of the boy whose eyes widened upon seeing Iseul. Thinking that it was because he was caught trying to commit suicide, Iseul opened her mouth to speak even more and walked closer to the boy. "It's hard, right? So hard to the point that you want to just escape, right? I understand how you feel… I understand it but…" She trailed off, tears unconsciously starting to build in her eyes. She could not imagine how harsh the world was for the boy that he even thought of ending his life. "Please don't do it. Think about everyone who loves you."

The boy looked appalled as he slowly came down from the rooftop's railing then he walked towards Iseul. "I-I… you misunderstood," he stuttered in a heavily accented Korean.

"What would I misunderstand? You're trying to kill yourself! Did you even think about the people who treasure you with all their hearts? Please, tell me what's wrong. I'll help you. Just…" Tears were flowing out of Iseul's eyes as she spoke. "Just please don't kill yourself."

"But I'm not trying to…" the boy trailed off, walking closer to Iseul, looking so guilty that he made a girl cry for climbing at the rooftop's innocent railing.

Iseul felt how the boy awkwardly put his hand on her right shoulder, patting her as if trying to stop her from crying. Because of this action, the girl cried even harder, burying her face on her palms. Her shoulders were visibly shaking due to crying so much. "You see, my club just got shut down today, my whole life is in vain. My dreams? They got stepped on. Still, I did not think about killing myself, why? Because there are people who care about me. You probably feel the same but…" She choked on her own words. "B-but killing yourself, would that really make you feel happy?"

"Please don't cry." The boy's voice was filled with awkwardness and guilt as he spoke softly.

Just then, the rooftop's door burst open and Iseul heard an unfamiliar voice of a boy speaking in another language—Chinese to be exact. Curious, Iseul lifted her head to look at the newcomer. She did not need to understand Chinese as the newcomer's action showed it all, he seemed to be asking the suicidal boy about what was happening.

"He tried to kill himself," Iseul replied, explaining it for the later despite still sobbing.

"Ah…" The newcomer dumbly nodded his head only to freeze after a second or two as if what Iseul said just hit him. Iseul noticed how the newcomer's eyes changed to a clear look of worry—she was a detective after all, she needed to know at least that much. "Why would he?!" He asked in a very much accented Korean.

"It was a misunderstanding!" The other boy defended himself.

Upon hearing the defense of the boy, Iseul could not help but to shed more tears. "You should know that suicide is not the answer. What does death do? It does not end anything, only your life and dreams. Will you really be happy like that? Will you?" She asked, her body was shaking as she did. Her eyes landed at the first boy's nametag—Yi Jackson, it said. "Mr. Yi Jackson, please don't do this to yourself."

"How could you...?" The newcomer asked the other boy—whose name was Jackson—in pure disbelief.

"Although I know that I've said this before, I am saying it again. You can end suffering by killing yourself yet that would also be the end of everything. Everything that you have worked hard for until now… all of those… will all fade in a blink of an eye," Iseul cried, burying her face on her palms again.

The newcomer sighed, as if agreeing with Iseul. "Death is inevitable and it could only happen once. Once you're dead, turning back is not an option. I didn't know that you were lonely. You should have said so," he added, words were a mix of Chinese and Korean.