The Girl who Knows Nothing

"Life is indeed difficult, but that doesn't mean we can give up. Those who decide to end their lives just because they are hindered by one or two problems are cowards."

***

The afternoon sun was neither hot nor cold. Everyone will agree that the warm weather today will make us feel comfortable. Of course if things go as desired.

Unfortunately, Victor missed the opportunity to enjoy that comfort. His heart was filled with irritation at the endless lectures he had heard from the strange girl in front of him.

"Do not be a coward. Suicide is not an option! Running away from problems won't solve anything," said the girl named Tama vehemently.

Victor smiled sarcastically. He wasn't the one being lectured, but he seemed more annoyed than the boy she was talking to. All right, stop watching. The girl will not stop if it is not stopped.

"Come on, miss. It's useless for you to persuade him," said Victor, moving closer. "Just let him jump. What's the deal with you? You don't know him anyway."

"Not having a relationship doesn't mean I shouldn't care, right?" fierce girl. "I'm not the type to sit quietly watching other people want to kill themselves."

"Which part of your sentence shows concern? Was it when you said you cared about him? When you say the problem he is facing is not difficult? You don't even know what he's been through all this time. Just because you forbid him to kill himself, doesn't mean you care about him."

Victor took a deep breath. All his annoyance had been smoothly vented. "You'd better go. You won't be able to watch the next scene."

Tama seemed to want to argue, but a second later her expression changed. He smiled and withdrew willingly. "I'll leave the rest to you, Vic," she whispered.

Victor wouldn't mind how the girl found out his name. Or why his attitude changed suddenly. The important thing was that she was gone.

"Only the third floor, not very high." Victor also stood on the safety wall with the boy, watching the ground where they would fall. "The ground doesn't look hard enough. Are you sure we'll die if we jump?"

"Thank you."

Victor turned and read the sentence written on the cellphone screen of the boy next to him. "Can not talk?" he asked frontally, then continued with a hand gesture. "Sign language, can you?"

The boy nodded, moving his hand to say, "Yes."

"At first I was surprised, why did you just listen to the chatter of the girl earlier. It turns out so." Victor stretched his arm muscles.

The boy next to Victor did not respond. He just stared at his cellphone screen for a moment, then looked at the sun that was getting lower.

"You haven't told me what you think," said Victor again. "Are you sure we'll die if we jump in here?"

The young man tilted his head, not understanding. It felt like something was wrong with Victor's words.

"I don't like talking to myself. What's your name?"

"R-a-y," Ray spelled using his hand gesture.

"Just so you know, Ray, I've always thought about suicide too. But I'm a coward, so never tried." Victor smiled broadly. "But I guess, if someone accompanies me, I might have some courage."

"Let's join hands and jump together!"

Ray quickly grabbed Victor's outstretched hand. Not to shake hands, but to push Victor down the safety wall.

"Don't play around!" Ray rages. There was no tantrum, but his expression was enough to tell how angry he was.

Victor quickly neutralized his surprise. Rest his chin against the safety wall in a relaxed manner.

"I'm serious. Wouldn't it be nice if we had friends to die with? We might as well arrive in the next world at the same time. We won't be lonely."

"Stop your bullshit and go," Ray said with both hands.

"I'm curious. You seem to intend to forbid me to kill myself. Then why do you even want to kill yourself?"

Ray glanced at the phone screen, then ignored Victor. His eyes focused on the sky that had turned orange.

"Aaah … you are not fun." After thinking for a while, Victor decided to turn around and leave. As per Ray's wish. "My mood suddenly disappeared. I'll just kill myself next time. I hope-"

"Hold him!" shouted Tama while pointing at Ray.

Victor turned and found Ray ready to throw himself. It was a very tense moment when he reflexively grabbed Ray's arm. One second late, Ray must have been covered in blood down there.

"What are you doing?!" Tama ran, and immediately helped pull Ray back up to the side of the roof. "Don't waste your life!"

"If I lean over, I'm bound to fall too, right? It should have been an accident, not a suicide. If you die helping people … I can't possibly regret it, can I?"

Victor's gaze was blank. His mind was lost in his own imagination. He had longed for death for so long, an opportunity like today couldn't come twice. All right, let's try.

"Please, let me go."

The hoarse voice pulled Victor back into consciousness. Thwart his intention to fall together. "You're not mute?" he asked.

"That doesn't matter now! Quickly pull him, I can't handle it anymore," said Tama.

By the time Ray was finally pulled back, it was already getting dark around them.

"My hand hurts," complained Tama who was leaning against the wall.

"Sorry," Ray wrote on his cell phone. He could only kneel with a downcast face.

"Can't you talk earlier? Why write and use sign language?" Victor complained nonchalantly about Ray's condition. Not like a person who just saved a person who was about to commit suicide.

Tama glanced at Ray and Victor in turn. What should she do now? He couldn't bear to see Ray's depressed face, but she didn't want to do anything wrong either.

Ray looked down deeper then said quietly, "You guys shouldn't have saved me."

"Why do you want to end your life so badly?" complained Tama. "Others are desperately trying to survive, and you are wasting the life you have."

"I'm hungry," said Victor. The man stood, observing the forest area around him. "Where are we? Is there a place to eat nearby?"