The Boy Who Interrupted My Goodbye

(Luna’s POV)

People say the world gets quieter when you’re about to give up.

They’re right.

The city was still alive that night — cars rushing, laughter echoing from bars, the wind humming through the bridge — but inside me, everything was silent. No heartbeat, no fear, no noise. Just a strange, heavy calm.

I leaned against the cold railing and looked down at the water below. The moon reflected there like a broken coin, trembling each time the current moved. I wondered if it would hurt — the fall, the final breath, the end. Maybe not. Maybe it would be quick.

I didn’t cry. I couldn’t.

I had already wasted too many tears in a home that never heard them.

“Luna, you’re worthless.”

“Why can’t you be like your sister?”

“You’re such a burden.”

The voices replayed like a broken record. My mother’s sharp tone. My father’s silence. My classmates’ laughter behind my back. It all blended into one truth — that maybe the world would be better off without me.

And for once, I agreed.

I climbed the rail slowly, holding the edge for balance. The wind tugged at my hair like invisible fingers, whispering, just one step, it’ll be over.

Then a voice cut through the quiet.

“Hey! If you’re planning to jump, at least wait for me.”

I froze. My hands tightened around the railing.

I turned my head, and there he was — a stranger standing a few meters away. A boy around my age, wearing a hoodie and messy hair that looked like he hadn’t slept in days. He wasn’t panicking. He wasn’t even shouting. He just… smiled.

“What?” I asked, my voice barely a whisper.

He shrugged, walking closer with his hands in his pockets. “I said, wait for me. I might as well join. But I have a few things left to do first.”

I blinked, unsure if I heard him right. “You’re joking.”

“Kind of. But also not.” He stopped a few steps away, leaning on the railing beside me like we were just two friends watching the river. “You know, I’ve been wanting to see this view for a while. Never thought I’d find someone already claiming the spot.”

I didn’t reply. My chest tightened — not from fear, but from confusion. Who jokes like that?

He tilted his head, studying me. “You’re not really going to do it, are you?”

“What if I am?”

“Then at least tell me your name first.”

I frowned. “Why?”

“Because,” he said with a soft laugh, “if you disappear, someone should at least remember what to call the ghost.”

His words made me look at him properly. Under the streetlights, his skin looked pale — too pale — but his eyes… they were alive. Brown, bright, almost golden under the night sky.

“Luna,” I muttered before I could stop myself.

He grinned. “Luna. Like the moon. Figures.”

“And you?” I asked quietly.

“Elior,” he said. “Means ‘my God is my light.’ But honestly, I think it’s ironic.”

I stared at him. “You’re weird.”

“I get that a lot.”

Silence stretched between us. The wind carried the scent of rain. I looked down again, the dark water calling me, but somehow it felt harder now — like he had broken the rhythm of my thoughts.

“Why are you here?” I asked finally.

He smiled faintly. “Same reason as you. I was thinking about endings.”

I frowned. “You don’t look like someone who’d want to die.”

He chuckled, bitterly this time. “That’s funny, because I don’t want to. I actually want to live more than anyone.”

I turned to him, confused. “Then why—”

“I have cancer,” he said, cutting me off, his tone soft but steady. “Stage four. They said I have about a year, maybe less. Depends on luck, I guess.”

My heart dropped. I didn’t know what to say.

He looked at the water and smiled again — the saddest smile I’d ever seen. “So yeah, I came here to remind myself that I’m not afraid yet. I don’t want to jump. I want to live. Every damn second. But I figured, if someone else doesn’t want their life anymore…” He turned to me, eyes glinting. “Maybe I could borrow it.”

“Borrow it?” I repeated, stunned.

“Yeah. You live, but you do the things I wish I could. You breathe for me, laugh for me, travel, mess up, fall in love — all the stupid things people take for granted. Sounds like a fair deal, doesn’t it?”

Something inside me cracked. I’d spent years wanting to vanish, and now someone who was vanishing was asking me to live.

I looked at him again, searching for a trace of mockery, but there was none. Just truth. Just warmth.

“You’re insane,” I whispered.

“Maybe,” he said, smiling wider. “But I think I just saved you.”

The rain began to fall then — small drops that landed softly on our faces. He looked up and spread his arms, letting it soak his hoodie.

“I love the rain,” he said. “It reminds me I’m still here.”

Without realizing it, I stepped down from the railing. The cold pavement under my shoes felt heavier than before, but also… real.

Elior noticed and gave a quiet laugh. “Guess that’s a start.”

I crossed my arms, trying to hide the shaking in my hands. “You’re not going to tell anyone about this, are you?”

He shook his head. “Nah. Your secret’s safe. But only if you promise to meet me here again tomorrow. Same time.”

“Why?”

“Because I’m adding something new to my bucket list,” he said. “Teach someone how to want to live again.”

For the first time in months, I didn’t know what to say.

He waved, backing away slowly. “Goodnight, Luna. Don’t die tonight, okay? I’d be pretty disappointed.”

And just like that, he walked off into the rain — that boy who smiled at death like it was just another passing stranger.

I stood there for a long time after he was gone, my heart pounding for reasons I couldn’t explain.

Maybe it was guilt.

Maybe it was confusion.

Or maybe — just maybe — it was the first sign that I didn’t really want to die after all.

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