Night wrapped the old bridge in silence. Evelyn stood at the railing where she once stood in life—same wind, same smell, same emptiness. She didn't expect anyone to come by this late.
Footsteps. Slow, tired.
A boy.
He paused near her, staring like he was trying to understand something impossible.
"...Woah," he whispered. "She's beautiful."
Evelyn's eyes widened. 'He can see me?'
No one ever looked at her. People just passed through her like air.
"You—" she pointed at him, confused. "You see me?"
He blinked, startled. "Uh… yeah? Wait—am I not supposed to?"
Evelyn hesitated, voice soft. "Humans… don't see me."
Rey looked at her for a long moment. "You're a ghost?" he said quietly.
She nodded.
Instead of stepping back, he smiled.
A small, gentle one that didn't flinch.
"Then… you must've been really lonely," he whispered. "So if it's alright—maybe I can stay for a while."
Evelyn blinked at him. "You're strange."
He sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "Yeah… I get that a lot."
Their conversations began that night.
Rey leaned on the bridge railing—right beside her
"I'm Ren," he murmured.
Only now did she whisper, "Evelyn."
Their conversations began that night.
Ren looked out at the river.
"I've been seeing ghosts since I was a kid," he admitted. "At first I cried every night because I thought they'd hurt me. But… hearing their stories changed that. They were sad, lost… human. So I learned to listen."
He shrugged lightly. "Most of the time I ignore them, but if they talk—if they really want someone—I listen."
Evelyn tilted her head. "And you just let them?"
Ren nodded. "They tell me things. Regrets. Memories. Sometimes how they died."
A humorless chuckle escaped him. "Real people don't really talk to me, anyway."
She frowned. "What do you mean?"
He laughed, but it wasn't happy. "My house? Empty. Parents divorced. Then they made new families—without me. I'm like the extra piece no one knows where to put."
He breathed out. "No friends. I eat alone, sleep alone. Talking to a ghost honestly feels… better than talking to humans."
Something in Evelyn pulled tight.
"You're lonely," she whispered.
Ren looked down. "I'm used to it."
Evelyn gazed at him with a sadness that felt familiar.
"You're the first person to talk to me," she said softly. "After I died."
Ren turned to her, gentle.
"Do you want to tell me?"
Her voice wavered. "How I died?"
He nodded.
"I jumped," she whispered. "Right here. I was tired… everything felt too heavy. I thought no one would care if I disappeared."
Her voice cracked. "But I regret it. I saw my family… crying. My friends… searching. They cared. I just didn't stay long enough to see it."
When she told him she jumped, Ren tightened his fists on the railing.
"You shouldn't have had to carry that alone," he murmured.
"You didn't deserve the silence you drowned in. If someone had just listened… if someone had just held you for a second…"
He exhaled. "I'm here now. I'll listen for as long as you need."
Evelyn smiled.
Every night after school, they met at the bridge.
Talking. Laughing. Existing together in a space between life and death.
One night, he hesitated, staring at his own hand. "Do you think… I could ever touch you?"
Evelyn tried lifting her hand to his.Their fingers passed through each other like wind.
She gave a sad smile. "I wish you could."
Ren swallowed. "…Me too."
A week later, Ren arrived—late, weak, and bruised everywhere.
His knuckles were scraped. His cheek swollen. His lip freshly split.
But what scared Evelyn most was the way he tried to smile like nothing hurt.
"Ren—" Her voice broke. "What happened to you?"
He opened his mouth to answer—but instead he tried to smile for a bit but couldn't hold it anymore.
And then he suddenly collapsed against the railing, shaking.
Evelyn froze. She had never seen him break before.
Ren squeezed his eyes shut, fists trembling.
"I—I tried," he whispered, voice cracking. "I really tried to keep everything together but—"
His breath hitched. "They caught me again. Those guys at school. They kept hitting me, they wouldn't stop—"
His words crumbled into sobs he tried to swallow back.
"My grades… dropped. My parents said they're done with me. They're cutting my allowance, taking my phone, and they don't want to see me for a while." His voice was shaking so hard it almost disappeared.
"They said they're ashamed of me, Evelyn. Ashamed."
He covered his face with his bruised hands, trying to hide the shaking.
Evelyn stepped closer—not touching, but close enough to feel like she could wrap him somehow. "Ren… breathe. I'm here."
Her voice softened. "Let it out. I won't leave. Just… breathe."
He cried silently for a long time, letting everything spill into the night.
And only when he finally calmed. He looked at evelyn and smiled.
His eyes were red, tired, and unbearably gentle.
"Evelyn… I'm really grateful for you," he whispered. "Being here with you—it's the only time I don't feel like I'm falling apart."
He swallowed, voice thick. "I mean it. I… I love you."
Evelyn froze.
Ren took a shaky breath. "What if… what if I just stay with you? Forever? What if I just—"
Her expression changed instantly.
"Ren. No." Her voice wasn't soft this time.
"Don't say that. Don't even think it."
"We would be happy, evelyn." He said and smiling like an idiot.
"Fuck no, ren. Stop fucking thinking about that."
He blinked—then stepped back
"O-Oh—hey—it was a joke," he said quickly, forcing a laugh. "I was just kidding, okay? Don't be mad."
She didn't answer.
And Ren pretended not to notice how her silence scared him.
"Don't ever think about dying and don't make a joke like that." Evelyn said and glaring at him.
He forced himself to smile, "I won't do it again.."
"You better promise me" She stepped closer and glared at him.
"I promise."
The next night, he didn't come.
Or the next.
Or the next.
Three days. Three nights. Nothing.
Evelyn stayed on the bridge, hoping—terrified—waiting.
But on the fourth night, Ren appeared.
Smiling.
Like nothing happened.
"Eveeeelyn!" he called out dramatically, waving his arms like some hyper kid. "Miss me?"
Evelyn blinked at him, confused. "…Ren?"
"Who else?" He grinned, hopping up onto the railing like always. "You look like you saw a ghost. Oh—wait." He laughed at his own joke.
He was… different.
Cheerful. Talkative. Almost too happy.
But Evelyn forced herself to accept it, relieved he was there—so she ignored it.
And just like that, they spent the whole week together again.
Saturday night came.
Evelyn suddenly stopped walking.
Ren took a few more steps before he realized she was no longer beside him.
He turned, still smiling playfully.
"Hey—why'd you stop—?"
Her eyes were already on him.
"Ren," she whispered, "why are you wearing your uniform? It's… Saturday."
He tried to play it cool.
He glanced to the side, avoiding her eyes.
"Oh—uh—I just… grabbed the wrong clothes, I guess."
"Ren."
He froze.
The wind blew between them. It was cold.
"…Are you dead?"
He didn't speak.
Didn't move.
The smile slowly melted off his face.
His shoulders dropped. And he stared at the ground like it hurt to look at her.
"Ren," she repeated, voice trembling, "are you dead?"
It was silence at first but then—
"Yes."
She frozed.
"No," she whispered, stepping back. "No. You promised. You PROMISED me."
Ren finally looked up.
"I know," he whispered. "I did."
Evelyn's voice cracked. "Why did you do that?! Why—why would you leave your whole life behind—why would you—"
Her words dissolved into sobs she couldn't swallow.
Ren stepped forward slowly.
"Evelyn," he murmured, "please… look at me."
She shook her head violently, tears running down her face.
"Why?" she cried. "Why would you do that to yourself? Why did you leave? Why didn't you stay alive? Why did you choose—this? Why did you choose ME?"
Ren reached out—and this time, his hand didn't pass through her.
His thumb brushed her cheek, wiping a tear.
"Because I love you."
Evelyn stared at him, stunned and hurting.
"Ren," she whispered, voice breaking, "you idiot."
He smiled faintly.
"You absolute idiot," she said louder, hitting his chest weakly. "You stupid, selfish, f***ing dumbass—"
Ren laughed softly, almost relieved to hear her swear at him.
"I know," he whispered. "I know. I'm sorry."
She grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him into her, burying her face against him. Her tears soaked into him.
"I hate you," she sobbed. "You promised you wouldn't die—"
"I know," he murmured, holding her tighter. "I know."
"You're so f***ing stupid," she whispered into his shoulder.
"And I'm yours," he whispered back.
Evelyn slowly lifted her head, her forehead pressing against his.
She stared into his eyes. "I'm still mad at you."
He smiled. "You can be mad forever. I'm not going anywhere now."
Evelyn's lips trembled.
"Ren…"
He leaned in, just barely touching her nose with his.
"I love you," he breathed.
Her eyes closed.
And she kissed him.
—END—