That afternoon, the city felt more suffocating than usual.
The remnants of the festival’s excitement from a few weeks ago had long since faded away, leaving behind nothing but the roar of traffic and the thick pollution that weighed heavily on the air.
Charlotte walked casually along the sidewalk, enjoying the lingering breeze of the evening while carrying her small bag.
For a brief moment, she allowed herself to enjoy a little break from the exhaustion of the day.
Her steps came to a halt at a fairly busy intersection.
The traffic light ahead had turned completely red, forcing the line of vehicles to come to a stop.
At the very front, right behind the stop line, a middle aged woman sat quietly on her old scooter.
She wore a worn out Bogo helmet and a faded fabric jacket.
Perhaps she was on her way home after a long day of selling goods or taking care of her household.
But the peaceful atmosphere of the evening was shattered within seconds.
From the opposite direction, a luxurious sedan came speeding down the road at an absurd pace, completely disregarding common sense.
The car weaved recklessly between other vehicles as though the entire road belonged to its driver.
Even when the warning lights came on, the driver did not slow down.
Instead, he stepped on the gas and violently ran the red light.
BRRAKKKKK!
The deafening sound of metal crashing into metal echoed through the intersection, followed by the ear piercing screech of tires.
The collision was unavoidable.
The woman’s scooter was sent several meters across the asphalt, scattering pieces of broken plastic and throwing off a few tiny sparks.
Her body was violently thrown to the ground.
As if fate had decided to make things even worse, the heavy scooter toppled directly onto her left leg, trapping her helplessly beneath it.
A scream of pain immediately escaped her lips.
Meanwhile, the driver of the luxury car quickly turned the wheel and sped away from the scene without a trace of remorse.
Within seconds, a crowd rushed toward the accident.
The area erupted into a mixture of whispers, shouting, and people arguing with one another.
But the sight that greeted Charlotte was heartbreaking.
Instead of immediately lifting the motorcycle or helping the woman who was crying out in pain, most people simply pulled out their smartphones.
Camera lenses were pointed directly at the injured woman, recording the horrifying scene for the sake of social media content.
From across the street, Charlotte’s blood suddenly ran cold.
Seeing the indifference surrounding the victim made something inside her scream with anger.
“Ma’am! Please hang in there!”
Charlotte’s voice trembled.
Without wasting another second, she sprinted through the crowd that had gathered around the accident.
The moment she reached the victim, she dropped to her knees on the hot asphalt.
Seeing the woman’s leg trapped beneath the heavy motorcycle, Charlotte immediately grabbed the side of the vehicle and used every last bit of strength she had to lift it.
But the motorcycle was far heavier than she had expected.
Charlotte’s breathing grew ragged as her hands began to tremble violently from panic.
Sreeek.
A dark shadow suddenly appeared beside her.
Ryuu took off his hoodie, revealing his disheveled school uniform underneath, and immediately moved into position in front of the motorcycle.
“I’ll lift the bike. You pull her out slowly.”
Ryuu’s voice was short and calm, completely contrasting with the chaos surrounding them.
He grabbed the old motorcycle.
The veins in his pale arms tightened as he poured all his strength into lifting the heavy machine. Follow the newest chapters on novelping.com.
The moment the weight came off the woman’s leg, Charlotte immediately pulled her away from the danger zone.
Once they had successfully evacuated the victim, Ryuu turned toward the crowd that was still busy recording everything.
“Stop filming! Can’t you idiots call an ambulance instead?!”
Not long afterward, the ambulance arrived and took the injured woman away.
The tension at the scene finally began to ease.
Both Charlotte and Ryuu’s school uniforms were covered in dust from the road.
Without saying much, Ryuu pointed toward the city park nearby.
The two of them eventually sat side by side on a long wooden bench beneath the evening sky, which had slowly begun to shift into shades of orange and violet.
Charlotte stared down at her palms, which were still trembling slightly, before turning to look at Ryuu’s face from the side.
His expression was completely blank.
He looked exhausted, almost lifeless, with the familiar dark circles beneath his eyes that seemed to have permanently taken up residence there.
Charlotte let out a quiet chuckle, trying to ease the awkward silence.
“I honestly didn’t expect that.”
Ryuu gave her a brief sideways glance without turning his head.
“Expect what?”
“I thought you’d just keep walking and ignore it.”
Charlotte smiled faintly, her eyes fixed on the road ahead.
“I mean… you always look so exhausted. I didn’t think you’d actually care, let alone react that quickly to help someone.”
Ryuu let out a long sigh.
He leaned back against the bench and stared at the darkening evening sky with an empty, almost cynical gaze.
“I don’t care.”
His answer was flat.
“But… seeing something like that, what normal person could just stand there and watch while someone’s life is in danger?”
Ryuu paused.
His fingers tightened slightly as he looked down at his dirty hands.
His voice grew heavier, carrying a quiet bitterness that settled deep in Charlotte’s chest.
“I’m not a good person, Charlotte. The world is just too damn broken.”
His tone was cold, but beneath it was a clear disappointment in reality itself.
“The world has gone so far off track that something as normal as helping another human being has to be treated like some extraordinary act of heroism.”
Charlotte fell silent.
Ryuu’s words seemed to pierce straight through her chest.
The boy sitting beside her wasn’t simply indifferent.
He was someone who saw the ugliness of the world through the exact same lens she did.
Silence settled between them for a moment.
The atmosphere suddenly felt a little too heavy.
Realizing this, Charlotte quickly searched for another topic to break the tension.
“Oh, right, Ryuu…”
Charlotte turned toward him, looking at the side of his face illuminated by the golden evening light.
“It’s crazy how fast time flies. We’re graduating in just a few weeks.”
She smiled softly.
“What are you planning to do after we graduate?”
Ryuu didn’t answer immediately.
He stared straight ahead at the road before replying in his usual lazy tone.
“I don’t know. Haven’t thought about it.”
The awkward silence returned. Find the original chapter at g.com.
Ryuu was the type of guy who barely spoke unless someone dragged the words out of him.
But just as Charlotte was about to speak again, Ryuu suddenly broke the silence with a question of his own.
“What about you?”
“What are you planning to do after graduation?”
The moment she heard the question, Charlotte’s dark eyes suddenly lit up.
For a brief moment, the porcelain mask of the “Goddess” she always wore disappeared.
In its place was the genuine excitement of a young girl carrying a thousand dreams inside her heart.
“Me? Well… I really want to go to medical school!”
Her voice was filled with excitement as her hands moved slightly while she spoke.
“I want to be able to help people who are sick. And I really want to travel around the world someday and see all the beautiful places I’ve never been to.”
Charlotte paused.
Her gaze drifted toward the orange sky as she imagined the future she had always dreamed about.
“And then… when I get married…”
Charlotte let out a small, embarrassed laugh, her cheeks turning slightly red.
“I really want to have a pair of cute kids. A boy and a girl.”
“I’ll cook them delicious breakfasts every morning, hug them, put them to bed every night, and read them bedtime stories.”
“And I also want to…”
Charlotte suddenly stopped.
Only then did she realize that Ryuu hadn’t interrupted her even once.
Instead, he was quietly staring at her from the side, his expression impossible to read.
Embarrassment immediately washed over her.
Charlotte hurriedly covered her flushed face with both hands.
“Ah… s sorry, Ryuu! I ended up talking too much and rambling like this, hehe.”
She whispered from behind her hands, feeling embarrassed that she had gone on and on about the future she had imagined in her head.
Ryuu remained silent for several seconds.
He simply watched Charlotte squirm in embarrassment.
Then, slowly, the corner of his lips lifted.
A faint smile appeared on his usually cold face.
It was so subtle and rare that Charlotte almost wondered if she had imagined it.
“It’s fine.”
Ryuu’s voice was soft, much gentler than usual.
“I hope all of your wishes… come true, Charlotte.”
Charlotte slowly lowered her hands.
Her heart beat a little faster when she saw that faint smile beneath the dimming lights of the park.
Those were the most sincere words she had ever heard throughout her exhausting life.
“Thank you, Ryuu…”
Her voice was barely above a whisper, but completely sincere.
Ryuu stood up from the bench and brushed the dust from the back of his pants.
“It’s getting dark. Come on, I’ll walk you home.”
“It’s dangerous for a girl to be walking alone this late.”
Charlotte quickly nodded before standing up as well.
The two of them walked side by side, their shadows stretching across the pavement beneath the fading light of dusk.
To be continued.