if life were to stop, would the earth still rotate?
if life were to stop, would the water still move?
if life were to stop, would love still exist?

yuqi walked along the sidewalk leading to the river banks. it was a cool, chilly september and leaves have already begun to fall and change color to coordinate with the weather. she had her hair up in a high ponytail and it swayed side to side as she moved down the walkway. she was nearing the river banks and began to cry. 

if anyone were to pass her by, they would be thinking that she was just taking a nice walk to clear thoughts. but they all were wrong. yuqi has been going through a lot, ever since her dad died and her mom began to treat her like shit. all her friends left her as she began to show signs of depression and suicidal thoughts. they all told her to cheer up, but it never worked that way. she began to be more closed off and would rush to get to classrooms to avoid getting trampled on in the hallways. she now hated being social. 

as her mind was dead-set on one thing, she walked faster and faster. she climbed up the stairway to the dock and set her bag down on the surface. she pulled out a handwritten note she had written and placed it on the outside of her bag. she pulled her hair down and placed the scrunchy in her bag and zipped it up. she slowly walked toward the edge. 

the height distance to dock from the water wasn't that far from each other, but yuqi couldn't swim, so the distance never mattered. she took a deep breath, wiped her tears away and jumped. 

she felt the water hitting her face and she fell deeper and deeper into the river. she could feel herself slipping away from reality and being alive. she then felt a big pair of strong arms wrap around her waist and pulled her up to the surface. she was just barely out of it and when her head broke from the water, she passed out. 

she woke up coughing and spitting out water. her eyes opened and ended up staring at a complete stranger. she didn't move and just stared at him. the more she stared the more chocolate his eyes looked. the more plumped his lips looked. the more wavy his hair looked. 

she snapped back to her senses and sat up. the stranger moved back to let yuqi have some space. 

"w-who are you?" she asked. he smiled. "ah. i am yukhei, but you can call me lucas." he introduces himself to yuqi. "and you must be yuqi." she looked at him. "how do you know my name?" lucas nervously laughs. "i read your note just before you jumped and your name was on it." he replies. 

yuqi sighs. she picks up a wet pebble as she is sitting on the shore line of the river and studies it. lucas doesn't judge and ends up being admired by her focus on the pebble. "why did you save me?" she asks, breaking the silence. lucas clears his throat. "because no one deserves to end their life, especially when they have so much to look forward to in the future." he says. yuqi makes a disgusted face at him. "it sickens me that a person like you is so upbeat on living." lucas just smiles at her remark on his words. 

"you are pretty. why waste that?" he asks her. she scoffs. "i am not pretty." lucas shakes his head. "i completely disagree." he says, staying stern. yuqi shrugs and puts the pebble down. "are you even my age?" "i am 19 and you are...?" he trails off, hoping for yuqi to give him her age. "i am 19 too.." lucas smiles even bigger. 

"do you have a boyfriend?" he asks randomly, catching yuqi off guard. "...i uh...used to. he broke up with me because i was too much for him to handle." she answers quietly. "tell me who he is. i'll beat his ass." yuqi laughs. this is the first time she has ever laughed hard ever since she became depressed. and this was the first time lucas was able to hear her laugh. 

"we go to the same school. i can tell because of the school logo on your uniform you are wearing." lucas points out to her outfit. yuqi makes an 'o' shape with her mouth. "i think i have passed by you in the halls." lucas adds. yuqi hums, indicating that she is listening. 

"i want your number." lucas suddenly states. yuqi looks at him confused. "i might end up needing to be your life-saver again. plus i can always be the shoulder that you need to cry on." he says, handing yuqi his phone so she can put in her phone number. she gradually takes it and enters the digits of her phone number into his and says a quick text to herself so she can save the number onto her phone later. 

she gives it back to him and he smiles. "consider me your best friend." he says getting up. he reaches his hand out for yuqi to grab. she grabs his hand and he pulls her up to her feet. the majority of her clothes have dried off. lucas hands her, her bag and takes off his sweatshirt (yes, he has a shirt underneath) and hands it to yuqi to keep her warm. 

she thanks him and he ends up walking her home. 

yes, the earth will still rotate
yes, the water will still move
and yes, love will still exist if life were to stop. 

𝕤𝕦𝕚𝕔𝕚𝕕𝕖 𝕚𝕤 𝕟𝕠𝕥 𝕒𝕟 𝕒𝕟𝕤𝕨𝕖𝕣 𝕥𝕠 𝕡𝕣𝕠𝕓𝕝𝕖𝕞𝕤 𝕚𝕟 𝕝𝕚𝕗𝕖. 𝕚𝕥 𝕞𝕒𝕪 𝕤𝕖𝕖𝕞 𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖 𝕒 𝕔𝕙𝕠𝕚𝕔𝕖, 𝕓𝕦𝕥 𝕥𝕣𝕦𝕤𝕥 𝕞𝕖 𝕚𝕥 𝕚𝕤 𝕟𝕠𝕥. 𝕘𝕣𝕒𝕟𝕥𝕖𝕕 𝕚 𝕞𝕒𝕪 𝕟𝕠𝕥 𝕜𝕟𝕠𝕨 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕝𝕚𝕗𝕖 𝕤𝕥𝕠𝕣𝕪 𝕓𝕦𝕥 𝕚 𝕕𝕠 𝕜𝕟𝕠𝕨 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕪𝕠𝕦, 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕨𝕙𝕠 𝕒𝕣𝕖 𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕕𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕚𝕤 𝕒𝕞𝕒𝕫𝕚𝕟𝕘, 𝕓𝕖𝕒𝕦𝕥𝕚𝕗𝕦𝕝, 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕜𝕚𝕟𝕕. 𝕟𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕣 𝕝𝕖𝕥 𝕒𝕟𝕪𝕠𝕟𝕖 𝕓𝕣𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕕𝕠𝕨𝕟 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕚𝕗 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕙𝕒𝕧𝕖 𝕒 𝕣𝕠𝕦𝕘𝕙 𝕥𝕚𝕞𝕖 𝕨𝕚𝕥𝕙 𝕤𝕠𝕞𝕖𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕘, 𝕞𝕪 𝕡𝕞𝕤 𝕒𝕣𝕖 𝕒𝕝𝕨𝕒𝕪𝕤 𝕠𝕡𝕖𝕟. <𝟛

ˣᵒˣᵒ,
⁻ᵖˡᵘᵗˣ