A bowl of beef noodles. That was his favorite food.

He'd ordered all the dishes on the menu. Beef noodles and fried tofu, pickled vegetables and a boiled egg on the side. A glass of beer and fried milk for dessert.

He ate all the noodles and drank the soup. He emptied the bowl before turning to everything else, and picked at the vegetables. 

Then, suddenly hungry, he cleared those too.

In the end, he left his table empty. He didn't feel hungry and he didn't feel full. 

It was just enough for his last meal.

Outside, the night was dark and the air was chill. He put his hands in his pockets, where the rough inside of his jacket rubbed against his palms.

Through the glass, people were still eating. For others, it must've been a place with many happy memories.

Once, he remembered seeing a family gather there. Parents reuniting with their son, the child having gone abroad for some time.

The boy had entered the restaurant. His parents had rushed forward. They had a phone. They took pictures.

“儿子, 你长高了. 真帅!”

Son, you’ve gotten taller! How handsome!

The son had smiled bashfully, embarrassed but flattered by his father and mother's attention. Such a touching scene that it had sent him into despair, drowning him in it.

He had never been told that. He had never been called handsome, and he hadn't grown taller either, after he was thirteen.

The boy couldn't have been older than fifteen, but even then, he looked more of a man than he'd ever be.

That was the sadness he'd kept in his heart until now, and the hatred that grew from it. Until now, when he’d finally rid himself of it all.

The road before him stretched on, but there was an end at sight. He stopped at the side of a bridge overlooking the lake.

Below, the water was inky black.

He took a breath.

Then another.

Raymond Yu was going to die today.

It wouldn't be true to say his life flashed before his eyes, because he'd never had the chance to live. God must've made a mistake and switched him at birth, or maybe being born was the cruellest joke of all.

The boy in the restaurant must've grown into a fine man and went on with his life. As for him, he never had that chance at all.

What the hell did he have left?

"Are you going to jump?"

Behind him, someone spoke.