Bucket List

Zhu Wangshu has been brave twice in his life:

Once, after the death of the grandmother who raised him at the orphanage, he came alone to Town X to search for her son, who had been abducted, then planned to find somewhere deserted where he could die in peace.

The second time was when he met Shen Dai.

Shen Dai was his high school classmate. He fell ill on their graduation trip, and Zhu Wangshu found him. When he woke up, he shamelessly insisted on tagging along while Zhu Wangshu searched for the missing man.

"You've looked after me all night. How could I not repay you, old classmate?"

Zhu Wangshu knew Shen Dai had a bad reputation. He was a playboy, always surrounded by people he was flirting with.

But when Shen Dai dragged him into playing tricks to take revenge on the traffickers and get even for the grandmother who had died of illness, his eyes shone so brightly that Zhu Wangshu's heart gave a sudden jolt.

As Shen Dai pulled him into a wild run, Zhu Wangshu suddenly thought: Getting to live this freely before I die is worth it.

They went skiing, skydiving... They went everywhere he had once been too afraid to go.

When Shen Dai lay beside him and pointed out the stars in the sky, their light shone into Zhu Wangshu's eyes. Suddenly, he no longer wanted to die. He wanted to lie beside Shen Dai like this for the rest of his life.

But he couldn't say it.

Someone who had already planned to die had no right to hold anyone else back.

*

At first, Shen Dai just found him interesting. Zhu Wangshu was so strange. His eyes always crinkled when he looked at Shen Dai, yet he refused to let Shen Dai get close.

Shen Dai thought he was playing hard to get, until he accidentally saw the last-wishes list by Zhu Wangshu's bed. The final line read:

"Go see the place Grandma lived in her final years, then bring it all to an end."

Only then did Shen Dai understand: Zhu Wangshu's self-destructive bravery hadn't come from a love of life. Together with his rejection of Shen Dai, it had all been a way of saying goodbye in advance.

Without telling Zhu Wangshu, Shen Dai contacted people at the orphanage where he had grown up. He wanted to tell Zhu Wangshu that there were still people in the world who thought of him.

But for the first time, Zhu Wangshu got angry with him. "Who are you to me? What gives you the right to make decisions for me?"

Shen Dai froze in place, watching him turn and leave. He felt himself grow colder by the second. He had wanted to save him, but how had it turned into forcing him?

After their fight, Zhu Wangshu still couldn't help sneaking back to the orphanage.

He hadn't dared return since they exposed his lie that he'd gone to college after failing the university entrance exam.

On his third day of watching from afar, the new director caught him.

The director handed him the things his grandmother had left behind. He opened a letter that read: "Xiaoyue, work must be hard out there, right? I've saved all the money you sent me."

Clutching the letter, he cried until he could barely breathe. Shen Dai's message lit up his phone:

"I'm sorry. I thought I knew best. But I still hope you'll stay alive, even if it's not for me."

When Zhu Wangshu called, Shen Dai picked up immediately.

"I'm sorry," Zhu Wangshu paused. "Would you still be willing to go with me to those places we talked about?"

There was a two-second silence on the other end, then the sound of someone rummaging through a suitcase.

"Send me your location. Also, you promised to go skydiving in City Y. When are you making it up to me?"

"Just City Y?"

Shen Dai's voice was a little hoarse. "Everywhere. Every single place... As long as you change the name on that list, I'll go with you."

Theme: Live well.