Live On

I had been suppressing my tears for a long time. But as I nestled in his arms, I finally broke down into tears, crying at the top of my lungs.

At this moment, the only sounds that could be heard aside from the downpour of rain were my cries.

Meanwhile, Derek hugged me in silence, doing his best to comfort me.

Truthfully, I had no idea for how long I had cried. As the time passed, I gradually calmed down, and the fall of rain became lighter.

After getting out of the car, Derek went around to open the door on my side, and bent in to carry me. I told him that I could walk by myself, but he still insisted on carrying me into the alley.

At night, the alley was eerily quiet. The sound of Derek's shoes stepping onto the puddles could be heard, and the sound of splashing water resonated clearly

My wet clothes clung onto my body. The second a gust of wind fleeted by. I felt so cold that I shivered. Derek noticed that I was trembling, so he held me tighter in his arms.

"Eveline, people will not remain lucky or unlucky forever. Whenever you feel like your life is going horribly, it only means that good things are bound to come your way."

All the way to my house, he never let me go. His voice remained steady as usual; almost as if he didn't feel tired having to carry me around "Derek, why are you so good to me?" I stared at his perfect jawline accentuated by the faint moonlight.

Soon, he put me down at the door of my house, slightly bending over, causing water to drip down from his wet hair. His Adam's apple bobbed as though he had a thousand words to say to me. But in the end, he just wiped away my tears and said, "I can't bear to see you in pain. You cry like a little brat."

For some reason, I felt as though I had expended all the luck I had just to have the fortune of meeting this man Ever since I was a young girl, I had received too little care. Only my parents, Seagull, and Louise had ever been good to me.

But thanks to fate, Derek entered my life in my most trying moment. He was so kind to me that I felt delighted and uneasy in his presence. The first thing I did when I entered my home was to put my mother's portrait beside my father's.

"You should get out of those wet clothes and change into something more comfortable. You might catch a cold," he remarked

Once I had finished taking a shower, I put on my pajamas and walked out of the bathroom. Outside, I saw him standing in front of an old desk. The soft light of the desk lamp illuminated him, and to me, his appearance seemed like mass of warmth and tenderness.

"Does this recorder still work?" Derek

pointed at an old recorder on the desk

"I'm fairly sure it still works, but it hasn't been used in a long time," I said as I dried my hair.

Then, I saw him take out a tape and insert it into the recorder. Perhaps due to not being used for a long time, the recorder sounded a little off in the beginning. But after a while, it returned to normal

Upon hearing the song from the recorder, I was left in a trance.

"I have experienced many vicissitudes of life, and my steps are imprinted in the depths of the mud. Move forward regardless of the wind and rain. I can't let down my youth and dreams. My life always has ups and downs, but I will never look back in the wind and rain. Even if I stumble through difficulties in this life, my life in this world will never be in vain. Live on, and live up to the meaning of life. Live on and expend every courage I have in my heart. Live on, and live well for the people who love me. I will reach my dreams, for the sake of

my youth that can never be returned." This particular tape had a story.

The year that my father died in a car accident and my mother became an invalid, was the darkest time of my life. From then on, I often received financial support from some kind people. One of those kind souls was a person named Seagull. He would send me money each month just to help out. Although it wasn't much, it never stopped.

When I was sixteen years old and in middle school, a student from medical school came to the office of my school and donated a thousand dollars to me. At the time, that sum of money was a big deal for me. I truly wanted to thank him face to face, but when I ran to the office, he had already left, leaving only the money, this tape, and his WhatsApp account. After I added him as a friend on WhatsApp, I finally knew that he was Seagull, the same person who had been helping me for years on end.

The tape was from an album of a band named the Thorn Birds, which was very

popular in the local area at the time. It was said that most of its members were students. They enjoyed singing some famous rock bands' songs, and also wrote original songs of their own.

The song I heard just now was named "Live On". It was one of the band's original songs. Its powerful voices and lyrics were always capable of healing my wounds.

Seagull and I had been communicating through WhatsApp all these years, but not once had I had a chance of meeting him in person.

As the song resonated through the old recorder, Derek stood in front of the desk with his hands in his pockets, while I stood a few meters behind him. It seemed that both of us were enamored by the song, and neither of us moved.

Each word from the song's lyrics hit my heart like an arrow.

No matter how difficult my life could be, I must live on, so as not to fail the meaning of life.

Once the song was over, I was still immersed in its artistic conception. With his back to me, Derek remarked, "The most powerful person in this world isn't Superman, but someone who has been knocked down a hundred times, but still has the strength and courage to stand up a hundred and one times. The former may be strong, but the latter is courageous."

He was always saying stuff like that to me. He taught me how to stand as steady as an oak in times of trouble, and to stand ina posture that would never be defeated

"Anyway, I'll be leaving now. Good night!" he said abruptly.

When I came to my senses, he had already walked to the door and opened His wet shirt clung to his back, outlining his figure.

It was then that I heard the rain getting heavier outside. "The rain is getting stronger. You can crash on my couch if you want.

Slowly, he turned around and leaned against the door. With a faint smile on his lips, he said, "Don't you know how dangerous it is to be around a single man all night?"