This World is too Cruel to Men

The snow was falling heavily that day.

It felt a bit off to be cooped up inside on Christmas, so I called over a high school buddy who was in the same predicament.

We had some fish cake soup, warmed up some sake, and were feeling pretty good.

I was about to head home when my friend stopped me with a worried look.

“Hey, are you sure you’ll be alright? The snow’s coming down hard… It might be a bit uncomfortable, but why don’t you just crash at my place and head back when the snow stops?”

“I’m good, dude.”

“This guy, always like this even when someone’s worried… Ugh, he won’t learn his lesson until he takes a nasty spill on the ice.”

“I’m not gonna die from falling, am I? In the worst-case scenario, I’ll tweak my back. Anyway, I’m heading out. You go in too.”

Those words unexpectedly became my last words in my previous life, a fact I realized only after sharing a deep kiss, forehead to forehead, with some kid.

… Fuck.