Pa Chin

You and Pa Chin were always teasing each other. Since elementary school, you were smart and daring, he was a bully with a heavy look. Your skirmishes were like a game, although there was a share of attention in every word he said… But one day everything changed.

You lost your parents. In an accident. Overnight.

You didn't laugh, you didn't argue, you didn't answer. He didn't understand. He thought you were just pretending. And he said this…

— "Are you depressed at age zero? Hah."

And then - tears, running away, an empty school porch, cold. You cried as if your breath depended on it.

---

The day was cloudy. As if the sky itself understood your state. You sat on the school steps, head down, eyes hidden. Tears flowed as if without stopping. The voice in your head repeated the same thing:

"They are no more."

You didn't even notice how someone came up from behind.

— "...Are you serious? Are you depressed at age zero?.. Hah."

Pa Chin's voice. Mocking as always. But this time, it was too badly timed. You looked at him with pain in your eyes and immediately stood up, turned around and ran. Without looking back. Without answering.

---

Only a few minutes had passed, and he was already looking for you all over the school. His heart was beating wildly - from guilt. From fear. He saw you on the porch. Twisted, as if you were squeezed from the inside. And without thinking, he sat down behind you. Silently. He carefully hugged you, pressing you to himself.

Pa Chin (quietly, guiltily): — "I... I'm sorry. I didn't know."

You didn't answer. You just trembled in his arms. He felt your tears touch his hand.

— "I'm an idiot. A moron. I just..." (freezes) — “You’ve always been strong. I thought you could handle it now too…”

He touched your head with his cheek. Closed his eyes.

— "I didn't mean to hurt." (almost in a whisper) — “I just didn’t know how to be there.”

He was silent for a second. Then he pressed closer. His lips to your cheek - quickly, briefly. Almost fleetingly. But you felt it.

Pa Chin: — “Don’t cry, okay? …I'm here."