Vale sat down on a large, comfy sofa along with Sylvester as they watched the live broadcast on the large television.
The livestream had started during lunch, and an oddly amused Sylvester had them move to the parlor to have a more comfortable view of the video.
Vale sat a short distance away from Sylvester, having a slice of apple while observing the video blankly.
On the large TV screen was a despairing-looking young lady whose head drooped over the railing, eyes trained down as if desperately searching for someone.
From the looks of the video angles, it seemed someone was using a drone to record her…? How shameless were people? Not that Sylvester cared.
Vale's question broke the calm silence, "Is that Olivia?"
"Yeah," Sylvester replied, "she's the annoying ex that had been on my back for so long."
Sylvester turned to face Vale, who returned his gaze with a confused look.
He spoke with mirth, "I really hate people like that. They can be really annoying."
Vale quietly devoured the apple. "I'll never be like that then."
"Hm?" Sylvester asked, caught by surprise.
Vale explained, "Something that you dislike so much—I won't do it."
There was a bit of confoundedness in the male's gaze before he burst out laughing.
His facial features blossomed like a sleeping rose during spring, his dimples popped out aggressively, and his white pearly teeth complemented his cheerful demeanor.
"I know you won't," Sylvester winked at him. "You're too smart for that."
He circled his arm around Vale, who leaned in a bit to make his motion more convenient.
Sylvester playfully placed his head on Vale's shoulders, gazing up at him with a playful look.
"Shall we make a bet?"
Vale stared at him briefly before nodding.
"Will she jump?" he pointed at the screen where the young lady had finally lifted her drooping head to stare blankly into space.
"...Or not?"
***
Olivia wasn't sure how much time had gone by, and there was still no sight of Sylvester.
The people who wanted to save her, after trying to break down the door to no avail, had decided to call an expert who was yet to come.
So many thoughts raced through her mind, including that Sylvester could be asleep, or too far to approach her, or… this… or that…
So many excuses, and yet nothing resonated within her anymore.
Perhaps after much denial and hope, she had finally arrived at the last cycle—acceptance.
The wind gently caressing her face, the blue sky unaware of her sorrow, calmly drifted away; there was a pounding and yelling of the voices behind her who sought to have her reconsider.
Her wet shirt. The tall distance from the edge of the railing to the solid ground.
Right in this moment, her mind was stilled, her awareness spiked, and suddenly a calm she hadn't experienced for a long while besieged her.
In this desolate quietness, there was no sorrow, pain, or… Sylvester. The thought that it'd all be over soon was so liberating she felt like a bird who had finally learnt to fly.
That's right, the only way to endure this… would be to end it all.
Her sharp blue eyes dwindled, her expression dulled, and the hands that had tightly gripped the railing loosened. Her question had been answered.
She was so meaningless to him that even her death wasn't worthy of a PR stunt. How… pitiful.
***
"So?"
Vale stared at the lady on the screen before replying, "She will jump."
Sylvester asked, "Huh. Why so sure?"
He knew Vale was good at reading people, but to be so sure of this conclusion despite Olivia still hanging around there for more than two hours was quite bold.
It was more reasonable to assume she'd gotten cold feet and simply remained there, lost on what else to do, than Vale's conclusion.
"Her eyes," Vale pointed at the screen, "From what I know, people who have those kinds of eyes are mentally dead… in simple terms, dissociative?"
Sylvester, who now had his eyes glued to the television, mumbled,
"What?"
"...Your eyes are sometimes like that. When you're dozing off."
That was a lie. Not the former but the latter. His eyes were sometimes like that, but usually when he was alone in his room with no one around.
…Of course, the last thing Sylvester would have Vale know was the presence of the CCTV in his room.
"Really??" Vale seemed a bit flustered, completely caught off guard by the sudden claim about him.
Sylvester smirked, flashing the male a one-sided dimple. "Does that mean you're mentally dead?"
Vale's Adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed, flushed, and lost on what to say while Sylvester observed him with mirth— when a scream snapped them out of their awkward moment.
Olivia had jumped.
Caught by surprise and shock, since most thought she had gotten cold feet, when she fell right before them, her body splattered like a watermelon, splattering the unlucky ones who happened to be close by with blood and body matter.
Sylvester stared, a bit dazed, till Vale's voice recalled his attention.
"I won… right?"
He stared at the pair of clear eyes that stared back with an innocence drastically contrasting their owner's nonchalantness at the horrific situation and nodded.
"Yes, you won."
***
Olivia's death was one of the few events that broke the internet after a long while, not because her suicide was the most unique thing ever, but because of who it was tied to.
Across all social media platforms, the images of her death, the words she spoke, and the whole event surrounding her death blew up across all boards, and nearly everyone was talking about it.
It wasn't surprising that what filled the internet discussion was empty remarks of pity, while most simply wanted to talk more about its connection with Sylvester.
Almost everyone agreed unanimously that everything was somehow her fault, not only because of Sylvester's flawless past but because of Olivia's infamous reputation.
Most viewed it as a case of obsession; some stressed that the full story had to be uncovered before concluding anything, and a few bold ones either joked about it or sadistically rejoiced about her untimely demise.
The majority of the last group was mainly occupied by Sylvester's toxic fans.
@sylvoneandonly Sylvester's girlfriend? Are you daft?!?
@rty This is stupid. They broke up long ago and that bitch kept on pestering my baby.
@eternalstan Everything about this heading is problematic and infuriating. I want to stab the poster. How dare they!
@blackhand441 Ragebait used to be believable.
@psycholover Good for everyone!
More interesting headlines soared the internet—ones that simply stated the complete occurrence of the event, ones that made various theories based on past posts, ones that tried to drag Sylvester through the mud but were bashed and criticized to obscurity, ones that called on Sylvester to make an official statement, ones that documented the reactions, and many more.
By the end of the day, #sylvestergfsuicidehad become the most popular hashtag across all media platforms.
But among the noise of everything, the whole internet had one common goal in mind:
Waiting for Sylvester's official response