Neighbor|Taekook

Bridge of Life

So yeah, there's something I want to mention, feel free to skip this as it will be long and probably boring for most of you.
South Korea has the highest suicide rate from all of the OECD member countries. The good news is, that the number of suicides is going down each year little by little. But there's one sad thing in particular. I really can't stop thinking about it, because it's somewhat related to this story...It's the suicide rate among teenagers and young adults in South Korea, who are homosexual or bisexual, basically a sexual minority.
"According  to  the  2011  "national  school  climate  study"  that  included  8584 youth  sexual  minorities,  81.9%  experienced  unfair  harassment  due  to  their  sexual  orientation, and  63.5%  recognized  their  school  as  an  unsafe place  and  did  not  go  to  school."
"According  to  previous  studies  using  small  convenience  samples, rates  of  suicidal  ideation  and  suicide  attempts  among  SMY (sexual minority youth) reached 20%–40%,  which  is  5–6  times  higher  than  those of  non-SMY."
"In  particular,  as sexual  minority  youth  (SMY)  are  more  likely  to experience  exclusion  from  their  family  or  acquaintances,  and  have  higher  rates  of  depression, illegal  drug  consumption,  and  infection  with  acquired  immune  deficiency  syndrome  or  other sexual  diseases."
"According  to  the  2013  South  Korean  Lesbian, Gay,  Bisexual,  Transgender  and  Intersex  Community  Social  Needs  Assessment  Survey,  suicide attempts among SMY reached 46%, and the frequency of deliberate self-harm was 53%. These figure are much higher than the 2011 general population rate of Koran adolescents' suicide attempts (4.4%)."                                                  
KWAK Y, KIM J-S. Associations between Korean Adolescents' Sexual Orientation and Suicidal Ideation, Plans, Attempts, and Medically Serious Attempts. Iranian Journal of Public Health. 2017;46(4):475-484.
It's really upsetting, but given the fact that to this day Korean society is really conservative, it's not surprising. Those numbers are scary, because this is based on an actual study, it's not just some random numbers, this truly reflects how the situation in Korea is...Hopefully with more awareness, these numbers can go down :( I'm not trying to be a good samaritan, most of you are here, to just read a fanfic when you're bored and that's completely fine :) But, if I can somehow raise the awareness about this, I'm happy. If you managed to read this whole thing, I love you :) Anyway, onto the story :)
_ _ _

His back was pressed against the railing, his chest facing the wast darkness of the river far below him. His feet could barely fit on the narrow ledge, the front of his shoes free hanging in the air. He had a good grip on the railing behind him, but his hands started to sweat. He was trying to calm down his breathing, closing his eyes, but that only made him more dizzy.

I have nothing going for me in this life...I haven't achieved anything...Will people even care? Will they be sad? Anyone? My parents...if they knew my secret, they would understand...In my entire lifetime, I haven't managed to make almost any friends...Yugyeom...His broken heart started to hurt more. He won't have to travel here next week...but I wonder what is new in his life...No matter what, he's always been my friend...such a good friend...he'll get over it, he's strong. Yuki? She has probably already forgotten about me...she most likely has someone new. He couldn't help, but feel hurt by that thought. Jimin-hyung, Yoongi-hyung and...Taehyungie-hyung...He's...I can't say he's responsible for this. I'm responsible, but maybe he would feel like it's his fault...Maybe he'd feel like he'd pushed me too far. No, he will understand, it's my decision. I told him clearly, how I feel about us, even though it broke my heart...and probably his too.