In a city that never slept.
But that night, Aron didn't know it would be the last run of his life.
He was around twenty-four or twenty-five years old. Tall, well-built, with straight brown hair and light brown eyes.
The cool night breeze cut gently through the air, carrying with it the distant smell of food stalls and freshly cut grass.
The city lights illuminated the concrete path, casting long shadows between the trees.
Some might wonder who would exercise after a full day of work.
But for someone who worked in a biotechnology lab, the day wasn't as hectic as it seemed.
Most of his time was spent between microscopes, samples, and reports. Mentally exhausting, perhaps—but not exactly for the body.
Besides, he had always liked running. He'd been doing it since he was a child.
It had been a year and a half since he graduated, and since then, he had been working in a lab.
He liked what he did—and, modestly speaking, he was good at it.
That's why it hadn't been hard to get a job right after college.
As he slowed his pace, Aron looked around.
The park was emptier than usual.
Normally, there would be couples walking hand in hand, parents strolling with their children near the snack stands, or people like him running along the lit paths.
Today, however, the place felt strangely quiet.
Still, nothing truly out of the ordinary.
Back in high school, during an Agronomy fair, he and some classmates had presented a variant of corn seeds—the kind you could buy at any supermarket or market.
They had two years to develop the project.
Every week, they recorded everything: growth, resistance, yield.
They separated the seedlings that grew faster, the ones that developed better, and those that produced the best results.
In the end, they won a scholarship abroad.
There were four people on the team, but only two traveled.
One couldn't go because he had to take care of his sick mother and younger brother. The other decided to pursue a military career.
So, after saying goodbye to his parents, Aron left for another country alongside a teammate.
She ended up becoming his first girlfriend.
During his four years in college, he lived abroad. Visits to his family were rare.
'Maybe by the end of this year, I'll finally go see them.'
Aron slowed to a stop and sat on a bench to rest.
That was when he noticed a man walking in his direction.
He was coming down the same path Aron had passed just minutes earlier.
There was nothing particularly strange about him. The park was emptier, but there were still a few people around.
When the man got closer, he stopped right in front of him.
Aron looked up.
And saw the gun.
For a moment, his brain refused to understand what was happening.
The man said something, but Aron couldn't hear it. The music in his earphones was too loud.
He slowly raised his hands.
"Easy…" he said, pulling one side of the earphones away. "You can take everything."
As he removed the earphones and stood up, Aron saw the man smile beneath the hood that covered much of his face.
It wasn't a nervous smile.
It was… mocking.
When he finally managed to hear him, the man said just one sentence:
"Well… now my debt is paid."
The gunshot echoed through the park.
The sound was sharp, brutal.
For a second, Aron thought someone had set off a firecracker too close by.
Then he felt the impact.
His body took a step back without his command.
He looked down.
A red stain was beginning to spread slowly across his shirt.
Warm.
Sticky.
It took his brain a few seconds to understand.
He had been shot.
When he looked up again, the man was already walking away, calmly following the lit path.
As if nothing had happened.
Aron tried to call out to him.
Ask why.
But no words came out of his mouth.
The air felt too heavy to breathe.
His legs gave out.
He fell to the ground.
In the distance, he heard shouting.
People running.
Someone telling others to call an ambulance.
The sounds felt far away, as if they were happening somewhere else.
He was already tired from the run.
And now… he was even more tired.
Lying on the cold ground, Aron looked up at the sky.
The city was too bright for the stars to appear.
He thought about his family.
It had been years since he last saw them.
His father—childish at times, but strict when he needed to be.
His mother—always caring… but when she got angry, no one wanted to be around.
And his sister.
A little adorable troublemaker who was probably now at the age of starting to give their father headaches.
'Maybe I should have visited them sooner.'
His vision began to darken at the edges.
The sounds faded.
His body felt light.
And then…
Darkness took over everything.
But that would not be his true death.