An Excess of Catastrophe

It was like a scene from a drama. The medical students eavesdropping through their building's windows probably never saw a scene as intense and emotional like that. It was a common knowledge that breakups were not really rare for people around their age but confrontations similar to that surely were, especially when they were just having their breaks from their normal laboratory rounds. One quick slap was what ended everything as the girl finally ran off and left the guy drenched in the rain, a lopsided umbrella lay on the floor with its purpose utterly defeated. If only the young man did not pick up the umbrella upon realization and went on off ahead, the show would have continued. He would have been the seen through a lot of cameras, being remembered as the man who stood under the rain.

Yoon Jae-in ran as fast as he could away from the scene with the thoughts of the unintended commotion with Wendy, as well as the consequences that came with it, only brought shame to his already faulty dignity. He was prepared in case something would break out for sure, but on that grave of a circumstance it cannot be helped. The rain was just another insult to the already obvious injury and all he could do was to hang his head low in the hopes that his wet hair could conceal his face from the general public. It was unfortunate that he managed to get out of a huge commotion almost at the same time as the dismissal of the other classes, in turn causing him tread through a large swath of North Line students. Perhaps a sliver of prayer would be the best to give, hoping for none of his friends to see him in that rather unusual predicament.

(Fuck, I need to get out of here.)

Those were perhaps the very words that served as a mantra for him while he sprinted towards the university's main gate. With everything that happened, he could not even put his head on the breakup with Wendy, as his concern that time was primarily to get away from his inevitable shame. He was soaked all over: clothes, hair, shoe… perhaps the only thing that was dry in him was his heart; maybe including a couple of papers that his seemingly water-resistant bag could protect. Yoon Jae-in finally reached the final stretches of stairs, eyeing the outskirts of the university's front street filled with students heading to and fro. Like how it contributed to his physical challenge, the rain made it so that almost every cab was either occupied or eagerly waited. Even if he dreamed to board one home, it would seem to not be the most plausible option at that very moment.

It was even weirder to think about that most of the students were surprised upon seeing a student soaked with the hard rain from head to foot despite holding a folded umbrella on one hand. Clearly, something really bad happened to this one particular North Liner in that particular afternoon.

Jae-in walked a couple of metres from the front of the university just so that he could lessen the chance of bumping into someone, while still keeping the mystery of how to head home an utmost priority. At that rate, he was already too soaked to walk towards the bus terminal or even the train station, so either way he was really in such a bad luck.

BZZZT

It was so out of nowhere but it came as quick just as lightning flashed once more on the grey skies. It was fast, and yet he was sure that he felt it. Jae-in immediately moved to the left-most side of the roofed street path, steering clear of the incoming flux of students and moved to fish out his phone. Clearly, the first person that might even contact him would naturally be the person who would know about the breakup right away. He had a huge hunch that it would be Vivian, considering he could really see Wendy contacting her first before everyone else. If that was truly the case, then she's really quick on messaging him.

How long has it even passed since that slap; ten minutes or about half an hour already?

That is, if it was actually her that messaged him but it would turn out that it was not. In fact, for Jae-in's situation the sender of the message was perhaps better if not the best person who could send one.

New message from: Noona Prettiest

The rain is strong so I got a shoot cancelled. Do you want me to drop by North Line so I can drive us home together?

---AN HOUR OR SO LATER, BACK AT THE APARTMENT---

Jae-in's POV

---

Well, this is like a scene from a drama.

"Okay, now that we're actually home and you're all dried up," I heard noona's voice call from the living room as I exited the bathroom, hanging my soaked clothes as well as changing into new ones. "Can you please tell me how on earth were you so wet with rainwater when I came to your school? You did not forget your umbrella now, did you Jae-in? What would have happened to you had I not decided to fetch you, huh?"

"I'm sorry noona… I hope that I didn't get the car seats wet. I just… something huge happened and me getting soaked was just one of the after effects of it, I guess. I really apologize… things just have been rough lately… and that is coming from someone who never really let school things a bother…"

Yihyun noona raised an eyebrow, albeit it appeared to be springing from a concerned expression rather than a pissed one.

"Ehh…? Is there something going on?"

"No it's… I've actually sorted things out now, noona. You have no idea how relieved I am despite looking so cold in front of you… it looks bad but I really am happy."

As I was busy drying my hair with the towel, I felt Yihyun-noona approach me and hold my hand with her ever soft palms. I did not see the entire ordeal as I was really busy so it came as a shock that she actually went off and did exactly just that. I don't even know why she would do that in the first place.

"Come with me… sit on the couch and let's talk about it," her voice turned soft. It sounded really concerned by I got concerned with it. It felt as if it was the calm before the storm of her anger towards me.

Was that even the case?

"You're not… mad?"

"Sit, Yoon Jae-in," She commanded rather sternly. Of course, despite being so soft she still had that tone of authority and concern blending carefully well. I have nothing else to do but silently follow after her. Next thing I know, I sat on the couch with a towel over my head and Yihyun-noona disappeared to her room, only to appear seconds later with a blanket on her grasp.

"Here," she said as she draped the towel over my shoulders and body. I wonder if it was her personal blanket; I assumed that it was because it had that sweet, velvety smell to it. "I know that it should have been a while back, but I had no expectations for you to show up dripping wet like that. Use my blanket. Don't worry, it's clean."

She then proceeded to sit beside me and placed her right hand over my shoulder.

"I'll be honest; I was a supposed to get angry at you when I saw you board the car. I don't mind getting the car wet; for me that was the least of my concerns. I was really on the brink of being furious yet your face… your face when you entered the car door was different. It was quite unlike what I saw from you before, so I just resorted to rush home and keep you warm as much as I could."

"I… I had that different look on me, noona?"

Yihyun-noona nodded.

"Your eyes looked different. You sure look sad but relieved at the same time. I don't exactly understand why you would have that kind of look with you, but you did. It was weird. Do you mind elaborating about that?"

"Actually… I… I got slapped just now… not that long ago when we saw each other… the real reason why I was soaked when you saw me was anchored with that, noona… I have no idea how else I would have gotten home if it were not for your fetch. I got fortunate that your shoot got cancelled when it did."

"Wait, wait, wait… did I just hear that right, Jae in?" I saw noona's expression change. If she was not curious before, she definitely was now. Her eyes displayed nothing but pure inquiry. "Did I hear that right? You got slapped?! How… how on earth would you even get slapped? Did I just hear that wrong or were you really slapped across you face? Who would even do that to you and why would they do that?!"

I shifted a bit on my end of the couch. Things are about to come out to her now.

"Do you… do you remember that time when I was staring at Victoria's letter…?"

"Of course I do… wait, did that girl do this to you!? Was Victoria the one who slapped you across your face?!"

"What…? No! Noona… please listen to me first… it's…. I told you that night that I was keeping it as a reminder… I fished it out of my drawer for that very reason, all before you even asked me to tell the story about my ex-girlfriend. Today… today I felt like I just prevented a possibility of another Victoria situation from happening again, noona. Actually… there's someone that confessed to me that they liked me and…"

The awkwardness of this whole thing never really sank in me until I was about to tell Yihyun-noona of everything that happened. Oh my, now there's no real way to back out in this impending conversation.

However, on hindsight I really should have told her of the situation. She, of all people, could help me the best.

Maybe not entirely in detail, but… whatever….

"… And earlier today, I have given things a fair bit of thought and decided that… with all the signs from before, the way that this girl acted as well as the things I learned from my ex-girlfriend, Victoria… I figured I was not yet ready for the kind of relationship that this particular girl was aiming for. I could easily just have went with the flow and agreed to date her once and for all, but in good conscience I just could not do that. I think no human being deserves to have that."

"So, you never really liked this girl and you finally said 'no' today?" Yihyun-noona asked. "Is that why she slapped you?"

I nodded.

"I figured that it was bound to happen, noona. I just hope that she would understand why I did that in the long run. At least by then, I could say that the pain across my face was worth it."

"Why are you soaked then?"

"She… she left me under the rain...After the slap, there was a commotion and I just... I just stood there until she went off. I didn't even realize that I was standing in the rain."

"Does it still hurt? Can I see that?"

I was about to tell her that it was fine, honestly. Wendy's slap was strong to the point that I could still feel the force of her palm just as I arrived home but I could hold it in. However, before I could even protest, my step-sister already moved from her side of the couch towards my direction, placing her soft palms over the left cheek of where I was slapped previously. She brought her face dangerously close as well that I could see every small detail of her beautiful presence right before my very eyes. Her warm breathing was grazing softly against the skin of my chin.

I don't know, but I immediately panicked on the spot. I never got this close with noona ever.

"N-noona," I blurted out which clearly startled her. My head immediately formulated the first reasonable question it could produce at that moment. "H-how did you know that… that I got slapped right there?"

"I mean, if she was right handed, this is where her palm would land first."

She gave my cheek a light tap and admittedly, it stung. Perhaps I was too obvious with that as Iris-noona immediately withdrew from being relatively close to me. Despite that, she still kept her hand planted on my cheek.

"It still hurts then. Let's get that treated, Jae-in. Also, tell me what you like to eat. Even if it's something that I can't cook, we can just get it delivered."

"No, that's not necessary now, noona… I could make do of whatever you could cook there, heck I don't even mind cooking myself; you don't need to go out of your way and even go online just for me."

She tapped her hand on my cheek again, inciting another painful reaction from the stinging sensation it gave.

"Yah," she frowned and I must admit: her eyes felt like they were already talking to me. "At least let me treat you. You already got slapped. Plus, you've decided to do the right thing for whoever this girl was… just think of this as a form of me showing my appreciation for your decision, for your maturity… And also, there's a huge tendency for you to get sick because of what you did so let me treat you with healthy food. That way, your body can combat the natural reactions. I'm better off feeding you with something than take care of you because you're sick; you little bean of a Jae-in."

"I… okay then, noona… I'll… I'll let you do that."

"Okay, it's decided. I'll leave you here for a bit and I'd get some stuff from the shops down below. Hopefully there's something there that I would take a liking to. That way, we can eat right away and not even wait for the delivery to arrive. In the meantime, there's hot water on the container. If you need something hot to drink, you can get some from there."

Yihyun-noona stood up and brushed her shirt, but not before moving to give my head with soft series of pats. With how gentle she did it, her soft palms barely felt like it even grazed my crowning glory.

I nodded silently as she finally headed towards her room. That was, to my assumption anyway, to change into something that could combat the cold from the outside. It was no longer raining, thankfully, but that does not mean that the post-rain evening's coolness was something to scoff at.

As I bade another soft farewell to noona while she exited through the door, I headed towards the kitchen and fished out the electric kettle just as she mentioned. At that moment, there was only a single sentence among a lot of things that solidified my train of thought for the evening:

I was so damn lucky to have a sister such as Yihyun Lee.

Ever since she invited me to live with her, things have drastically altered my life for the better. I do not know if I could even make the decision I chose back there had I not have her advice on the back of my head. I would have definitely turned into another person for sure.

One more thing; I could easily have been ground meat the moment that she saw me soaked. Her not getting angry, among the plethora of things that seemed to align on this very day… it was just fucking amazing. There are a lot of things that happened today for sure, but this impending dinner with my ever so loving step sister felt like it was indeed a reward for what happened.

I just did it.

Things have not even sunk in me just yet… until now that I was alone with nothing else to think about.

I finally let go of Wendy Jeon.

I did exactly what I said I would do.

Whatever comes after that; I must be brave to face the consequences. I must be able to uphold this decision as firm and as dedicated as I could.

I bet that at this point in time, something must have already happened within the messaging group. I would be really surprised if there wasn't.

Worse case was… maybe Wendy would have gone drinking with some other friend group of hers once again. If that was the case, then I don't think that was still on me. That would already be on her. I did what I came for and that was to end everything once and for all. It had to be done for the greater good.

I have a feeling that this would not be the final interaction between Wendy and me. I'm sure in the future; we'll be able to talk again as friends. I could only hope so much, however.

The thought of the group's reaction intrigued me beyond comprehension and I can't keep everything to myself. With that in mind, I moved to fish out the phone placed on top of the oven toaster previously. I had a feeling that I would head to the kitchen after the shower and so I placed it there beforehand, fetching it before I went back to the dining table to enjoy the hot chocolate I made.

I connected my phone into the internet and pushed the icon of the messaging group, and that one push was all that I needed before my entire notification bar was flooded with messages from…

'United Kindred…?

What even is that?

And then it hit me: it was a messaging group. In fact, it was the very same messaging group from before; the one that I had with Thomas and the others, just under a different name… only now that everything was wrought in chaos. I don't know who or what was the reason why they changed the name, but I trust that it was another product of the chaos that was happening. It might be an aftermath, it might not be, but it's nothing short of confusing for sure.

What is going on?

---

Yoon Jae-in took a good sip from his prepared hot chocolate drink and proceeded to open the said conversation. The thought of the chaos being tied to him and Wendy was already there and perhaps he, too, wanted a confirmation. However, his inner curiosity with regards to the previously unnamed group's new peculiar group chat name weighed heavier, especially the perpetrator. He opened the group and almost everyone else was typing at the same exact time. Their portraits with multiple ellipses showed as he scrolled down to the most recent messages.

Thomas: Hey, who the hell did that? Please just leave her be. I think there's something going on so let's just not barge in if Wendy's not interested to be added back. Stop being jack-asses.

Vincent: Oh, something happened for sure otherwise she would not leave without even a message. I'm sure she's told someone already, or we could just wait for Jae-in to go online and ask him.

(I'm pretty sure Vincent connected the dots already, Jae-in thought to himself. It's not that long ago when we talked about her after all. It would take time before he would realize, though.)

Jayden: They could have had an argument or something. That's just normal; it's not like it's something new. Let's just shut up. It'll pass. Who knows; maybe they're even smashing RN and do not want to be disturbed. People do that to make up to each other right?

Thomas: Hey, watch your mouth @Jayden. We have other people here. Please don't give them the wrong idea about us.

Katy: I'm sorry. I think Wendy left because I just got added: (. Maybe she got uncomfy that I got added here.

Thomas: @Katy, don't worry about that. I'm sure it has nothing to do with you.

(Wait, since when was Katy added to the chat?)

Jae-in, with curiosity already getting the better of him, moved to scroll past the arguing bunch and actually give context to what was going on. It was evident from the talk that Wendy has left the group, somehow Katy got added into the mix and then the group chat's name got changed. His scrolling fortunately yielded answers to his queries, and things seemed to have become worse the more that he continued to read on upwards.

About an hour after the pair of them argued, the first thing that notified the group was Wendy leaving without any response or message whatsoever. He also saw that Jared and Jayden repeatedly attempted to add her back towards the group only for her to do the same thing of leaving without a message. It was quite obvious; she did not want to be in the same chat with Yoon Jae-in.

Then of course, Jae-in moved to open her private messages to him via the chat tab, hoping to confirm what he already had in his mind.

This person is unavailable.

Of course, it was quite the expected reaction. At that rate, had Wendy not block him right away it would have been more surprising. That kind of development never really surprised Jae-in by any means. There was a part of him that was appreciative of the absence of message; surely, it was quite expected for her to throw in some words before blocking him for good. It was perhaps for the better that she did that.

Jae-in minimized the header for Wendy's portrait and moved to scan the unopened messages. Aside from the chaos of the group chat, United Kindred, Thomas Doh had a good amount of private messages directed to him. The first one that was on the face of it; the one message that Jae-in need not to even open to know what he said contained the following:

Thomas: I don't want to interfere but things are getting out of hand. Wendy's not replying to me, or to other members for that matter. Maybe you and her just…

The rest of the message was cut. Jae-in wanted to open the chat and message Thomas in explanation of everything. He was, after all, the person who introduced Wendy to him so if there was anyone who deserved an explanation first-hand, it would be him. However, just the tone of that heading chat already intimidated him. He somehow heard the voice of a very disappointed Thomas messaging him that he could not bring himself to open the messages and reply to what followed.

Surprisingly, it was not Thomas' tab that was on the very top. Vivian Ning's portrait flashed, signalling a recent message that she brought to him privately. Despite the initial decision to draw the attention away from the chaos, Jae-in moved and opened her chat tab hoping to converse with her.

Vivian: Jae-in, I know what happened with you and Wendy and I'm sorry if it was not your intention to let me know.

Vivian: Wendy came knocking at the front door of my dorm, all wet from the rain and asking if she could stay for a while. She unintentionally blurted out everything while she was changing clothes, so here we are. I decided to take her in because it's too stupid to bring her out in the rain at this time.

Vivian: Please don't think that I'm messaging you to guilt-trip you or anything. Wendy might be my friend, but you are as well. I don't think that I'm on the position to tell you what my side of the equation is without placing more fuel to the already bad looking fire. I just wanted you to know where she is because I figured you're worried.

Vivian: She told me repeatedly that she would block you the first chance she gets. If you can't message her now, it means that she already did it. Don't worry; I'll take care of her while she's still on a huge emotional mess. That's all I can assure you of her for now.

Vivian: Please, I don't want to talk to the others because they might ask her of me. Can you be the one to tell them to not add her back for the time-being? Doing that would not help her to any degree while the wound is still fresh.

Jae-in's heart leapt out of his chest the moment that he read Vivian's soft message. A huge thorn just got shot out of his chest knowing Wendy was safe with Vivian and not on some bar whatsoever. For now, he could relax and lull in his mind while the situation cools itself down.

Grateful, he moved to open the replier and provide a simple appreciation message for Vivian's actions.

Jae-in: Hey, you have no idea how relieved I am to know that she's with you. Take care of her while she's there, okay? Thank you so much, Vivi. You're such a huge help.

Surprisingly, she replied almost immediately after she saw the message.

Vivian: We're cool. Give her space for a bit and maybe you two can talk in the future. Take care, Yoon Jae-in.

Whether he would want to reply more to that or not was already behind him. The thought of Wendy being in a safe place was already a reward in itself for Yoon Jae-in; he was so relaxed that he opened the chat tab subconsciously, with the conversation wildly being tossed around by Jared, Jayden, and Thomas. Everything was so out of context but he did not care; savouring on the recent topic of Jayden's screen being cracked after the hand phone slipped off from his grasp.

A soft squeak of the apartment door finally signalled his step-sister's return. Yihyun showed up holding two paper bags that stood high up towards her shoulders, giving a wide smile towards Jae-in as she finally entered the apartment after closing the door behind her.

"Wait, let me help you there noona," Jae-in said as he enthusiastically left the phone and went towards Yihyun's direction.

And just like that, Jae-in left the messaging group generating disorder within its own members; and as Jae-in helped Iris set the respective food on the table, 'United Kindred' repeatedly teased Jayden for sending a screenshot. He figured that it was a good proof of showing everyone else in the chat that his phone's screen really cracked, and he was not even able to realize what was wrong with that until Jae-in eventually fished his phone back in preparation for the upcoming dinner.