Yin Kang

" Eh. It's already half past five?" 

Yin Kang sighed as he looked at the wall clock. He had skipped lunch and slept through the entire afternoon. The shirt he wore from last night, was tossed across the room and left untouched. His bed was drenched with the early summer sweat, dishes undone, and windows left wide open. He couldn't care less.

Yin had celebrated his nineteenth birthday last night, with her. Only her. "Mei Chang…" He pictured her tiny oval face, carrying the prettiest pairs of brown-colored eyes. Mei hugged him for the first time in the two years they'd met. Yin failed to bottle his emotions during the embrace, and he broke down crying…But she held him tighter, and he was fine again. 

He glanced back again at the clock and it was already getting late for his Fencing Class. He knew Master Li would be fumed at his disobedient behavior, given his FIE Challengers (International Fencing Federation) was less than a month away, and he was not preparing enough. 

...

 Master Li was more than just a mentor to him. He was a great influence and a father-figure, ever since his parents died from the virus attack. Master Li trained him, fed him, and even sheltered him and he later quit his academic career and picked up the sword for good. Yin is a prodigy, He's a celebrated kid, who always brought glory and a good name to his academy. It was his home. Many days he was seen sleeping and spending the night. But Yin never spoke with any of his fellow peers. Only Master Li...and…Mei... 

He saw her for the first time during the Women's Singles Training Camp and instantly Yin was blown away by her elegant and defensive play style. She never lost. At times he thought he stood nowhere near her level. Mei was always strict with her schedule. 4:00 pm - 6:00 pm training and at 6:30, her drunkard father would collect her from the entrance gate with his dull grey Suzuki.

She never let anything or anyone distract her…But she always made time for Yin, whom she loved and cared for, Yin was the only person she trusted, with all her heart, and then there's Yin who walks on a burning rope each day, just for her. All for her. Though he had a life without family or friends. What he did have was her, and he would do anything for her.

...

Yin gathered and tightly stuffed all his fencing gear inside his bag. His mask, shoes, and, of course, his expensive and hard-earned blades. After he had packed, he went straight to the shower and thoroughly rinsed his sweat-stained and athletic body. There were numerous cuts and bruises from the intense training over the past few weeks.

But they never hurt him. He blinked repeatedly at the fogged mirror on his left-hand side and noticed that his figure had somehow shrunk by a few kilograms. His soft white skin had turned pale, and his lips dry.

He had not been eating well and he was aware of it. Ashamed and disgusted at himself, Yin closed his teary eyes and put his head against the wall in front of him. He reminisced about the time with his parents and his dear Grandmother, Nina. 

She passed away several years before his parent's demise. Yin loves her as much as he loves Mei. She always had a way to explain things to him in a way he would understand. She would tell him scary stories every night. He was recollecting every little detail like it happened yesterday. It was physically and mentally unbearable to swallow this pill of pain, and along with the water that ran down the shower, his invisible tears ran down too.

Yin dried himself with a towel and put on his shabby white tee with black pants. He carefully took his new and only pair of shoes from the floor and glared at it briefly. It was Mei's gift for his nineteenth birthday. He loosened the tongue and laces and it fit him like a glove. He smiled at it for a second and headed out. 

The world outside his room sickened him. He did not look at people, trees, birds, or even the sky. Everything his eyes absorbed simply blurred. Nothing made sense to him. Whenever he was alone with himself, he debated about the purposelessness of life with his inner self…But today he was looking at his new shoes. White as snow, although a little slippery. 

"Oh Thank The God Lord!" Yelled an Old Lady from across the road, whose kitten was rescued by a passerby from one of the trees that stood on the pavement. 

"What!… How ridiculous are people! I mean isn't she supposed to thank the man who actually saved the fuckin' cat?" Yin cursed under his breath. He despised people who gave credit to their so-called "God" for everything that happened. "People are never practical", he said to himself. He recalls some lessons from his late Grandma.

As a young kid, Yin always questioned about Gods and what would happen after death, and Nina as always, had a way to explain things.

"Little One, If you blindly believe that there are spooky demons always followin' you around, you might end up meeting one in the end... Likewise, people have made up God to feel safe and hopeful."

...

"So…none of it's real…Grandma?"

"You are real…My dear, and so am I." 

He kisses gently on his Grandma's cheek.

As he got done reminiscing, He was already in front of his academy's entrance, standing behind the closed doors. 

"En Garde! Prêts! Allez!" announced the Trainers in sync.

He heard the rapid stomping of shoes. Clangs! The sounds of the metallic swords battling each other. The cool air from the air-conditioned room gushed through his new shoes from underneath the door.

"Touche!" Declared Master Li at Kim Yao with a proud smile worn over his worked-up and cubical face.

Kim Yao's stern face immediately lit up as bright as the morning sun. Yin still stood outside and kept watching everything through the window. Stood in front of Kim Yao was a gorgeous slender-bodied girl whom he knew.

Mei Chang, the Two-Time, Undisputed Women's National Champion, was disappointed, panting and her face glowing from the reflection of her sweat. Her eyes were dull, her cheeks uncomfortably red.

She still looked beautiful and Yin never took his eyes off of her. Master Li, briefly after appreciating Kim, walked over towards Mei and stood very close to her with an ugly rage fueling on his face. Mei was already fighting back tears…

"Get Out!" Master Li shouted so loud, the entire class went quiet and turned to look at them.

Kim was in disbelief, and Yin was on the verge of barging in.

But Mei ran away abruptly, embarrassed, into an exit that led to the terrace from inside the class. Yin took the stairs to the terrace from the outside. He was afraid to take the elevator as it would be difficult for him to find her. Stairs were the safest bet. 

"Mei!" "Mei!" He kept yelling his favorite name on his way up. 

But there were no answers. 

He had climbed three stories.

Yin's heart started to pump rapidly. He rubbed the sweat off his face, ignored the ill thoughts and continued, slipping and trembling his way onto the last few steps. Skyscrapers and tall apartments appeared on the horizon as the blood-red sun was sinking, yet, Mei wasn't in sight. 

He had reached the seventh and the final floor.

Then as Yin jumped over the last three steps, his eyes caught Mei faced towards the sunset and stood on the very end of the ledge. He was only a few breaths away from her but he didn't want her to be scared. He composed himself and he was ready to call her name yet again. 

"M…" He was immediately interrupted.

"Yi..n…?" Mei cried softly, trembling, almost inaudible as the wind blew strong.

He let out a sigh of relief. "Mei! Ye...Yes..It's..me…Ho. How.. How did you know?"

"Who else would care about me Yin?" Her voice was clear this time. 

"Mei! St...Step back slowly. I'm here with you." She ignored his order. Yin made very slow steps towards her, and Mei began crying again...

"My fath...father…knocked my mom unconscious yesterday and I...ran…to help her...but then he started hitting me too. He hit my leg, Yin. My leg. He still…continued to beat Mom…She...Sh... wasn't able wake up this morning. I was so…so angry…But...But...Did you know…This…has been...happening to us every single night for as long as I can remember...I...I cannot take it anymore." 

Mei pauses for a brief moment. She giggles and cries at the same time, trying to hide her pain somehow.

Yin was holding back raging tears. He never had the slightest idea of any of this...But there's nothing left to hide anymore. 

He did not want to talk back...

He couldn't...

His throat was choked with the taste of human tears. 

"Yin..You were all I ever wanted… I thank you…for everything. The love you gave…The time…I'll forever…be grateful..for you…I w…I will always…Love you, Yin. Always. Love you…" Declared Mei. 

She closes her eyes, extends her arms stiffly, and leans her body forward.

Yin's eyes darken, and the edges of his vision blur. The world around him slows down impossibly, and he does not give a second thought about it. He did not panic. 

He zooms forward, jumps, and reaches out to Mei's soft hands, helplessly floating in the air between life and death, and within a dire second...He clutches her hand as tightly as he could and pulled her back forcefully.

Just for a moment, he saw her face up front. He'd never seen anything or anyone like her…Mei was moving back to safety…

But Yin wasn't.

His new and only pair of shoes, gifted by Mei herself, slips him over the ledge.

Yin refused to reach out his hands, not wanting a single ounce of hope of a savior. He heard a fading voice, 'Nooo!" Screeched Mei.

It was still pleasant...

Yin looked at Mei one last time…before he shut his eyes...

She was so beautiful.