Chapter 3:

    "I'm exhausted." Jin sighed as he walked out of the classroom doors and down the hall. The sun shone through the window from almost directly above him, crawling ever so slowly towards the horizon somewhere behind the immense skyscrapers that lined the Kowloon City border. "Heyo!", a hand slapped Jin on the shoulder as its silhouette shifted into his gaze. "It's Liu! Here to make your day exciting as always!", Liu reminded Jin of his tiresome energetic presence. "I'm here too.", Zhou-Li spoke up as he walked up to the two from behind. "Geez, how are you guys still so hyperactive? I was fighting to stay awake in class.", Jin responded. His voice was soft and had no standing. "Jin, you should go home and sleep. It's seriously no good if you keep this up tomorrow.", Zhou-Li reminded him. Liu had a smirk on his face now. "His grin is kind of annoying.", Jin thought. "Do you want me to come over and play some games with you or something? Or should that girl visit you instead?", Liu said with a sarcastic tone. "Thanks, but no thanks. I'll take Mei.", Jin sharply replied. Liu winced back with pain and made a sizzling sound with his mouth. "It seems Jin's too good for us now.", he said over to Zhou-Li. "Yeah, right. He's probably just had enough of your stupid grin.", Zhou-Li threw back. Jin looked down at the floor as he concealed his widening smile. "Hey! He's laughing! Jin's laughing damn it!", Liu cried out as he noticed Jin slightly hunching over with his right hand over his mouth. "I can't help it, Zhou-Li knows what's on my mind.", Jin said, still smiling and swallowing his bits of laughter still pushing up his throat. Zhou-Li looked proud, with his arms crossed and a sly smile on his face. "Whatever.", Liu brushed off. He looked towards the classroom walls as they made their way towards the stairs.

    When they had gotten down to the first floor, they turned towards the male shoe locker. The lockers were a steel, cubic unit that lined multiple shelves that separated the entrance room in half. One side is where the guys would have their shoes, the other where the girls would have theirs. The shelves were stored inside rooms that had sliding doors towards the entrance, where the stairs met with the wooden floor. As Jin walked in, there was a commotion in the girl's locker room that was made known by a loud bang from one of what Jin assumed were the locker doors and a unison of gasps.  On his side of the room, the guys were starting to murmur about what might be happening over there. "What's happening over there? Are they having a fight?" Jin wasn't going to wait around. He walked across the entrance room and knocked loudly with his knuckles on the doorframe of the female locker room door. A few girls standing near the rear wall turned to look at him with faces of anguish. "What's happening?", Jin asked them. Two girls weakly pointed out of fear towards the center of the room, where Jin's eyes trailed as he followed their gazes.

    A dark-haired girl was slumped on her knees on the floor. There was some clear liquid on the floor near her, and her uniform and bag seemed to be soaking wet. Another girl with lighter hair was yelling at her, her top was also dripping with that liquid. Jin recognized her from the hallways. "That doesn't look like water. Maybe a soda or something.", Jin thought as he analyzed the liquid. "You whore! Are you mentally disabled or something!?", the girl with brighter hair was screaming now. Jin looked up towards her slightly in shock. He didn't expect her to be making such a large commotion over a spilled drink. But perhaps it damaged her phone or her homework. He didn't have enough information as to what was going on to take action. As he scanned the girl on the floor again, he realized. "It's Mei, from earlier." His heart throbbed. "Why is she on the floor? Did she do this?", as much as he wanted to jump in and defuse the contagious fight, he was hesitant. "Why? Why am I just standing here? I'm a first-responder. If I do something now, it wouldn't be that weird. So why?", Jin thought as his eyes made contact with hers. Mei was looking up at him now. Her eyes were in tears and her face was red. She seemed to be begging him to step in and do something. "But should I? I feel like I should. But-", his eyes widened as the screaming girl became more aggressive. "Maybe if I hit your head hard enough, it'll bring back a brain cell or two in that stupid head of yours!" She lifted her arm with a fist up in the air and put her foot behind her, as if she was going to strike. Mei raised her right arm over her head and brought her head down, sheltering herself for the coming punch. Everyone winced and hid behind their hands or phones just as the girl brought her fist down. "Mei!", Jin started to cry out, his hand reaching out towards Mei's fragile silhouette. 

"Hey!" The girl froze and turned around. The room was dead quiet. It was as if everyone stopped breathing. Liu was halfway into the door, he was breathing hard. "That's enough.", he said in a harsh tone. "D-Do you know what this bitch did to me!?", the girl screamed. She started to stammer. "I don't care. Put that fist back down unless you want one coming towards your face next.", Liu threatened. Jin was shocked. He had never seen this side of Liu before. He watched as Liu stepped closer towards the girl. "Ha!", she laughed. "You'd hit a girl? Some kind of man you are-", a loud slap rang out from the room. Nothing moved. A bag somewhere in the room fell. Liu's hand was extended and he was in a fighting stance. His arm wavered as Jin traced the direct path Liu had followed through on that girl's face. The girl herself was shaking, her face tilted to the left side as pressured by Liu's hand on impact. She slowly brought her right hand up to her face and felt it as if she couldn't process what had just happened. "Y-You… You slapped me.", she said with a shaky tone. Mei's eyes were widened now. She was still on her knees, looking up towards Liu. Then her head slowly turned towards Jin. He looked back, both staring at each other whilst in shock. "Mei.", Liu spoke out across the silent room. "Y-Yes?", she responded with a quivering voice. "Come here.", Liu demanded with a soft tone. Mei stood up slowly and took short, light steps towards him. Liu took off his jacket and swung it over her shoulders. "Get a towel and dry yourself off." "O-Okay.", Mei stammered and turned towards Jin. "I'll take her", he said. He placed an arm around Mei's waist and moved towards the door, trying not to be too hasty in case Mei couldn't keep up. He passed Zhou-Li, who made way for him and Mei to exit, as he stood by the doorframe.

Jin turned towards the main door and looked down at Mei. "Let's go outside. The sun will dry you off in no time.", he said in a soft, comforting tone. Mei only nodded as she stared down at the floor. As they made their way towards the door, Jin could feel her grip on his shirt tighten. Her face bared the same concealed emotion, but he understood. It must've been a traumatic thing for her. His hand that was around her waist tightened its hold a little bit, and he heard Mei gasp slightly, almost immediately after his fingers had tightened. No one said anything as they slowly exited the building into the warmth of the overlooking sun.