ᴡʜɪᴄʜ ᴡɪᴛᴄʜ

        PNXMBRA : noun | pen·​um·​bra | \pə-ˈnəm-brə\          something that covers, surrounds, or obscures               Synonyms: dusk, shade, shadow, umbra

                                The beginnings and ends of shadow lie between                                       the light and darkness and may be infinitely                                       diminished and infinitely increased. Shadow is the                                       means by which bodies display their form. The                                       forms of bodies could not be understood in detail                                       but for shadow.

From the start, the almost blood-fuelled distinction of STEM students from the rest of the majors is explicitly drawn out from superior facilities to the overall worshipping treatment the STEM crowd receives. Admittedly, Jaebum secretly enjoys the blatant favouritism and he will never spill the beans on how he gets a kick out of awed and dismayed looks others throw him once he discloses his major. But it was his mistake to lull himself into a false sense of security that he won’t be as exposed and peer pressured into the party hard social culture of college. Even the other nerds like him want to get a taste of bubbles and shoving their tongue down someone’s mouth, whereas the very idea of going someplace with loud trash music is more than enough to repulse him from stepping a foot out of his room.

Misfortune mischievously tinkers with his luck by pairing him with a roommate who is his polar opposite. But he was pleasantly surprised that his roommate is originally from Korea which provides a rough foundation to mutually bond over with. Still, he detests mixing up with the obnoxious wild crowds of students slurping down booze till they knock out and he cannot believe that it is in his luck again to have the worst of his nightmares fumbling around in his dorm room. He kept himself guarded from any warming female contact because of his past trust issues and he has yet to be educated on the technique of dealing with university level girls - especially drunken crying ones who invaded his privacy. 

“What do you mean you can’t help it?” internally cursing at himself for naturally sounding harsh and accusatory, he desperately racks  his brains for a solution to calm her down. As if his feet suddenly have a mind of their own, they guide him to his closet to fetch his broom and he uses the broom to tentatively pat her shoulder comfortingly. “Uh… I mean if you tell me the reason why you are crying or why the hell you are in my room - ah whatever. You probably don’t remember anything, do you.” crouching down in front of her, he holds out his cheap contact lens case that he kept handy although he rather die than swap his glasses. “What kind of stupid drunk logic is that? It’s not like you are popping your eyeball out. It’s just contact lenses and no, I do not wear them but I do wear glasses so anything optometry doesn’t freak me out. Do you need help though. I don’t want you to actually pop your eyeball out. I never used this contact lens case before, so you can dump them in there.” 

Unable to believe his ears, he stares at her incredulously as he plays with the broom in his hands as he resists the innate urge to glare at her because he doesn’t want to deal with another crying outburst. “I am the person whose privacy and work rhythm you disrupted. This is my dorm room which you barged in and I still don’t know how the hell you managed but…” then it dawns on him that she is curious about him since her brain is too foggy to comprehend the seriousness of the situation. “Oh. You want a basic introduction? Im Jaebum, freshman computer science major and I was working on my mid-term projects until you…” with another sigh, he cuts himself off before grabbing one of his roommate’s pillows to offer it to her since her neck is at the most awkward angle that makes his own neck itch. “And who are you or did you already set your reputation as the crybaby drunk girl?” 

Now sitting cross-legged in front of her, he glumly rests his chin on his palm as he examines her state. “You look terrible and I am guessing you are the pushover type since you clearly do not know how to handle your liquor. Still, you should learn your limits and be more sensible. Don’t give into people otherwise you will turn into an alcoholic in a month and you don’t want to be crashing other guy’s rooms…” grimacing at the thought, he ponders on how to get her out of his room without any rumours flying around. “And you know that you can’t stay here forever. My roommate will be back in a few hours and if he sees you in here…”

This carpet really sucks. The carpet really sucks and her thoughts are a jumbled mess. A tiny part of her brain is aware of this and is practically screaming at her to get herself together. God, she really is a mess, isn’t she? She a crying, gross mess and the small part of her that is sober is wishing that she had the mobility that would allow her to jump out of the window that she came through. What a way to put an end to her misery; jumping out of the goddamn window and praying that she wouldn’t completely fuck herself up. 

The tone that the other uses to address her has her jolting back to reality and she can’t help but flinch. It’s reflex, honestly, and she had thought she’d managed to get rid of it, but the alcohol is really messing with her. “I mean what I say.” The words have no bite to them, to her dismay, and she continues to wipe at her eyes. And oh fuck, she swears she feels a lens shift in a not-so-pleasant way. Casting her gaze down towards her feet, she’s content to just stare at them until she feels something brush against her. Even in her state of inebriation she manages to compute the strange sensation and she jerks away in thinly veiled disgust. “A broom? Are you petting me? With a broom?” Turing her full attention to him, she swats at the offensive item. “I may be... drunk, but I am not drunk enough for this.” Making a shooing motion she quickly looks away again. “I remember things just fine... I was crying because you scared me.” 

Sensing his presence in front of her, she tenses at the proximity before scowling. “It’s not drunk logic, it’s true.” Sighing, she takes a deep breath before slowing exhaling through her nose. “I can take them out by myself, thank you. I’m not a total incompetent.” Gingerly taking the case from his hand, she turns to the side and unscrews the dual compartments. Quickly taking out her lenses, she slips them into the case and closes them. She doesn’t turn back to him, instead choosing to remain turned away from him. 

The scowl comes back as he begins to talk again and god why does he sound so angry? It was just a simple question wasn’t it? She’s about to snap back, but stops when he actually offers a sufficient and somewhat non-condescending answer. “Jaebum, huh?” Furrowing her brows, she leans her head against the wall. “Mid-terms? Ah, I suppose you’re a bit of an... over-achiever... STEM probably... makes sense...” The last part is more of a whisper to herself as her brain attempts to work through and categorize this new information. 

A pillow comes into view and, still adamant on not making eye contact, she mutters a soft thanks before flopping onto her side. Fluffing the pillow a bit, she curls around it and gives (what sounds like) a scoff. “You’re rude.” It’s an observation, not a question. “I’m Star.” She doesn’t offer anything else; her childish way of getting back at him.