𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐅𝐋𝐀𝐒𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐅𝐋𝐔𝐎𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐂𝐄𝐍𝐓 𝐋𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓𝐒 𝐇𝐀𝐃 𝐁𝐄𝐄𝐍 𝐌𝐄𝐋𝐃𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐎 𝐀 𝐇𝐀𝐙𝐘 𝐊𝐀𝐋𝐄𝐈𝐃𝐎𝐒𝐂𝐎𝐏𝐄 for a few minutes now, but rina refused to leave her perch at the head seat of the bar. alcoholism was no way to cope, having done a medical degree and becoming a very well trusted doctor, she knew that much. and of course the guilt was there every time she stumbled into a cab home with the world blurring around the edges and the countless times she’d simply slept in her jeans because it was too difficult in her alcohol induced condition to shimmy them off. she was meant to be a professional. no one would mark her down as the kind of woman who turned to drinking herself into a stupor to cope with rough times, no one would think that beyond her composed and dignified persona there was a frayed mess waiting to splay and tear apart. she did a good job at pretending, in the morning after she would change into lounge clothes and force a smile through the headaches and drink bitter orange juice until she sobered up and faced her low again. ‘ i have to admit soo, i think i did a pretty good job of scaring him off’ it wasn’t that she wanted to vouch for the asshole, but fair was fair. rina had always excelled at denying herself what she truly needed and pushing it away. she let out a breathy scoff, shaking her head at herself and quickly regretting the decision, brows furrowing and hand cradling her temple as she swallowed down the bitter feeling of disgust at herself that was rising in her throat. she refocuses herself at taesoo’s response, its enough to make her sober up if only for a moment, pout forming on her lips apologetically. it isn’t enough to showcase how sorry she truly is, but several drinks in it’s the best she can muster. he’s right, what she is facing is nothing compared to what other residents had sacrificed or lost. ‘i’m sorry soo, here’s me raving on like i know what it really feels like, and i’ve got no clue. being…lonely and suffering in silence over something trivial like…my hurdles lately. well it’s hardly a change in the wind compared’ she sighed and gave an empathetic smile and brush of their shoulders. ‘i was selfish. i apologize ’ . rina bit her lip and gave a sorry little smile.‘that’s the thing though. hosu hasn’t been awful to me, my life didn’t even truly begin until i got here. i wasn’t…anywhere near as successful in myself or my work. i wasn’t even as safe. but…is it bad to say, even in those darker times… i didn’t feel so cornered, cowering like a little kid. so weak. i mean i had my late fiance…i might have even had a family of my own had things been different ’ she trailed off, slight wobble to her voice as she chewed at her lip and fought back teary eyes, swallowing roughly.
Taesoo never did ask to have a quirk. But, with him having one his whole life that he was used to living turned upside down. He lost the people he considered home and his friends. Ever since Taesoo was sent here to the island he has been on his own. He didn't have anyone to rely on or trust in the beginning and finding people he could consider friends was all tough for him to do. He still finds it hard to make any friends with how closed off he can be with strangers. He misses that feeling of having a family that he can surround himself with. Listening to Rina apologizing to him, he couldn't blame her for what she was feeling. Being here on the island, everyone tried to be happy even if they didn't want to be here. They all were going to be here living for the rest of their lives so why not try to make some happy memories at least. Replace all those sad memories with happy ones. Though, was it truly happiness people were feeling here when they tried to create some sort of happy memory? He doesn't know. Even if Taesoo looked fine on the outside, in the inside he's not okay. He hides his emotions from others, not wanting them to take notice of how he's actually feeling. "We're all suffering in some sort of way, even if we don't show it so easily to others." Talking about your emotions and what you're feeling is something Taesoo doesn't share all too easily. It was just difficult to in his opinion and he doesn't know how the other person would react. "I guess some good can come from being here if you see it playing a positive role in your life. For some they feel happier here than where they originally were from. I don't see anything wrong with being happy here if the life you lived previously wasn't great and there were things going on that were difficult. For me I just forced myself to adapt living here. I'm never going to return home to my family, so I have to make a living here whether I want to or not. Course sometimes I wonder how things would be different if I was never taken away and didn’t have a quirk, but it won’t change the reality I’m in. As nice as it may be to imagine how my life would be different, running away from reality isn’t going to do me any good.”