Deadbeat Jin

Ren grew up in a broken home. He doesn't remember a time when his parents loved each other and life in their house was chaotic.

Maya took care of everything in the house and their lives. She was already a graduate in law, but Jin was the one working while Maya made sure their home didn't collapse.

The fights were constant. Jin would always come home late, often drunk, and those days were the worst. Maya would say he didn't pay attention to anything she said, and he would call her ungrateful, insisting she should be thankful for everything he did for the house.

The situation was different with Ren. In his childhood, he liked his father more because he was the fun one, while his mother represented responsibility.

Although he played with Jin several times, his father also influenced him in various ways. He always told him he needed to be a real man and that he had to get a girlfriend, even when the child was three years old.

This shaped Ren's mind in a way that he might never fully understand. He became insecure and constantly thought about dating, as if life revolved around winning hearts. This resulted in the opposite, a person who dreamed of having a relationship but could never speak properly to any girl he liked.

When the divorce process started, they fought for custody of Ren. Jin insisted on having him, even though he had never truly taken care of the boy's needs. Maya won custody, something Ren didn't like at the time, but he now thanked her daily and tried to make up for everything she had done.

The problem was that Jin didn't take this loss well. Maya decided to move away from her ex-husband; he was very unstable, and she didn't feel safe living in the same city. Given his history, the law sided with Maya in this decision. On the day they were leaving, however, Jin showed up.

Somehow, he found out they were leaving on that exact day and appeared completely drunk. It may have been the most traumatic day for Ren, even though his mind had compressed memories from that time to protect him.

What remained was a feeling of abandonment. Divorce is very traumatic for a child of Ren's age, and instead of helping, his father only made the process much more difficult.

After that, Maya returned to work, and in the beginning, it was very difficult to support her son, but she dedicated herself to the maximum, and now they lived a comfortable life, even though she had to work hard.

During these years, Jin would show up occasionally. Sometimes he seemed like a decent man, wanting to get back together with Maya and pretend that none of this happened, while other times he would come drunk, shouting, and out of control. He alternated between these forms schizophrenically, and Maya always kicked him out, regardless of how he was. She knew the man he truly was, and there was no chance of going back.

Leo and Erika had a general idea of the case, while Aria probably didn't even remember Ren's parents' divorce since they were very young when it happened. There was no time to explain the whole story as they rushed to Ren's residence.

And when they got there, he was there. A small middle-aged man with a bottle in hand. His beard was unkempt, with several gray strands. Seeing him, Ren felt a flood of negative emotions. He just wanted to have a good relationship with his father, but Jin seemed to live in a different world, with his own rules that only he understood.

"Come here, woman! I want to talk to you!"

The man was clearly drunk, as Ren had seen many times before.

"Dad, what are you doing?"

Jin turned to his son's group, taking some time to understand their presence.

"Shouldn't you be in school? I can't believe she asked you to came. This is between me and her, son," Jin said, annoyed by his son's presence.

"No, Dad, you need to calm down. You can't talk to Mom like that."

Jin's annoyance was turning into anger, directed directly at his son.

"You ALWAYS take her side! You think it's fair, my own son doesn't love me! After everything I've done for you!"

Ren wanted to approach to hold him back, but he feared what his father might do in that state.

"It's not like that, Dad, you're drunk! Let's just talk a bit?"

"I don't want to talk to you, I want to talk to your mother!" he shouted, turning red in the face and drawing attention from the neighbors. "You think I don't know that you hate me? Even though I've done everything for you, even the divorce was for you, but you look at me with disdain. Well, know that you're my son and is just like me. You'll also end up alone and a failure. Or do you think you'll make money with your little drawings? You'd better stop judging me!"

It had been a while since Ren had thought about his father. Even before meeting Aria, he was in a peaceful place, and afterward, his mind was fully occupied by drawing and manga. But deep down, he feared exactly what Jin said.

First, he already believed that his dream of becoming a mangaka was impossible, but then any gesture that reminded Ren of his father was a reminder of how similar they were. And if Jin were right, well, that seemed like a nightmare to Ren.

These negative thoughts disappeared when he felt something delicate in his hand. Aria's fingers were seeking space in Ren's hand. The girl seemed angry and stared at Jin with determination.

"Ren, what your father is saying is not true. You're talented and kind, and you won't end up alone. You definitely will not end like that."

Aria's words were reassuring for Ren. He could breathe as he was very grateful for the presence of his friends. But now Jin was staring at Aria with those insane eyes.

"And who's this? Your little girlfriend, Ren? Won't you introduce her to me?"

Before Ren could think of a response, a huge jet of water appeared, knocking the man to the ground. Everyone turned to Maya, holding a hose at the gate of the house.

"Get out of here, I have nothing to talk to you," the short and imposing woman said.

Jin got up and opened his mouth to speak more but ended up taking another jet of water. Maya would have all the patience in the world to keep pushing him with the hose until the man realized he would make no progress and that people on the street were watching the situation.

He scowled at everyone and left, leaving puddles of water along the way.

The young people turned to Maya, who let out a long sigh.

"Come on, kids, after all that, you deserve some cake," tired Maya said, and the quartet entered Ren's home.