What would Yumi Do?

You and me both, Jumin.

So...I have come to a decision about young master Yoosung because I just had the most cringeworthy chat with him and Jumin. Seriously. Both Jumin and I wanted to get out of there (yes, I know that Jumin isn't actually a real person and neither is Yoosung). Jumin was flustered. I was embarrassed...for myself and for him.

I was following the walkthrough because I generally hate to get a bad ending in one of these things. After all, I'm playing mostly to escape the bad bits in real life, right? So why try for a bad end? I don't want to get blown up. I don't want to die lonely. I want some sparkle and romance in my life. I'd like to actually feel, you know, needed.

It wasn't too hard with Zen's route because most of the time I would have picked the "right" answer anyway (though there were some cringeworthy choices there too). But with Yoosung. OMG. He's a little too needy.

So I was thinking, hey, maybe I won't do the walkthrough with Yoosung after all. I'm not very invested, not like I was in the story with Zen. Zen is sweet. Yoosung is kinda painful. Maybe I'll let it go organically.

It might just be that I'm too old for Yoosung. Wait, no...yeah, I am entirely too old for Yoosung. Absolutely. Positively. No question about it.

OMG Jumin, I am so so sorry.

But then...I still don't entirely want to get a really horrible ending. So I was thinking...what would Yumi do? (It was Lirael that romanced Zen...I had to change the avatar and the name to tackle Yoosung otherwise it would feel really weird.). What if I came up with a character for her and then let her make the decisions? Because if I answer them as myself I am destined for a bad end for sure.

So...Yumi. Let's say she's 21 and recently graduated from university. She can't be too old otherwise it's just a little too Mrs. Robinson. She was at loose ends...her parents had lined up a job for her but it wasn't anything she wanted to do in particular and it isn't supposed to start for another 3 months. Then the RFA fell into her lap and she thought she would ride it out and see what happened. She had nothing to lose. She majored in...er...I dunno...public relations. Perhaps the job was something at an advertising firm of a family friend. Not exactly what she'd pictured but nothing to sneeze at either.

She had a boyfriend her first year of university but it wasn't anything serious. She's never been in love. As a person, she wants to be needed. She's a bit bemused by all of these guys. She's never been shy, but she's never been particularly forward either. She knows what it is like to be aimless. She finds Zen attractive but a bit much. She's too low key to go for someone famous. Too much of a hassle. But she doesn't mind flirting with him a bit because, hey, he's pretty darn cute. At least until she gets serious about Yoosung (if she does). Jumin feels old to her and too rich. He's hard to relate to, but that also makes her want to tease him just the tiniest bit.

She doesn't entirely trust 707 or V because, honestly, she's smart enough to think that the entire situation is just bizarre and they seem the most knowledgeable about what's up. She does think 707 is funny though and wouldn't mind joking with him more.

This is Yumi. Felt kind of right. Not perfect.

She doesn't understand Jaehee at all. She thinks Jaehee is a stick. She doesn't know why she puts up with Jumin's demands. Why doesn't she tease him? Say no? Is any job worth sucking up like she does? Yumi doesn't think so.

Now...Yoosung. She's got to find him a bit attractive (cringe). I think in the beginning she finds it really flattering how quickly he gloms onto her. No one has ever been so instantly attracted to her before. She's pretty, but not a beauty. Her slightly snarky wit probably didn't help with romance. Or maybe because she just never really tried before. She always thought there would be time to get serious about things. She's still young and she knows it.

So that's the idea. We'll see what Yumi does. It's day 5 and she's at the point where she's having a bit of fun and wants to encourage Yoosung. She is slightly weirded out about his fascination with Rika though.

I wonder if she'll make it to a good end or not? I really don't know. She's got a better chance than I do though.

EDIT: I thought I would update this as I go so I don't forget.

Even Yumi had a hard time
not calling Yoosung a puppy here.

End of Day 5: Yoosung called Yumi and confessed that he's starting to feel jealous when he sees her talking to other RFA members. Or, at least, that's what he thinks. He's never been jealous before. Yumi is flattered but also a little leery. They've never even met in person. He's never even seen her picture...though that actually makes it a little more romantic to her. She's pretty sure he'd find her attractive if he saw her but it's kind of cool that he seems to be falling for her even though he's never even seen her. That boyfriend back in college? He cheated on her with some girl in one of his chemistry classes and then had the nerve to make a joke about how they had "chemistry" together. She's never felt like she's had chemistry with someone before.

Day 6... Yumi guessed Yoosung was studying Medicine, more because she knew he would probably read through the chat later than actually thinking that's what he's doing. She's finding his phone calls sweet but a little strange. He keeps hinting at things that sound so at odd with how she thinks he is. Does he even know what he's saying?

(Who knew Yoosung would be so freaky deaky)

Day 7... Okay...I've got to add to Yumi's backstory. Because, quite frankly, Zen is making a lot more sense than Yoosung -- Yoosung keeps saying "Oh! Yumi, you're just like Rika! But I know you're a different person, really! But you're just like her! You probably look like her too, don't you?" and Zen is being nice and all "Er, I think Yoosung has you a bit confused with Rika and I'm worried he's going to go have a meltdown when he figures out you aren't actually her and you're going to get hurt..." And I know I'm partial to Zen anyway, so I've got to have a reason for Yumi to not be running screaming from Yoosung. Because I would be. Boy has some baggage to unpack, yo.

So...let's say that previous boyfriend was epic hella attractive like Zen. So she doesn't totally trust really good looking guys. The more flirty he gets, the less she actually trusts him, though she's attempting to be nice because she knows this about herself and realises somewhere inside that he's being pretty reasonable. And she's stubborn. She doesn't like to be told what to do. The more people want to push, the more she can't help but push away. Also why she stuck around the RFA instead of just saying "Buh-bye!"

Beginning Day 8... Okay, so Yumi was feeling fairly decent last night (and has, apparently, made it past the break point). Yoosung seems to have finally figured out she isn't Rika reincarnated after some advice from Jumin and Jaehee (she suspects he couldn't take the advice from Zen because, well, it's Zen). Things were going okay, he's being sweet and not too creepy because, okay, you can be a bit masochist but when you keep working it into the conversation it is...off-putting). And she thought Drunk Jaehee was really quite comic but endearing so she's liking Jaehee more now too.

Then, you know, the bomb scare. And, inside at least, she's a bit WTF is wrong with everyone in the RFA? They freak but then they get sidetracked and meanwhile she's sitting on a literal bomb. She was on the phone with Yoosung and he's all Oh no, what will we do, I feel so helpless, there's a bomb under my beloved OMG and then he flips out...because of a cockroach. And Jumin is ethereally calm. And Jaehee calls her to talk about how she wanders the building in search of something to eat. And Zen thinks he might have a stalker. At least 707 is working on it but the fact that he lives on Honey Buddha Chips and Dr. Pepper and probably doesn't sleep is a little concerning. But, yeah, okay Yoosung, go have a good day at school! She's trying to remain calm. Luckily she'd stocked up on food a few days before (how come no one else has even asked if she has food? It's not like she can call for delivery or leave...) She figures she needs to just stay calm. Maybe not as calm as Jumin, but calm. She keeps telling herself they all mean well but people deal with stress in different ways.

Day 9...Yumi is keeping as busy as she can. Even though Seven says the bomb is now "safe" she's still a bit meh about that. She's worried about Yoosung. She thinks it was good he finally talked to V but now he's being mysterious and what's he doing with Jumin? And she's worried about 707. Has he slept at all? People make mistakes when they don't sleep or eat. At least Jaehee and Zen are somewhere safe. (She has, by the way, apparently made it though the last break point successfully). There's actually not enough to do with the party to keep her busy and she's still not supposed to go anywhere. She's going a bit stir crazy and jumping at any noises. She wishes Seven would at least fix the app so she could message people directly instead of having to wait for them to message her first. She feels like it is the calm before the storm but she doesn't know what kind of storm it is going to be and that is the scariest part.

Day 10...Yumi is effing tired because there were all these ridiculous chats and calls in the middle of the night where nothing really got said. She's both proud and worried about Yoosung. She didn't expect him to want to go with Seven. A week ago she couldn't have imagined that's what he would do. She's exhausted (yeah, I wound up taking a few of the chats as I was up because little dude had a nightmare). She's worried about Yoosung. He's called a few times or she's called him but he won't tell her anything of substance. Just that things will be okay. Zen is freaking out too, which is not helping her state of mind. And the party is tomorrow. They are supposed to meet. Will they be able to? She has a bad feeling, but maybe it's the lack of sleep.

(The game branched again but I won't find out until noonish whether or not Yumi is headed toward the good end or not. I need more coffee. And a nap.)

Last day...The one weird thing about MM (okay, there's a lot weird, but let's just talk about this ONE weird thing) is when you get to the end and you've got the visual novel bits inserted, it's actually not stuff that the main character would know. So, you, as the player obviously know that something bad has happened to Yoosung. Pretty sure he's lost an eye or something (don't know what exactly as I tried not to look up spoilers). But technically, Yumi doesn't know that. As far as she knows, other than 707 being really weirdly un-glib and Yoosung sounding extra tired, everything is fine. So it's a little strange to be picking the chat answers when you're not supposed to know all that you know, you know? (Sorry, couldn't resist)

Is this the good end for Yoosung? Where he's together with Yumi and has been all brave and manly or what not but he's, like, half blind? If so, that really sucks for poor Yoosung. I mean, what the hell are the bad ends like then? Or am I on a bad end? Not sure. Could be, I suppose, since I didn't check. I'll know for sure in half an hour when it's time for the party. Well, may Yumi and Yoosung live together happily ever after. Will update one last time when it is over.

I'm not going to say anything more about this...
because I shouldn't. Sorry, Yoosung.

After the Party...well, Yumi and I did manage to get the good ending after all. Yoosung leaves the hospital all bandaged up and comes to the party to declare his love in front of everyone. He did indeed get hurt -- damage in his left eye. They share a kiss.

In the After Ending you find out they get married and 4 years later he's about to get surgery on his eye to fix it. He's a vet.

I'm such a bad person. There was this bit (see photo) while Yoosung is confessing and says I'll give you my heart and there was something about that coupled with the bandages around his head that made me immediately think of the bit in Preacher where the guy cuts out his heart to show his mother and holds it out to her in front of all her shocked nursing home friends...and then promptly dies in a spectacularly bloody mess. I'm just evil. Sorry, Yoosung. It's my brain. I can't help it.

I read through the other possible Yoosung endings, since now I can't spoil myself. There's a lot of potentially blowing yourself up in Yoosung's route. I still feel kind of bad for him. Even his good end is only kind of good. Did he have to get hurt to prove to himself that he was enough?

Anyway, to give some closure to Yumi...

After the party, Yumi does take the job her parents had found her. She supports Yoosung as he finishes up school and cares for him when he is down about his eyesight. She moves up in the company, putting her organisation skills to work. She continues to help host the parties for the RFA. She and Yoosung get married. I'm sure they'll have 2 kids because that's statistically the most likely thing for these two to do. They are going to have very normal, kind of boring lives, but they'll always have a smile for each other. They'll go on hot springs trips for vacations and giggle too much. Someday, they'll take their kids on a safari trip to Kenya and that will be the most exciting thing they ever do.

So, whew. Made it through Yoosung's route. I feel slightly more kindly towards him, but this still wasn't my favourite by any stretch. I'm too old and twisted.