Medicine | Winrina

Nothing's More Bizarre Than This

it took an hour for the pizza to arrive at Winter's apartment and when she opened the box, the pizza was already cold, and dry, and ugly that it made Winter wonder if anything could top all the shitty things that happened to her today starting from the moment she woke up and realized that she was still alive on this shit hole of a planet. Not to mention the incident at the clinic
with doctor Aeri, up to now even on her own apartment with this uneatable pizza and this woman in front of her who claimed to be her girlfriend Imagine how tired Winter was.

"You don't need to eat that ugly looking pizza, I can cook for you."

Jimin, the woman who barged into her apartment and kept telling her that she won't leave until Winter was okay, said in her sweet voice that started to creep Winter out. She can't believe that she was actually entertaining this stranger and even offered to eat pizza with her, but when she texted Ningning about it, her stepsister only replied to let Jimin in and listen to what she has to say, Winter put her trust in her stepsister and watch as, Jimin started putting all the groceries in her pantry and refrigerator.

"Nope, I'm good." Winter shrugged and scooped one giant slice and forced herself to bite and swallow the pizza. She was watching Jimin from the kitchen counter. "Now, let me clarify the information you just told me."

Jimin nodded and muttered 'go on' as she put the last piece of grocery on the refrigerator and lightly clapped her hands as if she achieved something worth clapping for. Winter wanted to laugh and roll her eyes. She knew for sure that this girl was crazy, and she might also be crazy for entertaining this mental stranger.

"So you were sent here by that doctor Aeri to be my fake girlfriend to
help me move on from my ex-girlfriend. So you are like a rebound thing." Winter repeated what the black-haired woman told her earlier.

Jimin nodded again, sitting on a stool in front of Winter and got herself a slice of cold, chewy pizza. "That's right, babe. Although I am not a rebound thing because I am an actual person."

"Can you stop calling me babe and all your endearments, it's annoying." Winter opened a can of Heineken and gulped, her mouth still full of food.

"So you're like a service dog, but except, you're an actual human being."

Winter casually told her, as if she was convinced that Jimin was really some kind of a girlfriend for rent for therapy purposes and was sent by doctor Aeri. Winter maybe was a fool in love, but when it comes to real life and with this kind of situation, she was still sane enough to notice the truth from fiction. Maybe Jimin was really from doctor Aeri's clinic but not as a staff, instead, she was a patient who probably stalked and followed Winter into her apartment. Or maybe she was an obsessed fan and stalked Winter. That were the only theories that made sense at the moment, because first of all, what Jimin was saying was clearly against human rights.

So when Winter asked her what else she needs to know about the whole... situation, she did not expect the confident response of her intruder.

"I have a manual. The dos and the don'ts for both of us. You'll also read the legal action if ever you take advantage of me or put me in danger, and vice versa." Jimin's sudden change of mood caught Winter's attention and she looked at her interestingly, amused by the woman's wide imagination and detailed lies.

"Fair enough." Winter nodded, the commitment of Jimin on her false stories captivated Winter but she was still not convinced and to be honest, she was concerned for the safety of herself. She didn't know this woman and what she was capable of. She needed to call the clinic right away and help this troubled woman return to where she belongs before things get complicated.

"I am also trained to be the upgraded version of your exes. You will find in me all the things they lacked to give you." Jimin grabbed a book in her bag and gave it to Winter. "This is the manual, all your questions about me, doctor Aery, the clinic, and this whole therapy are in there."

Winter tapped her fingers on the wooden table, looking at the said manual in her hands. There was a logo of the clinic on the cover. Below it, written in bold capital letters was the full name of doctor Aeri. Winter looked at Jimin and wondered if she broke in the doctor's office just
to get this.

On the first page of the book, the word MANUAL was written, the words therapy, rules and regulations, instructions, and everything you need to know about her below it. Winter looked back in forth between Jimin and the. book in her hands while the latter girl was busy chewing the already cold pizza.

The korean was now bothered and excused herself away from Jimin. She immediately picked up the phone to call Ningning but the other line was out of reach. She was now starting to panic as she skimmed the manual, she searched for the clinic's phone number and immediately dialed it. A woman, probably the secretary answered the phone.

"Hi, my name is Kim Minjeong. Do you have a patient named Jimin? I don't know her full name but I think she stalked me when I went there earlier for a session with doctor Aeri."

"Let me check," Winter heard the woman on the other line. "There is no Jimin scheduled earlier nor in our patient records. Maybe you got the wrong information. If that's all -"

"Wait! How about uhm, okay, this might sound insane..." Winter was battling herself; she didn't want to sound insane to actually believe what Jimin was saying. "...but do you happen to have a program that includes a certain person to help other people cope from break-ups? Like uhm, a rebound person program?"

"Ohhh!" Winter heard the person on the other line become alive. "That's the Service Person Program. Are you a member? Yu Jimin is probably the one you are talking about. Is there any problem? Is she not doing her job correctly? Do you want to report her?"

Winter was stunned. "What? So you know Jimin. Can you please get her out of my apartment?"

"Sorry, miss but I can't do that if there is no proper complaint. If Miss Jimin is not doing her job correctly, you can come to our office first thing in the morning and we'll fix her for you, or replace her if that's what you want."

"What? Wait, are you saying that this girlfriend... person... service program is real?"

"It is, real." The woman on the other line confirmed. "Have you read the manual? All the answers that you are looking for are there."

"I don't understand." Winter struggles to believe what she was hearing. "If this is true, I didn't sign up for this! I didn't even finish my session with doctor Aeri earlier because I don't like her and her office and the way she talked to me! So tell me, how come Jimin's here?"

"Based on our records, you applied for our program two weeks prior and you signed the contract earlier this morning."

"There must be some misunderstanding. I did not sign for this. In fact, I don't want her, your service, or whatsoever. I want to be left alone. So please, can you tell her to leave me alone!"

"Oh, sorry but that's not gonna happen tonight, miss."

"And why is that?" The Thai was starting to get furious.

"You have a contract, and in that contract, it says that Jimin must stay with you at all times starting today so no, she's not going anywhere until you file a proper complaint."

"I'll file a complaint right now."

"I'm sorry miss but our clinic is closed during weekends and doctor Aeri is out of town until Monday afternoon."

"Then I have no choice but to use the hard way." Winter stated like it was a matter of fact. But frankly, at this moment now, with Winter's furious and annoyed brain, the hard way wasn't a surprise.

"Sorry, miss. You must have forgotten, it states on page twelve of the manual, you cannot hurt her or you'll go to jail." The woman on the other line said confidently.

"So what, she's just gonna stay in here? In my apartment?"

"Exactly."