The Prince of K-Pop || Bang Chan FF

Chapter Forty-Six Double POV

          It wasn't until the door shut that the events had become real. Naty stood in the room and thought of all her coping skills. She also thought of how much she did not deserve them. Guilt and shame combined inside of her as the image of Bang Chan roared in her mind. She couldn't believe what she had done.

          And yet, feelings of anger were very present. Naty tried her best to untangle the events but found it nearly impossible. Yes, she was mad, but she still could not understand how the situation had dissolved so quickly. The only thing she could understand was that Bang Chan would probably never want to speak to her again. The thought made her both devastated and furious.

          Vibrating in Naty's pocket reminded her of her phone. She looked to it and saw that Pearl was lamenting about being bored and unable to sleep. Naty immediately messaged the woman: "Hi. Are you in a place to listen to venting/giving advice?"

          Peal immediately called, "What's wrong? Are you okay?"

          "No...," Naty's voice cracked as she began to cry, "Chan and I got into a fight."

          "Oh dear," Pearl sighed heavily, "Where are you both? Are you in a safe place?"

          "He left back to work and I'm just here in the room," the woman tried to wipe her tears from her face to see.

          "How bad was it?"

          "Really bad!" Naty's legs gave out at the realization. She plopped down on the bed with a burning feeling on the verge of panic.

          "Naty, listen. You need to breathe. Let's breathe together, okay? In for four seconds, hold for seven, then out for eight," Pearl lead three rounds of the exercise, "Is that better?"

          "Yes," Naty was reluctant to admit but she did feel better.

          "Good now...what happened?"

          "I messed up! The months we spent building a foundation of positivity and open communication? I messed it all up. I ruined it!"

          "Hey, quit giving yourself all that credit. Alright? Tell me what actually happened and don't put too much blame into it. Just give me the events as they happened," Pearl's tone was both stern and compassionate.

          It was exactly what she needed to spill the moments just before the call. As the details unfolded, Naty realized how much of that conversation was from an activated place. It was suddenly so clear why the situation had imploded! Naty had been completely reactionary! There had been no rational thought the whole time!

          Naty opened her mouth to share this but Pearl immediately cut her off, "Slow down. Just pause. Just breathe."

          It was a full minute of breathing before Pearl said anything.

          "Well, you both weren't amazing but you weren't horrible either."

          For some reason this gave comfort to Naty, "Really?"

          "Really...I'm no professional but I have had more than enough extremely toxic fights than I can count," the woman huffed, "This sounds like a communication breakdown that ended up being extremely triggering for you both."

          Naty could only make sounds of agreement.

          "Do you want my opinion opinion?"

          "Desperately!" Naty cried as she threw herself backward onto the bed.

          "Well, I'll start off with what you did right. You definitely tried to remove yourself when you felt yourself getting activated. That was very good on you."