Unfortunately, good times are not always present. They cannot prevent jealous people to interfere with their lives. Bullies began to target them. Their classmates Ohm, Arm, and Guy purposely made their inappropriate conversation loud enough for the couple to hear. In defense of Cin, May asked them to stop. Ohm asked about Cin’s relationship after noticing that May was being overly protective of her. Even though May said yes, the boys kept harassing them.
Other than the boys who are harassing them, there are also girls who talk about Cin. They assume that Cin likes the attention she gets from the boys. These girls began to harass and insult her. May and Cin continued to be mistreated as time passed, and they began to wonder about the nature of reality. It caused Cin to change and begin avoiding May. May comes to have doubts about Cin and their relationship, and even though she did everything she could to protect Cin, she appears to be distant from standing up for their love.
One day, Cin overheard mean girls talking about her in the restroom, but she decided to ignore it. Then, her phone rings. The moment the girls heard the ring, they looked to see whose phone it was. When they saw it was Cin, she rushed to get away from them accusing her of bad things. Unfortunately, they cornered her, and when Cin had a chance to escape, her only option was to hide inside the cubicle and lock the door. Cin cannot stop them, though. They pushed their way inside, showered her with toilet water, pulled her hair, and insulted her. They even recorded how they harassed Cin and posted the video online.
May have noticed that Cin hasn’t responded to her calls or seen her in a while, she fears that something might happen to Cin, and as she tries to reach out to Cin over and over again these boys keep bothering her by throwing a pile of crumpled paper. This time, she became impatient and dealt with the boys, asking what she and Cin had done to deserve such treatment. May comes to a realization that Ohm, one of the bullies, could have feelings for Cin. As soon as Ohm heard it, he became upset. Ohm attacked May angrily, and they continued to fight, but Ohm’s friends stopped him by reminding him that she was still a girl. As soon as they stopped, Cin entered the classroom with her clothes wet. After seeing the situation inside the room, Cin quickly made her way out. When May saw how miserable Cin is, she grew even more furious.
When they had a chance to talk at May’s place, she asks Cin who had done terrible things to her. Cin was quiet and could not even say a word, May had been forcing her to tell who did it. When Cin eventually talked, she said it was no one’s fault. May was upset after learning that Cin was trying to defend the bullies. May points out that all she did was protect Cin because she’s her girlfriend. Cin told her that she never agreed to that, resulting in May crying. Cin quickly apologized to May after realizing what she had said. As they hugged each other, all May did was tell her that she loves Cin.
She hasn’t seen Cin since then. When May walked into the school, she could still hear gossip about what happened between her and Ohm. As she noticed Ohm approaching her, she hurriedly walked in to avoid him. Ohm kept following her and May confronted him. However, Ohm doesn’t seem to want to hurt her. He handed May’s bag to her and when he was about to leave, May stopped him and started to open up about what happened yesterday. Ohm interrupted her and apologized for his behavior. Ohm also confessed that he has feelings for Cin. May’s life has once more become dull, and even though knowing that the phone number is no longer available, she continues to hope that Cin is going to answer her calls.
May never thought she would ever see Cin again, but this time, it is at Cin’s special event — her wedding. May could not do anything but stare at her, wishing that she was the one behind Cin. Tears fall from May’s eyes as she watches the person she loves the most walk down the aisle.
“Even if” portrays violence against LGBTQ+, and the effects of abuse may not be just physical but also psychological. Even though May fought everyone who bullied her relationship with her, Cin did not do the same thing. Just watching this short film made us realize that some people, even in this era, will never accept the relationship within the community. Experiencing bullying and criticism will lead them to hide their gender orientation and stop them from being true to themselves.
Watch ‘Even If’ on GagaOOLala!
