pen spinning between her fingers, yujin lies stomach-down on her bed with a clearly disgruntled expression. in front of her is one of her few textbooks and her laptop, the single sentence on the word document - which is the title of the assignment - mocking her. the music playing from the speakers only does so much to put her in a good mood.
danbi’s presence on her bed ( she tries not to get distracted by that ) is really the only thing keeping her from muttering a stream of expletives under her breath and tossing the textbook out of the window.
plus, textbooks are expensive.
“it’s literally the first day back and i already have assignments to do,” she grumbles under her breath, turning the page a little too aggressively. at this rate, she’ll start tearing out the pages instead of turning them. she adjusts the reading glasses on her nose when they start sliding down for the umpteenth time in the past half an hour, shifting a little to type.
( sms — +82 32-####-#### ) so do u just like…( sms — +82 32-####-#### ) do u like mustard… is that what it is( sms — +82 32-####-#### ) nvm don’t answer that sry nunim( sms — +82 32-####-#### ) junhao stole my phone
“%” for a CURIOUS text.
( sms — +82 32-####-#### ) what made u choose hellion??
she has her own special ringtone in his phone. it’s been that way for years, transferred over from every device he’s owned that had customizable options for contacts. and hers brings him both the contented joy of the greeting of an old friend and a twist in his gut of just what could she want from him now? don’t get him wrong, sungmin loves the girl like he would a sister, but she’s just so bossy sometimes that it becomes grating on his nerves.
but when she asked him to bring her chicken nuggets, he just couldn’t say no. and maybe he got a happy meal himself while he was out; what danbi doesn’t know won’t kill her.
“you realize this is super inconvenient for me, right?” sungmin huffs as he drops the paper bag in front of her, though his irritation is minimal at most. what are old friends for if not inconvenient mcdonalds runs? “you don’t even look that busy. why couldn’t you do it yourself?” he whines as he plops himself down in a seat near her, a huffy sort of pout on his face.
( kkt: ₩ ) boy you sure ask a lot about your brother for someone who "don't give a fuck" about him ( kkt: ₩ ) now why are you thinking about that! ( kkt: ₩ ) don't be mean ( kkt: ₩ ) yeah come over when you're done ( kkt: ₩ ) bring the goods!
( sms, ㅗ ) hey :( what if it's you i care about? ( sms, ㅗ ) saw the dent in my wall from that night and remembered. good times ( sms, ㅗ ) ok i picked up a new strain and it was nice ( sms, ㅗ ) fucked up my arm for a bit when it wore off tho. sorta still numb ( sms, ㅗ ) unlock your door in 10 :)
( sms, ㅗ ) why did you ask about my brother ( sms, ㅗ ) ………………… ( sms, ㅗ ) brushing my teeth lol thinking about that time i accidentally threw a shoe at your forehead ( sms, ㅗ ) let's do something
INTRODUCING JANG DANBI, OUR NEWEST STUDENT WITH THE POWER OF INTANGIBILITY
WELCOME TO GUMI INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL FOR THE POWERED.
WHO ARE THEY?
PERSONALITY
(+) Clever, charming, daring
(–) Pretty and she knows it
BACKGROUND
jang danbi is destined to be spoiled. nothing else about it. the sole child of the jang family, not to mention the most adorable baby, grew up coddled, cared for, loved, by all members of the family (from mother, to father, to uncle and auntie). thrived like a budding camellia under the warm rays of affection. like this, she blossomed into a somewhat spoiled variation of disarming girls her age, girls with disarming charms and disarming smiles but behind glossed lips and flushed cheeks lies a barbed tongue and sharp canines.
it’s not to say that she’s cruel. vile. or downright wicked. because she’s not. because she grew up going to church on sundays and volunteered to teach its youths on her weekends. because she would fall on the metaphorical sword for anyone held dear to her heart. of course, it didn’t mean that she was good either. that she wasn’t prideful. wasn’t petty. wasn’t selfish. wasn’t a flower soiled by love and attention—poisoned. it fills her head, the want to be, the need to be seen, heard, loved. makes her something akin to cruel. something twisted. though, that’s life.
the early years breeze by without much trouble. but that is the norm for a pretty thing that lives such a disillusioned life. our jang danbi, among the prettiest flowers in class each and every year, lives blind to the fate of her family—the true identity of her father, the two wedding rings he holds in his fist, the role she and her mother plays in another family’s ruin.
instead, our prettiest flower fixates on the superficial, on the school cubby on valentines day overflowing with treats and cards. chocolate kisses and candy hearts she’d share with friends on the path home, sun on their backs, laughter in the air. simple days she’ll never get back again.
by thirteen, a lovely spectacle for all, danbi’s mother pressed to enter her daughter into the local pageant. plunged her into a whole new world of beauty and wickedness. see, to win in life (and this, danbi later better understand), it’s not enough to just be pretty. instead it is dependent on the highest heels, best walk, flawless hair, memorable ‘talent’, and most “moving” answers. a load of bullshit, her peer would mutter. i know, she would readily agreed. but i still want to win.
seventeen, nay, the moon of her sixteen birthday—exactly, one first place trophy, two academic certificates and one piano championship trophy later—life, as minuscule and superficial as she knew it, ceased to be the same ever again. it starts with a bump in the night. the sound of danbi’s head colliding with the cold cement of the basement is what jolted her from her slumber, leaving her more perplexed than anything. how the hell did she get here?
it didn’t take long to figure out the whys and hows. nothing is more apparent than the way her hand phases straight through the bathroom door—and continues to be intangible for a good hour. and danbi knew then, life as she knew it, picture perfect and pristine—was over.
to her credit, she did try her best to hide it. driven by the fear of her parents reaction and desperation to hold their love and affection (what would she have without it? absolutely nothing), danbi spent days at end hiding the fact that she could no longer hold anything with her right hand or that her left leg had the tendency to flicker in and out of tangibility. and nights dedicated to figuring how to make it stop. it never stops, however, waves of intangibility often sends her falling through her bedroom and onto the basement in her sleep. and then comes the pain. when her mom catches her. the relief on her features is almost foreign, the grip on her arms, the glee in her voice when she says ‘you’re just like your dad’. what?
turns out daddy dearest is a mutant, danbi isn’t sure as to when that fact seemed to have slip her — but the news brought nothing but good fortune to the likes of her (rendering her a bit silly for the teen angst freakout). talks of moving from big city seoul to incheon for her father’s alma mater (multiple talks and arguments as danbi did not take lightly to the fact that she would have to move), a new car for new college student (bribe, it’s a bribe) — and before she knew it, she had entered the gates of gumi. accepted into lotus within her first year.
and, truth be told, she hated it. jang danbi, our flower, our beauty, to place so much interest in succeeding, to sacrifice beauty sleep for grades, to conform for the sake of prestige. it isn’t that danbi was stupid (she scored above average on the norm) nor was it the fact that she wasn’t a team player. but to waste time fretting and fawning over a frigid legacy—who even has the time for that? by her second year, she was gone, finding new home in hellion’s open arms.
WHAT CAN THEY DO?
DEFINITION
INTANGIBILITY — the ability to phase through matter. be it flesh or metal or even brick. this is done through the rearrangement of her atomic particles to pass through the atoms of the object she’s phasing though, also know as quantum tunneling—it renders her intangible to physical touch should she will it. given the nature of her ability, usage also interferes with any electric system she phases through as it disrupts the flow of electrons between atoms—this can also pertains to bio-electric systems in animate objects (humans, pets, monsters, etc) if she concentrates right. meaning she is able to cause electronics to malfunction or even destroy them as well as inducing shock and unconsciousness to living things. once in a full “phasing mode”, danbi retains an partially translucent image of herself, but is utterly intangible.
at her current level, she is able to phase anything from limbs or her entire body. although she struggles to fully control phasing with her entire body (though generally possible, she does have a few “flukes” here and there) as well as phasing specific body parts on its own. in theory, it is also possible for her to “phase” with another, but danbi has yet to fully master that particular front. recently, however, she is fixated on “air-walking”, interacting with the molecules of air over surfaces which should allow her to ascend/descend. her power also tends to phase in and out without her consent, meaning her hand or leg or anything else could just easily turn intangible without her meaning to.
WEAKNESSES
for phasing through solid matter via her entire body, the estimation duration is for however long she could hold her breath as she’s moving through the matter.
her power tends to phase in and out without her consent, meaning her hand or leg or anything else could just easily turn intangible without her meaning to.
in some cases, if she is not fully intangible to begin with, it is possible to bridge the molecules via electricity or various energy sources — rendering her unable to phase for a good hour after.
as it is not entirely a particularly stressing power (as it is more passive than not), overusage will encourage bad side-effects. such as rendering herself to stay in a naturally “phased” state and having to consciously will herself to be solid. fatigue is not frequent, but if danbi is not careful, she may phase through the earth right to the center.
though untested, the longest danbi can fully move between solid matter in her phased state is only a good two or three minutes.
moving/phasing another person with her, she can manage about thirty seconds or so.
