‘WAKE UP’ is all it takes for cody to jolt up from his slumber. he’s always been a light sleeper anyway – which now makes him wonder… who the fuck managed to cuff his ankle!!!!!
he pulls at the chain connecting to the metal cuff… it’s not going to budge – not with ease anyway. he’s not going to be able to remove it himself. curious eyes follow the chain along, brows wrinkling in distaste when he realises he’s attached to someone else. “oh no, is this what a real relationship is like,” grabbing the girl’s attention – half in jest and the rest is bitter. “you can heal, right? heal us out of this situation please, thank you, appreciate your kindness.”
the grudging expression donned on his cabin-mate’s face tells cody she’s not in the mood. but he isn’t either. he stands up and sighs, tugs on the chain by moving his leg. “get up, or i’ll have to drag you through the sand at 200 miles an hour. i think you’d like to keep your body intact?”
jaein was born into great wealth, as her father had done quite well in the realm of fund managing before her birth. the cheon family doesn’t care to show their money off, instead placing most into savings accounts.
six – an incident in which her mother accidentally backs into a stray cat causes the discovery of her powers. her mother, the ever so caring soul, can’t bear to leave a wounded animal behind and tells young six year old jaein to watch over it while she calls the nearest pet hospital. though when coming closer to the animal to detail the injuries to the nurse on the phone, she discovers the cat fully healed and her child extremely faint.
eight – in the midst of her childhood, her younger brother junseo is born. jaein immediately dislikes him due to his whiney behavior and overall brat-like tendencies. any injury he receives is expected by her parents to be taken care of, no matter how tired it makes her. this is where the hatred of her power begins to grow.
twelve – she learns of the biggest weakness in her power. a group of middle school bullies, jealous of her wealth and encouraged by her weak build, target jaein as their next victim. she’s forced to endure one of the worst pains in her life as her body is subjected to punches, kicks, and slaps as she lays limp in their hold. jaein had thought that she would be able to use her powers to make the insufferable pain disappear, but she discovers that no amount of concentration on her own injuries does anything. she can not heal herself.
fourteen – her younger brother is involved in a biking accident created by his own stupidity. rather than heal him when he comes to her door begging for the pain to stop, she decides that he has to learn to take care of himself and sends him away to heal the normal way. what she underestimates, however, is how badly the accident had affected him and how deadly his injuries would prove to be.
fifteen – she spends her fifteenth birthday dressed in black. she loses her little brother to a horrifying infection, an infection she could have healed in hours if she had chosen to. her parents continue to reassure her that it isn’t her fault, that she didn’t know it would result in this, yet the guilt only continues to fester.
sixteen – a year of therapy does nothing for the teenager, and her doctor suggests a more physical route to releasing her pent up frustrations. he recommends boxing, and so she tries it. it’s love at first hit. the anger she can communicate just through the movement of her body is something she decides she had always needed. jaein becomes obsessed with the rush of power she feels when able to defend herself and give pain to others, and signs up to learn other forms of fighting. her skin is littered in bruises and her days are dictated by her training schedules, but she has never felt more relaxed.
eighteen – the day before she’s due to leave for college, her mother crumbles under the stress of the situation and explodes, blaming the death of her youngest on jaein. her father merely watches from the doorway, but the girl can see in his eyes that he agrees with every venomous word that comes from her mother. they don’t come with her to the airport the next morning, and she can’t find it in herself to care.
nineteen – in the midst of the games, she’s sent to heal a lotus member after they suffer an accident but the injury is too familiar. she freezes, and all she can see is the face of her little brother, all she can hear is the crying of her mother the day they discovered his body. the games around her don’t seem to exist anymore, and all she can see laying in front of her – instead of the team mate that is actually there – is the frame of her younger brother. it’s haunting. what brings her back is the cold grip of another lotus member shaking her from her thoughts and pulling both her and the injured team mate from the games. she’ll never be able to forgive herself for the death of her brother.
twenty – she enters her third year of college on a plane that exists so far away from others, merely coasting along the ride that had become her life. she heals when needed (often not without protest), completes her coursework on time, trains for monster games when needed. the only time she truly feels at peace is when she’s using her fists.
WHAT CAN THEY DO?
DEFINITION
healing; jaein holds the ability to heal that of which has been injured or damaged, as long as the subject is still alive. from experience, it has been found that she can restore lost limbs, bring damaged cells and nerves to their original state (to a degree) and heal any external wounds. however, she can not bring a living being (be it a plant, animal or person) back to life or slow the effects of aging. she also can not heal herself in any way as her body is immune to her own capabilities. though she holds great power, she often refuses any request that either requires a healing not yet possible by modern medicine or is reversing a condition that should be permanent (terminal illnesses, lost body parts, etc).
WEAKNESSES
1. she can not use her healing abilities on herself in any way or form, if anything she’s found she slows healer than most people.
2. the subject being healed must remain completely still in order to be healed, one twitch can stop the process or even reopen the wound.
3. time limit – she can continually heal a wound for no longer than approximately five minutes. longer than this, she’ll essentially overheat and her vision will grow hazy. if a large injury, she must do the healing in phases with breaks in between each one so that she may rest and regain her own energy.
4. a physical flaw/weakness – her skin grows warm when she heals because of all of the energy she is focusing. it begins in her hands, as that is where she heals from, and the longer she heals, the further the heat will travel. when healing small cuts and bruises (which only take seconds), her skin won’t reach the point of warmth, so heat is a sign that an injury is taking a lot of energy to heal on her behalf.
5. a “range” – her hands must be, at most, inches away from the injury. this makes it a very close-range power.
DID YOU KNOW?
jaein is highly skilled in many different fighting styles, though her favorite is krav maga due to its foundation of aggression.
