INTRODUCING SONG JAEMIN, OUR NEWEST STUDENT WITH THE POWER OF PSIONIC INUNDATION
WELCOME TO GUMI INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL FOR THE POWERED.
WHO ARE THEY?
PERSONALITY
(+) calm, loyal, determined (–) unforgiving, selfish, aloof
BACKGROUND
i don’t remember, was what he said when they asked about his past. i don’t know, was what he responded to the inquiry of his name. okay, was what he agreed when they told him to stay put. song jaemin appeared quite the obedient little boy when he was found alongside the road by local police. quiet, with a blank facial expression, the boy’s hand was taken before he’d been gently ushered into a vehicle in which, after it had started moving, jaemin sat obediently gazing out of the car window as trees flicked past and green soon turned to grey. the officer who had found the boy gazed upon his frail form through the rear-view mirror. jaemin’s own dark orbs met the curious ones. the face of the man briefly contorted in confused pain. when they arrived at destination, the disgruntled man was unable to recall where he’d found the boy.
jaemin sat on a blue chair, head bent as he swung his little legs that were too short for the tips of his worn shoes to touch the squeaky-clean floors of the police station. Intensely, yet with a hint of curiosity, the boy watched as a spider crawled from underneath the chair, circling one leg as it hid underneath the shadows of jaemin’s legs. “sweetheart?” a kind voice startled the boy from his reverie and once again dark orbs lifted to meet the gaze of another stranger. a woman smiled indulgently as she handed the boy a wrapped candy, its colours stark against the stranger’s tanned hand. carefully, the boy lifted the candy from her palm and the woman gave him a brilliant smile before she walked away. when child protective services took jaemin away an hour later, the only evidence of the boy’s discontinued presence was an opened candy wrapper underneath the blue seat – a twitching spider right next to it.
cats were beloved by jaemin. it was therefore really unfortunate that the family who adopted the little boy owned a dog. misfortune befell the family’s pet when, on a peaceful saturday afternoon, the creature suddenly started whimpering from its spot on the sofa between jaemin and his new father. blood tricked from the animal’s tear ducts before it shuddered its last breath. father had been confused, and mother inconsolable. jaemin simply stared as a hole in the back garden was dug before the golden retriever was buried. a month later, jaemin welcomed a new addition to the family with open arms and twinkling eyes – a black cat he named luna. the boy’s parents felt relief knowing they had managed to cheer up their baby boy after the tragic loss of their previous pet.
classmates refused to play with the weird kid, or so jaemin was told when he’d accidentally overheard a conversation during lunch break. the boy knew he’d scared the boys and girls in his class but did not know why. it was surprising when a few days later, a freckle-faced boy firmly planted his butt on the grass next to jaemin’s. the smile that he directed at jaemin was more brilliant than the sun which warmed their backs. the friendless boy’s face had remained neutral, and the sight of it started to diminish the newcomer’s confidence. the smile slipped from crooked lips until the two boys made eye contact. a breathy laugh and many sandwiches later, jaemin went home to tell his parents that he had finally made a friend, and park heechul would never forget the overwhelming feelings of gratitude (mixed with an inexplicable stinging sort of pain) that he felt when he’d sat down next to song jaemin that day. henceforth, jaemin could be seen trailing after heechul throughout their school years.
money couldn’t buy happiness but it could allude to it. as jaemin slowly grew up, his understanding of the privileged status he enjoyed grew as well. they were an upstanding middle-class family, earning respect and recognition from the people in their neighbourhood. his mother received frequent invitations to tea gatherings and church outings, while his father was often invited to lavish parties at expensive-looking hotels – to close business deals or extend his influence. as jaemin began to understand the importance of monetary means, and the generosity with which money was spent within their family, the boy also noticed the steadily increasing absences of his father from home. the now 13-year-old regularly opened the door to accept packages as a result from his mother’s new-found addiction to teleshopping.
while his mother hid her sorrows with expensive jewellery, the newest household appliances and forced cheerfulness, jaemin observed the times his father returned home. when the boy caught his father cheating, he was a teenager and already in high school. money didn’t buy happiness, but when song jaemin stared into his father’s eyes, he realised that he didn’t need to exchange anything for happiness. he could simply take it – forcefully, if he had to. the therapist couldn’t explain the large gap in the man’s memory, nor the persistent headaches, but all was forgiven when jaemin’s mother left that necklace she loved so much on her dresser and jumped up to greet her husband as the man finally came home at an appropriate time of day. and if jaemin’s lips curved into a sly smile, no one was there to witness it (if only, perhaps, the cat).
after their family returned back to what song jaemin considered normalcy, the teenager recalled the events he had brought about and the conscious act of erasing his father’s memory which had brought him a wicked sense of gratification. it wasn’t long before he started looking into mutation, reading records of known mutants who had outed themselves as such and agreed to having their powers documented. his research was to be kept a secret. slowly but surely, jaemin came to an understanding on the basics of his own abilities, and the life he had led. fragments of a past before his current family were mulled over at night, hiding under the covers with only the light of his phone to help his vision as an article about a missing boy led him to an article about a particular school. when jaemin finally closed his laptop and went to sleep well past midnight, both articles were bookmarked for safe-keeping.
the day jaemin fell out with his best friend was the day the unfortunate guy swept jaemin’s crush off her feet and declared her his. struggling with emotions and unable to express his feelings, jaemin had watched as the girl he had come to love throughout his high school years became infatuated by the charismatic guy, always animatedly chattering abuse to the mutant’s sensitive ears. whether heechul had been aware of jaemin’s affections for the girl remains unknown to this day. it wasn’t the kind of knowledge a comatose patient could convey. the girl had been heartbroken, and jaemin had undergone a physical change – a thick lock of white-grey hair now fell gently down his pale forehead.
i can make things happen, was what he told his parents after graduation. i’m a mutant, was what he confessed upon gazing at their confused faces. i’m leaving to study at gumi, was how jaemin informed his adoptive parents of his departure. to his parents’ credit, they helped him pack his things but when song jaemin got into the car of a foreign brand which would transport him to the international university, his parents did not look back as the car rolled down the driveway. jaemin wasn’t a case of special normalcy to them. not when his father advocated against mutants. not when he had obliterated any trace of him from his adoptive parents’ minds prior to getting into that car. luna was all that remained, and jaemin had decided to take her with him to his new home.
jaeger wasn’t the best but they were cunning, resourceful – and jaemin felt he could belong. while certain practices made him squeamish, he learnt to accept them or turn a blind eye. as an original member, song jaemin was taught to fight for the pride of the team and win, by any means necessary. he took that too literally one day and endured the consequences. the student’s body was broken but his mind clearer than before. jaemin started training more vigorously, strengthening his weak body and honing his mental abilities – and if he lost the colour of his hair, it was a mere side-effect he could live with. arrogance was not a word in the man’s dictionary but he was a follower like no other, prepared to reach heights many wouldn’t dream. all for the sake of jaeger – and to learn to control his abilities.
when he tossed and turned at night, no one was witness. after all, song jaemin had a room to himself. other students generally gave his apathetic presence a wide berth. when his grades dropped and his absence was noted more frequently, his fellow team mates frowned. nightmares haunted song jaemin at night (the agonised screams of one’s former best friend overlapping with numerous pairs of fearful eyes as he delivered fate) and fatigue taunted him during the day. and then came the moment where he looked into his captain’s eyes and couldn’t remember the guy’s identity. disoriented, jaemin fled – to the comforts of the library he worked in part-time, to the softness of his sheets where he remained until waking and realising he missed lectures (again), and, eventually, to the deep recesses of his mind.
a now silver-haired song jaemin roamed the halls of gumi international university for the powered. still a jaeger member, perhaps for longer than he had initially intended. having failed many classes, and having been unable to discern reality from illusion, jaemin had been forced to delay graduation – only having been able to follow half the courses on the curriculum for a year or two. he was now a fourth year, and among the oldest jaeger members still at university. his assumed brilliance in controlling his power through intensive training throughout the years has left him grey in the many definitions of the word; life seemed bleak, safe for the moments jaemin could feel passion during a fight. his memories were gap-filled and it had been many months since jaemin last felt in tune with his emotions. but he has survived this far, and he will continue his fight for survival in an environment where fighting, at times, appeared to be the only virtue.
WHAT CAN THEY DO?
DEFINITION
song jaemin is gifted with the power of psionic inundation which causes a psychic attack, also called telepathic torture. the attack results in a mental overload which could result in brain damage, loss of memory or consciousness, turn the victim(s) into a vegetative state or even cause death. the attack can manifest in two ways; [a] extreme mental pain often described by victims as if their brain is on fire, and [b] overload of haunting voices/ psychobabble that can cause the victim to go insane or drive them to a mental breakdown. both variations can overpower the victim and effectively make them lose concentration, or consciousness. please note that; [1] jaemin can’t change or manipulate the memories his attack affects, only erase. [2] the severity of the damage can be controlled by jaemin (ooc note: the writer of the victim determines how far the mental damage should go), [3] jaemin prefers to utilise his abilities and attack from a distance.
WEAKNESSES
as powerful as his abilities may seem, jaemin’s power has lots of weaknesses and side-effects of which many he attempts to keep concealed. psionic inundation is activated upon touch or eye contact, though jaemin prefers eye contact as he is often uncomfortable with touch. both manners of activation are instantaneous. the attack can last up to 10 min in one attack, before jaemin has to break the attack and rest for 20 minutes. this means he can use his power twice in an hour or utilise his abilities in shorter time spans. he always to rest double the time in relation to the duration of the attack. the effects of inundation will linger for approximately 2 minutes after the attack is broken until fading. in the case that the victim breaks eye contact shortly after jaemin attacked, the effects of inundation will linger for 4 minutes. should jaemin ever activate his abilities upon touch, the same duration of attack and effects of inundation after attack apply. jaemin’s control over his power is weakened when he is exceptionally drowsy or his psychic energy is depleted. being a psychic, in jaemin’s case, means being weaker physically. while he keeps training hard to gain skills in physical combat, if jaemin needs to resort to punches – if he’s dragged into a physical fight – he always emerges with varying degrees of physical injuries that heal slowly. it is one of the reasons why jaemin is often surrounded by jaeger members in fights where they have to compete as a team and he can use his abilities from a safe distance. jaemin’s psychic range is 75ft but his abilities are more effective when the target is within 50ft. mutants gifted with psychic shield and/or psychic immunity can block jaemin’s attacks, and other psychic users such as telepaths might be more difficult for jaemin to influence and vice versa. mutants with memory manipulation can potentially shield their memories from being erased in attack [a] but will be susceptible towards mind blast [b]. jaemin can only mentally attack two targets at a time. the danger to jaemin’s power is that his abilities affect him as well, though in a much slower rate than when used on victims. in order to use his power, jaemin’s brain overloads with psychic energy, causing him to experience some of the effects his victims experience. a very slow, stunted but sure loss of memory is one consequence compared with a need to sleep more hours than necessary, but the most direct, visual consequence is the ageing of his hair, which has been discoloured a white-grey due to excessive us of jaemin’s abilities.
DID YOU KNOW?
the key to his heart is candy and cats