home, jaemin

chapter sixty-three

jinae didn't have children. but she did have an ex-sister in law who was the mother of soojin. what did jiyoung have to affect that?

"i get that, you brat. you and your greediness is getting annoying, you know? i have my plan set out for after the ceremony so you don't have to create any more wrinkles worrying about it."

soojin scoffed on the other side of the line, throwing profanities out about how hyunjoon better watch his mouth and how he better not try and pull a quick one unless he wanted to get thrown into the ocean.

hyunjoon cut her off and said goodbye, ending the call without waiting for her to say anything back.

jiyoung sent a small gust of air against the ground to push herself up just in time. as she picked up the pencil once again, hyunjoon opened the tiny eye slot at the top of the door and looked inside.

"i'm heading out to grab some more equipment. i won't be back until either late tonight or early tomorrow morning." she nodded, continuing to draw.

after she had blew herself back onto her bed something inside her body had clicked.

something felt off from usual.

"finally, you're here." jiyoung breathed out, climbing out the window with an abnormal amount of ease.

"is something wrong?" jinae asked, stopping jiyoung before she could open her glider.

"yes, but we really need to get going before i tell you," she said in a hushed voice, her vision beginning to flash from normal to black.

"are you in the right state to fly, jiyoung?" jinae asked worriedly, noticing the few droplets of sweat beginning to fall on the sides of her face.

"please, we just need to go now before anything happens," she breathed out, opening her glider to begin flying before jinae could say anything else.

she was lucky to have landed and gotten inside without managing to pass out. there was something surging in her body that was causing it to go so crazy.

"jiyoung? sit, sit. your body is overstimulating." jinae said with worry, rushing out of the room to grab iced water.

jiyoung complied without complaining, dropping her body to the cold ground, and taking in deep breaths.

when jinae came back inside she sat up, "what's happening to me?" she took the bottle of water from the older woman, taking a large gulp.

jinae opened her mouth to speak but closed it almost immediately afterward, intimidated by the sight in front of her.

"jinae?" jiyoung asked, closing the bottle.

she tried to set it down but before it touched the floor the entire thing turned to ice inside.

once again the feeling of pain in the back of her head from a few weeks ago was coming back. recently it had been going off and on, hurting her in the process.

"jiyoung, i think you need to just lay down and breathe for a minute. i honestly don't know for sure what's happening but you're eyes... they've turned white all of a sudden. but are you experiencing any fear or shock?"

jiyoung shook her head as she laid down, "not really. just a bit of worry and pain. lots of pain."

jinae shuffled in her purse, pulling out her notebook to seemingly look over something. "your eyes should be yellow and gray then but they're practically the opposite."

jiyoung let out a groan of pain from the floor, lifting her hand to touch her forehead. "i think i'm calming down now. still a bit sore, though."

jinae flipped through a few pages of pencil writing trying to find anything to describe what was going on with jiyoung and why she was suddenly experiencing so much pain.

her eyes skimmed hastily until she finally found something.

"powerful prodigies may experience begin to experience pain in the bodies once they truly begin unlocking all of their abilities within."

"actually i'm still seeing black, hold on a sec." jiyoung laughed at herself, squinting as she looked upwards toward the roof.

"it is important that they are training and continuously practicing to unlock sub-elements to their power to ease pain or it will begin getting worse. is has also been documented that prodigies may experience overwhelming pain after experiencing strong emotions of anger, happiness, sorrow, or confusion."

"jiyoung?" jinae called, looking at the young girl still wallowing in sweat on the floor.

"hmm?"

"did something happen before i came over? something that caused you to feel extreme anger, happiness, sorrow, or confusion?"

jiyoung slightly sat up and adjusted her eyesight once again, "y-yeah. i was gonna ask you about something when we got here."

jinae helped her sit up comfortably, "what was it?"

"earlier i heard him and soojin speaking over the phone-"

"soojin?"

"yes. she's apparently behind this too but i don't know how. all i heard was her talking and saying i needed to stay away long enough for some ceremony to take place sometime soon."

jinae froze at the mention of the ceremony and keeping jiyoung away, how does soojin know about that?

"jiyoung there's something i need to tell you but i don't know if right now is the correct time-"

"tell me. i can handle it."

jinae sighed as her eyes seemed to droop, "i planned on this conversation being held differently but it doesn't seem like i have much of a choice but to come clean."

jiyoung shuffled slowly, "is something wrong?"

"yes. when you were about two months old you were kidnapped from home and taken away. on that same night the burglars who had kidnapped you shot your father and killed him. he was the councilman at the time and there's a lot more to the story that i'm sure you want to know about."

jiyoung paused. something about jinae had always been different when she looked at her. she was just now recognizing the similarities for what they truly were.

"wait.. so are you trying to say..."

"i am your birth mother."

it was silent inside of the room. so silent you could hear a pin drop. it was like suddenly the energy in the room had shifted.

this is a joke, right?

"i don't know how or when but soojin must have found out. next week a ceremony is taking place to give authority to the next generation. your friends and yourself are the next in line to be leaders. if you aren't there to attend and take that place, soojin is next in line."

jiyoung froze, "wait. does that mean.. soojin is my cousin?" jinae only nodded before she spoke again.

"jiyoung, you are my biological daughter." that one sentence sent a wave of emotions over both of them. jiyoung's eyes teared up before she could even think.

but when she leaned forward and wrapped her arms around jinae, she could have sworn that even when looking into the older woman's eyes now, there was still something missing.

7 chapters until the book is marked completed 🥲

5 more actual chapters + some surprises 😏