she recognises him by scent first; deep notes of all things warm and earthy, and alarmingly grounding for her body seems to have no defence against it. the arm he slings around her is achingly deliberate in the worst possible way.

and then comes the memory.

gun to the back of her skull, she’s forced to recall an image she’d tried to hard to bury. it comes to her as vivid as the stars dotted across the marble-black sky above. wandering hands. the harsh pull of hair. the fervent press of bodies, flesh to flesh. teeth claiming skin. a heat that bordered on recklessly sinful.

but there’s something else, too.

she's thankful for the lack of light that conceals the flush blooming on the apples of her cheeks, deepening when his hot breath caresses the shell of her ear. if juheon were just the slightest bit normal, she’d know that whatever it is that weighs on her dear heart was anything but delight.

she’d put herself to shame—a feeling entirely unfamiliar to her until that very moment. words spoken had been harsh, and though her heart may not remember the lashings, their weight still rings loud and clear in the back of her mind. tonight more than ever.

juheon is not one to dull the ever-turning gears in her head with indulgence—alcohol least of all, yet somehow, she finds herself doing exactly that. her throat burns with hard liquor. one after another, until tastebuds can no longer discern the flavours upon her tongue and veins buzzed with a kind of warmth that ought to be more phantom than real—only that she can’t really tell the difference anymore. not with the strangely insistent magic that threads through her like an actual pulse; unnervingly irregular at that.

her familiar.

she’d lost sight of nahee long before she’d began to feel the effects of intoxication. but until now there hadn’t been a cause to worry. juheon had simply assumed the fox had snuck away to indulge in the festivities. had she been wrong?

she barely makes it past the bonfire ere the syllables of her name reach her ears. her sister, unmistakably. the weight of her tone is heavy enough to halt her in her tracks.

I. SYNOPSIS ( tw / death )

unfortunately born into generational wealth. juheon is the second-born daughter to parents who both hail from affluent families — and, really, it doesn't take much to guess how desperately they'd been hoping for a male heir. aside from their wealth, their lineage has long been known for producing magicians whose abilities tend to stray toward the darker end of the spectrum. they're equally as known for it as they are feared and, of course, every child who bears the name ri is expected to uphold this legacy.

too bad all hope and expectation quite literally dies with juheon when she suffers a freak accident that ... well, kills her.

she's fourteen when she dies. her mother revives her, but it's a lot less miraculous than it sounds. for the cost is that her mother loses all of her abilities. and if that isn't bad enough, the futile sacrifice leaves juheon with a heart that never beats again and is wholly dependent on external magical sources to keep her alive. when absorbing magic, most of it disappears into that hollow thing in her heart. whatever else is left turns poisonous and destructive.

her father stopped caring the moment she was born and her mother grew resentful of the living failure she traded everything for. so here is a girl who cannot wield magic properly and is forced to exist in a world that is dull and colourless, because a dead heart leaves little room for emotions and the like.

she's recommended ( more like shipped away ) to the academy the moment she turns eighteen and has been here since — a seventh year student, still learning how to wield more than decay.

II. PERSONALITY & MAGIC

the way it works is quite simple: without external sources of magic, juheon dies. physical touch is required in order to absorb magic, which can happen with or without the other party knowing. however, it's not fatal. the most the other party will feel is more akin to fatigue than outright harm. juheon is, therefore, very careful with touch.

most of the magic absorbed is immediately consumed by her heart. this leaves her with little to no stable magic to properly wield. in fact, that remaining, unstable magic is drained from purity and manifests instead as poisonous and destructive. furthermore, because her dead heart devours energy too quickly, it can't leave room to stabilise emotions. consequently, juheon appears indifferent more often than not. she doesn't experience emotions and feelings like others and treats both more like a learned concept rather than genuine instinct. it's why she's either painfully formal or unintentionally blunt. observes instead of participating.

III. POSSIBLE CONNECTIONS

ROOMMATES. while people come and go, juheon remains at the academy. she's had her fair share of roommates — and a fair share of reactions upon learning that she's not not only not a man, but ... well, technically dead at the same time. some request an immediate re-assignment, others stay out of morbid curiosity. what about your muse?

A FRIEND WITH BENEFITS. one of the downsides of absorbing too much energy is that it can become addictive — for both parties. whenever she's in need of a quick fix, she seeks out for your muse. she gets to siphon a bit ( too much ) of their magic, and in return they get ... well, whatever it is they desire.

RESEARCH PROJECT. open to teachers and students, even familiars. anyone who is curious enough about the girl who's practically dead. while most people would rather keep their distance from her, your muse is oddly fascinated. juheon doesn't understand why, but also doesn't refuse questions or odd experiments — especially if she profits off of it.

ECHOS OF THE PAST. someone around the same age as her. they remember a version of juheon that is unfamiliar to her. could be a childhood friend, acquaintance, or simply someone who's heard rumours. doesn't have to run in the same social circles as her family but is a possibility.

SOCIAL EXPERIMENT. as a keen observer, juheon considers your muse a master of socialising. you teach her how to do better, how to understand emotions and navigate other people's feelings better — even if it comes at the cost of putting her in odd situations. so much for exposure therapy.

OTHERS. friends? people who don't mind her oddness and like having her around. ex flings? questionable experiences. someone she cannot drain for unexplainable reasons ( there is, in fact, a reason ). someone who encourages her dark magic. someone who gets a kick out of attempting to get under juheon's skin.