polar

Some things simply can’t be helped, such as: when a foo dog is bleeding profusely and collapses at the door of a medic’s place, the environment in which the foo dog falls is bound to become dirtied in some way. As long as this whole thing doesn’t stain Seokjin’s very fluffy and well maintained tail, then he’ll be okay. Seokjin is willing to come by and clean up the mess he’s made, at a later date when his shoulder isn’t aching to be chopped off.

“I should be okay,” Seokjin says, waving a hand dismissively. “I’m not… in the position to ask much.”

Ji Hye is smiling softly, the tired curve of her lips both for herself and for her patient. She had figured that their breathing would become a little less ragged since the worst of Seokjin’s injuries had been dealt with. And the young witch’s shoulders had relaxed in the slightest, and yet, this tenseness lingered throughout her body because of the pain that still lingered through his. Such a sensation would remain for as long as they were in close proximity...she supposed she welcomed the tenseness. Had any pain on his person increased, she was sure she’d feel it.

 She sometimes wonders if these moments paralleled those of her grandmother in Gunsan. If it was all laid out before her, it seemed pretty similar. The grand priestess and her granddaughter both led a life in which they aimed to heal others; in which they aimed to alleviate the pain caused by less than mundane disasters. Ji Hye fought so hard to lead her own life, but in the end there were things so deeply ingrained in who she was, the similarities were somehow welcome. Well, it wasn’t as if she wanted to deny what was in her blood, that would imply that she was ashamed of her lineage, and that she wasn’t, but she hadn’t anticipated Sunseong to feel so much and so little like home. 

The druid shook her head before the thoughts in her head became even more confusing, and focused her eyes on her foo-blooded friend. And the minute she heard him apologize, she scoffed at his words.

“Appa, please tell him that the last thing we’re worrying about is this mess. It’s a clinic, for the moon’s sake, name one time when it isn’t busy.” She shrugged her shoulders, and motioned to the area around her.

Her father was constantly working with animals with all kinds of ailments. There was no reason that Seokjin should feel bad for the mess that was so common for her father.

But, as she had learned, some people were so good as to place such trivial things before their own wellbeing. Having worked with many people who simply couldn’t afford to visit mundane clinics, she had noticed that they were often dismissive of their own ailments so long as they kept the other party comfortable...something about the ebb and flow of things. It’s just that, so long as the other person was hurting, Ji Hye couldn’t bring herself to feel comfort. 

“Aish, Seokjin-ssi, please stop talking like that. You have every right to ask us for anything that makes you comfortable.” She looked to her father for support, and the man simply laughed and repeated the same thing, in his words ‘the patients knows best’.

Though his body still aches and he feels as if he’d been picked up and tossed onto the pavement repeatedly, he finds the will to sit up. He has an image to protect after all, and if he lets others know just how badly he had gotten thrashed, Seokjin fears he might go out of business forever. At least now he’s covered up and not sad and naked all at once. He’d prefer to be one or another, separately, at different occurrences in his life. “Thank you,” he says out loud, but doesn’t define who it’s for in particular. Maybe it’s just to the universe. His throat burns so badly, hoarse and scratchy.

“It was last minute. Thank god you answered, otherwise I’d be dead.”

Ji Hye sat on her calves, holding some almond-colored sweater on her lap as she searched through her father’s clothing. She thumbed through the several pair of pants and jeans in the wardrobe, looking for anything that would look right with the sweater. It’s not like it would matter to their patient, he was mostly just glad to be alive. And really...any pair of pants should do, they were all the same size ― save the oddity here and there ―  and there were only so many articles of clothing being that the wardrobe only held enough for those nights that he pulled all-nighters at the clinic. 

Still, she persisted, the search for a complimentary pair of bottoms distracting her from other puzzling things. The young witch now had a different pair of pants in either hand; in her left, some blue “dad” jeans that could’ve been in fashion a few years ago, and in her right was a beige pair of pants somewhere between slacks and yoga pants. They’d look much nicer with the sweater, but there was no need to get blood on the article of clothing ― was she really thinking about that now?

She shook her head to ward off the distractions and stood up, tossing the beige pair of pants in the wardrobe and opting to hold the sweater and jeans close to her chest. One foot in front of the other, Ji Hye turned around and when her eyes landed on the figure of her patient, she almost dropped the clothes in her arms. 

“Seokjin-ssi?” She cocked her head to the side, and felt her brows furrow.

Some voice at the back of her head whispered ‘yah, child, it’s rude to stare!’; she shook her head and tightened her grip on the clothing, clearing her throat and making her way towards the foo-blooded man. Seeing his face solved a mystery but it stumped her just slightly that it had taken this long to put a name to the face - or snout for that matter.

“Appa, do you have some unopened packets of underwear or something? Having Seokjin-ssi get dressed before wrapping the bandages seems silly.”

(...)

He doesn’t take note that it was headed straight for him until the very last moment. Unlucky for him, as it’s too late to put up any defense before whatever this creature may be launches itself onto him. His eyes wide and admittedly panicked, the first thing popping into his mind of what his unknown assailant could be was the only large, white creature he could think of. Thankfully for him, this was in fact not a great white bear from the north, but instead a dog with very similar features. He finds this out a little too late, after the initial shock and small yelp he may have emitted after the pouncing. Before he could raise a hand, his face is met with a slimy, pink tongue that barely gives him a chance to open his mouth in protest. 

Jooheon squirms beneath the dog’s weight, eyes trying to open in hopes someone will come to his rescue. “Yah! Get off of me!” He manages to yell out, though the dog seems anything but phased by this, resuming in it’s endless shower of kisses.

Her pace was quick but not as quick as it could be; it was embarrassing enough that most if not all of the people in the vicinity had turned in the direction of the commotion...she just didn’t want to face Yeong-Cheol’s latest victim.

She’d scold him if his pouncing wasn’t so endearing. From anyone else’s perspective, it was true that the pup was on the uncontrollable side, and that he may have needed a few weeks in behavioral classes, but other people didn’t know him; pouncing was a rarity for Cheols, he didn’t just pounce on anyone...no, Ji Hye had learned long ago that his brash shows of affection were reserved for those who were worthy.

The large dog was a great judge of character. 

As the young witch steps closer to the scene of the crime, she slows down just a little more in order to survey the scene. No matter what she thought about her wonderful great pyrenees, even she could admit that being on the receiving end of his displays of affection was not for the faint of heart. 

If whoever had been on the receiving end hadn’t hit the ground too hard, it was possible that Ji Hye could get away with her dignity intact after a few apologies...and that had been the plan until her eyes landed on the person laying under Cheols. Not only had the large dog pounced on the unsuspecting victim, he had also locked him in a slobbery embrace, licking away at his face.

In all honesty, Ji Hye felt stuck for just a moment, caught in a place between some form of confused amusement, and mortified impotence. It was hard not to find anything remotely funny in the situation, but again it couldn’t have been funny from the other person’s perspective. When she had stopped gaping and her mind had finally kickstarted her body into action, her hands moved to Cheols’ collar, fingers wrapping around the burgundy sash before tugging the beast in her direction, pleading with the large dog and stressing her words with each tug. “Nam Yeong-Cheol, you can’t pounce on strangers...mind your manners.”

Any attempts to fix the situation were in vain, as they only seemed to make the dog more eager; whenever Ji Hye tugged at his collar, he’d tug back and pull her with him. It was an unbalanced tug-of-war, since the much larger beast towered over her if standing, and it was proving interesting to the many spectators caught in her peripheral vision. Cheeks tinted red, and Ji Hye tried tugging one more time, taking a step backwards and guiding Yeong-Cheol in her direction. 

Even if he didn’t want to budge, her ‘intimating’ gaze was enough to have the dog listen for a moment or two.

Ji Hye pulled her weight and his own with her as she stepped back once and then twice. She pulled one hand back from the collar and maneuvering the large dog so that he stood behind her...she turned and nudged him lightly, throwing him a “please stay,” before turning back to the unfortunate victim.

(...)

After a few seconds of fishing it out of his pocket, he rolled his thumb down the metal wheel and pressed hard on the ignition button. The first roll produced a tiny spark, but there was no flame in sight. After a few more embarrassing tries, a quick flame arose then died. Today was not his day and although this probably a slow insanity creeping up on him, he felt like the lighter was taunting him. “Uh…sorry about that.” He apologized, hanging his head in shame. “I just wanted you to be able to see too.” As the man picked up his head, an object from the corner of his eye caught his attention. It was small but familiar and he hoped it was exactly what he thought it was. “Did you drop a flashlight during the collapse…because I think I see it to your far left.”

When your one of your senses was limited, all other senses were amplified and being that Ji Hye could see nothing, she became all the more attentive to the words she was hearing...not that she could afford anything less, but the mundane thoughts about human senses kept her calm. The young witch didn’t always find herself in such cumbersome situations, but if at the drop of a hat she was trapped in a cave with a werelion, then...directing her thoughts to anything but their dilemma would slow the rapid beating of her heart. At least until she needed to find a way out of the cave...Ji Hye was sure that it was in the best interest of both parties to think together.

Ji Hye wasn’t all too familiar with this area, and if they made it out of the cave before nightfall, she might be able to save herself from the embarrassment of clinging to the werelion any longer than was necessary. 

She kept her attention on his words, nodding whenever she thought necessary, and unable to alter the frown on her lips.

He had said that he didn’t have a flashlight, which wasn’t surprising, but Ji Hye could feel her shoulders slump once he’d told her. She didn’t usually feel impotent...didn’t ever feel impotent for that matter, and the feeling sat in her chest, weighing heavily on her ego. With something like a sixth sense, her lack of sight shouldn’t have been such a handicap, but the confirmation of his inhuman state wouldn’t help either of them find their way out of this cave.

Without so much as a light, it seems as if they were stuck as they were, with Ji Hye left in the dark and having to rely completely on him. He was surely trustworthy, but Ji Hye just didn’t like relying on people...she didn’t do much of it, and she had a habit of undervaluing the efforts of others.

That would have to change if he had become her eyes...still he had more to say, dangling just a little bit of hope before Ji Hye’s eyes...

And she’d never been so happy to hear the word ‘but’. Her eyebrows raised, and her ears perked up, hoping, just hoping that he’d pull something out of his sleeve. ‘Beggars can’t be choosers’, she told herself...it was a phrase that her maternal grandmother despised with a burning passion — if the woman had anything, it was her pride — but, Ji Hye was sure that her grandmother had never found herself trapped in a cave. She’d almost lunged at him in excitement.

Almost. It’s as if her grandmother’s voice kept her from doing so...‘even a beggar can choose to keep their pride’.  

Here she was, a young witch who had been introduced to magic from the very point of her birth, and at the first sign of a spark, she had nearly lunged forward like the cavemen must have at the discovery of fire. 

The spark gave way to nothing more, and Ji Hye sunk back into a seating position, and even with the odd circumstances, Ji Hye was aware of the red tint in her cheeks...when a beggar let go of their pride, they’d find themselves shamed by the circumstances. 

She almost rolled her eyes at her own stupidity. “Don’t apologize, it was way better than nothing.”

Ji Hye sat back on instinctively looked around, even though she could see nothing. It was an attempt, like any other to fool her mind into a sense of calm. She was now starting to hate the fact that she could do no more than listen...it made her feel dependent and that led to an annoying feeling in her gut. But if it was the only thing she could do, she would do it well.

And again he dangled some hope right before her eyes...this time, she just didn’t lunge at it.

(...)

Walking deeper into the cave, Cris followed her frantic breaths until he came onto another clearing. It seemed this too was a collapsed entrance, dark as the rest of the cave with a lone figure sitting curled up in the middle. She had a small form with long hair and had been clutching onto her bag, out of what he assumed was fear. The werelion figured she might not be able to see, human in race but smelled of herbs and flowers just like a witch usually did. “Looks like we both got stuck in here.” He finally spoke, staying far as if to appear less of a threat. “I’m not going to hurt you, but I can see in the dark and you look scared.”

Taking a deep breath, he spoke once more. “My name is Christian Yu and I’m a werelion. I got stuck down here after chasing something.”

The air she breathed was heavy, her thoughts scrambled and there was no denying that she may have sat there for minutes and minutes on end before she finally came to her senses. 

In truth, the young witch may have relied on the earth to keep itself in order for her own sake...it was a silly thought when the very nature of things was entropy; and still she found herself stuck, unable to slow the beating of her heart. 

Why was the air so thick?

Her eyes roamed the area around her, and of course she saw nothing; it was just something out of habit for Ji Hye. There were idiosyncrasies that never left someone, small ticks that would appear like clockwork even if they would add nor detract any substance to the current situation. The heels of her shoes tried digging into the floor of the cave, as if to find comfort in any form of connection to the earth, and making attempts to regain control of herself and her emotions.

Still, her chest rose and fell at a rapid pace, and the beating of her heart did not slow. If her body would only listen to her, then maybe she could focus on the more important things, like finding a way out of the cave.

As much as she wanted to move function, Ji Hye could do nothing but sit there, holding her bag...holding these magical bits of herself closer to her person. The young witch could work wonders with what the earth provided for her time and time again, but what could she do with natural disasters? What could she do trapped inside a cave with an exit blocked by boulders she knew she had no hope of moving, and surrounded by a darkness that threatened to swallow her whole?

While she was dealing with the crisis in her head, she almost missed a sound that filled the cave, bouncing off of the walls and tearing through the previously quiet atmosphere.  

Ji Hye’s shoulders stiffened and she wondered if her misfortune had only increased, or if she had been lucky enough to have been found by a helping hand. There was a way of knowing, of course, but she had always hated clairvoyance and had never nurtured the skill; the young witch was sure that in her current state of mind, the ability would be useless.

The hands she trusted so much could not divulge a person’s alignment, and the sight she often took for granted was heavily impaired. She’d have to rely on nothing more than a witch’s intuition, and even that shouldn’t have been enough to allow herself to trust a stranger ― Ji Hye was desperate; just as he had mentioned, they were both trapped in the cave, and if he could see in the dark when she couldn’t, he may have been the only hope she had of finding a way out.

He spoke one more time, and Ji Hye just had to laugh...it was something about the familiarity of being trapped with someone else who wasn’t entirely human; it didn’t make the situation any less dire, but the news was a nice distraction. Although he was a stranger, and his magical nature should have worried her much more, Ji Hye knew that could deal with this situation on her own or she could deal with it in the company of someone who wanted to escape as much as she did. 

Ji Hye didn’t loosen the grip on her bag, but she turned towards the voice and nodded her acknowledgement of his presence, “Nam Ji Hye, ‘born’ a witch...I’d say it was nice to meet you, but these are pretty unfavorable circumstances.” One hand motioned to the area around her, and then latched onto her bag one more time...the bag was like a safety blanket; a reminder of control. “I was looking for flowers.”

(...)

Another low, embarrassed chuckle filtered from her, her eyebrows slanting up towards one another to create a worried furrow betwixt them. “I’m very grateful, really—I know these are strange choices.” In truth, she could have left a money offering for all of them and had been done with it, but the thought of that lacked personality and relationship. “I don’t think you could disappoint me. You sound like an expert!”

“There are about six types of hibiscus flower native to Hawaii, but I do think I get the gist of what she wants. The ‘Hawaiian’ hibiscus is quite popular when it comes in a deep pink, but if she wants to feel as if she’s on vacation, then I’d gift our yellow Hawaiian hibiscus flowers, they’re this vibrant yellow color and the center is this deep red that lightens in pigmentation as you move outward on the petals. It’s very much like the Hawaiian sunset in postcards.” After Ji had offered her own slice of advice, she realized that she must not have been as attentive as she initially believed, because the young witch had to replay her customer’s words following the details of the hibiscus she was looking for. 

The pumpkin-haired woman spoke of this friend as Ji Hye would speak of her flowers; of course this was a similarity Ji’s mind conjured because she was well aware of magic...so much so that she had the tendency to forget that others were not. The ‘friend’ in question could have very well been someone from abroad, moving to Sunseong with little to no ties, and after doing so becoming lonely. The ‘friend’ in question was of no concern to Ji Hye and she had to maintain her focus on the customer with the heartwarming interest in flora.

Ji Hye tried her best to keep from meddling into the affairs of others, lest she ran the risk of becoming her grandmother Jeong Sun. She knows that people prefer to keep their privacy, and she knows this from experience. The young witch has always been thankful to have been born without her grandmother’s ability of clairvoyance; it just felt intrusive walking among someone else’s thoughts.

And yet she was gifted with the ability to communicate with plants; it’s an ability suitable for a young woman who finds true comfort in flowers. The contrast was an interesting one, the way in which Ji Hye’s true face was so different than the sanguine young witch that could befriend any person or creature that crossed her path.

A description came of the white chrysanthemums, and Ji Hye immediately pointed over her shoulder, pinpointing a section near the door. “The white chrysanthemums tend to sit in the area closest to the storefront,” she explained, opting to remain mum on the reason why — these particular flowers preferred an arrangement wherein the devoted love they tended to represent was the first thing expressed to the customers when they walked through the door; a flower with an agenda similar to Ji Hye’s after all. Ji placed the flowers at the very bottom of the list, only so because they were closest to the exit, and the two could make a round trip instead of zig-zagging throughout the expanse lobby. It was something the young witch loved to do in order to get her fill of the plants around her, but it wasn’t something that her customers usually wanted.

Sunflowers for a waeguk-saram who married a local; Ji Hye nodded as she refined the checklist she had made in her head. A gardener would be amazed with an uncommon breed of their favorite flower, but would more than appreciate the simplicity of the flora’s most common sub-type. Ji Hye’s brows knitted together for a moment, as she weighed the options; the common man’s sunflower would be a nice touch, they all sat near one another with the daylilies and mountain marigolds. “I know which sunflowers he’d like — at least I think so — when you’re in a profession where you have the privilege of working with beautiful and rare flowers it’s the subtle delicacy of a common blossom that really steals you heart. The flower I suggested before is something he would appreciate, but the common man’s sunflower seems more genuine now that you’ve told me more.”

The smile on Ji Hye’s lips widened, she tilted her head in the slightest, and decided that the elegant zinnias were more than appropriate. “The elegant zinnias then,” Ji wouldn’t ask what the reminder was for, of course, but she could provide a flower to add a little color for the customer and her memories. 

“Hm?” The pumpkin-haired woman’s next words surprised Ji Hye, the prospect of ‘trouble’ hadn’t crossed her mind; the young witch had fun in her own way when she worked on the floor and helped others find the ideal flower. And not all customers blessed Ji Hye’s day with such an extensive list...when they did, it was like being given a new assignment to which she could dedicate a small portion of her day. “Not at all! I’m one of those people who loves what they do, and because you had such a variety of flowers I have the excuse of showcasing most if not all of these beautiful flowers,” she chuckled lightly before continuing, “so please, don’t apologize.” 

“Well we have forsythia bushes of those native to Korea, if you look right over there,” turning in the direction of the flora that came in much larger pots, Ji Hye shot the other woman a glance and raised her eyebrows, “They may require delivery...and by ‘may’ I mean most definitely. Maybe it’s just my own small stature but, it’s more than tedious to pack and unpack forsythias, not to mention the chore that comes with placement.”

(...)

After an hour of the foolishness, the doll was no longer in sight anymore. Even when he waited a few seconds, it no longer appeared. Cris was in unexplored territory at this point and after spotting something at the corner of his eye, he rushed into the cave attempting to catch it. But the cave wasn’t as stable as he thought it was and after a few minutes, the shaking off the walls trapped him within. Damn his instincts. “Fuck me.”

A price tag seemed attached to nearly everything ― living or dead ― in the mundane and abstract world. Some commodities were so precious one had no choice but to label them as priceless, and others were so unfortunate as to be considered worthless. Even if these commodities were priceless to a young witch. Ji Hye had hiked as far as her feet could carry ― and only as far as her legs would allow her ― looking for some wild flowers in the Sunseong mountains. 

The young witch could have easily found the flowers at any flower shop, or even her own flora center, but there was something personal about harvesting plants with her own two hands; she felt as if her potions were better for it.

She had long ago learned that seeking out these plants where they grew in the wild was well worth the effort, and the people she treated reaped the reward. It was why she found herself at the entrance of a cave a few hours ago, picking orange arum-lilies, brunneras, and shiozaki rue anemones. The abundance of plants growing in the shaded entrance of the cave had managed to pique her curiosity; if there had been such a variation at the mouth of the cave, she could only wonder the type of flora she could find once she walked inside. 

Ji Hye had moved aside a cascade of thin vines, and entered the cave with a small flashlight in hand; her eyes tried to adjust to the lack of light but her vision could only make out the faintest blur of a shape here and there far beyond the reach of her flashlight. Even though the musty air was too thick for her to draw a proper breath and even though the dark cave was uncharted ― and maybe even dangerous ― territory, her swift steps held no hesitation. It was true that curiosity killed the cat, but satisfaction brought it back.

Inside the cave she had found rocks covered in moss, and rows upon rows of fungi, most of which she collected and placed in her bag. As she walked a little farther, she came across an incline ― it wasn’t very steep, and when she flashed her light, the floor was no more than a few feet below. Her hands almost reached out for a railing, but the man-made barre was the last thing she should have expected to find in this cave. Ji Hye pulled her hand back towards her body and took careful steps down the slope.

A few more feet and she had found red creeping thymes and mixed astilbe in the twilight zone of the cave. 

The young witch was amazed to have found such flowers, so much so that she let time fly as she collected enough of the plants to fill a small jar each. She treated each plant she took from the earth with care, like a small ritual between the flora and herself.

It was in the middle of one of these pseudo-rituals where she felt a rumbling beneath her feet...and for some stupid reason, dismissed it. Ji Hye continued to collect portions she needed when another rumble ― louder than the first ― stopped the movement of her hands. She placed the last jar in her bag and shined the light of her torch on the walls around her, trying and failing to pinpoint the source of the rumbling.

Common sense dictated that finding said noise was not as important as getting away from it. She had walked far into the cave without so much as scrutinizing it’s stability...such dismissal of her surroundings would be her undoing. But it was too late to really dwell on the mistake she had made...Ji Hye picked herself up from the ground, light focused on the path her feet had left in the moist dirt. The young witch took a few rushed steps when the rumbling began again...her grip on the flashlight tightened and her free hand searched for solace on the cave walls.

She had only reached the foot of the cave’s incline when dust and small rocks began raining down around her. Her body froze, unsure of whether she should rush forward into the spiraling debris or move deeper into the cave, hoping to find another exit somewhere.

Pragmatism reduced her time, and in the process of pinpointing the path with the least resistance, the witch’s window of opportunity vanished. She stumbled over her own two feet as the cave around her crumbled in on itself, rocks falling left and right, covering her hope...covering the entrance.

Ji Hye fell backwards, arms covering her head and stepped back into the cave. She winced at a dulled pain in the palm of her hands ― probably from rocks on the ground ―   and upon feeling the odd sensation Ji tried to shine her flashlight on the source. And she would have if the thin torch was still in her hand.

When had she lost her grip on the small light?

Keep reading

Soothsaying tends to absorb most if not all of Ji Hye’s concentration; it’s not as if she can see injuries or ailments with some form of röntgen radiation...her eyes never capture anything other than the person lying before her. The divination manifests itself as a feeling, a projection of another’s ailments onto her own body, heightened so that she can locate exactly where said maladies lie. 

It usually starts with a tingling in her occipital lobe: the ‘visions’ of people’s injuries come as something more akin to a sensation, quite similar to twins and their ‘telepathy’, and when the tingling subsides, she feels the ghost of a wound here, or the shadow of a bruise there. What she feels never remains...and Ji Hye wouldn’t be able to live her life as she normally did if these sensations did remain. Like the pain the beast was feeling for example.

Although his discomfort was dulled to the best of their ability, Ji found herself straining the muscles in her upper back, annoyed by the soreness that mimicked his own. 

She’d move on towards the area near his sides had he remained silent, but instead his voice had yet again reached her ears ― and because her father was the one who normally spoke to animals, the young witch found herself amazed at the scene before her ; Ji Hye pulled her hands away from her patient, and stepped back. His request, since it sounded as if he were asking for her permission, seemed silly to the young woman; he could change so long as he wanted to, and so long as it didn’t put a strain on his body.

His human form could have been a more comfortable state of being for the foo, and of course the good doctor and his daughter would be able to wrap him in bandages without the prospect of wasted bandages once he changed. Of course, Ji Hye could advise him otherwise if she felt that the moment wasn’t right, but he was the one to judge whether he was ready to shift into his human form..and it seemed as if he was.  

She was going to ask him to wait just a moment as she gathered up a few blankets when his own words interrupted hers. This time, she was left speechless...

Ji Hye was born into magic, and knows there’s nothing mundane about her existence nor her brilliant mind...that being said, her mind is no more immune to shock or surprise than the average human. When the beast speaks her name, the confusion begins at the very tips of her ears, tingling as if to ask ‘did he say my name?’; then it moves to her brows, crinkling together to showcase a rare expression from the young witch: bafflement; and finally her mouth is slightly agape, looking for words of question or concern but finding neither. 

She’s unable to follow his instruction for a fraction of a second because she’s still processing his words; she may have still be frozen in place had her father not intervened, “yah, turn around ttal, go find him some clothes to change into.”

Eyes dart in her father’s direction, and when she nods obediently and turns to walk in the direction of her father’s small wardrobe, her mind is still buzzing with questions. The young witch relayed the events of the night to the best of her ability, as she tried to figure out if her name had slipped from her father’s lips...but never called her by her given name ― it was quite the touchy subject ― and to make up for it, he’d call her ‘ttal’ or one of the many pet names he’d deemed worthy throughout the years.

Could he really be the patient she had begun to attend regularly? 

Ji Hye chided herself once more for jumping to conclusions...it just seemed that she could help herself less and less the more that the chips begun to fall into place. She preferred an acute awareness of the things happening around her; and although Ji was usually adept enough to fill in the blanks with what she was given, failure to do so or the simple inability to fill in the blanks left a sour taste in her mouth. The young witch shook the thoughts from her head; it must have been the entropy shrouding the city...and as of late, it had become all too easy for her synapses to fire off in wild directions.

Her feet begin shuffling towards the far corner of the clinic; this time she takes her time with her task, opening the door and sifting through her father’s things. The shirts and sweaters were no issue, because the size was arbitrary...the bottoms on the other hand would prove harder to match to the person whom she’d only seen as a beast ― to her knowledge, that is. She could ask...

Keep reading

Her eyes seek out the beast when she hears her father’s words, silently taking note of the innocuous detail; in truth, knowing that the beast could shift into a human form would not have changed the course of her actions or the treatment she had administered ― it wasn’t the most important detail, but the witch would have liked to know. Still, she pushes the newfound knowledge to the back of her mind, and again focuses on the beast person’s side. 

She’s curious, but it’s far from her business.

Ji Hye busies herself with covering the rest of his marred skin, gently massaging the elixir into the wounded area until there is no inch of bruised skin that she can see. A hand wipes the sweat from her brow ― and in doing so leaves a dark smudge from the concoction covering her gloves. Ji doesn’t notice, but even if she did, her appearance was not the priority, the magical being in front of her was...and if his much calmer breathing was any indication, the pain he felt must have been dulled. The young witch slipped off her gloves, and tossed them in the smaller basic, her shoulders relaxed, and she could finally breathe a little easier.

...It was only when she rested against her father’s chair that her ears registered a voice; although the voice was familiar, it wasn’t her appa who was speaking. ‘A witch without rest, is a witch who can conquer the world, huh?’ Ji Hye sat up in her chair again, and glanced around the clinic even though she was certain that the source of the voice was laying within arms reach. 

And when the subject of his words truly registered in the witch’s mind, she couldn’t help but laugh.

Where those really the first words he chose to vocalize? While it made sense for him to voice such concerns, Ji Hye had found this particular concern quite pragmatic given his current state. Instead of complaining about the pain ― which he must have done enough of in his head ― the person laying injured on the operating table had concerned themselves with their modesty. At least, they could afford to communicate...so long as holding a conversation didn’t strain his throat or vocal chords.

Ji Hye cleared her throat, and shot her father a quick glance, unable to keep the entertained smile from her lips. Her appa could only shrug, much too busy collecting rolls of gauze, and human-sized blankets ― a rare commodity inside of a veterinary clinic. She would leave him roaming in his own bubble ― if she was tired, Ji Hye could only imagine how exhausted her father felt ― and would therein continue to nurse her patient. 

“Ah, I think we’ve got you covered...quite literally, so I wouldn’t concern myself with that.” 

Had his own clothes made it as far as the clinic, or had he walked through the doors bare? It was a trivial concern in comparison to the other aspects of his visit, but it was his concern and Ji Hye would respect that. If he hadn’t been clothed upon his arrival, he would certainly need a change of clothes before leaving the clinic...if his injuries permitted such extensive movement. With that in mind, Ji was sure that her father kept a drawer filled with clothing for nights in particular where he was unable to go home for his well-deserved rest and much-needed shower.

The creature laying before her was in dire need of the same things, and although he was out of the woods, Ji Hye’s own examination of his injuries was yet from finished. If her father had ever agreed with his mother-in-law over anything, it was the need to be thorough where healing was concerned. She was certain that he wouldn’t like any more prodding of his sore physique; she was also certain that the once-searing pain in his muscles would subside if he allowed her to do as healers do. 

Her own intuition told her that she should begin her final examination of his injuries now ― since there had to be more to his plight than a dislocated shoulder and wounded side ― and she was unsure if there were injuries the beast himself had been unaware of with a mind that had been focused on the more obvious ailments...or even a desire to shift into his human form. The creature could feel the pain now, or feel it later...and with his dulled nerve endings, she was sure that feeling pain in the now was the lesser of the two evils; a faint soreness would be the only thing that remained.

If her fingers nicked a particularly pained spot, Ji Hye would apologize later. 

Pushing herself onto her own two feet, Ji closed the space between herself and the beast, hands feeling a tingling sensation from the tips of her fingers to the base of her wrist. Her eyes scanned his figure, unsure of where to start, and decided that it was simply best to touch her finger to the base of his neck, right above his spine. 

The young witch had recently been able to soothsay expanse regions of an individual’s body without so much as moving her hands from the area of contact. She had shared the news with two proud relatives ― her father and his mother ― and one curt relative ― a grandmother who believed such progress was expected and should not be congratulated. It was the balance of things; in the end her grandmother kept her grounded, and aware of just how much she had to learn, but she was also aware of how good it felt to receive positive affirmations of her magic. Everyone adored hearing positive feedback, it was crucial for the most minute of things...like a patient being told how strong they had been during such a nasty ordeal.

“You’ve done so well.” She voiced this small compliment, but opted to keep silent about much of what was left. It’s not that her touch would hurt him any more than what he felt, but when one was in pain, and highly tender their minds exaggerated the prospect of any more pain.

Her heightened ability could not cover his entire body with one touch, but with the larger area one single touch covered, they would spend less time on identifying his other ailments. Still, it would make things easier for her large patient...Ji knew that had he arrived at her father’s clinic before she honed this particular strength, the poking and prodding would have felt similar to a deep-tissue massage.

The closest injury she could sense was a bruised back...nothing seemed broken and there were no sprains that Ji could sense. His spinal chord was intact, so Ji Hye could easily inference that the injuries in his back were superficial. Something quite peculiar were the fading bruises she sensed throughout his back ― was this person trouble prone? There shouldn’t have been the old bruising she found on his back unless these injuries were a reoccurring thing.