♕ helping hand ● jongdae x ari
one forty-two a.m.
that's what the phone screen projected. seolhyun's eye was still squinted due to the brightness of the screen compared to the barely-viewable everything else around her. even if the brightness setting was on its lowest, it was such an foreigner compared to one in its area's dimly lit street light she was under. seolhyun did live in the sketchier area of town compared to all other mutants, but it was still a step up from her previous living conditions in japan. she wasn't a privileged high-class mutant nor was she rich, barely able to pay her apartment rent -- thank god the hospital paid for most of her meals from her volunteering. she plugged her earphones back in and continued staring out to the void of darkness.
two eleven a.m.
once again, her eyes were squinted when checking her phone for the time. she was in no hurry to get home; no one was ever going to be home to worry about her and her whereabouts. but, she did have an early class tomorrow and she has already been scolded a couple times by the professor about staying awake. a couple hours of sleep could help cure this, somewhat. seolhyun stood up from her seat in this desolate hiding space and headed back into the city to go home -- she enjoyed the quietness of her mind free of everyone else's emotions which was the main reason for her coming here normally. sure, she could find the same freedom within the walls of her own lonely apartment, but the vibe it gave was different. this place was more comfortable.
the walk back was quite relaxing. there was a low flow of information about stranger's emotions registering through her brain. none of them seemed threatening to her either; just most cases of low fear and caution. but then once again, she was still in a mutant part of town and it was a pretty satanic hour to be awake and roaming the streets. one caught with a lot of activity during this hour would definitely be on a suspect and watchlist of hellfire. crime and murder rates were also highest during these hours, especially in these areas. on the brighter side, a low flow also meant an advantage to seolhyun as she could easily depict out who an enemy was due to their emotional reading. she was still after all a girl that was alone walking in a dangerous part of town defenseless.
seolhyun was nearing her apartment complex with ease. helplessness. suddenly that whiff of emotion caught her attention. there was someone near her that needed help. anytime she read any signs of helplessness, embarrassment, anxiety, fear, and many other emotion that yelled out a desperate need of help, she couldn't help but give in to them; it was her weakness. xavier was slowly teaching her how to overcome the weakness, but it was still ingrained as an instinct for her. she suddenly turned on her active mode and carefully speculated around for the person that was in need. these streets were still really badly dimmed though and seolhyun was basically looking out into darkness. at times like this she could only depend on her ability to play a game of hot and cold mixed with marco polo to help hunt down this person.
