home, jaemin

chapter forty-nine

"jiyoung, it's nice to see you again."

jiyoung bowed at the older woman, "it's nice to see you again as well, councilmen jinae."

jiyoung and jinae had only personally spoken one on one once before while having dinner together at nayeon's house.

it was a natural environment that made both of them comfortable, leaving room for them to become somewhat friendly with each other.

after dinner, nayeon took the liberty of putting two and two together for jiyoung and asked her if jinae could be her mentor for a bit as she was highly trained and wasn't often too busy- leaving her with lots of time to train and getting to know the element of air.

jiyoung was a bit hesitant at first but agreed with nayeon knowing she wouldn't have suggested it if she didn't think it was a great option.

today was their first actual day where it was just the two of them. they were at the headquarters where important people in the republic work. they sat in jinae's personal office.

"today, we're just gonna go over a few things and try to really understand everything that's going on inside of you right now. is that okay?"

jiyoung nodded, ready for any questions she had prepared.

"okay, so let's start from the beginning. what was your life like before coming to the republic?"

jiyoung couldn't quite place the look in jinae's eyes but there was something there. she ignored it at first, beginning from what she could remember.

"my earliest memories are just from my toddler years while i was living in the earth nation."

a spark flashed in jinae's eyes. jiyoung continued as if everything was normal.

"can't remember much from then either, i feel like. all i remember is continuous days of staying at home and playing with the same toys in my bedroom all day, not anything else though. then i finally reached the age to start school and that's all i did, woke up, went to school, came home, did homework, ate, then bed. repeating from there until i moved here. it was just an endless cycle really, no friends, family, nothing to change up the routine."

jinae followed along the entire time. she took in each piece of information, writing things down here and there and waiting for the end.

"and when did you first notice you were different? like when you could start air bending?"

at first, jiyoung thought she meant about her eyes, thinking maybe nayeon had accidentally let it slip about the fake blue contact lenses. she relaxed hearing the last part of the older woman's sentence.

"i'm not too sure. i can't remember, really. it's like everything recently has just been kind of like a big blur. it was recently though, maybe just a few weeks ago."

jinae wrote some things down again and looked back up at jiyoung, "alright, and nayeon said you had a few questions about your spirituality and such? would you like to ask me about that?"

jiyoung nodded, "yes. i think being an air bender is really cool and all and i'm super happy i get to experience it but.. it's just very unexpected. i've never felt spiritual. or at least, i don't feel like i have. it's kind of complicated, i guess."

"it could make sense with why your bending is just now appearing. if you haven't been very spiritual in your life previously then it would've been a lot harder to come into your true form. have you changed anything since moving here?"

jiyoung shook her head, "not really. i mean, i like to go to the rivers in the park at night but that's really it, i think."

"the river is a good way to access your bending. many go there for enlightenment and to feel their power inside of their bodies. i'd say that's probably one of the big reasons you're just now seeing changes within yourself."

they carried on, jiyoung giving a few questions here and there as jinae explained more air bending things to her.

when a few hours passed and jiyoung was getting ready to leave, she took the chance to ask one final question she had been meaning to.

"is son soojin really your daughter? sorry if that's a weird thing to ask but she just says you're her mom and we've never seen you at the school before for parental meetings so i was curious."

jinae slightly laughed but shook her head, "oh, no. soojin isn't my daughter. she is my former husband's sister's daughter. i'm not too sure why she'd be lying but i'll be sure to ask her mother about it."

jiyoung nodded, waving and bowing before leaving.

you're probably curious about her black eyes, right? watch for the next chapters

also, did the last chapter scare anyone? i meant to ask at the end of that chapter but forgot until now lmao i hope it gave y'all a fright 😁