CHAPTER FIVE: JIMIN BAE

“Wake,” a voice says, waking the woman from her slumber—but gone is twenty one year old Katarina Yoo; replaced by the almost forgotten memories of the ten year old Jimin Bae, the one who she had buried in a chest that she had never found the key after she had thrown it away.

She stared at her little hands, still a little less powerful than her state at the young age of twenty one, and for once she wonders why her mind had taken her to this specific place of her elusive mind palace with rooms that had locked away almost all the memories of her childhood, and she remembers that she had been unable to recall those memories no matter how hard she tried.

So why is she here? In this unfamiliar place that she’s seated and locking herself inside this little closet, unable to go out for some reason—

“No, I will not permit you to run away!” an angry voice said, and the curious ten year old peeked through as far as she could open the little wooden door without getting seen by the people that is talking outside, and there she slowly watched the scene slowly unfurling before her.

“Father, we cannot serve the Kim Family forever; we have to think for our own, for I think our family can do better without their interference—”

“You and Jimin are the only ones who have powers. I will not let you two ruin the life that our family had set for us to follow, at hindi ko hahayaang sirain mo ang tradition ng pamilya natin!” the man shouted, and it took all of Jimin’s energy and willpower not to make any noise, because this is slowly scaring her.

“Kung kuntento na kayo sa mga nangyayari, ‘pwes ako hindi!” malakas na sigaw ng nakatatandang si Joohyun Bae, nineteen years old at the time but still a strong force to be reckoned with as Jimin slowly remembers while she hides away in the closet where the others in the room cannot feel her presence, cannot feel her watching this whole argument unfold.

“Joohyun, you have to understand; this is what we are supposed to do, because they saved our ancestors from the past. You have to understand na ito lang ang natatangi nating purpose sa buhay—”

“No, I cannot accept this!” isa pang sigaw ng Ate niya, at nanlaki naman ang mga mata ni Jimin nang biglang may kumawalang iba’t ibang beams na gawa sa yelo galing sa kapatid niya, firing at different directions and it was too late for her to dodge; she could only feel the searing pain as it hit directly upon her heart, a searing pain spreading from her chest to the different parts of her body, stifling her fire—

Wait, the twenty one year old says, never recalling that part of her memories.

Fire?

The ten year old panics as the whole closet is then set on fire by her presence, by the furnace within her threatening to burn the whole place down while trying to keep the flame inside her alive, stifled and slowly smothered by the ice that is forming an iron wall upon her heart, as if it’s slowly replacing the power that she had possessed first—

“Oh my God—JIMIN!” her sister shouted, taking her out of the burning closet and immediately extinguishing the raging fire that threatened to even burn their whole house down, at nakita na lamang ni Jimin na nanlaki ang mga mata ng kapatid niya sa gulat habang naramdaman na din niyang iba na ang kapangyarihang dumadaloy sa kanya.

The fire that is threatening to spread is slowly replaced by ice, spreading from the burning closet and towards the house, only stopped by Joohyun’s interference while she holds her sister who is slowly getting cold to the touch but is still breathing—her fire laying into rest as the ice emerges, taking over her system and changing what had been originally there.

And there, the young Jimin Bae understands as she opens her eyes again, seeing her older sister look at her so worriedly, understanding how she had come up with the whole idea of the sabotage that she had tried to do with Minjeong Kim.

As the scene slowly faded and twenty one year old Karina Yoo stood in front of the scene that her memories had shown her, of the chest that had been burst open because of the stress that she had experienced earlier, she now understands why.

Fire.

She had been once fire—changed because of her own blood firing ice upon her heart, powerful enough to freeze the furnace from within, and Karina wonders why she had forgotten such great detail, and why it had been recalled now, pero at least alam na niya kung paano niya naturuan si Minjeong ng fire principles when it is strictly prohibited by the Powerborne Organization to learn two power techniques.

Katarina Yoo had always thought that it was the Kim Family that ripped her life into pieces, ripping away part of herself that she had never found again, but the memories show her at last.

Joohyun Bae.

Her own sister had changed her.

Has she been fighting the wrong enemy all along?

Has her efforts to try to sabotage Minjeong for the Kim Family’s path to ruin all for naught?

What is her enemy, really?

But she doesn’t even have time to think any more as the mind palace she’s in slowly fades, shattering like a mirror cracking to pieces, and no matter how hard she tries to stay and search for more answers, it only fades before her, and she doesn’t even know when she could go back to this place again, but it’s too late—

The next time she opens her eyes she’s in a room, fairly smaller than the room that she had lived in the Kim Family Manor, and she is unsure whenever this is already reality or still a dream, her subconscious tricking her into placing her into this room that she had seen before where she could see another part of her memory and could possibly answer her questions, but none appeared no matter how she waited.

“Yooji,” a voice calls, at doon lang napansin ni Karina na may kasama pala siya sa kwarto kung nasaan siya—the woman she had grown accustomed to seeing everyday upon the Manor, Minjeong Kim sitting in front of her in a bed just meters away from her, and the first thing that Karina sees is three bracelets wrapped upon each of her wrists.

“That’s… that’s why your presence feels faint, isn’t it?” tanong ni Karina habang tumango na lamang si Minjeong at mukhang wala siyang gaanong energy which makes sense since Karina knows that without her fire she wouldn’t have that much energy then before, at tumayo na muna si Karina para mag-inat since parang ang bigat ng pakiramdam niya—

There she notices, upon the lone mirror in the room they’re both in, marks of a hand gripping her neck tight, and the memories of the earlier encounter rush back into her mind, the scene of Minjeong below her, eyes blazing and anger overflowing while she’s held up high above the ground by her neck—na kahit anong effort niyang makalaya mula sa pagkakahawak sa kanya ay walang tumalab.

Slowly she backs away, hoping that the woman with her doesn’t notice the change in her atmosphere habang umupo na siya sa kama kung nasaan siya kanina, hoping that the six bracelets could keep Minjeong Kim’s astounding power in bay dahil hindi niya alam kung kakayanin ba niyang labanan ang babaeng ito kapag nandun siya sa state na iyon uli—

“Yooji, I’m sorry.” She says, breaking Karina’s frustrated and panicked daze, at agad namang napatingin si Karina sa kanya, her the fear in her heart slowly melting as she sees the woman hugging her knees, trying to keep herself away from Yooji, the one she had hurt earlier.

“I… I don’t know what… what happened… all I remember was that I’m angry… kasi you… you almost killed Ate Seulgi, and…” naiiyak niyang sabi habang tumayo na ako at niyakap siya ng mahigpit, hoping that it would calm her down, but I could only feel her crying against my arms, and I had never even seen her cry before, and it breaks my heart to see her like this.

“Shh… that’s not you. That’s the fire reacting to the anger in your heart, Winter, and fire tends to heighten your emotions, dangerous when left unchecked.” Sagot ni Karina habang dahan-dahan niyang hinihimas ang likod ng babae, trying to stop her from crying, her voice hushed and a little quiet as and her neck still is sore from the things that happened earlier.

“Minjeong,” Minjeong says, and Karina only hums in reply with that, wondering what the woman means with her name uttered from her shivering lips.

“You never call me Winter—call me Minjeong.” Minjeong utters, at napangiti na lamang si Karina at tumango sa sinabi nito, noticing that the woman had already stopped crying and calmed down, at least.

“Okay, Minjeong. I’m here.” Karina utters, at naramdaman niyang niyakap siya ng mahigpit ni Minjeong, just like how they did before back in the Manor since they were children, for both of them admits that their hugs had always calmed each other.

“Baka gising na sila—oh.” Marahang tinulak ni Minjeong si Karina nang biglang bumukas yung pinto at naabutan ni Seulgi silang dalawa na magkayakap, but no words were exchanged habang lumuhod si Seulgi sa harapan ni Winter at dahan-dahang tinanggal ang apat sa anim na bracelets na nakakapigil sa kapangyarihan ni Winter, leaving her with one bracelet in each wrist—and now Karina feels the familiar warm presence Minjeong exudes, the presence she felt earlier before the truth about her training was exposed.

It was warm—like an embrace.

Like they’re still embraced, but Karina knows they’re not—but she does not fail to notice that Minjeong’s hand immediately goes on top of hers, like it’s clockwork, like it’s normal.

“Let’s go out; kakausapin daw kayo ni Joohyun.” Sagot ni Seulgi na bumasag sa katahimikan habang tumango na lamang ang dalawa at agad nang lumabas ng kwarto kung nasaan sila, revealing the stoic and cold Joohyun Bae sitting upon the couch, and Karina wonders if she remembers.

If her older sister remembers what she had done to her—or she’s the same, that ugly memory stuffed in a chest that she did not bother opening again.

“Sit down,” she says, a strict tone upon her voice, “We have a lot to talk about.”

Yes indeed, we have a lot. Jimin Bae thinks, a faint smile gracing her lips.

A lot, indeed.