The third healing session of Jungkook's abdomen alone almost sucked her life out of her. Chaeyoung was lightheaded for long moments after each session, taking the longest to draw in her breath and make her body feel at ease. Three long sessions of the song playing in her head. Three long sessions of her frame covered with soft blue lights. Three sessions of trying to heal the deepest wound she'd ever encountered in her entire life.

If it were not for the herbs that she had previously applied on him, she doubted that there would be any big differences in his wound. The destroyed insides had already formed completely, the herbs had already melted and became one with his blood, his flesh stitching, new flesh even formed. The progress was indeed slow, but the new sight was giving her hope.

Chaeyoung breathed slowly until she could feel and hear her breath come out evenly. Her gaze flitted toward Jungkook's face. A memory of when she watched him sleep serenely with his head on her lap visited her mind. A soft smile made its way to her fatigued face.

Her gaze then shifted toward his chest, watching the stillness of it and the smile faded. Her heart wrenched as the memory of him pushing out the last of his breath before he fell unconscious seared into her mind. She bit her lip when it trembled.

She shook her head lightly, placed her palms on his abdomen again. Perhaps it would take another two sessions for her to completely heal it but with a scar. She briefly glanced at his other wounds and made a rough guess of the amount of sessions needed. Silently in her heart she wished for her brother to be around.

Before she could begin the fourth session, the door creaked open, revealing Jungkook's grandfather standing with a solemn expression on his face. It soon changed when his eyes settled on Jungkook's abdomen. Slowly, the man walked closer and stared at it, at Chaeyoung's hands already ready for the healing and finally he looked up at her face. His eyes mirrored surprise and concern.

"Come," he gestured with a hand. "This healing session has drained you of your energy, child. You need to eat for your energy to replenish."

Chaeyoung did not remove her hands from Jungkook's body, slightly hesitating as she considered the offer. Her eyes gazed at Jungkook again. She wanted to decline the offer. She couldn't leave him. She couldn't waste the time. The healing needed to be continuous. She needed to ensure that he would be safe. She wanted to watch over him at each second.

The elder Jeon seemed to notice her own hesitation, her dilemma, her concerns. With a gentle and comforting hold on her shoulder, the old man looked at her with a surprising fondness in his eyes.

"If you want him healed faster, you have to heal him with full energy."

He turned around and walked off, saying nothing else after. Her eyes settled on Jungkook for a few more moments before deciding that the old man was right. If she continuously spent the time to heal with her leftover energy, it would be possible that she wouldn't be able to heal him until he could meet consciousness, she herself would lose her own life.

The old man gestured for her to take a seat and she pulled out the chair carefully and quietly. A habit that had been taught since she was little. Disobeying the rule once during family gathering where their relatives were present had caused Jimin and her to stand and watch, only allowed to devour leftover food when everyone else had finished.

Her eyes glanced at the opened window. It was already morning, she realized.

"We do not have much in this house," Jungkook's grandfather said and slowly turned around with two bowls in hands, pushing one toward her. "I hope this soup will be fine with you."

She bowed her head politely as a sign of gratitude. Despite her reluctance earlier, when her senses registered the delightful smell of the soup, she realized that she had been starving. She took a small sip and her eyes sparked, taking a few more sips. Warmth filling her stomach inside.

"This soup tastes wonderful." She smiled and met the man's eyes. He gave her a small smile in return. His eyes, though, had none of the emotions that were supposed to align with a smile.

"It is his favorite," he said.

Chaeyoung paused briefly, her eyes resting on the soup and her mind took her on a short journey of picturing Jungkook's delighted face upon deciding that the soup would be his favorite. She wondered how his expression had been when he first tasted it. She could picture how his eyes would have been. His beautiful doe eyes would have sparkled. Embers gently flying would have been there. She softly sighed, her wish to see his eyes looking into hers only increased.

She suddenly remembered that she should not be wasting time. Finish your soup quickly, she told herself mentally. She needed the energy to hopefully heal Jungkook as quickly as possible, if she wanted to see his beautiful eyes again.

Chaeyoung looked up and watched the old man filling himself in quietly, eyes solely on the soup.

"I think I may have to explain something," Chaeyoung softly said. When he shifted his attention toward her, Chaeyoung cleared her throat. "My healing skill is the worst among my peers. But..." she slowly tightened her grip on the spoon, "but I will give my all to heal Jungkook. It will be slow. It will be very slow. I hope that you will not feel disapp -"

"I feel more than grateful," he cut her off gently, "that you are here to help." He put the spoon down, pushed the bowl slightly to the side and clasped his hands on the surface in front of him. "You do not have the worst skill, child. Some things take time. If you hadn't healed him, it would have taken more than five days just to have the herbs become his blood."

Chaeyoung's eyes downcast and nodded, feeling assured. She was supposed to comfort Jungkook's grandfather, yet he was the one providing her with it. "I just thought that... if you feel like it would be too slow, I was thinking of taking him to the Healing Sector."

The comforting warmth on his old face disappeared in a second, his eyes were suddenly holding fire. "No."

"I understand that Newcomers are not allowed to get healing in the Healing Sector. But...but my brother works in one of the tents and I can ask for his help. He is an excellent Healer and -"

"I will not step into that sector nor will I ever allow my grandson to, as long as I live," he gritted his teeth. "Never." He stood to his feet with a sharp exhale through his nose. Without a word, he put his unfinished soup away.

Chaeyoung froze in her seat, confusion settled in as she watched the old man moving around, fuming. She recalled the way he had reacted when she had first suggested that Jungkook needed to be brought to the Healing Sector.

"I..." she trailed off, dropping her head momentarily. "I am sorry."

His refusal, anger and behavior struck as odd to her. His breathings heavy as he stood by the stove, fists clenched and unclenched. He slightly turned, and Chaeyoung caught the expression on his face. Dark. Grim. She stared longer. Was that resentment?

Unwilling to enrage him further, Chaeyoung quietly tried to finish her food though the hunger had vanished.

It was only silence for quite some time. When she finally finished, she sat for a while upon noticing the man slowly moved to sit across her again.

He took a few more moments before he quietly began to speak again. "When Jungkook was just a child and he was...very sick," he halted, his forehead creasing deeply. The memory seemed to prick him painfully, "instead of taking him into their care, the Healers..." he took a long breath. "They banned him."

Her brows drawn as her eyes, unblinking, fixed on the man's face. She tried to find any trace of fibs, but his eyes were more than enough to tell her that not a word he'd spoken was untrue. Still, it was hard to believe it. Jungkook told her that only Newcomers weren't permitted. Children weren't excluded to get healing in her sector.

"He was merely a child," she muttered more to herself, but it didn't go unnoticed by Jungkook's grandfather who nodded.

As she breathed in the air around her, she then understood the looks he had when she suggested to bring Jungkook to the Healing Sector. She then understood the looks he had when she offered to heal his grandson. Because once, Healers walked away when they needed them.

What could a child have done? What was the worst thing a child could have done for them to go as far as pushing him away when he needed them? She did not know, could not find it in her head, an explanation to the Healers' refusal to heal a child.

Chaeyoung knew that this was a secret buried deep within the man. A secret that he wouldn't want to dig back up and put it on display. A secret that he might have wished did not exist in the first place. She knew well that she should not press on the matter, knew well that he would not open it for her to know, knew so well that it was not her place to ask, but the question tumbled out of her mouth before she could realize it.

"Why would they ban him when he was just a child?" She regretted her action when she realized how the man's eyes had darkened again with anger. Though, her quiet observation showed that the anger was, for certain, not directed at her.

"They punished him for a sin he did not commit."

Sin? She gulped, feeling her heart weighed down.

"They punished him for being the son of a traitor."

She could suddenly feel the temperature around her rising.

"They punished a clueless child for having a father who betrayed his people, his village," he paused, swallowing thickly, "his family."

There was nothing in the world, during that moment, that could help her to give a word of response. The revelation left Chaeyoung speechless. The rule that Newcomers had to obey was already preposterous to her, making her question the sanity of the Defenders who created that rule, making her question the length of the Healers' roles in the village, making her question the true meaning of betrayal.

Despite the curiosity growing in her head and questions breeding in her mind, Chaeyoung spoke nothing else. If he wanted to reveal it, he would. The memory seemed too bitter for Jungkook's grandfather to delve into and she did not stop him when he silently rose from his seat before he told her that he would be out.

She recalled when Jungkook told her that his grandfather spent some of his time training himself so as not to leave his skills to rust. Perhaps, this time, it was not to sharpen himself, but to relieve his mind of the burden of the past.

Chaeyoung immediately returned to Jungkook's room to resume the healing process right after cleaning the dirty dishes. She took a seat beside him just as before, inspecting his figure from head to toe. Her hand gently brushed the hair resting on his forehead, pushing them slightly aside to get a better look of his face.

For moments, her hand stilled on his face, eyes scanning the cuts and bruises scattered around. "You must fight." She lifted her head up when a tear dropped.

Unending crying would not heal him, she reminded herself. Unending crying would eat her energy that she had just refilled. Unending crying would never help her to be a better healer. She needed to hold herself together for his sake.

She lightly stroked his marred abdomen, rough under her thumb, skin still not joined completely. Still dark red, still hideous, still terrifying. Still reminded her of what she saw with her own two eyes. Chaeyoung shook her head, an attempt to shake off the bitter memory.

Softly, Chaeyoung whispered, "Come back to me," and she placed her hands over his wound and the song began to play in her head.

a/n: Took me 4 months to update and it's short ᗒᗩᗕ I AM VERY VERY SORRY