Taoyuan International Airport; Taipei, Taiwan Province, China
Six months ago
Ke Jing-Jun sat on a chair in the middle of the departure hall of Taoyuan International Airport, waiting for the flight that would take him to his future in another country.
To pass the time, he took out his mobile phone and began browsing the internet on it.
The web page is flooded with articles saying how the United States paid the ultimate price for trying to outlaw China itself, and how the country's First Amendment made it even possible in the first place.
Years have passed since it happened, and they are still talking about it... Jing-Jun thought as he continued scrolling through the web page. The most extreme example of selfishness in human history that caused the world's strongest country to become the weakest within a week...
Governments. He could never fathom why they had to make everything political...
Then his phone rang. He has just received an incoming call. The number displayed belonged to his father.
Jing-Jun hesitated for a while before accepting the call.
"Dad, what are you calling me for?" He began the phone conversation with that.
"I felt sorry to say this, but I can't come to send you off because I'm buried in work..." His father answered apologetically.
Jing-Jun remembered. His home town of Kaohsiung in southern Taiwan is currently holding an election for a new mayor, and his father is running as a candidate.
"You are still running to be mayor?" He asked his father a question that is directed at the motive rather than being simply a question.
"For the sake of Kaohsiung, yes..." Mr. Ke answered. The tone sounded like the old man was apologetic.
Jing-Jun made no response to that. He was silent for the next few seconds.
"I'm sorry it has to be so, my boy..." His father added. "The economy of not just Kaohsiung and Taiwan, but the whole world has gone to hell ever since America made the stupid decision to ban China itself."
That, Jing-Jun remembered clearly. In fact, it is safe to assume that the entire human race remembered the time when the United States of America got so jealous of the economical development of the People's Republic of China that the USA passed a new bill to ban all things Chinese just to eliminate competition. The bill in question is seen to be so politically incorrect a lot of other countries would rather cut off diplomatic ties with it (even its closest allies the Japanese and South Koreans reacted with absolute disgust) than continue "be associated with the world's most racist country". Even the United Nations is so disgusted by the anti-China bill, it imposed on the US the most powerful sanctions ever existed in the history of economics (for comparison, the most powerful sanctions Iran and North Korea has ever seen are nowhere near that powerful).
Several years has passed since that happened, and it is still a hot (and controversial) topic today. Right now, Jing-Jun could look to his right, and see a fellow passenger holding a magazine with the topic right on the cover page.
"That is a different matter-" Jing-Jun said.
"Different, but still related..." Mr. Ke interrupted.
Jing-Jun made no response. He knew there was no point in taking about what has already happened years ago.
His father is heard sighing from beyond the line. "Son, do you remember what happened when we went to England 12 years ago today?"
Jing-Jun became saddened as tragic memories resurfaced. "Yes. It has been exactly 12 years since mom died there..."
He remember that tragic day 12 years ago clearer than he did the USA's infamous anti-China bill...
It was 12 years ago, he and his parents had their week-long holiday in the United Kingdom. They had planned their tour routes, and the famous monuments and landscapes they were going to visit along the way. At the time, Jing-Jun thought it was going to be the best week in his life...
But then, four days into the week-long holiday, Jing-Jun's mother had contracted an illness which caused much of the skin on her arms to turn black as coal, which also left her bedridden for the whole day, and the blackness appear to have spread to her shoulders on the next day. He and his father did not understand what was going on, and the staff of the hotel they were staying at quickly helped them call an ambulance and had Mrs. Ke sent to the hospital.
The doctors diagnosed her to have Black Death, the same disease that wiped out millions of Europeans during the Dark Ages. The doctors have also said that Black Death cannot be treated, and that Mrs. Ke could've been saved at the cost of her arms had her condition been discovered a few days earlier. But with the Black Death having reached her body already, there was nothing anyone could do.
Jing-Jun watched his mother draw her last breath on a hospital bed in a London hospital. He was devastated.
He spent the entirety of the flight back to Taiwan blaming himself, saying that he could've saved the life of the woman he knew and loved simply by vetoing the England trip. And he is still blaming himself today.
Jing-Jun turned to unzip his backpack, retrieving from it a yellowed-out newspaper whose front page headlines read in English "Black Death claims Chinese woman's life in England". Those eight words, printed in blocky red fonts, served as a constant reminder of that tragic day which he could never let go.
He knew it was normal for people to blame themselves for the death of a loved one. But for him, he thought himself to be extra guilty for being unable to prevent his mother's death, because for some un-explainable and perhaps supernatural reason, he saw visions of it happening days before the trip had began...
The details and circumstances as he saw in that vision were almost completely identical to what eventually happened: his mother lying in bed in a hospital, with London's iconic Tower Bridge visible off the distance from the ward's sealed window, and then the EEG hooked up to her goes flatline. The only thing the vision didn't get right is the view of Tower Bridge from the ward's sealed window (the actual ward's window faced a neighboring office building), but everything else are exactly as depicted in the vision.
And he dismissed it as nothing, which he ended up regretting.
Even until today, he still could not explain what was going on with that vision, but is very sure that it was no coincidence...
"I know I cannot convince you to change your mind..." He is then jolted back into the present day by his father's voice. "But at least tell your dad why you are going back to the land that took your mother's life..."
"Because I want to study medicine-" Jing-Jun said with a determined voice. "and then use what I've learned to help people around the world, to make sure the same tragedy does not repeat with another family..."
Mr. Ke sighed again. "Then you should study hard, make your late mother proud of you..." He then said.
"I will, dad." Jing-Jun answered.
Just then, the airport's PA system rang in order to draw everyone's attention to an incoming announcement.
"Flight E250 to Gatwick Airport, London is now boarding. Repeat, Flight E250 to Gatwick Airport, London is now boarding. Please ensure that you have your boarding pass and all personal belongings with you before boarding. Have a safe trip. Thank you." The PA announced in Mandarin, then repeated it in English.
The other passengers quickly queued up to board the flight before the announcement is even over.
"I have to get going now..." Jing-Jun told his father.
"Then I wish you good luck, son. Be sure to write back." Mr. Ke said.
"By the way, dad..." Jing-Jun suddenly added. "You should at least go get a decent-looking phone. People are calling you a dinosaur because you are still using a 1990s flip-phone-"
"-In the 2060s." Mr. Ke finished the sentence, then sounded like he was chuckling. "I will, when I have the money."
With that, the call was ended as the person on the other side hung up.
He put the old newspaper back inside his backpack. Then he stood up, with his boarding pass in hand and his baggage in tow, he went to queue up with the other passengers to board the flight.
...
Cafe near Y.G. International Academy; Manchester, England
Present day
"Taiwan, you say?" Renko asked rhetorically.
"He says." Adam corrected.
Bella blinked. "What's so strange about him being from Taiwan?" She asked.
"Because..." Adam answered, before turning his mobile phone around for Bella to see the screen. "he specified his home town to be 'Taiwan province', rather than just 'Taiwan' or 'Republic of China' like you'd expect most Taiwanese to say..."
"We do notice the good side of China." Said an Asian-accented voice not from either of the Sealing Clubbers. "Unlike the far west's Red Scare fanatics..."
Standing right behind Adam is the same young man shown on the screen of Adam's mobile phone. He is holding a cup of coffee in his hand.
Adam glanced over his shoulder. "Whoa! Now that is bloody creepy..."
"How did you find us here?" Renko asked, clearly surprised by the young man's sudden appearance.
"Somehow, I just know you three will be right here, right now." The young man, answered.
"Pardon me for not introducing myself..." He said as he pulled his mobile phone out. "My name's Ke Jing-Jun. I was the one who just sent a request for joining the International Sealing Club." He showed the Sealing Clubbers what was displayed on his mobile phone.
It's the exact same thing displayed on Adam's phone, profile picture and all.
Adam looked at his phone, then at Jing-Jun's, then back at his own repeatedly for quite a bit. The same thing is replicated with Renko. It's as though the two founding members of the International Sealing Club are having trouble believing a particular thing about Jing-Jun's request to join the Club, and even Jing-Jun himself rolled his eyes at their acts of disbelief.
"Are you two finished?" Bella interrupted Adam and Renko.
The two Clubbers snapped themselves back to reality.
"Oh, sorry about that..." Adam apologized.
"It's just that Taiwan is the last place we expected to have a recruit of the International Sealing Club come from." Renko said, as she stood up and bowed apologetically.
"No need to apologize." Jing-Jun told the two. "So can we get back on topic now?"
Everyone stood (or sat, in Bella's case, sat) where they are awkwardly.
"Alright, first things first: self-introduction." Adam said, clapping his hands once to get Bella and Renko's attention. My name's Adam Latency Junior, but you can call me Adam." He introduced himself.
Renko tipped her hat slightly. "I'm Usami Renko." She introduced herself.
Bella stood up and extended a hand toward Jing-Jun to be shaken. "And I'm..."
"She's Maribel Lutwidge Hearn." Renko mischievously interrupted the American girl.
"Mae...ri...bae...ri..." Jing-Jun tries pronouncing Bella's first name, but it got unintentionally butchered by his Taiwanese accent. "That was such a mouthful...can I call you Merry?"
Bella squinted a bit before she burst out laughing. It was pretty hilarious, the fact that the Japanese Renko with her average English can pronounce "Maribel" just fine while the Taiwanese Jing-Jun who speaks English very fluently is the one to mangle it. "It's okay. You can call me Bella." She told the Taiwanese as she calmed down. "Honestly, I've never heard that one before."
With that done, all four people sat down around the table, as the Sealing Clubbers started chatting with their newest member.
"So you said in your join request form that you believed yourself to have..." Adam begins with a question...
...To which Jing-Jun answered before it was even finished, "Precognition. If that's the word for describing when one see events happening before they actually happen for real. Like in the movie Minority Report."
Bella raised her hand like a student wanting to ask a question in a classroom. "Is that how you knew where to find us?" She asked.
"Yes." Jing-Jun answered casually.
"Do tell us more about it..." Renko said out of curiosity. "Like when was your first instance of precognition and what you saw back then."
Being asked that question seemed to cause the Taiwanese to become gloomy, as though he was reminded of something sad.
Renko immediately noticed what was going on, having triggered a similar reaction from Bella before. "I'm sorry if that reminded you of a tragic past event! You can decline to answer if you want!"
Jing-Jun raised a hand to stop her. "It's alright. I was prepared to be asked this question ever since the day it happened..."
Adam's expression faded away as he heard that. Even though he has no tragic events in his life, he can tell if someone else has had one. "I...take it that you saw a loved one dying?"
Jing-Jun said nothing.
The Sealing Clubbers can tell what answer the Taiwanese would've given, so they nodded to each other, and refrained themselves from asking for specifics.
"Is that why you chose to study medicine?" Bella changed the subject by asking a slightly different question.
"Yes, so nobody else has to suffer what I went through." Jing-Jun answered.
As the talk went on, Bella began to see something in Jing-Jun. Something that reminded her of when she first met Renko a week ago. It's not quite the same thing as what was seen in Renko, but it definitely is something just as mystical.
Looks like Ke Jing-Jun is going to be one of the first truly interesting person to have in the International Sealing Club...
Character Profile
Ke Jing-Jun - He Who Saw the Future
Birthday: 30th of October, 2041
Hometown: Kaohsiung, Taiwan Province, People's Republic of China
Skills and abilities: Precognition (uncontrollable)
Likes: Reading novels.
Dislikes: Morbid jokes and black comedies, especially those centered on illnesses.
At first glance, Ke Jing-Jun looks like your average Taiwanese young man. But he in fact possesses an ability not even he understands: precognition.
His very first instance of precognition is of his mother dying on a hospital bed in London, something he dismissed as nothing due to him not knowing his ability at the time. He would eventually come to regret ignoring the vision when his mother really did die in a London hospital after contracting Black Death.
Ever since that tragic day of his mother's death, Jing-Jun swore to study medicine and become a doctor so that the tragedy won't happen to other people.
The vision of his mother's death which he regretted ignoring has gotten him interested in knowing how it work. Whenever he isn't studying, he would do research about precognition on the internet and look for similar cases elsewhere in the world. But years after years of research yielded nothing on the phenomenon, and he was just about to give up when his precognition triggered again and showed him a group that dabbles in occultic and supernatural phenomenon called the International Sealing Club, and even where he'd meet its current members...
With this chapter uploaded, I declare a late Happy New Year to everyone.
Anyway, here's the second OC to be introduced in this story: Ke Jing-Jun, a Taiwanese with the ability of precognition (that he can't manually activate and occurs at random). His backstory is admittedly a generic tragedy, but with a not-so-generic detail on the how. Yes, I've realized that Jing-Jun's introduction took up half of this chapter, and the focus on Bella, Renko and Adam got reduced because of it. But don't worry, Bella and friends will get their spotlight back in the next chapter.
Speaking of Jing-Jun's introduction, the conversation between him and his dad are all underlined because they technically are speaking Mandarin to each other. The underlining is just to indicate that the entire conversation has been translated for the readers' sake. If its just one or two words or a short sentence in foreign languages, I'll leave them as is, but entire conversations will be translated like the aforementioned conversation.
You're probably asking this question: "Black Death in the 2060s? Is this some kind of anime and manga BS?" Well, no, it is not a BS of any kind. Black Death, the same disease that wiped out most of Europe's population in the Dark Age, really still exist today. And the latest case of a Black Death outbreak (as of this writing) is in Madagascar in 2017. Don't believe me? Just look up Black Death on Wikipedia, and see for yourself.
Like I said, nothing political regarding Taiwan.
"And that, as they say, is that..."
Afterword ends here.
