"Everyone, please welcome our new student, Kim Junmyeon." Chanyeol kept his head down, flipping to the next page in their text book while a soft buzz broke out among the other students. "Is there anything you would like to say about yourself?" the teacher asked, the classroom quieting down.

"I've spent a lot of years being homeschooled, so my social skills might not be the best. Please bear with me while I try to adjust back into a public school setting."

"Thank you, please take any seat you would like," the teacher instructed, Chanyeol leaning over to pull out his notebook, freezing when he heard a soft voice.

"Can I sit next to you?" Chanyeol rose his gaze to the unfamiliar blond, who was trying to mask a nervous smile when Chanyeol looked back to his bag, ignoring the question. He noticed that he shifted from one foot to the other and when he seemed to realize that Chanyeol wasn't going to answer his question he sat beside him anyway.

The next day was almost the same, Junmyeon came up to him and asked to sit beside him, only to do so without response from the black haired male and class ticked by slowly, Chanyeol’s grip on his pencil tightening any time he could feel eyes on him. The third day Junmyeon didn't even ask, he just took his new seat beside Chanyeol, and when he looked at the blond he was given a small wave from the other, squinting at him in response. The following week their teacher asked if the class wanted to go onto the next chapter or have a study hall for their exam the next day, laughing at the near unanimous vote for the study hall.

"As long as the noise stays down, you can work in pairs or small groups if you so desire," she added, turning to write what key points were going to be on the test on the board. Chanyeol flipped to the front of his notes, barely getting through rereading the first three words before there was a low squeak and he looked over to see Junmyeon scooting his desk against his own, the smile he offered this time a lot less nervous.

“We’re going to work together,” the blond said, frowning a little when Chanyeol scoffed.

“Hey, Junmyeon, I’d stay away from him before the freak tries to set you on fire with his mind.” Chanyeol cringed, watching Junmyeon look over at the brunet who had called to him, and when their teacher called the brunet out he stood from his seat, leaving the classroom.

“Do you plan to hit strike three before the end of the month?” their teacher asked, earning a pout from the student.

“Hey, it’s true. Everyone calls him the Phoenix because fire follows him,” he grumbled.

“I take that as a yes. You know your way to the dean’s office.” She replied sharply, pointing to the door when the brunet tried to argue. He stood, dragging his feet as he made it through the door, and Junmyeon scrambled to his feet, chasing after him.

“W-wait!” he called, the brunet pausing to turn and face him. “What… what do you mean fire follows him?”

“How else would scorch marks show up on his desk?” The brunet asked in return. “Like I said, you should stay away from him. It’s not like he’ll say anything to you anyway, he’s been here the last three years and all he does is sit in the corner and refuse to talk to anyone,” he said, before muttering something to himself and heading down the hallway. Junmyeon’s eyebrows knitted together and he looked down the hall in the opposite direction just in time to see Chanyeol duck back out of sight.

“You don’t seem like the type to skip studying.” Chanyeol closed his eyes, feeling heat start down his spine from the base of his skull, making it just past his shoulder blades before it faded and he flipped his test upside down and shot a dark look at Junmyeon. He fought with his irritation as it spiked when the other wasn’t even looking at his glare, but to the paper Chanyeol had been turned over. “Maybe you would understand the material more if you had a study partner,” he offered, reaching towards the paper and flinching back a little when Chanyeol’s fist came down onto it.

“My test score is none of your business,” he stated, standing from the desk and grabbing his bag, ignoring Junmyeon when he called out to him. Junmyeon stared after him for a long moment before his attention shifted to the test that the other had forgotten, noticing the yellow brown tint it now had in the area Chanyeol had slammed his fist onto.

“You’re a persistent little , aren’t you?” Chanyeol demanded, finally snapping after three weeks of the other constantly trying to interact with him, biting his tongue when he saw hurt flash through the blond’s eyes. “Look I get that you’re not socialized, so here’s a tip. When someone doesn’t talk to you, it probably means that they don’t want to be friends with you,” he hissed, though his irritation stumbled when Junmyeon smiled.

“You’re talking to me now, though,” he pointed out and Chanyeol groaned, his head coming down onto the desk with a thunk.

“What do I have to do to make you leave me alone?” The black haired male pleaded, turning his head just enough to leer at the blond from the corner of his eye.

“Let me have lunch with you.”

Chanyeol debated leading Junmyeon off to some creepy deserted part of the school building in hopes that it would sway him away from his pesterings, but the thought that if he was going to be deterred he would have already been had the blond following him up to the roof when they were dismissed for lunch. The metal door squeaked as it opened and creaked as it shut behind them, Chanyeol doing his best to ignore the other as he settled with his back against one of the raised walls of the chain-link fence that surrounded the perimeter of the rooftop. Junmyeon trailed after him, looking out at the view as Chanyeol opened his packed lunch, already eating before the blond had taken a seat next to him, and Chanyeol scooted a little away as Junmyeon shifted too close for comfort.

“So why do they call you the Phoenix?” Chanyeol flinched at the question, choking on his mouthful of food. He fought to swallow, grabbing his bottle of water and taking a large gulp, knocking away Junmyeon’s hand when the other tried to pat his back. 

“Where did you hear that?” he asked when he found his voice again, slow to look at the other.

“After you walked out of class during my first week, someone called you that. He said something about fire following you and- hey wait!” Chanyeol was on his feet and already headed for the roof door when Junmyeon managed to catch a hold of his sleeve. “Did I say something to upset you?”

“Don't get involved in things that you don’t understand!” Chanyeol barked, turning to face the other in order to yank his arm free before he stormed off through the metal door, slamming it behind himself. Junmyeon sighed, looking down at the footprints that were visibly singed into the concrete.

“New scar cream? Have none of the others worked?” Chanyeol winced, keeping his head down as he shook it. “I see. Hmm,” the pharmacist trailed off, disappearing for a few moments before returning with a small box, hesitant as she set it on the counter. “This is the strongest scar treatment you can get without a prescription. Have you thought about going to a doctor and getting it-”

“Thank you,” Chanyeol cut in, grabbing the box and taking large strides from the pharmacy to one of the checkstands, a warm itch trickling down his arms slowly at the feeling of several pairs of eyes on him. Once he was outside the itch eased and he closed his eyes, leaning back against a brick wall as he waited.

“Chanyeol?” His eyes flicked open and he didn't bother masking a groan when he saw the familiar blond, reaching up and rubbing his face. He had to deal with Junmyeon every day at school, and now the other had found him when he was on an errand over the weekend? 

I knew I should have stayed home, he thought, lowering his hands and looking at the other who was giving him a smile.

“Lucky me, I get lost in my way home and then I run into you,” he said, Chanyeol rolling his eyes. “Do you know how to get to Joii street?” he asked, holding up his mobile to show the address. Chanyeol squinted at him a little, pointing in a random direction before he tried to look busy on his own mobile. “But… That's the way I just came from, and the other people I've asked said it was around here.”

“Then look around here!” Chanyeol grit his teeth, flinching when he felt a hand on his elbow and he looked back, relaxing a little at the brunette who was holding onto him.

“Easy there Chanyeol,” she said before looking past him and to Junmyeon. “Who's your friend?”

“He's not my friend,” Chanyeol frowned, turning his attention back to the blond who's eyes were on Yoora’s face, making Chanyeol tense and usher her behind him as he shot a dirty look to Junmyeon.

“Didn't your parents teach you not to stare?” he hissed, Junmyeon jumping a little.

“I… I didn't mean to stare, I-”

“Chanyeol, it's fine,” Yoora said, shaking her head and stepping back out from behind the younger. “He's just really protective of me, please forgive him,” she said, her smile turning into a small pout when Chanyeol reached over, pulling the hair she had tucked behind her ear over her face to hide the scar that took up most of her left cheek.

“I was sort of staring, I think I should be the one asking to be forgiven,” Junmyeon stated with a nervous laugh.

“Most find it hard not to, Chanyeol worries a lot when I go out of the house. But it’s just a childhood injury, it really doesn’t bother me. I’ve gotten used to the stares that I get,” she explained before Chanyeol was tugging on her arm.

“Sis, let’s go,” he said, a hint of urgency in his voice that her shoulders slumped at, looking between the two, offering a smile to Junmyeon.

“It was nice to meet you. I hope my brother isn’t this rude to you all the time,” Yoora added before allowing Chanyeol to lead her away from the blond.

The following Monday Chanyeol frowned deeply when he saw the blond waiting for him outside the classroom, trailing inside the classroom behind him as would become a daily thing for near two weeks before someone else spoke up about it.

“Hey Junmyeon, got any new scars?” The brunet from before asked, Chanyeol sliding his bag off his shoulder and taking his seat while Junmyeon gave him a curious look.

“New scars?” He echoed, the brunet’s face twisting up into a sickly amused sneer.

“Yeah, you know. Burn scars? We’ve all see what he can do to a desk, and you seem to annoy him enough that he might want to practice his skills out on your skin like he did with his sister. Surely you’ve seen the mess he left her face in.” There was the sound of metal scraping the floor as Chanyeol stood, Junmyeon just missing his arm when he tried to catch him, and Chanyeol wasn’t sure if that made the heat flowing down his spine worse or better as he ran from the classroom. The coiled around his spine like a snake, down to the base of it before twisting back up, reaching his shoulder blades and splitting down each arm, and he only stopped running when he could no longer differentiate the burn in his chest from the one filling his bones.

"Chanyeol wait up!" the black haired male gritted his teeth, sharply turning to face the other.

"Why won’t you leave me alone?" he snapped, the sensation of pinpricks running along his fingers. "Can't you see you're making things difficult? Or are you too stupid to understand that?!"

Chanyeol felt the heat rolling off his skin, and a moment later there was the high pitched ringing of a fire alarm. He opened his mouth, though whatever he planned to yell at the other fell short when the sprinklers went off above them, causing him to flinch as the drops of water sizzled on top of his skin. Junmyeon raised one hand above their heads, something flickering through his eyes before Chanyeol no longer felt the spray of the sprinkler, though he continued to see it. Slowly he looked up, shoulders dropping from their hunched position as it looked like the blond was holding an invisible umbrella above them, shielding them from the sprinkler's rain.

"No, I understand a little too well, I think," Junmyeon said, Chanyeol's expression of disbelief shifting back to him. "Let me help you."

 

“Alright, close your eyes.” Chanyeol gave the blond a skeptical look, rolling him eyes when Junmyeon ushered him onto the couch. He watched Junmyeon sit beside him before closing his eyes, startled when he felt the other’s hands on his shoulders, trying to push them down. “Come on, relax. That’s the first thing you need to learn how to do, and trust me when you do it’ll make all of this a lot easier.” Chanyeol tried to ease the tension in his shoulders as the other instructed, opening one eye when Junmyeon let go of his shoulders. “Now, take a deep breath, and focus only on the sound of my voice.”

“You sound like a hypnotherapist.”

"Then I'm doing it right," Junmyeon replied and Chanyeol let his head rest back against the couch. "Deep breaths. Now, I want you to walk me through what you feel when your ability activates," he requested noticing chanyeol's shoulders ease.

"There's heat... Like when you hold your hand in front of a fire. It goes down my spine twisting around it like a snake. The it goes back up my spine and splits down my arms, and then my fingers get that... Pin prick feeling. Like when your hands fall asleep and they're waking up. Then things get burned if I don't get away from what's making me lost control," Chanyeol explained, his shoulders scrunching up a little at the end. He opened his eyes, looking to the blond. "Your turn." Junmyeon blinked.

"What?"

"You've got some weird power just like I do, so it's your turn to talk about it. How do you feel when you lose control?" Junmyeon stared at him for a long moment before shifting his attention to his lap, playing with his fingers.

"It's hard to breath, that's what I notice at first. Like there's some kind of weight pressing down on my shoulders then my chest and it's hard to move... Then my fingers go numb and no matter what I do I can't seem to remember how to breath, and a ringing starts in my ears. Then suddenly there a busted pipes and water is everywhere and I know it's my fault." Junmyeon looked over at Chanyeol, and it was his turn to look away.

"Busted pipes are better than a messed up face."

"You blame yourself for what happened to her." Chanyeol felt the initial spark start down his spine, fingers curling into fists.

"Because it's my fault!" he said, voice rising a little before he curled in on himself. "If it wasn't for me being this way… she would be a model or something,” the younger muttered. He felt Junmyeon frowning at him jumping a little when there was a hand on his shoulder, and he surprised himself when he didn't try to pull away from the blond.

“Hold this.” Chanyeol blinked at the flower that was forced into his hand, looking up at Junmyeon as his eyebrows knitted together. The blond reached out, taking some of Chanyeol’s hair in a fist, yanking on it and pulling a startled yelp from the dark haired male.

“What the hell was that for?” he demanded, and Junmyeon released his hair as Chanyeol pushed his hand away, pointing to the lilly he had placed in the younger’s hand.

“It didn't wilt.” Chanyeol looked down at the flour, eyes widening. There were a couple spots on the stem that had changed coloration from his tightened grip, but Junmyeon was right. The flour looked just as healthy as when Junmyeon had forced it into his hand. “Which means I didn't jump the gun for your surprise,” he continued, turning his attention to his bedroom door as it opened. Chanyeol watched a black haired male step in, leading in a familiar brunette that only added to his confusion.

“Yoora?” he asked, and she looked over to him, smiling. Her hand rose, pulling the hair back from her face, tucking it behind her ear, causing Chanyeol to stand, the lilly falling to the ground. The scars that had been there for years were nowhere to be found. “I… h-how?” he stammered, looking between Yoora and Junmyeon.

“Yixing’s like us. But his ability is to heal.” Junmyeon replied, Chanyeol crossing the room, Yoora laughing as he reached out to touch her cheek. He turned back to Junmyeon, eyes wide. “I thought it would make a good reward for how far you've progressed with your-” the blond cut off when Chanyeol took a couple long strides towards him, grabbing a hold of his face and pressing their lips together.