green - main characters
faded green - already set couples
blue - friendship
dotted blue - aqcuaintance
* Please note: This chart describes the situation at the end of their story.
 

"You don't need to observe me like that, I'm not gonna blow anything up, you know?"
"U-huh."
Chanyeol turned around from the thorough kitchen exploration to see a skeptical Xiumin leaning against the doorframe with crossed arms.
He went over to softly but insistently push him out of the room.
"Just go shower, we need to leave soon unless you wanna be late. I'd like to rush by my room before to change, as well."
Xiumin padded away reluctantly.
"Just trust me~"
Xiumin huffed in disbelieve. What was he even going to make? He was positive there was nothing useful in the kitchen at all.

"Ta-dah~! Take a seat~"
Xiumin put the damp towel over his shoulders and did as he was told.
He looked onto the set table and did as he was told. There was a big bowl with steaming content in the middle and a high glass of something fruity-looking. Chanyeol slid into the chair across him and began to fill his plate, all the while talking cheerfully.
"I'm sorry if you prefer traditional breakfast, but there was no way to make it so quickly... Out of nothing. What do you even eat?", he laughed as he placed the plate in front of him.
"I rushed to the conbini to get some toast-slices. This is a simple breakfast-trick I learnt from my European friend - You turn the bread around in the egg and fry it. I cut it smaller, however, so you could eat it with chopsticks~ And I used your cherry-tomatoes, I hope you don't mind."
He propped a piece into his mouth and hummed gratefully. After all, he hadn't eaten anything in a pretty long time.
"It's good!", he smiled through the second piece. Sure, it wasn't a Korean breakfast, but instead a nice new experience. After a few more bites, he looked over to the glass.
"And this is...?"
"It's a fruit cocktail! I used mostly the fruits you had and what I could find downstairs. I may not look like it, but I've been bartending once. There were many Strawberries, so I figured you like them and made those the main note."
When he took a sip, he couldn't contain his glee - it was indeed sweet as strawberries with just the right amound of lime and orange.
"I didn't know you were bartending. It tastes awesome.", he said, genuinely surprised.
"It was a rather long time ago. That's were I got to know Sehun."
"Really? What happened?"
"I'll tell you another time~", Chanyeol winked and Xiumin rolled his eyes, giving his full attention to the best breakfast he had in ages.

Thankfully for Xiumin, Chanyeol didn't make a big fuss out of their 'experiment' at their afterclasses. What he did do, however, was to request a preliminary certificate for Xiumin. He wouldn't tell him what for, though. Getting a full certificate would aquire time of preparation and tests but doing a preliminary one was easily made in an hour, especially if made by your traditional teacher. Since Suho knew Xiumin very well it was just a matter of paperwork and a few small tests. The result would be stated in letters, while a full one was measured in percentage. Lay for example had 98%, equivalent to the letter A+ and expression of extremely skillfull control. Chanyeol on the other hand had something around the letter D, and had failed all full assessments yet, always scoring below 75%, marking him as unfit for public activities.
With Xiumin there were no such problems of course.
Half an hour into Suho filling out forms and Xiumin 'warming' up, two persons entered the room. One of them they all knew, but the company was new.
Suho lay down his things and shortly re-introduced them to Kyungsoo, who hadn't been attending the classes for a while, and then asked the boy beside him to give his own introduction. Kyungsoo had a hand resting on his shoulder, but the boy gently denied the contact as he stepped forward.
"Uhm, hello everyone! I'm Chen, 21 years old and new here, as you could probably tell. I'm a level 1 with the gift of lightning. So, yeah, nice to meet you all, and thanks for having me.", he ended, bowing formally. He had a very nice voice and didn't show too much nervosity. Though probably even a tad shorter than Xiumin himself, he had quite the aura. Xiumin curiously tilted his head from side to side as he examinated the newcomer - a habit of his.
Suddenly he felt a hand ruffling through his hair.
"Aww, why so cute, Hyung~", Chanyeol cooed behind him. Embarrassed, he shook his hand off.
"I'm just wondering. Something about him is... Different?"
"You think so? He seems cool to me~", Chanyeol chirped as he strode over to the new addition of their team to greet him.
When he was a few feet away from him, a sudden cracking noise was heard, followed by two simultanous 'Ow!'s. When Xiumin looked up, both guys sat on the floor. Chanyeol rubbed his head, while Chen seemed to have a similar problem.
When everyone made an attempt to get closer in order to help, Suho fell in:
"Stop. Don't get closer, it might be dangerous.", he calmly stated as he stepped towards the two. He looked down at the two confused and slightly hurt males and sighed. "Yes, that was predictable. You two-", he began, looking at each of them, "-are very similar, based on element and strength-level. In the diagrams of the government you would be neighbours, so to say. And you're both rather instable. Therefore the gift of the one person reacts to the other ones', if you can follow me?" Both guys nodded hesitantly, and slid a few feet away from each other, eyeing the other one with an apologizing look. "I know you'll both improve quickly and may also get used to each other, but until then I advise you to hold your distance, just for your own safety. Got it?"
Another nod followed.
"Wonderful. So Chen, we'll make a proper assessment for you next time. For today, I'd like you to just observe the others; the way they train and the way their gifts work. This way you'll get a good idea of how it works around here, as well as be able to personally get to know them.", he ended with a genuine smile. When he left to further take care of Xiumin's certificate, Chanyeol spoke up again.
"Hey. Sorry about that."
They both didn't move, but smiled at each other.
"I guess it's my fault as well. So what's your name?"
"Chanyeol. Nice to meet ya~"
"Yeah, nice to meet you, too. I have that weird feeling we'll be good friends."
"I know, right? I just thought the same!"
They both laughed happily as they sat on the floor like idiots.
While Xiumin filled out some forms himself, he couldn't help throwing them side-glances every now and then. They had clicked immediately, now happily chatting as Chanyeol introduced him to everyone while keeping their weird distance. Xiumin sighed quietly to himself, feeling confirmed in the thought that similar people had it easier. Then Chanyeol suddenly met his gaze as he was talking animatedly. When it was Chen's turn to talk, he kept looking at Xiumin and gave him a cheeky wink, childishly waving both his hands in an overly cute way, before returning to his conversation. Feeling caught, Xiumin looked down to his forms again with pink cheeks, being secretly happy to receive special attention.
When Xiumin went over to him after class, pushing the certificate that had a big "B+" written on it into his hand with a curt: "There. Happy?", Chanyeol only smiled and began tugging Xiumin along.

"Okay, Xiu, you need to change."
"W-what?", Xiumin asked confused. Chanyeol was rummaging in the backpack he brought to Xiumin's flat. He named it a sleepover, stating that if they were acting as a couple, he could as well enjoy not to sleep alone. At this the elder one slightly blushed, thinking about the previous night.
But now he said he needed to change, he became wary in an instant; had he been doing anything wrong?
Then Chanyeol turned around to him with a handful of clothes, a quizzical look on his face.
"What's wrong? You need some clothes you don't mind to get dirty, come ooo~n~!", he playfully whined. Xiumin exhaled in relief. He didn't even question anything and just went to his warderobe to search for some old sweaters.
Before he could find matching pants, he felt two hands rest on his shoulder, as well as a chin on his head. Damn his height.
"Aww, Xiu. I didn't mean it like that, no need to freeze on the spot.", he lightly chuckled at his bad pun, receiving a half-hearted nudge from the shorter ones' elbow.
"But jokes aside; I'd never just ask you to change like that. I mean, for once that'd be a big deal. But more importantly if there's a need for change, it always goes to both partners, you know what I mean? Since everything about relationships is a two-way street."
"Y-yeah. Now stop embarrassing me over my misunderstanding.", Xiumin grumbled, feeling the deep chuckle from over his head. In turn the taller one nuzzled into the side of his face to place a short kiss on it.
"Yes, Sir. Let's get dressed, then."

Call Xiumin an ignorant(he'd probably agree to you most of the time), but he had never spent a single thought to stuff like the voluntary fire-fighters. Now that they entered the base where a bunch of people of all ages was spread, talking animatedly, he felt a little uneasy. Chanyeol of course greeted everyone they passed and was obviously a welcomed sight. It was obviously his territory Xiumin stepped into. Normally he'd act out his Hyung, commanding Chanyeol around and all, but this time he felt rather small. If the taller one was aware of that, he didn't show it as he gently tugged Xiumin along to something resembling a reception.
"Hello Hyung~", he cheerfully greeted, giving Xiumin the unreasonable pang of jealousy at him calling someone else Hyung.
"Oh, Chanyeol-ah, nice to see you.", the receptionist with the nametag 'Lee teuk' answered with a soft smile, but a certain twinkle to his eyes.
"You found another victim to accompany you?"
"Shh, Hyung. You'll scare him away... Just kidding, it might be for one day only, but I'd like to ask permission for Xiumin to accompany me. And heeere...", he began as he got out the certificate, "...Is his certificate. B+ is even better than Sehunnie, so he'll surely be allowed, right?"
"Well, we had quite some time getting to know Sehu-Oh my, you're an ice user?!", he interrupted himself, looking incredulously at Xiumin, who tried not to flinch at the sudden attention.
Leeteuk instantly put the certificate onto his documents without averting his eyes.
"You're in."
"What, that easily?!", they said in unison. The receptionst smiled overly friendly at Xiumin.
"Just let me know when Chanyeol here gets in your way, we'll take care of him. Don't mind him too much, just enjoy your stay here."
"Yaaa~h~", Chanyeol whined, "How can you replace me that easily~? I thought I belonged to the family~!"
Leeteuk looked at him with the same friendly smile.
"Stop whining, Park Chanyeol. You know you're our wild card, in every sense of the word, as well as a family member. So, as your fellow family member I'll tell you: Don't let him get away, will you?"
Even though the man seemed genuinely loving, Xiumin couldn't help the feeling he had a certain authority.
Pouting, Chanyeol tugged at Xiumin so he could guide him around to explain things.
Usually you'd need a proper training, but as it so often was the case, gifted ones had special regulations. And since Chanyeol had received training for years, it was alright for him to take a gifted one along as long as he took care of them.
After a long tour they all sat together, eager to get to know the newcomer. Even though nervous he could tell they were all good people that'd respect him if he gave his best. As expected on a saturday night, there was an alarm later on. Everyone was preparing quickly and efficiently, leaving Xiumin a little helpless, but Chanyeol just pulled him along so they'd sit in the back of a car. One university wing had caught fire and it was said to be a bad case.
Someone made a call to their second gifted regular member. Xiumin was nervous as hell, not to say worried sick about the possibly suffering people. But Chanyeol only adjusted his protective clothing and then rubbed his shoulders through it.
"Shh, Hyung, you can do it. You don't need to do anything if you don't want to. Just stay close to me, okay?"
But as they arrived and got confronted with the disaster, Xiumin could never not do anything. Everyone was acting quickly and professional. Chanyeol immediately rushed over, close to the fire, with Xiumin right behind him. The heat was nearly unbearable for him, though Chanyeol was of course not bothered by it. Through some light and controlled hand movements he managed to extinguish parts of the fire, making them go smaller and die down eventually. He started with some small flames and went to cover bigger areas.
Xiumin was slightly panicked and lost. He had never been faced with a heat that terrible. Not knowing how to go about it and not wanting to disturb Chanyeol's balance, he took a few steps to the side and tried not to act too hastily as he attempted to cool down the air around him.
Someone suddenly came up to him, grabbing his arm roughly.
"Hey, Ice-user! We need you over here-"
Too surprised to fight or accidently freeze the middle-aged man, he let himself dragged over to face the entrance of the building. "Luhan said there's someone up there, around there-", he shouted, making a few gestures, "Can you try to stabilize that area until we get there?!" Xiumin nodded and went to work immediately. Depleting the flames in that area was possible but he couldn't guarantee the safety like that. It was frustrating. He knew that his power was grand, for god's sake he was a level 1; extinguishing the complete wing should be an almost easy thing for him to do. But he wouldn't be able to responsibly handle an area big as that, considering he had never used his power for anything that huge. Besides that he was reasonable enough to know how not to attempt this in his shaken and slightly panicked condition when lifes were at stake. Instead he took a step to the other gifted one, announcing: "I'm going in! Is it one person?!"
The guy looked at him alarmed but shook his head. "No, it must be two girls- One younger and one about our age - If you're really going in I'll lead you mentally, okay?"
Creating an extremely cold sphere with about one metre radius around him, he made his way inside. Every flame coming in touch with it just extinguished with an angry hiss. Holding up a smaller space like that was much easier, even though the surrounding heat was no joke. The gifted guy outside held his promise and gave him mental directions(which should have disturbed him if it weren't for the dangerous situation). Still, he managed to find the girl and her younger sister, cowering in their room. Taking both girls by their hand he made his way back, which was far more complicated this time round, as he needed to keep the temperature on a bearable level for the two while still keeping the flames away.
But he managed.
And when he exited the building to find Chanyeol commanding most of the fires down in determination as he looked for Xiumin, he couldn't help but smile.

"Ah, Hyung, you got me worried there!", Chanyeol announced as they sat in the deserted last train, deep at night. He snuggled closer, laying his head on his shoulder.
"You've been doing this for the first time, why so reckless?"
"I wasn't reckless.", he stubbornly replied. Chanyeol only hummed and intertwined their fingers.
"I'm sorry if this was a little... too much. This was a pretty huge fire, comparing to the standarts."
"It's ok."
Silence followed, only filled by the soft rattling of the train.
"You know,", Chanyeol began, his voice tired from exhaustion, "If we were actually together... You wouldn't need to always accompany me. It's kind of dangerous for you, after all."
Absentmindedly, Xiumin rubbed the back of the hand that was much more rough and big than his own one.
"And if we were together, you'd think I let my partner alone to face danger on a regular basis?", he inquired rather softly, looking at nothing in particular. When he received no answer, he found that Chanyeol had fallen asleep with their hands still intertwined.

That evening they fell to bed, both too exhausted to even bicker. Instead Xiumin just settled for enjoying the warmth that radiated off of the lanky figure that had draped itself around him.

It seems as if Chanyeol had planned out every second of their three days, since he already dragged Xiumin out of the house shortly after breakfast. The shorter one silently dreaded that he'd never get a minute of peace again. On the other side he could see how Chanyeol genuinely let him be a part of his life, so he would go along with it. At least for the remaining three days. Ah, remaining two days, he corrected himself.
"Uhm, Hyung?"
"You're still calling me Hyung."
"Ah sorry, Xiumin, Honey?"
"Don't get too cocky."
"Sorry~ Can we pay a short visit to someone?"
Xiumin sighed, a silent part of him feeling unhappy at the thought of wasting those two days around other people, but oh well.
"You decide our schedule for the weekend anyway, don't you?"
"Hehe, sorry, sorry, sorry~"
"Don't you dare go Super Junior on me."
"-So we can? It would mean a lot to me."
Slowly Xiumin began to be able to differentiate between the tiny changes in his voice. The fine lines between each emotion carried with the seemingly same, hearty laugh. Not really sure how to feel about that yet, he just nodded in defeat.
"Yeah, whatever. Let's get going."

It turned out to be a visit to a hospital. Xiumin hadn't been expecting this. And as they sat in front of a sleeping patient with Chanyeol talking to him relentlessly, the other boy was slowly and silently eaten away by guilt. He hadn't said anything, but he had disliked the thought of sharing their time; what a petty person he was. Then again Xiumin refused to wail in self-pity, since that would only be another ignorance added to his already filled daily quota. There was someone in front of him who was far more important. And the thought of being asleep without ever being able to wake up... Scared Xiumin. In fact, it scared him greatly and the emotions made him physically shake.
Being cold and unfazed was easy when turned away from everyone. Now at the sight of someone close to Chanyeol, he couldn't contain the empathy.
Sensing the change next to him, Chanyeol gave him a surprised look, before he silently rested his arm around the petit-looking shoulders to pull him in a warm side-hug.
"Yah, Xiumin-Hyung.", he chastised softly, "Don't make Kris-Hyung sad. You don't need to be afraid - He will get better soon."
Empty words, Xiumin thought. But oh, wouldn't he want to believe them.
"It's not just empty words-", the deep voice interrupted as if reading his thoughts out loud, "I can feel it. I can feel the life seeping back into him. He was very frail when he came in, even I was worried. But now it's different. It may take a while, but he'll be back."
Xiumin didn't ask why he would be able to feel something like that. For now he seeked to keep up the safe haven he was offered.

It took Chanyeol a while to get the smile back on the shorter one's face. Yet he didn't give up and kept making silly jokes and annoying him playfully, until Xiumin slowly reverted back to normal. When they had reached the next destination(Xiumin had given up asking about Chanyeol's plans long ago), he finally got his good mood back; it was a small and cute café, almost tiny with only about four tables inside and two outside. It only added to its' cozy charme, though. When they stepped in, Chanyeol cheerily waved at the man behind the counter. He was older than Minseok himself, but had a youthful aura. Though his features were rather sharp, his eyes were warm and his smile sweet. He didn't seem like a person one could dislike, Xiumin decided. So he trailed after Chanyeol, who jumped into a conversation immediately. The shorter one lightly shook his head at him. Did this guy know every person in the whole of Seoul? But those cakes sure looked delicious...
Suddenly he was ripped out of his thoughts as the lanky giant pulled him up at his arm to face his friend.
"So let me introduce to you, ta-dah: This is my friend Xiumin!" For some reason, Chanyeol seemed almost proud to be able to call him a friend, it seemed. The thought was kinda embarrassing, but still flattering. In a way.
"And this is Ryeowook, the owner of the café~ We've known each other for ages! The cakes he bakes are incredible! You'll never taste anything better!", he boasted, while Ryeowook dismissed him with a wave of his hand and a friendly smile .
"Stop flattering me, you're never paying anyway; no need to sugar-coat me." Then he went to the storage room, leaving the empty café to the two boys to look after. Chanyeol jumped behind the counter to act out a waiter and prepared Xiumin's cake of choice.
"You also wanna have some coffee?", he called out over his back. He received an eager hum in response.
"Well, you wanna help me out a bit? I don't really have a clue about coffee.", Chanyeol asked sheepishly. Hesitantly Xiumin stepped behind the counter.
"...Is it ok?", he asked carefully.
"Suuure thing~! I shuffle around this place the whole time. And look, it's deserted anyway~", he chimed happily, "So now tell me. What kind of coffee do we make?"
Xiumin looked at the machines. He loved coffee, yes. And he had often watched Baristas in envy while they prepared the hot beverage. Still, he had never actually touched those machines.
"Uhm... I don't think I can work these..."
"Don't you worry, I know how these things work just fine. I just don't know about coffee. So what do we make?", he repeated reassuringly. Xiumin absentmindedly tilted his head from the right to the left. "Mh... I can choose any?"
"Anything you wish for."
"Okay, then I'd like a Mocha coffee."
"...What's that?"
Xiumin gave him an incredulous look.
"You don't know?"
"I told you I'm no good with coffee...!", he whined childishly, "It's so bitter! Besides that, look at me? Do I look like someone in need of caffeine?"
A look at his ever-so-hyper friend made him nod in resignation.
"Fair enough. Okay, for a Mocha you need to mix one third of espresso with two thirds of heated milk and add melted chocolate."
Chanyeol nodded in understanding and went to get what they needed. One click and they had steaming hot espresso. Oh, the smell was delicious to Xiumin's pale nose, making him sigh. Meanwhile Chanyeol got the heated milk and put the chocolate in the microwave. He attempted to pour the espresso in the cup, when Xiumin intervened.
"No, stop! It doesn't go this way. You have to wait for the chocolate, put it into the espresso, then add the hot milk and finish it with cream!" Chanyeol nodded again, looking a little lost, as he reached for the melted chocolate.
"Are you trying to fill it all into this mixing cup? God, move aside, please."
Softly Xiumin stepped next to him and took the ingredients out of his hands carefully, re-checking the temperature and filling the liquids in another cup, following his proclaimed order. Chanyeol shot him an amused glance and stepped behind him, with both hands on the shorter ones' waist and chin resting on his  silky hair. He didn't even bother to tell Chanyeol off, as he was focused on the drink before him. Being able to use all these ingredients and tools was exciting. Xiumin stopped thoughtfully, looking at the melted Chcolate mixing with the espresso. "Say... You have any chocolate syrup? That's milk chocolate. A tad dark chocolate syrup would outbalance the taste, I guess."
Chanyeol hummed. "In the bottle with the red cap."
He had difficulties to reach it, with Chanyeol literally attached to his hip.
"I like you struggling against me~", the deep voice spoke lowly into his ear.
"Do you want to die?", he asked back in a pretense of neutral consideration. In mock surrender Chanyeol reached for the chocolate syrup, well-aware of the blush creeping up the shorter ones' ears. To distract from his discomfort, Xiumin kept on explaining.
"So after the chocolate comes the hot milk, like that... Following a tad of cream to enrichen the taste... And some whipped cream on top... With a little chocolate syrup finish... Done."
"Woah, it looks good!", Chanyeol claimed happily, taking a picture with his phone. Xiumin tried to bite back his happy smile. "You want a coffee as well?", he offered, encouraged by the compliment.
Though happy, he seemed hesitant. "Uhm, I don't know if I could appreciate it-"
"Don't worry, I know just the right thing for you!", Xiumin intervened, brushing past Chanyeol to get a new cup. "Leave me some space and sit down."
"Don't wanna~"
"Shush, leave. It's a surprise."
No more resistance followed.
He imitated Chanyeol's actions to get an espresso and proceeded to wuss around. He could feel Chanyeol's eyes boring into his back, but spared him no glance. Instead he focused on the beverage, trying to make the cream puff on top especially beautiful. He thought about forming a heart with the chocolate syrup, but it was kind of embarrassing. So he instead settled for a little pattern on one side and some sprinkles of white Chocolate on top, because he felt like it. Adding a little cookie to the side... Perfect.
He went around the counter to place it in front of Chanyeol.
The way his eyes lit up in awe made him a little giddy.
"It looks like art! What exactly is inside?", he asked curious, leaning down to inspect his coffee on 'eye-level'. 'How can someone this tall be so cute?', Xiumin wondered. When the huge eyes flitted up to meet his in a questioning manner, he cleared his throat, feeling caught.
"Uhm, yes. It's an Othello, a mix between coffee and hot chocolate. Since you don't like bitter things I used milk chocolate and added a tinge of white chocolate to make it more sweet. So... Yeah. I hope you'll-"
"-Oooh, this looks nice!", a sudden voice behind him made Xiumin jump in shock.
Ryewook peeked over him(damn all these tall people) and eyed the hot beverage.
He had totally forgotten the owner of the coffee shop was still around. But before he could actually get flustered, Ryeowooks cheery voice fell in.
"I would like to get one as well! Would you be so kind?", he asked in an angelic manner, sitting down across Chanyeol. "U-uhm, I... Yes, sure. One more of this?", he stammered. "Yes, please~"
As Xiumin shuffled back behind the counter to prepare another coffee he felt nervous. Meanwhile he heard the two friends chat about this and that.
"Ah, it's nice to sit back and talk like that. Chanyeol-ah, you should have learnt something useful, so you could treat me once in a while like that."
"No fair... I can do cocktails."
"We don't sell cocktails, though. Obviously."
"Not my fault."
Glad for the playful banter he tried his best to make to beverage look good. After all it was for someone who knew coffee better than he did.
When he padded back, and set the coffee down, Ryeowook immediately made a curious noise and reached for the small silver spoon.
"So it's also an Othello?", he asked, eating a bit of the cream first. Awkwardly, Xiumin kept standing to his side. "Yes... But I didn't know your preference, so I mixed some dark and white chocolate for a good compromise. I hope that's alright...", he ended quietly, fidgeting with his sleeves. Ryeowook only smiled and swirled around his drink a little. "You got the marble-effect pretty well... It's even more impressive due to the differently-colored chocolate."
Then he took a sip. And another. Xiumin didn't even know why he felt so nervous. Alright, it was obviously a Hyung, a Barista nonetheless, who tasted his coffee. But should it even matter? But if it was bad, would Chanyeol laugh at him?
With a hearty smile, the elder placed down his cup and looked up at the fidgeting boy.
"It's wonderful. You're hired."
"Ahaha...", Xiumin laughed awkwardly and set down next to Chanyeol in relief.
"But let's get the boring paperwork later, I don't wanna let this get cold.", he continued, taking another spoon full of cream.
Xiumin stared.
"Oh, you should drink your own one as well - Don't let food go to waste~", Ryeowook winked playfully.
He still stared.
"Yaa~ah, Ryeowook-Hyung... Don't flirt with Xiumin.", Chanyeol pouted, shifting his chair a little closer to him.
Finally, the shortes at the table spoke up, his voice uncertain.
"...You were joking about the hiring thing, weren't you?"
He received a surprised look. "Oh why would I be joking about that? Your coffee is also not a joke at all... Wait, you didn't tell him, Chanyeol?"
A guilty look to the ceiling gave him away at once.
"You did tell me you were on the look-out for a part-time job, didn't you?", he asked innocently. Xiumin didn't even know whether he wanted to smile at his sweetness or pinch him. Hard.
Instead he settled for a monotone "What the hell, Park Chanyeol."

In the end he did sign the contract and promised to bring a full certificate in soon; good thing that Chanyeol had brought along the preliminary one(which he had copied at some point). When they were on their way home, Chanyeol finally broke the silence.
"So... You're still mad Hyung?", he peeped(Oh this voice so wasn't suitable for peeping at all, Xiumin noticed), shooting him a sheepish glance.
"I am mad. Why didn't you tell me?"
"Would you have come along if I told you?"
"No! Look, I cannot just be a Barista, one needs proper training-"
"Ryeowook will train you, though."
"-and experience-"
"You gotta start somewhere."
"-and I made a fool out of myself!", Xiumin huffed, entering the passcode to his apartment, and avoiding to meet his eyes.
Chanyeol's big hand came to cover his over the doorknob.
"But you didn't. You were awesome. You managed to handle everything after I showed you only once."
With an incredulous snort Xiumin looked over his shoulder.
"After YOU showed me what exactly? Wait...", he interrupted himself, as he saw the mischievious glint in the brown eyes.
"...You're not as clueless about everything as you pretended, now are you?"
"Oh, I don't know what you're talking about~", he sing-songed, lightly caressing the shorter ones' hip with his other hand. When had it sneaked there?
It was simple touches like that that left him nervous. Or was it anticipation?
He shook of the thought (and the hand) as he walked inside, mumbling: "You'll be the death of me."
"I'm trying~", came the cheery response.

The rest of the afternoon went by surprisingly peacefully.
Chanyeol had told him to do whatever he usually did on Sunday afternoons. When Xiumin remained hesitant, Chanyeol only reassured him not to mind him. Figuring this might be a test, Xiumin decided to take the bait and reached for the latest book he had been reading and made himself comfortable on his plush armchair.
It turned out that Chanyeol had been serious. While he turned the pages, Chanyeol sat down on the floor, leaning onto the glasstable with huge headphones covering his ears. Slightly moving his head to the beat he tapped a pen against his lips. He was probably writing lyrics for a new song, Xiumin assumed. After a few minutes he began to relax, and managed to focus on his book. Just sitting in silence and reading was what he mostly did (if not for the rare occasion that he the TV), and having another presence in the room was oddly pleasant.
When he was long immersed into his book, at some point Chanyeol spoke up, his deep voice cutting through the silence - though he obviously spoke rather quiet in an effort not to startle him.
"Xiu?"
He looked up to meet a questioning glance.
"Uhm... Can you still read with music playing in the background?"
"Is it dubstep?"
"Uh, no?"
"Then yes."
He got a cheery smile in response as Chanyeol stood up and left the room.
At first he was slightly confused, but then some noises came from the bedroom, muffled by the closed door. It seemed like he was practicing on his guitar. Xiumin wanted to go back to his book, he really wanted to. But he was also really curious. So after about 10 minutes of failed attempts to blank out the sounds, he finally gave up and went to open the door to his room, the open book still in one hand.
Chanyeol, who had been sitting on the floor and leaning against the bed, looked up.
"I'm sorry, am I being too loud?"
"Uhm, no. But... You don't need to hide away in here, you know. Muffled noises are even more distracting than clear ones. And besides, the bedroom is only for sleeping, you'll make a mess."
Chanyeol raised a brow and send him a smile, patiently waiting.
"And... Yeah. I was wondering... Whether you're good... At playing.", he ended meekly in a quiet voice under the knowing eyes on him. Not daring to push his Hyung further, Chanyeol got up and followed to settle in the living room.
The book soon was forgotten in his small hands as the sound of the guitar filled the room, the melody clear in the spacious living area. He found himself enjoying the little solo-performance quite a lot. The tall boy was most probably well-aware of him staring, but didn't look up from his guitar. When Chanyeol had warmed himself up, he even began to softly hum along, and then Xiumin truly was a goner. It was fascinating how very much he liked to listen to this idiots' voice. No matter whether he was rapping, talking, flirting or singing... The deep timbre of his voice set something inside him fluttering.
So, yes, Xiumin genuinely appreciated Chanyeol's attempt to leave him some space, but for now he was too captivated to take him up on the offer.

After a simple dinner Xiumin sternly reminded Chanyeol on their not-yet-done homework. Surprisingly, he complied without making a fuss and while Xiumin sat at his desk, Chanyeol was lounging around on the couch, both diligently scribbling their essays down. It was supposed to be an essay about something that's of great importance in daily life or a writing contest the school intended to participate for.
While Xiumin was highly concentrated on his essay about how the freedom of press enabled todays' life as it was , Chanyeol was humming happily.
How could this kid even be happy during homework? Did he even enjoy writing boring essays?
Fifteen minutes into concentrated writing, Chanyeol spoke up suddenly.
"Hyuuu~ng~? I'm almost finished! Let me read it to you." While Xiumin pretended not to listen, he heard a deep inhale being taken, before Chanyeol read out loudly:
"Why ice cream is of great importance for my daily life."
Xiumin rolled his eyes in resignation. Her teacher was surely gonna throw a piece of chalk at him upon hearing this. Wouldn't be the first time, if he could believe the rumors.
"Even though I harbour utmost respect for science, there remain things and values that cannot be proven by it. One of those would be the relevance of ice cream in my life.", Chanyeol continued seriously in a loud voice. It sounded like a diligent middle school boy reading in class. Xiumin sighed.
"Whenever things get too hot in my daily life, I can get some ice cream to calm my nerves and relax. One would assume that the cold of ice is supposed to be unpleasant, but I find it very comforting. While I tend to be hot-headed, the ice cream keeps its' cool, and helps me to keep mine, as well."
The shorter one hesitated mid-sentence, his pen stilling in the air. Chanyeol was talking about ice cream, wasn't he?
"Another fact about ice cream is that it comes in an uncountable amount of flavours. Discovering more and more flavours is an amazing experience, so I can't hold myself back when it comes to ice cream. On top of that I'll never be able to see all the flavours - This way I'll never ever get tired of it."
By then, Xiumin was slightly blushing in embarrassment. This was supposed to be too cheesy, so why did he let the words get to him? It was practically a not-really-hidden confession.
With his back still turned, he missed the mischievious glint in Chanyeol's eyes.
"I'm not sure of my favourite flavour yet but I know for sure, that the taste of ice cream is amazing, no matter the form. Actually it tastes so enticing that I get really greedy, not wanting to share even one... bite." The last word was breathed into his ear quietly, making Xiumin flinch. As his voice had dropped one octave, his speech ending after a suggestive pause, Xiumin uncounsciously held his breath, not noticing the approach. There was no touch, just that whispery voice in his ear, making him shiver in anticipation as it drew closer to him.
"I'd like to saviour the unique taste all on my own... Being the only one to know about the hidden and delicious flavours and the shivers it gives me. So I continue to indulge myself in the pleasure of ice cream melting under my tongue..."
Finally Xiumin snapped and whirled around in his chair to smack his head.
"T-that's not even written in correct grammar-", he stammered out, blatantly ignoring the innuendo.
"-Since it's supposed to melt 'on' your tongue, not 'under' - Who'd even say that?!"
When Chanyeol's grin widened as he began to act out a sudden understanding, he knew he had made a mistake.
"You're right, Hyung!", he called out in mock-admiration, tapping his lips in a thoughtful manner, "Since it's supposed to be in my mouth, I get it-"
A writing pad was flying at him and Chanyeol yelped as it hit his head.
"That's IT! You're sleeping on the floor today!", Xiumin announced as he tried to hide his scarlet face that really didn't suit his gift at all.
 
In the end he did let Chanyeol sleep on his bed anyway. As they lay awake, already huddled rather closely together, the taller one spoke up in a sleepy voice.
"Xiu?"
"Mh?"
"Tomorrow it's your day. We'll do aaall the things you wanna do, so think of something."
"What do you mean?", he asked back slightly curious.
The reply was muffled as he had nuzzled his face into the bubblegum pink hair.
"Saturday was my day, so we did whatever I do with my time... And today was our day, so we did stuff that concerns us both... And tomorrow it's gonna be your turn."

When Xiumin woke up overly early the next day he wasn't all that surprised. After all, there were many thoughts going through his head. Besides that the heavy limbs tangled with his radiated a warmth he wasn't used to. A tired blink to the alarm clock told him there was over an hour before he even considered trying to rouse Chanyeol. So he turned to his side, watching the peacefully sleeping boy who had one arm draped under his head while the other one rested on his waist.
Truth to be told, Xiumin was a little disappointed. Today was the last day of their pretense-relationship and after that assault-like encounter Xiumin had initiated, nothing further had happened between them. Sure, there had been all sorts of warm and comforting skin contact which he greatly appreciated(he hadn't even realized how much he had missed it until Chanyeol invaded his life). Still, it was nothing like the exciting and burning sensation the kisses had left on his skin. Actually Xiumin thought about that moment more often than he probably should. But who could blame him? After all, it had been his first 'frisky' experience in years, with him being careful to avoid touching anyone. He was a young and healthy man after all. It didn't help that Chanyeol kept reminding him with his continuous teasing. Nevertheless, he didn't make a single real move on him. Thinking about it, it made sense. 'He probably didn't want me to feel cheap', Xiumin assumed. Yes, that was considerate. But also so very frustrating. Especially since they didn't actually kiss that evening.
He stared at his slightly parted lips in fascination. The urge to press his lips against him right this instant was so strong, his body warmth so tempting. Never being one to hold back, Xiumin pushed the younger one on his back easily. Chanyeol really was kind of a light-weight. Said one let out a confused groan, but before he could make sense of the situation, Xiumin had already settled on top of him, both thighs keeping him firmly in position as he supported part of his weight on the shoulders to further pin him down.
"Xiu?", he murmured, blinking up at him sleepily.
He gave a questioning hum in response while he dragged his slender fingers over the bare chest - Good thing that Chanyeol preferred to sleep with such little clothing on.
When he softly combed through the messy hair, letting it curl around his fingers and settled to cup his cheek carefully, an approving sigh left those lips he craved to kiss so badly.
Then he felt warm hands wander along his thighs. Sternly he increased the pressure on the one shoulder.
"Stop it.", he ordered.
A mix between hurt and more confusion flickered across his huge, shining eyes and immediately Xiumin felt like having kicked a puppy. Still, he retreated his hands with a pout.
This time he didn't want to get carried away. He wanted a kiss, and he would get it. As soon as the other expanse of skin under his fingertips got boring, that is. But he couldn't seem to stop drawing nonsensical patterns onto the heated skin, since it shuddered so nicely under his feathering touches. When he slowly bent down to place an equally soft kiss in the crook of his neck he got a sound in response that almost resembled a whimper. The sound was intriguing and he yearned to hear it again. For once Xiumin was thankful for his rather cold lips as he traced them around the areas he assumed to be even more sensitive. Trying to imitate Chanyeol's movements(he was a fast learner after all), he trailed over his to experimentally across it. He could see Chanyeol's hands gripping the bedsheets tightly as he sharply inhaled.
"Xiu...", he sighed in a mix of pleasure and desperation.
"Why can't I-"
He never finished the sentence as Xiumin circled his cool fingers around the now wet , teasing a soft moan out of him.
Then he sat up again, to look down at the already slightly wrecked looking male.
His chest was rising and falling due to his heavy breathing as he looked up at him with dazed eyes. Xiumin couldn't help but stare. For some reason, this flushed cheeks suited him well.
"You said it's my day today, didn't you? Now be a good boy and stay down.", he stated in a teasing manner even though he couldn't deny his breath had become a little ragged as well.
Then he began to lean down, towards his face, inch by inch. Neither said a word, but various emotions were flickering in the warm, brown eyes. Xiumin was sure his eyes mirrored them: slight nervosity, gentleness, affection, expectation- And then their lips finally touched. The cold lips met the warm ones. Xiumin was almost to nervous to be overwhelmed. But then, very hesitantly, the boy below him began to move his lips, nipping at his carefully, wiping out every single thought in his brain. He tried really hard to slow himself down, aware of the fact that a first kiss with someone could not be re-done. So he gently reciprocated the movements, trying to adapt his pace. Chanyeol's movements were careful, almost shy and he could feel his heart beating rapidly as his fists slowly relaxed in the bedsheets; the observation sent his own heart fluttering as well. Soon he couldn't resist but draw out their careful pecks more and more, deepening the kiss. A deep sigh rumbled through the boy beneath him. Getting more and more lost into the heat of the moment he swiped his tongue over Chanyeol's lips, feeling almost desperate for more. Suddenly the taller one flinched visibly, his body tensing up again. Sensing a problem, Xiumin immediately withdrew himself, but kept hovering over him closely, searching his eyes in a questioning manner.
The brown orbs looked at him apologetically before flitting away. Then a thought occured to Xiumin. "This... Wasn't your first kiss, was it?", he asked in a raspy voice. The wide eyed nervous look he got in response was all he needed.
Chanyeol looked positively anxious, now in fear he had messed up. On the inside, Xiumin wasn't sure what to think. Currently he was torn between: 'How on Earth did he not kiss anyone in his whole life? Surely he wasn't short of admirers, and he has it all, so how?! And how could he have been so flirtatious all the time?!' and 'That's why he didn't kiss me on Friday!' and 'God, I took a first kiss without much thought, I hope I didn't mess up! What if he's gonna be traumatized forever?!'
While Xiumin fought an inner battle, Chanyeol hesitantly opened his mouth.
"Uhm... I'm so-"
"Shh.", it came out almost too demanding, and Xiumin chastised himself a little, before continuing in a softer voice.
"Don't you dare apologize. I should be the one to say sorry.", he said, caressing his heated cheek tenderly.
"N-no. I like it. Just... I don't know what I'm doing, so-", he stammered a little lost, but still straight-forward as ever.
"You're doing great.", Xiumin reassured him with a genuine smile.
He received an unsure half-smile in return.
"...Though a little practice wouldn't do any harm...", he added playfully, trying to put the nervous boy at ease. His features softened again as he reached for Chanyeol's hands and guided them to lay on his waist.
"I'm sorry. Let's take it a little more slow...", he whispered as he dipped his head down again to meet the already slightly reddened lips.

Xiumin wasn't terribly experienced either, but as their lips kept meeting, hot and cold mingling together they both turned out to be fast learners. They shared light and innocent pecks with a reassuring smile as well as sensual and affectionate kisses that sent their heads spinning. And as they were turning in the sheets between all those sweet mewls and sighs, even he didn't know whether he preferred Chanyeol to be hovering over or pinned under him anymore. He found it not too important, though; as long as he stayed in a proximity close enough to turn his head all muzzy from heat.

"Yeol, we're gonna be late, come on."
Chanyeol looked up from his little notepad and hurriedly put it away as he scrambled behind the shorter one.
"Sooorry~ There was just this one idea-"
"Later.", Xiumin cut him off, as he grabbed for the taller ones arm to tug him along. After a few metres he discreetly(or so he thought) let his fingers slide down the arm to his wrist instead. Playing along, Chanyeol intertwined their fingers with a smile.
Secretly he was a little surprised at their open display of... Well, of whatever they had. But since Xiumin never cared about what people thought of him, it made sense in a way.
When he sent the shorter one off to the schools' secretary, where he wanted to apply for a full certificate, he still pondered whether there was anything he could do to persuade the cute boy to stay with him. Lost in thoughts he sat down on a bench an reached for his small notepad...

When Xiumin came back to find an empty bench, his brows furrowed in confusion. Where did this hyperactive giant go?
Then he heard a dull sound from nearby and saw a short and chubby-looking boy sprint away from something. As he rounded the corner, his eyes widened upon seeing Chanyeol crumpled on the floor between 3 guys attacking him. As per usual, Chanyeol hardly did anything to fight back, just taking the kicks and hits. Before Xiumin even knew what he was doing he was sprinting over to them, waving his hand in the process once. With a sudden crackling sound massive ice pickles rose from the ground around Chanyeol, not only forcing the bullies back, but barely stopping before their necks as well. They to didn't even have time to scream as they were rooted to the spot in a state of shock.
Xiumin didn't run to Chanyeol's side but kept his eyes on the bullies instead as he took the last few steps. Two guys were familiar. They had even pushed him against a wall once in a while, throwing empty threats and whatnot. While Xiumin usually reacted calm and unfazed, his eyes were now narrowed and blazing with anger.
"What the hell!", one of the bullies called out as he finally realized just who was threatening them. "You're the fake-gifted one!", another one gasped.
Chanyeol didn't even say anything but looked at him with big eyes from his position on the floor.
The sparp icicles seemed to twinkle menacingly - Had they just grown another inch?
"I'm warning you.", Xiumin said bitingly, voice as cold as the rapidly sinking temperature around them.
"Fire is a forgiving thing. Ice is not."

He said no more and they almost cowered under his icy stare. A few tense seconds later they finally strode away, their legs wobbling visibly as they paced up their steps with every metre. Only when they were all gone, did Xiumin look down at Chanyeol... Just to lightly nudge him with his foot.
"What are you doing down there?", he demanded, befor reaching out his hand. Still, Chanyeol stared at him.
"Don't look at me like that. If you wanna be with me, you better stop getting yourself beat up like that. I don't like it.", he stated, his hand still outstretched.
A few seconds of silence followed. Then a bright smile crept on the lanky boy's face, growing wider until he bit his lip to stop creeping Xiumin out. He reached for his Hyung's hand who in turn pulled him up without difficulties.
He only winced a little at the pain and the shorter one examined him with a scrutinizing gaze. Then he tugged him back to the bench. Chanyeol, obviously afraid to break the spell of 'caring Xiumin', didn't dare to say anything as the elder took out his bag and got some tissues drenched in water to dab at his face, where a small scratch went along his forehead.
"I don't mind you standing up for whoever. But you can't run around with bleeding scratches, you'll look like a delinquent.", he said matter-of-factly as he rummaged in his bag and got out a band-aid. When his slender fingers brushed the messy hair aside carefully to gently place the band-aid over it, he began to become uneasy with the silence.
"W-why are so quiet? Did they actually hurt you?", he inquired fidgety.
When their eyes met, he could see the affection shining in his deep brown eyes.
"I like you so much.", he suddenly blurted out.
Taken by surprise, Xiumin drew back a bit. Not sure how to react, he brushed it off with a swat at his arm, and got up, swinging the bag over his shoulder.
"It's time for classes. Today you're at the Science Club, aren't you?", he conversed as if nothing had happened. Smiling, Chanyeol got up to brush some of the dust off of his uniform and pat his hair down a little.
"I can skip."
"Don't you even think about it. I'll be waiting at the library."
With this, Xiumin went ahead, too flustered to say anything else.
Lost in thoughts on what to do after school, he leisurely made his way to the library.
Sure, usually he wouldn't do anything interesting, but seeing as it was some sort of final test for the both of them, Xiumin would have liked something a little more... Special. Well, even if they only lazed around at his home, they could surely mae some room for more kissing. Yeah, that'd be great as well. Win-win situation.
With a faint smile, he entered the library.

He had fallen asleep. Everything was dark and the chair dugged into his back painfully. Xiumin felt hazy. Like, really hazy. Then he realized that his hands were tied behind his back. Something was wrong. In a surge of panic his eyes flew open. The first thing flashing up in his thoughts was: he wasn't in the library anymore. The second: It felt like it was late; he had stood up Chanyeol on this important day. Blinking away the random thought he tried to take in his surroundings. Everything was dark and rather chilly(not that he minded), and no one was in sight. He seemed to be in a small abandoned storehouse. And he indeed was tied to a chair. Xiumin was confused. What had happened? He could remember entering the library, studying,... And then what? Right, someone had called for him. But as he left the room... Everything went black. In that moment the gifted one didn't even feel frustration towards being careless enough to get overpowered that easily. Xiumin was a realist who preferred to solve problems instead of philosophing about them. Freezing the rope that held him was easy. Freezing it so much it got porose... Was possible was well. Not that Xiumin did stuff like that everyday. Still, in a matter of a minute or two, he hit his hands against the chair, making the rope crumble. Just when his hands got free, an unknown voice echoed through the hall.
"Who allowed you to leave already?"
Xiumin looked around his shoulder instinctively. He didn't recognize the guy, but the two figures behind him, he did. The bullies from earlier. He merely sighed and shrugged the ropes off the rest of the way, rubbing his wrists to sooth the pressure-marks.
"You're pretty chill now, aren't you?", the guy said.
Xiumin just stood up, fully intending to ignore the three morons.
Then an incredibly loud click echoed across the room and Xiumin halted in his movements.
"You might want to sit down again.", the strangers voice suggested in what resembled a demand.
Without moving his limbs, Xiumin looked up. In the semi-darkness of the hall, the metal still managed to shimmer. It was a gun. He didn't move another muscle, staring at the object. A gun.
"I heard you're a quick one. But are you quicker than a bullet?", the guy asked as he took a few steps towards the shorter boy that was rooted to the spot.
"I told you to sit down. NOW."
Not averting his eyes, Xiumin slowly sank back onto the hard chair again.
"Now that's more like it. You know who I am, boy?"
Not daring to move a muscle, Xiumin's eyes shortly flitted from the weapon to the guy's face. And back.
Something rather unfamiliar was coiling in his body; Fear. Panic, even. There was a limit to everything. This was a weapon. A dangerous one. And he had weighed up his chances in a split-second. It was easy; he had none. No ice in the world could save him from a bullet.
"Ah, I assumed as much. You don't know me. Maybe the Black Tiger rings a bell?"
The petrified boy didn't seem to react, but inside his thoughts were a mess. The Black Tiger was an infamous street gang in Seoul, known for violence and extremism. Their targets were the weak ones, the rich ones... And the gifted ones.
He cursed inside.
"Oooh, I see you're getting it.", the guy congratulated him as if talking to a child.
He took another step, the gun still pointed at his head.
Xiumin tried to repress a tremble. One click and he'd be gone. Gone. Dead. No one could save him in a split-second. His brain went on stand-by. The image of Chanyeol finding his body, bled to death, burned itself into his head. He would be devastated. Worst thing about it was, that Xiumin would feel terribly guilty over letting Chanyeol get attached to him and then leave him shortly after.
While his brain was shooting out all of those jumbled thoughts, he barely listened to the man that kept talking.
"You gifted ones are so... Arrogant. You think the world belongs to you, don't you? I heard you attacked some of our men this morning. You think you can behave like this and get away, right? But one simple gun could take out all of you scum." His voice got more and more agitated and Xiumin knew this was a bad sign. Emotional people tended to pull the trigger quicker. The gun finally touched his forehead and never ever before had Xiumin felt cold. Now he was shaking. Pictures of the guy in the hospital flashed his mind. He'd be gone. Even more gone, truly gone.
"Maybe if you begged for forgiveness... Just maybe we'd let you go. Who knows, wanna take a chance?", he said in a patronizing manner. Then he nodded over at the two guys that had stayed behind all the time.
"Apologize to them."
In that moment, Xiumin would have said anything. Anything at all. So he opened his mouth, but his lips were trembling and the breath was stuck in his throat. When not a single sound left his mouth, the gun was pushed against his skin suddenly, making him flinch. His stomache felt sick to an extent where he thought he'd just puke.
"You don't want to say sorry?"he looked up at the stranger with wide eyes. He had never seen him before, but still this man would kill him. Would put a bullet through his skin to make the blood splash out of him.
Then a tear escaped his burning eyes, slowly runnig down his pale skin. And another one.
"Aww, he's cryin'. Ain't that adorable. But little one, I didn't asked for puppy eyes. I asked for you to beg."
As Xiumin opened his trembling mouth, a choked stutter left his mouth.
"P-p-plea-"
"What is going on here?"
It was Chanyeol's voice, he recognized it immediately. He wanted to yell at him, to leave; to leave because he wouldn't want him to get hurt. But no sound would come out.
From the corner of his eyes he already saw a figure approaching.
Surprisingly, the guy put down the gun and Xiumin's head flew around to Chanyeol.
The tall guy looked at Xiumin, taking in his state with an unreadable expression. When he looked at the man with the gun pointed to the floor, Xiumin swore he saw the fire flickering  in his eyes. He didn't shout, oh no. He talked slowly and almost quietly, the repressed aggressiveness in his deep voice more menacing than anything Xiumin had ever heard.
"How dare you." He took a step towards the guy that seemed petrified.
"How... Dare you."
The room temperature rose sharply.
When another flicker of silver appeared, Xiumin instinctively flinched again. But it wasn't the gun; it was a knife the guy had pointed at Chanyeol.
Without averting his eyes, Chanyeol finally spoke to Xiumin, his voice calm, but lacking the usual softness.
"Xiumin. It's not a gun. You are not in danger.", he slowly said, still advancing on the guy holding a knife.
Xiumin heard. But his brain was too shocked to even react. And his body wouldn't stop shaking.
"The first time I was pretty nervous as well. But those guys just like scaring people off like that. Very amusing indeed.", he went on, taking another step.
The knife-pointing man seemed to get nervous as well.
"Y-You can't hurt us. They'll know. You'll lose everything. They'll p-put you in an asylum-", he began, the tip of his knife wavering in the air.
"You know-", Chanyeol began, his voice unsettlingly monotone, "I was always wondering about your type of people. What was all the fuss about? What drives you? I was pondering about it.", he went on in an eery imitation of curiousity, that was disturbed by the absence of any emotion in his big eyes. Then, before anyone could react, he had grabbed the wrist that held onto the knife.
"'Is it about fear?', I used to ask myself.", he calmly said as his grip around the wrist tightened, leaving the man to struggle in vain. Then he guided the hand, that was forced to hold onto the knife, closer to him, leaving the tip of the silver metal to nudge the fabric of his shirt.
"Or is it about actually drawing blood?", he continued as he slowly forced the knife into his shoulder. The guy gasped and tried to free his hand from Chanyeol's grip but it was a vain attempt.
"You're mad! ed up! ...!", the guy cursed nonsensical, struggling with panic evident in his face.
As if confirming an obvious observation, Chanyeol slightly nodded to himself, inching the knife in a little further.
"So it's the first one, then."
Blood began to surge from the wound and seemed to wake up Xiumin. With his trembling fingers he reached out for his mobile phone to call the police. As he unlocked his pin on the third try, Chanyeol spoke up again, his voice quiet and velvety.
"Xiumin. Honey. Don't call the cops."
By now, Xiumin was positively scared for a completely different reason. Chanyeol was frightening him. This wasn't the warm and sensitive person he grew fond of. This person was drenched in aggressivness and wrath. And he was afraid to be the spark to ignite it.
"Why don't you take a nice little home video?", he suggested.
For a second, Xiumin just stared at him. This was bat- crazy. Chanyeol was bleeding. He wouldn't video-tape his boyfriend getting cut up-
Then their eyes met and something inside those brown orbs made Xiumin do something he wasn't used to; he trusted him.
With a resounding 'beep', the camera started recording.
"You see, Xiu's mobile phone is pretty old-", Chanyeol started in a conversational tone as he dragged the knife closer to his clavicle, "The video quality is aweful and don't even get me started on the sound quality. God-aweful. Might even be a mute video." The guy whimpered as the blood poured out of the wound. "But you know, I think if we'll send this video to the police, they might be able to recognize you... Stabbing a poor, poor civilian. He did nothing to defend himself, yet you drove a knife into him. There'll be a looot of finger prints to prove it.", he continued in a conspiratorial tone, looking at the guys hand that was weakly struggling to get free, Chanyeol's hand pressing his fingers against the handle painfully.
"Or even better yet! We might just upload it. How does "High rank Black Tiger member assaults a gifted one" sound? How happy do you think they'll get upon realising someone has used their name?"
Xiumin's hands were shaking around the phone. The blood got more and more, drenching his uniform.
Chanyeol's voice lost all the pretense and went to being straight-out threatening.
"If you ever step near him again... If you ever try to touch him again with that filthy hands of yours or even do as much as look his way, this video will be yours to worry about, but let me guarantee you: It wil be your least worry. This is not a warning. It's a promise."
"I-I have wittnesses!", the guy hissed.
"Really? You might want to hurry along to make sure they've wittnessed the right thing, then.", Chanyeol answered piercingly as he ripped the hand and with it the knife, away from him. Instantly, the guy turned around to look for his two friends that were fleeing the scene. Desperately he cried out for them to wait, then tried to threaten them as he stumbled after them as fast as he could.
As soon as they were gone, Chanyeol slowly sank to his knees, trying to hold the blood in. Xiumin collapsed next to him, reaching for him with his shaky hands, the phone lying somewhere forgotten.
"L-let me help you, I'll fix it, I'll freeze it-"
"NO! Don't touch it!", Chanyeol exclaimed, flinching away from Xiumins hands. Something inside him broke at that.
Sensing the flurry of emotions in the single-lidded eyes Chanyeol tried to reassure him, but still kept his distance.
"You might burn yourself Hyung, so please... It's ok."
"It's not okay, nothing is okay here-"
"Shhh. I'll fix it in a sec. You hear me, Xiumin? My gift will heal me."
Xiumin tried really hard not to cry, all the emotions threatening to burst.
"Y-you're lying! It's all lies to c-comfort me - Let me-"
"Xiumin. I'm a phoenix. It'll heal."
Xiumin blinked. Chanyeol closed his eyes calmly, clutching his wound, as a wave of warmth surged through him, so strong, Xiumin felt overwhelmed. In a mix of terror and fascination he felt the heat rising steadily as Chanyeol groaned quietly. He had the urge to reach out for him, but the heat prevented him from doing so.
Then the heat subsided again and Chanyeol carefully removed his hand to spare the wound a look-over. The fabric close to the wound had been burnt and below he could see the wound. It was still there, but a healing crust had already developed, stopping the bleeding.
Xiumin stared at it, his thoughts processing the current events slowly.
The lanky boy looked up with a lopsided grin, reaching out to pull Xiumin closer.
"Give it a few hours and I'll be as good as new."
For a few minutes, Xiumin did nothing but to tremble in his arms, the after-effects of the situation sinking in. He had his face buried in Chanyeols neck, where he could feel the heat radiating off of the fresh wound on his shoulder. After what felt like forever, Xiumin withdrew himself only to... Punch him in the stomache. Hard.
"Congratulations on being the biggest jerk on the planet!", he burst out angrily.
Chanyeol looked at him with this big brown orbs, blinking in confusion.
"You scared me almost more than... Than this... I hate you, Park Chanyeol! I freakin' hate you!", he shouted, tearing at his hair in frustration, "Why did you even step into my life like that?!"
At this, a panicked look flashed over Chanyeol's face, as he hastily scrambled closer to the shorter one.
"N-no, wait, Xiumin Hyung! I know that was a bit much, but they'll be off your back forever now...  I'm sorry, look, I'm so sorry-"
"This has been going on for months, for months! There's nothing we have in common but you kept bothering me again and again! Now we spent an entirety of only three days together and still-"
"Wait, Hyung, wait!", Chanyeol fell in again, patting his pockets frantically.
", I lost it - Xiumin please, you have to hear me out. I really like you and I want to stay in this relationship, make it a real one. I even wrote down a list of things we have in common, but I don't have the notepad on me right now; god, I'm such an idiot-"
As Xiumin opened his mouth, Chanyeol interrupted him with an urgent desperation.
"We're both very straight-forward and stubborn! And honest, brutally honest! And, and loyal! And we both like to sleep in, and-"
Then Xiumin clasped his tiny hand over his mouth, forcefully silencing him.
"...And we both don't hear people out.", Xiumin stated with an unreadable look.
The brown orbs were huge and pleading, but he did keep silent.
"I was going to say: And still... I refuse to let you go.", he whispered the last part and withdrew his hand, placing it in his lap. He felt vulnerable and so overwhelmed with all sorts of emotions rushing through him, the most prominent one being anxiety.
He felt warm hands cup his face as he looked up.
A velvety gaze met a shining one. Fire met ice.
"Another thing in common. We're already beginning to complete each other."
And lips met lips.

This story... How did this even happen?! xD
Anyways, I refuse to cut out scenes just for the sake of length, so here you go!
Anyone picked up on the hint Chanyeol gave on his gift the chapter before? ;)

I think of their relationship as very exciting, with the tables turning from one second to another; I hope I could convey this~
I'd love to talk more about this, but it's currently about 2:30 A.M, and I should really sleep. Like, seriously.

Lately I got quite a few more subscribers and even lovely comments - Thank you so, so much! ♥
Love,
Sugar-and-Salt