Damage Control

Alight

 

 

 

Chapter 2

 Damage Control 

 

 

Watching Seungyoon take a seat in the chair beside him he wondered what to ask first, but before he could ask anything was Jinwoo already back in the room. 

    "Seunghoon done yet? They want us back in the city" Jinwoo asked and stifled a yawn before looking around the corner towards the bathroom. 

    "Not yet" Seungyoon replied, he still looked pale and had let himself slide further down into the chair. 

The grayish tint to Seungyoon’s skin worried him and he wondered if there was something he could do. He felt weird offering and so he kept silent. Jinwoo walked towards the bathroom and they could hear him knock and say something in a low voice. 

He turned to Seungyoon to see if he was looking any better, but it was the opposite. Unable to keep quiet any longer he got up and walked over to Seungyoon. 

    "Are you okay? You really don’t look so good" he said almost at a whisper. 

    "I’ve been worse, I just need to sleep of the exhaustion I think" Seungyoon replied with his eyes closed. "Would you mind helping me get up?" he continued reaching out a weak hand in his general direction. 

He grabbed it and pulled Seungyoon to his feet. He swayed for a moment, before opening his eyes only slightly. Jinwoo walked towards them now with Seunghoon following not far behind. 

    "I’m sorry to leave you like this, but we really need to get back. Can we trust you to help him?" Jinwoo said nodding towards Seungyoon before stopping for Seunghoon to catch up. 

He shook his head yes. Seunghoon gave him a pat on the shoulder before saying: 

    "We’ll be back as soon as we can. Seungyoon thank you" 

Seungyoon just waved weakly in Seunghoon’s direction before mumbling "sleep" and turning the other direction. Unsure of what to do for a second he looked from Seungyoon leaning against the wall, slowly making his way down the hall to the other two heading towards the elevator. 

Having promised to help he hurried over to Seungyoon who was sliding down the wall slowly towards the floor. Feeling like he had no other choice he picked him up princess style and carried him to what he assumed was the bedroom. 

 

The bed was huge, with black covers over white sheets. He pulled the covers to the side and put Seungyoon down. Unsure if he was already asleep or not he said worryingly: 

    "You really shouldn’t do that if it affects you this much" 

Seungyoon’s eyes fluttered open and a small smile spread across his face. 

    "Thank you for worrying, but I saved him didn’t I? And I assure you, I just need to rest for a bit" he yawned and closed his eyes again. He was still smiling and that was reassuring even if it pained him more than he wanted to admit to see Seungyoon this way. 

    "Do you want me to leave?" he asked not sure what to do with himself. He had promised to look after Seungyoon, but he didn’t seem to need much care. 

    "I’ll recover faster if you stay" Seungyoon replied. It didn’t make sense to him, but it was all the confirmation he needed. He sat there at the edge of the bed, waiting for signs of Seungyoon falling asleep. When his breathing changed he pulled the covers up further around him before letting himself sink to the floor beside the bed. 

He felt drained too now, weak and sleepy in an odd way. Peeking up at Seungyoon he saw that he had already regained some of his usual glow. Feeling relived he closed his eyes and leaned back against the bed. Before he knew it he too was fast asleep. 

 

 

The sun was setting outside the bedroom window when he woke up. It took him a moment to remember where he was and when he realized he didn’t quite believe it. 

Getting to his feet he found the bed to be empty. The comforter was on the floor at his feet which made him realize Seungyoon had covered him with it when he got up. That was kind of him he thought and put it back up on the bed. 

A low sizzling sound could be heard from the other side of the apartment and his nose knew the smell of food well enough. Following the scent he arrived at the kitchen to find Seungyoon with wet hair, wearing a loose grey t-shirt and sweatpants. He was cooking what looked like pancakes and there was bacon in the oven. 

    "I didn’t know you could make them in the oven" he commented casually. Seungyoon looked up at him and smiled widely at the sight of him. It made his cheeks feel warm and he smiled back somewhat awkwardly. 

    "You are awake!" he exclaimed, flopping the pancake which almost missed the pan making them both laugh. "I didn’t want to wake you" he continued, wiping the splattered butter from the counter with some paper. 

    "I was supposed to look after you, yet here you are cooking away" he said nodding towards the oven. "I think those are burning though" he said making a small gesture towards the oven. Seungyoon turned around frantically getting the bacon out before they reached the stage of being inedible.  

    "Thanks" he mumbled, blushing as he put them down on the stovetop to cool off a bit. "I used to eat this a lot when I spent a year in Europe" Seungyoon explained and got them plates from one of the cabinets. 

They sat down on barstools next to the kitchen island and ate their pancakes. When they were both on their second pancake Seungyoon put down his half eaten pancake and looked at him. 

    "Thank you for staying, really! I feel as good as new. Usually it takes me a few days to recover after helping someone as badly injured as Seunghoon" 

He really couldn’t understand why Seungyoon was thanking him. It weren’t as if he got healing powers, to the contrary did he feel drained and exhausted even after sleeping. 

 

    "Your powers" Seungyoon continued "What are they?" almost choking on his pancake he coughed violently, tears swelling in his eyes as he kept coughing. He had not seen that question coming although he assumed that they knew something. 

Having taken a moment to regain his breath he pointed to the burnt bacon and said: 

    "I turn stuff into that" 

Seungyoon laughed. He didn’t understand what was so funny about that. It certainly wasn’t funny to him. 

    "You turn things into bacon?" Seungyoon questioned still humming before taking a bite out of his rolled up pancake. 

    "No, I set things on fire" he explained dryly trying to not sound annoyed. 

    "That’s intense. How?" Seungyoon asked looking at him in a calmer way now. 

    "I touch it and it catch fire. The longer I’m in contact with the material the stronger it burns" he explained. 

    "You seem to have it under control now" Seungyoon noted watching him intently. 

    "It’s not as if I use it for anything" he mumbled. Suddenly he wondered if that was what Seungyoon was getting at. He didn’t think that was a good idea. Not at all. "It only causes harm" he added after hesitating for a moment. 

    "I’m good at damage control" Seungyoon said smiling. He smiled back, even if it was hard to talk about, was it nice to actually have someone who could understand.  

 

He was back in his flat now and it was already getting late. He had helped Seungyoon with cleaning up the blood after finishing eating. They had agreed to meet up the next day after work after they both had gotten some proper rest. How much rest he would actually be able to get he weren't so sure of. His mind kept racing, new thoughts and ideas errupting out of nothingess. Instead of going to bed like he said he would he pulled up a blank canvas. He would just paint for a few hours before going to bed, he had just taken a long nap on Seungyoon's bedroom floor after all.

 

 

The word damage control kept playing in his mind the entirety of the next day. Usually he was so into his work that the hours flew by, but that day the minutes ticked by slowly. 

He was wondering what Seungyoon wanted to talk about. He already got his powers under control, but he got no intention of using them. Anyway, what would he do? Go up to the bad guys and touch them? It took a while for things to burn properly too so it weren’t really that great a weapon. In that moment his phone rang, showing an unfamiliar number. 

    "Yes?" he said half expecting it to be someone trying to sell him something. 

    "It’s Seungyoon. I’m currently in the city, want to catch a ride home?" he asked. He looked at the watch on his wrist, only thirty more minutes until he was closing the gallery. 

    "Sure, I’ll text you the address" he replied and began packing up his folder of potential pieces for their next gallery exhibit. 

 

A white audi rolled up outside the gallery fifteen minutes later. Everyone else had already left for the day so he closed the gallery and hopped in the back seat. Seungyoon had held the door open for him and was now scooting back into his seat. 

    "I want to show you something before we go home, if that’ alright with you?" he asked and put his seatbelt back on. He agreed despite feeling slightly uneasy.

 

They drove for almost half an hour before the car stopped. They were on the opposite side of town from where they lived. Standing in front of a tall building covered in glass he wondered what exactly it was Seungyoon wanted to show him. 

    "I’ve recently started working here" Seungyoon explained as they walked towards the building. "I’ve decided to use what I can do to help as many as I can" he explained greeting the receptionist. They stepped into the elevator and Seungyoon pulled out his card swiping it in the reader. 

Instead of going up like he had expected had the elevator begun going down. They were six levels beneath ground level when they stepped out of the elevator. 

Compared to his job where everyone had gone at a decent hour was this place crowded. People in lab coats were shuffling around, staring at huge screens and making calls. 

They walked across the huge room towards a hall that looked to be going on forever. There were cubicle after cubicle of tiny rooms marked with number tags and different warnings. 

    "These people all worked for our country or even our world. Normal medicine couldn’t do anything. I’m helping out and they research my powers while I’m at it.. the hope is obviously that they can heal people like I do, without me actually doing the healing" Seungyoon explained.

    "Doesn’t it wear you out?" he asked unable to hold back his curiosity. 

    "Not as badly as with Seunghoon at least" Seungyoon said and shrugged. "He got powers of his own so putting him back together requires more from me I suppose" 

They walked up to a desk in between all the cubicles and Seungyoon poked the woman sitting there on the shoulder. 

    "I brought my friend, I hope you don’t mind. You asked if I could stop by?" Seungyoon said politely. He found it odd, how polite he was, but he supposed that was just how he was with everyone. 

 

The woman got to her feet and lead them even further down the hall. The room she stopped before had several more tags than the others and he made notice of how radioactive was one of them. 

Neither of the other two hesitated before entering and so he too followed. There was another wall of glass between them and the patient. It was a young boy who looked to be badly burned. His stomach turned at the sight of him, bringing back memories of when he had visited other burn victims. People who had become victims because of his carelessness. 

Seungyoon stepped inside while he waited with the woman behind the glass. It only took a moment, the blue hue spread like morning mist around them for a short while and then it was gone again. He felt as mesmerized as he had done the first time watching it. 

It weren’t just the healing part that got to him, as remarkable as that was, but the man actually doing it. Seungyoon looked divine, so peaceful and calm.. and beautiful. He couldn’t help it, he had never seen someone he thought to be so beautiful. 

Hardly aware of his own actions he sighed and sat down on a plastic chair by the glass wall. Seungyoon was talking with the boy now. They were laughing and then both of them waved at him. Curious about what Seungyoon could have said to make the boy wave at him as well he waved back. 

Then Seungyoon walked back out, gave the boy a small wave through the glass before turning towards the woman. 

    "Did the sensors pick up anything? Or the scanner?" he asked. She shook her head no, but pointed to a small gadget he assumed was a geiger counter on the glass. "It’s down to zero. Not only did you appear to have healed him, but the radiation is gone" she said sounding impressed although not very surprised. 

    "That was the last evidence we needed. Now we can conclude that you don’t just heal but remove what causes the damage too" she said, typing away on a computer as she spoke. "Thank you for coming in today" she said after a short pause. "Get some rest and we will contact you again soon" 

 

 

They were back in the car, driving across town. They sat in silence, both in deep thought, watching the city streets pass by one after the other until they reached the bridge that signaled that they were close to home. 

    "Do you want to eat dinner before we go home?" Seungyoon suggested suddenly. He replied yes before he even became fully aware of what he had said yes to. 

Seungyoon gave the driver new instructions. His stomach rumbling he honestly couldn’t wait for them to arrive at wherever they were eating. He only hoped it weren’t someplace too fancy, he wanted proper filling food tonight.

They pulled up to some small place with a few tables lined by the street. There were fairy lights around the trees, the sound of muted voices and klinking cutlery. 

It took him a moment to realize the flag on the door was French. He didn’t have any specific favorites when it came to french cuisine. The thought of snails occurred to him for a second as they sat down by the table showed to them by their waiter. Having begun to dream about french deserts like tarts and soufflès he found himself blinking half dazed at the waiter asking if he wanted wine. 

Seungyoon had replied yes for him and he just nodded silently in approval as Seungyoon talked. 

    "Don’t worry I’ll switch glasses with you if you don't want it" Seungyoon said humming a little to himself, definitely not opposed to the thought of having a second glass of wine. "So what got your head in the clouds?" he asked as their wine arrived. 

    "Honestly? Food" he admitted still feeling a bit embarrassed by how badly he had spaced out moments before. 

Seungyoon laughed before picking up the menu. They both landed on meat dishes, he had picked the only one he thought he had heard of before a stew named beef bourguignon. Where he had heard of it he couldn’t tell, he only hoped it would be good. 

He made sure to gulp down a lot of water before trying the wine so that it wouldn’t go straight to his head. Since the drinks got to them way before the food that was always a risk. 

    "Good eh?" Seungyoon said rising his glass. He put his up too as if they were toasting. Some small voice in the back of his mind was whispering about how uncultured he was, questioning what he was even doing there and it made him really nervous. That along with everything that had happened the last few days and his obvious feelings for the man sitting across from him made it all too much. 

Adjusting himself in his chair as he spotted their food on its way towards them and in that moment he felt his leg brush Seungyoon’s under the table by accident. Trying to act like nothing he stared really hard at his plate arriving just in time to save him. He could see out of the corner of his eye that Seungyoon was watching him though.

 

The food was delicious, they made small talk while eating, but they were both starving after a long day so the focus remained on their food. The wine fit perfectly with his beef and he didn’t think it effected him. Until he got to his feet and felt the world dance for him. It was a mad pirouette and he fought hard just to stay on his feet. 

Luckily for him was Seungyoon walking ahead and so he just slowed down enough for the world to get it’s together.

They arrived at their building a mere ten minutes later. Seungyoon had been typing on his phone the entire drive back saying he finally heard back from Seunghoon.  

    "How about we hang out at my old favorite spot for a while?" he suggested, suddenly feeling bold. He didn’t want to say good bye to Seungyoon just yet and he could really use some fresh air. 

    "Sure" Seungyoon said and nodded. He then pulled off his jacket and threw it over his shoulder as they walked towards the river barricades. 

 

 

The evening breeze caressed their skin, welcoming them up to the wast view of the city. Although it weren’t like his old favorite seaside view back home was it still quite something. 

    "It’s nice up here" Seungyoon said putting down his jacket on the ground before laying down on it. 

    "Yeah, hence why I come here" he replied feeling cheeky. 

Seungyoon smiled up at him. His heart was swelling to at least double size in his chest just because he was the reason that Seungyoon smiled like that. 

    "That reminds me, did you finish that picture?" Seungyoon asked almost closing his eyes completely because of the sharp rays of the setting sun behind him. He told him that he had inn fact finished it. Seungyoon started rummaging in his jacket and pulled up a small camera. A few clicks later and he turned it for him to see. 

    "This should be your next motif then. You are practically glowing" Seungyoon said as he looked at the picture of himself with the sun behind him. 

    "I’m not that big on self portraits" he began, but Seungyoon just shook his head. He wouldn’t take no for a no. 

They watched the sun go down completely before jumping down from the barricades. They walked to the elevator talking about how thankful they were that they didn’t have reporters following them everywhere. He pushed the elevator button reluctantly and then they waited in silence.

 

The silence continued inside the elevator. He pushed the button for his floor and Seungyoon for his. They exchanged a short glance before turning towards the exit door. 

He stepped out on the landing with a heavy heart, turning to say good bye he saw Seungyoon follow out after him. 

    "Mind if I see your painting of the river?" Seungyoon asked looking as calm and happy as ever. He nodded in agreement, still surprised by the fact that he had followed after him. 

 

Fumbling for his keys he grumbled to him self. He should have gone for the door with the codes or key card in stead. He suddenly felt so nervous, the tension between them had build up in seconds, but he weren’t sure if he was only imagining it, if it was the wine or if it was actually the case. 

Finally he found his key, opened the door, and let Seungyoon walk in before him. He followed, closed the door behind him and tucked the key into a different pocket than all his other stuff. He would not let that embarrassing scene happen again.  

 

When he looked up he found that he was standing with his face inches from Seungyoon's. Feeling his warm breath on his face a part of him began screaming that they were too close, while the other part of him chanted for him to kiss him already. 

He stood frozen however, unable to decide, everything suddenly felt so overwhelming. When Seungyoon looked away, he panicked, grabbed his shirt collar and pulled Seungyoon to him. 

Their lips crashed together clumsily prompted by his brisk action, but it didn’t take long before the rest of their bodies caught up. He felt overrun by emotion, but coming out at the top was cheer bliss. 

Feeling bolder he pushed against Seungyoon until he was backed up against the kitchen island. Seungyoon weren’t one to be pushed around though and he pulled himself up on the island, sitting with one leg on each side of him. Keeping him in place.

Seungyoon's cold hands caressing his neck and shoulders while they kissed sent chills down his spine. He finally dared lett go off Seungyoon’s shirt, letting his own hands follow up his chest around his neck, pulling him gently closer. From the moment they had met he had yearned to be closer, his senses now overflowing with what he had yearned for he felt so happy and so scared all at once. He didn’t want it to end. 

He didn’t want it to end!

 

A different kind of heat was spreading through him all of a sudden, his emotions having abruptly shifted into fear. Panicking he broke away. Looking down onto his hands he was shaking. They were glowing, pulsating with light a few sparks bouncing out of the light as if it was actual flames. 

    "What’s wro.. Oh" their eyes met as Seungyoon realized what was happening. He hopped down from the kitchen island and took a step towards him. He was reaching out his arm towards him and it looked like he was about to grab his hand. Instead he poked it, with one finger. He quickly retracted it and muttered something that sounded like ouch to himself. 

    "What did you think would happen?" he muttered, fighting to keep his emotions in check. He was terrified of what would happen next if he didn’t calm down soon. He always felt calmer around Seungyoon, so he never thought it could ever come to this. It was honestly so upsetting to him he felt a desperate urge to flee. 

    "Let me try something" Seungyoon said before holding out his hand again. The blue hue began spreading around them, he closed his eyes, waiting, but he didn’t feel any different. 

He opened his eyes again, the room was filled with the blue light now. Seeing it up close it was as if the air was filled with tiny particles, like specs of dust against the light. 

 

    "I’m not sick" he began, but then he felt it, like cool autumn air, flowing over every part of his skin. The hairs on his arms were rising and his legs felt like jelly. 

    "I’m not trying to heal you" Seungyoon replied just as their hands touched. He still felt hot, but not nearly as bad as earlier. He watched as the mist slowly dissolved around them, only a faint glow from his hands remained. "What changed? Was there something I did?" Seungyoon asked. 

They were still holding hands, but thinking back he suddenly felt embarrassed and pulled his hand back in reflex. 

    "To the contrary" he began, looking down at his feet as he said it. "It all changed when I started thinking that I didn’t want it to end. For you to leave.." his voice became weaker with every word he spoke. Saying it out loud sounded even worse than it did in his head.  

    "Oh" Seungyoon whispered, looking down at his own hands now. "So you instinctively figured self combustion would be a good way to keep me here" he mused, sounding surprisingly light hearted considering the topic. "It was more than hot enough to begin with" he continued. 

They both smiled at the last part as Seungyoon said it. 

    "That I can agree on" he replied, they exchanged another look and he wanted more than anything to go in for another kiss, but he really didn’t want to burn down the building. 

 

He found the light switch by the door and they were soon bathed in the warm light of his living room. 

The light also revealed the picture of the river he had painted previously. Seungyoon walked over to it inspecting it up close. 

    "It’s beautiful" he said hunching down to look at the brush . His heart swelled with pride as if he had never been praised for his work before. Seungyoon then spotted the stacks of paintings by the wall and asked if he could have a look. 

Still soaring on a cloud of approval he nodded. He walked around the kitchen island to get himself a glass of water and when he turned he saw Seungyoon studying a smaller painting in his hands. 

His heart sank as he saw it. The picture Seungyoon was looking at was the one of himself. Fearing what Seungyoon might say he bit his lip, waiting in silence. 

    "I really love it" Seungyoon said with a low voice. He loved it too, it was one of his favorite pieces because it captured the small warm smile that Seungyoon sometimes smiled for him when the two of them were together. The soft colors was an attempt at portraying some of his favorite things about him, the way he spoke, the way he moved and his laugh. He hoped that Seungyoon got that from the painting too, even if it was something even he himself had struggled to capture as he had been painting it. 

Letting out a sigh of relief he leaned on the kitchen island. Seungyoon kept looking through the rest of the art pieces before getting to his feet. Walking towards him he said:

    "Thank you for sharing your work with me" while smiling. "You are really talented" he continued and he felt Seungyoon’s hand touched his as he said it and it made his heart beat a lot harder in his chest.  

    "You really should get some rest, I think you might be running a fever" Seungyoon noted, hand still on his. 

    "You are probably right. About the rest part at least. I’m always running a temperature a few degrees above normal" he explained casually. 

Seungyoon nodded in silent agreement and looked towards the door for a moment. 

    "I’ll catch you later then. Rest well and don’t worry too much. You know where to find me. I’m not far away after all. Right, neighbor?" 

Then for just a second he felt the softest of kisses brush past his lips only for Seungyoon to step away again towards the door. And then he was gone.  

 

He dragged himself to the bedroom then, landing face down into his bedding. It was all too much for one heart to take in such a short space of time. Too much happiness, worry and confusion all at once. At least his happiness wasn’t too far away. 

    "Good night neighbor" he mumbled as he fell asleep. 

Worry he could do later. 

 

 


Authors note: I deleted the last part while editing on accident and couldn't for the life of me get it back T.T Thats what you get for writing in evernote I guess. It syncs with my phone so I can type on the go.. I had to rewrite the last part, didn't turn out too different from the original. What do you think? Excited for what's to come? I am!

If you ever want to chat about the story, minyoon (or any other Yoon ship, I'm guilty of shipping them all) or Winner in general feel free to message me or find me on twitter @Eiryia :) I also post about updating the story over there if you don't check AFF that often. 

Lastly I wanted to thank everyone who upvoted and commented on my story so far. It makes a lonely writers soul dance with joy. It means a lot! Really!  

Like this story? Give it an Upvote!
Thank you!
Eiryia
Putting together a playlist for Alight to listen to while I write. Here is a link in case you want to give it a listen while you read ^-^ <3
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6B3lYa1es7z9zudO8jpDDt?si=_gjmtiSpScu_lwo2HhgiCA

Comments

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mareyoonwg
#1
Chapter 12: I remember that when I read this fanfic for the first time, I was impressed with its writing and excited about the idea, for finally finding a minyoon fic in a superhero universe, and I decided to reread it and my reaction was the same as the first time
I always look forward to more with each chapter, and their relationship always leaves me touched, as well as blown away by the idea of their powers complementing each other so much. I always want a sequel for these two 😭

I love your writing so much, I'm always immersed in your fics, I still intend to reread your other fics, I really love each one of them, they always cheer me up when I'm sad or upset about something.
thank you for this amazing and brilliant story, Eiriya!~😊💙
lostrabbit
#2
Chapter 2: OwO Didn't expect they are going to get together this fast but I love it. Bring it on~ <3 Yoon has cool powers ^^ and I also wonder what Jinu's power is. UwU
Yellow-Dandelion
#3
Chapter 12: Finally it's the end, btw I love the ending so much.
Thank you for the story and I hope your surgery goes well and you'll get well soon. See you in your future MinYoon story Eiryia-nim. :)
lostrabbit
#4
Chapter 1: Whew! Just finished the first chapter ^^ It's my first time reading a super hero fanfic. Interesting~ I love how Yoon is the healer and I have so many questions like Mino...Love it~ Next chapter go! go!
tttanttttt #5
Chapter 12: thanks for the story and the sweet ending!! i hope your surgery goes well and see you here again soon :)
Yellow-Dandelion
#6
Chapter 11: It's beautiful and yeah they need a break in the next chapter and a date maybe. XD
Yellow-Dandelion
#7
Chapter 9: Okay what actually happened to Seungyoon, I'm curious and worried as . TT Mino will save him right?
Thanks for the update, and I can't wait to read the next chapter. :)
Siz123456 #8
Chapter 9: Omo..omo.. omooooo....? what happen to Seungyoon?
Now I can't wait for next episode! ???????
caseycrumb24
#9
Chapter 8: Keep being motivated. I like the story :).
Yellow-Dandelion
#10
Chapter 8: Ah this chapter feel so good, how Mino before hesistate on being a hero and now he take action by himself only. And more about Mino power, I'd love to see Mino discover more about his power. :)
Thank you for the update. :)