Ch.8

Up In Flames 

Returning to their bedroom both of them dropped back into the soft king size bed. He had made sure to open the balcony doors first though and feeling the warm sea breeze he definitely didn’t regret his decision. 

    "You like open spaces don’t you" Seungyoon said looking over at him with tired eyes. 

    "Yeah, it’s that sense of freedom they bring. Like you could go anywhere. I particularly like the water and looking out on seascapes" he replied turning a little towards Seungyoon so he could see him better. 

    "Why is that? Wouldn’t you worry it might just drown your flames" Seungyoon asked with a hint of amusement in his voice. 

    "To the contrary, I’ve always feared my powers and what they could do to others. Staying close to water meant that those people could be safe from me" he replied honestly. He had never put those feelings into words before, but it made sense now that he had said it. 

    "So that’s why you go to the river so often" Seungyoon said, reaching out a hand towards his face, brushing it softly against his cheek and jaw. Smiling into Seungyoon’s hand he nodded slightly. 

Seungyoon got up so that he was leaning on his elbow and leaned in for one of his super soft kisses. He soon wrapped his arm around Seungyoon so that he couldn’t pull away. Instead he broke the kiss and wriggled down a bit so that Mino got him nestled against his chest, shin resting on top of his head. 

The fluffy hair tickled his nose a little, but despite that was he the most content he had been in a very long time. Soon they were both fast asleep. 

They woke up to the banging on their hotel room door. Seunghoon was yelling for them to get moving after having tried to call them several times. 

    "If you want dinner before our flight we have to get moving. Now!" he yelled and banged the door one last time. 

    "Just in case you were wondering we are going home, so don’t get too worried" Jinwoo added, but Mino’s heart had already sunk way down into his stomach hearing Seunghoon say flight seconds before. 

    "Too late" he murmured into Seungyoon’s neck who had wormed himself upwards for another kiss after the rude awakening. 

    "We leaving already?" Seungyoon complained between placing peck like kisses on his lips. 

    "Ya, but first food" he replied. Biting down gently on Seungyoon’s bottom lip to make an end to this peck party that was going on. 

They packed up the few belongings they got laying around and headed down to the reception where the other two were waiting. 

    "What’s for dinner?" he asked casually while attempting to button up his shirt, having forgotten that it was Seungyoon’s and didn’t fit him properly. 

    "I vote for pizza" Seunghoon said enthusiastically while Jinwoo said he would like to try something authentic to Spain. Feeling slightly out of his depth when it came to Spanish cuisine just like on his date with Seungyoon at the French restaurant he sided with Seunghoon. 

Luckily for him had Seunghoon already found a much recommended Italian restaurant with top scores on trip advisor not far from their hotel. After a short discussion with Jinwoo had they ended on the Italian one simply because it was closer, they were starving and they were short on time.

Their pizza was just as great as the reviews had stated, but the mood was still not much to brag about. They ate in silence with the occasional short comment on how good the food was. 

    "When is our flight leaving?" Seungyoon asked before taking a big gulp of his iced water. 

    "You shouldn’t drink water with ice in it abroad. The ice is made from tap water" Jinwoo said casually drinking his soda from the bottle. 

Seungyoon looked to be thinking before taking another sip of his water. 

    "Have some faith in humanity. Maybe they consider tourists and make them from bottled water. You never know" Seungyoon finally replied.

Mino thought this little conversation was very telling of the two’s personalities despite it being only about ice cubes. Amused he eyed his iced cubes. He definitely didn’t want to get a stomach flu, but it was too late for worrying about that now. 

The flight back home went smoothly. Jinwoo filled them in on news of the situation around the world, overall was much unchanged, but there had been a few more failed attempts to deal with the creatures and a few successful ones. 

    "Japan cleared their territory, but no one knows how they did it" Jinwoo said closing his laptop. 

    "Huge mechas probably" Seunghoon said, pretending to be a robot firing from his arms. 

Mino found that hard to believe, but then again, every part of the world seemed to have their own unique approach to defending their citizens. 

Before landing they had agreed to meet up to practice their skills to improve their team work the next day. Mino had hoped to maybe go somewhere on his own, so he could fail as hard as he wanted without anyone watching him, but the other three profoundly refused that suggestion. 

Seeing Seungyoon so actively reject it he decided not to argue. He would just have to make a fool of himself once again. 

They arrived in the city pretty late, but he told Seungyoon to go on home without him because he wanted to stop by work. He felt bad for not having stopped by for so long and he hoped everything was coming along well for the exhibition.

The driver dropped him off by the front entrance to the gallery, everyone had gone home, but he got the entrance card with him and so he quietly let himself inn. 

Everyone had worked really hard for exhibition despite his absence and he found that quite touching even though he feared he might be replaceable. Maybe the fact that he was replaceable was a good thing? He sighed at the thought of that and sat down in his office chair. 

Piles of paperwork was still on his desk where he had left them and his co-workers had left him even more since he had last stopped by. 

Leaning back in his chair he stare up at the huge new art pieces now lining the wall opposite his desk. He had definitely made the right choice picking out these that night before everything had changed. He had sat down and made these decisions because Seungyoon had left for work, leaving him behind.. and he had gotten severely injured. 

He found it interesting how his love for art was unchanged although everything else in his life had changed so suddenly. 

Deciding he could get a little bit of work done before leaving he went through the pile of papers, responded to some emails and left some notes for his assistant. He never particularly enjoyed this part of the job before, but now it felt nice. It was familiar, safe and comfortable. Not life endangering in any kind of way. 

Walking out onto the street outside the gallery several hours later he thought the city was strangely lit for being this late. The sun should have set by now. He thought to himself walking around the corner of the block to get a better view of the skyline wondering if there was some grand event happening. 

He soon smelled it. The smell of smoke. Something was burning. Something big. 

He brought up his phone and checked the city newspaper. The main headline was indeed of a fire in an old apartment building only a few blocks from where he was standing. 

He started walking, soon following the low sound of sirens that seemed to be entering the city from every angle. 

Erupting into a quick jog he didn’t take long to arrive at the scene. It was overwhelming in every kind of way. People on the streets where screaming and crying, firetruck after firetruck was lined up along the street with ambulances driving from the site with sirens going of every minute. 

An old man was crying by the wall opposite from the building. Saying how his son and grandson lived on the fourth floor of the burning building. Another woman was crying for her mother who was in there. The more he walked the more he realized the building had caught fire so fast hardly anyone had managed to evacuate. 

Feeling a sudden desperate need to help he thought back to when he and Seunghoon had experimented with the lighter. Flames doesn’t hurt me he thought. 

    "Flames can’t hurt me" he said again in a low voice this time and bowed down under the taped up lines shutting of the site from the public. 

Realizing he still got his suit in his duffle bag he jumped behind an empty firetruck and put it on feeling like some kind of pretend idiot. 

    "How do the avengers do this with a straight face" he mumbled stepping out again from behind the firetruck. "At least now we know why they don’t have capes" he muttered. 

He found a side entrance of the building and were soon running up some narrow stairs. A couple of firemen met him on their way down telling him to get out, but they were too focused on the old woman they were carrying to actually argue with him. 

Soon he was out on a stairwell landing. The fire and heat didn’t bother him, the smoke however would probably still harm him in the long run. 

Just when he started to hesitate to what in the world he was doing he heard muffled screams. 

Running towards another stairwell he found a door completely covered in flames , squinting against the bright light he decided it was now or never. Putting his hand through the flames to turn the door handle. 

It was hot alright, but it didn’t hurt and his hand seemed fine enough. 

Bursting through the door he saw a middle-aged woman with her dog standing by the window at the opposite end of the room. She appeared to have gone into shock already and he couldn’t blame her. There was fire everywhere and dark smoke gathering fast creeping down towards them from the ceiling. 

Not thinking clearly he simply grabbed her and tried to pull her with him at first, but she was stiff with fear so he had to pick her up and run. Regretting his lack of strength training he struggled a bit to keep up the pace down the stairs, but they made it to the ground floor before he had to put her down. 

Pieces of the ceiling was falling around them and so he pushed her in front of him holding his other hand above them using the purple shield from Seunghoon as they went. 

Bursting out onto the street they were met by firemen with masks going in one last time. They watched him in disbelief as he ran past them, guiding the poor woman away from the fire. 

Ambulance people took care of her right away and so he turned to go back in when one of the firemen grabbed his arm. 

    "We don’t know how stable the building is. It could crumble at anytime" he said calmly but with a serious look on his face as if to urge him not to go in. He nodded to show he had heard him, but if the firemen had gone in then so would he. 

His breath felt slightly raspy in his chest now, but he told himself it was simply the strain from carrying the woman. 

Running up the main stairway this time he felt an increasing anger in his chest, he could wield fire, but wasn’t there a way for him to stop it? Frustrated he tried to focus at the flames around him, but they roared like never before. He felt as if they were taunting him, as if they knew there was a way, but refused to tell him. 

Then he heard it again, crying. He couldn’t tell for sure where it came from and so he had to make a calculated guess running through the first shut door to his left. 

A man was laying on the floor, appearing to be passed out, but beside him was a crying baby. Realizing he wouldn’t make it out with the man and the baby he felt his anger and frustration levels rise even more. 

Picking up the baby, cradling it tightly with one arm to his chest and holding up his shield against the flames he bent down quickly to check on the man. He weren’t dead, there was still a pulse. Despair came over him then and couldn’t find the strength to get up.

Watching the flames creep in on them from every angle he couldn’t tell which way was out anymore. The smoke was so heavy he doubted getting up again was a good idea anyway. The smoke would be the end of him.

His selfdoubt was literally screaming at him by now, why had he even tried to help? Now would they all suffocate and probably die very soon. Who was he to play the hero. Feeling his entire being tingle with raw emotion he let out a cry he never knew he would be capable of making. As he did had a wave of white light erupted around him, as if his emotions that previously had coated his entire being in despair had burst out around him. 

The light had wiped out the fires. 

Leaving them encased in smoke and darkness. Using his free hand he brought out the gentle light he had conjured when they had explored the subway back in Spain. 

He could see the entrance now. Everything was black and reeking with smoke, but there was not a single spark of flame left to be seen. Refusing to leave the man he pulled them all to the balcony entrance and kicked open the doors. They were several floors up, but at least there was fresh air. 

If only he could fly. He muttered, peering down onto the street far bellow. Then it dawned on him, he knew someone who got wings. Why was he so stupid not to think of it before. 

Pushing the buttons on his intercom at random until a beeping sound began he waited anxiously.

    "Don’t tell me that was you" Jinwoo said from the other end of the line. 

    "Just get here. Fast. I’m stuck high up with survivors, but I can’t carry them down" he said surprised at how bad his voice sounded. 

    "I’m already on my way" Jinwoo said in a kinder tone of voice.

The baby was wriggling in his arms for a moment and he was relieved that it seemed to be doing okay enough to complain about its discomfort. The man still had a steady pulse and so he stood up, keeping a close eye on the skies above for Jinwoo to appear. 

It didn’t take long before he could see the big grey wings of Jinwoo descending quickly towards them. Jinwoo helped the man down to the ambulance workers first, but was back for them within the minute. 

Yet again was he more relived than ever to find his feet on steady ground. He handed the baby over to Jinwoo who took it over to the ambulance workers. 

Feeling his legs buckle beneath him he sat down before his body did it for him. 

Only then did he take in the full view of the now flameless building. Heavy smoke was still rising everywhere, black soot covering brick and wood from where the flames had been up against the building previously. 

Jinwoo hunched down beside him, looking up at the building too. 

    "I can’t believe you put out the whole building in a moment" Jinwoo muttered while hunching down beside him, patting him absentmindedly on the shoulder while still taking in the view. 

    "I can’t either. I thought we were going to die in there, suffocate from the smoke. I couldn’t find the way out through the flames.." he explained, his voice cracking towards the end. His chest was heavy and he felt a bit like crying, mostly out of relief, but confusion and frustration were also going strong in his repertoire of raging emotions. 

Before he could say anymore had Jinwoo gotten to his feet again and reached out a hand towards him. Cameras was slowly turning towards them as the reporters dared move closer to the building. 

    "Let’s get you out of here" Jinwoo said in a assertive voice. He grabbed his hand and got up, but before he knew it were they far up in the sky. 

More than anything would he have liked to go home, but Jinwoo flew him back to the headquarters telling him several times how he had breathed in way too much smoke. 

Confident that Seungyoon could heal him no matter what he just focused on his breathing while the city flew by beneath them. His head was spinning now and although he told himself it was probably just his fear of heights was there a small voice in the back of his mind that told him differently. 

Struggling to keep his vision in focus he looked up at Jinwoo. He truly was so beautiful, even from the odd angle he was seeing him from currently being carried like some damsel in distress. 

    "Some hero I am" he mumbled before passing out. 

When he woke up was it to a room filled with blue light and to the low voice of Seunghoon talking from the other side of the room. 

    "Hi you" Seungyoon whispered. Clutching his hand tightly between both of his, bowing down to kiss it without breaking eye contact. 

    "How are you feeling?" Seungyoon asked motioning towards him to stop trying to sit up in the bed. Resting his head back onto the pillow he looked over at Seunghoon who just hung up his phone. 

Seunghoon walked over to them and sat down opposite Seungyoon. 

    "Do you know how many people you saved today? After Jinwoo flew you out of there have the firemen rescued five more people from the upper levels!" Seunghoon said sounding impressed.

    "It didn’t crumble and collapse then" he finally said. Amazed that his voice sounded completely normal again. 

    "Well, no. I’m sure it will be closed off, but I believe they are still searching it for survivors" Jinwoo shot in from a chair by the wall. 

Turning slightly in the bed he couldn’t help but to smile when he saw Jinwoo sitting there. Still slightly soot covered from having carried him there. 

    "Thank you for saving us" he said, wanting to express his gratitude right away. 

    "I only wished that you had alerted us that you were going in there to begin with. I was going to sleep, but checked the news and saw reports saying how a building had gone from being completely swallowed up by flames to not burning at all.." 

    "What I want to know is why we weren’t alerted of the fire to begin with" Seungyoon said obviously frustrated. "We could have helped" he continued, looking to Seunghoon for answers. 

    "They probably didn’t want to bother us further. We just arrived back here after all" he said simply, but Seunghoon didn’t look like he approved of this decision either. 

Seungyoon sighed and leaned back in his chair, but didn’t loosen his grip on Mino’s hand one bit. 

Closing his eyes Mino tried to not think about the fire too much, but the fact that he could put out fires was mindboggling to him. It made him wonder what else he could do. 

    "Do you want to rest? Should we leave you for a bit?" Seunghoon asked already getting to his feet. 

    "I want to go home really" he replied honestly, giving Seungyoon a quick look to see what he thought of this. 

    "If you feel up to it" Seungyoon simply said, giving him a warm smile.

It was almost five in the morning when they walked through the doors to his apartment. He was still wearing a hospital shirt and smelled of smoke, but he really couldn’t be bothered to deal with that now. 

    "Will you stay with me" he asked Seungyoon who just put his keys down on the kitchen island along with his slightly singed battle suit. 

    "As if I would leave you" Seungyoon said shaking his head in disbelief. 

He smiled at this. 

    "As if" he muttered and grabbed Seungyoon’s hand pulling him slowly with him towards the bedroom. There were many new and difficult situations to deal with in this new life of his, but at least now he didn’t have to sleep alone anymore. 

He didn’t have words for how much that meant to him in that moment as they crept into bed, peeling of their clothes half heartedly before falling asleep in each others arms yet another time.

Just as they closed their eyes and sleep whisked them away into nothingness could a low rumble be heard in the distance, but neither awoke as they were already too deep into dreamland to notice.  

Authors note: A bit more focus on Mino and his powers in this one. Interesting turn of events wouldn’t you agree? It’s not hard to imagine him as this kind of hero at all is it? Not for me at least ^-^ 

Thank you to every single one of you who have read all the way here to chapter 8! I hope you aren’t sick of this story yet! I usually stop by AFF everyday just to see the page views go up.. Just the thought of someone reading my writing makes me smile. Ahaha I guess I’m a simple soul when it comes to my writing. 

Bonus hearts goes to those who comment (or slide into my dms on twitter) I love you! You keep me motivated to keep writing when I’m doubting if it’s worth sharing.