Park Chanyeol had always been different; his special ability unlike anything ever heard of before – he was a rare case to say the least.

—

The eighteen year old sat alone at the bus stop, waiting for a ride to his noon math class at the college a few blocks away. He knew he could walk like he did any other day, but it was blistering hot outside and he just didn’t feel like it; so, there he sat, waiting. Chanyeol had always hated waiting because it often led to him testing out his ability, stretching the limits on what he could and couldn’t do.

Running large, anxious hands over his dark jeans, he surveyed the area, making sure he was completely alone before he snapped his fingers once, twice, three times, chuckling slightly as a small flame ignited on his fingertips. Opening his hand slowly, the flame over to his palm where it grew larger the more he concentrated. The tall male knew he was not supposed to be doing this in public, but he was just so bored that he had nothing better to do. He let the flame die down after some time and went back to staring at the cars that whirled past his face, making bets with himself that the next vehicle would be green.

Just then, a tall man jogged up to him, panting hard and out of breath. “Please… tell me I haven’t… missed the bus,” he placed a hand over his chest, as if willing his heart rate to slow back down to a normal pace. “Well if you missed it, then I definitely missed it,” Chanyeol chuckled, and the other man flashed him a weary smile, opting to just sit and wait as well. Hell, he had no other choice but to wait.

“God dammit!”

“What’s wrong?”

“That car was red.”

“Oh.”

A few moments of comfortable silence passed before Chanyeol spotted the man next to him fooling with his lighter, obviously trying to light his cigarette. After a few failed attempts, he groaned and chucked it to the ground, kicking dirt at it for emphasis. “Stupid thing,” he grumbled, making a mental note to pick up a new one on the way home. “Well there goes that.”

“Do you need a light?” Chanyeol piped up even though this little voice in his head told him to keep his mouth shut. He never did listen to that voice, which was probably why he found himself in half the predicaments he was in. “You smoke?” the man asked, sounding almost shocked.

“Not exactly.”

Chanyeol peaked around again at the still vacant area. Focusing all of his energy, he smiled as a tiny flame ignited on a single fingertip in front of him, and he heard the man mutter a single “what the-“ before Chanyeol quickly lit his cigarette and put out the flame. “How did you…? What did you…? What?” the man faltered after one log drag. “I’m just a special snowflake,” Chanyeol laughed, loving freaking people out. After a hearing a stern, “no, Chanyeol, you may not set your brother on fire,” for most of his childhood, It was nice to control fire when and how he wanted now.

—

The bus soon arrived and Chanyeol stood up and waved goodbye to the man, almost forgetting that they were probably headed in the same direction.

“Kris,” the man spoke from the seat next to Chanyeol he took it upon himself to take. “What?” Chanyeol snapped back to reality from his space next to the window. “My name’s Kris,” he tried again, this time getting a smile and nod in return.

“Chanyeol. Park Chanyeol,” the latter replied like those silly James Bond movies he had loved to watch when he was younger.

—

Over the next few weeks, the pair grew closer than they ever thought possible; they stayed over at each others’ houses – to do manly things of course since they were such men, they went out for coffee together, and Chanyeol teased Kris with his ability, loving the way the taller male jumped as whatever he was holding suddenly caught fire, and Kris simply glared at Chanyeol before muttering a low, “put it out,” Chanyeol always complied, but not before falling over in a fit of laughter.

“Hey, Chanyeol,” Kris started from his position on Chanyeol’s bedroom floor. “Yes?” he answered as he continued to work on the calculus problem he had been stuck on for the last twenty minutes. “When did you discover your ability? What was your reaction?” Kris bombarded him with countless questions, curiosity taking over him in one big swoop. Chanyeol huffed, opting to give up on the damned problem for the time being as he spun around to face the man on the floor, simultaneously pushing his glasses up with one finger. “I was about… five? I think. I was playing outside and all of a sudden my body just started to feel really, really hot, it was almost unbearable. I tried anything and everything to make it stop, but nothing worked. Something clicked in my brain and told me to do this-“ he held up his right hand “and then this-“ he focused intently, watching as a large flame roared to life in front of him and Kris’ eyes grew wide. “I ran inside and showed my mom and that’s when she finally sat me down and explained. She told me that my great grandfather had this very ability, and it had been passed down to me!” Chanyeol clapped his hands together, destroying the flame and ending his speech before turning back to finish his work.

“Ugh!” he groaned twenty minutes later.

“Still stuck?”

“How many points do you think I would lose for setting my homework on fire?”

“Over two million.”

—

It was summer and school was finally out. Kris and Chanyeol sat in the bedroom playing video games – the same thing they had done for the past three weeks. “Let’s go camping,” Chanyeol suggested, not looking away from the flashing television screen. “Wanna go now?” Kris added with a chuckle as he beat Chanyeol at his own game, yet again. “Yeah, there’s nothing else to do,” the slightly shorter male sighed, snapping up a tiny fireball before tossing it back and forth between his hands.

—

The car was packed and the pair was ready to head out in a little under an hour. The drive to the campsite was short and painless, consisting of Chanyeol rambling on about the possibility of seeing dangerous wildlife and catching it to keep as a pet.

“So what did you think when I lit that cigarette for you when we first met?” Chanyeol asked from the passenger’s seat. “I thought you were ing insane,” Kris admitted, not taking his eyes off of the road; “it was pretty much the coolest thing I had ever seen in my life.”

Soon, the car was unpacked and the pair was enjoying themselves thoroughly. That night, the air was cold and Kris yawned with a big stretch, ready to tuck himself into the warm tent, but Chanyeol had other plans. “Wait, I want to show you something,” Chanyeol grinned as he pulled Kris through the forest and into a large clearing; “stay right there,” he called as he jogged about thirty feet away from Kris. “What are you-“ Kris began, but was quickly shut down when he saw the flame ignite in Chanyeol’s hand like it always did.

The flame cultivated in Chanyeol’s open palm before creeping up his arm and across his back. It spread up and out, and soon enough there was a large fire wall roaring tall and wide behind Chanyeol, and Kris could only stand and watch in awe, previously unaware his friend was capable of that much. “Come over here,” Chanyeol called, and Kris wasted no time in jogging over to him, jaw falling slack as he watched up close. “Touch it,” Chanyeol urged. Kris gaped, “Chanyeol, that’s fire,” he put emphasis on the last word as if the latter didn’t know that himself. Chanyeol chuckled, “it won’t hurt you if I’m controlling it.” Kris merely gulped as he reached out a shaky hand. It felt odd, strangely cool to the touch and inviting, but all too quickly it was gone, and the clearing was deathly silent again.

Chanyeol looked at him with that same goofy smile he always wore, but this time Kris saw something different in it.

Kris stepped forward and took Chanyeol’s hand in his, examining it as if it were some sort of foreign object. “fire,” he muttered once, and Chanyeol cocked an eyebrow. “Where are you going with this?”

“Fire,” Kris commanded this time, and smiled when both of their hands were suddenly ablaze. Kris stepped even closer and closed the gap between their lips, the sound cracking fire loud against his ear. Kris pulled away and looked at Chanyeol, who looked like he had just seen a ghost. “That was… wow,” he grinned. An unspoken commitment was formed; no labels and no questions asked. They smiled at each other before kissing again, this time more passionate as tongues danced together with the same intensity as the fire still burning by their sides. They pulled away, breathless and still wanting more.

Kris and Chanyeol walked back to their tent, hand in hand and still joined by the flame that brought them together.