*Last minute song I listened to while updating this chapter that fits oddly well with the vibe: Wicked Game- Ursine Vulpine
Seungmin stared at them. "I'm not even going to ask." He stepped back, opening the front door to his house wider to let the half-dressed, soot-covered mages inside.
"It's probably best not to," Minho agreed, still supporting Jisung as he led them over to the large lounge area.
"Jisung, you're injured. Minho, you've sustained some smoke damage.'
The water mage smiled. "Good, you noticed."
Jisung fell onto one of the sofas, groaning at the rough movement of his injuries. "Sorry, Seungmin. You lived the closest, and as you pointed out, we need some healing."
"Hang on, let me grab you some water and clothes." The healer quickly disappeared down the wide hallway that led to the rest of his house. Having the ability he did, Seungmin was probably one of the richest mages in Agrook. Jisung was a little jealous of that.
Minho splayed out on the floor by Jisung's feet, sighing heavily and dramatically. "What a morning."
Jisung folded his arms over himself, staring somewhere off to the side. He'd used a lot of power, that much was clear, but... he wasn't all that drained, which was strange. And why did his magic react like that after being locked away like that? Other mages didn't experience the same problem, and his fire only got restless when he didn't use it for several weeks. Was he really that dangerous? Was Ells right?
"Hey, don't make that face, darling."
"What face?" Jisung muttered, briefly glancing at the mage on the floor.
Minho sat up on his elbows. "I know you're not the smartest, so it's pretty obvious when you're actually making an effort to think."
"You're such an ass."
"Stop thinking so much."
"If I did that, I'd be like you." Jisung glanced away again. "Don't you realize that I'm in deep shit now?" Ells will probably just arrest me, and if I run he'll have all the more reason to."
Minho got up to sit beside Jisung. "I'm not going to let that happen."
"Yeah right, you've probably been praying for the moment I mess up enough to be taken in by Enforcement. I'll be out of your hair in no time."
Minho stared at him. "Do you really not remember the deal we made last night?"
Jisung tried to push his frustration down. "Of course I remember, I'm not completely incompetent. I just... It's bizarre to have you siding with me."
"Even if we didn't make that deal, I would still defend you in this case. It was mostly my fault this happened in the first place."
Jisung wasn't sure if he believed that, but oddly enough, he wanted to.
"You two are insane," Seungmin interrupted the scene as he returned with bundles of clothes and two glasses of water. "You fervently hate each other and yet here you are, stumbling in together like you just went through hell together."
Jisung raised an eyebrow. "How does that make us insane?"
Seungmin dropped the clothes between them. "I've known you for almost three years, and not a day has gone by that I haven't heard how much you would love to kill each other."
Minho grinned. "How do you know we weren't trying to kill each other?"
The healer paused, looking the pair of them up and down. "So Jisung was winning, huh?"
Jisung snickered and Minho waved a hand. "Whatever. We've just had a hell of a night... and morning."
Seungmin shook his head. "If you were having sex, it looks like you two need to calm it down a little."
Jisung choked on the water he was just taking a drink of, spluttering a little as his eyes grew to the size of melons. "What the hell?"
Minho was laughing now, which didn't help their case.
Seungmin shrugged. "What else am I supposed to think? You're both barely dressed, and um, you have a few fading marks, Jisung."
At that, the fire mage shot a livid glare at Minho.
Minho flinched, holding his hands up in surrender. "What?"
"What do you mean, 'what'?" Jisung hissed. "This is your fault."
"Whoa, it's true?"
Jisung's head snapped back to Seungmin. "We aren't like this because of that, Seungmin."
"Yeah, that happened a few days ago," Minho added, still snickering.
Seungmin crouched beside Jisung, shaking his head once again. "Definitely crazy." His hands glowed subtly as his magic came to life.
The fire mage closed his eyes, breathing a bit easier now that soothing magic was working wonders. No other healer had comforting magic like Seungmin.
"So what happened?"
Minho tilted his head. "I thought you weren't going to ask."
"I've never seen you two out of your element, of course I'm going to ask."
Oh dear.
Jisung met Minho's eyes, mouthing, "Well?"
"Well what?" he mouthed back.
Jisung rolled his eyes and pointedly gestured to Seungmin, who thankfully had his eyes closed in concentration.
Minho gave him another odd look in response and then cleared his throat. "Let's just say Jisung and I had an interesting night."
"Running from criminals," Jisung filled in, tired of dancing around the topic. Lying wasn't going to work on Seungmin.
The water mage held his hands up in a motion of 'what are you doing?'
Seungmin opened his eyes. "Okay, and how did you end up among flames?"
Guilt wrapped around Jisung's chest like vines covered in thorns. "I burned Minho's apartment down."
A flat stare. "Are you serious?"
"Unfortunately."
"None of this is lining up."
Minho sighed. "Jisung was following-"
"Criminals," Jisung hastily filled in. "Without any jobs in Agrook, I've been antsy." He was a little surprised at himself for covering for Minho so easily, but he pushed that aside. "I figured if I did something about some lowlifes, I'd be able to make some money out of it. I got mixed up in a bigger organization than I thought and Minho showed up in time to save my ass." It wasn't all a total lie, at the very least.
"They managed to get an anti-magic chain on my wrist, but we weren't able to get it off until this morning. When Minho took it off..." Jisung's brow furrowed. "I sort of lost control. I passed out and my magic kept going."
A stiff silence filled the room.
Seungmin sat back. "Wait, you're affected by chains like that?"
Jisung nodded. "I guess so. "It's not the first time I experienced something like that."
Another silence.
"Are you cursed?"
"Huh?"
Seungmin stepped over Jisung's legs to crouch beside Minho and heal him. "I guess it could be considered a blessing or a curse. The only time something is so out of the ordinary when it comes to magic is due to stronger magic cast by sorcerers."
"Hang on," Jisung said, holding a hand up. "Sorcerers are mages that pretty much have all power, right? There hasn't been one in a hundred years, how would one curse or bless me?"
"There hasn't been one on record in the last hundred years," Seungmin corrected, hands glowing as he healed Minho. "So technically, one could very easily be out there right now."
Jisung let out a dry laugh. "Seungmin, I only know people in the guild, I don't exactly go out of my way to socialize beyond that."
The healer shrugged. "Well, I don't know what else could cause that. Magic restraints are designed very specifically, so to react like that to them is very out of place."
Jisung let that soak in. And then he noticed Minho staring at him like he was realizing something. "What?"
The water mage shrugged. "I was just thinking that in a way, you have a secret weapon."
"Why do you say that?"
"Well, think about it. I've gone against your fire plenty of times, and I don't think it's ever been that hot before. You destroyed a small building within two minutes, and here you are, not even drained."
Seungmin nodded. "He does make a point."
Jisung grabbed some of the clothes sitting beside him and slowly stood up, still partially expecting pain as he did. "Well secret weapon or not, I'll probably be spending the rest of my days in cuffs anyway. I'm going to wash up and change. Thanks, Seungmin." He could feel the other mages watching him as he disappeared down the hall, but he ignored them. He was used to dealing with unpleasant circumstances, and he didn't need anyone's sympathy.
✿✿✿
Just as Jisung expected, two Enforcers were waiting in front of his apartment, and they escorted him to the guild right away, only allowing the fire mage to walk unrestrained since he was cooperating. He was a little surprised that they were taking him to his guild master first, rather than just arresting him. Red magic types were typically never given a chance after messing up so badly.
Now, Jisung felt like he was on the verge of suffocating in Chan's office, sitting on a chair by the wall as Ells and Chan argued.
"He has not denied burning it to the ground, the only reasonable course of action is to have him taken in."
"And it was an accident, nothing more."
"An accident he caused with his magic falling out of his control. It all comes down to his lack of control."
"I will not have you speak so lowly of one of my top mages," Chan snapped, voice filled with cold authority. "Passing out makes it rather impossible to control anything, wouldn't you agree?"
Ells went quiet, briefly closing his eyes as if gathering his patience. He straightened his spine stiffly. "We can't just let this go, guild master. Destruction of property from any mage warrants disciplinary action."
"It was my property, so don't you think I get a say in that?"
Jisung jumped at Minho's sudden voice as the water mage appeared in the doorway. He didn't even notice the door opening.
Ells bristled. "You don't have any say in this, Mage Minho."
"Actually, I do," Minho countered easily. He stepped inside and closed the door before leaning back against it, arms crossing over his chest. "I owned that apartment, I wasn't renting it. Honestly, it's a blessing that place burned down, I've been wanting an upgrade."
Ells slammed his fist on Chan's desk. "Enough of this!" He pointed at Jisung. "That mage is dangerous and always has been. Who knows what else he'll 'accidentally' destroy."
Minho was suddenly moving forward, and Chan threw his arm out, stopping him with his magic. "Say that again," Minho dared, mismatched eyes glinting, lips curved in a vicious smile.
"Are you threatening me?"
The dangerous smile grew. "Oh, how could I? According to you, the only threat here is Mage Jisung. There's no way I could possibly do anything to you."
"Minho," Chan warned.
The water mage didn't budge, his eyes still glued to the Enforcer. "If you're looking for someone deadly, you're looking in all the wrong places."
Jisung was frozen in his seat, so thrown by Minho's behavior that he didn't know how to react. Minho had already tried defending him earlier, but Jisung was sure that was all he would do after Ells forbade him from entering the office for this 'discussion' as he'd called it.
Now it was more like Minho was... protecting him.
And that made Jisung feel weird.
Ells stepped back, adjusting the spectacles he wore. "Mage Jisung will no longer be permitted to stay alone for the next month at least, and his working privileges are revoked until further notice."
Jisung was going to vomit. Or pass out. Maybe both, that way he could escape the embarrassment of vomiting in front of everyone.
"Enforcer-"
"This is final," Ells cut Chan off, pulling a sheet from the folder he was always carrying. He set the parchment on the desk and then stamped it with the seal on his ring. "Just be grateful I'm not arresting you, Mage Jisung."
Jisung finally got his voice to work, and he jumped to his feet. "So what, you expect me to starve? And you really expect someone to babysit me like a child? Good luck finding someone willing."
Ells tucked his folder under his arm. "You'll be staying with me where I can keep an eye on you more closely."
All three mages stared at the Enforcer in surprise and confusion. Ells ignored them and moved toward Jisung.
Minho was in front of Jisung in the blink of an eye, one of his arms circling back to hold the fire mage behind him. "Not happening."
Jisung, once again, froze. What's with him today?
"He cannot be trusted alone, not for the time being, so he will be staying with me."
Minho wasn't moving. "I'll stay with him."
"You still have obligations, Mage Minho."
"And you don't?"
"I have a responsibility to stay here until the Unseen are no longer a threat, I am the only one able to keep an eye on him without neglecting my duties."
Minho's head tilted. "Then you'll have to charge me with kidnapping, because he's not going anywhere."
For a moment Jisung wondered if Minho was merely trying to keep him close because of what happened the night before. He was practically forcing Jisung to stay with him anyway, so was that his reason behind this, or... No, that was definitely it.
Jisung pushed Minho away and stepped off to the side. "I'm not the pet of a divorced couple, so you can stop talking about me like I am. Just put me on house arrest and save yourself a headache."
Ells faced him, jaw tight. Was his neck turning a little red? "House arrest will do no good if you burn another building to the ground. As an Enforcer, I have the proper tools and precautions set in place to handle any magical threat, so if anything happens, I will be able to take care of it."
Jisung's demeanor turned ice cold. "I'd prefer prison, thank you very much."
Chan seemed to have enough of this whole ordeal. "Enforcer Ells, this is very impractical. We have plenty of rooms here at the dorms, Jisung can-"
"I said I'll stay with him," Minho butted in yet again. "Not only will he be supervised like you want, he'll be stuck with someone that can extinguish his magic." The water mage finally met Jisung's eyes. "It's the least he can deal with while I find another place to live."
Smoke curled out of Jisung's mouth and he clamped his jaw shut, willing himself not to blow up literally and figuratively. He was tired of Ells and Minho.
Ells looked ready to argue again, but Chan wasn't having it. "Let's agree to that. It'll kill two birds with one stone."
"But-"
"Enforcer," Chan's voice made the other three men flinch, "I will contact your commanding officer about questionable conduct if you argue about this any further. My mage staying with you has nothing to do with lawful punishment. And if I may be so bold, I do not trust officers that are so clearly prejudiced against certain magic types."
Jisung gave his guild master a grateful nod before setting his gaze back on Ells. "Am I free to go, sir?"
Ells' neck was definitely turning darker. "I will not let things slide any more, Mage Jisung. I'll be keeping a closer eye on you from now on."
"Great," Jisung grit out. He turned on his heel and stormed out of the office, heat curling in his stomach and crawling up his spine. He'd just burned a building to the ground, but his magic was begging to be unleashed. The freedom he worked so hard to gain was taken away little by little, and he wondered if it was only a matter of time before he was truly locked away for good. One more slip-up would likely lead to that outcome.
"Jisung!" Minho caught up to him nearly a block from the guild, but the fire mage didn't bother to slow down.
"What was that all about, Minho?"
"You're welcome."
"Can you not be so difficult right now?"
Minho scoffed. "I'm being difficult? Do you want to live with Ells?"
"I don't want to live with either of you. We agreed to help each other out a little, but that was taking it a little too far." Why am I upset about this?
"What do you mean?"
Jisung rolled his eyes, feeling his blood begin to boil over. "I mean you need to stop sticking your nose where it doesn't belong."
"Oh, don't give me that, Jisung. I told you I wouldn't let Ells fuck everything up, I was trying to keep my word."
"Then why were you so... so..."
"So what?'
Jisung screeched to a halt. "Why are you so confusing?!" he burst out. "Why aren't you celebrating the fact that I'm falling apart?!"
"Because I'm trying to protect you!"
"Stop that!"
"Stop what?"
"Stop confusing me, Minho!" Jisung shoved his hands into his hair, turning his head away as he released a sharp breath. His chest felt tight. "We've been fighting tooth and nail for almost three years, and now you're doing this?"
Minho moved into Jisung's line of vision, trying to catch his eye. "You mean helping you?"
"Yes! You're Minho, we do everything to make each other miserable, of course I'm confused."
"Look at me."
"No." Jisung continued down the street. "I don't care if you're supposed to babysit me now, please just give me some space for a minute."
Minho caught Jisung's wrist and backed him against the side of a building, and like magnets, their gazes locked. "Will you stop running away from me for once?" the water mage snapped.
Jisung felt trapped under those mismatched eyes, and he swallowed dryly. "Minho-"
"Have you ever considered that I might not hate you?"
Jisung's lungs ran out of air.
Minho's eyes burned into his. "You piss me off to no end. You test me at every turn, but damn it, Jisung, I can't seem to hate you."
"But-"
"You're stubborn, impossible, cocky, and yet your fire draws me in no matter how much it burns me."
Jisung couldn't move under Minho's darkened gaze, his heart pounding in his ears.
"Protecting you is all I can do, and that's what I'm going to do, darling, no matter how much you hate it."
------------------------- AAAAHH These last few lines... man, I've been so excited to publish them! >0< Okay, I'm calm now. Totally. (This is why enemies to lovers is the best lol).
Be ready for the next few chapters, things are about to get more interesting.
Also, what do yall think of Ells? I'm the author, and I'm still just... off-put by him XD
Love yall! Thanks for reading :p