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Renjun and I had been friends practically our whole lives, much to my family’s chagrin. They were your typical stuck up savant family who wanted nothing to do with normal humans. The more time he and I spend together, the stronger my feelings get towards him. I know it’s bad; I know my soul finder is out there; I know they will complete me and compliment my powers. But Renjun has my heart.
I’ve wanted to tell him for a while, that I can control fire with pyrokinesis. I’ve wanted to tell him I’m from a savant family. I’ve wanted to tell him I’m in love with him and right now seems like the time to do it. My parents are out of town on some ‘save-the-world’ mission and my sister is much less interested in me than she is with the soul finder connection programme our parents forbid us from using. Basically, we’ve both taken this opportunity to be rebellious in a very savant way. I send a text asking if he wants to come round, the immediate smiley face response warms my cheeks. I’d simp so hard for him if he let me… god. The smallest things he does make me want to kiss him and protect him. I just want to love him. I don’t care about my soul finder, because it’s not him. When Renjun gets here, Yeeun gets to the door before me. He shouts up the stairs something about my ‘boyfriend’ being here. Curse her for being able to read my mind. It’s my fault for not taking blocking training seriously, my walls were so easy to see through they may as well not be there. I meet Renjun halfway up the stairs, his cheeks are still slightly flushed from my sister’s statement.
“Let’s go to my room, where my IDIOT sister can’t disturb us.” He chuckles, which makes my heart soar.
“I heard that Jeno!” I telepathically respond with ‘that’s the whole point’. I can feel her roll her eyes in response. I shake my head and lead Renjun to my room. We sit on my bed and I feel the tension rising in me. He’s my best friend, even if he doesn’t feel the same way about me, hopefully I won’t lose him.
“You're awful quiet Jen, what’s up?”
“I’ve got something to, well things, to tell you. Please don’t hate me.”
“Where did you hide the body?” if I didn’t know him, I’d think he was joking.
“I haven’t killed anyone… yet, but I do have some things to get off my chest. I don’t know which will be easier…”
“Take a deep breath, I’m not going anywhere, whatever it is I still love you.” Saying we love each other is nothing new, but in this moment, it blooms hope within me.
“I… I think I, no I know I like you, as in more than a friend, and I totally understand if, you don’t feel the same way, but I hope we can still be friends.”
“I thought you’d never say that.”
“What?”
“Chenle’s been saying for weeks, he thought you liked me, I didn’t want to believe him, thought it was just him feeding my wishful thinking. I’ve had a crush on you for months, maybe even longer.”
“Can I kiss you?”
“Please.” I put my hands on his cheeks and slowly lean in, I close my eyes and just as my lips brush against his, Yeeun opens the door. We jump apart, my face feels like it’s on fire and Renjun’s blushing really hard. I don’t realise until it’s too late I’ve started a small fire on my bed.
“Shit.”
“I know you’re having a moment, but I could feel you losing control.” She throws me one of the small fire extinguishers by my door. “You’ve probably got some explaining to do.” And with that she leaves.
“What was that? Why is your bed on fire? Was it deliberate? Are you trying to hurt me?” I pull the pin from the extinguisher and put out the small blaze. I put the empty canister on my bedside table, knowing my parents will want to know what happened when they get back. I wish I could lie to them. But even when I try to put walls up with them, they can always break them down. Apparently, it’s some kind of parent privilege.
“First of all, I would never deliberately hurt you, or set my bed on fire for that matter. She’s right though, I do have quite a lot to explain. I probably won’t tell you everything all at once, but you have to know, before I tell you all this. You can tell no one. Not a single soul. Not Chenle; not Mark; not Hyuck; or Lucas; or even your parents. I’m risking a lot by telling you this, and if it gets out, I could risk losing my freedom or even my life, my family too.”
“You can trust me. Whatever it is, you’re still Jeno; you’re still my… boyfriend? If that’s what you wanted that is.”
“I do want that.”
“So, what’s your big secret fire boy.” I scrunch my face at the nickname.
"I’m a savant, we’re basically humans with a few extra evolutionary traits. All of us can talk telepathically with each other and we all have individual powers. I’m a pyrokinetic. That means I control fire, but you can probably tell, control isn’t my strong suit. The number of singe marks, hidden round my room is honestly embarrassing. My parents keep all the fire extinguishers we use in this mini ‘We’re ashamed of Jeno’ cabinet. There’s quite a few of my old soft toys down there, with body parts burnt off. I’ve never hurt another living thing though, just myself. Yeeun has healing powers and she’s always been much better than me at controlling things, so she’s been healing me since before I could walk. My parents got lucky with her and really unlucky with me.” Renjun just sits there with a shocked look on his face. “Sorry that was a lot of info, just thrown at you all at once, I understand completely if you never want to talk to me again.”
“We just started dating, I’m not breaking up with you. This might take some getting used to, I’m slightly scared but what you said is quite reassuring. I trust you and maybe I can help you to control your powers.”
“This might be too soon, but I love you.”
“I love you too, and it’s not too soon, we’ve been saying it platonically for years. This time I mean it all homo.”
“Did you just reverse no-homo me?” Renjun bursts into giggles and I can’t resist tackling him into a hug and peppering his face in kisses.