Archive of Our Own ^beta

"I'm so glad we are finally moving on to doing stuff." Jeongin has a skip in his step as they walk toward their class. "Don't get me wrong, reading and learning about the gods and how demigods develop their abilities and like playing sports was interesting too, though I didn't like reading that many books, but we came here to find out what Seungmin’s abilities are and we're more than a year in and we still know nothing!"

Felix, Jeongin's roommate, and Hyunjin, Seungmin and Jeongin's childhood friend, chuckle at Jeongin's rambling, and Seungmin rolls his eyes fondly as well. 

"Well, if you paid attention the past year, you know that some abilities can be dormant and dangerous, so you need to be prepared before you recklessly try out whatever." He bumps his shoulder against Jeongin's, and Hyunjin huffs. 

"True, but what could possibly be a dangerous dormant ability of the son of the goddess of wisdom?" Hyunjin jokes, making Seungmin laugh. "Also, theory and breathing exercises are good and it's super interesting, but it's probably not going to make me suddenly be excited to bend and shape metals." 

Seungmin chuckles at that, knowing that his friends don’t really like their own abilities. "Are practical lessons going to make that better, then? You basically only came here to hang with us, read books and play sports." 

“True,” Hyunjin laughs and leans a little into Seungmin’s space as they continue walking to their first practical class and talk about their expectations. 

Jeongin, Seungmin, and Hyunjin all signed up for the demigods' college together both because it's kind of something every demigod does (because having one human parent and one godly parent makes it so that both can’t really help you with your abilities), and because they want to find out what abilities Seungmin has. Every demigod is different, some have obvious abilities taken from their godly parent that already present basically from birth on like superstrength, never getting drunk like Felix, or Jeongin’s ability to feel it when someone in his vicinity feels any kind of love, some abilities stay dormant for a few years like Hyunjin’s metal bending powers (though as a kid he wouldn’t have use of it anyway), and some stay dormant until something happens to sort of unlock them, which they suspect is happening with Seungmin. 

Often demigods also have multiple abilities and traits and they can be subtle, so it could be that Seungmin just doesn’t know what his ability is even though it is there (they suspect his ability to learn things quickly might be enhanced), but it’s all uncertain, so that’s why they’re here. Hyunjin and Jeongin both don’t really like their abilities, Hyunjin not really knowing what to do with his, and Jeongin doesn’t like that he can feel other’s intimate emotions (and him being asexual doesn’t help with that), but they both agreed to accompany Seungmin to the college to be able to control and perhaps appreciate their abilities better. 

There, Seungmin and Hyunjin were lucky enough to be able to room together — Seungmin was surprised that Jeongin let them room together when Seungmin offered to let him and Hyunjin go together because they’re shyer with strangers than Seungmin is, but Jeongin insisted that he was fine with it and said that Seungmin is better at handling Hyunjin in mornings (though it probably also has to do with the fact that Jeongin knows about Seungmin’s feelings for Hyunjin) — and Jeongin was hesitant to hear he would room with the son of the god of wine (alcohol, basically) and pleasure, but Felix turned out to be an absolute sweetheart. On top of that, they met other kind demigods in their classes, so it has been fun already, even if they mostly had theory classes until now. 

They had a few practical classes too, some were general, but it was mostly divided into different categories, like exercise and sports for combat or physical abilities, more psychology and touch based for mental abilities like Jeongin’s, Seungmin’s, and Felix joined there too, and scientific for nature and material based abilities like Hyunjin’s. You could sign up for the ones you thought would fit you and also the ones you just find interesting, so Hyunjin joined the sports classes too, and like that they got even closer to their new friends.

As they get to their class, Seungmin gives Hyunjin one last touch to his arm, just because he can and sort of to wish him good luck, before they head to their respective places to practice their abilities (it’s again divided into the same sort of categories, but it’s only so that you can talk to other students and get their opinions and tips since there aren’t enough teaching assistants to help everyone individually). 

Seungmin stays close to Jeongin and Felix, but he tries to figure out what his ability is on his own. Even after all the theory classes and mind exercises, Seungmin has no clue what his ability would be as the son of the goddess of wisdom. Maybe he’s a bit faster with reading things, maybe he picks up things faster when he wants to learn something, but other than that? He has no idea. It’s not like he has any great philosophical or scientific eureka moments like his mother does, nor does he think he’s particularly good at teaching others like she is, but they’ve learned that sometimes your abilities don’t have to exactly match your parent’s, so it could just be anything slightly related to wisdom. 

Seungmin sighs in defeat after more than half an hour of fruitlessly trying things, and he glances over to see Jeongin go around and ask others to think about things that make them feel different kinds of love, and Hyunjin is playing with a piece of metal, looking bored as he bends it into different shapes. Seungmin thinks it’s sweet that Hyunjin joined them at the college even if he doesn’t really use his ability often other than for shaping his earrings the way he wants or when making friendship bracelets. They thought he could maybe learn new ways how to use it or even discover a new ability, but perhaps that still needs some time. Seungmin knows that Hyunjin is a bit envious of others’ abilities, but he hopes that Hyunjin can somehow learn to embrace his own, or see that he doesn’t need a cool ability to be an amazing person.

And, no, Seungmin doesn't only think so because he's in love with his friend, it's also just because he wants to see Hyunjin happy in general and he cares for him a lot also platonically. Sometimes he wonders if Jeongin would be able to tell that he's in love with Hyunjin just from feeling it with his ability (he knows from Seungmin telling him already), but he also knows that Jeongin finds it difficult to distinguish between different kinds of love and he doesn’t really want to make assumptions about other people's love business, even if they are his friends—

“Are you figuring it out a little, Seungmin?” Seungmin is startled out of his thoughts by one of the teaching assistants, Mina, who is the daughter of the god of the mind and soul, so she helps students with more psychological types of abilities. Seungmin shakes his head and tells her everything he tried so far, at which she hums in thought. 

"That makes things difficult…" she trails off and taps her foot on the floor a few times before she looks at Seungmin. "There could be some kind of block preventing your ability from presenting, I've heard of that happening before, and sometimes hypnosis helps, so if you want, I can try that?" 

Seungmin’s eyes widen a little, and he wonders what kind of block his brain has put on his ability for it to have to be lifted by hypnosis, but he also just wants to know what his ability is — it can't be something bad, right? Seungmin can’t think of anything related to wisdom that would be an undesirable ability, and he trusts Mina, so he says that he wants to try it. 

Mina sits in front of him and talks him through what she will do, which is kind of vague, but Seungmin doesn’t know a lot about these kinds of things, so he just lets her do her thing. Soon enough, Seungmin can feel himself being put into a daze, losing his control over his mind, and he doesn’t process whatever happens until Mina snaps her fingers and Seungmin jolts in his chair. 

He winces and covers his ears when suddenly a cacophony of voices plagues him, but it doesn’t work, no matter how hard he pushes his palms on his ears. He vaguely feels a hand on his arm, but he doesn’t consciously process it until the voices stop, just as suddenly as they came. He takes a breath in relief and he finally hears Mina’s worried voice. 

“What is happening, Seungmin? Did the hypnosis go wrong?” she asks, and Seungmin shakes his head and shrugs at the same time. 

“I… I’m not sure? I suddenly heard a lot of voices talking through each other when you stopped the hypnosis, but now it has stopped,” he explains, and Mina’s worried frown turns more thoughtful. 

‘Mind reading?’ Seungmin hears her voice, but her lips don’t move, and his eyes widen simultaneously with hers. She stays silent for another moment, but she looks at Seungmin with an anticipating look before she frowns and speaks,

“I think it might be that you can read minds, but it doesn’t seem like you heard all my thoughts,” she says. “Because just now I tried to communicate with my thoughts that you would nod if you could hear me think, but it could very well just be that you can’t control it that well yet. That’s only understandable if it has been dormant for this long.” 

“Yeah, could be…” Seungmin trails off, needing a minute to process this. ‘ He doesn’t look very happy about it,’ he hears Mina think, and… no, Seungmin isn’t necessarily happy about it. “But mind reading? For a demigod of wisdom? I feel like it would fit you more.”

Mina chuckles and shrugs. “Yeah, you’d think so, but sometimes demigod abilities can be weird. I can give you some tips on how to start practicing control, though. If you can control it, you can just choose to not use your ability, but it definitely takes practice.” 

Seungmin presses his lips together, hearing some random snippets of Mina’s thoughts between his own, and he accepts her offer. He gets why his brain blocked this ability, because even though he only has had it for a few minutes, he doesn’t like randomly hearing others’ thoughts, and he now gets why Jeongin doesn’t really like his ability too, because it feels like he’s intruding on people’s privacy. 

Mina helps him get on his way with practicing before she leaves to help others, and boy it’s mentally exhausting. Seungmin is already somewhat able to kind of block out the thoughts of others and he was able to make himself hear a bit of Jeongin’s thoughts (though he didn’t understand a thing about them), but as soon as he doesn’t put in any conscious effort into controlling his ability, he keeps hearing random thoughts. Mostly those thoughts are from the people standing closest to him, so it’s luckily not a soup of different people talking through each other, but it’s still annoying—

“Hey, Minnie.” Hyunjin suddenly startles him out of his thoughts. “I’m bored and Jeongin doesn’t let me bother him.” 

Seungmin chuckles and Hyunjin smiles — ‘He’s so cute! I love his smile’ — his thoughts making Seungmin’s heart skip a beat and his breath hitch. He quickly schools his expression and hopes Hyunjin didn’t notice anything, though he should probably tell him about his ability sometime. 

“And who says I would let you bother me instead?” Seungmin retorts to distract from his reddening ears, and he’s happy to see that he can make Hyunjin bark out a laugh as always. 

“Me, because you’re less mean than Innie is?” Hyunjin looks at him pleadingly and Seungmin can’t hold back a smile, because unless he really is busy, he’d never decline an opportunity to hang with Hyunjin, and he’s kind of tired from using his brain to practice his ability anyway. “And I want to know how it’s going with you!” ‘And I don’t want to watch the others with cool powers anymore’ 

Seungmin’s chest tightens a little at his friend’s thoughts, though he could have read it off Hyunjin’s face as well. 

“Well, I appreciate that you find possibly watching me try to find out my ability more interesting than literally anything else.” 

He cringes at his own words — he hoped he could have said something a little more encouraging, and he internally curses himself for being so bad at talking about his feelings. He is good at talking about anything else (which may also be part of him being a demigod of wisdom), but feelings and emotions are a whole different difficulty, and he always gets embarrassed to admit that he feels. He really admires Hyunjin (and Felix, too) for being able to do it so easily.

Despite Seungmin’s failed attempt to say something sweet, Hyunjin still laughs at him and doesn’t seem to blame him. ‘I could watch you do nothing all day and I’d be fine with it’ is what Seungmin hears Hyunjin think, but what he says a few beats later is,

“So you didn’t find out any ability yet? Mina couldn’t help you either?” 

Seungmin blushes at Hyunjin’s thoughts and hopes Hyunjin won’t notice (or if he does, he’ll think it’s because Seungmin realized Hyunjin was watching him practice — because that really does contribute to Seungmin feeling a bit embarrassed). “I– I did actually find it out— but I just said that because I assumed you didn’t know that.” 

“Wait— Really? You did find it out?!” Hyunjin is fortunately too distracted by the news to focus on Seungmin’s weird reactions. “And you didn’t come to tell us immediately?”

“I wanted to use this time to practice it first, you guys would find out soon anyway,” Seungmin huffs and rolls his eyes, his blush still persisting. He’s a bit nervous about telling his friends (and of course he wasn’t able to say that, but Hyunjin can probably tell), because although he trusts them, he hopes they won’t feel weird about it. “Mina did help me, she did some hypnosis which somehow unlocked my ability to… to uh— read minds.” 

“Oh wow!” Hyunjin gasps, eyes wide. Seungmin can hear thoughts, but it’s all unintelligible (Mina said that he can get better at deciphering thoughts with practice too, but Seungmin isn’t sure if he even wants that). “I wouldn’t have expected that, but it’s great that you finally know what it is, right? What do you think?”

Seungmin shrugs and runs a hand through his hair. “I… To be honest, I don’t really like it. It feels like I’m being intrusive and because I’m not good at controlling it, I keep hearing people’s thoughts at random moments.” 

Hyunjin huffs and rubs a hand along Seungmin’s shoulder. “Welcome to the club. I guess I wouldn’t really know what to do with mind reading except for intruding and finding out what’s the tea either.” He chuckles at himself and Seungmin smiles as well. “Did you hear some of my thoughts just now?” 

"Uhm… yeah, I did. About how you don't want to watch others using their powers anymore and about how you…" He clears his throat as his heart pounds in his ears. "How you wouldn’t mind watching me do nothing." 

Hyunjin flushes as well and scratches his neck bashfully. "Ah— okay, well… I trust you to not, like, take advantage of hearing my thoughts accidentally, and, yeah, it's also the truth, so it's fine that you heard it." 

That makes Seungmin’s blush deepen even more and he's unable to quiet down the butterflies making a fuzz in his stomach. 'I just hope that he doesn't accidentally hear about my—' 

Seungmin gasps and strains to block his ability, and Hyunjin looks shocked and a little afraid. 

"Did you—" "No, I didn't hear anything. I tried to stop it immediately. I'm sorry." 

Hyunjin lets out a breath of relief. "Okay, uhm— thank you for stopping it." 

"I'll try to control it better," Seungmin exhales, and Hyunjin shakes his head. 

"It's okay. I can imagine that it’s difficult when you just found out about your ability an hour or so ago, so I don't blame you if you accidentally hear something you shouldn't have." 'And I shouldn't think about it. Don't think about it, don't think about it. Seungmin—' 

Seungmin strains to stop his power there again, however damned curious he is about what Hyunjin thought about him. He shouldn't take advantage of his ability. This is going to be exhausting, huh? 

Fortunately, his friends are lighthearted about it and ask Seungmin to read each other’s or even their own minds for fun during the break, which makes Seungmin accept his ability a bit more, but they also assure him that they know it can happen that Seungmin accidentally reads their minds and they say they’re fine with it and they trust him. 

After the practice classes, Hyunjin goes to play sports with Chan (the son of the goddess of water), Jisung (the son of the god of music), and some others, and Jeongin and Felix will go watch together with the rest of their friends. Seungmin usually stays to watch as well, but he has a headache from practicing his ability and hearing thoughts all day, so he tells his friends he’ll skip watching this time. 

‘It’ll probably be good for him to get some rest from all the thoughts’ ‘get well soon, Minnie’ he hears Hyunjin think as he gives Seungmin a hug, and Seungmin can’t help but smile at how Hyunjin knows him so well and cares for him even in his mind. 

As soon as he’s back in his room, he throws himself on his bed with a deep sigh, happy to get a break from hearing others’ thoughts constantly. He closes his eyes and probably falls asleep for a while, because he feels both groggy and better when he opens his eyes again. 

He gets something to drink and notices it’s already dinner time, so he should probably start making something for himself and Hyunjin since the latter hasn’t returned yet. They both suck at cooking, but they either take turns or do it together, and that works most days. If they’re really tired they order something, but usually Seungmin manages to convince Hyunjin to make something simple together. 

He’s too hungry to wait for Hyunjin to come back when he’s done with dinner, but he knows that Hyunjin won’t mind, and Seungmin can still keep him company as Hyunjin eats, even if he has already eaten himself. It’s a bit odd that Hyunjin hasn’t returned yet, but Seungmin knows that they can all get wrapped up in playing sports and talking after, so he isn’t too concerned. 

When he’s done eating, though, he does decide to go out and maybe see if Jeongin and Felix have already returned to their room. As soon as he’s out, he sees Jeongin and Felix walking back to their room, Felix having an arm slung around Jeongin’s shoulders and seemingly joking around with him. ‘If Felix starts feeling any more love than he already feels right now, I think I might explode’ Seungmin hears Jeongin think, and Seungmin had almost forgotten about his ability until now. 

For a second he wonders in what way he should interpret Jeongin’s thoughts, but then he realizes that he probably shouldn’t think about that at all, and he focuses on what he was planning to do when he left his room.

“Innie! Lix! Hey,” he greets them, and Jeongin jolts a little in shock, which makes Seungmin chuckle. “How was it? Seems like you guys had fun if you’re back this late.” 

“Yeah! We went home earlier than the rest, but I think they said they’d wrap up soon as well, so they’re probably coming back soon,” Felix answers before he shows a bag he’s carrying in his free hand. “Jeongin and I picked up some groceries on the way, though, and it took a while, so they should be either showering or already heading back.” ‘Innie accidentally dropped a pot of sauce and he was so embarrassed, so I probably shouldn’t mention that. He was really cute, too, though’ 

“How are you feeling, by the way? How is your headache?” 

Seungmin suppresses a snort at Felix’s thoughts — he’ll tell Jeongin that he heard that later — and he takes a second to reply to Felix’s question. “I’m feeling better after having had some rest, thanks. I…” 

He trails off when he notices something outside, a cloud of black smoke rising from somewhere near the college. Jeongin and Felix frown until they turn around towards the windows and see the smoke as well. They hurry over to the window to take a better look, and, indeed, the smoke is coming from one of the college buildings. Seungmin’s heart drops and he immediately checks if it’s anywhere near where Hyunjin, Chan, Jisung, Minho, and Changbin are, and he’s relieved to see it’s not the building closest to the sports fields, but it’s still one on the way to the dorms from the playing fields, so Seungmin hopes they didn’t take the indoor route. 

“Should we call the fire department?” Seungmin wonders, reaching for his phone, but he can already hear sirens in the distance, so he assumes they’ve already been called — and indeed, he can see people standing outside of the building, looking at the fire. 

So, instead of calling the fire department, he texts Hyunjin, asking if he saw the fire and if he’s okay. He doesn’t immediately get an answer, and Jeongin and Felix’s worried thoughts don’t help his heart calm down. ‘Would Hyunjin be there, too?’ ‘I hope everyone is okay’

Felix tells them that Chan, Jisung, Minho, and Changbin are already back in their rooms, and they said Hyunjin took a bit longer showering and he said that they could leave without him, so they don’t know about him. 

Seungmin’s stomach feels heavy in worry and his heart is beating in his throat as he paces back and forth nervously. Eventually, he acts without thinking and grabs his phone, pressing the call button on Hyunjin’s contact. The more it rings, the faster Seungmin’s heart starts beating and the clammier his hands get. Pick up, Hyunjin. Pick up, please. 

Fuck. It goes to voicemail, but Seungmin tries again, maybe Hyunjin is just watching the fire and didn’t hear or feel his phone go off. Jeongin and Felix are staring at him intently, their racing thoughts unintelligible to Seungmin, but he can feel their worry from it — or maybe he just feels it from the way they frown. Somewhere between anxious thoughts, Seungmin wonders whether they can read his concern off his face as well. 

Damnit— voicemail again. One more try. Seungmin actually feels sick with worry, wondering if Hyunjin got caught in the fire somehow, because why else would he not pick up the phone? He isn’t still showering, right? Did his phone die? Is he really not hearing it go off?—

“Hello?” Hyunjin's voice finally sounds and Seungmin takes a shaky breath in relief and surprise. “What’s up, Minnie?” 

“I— did you hear about the fire? Did you see it?” Seungmin stammers, unsure of whether to voice his concern for Hyunjin’s safety when Hyunjin doesn’t seem to be distressed, necessarily. He was speaking kind of softly, but maybe the connection is just bad, or Hyunjin is in the crowd watching the fire. 

“Oh— yeah– I– I saw it…” Hyunjin sounds shaken, and Seungmin can’t help but ask about it.

“Are you okay, Jinnie? Not hurt?” He can’t hide the tremble in his voice, he can’t hide how he’s worried for his friend. 

“I— I’m shocked, but– not hurt,” Hyunjin answers weakly, and Seungmin wishes he could see him right now because he doesn’t know what he feels from his voice alone. He also wants to ask what happened, but he doesn’t know if Hyunjin wants to talk about that over the phone, so, instead, he asks,

“Are you coming back soon? I… I saw that the fire department is on its way, so they’ll probably handle the fire. Oh, and I also made dinner for you, which I can heat up so it’s warm when you’re back.”

Hyunjin huffs through the phone and he’s silent for a beat before he says, “Thank you, Minnie. You’re— you’re the best. I’m on my way back so see you soon.” 

“See you soon. Be safe, Jinnie,” Seungmin says before Hyunjin hangs up and Seungmin exhales in relief. He tells Jeongin and Felix what Hyunjin told him, and they tell Seungmin to take care of him and text them if there’s anything they can do. 

Seungmin goes back to his room too to heat up Hyunjin’s dinner, and he nervously paces back and forth as he waits for his friend to come back. Seungmin doesn’t know how much time passes until he finally hears the door open, but as soon as his ears register the sound, his legs move and he’s at the door to greet Hyunjin. 

“You’re back.” Seungmin can’t help but hug Hyunjin. "Sorry— I was worried." 

Hyunjin exhales and Seungmin can’t decipher the emotion behind it, just like Hyunjin’s thoughts seem to consist of only a static of rapid thoughts. 

"Do… you want to talk about what happened?" Seungmin asks softly as Hyunjin still holds him lightly, and Seungmin can feel the tremble in his fingers from the way he’s gripping Seungmin’s shirt. "Or do you want dinner first?" 

"Dinner," Hyunjin whispers and pulls back to sit at their small table, avoiding Seungmin’s gaze. 

Seungmin’s heart feels heavy as he plates Hyunjin’s hot food and puts it down in front of his friend, who thanks him softly. Seungmin watches him eat for a while, and he hopes that it calms Hyunjin down a little, but his thoughts still seem to be racing back and forth. Seungmin doesn’t know if he should wait for Hyunjin to speak up first or not, but when Hyunjin finishes his dinner and just stares at his empty plate, Seungmin reaches out to hold Hyunjin’s hand. 

"Hyunie… are you really okay?" he squeezes Hyunjin’s hand and brushes his thumb over the back of it. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Hyunjin sighs, closing his eyes for a moment before he looks at Seungmin and then averts his eyes again.

"I— I was just… and suddenly there was— there was fire and– and I didn't know what to do or what happened but— I— I… I'm sorry," he stammers, and at this moment Seungmin wishes he could peer into Hyunjin’s mind with his power because he doesn’t really understand what Hyunjin means, but Hyunjin’s thoughts are indecipherable, no matter how much Seungmin tries to read them.

"Don't apologize, Hyunjin. I… You don't have to say anything if you're still too shocked," Seungmin assures softly, and he's glad that it seems to ease Hyunjin a little. 

"Thank you, Seungmin. My brain is a little scrambled because of it all. I— I need some time to process, I guess," Hyunjin replies, and Seungmin still wonders what happened and why Hyunjin is this affected, but he sees that he shouldn't push for information. Maybe Hyunjin will feel better tomorrow, or someone in the college knows more. 

For now, they're both tired, Seungmin from discovering his ability and trying to control it, and Hyunjin from playing sports and the shock of the fire, so Seungmin suggests winding down by watching a drama they've seen a thousand times and then heading to bed. 

Hyunjin agrees, and Seungmin expects him to snuggle up to him as they watch, but surprisingly enough, Hyunjin keeps a little distance. Seungmin suppresses the nagging voice in the back of his mind telling him to worry worry worry and keeps those for tomorrow. Now, he just hopes that he will be able to fall asleep with his racing thoughts mixed with Hyunjin’s unintelligible ones.

—

The next day is chaos, everyone is talking about the fire, and everyone’s thoughts are taunting Seungmin’s poor brain. Hyunjin doesn’t look too happy either, a grim expression on his face, and it only seems to get worse the more they hear people talk about the fire.

Apparently, everyone thinks the fire wasn’t an accident because it started in the bathrooms — one of the stalls, to be specific — which admittedly isn’t a logical place for a fire to start. Before Seungmin can even try to ask what Hyunjin saw happen, class starts, and after it, Seungmin is pulled aside by the principal of the school, asking him if they can talk. 

“We heard that you discovered your mind reading ability yesterday, right?” she asks, and Seungmin nods, getting a little nervous about what she wants from him. Mina didn’t say anything about it being a problem, but Seungmin also doesn’t hope the college wants to use him to break people’s privacy and read their thoughts. “And I assume that you’ve heard about the fire as well? Do you know anything about it?” 

“Yes, I heard about it, but I don’t know anything other than some hearsay. I saw it from the dorms, but that’s all,” Seungmin replies. “Why?” 

“Well, you also might know that it started in a bathroom stall, so we suspect arson,” she explains. “But, the cameras near the bathrooms have been burned too, so we can’t trace everyone’s steps, and no one we’ve talked to up till now knows what happened nor saw anyone near the bathrooms at the approximate time of the fire — or so they claim. Do you know more from what you heard?” 

“No, the bathroom stall thing is all I heard.” Seungmin shakes his head, and he also wonders whether they’ve talked to Hyunjin already or not. That probably doesn’t really matter, because Seungmin has a hunch as to what the principal is going to ask of him. 

“Then either one of the witnesses is lying, or we haven’t explored all options yet, but this investigation is important to us — we can’t have students nor people from the outside easily attack the college like this — so that’s why we want to ask you for help.” 

“Ah, well… I can’t really control my ability that well yet.” Seungmin rubs his neck. “I don’t know if I will be very useful.” 

“Any help is appreciated, and we’ll pay you for it,” the principal waves off. “We just ask you to be discreet, to be our inside man, if you will. Just talk to the witnesses about it as if you don’t know what happened and you’re curious, and don’t tell them you’re investigating it. If you find someone suspicious, or even better, if you find the culprit, just tell us and we’ll take over.” 

Seungmin presses his lips together, feeling a bit reluctant to play detective, but he also understands that they don’t want anyone just starting fires in the college. The principal tells him that they have a list of witnesses and their schedules he can start with, and it seems like she won’t accept no for an answer, so Seungmin thinks he’ll accept. 

She said that any help is appreciated, so it’s not like there’s pressure on Seungmin to succeed, but the principal does take him through some details such as a weekly meetup to exchange information and questions that need to be answered. Thankfully it’s all pretty clear what Seungmin needs to do, but he does feel icky about not being able to tell his friends about it — the principal stresses the fact that he can’t tell anyone, not even his closest friends.

Well, it’s not like my friends are behind it — none of them would do anything like that, and none of them have fire powers — so I can just tell them about it after I’m done with this whole thing. 

“What did the principal want, Seungmin? Are you in trouble?” Jeongin asks when Seungmin comes back during the break.

“They just asked whether I knew something about the fire, you know, because of my abilities,” Seungmin says, which is not strictly a lie. “But, yeah, I don’t know anything other than what they already know too.” 

His friends seem to believe him and don’t ask further than that, instead proceeding to talk about the fire again and what their theories are. Seungmin listens both because he’s interested in what everyone thinks and because it might help Seungmin in his investigation. 

Hyunjin stays quiet throughout the conversation, and Seungmin itches to ask him about it, but he doesn’t know if it’s the right time for it. Eventually, he only gets the chance after classes, where Hyunjin had quietly been bending metals, and Seungmin broke his brain again trying to control his mind reading. Seungmin is tired and Hyunjin doesn’t necessarily look tired as well, but he does look weary, or… gloomy? Seungmin finds it difficult to read his friend (both his thoughts and his expressions) ever since the fire, and it’s starting to bother him because usually Hyunjin is an open book. 

"You've been quiet all day, Jinnie, even Jisung's jokes didn't make you laugh," Seungmin comments softly, hoping he doesn't sound judgmental. "Is the fire still on your mind?" 

Hyunjin sighs deeply and runs a hand through his hair. “Y-yeah, it is. I’m sorry.” 

“Do you think it’ll help to talk about it?” Seungmin asks. He really wants to understand why Hyunjin is being like this, because Seungmin wants to help, but he can’t if he doesn’t know what’s wrong. “Were you there when the fire started? Did you see something?” 

Hyunjin presses his lips together and still avoids Seungmin’s eyes. It takes a moment before he starts talking, but once Seungmin gently sits them down on the couch, Hyunjin speaks,

“I— I was just in the bathroom and– and suddenly there was fire and it– it startled me so– but it only became worse.” His voice trembles, and Seungmin tries to focus on Hyunjin’s mind and thoughts in hopes of hearing something more concrete than Hyunjin’s words, but only images of fire and no tangible words come out of his attempt to read Hyunjin’s mind. “I— I… I’m sorry.” 

There Hyunjin goes again, apologizing when he doesn’t know what to say anymore (or when he’s afraid to say something?), but at least Seungmin now knows that Hyunjin was near the fire when it started or when it had just started — which makes him extra glad that Hyunjin wasn’t hurt. 

“You were in the bathrooms? Did you see anyone else?” Seungmin puts his hand on Hyunjin’s knee. Hyunjin finally looks at him and he seems a little confused, so Seungmin worries if he’s being too obvious that he’s investigating with his questions, but he’s also genuinely curious, since the possibility that Hyunjin might have been targeted crossed Seungmin’s mind. 

“No— I didn’t. Is— is anyone hurt?” Hyunjin’s eyes are wide and urgent, and Seungmin can’t help but soften at how Hyunjin is concerned for others. 

“No one got hurt as far as I know,” Seungmin tells him, and he exhales in relief. “But… yeah— I just wonder who would do something like this.” 

Hyunjin averts his gaze again and twiddles his thumbs around each other.

“Maybe…” Hyunjin trails off, and Seungmin hums to encourage him to continue. “No, never mind.” 

Seungmin suppresses a sigh, he doesn’t want Hyunjin to feel guilty for not saying whatever he wanted to, but he also wants to know what is on his mind, so he tries to use his powers to get into Hyunjin’s thoughts, but it’s still all over the place, just fire, bathroom stalls, getting burned — nothing Seungmin can work with. 

“You can tell me, Jinnie,” he tries gently, and Hyunjin looks up hesitantly. 

“You can’t read my thoughts?” he asks, and Seungmin shakes his head, explaining that racing thoughts or frantic thoughts are hard to decipher. “Well— I… it’s— it’s—” 

Hyunjin’s breathing speeds up and he shakes his head as Seungmin reaches to squeeze his shoulder in support. “I can’t— I’m sorry.” 

Seungmin has no idea what he means, but he softly tells Hyunjin that it’s okay and he can take his time with whatever he wants to eventually say. He’s really worried for his friend because he’s acting so… strange, and unlike himself, so Seungmin opens his arms for Hyunjin to hug him, and the latter seems a little apprehensive before he ultimately does accept Seungmin’s hug. 

They both exhale and relax in each other’s arms, yet Seungmin’s heart still beats rapidly, and he hopes that Hyunjin can’t feel it. Now is definitely not the time for Seungmin to bring his feelings for Hyunjin into the mix when Hyunjin is this distressed. Maybe he’ll tell him after this whole ruckus about the fire is over, when hopefully Hyunjin feels better as well, because if the way his heart and his mind are reacting to Hyunjin being upset is anything to go by, his feelings might boil over soon, and he’d rather be prepared to tell Hyunjin than randomly blurt it out — Hyunjin deserves that much.

—

The following days seem to go by in a blur as Seungmin slowly stops by every person on the witness list and asks them about the fire to check their statements. It’s kind of difficult to be subtle about what he’s doing, but since everyone is still talking about the fire even days later, the hardest part is being subtle to his friends. He doesn’t really want to lie to them, so he says that he got an assignment to train his mind reading which entails talking to other people, which is as close to the truth as he can get. In some way, it is kind of a training for his ability, because Seungmin feels like he’s making quick progress by constantly trying to read people’s minds about the fire, even if it’s also exhausting.

The progress on the investigation is significantly less than the progress on his ability, because everyone he talks to seems to have been truthful in their original statement, and no one seems to have seen anyone near the bathrooms before or soon after the fire. Now, it was already evening when it started, so the college halls were definitely more empty when the fire started, but it’s still difficult to narrow down the exact time. He’s unsure if he should bother Hyunjin about it again since Hyunjin was the only one there as far as Seungmin knows, and he seems to slowly be less antsy and anxious lately, mostly reading books in his spare time now instead of playing sports (because that probably makes him think of the fire), but he may be making it worse if he asks about the fire again. 

When he shares his findings with the principal a week after they recruited him, she looks kind of disappointed, but she hides it well.

“Hmm… And you’re sure the one who was in the bathroom stall when the fire started isn’t the culprit either?” she asks, and Seungmin’s eyes widen. 

“I— I’m sure.” He hates how he stutters slightly, but it’s out of surprise, not because he isn’t sure that Hyunjin didn’t do it. 

“You read his mind?” The principal crosses her arms, and Seungmin suppresses as scowl at how she saw that Seungmin was bluffing.
“I couldn’t read all of it, but I just saw images of fire and what he described,” Seungmin replies. “And I don’t know why he would say that he was there if he was the one behind it.” 

“But then you’re not sure.” 

Seungmin presses his lips together stubbornly. “Maybe not. But I think it would be too obvious if it’s him. If it was an attack on the college, why would he admit to having been in the bathroom? If anything, it might have been an attack on him. ” 

The principal raises an eyebrow, looking unimpressed. “Could be. But if you can’t read his mind, then we’ll take over from here. Who is it?” 

“No,” Seungmin blurts out before he can even process that he does. His heart is slamming against his chest, but he cannot have them interrogating Hyunjin, even if Hyunjin didn’t do anything. If he already gets stressed and panicked just from talking to Seungmin about it, Seungmin doesn’t think it’ll be good if he’s interrogated and accused of having started the fire. 

“ No? ” The principal frankly looks offended, opening and closing her mouth a few times. “You’re refusing to cooperate? Let me remind you we’re paying you—”

“I know,” Seungmin cuts in, and he isn’t making himself look any better by doing that. “But I talked to him and it’s not a good idea to interrogate him. If he even did it, I don’t think it’ll happen again—”

“And what about your theory that he was targeted? Are you okay with the possibility that he might be attacked again?” 

Seungmin gulps, and he is regretting taking this offer more and more by the second, but if he backs out now, they’ll definitely go off on their own and probably try to interrogate Hyunjin once they find out who he is anyway. 

“I’ll talk to him again so we can be sure. My mind reading is getting better by the day, so maybe I’ll have more luck a second time,” he bluffs (he still can’t untangle racing thoughts), but this time he manages to keep a straight face, and the principal takes his offer, probably realizing that using Seungmin is still a better option than an interrogation (she most likely thinks that Hyunjin is going to lie to them if they interrogate him). 

After going over the plan again and Seungmin having to promise he won’t try to go rogue (and perhaps Seungmin crosses his fingers behind his back), she lets Seungmin go. Seungmin is grumpy throughout the classes, but his friends believe him when he says it’s just a mind reader’s headache. 

It’s only been a week since he was asked to investigate the fire, but Seungmin already wants to go back to being honest with his friends and just solving this damn arson case. He should talk to Hyunjin again, but he doesn’t want to, he doesn’t want to see Hyunjin all anxious again just when he’s getting better. He’ll see if he’ll get the opportunity, but he won’t rush anything, because Hyunjin’s comfort is more important than this investigation.

“Jinnie?” Seungmin says, and Hyunjin jolts from where he is reading a book, tensing up for a moment before he relaxes again. Seungmin steps a little closer to him, hoping it’ll help in reading his mind. “I just wanted to ask what you want to do for dinner?” 

The past few days they’ve been too tired to cook anything else than simple meals, and Seungmin feels like they haven’t had a proper conversation in days either, so he kind of misses that. 

“Uhm… I can make something if you’re tired,” Hyunjin suggests with a shrug, not really keeping Seungmin’s gaze as he puts away his book. “You’ve been working hard on controlling your ability, so…” 

Seungmin’s heart does a little swoop at Hyunjin’s considerateness, but he can tell that Hyunjin still isn’t in the greatest mood either, so he won’t easily accept the offer. That, and he misses properly spending time with Hyunjin.

“Well, I was actually thinking we could cook together? Since the past few days we’ve mostly had instant or simple meals or ordered in,” he says, and Hyunjin’s eyes widen a little. He looks… reluctant? Why would he be reluctant to cook together, though? Ugh, why can’t I understand him these days? 

“Uhm… yeah? Are you sure you have enough energy for that?” Hyunjin asks, and now Seungmin isn’t sure anymore if he asks out of considerateness or just reluctance to spend time with Seungmin. 

“Yeah, I do, and I like cooking together with you,” Seungmin replies softly, hoping it will convince Hyunjin. Hyunjin blushes a little and relents, finally accepting Seungmin’s offer to make dinner together, and Seungmin lets out a small breath, glad that it convinced Hyunjin. 

They head to the kitchen and start preparing dinner after seeing they only have enough for one dinner — they haven’t done grocery shopping in a bit — and as they both chop some vegetables, Seungmin notices a sort of empty feeling in his chest. It’s weird, and he wonders where it comes from, but when Hyunjin brushes past him to put the chopped vegetables into the pan, Seungmin realizes. 

He misses Hyunjin’s touches. He misses Hyunjin’s chin on his shoulder whenever Hyunjin doesn’t feel like standing on his own anymore, he misses Hyunjin’s arms wrapped around him whenever Seungmin is within reach of him, he misses Hyunjin draping his limbs over him as they watch a drama together, he misses the subtle touches to his arm and the encouraging ones to the back of his neck and whenever Hyunjin ruffles his hair because he finds Seungmin cute.

It has only been a week since Hyunjin’s behavior changed, but Seungmin had been so used to it — especially because they’re roommates — that a week without it already feels like too long. He half expects Hyunjin to give him a back hug as he’s waiting for Seungmin to finish chopping, but instead, he just stands a few steps away. Something about it causes Seungmin’s chest to sting uncomfortably, and the empty feeling only gets worse.

The dinner they make is still simple so it’s done quickly, but a bit more advanced (and healthier) than they’ve done the previous days. As they eat, the atmosphere is tense, or maybe that's just how Seungmin sees it, and now he doesn't necessarily want to ask Hyunjin about the fire anymore, but rather about why Hyunjin hasn’t been his touchy affectionate self lately, though it’s probably connected. 

Seungmin waits until they’re done eating to see if Hyunjin will ask to or just pull Seungmin close to cuddle on the couch, but instead, he only offers to do the dishes for Seungmin. On one hand, Seungmin really wants to accept the offer because he is admittedly tired, but on the other hand it feels like Hyunjin is, again, using it as an excuse to sort of avoid Seungmin, so Seungmin says that they can do it together.

And, as Seungmin unfortunately expected, Hyunjin stays at least a meter away from him even when Hyunjin is done washing the dishes and Seungmin only has to dry them and put them back, and it’s really starting to make Seungmin nervous. Once he is done, too, he sighs deeply and Hyunjin flinches a little, as if he’s… afraid? Seungmin doesn’t know what to think, so he finally asks.

“What’s going on with you, Jinnie? Have I done something wrong?” Seungmin steps closer, but Hyunjin steps back, his shoulders hunched and tense, and it stings.

“No— no you haven’t. It’s just—” Hyunjin doesn’t look at Seungmin — when is the last time he properly did? — and he runs a hand through his messy locks, pressing his lips together. “You haven’t done anything wrong.” 

“Then what is it?” Seungmin really tries to keep his voice gentle, but some worry and hurt still seep through the cracks of his poorly built mask. “Why does it feel like you’re avoiding me?”

Hyunjin’s eyes widen a little and he briefly meets Seungmin’s eyes before he shakes his head. “No— no that’s not it– I— I'm kind of avoiding everyone… It’s just—” he stammers, and his breathing steadily speeds up. “It’s just— I— I can’t— I’m sorry. I just— You really can’t read my mind?”

Hyunjin looks at him almost desperately, but however much Seungmin tries, he can’t make something of Hyunjin’s thoughts. 

“No, I can’t. It’s still all jumbled so I can’t decipher it,” Seungmin tells him, now successfully moving a bit closer to his friend, not yet able to touch him, but he’s getting close. He really wants to soothe Hyunjin, he hates seeing him like this, not looking at Seungmin again, seemingly lost in his own frantic thoughts. It makes Seungmin’s heart feel like it’s being confined. “So please talk to me, Hyunjin. You know that I’m not going to judge you, right?”

“I know, but—” Hyunjin jolts when Seungmin touches his arm, and then suddenly it all goes fast. There’s a flash of blinding light that makes Seungmin squeeze his eyes shut and stumble back as he shields his face, and it’s followed by a sharp horrible pain that makes him cry out loudly.

It feels like he blacks out for a moment, his legs giving in as he only feels pain , but when he comes back to his senses, he sees Hyunjin — he’s looking at Seungmin with wide eyes, frozen as if he can’t believe what happened as well, and he looks on the verge of a panic attack. If Seungmin wasn’t in this much pain, his first instinct would have been to comfort him.

That is until Seungmin’s brain catches up on what happened. What?— He almost doesn’t want to believe it, almost can’t believe it, but he saw it with his own eyes.

“Fire..? Wait— Hyunjin—” Seungmin flinches at how moving hurts his burned arms as he tries to push himself up. His thoughts are racing and his heart is pounding in disbelief. “You can summon fire? It— It was you who started the fire?”

“I— I didn’t mean to— I’m sorry— I— I didn’t mean to hurt you— I’m sorry yes it was me—” Hyunjin rambles between frantic breaths, tears forming in his eyes. “I— We need to take you to the infirmary—”

“No—” Seungmin dodges Hyunjin’s weak attempt to help Seungmin up, and he bites his tongue at the stinging of his wounds, his eyes, and his heart. Fuck it hurts. “Why didn’t you tell me?— Did you tell anyone at all?”

“No— I’m sorry— I know I fucked up— I’m sorry, Seungmin—” Hyunjin breaks down, sobbing as he sags onto the ground and cries into his hands. It breaks Seungmin’s heart, but he also feels betrayed, betrayed by Hyunjin keeping his ability from him and putting everyone in danger, betrayed because it had to come to Hyunjin injuring him for Seungmin to finally find out.

“Yes you fucked up,” Seungmin whispers, sadly looking at his crying friend. He swallows thickly, trying to keep back his own tears, but his voice still trembles in pain and agony as he stands up and says, “I’ll take myself to the infirmary. You’ve already done enough.”

“I’m sorry— I’m sorry—” Hyunjin weeps brokenly, and Seungmin looks away before he  starts crying as well, but still a tear rolls down his cheek as he silently walks out of their room, something inside of him cracking as he closes the door. At that point he can’t hold back anymore and his vision blurs as he breaks down much like Hyunjin did, hiccuping and sniffling on his way to the infirmary.

The nurse looks at him in worry as Seungmin comes in, explaining between sobs that he got burned, but he can’t stop the tears, and he doesn’t care about looking presentable right now.

“How did it happen?” the nurse asks, and Seungmin’s breath hitches.

“I— I just wasn’t paying attention while— while cooking,” he lies. It’s a crappy lie, but however hurt he is, he still doesn’t want to expose Hyunjin like that. Hyunjin already feels guilty enough, he doesn’t need others connecting the dots about the fire on top of that, but most of all, Seungmin wants an explanation first .

Luckily, the nurse takes Seungmin’s word for it, seeing that Seungmin isn’t in a state to give a full explanation, and he patches up Seungmin’s wounds as Seungmin slowly, very slowly, stops crying and blubbering. He’s still sniffling when the nurse is done, and Seungmin kind of doesn’t want to go yet since he has no idea what to say to Hyunjin, but he’s also really worried about him, however much he wants to stay mad at him.

He softly thanks the nurse and walks back, his stomach sinking in dread with every step he takes. It's weird, because his room with Hyunjin is supposed to feel like home, like a safe space, but now… 

Still, his mind is slowly clearing up again, the reality of things sinking in, and he knows that he needs to go back and talk to Hyunjin again. Once he reaches his dorm, he sees Jeongin and Felix standing at the door to his room. When they spot Seungmin, they hurry over, frantically asking questions, saying that they heard Hyunjin yell, and they went to check on him, but Hyunjin only told them to go away. sounding distressed and crying.

Seungmin’s eyes widen and his heart stops as worry takes over — he ignores his friends’ questions and tells them he’ll inform them later. Right now he needs to check on Hyunjin, so he quickly fumbles with his shaky hands to open the door, leaving his friends behind. As soon as he's inside, he takes in the scene — Hyunjin is still sitting on the same spot on the floor, but now the ground under him is charred, and Hyunjin has his hands tangled in his hair, looking like he wants to rip it out. 

'Go away go away go away' Seungmin finally hears Hyunjin’s thoughts for a bit again before Hyunjin speaks up. 

“Go away, Lix— Innie— please—” Hyunjin heaves brokenly. 'I don't want to lose you too' “I’m a monster. A fuck up— A—”

“And you owe me an explanation,” Seungmin cuts in with a shaky voice, trying to not burst into tears again at Hyunjin’s heartbreaking words and thoughts. Hyunjin looks up with wide, bloodshot eyes. He looks horrible, and Seungmin is glad he has cried all his tears already, otherwise that would have been the drop. “I’m fine for now, okay?— You burned me and those are the facts— now I need to know why. How.”

Hyunjin gulps, his eyes still glassy. “You didn’t— you didn’t turn me in?” 

Seungmin sighs, but it does nothing against the uncomfortable sting in his chest nor against the pain in his arms. "No, I didn't. I— I still care about you, Hyunjin, even though I'm fucking confused." 

Hyunjin whimpers and shakes his head, rubbing a hand over his face. "I don't deserve you." 

"That's up to me to decide." Seungmin reaches out to help Hyunjin stand up before he flinches and realizes the state of his bandaged arms. Hyunjin scrambles up himself and they seat themselves on the couch, a tense atmosphere enveloping them. Seungmin won’t hide how he feels about this anymore, Hyunjin needs to know that it’s really affecting him. 

" Please, talk to me, Hyunjin." 

Hyunjin looks guilt-ridden to say the least as he presses his lips together and nods. "Yes, I— it's long overdue, and I'm sorry— I… okay, I'll start from the beginning." 

Hyunjin takes a deep breath and looks the most determined he has in a while, even if he still looks like he hasn't slept for days. Images of fire flash in Seungmin’s mind, reading Hyunjin’s before the latter starts to talk. 

"I… That day of the fire, when we were done playing sports we all went to take a shower, but I was somewhere else with my mind, so I took a bit longer than the rest. They offered to wait, but I told them they could leave without me because I wanted to think a little more." 

Hyunjin exhales defeatedly, running a hand through his hair. 'It seems so long ago already. Like a different reality. I wish I could go back to worrying about whether he'd like me back rather than worrying whether I'd hurt someone or burn a building down.' 

Seungmin’s chest squeezes painfully as he hears Hyunjin’s thoughts, and he has many questions, but he lets Hyunjin continue first. 

"I took a little detour through the college buildings so I could think some more, and… I don’t even remember if I really needed to use the bathroom or I just needed a place to reset my thoughts, but yeah…" Hyunjin trails off and emptily stares at the floor. "I was just sitting there and then suddenly— suddenly there was fire. I panicked— I had no idea what was going on— but the stall door was on fire so I– I couldn't get out other than through the window." 

Hyunjin’s breathing is speeding up, and Seungmin has the urge to caress his leg in support, but he's afraid Hyunjin will accidentally burn him again, so he stays still and listens to Hyunjin ramble. "Only then I saw that my hands were burning— but they didn't hurt, and it— it hit me that I did that. I— I'm sorry I didn't tell you. I'm sorry— I didn't tell anyone, I just… I was so shocked— and then people were talking about arson and investigations and— I'm sorry. I'm sorry."

Hyunjin lowers his head and presses his palms to his eyes. 'The only ones suffering from it are others. Not even me.'  

Seungmin’s breath hitches and he looks at the charred patch on the floor where Hyunjin sat, wondering if it was Hyunjin trying to hurt himself with his powers or just from him feeling a lot. 

Seungmin feels like crying his eyes out after hearing Hyunjin’s story and his thoughts, and he doesn’t know why. He feels so conflicted, but his anger with Hyunjin is now replaced by hurt, sympathy, and powerlessness. He wants to help, but he doesn't know how, and his throat feels like it’s being restricted by his emotions. 

“So… you didn’t know about your ability until the fire either,” Seungmin says slowly, more to summarize it all for himself than anything else, but Hyunjin still confirms it. Now that Seungmin feels a little calmer, he can put himself in Hyunjin’s shoes better and he doesn’t know if he would have handled things much better, though he still stands behind the fact that Hyunjin should have talked to someone sooner. 

“Yeah, I— but I still selfishly kept it a secret—” Hyunjin sniffles, still not meeting Seungmin’s eyes. “I don’t know what I was thinking, I–I just couldn’t say it if I tried… and— and I guess I hoped that you would just read my mind and you would know what to do. I’m sorry.” 

Seungmin presses his lips together and sighs. He feels so worn out, but he doesn’t want to leave things at this just yet. “As long as you learn from it, it’s fine. I… I can see that it must have been difficult and scary. I– I wish I could’ve helped you more, though.” 

“I’m sorry—” 

“No more apologizing, Hyunjin.” Seungmin finally puts his hand on Hyunjin’s leg, biting through the pain of his burns, and he hopes that Hyunjin will finally look at him for longer than a few seconds, but he doesn’t.

“Please look at me, Jinnie.” It slips from his lips before he can stop it, and Hyunjin takes in a breath as he looks at Seungmin with watery eyes and rosy cheeks broken up by tear streaks. Something tugs at Seungmin’s heart, seeing his friend like this, and at the end of the day, Seungmin always finds himself caring for Hyunjin more than he probably should. “We’ll figure things out, yeah?” 

“You really still want to help me?” Hyunjin asks, disbelief evident in his voice, and Seungmin huffs softly. 

“I said I wanted to help you more, right? And— and I said I still care about you. That doesn’t change easily, not when you already feel guilty and obviously didn’t start that fire on purpose,” Seungmin says, his heart pounding and his cheeks warm as he admits it, but he knows that Hyunjin needs to hear this after days of overthinking by himself. Hyunjin doesn’t need to suffer anymore. Seungmin knows he means well and he’ll learn, so he’ll help.

“Right, you said so. I’m sor— Thank you, I really appreciate it,” Hyunjin replies softly, unable to completely keep Seungmin’s gaze, but it’s okay, because Seungmin can feel his sincerity. ‘I love you, Seungmin. I really don’t deserve you’ 

Fuck. Now it’s Seungmin’s turn to avert his gaze, and he closes his eyes as he tries to calm his heart that is trying to beat out of his chest. He tries to think of anything other than Hyunjin thinking ‘I love you’ , when he remembers something, and he’s glad he can change the subject before he blurts out that he loves Hyunjin too even though he’s also nervous to bring it up. 

“And… it’s not like I haven’t been completely honest with you either,” Seungmin whispers, a small pool of guilt forming in his stomach, but if they are going to figure out how to handle this situation, Seungmin needs to be honest, too. Fuck what the principal wants. 

“What do you mean?” Hyunjin tilts his head as he frowns, and Seungmin hopes that what he’s about to say won’t scare Hyunjin. 

“Do you remember when the principal wanted to talk to me about the fire?” Seungmin softly asks, and Hyunjin nods slowly, his eyes wavering a little. “Well— she asked me to help investigate it because of my ability. I– I wasn’t allowed to tell anyone, and I’m still not, but— yeah, I thought I should be honest if we’re going to figure things out together.” 

“Really? You— gosh, and you still don’t want to turn me in…” Hyunjin mutters to himself before he meets Seungmin’s eyes again. “And… did you suspect it was me at all?” 

Seungmin shakes his head. “No. That’s partially why I was so shocked, too. I– I really believed you were only accidentally caught up in it. I couldn’t imagine that you could have done it…” 

Hyunjin sighs and nods slowly. ‘You must’ve felt extra betrayed then…’ he thinks, and Seungmin gulps. He could never have imagined Hyunjin having done it on purpose, though, so he doesn’t feel as betrayed as he felt at first. Seungmin even doesn’t really feel like Hyunjin is different from what he thought or anything — he felt like that more when Hyunjin was being so distant — because he understands now. He understands why Hyunjin did what he did and acted like he did and it still fits into his image of his friend, even if Seungmin wishes it had gone differently.

“Either way, I won’t rat you out to anyone, because I don’t think you deserve any more punishment than you’ve already gotten,” Seungmin tells him, and Hyunjin looks kind of surprised and touched by his words. He hopes Hyunjin will soon believe that Seungmin still cares for him, but he’s too tired to comment on it right now. “Let’s… let’s talk about things more tomorrow? I’m kind of exhausted.”

“Yeah, me too,” Hyunjin agrees with a deep sigh. “But— really, thank you for being so kind and understanding despite how I fucked up.”

“It took me a bit to get over the shock, but I know you’d do the same for me,” Seungmin says, and immediately he hears Hyunjin think ‘Yes. I would’, which makes blood rush to Seungmin’s ears.

“Can I hug you, Minnie?” Hyunjin requests softly, and Seungmin’s chest tightens at it. It will most likely hurt his arms, but Seungmin really needs that hug right now, so he accepts, and Hyunjin carefully wraps his arms around Seungmin’s chest as Seungmin rests them on Hyunjin’s shoulders.

Despite that it hurts a bit physically, the hug really helps, and Seungmin slowly tightens his arms around his friend, prompting him to do the same. He lets out a relieved breath when Hyunjin finally properly hugs him and rests his head on Seungmin’s shoulder (which is fortunately not burned).

They stay like that for a moment, letting themselves calm down, and when Hyunjin starts to think about how much he loves Seungmin again, Seungmin stops the mindreading — it takes less energy to do so now, fortunately. He hopes that Hyunjin can’t feel his heart trying to beat out of his chest, though, because Hyunjin doesn’t need to worry about Seungmin’s feelings for him on top of everything.

That’ll all come later. Now, Seungmin just wants to sleep, and it’s difficult when his arms hurt and he’s overthinking everything, but at least he finally knows what had been bothering Hyunjin. He may not know how to tackle their situation yet, but they’ll hopefully figure something out, and maybe even their friends will help.

—

Seungmin wakes up early the next day and he finally checks his phone to see many texts from Jeongin and Felix, asking if they’re really okay and if they can help in any way. Seungmin wants to reply and ask if they can talk for a bit, but he doesn’t know if Hyunjin wants to tell everyone already. 

Surprisingly (or maybe not so surprisingly, considering the circumstances), Seungmin finds Hyunjin awake, and he looks tired just like Seungmin feels, but he doesn’t look as miserable as yesterday. He agrees to tell at least Jeongin and Felix about what happened and then see from there, so Seungmin texts their friends. 

Jeongin is already awake, it seems, and he says he can wake Felix up as well, so they have a bit of time before classes that they can use to talk. Seungmin supports Hyunjin through it, but Hyunjin already does pretty well coming clean by himself, and Jeongin and Felix, the angels they are, forgive Hyunjin easily (and they forgive Seungmin, too, for not telling them he was investigating the whole thing). 

Felix suggests that maybe Hyunjin can ask Chan to help him practice his ability since the latter has water powers, which are both similar to fire, being an element, and Chan can extinguish any fire might something go wrong. Hyunjin seems to like that idea for the time being, until they figure out a way to tell the principal about the fire and tell the professors and teaching assistants about Hyunjin’s newly discovered ability.

“They have to be understanding, right? I can’t imagine that this — someone discovering a destructive ability by accident — hasn’t happened before,” Jeongin says, and Seungmin thinks it’s a good point that he should definitely bring up when he talks to the principal. He's glad their friends come with things that seem to put Hyunjin at ease a bit more, and Seungmin guesses that that's the advantage of being able to think straight because you're not in the middle of everything. 

"Maybe we can ask some teaching assistants to back us up before we tell everyone, and I can kind of test the waters with the principal? Say that I have a theory?" Seungmin suggests, and like that, they slowly come up with a plan (for the time being, at least) before they have class. 

Seungmin can’t stop checking on Hyunjin every second of the day and Hyunjin probably doesn't like all that attention, but Seungmin doesn't do it because he doesn’t trust Hyunjin, but because he just wants to make sure he's okay. Mina seems to notice he’s distracted as well, and she asks about it. 

“Is everything okay? I heard you had a fire accident yesterday, so it’s fine if you take it easy,” she says, and Seungmin nods, not really paying attention until he remembers their plan. 

“Yeah, thank you… just– it’s funny that there were two fire-related incidents within two weeks, huh?” Seungmin chuckles emptily, knowing well that they were caused by the same person, but he wants to know what Mina thinks. She hums, not really saying anything, so Seungmin turns to her. “Do you think it might be related somehow?” 

Mina raises an eyebrow, probably confused by the question since Seungmin said his burns were from an accident while cooking, but she still answers, “Well… weird things happen to this college all the time, maybe not as big as that fire that started in those bathrooms — that does happen, though not often — but we’re used to things breaking, smaller accidents, unexplainable phenomena, and so on. Gods and humans are very well understood, ability-wise, but demigods come in so many shapes and forms. When you think you know the global abilities and characteristics of demigods, someone comes around to prove you otherwise.” 

Seungmin lets out a satisfied huff at Mina’s small rant, and she apologizes, but Seungmin assures her that it’s fine and that he actually really likes that answer. He thinks that Hyunjin would really like to hear that, too, and if Mina thinks like this, others must be the same. Seungmin wonders why the principal didn’t bring that up as an option, though, maybe she just thought that in that case the person would have come forward, or she wants to be sure it wasn’t arson after all. 

Either way, Seungmin is glad to bring Hyunjin at least a little bit of good news, and Jeongin and Felix talked to some teaching assistants about it too, asking if they’ve ever experienced abilities suddenly ‘awakening’ themselves or losing control, and everyone they’ve talked to had at least one experience either with themselves or with a friend or sibling. 

“You’re definitely not the only one, Hyunjin,” Felix says, reaching out to massage Hyunjin’s shoulder a bit. “And we have your back.” 

Hyunjin swallows thickly and smiles gratefully. “Thank you, guys— really. I’m– Thank you for forgiving me so easily, even when I kept things from you and– and even hurt Seungmin.” 

“Of course. I mean, it’s not like you wanted it to happen, we all know that,” Jeongin assures. “I am pretty sure I wouldn’t have done any better if I had been in your shoes.” 

Felix agrees and Seungmin hums as well, but it’s a bit drowned out by Felix’s agreement. Hyunjin softly thanks them again before he looks at Seungmin briefly. 

‘Did Seungmin agree too? I hope he did, but I get it if he still needs more time. I hurt him— and not only physically’ ‘I feel so fucking guilty– I really hope I didn’t ruin everything with him’

Seungmin’s chest tightens uncomfortably as he hears Hyunjin’s thoughts — he still has to go a long way before he can completely shut out thoughts, and while most thoughts he can kind of keep in the background, somehow when he’s near Hyunjin, he notices his thoughts more. 

He wants to tell Hyunjin that he does forgive him, too, but his throat feels dry, and Felix changes the subject already, so Seungmin will have to do with a subtle touch to Hyunjin’s shoulder accompanied by a smile.

"You have a theory?" the principal asks Seungmin when he comes by to discuss his recent findings. "Is it that a student is getting targeted again?" 

"No. I just realized that we haven't gone over the most obvious theory yet. What if it was just an accident?" Seungmin says, and he can tell that the principal wants to object, so he continues before she can, "Not like a gas leak, but like a student suddenly finding out about their fire powers. I've talked to many teaching assistants who have been here for a while, and they confirm that accidents happen all the time, and I, myself, recently discovered my ability, too. I know that you have talked to every student with fire powers already, but some abilities don't correspond one-to-one with our godly parent's, like, again, mine, so what if it's someone who didn't expect it either? And they didn't tell anyone because they're afraid?"

The principal raises her eyebrows at the elaborate theory, but Seungmin doesn't think she'll necessarily know that Seungmin based it all exactly on what Hyunjin did and felt, because it's really a plausible theory in itself. 

"Hmm. Well, if that's the case, it's good that no one is targeting the college, though that student should have come forward." 

"Yes, but put yourself in the shoes of the student. You're probably new to the college, either still figuring out what your abilities are or thinking you know them already, and then you suddenly find out that you have fire powers. You probably don't know how to control them, so you accidentally start a fire and everyone is talking about it the next day. Would you come forward?" Seungmin asks, almost challenges, and maybe he's being a bit too bold, but he can't find himself to care when he's just defending Hyunjin. 

"Fine. Perhaps you have a point, but it's just a theory as of now, right?" The principal crosses her arms, and Seungmin sighs, nervous to bring up the truth, but they won't get anywhere if he doesn't say that it's more than a theory. 

"I may have some evidence supporting the scenario," Seungmin says. "But first I want to know what you're planning to do with the student who accidentally started the fire." 

"We'll figure that out once we get to talk to them—" 

"No. He already feels guilty enough. I need to know that you will be forgiving and help him control his ability rather than punish him and cause even more problems," Seungmin insists firmly, not caring about coming across rude for interrupting her. "I read his mind. He doesn't want to cause any problems, so helping him and being understanding is your best bet to prevent more accidents like this." 

The principal is silent for a moment, and Seungmin can’t really read her expression, so he's nervous. "So you already know who did it? Did you know all along?" 

"No, I only found out after our last meeting. I found out yesterday evening." 

"And is he also the one who did that to your arms?" 

Seungmin presses his lips together and slowly, reluctantly nods. "Yes, but— but again it was an accident. He just needs to learn how to control it, just like the rest of us, he's merely unlucky for having a destructive ability." 

The principal hums, tapping her foot on the wooden floor before she answers. "You really care for and believe in this boy, huh? Fine. We'll give you two the benefit of the doubt, but if problems persist despite everything, I will hold you accountable as well." 

Seungmin lets out a breath of relief, and while it still isn't ideal, he will definitely take being held accountable above any punishment for Hyunjin. "Thank you. I’m sure he’ll work hard on improving his control." 

"Don't mention it. And despite your attitude at times, thank you for solving this," the principal replies, and Seungmin isn't sure how sincere it is, but he'll take it. "We'll be in touch to arrange some extra help for the fire boy." 

Seungmin feels a lot lighter when he walks out of the principal's office, and he delightedly tells Hyunjin about his conversation with her when he’s back in their room. Hyunjin’s eyes all but widen in disbelief and he falls into Seungmin’s arms to hug him tightly, hiding his face into the crook of Seungmin’s neck. It still hurts Seungmin’s arms a bit, but, like last night, he doesn’t mind it. 

"Thank you— thank you— thank you so much, Minnie—" Hyunjin chants softly. "I'm so incredibly grateful for you." 

He looks up with watery eyes, reflecting the light in their room. "You— you basically fixed everything for me despite me injuring you and keeping— everything from you. I— I don't know how to repay you." 

Seungmin blushes, feeling a bit shy under Hyunjin’s attention. "It's— I'm just glad that they're going to help you control your ability instead of punishing you. I wanted to help, so it’s fine." 

It’s still difficult to put into words how much he cares about Hyunjin, and the situation is still weird, but he knows that he doesn't feel any worse about Hyunjin compared to before this whole thing, he just needs to get used to Hyunjin having his fire powers. 

Seungmin can tell that Hyunjin’s thoughts are racing again, but now he can somehow feel the way Hyunjin is touched by Seungmin’s words. He shows it by hugging Seungmin tightly again, and Seungmin can feel both of their hearts ramming against their chests. It’s ironic, because the hug both calms Seungmin down and it makes his heart race. 

“Thank you again, Seungmin, I— now I feel like I–I can finally come out of this endless loop of being afraid of myself and being afraid of asking others for help,” Hyunjin murmurs when he pulls back a little. “I— I am still afraid of messing up, but– but this really helps.” 

“I’m glad.” Seungmin kind of feels like he’s repeating himself, but he doesn’t know what else to say, so he just lightly caresses Hyunjin’s shoulder. Every movement of his arms still stings, but if it’s for Hyunjin, he doesn’t mind. ‘And I am glad that you’re still here for me. You have no idea how grateful I am for you, Minnie. You have no idea how much I love you’ 

Seungmin can’t suppress a small gasp, and his cheeks flush as he hears Hyunjin’s thoughts. He averts his eyes as his heart booms in his chest — damn it, why does he think that so often? Is it only because I helped him with this? Did he think like this before the fire happened as well? Seungmin can’t help but overthink, but he’s pulled out of it by Hyunjin clearing his throat, and Seungmin looks up to see Hyunjin rubbing his neck, an embarrassed smile decorating his face. 

“I– I assume you heard some of my thoughts just now?” Hyunjin asks softly, his cheeks matching Seungmin’s in color. 

“Yeah– I… I’m still trying to control my ability better,” Seungmin replies, fidgeting with his sleeves a bit because he can’t hold Hyunjin’s gaze. “But– at least it’s good that I can hear your thoughts now. I think I couldn’t before because you were so stressed and afraid.” 

Hyunjin draws in a breath, his mouth forming an ‘o’. “Oh– that makes sense, actually. I barely could make out my own thoughts, so I guess it makes sense that you couldn’t either.” 

Seungmin nods and Hyunjin’s expression morphs into a more apologetic one. “But I hope my thoughts don’t make you feel weird.” 

“Ah— no, they– they don’t,” Seungmin assures, his fingers brushing over Hyunjin’s wrist in the urge to hold his hand. “I… I just feel like I’m intruding? And– I’m really touched, though… it’s also a bit hard to believe you think like that sometimes.” 

Hyunjin huffs and averts his eyes — ‘what do you even know?’ — and the implications of his thoughts kind of overwhelm Seungmin, so he just tries not to think about them at all. 

“As I said… it’s okay because it’s the truth,” Hyunjin whispers. “I— It’s a little embarrassing, but– you can know my thoughts about you because they’re always positive.” 

Seungmin presses his lips together and closes his eyes to try to stop his heart from trying to break free from his chest and jump into Hyunjin’s gentle hands. Fuck— Why must Hyunjin be so sweet? How is Seungmin supposed to deal with Hyunjin’s incomprehensible amount of kindness and love? Without hearing Hyunjin’s thoughts, Seungmin sometimes already can’t handle it, so now it’s even worse, but maybe it’s just extra strong because Hyunjin is in a vulnerable spot right now and Seungmin is helping him. 

“Did– did I go too far?” Hyunjin asks. ‘Is he creeped out? Or– maybe he’s still a bit mad at me and my thoughts are making it more difficult for him to tell me so because he doesn’t want to hurt my feelings’ ‘He’s really too kind’ 'I hope he's not afraid to tell me he's uncomfortable, though' 

"No— you're fine," Seungmin croaks, his throat feeling dry and his cheeks feeling warm. Seungmin, stop listening to his thoughts. It's not fair to him, he tells himself. "I— I just don't know what to say other than that it's— You're really sweet." 

Hyunjin gasps softly and softens, shuffling a bit closer to Seungmin again. "Only because you are," he tells him, some kind of urgency lacing his voice. "I— I messed up and you are the one being kind and forgiving." 

Then why does Seungmin feel like Hyunjin is the one showing his support and gratitude a million times better than Seungmin is? It's frustrating to not be able to convey the feelings he has for Hyunjin, especially because it's not really appropriate now that Hyunjin has to focus on his ability, because he doesn’t need any other worries. At these moments, Seungmin wishes that Hyunjin would be the one who could read minds. 

"I'm not perfect, though," Seungmin mutters, and he doesn’t necessarily mean for Hyunjin to hear it, but he does, because he answers, 

"I know, but you're a wonderful person and a good friend." 'Not perfect, but in my eyes—' 

Seungmin cuts off his ability there, because he doesn’t need more feelings on top of the overwhelming ones he already gets from just Hyunjin’s words. He needs to say something in return to bring the attention back to Hyunjin instead of to himself. 

"Thank you, Hyunjin. I— You deserve it— you deserve a fair chance to control your ability, because you are a wonderful person too," Seungmin whispers, barely even getting it out of his throat, but he's glad he does, because Hyunjin hugs him again. He whimpers as Hyunjin squeezes his burned arms, but Hyunjin quickly apologizes and adjusts the hug so that his arms wrap around Seungmin’s shoulders instead. 

Hyunjin’s ever-persistent thoughts try to sneak their way into Seungmin’s head again, but now Seungmin manages to block them and rather uses his own thoughts to catch up on everything that happened today and yesterday and every sweet word Hyunjin said and thought. He's glad that Hyunjin gets the opportunity to learn how to control his ability without too much trouble, and he hopes that he himself can do so too before he really succumbs to Hyunjin’s loving thoughts and blurts out his feelings too soon. 

— 

A few days go by as they slowly go back to normal, but not quite normal because Hyunjin’s fire powers still make a big difference in their daily lives. The rest of the students found out about everything as well, but fortunately most either just let things go, or they were understanding. A few seem to be a bit afraid and hesitant around Hyunjin, but those (hopefully) barely stand out amongst Hyunjin’s friends, who do stay close to him, despite Hyunjin sometimes protesting that he’s afraid to hurt them. 

Nevertheless, Hyunjin slowly makes progress both during practical classes and outside of classes when he gets to practice a bit with Chan, and there haven’t even been that many accidents where Chan had to either protect himself or step in and extinguish any fires. Hyunjin said his fire powers are kind of similar to his other ability, and very similar to Chan’s water powers, and in general, elemental powers are well understood (unlike Seungmin’s mind reading), so Seungmin is glad to see that it’s all going better than they expected for once. Hyunjin deserves that after messing up and being so afraid. 

Right now, Seungmin has a headache from practicing his ability again, so he decides to take a break and check on how his friends are doing. 

“Damn— you are not feeling much love right now,” Jeongin comments, and Seungmin huffs out a chuckle. “Okay… that’s a little better, but I guess it’s to be expected when Hyunjin isn’t here.” 

Seungmin rolls his eyes, but he can’t stop his cheeks from getting warm. He kind of missed Jeongin’s teasing these past weeks, though, so it’s nice to go back to that instead of only talking about how worried they are and how they can help Hyunjin. He’s sure Jeongin can feel that Seungmin is more at ease already, and indeed, Jeongin’s thoughts are, ‘Ah, there it is. He always feels this kind of… adoration? around me and Lixie, similar to what Hyunjin feels around us, but less fond and more brotherly.’

Seungmin is impressed at how on point Jeongin’s conclusions are, and Seungmin is kind of proud of how Jeongin is making progress and learning to embrace his ability. Though he heard it from Jeongin’s thoughts already, Seungmin still asks how things are going.

“It’s going as usual, practicing is tedious and progress is slow with more mental-based abilities, but I read your feeling of love — or lack thereof — all by myself! And I’m slowly learning to distinguish different kinds of love,” Jeongin tells Seungmin happily, and Seungmin involuntarily smiles as well. “Felix is doing well as always, too.”

Felix laughs and agrees — ‘my abilities aren’t that hard to control, though, and I don’t really use them often’ .  

The thoughts are harder to block out when Seungmin is tired, but fortunately he doesn’t hear anything too personal as they talk. And while Seungmin’s headache still persists, he does already feel better just from talking to his friends and joking around a bit.

After that, he goes outside to see how things are going with Hyunjin. Seungmin hasn’t been outside a lot, so he can finally see the demigods with nature-based or more dangerous and/or destructive abilities practice. He greets Chan, Changbin, the son of the god of battle, and Minho, the son of the goddess of agriculture, before he finds Hyunjin, who is balancing a small flame on his palm, looking very concentrated.

Seungmin slowly approaches him, careful to not startle him, and as if Hyunjin can sense him, he extinguishes the small flame and looks up, a smile forming on his lips once he spots Seungmin.

“Hey, Minnie. How are you?” Hyunjin asks. ‘He usually only stops whenever he’s either tired or gets a headache, so I hope he’s okay’

Seungmin can’t suppress a small smile at Hyunjin’s caring thoughts — those thoughts haven’t really stopped even now, a while after Hyunjin came clean about his fire powers, but Seungmin isn’t as overwhelmed anymore, rather slowly working up the courage to confess to Hyunjin eventually. He doesn’t know if it’s the right time just yet, but Hyunjin definitely isn’t as anxious as before, so maybe soon.

“I’m… fine. A bit of a headache, but not too bad,” Seungmin answers, and Hyunjin hums, lightly touching Seungmin’s arm in support. “I saw that you were balancing a flame? That requires quite some control, right?”

Hyunjin smiles proudly and nods. “Yeah! I— I am still keeping it at small flames in case something goes wrong, because then I can more easily stop it, but yeah, I’m slowly getting better, I guess.”

“I am even working on not accidentally using my ability when I’m startled, though I only practice that with Chan,” Hyunjin continues, and Seungmin feels a rush of joy for Hyunjin, feeling proud and happy, so he can’t help but hug his friend, kind of taking Hyunjin by surprise.

“Sorry— I’m just proud of you,” he says, and Hyunjin softens, looking touched at Seungmin’s words, and that expression alone makes Seungmin’s heart rate spike.

“Don’t apologize for that, I appreciate it,” Hyunjin says softly before his smile falls a little. “I— I can’t believe that I was afraid that you wouldn’t like me anymore after I hurt you. I should’ve known that you’re too kind for that.”  

Seungmin huffs, flushing a bit as he shrugs. “I wouldn’t have forgiven you if you hadn’t shown the remorse and guilt you had, though. I just know you, I knew that you didn’t mean any harm, that you didn’t want to hurt anyone, so it wasn’t too difficult to forgive you.”

Hyunjin’s breath hitches and his eyes shine in the sunlight as he looks at Seungmin for a moment — ‘really?’ — before he replies, rubbing his neck. “Right— I— I was so up in my head that I forgot what our friendship is built on. I— I’m still glad I didn’t ruin everything, though.”

“Me too,” Seungmin agrees and bumps his shoulder against Hyunjin’s in an attempt to stay casual and lighthearted. “Just know that it’ll take a lot to ruin everything.”

Hyunjin chuckles happily. “I won’t take you up on that challenge.”

Seungmin barks out a laugh, happy that Hyunjin is joking around, and it makes him more comfortable to do so as well, also because he always loves seeing Hyunjin laugh. 

It’s still easy to make his friend laugh, Seungmin just has to say something random or even just look in a particular way and Hyunjin will already be claiming that Seungmin is the funniest person ever (while Jisung also exists), and it really makes Seungmin feel like everything is all good now. Hyunjin’s laughter eases Seungmin’s headache some more, too, and he likes the way Hyunjin leans on him as they slowly start to head back since class is ending— 

“Watch out!” Someone calls out, and Seungmin freezes, unsure whether it’s meant for them or not, but before he can find out, Hyunjin pulls him forward until they collide with the wall. A loud crash sounds and someone apologizes loudly before Seungmin opens his eyes again—

Oh. Hyunjin is very close to him, standing flush against him, one arm caging Seungmin’s head, and the other on his shoulder from when he pulled Seungmin forward. Hyunjin seems stunned as well, looking at Seungmin with slightly lidded eyes, his breath hitting Seungmin’s lips, and gosh— 

‘Gosh, I really want to kiss him’ 

Seungmin almost doesn’t notice it’s Hyunjin thinking it instead of himself, but when he realizes, Seungmin acts before he thinks and rushes forward to capture Hyunjin’s lips with his own. Hyunjin gasps, pulling back a little in surprise before he slowly melts, leans in, and kisses Seungmin back in a relieved and almost desperate way. 

Hyunjin’s hand finds Seungmin’s jaw as Seungmin’s finds Hyunjin’s middle, pulling him closer and chasing him after they part for breath. It’s as if Hyunjin’s thoughts made something snap inside of Seungmin, as if that confirmation of Hyunjin wanting to kiss him as much as Seungmin wants it made all of Seungmin’s feelings spill out and into the movement of his lips over Hyunjin’s and his grip on Hyunjin’s shirt. 

Only when Seungmin becomes aware of murmuring and footsteps around him, he realizes that they’re still outside, and students probably saw them kissing. He quickly pulls back and flushes, looking around to see students heading back to their dorms or to the college building because class ended. Some look at them, but fortunately not too many, otherwise Seungmin would be mortified. 

“Sorry,” he whispers, trying to cool his warm cheeks with the back of his hand. “I…” 

“You read my thoughts again? Or did you just think the same as I did?” Hyunjin asks bashfully, his cheeks matching Seungmin’s in color. Seungmin chuckles and nods. 

“I did— I both thought the same and read your thoughts. I… I try not to read your thoughts, but when I’m distracted they sometimes slip through,” Seungmin explains, and Hyunjin doesn’t look judgmental at all, instead he smiles and softly pats Seungmin’s cheek.

“Well, I’m happy that you thought the same,” Hyunjin says and grins. “Now I don’t have to be afraid of you accidentally finding out about my feelings anymore.” 

Seungmin laughs in surprise, remembering that the day they found out about Seungmin’s mind reading, Hyunjin had something he didn’t want to think about around Seungmin, afraid that Seungmin would read his mind. Everything makes sense now, but Seungmin can’t say that he expected it even with all the times Hyunjin thought about how much he loves Seungmin. Seungmin guesses that he was either too busy worrying about his new ability or too busy worrying about Hyunjin to connect the dots. 

“I’ll still try to hold back, though,” Seungmin tells him, grabbing onto Hyunjin’s warm hand and pulling him along to a quieter spot — he knows that Hyunjin will probably want to practice with Chan again after class, but he also still wants to talk to him, and in private, preferably. “If I have to struggle to put my feelings for you into words, you aren’t allowed to get away with just thinking about them.”

Hyunjin throws his head back with a laugh and squeezes Seungmin’s hand fondly. “Okay, fair. I’ll gladly tell you all about it.”

“Good,” Seungmin chuckles, feeling all giddy. They’re joking around about it now, but Seungmin thinks it’s good to just do as if he can’t read minds, because first of all, thoughts are private, even when you trust someone with your life, thoughts are supposed to be a safe place and they shouldn’t be judged or even heard by someone else unless you want that (but then you have to voice them).

Second of all, Seungmin knows from himself and now from others, too, that thoughts aren’t always reflective of someone’s true feelings or opinions. Sometimes someone is just overthinking, having intrusive thoughts, or they’re just going through something at the moment. And third of all, Seungmin doesn’t always have all the context, so his interpretation of a thought can be very different than the intention of it.

So, all in all, while sometimes Seungmin secretly enjoys being able to peek into someone’s mind and hear what they’re thinking and he enjoys playing games with it with his friends, most of the time he doesn’t like randomly hearing thoughts.

“You look lost in thoughts, Minnie. Do you want to share it with the non-mind reader?” Hyunjin runs his thumb over the back of Seungmin’s hand, and Seungmin smiles.

He tells Hyunjin about what he thought and his reasoning behind why thoughts shouldn’t be read, and Hyunjin gladly agrees, giving his opinion as well. Seungmin missed these discussions with Hyunjin when he was dealing with his fire powers too, and he’s glad that they’re mostly past that. Now, they can bond over trying to control their ability together, and though Hyunjin has more tangible consequences for accidentally losing control, Seungmin makes sure to let him know that it’s okay to make mistakes and that he and his friends will still be there for him.

That earns Seungmin a kiss on the cheek, making warmth rush to the spot Hyunjin kissed, and Seungmin can’t seem to stop smiling.

“Is that okay, Minnie? I know we kissed, but I don’t know if I or my thoughts were clear about the fact that I really have feelings for you,” Hyunjin mutters shyly, looking at Seungmin hopefully, and Seungmin’s smile only widens.

“Yes that is more than okay,” he replies, and he kisses Hyunjin’s warm cheek in return to show it. “You’ve kind of said and thought some things that made me hope you had feelings for me, but thank you for telling me anyway. I… I feel the same. I have feelings for you, too.”

Hyunjin’s eyes disappear into a dazzling smile before he cups Seungmin’s jaw and kisses him lovingly. Seungmin melts into it, as if Hyunjin is a flame and Seungmin is the candle, gently melting under Hyunjin’s touch instead of being burned by his intense love.

“Oh my gosh—” Jeongin’s voice startles them out of their moment, and Seungmin flushes, wondering how Jeongin found them here. “I should’ve known. My ability led me here because I felt some really intense love coming from here and I wondered whether I was going insane, but it was just you two kissing. Since when is that a thing?”

Hyunjin barks out a laugh at Jeongin’s rambling, and Felix appears behind him to ask what is going on as well, so they tell their friends what happened. The whole atmosphere is so much happier than even a week ago, and Seungmin is glad that they have all overcome the scare that was Hyunjin finding out about his ability. It makes Seungmin finding out about his ability seem so long ago, even though for Hyunjin it was both even on the same day.

Things are good, and despite Hyunjin making a few mistakes as he practices with Chan and Seungmin watches — Hyunjin says he keeps being distracted by Seungmin, but Seungmin is just sitting there — he doesn’t seem too frustrated or afraid of his ability anymore. He may still not really like it, but due to his own efforts of practicing control every day, he hasn’t injured anyone since Seungmin (Hyunjin himself, fortunately, is immune to being hurt by his own powers). 

Back at their dorm, they cook together, finally comfortable in having a routine together again, and what’s even better is how Hyunjin not only hugs Seungmin from behind as he’s chopping some vegetables, he also scatters kisses on Seungmin’s neck and shoulder, making the skin heat up and butterflies fuss in his stomach. And perhaps they get a little distracted by each other, Hyunjin’s warm hands — have they always been this warm? or is it his power? — slipping under Seungmin’s shirt as they can’t seem to get enough of each other’s lips now that they’ve discovered the addicting taste. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he hears Hyunjin’s thoughts, too, but Seungmin doesn’t process them, he’s too immersed in the way Hyunjin deepens the kiss and warmth spreads through his veins, his mind only repeating Hyunjin, Hyunjin, Hyunjin. 

Unfortunately, their dinner calls for them and they are admittedly hungry after an exhausting day, but Seungmin will definitely remember this day as a good one. He isn’t surprised that Jeongin came to check on them because he felt so much love when they were kissing, because Seungmin is feeling a lot of it for Hyunjin, even still now. 

He wonders if Hyunjin is the same, and he could probably find out by just reading his mind, but where’s the fun in that? Seungmin would much rather find out by the little things Hyunjin does for him and says to him. 

Even though thoughts are often portrayed to be an intimate part of someone, what Seungmin considers to be even more intimate is when someone trusts you enough to share those thoughts out of their own will, whether it’s through words, actions, or gestures. Seungmin knows how scary and nervewracking it can be to trust someone with your thoughts, he sometimes still struggles conveying them even to Hyunjin, who he trusts with his life, but Hyunjin… 

Hyunjin isn’t afraid to be vulnerable. He wasn’t afraid to tell Seungmin that his thoughts were the truth when Seungmin read his mind and heard how much Hyunjin feels for him, and he has never been afraid to show Seungmin or anyone his appreciation and affection. 

Seungmin knows it's not easy for Hyunjin to always be honest and upfront either, the whole fire thing is clear evidence of that, but that only makes it more admirable that Hyunjin is able to be so kind and vulnerable in general. It makes Seungmin want to do his best to convey his thoughts and love for Hyunjin even more, and he already feels giddy and excited to see how Hyunjin will react to his attempts to be as sweet as Hyunjin is to him. Of course he's at least as excited to see how Hyunjin will keep on being his lovely self and he hopes that, like that, he can get used to the love Hyunjin always showers him with, because he imagines that now they've confessed, Hyunjin isn’t going to hold back anymore. 

If the way Hyunjin kisses him again and again that evening is anything to go by, Hyunjin feels the same, and maybe Seungmin gets a glimpse of that by hearing his thoughts, too, but it’s okay, because Hyunjin only smiles brightly when Seungmin tells him that he heard it and feels the same. If this is how things will be between them from now on, Seungmin knows that he doesn’t need to hear anymore of Hyunjin’s thoughts to know that everything will be all good. 

The end.