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Baek Yoon-Ho frowned as he heard another thunderclap as the rain continued pouring down. Choi Jong-In had texted him just a few minutes ago that he was on his way despite Yoon-Ho insisting that he didn’t need to come in this weather.
In the end, he only told Jong-In to get here soon. However, regardless of how quickly he got there, Yoon-Ho knew Jong-In wouldn’t be able to avoid getting wet in the rain.
Yoon-Ho then heard a light tapping sound coming from his balcony. When he went to the balcony door and pushed the curtain aside, he looked around but saw nothing except the dark clouds in the sky and the heavy rain blurring what could be seen through the glass door.
However, he heard the tapping once again, and when he looked down, he saw a large pheasant-like bird whose feathers were a dark burgundy and soaked from the rain.
Yoon-Ho stared at the bird for a moment, and the bird looked up at him, expectingly, until Yoon-Ho opened the door.
“You idiot,” Yoon-Ho growled as the bird confidently strolled into the apartment as if it belonged there. “Why on earth did you fly in the rain?”
“You said to get here soon,” the bird said as it transformed into a man. He had wet, red hair the same color as its feathers and an equally damp suit, smiling innocently. “Well, here I am.”
“Yeah, I said to get here soon. Not try to get yourself killed on the way,” Yoon-Ho retorted as he left to get a towel as Jong-In was already taking off his wet clothes.
“I’ve flown in the rain before,” Jong-In reasoned.
“That doesn’t mean you should do it again,” Yoon-Ho asserted as he grabbed a large towel before heading to Jong-In again.
When Yoon-Ho returned, Jong-In had removed the upper layers of his clothes, leaving him in just his slacks. He looked toward Yoon-Ho when he returned and reached for the towel, but Yoon-Ho quickly pulled it away from his hand.
When Jong-In blinked and made another attempt to grab the towel, Yoon-Ho moved it again and placed the towel over Jong-In’s head before gently rubbing his hair.
After a few quiet moments, Jong-In spoke first.
“I can do it myself,” Jong-In commented.
“I know,” Yoon-Ho answered.
However, Yoon-Ho didn’t stop drying the redhead’s hair, and Jong-In didn’t attempt to stop him.
After drying his hair, Yoon-Ho placed the towel over Jong-In’s shoulders and covered his torso.
“Go get changed.”
“Why? Because you don’t like what you see?” Jong-In teased.
“ Because you’ll get sick.”
“Not possible, but alright,” the redhead said lightly as he picked up his wet clothes and headed to the bedroom to get changed, more than familiar with the apartment.
Yoon-Ho sighed frustratedly before heading back to the kitchen to finish preparing their dinner.
While the rain didn’t hurt Jong-In, Yoon-Ho knew it did cause Jong-In to use far more energy than he normally needed to since his fire was naturally vulnerable to water.
Yoon-Ho already saw how the mage was less alert than usual, even around him. He knew Jong-In’s reflexes were close to as fast as his own, yet he couldn’t grab the towel from him both times.
It wasn’t the first time Yoon-Ho wished Jong-In would take care of himself more.
By the time Jong-In returned, Yoon-Ho had finished bringing their food to the dining table.
As Jong-In sat down to eat, Yoon-Ho noticed that the redhead was dressed in one of his shirts rather than his own. That meant the shirt was far too big for Jong-In with the short sleeves nearly reaching his elbows.
He knew Jong-In had plenty of clothes in his apartment. Yoon-Ho knew he wasn’t out of clean clothes to wear, so he had not expected Jong-In to grab his clothes instead of his own.
Yoon-Ho only stared briefly, but it was enough for the mage to notice and give another innocent smile. Jong-In stared at him as if wanting a reason for the staring, but Yoon-Ho pretended not to see the expectant look.
He knew Jong-In already knew why and simply wanted to hear him say it. And Yoon-Ho wasn’t planning on giving him that satisfaction.
As Yoon-Ho began to eat as well, he watched Jong-In slowly eat his food. While taking his time to eat was not unusual in itself for the redhead, the way that Jong-In was staring off while slowly blinking was out of the ordinary for him when it wasn’t that late.
It was another sign that Jong-In had tired himself from flying in the rain. Yoon-Ho had noticed whenever Jong-in was exposed to water for long periods, such as after a shower, bath, or, in this case, rain, he always seemed more tired.
However, getting Jong-In to look after himself was about as simple as convincing Jong-In to go home after the mage had already worked late into the night.
That was why it was routine for Yoon-Ho to carry Jong-In out of his office on his shoulder despite the redhead’s protests.
While it was now easier to get the mage to be more mindful of his more self-destructive habits than before, Yoon-Ho knew Jong-In still tended to fall back on them.
Setting aside his thoughts, Yoon-Ho placed more food into Jong-In’s bowl despite Jong-In getting some food for himself already.
“You should be more careful.”
Jong-In paused at the sudden statement. He looked up at Yoon-Ho for a few moments, blinking slowly at him. Yoon-Ho knew the mage already knew what he was thinking, but neither spoke about such things out loud.
They knew each other well enough at this point to not need to.
“I’ll try,” Jong-In eventually responded in a low voice before he continued eating.
It wasn’t exactly the answer Yoon-Ho wanted, but he could see Jong-In was serious about his answer and, at the very least, honest.
Yoon-Ho nodded, knowing that was the best he would get from him for now.