YUKI

Tonight's performance had been exhausting. however, not in a bad way.

Actually, it was a satisfying kind of way.

The kind that left his muscles sore and his chest heaving afterward, sweat sticking uncomfortably to his skin beneath layered stage outfits.

LNGSHOT had only debuted a few months ago and yet somehow, after everything, all their hard work before their debut, all the hate, or all the flying and concerts, the packed schedules, everything already felt overwhelming in the best and but also worst ways possible.

To this day, Ohyul still finds it quite shocking how some people recognize him more often now when he crosses the street, be it in seoul it or the country he visits abroad and during their performances on stage, there are people actually screaming his name.

And honestly, it still felt unreal sometimes.

By the time the members finally returned to the dorm, everyone looked half dead.

Woojin disappeared straight into his room without even saying goodnight, Louis dramatically complained about starving before immediately lying face down onto the couch instead of actually getting food, and Ryul went to scold Louis.

Ohyul only laughed quietly at the sight before heading for the shower himself.

Warm water eased some of the tension from his body, washing away sweat, hairspray, and the lingering stickiness from performing under hot stage lights. By the time he changed into more comfortable clothes afterward, exhaustion sat heavier against his shoulders.

Now, most people, normal people at this time would've probably gone straight to sleep.

But not Kwon Ohyul.

He still reached for a hoodie.

Still slipped on his shoes.

Still left the dorm.

Because no matter how busy life became for him, Kwon Ohyul, never skipped his runs.

To him, running had always been one of the few things that cleared his head properly. Especially after long performances where adrenaline still lingered long after the stage ended.

And tonight, the weather felt nice enough for it.

The summer heat had finally calmed after today's evening rain earlier, leaving the air cool and damp instead of the unbearably humid. The streets still shimmered faintly beneath the city lights, the puddles reflecting neon signs and passing headlights as he ran through the quieter roads.

The rhythmic sound of his footsteps against the wet pavement slowly drowned out the noise in his head.

Out here, nobody could really bother him.

There were no cameras. No managers. No expectations from crowds.

Just him running through the cool air that hits against his skin, and the steady burn in his lungs as he ran.

Oh how he liked that feeling.

Liked how the city softened at this quiet night.

Eventually though, his pace slowed little by little until he finally came to a stop near a familiar street corner, his breathing heavier now as he dragged a hand through his slightly damp hair.

A nearby convenience store glowed warmly against the dark street ahead, bright lights reflecting across the rain slick pavement.

Right now....food sounded good.

Or at least a cold drink.

Something small for him to consume before heading back to the dorm.

Adjusting the face mask resting over the lower half of his face, Ohyul started walking toward the store,

Before slowing again...

There was someone sitting outside near the small tables beside the convenience store.

A girl.

A hood pulled over her head slightly, one leg tucked beneath the other as she scrolled absentmindedly through her phone.

The steam rose from the cup of ramyeon sitting in front of her, drifting upward into the cool night air. Beside it sat convenience store sushi and an opened drink can that had probably gone warm already considering how long it had...sat there.

Music leaked faintly from her earbuds whenever she shifted.

And draped around her shoulders—

Was a familiar blue hoodie.

Ohyul's steps slowed unconsciously.

Because something about it felt incredibly familiar immediately.

His chest tightened before his thoughts fully caught up.

Because he knew that hoodie all too well.

He knew the exact shade of blue faded from too many washes. Knew the sleeves stretched slightly from someone constantly pulling them over their hands.

For a second, it felt like time stopped on him. Ohyul forgot about the convenience store entirely. Forgot about the exhaustion weighing down his body. Forgot about the city around him.

Because suddenly all he could see...

was you.

And even after all this time,

he recognized you instantly.

The memory hit him quietly first.

Not like a sudden flash like you'd get when a camera clicks at you with it's flash on.

It was more like a soft tugging at the edges of his thoughts...soft, uninvited but impossible to ignore.

And suddenly

He was no longer at the convenience store.

He was back to that day.

Where it had been raining non-stop.

The kind of rain that didn't stop properly, just shifted between light drizzles and sudden heavier bursts as if the sky was indecisive that it couldn't decide what it wanted to do.

Ohyul had already walked out from Morevision's studio earlier that evening. An umbrella is hand, his navy blue jacket pulled tighter around himself than usual. He didn't mind the cold too much.

In fact, he almost preferred it like this. It was quiet, the streets were empty and there was no unnecessary street drama. If that makes sense.

A small cafe sat near the corner he passed on weekends. Warm lights spilled through its windows. Soft against the gray outside.

He only meant to stop in for a drink. Something warm, something simple. Just a small break before heading back.

The cafe was quiet when he entered. A few scattered customers. Mostly a couple of students hunched over laptops and papers. Someone reading by the window as the soft hum of music and rain tapping against the glass filled the space comfortably.

Ohyul ordered a drink without much thought and ended up choosing a seat near the window. He stared at the glass pane, looking outside, where the rain blurred into the streaks of grey and reflection.

That was when he saw you.

You, who were rushing under the rain from one stop to the cafe, head slightly ducked as if that alone could help. You, who clutched tightly around a large sling bag—pressed over your head in a failed attempt of shelter from the heavy rain.

And obviously, that didn't work and you ended up drenched. Not completely soaked enough that your clothes clung slightly to your figure. Ohyul noticed you, a stranger, your steps that looked increasingly frustrated with every second.

Eventually, the stranger stopped right outside the cafe entrance. Eventually stopping under the table outside with a large parasol attached to it.

You cursed under your breath, unbeknownst to the boy staring at you from the glass inside the cafe.

"seriously, of all days..."

Although the boy couldn't hear what you had said from inside, the irritation was obvious.

You adjusted the bag slightly, clearly debating whether to just run through the rain again or wait it out even though it didn't seem to have any plans of stopping anytime soon.

Ohyul blinked. His mind wandering in his head. Where have he seen you before. And eventually it clicked.

He did know you, though not well...or perhaps not yet but just vaguely he knew where he recognized you from.

A classmate. Someone who attended hanlim arts highschool along with him. One of his closest friends—Woonhak's friends. He never spoke to you before but he'd seen you wander around the halls enough to recognize who you were.

Eventually, his eyes caught the way you shifted again, clearly cold now, shoulders slightly tense as you looked at the reflection from one of them glass panes of the cafe as if it had personally betrayed you.

Something about that...made him pause.

And before he could overthink it—

Ohyul stood up.

The chair, scraped lightly against the wooden floor. A few people glanced over but paid no real interest to it—eventually looking away.

He grabbed his umbrella and walked towards the door. When he stepped outside the cold hit him immediately. He slowly walked to the table, to you standing under the parasol.

And you noticed him instantly.

"...uh?" she made a small sound of confusion.

Ohyul stopped right in front of you, when he realized too late that he hadn't thought this through. And for a second, there was just...silence. The sound of rain slowly muffled.

Then he cleared his throat slightly.

"you're drenched.." he said bluntly.

You blinked, confused. "I'm aware...?"

A pause.

"Right..."

That made you exhale through through nose, almost a laugh but not quite one. "Did you come out here just so you could tell me that..?"

"No.."

Another pause

"Are you...going to wait for the rain to stop?"

You chuckled before looking at the heavy rain. "I'm hoping it does." you muttered. "But clearly it had something against me...so I doubt it."

That got a small huff of air out of him. Almost a laugh.

Ohyul hesitated again...then without really thinking it through. He took off his hoodie.

"What are you doing?" you asked, perplexed at his actions. He outstretched his hands, the hoodie held out slightly for her to take it. "You're cold."

You blinked. He was right but... you've never been the type to admit vulnerability. "I'm drenched." You corrected, out of pride. "There's a difference."

"I know."

Eventually silence filled in again.

You stared at him, as if trying to figure out if he was serious or if he was just...strange.

"You don't even know me.." you pointed out.

"I know." He said simply.

That didn't help his case at all. But he still held the hoodie out, waiting for you to take it. After a few seconds of hesitation, you sighed. Your hands remained hugging your figure due to the cold.

"okay...this is either really kind of you, really weird."

"it's just a hoodie. It's not a big deal." He replied.

"From a stranger."

"Not exactly, we're classmates."

Eventually, you decided that...there was no way you could argue with him. You did recognize him, you saw him in hallways, you saw him with woonhak in class. So...he was technically not a stranger.

"Fine.." you muttered, reaching for the hoodie.

Your fingers didn't really touch him, but both of you felt something shift that day.

The hoodie was warm... probably from body heat. You immediately pulled it on, the oversized fabric swallowing you slightly.

"This is...definitely going to be weird to return." you muttered.

"Then you don't have to return it." he replied without thinking.

You paused. "That sounds even worse." That made him laugh.

"You're really strange."

"I've been told." He has, a lot. By Ryul. By Woonhak and by the staff of Morevision.

Another beat of silence.

But it wasn't uncomfortable. Just unfamiliar.

Your head tilted slightly, looking at him properly now for the first time.

"…Why did you come out here anyway?"

He glanced at the cafe behind them.

"You mean why I'm at the cafe?"

"Yes"

"…Warm coffee."

"That’s it?"

"It's cold today."

She nodded slowly like that made more sense.

"…Yeah, okay, that tracks."

Then, after a pause—

"I'll return this later," she added reluctantly. "Probably."

"You don't have to," he repeated.

"I'm going to," she insisted. “It’s basic respect.”

He didn't argue this time. Just nodded slightly.

The rain continued falling around them, softer now in the background of the café’s warm light.

"…You should go inside," he said after a moment.

"You too," she replied.

He paused.

"…Yeah."

Neither of them moved immediately.

Then finally, she stepped slightly toward the cafe door. Before entering, she looked back once.

"…Thanks, by the way."

He gave a small nod.

And somehow…

That didn’t feel like the last time they'd speak.

And it wasn't, because after that day, seeing each other somehow became normal.

At first, it happened through coincidence more than intention. You guys would pass each other through the schools hallways. There would be brief greetings exchanged during classes. Small acknowledgements whenever Woonhak dragged one of you into conversations with the other because he found out that you've conversed before and in his words it felt like he missed a whole chapter. Sometimes you'd end up walking together without really planning to, simply because they were heading the same direction anyway.

Then slowly—it stopped feeling accidental. The hoodie became an excuse at first. A reason to talk again where you kept insisting you'd return it eventually, yet every time you brought it up, something interrupted it and both of you would get distracted, be it during another shared walk with eachother or another afternoon where you two would linger around each other longer than necessary.

And somehow, somewhere between all of that—you two became close, so close it became obvious to others except the two of you. It started with little things. the shared drinks during breaks. The late night calls and messages, or the the moments of him sitting beside you during lunch while you kept rambling tiredly about something crazy you eavesdropped from someone as he rested his head on the table with you knowing well that he wasn't fully listening. But what mattered was that he cared enough to stay.

Back then, It was just you and him. Just two exhausted teenagers due to school, practices and other stuff life had offered them. Two teenagers who were trainees under different entertainment companies with big dreams who found comfort in eachother. Because somehow being with eachother felt so easy. so warm.

As time passes on, somehow and somewhere, being around each other made it easier. Like you could breathe properly for a moment.

Where some nights ended with long phone calls after practic and neither of you wanted to hang up first. There would sometimes be days where you both would barely even talk, just listening to eachother after after a long and exhausting day.

And other times, you would both talk until the sunrise threatened the edges of their windows through the blinds. You both would talk about dreams. About your hopes and wishes before and after debuting. About fears neither of you would admit to anyone else.

The closer you became, the more natural everything had felt.

Waiting outside each for eachother after school just to walk home together beneath the flickering streetlights. or the times where the both if you were sharing umbrellas during lazy rainy afternoons while his shoulder always ended up damp because he kept tilting it more towards you. The first time he held your hand happened naturally enough that neither of them even mentioned it afterward.

And when you both finally started dating, nothing really changed. Well....at least,

Not immediately.

Because you both already loved each other long before placing a lable onto it. Back then, the relationship felt soft in the way only first love could. It was messy. Young and overwhelmingly sincere.

The two of you loved each other through the exhaustion, through sore muscles after a long day of a workout or dance practice and through the nights where everything felt suffocating.

So maybe that was why losing each other later hurt so much.

Because for a while—both of you had been everything to one another. But of course growing older changed things quietly. Your schedules didnt line up with one another which led to less frequent hang outs. because when one of you had a break, the other would be busy.

Then thats where it started.

There were fewer shared walks home. Fewer late night calls with eachother. Replies became delayed, and that was not because either of you simply stopped caring and loving one another,

but because both if you were simply too exhausted to give more than what's already there.

And before you could notice, in just a blink of an eye, conversations turned into arguments. They weren't explosive. Just tired frustration and built up stress spilling onto the wrong person.

And suddenly there was a huge gap between you and him. a distance. Too many apologies spilled out from eachother. And eventually, even being together started feeling heavy. It no longer felt warm and easy. Instead it felt like trying to desperately hold onto something while slowly losing yourselves in the process. You both still loved each other dearly.

And that was the problem wasn't it?

Both you and Ohyul loved each other enough to notice how unhappy the other had become. Enough to realize neither of you knew how to keep giving without completely emptying yourselves. So both of you made a difficult decision.

Before graduation.

You chose to let go. And so did he. It was quiet. It was painful.

Because you the love for eachother never disappeared.

And afterward, life simply…kept moving. Graduation came. The preperations for debuting intensified. Your paths diverged naturally after that. That's it. No dramatic ending.

Just a distance settling where your love used to live.

And somehow—that hurt the most.

The steam from the ramyeon had started fading by the time Ohyul finally sat down across from you.

He didnt know why he chose to sat down, every part of his bone had screamed at him that it was a bad idea yet...his brain refused to listened and his instincts acted.

For a moment, neither of you spoke.

Strange isn't it?

How someone could become a stranger and still feel familiar at the exact same time.

"I see you still go out late at night to run" you pointed out eventually, pulling one earbud out completely this time.

Ohyul let out a quiet breath through his nose. "And you still have a habit of buying food but not eating it."

You glanced at the untouched ramyeon in front of you before giving a small shrug. “Fair point.”

Silence settled again. Not awkward. Just careful. It was evident that both of you were trying to figure out where to place years of distance between an attempt to have an ordinary conversation.

Then—"You debuted," you said softly.

And to Ohyul it still sounded slightly unreal coming from her. "Yeah..." Ohyul laughed quietly. "So did you."

You blinked surprised that he was aware. "You know?"

"I've seen clips online." He leaned back slightly in his chair. "Seems like you're doing pretty well."

A small sound left you, somewhere stuck between embarrassment and disbelief. "That’s… weird."

“What is?”

"You knowing that."

"You thought i wouldn't?"

"I don’t know." You looked down at your drink for a second before letting out a quieter laugh. "I guess I just didn't expect you to know about it."

Ohyul nodded slowly. Because to be frank, he understood that feeling more than he wanted to admit. There was another pause before you spoke again.

"You’ve changed." you laughed, admiring his new features now that his hood was down and so was his face mask that had concealed his face. "Your hair's longer and your braces gone..."

"Hopefully i changed in a good way..."

"Mmmm....I'm still deciding."

That made him laugh properly this time. God. How he forgot how easy talking to you used to feel.

"So how's the others? Woojin, Ryul." you asked.

"They're...well them?"

"So nothing changed."

"No not much."

A small laugh escaped your lips again. and God Ohyul found himself staring for half a second too long before looking away.

And somehow, little by little, as the night continued, the tension eased. The conversation started flowing more naturally after that. The two of you talked about schedules. About how exhausting debut life actually feels like compared to how glamorous people thought it looked online. But even so, everything felt exhilirating in a good way. At one point you started laughing while telling a story about your members and Ohyul found himself laughing hard enough that he had to lower his head slightly.

God...it felt familiar. Dangerously familiar. It was as if they were stepping into an old memory. And for a second, it almost scared both o of you, how easy it was to just slip back into this version of themselves. The version before things became complicated with eachother. Before distance they created together, before silence, before things got so exhausting.

At some point, your laughter softened.

and his gaze had drifted again. But not to your face this time. But to the familiar hoodie you were wearing. The navy blue hoodie that once belong to him.

It was subtle at first—almost absentminded. Like his eyes had simply fallen there while his mind was elsewhere. But then it lingered longer than it should've.

Until it wasn't absentminded anymore. You noticed eventually.

"…What?" you asked, glancing down at yourself before following his gaze. "What are you looking at?" Ohyul blinked once, like he had just been pulled back into the moment. Then he let out a quiet laugh. It wasn't dramatic, just...surprised.

That caught your attention immediately.

"What?" you repeated your eyes narrowed slightly.

He shook his head lightly, still smiling a little to himself. "I was just wondering…" he started slowly, voice calmer now, "…if you ever fixed that zipper."

That made you pause. Then you looked down at the hoodie too. “…Clearly not.” There was no hesitation laced in your answer. He hummed, leaning back slightly in his chair. "Yeah, I can see that."

A beat. Then, almost like he couldn’t help himself—

"You broke it, didn’t you?"

Your head snapped up immediately.

"I did NOT break it."

"Oh, you definitely did."

"I didn’t even do anything to it?!" You defended instantly. "It was already fragile when you gave it to me."

"That’s not true."

"it is so true."

He tilted his head slightly, like he was genuinely considering her argument, but the faint smile on his face ruined his seriousness.

"You used to fidget with it all the time," he said, slower now, like he was recalling it. "You'd just keep zipping it up and down while talking whenever you wore it. Like it was a habit."

"That does NOT break a zipper."

"You also never stopped doing it."

You frowned slightly. "That's not why it broke."

"Yes it was."

"How are you so sure huh?"

"It literally broke while you were doing it."

"If i don't remember it, it clearly never happened."

Ohyul laughed under his breath at that.

"Oh really...? how conveinient."

You leaned forward a little now, fully engaged in the argument despite the fact that neither of you actually sounded angry.

"I'm telling you, it was cheap ass material. wherever you bought it."

"I beg to differ...it survived me wearing it. It survived during rainy days. It survived before i gave it to you," he listed, ticking each point off casually, "but it didn’t survive you."

"That’s insulting. and very offending"

"Oh c'mon, it’s honest."

"It’s wrong."

"Is it?"

You stared at him for a second..becuase it wasn't wrong. you were just to prideful to admit it did break because of you. Eventually, you let out a small exhale through your nose, giving up on winning.

"…Whatever."

That should've been the end of it. But instead, the silence that followed didn't feel empty. It felt… reflective. Your fingers, still wrapped in the sleeve. And your eyes looked down at the hoodie again.

"…Do you… want it back?" The question hung there differently than everything before it. Ohyul sensed it. The hesitation that was laced in your question. Like you weren't sure if you should even be asking.

Ohyul didn’t answer immediately. For a second, his gaze dropped back to the hoodie too.

And suddenly—it wasn't just a hoodie.

It was the rain. The cold air biting at his skin. The cafe doorway. The memory of you standing outside, annoyed at the weather, soaked at the edges of your clothes, holding a bag over your head like it could fight the sky.

Then it was him stepping outside without much thought of it. It was warmth leaving his jacket and settling onto her shoulders. It was a stranger he didn't know then—

who somehow ended up becoming someone he couldn't really forget.

And then—memories came flooding one by one. The laughter in empty hallways. The shared beverages and snacks. The late night quiet conversations that lasted too long be it in person, through messages or calls. The running around in the rain when he had worked so hard to keep the umbrella on your side. The times where you'd share an earbud, your head resting on his shoulder. The version of life with you that felt simpler, even when it wasn't.

His gaze softened without him noticing. Then he let out a small breath. A faint smile appeared after and you can't lie, your heart still tugged because of it. That smile, that damn smile.

The smile he gives to you after a long day, the smile he'd have whenever you're feeling down telling you everything will be okay even if he wasn't sure himseld. The smile he'd show you to reassure you. It was so familiar, so warm and so genuine.

"…No," he said quietly.

You blinked confused.

"No?"

He shook his head once.

"Keep it."

A pause.

"You kept it for this long," he added, tone lighter now, almost teasing again, "why return it now?"

The tension on your shoulders, one you didn't even realize you were holding eased slightly.

and you leaned back a little. clearing you throat.

"…I was just asking."

"Mm."

There was a beat. Then he smiled faintly, eyes flicking back to you.

"Though I doubt you actually planne'd to give it back anyway."

That earned an immediate reaction. "I did."

"You didn't"

"I did!"

"You said that every time," he pointed out smoothly. "And every time, somehow you conveniently forgot."

"That was back then," you insisted. "I meant it this time..."

He raised a brow slightly. "Sure you did.."

"Don’t 'sure you' me mister."

His laugh came easier this time.

It was warm. Familiar in a way that made the moment feel less like two strangers catching up—but more like something that had briefly been paused rather than ended.

You huffed slightly, but there was a small smile tugging at your expression now too.

"You’re still annoying,"

"You're still wearing my hoodie"

"I'm wearing it."

"Same thing."

"It is not the same thing."

"Is it?"

"Yes it is—"

But you stopped yourself mid sentence. And your eyes drifted to look at him. And for a second, neither of you spoke. The laughter didn't fully disappear.

It just softened. Hung in the air a little quieter than before.

And something about it—something about sitting there like this again, arguing over something so small, so stupid, so normal—

made everything else feel strangely distant.

Like time hadn't completely erased them. Just stretched them apart. And it felt like you two were teenagers again...just a little older this time.

Until finally—

you exhaled slowly. you laughed, because god how you missed this feeling. how you missed talking to him like this even if things had clearly changed between them, even if they grew older, maturer into the perso they are now.

That caught his attention. For a brief second, neither of them said anything. But God. Ohyul missed this as much as you did.

Then quietly, unexpectedly—

"I miss this."

His gaze lifted towards you, surprised that you had chose to acknowledge the elephant in the atmosphere.

"You know…" you murmured, glancing down at the untouched food in front of you, "when it was just us."

A pause.

"Talking like this." you added.

Ohyul swallowed slowly.

"…Yeah."

Another small pause.

Then softer—

"Me too."

Silence settled between them again, but this time it wasn’t uncomfortable at all. If anything, it felt almost warm. Like finding something you thought you lost years ago. Eventually, Ohyul glanced down at his phone.The time made him exhale quietly.

"It's really late," he muttered.

"It is..."

He pushed himself up from the chair reluctantly, adjusting the mask resting beneath his chin again.

"I should probably head back before the others notices I've been gone too long."

"I can imagine the fuss they are gonna make" you chuckled.

He laughed again, shaking his head lightly.

God. There it was again. That feeling. Like no matter how much time passed, talking to you still came so naturally. He hesitated briefly before speaking again.

"…Hey."

You looked up. Ohyul rubbed the back of his neck once, suddenly feeling strangely nervous.

"Is your number still the same from back then?"

A small flicker of surprise crossed your expression. "…Yeah," she answered slowly. "Why?"

He glanced away for a second, embarassed, nervouse and hesitant before looking back at you again.

"If it’s not too much trouble…" he started quietly, "and if you’re not busy sometime…"

His voice softened slightly.

"Maybe we could catch up properly"

For a moment, you simply looked at him.

Then slowly—

"…Yeah," you said softly.

A small smile appeared afterward.

"I'd like that."

And somehow, beneath the luminiscent convenience store lights and the remains of the rare summer rain from this evening,

it felt a little like fate had decided to give them one more chance.

thanks for reading <3

It’s safe to say that no one wanted to feel James’s fire (pun intended) since that day. To you, it was actually a surprise to see his power. As the child of overprotective superheroes, you were finally able to show your powers after they manifested at the age of six, after you woke up feverish and frightened from a nightmare, and scared the living shit out of your nanny at the time.

Your mother remembered how ice crawled over your blankets in delicate silver veins, the window frosted over despite the summer heat outside. Your father burst into the room first, radiant in his gold-and-white suit, while your mother followed close behind with panic carved into her beautiful face.

They took all the time to teach you how to control your emotions and not to use your abilities around civilians, even if they were really close to you, and you were prohibited from practicing unsupervised.

So while everyone else at Sky High learned to fly, bench-press buses, or summon storms in gym class at kindergarten, you learned to remain calm and pretend your fingers didn’t ache every time someone brushed against your skin. The good news was that, after years of asking to go to Sky High (more than a decade, at this point) since the day you found your parents’ yearbook, you were finally able to do what you always wanted to do, promising you to do your best and get along with the children of their friends, whom thankfully, you did.

Until you saw James burn the bully’s ass off. The nurse had to pull out a fire extinguisher while the poor guy screamed for, like, ten minutes.

The memory still lingered vividly in your mind as you stood near your locker two weeks later, books pressed against your chest while students flooded through the hallway around you in noisy waves. And through all of it, James walked like he hated every second.

Everyone started to make some space when they saw his usual black boots and a worn leather jacket appear in the hallways. Hands shoved into his pockets like he was physically restraining himself from punching someone.

You tried not to stare. And failed miserably every single time.

Because James was terrifying, yes, but he was also unfairly pretty.

Sharp jaw. Dark eyes. Short hair with a few red strands. Sometimes he wore a scowl that should’ve made him unattractive, but it does the exact opposite. There was always warmth radiating from him, too—you notice it because your body reacts to temperatures instinctively. He basically felt like standing too close to a bonfire in winter.

Those two weeks, you built up the courage to talk to him with the help of Martin and Keonho, backing down once you were near his table and doing a “U” turn, just like you did today once you saw how one boot propped against the chair opposite him to discourage company.

What you didn’t expect, while putting on your protective gear, was for you and him to be paired together in P.E. to play probably one of the most nerve-wracking yet interesting games: Save the Citizen.

“Partners,” Coach Boomer barked from across the gym, clipboard tucked under his arm. “Move it!”

Students scrambled across the polished floor to have a clear view of the mechanical citizen mannequin hung high above the giant metal shredder in the center of the arena swinging slightly on its cable, while warning sirens blared overhead.

You stood frozen, your peripheral vision catching James standing lazily. Coach Boomer pointed directly at you. “Cryokinesis and Fireboy. You’re Team Hero.”

“Oh my God,” Martin whispered dramatically while passing by you in his own gear. “If you two explode, I’m taking cover behind the bleachers.”

Keonho gave you two thumbs up. “Try not to die.”

You nearly choked. “What do you mean by die?”

“You gonna stand there all day?” James asked.

Your head snapped up. “What?”

“The game starts in thirty seconds.”

“Oh. Right.”

James glanced at you again, eyes flickering briefly toward the frost forming unconsciously around your fingertips. You immediately shoved your hands behind your back.

“You nervous?” he asked.

You blinked. “A little.”

“Don’t be.”

“Easy for you to say that since you could probably punch through a wall if things go south.”

The Villain Team across the arena cracked their knuckles dramatically as the countdown started. The giant shredder roared louder beneath the dangling mannequin, and James glanced sideways at you.

“Stay behind me,” he muttered.

The buzzer screamed, and almost immediately, the chaos exploded.

One of the villains launched forward with super speed while another hurled purple energy blasts across the arena. James reacted before you could even process it—fire erupted down his arms in brilliant orange waves as he stepped in front of you, knocking a blast away with sheer force.

The heat should’ve burned you, but your powers reacted instinctively as the cold air spiraled outward from your body in silver-white mist, colliding against his flames without extinguishing them completely. Steam hissed violently between you both.

James looked back at you sharply.

Your stomach dropped. “Sorry—”

“Do that again.”

“What?”

“The steam. Do it again.” Another attack came flying toward you. This time, you reacted together.

James threw fire at the same time you released ice. The collision erupted into a massive cloud of steam so thick that the opposing team immediately lost sight of you both.

“Oh,” you breathed.

“Oh,” James echoed. Then, unexpectedly, He grinned. It transformed his entire face, causing you to almost walk directly into a laser beam. “Focus,” James barked, grabbing your wrist suddenly and yanking you sideways.

The touch lasted barely a second, enough for your body to react immediately as frost crawled up his sleeve and both of you stared at it. “Oh my God, I’m so sorry—”

Flames flickered gently beneath it, melting the thin layer you did and falling into droplets almost instantly.

“Huh,” he said quietly.

The game continued around you in violent bursts of powers and screaming students, but suddenly, all you could think about was the fact that James was still standing close enough for you to feel his warmth against your skin. And it was weird, considering how most people flinched from the cold.

Your parents loved you, of course, but even they subconsciously avoided prolonged contact when your emotions got unstable, even after spending years learning how not to freeze things accidentally. Clearly, watching James step closer as if it didn’t matter has had an impact on you right now, despite the situation.

“Hey,” he said.

You blinked rapidly. “What?”

“The citizen.”

Right. The giant fake civilian was still dangling toward imminent death, and each second the cable was lowering faster now, inching closer toward the spinning blades beneath it. “I’ve got an idea.”

“Doesn’t sound so reassuring.”

“It’s not.”

Fair enough.

Before you could ask further, James grabbed your arm again and pulled you forward through the steam cloud you created. Heat engulfed you, overwhelming you. But the villains spotted you immediately.

“THERE!”

Energy blasts came flying, and James blocked the first with fire as you froze the second midair. The third almost hit you directly before James shoved you behind him hard enough that flames burst violently across his shoulders.

“James!”

“I’m fine.”

He absolutely was not fine. One blast had clipped his side, making smoke curl from his jacket. Anger flashed through you so fast that the temperature in the arena dropped several degrees at the sight of them laughing.

Ice exploded across the floor, and the villain team slipped instantly.

James stared at the frozen arena beneath your feet.

“Remind me not to piss you off.”

You winced. “Sorry.”

“Why do you keep apologizing?”

Another alarm blared overhead. “THIRTY SECONDS REMAINING!”

“The cable,” James said suddenly. You followed his gaze upward.

“I’ll freeze it, you melt the release lock.”

“That’s insane.”

“Probably, but right now, I don’t care.” Both of you sprinted forward. James launched himself upward first, using bursts of fire beneath his feet to catch one of the support beams overhead, followed by you freezing footholds along the metal structure fast enough to climb after him.

The heat from his flames met your ice continuously, steam curling around both of you like storm clouds.

Below, the villains recovered. “STOP THEM!”

You slammed your hand against the descending cable, and ice shot upward instantly in glittering crystalline veins, freezing the mechanism solid. At the same moment, James thrust both burning hands toward the release lock.

The mannequin dropped directly into James’s arms a second before the buzzer rang.

GAME OVER.

Applause exploded everywhere. Coach Boomer looked emotionally devastated to admit it, but even he seemed impressed.

“Hero Team wins!”

James dropped lightly onto the arena floor with the mannequin under one arm. You climbed down more carefully, adrenaline still hammering through your veins. The second your boots touched the ground, students crowded around both of you excitedly.

Coach Boomer ruined the moment entirely. “You two,” he barked. “Good work. Terrifying teamwork. Hate whatever this weird elemental thing is you got going on.”

“Thanks?” you offered weakly.

The bell rang, and all the students slowly began dispersing toward the locker rooms afterward, still buzzing excitedly about the match. You started gathering your things as quickly as possible after changing, heart still racing from everything that had happened. You noticed James walking away with one of his hands shoved into his pockets while the other fixed the strap of his backpack.

“Oh, hey…” You said, catching his attention. “Uhm… you did well today. Sorry if I caused any trouble today.”

“Don’t bother. I’m surprised that you are a sidekick rather than a hero. Why?”

Your gaze drifted away after the question. “I’ve never actually used my powers on command, so when Coach Bommer at the beginning of the school year told me to show them off, I got designated in that category.”

“You froze half the arena,” he said finally. “Doesn’t exactly scream sidekick.”

Heat crawled up your neck instantly. “That was an accident.”

“You say sorry a lot for someone who almost won the game by herself.”

“I did not win by myself.”

James shrugged one shoulder lazily, though you caught the corner of his mouth twitching upward. “Sure.”

From that day onward, the two of you somehow kept finding each other.

Passing each other between classes and exchanging brief conversations that stretched longer each time. Sitting near each other during lunch because every other table in the cafeteria felt too loud. Training together whenever Coach Boomer paired students for combat exercises because, according to him, your powers “made terrifyingly good chemistry.”

Nobody took the adjustment normally.

Martin nearly inhaled an entire carton of chocolate milk the first time he saw James sit beside you voluntarily during lunch and not at his usual table at the very corner. Even looking everywhere to see if it was some sort of sophomore prank, and honestly, so were you.

Keonho reacted even worse.

“Oh my God,” he whispered dramatically, staring between both of you as he’d just witnessed history unfolding in real time. “The apocalypse is real.”

Juhoon attempted to remain calm. “To be fair, James hasn’t threatened anyone in almost three days.”

“That’s progress,” Seonghyeon agreed solemnly.

James looked up from stealing one of your fries. “I can still hear you.”

“See?” Martin said, pointing aggressively. “He’s communicating.”

“You guys are unbearable,” you muttered, trying not to laugh.

James leaned back in his chair beside you, dark eyes half-lidded with annoyance. “Do you realize idiots surround you?”

“Hey! But you just joined us today. We are good.”

James didn’t answer immediately. Instead, his gaze flickered briefly toward you before he looked away again. The tips of your fingers turned cold instantly.

It became frighteningly easy to be around him after that.

James still carried that sharp edge around everyone else. He still looked intimidating, standing in hallways with his leather jacket, dark expression, and permanent aura of barely restrained violence. Most students continued moving out of his way instinctively.

Just when both of you were alone, he softened.

He waited for you outside your classrooms without mentioning it. He carried your books whenever your hands got too cold after training. During combat exercises, he instinctively stepped closer anytime your powers became unstable, his warmth grounding you before panic could spiral too far.

And James noticed everything about you, too.

He noticed when you were overwhelmed before you even spoke, and he will warm up a tea. He noticed how your powers reacted to your emotions, how frost appeared unconsciously whenever you were anxious, embarrassed, or angry. He noticed when you skipped meals after difficult training sessions and silently shoved snacks onto your desk afterward without explanation or being seen.

Being near him stopped feeling frightening, and the realization hit nearly three months later, when James showed up outside your house carrying his physics textbook with an expression that already looked irritated. Principal Power personally called you to tutor him so he can pass Mad Science with at least a D.

“You’re failing?” you asked in disbelief after analyzing all of his tests.

James took off his leather jacket, revealing that “Smashing Pumpkins” shirt, dropping heavily into the chair beside your desk. “Apparently.”

“You literally scored highest in combat strategy last week.”

“Yeah, because combat strategy is similar to P.E.” He opened the textbook as it had personally offended him, pointing at all the study cases and scientific formulas. “This doesn’t.”

You tried not to smile while sitting beside him. Outside your window, rain tapped softly against the glass while warm lamplight filled the room in a soft golden glow. The atmosphere felt strangely intimate despite the scattered papers covering your desk.

“Okay,” you said, pulling the textbook closer. “Show me what you don’t understand.”

“Everything.”

“That’s not helpful.”

“Neither is physics nor science to me.”

You laughed quietly before pointing toward one of the problems.

The hours passed by, and with each hour, you would do a decent ice cube for him to melt and have water, too lazy and focused to go down to your own kitchen. 

 “Oh! This is nice, we reached the columns of easy problems.”

“Are there any easy ones, or is it you being smart?”

“C’mon, you just need to calculate the force trajectory based on velocity—”

James leaned closer beside you to look at the page. The movement brought him close enough for his shoulder to brush yours, the instant cold spread sharply through your fingertips while warmth radiated from him at the same time, causing thin frost to creep unconsciously across the edge of your notebook.

James noticed immediately. “Still freezing things when you’re nervous?”

“I’m not nervous.”

“You’re lying.” Your stomach tightens before looking away to calm yourself.

“That obvious?”

“To me?” James leaned back slightly in his chair, though his arm still brushed yours. “Yeah.”

Rain continued tapping against the windows while your heartbeat became embarrassingly loud in your own ears. James sat close enough that you could feel the steady warmth radiating from his skin, close enough that your powers instinctively reacted to him without permission.

It was strange.

“You know,” he said after a moment, his voice quieter now, “you don’t apologize as much anymore.”

Your fingers tightened slightly around your pencil. “I got comfortable.”

“With me?” The question sounded casual, but the way he looked at you wasn’t.

“Maybe.”

James turned slightly in his chair until he was fully facing you now, one arm draped across the backrest while his gaze held yours steadily. The air between you felt warmer as your cold curled instinctively toward his heat until faint steam rose where frost touched the edge of the desk near his hand.

Neither of you mentioned it.

“You still get nervous around me,” he said quietly.

“A little.”

“Why?”

You stared at him for a second in disbelief. “James.”

“What?”

“You cannot seriously ask me that.”

A faint smirk tugged briefly at the corner of his mouth. “I want to hear you say it.”

Your face burned instantly. “I hate you.”

“No, you don’t.”

Unfortunately, he sounded entirely too confident about that. James’s hand moved before you could retreat completely, his fingers tilted your chin gently upward until you were forced to meet his eyes again.

The touch alone nearly destroyed your ability to think.

Heat spread across your skin while frost crept instinctively along the sleeves of your hoodie. James’s thumb rested lightly near your jaw, warm enough to melt every icy thought straight out of your head. He leaned closer, your breath tangled somewhere in your throat as the distance between you disappeared inch by inch. His forehead brushed yours first, and James inhaled sharply at the contact.

The room felt impossibly quiet now except for the rain outside and the uneven rhythm of your breathing. His gaze dropped briefly toward your mouth before lifting again, dark eyes heavy with restraint. Your hands went to the back of his neck, closing the remaining distance carefully, his lips brushing yours in a kiss so soft it almost didn’t feel real at first. Both of your powers reacted violently beneath your skins as cold air curled through the room while embers sparked faintly near James’s fingertips.

Neither of you cared.

The kiss deepened slowly after that, hesitant only for a moment before James’s hand slid gently against your waist, pulling you closer like he’d been holding himself back for weeks. Which, honestly, he probably had.

Who would’ve thought that ice and fire would go so well and look this good?

─── GUESS WHO'S SHADOWBANNED i'm very pissed since that is indeed making me go on a semi-hiatus until further notice. Still. I wanted to scratch my itch of doing James as my childhood crush Warren Peace from the movie "Sky High"... idk if some of you even watched it (maybe bc you are quite young) BUT AT LEAST I DID IT, AND I'M HAPPY.