To love and to Hate

1: A rivalry of elements

*I heard this song and suddenly this story was born in my brain. It's so good y'all. This vibe is the vibe of this story.

*If not showing, it's No Good: Ruelle

The doors of the main guild house burst open. "Minho!"

The guild master sighed. "Here we go," he muttered under his breath.

Mage Jisung stormed into the main hall, fire trailing after his fingers as he approached the water mage sitting at a table enjoying his supper.

"That's Mage Minho to you," he said casually, moving to take another bite of the meat on his plate.

Jisung's hand jerked out and the plate disintegrated in a poof of smoke. "What the hell are you doing nosing into my jobs? I had that troll perfectly handled, yet when I went to take care of the problem the villagers told me a water mage already took care of it."

Minho leaned back, finally glaring up at the fire mage standing over him. "There are plenty of water mages out and about, you know."

"Right, lots of water mages that share your name. How could I possibly get confused?"

"Sarcasm doesn't suit you, darling."

Flames erupted along Jisung's shoulders and he barely stopped himself from strangling the mage in front of him. Instead he curled his hands into fists and let his fire burn along his knuckles. "You know damn well I claimed that job, and you went and stole it anyway."

Minho pushed to his feet, the look on his face so smug that Jisung wanted to burn it off. "I was just getting you back for that job in Ninth Port."

Jisung hated the way Minho seemed to tower over him, his multicolored eyes pinning Jisung below him. He jabbed Minho's chest. "That's because you sabotaged my mission just before that."

Minho's expression darkened and a cold smile grew on his lips. "I've told you not to touch me, darling."

Anger coiled in Jisung's gut. "Why you-"

"Alright that's enough!" An invisible force pushed between the mages, sending them stumbling back away from each other. The guild master, Chan, now stood a few feet away, glaring at his top mages. "After two years of this, I thought you would learn to deal with this like the adults you are."

Minho pointed at Jisung. "He's not an adult."

"I'm twenty, you son of a-"

"I said that's enough!"

The water mage and the fire mage looked down, not daring to cross their master's temper. Chan was scary when he was angry.

"Rivalry is not a big problem. It's healthy, even, but this has gone too far. I will not have you tarnish the honor of mages. You are part of the same guild, for crying out loud."

Jisung dared to look up. "If Minho can stop stealing my jobs, I will stop stealing his, and we can compete fairly." He glared at the water mage in emphasis.

Minho looked him up and down in that infuriating way of his. "Life isn't fair, little fire mage. I thought you'd know that by now, but I guess not."

I'm going to kill him. Jisung turned on his heel and stalked out of the main guild house. He needed to burn something, to destroy something before he accidentally destroyed one of his fellow guild members.

Mages were washed free of surnames the moment they were discovered to possess magic in order to promote a sense of privacy for their identity. Mages were involved in risky jobs, so they needed as much discretion as they could get. But even then Jisung never forgot who Minho was.