Dulce Periculum

17. Bombshell

San took Yunho along to his morning training the next day. The first exercise was to jog from their dorm 20 minutes to Tenebra's headquarters. Yunho was down for that one, refreshed after lazily brushing his teeth with San by his side, both shirtless and ungraceful in their sweatpants.

Even so early, San was in a good mood and they laughed with each other as they struggled up the hill. Since Yunho hadn't brought a cap, San lent him one and the morning air was a welcome change of the usual pace.

They arrived and San immediately stretched his neck to greet Wooyoung, but the guide wasn't in yet. When he hung his head on the way downstairs, Yunho patted his back. He also had his fair share of crushes that never worked out, but he cheered on San.

Jongho was already there, training with an esper Yunho hadn't seen before. He had fiery red hair and countless piercings in his ears. The scowl on his features looked harmless until he suddenly exploded right upon entering the room.

Yunho's fearful yelp drowned in the rush of feet. Another man with long dark hair dashed fearlessly into the smoke, in his arms a bucket. A splash sounded, then a hiss.

Yunho ducked behind San, clutching to his shoulders in distress even as he patted Yunho's fingers to comfort him. When the smoke eased, the firecracker was still in one piece, now looking even more concentrated. He was soaked from head to toe and a heated puddle of water blubbered by his feet.

"Good. Do it again," Jongho instructed from the sidelines while the other male dashed away on long legs to get more water.

San didn't hesitate to approach his colleagues.

"Good morning," he chirped at them and received a smile back from the water carrier. He looked softer than the esper with him, likely his paired guide.

"Morning, San. You brought our newbie?"

With a pat on Yunho's shoulder, San tugged him to his side. Fidgeting and very abruptly cooled off by the explosion of heat within the building, Yunho only stared at the new esper, spooked.

"We are roommates now," San announced proudly. "Not the best timing to bring him in, eh?"

"I was actually hoping for them to train together," Jongho replied, and Yunho blanched impossibly more.

No way. He would be blown to bits.

Nonchalant about his mortal fears, Jongho beckoned to the redhair.

"This is Hongjoong, our bombshell on legs. And his guide, Seonghwa. Hongjoong is our second and last S-rank esper."

Though Yunho bowed to him politely and mumbled his name, his fingers clutched into each other for dear life.

"Uhm... I don't think I can train with S-ranks," he winced, sorry to disappoint their expectations.

But Jongho coolly shook his head.

"On the contrary. Hongjoong poses a very real and unpredictable danger to you, like demons do. But we can make sure nothing actually harms you. Let's try it out together and afterwards, you can see Yeosang."

Though Yunho liked to think he was supposed to see the doctor about his diagnosis, he wondered if he might need medical attention anyway while he was there.

"Okay, I'm in," Hongjoong grinned, and he looked so scary that Yunho wanted to tuck his tail in and run as fast as he could.

But the guide's smile was gentle and patient.

"Jongho and I will have an eye on you. You don't need to worry. Hongjoong just needs to be put out and cool off occasionally."

That sounded like a lot of work. Could he explode himself if he wasn't careful? Take out some demons but also end up in a million pieces?