Feel the Fire (Yoonseok) ✔

Chapter 6

ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ 6
"ᴛʜᴏᴜɢʜᴛꜱ ꜰᴀᴅᴇ"

Yoongi walked faster than Hoseok, even though he was holding a heavy pile of books. It was probably because Hoseok was stopping every five meters to look at another artwork, much to Yoongi's annoyance. After waiting for him a couple times he just stopped caring and walked on. Hoseok took the hint and quickly followed him after that leaving the awe for the building in his thoughts.

Slowly but surely they reached the library. Once again Hoseok was enchanted by the ceiling. He'd just have to study in his room because the ceiling in the library was way too distracting.

"Watch out for the candleholder," Yoongi said with a chuckle. It took Hoseok a few seconds to realize Yoongi was talking to him. He gave his roommate a foul look, a slight smile hidden underneath it.

"How did you know that? Did you just read my mind again?" Hoseok asked, tilting his head in curiosity. Something was different. He didn't feel like he had before when Yoongi was reading his mind. This time there were no footsteps in his thoughts, no lingering sensation of being intruded on. He just felt normal.

Yoongi shook his head. "Jimin's,"

Hoseok looked around. In between the bookshelves, at the far end of the library sat the light-haired boy. Next to him sat Namjoon. Hoseok figured they must be paired up as well. They were both just reading some books with Jimin jotting down notes here and there. Namjoon seemed engulfed in his story. From the limited time Hoseok and Namjoon had spent together, he had learned that the other loved to read and learn. He was incredibly smart, always eager to learn more about the world. Hoseok didn't know much about Jimin, but so far he had only seen him locked up in the library, he could only figure they were similar in interest.

"Doesn't he mind?" Hoseok asked Yoongi. He let his eyes glide from the two sorcerers to his roommate, who was still picking out books. He had probably already put the pile he was holding back in their original spots. 

"Mind what?" he asked without looking away.

"You reading his thoughts, he doesn't seem bothered by it," Hoseok clarified.

"Oh, not really. It's just something that's hard to stop doing. People are surprisingly easy to read and we were roommates before the whole different year student thing happened. At some point he just got used to it, I guess," Yoongi explained. He only looked away from the books for a second, to look at Hoseok in his peripheral vision, even then it was only a glance. 

Hoseok just nodded not wanting to push Yoongi any further. He could see the hurt hidden under his stone-cold facial expression. Not many people would, but Hoseok did. Yoongi might be able to read minds but Hoseok was able to read people. It wasn't a magic ability, just simply looking; looking at how Yoongi's shoulders tensed up as soon as he mentioned his ability, the way he'd look for the right books but how he kept looking at Hoseok from the corner of his eye, how he lingered too long at certain books even though the library was probably like his second home. It was easy to see he was uncomfortable and unsure. What sold the idea to him was how Yoongi seemed to freeze every time his ability was brought up. It was easy to see how being able to read minds made him feel different, almost hostile, even though sorcery was normal here. 

It was so easy for Hoseok to see it all. He was a people person, he'd always been. It's the one trait he had from his father. Apart from that people always said he looked like his mother, he wouldn't know. He hardly remembered her after all.

"Here," Yoongi said handing Hoseok a leather-bound book with a red cover. Hoseok took it with a confused look. "beginner spells and an introduction to sorcery. So you have something to do until the classes start," Yoongi explained.

"Thanks," Hoseok said looking at the book. The cover was damaged here and there and the pages were old. He carefully opened it. Curly letters and drawings decorated the pages. Even the books here were beautiful. All books he had were old papers tied together with a disintegrating string, unkempt and unsaved, yet here they were treated like artefacts.

In his concentration, Hoseok hadn't noticed Yoongi was already walking away. He quickly followed him not wanting to get lost again.

"I also need to pick up something downstairs, if you come with I can show you some of the classrooms and the Merlin circles," Yoongi explained sparing Hoseok a grand total of one glance.

"What's a merlin circle?" Hoseok asked. Yoongi dead in his tracks and sighed.

"You're really not used to sorcery, are you?" he asked in a judgemental tone, raising one eyebrow.

"There was only one other sorcerer in my village and I didn't even know he had magic until the guards came to collect us, so no," Hoseok explained.

"Was there no one else in your family to teach you things?" Yoongi asked, hoisting his books further up.

Hoseok gulp and kept quiet for a second, trying to recollect himself. No matter how many times he had answered this question it always shut down his throat. While fiddling with his fingers he answered.

"My mom was the only one in my family with magic but she died a long time ago," he quickly said, trying to hide some of the hurt the memories brought along.

"I'm sorry," Yoongi said in a truly apologetic voice.

Hoseok suddenly felt his eyes burn in his head. This time it was different. It wasn't just a feeling, not just footsteps, Hoseok saw something instead. He saw his mother looking back at him. Her fair face scrunched up in a smile. It was a day he didn't quite remember, at least not except for that moment. He only tended to remember flashes and that was one of them. It was one of the few recollections he had of his long-lost mother. Tears pricked in his eyes but he quickly blinked them away.

"She seems nice," Yoongi said, letting his gaze flicker over Hoseok's form.

"Stop reading my mind," the younger bluntly said, this time using a more serious tone. He normally wasn't rude or defensive, but his thoughts were his and his alone. He didn't like how Yoongi could just barge in and take a look at everything he had tried to keep secret all these years. In fact, he hated it.

"Sorry, people are easier to read when they're hurting. It's like a radio signal that gets amplified by a hundred," Yoongi quickly explained in a guilty tone, his eyes going down to his feet.

"I'm not hurt. It happened ages ago," Hoseok quickly said before his voice could crack. Hoseok could feel Yoongi's footsteps, they were faint but there. They felt faded and grew weaker by the second like he was slowly getting dragged out of his mind.

Yoongi opened his mouth to say something but quickly closed it. He shook his head and walked on without looking back at him again. The footsteps were gone.

From the corner of his eyes, Hoseok could see Yoongi's expression. He immediately felt guilty for his words and demeanour, he didn't mean to act defensive or make him feel bad. He decided there was nothing he could do now except apologise, and quickly followed Yoongi.

"I'm sorry. I'll try my best to keep out," Yoongi said in a barely audible voice, almost as if he was scared of further conflict. He didn't look at Hoseok again.

"It's alright, you can't help it," the younger said. Yoongi rolled his eyes but gave him a kind smile anyway. Hoseok hoped things would change soon.

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I really need to rewrite more than I am now if I want to finish this book this summer.