Super

57. wall of flame

Ten hadn't expected to find Jeonghan so easily.

And yet, there he was—standing right before him in all his ice-white glory, the same somber yet distraught expression he remembered from the diner. The Angel looked like he had been expecting him, which wouldn't be surprising. They probably had cams installed all over the place, and after having taken Mark, they couldn't expect much else.

Ten straightened, unsure what to say. His original plan had involved convincing Jeonghan to help them put out the fires, but now that he was standing in front of the man himself, his mind felt blank, like his old laptop that used to crash at the worst moments.

The room was pristine white, the layout exactly like the other rooms lining the corridor. The background matched perfectly with the man's visage, all snowy white without a single crease out of place. Ten felt unnerved.

"Ten," Jeonghan spoke.

Ten blinked. "I don't remember me telling you your name."

Jeonghan lifted a shoulder and let it fall. Generally, Ten considered a general, even casual gesture, but the Angel made it look regal. Perfectly poised, perfectly balanced, like a ballet dancer. Or a machine. "I heard your friend call you by that name."

"Yeah, well," Ten muttered, inching closer. He knew he had to act fast, because even the tiniest delay could send the building—and all of its occupants—up in a shower of flames. That was one thing that was not on his bucket list. "Look, I need your help, and I need it right now. I wish I could chat but I really don't have any time right now."

Jeonghan's eyebrow inched up slightly, which Ten interpreted to be a motion conveying infinite confusion. "You need my...help?"

"Yes," Ten said. He was moving slowly, arms out in a placating gesture, as if he were dealing with a cornered wild animal rather than an icily calm grown man. He had to act fast, but at the same time, he couldn't rush this. "I need you to use your powers to put out the fire."

Now both of his eyebrows went up. Jeonghan tilted his head slightly, every movement unhurried and controlled. "Why?"

"Because if you don't, it will get to the gas pipes, and this whole building is going to blow up," Ten answered, as calmly as he could, despite the fact that speaking the words aloud had made it realer and scarier. "And as your friends are here as well as mine, I don't think you want anything to happen to them."

Jeonghan's icy blue eyes narrowed. His hands were still drawn inside his robes, but the tips of his fingers peaked out from beneath the sleeve. At first glance, it seemed like he was wearing white gloves, but a closer look told him that it was actually his skin, deathly pale like the color of whitened bones.

"How do you know I don't want anything bad to happen to them?" the Angel asked. "How do you know we don't have another way out? How do you know anything about me?"

Ten inhaled slowly. He really wished Kai were here with him, but the purple-haired man had another job, a much more important job. But at the moment, what he was doing felt pretty damn important too.

"I know this fire isn't part of your plan," he said slowly. "I know you don't want to hurt people—none of you do, and I know you want to take care of the fire problem as much as we do. I'm not asking you to ally with me or do anything to help me personally, just do this one thing. For all of us."

This made Jeonghan exhale, slowly and purposefully, so Ten saw his chest deflate with the motion. "How do you propose I will do that?" he asked, and this time there was an edge of something to his tone, close to dryness or perhaps bitterness. "My powers have to do with ice, not water. There is no way I can even get close enough to the flames."