To love and to Hate

15: Conflict and confessions

*Last minute song I listened to while updating this chapter that fits oddly well with the vibe: Wicked Game- Ursine Vulpine

Seungmin stared at them. "I'm not even going to ask." He stepped back, opening the front door to his house wider to let the half-dressed, soot-covered mages inside.

"It's probably best not to," Minho agreed, still supporting Jisung as he led them over to the large lounge area.

"Jisung, you're injured. Minho, you've sustained some smoke damage.'

The water mage smiled. "Good, you noticed."

Jisung fell onto one of the sofas, groaning at the rough movement of his injuries. "Sorry, Seungmin. You lived the closest, and as you pointed out, we need some healing."

"Hang on, let me grab you some water and clothes." The healer quickly disappeared down the wide hallway that led to the rest of his house. Having the ability he did, Seungmin was probably one of the richest mages in Agrook. Jisung was a little jealous of that.

Minho splayed out on the floor by Jisung's feet, sighing heavily and dramatically. "What a morning."

Jisung folded his arms over himself, staring somewhere off to the side. He'd used a lot of power, that much was clear, but... he wasn't all that drained, which was strange. And why did his magic react like that after being locked away like that? Other mages didn't experience the same problem, and his fire only got restless when he didn't use it for several weeks. Was he really that dangerous? Was Ells right?

"Hey, don't make that face, darling."

"What face?" Jisung muttered, briefly glancing at the mage on the floor.

Minho sat up on his elbows. "I know you're not the smartest, so it's pretty obvious when you're actually making an effort to think."

"You're such an ass."

"Stop thinking so much."

"If I did that, I'd be like you." Jisung glanced away again. "Don't you realize that I'm in deep shit now?" Ells will probably just arrest me, and if I run he'll have all the more reason to."

Minho got up to sit beside Jisung. "I'm not going to let that happen."

"Yeah right, you've probably been praying for the moment I mess up enough to be taken in by Enforcement. I'll be out of your hair in no time."

Minho stared at him. "Do you really not remember the deal we made last night?"

Jisung tried to push his frustration down. "Of course I remember, I'm not completely incompetent. I just... It's bizarre to have you siding with me."

"Even if we didn't make that deal, I would still defend you in this case. It was mostly my fault this happened in the first place."

Jisung wasn't sure if he believed that, but oddly enough, he wanted to.

"You two are insane," Seungmin interrupted the scene as he returned with bundles of clothes and two glasses of water. "You fervently hate each other and yet here you are, stumbling in together like you just went through hell together."

Jisung raised an eyebrow. "How does that make us insane?"

Seungmin dropped the clothes between them. "I've known you for almost three years, and not a day has gone by that I haven't heard how much you would love to kill each other."

Minho grinned. "How do you know we weren't trying to kill each other?"

The healer paused, looking the pair of them up and down. "So Jisung was winning, huh?"