[Hellion Brothers: Book #1] Hellion Brothers

27: Scaring Tao

A/N: You might want to listen to the music as you read. Lol.

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"Those that will try to help the candidates would be punished, understand?" Lay sternly said, and the boys solemnly nodded. I could literally feel their competitive auras already fighting off each other. I was starting to believe Lay. If they're already this serious in a practice, then what more in evaluations? Could it be that blood shed is normal there? If then, I would never dare tag along with them.

"Suho, do you want me to give you a head start?"

"No, I can manage," He answered with predator eyes set on Chanyeol. Lay chuckled, before snapping his finger to indicate the start of the first match.

Chanyeol did not waste any second and his eyes glowed a bright orange as he started throwing fireballs at Suho. The older man couldn't do anything yet but run around and avoid the attacks. I was starting to worry for Suho. He wouldn't be able to concentrate on bringing down water if he had fireballs to watch out for. Then after a few minutes, I noticed Chanyeol slowing down.

"Here comes his blisters," Lay mumbled with eyes sparkling in amusement. Suho noticed his opponent's pained expression as well, so he took the opportunity to close his eyes and lift his hands to the sky.

"Come on Channie, I've given you enough advantage already. Don't tell me you would still lose?"  Lay mocked, but Chanyeol wasn't in the mood to joke with him. Hissing, he tried to endure the pain and started throwing fireballs again. But since they were a lot slower (and smaller) than before, Suho was able to kick them away even with one eye closed. Hissing at his continuous failure, Chanyeol decided to collect the bonfire flames. It took quite a lot of time and his twisted face showed that what he was trying to do was far from easy. The cold atmosphere slowly turned into a miniature oven, and if I were complaining about the biting cold earlier, I would be complaining about my dripping sweat now.

"Lay, shouldn't you stop them already? Suho's going to be toasted in there!" I still couldn't see any rain starting to build up above, yet Chanyeol's mini tornado fire was almost ready.

"No, not until one of them is on the ground," Lay stated calmly. My jaw dropped at his cold statement. Was he serious? Would he really be able to unblinkingly watch a blood brother die right in front of him? I was about to say all those things to him aloud, when I noticed a ticklish sensation down my arm. I froze for a moment as I watched a drop of my sweat slide down, but strangely, it wasn't following gravity. It was following... Suho. Then it clicked in my head.

Suho wasn't collecting rain. As gross as it may sound, he was taking advantage of the heat Chanyeol was causing since the spectators would surely sweat. Real smart. When Chanyeol finally released his fire onto Suho, he was smirking as he was sure of his victory. My breath got caught in my throat as Suho disappeared in the sea of flames. The water he has collected might not have been enough to counter Chanyeol's attack. But I was confused when after the flame died, Suho was no longer on the other side of the ring. Before Chanyeol could even look around, though, Suho has already pushed him and grabbed his arm from behind. He could only groan in defeat as Suho triumphantly sat on his back.

I get it now. It's not just about using the ability. It's also about understanding it and being able to use it in different ways. When Lay approached the frowning Chanyeol, it made me wince when I saw how red his body was. He looked absolutely sunburnt, and his hands had severe blisters. Lay immediately healed him, but what couldn't be healed was the disappointment. He silently sat on the side with his head dropped.

"Second match would be between Baekhyun and Xiumin-hyung."

Without hesitations, the two went inside the ring. While Xiumin only had a straight face, Baekhyun had a smug smile on his face as if he was confident that he would win.