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The days following their third failed raid at Jeju Island are a mess, but in a good way. Interviews, reports, paperwork. Meeting the families of the fallen and giving their condolences. Jong-in is overworked, but his injuries have all been dealt with thanks to the help of an A-rank healer, allowing him to keep up.
He rushes from one place to the next, his assistant passes him his coffee and lights up his cigarette between as he holds up a report that needs his signature or he’s answering his phone.
He doesn’t have time to stop and think…. or feel anything.
He has a job to do, a guild to run and an image to maintain.
So he eats, showers, works every minute he’s awake and then passes out on his couch or his bed with a report in hands.
The problem isn’t the days after the failed raid.
No.
It’s the days after those days.
Because people move on fast, the soil on graves settles, and the world keeps spinning. Things clam down and now Jong-in isn’t as busy. His guild is running smoothly and his hunters (the ones alive) are healthy and full of spirit.
He could take a few days off and nothing would go amiss.
But that’s unacceptable.
He’s an S-rank, he’s a guild master, surely there’s more for him to do.
His assistant looks at him worriedly when he asks her for the new hires latest reports. She considers saying something but then hesitates and runs off to comply.
Good, he’s not in a mood to listen.
He knows the matter of new hire is delegated to others far lower on the hierarchy, but how can he be a guild master without supervising everything?
Baek Yoon-ho on the other hand decides to take a break. He encourages the rest of the survivors hunters to do the same when everything has settled down.
He doesn’t show up on as many interviews, citing personal reasons and a need to recuperate when asked.
Baek Yoon-ho, despite his oddities, is known for being the reasonable of the Korean S-league in matters of maintaining your health.
(Nobody talks about what he lost there. About why he needs that space more than anyone else, they just let him)
It’s common knowledge that the White Tigers Guild covers its own hunter’s therapy sessions bills, as part of their full package deal when joining, but Baek Yoon-ho goes a step further and offers to pay for all the survivor’s therapy sessions. Jong-in’s hunters refuse, seeing as the Hunter’s guild already has them covered. The redhead won’t admit he actually stole the idea from his rival, hiring full time therapist to remain at the Guild tower, making them available to offer help for his hunters whenever they need. In secret he’s grateful for the idea, the turnover rates at his guild have decreased significantly since then and Jong-in has always been a fan of efficiency.
But Baek doesn’t stop there. Jong-in is informed through his sources that Baek calls the survivors and checks in on them, he offers them advice and help in any way they need. Despite having a beast counterpart, the man is too gentle for his own good.
When his soulmate tries to check in on him, he ignores his calls, when he tries to visit, Jong-in refuses to meet him, when he prods at the mental link between them, the redhead puts all his energy into blocking the link, making sure not even the whisper of a thought can pass through on either side. Because he doesn’t need the man’s pity, there’s nothing to pity. Choi Jong-in is still alive, he’s still successful and he doesn’t even have a scar on his body to even remind him of the failed raid.
The feeling of ants crawling under his skin are a result of a bruised ego. He’ll get over it.
He’s fine.
Large ants. Crawling everywhere. Ripping grown men into tiny pieces within seconds. He doesn’t even flinch at the sight, he’s been going on raids since he was 14, the youngest S-rank to ever exist. But after an hour, he’s horrified to realize the numbers have multiplied. There’s no end in sight. He could kill a thousand and a million would sprout out of thin air.
The small grimace whenever he uses his powers is normal, he’s just a little sensitive from overexerting his mana.
He’s fine.
They quickly discover that the ants have evolved to grow thicker exoskeletons, Jong-in needs to increase his fire to inferno levels to kill these fuckers. But when he does, anyone within a 2.5-mile radius is incinerated as a result.
He’s stuck between having his people killed by the ants or killed by his fire.
The ants rip them apart, sometimes eating them while still alive if their screams are any indication. But his fire turns them to ash if they’re too close, or gives them third degree burns if they’re at the edge of his blast zone. He can’t save any of them, merely end their suffering at a faster pace.
Sometimes he can’t breathe, his chest constricts, like it’s caving in on itself and there’s nothing he can do. But that’s normal, he probably inhaled something on that cursed island that his internal fire is taking too long to burn off. His body can burn through any poison; this won’t be any different.
He’s fine.
“Choi!! You have to put out some of your flames! We can’t breathe!” someone screams to his side, he looks over to see a Tank, at his feet is a mage, clutching her throat and wheezing for air.
Fire burns oxygen, he knows that! He’s used to it, but these people are not. But if he stops, the ants beyond the fire barrier will attack.
“I’ll open a small passageway through the flames, take the mage and run!” he instructs. The tank nods, picking up the still wheezing mage and his shield.
The second there’s a small opening through the flames, an ant tries to shove its way through. Jong-in closes his flames around the insect’s neck, severing the head off.
“Choi-san, we can’t breathe” the Tank calls again, voice choked off, and Jong-in feels his eyes burn. If he creates a blast to kill all the ants in one swoop he risks incinerating the two hunters with him, but if he keeps this up, they will choke to death.
His phone rings for the millionth time today, when he checks the caller ID, he rejects the call instantly and carries on with his paperwork. Baek Yoon-ho can afford to take a break, his Guild is set up to keep running regardless of whether or not he’s there in person. Jong-in needs to make sure everything is up to his standards.
He’s fine, everything is fine.
His phone starts ringing again and Jong-in, in a fit, opts to throw it in across the room.
“I said I’m fucking fine” he screams, glaring the broken phone, the screen lighting up with his soulmate’s name.
“Are you sure about that?” the baritone voice of his soulmate startles him out of his anger. He looks to the door, where the half-beast is standing, his phone in hand, the screen showing his own name and a picture of him smiling to the side.
He doesn’t recognize it, when did the ginger even take that?
Jong-in reigns in his emotions, trying to put the blank mask on again.
“Who let you in? We have a firm ‘no animals allowed’ policy in this building” he snarls. They don’t really, but maybe if he pisses him off the man will leave.
The words don’t draw the familiar indignation he’s hoping for, instead, the man looks concerned.
“Jong-in… you’re the only one still here” he speaks softly, the way he speaks to injured hunters in dungeons, or scared children during a dungeon break.
Jong-in is too confused by the statement itself to be mad.
It’s only then that he notices the darkness outside, he looks to the clock across the wall and notes the time.
Two past midnight.
When? How? He could’ve sworn it was barely ten.
“Jong-in” the half-beast calls again, snapping him out of his head, “how about I take you home?”
And this is all wrong. Baek is supposed to snap at him, they’re supposed to exchange scathing remarks, and burning insults. Baek isn’t meant to treat him with kiddy gloves. Because Jong-in isn’t an invalid. He’s the youngest S-rank in history, he has more experience than any other S-rank alive! He doesn’t need anyone.
“I’m fine” he grounds out.
“You’re not” Yoon-ho replies, this time there’s a bite to his words.
Good.
That’s good, that’s normal.
“Get out” he snaps, getting back to his chair to look over the same report he’s been reading for the past hour. Instead of retreating footsteps, he hears them approaching. By the time he looks up, it’s too late and the wall of a man has thrown him over his shoulder like he weighs nothing.
He probably doesn’t for his soulmate. The man has thrown boulders for fun.
“Put me down now!” he splutters, embarrassment overriding his anger for a second.
“You haven’t slept in four days, the times you’ve passed out don’t count”
How does he know that? His assistant! He should’ve known that look.
“Nobody told me idiot. When you pass out, you can’t block the bond”
“You’re not my guardian, you don’t get to interfere” with them being so close, he can feel the bond straining against his hold. Letting his emotions filter through against his will.
“I’m your soulmate, some might argue I have more rights to do this than a guardian”
“If you don’t put me down I’m setting you on fire! I can say it was in self-defense”
“Yeah, good luck explaining that to the reporters” the man scoffs, “you’re not the only one with good PR”
“People will see” he hits the man’s broad back, not expecting anything. Without his magic, he’s weak. Unlike Beak Yoon-ho that can crush a man’s scull effortlessly any time of the day.
“People know we’re soulmates, its fine”
Jong-in wishes nobody reminds him of THAT embarrassment ever again.
“Then I’ll set your hair on fire” he retorts,
“with your energy levels, you wouldn’t be able to control it and you’d set the whole building on fire. Are you willing to risk that?”
Dammit he hadn’t thought about it. His vision is blurring and when he tries to pull at his magic it rages at the contact, refusing to be tamed. Sure, if he focuses hard he can take control, but it’s too much effort to burn off some hair.
“At least put me down, I’ll walk by myself”
“I have a hard time believing you” every step the brute takes, makes the shoulder he’s on dig harshly into his abdomen. He wants to puke on the bastard out of spite, but he can’t remember the last time he ate anything, so there’s probably nothing for him to puke.
“I left my home keys in my desk, let me go back” he tries again.
“I’m not taking you to your house. My guest room is clean and ready”
They’re in the elevator now, Jong-in’s hopes of ending this mockery are fading.
“I’m allergic to mutts” he tries to anger him, hoping the man would just dump him on the floor. Leave him to wallow in his misery.
They exit the elevator and Jong-in feels like throwing up at the abrupt stop. Have their elevators always been this fast?
“Good thing you’re not allergic to cats” the man huffs, not slowing down for a second.
“Gaaaaah” if anyone asks, he’ll deny making the animalistic sound that just came out of him, scratching his throat painfully. He hits at the back beneath him with everything he has, the beast doesn’t flinch, keeps moving. Jong-in unleashes a new wave of hits, smacking with all his might, screaming insults and then animalistic sounds that fit his soulmate’s category more than a mage.
“Let me fucking go”. Wow, he must be more tired than he thought. He’s never displayed so much emotion, he’s calm and calculating and cunning. If the beast holding him is a tiger, then Jong-in is a snake.
But he feels nothing like a snake at the moment. His hits get weaker and weaker, until he can barely lift his arm anymore. Blinking gets harder and the annoying movement from before is now soothing, lulling him to sleep.
He feels himself being shifted into a different hold, his head is leaning on something firm, and the scent of firewood soothes the frazzled nerves still fighting the pull of sleep.
“I’ve got you”
Something soft touches his forehead right before the world fades to black.
When he wakes up, it’s unpleasant.
It’s years of experience that stop him from screaming out loud. But to his shame, he can’t bring his breathing under control. He sits there for god knows how long, choking on his own breath, trying valiantly to calm himself down but it’s pointless.
He wants to cry, he wants to scream and yell. He wants to set everything on fire. But he can’t, he’s old enough to know that if he tries to summon his flames like this, he’ll burn off the entire building before he’s calmed down, so he settles for pulling at his hair, hoping the pain will ground him.
Calloused arms hold his arms, removing them from his hear. When he looks up in shock to see his soulmate, neon eyes staring into his soul.
He wants to yell at him, scream for him to leave him alone. The last thing he needs is an audience.
What comes out instead is a pitiful whimper
“please” he begs, not sure what he’s begging for.
But that’s okay, his soulmate knows.
Something soft and warm overwhelms the soul bond, caressing its frayed edges and dousing the flames with cold water.
It’s a gentle embrace, pushing away the horror and fear and anger to make way for him to breath.
This is why he didn’t want Yoon-ho to access the soul bond, because if he took a look into his mind, he would see everything aflame.
But if he is a raging flame, Yoon-ho is a coursing river. He is a balm to Jong-in’s burns.
When he can breathe normally again, he finds himself held in a tight embrace.
It should feel suffocating; he’s never been a fan of physical touch.
But ….
But Baek Yoon-ho cannot be burned by his flames. His fire-resistance, while not indestructible, means that he can bear Jong-in’s flames to a certain degree.
Being close to him is safe.
He feels safe.
“I’m not fine” he whispers into the other’s chest. He admits to his soulmate what he’s refused to admit to himself for weeks now.
“That’s okay” the man whispers into dark magenta hair.
“I hurt everyone near me” he chokes out, admitting his darkest sins at last.
“You’re judging yourself based on extreme circumstances matchstick” the man soothes again, “we didn’t have any information. There was no way we would’ve known those bastards could evolve”
“I killed our allies”
“You had to make a difficult decision in a difficult situation to save the rest” Baek refutes calmly, combing back his greasy hair back.
Now that he’s had a night’s rest, Jong-in is hyperaware of how disgusting he really is after 4 days of running around without food or rest.
“I’m not fine Yoon-ho.” He says again, burying his face into the man’s chest. “I don’t know what to do” he chokes out.
“that’s okay too, we’ll figure it out together.” He says again. Like he means it, like Jong-in is allowed to not have the answer, despite being an S-rank and a guild master.
“I need to keep busy” he says out of nowhere, hoping his soulmate can understand the unspoken words.
“I need you to stay alive” his soulmate says back. I can’t lose you too remains unsaid.
Alive? His soulmate?
It hits him then.
They’re soulmates. If one of them died, it would cause immeasurable pain for the other one. Most soulmates can’t survive losing their other half, the vacuum where half their existence was, is too much for their minds and they give up. Those that survive become an empty husk of themselves, neither alive nor dead.
He can’t imagine a world where Baek Yoon-ho is anything but his fiery self, punching holes through walls and ripping giant monsters into two. A world where Baek Yoon-ho drinks water instead of the overly sweet monstrosities that could kill a lesser man sounds horrible and Jong-in refuses to live in such a nightmare.
What if Baek Yoon-ho was the soulmate to-
No.
Jong-in can’t even consider the possibility of having to survive without that other man.
He might throw a fit every once in a while about having ‘the brute’ as a soulmate, but he can’t even think of anyone else he’d rather have.
The overwhelming guilt at what he’s been putting his soulmate through knocks his breath out. Yoon-ho has already lost someone, he’s already seen how pathetically mortal even S-ranks can be. And here Jong-in was ignoring him, shoving him to the side without a second thought.
“I’m….” he chokes out, trying to say something.
The soul bond curls around them, falling over him like a soft blanket.
“I know” his soulmate answers, pulling him tighter against his chest.
The first sob comes as a shock to him, he tries to hold onto the next one helplessly but he fails, he slaps a hand over his mouth to physical stop the sound, but his soulmate won't let him.
His soulmate holds the hand covering his mouth gently, like he might break and then removes it. A broken sound escapes the redhead, his other arm wraps around his soulmate’s neck like a man drowning.
“Let it out, no one’s here” Yoon-ho whispers into his hair.
And Jong-in complies, crying for the first time since his parent’s funeral.
Bonus:
“WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK?!!!” all of South Korea can hear Jong-in’s shriek early in the morning.
Everyone in the Hunter’s guild headquarters keeps working, some ducking their heads behind their screens to hide their faces.
His assistant lets out a giggle before going back to work. The ultimate picture of professionalism.
“Get me the head of every media outlet! Call my fucking lawyers! Better yet, call the fire department, I will burn every news building in the country”
“Are you sure Sir? Your ratings are skyrocketing”
“Nothing is worth this humiliation! I’m going to set that mutt’s hair on fire!” the mage growls, pointing to the newspaper in his hand.
Right there, covering the first page, is a picture of Baek Yoon-ho carrying an unconscious Choi Jong-in like a damsel in his arms. They’re outside of the Hunter’s guild headquarters.
What makes it all worse is the soft look the brute is giving him, and worse, unconscious him is leaning into him, fully relaxed like his arms are the comfiest spot for a nap.
Beneath that massive picture are smaller ones of Baek Yoon-ho setting him in his car, another one of him buckling his seatbelt.
“I knew this was going to happen! He should’ve stuffed me in the trunk of his car, would’ve been less humiliating”