HLSEBT - 54

54. Fire 2

Cheon Geonyoung paused momentarily as he quietly walked through the gray corridor, double-checking his weapon once more.  

Yoon Taeha had repeatedly emphasized that he must carry a live ammunition pistol.  

She wasn’t someone whose voice typically revealed much emotion. But this time, her feelings were clear—it was the voice of someone who preferred to handle things alone and would rather not leave the underground passage to others if she could split herself into multiple bodies.  

So much for preferring solo work.  

Had she always worried about her Guide like this?  

Patrolling along the route she had assigned him was tedious but not difficult.  

Compared to her having to endure the wind outside while staring into the darkness, his environment was undeniably more comfortable.  

As someone had pointed out, the underground facility lived up to its Ark-named reputation. He continued walking at a steady pace.  

Five, six, seven.  

It was after passing the third intersection and counting to twenty-five that Cheon Geonyoung stopped.  

The temperature here was higher than elsewhere. Sensing the abnormal flow, he drew his weapon. With each step, the air grew increasingly humid.  

Kwon Min-gi was a fire-type Esper.  

He had no other abilities.  

Without hesitation, Cheon Geonyoung approached the source of the heat. Small embers began to flicker into view. As he moved forward, fragments of flames familiar to him danced closer.  

The flames licking at his cheeks withered before reaching him.  

The closer he got, the more flames approached.  

The smell of scorched surfaces lingered heavily. Flames, like vines climbing walls, swelled hungrily upon spotting prey.  

Still, he maintained the same steady pace toward the epicenter.  

Walking in without protective gear! Anyone who saw this would scream that he’d lost his mind.  

After passing through a snake-like corridor, he arrived at a small clearing where multiple paths intersected. The surroundings were already engulfed in flames. The intense heat unique to an Esper’s fire rendered all machinery useless.  

Amidst heat so intense it could melt even a pistol, a figure crouched in the center of the clearing twitched.  

“Path… I don’t know… I need to get out… Eunsoo… this way…”  

Kwon Min-gi, his entire body red like blooming flames, clutched his ears with both hands.  

“Student Kwon Min-gi.”  

Cheon Geonyoung called out to him. The man with flames dancing in his pupils raised his head. After squinting at Cheon Geonyoung for a moment, Kwon Min-gi asked in a hoarse voice:  

“Path… Do you know the way out?”  

He appeared to be in the early stages of an Esper rampage.  

Though he still retained memories of his identity and those around him, he couldn’t control his powers—a textbook case.  

“Hong Eunsoo is waiting for you.”  

“Eunsoo?”  

“Your friend, right?”  

“Hong Eunsoo is waiting?”  

Cheon Geonyoung gave him time to process. It was obvious, but killing current students was forbidden.  

As long as he didn’t kill, everything would be fine. He just needed to finish before reinforcements arrived.  

Facing the flames, Cheon Geonyoung removed the watch from his wrist, pondering unnecessary worries. Meanwhile, Kwon Min-gi, muttering to himself, stood up from his spot.  

“Lies!”  

In that short span, he seemed to have heard some hallucinatory voices—his tone now brimming with madness.  

“All lies… You’re trying to capture and kill me! You’re one of them, a bastard! A liar!”  

The fiery mass, excited by hallucinations and auditory delusions, burst forward like a ricocheting ball.  

Kwon Min-gi gathered the surrounding flames in front of him. In an instant, the flames took the shape of a scythe.  

It was enormous, as if it could claim the life of anything it touched.  

Watching the charging crimson scythe, Cheon Geonyoung didn’t reach for his holster. Instead, he stood still, enduring the searing heat that felt like it might peel his skin off.  

“Don’t interfere!”  

Kwon Min-gi, devoid of rationality, gripped the flame-formed scythe and lunged forward.  

The flames, resonating with the Esper’s emotions, surged like snakes along the walls on both sides of the corridor.  

Kwon Min-gi swung the scythe wildly, like a reckless executioner.  

I’ll kill him!  

At that moment, the flames, resembling a serpent’s gaping maw, swallowed Cheon Geonyoung whole.  

Whoosh!  

The flames roared triumphantly, burning brighter for a moment. Yet the man trapped within remained motionless, standing still.  

Kwon Min-gi, seeing his opponent engulfed in flames, cackled nervously.  

“I can kill you too!”  

His sweat-soaked face twisted painfully.  

“I can do it!”  

Trembling, Kwon Min-gi lost control again, unleashing another barrage of flames. Turning away from his defeated foe, he waved his arms, intending to char the entire underground.  

Until a strong force grabbed the back of his skull and slammed him into the ground.  

Thud! A sound that might’ve cracked the skull of a non-Esper as Kwon Min-gi was subdued.  

“Aah!”  

His face was mercilessly ground against the already blackened floor. Reflexively kicking his legs from the heat on his cheeks, Kwon Min-gi tried to rise.  

Exerting strength to stand up, only to have an even stronger force press down on his head.  

He couldn’t move.  

“So there is a difference,” Cheon Geonyoung muttered coldly amidst the boiling surroundings.  

Struggling to form coherent thoughts, Kwon Min-gi managed to stammer a few words.  

“What… what’s…”  

Emerging unscathed from the flames, not a single hair burned, Cheon Geonyoung pinned Kwon Min-gi’s back with his knee in a textbook position.  

“My partner has sharp hearing. Stop screaming.”  

“Aaaah!”  

Screaming in pain as though his spine was shattering, Kwon Min-gi ignored the kind advice and screamed louder.  

Then, attempting to escape Cheon Geonyoung, he ignited flames again. Seeing the fire erupting from his fingertips, Cheon Geonyoung spoke in a commanding tone:  

“Do you still not understand?”  

“Damn it! Get lost! Go away!”  

Responding to the Esper’s will, flames rained down like hail from above.  

But they slid off harmlessly like raindrops, failing to burn even the hem of Cheon Geonyoung’s clothes. Kwon Min-gi barely glimpsed this with the corner of his eye, his pupils widening.  

“You monster! The principal sent you to kill me, didn’t he? That bastard sent you! You’re a monster too!”  

I told you to stop screaming. Just as Cheon Geonyoung prepared to say something, he looked up at the sound of approaching footsteps.  

A hellish scene filled with acrid smoke and black fumes.  

On the opposite side stood a woman carrying the scent of outside wind.  

“Burn and die!”  

While Kwon Min-gi focused on the third party, he made one last desperate attempt, concentrating the remaining embers around him into a single attack aimed at Cheon Geonyoung.  

But the flames, darting like throwing knives, fluttered to the ground like falling petals and vanished without a trace.  

Of course, they couldn’t harm him either.  

Yoon Taeha’s pupils widened as she watched the events unfold in an instant. She stood frozen, as if under a spell, forgetting even to breathe.  

Cheon Geonyoung swiftly struck the back of Kwon Min-gi’s neck with his palm, knocking him unconscious. If Kwon Min-gi attacked again, Cheon Geonyoung might survive, but Yoon Taeha wouldn’t.  

Cheon Geonyoung propped the unconscious Kwon Min-gi against the wall by the scruff of his neck.  

Yoon Taeha still hadn’t moved.  

It was strange.  

The usual Yoon Taeha would’ve immediately asked why he hadn’t mentioned his immunity to flames.  

As Cheon Geonyoung approached, she stared at him as if seeing him for the first time.  

Finally stopping a step away, the awkward distance made her lift her head.  

Her glasses were gone.  

Just as he was about to confirm his reflection in her clear eyes, the sprinklers, thought to be broken, suddenly activated with a crackling sound.  

Artificially drawn water poured down onto the equally artificial flames. The flames disappeared. The same rain fell on both of them, soaking their black clothes.  

When an opaque film clouded his vision, Cheon Geonyoung blinked to clear it.  

She came back into focus, her long eyelashes heavy with droplets. Reflexively, he traced the path of a water droplet rolling down her cheek. Spotting it heading toward her lips, he consciously averted his gaze.  

Yoon Taeha spoke first.  

“You caught him.”  

A simple observation of fact.  

Her gaze, after finishing her sentence, shifted past him to Kwon Min-gi behind him. Her face grew even paler.  

Was she going to scold him for using brute force?  

Just as he narrowed his eyes, Yoon Taeha turned her head back to him and reached out her hand—not toward him, but toward his hair.  

Cheon Geonyoung waited patiently for his unusually slow-moving partner today. Tilting his head slightly to signal she could touch him freely, but it seemed Yoon Taeha, distracted by something else, didn’t notice.  

She gently grasped the wet, jet-black tips of his hair. Like someone handling something utterly unfamiliar, she murmured:  

“Not even singed.”  

“I want to explain.”  

Her hand lowered. Yoon Taeha met his eyes. Her expression wasn’t accusatory. She looked defenseless, perhaps even on the verge of tears.  

Her soaked eyes were unusually red.  

When she blinked, droplets cascaded down her cheeks as if waiting for the moment. Cheon Geonyoung’s Adam’s apple bobbed again.  

“Would you call it an excuse?”  

He deliberately chose softer words because of how different she seemed today—her usual confidence completely absent, making her appear fragile.  

“I’ll listen later.”  

Yoon Taeha forced a smile, clearly meant for show.  

Though he had always found her smile beautiful, today he felt no urge to reciprocate. His question came out sharper than intended.  

“Why?”  

“I want to hear the full story. People are coming.”  

Yoon Taeha passed him by. Kneeling before Kwon Min-gi, she pulled out a kit and drew blood from the unconscious student’s thumb.  

After smearing it and waiting, a blue dot appeared on the white paper. Her movements were precise, without any wasted effort.  

“If treated, his life won’t be in danger. That’s fortunate.”  

After checking the rampaging Esper’s condition, she finally wiped the moisture from her face. The sprinklers had stopped. Cheon Geonyoung still stood in place, watching her with suspicion due to her overly textbook response.  

“People from Yeouido will come directly. The principal too. Just hand him over to the agent with the name I mentioned. No one else is necessary.”  

This side had hidden secrets. This side had approached with ulterior motives. Yet, it was she who should’ve been questioned about her intentions.  

In the lingering rain, she was excessively blurred.