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“Damn, that was a lot of pests.” Yoonho remarked.
He stood atop a ledge beside Jong-In, overlooking the smoking carnage.
It had taken a few minutes, but the fire mage had single-handedly swept at least a few hundred rat-like monsters that had filled the large cavern.
The redhead in question was still grinning like a madman, but Yoonho could see a bit of fatigue beginning to show in his eyes.
“Jong-In, why don’t you take a break?”
The man turned to face him, surprised. “Pardon? Why?”
Yoonho frowned, concerned. “Your mana can’t be doing so hot after all that.” He shifted, hair turning electric white, pupils thinning and irises glowing vibrant yellow.
“What, you don’t think I can handle a few rodents?”
Now able to see Jong-In’s mana, he carefully scanned the other man up and down. Their eyes locked for a moment, red meeting gold.
From behind his glasses, Jong-In’s eyes sparkled in the dim light. Yoonho was suddenly reminded of the rubies he’d often see in dungeons, embedded in the walls, shining with otherworldly light. Beautiful. Powerful.
“Achoo!” Jong-In stepped back, hands coming up to cover the lower half of his face. “Sorry, I- achoo!”
Suddenly, the mage was in the midst of a sneezing fit.
Yoonho’s hands hovered awkwardly near him, half outstretched but unsure what to do.
“Uh- are you alright?!” He asked.
Jong-In held up a hand, half-hunched over from the force of the involuntary reaction.
It took a moment, but eventually Jong-In took a deep breath, the sneezes finally ending.
He sniffed, quickly wiping his nose. “My apologies.”
“No, no, you’re fine. What was that?”
Jong-In’s face went red with embarrassment. He smiled sheepishly, then cleared his throat. “It seems… *ahem* that I may have developed a cat allergy.”
(The way Yoonho had looked at him, so intensely with those golden eyes filled with mana and something primal… then met his gaze with that same intensity…)
Alarm filled the larger man’s face, and he quickly shifted back to being fully human. “Sorry-”
“Don’t worry about it.” Jong-In cut him off, head turning away to hide the blush creeping its way across his face. His reddening ears betrayed him, however.
Yoonho didn’t comment.
—
It continued happening after that; whenever Yoonho shifted near him, he’d fall into a fit of sneezing. But it was strange, he never seemed to have a runny nose afterward or really any other sign of allergy. Just the sneezing.
Jong-In continuously insisted that it was fine and not to stop shifting around him, so Yoonho eventually decided not to stop (if he found the sneezing cute, no he didn’t. Shut up-).
Then one day, it happened when he hadn’t shifted.
It was at the monthly meeting with the KHA and the guildmasters.
Yoonho sat beside Jong-In, as usual, allowing the two of them to converse easier.
The Chairman was in the middle of the usual presentation with gate statistics and awakening rates when Yoonho noticed Jong-In playing with a small flame under the table, seemingly attempting to char the wood without actually setting it on fire.
Slowly leaning over, he whispered in a low voice as to not draw attention, “Careful, you might burn the whole place down like that.”
Instantly, Jong-In began sneezing.
The rest of the room’s previous discussion was immediately forgotten, everyone looking over in surprise.
“I- achoo! My apologie- achoo!” Jong-In stood up, quickly leaving the room.
A few people looked at him questioningly, and Yoonho just shrugged helplessly.
He hadn’t even shifted, so what the hell triggered it?
Yoonho excused himself, stepping into the hall to follow Jong-In.
The association building was large, but both of them tended to go to the same place when they needed to cool off. A rarely used meeting room on this same floor.
Yoonho opened the door and sure enough, Jong-In was leaning against the heavy wooden table, one hand rubbing his eyes as the other pressed against the cool surface.
He looked up when Yoonho came in, revealing his slightly flushed face (cute).
Yoonho closed the door behind him, walking over to lean on the table beside him.
“So,” he began, raising an eyebrow. “Care to explain what that was?”
Seeming unusually flustered, Jong-In’s blush deepened. He managed to keep a straight face. “I already informed you that I’ve developed a cat allergy.”
“Uh huh.”
Jong-In turned to look away, but Yoonho wasn’t having it. He lightly gripped the man’s jaw, turning Jong-In to face him.
“I wasn’t shifted that time.” Yoonho stated. “We both know that’s not why. So one more time, care to explain what that was?”
Jong-In pulled away from Yoonho’s grip, falling into a flurry of sneezing once again.
After a moment, he managed, “It’s nothing. Just… a- nothing important. Nothing to do with you.”
Bullshit, and they both knew it.
“So why does it only happen when I’m around?”
Jong-In’s face somehow got redder. “You don’t know that it doesn’t happen-”
“Answer the damn question!” Yoonho snapped.
Now red enough that Yoonho was surprised he wasn’t smoking, Jong-In tried to turn away again.
“I…” He paused. “It’s just- nothing.”
“Bullshit.”
“I said it’s nothing!”
Yoonho growled. “Jong-In, I swear to god-”
A sigh. “I… I sneeze when- no. No, no , no. It doesn’t-”
“Jong-In!”
A wave of heat flashed across the room as Jong-In seemed to finally snap.
“I sneeze when I get turned on, okay?!”
For a moment, the room was silent. Neither man dared to move.
“Oh.” Yoonho said dumbly.
Jong-In stepped away from him, face morphing from embarrassed to ashamed. “Is that good enough for you? Have you had your fun? There you go, another thing to make fun of me for. Now leave me alone.”
By some miracle, Yoonho snapped out of his shock.
“Wait, I’m not going to make fun of you for it.”
Jong-In’s ruby eyes, usually a pristine barrier of calculated indifference, now pricked with tears. “What the hell else would you do?!”
Without hesitation, Yoonho stepped forward, one hand shifting to grip Jong-In’s waist, the other pressing against the cold wood as he leaned forward, trapping Jong-In between himself and the table.
He locked eyes with Jong-In and in a low voice growled, “Maybe I’d finally take what’s mine.”
The words were aggressive, but the action that followed was gentle. Slowly, giving Jong-In plenty of time to protest, he leaned in. But the other didn’t hesitate for more than a moment. Jong-In returned the kiss, and his lips were warm, growing warmer as his mana unconsciously reacted to his arousal. Yoonho only grinned at the heat, tilting his head to deepen the kiss.
Hesitantly, hands reached up, lacing fingers in his hair as it shifted from orange to white.
Yoonho growled, hands shifting to pick up the shorter man, lifting him to sit on the table and allow him better access. His hands gripped the mage’s hips, and he stepped even closer thanks to the new angle.
Jong-In gasped slightly, and Yoonho took full advantage of the opening (being mindful of his fangs, of course). Somehow, the mage's mouth was even hotter. He tasted inexplicably like s’mores, despite the fact that not only had Yoonho never seen the man eat one, but had also watched him drink a cup of black coffee not half an hour prior.
It was several minutes before Jong-In finally pushed Yoonho back.
“We should probably get back to the meeting.”
Yoonho studied Jong-In’s face for a long moment. Hair slightly messy, lips red, cheeks flushed.
“…it’s fine, the meeting sucked anyway.”
Jong-In laughed, but couldn’t find it in himself to disagree.
Being in the arms of the man before him was simply too heavenly.