The Case of Hellfire

Chapter Two: The Case of Hellfire

When Jin woke up again, he was feeling much better. He was still too weak to get off the bed but he was in less pain and he was not feeling dizzy like before. Moreover, it took less time to collect his thoughts. Nonetheless, he cursed out loud when he found himself in that same damned glass cell.

A young woman in her early thirties was startled when suddenly Jin started to shout curses. Jin, oblivious to her presence, was startled in return as he saw her when she flinched. He turned his head to her so fast, he nearly broke his neck. Pain shot through it and he cursed some more.

After curses and shrieks, both of them calmed down. The woman rushed to Jin, coaxing him gently, "Young master, you startled me! You should not shout, you are still recovering. And please, for the sake of goodness, do not move your neck so suddenly, it has not been even a couple hours since I removed the neck collar." Jin noticed that she had a flowery scent like an omega. Lavender? Yes, it was lavender. Jin looked at the woman curiously, as she tucked him in the blanket and started to work on the IV. "It is only some glucose, young master," she said. Her voice was a bit gloomy.

Jin suddenly realized that even though her sweet lavender scent had an omega-like scent, she was a beta. Of course Jin could tell. After all, he was a highly skilled medical professional. He had studied about individuals whose scent did not resonate with their subgender. Yoongi had mentioned that some girl named Hwa Young would be attending him. She must be her.

Jin considered his options carefully. Should he talk about escaping to this woman? But again, why would she? Maybe she is crazy just like that alpha man Yoongi. Maybe they are in some delusional fanatical cult. Or maybe she is also imprisoned by him. Maybe he had something to blackmail over. Now that he had some energy flowing in him, Jin was able to think more logically. He decided that he should first observe before making any move.

"Your name is Hwa Young, right?" he asked confidently. As Hwa Young was solemnly adjusting the IV, her face lightened up as Jin asked the question. She looked at Jin with affection. "Yes young master! You remember me?" She asked hopefully. Her spike lavender suddenly spiked up in the cell. "That alpha man… Min Yoongi… he mentioned your name. He told me to expect you to be here," Jin answered honestly.

Only for a split second, Hwa Young's scent became sour, but it again went neutral. With a polite smile she said, "I see. Young master, please rest. If you need anything, please do not hesitate to ask me."

Hwa Young went to the corner of the cell. There was a screen where she put her palm and the glass wall adjacent to the bid lab opened with a small click. This confused Jin. Because initially he thought he was getting the illusion of the presence of a glass wall because it would be impossible for that Yoongi guy to walk through it. Maybe Jin had a concussion. He had just woken up but he was too tired to make any effort to make sense of whatever was happening around him. Yes, for now he should just rest. He will deal with whatever he needs to deal with once he gains his strength and more knowledge of surroundings and his captors.

At least six hours must have passed. Hwa Young was a complete stranger, yet Jin felt something very familiar about her. And no matter what his logical self told himself in his mind, his instincts were telling him to trust her. Until now, Hwa Young had changed his IV twice and had offered Jin some lukewarm water to drink. For a brief time, she went out and came back in five minutes with a tray of food. Jin told her that he is not very hungry but Hwa Young insisted on eating to take his medicinal potion.

Jin was a bit suspicious about whatever they were making him drink. But it was clear that whatever he was drinking was not killing him and moreover, he was actually making him feel better. And hence he decided not to protest. Anyways, if he protested they would just force him to drink it. It was not worth a fight.

As Hwa Young went away to clean the bowl of potion in the sink of the laboratory area, outside of his glass cell, Jin suddenly felt very hot. As if he was thrown into a furnace. It was not a very unfamiliar feeling. He used to get these kinds of panic attacks since he was a toddler. His symptoms were very similar to the distress feeling a mated partner gets for his mates when they are in danger. But Jin was an unmated beta. His panic attacks were random. Sometimes he felt like he was about to get burned and sometimes he used to feel like drowning. There was no exact cause or stimuli to this.

Right now, he felt like he was getting roasted in a fire. As he started to breathe heavily, Hwa Young noticed him and she rushed towards him.

"What is happening young master? Are you okay?" she asked breathlessly.

Of course he was not okay. Is this woman dumb or something? If she has training to handle an IV etc, she must have some basic medical training. Can't she realize that he's having a panic attack?

Jin tried to relax and breathe. But he could not. It felt like his skin was about to melt. "Hot… Fire… Help" he blurted out subconsciously and fainted.

Hwa Young was scared. She immediately clicked on the panic button installed on the palm-scanner and Min Yoongi appeared out of nowhere in the cell. If Jin had seen him appearing like that, he would have passed out for sure, even without a panic attack.

Hwa rushingly told Min Yoongi what exactly happened. Min Yoongi made her sit at the foot of the bed. "Someone is in danger. I do not know who. Did hyung mention any name?" he asked her calmly. Hwa Young shook her head.

Swan enters the laboratory through the main door. He bowed in the direction of Jin's cell where Jin was lying unconscious and Min was standing to terrified Hwa Young.

"I have confirmed it is Master Alpha," he said hurriedly, "It's the Fire Master. He is at the Celestial City Mall in the Dongdaemun district."

Yoongi closed his eyes for a moment. As if he was calculating something. Then he said firmly, "Hwa Young, stay here and look after hyung. He should be okay. He must have some stress due to instability of his powers and the pack bond. Swan, go to the palace and inform Yoon that he will have to visit Wang Mansion in my place. I shall go and bring back the Fire Master."

Swan was about to protest but Yoongi had already disappeared into the thin air.

*****

Hoseok was a confident beta, and one of the best firefighters in the city of Seoul. His colleagues often praised him with the name Hobi, because whenever things seemed impossible, it was alway Hoseok who would manage it. His honey scent always felt like a ray sunshine.

He was loved by the whole department due to his funny and cheerful nature. No matter how tiresome the situation, he has an ability of springing the energy. The only exception was whenever they used to get a call about any animal rescue. Hoseok was okay with cats and dogs (as long as they are small and cute), but he was terrified of everything else. Whether it was bees or any kind of snake or predatory animal used to sneak into residential parts of the city, Hoseok was as useless as a piece of rock.

But when it came to fire rescue, Hoseok was the most dependable firefighter the department had. Despite going in most dangerous fires to rescue, Hoseok never had even a single burn. He would get scratches, but never a burn. Whenever he was surrounded by fire in a mission, it was like fire was playing with Hoseok. Dancing with him. Sometimes it was like it was obeying him. Because no matter how raging fire there would be, once Hoseok gets on the scene, it always would come under control.

Hoseok had managed to put out the fire when it broke in the zoo, in the reptile building. It was rather funny actually. Of all animals in the world, Hoseok was afraid of snakes more than anything. But he had managed to rescue all of them that day. There was even a reptile hanging on his shoulder that day. Only Hoseok knew that he was on the verge of passing out that day. He kept repeating the phrase "I love you beautiful snake, I am here to help" whenever he approached one. And snaked too preoccupied with the fire to attack him or any other firefighter. They somehow knew that humans covered in yellow suits were there to rescue them.

When Hoseok was born, the hospital was burned in fire. Fire department was unable to know the cause but the origin of the fire was in the maternity ward. Hoseok had lost his parents in that fire. It was a miracle that he survived that incident. Noone in that hospital did. When Hoseok was transferred to an orphanage, one of the firefighters took pity on him and adopted him. Hoseok had no relatives apart from his adoptive father. He, too, passed away due to cancer when he had just graduated high school. Although Hoseok had a passion for dance, he decided to enroll himself in the fire department to honor the memory of his father. In his life as a firefighter, he remained away from dating.

Today, when fire broke out in Celestial City Mall, the two fire stations that answered the call were not able to control it, and hence nearly half of the fire stations in the city came to assist them including one where Hoseok was working.

The fire in the mall was uncontrollable. Hoseok felt that something was not right with this fire. Fire department was doing everything they could and it was as if fire was roaring with rage as firefighters tried to put it out. When Hoseok got there with his crew, half of the mall was already engulfed in flames. Hoseok felt uneasy as he felt the heat of the fire on his skin.

No, the beta in question here was not immune to heat or warmth of fire. But nonetheless, it never hurt him. Now it was like fire was a whole different beast that had gone feral and it was completely unfamiliar to Hoseok.

Hoseok took a deep breath and started running around, helping out his colleague. After an hour, they had successfully rescued about forty people. The injuries of people were getting more and more serious as they started rescuing people from deeper parts of the building. Hoseok was pretty sure that he saw some bodies with black tags. That means there had been casualties.

Hoseok was tagging along with another firefighter from the original fire station that was leading the mission. He was an omega named Soobin. Of course he knew this man. This man was the poster boy of the firefighters' department of Seoul. His face was modelworthy after all. But he had faced lots of description for being an omega despite being amazing at his job. Hoseok had heard about it from his colleagues. Hoseok, too, had faced some nasty comments, some biased treatment from some alphas, especially those from the upper management. But now was not the time for exchanging pleasantries.

Soobin and Hoseok worked like they had been working for thousands of years. There was a rhythm in their actions. There was no need for verbal communication in their coordination.

Soobin and Hoseok were on the rescue mission and entered a deeper part of the fire. The area was not stable and was still raging with fire despite efforts put in by the firefighters. Normally, they would not defy the order of their seniors to not enter this zone, because that means you would be putting yourself and your colleague in danger and dragging your team down by being a liability when all of you should be focused on civilians. But Soobin told Hoseok that he saw a little girl hiding under some kind of table made of stone.

They had no time to argue with their team. They had to save that little girl. Thankfully she was hiding under the stoney platform, that means she was safe from direct hit from ceiling falling. And because she remained close to the ground, she must have not inhaled too much smoke yet. That would explain that she still had energy to cry and shout for help, to look for her father.

And as they had just caught that girl, both of them were rushing back, unfortunately, Hoseok's leg got trapped in the wooden floor. He tried to pull out, it sank deeper. And god knows that it hurts like hell.

"Little girl must have inhaled smoke already, go out with her first," he told Soobin rushingly.

"But sunbae, the structure is not stable," the younger tried to protest, clutching the crying girl tighter in his arms.

"Listen to me, that is precisely why you need to get out sooner. Firefighter Soobin, you need to prioritize the life you can definitely save first. I will be fine, I'll be waiting here, I know you will come back for me," Hoseok said pantingly, and pushed Soobin away.

"I'll be back, please hang in there for me sunbae," Soobin said, bowing, and he dashed to the direction they came from.

Hoseok knew that Soobin would definitely fight with other seniors to return back to him. But the structure of the building was getting more and more unstable. Fire was getting nearer and nearer. Hoseok found himself having difficulty with breathing. Even in this state, he was not worried about himself. The beta was only worried that if he does not get out time, he will endanger his team and would not be able to help others as he's supposed to.

Suddenly he felt his heart was burning. And then he suddenly burst into flames. His skin was melting as he yelped in pain. Soon Hoseok realized that he was not burning. No, he was devouring the fire from his surroundings. His skin was not on fire but it was absorbing the fire instead. And it hurt like hell. His firefighter uniform was melted away already.

About fifteen minutes had passed. The fire had died completely. Hoseok was still sore from the unusual incident. He lied on the floor naked, his right leg trapped in the wooden floor. It most likely had bled a little bit.

Hoseok was not sure why he was not rescued yet despite the fire having died out. He thought that maybe his team was having difficulties with stabilizing the collapsing parts of the building. All he could do was wait for them, and try to come with an answer to why he was naked, or a response that would perhaps avoid the question altogether.

He was feeling dizzy and hot inside. As if he had just eaten a ball of fire. Perhaps he had. Whatever just happened, it was incomprehensible to Hoseok. Suddenly, he saw a man approaching him. The man was trying to hurry, but at the same time he was being cautious. No, he was not being cautious of burnt surroundings. It was like he was afraid that he would startle Hoseok, making him run away.

Hoseok laughed half-heartedly at the thought. As the man approached, Hoseok found himself staring into his black eyes. The man had black greasy hair combed carelessly. His eyes were so deep, like an abyss. There was nothing in them, and one could get lost in them, never to be found again. And there was something shimmering in those dark eyes, like a distorted star. As man came nearer and nearer, Hobi found that there were tears in his eyes. There was no crying sound. The man's handsome features were too painful. He looked like he had been tortured for centuries and now there was nothing humane left in him. Those silent tears were enough to make anyone feel their agony and rip their hearts out.

There was a sour scent of whisky coming from the man. Hobi thought he was drunk. Maybe he is trying to get out of this rubble. Maybe the reason he is looking so painful is because he might have just lost someone close in this fire.

"Ar… are you all… alright sir?" Hobi managed to stutter.

The man said nothing. He silently got closer to Hoseok and crouched on his knees. That's when Hoseok realized that the sour whiskey scent was coming from this alpha. Alcoholic scents were so rare. As lost in his thoughts, the man suddenly hugged him. Hoseok's nose was too close to this alpha's scent glands. Hoseok had goosebumps.

Normally, Hobi would have pushed away any alpha who would even touch him without his consent. As an unmated beta Hoseok should have felt threatened when an unknown alpha was this closer to him, hugging him without saying anything. And of course Hoseok was horrified. He was speechless. But not because of this alpha. But because it felt so right in his arms. The fact that he felt so warm and secure, the fact that he felt that he had hugged this man a thousand times before, that was something making Hobi scared. Why was this stranger alpha clinging to him like this and making heart flutter? Unconsciously, Hobi hugged him back. He tightened his embrace. He had forgotten about his nakedness.

As he tightened his arms around this stranger alpha's back, he heard gasp. The scent of whisky suddenly spiked and lost its sourness. It was replaced with something sweet, something very pleasant. It smelled of honey. Hobi hadn't realized that his own honey scent had spiked, mixing with the scent of whisky. But even if Hobi had realized, he wouldn't have cared. His heart was beating too fast. All of his senses were exploding. As if this was something he had been waiting for ages.

"Oh my sunshine! I'm so sorry!" The man whispered. His soft growl made Hobi shiver. Hobi was too lost in euphoria to ask the man why he was apologizing.

The man continued to whisper, "I'm so sorry not to get you sooner! You always brought hope to me when I needed it. I'm such a useless alpha that you had to go through so much alone. But I'm here now, and I promise that I will never leave your side Hobi!"

Hobi came back to senses as the unknown man called him by his nickname. He was alarmed. How foolish was he? To hug like a reunited lover to an unknown alpha!? But Hobi had no energy left. He was exhausted beyond the limit. All he could do was whine. He whined. And then everything went blank. Hoseok drifted off to sleep.

As footsteps approached closer, Yoongi heard a man shouting, "Sunbae! Sunbae, can you hear me!?" Before anyone could see them, Yoongi wrapped his arms around Hoseok more tightly and freed his right leg with a simple spell. In blink, they were surrounded by a black shadow and they reappeared in his studies. He looked over Jin's bed. Hwa Young was wiping Jin's face with a wet towel. His alpha instincts wanted to run and throw her away. But he composed himself. If he couldn't not trust Hwa Young and Swan, he could trust no-one in this world. They were his most trusted followers. He carried Hobi in bridal style towards a cell adjacent to Jin's. It was clear that Hoseok was still unable to control his powers. It was necessary to keep him there until he nurses him back to health, for his own safety and the safety of others.

Yoongi gently placed Hobi on the bed, covered his body in a blanket. He needed to tend to his wounds and he needed to grab a cloak for him. He tried to unlock beta's arms from his neck but the beta groaned.

Maybe there was no need to rush anymore. Across the glass door, he signed Hwa Young to go and fetch necessary medical tools.

He looked at the exhausted and scared look Hobi had and said, "There's no need to worry anymore, love. Alpha is here now to take care of you."

Hobi's expressions relaxed. It seemed that even in his unconscious state, he could still sense Yoongi's words of reassurance. And moreover, he trusted them.

Swan entered the room, but he was away from the glass cells. Thankfully his scent was not able to pass through them. Because Yoongi was already on edge seeing his two betas vulnerable. But Yoongi knew better than to lash out at Swan.

Swan bowed. "Master, I confirmed it now. The fire at the mall was enchanted. It was a demonic hellfire. Although Third Master was not targeted directly, the fire was most likely set to cause disruption in the human territory. The Third Master most likely consumed all the fire when he was surrounded by it."

Yoongi nodded. "Has Yoon already left to visit Wang Mansion?" He asked sharply.

"He is already on his way. He should be reaching there in the next thirty minutes," Swan answered, still bowing.

"Tell him to be more vigilant around the old Palace Master Wang. And ask him to invite his fifth son, Alpha Jackson, for some tea in our palace next week." Yoongi instructed.

"Yes Master," Swan replied and left.

Yoongi knew that things are getting more and more complicated. Ans he needs to find rest of his reincarnated mates as soon as possible.