The Class 2-A chemistry lab smelled like a mix of rotten eggs and pennies.
Honestly, it was a miracle half the class hadn’t passed out yet.
Every single Tuesday after lunch, the room filled with the sound of thirty high schoolers violently coughing and complaining about the air quality.
But Reian didn’t hear any of it.
He didn’t even notice the sting in his nose.
He was just standing there by his desk, holding a glass beaker completely upside down, staring across the room like his brain had short-circuited.
She was standing by the window.
The new transfer girl.
The afternoon sun hit her hair just right, making her look like she belonged in a high-budget movie rather than a dusty classroom with rusted gas valves.
She was frowning in deep concentration, carefully measuring out some white powder.
To Reian, she was the only thing in the room that wasn’t completely depressing.
Man, she’s unreal, Reian thought, a stupid, helpless smile creeping onto his face.
How does the teacher expect me to memorize formulas when she’s right there?
It’s a safety hazard, honestly.
“Oi.
Reian.
Are you trying to kill us, or did your brain fully evaporate during lunch?”
A harsh whisper broke his daydream.
Right next to him, Flame was aggressively yanking at his school collar, looking ready to fight the entire educational system.
Flame’s dark red hair was spiky, messy, and broke about six different school rules just by existing.
He leaned over, blocking Reian’s view with an annoyed glare.
“I’m talking to you, genius,” Flame muttered, crossing his arms.
“The teacher literally just said this stuff explodes if you mix it wrong.
But you’re just standing there drooling.”
“I can’t focus, Flame,” Reian murmured, totally spaced out.
He tried to peek around Flame’s shoulder to get another look at the window.
Because his mind was completely fried, his hands were working on pure autopilot.
Without even looking down at his desk, Reian tilted his hand and poured a glowing neon-green liquid straight into a boiling red solution.
Flame’s eyes went wide.
His inner older brother instincts kicked in, and his hand shot out to grab Reian’s wrist.
“Wait—no!
Stop!
Don’t mix those—!”
Too late.
The second the green hit the red, the beaker started making a sound like a pissed-off cat.
The liquid turned pitch black and bubbled up at terrifying speed.
BOOM!
A massive crack rattled the entire science wing.
A huge, thick cloud of dark green smoke erupted from their table, completely swallowing the two brothers.
The entire classroom went dead silent, except for the sound of Reian violently coughing his lungs out in the middle of the smog.
As the smoke slowly drifted out the windows, the whole class turned to look.
Reian was standing there like a statue, still holding the broken bottom of the beaker.
His entire face was completely black with soot, except for two perfectly clean white circles around his wide eyes.
His hair was blown straight back into a frayed, static mess.
Flame stood right next to him.
He’d managed to block his face with his sleeve just in time, so he only had a little soot on his forehead.
He stared at Reian’s cartoon-character face, his jaw dropping.
“You…
you actually did it,” Flame whispered, trying so hard not to laugh that his ribs hurt.
“You blew us up over a girl.”
At the front of the room, Mr.
Harrison’s face went from pale to a terrifying, vein-popping purple.
He snapped his chalk in half.
“REIAN!
PRINCIPAL’S OFFICE!
NOW!”
By the time the final bell rang, the adrenaline was completely gone, leaving Reian with nothing but pure, unadulterated shame.
He walked out of the school gates with his head glued to his chest, staring at his shoes.
He had a small white bandage stuck to his forehead where a tiny piece of flying glass had nicked him during the explosion.
“Seriously, bro?
A new record,” Flame teased, walking with his hands shoved deep into his pockets.
He had a massive, mocking smirk on his face.
“You almost took out the entire science building on a Tuesday just because a girl looked pretty.
I’m honestly impressed.”
“Drop it, Flame,” Reian mumbled, his face burning hotter than the actual chemical fire.
He aggressively rubbed the back of his neck, trying to ignore the passing students who were whispering about ‘the smoke guy.’ “My hand slipped.
The beaker was slippery.”
“Yeah, sure.
Your hand slipped because your brain melted,” Flame laughed, digging his elbow into Reian’s ribs.
It was a classic brother move, annoying but comforting enough to snap Reian out of his misery.
“Just admit it.
If I hadn’t been there to pull you back, you would’ve stood there inhaling toxic smoke just to keep staring at her.”
They kept walking, navigating the loud, crowded streets of the commercial district.
The city was waking up for the night—neon signs flickering on, salarymen rushing to the trains, and the heavy smell of street food filling the air.
Grumbleeee.
Both of their stomachs roared at the exact same time.
They stopped walking and looked at each other.
They ended up outside a brightly lit convenience store.
The automatic doors slid open with that familiar, cheerful electronic chime, blowing a wave of cold air and the smell of fried chicken into their faces.
Flame stopped on the pavement, pulling out a handful of crumpled cash and counting the coins.
“Hey, look.
We have absolutely zero food at the apartment.
If we don’t buy something now, we’re eating sleep for dinner.
I’ll run in and grab some discount bento boxes.”
He tossed a small silver key ring at Reian, who caught it out of habit.
“Go ahead to the apartment first,” Flame said, pointing down the street.
“You look dead on your feet, and you still have black soot behind your ears.
Go clean up and start the rice cooker.
I’ll be there in fifteen.”
“Alright,” Reian nodded, waving his hand as he turned around.
“Don’t take forever.
My stomach is actually eating itself.”
“Yeah, yeah.
Go lock the door,” Flame called out, his messy red hair disappearing through the store’s sliding doors.
Reian smiled a bit, turning on his heel.
He decided to take the alleyway shortcut behind the arcade.
He wanted to get home fast, wash the shame off his face, and maybe steal the first shift in the shower before his brother got back.
He didn’t know that walking into that dark alley would be the last normal thing he ever did.
Hope you enjoyed the first chapter!