Students flocked out of the school, embracing the bright and warm weather. A tall copper headed boy closed his eyes as he welcomed the heat. He revelled in it, always finding a joy in the summer months. “Hey Channie!” The hazel eyed boy waved to his friend and smiled wide. “See you at practice later?” Chanyeol shifted his bag on his shoulder and loosened his tie. “Of course! See you then.” His friend waved back before running off towards his house.

      Chanyeol preferred to take his leisurely time walking home. His house wasn’t too far from school and he could never seem to make the trip long enough. He didn’t mind his home, he just found that his skin soaking up the sun’s heat to be more pleasurable. Opening his arms wide he let the warmth embrace him as a cool breeze tousled his curls.

      Suddenly a van screeched to a halt beside him and two men hopped out. Yanking the tall boy by his hair he stumbled back until the back of his knees crashed into the steel door. His deep voice boomed as he kicked out, slamming one of them in the thigh. His arms had been bound but he ignored the sting of his skin breaking as he slammed the other below the chin.

     The car was lurching as the three fought in the back. Chanyeol might have a baby face but he was big and not one to be messed with. He dealt a blow after hit as he fought for all he was worth. The men were letting out loud curses as they tried to subdue the strong man. One managed to get Chanyeol on his back as the other grabbed a needle. Taking punishing blows to his back the man managed to pin the boy’s arms above him while his partner administered the sedative.

      With his strength wearing down Chanyeol gathered the last of it and jerked up. The syringe smashed to the floor as the men stumbled back. Shooting to his feet the room spun and he fell to the floor landing harshly on the metal floor.

_*_*_*_

“Hey! 501 wake up! Can you believe this twerp?”

“Maybe it’s his internal blanket, look at his body temp! It’s off the charts.”

     High pitched voices reached his ears as he came out of his haze. Squinting, Chanyeol hesitantly opened his eyes. Attempting to block them from the piercing light he found out that he was chained down, arms and legs spread. He was completely exposed besides his hips which still had his white boxers wrapped around them.

     “Oh look he’s awake!” The screechy voice pierced his ears as he stared at the two women dressed in lab coats. They had their hair in nets, safety goggles covering their eyes and masks over their noses and mouths. The whole thing gave no comfort as their eyes bore into him as if they wanted to eat him and not in a seductive way. “Say 501… do you like heat?” Chanyeol kept his mouth shut, not bothering to correct them about his name.

      A gloved finger traced his cheek and down his muscled arm to play with his fingers. Shivers ran down his spine as he growled. “Ooh feisty, let’s see how much heat you can take big boy.” The phrase was meant to be seductive but only made his stomach curl. The girls cackled and left his glass box containment field. They moved to an all-white control panel with a large glass window overlooking Chanyeol.

     A sweat broke out over him as the temperature spiked. Heat waves blurred his vision as he felt like he was on fire. The metal beneath him burned his skin, scorching him from the outside in. deep screams of agony erupted from his chest as he thrashed in his bonds. His skin felt as if it was melting as his fingers scraped along the slick metal.

     Suddenly everything cooled as he tried to catch his breath, chest heaving. The click of the doors alerted him to the women standing next to him. They along his sweat soaked skin, marvelling at it. Chanyeol almost wished the heat would return and burn every place they touched. “Amazing… At that heat you should be dead but you’re not even unconscious.”

“Wait… What!? YOU CRAZY PEOPLE TRIED TO KILL ME!”

“Fire.”

      The two said in unison and nodded, ignoring the string of curses leaving the man’s mouth. Pressing the glowing buttons next to the bed the less talkative of the two stalked over to the struggling form on the table. Sticky gloved hands forced his head still as she placed the mask over his nose and mouth. A hiss and the mask filled with smoke quickly knocking him out.

_*_*_*_

        A harsh slap to the face has Chanyeol shrieking awake. His brain was screaming at him and his skin was in agony. Peering down at his body he gasped as it was slathered with blood and littered with stitches. “W-What did you d-do to me?” His voice was scratchy and came out as a hoarse gasp. “Do you think he’ll understand?” The other woman shook her head but her eyes crinkled under her goggles. “But the poor boy deserves to know.”

“You just like bragging.”

    The other nodded quickly. “Well Mr. 501 your hypothalamus uses chemical receptors to make sure your temperature isn’t too hot or too cold.” She tapped his head and he nearly shrieked as he realised they had shaved his head. Tears pricked at the corner of his eyes as he felt her run her gloved hand over some stitches. “We just tweaked it so that your temperature is constantly on high!” A finger ran along his bloody and stitched arms to play with his swollen fingers. “A normal human has an emissivity of about 0.97.” The other woman said. “This means we absorb heat. By playing with some cells we managed to get yours to -1. This means that you don’t just radiate heat, you can produce it!”

      Her eyes crinkled as she did a little jump. “After a few adjustments to your skin molecules we made you able to contain this flame and with a few tweaks to your nerves we were able to connect it to your brain! Stunning right!?” Chanyeol didn’t answer as he battled everything not to give them the satisfaction of seeing him cry. Noticing the lack of response the women snapped her fingers and a large man in a suit entered.