Song Taewon hadn't moved from where he stood since the collapsed buildings sealed him off with Haneul and Areum, arms loose at his sides, watching them with the same unhurried patience he'd carried since the standoff outside the compound began.
"You gonna do something," Areum called, flame gathering hot at her fingertips, "or just stand there all day?"
Song's only answer was a step forward, closing the distance faster than his casual posture suggested he could. Haneul barely got the staff up in time to catch the first strike, a bare-knuckle jab that connected with far more force behind it than it had any right to carry.
The impact rattled clean through his arms.
"He's stronger than he looks," Haneul muttered, shaking the sting out.
"They all are," Areum said, answering with a burning palm strike that Song twisted away from at the last second, close enough that the heat still singed the edge of his sleeve.
