My opponent lashed out, a well aimed and very powerful kick to my ribs that I barely managed to block in time. Pain shot up my arm as it took the brunt of the blow. Then I ducked instinctively as he swung a fist, his knuckles whistling through the air where my head had been moments before.

People were shouting all around me. Yet all the noise was nothing but a muddle in the back of my mind as I focused on the person in front of me.

He was tall, he was fast, he was strong—he was deadly. However he had a tendency not to block the lower, more vulnerable regions of his body. That's where I struck.

I shot forward like a bullet. His arm came around and I caught it— twisting it, disabling it— and then slammed my knee right where a guy never ever wanted to get slammed in unless it was the sensual kind of slamming.

This was not a sensual kind of slamming.

My opponent went down. One. Two. Three.

The bell rang, signaling the end of the match.

"I knew she was a baddie." Suho grinned from where he stood at the front with all the other trainees looking on.

I made a face at him before turning to my still groaning opponent on the ground. My own jaw throbbed painfully where his fist had connected against it when I hadn't ducked in time. Looks like I was going to have another bruise right as my other one was fading. Granted, this bruise wasn't as severe though.

"Hey Wonwoo." I reached down and gingerly tapped the crouched boy on the ground. "Um, are you okay?"

Now that the fire of being locked in fighting was dying inside me I felt guilt take its place. Uncomfortable prickling guilt.

As a part of training, we were put into weekly matches against each other and forced to fight until one person couldn't get up for at least three seconds. The fights could be very violent, even until the point of knocking someone bloody unconscious. For my fights, I tended to either try and pin my opponents or strike true and hard in the head to stun them. Out of the four matches I'd been in, I'd won every single one.

Perhaps that was the reason why this week I'd been pitted against Wonwoo. This kid was the top in our unit. He was tall, but not big enough to be slow; and he was strong with perfectly accurate and deadly blows.

"Yeah just give me a moment." Wonwoo glanced up and tried to smile through his pained expression. "You have a real sharp knee."

I chuckled sheepishly at that and stepped back as one of the medics that always watched the matches in case severe injuries were incurred, stepped into the arena we'd been fighting in.

"Jiyeon." Krystal leaned forward where she was standing next to Suho. "You do realize this means you're technically top in the unit now right?"

I frowned and hopped off the arena, which was really a large platform slightly elevated from the regular ground. "Wonwoo still has more points in the physical category."

"True. But in combat you're top." Krystal clapped a hand on my shoulder, making me wince. The injury was finally beginning to fade despite being used almost every day.

It didn't hurt as much as it once did, but when someone with as strong a grip as Krystal slapped it...

She noticed my expression and shot me an apologetic look. "Sorry."

"I'm curious." Suho folded his arms and tilted his head. "You've always been really good with hand to hand combat, baddie. Are you naturally gifted or did someone train you?"

I hesitated. A familiar deep ache flared up in me. Should I just pretend that I was naturally gifted? I didn't want to tell them that Jimin trained me since I didn't want to create any complications. After talking things out and expressing our feelings of our relationship, we'd managed to keep everything between us pretty low key that no one suspected anything.

However, my other trainer, my former one... I took a deep breath. "I, uh, yeah. I was trained before I came here." I bit the inside of my cheek at their expected gazes. "His name was Min Yoongi."

The reaction was immediate. Both Suho's and Krystal's reactions immediately became incredulous and even some of the surrounding trainees exchanged shocked looks. Clearly they'd all heard of Yoongi.

"No way," Krystal huffed. "You're shitting me right? The Min Yoongi?"

I looked away.

"Easy there, Krystal," Suho murmured, his tone abruptly soft and sympathetic. "We all know what happened to him."

"Were you there when he died?" Krystal blurted out.

Suho clapped a hand over his forehead. "Yes, Krystal, that's exactly what 'easy there' means. Ask about his death."

"I'm sorry," Krystal mumbled, offering a rueful grin. "It's just... I'd heard so much about him."

I nodded. "Yeah. I was there."

I'd been right there, I added bitterly. Even now, at times, I wondered, was there a chance I could've saved him? Maybe if I'd reacted quicker. Jumped in front of him. Pulled him down out of the way. Anything.

"Well that explains how you fight really well," said Suho, folding his arms. "You had a kickass teacher."

I nodded. Unsure and unable to say anything.

Krystal wrapped an arm around my shoulder and lead me away from the front of the crowd where all stares were on me. "Well, I'm sure Yoongi would be proud to know that one of his trainees is living up to his legacy."

I shook my head. "No one can live up to his legacy. His legacy is his own."

Krystal glanced back towards the arena where Wonwoo was finally able to stand and walk off the arena, his figure still a little bent in vulnerability. "Let's step outside for a moment." She rubbed my shoulder. "The trainers are all still a little distracted."

I let her lead me outside... right where we almost bumped into no other than two familiar bronze Marked and champagne Marked Outworlders.

"Whoa there!" The champagne Marked Outworlder recoiled, quickly lifting two tiny glass vials of something in his fingers to prevent them from knocking into me.

My eyes widened. "Jungkook? Hoseok?" I gasped.

The two Outworlders took a double take at me and then both erupted into brilliant grins. Grins that I hadn't seen since before the training center assault. Something inside me fluttered at their familiar faces.

Jimin was the only trainer in the group. The rest of the Exclusive Outworlders were in different fields of the military, from scouting to spying to plain out soldier. Because of that, they rarely ever came into the training wards of the base.

It was the first time that I'd seen them since we first moved.

"Hey Jiyeon!" Jungkook was the first to recover from the surprise. "Where's your towel-beating boyfriend?"

"What—" Krystal's eyes widened and I immediately glared at Jungkook.

The two-eye wink he shot me told me Jungkook had known exactly what he was doing. Curse that youngster. I'd learned from Jimin that Jungkook was almost a year younger than both of us, youngest of the group.

"What are you two doing?" I quickly cut in before Krystal had time to ask what Jungkook meant, or worse: who, my "towel-beating boyfriend" was.

I noticed that Hoseok was also carrying two delicate vials of clear liquids in his hands.

The bronze Marked Outworlder beamed that brilliant heart-shaped smile. "Namjoon has been working and experimenting with Moonsbane since the moment he got his hands on a sample. He, along with several other scientists and researchers, have been searching for something that easily counteracts the lethal effects."

Hoseok leaned forward, eyes sparkling. "He thinks he's finally found the antidote."

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Cover by JiMochi_Fictions

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