Tiger Inside ||Stray Kids Mafia AU||

Chapter Fifteen

I pulled myself up from the confines of my bed, my limbs aching from my long sparring session with Minho the night prior. My time spent with him helped grow my confidence in my ability to perform tomorrow, but at the steep cost of weak muscles.

Sliding onto the floor, I spread my legs out and stretched my hands forward toward my feet, the pull of my muscles creating a contradicting blend of pain and relief. I rolled my head on my shoulders before collapsing back against the side of my bed, my head falling against the mattress as my eyes gazed up to the ceiling.

The reality of the situation was sinking in, up until this point I still hadn't felt like a true member of the team, but tomorrow granted me the opportunity to prove myself as worthy of working alongside these boys. I needed to ignore the voice in the back of my head, telling myself of my inability to perform.

The unknown of tomorrow was looming, we had no way of predicting if anyone would be standing watch, seeing our every move. We were unwelcome visitors in a discreet and elaborate operation, if they had evaded detection up until now, who knows what else they had up their sleeves.

Minho was thorough with last night's training, focusing on specific self defense in the event I was caught without a weapon. His sharp agility gave me an insight to an opponent's skills that I hadn't had the opportunity to go up against yet. The absence of his snark allowing him to go strictly business, his focus pointed and determined.

He had felt like a drill sergeant, demanding the repetition of blocks and attacks until they were ingrained into my memory like a carving on stone, his façade only dropping every time he lifted me back to my feet after sweeping my legs out from under me. I was sure bruises were going to be peppering my skin any day now, a water coloring blend of colors across every limb. I attempted to pull each arm across my chest, trying to further stretch my abused muscles. Dropping my hands to my knees, I took a deep breath with a huff, pulling myself to my feet with a groan.

Slipping into the living room, I dropped myself onto the couch beside Jisung, watching him engrossed in a video game across the screen of the TV. After multiple failed attempts to beat his current boss, he fell back in defeat, hollering out into the room leaving echoes down the hall.

"Let me give it a try" I choked out through my amused laughter, my hands reaching out and grabbing for the controller. He side eyed me in silence before reluctantly handing it over, letting me pull my legs up onto the couch and crossing them beneath me and getting comfortable before selecting the large Try Again plastered on the screen.

My knuckles turned white as I gripped the controller for dear life, my heart rate spiking with every blast from the enemy while I tried to pull the character to the side with a dodge. Jisung yelled orders at me from the side, I attempted to shut him out, my focus strictly pointed on the mission at hand.

"DODGE! DODGE! HE'S COMING FROM THE RIGHT!" He squealed, his aggressive stressed squirming beside me throwing me off as he flung himself to the side dramatically and tried to cover his eyes.

"YAH! Can you shut up please!?" I pulled one of my legs out from under me, attempting to kick him with no avail as I avoided pulling my eyes from the screen. "Do you want me to get you past this level or not?" Jisung whimpered as he pulled a pillow across his chest and clung to it, finally going quiet as his eyes flicked across the screen, watching the enemy's hearts slowly start to diminish.

With a final concentrated shot the boss fell to the ground with a crash, an exhale of the breath that I was unaware was lodged in my chest released as I threw my hands in the air in victory.

"I've been working on him for days... How were you able to get him in one try?" Jisung stared at the screen with drooping shoulders in defeat.

"If you were quieter I could have beat him faster." I took a pillow, smacking him in the arm with it, triggering a yelling match between the two of us that was quickly interrupted by an abrupt dropping of a binder in my lap.