Bandits- A Markjin FF

Part 38

Mark

  "Are you ready to head out?"

"Yeah one second!" I ducked back into the makeshift house we had made. It was only a few days ago Youngjae decided he had, had enough with sleeping against trees and on piles of leaves, trying to survive the elements. So he instructed the creation of a mini house made from tree branches, dirt to keep them together, and leaves as bedding. Everyone thought we were crazy, until a rainstorm hit. Let's just say we won that fight, and kept dry in the process. My fingers wrapped around the knife Jinyoung had given me. It had been almost a week now once Jb had warned us about our deadline. Since then Jinyoung and I have been training nonstop. From survival tactics to hand to hand and weapon combat, we were trying to cover all I needed to know in the time limited we were given.

During all the training, Jinyoung and I had found ourselves falling into a familiar routine. Wake up, eat, practice until sunset, go on a walk, sleep. I couldn't remember why the walks had started, but it had been after an exhausting practice.

   My hand moved against my forehead. Breath coming out in pants as sweat attached itself to my skin,"Are we going to head back-" I turned to see Jinyoung has moved from his spot sat beside me, now walking into the trees,"Jinyoung?" He turned at the mention of his name, eyebrows raised as a silent question. My hands ran through my hair absentmindedly,"Where are you going?" Jinyoung's bottom lip rose to cover his top one, looking up in thought,"For a walk." He paused, mouth slightly agape before softly mumbling,"Come with me."

  Since that day we continued to take walks, admiring the forest as the sunsets, speaking about everything and nothing at all. The walks worked as a break from reality, a time for just us two. It is because of those walks Jinyoung isn't as hesitant or scared of my touch. I haven't hugged him, or made contact in any romantic way since the river incident, but training has caused a few awkward moments. The shaking of his hands hadn't stopped, but he no longer struggled to get away when I had successfully pinned him in a victory position. His eyes didn't hold their usual terrified expression, well not as much as before.

  "Mark hurry up! We are wasting time we don't have." Quickly standing up from my crouched position I hit my head on the wood above me. Letting out a groan I pat the spot before leaving our makeshift house, dagger in hand. I quickly spotted Jinyoung leaning against a tree, arms crossed over his chest. When he noticed my presence he immediately stood up straight,"Let's get going. We have a lot to do today." Nodding in response I followed behind him as we made our way to the usual trading grounds. It wasn't an official place to train, but for being forcefully moved from our old camp, we had to learn to make due.

The familiar area came into my view. A small space that didn't have trees in the middle of it. Leaves moved to the side so we didn't slip as easily. Originally we had practiced beside the river, but after BamBam stumbled upon the place while wandering helplessly, we decided it was a better fit for a last minute training 'arena'. Jinyoung placed his knife on the ground, I went to repeat his action, a hand held in front of my face made me stop. I looked up to see Jinyoung motioning me to the center of the area. Hesitantly moving to stand in front of him I raised my eyebrows in a silent question. Without replying Jinyoung took no time to lunge towards me. He had the element of surprise, grabbing my wrists to twist them and quickly push them over my body where they only gave pain. Letting out an inevitable yelp I struggled in his grip, almost instantly remembering Jinyoung telling me not to struggle. You are an idiot Mark Tuan, I scolded myself.

  Going limp, Jinyoung sighed at my surrender,"What did I tell you about entering the arena?" Not liking Jinyoung's tone I narrowed my eyes childishly, only leaves in my view,"We are no longer on the same side." I mumbled, upset that I had given up so easily, or been defeated in such a short time. "That's right." He let go of my wrists, allowing me to quickly get them out of the painful position they were in. Straightening my posture I rubbed the now sore areas. The method of training Jinyoung used may seem cruel to others, but we had both agreed it would be most effective on me. That method was to not be afraid to hurt the other person, to act as if the battle was a life and death situation. That is until it becomes a situation where one would die of course.