the desolated kingdom || ateez

arc 2: episode two.

"Oops, I'm sorry." Sujin stood up, took a step back to give space between them, and gave out an apologetic shrug to Mingi who sat on the floor, rubbing his aching back and buttocks.

"You got me on that one, mate." Mingi smiled as he stood up, using his sword to help him stand up.

"Now I gotta get serious too."

×

"What's happening?" Yunho looked back to see Jongho, walking towards him. He finally looked better than he was before, blood came back to his face and he was now walking properly.

"You alright?" Yunho asked. Jongho nodded.

"Are they sparring right now?"

Yunho nodded, "Just a small friendly fight, just like what we always do."

Jongho glanced at Sujin who was standing and looking unharmed with a cutlass in hand, and to Mingi who shakily stood up with the help of his sword.

"Hold up-" Jongho's eyes widened as he assessed the situation. "She managed to take down Mingi? In a freaking sword fight!?"

Yunho smiled, "Amusing, isn't it?"

"Is she-" Jongho gulped, "Is she that strong?"

Yunho shook his head, "Oh no. She's not on equal terms with Mingi at all. I say Mingi's obviously a hundred times stronger than her. If this was pure sword fight, then she couldn't have lasted a minute fighting Mingi."

"Sure, she can use a sword, but Mingi's obviously more of an expert than her." Yunho added.

"Then how-"

Yunho turned to face Jongho with a smile. He pointed his index finger to the side of his forehead.

Jongho raised a brow, not getting the tall man's gesture. "Huh?"

"It's easily shown at how she fights."

Both Yunho and Jongho turned their heads to the person who joined their conversation.

"Oh, you were watching them fight too, captain?"

Hongjoong who was approaching them nodded with a smile. Then he turned his attention to the two who were fighting below on the main deck.

"If you watched closely, you could clearly see it." Hongjoong said.

"Sujin doesn't fight with her strength." He explained, "She fights using her head."

×

With a yell, Mingi charged at Sujin, and she sidestepped just in time before the blade could slash at her shoulder. She pivoted and lunged at Mingi who quickly blocked it. Sujin then followed up with another slash, but Mingi quickly blocked it again.

Sujin could feel the sudden growth in Mingi's strength, and she immediatley realized the gap between them in terms of strength.

So he really was going easy on me earlier. Sujin thought.

Sujin took a step back after her failed attempts to attack, and braced herself for more of Mingi's explosive attacks.

This time it was Mingi who attacked. He jumped and slashed downward at Sujin, who barely blocked it using both hands with her cutlass. Mingi continued to dominate her in a battle of strength, causing her to back down until she ended up on one knee, still trying to stop Mingi's sword with her cutlass.

"You okay there, lass?" Mingi asked with a smirk, his sword still trying to overpower Sujin. "Your hand's trembling."

"I-I'm doing good, actually." Sujin replied, barely making the words out as she concentrated her attention on her cutlass.