Doomsdays || Jungri

Chapter 36: Adrenaline Rush

[ A/N: hey guess who it is!! this 38k long chapter is mostly filled with sucky action scenes, so i hope y'all can live through the boredom lmao, good luck!! other than that, this chapter is basically: doyeon becoming gay for yeri in a span of 15 minutes, and: yoongi channeling his inner akashi seijuro, so try to have fun with that too.

still, even tho this chappie is basically 90% action, i tried my best to include some shippy moments for all of our needs <3 i mean we are getting 10k words of wenga after all ;-) i apologize for any typos! ]

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"D-Doyeon?!" Yeri shamelessly sputtered as her hands flailed forwards to grip onto the railings surrounding her in an attempt to steady herself. Her jaw was made completely slack as it practically dropped to the floor, while her eyes were widened impossibly enough to completely fall off her head— a hyperbole, of course, but that was what she had truly felt like at the given time.

Perhaps her nerves were completely fried from the shock, too. For a rather uneventful day (save for the incident with Junhoe back in Julius Academy's floor), Yeri wasn't really expecting anymore surprises for the rest of the hour. Then again, with the Decagon Games unceremoniously coming to an end in just one more day, fate must have decided to shoehorn as many twists as possible into the amount of time they have left here. Yay?

Well, on the bright side, at least Doyeon fortunately seemed just as surprised to see her as well, doe eyes blown wide and mouth open to form an 'O' as she stared back at her with the same deer in headlights expression. If she wasn't feeling the exact same way, she probably would've bursted out laughing at the comicality of it all. "Y-Yerim, I thought you were just competing in Mirage Bat this whole time!"

"I didn't even know that you were a contestant in Ice Pillar Break, for God's sake!" Yeri cried back, still trying to get ahold of herself...and her current situation, for that matter. Letting out a groan of frustration, the young blonde points a finger at her sort-of-new friend accusingly. "Why didn't you say anything earlier?! At least then, I wouldn't be getting a mini heart attack when a match is about to start!"

"I'm sorry!" she squeaked in her wide-eyed daze, clearly just as flustered as she was. Yerim decided that it was good to see that she wasn't completely alone in the over-exaggerated reactions department. And from the subtle prodding of the crowd's curious gazes on them, she could guess that this display was starting to prove to be quite an entertaining show for them. Huh.

Over at the audience's seats, Sehun could be seen wearing the blankest expression that had ever plastered itself on his handsome face, made even more comical with the sunglasses he was adorning. Somehow, he felt like he was only seconds away from bursting into fondness-induced flames. "For some reason, I feel like I'm being mercilessly attacked with double the dose of cuteness this time."

"How coincidental, Sehunnie," Taehyung piped up with an oddly wistful tone of voice, seeming close enough to melting into putty as he watched the cataclysmic clash of two equally adorable individuals occur at the arena below. "I'm feeling the exact same way..." he sighed, seeming to have completely mellowed out into a puddle of goo as he unceremoniously deflated from overheating.

"How about you two do yourselves a favor and simply close your eyes?" Wonwoo mutters crossly in his sleep, head laxly leaned against the headrest of the seat as his own pair of sunglasses protects him from the blaring sunlight situated above. "Unless you want to be completely K.O.'ed like macho man over here," he opted to gesture into a certain direction, showing a blissed out Jungkook slumped over his seat as his soul did not have the strength to hold up against the sheer impact of the two girls' unbeatable combined 'attack'.

Joy, while remaining unperturbed for the most part (if her urge to squeeze both the juniors' cheeks wasn't much of an indicator), scrutinizingly stared at the teenage boys sitting in their little makeshift group, eyes narrowed in calculation as she carefully took in their reactions and watched the jittery movements of their wavelengths to come to a conclusive ultimatum.

After a while of staring at them oddly, she allowed a warm smile to grace her sharp features, seeming awfully fond. "You know, for a group of dudes who have quite the indisputable reputation for being some of the most potentially powerful mages in Akademus, you guys really are just a bunch of softies."

"You're right, Joy! I am a softie!" Taehyung shamelessly blubbered as tears poured out his catlike eyes, practically crying to himself at the direct display of endearment before him. All this was done at the same time Sehun looked away with an annoyed click of his tongue, instead muttering out an unwelcoming, "Shut it, Park."

At one end of the their wayward group, Yugyeom groaned as he unceremoniously slapped a hand over his forehead. "I'm friends with a bunch of idiots," he hopelessly muttered to himself.

"Gee, look who's barking about idiocy, of all people," Mina sarcastically murmured as she casually grabbed her own fair share of chips from Momo's extra large packet, seeming to have made herself busy chewing on the junk food to avoid facing Yugyeom's wrath at implying his supposed intellect...or lack thereof, for that matter.

From the first year's expression alone, any normal bystander can easily picture an imaginary tick forming on his head. "What the hell did you just say about me, you stupid loudspeaker?"

"Okay, kids, no need to fight," Momo stated in an oddly serene manner before the pair could possibly attempt to murder each other with their bare hands, digging her own hand into the plastic bag situated on her lap before revealing her palm to show that it is filled with a handful of potato chips. "There are potato chips. All conflict has now been solved."

"...If I could solve all of my problems with potato chips alone, there wouldn't be any need for my diet to exist anymore, Momo," Sehun deadpanned after a moment of silence, seeming nowhere near impressed with the tenth seat's rather simplistic intuition, if the deadly expression making itself home on his face didn't suggest otherwise.

The seventh seat's flat quip was quick to dispel the distraction that Momo's indifferent one-liner had offered to the arguing Mina and Yugyeom, and so after a few short moments, they continued firing harsh words back and forth, expressions growing increasingly irritated the more they raised their voices at each other. Taehyung and Joy, cheery as ever, both had found it rather easy to ignore the two of them, though Wonwoo only proceeded to groan in absolute despair as he attempted to cover his poor ears from the onslaught of childish hostility.

So while Yeri's friends continued on with their outlandish shenanigans and repetitive bickering, the young girl's initially incredulous expression had gradually sobered to harden into a gaze of calculative intent, eyes narrowed and lips pursed considerably as she examined the opponent that she fondly considered her friend.

Kim Doyeon. Judging from their first meeting in the Decahedron public bathrooms during Day Seven, Yeri could deduce that she at least had something akin to a wind manipulation ability. Perhaps something more. Either way, with the unpredictability that came with her lack of knowledge regarding the girl's ability, she will have to remain on guard for the entirety of this battle— and hopefully, the element of surprise will not overwhelm her too seriously. It could serve as a detriment to her overall performance, after all.

From the few days that she had known her, her friend had always been pegged for someone a little bit naïve and oblivious, and was possibly sheltered as much as she was, with how fascinated she had always been with the displays of magic all around her, and the joy she continuously exhibited in the face of new abilities. In a way, Doyeon reminded Yeri strictly of herself, somewhat like a (naturally gifted) fish out of water.

From the corner of her eyes, she could barely spot the red light flicker on, the vermillion hues being stark contrasts to the other muted and monotone colors in her line of vision. The cheer and collective voices of the crowd faded to nothingness in the back of her mind as her thoughts raced a thousand miles a minute in an attempt to theorize every single possibility of the girl's abilities.

Haste is a sure possibility. She remembered Jungkook's minuscule ramblings about the abilities in Astraea that he had always been so fascinated with. She could have sped up the movement of the air around her to seem like she had manipulated the wind. Applied in this match, she could simply accelerate the process of the melting of Yeri's ice pillars if the young blonde wouldn't be quick enough to substitute the ice with her own beams. If it wasn't wind manipulation, this possibility would soon serve to be a difficulty for the likes of her.

There wasn't any other ability that came to mind besides the two theories she had first come up with. But with how little experience Yeri has with other magics alone, she still wouldn't know how in the world she was supposed to counter Doyeon's would-be ability despite having a bit of an idea regarding what it is. Maybe she should've made more time to ask her about her magic while they were stuck in that bathroom together. Geez.

This won't be like other matches, where she could make do and adapt to new discoveries quite easily in the midst of a battle. Considering how Doyeon had defeated so many of her opponents to get this far, even the slightest hint of hesitation could serve as an opening for her— and Yeri couldn't really let that happen. Not if she wanted to win.

She didn't pay any mind to the tension of the audience surrounding them as red light turned off to make way for the discernible glow of harsh amber.

Taking note of Doyeon's reassuring smile, Yeri could feel the jumbled up mess within her insides gradually untangle for her to deflate with absolute relief. She didn't need to take this match much too seriously, even if this was the finals. Somehow, it felt good to have to fight a friend, in this context; friendly competition, or something like that— Junhoe, Wonwoo and Yugyeom had always liked to justify their sparring sessions in class with those two words alone whenever they had gotten caught by any of the teachers.

As Junhoe's name crossed her mind, somberness almost overtook her heart once more, but Yeri remained all the more unyielding. Fine by her. If so many people had to miss her final match, she'll just have to put on a show so mystifying that they'll never think to skip on it ever again. The thought filled her with a coarse adrenaline, akin to liquid fire numbingly scorching her veins.

Across the arena, she returned Doyeon's smile with her own spirited grin, only prompting the ravenette to smile wider. Perhaps Jungkook was right. As long as she gave the match her all, she wouldn't feel too disappointed even if she ended up winning or losing. The most she can get out of this much alone is more knowledge regarding magic itself, what with the enigmatic mystery of Doyeon's actual ability.

Her magic energy was running through the expanse of her fingertips in jittery manner, eager to be released out into the vast wilderness of the real world. Yeri could only hope that she could regulate her use of it properly throughout her two taxing matches of today. Fingers crossed.

The amber shades of the second light gradually darkened to a dull black as a third light, cerulean blue in color, flicked on without much of a second thought.

The loudest beep yet resounded all throughout the vast arena as Yeri immediately enveloped the surfaces of ice with her own share of white light, the anticipation of the audience doing nothing to hinder her resolve. Being around Jungkook had boosted her confidence more than she thought it would. Maybe she should've just started eating up all his compliments with twice as much compliance as before.

Something inside her shook heartily with a brief wash of humor, sort of like a pseudo-laugh, if one could even call it that. With how indulgent the guy was, Yeri supposed that she might just become one of the most spoiled women in the realm one day— and that didn't sound too bad, knowing that the dude who'd be spoiling her would be none other than the estranged third seat himself.

Maybe she should've just ditched all the matches of today and instead spooned with Jungkook for at least twenty-four hours straight. It would probably be way better than simply standing here awaiting a seamless competition. Today was really a day filled with lost opportunities.

Yeri watched Doyeon flick her hand out, the latter letting out a small sigh as her magic could do nothing to affect the fixed state of her beams-turned-ice-pillars. As relieved as she was, Yeri knew she couldn't celebrate for too long. She still knew next to nothing about the girl's magic considering that her beams didn't allow for her ability to truly be shown.

From afar, she could spot her newest friend pouting at her quite sulkily. Yeri had a small hint as to why, a cheeky grin quick to have bloomed across her face. "As expected, I really can't mess with your beams at all, Yerim," Doyeon commented, sheepishly scratching the back of her head. "I assumed as much from watching your Mirage Bat matches alone, but no effective counterattack is coming to mind so far...at least, none that can be achieved by my ability, anyways."

"Hey, at least you know what my ability is. I'm the one who knows absolutely nothing here!" Yeri joked, prompting the both of them to laugh heartily.

"Well, try and attack me and maybe I'll show you," Doyeon teasingly taunted, sending a charming wink headed her way in an attempt to evoke a response from her fellow first year. The slyness from her character was quick to dissipate however, when the girl grew nervous and proceeded to look away, simpering a little awkwardly.

'Heh, she says that...but I know I have to play smart this time around, no matter how unassuming she tries to make herself appear,' Yeri furrowed her brows considerably as she drew her right hand back, feeling it shortly burst to life with the formation of glowing beam. Its form remained ambiguous and irregular, showing that she had not decided on an actual property for it to take as of yet. "Uh...if you don't mind me asking...what exactly are you going to do?"

"Oh!" Doyeon's eyes widened, the girl then proceeding to wave her hands in front of herself frantically as if trying to justify a wrongdoing of hers. "How rude of me! I'm very sorry, Yerim. I must apologize for having not explained my plans yet, but I'll be quick to get to it! Uh, let me just arrange the sentence in my head first...this might require more elaboration than I thought..."

'Laying out her plan straight to the enemy herself? If Doyeon knows exactly what she's doing, this has got to be a form of condescension. I wasn't even expecting an answer from her to begin with— I only wanted to eliminate some possibilities of her ability from her response, whether indignant or confident,' Yeri thought with much confusion, her hesitation clear to be shown in the unsure flickering of the beam forming from her hand.

Seeing how leisurely confident her friend was when answering her, she could only assume that her ability is significantly strong— maybe enough to trump hers. She had to admit that it was somewhat thrilling to watch Doyeon's 180° switch in personality under the pressure of competition, even if she was being potentially underestimated.

Huh. If this match doesn't up becoming a showcase of her complete downfall, it might just turn out to be a whole lot of fun.

Going back to the audiences, Jungkook quite rudely nudged Wonwoo in the side, to which the latter glared at him in much irritation. He didn't pay the boy's annoyance at him any mind however, as he questioned him, "I haven't seen any of Doyeon's matches, so do you happen to know what her ability is?"

"Usually I would smack you silly for hitting me like that, but since I'm feeling so damn nice today, I guess you're spared," Wonwoo sighed, slumping down against his seat as he stared ahead at the still uneventful match. "But to answer your question, nah, I don't. I kinda never really bothered to watch her matches, either, though since she had made it this far, it would probably do us all some good to not underestimate her."

"If I remember correctly, I'm pretty sure that Doyeon is a really big deal in the Ice Pillar Break events this year," then came Yugyeom's turn to butt into the conversation as he chipped in his two cents, stroking his chin thoughtful as he watched the two girls preparing to battle down below. "The only problem is that I don't remember what it is exactly that made her such a big deal to begin with...something about her ability being really strong, obviously..."

"Strong enough to go up against a practical variant of absolute creation?" Sehun asked with much interest, eyebrows raised high enough to disappear past his bangs.

"Absolute creation?" Jungkook repeated, seeming close to incredulous with the far-off comparison. Then his expression sobered a little, as he actually considered the idea. "...I mean, I never looked at Yeri's ability that way, but now that you mention it, she really is capable of creating anything, huh?"

Wonwoo then hummed in thought at the newly presented prospect, being the more contemplative member of the group. "Well...sure, albeit temporarily. She does need magic energy to keep her beams up, so most of the stuff she makes can't stick around permanently lest she wants to die from a major loss of ethernano."

"You didn't have to word it that way, Wonwoo," Yugyeom mumbled awkwardly, with Sehun shrugging nonchalantly at his rather casual (and blunt) choice of wording. "And here we thought that an ability with no weakness finally exists. Would've been damn cool."

Jungkook proceeded to stare at Yeri's concentrated expression intently, taking note of the gears probably working around at the back of her mind, before shrugging to himself with a small smile on his face. "Well, whatever. In the end, I know that I'm obviously into the right woman."

"Shut the hell up with that cheesy bullshit already, Kook," Wonwoo groaned in absolute exasperation, with Joy and Taehyung cheerily laughing to each other in the bustling background, clearly amused with the entertaining behavior of their juniors. Sehun and Momo, moderately amused, also cracked subtle smirks of their own, while Yugyeom and Mina pretended to ignore the commotion occurring all around them.

In the arena, Yeri tried her damnedest to ignore the world around her as she focused on Doyeon's lone figure across from her and the set of pillars she'll have to destroy to snatch the eventual gold medal. At least, she hoped that she could. Second place might not sound too bad, but she'd still like to strive for the best she could ever achieve.

Doyeon was still nervously trying to come up with a thorough explanation, however. "U-uh, well, how can I put this...to cut it short, I'll be redirecting your attacks away from my pillars when you do throw them in my direction— back at your pillars."

Yeri then frowned at a certain loophole left out in her brief words, a flicker of hesitance washing over the steady beating of her heart as she squinted her eyes at the softly smiling girl before her. "But, Doyeon...only I can manipulate my own beams."

At that, Doyeon simpered at her quite sheepishly, but not necessarily out of acquired embarrassment— if anything, it was more like she was hiding an interesting surprise from her. "Friend Yerim, my ability has nothing to do with manipulating specific objects alone," she stated slyly, eyes narrowed into a sleek catlike glint as she moved her fingers in a beckoning gesture, lips curved to form a Cheshire grin.

At the taunt, Yeri too experienced a change in atmosphere, eyes darkened to a competitive gleam despite being moderately wide with much alertness. Her own lips morphed into an eager smirk as the beam in her hand borrowed the properties of a hard concrete projectile, ready to be propelled forward. "Challenge accepted!"

The charge unceremoniously released a burst of force with a high magnitude, air rushing intensely in the opposite direction of the beam-turned-concrete as it headed straight for Doyeon's first row of pillars. Doyeon's expression was serious as she lightly moved her right hand, as if awaiting the perfect moment to put her magic into action.

Yeri too, couldn't afford to keep her guard down, already summoning a beam in front of her own ice pillars to take the form of kinetic forcefields meant solely for defense. Her fingers twitched with a sense of anticipation, watching out for any foreign movement on the other side of the arena.

What went on next occurred only in a flash— or at least, much too fast for her to fully wrap her mind around. Yeri had watched with much concentration as her lone beam was mere inches away from impacting the foremost row of ice pillars in Doyeon's domain; until, it no longer wasn't.

As she took a closer look, she found that the concrete beam was moving straight back at her own set of pillars— and this is by no means done on her own accord.

At first, her hand had reached out to substitute the air surrounding them with her own beams, but as she examined the movement of the projectile in the short amount of time she had before collision, Yeri came to a baffling conclusion.

'That's not wind manipulation,' she thought with narrowed eyes, taking a closer look. 'What the hell is it then— oh, crap!' happening in a matter of seconds, Yeri barely had enough time to react, eyes widened as she reached a hand out to broaden the surface of the forcefield just in time for the beam of concrete to hit it straight on, creating a force that mildly shook the vicinity for a brief moment while smoke softly billowed from the impact.

Having seen the same sight Yeri did, Taehyung's jaw shamelessly dropped. "Uh...excuse me for asking...but I couldn't have been the only person to see what just happened, right? Because it didn't look like Yeri was the one to move her own beam."

"You'd be correct for once, Taehyung. Seems to me that that wasn't necessarily supposed to happen. How odd," Sehun dubiously agreed, nodding to himself while his eyebrows furrowed thoughtfully as he inwardly came up with a bunch of theories of his own.

Yugyeom too, stared at the smoke-filled arena with much curiosity, and suspicion. He then turned to the only genius in the group, insistently tugging at his jacket with a questioning expression on his face. "Is there any context where someone else can move Yeri's own beams? The same beams that should technically only be able to be manipulated by herself?"

Said genius, Jungkook, brought a hand to his chin as he hummed. "I can name a few instances. For one, someone with, say, wind manipulation or telekinesis can manipulate the air surrounding Yeri's beam to 'move' it. Granted, the person would be moving the air instead, but it will achieve the same effect."

"But she already knows how to counter that kind of shortcoming, though," Joy was quick to point out, frowning in confusion as she squinted her eyes at the display before them. "If that was what Doyeon really did, she shouldn't have been able to execute it as well as she did since Yeri should already have substituted the air with her beams to prevent it from happening."

"Maybe Yeri didn't know that Doyeon could do wind manipulation, and thus didn't prepare for such a possibility," Momo had ought to pipe up as she continued to munch on her potato chips. "Not everyone has some kind of sixth sense intuition, after all. Don't overthink it."

Mina, frowning, shook her head in response to Momo's words. "But it can't be that. She was ready to counterattack Doyeon when she raised her hand, yet she didn't. In that sense, she must've eliminated the possibility of Doyeon being a wind manipulation user."

Wonwoo let out a long, fatigued sigh. "Why in the living hell did none of us decide to ask Doyeon about her ability when she was spectating Yeri's Mirage Bat matches with us? It's literally the one thing that could've made this whole discussion easier, and not even a single one of us had tried it?"

"Well, excuse us for being too busy watching Yeri and SinB kicking ass in Mirage Bat to ask Doyeon some personal questions," Joy huffed, crossing her arms over her chest as if to show very obviously that she took complete offense. "Plus, Doyeon looked pretty excited watching the match, so how could any of us even have the heart to interrupt her?" she asked, offering him a deadpan look.

The first year was quick to raise his hands in surrender, quite clearly fearing her wrath. "Alright, whatever you say, ma'am."

Down below, the smoke had already cleared, showing the serious countenance which Yeri donned as wind softly rushed past her, subtly blowing her hair to create an utmost charismatic image. Staring back at her was Doyeon, who also had little to no intention to lose at all, if the grave expression on her face had said nothing else.

Glancing down at the position of impact to spot her beams quickly disappearing, Yeri cautiously gazed back at Doyeon's blank façade, biting her lip as she tried to come up with her own share of theories. Alas, no ideas had come to mind— and that can't be good. "Hey, what...exactly..did you do? By right, my beams shouldn't have been able to move based on your will at all..."

"Oh! It wasn't your beams that I moved, Yerim!" Doyeon immediately waved her hands in front of her in some odd gesture of clarification, her movements just the tiniest bit frantic and clumsy as she laughed to herself nervously. "But before I explain, we've got to get this out of the way first; do you know what vectors are? Feel free to continue attacking me while I explain!"

"Vectors?" Yeri murmured in repetition with a thoughtful frown, magic energy quick to gather in her hands to prepare for her next attack. Waiting for Doyeon to be the slightest bit distracted might take a while, but it should be achievable if they can keep up a conversation for this long. "Uh...no, I don't think I know what that is. I know what vector quantities are, like velocity and acceleration, but I've never really stopped to wonder what 'vector' actually means..."

Considering their decently far distance from one another, it wasn't surprising for their voices to be quite loud as they conversed. That being said, it made things much easier for the audience to listen in on them as well, and this is where Yeri's wayward gang of supporters came into the picture.

"Vectors? As in the magnitude and direction of an object?" Taehyung asked unsurely, eyebrows furrowed as he scratched the back of his head. "I don't get it. What does it have to do with what just happened?"

To his side, Joy let out a low whistle, seeming for the most part impressed at his unexpected knowledge. "Wow, Tae. I had no idea that you actually knew what vectors meant. Who knew that you're not completely stupid after all?" she questioned herself cheerily, ignoring the subtle twitching of Taehyung's eye at her effortlessly rude comment.

"Sehunnie, the wench is bullying me!" the target of choice immediately cried out to an already irritated Sehun, fake-sobbing as if he came straight out of a soap opera, much to the chagrin of the emotionally exhausted seventh seat.

Off to the side, Joy let out an affronted gasp. "Take that back, you asshole! I'm no wench! Sehun, tell him!"

"Where the hell is this dude's girlfriend when you need her? And where in the world is Sungjae when you need him? I can't stand this shit anymore," the aforementioned mediator immediately hissed to a nearby Momo, who had only shrugged in response, still happily chewing on her potato chips. More annoyed than ever, he yelled once again, "Quit eye-fucking your damn chips and listen to me, damn it!"

"Hyung, shut the hell up. We're trying to watch a match here," Jungkook irritatedly pointed out, offering his senior a deadpan look, appearing almost disappointed to be interrupted in his indulgent tirade of admiring Yeri. At least, that is what Sehun assumed he was busy doing this entire time, if it wasn't anything else noteworthy.

"Yeah, Sehunnie, quit distracting lover boy from his girlfriend if you know what's good for you," Taehyung proceeded to tease slyly, which in turn resulted to his demise as his fellow second-year moved to shock his arm and Jungkook exasperatedly flung Wonwoo's sunglasses at his face.

Mina and Joy were the ones to burst out laughing while Yugyeom ran a hand down his face in shame as Taehyung shrieked. It seemed that Mina and Yugyeom have finally refrained from arguing with each other for quite a short period of time while Doyeon and Yeri were busy exchanging important pointers regarding their abilities. For how long this would last, no one was sure— but they sure hoped that it would go on long enough, especially with all the ruckus that Taehyung was already singlehandedly causing in the audience's seats.

On Yeri's end, the level of tension remained the same, anticipation roaring like unstoppable fire in her soul while her heart continued to beat like an 808 drum in her ears. Her magic itself already mirrored her lack of surety— jittery in the subtlest manner, fading in and out while she guessed on whether to legitimately attack or not, her energy fluctuated sporadically as she tried to examine Doyeon's awfully carefree attitude.

She didn't really know what to make of it, to be fair— whether the girl was acting this way earnestly, or doing so condescendingly in an attempt to look down on her, it was hard to gauge. With that, Yeri wasn't too sure of how to proceed with this development, as if she was trapped in a landmine with no escape route in mind.

Away from her, Doyeon was still kind enough to courteously clear up any of her confusion, appearing almost overly excited when she began explaining the subject at hand in even more detail. "I guess to make it simple, vectors are meant to represent the magnitude and direction of an object— any object, for that matter. It's mainly categorized into two types; position, being its location, and momentum, being velocity."

For a moment, the girl paused, taking note of the quizzicality appearing on Yeri's face before further elaborating on her point in hopes of helping her understand. "The position of an object is its distance and direction in relation to something else, like other objects, and the momentum of an object is the speed and direction of its motion...uh, got it so far...? I do hope that I did explain it properly enough..."

"Gusto," Yeri replied, appearing wary for a few moments before her expression shifted into something a little more confident, seeing that her opponent was momentarily distracted. "But I don't see how a mid-match physics lesson has anything to do with what's happening here," she then quipped, quickly sending a torrent of beam-turned-water to wash away Doyeon's entire set of pillars. With its sheer size and estimated target in mind, many could gauge that this attack was bound to win her the game in one fatal shot.

At least, it would have if this were any other person, but Yeri had yet to note that she was competing against Kim Doyeon, of all people.

"...Well...you didn't let me finish."

Ah, speak of the devil.

Before Yeri could properly react, Doyeon's soft voice had immediately cut through the tension in a clear disposition, the girl quick to flick her right hand in a swift motion as the deluge shifted into a single linear projectile and was blasted back at Yeri's own pillars at an incredible speed. It all occurred in barely a second, and suddenly, the young sixth seat widened her eyes to the sound of ice shattering into pieces on her end.

Turning her head to the source quickly enough to receive some form of whiplash, Yeri gaped at the sight of two of her shattered ice pillars, time seeming to move in slow motion as she watched many broken shards of ice unceremoniously fall to the ground in a flurry of splintering fractals. "What?!"

"That was fast," Sehun noted to the side, surprise quick to make way for contemplation as he rewinded the image in his head, eyes narrowing even more as his empty theories could not lead to any plausible answers. "Too fast for me to even grasp what the hell was going on in that period of time. Anyone else understand what just happened?"

Wonwoo shook his head in much disappointment, a frown marring his features as he stared down at the remnants of Yeri's two ice pillars. "No, I'm completely blank. Any idea I've got coming to mind wouldn't make any sense when I actually apply it here, so I can't really come up with anything."

"But just now, before Yeri initially fired off her attack, Doyeon-ssi had mentioned vectors in the middle of their discussion," Jungkook brought up, leaning back in his seat as he stared down at the arena intently. After a few moments, his pupils dilated just the slightest as his jaw went slack. "Wait...could Doyeon actually be able to manipulate...?"

"Vectors," Yeri breathed out after a moment of clarity, something akin to a click ringing in the back of her mind as realization began to sink it. "That's it, right? I don't fully understand what vectors are just yet, but considering that you decided to bring up its significance earlier, what you did just now had to have something to do with it...am I wrong..? And, uh, sorry for not letting you continue, earlier..."

'You have the time be polite at a time like this?!' everyone else collectively thought as they watched the battling pair.

Doyeon offered her a soft smile, waving her off almost dismissively as if her mishap was easily forgiven. "It's okay! And you've hit the mark spot on, Yerim. My ability allows me to manipulate vectors, which, as I've explained, refers to the magnitude and direction of an object. All forms of matter are described to use vectors, so you could say that I can easily counterattack anything in existence, as I can reverse the direction of momentum vectors of any object that comes at me...hehe."

The girl paused in her ministrations for a while, staring down at her feet shyly as her small smile widened just the slightest. "I haven't really mastered this magic completely, though, which is why I still can't affect stationary objects...like the beams you've used to substitute the motionless ice pillars. But as long as an object is in motion, I can definitely manipulate its vectors, in turn manipulating said objects itself."

"And since vectors aren't exactly forms of matter, or substantial non-matter, I can't replicate it with my beams to possibly counter you. Huh. I guess it's about time I've finally met my match in the realm of magic," Yeri remarked with a smirk, suddenly feeling more excited than ever with this new development of events. Her smirk dropped for a split second, making way for her momentary confusion. "Wait, but that still doesn't explain how my beams were destroyed by you. Technically, only I can pull that off— no offense."

"It is true that your beams can only be manipulated by yourself, but since I'm technically utilizing your own beams, can't one beam easily destroy another given the right force and properties?" Doyeon cleverly implied, winking quite cheekily as Yeri's jaw dropped open to form an 'O'.

Oh.

Right, not only was her newest friend an absolute badass, but a match that she was initially dreading was gradually turning into what will be the funnest one yet.

But over in the audience, Jeon Jungkook had gone stock-still as the new revelation resonated all throughout his mind, echoing like a distant reminder as his surroundings slowly sank into nothingness, leaving only him, and his turbulent thoughts. "Vector manipulation, or alternatively, regokinesis? Wait, you can't be serious..."

"What's wrong with that?" Mina questioned inquisitively, with Yugyeom nodding alongside her in agreement (a rare occurrence on its own). "Yeah, I get that it sounds overpowered in hindsight and is super cool, but you look like you've just seen a ghost, Kook..." the latter quizzically stated, raising a perfectly arched brow at his fellow classmate.

"I've...I've heard of her," Jungkook nervously muttered out, eyebrows furrowed in concern as he realized what the implications of Doyeon's ability truly meant. "She's the Academia Lucis student that has been nicknamed the school's Absolute Defense. Due to her almost invincible ability of vector manipulation, she's basically untouchable to any physical attack in existence."

"While the bit about her being known as Academia Lucis's Absolute Defense is pretty cool, everything else you've said is nothing we don't already know, dude," Taehyung commented with a pout, waving him off as if to signal to him that his monologue should already be over. "What point are ya tryna make, anyway?"

"Shut it, hyung, I never said I was done," the younger boy crossly fired back, promptly ignoring Taehyung's offended cry of, 'The nerve of you kids!' before continuing. "Moving on, prior to entering the games, Doyeon was said to have transferred into Lucis and had immediately snatched the Elite Ten's second seat."

"Second seat?" Momo echoed with a rather surprised expression just as Mina's jaw unceremoniously dropped. The contrast of their reactions was somehow mildly entertaining to everyone else. "She must be very strong to easily take it upon transferring, much like Yeri."

"So she also transferred quite recently like Yeri did? How interesting! Though I do wonder why that is so..." Joy hummed noncommittally, stroking her chin in contemplation.

"Doyeon transferred in early February, as far as I know, so she isn't completely similar to her...damn, I knew that Academia Lucis had one hell of a beast, but I didn't know that it was Doyeon..." Yugyeom stated with a shudder, glancing at the girl standing across from Yeri with much more hesitance than before. "How Yeri managed to make friends with her is way beyond me..."

Taehyung huffed, still appearing unconvinced for the most part. "Okay, so Doyeon also has an interesting background before competing here, big deal. That in mind, what in the world has got you looking so grim then, Jungkookie?" he turned to the overly serious-looking third seat, eyebrows pinched together in concern as he took note of his expression. "There's still something you haven't told us..."

"Think about it. She must've been trained intensively back at home and in turn had completely missed out on elementary and middle school, as we have never heard of her until now," Jungkook began prattling, speech becoming faster as all the puzzle pieces fell into place. "All her life, she had to have been taught to develop her ability to the absolute maximum, as she was one of the only people left with the ability to manipulate vectors."

"Uh...as crazy as that sounds, I have to ask how in the hell you happen to know all that, Kook," Joy awkwardly said to him, creasing her brows significantly. "It's true that vector manipulation is exceedingly rare, but..." she trailed off, hit with a pang of realization. "...Oh."

The look he gave her was resolute, almost unwavering. "You finally got it, noona? Besides Doyeon, only one other mage in Akademus has vector manipulation as their ability...and that mage is Kwon Jiyong, or the Accelerator, otherwise known as the strongest SS-Class mage in Akademus. And that can only mean that..."

"Ah, so she's the bastard child of the Kwon household," Sehun was the one to understand the implications of his words first, a glint of cognizance dawning in his eyes. "I remember now. Years ago, news outlets went crazy running around trying to weed out all kinds of intel about her— be it from her family members, or even the Institute. The Accelerator's cousin that had been magically trained all her childhood; and ultimately the one member of the Kwon family to be enshrouded in complete mystery, yes?"

Sehun's lips twitched to form a bemused smirk as he sat back to examine the girl that he now viewed in a new light. "I understand that the paparazzi consist of generally incompetent people, but to think that they never managed to get any information on her for years is quite amusing."

"Wouldn't that be because the household itself went through all the effort to hide her in the first place?" Wonwoo questioned idly, massaging his temples as he tried to recall the few rumors he had caught wind of a few years past. And based on what he remembered... "They practically pretended that she didn't exist, didn't they?"

"Mm. And the Accelerator had always disassociated himself from her existence, too, if his interviews were not to be taken with a grain of salt...do they happen to resent each other or something else of that sort?" Momo neutrally commented, before continuing to chomp on her potato chips— quite shamelessly, if Sehun's cringing didn't tell them anything else.

"It wouldn't be too odd if they do," Joy ought to pitch in her opinion after a while, finally stumbling upon a subject she was very much well-versed in. After all, there is nothing empaths recognized more than human emotions. "He wouldn't like her very much as she is an illegitimate child, and she would most probably envy him for being well-accepted in the household."

"So essentially, we're looking at an unpredictable anomaly mainly consisting of thirty percent badassery and seventy percent teen angst," Yugyeom had been kind enough to summarize for them all.

"Uh...Yeri's doppelgänger, then?" Taehyung helpfully supplied. Jungkook realized that he had been rendered speechless, as he could not find it within himself to deny the senior's words at all.

Wonwoo, ever the man of brutal honesty, could only shrug nonchalantly at his senior's just as honest words. "Well, I can't say that you're completely wrong, sunbae."

Just as he said that, a loud boom thundered all throughout the arena as an explosion rattled the pillars down below, covering the vicinity with minimal smoke before getting blown away just as quickly. Snapping out of their long-winded conversation, the group of wayward teenagers was surprised to see Doyeon's half-decimated ice pillar, knowing that it already counted as one pillar downed.

"When did that happen?" Mina muttered in confusion, glancing to the side and widening her eyes to see that a sufficient quarter of Yeri's third pillar had also been chipped off. "And when the hell did that happen?!"

As the smoke cleared, Yeri caught a glimpse of Doyeon's competitive streak coming into play, her catlike eyes narrowed dangerously into a playful glint as her magic energy dusted over her eyes to create a subtle glowing effect. For a moment, Yeri had been vaguely reminded of Taehyung, wild and untamed in his misadventures for thrill and action.

The ravenette glanced over at the mauled state of her first destroyed pillar, and felt the corner of her lips twitch, smirking lightly. There was a warm feeling washing over her heart; something akin to excitement finally manifesting itself in her usually monotonous experiences of the Decagon Games. Victory earned from a challenge will always taste sweeter than easy wins, she deduced.

"Hm," Doyeon grinned, the electrifying course of her magic energy crackling uncontrollably as they circuited all throughout her body. "I suppose that after this display, my Absolute Defense isn't so 'absolute' after all...how very exhilarating! But to think that the first person to ever destroy something under my protection is you? I guess it wouldn't be too far-fetched to say that I believe in fate now, would it?"

"Definitely not!" Yeri laughed good-naturedly, feeling the excitement build back up once more as her magic energy trickled through her veins. Her entire system was awake with pure adrenaline. "But I've always pegged you as someone who believed in fate. Were you not a believer before?"

"Oh, no," Doyeon honestly answered with a sheepish smile, fingers twitching as she awaited an attack from the girl. The instructors back at home could never set up an obstacle course as exciting as Kim Yerim. This alone was already a miracle within itself. "I can be a little hopeful at times, but I never once believed in fate. Because if fate were real, she would have rewarded my suffering with joy."

She then paused, gesturing with her arms to the world around her. "Yet, here I am, paired up against someone who can actually match up to my competence. It's something like a breath of fresh air, dare I say," Doyeon had said with a sad smile, almost melancholic in nature. "You, with your versatile magic, and the ways you've applied its flexibility..." she trailed off, seeming reminiscent for a moment before she quickly continued.

"Well, uh, I don't mean to offend, but I would've never thought that you'd be able to think that far ahead about your ability, Yerim," Doyeon then admitted in all honesty, seeming thoughtful. "Making me redirect your blast straight into another beam to create a collision strong enough to break one of my pillars...it may have taken out a bit of your own pillar as well, but it did the trick. Your resourceful thinking impresses me greatly."

"Wow. And your honest-to-god compliments are starting to fluster me like fucking crazy," Yeri muttered to herself, idly patting at her awfully warm cheek. There was no way that this was healthy for her heart. The girl was so damn sweet that her teeth might as well have rotten off at this point. She did manage a smirk headed the girl's way, but it was more nervous than anything else. "Still, what can I say? My ability does tend to make me use my brain."

In the distance, Jungkook could only watch the show with his most annoyed expression yet.

Wonwoo was naturally the first person to take notice, mockingly voicing out, "Would you look at that, the hormonal teenager is actually getting irritated because someone else is finally beating him at his own game!"

"What, making Yeri blush?" Mina questioned in a deadpan manner. "If someone as thickheaded as Jungkook could pull it off, any idiot that breathes could practically do it."

"Excuse you!" Jungkook cried out in complete indignation, sinking in his seat to show that he took full offense.

"Hey, I hate to say this, loudspeaker, but you're right!" Yugyeom excitedly agreed, giddily grinning. "If someone as hopeless as Jungkook can actually score a girl, the rest of us really do have some hope here!"

"Oh, fuck all of you," the bitter third year then muttered begrudgingly, having lost the energy to try and defend himself this time. Before the other first years could continue with their incessant teasing, another boom issued around the area, followed by the distant sounds of ice shattering.

Taehyung whipped his head to the source as quickly as he could, and promptly widened his eyes at the sight that awaited him. "Holy shit. She just downed another two of Yeri's pillars."

"Damn, all this happens while we're busy messing with Jungkook? I guess luck is really not on your side today, mister," Joy said with a pout, seeming for the most part disappointed— not because Yeri was currently placed at a disadvantage, but more because the empath's session of fun had been rudely interrupted.

Jungkook groaned, covering his face with his hands as he attempted to ignore the bunch of nuisances he unfortunately called his friends. "I hate all of you," he whined.

"And as always, we love you too, Jungkookie!" Taehyung was quick to reply, moving to throw his arms around the boy and giving him smoochy noises, much to his chagrin.

Ignoring the commotion that her friends were making in the distant background, Yeri turned to glance at the leftover pieces of her two new broken pillars, the deep crevasse tearing through the ground below them becoming quite an obviously jarring contrast to the light blue and desaturated hues of the rest of the arena. "Driving my attacks underground to shatter my pillars from below and evade my own defenses, huh? You say that my resourcefulness amazes you, but you're not so bad yourself, Doyeon."

Smiling appreciatively, Doyeon replied with, "That's very nice of you. Thank you, Yerim, but I guess now you understand that no matter how many attacks you surprise me with, you can never attack me the same way twice, yes? You're going to have to keep coming up with new ideas if you really want to win against me easily enough. Repetitions will just give me more time to adapt to your fighting style."

"Yeah, I've got it now," Yeri noted sheepishly, glancing around the arena in search of new ideas, but ultimately coming up with nothing. Guess she just had to stall until she knew what to do. "But, that being said, your victory completely relies on me attacking. So to say, all my attacks equate to your ammo...right?"

"Well, yes, that is essentially the basis of my magic," Doyeon hummed thoughtfully. "But what does that have to do with—"

"You can't rely on anything else as any other object is stationary and you've yet to master your ability enough to affect them, and you can't create your own projectiles with your power," Yeri cut her off before she could finish, seeming a little apologetic before continuing. "So throughout all of your past matches, you mainly depended on your opponents initiating an attack to be able to counter them. For as long as I don't do anything, you won't be able to do anything either, right?"

Yeri then paused, sheepish all over again as she gave the girl an apologetic grin. "And uh, sorry for interrupting you again..."

Something in her opponent's expression appeared resigned as she allowed her hands to fall limply at her sides, a small smile forming on her face as she did so. "No worries, Yerim, but yes, I believe that is so. Alas, the whole premise of Ice Pillar Break basically requires you to attack— you kind of have to, or the match won't be going anywhere. It's a predestined trap the moment the game starts, you could say."

"Damn," Yeri whistled lowly. "You know, I can almost say that this game is somehow made for your ability. That doesn't sound too ridiculous now, does it?"

While she scrambled for more replies to keep the conversation going, her mind was traveling a million miles a minute. She needed something stationary to be able to conduct a perfect attack— at least, one that wouldn't be able to be deflected by Doyeon, anyways. Or if not that, she had to at least create a force strong enough to break the pillars right at the area itself, and not one that was traveling towards it so, that the ravenette wouldn't simply redirect it just like that.

During the Tag-Team Battles against Mark and Jimin, it was easy to create black holes already at a designated target since Yeri had allowed her magic energy to travel far enough to broaden her range. But in this context, her attack may not be moving, but her magic energy essentially was, meaning that Doyeon still had a way to direct it elsewhere. After all, ethernano, or magic energy, is a form of—

Wait a minute.

"Well, no, and I don't blame you for thinking that way," Doyeon remarked, and Yeri was snapped out of her reverie at that very moment as the other girl continued to be distracted with the conversation. Discreetly, she tried to focus, allowing her magic energy to spread all throughout the arena.

She wasn't sure of what her magic energy actually felt like to most people— surely not as packed and intense as Myungsoo's, but probably not as light and comfortable as Wheein's either. Alas, that wasn't what mattered at the moment. She just needed her magic to reach all of Doyeon's pillars before deciding that it was indeed, showtime.

Meanwhile, Doyeon continued on with her rambling. "But even though you think that way, I do have to note that if I was ever pitted against someone with an ability like Kim Myungsoo's, I would easily be destroyed."

"Huh," Yeri replied distractedly, and as bad as she felt for not listening to her properly, the blonde first year was more excited to find that her course was indeed locked, and all she needed to do now was simply create. "I wonder why."

"It's quite simple, actually," the black-haired girl answered, always one to genuinely clear any form of confusion she had in mind. "Myungsoo-ssi utilizes his attacks by spreading his magic energy everywhere before destroying the targeted objects within his range. I won't be able to stop him if he tries that with my pillars, as magic energy is—"

Before Doyeon could finish her sentence, she was quickly stopped by a series of loud noises cutting through the clearing, akin to a sense of growing mayhem mercilessly leaking into the calm before the storm; pseudo-bedlam bound to rise.

Boom.

It thundered all over the arena as white explosions overtook the vicinity, replacing the white noise that filled the world around them with sounds of deafening volumes as Doyeon's pillars unceremoniously shattered into pieces, splintering cataclysmically as the shards flew everywhere, rattling the forcefields that protected the audience as the pieces were forcefully thrown at them.

"What the—?!" Yugyeom was quick to cry out, sputtering in shock at the display that just went on before his very eyes, but Mina had swiftly shushed him, gesturing to the two girls left at the arena who were about to engage in conversation.

The silence among the two girls stretched on momentarily, as Doyeon speechlessly stared on at the broken shards that used to be her standing ice pillars.

"...Non-matter," Yeri spoke up after a while of deafening quiet and the crowd's chaotic murmuring, staring back at Doyeon's widened eyes with pensive patience. "Magic energy is non-matter; so it has no vectors for you to manipulate to your own will. That's why Myungsoo would be able to counter you easily. And that's why immediate attacks like the one just now could easily overwhelm you."

Doyeon was quiet, but only for the briefest period of time. "Yes, that is indeed true," she then said to her after getting over herself, finally shaking off the disbelief that threatened to overtake her. "But still, the attack you made earlier was one of colossal force...and even though it formed in my side of the arena, it still should've...."

The girl was swift to trail off anticlimactically as she looked ahead, the smoke finally clearing to reveal to her the state of Yeri's own set of pillars. Doyeon immediately widened her eyes at what she eventually saw, her jaw dropping open in shock.

On Yeri's end, only one final pillar remained standing— and one ugly crack marred its entire side.

As the silence sunk into deafening static, loud horns blared all throughout the arena, signaling Yeri's victory; and as sweet as it was, her opponent had one thing to say about it.

"Yerim!" Doyeon cried out reprimandingly, the girl wincing at the loud volume of her voice as she awkwardly looked to the side to avoid eye contact with the disbelieving ravenette. "Good God, that's so suicidal of you! You could've destroyed all of your pillars if you were any more careless than you already were! What in the world had made you forgo the control that could've helped you contain those explosions?"

Sheepishly, Yeri moved to rub the back of her neck, which was probably beginning to color itself red in embarrassment. "Listen, I'll be honest. Trying to control the range of my rapidly growing magic could've used up even more of my energy— and even if it would've been nice to not accidentally self-destruct my own pillars, I have the Mirage Bat Finals straight after this match...and I can't afford to waste anymore energy than I already have. I resigned myself to the fact that I had to just wing it and save up as much energy as I possibly could."

"And so here you are," Doyeon murmured, thoughtful and warm as she leaned on the railings to offer the girl a small smile, her admonishing expression swift to disappear after the blonde explained herself to her.

"And so here I am," Yeri unceremoniously announced, leaning back against her own railings to flash a good-spirited smile. "That was a good battle. Let's see each other here again next year. I promise I'll kick your ass without having to take down my own pillars next time."

Lips twitching, Doyeon's smile widened even more, if possible. "Heh. We'll see about that! But if we are talking in your lingo, I guess I'd be saying, 'challenge accepted!'"

At ease, Yeri let out a joyous laugh, clearly happy with the turn of events. Glancing up, she took a look at the group of friends who have attended her match to spectate her, waving enthusiastically at Joy, Taehyung and Mina (who allwaved at her first) and jokingly saluting Sehun.

Her eyes then landed on the boy who had effortlessly captured her heart, as she patiently awaited his reaction (which, to be perfectly honest, was the one that she had anticipated he most).

Coming from completely out of left field, Jungkook suddenly blew her a flying kiss.

'Holy fucking shit!'

If she wasn't holding onto the railings firmly enough, she probably would've fallen off out of shock and unceremoniously met her death at the early age of seventeen.

She must've looked like a deer in headlights, too, for the smile that bloomed across his face as he heartily chuckled at her lovestruck expression had effectively seized her heart in an inescapable safe. Oh God, there was no way out now. Yeri was completely smitten.

As if whatever deity that existed out there had finally decided to take mercy upon her, the tower she stood on finally began to descend, successfully saving her from further embarrassment as she was brought back into the waiting rooms, where Somi and Seungcheol excitedly awaited her.

"Yeri! Congrats! I knew you could do it!" Somi excitedly cheered, faster than Jackson Wang's superspeed magic as she went to envelop Yeri in a tight bear hug. Seungcheol stood to the side with a kind smile, flashing the girl a thumbs up which she reciprocated with a smile of her own.

"Thanks...I didn't realize that I could actually pull it off, what with how nervous I was before this match even started..." Yeri sheepishly trailed off, managing a small smile at the two before nervously scratching the back of her head. "Thanks for the support, guys. It really helped me get in the right mindset for this game. In fact, I could even say that I had a lot of fun against Doyeon up there. It was something that I wouldn't mind doing again, in all honesty."

"That's good," Seungcheol remarked, grinning encouragingly at her. "I'm glad that we could be of help to you— and I can't lie, but you were pretty damn cool up there, Yerim."

"Hell yeah! You were all charismatic and finishing Doyeon's sentences with a bang! Like when she went, 'I won't be able to stop him if he tries that with my pillars, as magic energy is—' BOOM!" Somi gestured wildly as she cackled in excitement, her theatrics serving to exasperate Seungcheol as he let out a discourteous sigh.

"And then— and then! You got even cooler, looking all straight-faced like the resting bitch you are as you gave Doyeon this cool, chic smolder!" Somi paused as she tried to imitate Yeri's earlier expression, which the latter was immediately mortified at because holy shit did I really look like that?

Seungcheol then shook his head at her, as if he had read her mind and was now trying to reassure her, and with that, the girl let out a discreet sigh of relief. Good to know that she didn't completely commit social suicide on national TV just yet. That would've been tragic.

"And then with the coolest facial expression ever, you were like to Doyeon, 'Non-matter,'" Somi imitated with the calmest tone she could muster, eyes narrowed to mirror her catlike gaze. A decent impression, Yeri supposed. She couldn't really see her own face when she was busy busting out the most badassery she was capable of doing, so it was kinda hard to tell here. "'Magic energy is non-matter, so it has no vectors for you to manipulate at your own will.' God damn! You're so awesome!"

"Hehe, I'm glad that you think that of me, Somi..." Yeri trailed off, not entirely sure of what to do with the positive attention she was currently receiving. She wasn't really good with compliments, clearly. Maybe she should learn a thing or two from Taehyung and Joy, who both seemed to flourish amazingly under attention— be it good or bad.

As Yeri headed on over to grab the nearest water bottle, she felt her knees wobbling and she stumbled clumsily, almost tripping to her doom if it weren't for the quick reflexes of Somi and Seungcheol, who both moved to steady her. "Woah, there, sugar, you sure you're up and running for your next Mirage Bat match?" the former said worriedly, frowning.

"Crap, I don't think I am..." Yeri muttered, suddenly cursing herself inwardly. Shit! She really thought that she had conserved enough energy while battling Doyeon, but she supposed not. She probably shouldn't have used her beams to substitute her Ice Pillars earlier, as the same effect still would've been achieved. Curse her hindsight, and subtle stupidity. If she had just let go of the beams then, she'd probably still have some energy left to carry on to her final match.

Seungcheol creased his brows as he took a look at her now exhausted condition. "Do we need to take you to an artificial magic energy supplier? It might be able to last you throughout the oncoming Mirage Bat Finals."

"There's not enough time for me to replenish that much energy. I'm screwed," Yeri groaned, now prepared to wallow in her future defeat.

"Hey, relax!" Somi frantically waved her hands around in an attempt to placate the tired girl. "You've got this, just calm yourself and try to get yourself together, okay? Here, I've got you some water. Maybe some well-deserved hydration can get you back some energy—" she paused at the sound of a knock at the double doors ahead at the entrance, her ability allowing her to discover that the person behind the door was indeed a special someone.

Somi sighed, pointedly glaring at the door as if the person behind it would be able to see her. "Look, Jeon, this ain't your prepubescent brother's bedroom, no one's jacking off or making out, so just walk in like you own the place— no one's gonna judge you!"

"That wording was completely unnecessary, Jeon, we get your point," Jungkook mockingly called back as he entered the room, appearing peeved while his cheeks were colored red from Somi's remark. "God, at least have some decency— we're all representing Vestus Academy here. What the hell are the higher-ups gonna think if they saw us behaving like this—?"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever, those old crooks managing the government funds can kiss my ass for all I care," Somi rolled her eyes, prompting Seungcheol to snort at her humor.

She then placed a hand on Yeri's shoulder, slowly moving her until she was right in front of Jungkook himself. "Anyways, here's your girl, so either you congratulate her, compliment her, take part in some steamy PDA with her, I don't care, just do whatever. What you do need to do is get her to chill out and become sane enough to participate in the Mirage Bat Finals later. Capiche?"

"Crystal clear, ma'am," Jungkook lazily drawled, slinging an arm around Yeri's shoulders as he directed her away from the duo and towards the exits. "You up for your final match, babe?" he teased once they were far enough from their two friends, grinning when she shoved him in the shoulder in response.

"Please don't remind me...babe," Yeri muttered just as teasingly as she reveled in the warmth of his presence, the panic that was initially rising deep within her heart quick to rest as his soft hum sent her demons into deep slumber. "Even though I tried to save up as much magic energy as I could, I still feel drained as hell right now. Satan might as well suck out my soul at this moment because I'd feel no fucking difference either way."

"Cursing and calling out to Satan already? I guess you really are tired," the young third seat mused, the hand that was comfortingly rubbing her shoulder now moving in distracted motions as he graciously took in the beauty that was Kim Yerim.

"Jungkook, I'm serious," Yeri pouted as her own hand moved to place itself above his— the one that was on her shoulder, anyway. Tightly, she squeezed it, as if that effect could emphasize her point; she hoped it would, at least. "Hey, you know what? Here's a thought; when you become the first seat next year, please put me in lesser events. And absolutely no last minute substitutions, either, asshole..."

"Oh, come on, you're handling yourself just fine as we speak," he casually replied, grinning good-naturedly as he dodged the elbow that was aimed to hit his ribs. "And who says that I'll be the first seat next year? Who knows, maybe by then some senior will decide that it was time to finally show off..."

"I mean, you're the third seat after Soojung and Myungsoo, who are both graduating this year. So by next year, wouldn't the first seat practically be free for your taking?" Yeri paused, staring off into the distance thoughtfully as she hummed. "And Seulgi will get the second seat...followed by me...woah."

"Seulgi can take the seat for all I care, because there is no way am I taking the first seat. After seeing Myungsoo suffer so much at the hands of all that paperwork, I can say that I'd be very content sticking with the third seat alone," Jungkook cheekily stated, pearly whites revealed as he smiled graciously.

"Hey, you're a strong kid, it's about time you took responsibility for it, y'know," Yeri lazily commented, moving to pat on his right cheek as her thoughts began to muddle themselves. Under the fluorescent lights of the waiting room, Jungkook's fairy-like features have never looked prettier. Kinda like a pinup doll. Ooh. Maybe he was a doll and she just had no idea. It would surely explain the angelic beauty that seemed to radiate off of him.

Jungkook glanced at her oddly, lips quirking to form an awkward smile as he took in her disoriented behavior. "You alright down there, darling?" he joked, waving a hand in front of her to try and get her attention, but her presence itself had travelled elsewhere. The boy took notice of this quite easily. "Crap, you really aren't okay. Should we pull you out the finals—?"

"Hell no," Yeri murmured out, furrowing her brows together in annoyance at the thought of surrendering. No way in hell. She will win the match, but she just needed to get her shit together really quickly before getting her head back in the game. Then, she raised a single brow, one certain detail standing out to her immensely. "Hey, where in Astraea did darling come from?"

'Shit!' Jungkook thought in a moment of panic, the back of his neck and his ears quick to turn a bright crimson as he attempted to stutter out a coherent response. "U-uh! I heard Yoongi-hyung call Seungwan that in his sleep! Yeah! Do...you not like it? Because I can easily switch to something else—"

"Nah, call me whatever you want, sport. I'm all yours, anyway," Yeri leisurely stated, a small smile appearing on her face as the third seat practically tripped over himself trying to muster a decent reply. Huh. The dude could handle himself pretty well when flirting with her, but he turned into one funny mess once the tables were turned.

"Uh," Jungkook nervously chuckled to himself, finally getting himself together after the onslaught on his heart (which he was by no means prepared for). "Where the hell did all of this bravado come from all of a sudden, missus? You already know that I'm supposed to be the one to take you by surprise, not the other way around," he lightly teased.

"Sorry to steal your thunder, lover boy, but all the exhaustion from busting my ass for the Ice Pillar Break Finals has really gotten me craving a certain something," Yeri casually retorted, the pair exchanging cheeky smiles of their own as they left the waiting room and walked into the (thankfully) uncrowded hallway.

Jungkook remained unfazed (for the time being, anyways), with only his subtle smirk available to betray his true feelings. "Oh, yeah? And what's that?"

"Turn your head a little," Yeri ought to answer all of a sudden.

"Huh?" he easily complied, but that didn't really do much to clear up his confusion since he still didn't have an idea as to what was going on. "But why—?"

He was quickly interrupted when Yeri's hands moved to grasp his face, turning it just the slightest before pulling him forward to land his lips straight on her cheek. At first, his eyes widened in surprise, resistance building itself up in his initial movements, but he was quick to give in to his need to indulge himself, eyes soon fluttering closed as he brought her closer.

After a while, they pulled away from each other, an overjoyed smile making its way to Yeri's face as her expression lit up immensely, a clear signal of rejuvenation. "Mm. Does that answer your question?" she asked idly, as if she totally did not just pull her flirtiest move yet. Ah well, at least she was much more energized now.

The action seemed to have swept Jungkook under his feet as well, if his delayed reaction didn't tell her anything else. The boy blinked his eyes repeatedly for a few moments, seeming almost stupefied, before a sultry smirk appeared on his face as he lazily drawled out, "You know, I can give you way more than just that if you wanted me to—"

"Alright, that's enough disgusting displays for today, lovebirds," another voice had cut into their little shared moment, prompting the pair to separate and turn to be greeted by the sight of Wonwoo's unimpressed expression piercing right though them. With his arms crossed over his chest and his lips pursed, he painted the perfect image of annoyance to everyone else. "By all means, have some consideration for those of us who'd rather live without watching you two go at it like rabbits."

"Oh, come on, we were just getting started— oof!" Jungkook grunted as he grabbed onto his chest, which was mercilessly elbowed by Yeri just seconds ago as his expression shifted into one that was pained. Seeing her pointed look, the boy sighed, rolling his eyes. "Right, sorry, my fellow Jeon. Though it's not my fault your love life's boring as hell," the last part was muttered quietly, but Wonwoo's withering glare told him that he had heard the subtle jab.

"Do you want me to leave your sorry ass alone here?" the first year teleporter questioned him through clenched teeth. "The others already left to walk to the venue themselves. I'm sure that you've still got the energy to try and catch up to them."

"No, no, he's just kidding," Yeri had been kind enough to save Jungkook from his perpetual doom, waving her hands in front of Wonwoo in a placating manner. "Can you do us a favor and get us to the Mirage Bat venues really quickly? Pretty please?" she requested, trying to muster her cutest puppy-eyed look yet. Though, with not much practice, she wasn't sure if it would appear good enough.

"I'm obviously hitching you a ride since we can't let you get disqualified, so please relax," Wonwoo huffed, trying his best to look away from Yeri's pitiful expression. Certainly a softie at heart. "But this guy?" he grated out hatefully, pointing a thumb in Jungkook's direction. "Nuh-uh. I offer my service at fifty bucks for assholes."

"I've got fifty bucks," Jungkook piped up, grinning haughtily at his exasperated friend.

"Never mind, let me rephrase. I'm charging up to one hundred and fifty dollars for specifically rich assholes," Wonwoo deadpanned, clearly not one to allow someone else to win an argument— especially against him.

Next to the suddenly mischievous third seat, Yeri let out a fatigued sigh. At this rate, she was never going to get to her match in time. Not with these two idiots trying to tear at each other's throats. "Guys. You do realize that I've got my Mirage Bat Finals like...right about now, right? Wonwoo, call off the damn dick-measuring contest and just get us the hell out of here already."

That seemed to have done the trick, for Wonwoo immediately snapped out of the stare-down to offer Yeri his hand, and reluctantly did the same with Jungkook as well. "This is so going to bite you in the ass once this is all over," Wonwoo muttered warningly to the only other male of the trio, who shrugged leisurely at his broiling anger.

If anything, it only fueled him to piss him off further. "You can kindly kiss my ass, Jeon."

Predictably, it achieved the desired effect as Wonwoo's eyes narrowed dangerously. "Why, you little—!"

"Boys," Yeri called out, glaring at the both of them intensely enough to have made both their hairs stand up on end. Maybe it's the fire scorching up the brown hues within her irises, or maybe it's the angry furrowing of her brows that told them that provocation was certainly not a recommended course of action. Either way, they knew that they had to tread this fragile path carefully lest they'd like to meet their early death.

"Are you two trying to sabotage my match, or do I just have to send you shitheads flying to the venue myself? I've got one hell of a punch and I really wouldn't mind testing it out myself."

———

There was a bleak screech ringing all across the pitch-black hallway as she trudged onward in the darkness, footsteps slow and rehearsed as she made her way through the eerie claws of space where light was no longer shed.

Her posture could almost be described as leisurely as she walked, body straightened at ease and soft tunes hummed out through her lips as she maneuvered through the abandoned floor of the GENIUS building. Both of her hands were steadily occupied— her right hand pulling lazily on the broken wrist of a dead girl as she dragged the mangled body slowly through the corridor.

Her left hand, meanwhile, graciously held onto a bloody organ as she brought it to her lips— lips that by no means belonged to her, of course, but she wouldn't be herself if she never borrowed something and refrained from returning it. The veins and arteries surrounding the organ surged like it was still full of life, but she herself knew better.

Torn out of the chest of the body she was casually pulling along with her, the heart that preciously rested in her hands was by no means alive for any longer. As she sunk her teeth into fleshy muscle and felt the gush of lifeblood staining her tongue a more vivid shade of carmine, the power that surged through her being was indescribable, and her reddened lips curved to form a smile. There was a new weapon in her hands now.

All around her, she heard distant noises, ringing just about anywhere. With the ear-grating scraping of flesh meeting concrete, the scuffing of shoes against the floorboards in a final feeble protest, and finally coupled with the lightened buzz of flickering lights echoing over the vast halls, she knew that this was the last place any fearful soul would think to venture into.

It was the main reason she ended up with this deserted part of the corporate building to use as her domain, be it to dump her leftovers, or to simply feed. Marius truly was the perfect place to get away with murder.

But as she eventually rounded the corner to step into her dearly treasured storage room, she found herself being introduced to two magic energy signatures that were most definitely not her own.

All at once, her expression morphed into something furious, eyes narrowed into murderous slits and lips curved downwards significantly as she stopped in her tracks to crush the heart in her hands. Blood splattered all over her outfit as rotting flesh flew about, but she couldn't find it within herself to care. Not when some foreign entities were carelessly treading her territory.

'I'm not in the right form to kill anyone here, clearly,' the shapeshifter thought to herself as she looked down the borrowed form of Ahn Solbin, whom she had previously killed off in cold blood just weeks ago. This girl only had the Windblade ability, which, while proving to be useful enough as a utility magic, cannot do much to throw some unwanted visitors out her domain.

"Hmm," she hummed to herself while she shifted into a different form, this time male as he ran a bony hand through his platinum blonde hair, bloodshot eyes upraised to examine the only light source in the room, where two vague shadows unknowingly revealed themselves.

Dropping the dead body off in the middle of the hallway and leaving the bitten heart near it, he leaned against the doorway calmly as he lit his right hand on fire, serving as another source of light in the unusually dim storage room where the rotten scent of dead bodies and bloody flesh filled the air. Too used to the smell, he didn't have the gall to be as nauseous as he should have been. Maybe that should have given enough hints about how many screws of his were actually loose.

'Maybe if I reverted to my true form, it would be much easier to take these two out,' he mused to himself idly while the two strangers continued to panic over the sight of dead bodies surrounding them. 'But the Headmaster will know, right? And he did strictly order me to not use it...must be for good reason. So what course of action can I take here to ensure as much fun as I could get?'

As his thoughts drew itself to a close, the boy now took a look at the two newcomers that have decided to welcome themselves into his humble abode. The only male of the duo, mint-haired, could easily be classified as powerful, what with his strong magic energy that enveloped the entire room. 'Must be SS-Class,' he figured, a wicked grin quick to appear on his face at the revelation. That would just make it all the funner to tear the boy's heart out of his chest.

The girl, meanwhile, all caramel hair and brown eyes, held onto the boy's hand shakily as she stared wide-eyed at one body which seemed to be particularly significant to them. If he recalled correctly, that was the spirited youth with the name of Jung Chaeyeon, who had went down without much of a fight. Then again, it would be hard to resist much if someone had snatched one's heart from their chest— he couldn't really blame her.

Alas, the shapeshifter caught a certain burst of color flashing right in the corner of his eyes. Curiously, he raised his brows, noting the electric blue color that barely washed over the brunette girl's irises and feeling the giddy excitement that used to tingle along his body go stock-still.

'Clairvoyant,' he realized with an ugly glare now marring his face, lips pursed as he bit on them hard enough to almost bleed. 'She might be able to see my true form if I'm not careful enough. That one has to die immediately.'

He let out a small sigh as he casually stepped into the room full of bodies, resting his hand on a nearby pillar as he eyed the two strangers with a collected countenance that gave away little to no emotion. "It's rude to trespass someone else's territory, you know."

All at once, the shapeshifter watched as the pair jolted in surprise, the boy's magic energy spiking up immediately to encase the room in an almost suffocating aura as his guard was quickly brought up, no room left for hesitation. The mint-haired mage quickly pulled the girl to stand behind him, effectively shielding her for a direct onslaught.

The shapeshifter felt his lips twitch in what might have been amusement. He had never seen camaraderie like that in a long time, considering that all his fellow subjects of SAINT were all just waiting to tear each other down in an environment filled to the brim with constant competition. Not that he particularly minded, though— he had always been made for a dog-eat-dog world, after all.

Mint-haired boy narrowed his eyes. "Who the hell are you?" he asked with much hostility, almost akin to a beast bound to bite.

The shapeshifter's smirk dropped just the slightest as he found irritation quick to fill him. Knowing absolute nothing about these kids surely bugged him, and they even had the nerve to demand himself for information. It appeared that he will have to switch forms once again just to get ahold of his bearings properly.

"I don't know. Who am I, really?" he answered snakily, a smile sneaking onto his face.

Just like that, his appearance quickly changed to something a little more feminine; a new form, his initially platinum blonde hair now becoming long and dark brown in hue as it cascaded down to her back while her doe eyes crinkled into crescents as her provoking smile remained the same. Distantly, she could sense their fear at the revelation of her actual ability, and felt her grin grow wider.

For a fraction of second, her eyes flashed a golden hue as she attempted to read the innards of their minds, in search of vital information regarding the two.

It didn't take long for her to get her desired answers, lips curled coyly as she had finally acquired the information she needed. 'Min Yoongi and Son Seungwan. I'll have fun adding you two to my growing Hall of Fame.'

It was Yoongi who spoke up once again, being the only to realize the implications of the past revelations. "You're the shapeshifter feeding here," he said, a smoldering heat of hatred burning behind the onyx hues of his eyes. "The one who had killed all these people."

In seconds, she shifted back into the platinum blonde boy from before, his baggy eyes narrowed slyly as his mouth formed a razor-sharp smile. "Should I reward you with a gold star for getting that right? Or should I just congratulate you? Either way, after seeing all this, I believe I can't allow either of you to escape this building alive," as the words left his mouth, fire suddenly roared all around them, burning the corpses scattered throughout the room until they were eventually reduced to ash, effectively removing any evidence of his sinful misconducts within the building.

"I'm pretty sure I haven't introduced myself, though it wouldn't be of much use since I haven't used my true form for at least three years now," the boy grinned, spreading his arms at his sides as fire licked at his sides and the world around him. "Just to be courteous, I'll tell you that I'm currently using the form of one Kim Hyojong. And just like all the corpses you see around you, I hope that you're all prepared to burn."

Yoongi pulled his hand back as a scowl made its way to his face, drawing a sharp breath while his other hand awkwardly hovered in front of Seungwan, as if that was enough to shield her from the onslaught of flames surrounding them. "Ever gone up against a pyrokinesist, darl'?"

Seungwan frowned at the nickname she was given but then huffed, tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear as she warily gazed onward at the lackadaisical figure of Hyojong. "Well, considering that my school never actually participates in the Decagon Games and I'm a clairvoyant whose ability is not very fit for direct combat, no, not really. The only pyrokinesist I've ever had the pleasure of meeting is Taehyung, and he's...well..."

"Not your typical pyrokinesis user," the SS-Class mage ought to finish her sentence for her, a mirthful smirk forming on his face at the thought of his junior before it is promptly wiped off to make way for a more serious countenance. In the face of a possibly lethal enemy, he couldn't afford to let his guard down. Especially with someone he had to protect. "But you shouldn't really worry your ass off too much. I assure you that Taehyung's the wildest pyro you'd ever meet. And trust me, no one else can top him."

"I'll take your word for it," Seungwan hummed, her eyes quick to flash electric blue as she prepared to scan the situation at hand. "Even so, I'm not sure if I'd be of much help here. My magic isn't very combat-oriented, obviously."

"It doesn't need to be," he placed his hands in his pockets at that very moment, the usually ebony shades of his eyes glowing an eerie grey color as he stepped forward, his magic energy skyrocketing rapidly as he prepared to let loose his power. With goosebumps running down her spine, Seungwan realized with a shock that she was about to watch an SS-Class magician in true action. "Just watch us battle and point out to me his weaknesses, if you can. If he shifts, your intel can help me adapt quickly enough."

Yoongi sighed begrudgingly as he eventually got into a battle-ready position, fixing up his stance well enough to meet his match in a fight. Dealing with pyrokinesists like this Hyojong dude (who he acknowledged was merely an avatar the shapeshifter was 'playing' as) would've been much easier if he had Soojung with him, who could effortlessly thaw his flames. Alas, he couldn't always get what he wanted.

He moved his right hand in a come-at-me gesture, lips twitching to form a smirk, almost challenging in nature. "Bring it on. Small fry like you should be a piece of cake for me, so I'll wish you all the luck."

"Your generosity's appreciated, big guy," Hyojong chuckled good-naturedly, igniting his arms as he set the rest of the world around him ablaze. Smoothly, Yoongi dodged the incoming barrage of blazes, the orangey light reflecting off of his figure like an almost malevolent aura as the concrete walls behind him caught flame and ignited in the background.

Yoongi stared intensely at the shapeshifter with keen eyes as he stretched his neck, holding his fists out in front of him with a new vigor lighting fire in his eyes. Seungwan watched with much curiosity as her clairvoyant abilities caught wind of a strong force covering his hands, most probably meant to supercharge his melee attacks.

But Min Yoongi...was a primarily long-ranged magician, right? In the amount of time she had seen him partake in the yearly Decagon Games, she had never once spotted his close-quarters combat in action. When she considered close-ranged mages, she thought of Kim Taehyung and his sporadic fisticuffs, or Kang Seulgi and her earth-shattering grace— not the one and only 12th SS-Class magician, Rupture, who had always been well known to take down his enemies without having the need to spare them a single glance.

Turning to take a closer look at Hyojong, Seungwan had almost let out a horrified gasp if she had lacked anymore restraint.

Colors.

With layers upon layers of vibrant and dull colors along with everything else in between, Hyojong's form was a spectral paradox when doused in the sapphire hues of her clairvoyant abilities, clustered in a congested mess as they are sprawled all over his (or her? even she couldn't tell at this point) being.

For a brief moment, she was reminded of the nauseating view of Marius's overpopulated metropolis, with the city skyline and gigantic buildings being replaced with colors she never even knew existed as it filled his soul to the brim. Usually, an array of colors within a single person wouldn't be much of an abnormality for a clairvoyant, but in the form of this shapeshifter...the colors were simply too much.

'That's too many colors for one person...why...?' she thought to herself in growing horror as she examined the colors one by one, feeling even sicker to the stomach as she realized what this could only mean. 'Don't tell me...that all those hues represent all the people this person had mercilessly killed? All the hearts that have been consumed?'

Just then, too fast for her eyes to simply catch up to, Hyojong lit his own fists aflame as he propelled himself towards Yoongi at almost impossible speeds. Seungwan was just about to cry out to him, thinking that he wouldn't be able to defend himself, but was only rendered speechless when the mint-haired boy met the other's attack with his own fist, charged with a force she couldn't properly identify as the resulting collision rattled the entire room.

With Hyojong's orangey flames available to supply a minuscule source of light in the dark, abandoned space of the storage room, Seungwan caught a quick glimpse of the intricate tattoos lining Yoongi's porcelain skin, all over his arms, neck and collarbones.

In a moment of weakness, she could see the vivid imagery of other memorable SS-Class mages in his wake; Kwon Jiyong's rough and disorderly charisma reawakened in his vigor, or Choi Seunghyun's borderline wicked persona coming to rise in his Machiavellian profile. For the briefest seconds, the clairvoyant girl saw Akademus's most infamous powerhouses in this one undisciplined boy.

The metal of his piercings glinted ominously in the shifting lights as his other hand moved just as fast as the first, surprising the shapeshifter with a powerful punch to send him flying back.

The pale blonde grunted as he roughly skidded to the cemented floor, scorching hot hands creating steam as they dug into the ground to steady himself. Uncaringly spitting out blood from his bruised lips, Hyojong grinned cheerily at the decidedly calm SS-Class magician. "Strengthening your hand-to-hand attacks with concussive force, right? By solidifying the gravity around your hands, more power is added to your advances."

"Tch. Well, I can't say that you're wrong here," Yoongi smoothly responded, proceeding to charge his fists back up with the same energy. "But I guess it wouldn't hurt too much to understand what the hell is kicking your ass in a fight. I'll welcome you into a free lesson and teach you how to lose."

"By putting on the example yourself? You're quite the selfless teacher, Rupture," the shapeshifter grinned, before charging forward once again, using the flames in his wake to speed up his movements and resultantly increase his momentum.

Yoongi was well-prepared enough, meeting each and every one of the man's blows with his own punches and somehow pitching in the time to hit him back, the pair quick to become a flurry of wild colors and distorted forces as they exchanged blows at a speed that could even rival that of light's. For a moment, Seungwan could only stare with widened eyes as she witnessed two living monsters in action, as she was finally exposed to the life-or-death situations she always had the privilege of missing out on in the safe spaces of the Decahedron.

'Help,' the clairvoyant had thought with a jaded realization, a breath being released from her lips in some kind of delayed shock as she scrambled to get her cellphone from her pocket, moving as far away from the fight and the roaring flames as she possibly could. 'I should be getting help. There's— there is a fugitive on the scene. I need to call someone from the Institute, anyone—' her thoughts quickly became jumbled as her panic overtook her.

With shaky hands, she went straight to speed dial on autopilot alone, trembling fingers swiftly dialing in the first number that came to her frantic mind. One beat went by. Two. Three. Followed by four. Something like desperation was clawing its way into her heart as she awaited a salvation, and it then came in the form of a familiar voice, calmly voicing out, "Hello?"

"M-Myungsoo!" Seungwan hurriedly prattled to the second SS-Class magician, relief quick to seep into her voice to hear another friend. "The location you sent us to in Marius— you need to come now! There's a— there's a shapeshifter! And he...wait, she...ugh, I don't know! All I know is that this person has committed a lot of murders a-and they need to be detained immediately! There's only me, a-and Yoongi! You need to send backup, anything—!"

"Wendy, Wendy, relax," the man on other line quickly attempted to placate her, speaking in the calmest tone possible despite quite practically being in the midst of chaos at the moment. "You said you were in Marius, right? I'll get someone to track your phone call, and we'll get some people to your location, okay? But the fastest we can get there is at least half an hour, or twenty minutes. Some teleporters under the Institute can give the reinforcements a lift. Until then, you guys will have to hold on. Can you do that?"

"Myung..." Seungwan trailed off, watching Yoongi and Hyojong continue to square off in a rapid spur of vibrant colors and cataclysmic forces, resisting the urge to cry as the specific part of the building they were stuck in began to shake. "I don't know," she hopelessly blubbered.

"Wendy, calm down, and don't worry," he still continued to say, seeming to have much more faith in the both of them than Seungwan herself did. How ironic was it that the second strongest magician in the city was way more confident in them than her own self? "Listen to me. I trust Yoongi— with my life, if I am ever given the opportunity. And I most definitely trust you. Both of you can handle this. I'm sure of it."

There was a muted shuffling resonating in the background as muffled conversations could be heard through the call, most probably Myungsoo discussing what he'd just been told through the phone with someone else. Seungwan nervously glanced back at Yoongi and Hyojong's battling figures, different forces bouncing off of each other as they continued to exchange hits repetitively.

After what felt like hours of Seungwan sitting stock-still in her own fear, Myungsoo came back to tell her one last message before ultimately hanging up. "The Accelerator and I are coming— so please, hold out against the threat until then. We'll be seeing you soon."

As a prolonged beep resounded in the static silence of her mind, the clairvoyant could only stare at her blank phone screen with a dumbfounded look on her face, her heart beginning to pound out of a different kind of fear. The Accelerator...and Chaos...coming here together? Were they planning to just wipe the city of Marius off the face of Astraea or something?

Before she could think of it any further, a foreign color was caught in the far corners of her sapphire blue vision, vibrant and red and blazing as it cut straight through the cerulean clearing. Immediately, she yelped and jumped out of the way, just as the blast went ramming into the large glass windows behind her and shattered it into splintering pieces.

Alertedly, she seized her movements, mentally preparing herself to dodge another series of rapid attacks if she was found to be a target, but as she cautiously gazed back at where Yoongi and the shapeshifter were still fighting, she realized that they were both much too engrossed in their spat to care much for the world around them. Glancing back at the wreckage of what used to stand behind her, she realized that this battle was beginning to spin out of control; and she could see it in their surroundings much too easily.

'Fucking hell...if I stick around the same place for too long I'll just end up becoming collateral damage,' Seungwan thought nervously as she bit her lip hard, still gripping her cellphone tightly as she watched them continue fighting each other.

Right at that moment, it seemed that Yoongi had started to finally take notice of the effects of their magic on their surroundings, beginning to hold back on his movements as his jabs had turned a little weaker than before. The mint-haired boy had an ugly scowl marring his face as he held out on his attacks, mind now scrambling for an alternative to effectively stop the threat at hand.

'I can't kill this guy...not with the amount of information he possibly has,' he thought very banefully, inwardly cursing himself for being left with little to no options here. 'But there's no other easy way to stop him without ending his life...damn it!'

"You're hesitating," the shapeshifter obviously stated, more as a fact rather than a question as he took in his opponent's body language. "I can see it. You could easily obliterate me if this were a life-or-death fight, but I'm guessing it really isn't if you haven't blown me to bits just yet. What the hell is stopping you, huh? Aren't you SS-Class? No matter how many murders you Institute freaks commit to make this city a safer place, you'll never have to deal with its repercussions, right? So what's holding you back?"

The glint in his eyes was almost knowing as they collided blows once again, force meeting flame in whirl of scorching sparks as they floated in the atmosphere. "Come on. You guys are a bunch of cold-blooded monsters, right?" the shapeshifter's gaze was quick to become one of menace as he stared at Julius Academy's first seat dead on, burning dimly with a hatred that could not be rivaled. "Then it's about time you fucking show it."

Boom.

That was the sound of the burst of force that suddenly issued in between the both of the battling mages, effectively sending Hyojong flying in an instant as he was sent crashing through a bunch of concrete walls, the foundations of the room easily shaking as rubble graciously fell all around them.

Blank as ever, Yoongi held an influx of magic energy building up in his hand, charged with the concussive force he had used to create the burst attack from before. Everywhere in their surroundings, the shapeshifter's fire continued to roar dangerously.

"Don't get me wrong, I'd gladly smash your face into the nearest wall until your skull looked like it got fucked through a sledgehammer if I could, but a lot of things have to come into consideration before I could really deal any damage," he idly called out into the empty holes in the next few walls, knowing that Hyojong was most probably sprawling at the very end of it. "So don't feel too special. Any other day, you would've just been a splat of blood on the ground."

A pregnant pause issued all throughout the room as he awaited a reply. Getting none, he continued talking.

"Most importantly, we're in an obviously occupied building," Yoongi said in a composed manner as he stood, staring straight ahead the dark horizon as he awaited the shapeshifter to rise again. "There are a lot of people working here, be it in the levels above us or below. I don't know how many of them are legitimately innocent, but I can't afford to risk their lives and destroy this building just to take down an insignificant piece of shit like you."

The boy paused as he gauged for his opponent's response, but hearing nothing in the distance, he decided to speak up once again. "Secondly—"

"I think I damn well get it, Rupture!" Hyojong suddenly called out as he charged through the clearing tendrils of smoke, body lightened ablaze as he moved to hit Yoongi with yet another melee attack which was easily deflected by the latter with his supercharged hands thanks to his intuitive foresight.

Seeming to predict this outcome, the shapeshifter instantly leapt back a few distances away from the mage, landing on his knee and forming a circle with his thumb and forefinger before bringing his hand to his mouth.

Sensing the amount of magic energy gathering in the enemy, Yoongi threw himself out of the way just in time to avoid yet another rapid blitz of scorching flames, creating his own concussive attack to face the fire head on when it continued to follow him, hand held out in front of him with much effort as he blocked the blast with the force of gravity alone.

Instinctively, he glanced over his shoulder to search for Seungwan, feeling a desperate need to make sure that she was relatively unharmed in the midst of their bloodbath. Finding her worried brown eyes in the empire of bright flames, something in his being bloomed with absolute relief, and he felt his own body sag at the onslaught of emotion that enveloped him.

"Geez, do you think that I'm stupid or something?" Yoongi stiffened as Hyojong's voice cut straight through the haze of his blubbering feelings, the former whipping his head around immediately to meet the shapeshifter's cunning gaze. "Let me guess what you were going to say, monster— you couldn't exactly murder me in cold blood or jeopardize the structure of this building because you've got an audience, right? More specifically, a particularly special audience member? Hah! You SS-Class and your twisted sense of honor!"

Something in the SS-Class mage's eyes became close enough to merciless as they momentarily glanced at where the only other mage in the room was left to watch them, a dangerous flame building in his pitch black irises. 'This stupid fuck couldn't possibly dare—'

For a brief moment, Hyojong's pale eyes flitted elsewhere to where Seungwan warily stood. Then, almost uncaringly, he sent out another large blaze of flames, almost similar to Taehyung's firestorms as they stampeded in the unsuspecting clairvoyant's direction. Taken by surprise, the targeted girl let out a cry of fear, movements frantic as she tried to force herself to get out of the way, and—

'Enough.'

Setting his foot down, Min Yoongi had finally decided to put more of his magic to use at that very moment, his already sharp eyes now narrowed even more dangerously as he held his hand out before him. There was an odd glint washing over his eyes, a daze only driven by his growing lust for battle, almost bloodthirsty in nature. For a moment, the boy allowed himself to believe the words Hyojong had said about him. If the dude wanted a monster, he'll gladly give him one.

"Hey, hey, what the hell is this?" his tone was close to condescending as he leaned to make direct eye contact with the shapeshifter, orbs burning with unrivaled hatred. "You already forgetting the beast you're supposed to be fighting, dipshit? Am I that insignificant that you're already looking down on me? Huh?"

Suddenly, Seungwan felt herself becoming lighter, as the fire that initially tempted to singe her alive was reduced from rising mountains of scorching heat to spherical domes of blue flames. Looking around, she realized that the rest of the fire had been hit with the same effect.

Feeling her hair float upwards just the slightest, the clairvoyant resisted the urge to gulp. 'He removed gravity in the areas affected by Hyojong's fire altogether,' she came to the realization, glancing all around her to see the same, spherical blue flame surrounding them like dim decorative lanterns. 'His targets were extremely specific, too. He explicitly avoided applying his magic to himself, or the other two living people in the room. What is he trying to achieve?'

She felt like she was being hit with her professor's teachings on density all over again. In an accelerated frame, like in Astraea, where gravity remained normal for the most part, there was a pressure gradient. The force produced when something of lower density presses down on an object of higher density is known as the buoyant force, and it was the exact reason why oil floats on water, and why hot air (which was less dense than cold air) typically rises.

In space, everything is in freefall, so a pressure gradient doesn't form. The result is that objects do not typically sort themselves in space in the same way they do on Astraea. And that is why fire in zero gravity loses its sporadic movements and is reduced to a spherical shape, which is more 'controlled' as compared to its wilder (and ultimately normal) counterparts.

Back to reality, Yoongi walked towards Kim Hyojong's lax form with heavy steps, appearing very much fearless despite the roaring flames that casted a reddish glow over his figure, the look in his eyes suggesting little to no room for insubordination. Seungwan stared up at the shrinking image of his back with widened eyes, her hands trembling with some kind of intimidation, or a need to submit.

"Tch," he voiced out with a frown as he stopped before the unfazed figure of the shapeshifter, his scowl deepening as he stared up at him. "How annoying. I actually have to look up to face you. This shit won't do," he muttered with a settled resolve, choosing that very moment to flick his hand upwards.

Then, in just a split second, Hyojong grunted as a sudden force mercilessly pressed down on him to bring him to his knees, almost crushing him against the ground as the gravitational force pulling him towards the earth was drastically increased at the hands of one Min Yoongi. He clenched his jaw as he struggled to move, finding that even raising his head to meet the mage's eyes was proving to be difficult.

"I've let you run your fucking mouth long enough. Lower your damn head," the man muttered icily, face angled in the shadows to give the shapeshifter his most chilling gaze yet. "Small fry like you should never be allowed to look down on me. I'll crush your rickety ol' bones until that lesson gets through to your tiny brain, fucker."

The silence grew into one that was absolutely suffocating as they stared into each other, one gaze full of absolute contempt and the other filled with playful curiosity.

"Heh," the other boy finally got out after a while of struggling, his breaths labored as he tried to speak. "Subduing...the effects..of..my..f-fire...and immobilizing m-me...I can't say that I didn't underestimate you for a second, Rupture. You'll have to accept my earnest apologies."

Hyojong, with much effort, managed a lazy drawl, a small smirk forming on his face as his appearance slowly shifted to resemble a completely different person. Brunette, slender and unnaturally gorgeous, the shapeshifter had now taken the form of Ahn Solbin once again, but it wouldn't be too surprising if her opponents didn't know that just yet.

Yoongi stared at her newfound form warily for a moment, but was quickly taken by surprise when the girl suddenly sprang up into action and clocked him in the jaw, a solid gust of forceful wind blowing past him to barely cut into his jaw, drawing the slightest bit of blood. Immediately, he leapt back, remaining in a crouched position as he prepared to dodge another one of her attacks. With a curse, he wiped the red liquid off his skin begrudgingly, frowning when it smeared a little on his porcelain face.

When the blood slowly trickled out Yoongi's small wound, Solbin watched with much fascination as the miniature droplets of blood which were about to fall to the ground suddenly float diagonally in a slow fashion, seeming akin to crystalline embers as they gently flew in an all new direction.

Grinning excitedly at the grim expression gradually manifesting on his ragged face, her heart burnt like a flame with a horrid kind of oanticipation. "Creating a new gravitational force near your wound to ease your blood flow and ultimately prevent the loss of blood, huh...you SS-Class sure are smart."

Yoongi did nothing to reply to what she had addressed, instead speaking of a different subject entirely, tone still serious as ever. "This girl whose form you're currently using...besides Windblade, her secondary ability is Bypass, isn't it? Allowing her to ignore the laws of gravity...that's why you easily got past the pressure of my power and attacked me straight off the bat. Dirty fucking trick there, lady."

"Criminals gotta know how to cheat everything, mister. It's just how things are," Solbin stated matter-of-factly, giggling at the downright hostile expression that made its way to his face. Howling gales fluttered forcefully all around her, sending her hair floating about as her glinting eyes met Yoongi's narrowed orbs through the clearing. With the smell of the dead bodies' ashes traveling all around the room, the shapeshifter had never felt more in her element than she was now.

Inwardly, Yoongi cursed. If he really had things his way, he would've just brought Rupture into the battle and simply killed this bitch on the spot, morals be damned. She was a blatant threat to the Institute— he was sure that if any other SS-Class mage were stuck in this situation, they wouldn't have cared enough to keep this person alive, no matter how much information she (or he) may have regarding...SAINT.

In hindsight, he could've easily named a number of SS-Class magicians who would've slaughtered this person immediately (Choi Seunghyun, Kwon Jiyong, Jung Sooyeon and Park Gyuri to name a few) despite how valuable her intel may be to the Institute, and the other parties who were running a wild goose chase trying to take down the infamous research institution of SAINT.

Or at least, he assumed she hailed from SAINT. Consuming human hearts was never a trait belonging to the natural shapeshifting ability, so the one belonging to this odd anomaly had to have been manufactured. Specifically by SAINT, for if this magic was synthesized by any other corporation, he probably would've caught wind of its existence already.

'This crazy bitch...' Yoongi cursed in his head. 'I really want to kill her,' he thought as hatefully as he could, but he knew damn well that he wouldn't be able to pull it off either way— mostly due to many factors in consideration, like the ones he had said before. First and foremost, this girl most probably held information that will undoubtedly be very valuable to the Institute; and will most likely decrease his workload as an SS-Class mage, as well.

Secondly, the shapeshifter itself was right on one thing; he had an audience. And a particularly special member of the audience was here to watch him today.

Briefly, he glanced over his shoulder where Seungwan nervously watched the both of them with cautious eyes, the electric blue hues within her irises glowing frantically in the bleak darkness. Feisty as she was, Yoongi recognized innocence when he saw it. Her warm brown eyes have always gazed upon his wretched being with some form of kindness, ever-welcoming; and eternally, he would always be grateful.

Alas, in a scene like this, he knew that he could not allow himself to taint her ardent warmth with his cold frigidity for any longer. He could indulge himself in her childlike beauty every now and then and appreciate how she always selflessly went out of her way to care for him, but he knew that he was undeserving— biting, austere and absolutely unpleasant compared to her benevolent and solicitous benignity.

Something within his heart ached as distant memories were recollected in quick flashes, too fast to carefully grasp with his dirtied being. He remembered the feeling of Seungwan's soft, warm hands kindly holding onto his own, that were all calloused and scarred as they continuously tainted themselves with the blood of Akademus's greater evils. Despite being her employer, at that very moment, Yoongi had never felt so small and feeble, feeling villainous in the face of someone so virtuous.

In some twisted way, he could be considered heroic, laxly going through every day of his life attempting to make the large city of Akademus safer and safer, but it had always been done with the sacrifice of something bigger— his rectitude, which he had lost so much of. Now, he had no real idea of how it had felt to once have such innocence.

He stared ahead at the smiling figure of Ahn Solbin, feeling the lethal magic of his Rupture ability smoothly running through his veins as the anger within him rose to the surface...but as he took in the youthful features of this girl who had died much too young to be used by an entity so evil, he realized that he couldn't bring himself to use it. Not on this spitting mirage of a youth who had hopelessly died in vain.

A good distance away from the tense showdown, Seungwan still tried to search for any oddity in the shapeshifter's colors, clawing at the seams for a possible weakness to appear, anything that could help Yoongi to tip his scales in the midst of battle. If they were going to hold on until Myungsoo and Kwon Jiyong came, she had to...she had to—

As she stared on at the endless array of colorful orbs arranging themselves disorderly within the stranger girl's figure, she finally took notice of a prominent pattern.

'They're all the same shape,' she thought with furrowed brows, looking for anything that could've differentiated their outline, but was stumped to find nothing. 'Sure, their colors are different, their saturation levels are different, and their sizes are different...but the shape itself remained the same for all of them. Their condition was still the same...!'

"Yoongi!" Seungwan frantically called out as loud as she can, startling the boy out of the staring match as he turned around to regard her inquisitively, hand still upraised in front of him in case a surprise attack happened to come for him. "Use Rupture! Now! I-I have a theory! She might not be able to shift to another form if they're not all in the exact same state! She needs to lose something, so destroy anything! Right hand, left hand, right ankle, whatever! If her other forms have all limbs intact but this one doesn't, she won't be able to shift!"

Her guess must have hit the mark, for the shapeshifter's gaze had quickly turned murderously as she redirected her sight to the one lone clairvoyant in the room. "You...fucking piece of shit—!" the girl was promptly cut off with her own ugly screech of pain as it deafened everyone in the room, Yoongi wincing and moving to cover his ears as he had put Rupture to use and evaporating the blood within Solbin's entire left arm, causing it to explode in a flurry of vibrant red.

As Yoongi finally let go of his ears, he stared down at the shapeshifter's vicious face with a smug smirk of his own. "Judging from your lovely facial expression, I guess I'm gonna have to assume that Seungwan here really did land the correct guess on your weakness. To which I say; that's my girl," his smirk widened, fortunately not facing the aforementioned clairvoyant to watch her face color itself a bright beet color.

"Tch..." Solbin continued to glare at the duo as she was still heaving in pain, fists clenched in anger as she contemplated a million different ways to murder the both of them as cruelly as possible. "Fucking hell, damn the both of you. I probably should've just went straight for that bitch and snapped her neck at the start while I had the chance," she wistfully said to herself, reacting with a satisfied grin when Yoongi's face morphed to release ugly snarl.

"Step towards her and I'll gladly welcome you to your grave, shapeshifter," he had said with commendable restraint, his magic energy traveling all around him as if to signify his superiority in power.

"My grave? You should be calling it yours," Solbin smoothly replied, taking much amusement in their alert expressions as they prepared to brace for an attack from her. Dopey, she cackled out a highly entertained laugh. "Geez. You two are a bunch of uptight fucks. I'm kidding!" she cried out matter-of-factly, the pain of losing her arm seeming to have put her in a state of hysteria.

"Ugh, what a drag. I guess I can still fight normally, but with a missing arm, I'm placed at quite the disadvantage. I guess I'll just have to run off and abandon my domain for now, as much as I'd hate to do it," for a moment, her expression was almost sad as she gazed upon the remnants of her old habitat, a clear frown appearing on her face as she remembered the many kills she had went through all the effort to bring here.

"I'm sorry, what?" Yoongi indignantly called out with a scowl on his face, the gravity within the room shifting just the slightest before reverting back to normal once again. Probably an effect of his fluctuating feelings. People surely were very predictable. "Who the hell said that we were gonna let you escape?"

Solbin stared at him blankly, almost deadpan before glancing at Seungwan's crouching figure somewhere farther behind him. Then, her gaze went back to the charismatic SS-Class mage who had given her a fight that had greatly entertained her, and then, her lips barely twitched, as if they were about to form a sleek grin. "Do you have any matches left for the Decagon Games tomorrow?"

"What the fuck? Yeah, I do. Why are you even asking?" Yoongi quickly rushed out, narrowing his eyes at the girl in even more suspicion. "If you're going to come to the Decahedron tomorrow to watch me compete, it'll be no use. We should be able to identify all the bodies you've burned here so with whatever form you come in tomorrow, we'll still catch you. Plus, considering your little injury, you wouldn't be able to shift either way. Just hand yourself over now and make things easier for yourself—"

"Fine," Solbin promptly snipped, head bowed down, causing the other two's eyes to basically pop out of their sockets as they stared at her as if she was an alien from Mars. "You've got a match tomorrow? I'll just make sure that you won't be alive to participate in it."

Then, she looked back up to face him in the eyes, and Yoongi was rendered frozen when he no longer caught a vague glimpse of the animalistic hatred that used to burn in her eyes just minutes ago, but was instead met with the sight of resentment he wished he wasn't so familiar with.

Even as a sharp gust of solidified wind began to blow all around the shapeshifter, he couldn't bring himself to move, frozen in a memory lost from long ago. So resentful, so bitter. Had he done something wrong?

Suddenly, the real world seemed unnaturally far away, as his mind dived back deep into an abyssal ocean of forgotten memories, with no anchor in sight. All around him, everything became blue and gloomy. Sooner or later, he will undoubtedly drown in all that blue.

Mother.

There were a pair of sad, pained eyes staring down at him with a form of resentment that had his little stomach coiling. Why was mother staring like that? Was something wrong with him? Had he done something wrong?

"I loved your father."

Oh. Well, that's good, right? Of course she loved father. She was his mother. But, wait! Loved? Where did the past tense come from? What happened? Had he done something wrong—

"I...I don't anymore."

Oh.

W-well...that's alright. She didn't have to love him. His family didn't have to be as picture perfect as Uncle Dahwon and Aunt Soonhee's. He knew that not everything lasted; he was a little kid but at least he was mature enough to understand that! But at least she was still here with him, right? It's not like she was going to leave—

"A-and now that I look at you...I don't know what to feel....you...you look too much like him...."

Oh.

Mother was not going to leave, was she? She may not love father, but— but she must still love him! She had to, right? Mother wouldn't leave.

"Oh, my baby...I'm so sorry..."

Mother was crying. Why was mother crying? And apologizing? Had she done something wrong? She couldn't have! Mother was a good person. Mother loved him lots, so she had to be a good person. Right?

Well, maybe he didn't know for sure, but that's okay. As mother continued to try, he will just stay here with her. He won't let her be alone. He'll stick with mother like a good boy. Then she won't be sad anymore.

Alas, even as he sat by her in an attempt to comfort her, his thoughts always traced back to the bitter look that clouded her usually beautiful eyes. Did mother actually not like him?

The next day, Mother left before he could really ask her.

When he did come to, he was brought back into the merciless claws of reality through a loud ringing that was making his ears bleed— grating and resembling a desperate screech, it attacked his only grasp on his memories and shattered the hazy cloud like it was made of glass. There was a scream ringing throughout the room where his life should have ended. What happened? Had he done something wrong?

Something fell into his arms, a heavy weight taking him by surprise as he continued to stare distractedly into the distance. Huh. The fire was dome-shaped and spherical. What was he doing here, of all places he could've been? Weird, his clothes were starting to get wet. It was kinda thick and murky...not at all like the rain that he used to love playing around in. Why did it feel so odd compared to water? What else could possibly be wet, anyway?

There was a weight resting against his chest. It was probably the same thing wetting his shirt. Gross. What the hell could possibly be spilling onto him that didn't feel like water at all? What? Maybe he really did do something wrong. It would explain why Mother left, after all. He was just a mortal reminder of a love that didn't work out for her.

"Yoongi!"

Huh. Was someone calling out to him? He wondered why. It wasn't like he would be of much use to them, anyway. If even his mother couldn't stick around for him, who would? Why was this person still here? He should be alone, stuck with his own thoughts now. And maybe if he was complacent enough, he would allow himself to simply wither with these thoughts of his. It did seem like the easiest way to leave.

"Yoongi— Yoongi! Where the hell are you?! Fuck! Please, answer me!"

This person was still calling out to him. But why? There was no use. He was nothing.

"Shit, shit, shit! Yoongi, please! I need you!"

Oh.

Someone actually needed him.

Clarity.

It came to him in a wave, rushing over him like the east coast's turbulent typhoons as they washed cities away in one swift torrent, blue and beautiful and ultimately sad as the world disappeared along with it. Tsunamis were somehow beautiful when viewed in a different light, with a considerably more open mind. It is the poetic sign of Astraea's people dying with her as a part of her descends into inevitable nothingness. The unbecoming of a realm who wanted no more solidarity.

Yoongi also wished he could disappear at times, and he, too, didn't want to do it alone.

Actual consciousness eventually came to him like a freight train, running a speeding car straight into his unsuspecting mind as his head reeled with the exhaustion that came with returning to a greater plane. He winced, head pounding as he returned to reality, and suddenly, all his senses became all the more real. The fatigue that came with his extended use of so much magic energy. The wetness on his shirt, spilling past the rim. Murky, thick...this was blood, there was no denying it. Wait, blood?

His heartbeat spiked up with newfound panic, breath hitching as his hand moved to reach for his dirtied shirt, needing it off off off, only to be stopped by something else resting its weight on his chest. He creased his brows, directing his gaze down to be greeted with the sight of a familiar mane of caramel brown hair.

"Holy shit, Seungwan," instinctively, his figure deflated with absolute relief as he sighed, arms moving to wind around her even tighter to hug her trembling form closer to himself, grateful over anything else to know that she was indeed okay. The blood must have been one from his own wound, then.

Wait, trembling?

As he tuned in more to his surroundings, he realized with much coherence that he really was listening to someone screaming out his name earlier...and now, crying, for what it was worth. Seungwan's words were muffled as she was speaking into his shirt, but he could tell easily that her speech was growing erratic, and ow, ow, ow, her grip on his sides was so strong that her knuckles must have been white.

"Seungwan," he called out to her, but she was still crying (panicking, yelling gibberish?) into his shirt. Yoongi then placed a hand on her shoulder, squeezing it gently to get her attention once again. "Son Seungwan!"

The crying stopped, and her grip on his sides slackened considerably as if she, too, just grabbed ahold of her surroundings. "Yoongi, is that you?" she meekly asked, and for once, he could actually hear her clearly.

"Uh...duh?" Yoongi answered unsurely, furrowing his brows in confusion at her question. Could she not tell that it was him at first? Was she just hugging a random dude for comfort without knowing who it was? For some reason, that had made him way more annoyed than he should be.

Suddenly, Seungwan let go of him and cried once again, this time covering her face with her hands as she sobbed. Immediately, Yoongi panicked. "Aw, shit, Seungwan! Look, if I said something wrong, I swear, I'm so sorry. Please believe me."

At his words, she shook her head frantically, turning away from him, still crying her heart out. "Y-Yoongi...."

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure we already established that it's me," Yoongi deadpanned, desperate to lighten the mood. What happened? Did he just come back from the dead or something? Why was Seungwan crying? He was perfectly fine! Had he done something wrong?

"Yoongi..." she cried feebly, sounding awfully pained. His heart ached resultantly. Whatever it was, he wanted to make it go away for her. "Oh my God, Yoongi..."

Alright. Guess he had to stick with a different approach. "What? What is it?" he prodded gently as he slowly made his way to her, hands awkwardly hovering over her figure as he was unsure of what to do. Would touching her make it worse? Or will the lack of presence scare her? Fucking hell, he was not made for this shit.

Fortunately for him, he didn't have to decide on what to do. She turned around to face him (still crying, but he'll take anything) before he had to make a decision.

Expression softening to appear more gentle, Yoongi treaded forward quite carefully, leaning down to be able to see her face clearer. "Hey, no worries...it's okay now—"

He stopped, eyes widened in horror and jaw going slack, aghast as he really looked Seungwan in the eyes.

If she had any eyes for him to look into, anyway.

"I-I..." Seungwan resisted the urge to cry again, lips wobbling as she reached her hands out in front of her blindly, holding onto the trembling arms of Yoongi, who was frozen still at the sight of her, shock beginning to numb his already dulled senses. There was a faint buzzing in the distance, akin to a static noise as his surroundings faded into one another.

With the bright hues of crimson running down her face and painting her cheeks the same color, for a moment, he wondered if she was crying blood the whole time. Alas, as he looked into her sockets where familiar warm, beautiful brown eyes should be, bile threatened to rise back up his throat once again as he could only find red, red and red in those wounded orbs.

"Yoongi...I can't see."

Suddenly, everything was silent again, as he stared down at her with wide, dilated eyes. His hands were shaking uncontrollably as they held onto her own as if they were his lifeline, the sole object anchoring his sad existence to reality. His eyes felt ridiculously wet, stinging with something painful. He was crying. Weeping for someone who could no longer do so the same way— not properly, at least. His heart felt awfully heavy.

"...Well, I mean...it wasn't really the course of action I was initially going for, but I'll take what I can get. She kinda didn't have to take that shot for you, but I hope your lady enjoys my present either way, Rupture!"

Yoongi's body froze all over as he slowly turned his head around, widened eyes staring emptily at the lackadaisical figure of one Ahn Solbin, who laxly stood at the empty space where the windows were mercilessly shattered. Out in the outside world, the congested traffic of Marius polluted the noise level effortlessly, horns blaring loudly enough to even reach their floor. From the knowing grin on her face, it could only mean...

"You...you did this..." Yoongi said with a steely hollowness in his tone, a harrowed look appearing on his face as his magic energy spread out tenfold with increasing intensity as his anger grew beyond control.

Solbin must have felt it too, if her amused chuckle told him otherwise. "Wow. You're angry. Ha, I shouldn't even be surprised!" she laughed to herself haughtily, eyes squeezed shut as she giggled without restraint, before she cracked one eyes open eerily, smiling like it was a subliminal message of a climactic goodbye. "I guess I'll have to leave for now, Min Yoongi. We'll meet again eventually— and who knows, maybe by then, I'll let you see my true form...as your little lady friend can no longer do it."

The shapeshifter stepped off. As the wind rushed by to signal her grandiose freefall, with her disappearing from their sights, Yoongi's anger has finally reached its peak and he felt something within himself snap, his magic energy reaching far within and around the building as he reached a hand out, simply wanting to destroy, destroy, destroy—

"Yoongi, no!"

Suddenly, another body came barreling into his own, taking him by surprise as he was forced to stumble away from Seungwan. His eyes widened in shock when all the ethernano he had spread throughout such a colossal range was simply destroyed in the blink of an eye, a new wave of fatigue washing over him as the feeling of wasted energy loomed over his being.

He gritted his teeth, anger still yet to be quelled despite exhaustion ruling its iron first over him, moving to chase after the shapeshifter, but strong arms were firmly holding onto him from behind as a head buried itself in his shoulder. Teary-eyed, he glanced to the side shakily, being greeted by the sight of a familiar tuft of raven hair.

"Don't do it," Kim Myungsoo said to him quietly as he held onto him, seeming extremely sad as his grip on him barely loosened. Figures that he was the one to get rid of all his magic. Somehow, he appeared just as tormented as he was; and Yoongi didn't really know of what that said about him. "He— she's not worth it. Please stand down, Yoongi. Please."

And just like that, it was like switch was flipped on him. Defeatedly, Yoongi sagged against Myungsoo's form, his figure shaking as he silently wept, but the fellow SS-Class mage was prepared, only holding onto him even tighter.

Behind the pair, Kwon Jiyong, a teleporter, and a healer tended to Seungwan's wounds, a frown appearing on the Accelerator's face as the healer said something to him. Several other Institute officials stood to the side, assessing the scene and murmuring to each other discreetly as they tried to make sense of the situation.

"Are we going to go after the shapeshifter?" Myungsoo turned to ask Jiyong, frowning as well as he stared after the empty panel where a window should be.

The man in question shook his head in response, seeming actually regretful. "Hate to say we can't, Myung. Miss Son here is in dire need of medical attention. Our healer, Lee here says that her eyes can be healed, but it's highly likely that her vision won't return. She managed to stop the bleeding for now, but even then, we need to get her to more healers as soon as possible."

At his words, Seungwan shrunk into herself even more, almost crying her eyes out once again. Myungsoo bowed his head down, but shook his head and sighed, seeming to have come to a conclusion. "Jiyong. Get Park over there to teleport Wendy to the nearest medical center. You patrol the vicinity, in case the fugitive plans on coming back. Try to question the locals for her whereabouts if you can."

Dutifully, Jiyong nodded. "Alright, will do. But what about you?" he questioned, straightforward as ever as he narrowed his sharp eyes in inquisition.

"Me? I'll just..." Myungsoo trailed off, looking down at the silent form of one Min Yoongi. Quietly, he sighed. "I'll just stay here...with him...I'll call some more Institute officials over and then begin an investigation with the ones in attendance. We might be able to find something about the shapeshifter here, so I'll stick around here to make things easier."

For a while, Jiyong could only stare at him. After a moment, he, too, let out a sigh as he nodded complacently, burying his hands in his pockets as he walked ahead, footsteps echoing like an omen around the room full of ashes. As Yoongi blearily looked around, he realized that all the fire that had been licking was quickly distinguished, too.

Voices could be heard all around him for a while, muffled and barely there, until there was no longer any. By that time, it was just him, and Myungsoo's comfortable silence enveloping the room. Something inside had felt horribly empty.

After a while of the long silence, Myungsoo casually said to him, "Sorry that Soojung couldn't come over. She had to stay back to help Jieun with questioning Im Nayeon again. Though I have a hunch that she probably just wanted to be near Jongin at all times, really."

"Gee, and here I thought that the witch just wanted to avoid seeing pathetic ol' me," Yoongi joked back humorlessly, heart still hopelessly weighed down by the merciless claws of anguish grasp his feeble heart in its hands.

Silence ensured amongst the two of them once again.

"Myung," the mint-haired boy quietly muttered.

"I know," the other first seat merely replied, soothingly soft all the same, allowing the both of them to settle in the peaceful silence.

For a while, Min Yoongi despaired, knowing that no matter how long he wallowed in his misery, the truth will always stay the same, inevitably awaiting him like death on his door.

Seungwan can't see anymore.

———

Seulgi didn't really know why she was here again so soon.

If it had been up to her more rational mind, she would've been comfortably sitting herself in the arena, busy being the mediator between Sehun, Taehyung and Joy's childish bickering and analyzing her juniors' performance in the Mirage Bat Finals. Unfortunately for her, she had decided to listen to her heart instead of her brain.

And now she was stuck staring up at the large golden numbers spelling out #524 as the birch double-doors of Park Jimin's suite loomed over her like an ominous entity. In her jittery hands, was a plate filled with pancakes...which were most certainly not the eggs benedict she had in mind when she first welcomed herself into the kitchen, but alas, the first attempt had turned out to be so much of a failure that she was afraid to ever try it again. Pancakes can suffice. Pancakes were always good. God bless pancakes.

Nervously, she glanced left and right down the hall, before deflating considerably. This time, there won't be an awfully attractive Mark Tuan cruising down the floor to give her a well-needed pep talk. She was all on her own now. No motivating advice, no reassurances, absolute nothing. It was all left to her, her dumb thoughts, and her even stupider mushy feelings.

Seulgi flushed red, burying her face in her jacket as she furrowed her brows. She was staring down the door so hard it might as well have melted under her intense gaze.

When she had been done with making the pancakes at first, she had initially looked around everywhere for the rest of her schoolmates, hoping to have them taste-test her food first before sending it to Jimin. But now that they were busy probably spectating Yeri's final match, she had no choice but to put the loveliest man on Astraea up as a lamb for slaughter. Godspeed, Jimin.

"No big deal, Seul, just— just knock on the door, offer him the pancakes, and get it over with! If it tastes terrible, whatever! He's too nice to unfriend me forever over something like this," Seulgi paused, staring at the delectable dish in her hands thoughtfully. "Plus, I tried it myself just now and it was pretty good. I'm pretty sure it should taste the same by the time it went to Jimin...right?" she frowned unsurely at the thought, before sighing all over again.

"I'm so screwed," she whined to herself, most probably being three steps away from crying her heart out. Slowly, she took deep breaths in an attempt to calm herself. One, two. One, two. At least, she kinda hoped that it was working, but the slowing of her initially erratic heartbeat told her that she was at least doing one thing right. For once.

She sighed, the billionth time she did so that day. Was she going to grow grey hairs soon? Fuck, she really can't deal with feelings. At least Myungsoo was going grey because of legitimate stress! What kind of excuse did she have? 'Oh, there's this dude I had a sort-of relationship with and I've said some nasty things to him in the past but it turned out that all the shitty things he's ever done was one big fat lie and now I have no idea what to do with my feelings for him. Thanks a lot, whoever-the-hell-is-taking-care-of-my-love-life.' Right, because that made total sense.

At the beginning of the day, she had really thought that she was in a particularly good mood; woken up on the right side of the bed, happy-go-lucky, whichever phrase worked. Either way, the whole word— hell, even the goddamned cheery-and-stupidly-bright Sun in the sky had to know that she was having the time of her life today. Nothing was supposed to get in her way or ruin her fun today; not even her classmate's incessant teasing, if she could help it.

Alas, in just hours, her confidence had to have miraculously taken a hard blow, if her building nervousness at this very moment didn't tell her anything else. But how? How? Just at the beginning of today, she was feeling on top of the world, ready to take on every challenge headed her way (with a particularly flirty streak added into her character).

But now? If someone had to research about Astraea's biggest natural disaster on the web, she was 100% convinced that her name would be plastered on the first result shown, along with a picture of her on her worst hair day yet. Godspeed, Kang Seulgi. There was still the rest of the day to rely on. Maybe she wouldn't be too much of a clusterfuck once Park Jimin entered the picture— or will she get even worse? Only whoever-the-hell-is-taking-care-of-my-love-life could possibly tell.

"Good God, fuck me gently with a giant chainsaw," Seulgi let out her most uncharacteristic string of curse words yet, quite prepared to fall apart at the seams with how easily her heart was betraying her initial principle. Which part of stay calm did it not understand?! How could she even face that godly specimen of a man if she was out here behaving this way?

Seulgi took a deep breath once again. Relax. Maybe she really had this in the bag. Just knock, offer the pancakes, converse, and leave. Should be as easy as breathing. She could get something so simple done in her sleep.

Tentatively, she raised her hand, curled gently in a fist as she prepared to knock on his doors. Easy as breathing.

Just then, a series of rowdy yelling could be heard from within the suite, muffled by the walls that did well to filter the sound. The yelling was then quickly followed up by a bunch of clangs and thuds, of course finishing with even more catastrophic shouting from inside. Instantly, Seulgi paused, staring at the double-doors in front of her with much confusion.

Just then, the doors were forcefully pulled open from inside, sending Seulgi leaping back in shock, obviously startled. Over in the doorway, an exasperated Park Jimin stood with a hand running down his face, muttering something about 'My friends are fucking psycho,' or something close enough to that, at least, as he moved to adjust his unbuttoned black dress shirt with skillful hands.

Just then, he finally took notice of her presence, eyebrows raised curiously at the sight of her. "Uh...hello? ...How long have you been here and I haven't seen you? Oh gosh, I'm so sorry," he then groaned, covering his face with his hands again as he turned away from her.

"No, no, no, it's perfectly fine. I haven't been here for long," she smoothly said to him. They were blatant lies, obviously, but it wasn't like she would actually tell him the truth and honestly answered him with, 'Oh, just half an hour trying to think of ways to properly approach you.' That sounded humiliating enough, and her heart could barely handle the situation as it was. Better to take the safe route and avoid a painful death from mortification.

"Okay..." despite the simplicity of her words, Jimin seemed to have accepted her lie well enough, nodding slowly as he processed her answer in his head. "So what brings you here, then? I'm gonna have to apologize if you've heard the commotion from earlier. I thought I was being pretty charitable for letting my friend stay with me for a while but all he's busy doing is being a nuisance."

"Excuse you, I ain't a nuisance! It's not my fault that you just suck at playing Mario Kart so I always end up kicking your sorry ass!" another voice yelled out from somewhere far inside the suite, and Jimin's cheeks immediately colored themselves red as he groaned, turning around with a glare on his face.

"For the record!" he shouted back, cupping his hands around his mouth to make his voice sound a little louder. "I only ever lose because you're an obsessive piece of shit who can't stop throwing those stupid goombas at me!"

"Holy shit, sweetheart!" the same voice called back with an awfully exaggerated amount of disbelief dripping in his already cartoonish tone. Was Jimin's friend some kind of part-time comedian? It was the only explanation as to why the hell she wanted to laugh every time he spoke. "The whole point of the game is to throw those 'stupid goombas' at your opponents to win the damn race! Logic, genius! Just admit that you're shit at the game and call it a day!"

"For the love of god, fuck off!" Jimin retorted, letting out a sigh as he ran a hand through his hair. Seeing Seulgi's lost expression, his tired façade immediately softened, knowing that he couldn't lose his temper with her even if it bit him in the ass. Softly, he explained, "Ever since he's gotten his hands on the complementary Wii set the hotel staff had supplied our rooms with, he had never once shut his trap. I really don't know what to do with him at this point."

"Here's an idea; you can leave me alone in here and go find another place to sleep in, jerk!" was the anticipated reply, effectively making Seulgi snort as the most unimpressed expression yet had made its way to the blonde's unusually handsome face.

Seeming to have expected such a response, Jimin could only roll his eyes, turning around to calmly say, "Hoseok, shut the hell up before I throw you out the room. Would you rather stay with Yuju in her cramped apartment studio? Huh?" at the silence that later on ensued, the blonde fourth seat nodded to himself in satisfaction, quietly muttering to himself, "Thought so, bitch."

Seulgi only observed him blankly, seeming thoughtful, for the most part. Then, her lips twitched to form a cheeky smile, suddenly reminded of Joy's immature spats with Taehyung and Sehun. It was good to see that Jimin had his own fair share of friends despite his past scandals. "You and this Hoseok guy must be really great friends."

"Ugh, I kinda wished I wasn't," Jimin joked, flashing her a million-dollar smile as his pearly whites sparkled in the close space between them. "But I wouldn't have my buddy Jung Hoseok any other way. Even if he is sorta a pain in the ass. I guess I've kinda gotten used to him over time. Now my life is ultra boring without him."

From inside, Seulgi could've sworn that she had hard Hoseok's affronted gasp. "That was nice and all, but pain in the ass?! You're just trying to fuck with me now, you little shrimp—!"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever, love you too, bro," the boy quickly dismissed his friend's jab, though he clearly did wince at the usage of such an insult. Chances were that kind of attack had most probably hit his pride real hard. Seulgi wouldn't be too surprised. Jimin then grinned at her again, the girl quick to feel fluttering butterflies manifesting in the pit of her stomach. "So, before we were rudely interrupted; what brings you here, Seul?"

"Oh!" Seulgi perked up at the realization, finally remembering what she was...initially here for. "Yeah. Thanks for reminding me. Here!" she cheerily said, moving the plate of pancakes in her hands until it was closer to Jimin; who could only curiously stare at the dish that was kindly served to him.

"I made pancakes for you. Well, not really for you— u-uhh, please don't take offense, I really suck at articulating my feelings in words! Anyways, I was going to share this with my other Elite Ten members at first, but they've went on to watch Yeri's final match by the time I was finished, so...you're gonna have to be the sacrificial lamb and try this first," she said sheepishly, chuckling.

For a moment, something curious flashed in Jimin's eyes at the mention of Yeri. Luckily enough, Seulgi did not pay enough attention to catch that, too engrossed in the embarrassment that inevitably stemmed from this situation. After a moment, the blonde spoke up again. "Well, if it's you who made it, I guess I wouldn't mind becoming a lamb for slaughter," he laughed to himself mirthfully, before turning around and loudly requesting, "Hoseok! Can you pass me a fork?!"

There were sounds of shuffling for a brief moment before a fork came flying at him in record speed, followed by another episode of Hoseok's angry yelling from what Seulgi assumed was the kitchen. All that echoing suggested that he was there, anyways.

Jimin had let out a very unmanly squeak as he expertly caught the fork with his hands, before he narrowed his eyes and cried out into the suite, "You fucking idiot! I get that you hate my guts, but watch where you're throwing! You could've hit Seulgi here, you know!"

"You should've thought that through when you decided to order me around in the goddamned kitchen, asshole!" Hoseok yelled back incredulously. "This place has freaking knives! Are you sure you wanna test me here?!"

"You know what? Nevermind. I'll leave you to your own devices since you wanted your damn privacy so badly," Jimin kindly said through gritted teeth, gripping the fork in his hand hard enough for his knuckles to turn white as he turned around, his cross expression quickly shifting as he offered her an angelic smile instead. "Sorry about that. Hoseok doesn't know the definition of restraint even if it hit him in the face."

'Talk about one hell of a switch,' Seulgi watched with much amusement, staring up at him quite excitedly. "Uh, before we start, I'd like to apologize in advance if this tastes terrible. I taste-tested it myself and found that it was fine, but in the event wherein my tastebuds weren't functioning properly, I'd like to say that I'm sorry. You'd probably be able tell that I'm not the best person when it comes to this. I'm...sort of an amateur at cooking. But I was in a good mood! And I wanted to do something nice for everyone," she said shyly, smiling to herself.

At the sight of her soft smile, Jimin tilted his head curiously, a static shock running through him as if there was a vague memory left barely surfacing through his recollection. Dazed, he squinted his eyes as discreetly as he could, zoning in on her joyous expression with an inquisitiveness akin to that of a newborn child's.

'Odd. This is...familiar?' The only feelings he had ever seen to show on her face were anger and despair...right? Why was this one ringing a bell if the men in lab coats assured that all he had ever risen out of her was hatred and negativity? And why was he unable to feel the intense malice he had so easily mustered up upon their first meeting? Was it really their first meeting to begin with?

Quizzical at his sudden silence, Seulgi moved to snap her fingers in front of his face. Taking effect immediately, Jimin blinked in shock, suppressing the tremble that almost ran through him at the dawning of a new familiarity; the suddenness of electricity and static shocks as the men in lab coats fried his mind whole.

"Uh...yo. Hello there, gorgeous man. Are you listening to me? These sweet babies can't eat themselves, you know," Seulgi's velvety voice eventually came through to him through his haze of jumbled memories.

Jimin blinked again, swallowing the lump that was forming in his throat. "Sorry about that. You looked so pretty smiling that way that I had ended up getting distracted," he stated right off the bat, pausing as he rewinded his words and inwardly facepalmed. Way to go, pretty boy.

Taking a closer look at her, he realized that she was now blushing furiously— most likely at his honest-to-God words. Immediately, he sprang up to offer an earnest apology. "Um..I'm sorry for my lack of tact. I probably should've been slower in unloading that..or not have said that at all...but I really meant it when I said that. I..like...looking at you?" he tested the words on his mouth hesitantly, frowning when no memories had resurfaced. So those weren't his keywords. If not that, then what could it be...?

"Holy Jesus on a tricycle," Seulgi muttered under her breath hotly, before plastering the widest smile on her face yet. "Aw. Thanks, Jimin," she enunciated kindly, heart fluttering in the inside as she gazed upon his sincere expression with softened eyes. "But uh, I'm pretty sure we've still got some lovely pancakes to try out over here. It'd be rude of us to let them go cold, so um, if you may?"

"Oh! Indeed," Jimin immediately responded, picking up his fork as he dug it into one piece of the stacked pancakes, soft and sinfully succulent as the cutlery sunk into the baked dessert in one fell swoop. Maple syrup tantalizingly trickled down the tower of flat cakes to the base of the porcelain plate, creating a contrast strikingly similar to vibrant hues of strawberries and blueberries situated at the very stop of the stack.

He stared at her quite questioningly as he held the forkful of pancakes in front of his face, almost disbelieving. "What in the world did you do to make this look so damn good? Do you secretly have illusion magic or something? Because there is no way in hell that this is actually real."

"I guess it's your lucky day today, mister, as we are most definitely not in hell, and there are certainly no tricks here. I swear that my abilities are strictly nullification and healing magic," Seulgi exuberantly said to him, eyes crinkled into crescents as she smiled at him. "Dig in!"

He raised a brow at her questioningly before shoving the forkful straight into his mouth, taking a few seconds to chew before a blissed-out smile bloomed across his stunning face. "Mm. Holy shit," were the first two things to come out his mouth as he licked the remnants of syrup clumsily left on his lips, humming in a pleased manner. "Seulgi. Not gonna lie, this is a work of god."

Humored, she laughed boisterously at his overly honest words. "I'm glad you think so!" she exclaimed, before lowering her voice momentarily to mutter, "And I'm just glad that this dish turned out way better than that failure of an eggs benedict..."

"Sorry, what was that, Seul?" Jimin asked through his mouthful of pancakes, seeming to not have taken a break before going straight for seconds.

"Nothing!" Seulgi quickly saved herself before she could possibly ruin this peaceful situation, mentally patting herself on her back as she commended the swift rescue. "But anyways, seeing that you've enjoyed this dish so much, I guess I can rely on you to taste-test all of my future experiments now."

"Hm. If they're anywhere near as good as the pancakes you've just given me, I'm all in," Jimin grinned, casually licking the creamer off the tips of his fork. If the girl didn't mentally prepare herself for his unconscious flirting, she probably would've collapsed with her heart beating too fast for her body to handle. "Though I do have to caution you; my stomach can only take in the best."

"Fine, but I've got no promises," Seulgi teasingly fired back, smiling at him in an awfully giddy manner (surely uncharacteristic of a girl as determined and driven as her).

There it was again. Jimin stared intently at the exultant expression on the girl's face; the way her sharp eyes formed crescents as she grinned, the wide curve of her lips, the sweet sparkling of her teeth as her joy promptly revealed itself in her countenance alone.

There was something appearing in the back of his mind now, the outlines of an image projecting itself within his memories as several prominent views flashed vaguely— straight brunette hair, pleasant laughter, a warm feeling clouding his jaded heart; somehow, Jimin felt like he was encountering a moment of déjà vu, as if this heartfelt feeling was not at all foreign to him.

Huh. Maybe if he finally figured out what truly went on during the halcyon days of him and Kang Seulgi's mysterious relationship, Jimin would finally be able to make sense of his past memories and connect the dots much easier than before. It was the only way. Maybe then he wouldn't have to spend every waking moment of his day confusing himself over nonsensical recollections.

He didn't have to complete the Headmaster's mission now— he had a valid excuse, what with the Accelerator parading the Decahedron and the White Lotus Hotel every now and then to watch out for possible threats; that possible threat being him, of course. The Headmaster was always all about patience, so it was about time the men in lab coats began acting the same way with himself.

Jimin promised himself silently; perhaps he would eventually get back to his assignment once he truly sorted out his memories together— and only then will he go back to being the complacent, obedient Subject he once was. Then again, being shocked into obedience frequently didn't really make him a particularly obedient person. Ah well, loopholes would always be loopholes. It would do him much good to take full advantage of them, being who he was.

"Well then," Seulgi's voice came cutting into the greying fog to clear his reverie. "Thanks for being my little guinea pig for a while, Jimin. I've missed out on spectating my juniors' matches for long enough, so I'll be heading on over to watch them now," she said a little awkwardly, waving at him with a smaller smile now. "Uh...you wouldn't mind if I left the plate here, would you? It'd be easier for the hotel staff to just pick this up here."

"Sure, just leave it here. Maybe I can get Hoseok to clean this for you," he joked, winking at her in a teasing way. "Though to be fair, I just happened to be lucky that this dish of yours was a hit instead of a miss. I might not have the same luck the next time you come here for a taste-testing, but I guess I'll be seeing you soon," he bid the girl goodbye, corners of his lips upturned significantly as he stared after her walking figure.

Suddenly, he paused in the midst of the lighthearted atmosphere, slowly repeating his own words in his head. What?

Wait, what? No! Don't go yet!

There were still so many jagged puzzle pieces he had yet to match up. With all those olden memories left unbidden in his jumbled mind— he needed his keywords, every single one of them for each of his missions. He wasn't sure of how many missions he had taken in the past, but no matter the magnitude, he needed those keywords. 'I have to remember,' Jimin had finally settled, a lump forming in his throat. Something in his heart painfully ached. 'I need to remember.'

"Wait," he called out to her hesitantly, watching as she momentarily stopped in her tracks and turned around to face him inquisitively. Biting on his lower lip, he mustered a small grin and placed his hands on his hips, pretending to appear thoughtful. "On second thought...mind if I join you? Now that I think of it, I really don't wanna be holed in my suite with Hoseok for the rest of the day, no matter how big it actually is, and I could use some time outdoors. Is that alright? It can be just the two of us...?"

He trailed off, pausing as he gave the final sentence some thought. Would she want it to just be the both of them? Or did she want to join her friends? Would it be easier to gauge for possible keywords if he joined her with her wayward gang of friends? Or will his search for recollection prove to be much for efficient if he were alone with her? What course shall he take?

For a moment, the silence lasted long enough for the static to overpower it, loud and deafening as it echoed bleakly in his mind. Then, just like that, it was gone, Seulgi's face breaking out into a beautiful smile as she gazed upon him with her eyes that were filled with an emotion he couldn't properly describe.

The smile still remained on her face as she held her hand out to him, welcoming and resembling a home he never had the chance to return to. "I think I'd like that."

Static.

The sound resounded in his befuddled head painfully, as his heart longed for its return to the one person who had lovingly captured it in her warm, passionate hands.

———

The Decahedron medical wing was awfully silent today. Sure, healers bustled about every now and then, quietly murmuring to each other about their respective patients and idly discussing the events of the Decagon Games, but for the most part, the pristine, white halls of the vicinity merely guarded an empty home, save for the few patients that peacefully rested in the safety (and overall discomfort) of their stark white hospital beds.

As Kim Sojung (or better yet, Sowon) glanced around the hallway swiftly, her confusion grew even more as it began to show on her face. Leave it to the Decahedron staff to build a medical wing in the form of a goddamn labyrinth. What kind of genius thought that this was such a good idea, anyway? If she had the chance to find out, she would've pummeled the culprit into the ground by now and ran over the dude with her wheelchair.

Clicking her tongue in frustration, Sowon's fingers traced over the wheels of her wheelchair as if to keep her mind calm in the midst of the storm whirling within it. Perhaps she shouldn't have allowed her emotions to get the better of her and hurried all the way over here after simply hearing some questionable gossip from passing-by spectators— but she had to know; and she had to make sure. If what those naïve schoolgirls were saying turned out to be true, then...

Alas, before she could figure anything out, she still had to look for the specific ward in question. How was she supposed to search for the lucky patient if she had no leads to follow? How was she even sure if he would be here, in this medical wing? Those girls talked about him being moved from his original dwelling, but how true could that possibly be? Maybe she was just duping herself and she had little to no idea at all. Better to look stupid than look like she cared, anyway.

Suddenly, a cold chill ran down her spine as she felt a presence appear somewhere behind her. Sowon stiffened and whipped her head around just as a silky voice came entering into her ears with, "Looking for a certain someone?"

The first year immediately gasped and startled away, though sitting on the wheelchair, she couldn't really get that far. Turning around, the girl was politely greeted with the sight of a sleekly grinning Jinhwan, who was floating in the air quite precariously as his translucent figure colored a neutral blue. Instinctively, Sowon's eyes narrowed, her voice sounding hostile as she said, "Yes, but it's most certainly not you."

"Geez, no need to be mean, I already know that," Jinhwan rolled his eyes, flying right through her as he moved to float in front of her wheelchair, staring down at her quite thoughtfully. After a moment of staring at each other (on one side; uncomfortably, and on the other; curiously), the spirit then moved behind her once again, using magic energy to make his hands tangible and proceeding to help push her wheelchair.

Sowon jolted forward in her seat, knowing exactly what he was planning on doing. Annoyed, she turned and gave him a frigid glare, as if that would have been enough to shoo him away. "I can get to his ward by myself. Just give me the damn directions and leave me be. I don't need you to push my wheelchair."

"As always, you are a ray of absolute sunshine, Sowon," Jinhwan chirped sarcastically, promptly ignoring the warning growl from the paralyzed girl as he continued to push her down the hallway, politely smiling at the healers as he floated by. "But seriously, quit refusing any offer of help given to you. Most of the time, the people who tend to do that are very nice people."

"That's exactly the problem," the student then huffed, crossing her arms over her chest as she gave in and reluctantly allowed the spirit to assist her. For each ceiling light they passed by, a sterile white glow washed over her quickly, painting her tan skin in shades of clean porcelain. For a moment, she somehow looked just as ghostly as he did. "The people who do that are too nice. If I don't refuse their help, they might end up hurting themselves for my sake."

Jinhwan's eyes flitted to the back of Sowon's head quietly as he listened to her speak, immediately understanding exactly whom she was referring to. "Not all of us are Junhoe. You don't have to spend every waking moment of your life refusing to rely on others because you're afraid of being the cause to their suffering. All your friends are the type of people who know exactly what they're getting into. Have a little faith."

"That— that's also a problem," Sowon muttered softly as she sunk into herself, a frown appearing on her face as she stared down at her two hands which were idly interlaced on her lap. "Junhoe— he can't just live every waking moment of his life prioritizing everyone else's wellbeing above his own. That selflessness is his undoing; he has to learn that you can't just get away with throwing your life away to save someone else's..."

Inwardly, Jinhwan bit his lip, barely refraining from saying, 'Sowon, he is only like that with you,' instead replying with, "He only did that back then because he cared about you, Sowon—"

"But he shouldn't have done that!" she said through gritted teeth, clenching her fists in her lap. "H-he knows— he knows that he can't! Just carelessly conducting the ritual like that— how little did he value his life?! I had been out there every single day thinking he was the most precious thing to happen in my life and he just gives himself away? For what?! Taeyeon warned him, hell, even you warned him...yet he still went through with it!"

Dutifully, Jinhwan went quiet, knowing that she wasn't entirely wrong. He stared at her silent figure cautiously, sensing the waves of fury before anyone else could. "Sowon...you— you were dead. And you and I both know that Junhoe can't live with that. He simply cannot lose you."

"He would have to learn to cope," she spat back, avoiding from having to look up and be showered with monotonous ceiling lights. Her grip on her plaid skirt had gone slack now, showing that her anger was quick to leave her. "I was— at that moment, I had been content with the idea of dying; dying honorably. I was glad to have given my life for a cause that I truly believed in—"

"Yes, but Junhoe wasn't," Jinhwan cut her off coldly, prompting a flinch from her as she turned over her shoulder to meet his steely gaze. "He wasn't glad to see you die too early for a principle you were so passionate for— he was sad. Now I'm not going to justify him giving up on himself, but I will suggest you to see things from his perspective, no matter how much it may appall you," his tone then turned soft near the end, knowing that he couldn't stay angry at her for too long, either.

Sowon then bowed her head down, still frowning intensely at the floor. If he had known any better, she probably would've burnt a hole through those tiles by now. "You of all people would know why I'm so hostile to him now. He— he needs to understand that no life should be of more value to him than his. And above all else, I can't let him get close to me ever again."

Questioningly, Jinhwan raised an eyebrow at her, a lopsided grin forming on his face. "You do realize that adamantly rejecting all of his advances would only make him more determined to win you back, right?"

"Trust me, I know," Sowon's face was quick to turn unimpressed at the notion as she deadpanned, resisting the urge to roll her eyes at the thought of his silly antics. "I really don't know how the hell I'm supposed to shake him off my trail. He's like a lost puppy. And I don't know if I should call him brave or stupid."

Fair enough. Jinhwan shrugged noncommittally. "Probably a scary mix of both."

"Unsurprisingly, that makes it even worse," Sowon uttered with a sigh, though a small smile crept its way onto her face as Jinhwan let out a boisterous chuckle.

She knew that for a short while, she did miss joking around with Jinhwan. Being the main spirit of her past familiar, it wasn't an oddity that they somehow got along well in the past— after all, they were always the ones to keep Junhoe in line and prevent him from doing anything particularly...crazy. Damage control, one could say.

There was one main thing that the two of them really had in a common, and it was the fact that they spent most of their waking (and undead) moments worrying over that psycho's wellbeing. Not that Sowon really minded, really, but she digressed. It was almost like she spent most of her middle school years having 'JUNHOE'S BABYSITTER' written on her forehead in a big, fat red marker.

And well...after...that happened, it had been a really long time since the two of them have upheld an eased conversation with each other. Then again, it was mostly attributed to the fact that they didn't have many things to commonly converse over— at least, not until now.

"Welp, here we are," Jinhwan's voice suddenly resounding from behind her effectively snapped her out of her trip down memory lane, and Sowon perked up, staring up at owlishly at the big numbers that served to label Junhoe's ward. A few healers had just left the room, holding notepads and murmuring to each other attentively as they were immersed in conversation. The spirit stared down at her expectantly, politely saying, "After you?"

Sowon swallowed the lump in her throat and nodded, reaching her hands out to push the door open while Jinhwan moved to help her into the room. Hesitantly, she looked ahead to where a still figure slept peacefully amongst the monotonous beeping of medical appliances.

Even in the dreary realm of slumber, Koo Junhoe still looked as infuriatingly gorgeous as ever. With his messy ebony hair framing his face like the feathery dark wings of a raven, his rosy lips, and long lashes fluttered shut along with his eyelids, the boy had appeared tranquil and serene just as he had seemed as if he was hopelessly unraveling in the midst of a turbulent storm.

It was always that undisciplined charm of his that somehow drew her in, something about how unruly and chaotic he was in nature that easily entrapped her in his rowdy joyride. Maybe it was just natural for someone as deliberate and organized as her to be mystified upon meeting a mess beyond control. Or perhaps that lack of control was what had her sold.

"They weren't lying," Sowon found herself murmuring before she could stop herself, ignoring Jinhwan's quizzical hum as she wheeled herself forward and nearer to his bed, allowing the calm beeps of the nearby machines to lull her heart to a soothing beat. "You really did get him moved here, despite the fact that he was initially being treated in the White Lotus Hotel infirmary. Why?"

Silence ensued, and only the tickings of a clock and sounds of machinery managed to fill in the empty gaps. Jinhwan averted his eyes from her and stared off to the side, shrugging nonchalantly with a small smile on his face. "I just thought that it'd be easier for you to see him if he was stationed here instead."

Something within her heart felt ridiculously warm as she heard that, gaze directed to the clean mint-hued fabric of the blankets that covered Junhoe's being. Her cheeks were dusted with the subtlest hint of red, and a small smile crept to her face as she mulled over the spirit's words once again. Jinhwan knew that she would come. "I see. How is it that you manage to see through me so well throughout all these years, despite how longs it been? I could've changed in the amount of time we never spoke, but somehow, you've still gauged the correct reaction from me."

The spirit then hummed, thoughtful. "Well, I wouldn't say that you're very predictable," he chuckled, and Sowon, too, smiled lightly. "But I can't deny that trying to understand you is easy once I get to know you long enough. And we all know how Junhoe was like when you were hospitalized. He was all over you, and was always the first to act when your name even left someone else's mouth. You guys have always cared for each other the same, so...it wasn't hard to guess that you'd probably want to see him too, despite how well you pretend to hate his guts."

At that, Sowon grinned sheepishly. "Well, I guess I'm not acting believably enough if you managed to grasp all that. Then again, you're no bystander, so I guess it is excused. But please, do kindly humor me. I'm Kim Sojung and I absolutely dislike the abomination that is Koo Junhoe," she stated the last part sarcastically, to which Jinhwan merely smiled.

"Dislike is a far cry from hate. You're softening up too much," he joked, chuckling a little before sobering up again, seeming somewhat fond. "Still, having known the two of you for so long, it's hard to imagine you hating him. For me, you two care for each other the exact same amount, but only show it in different ways. Junhoe, by risking his life for you on a daily basis, and you...by being a major asshole," Jinhwan explained, snickering at the unimpressed glare the girl sent him. "What? I'm not wrong!"

"You're lucky Junhoe's not my familiar anymore or I would've commanded him to banish you," Sowon muttered under her breath, only prompting him to laugh harder, to which she exasperatedly sighed. "Whatever. I'll let you get away with this for now. To more important matter," she paused, gesturing to Junhoe's slumbering state. "What happened to him?"

Jinhwan grimaced at the question, now vaguely reminded of the haunting image of Junhoe's still body slumping on his barely-concrete own. "One of the hotel staffs had attacked him while he was busy skipping out of Subzero's punishments and exploring Julius Academy's floor instead. She was a Drain user who had managed to suck out a dangerous amount of his magic energy."

"What?" Sowon's eyes widened in shock as she almost stood up, before forgetting about her unresponsive legs. "How could that happen? Is that bitch insane?" she stopped momentarily, before quietly asking, "...Is she fired?"

"God, no! It's really not what you're thinking," Jinhwan was quick to clarify, waving his opaque hands around frantically. "Apparently the lady had been possessed. Someone else took over her body to...attack Junhoe. Losing so much magic energy forcefully dismissed the other spirits he had summoned— I only managed to stay because I appeared with my own share of magic energy."

"Wait, so how the hell did you stop her?" Sowon paused, frowning when she realized what she was implying. "I'm not trying to say that you're weak, Jinhwan; I understand that you're one of his strongest spirits— but with Junhoe in danger, you could only do so much to stop her...not to mention the fact that she was possessed, so she probably wouldn't have registered any pain of being hit by one of your attacks."

"Indeed," Jinhwan nodded, albeit regretfully, before continuing. "And that is where Park Jimin comes in."

"...Did I hear you right? Park Jimin?" Sowon echoed, furrowing her brows in what appeared to be disbelief. "Park Jimin...as in, Crimson? Fourth seat of Julius Academy's Elite Ten? What was he doing there?"

Jinhwan shrugged in response. "I'm not too sure, but his hotel suite was on that floor so he must've been nearby when we were getting attacked," he said, smartly leaving out the part where they were going to actually spy on him. "Stumbling into us, he immediately sprang up into action and used his magic on the lady in an attempt to stop her. It worked for a while, but the woman was unusually strong in her possessed state and continued trying to pursue us. But thankfully, by that time, the Accelerator arrived on the scene and apprehended the staff member."

"The Accelerator, too?" Sowon stared back at Junhoe's sleeping figure in shock. "Unbelievable. While getting targeted for murder, you guys simultaneously meet a bunch of celebrities."

"It wasn't what I had in mind when I thought of how much I wanted to meet them," Jinhwan winced, but relaxed anyway after a while. "Still, I don't even think I was supposed to know that the girl was possessed. But I overheard Subzero and Cheshire talking when they went back to the infirmary to take a look at Junhoe...and they mentioned a user of Overshadow who may possibly be from SAINT. And apparently that person may be able to take over more than one person at a time."

"What? I..." Sowon trailed off, for once being at a loss of words as the bundle of information was mercilessly loaded onto her. "This is insane...a possessor who can use more than two people at once? I understand that SAINT can produce very strong manufactured magics, but this is bordering on bizarre. Do they even understand how dangerous that can be?"

"Honestly, I think those freaks modified that ability with the intentions of making it dangerous," Jinhwan dryly supplied, knowing well enough how malevolent the organization could be. After all, they were the same people who offed him simply because he couldn't achieve the result they wanted from him.

"Holy shit..." Sowon muttered to herself. Jinhwan refrained from staring at her in shock, seeing that he never really pegged her as someone who would curse so comfortably. Sure, she switched around with profanities every so often when she felt like it, but never as often as now. "God. You really choose the best times to eavesdrop on people, Jinhwan."

At that, he managed a humorous grin. "What can I say? I've got impeccable timing."

The girl smiled a little at his penchant for jokes, but it was quick to turn into a frown as her mind went back to the initial subject at hand. "Still, there's something that's really bugging me...the possessor who chose to attack him. Why exactly did they do that? What purpose was in mind when the culprit decided to attack Junhoe? And if it was rooted back to SAINT, why would they have wanted to kill him? I...I don't understand."

"Trust me, I don't either," Jinhwan sighed as he ran a hand through his hair, the strands appearing almost iridescent in his phantom translucence. "I don't believe that this person did it for fun...Junhoe was too close to dying for that to have been a test run. That had to be planned."

With that, Sowon frowned once again. "So with that in mind, why...?"

"I...I'm not sure," Jinhwan stated unsurely, seeming angry at himself for not being able to tell, if the red hue that was slowly seeping into his diaphanous form didn't tell her otherwise. "But...I think it does have something to do with one of the other spirits that Junhoe contracted. It's essentially the only explanation. Maybe...one of the others knows something about SAINT that can't be revealed. And...they figured out that their spirit was still here, now with Junhoe...ugh, I don't know. I'm just thinking of all the wildest theories at this point."

'But I don't recall knowing anything too dangerous that could jeopardize SAINT singlehandedly. The stuff that I know is probably very obvious to the Institute already, and probably pretty outdated considering how long it has been since the year I died. Letting Junhoe know about it shouldn't be a problem...right?' Jinhwan thought to himself quietly, his frown intensifying the deeper he delved into his thoughts. 'So it can't possibly be me..."

At that point, Sowon wasn't paying very close attention to the spirit's immersed disposition. She, too, was deep in thought, wondering exactly what it was about Junhoe that warranted a near-death-experience at the hands of SAINT.

From what she knew of him, Junhoe lived alone in his penthouse near the school, mostly only ever accompanied by his spirits when he was off spending a boring day binge-gaming at home. He had a relatively normal childhood— and it was the truth, since officiating their bond required a deep look in each other's memories.

Nothing about him was necessarily out of the ordinary if one had counted out his ability, Faust, but even now, Faustian mages were becoming all the more common— or at least viewed in a better light. If there was anything that had to be odd about him, it was the lack of availability of his parents, but that wasn't much of an abnormality since heirs of rich corporates tend to go through that quite routinely.

'So if it wasn't Junhoe, it had to be the perpetrators— because nothing else could possibly explain the motives behind this incident, to begin with. 'Mental illness? SAINT itself? Or was someone trying to hide something...' Sowon thought speculatively, eyes squinted as she mulled over every possibility in mind.

Because as much as Junhoe may evoke irritation in others, he was, for the most part, an innocent young boy. And obviously much too young to be getting involved in any of SAINT's malevolent schemes.

Sowon glanced back at Junhoe's sleeping figure once again, somehow easily seeing the childlike air that surrounded him, and his playful persona.

"What a fool," she murmured, though it only sounded fond instead of begrudging.

Before she could ponder on the small details that drew her to him for any longer, several excited screams could be heard from outside the ward, somewhere down the hall as it pitched high enough to hurt her ears. Sowon frowned, exchanging glances with a just as confused Jinhwan as she stared down the door. "What the hell is that all about?"

Lips pouted subtly, Jinhwan shrugged (probably the billionth time that day, too). "Beats me. But if you'd like to check it out, be my guest. I'm staying here, away from the noise," he said, obviously more interested in remaining his introverted self.

Sowon rolled her eyes at his behavior, but didn't comment on it and instead let him be. "Fine. I'll be back," she said, wheeling herself around the few obstacles (known better as furniture) within the ward before exiting the room. Curiously, she looked around, gaze then zeroing in on a bunch of giddy schoolgirls crowding the separate door leading to the Elite Ten's private wing.

'Fangirls? But why? There's no way they're here to send another barrage of presents again. They already did it once. Don't tell me some random celebrity got injured here,' she thought curiously with a raised brow. She then wheeled herself even closer to the crowd, grimacing as she tried to ignore the pterodactyl-like screaming of the girls and instead focused on maneuvering through the insistent group. When she finally got through enough of the crowd to be able to see what is the actual focus of it, she was first greeted by the cold air of a familiar someone's magic energy emanating in the distance.

And as she looked ahead, Sowon was then greeted by the sight of someone she never expected to see on this day.

With his unruly hair tousled wildly enough to charm the hearts of young girls everywhere, lips upturned to form the most beguiling smirk, and his perfectly proportional and lithe form swaggering down the hallway, the boy on the scene had never looked healthier, especially with the charismatic platinum blonde girl by his side, beautifully smiling in a way Sowon was sure she had never seen the senior smile before.

Despite not being as close to him as her other friends were, she couldn't help but be happy to see him up and running again.

Sowon, despite her cold integrity as the infamous black rose of Vestus Academy's 2016 class 1-A, could not help but smile wide at the joyous sight that had graced her eyes. The warm feeling blooming in her heart was similar enough to the fondness that filled her at seeing Junhoe for the first time.

She couldn't properly predict exactly what everyone's reactions will be to this new development, but she knew, heart and soul, that the others were going to be stoked to see him again. Especially with him looking happy enough to completely brighten up the whole wing.

'This is it,' Sowon thought to herself, seeming to simper uncontrollably at the joyful feeling that filled the once empty atmosphere of the Decahedron's medical wing. 'He's back.'

———

Despite all the exhaustion that had previously threatened to weigh her down several centuries ago in the suffocating space of the Ice Pillar Break waiting room (before being effortlessly snuffed out by Jungkook's warm presence alone), it was safe to say that Kim Yerim was on fire at this very moment.

Not on literal fire like Taehyung so obviously was at the audience stands when Joohyun casually came by to sit with her dedicated gang of spectators, but still, on fire nonetheless. That had to be the most suitable phrase to describe her performance at this moment, because Yerim having actual confidence in herself was already a difficult scene to come by.

She really hadn't felt this good in a while— heck, this event can only be second to the smooch she had graciously given to Jungkook not too long ago (which was...fantastic, by the way). Yerim rarely ever went out of her way to jinx herself often, but at this second, she felt that she was at her best. Spurred on by the motivations of her supportive friends, sharing encouraging smiles with SinB, and just showing off the best performance she could possibly offer, she was in awfully high spirits for this event.

In the distance, Yeri could see all the other competitors very clearly. Lim Nayoung, scarily precise and calculative as she teared open space itself with her own two hands to achieve a flawless victory, gracefully weaved her vigorous attacks through the arena as she took down each glowing orb in her line of sight. Her expression was blank and perhaps even serene as she effortlessly exerted her magic within the field, her aura stretching far and wide over the venue to wow the crowds. Considering that she was a third seat from Caelum High's Elite Ten, Yeri wasn't really surprised.

A far distance away from the current participant in first place was Cheng Xiao, postured perfectly as she floated in the air and eliminated the beams surrounding her using the kinetic force she released through her movements— being well-versed in martial arts, such an ability was practically made for her. Being the fourth placed contestant, it was clear that she was working all the harder to retain her position in second place, which she should've been able to earn in the first match...alas, she knew she couldn't easily get everything she wanted.

Farther away from the current fourth place holder, Cao Lu, too, was moving with impeccable grace, appearing as light as a feather as she flew around like some fantastical fairy from olden mythologies. Despite her softness and discipline, however, her movements were swift and sharp, characteristically similar to the batons made of hardened light that she held firmly in her hands as she struck every orb that floated in her way.

Stuck in fifth place, Cao Lu knew she couldn't be too comfortable with her position, and went out of her way to secure as many points as possible— at least, until the countdown eventually finished.

And finally, in second place, was the one and only Hwang Eunbi, or better known to the rest of her peers as SinB, cold and emotionless as ever as she calmly disappeared and reappeared near every orb all around the arena to quietly hit them with simple hand-to-hand techniques. With her ability focusing more on defense than offense, one would wonder why she was chosen for this event, but alas, the girl could make it work.

Flitting from one place to another in the blink of an eye, one might have assumed that she was teleporting— which was close enough to the truth, but not exact. In the eyes of a bystander, SinB looked like she kept going back and forth between many places at once with a speed that was unrivaled. That is, after all, the indisputable strength of the Nighlock ability.

And who knows? Perhaps eventually, when SinB fully mastered her magic filled with many miraculous possibilities, Yeri might not be able to see her anymore, as the girl would most probably disappear into the realms outside of space and time to search for an adventure like no other. Perhaps, at one point, SinB could become the equivalent to a god, if she could unlock all the of Nighlock's greatest capabilities.

Together with Yeri herself, the five of them made up the top five contestants of the match so far— and ultimately the only participants to take part in the finals. From the second Mirage Bat match, the ten contestants that had advanced from the first match were eliminated based on their points, the highest five getting to move to the final round and starting off with the amount of points they've allocated in the second round.

Now she clearly understood why Nayoung had seemed so adamant on taking the giant orb from before— by maximizing the gap between her and the other contestants as much as possible, her victory would be even more guaranteed, which was essentially the most preferable outcome to her. Huh. Maybe Yerim should have put in more of an effort to prevent her from getting too many points, but ah, well— what's done was done. And there was nothing much she could do about it now besides yearn for more points herself.

For the most part, the majority of the match had been pretty uneventful. Most of them were quietly minding their own businesses, seeming to stick for different sections within the arena and trying their best to avoid each other to get as much points as possible without being interfered. And that was exactly how fifty full minutes have passed, leaving the group of five ten minutes left on the clock.

Funnily, their rankings remained the same as how the second match had ended, but technically it was not much of a surprise— with their difference in points at that portion of the game, it wouldn't be too shocking for them to retain that distance in the next match if their points were also kept with them, so here they were now.

Still, Yeri knew that she couldn't leave things like this forever. Something had to change. And that change had to start with her.

It made her feel bad, but she knew that just striving to get points wouldn't be enough. She'll have to drag the other girls down to somehow come up on top and switch up the algorithm. What made her feel even worse was having to scheme against SinB— they both represented the same schools (a commendable feat that the audience was pretty impressed with, if the cheering didn't explain to her any better) and should technically be on the same team, but the both of them knew that it was, in a way, every woman for herself out here.

Not that Yeri minded too much, however. She knew that if she had to lose to anyone, she wouldn't mind doing so to SinB.

Discreetly, Yeri glanced around the arena, continuing to hit the orbs situated near her to not appear very suspicious. Then, she thought over the tricks she had tried with her beams in the second match, knowing that the others have probably seen through it in the amount of time they had to be played by them.

'They're making an effort to his every single orb in sight instead of simply focusing on the white orbs. They're not stupid anymore. They know what I would be up to,' Yeri hummed as she side-eyed the two girls who were nearer to her, being Lim Nayoung and Cao Lu respectively, while Cheng Xiao and SinB floated around at the farther end. Just her luck to be closer to the two people she was wary of the most. Not that she was underestimating the other two girls, but these two...they had a bone to pick with her, and that could turn out downright ugly.

Away from the forcefields closing off the arena (most probably to prevent collateral damage), Sehun hummed as he watched the show, appearing to have just woken up from a nap— sleeping did tend to be a habit to him in every Mirage Bat match. Mirage Bat was just an unnecessarily long event, for no reason! "Things seem to be at a standstill," the blonde blankly commented, adjusting his sunglasses.

Jungkook, too, was observantly watching, though whether he did that because he wanted to watch out for Yeri or honestly critique the match was well beyond everyone there. "Yeah, I think so too," he sighed, leaning back against his seat. "Since all of the girls seem to be only making moves on the orbs and not each other, nothing eventful seems to be happening. I get that they're all focused on allocating as many points as possible, but...this is a competition for a reason. You need to bring yourself up just as much as you drag others down here."

Silence.

"Unbelievable. Jungkook actually said something smart while watching Yeri," Joy muttered in disbelief, staring down at the match with not as much interest as she had while rapidly texting on her cellphone earlier (probably conversing with Sungjae, or something. What else could possible get the empath's attention, anyway?).

Embarrassed at her remark, the young third seat hopelessly spluttered. "Wha— I do say smart things most of the time! I'm not the top of class 1-A for no reason, you know!" he indignantly stated, crossing his arms over his chest as he looked away from her.

"Really, now? Gee, you almost had me convinced that you were actually stupid," Wonwoo sarcastically murmured, albeit in an absent manner as he was more intent on focusing on the Mirage Bat match, tracing each of their movements with interest in his eyes despite there not being much to watch out for.

"Why the hell do you guys only ever pick on me when we're spectating someone?" Jungkook growled to himself, pouting disdainfully at his friends' lack of mercy. "How come you never try to bully anyone else? Take this idiot for example," he grandly stated, pointing at a dopey Kim Taehyung as he was busily acting lovey-dovey with Irene. "He does way more dumb stuff than I do but no one ever comes for him besides Soojung, Irene, Myungsoo or BoA-nim!"

"I think having all four of those beasts giving him shit every time he does something wrong is more than enough, Jungkook," Momo deadpanned (ignoring the pointed look from Irene at being referred to as a 'beast'), unimpressed as she now opened up a new plastic bag filled with cheeseballs. Mina quietly dug her hand in, and the blonde casually allowed her to do so as if it was a normal occurrence. "You, on the other hand. Hm. Everyone treats you well, so the second years and the rest of us are just trying to make up for that."

"That's completely unfair!" Jungkook cried out, groaning as he ran a hand down his face in what seemed to be pure exasperation.

"Gah, shut up. You get an excessive amount of love from Yeri, anyways, so it doesn't really matter how much we bully you here," Yugyeom casually stated, Jungkook's expression becoming even more incredulous as the rest of their rowdy group could only nod along with the former in agreement.

The third seat could only stare at his close friend blankly. "That literally makes no sense, you fucking asshole."

Down in the arena, Yeri was still thinking as she danced around and tried to hit up as many orbs as she could. Sure, the climbing of her points remained consistent, but consistent will not be enough to beat the two walls placed high above her. SinB, and her evasive moves, along with Nayoung, and her unbeatable offense, were two forces to be reckoned with. If she wanted a chance to go toe to toe with their amount of points, she had go out of her way to steal everyone else's orbs.

But how exactly was she going to do that, anyway?

Momentarily, she took a few seconds to have her eyes sweep over the vicinity once again. In the last Mirage Bat match, she had replicated the white orbs with her own beams...and she had also substituted the light in the atmosphere with her own beams to trick the eyes of everyone who was watching her, creating the illusion of her 'disappearing' while moving...

Huh. Illusion.

Maybe...maybe she did have an idea, after all.

Closing her eyes, Yeri willed herself to focus solely on her breathing, calming herself as her surroundings eventually faded away. Slowly, she allowed her magic energy to stretch throughout the area, making sure it was able to reach the entire arena. A rational part of her inwardly grimaced as she thought of just how much magic energy she was going to use to miraculously pull this off. God damn, she was probably going to spend an entire day in her bed because of this move alone.

Deep in her heart, she formed her beams all over the vicinity just as she willed all of them to replicate the light rays in the air itself— and judging by how none of the other girls thought to look in her direction, they must have not noticed.

Yeri winced again. This next part was most likely going to wreck her energy like an absolute bitch. But uh, anything that could help her win was good enough in her book.

Carefully, she shifted each of them as slightly as she possibly could with her not-at-all-graceful moves, barely making any movement at all if one were to really look and take notice of the subtle, twitching movements of her fingers while her beams weaved lazily in the air.

Then, just like that, the orbs were gone from everyone's sights.

Naturally, everyone was shocked.

Joy had been the first to notice the change amongst the rest of their little group, eyebrows furrowed in concentration as she looked closer into the view, eyes squinted close, only to truly see nothing. No orbs, no prominent colors, nothing. And judging by the alarmed reactions of everyone else, she knew that she couldn't be hallucinating. All the orbs really were no longer there, where they actually should have been. 'What the hell happened to them?' she thought with much incredulity.

Taehyung, too, was very much surprised, actually having the gall to pause in the middle of giving Irene a raspberry as he stared down at the scene with widened eyes. "What the hell?!" he cried out, causing the woman in his arms to grimace at his unrestrained volume.

Momo remained unfazed as ever, but that was relatively normal since she was busy stuffing her face with cheeseballs.

On the bright side, Mina was doing the reactions for the both of them, almost standing up from her seat as she gasped in shock, before proceeding to prattle and ramble on about possible theories behind the orbs' odd disappearance. Next to her, Yugyeom could only watch the show with a gaping mouth, while Wonwoo and Sehun examined the scene contemplatively, lips pursed and eyes narrowed.

Jeon Jungkook, however, was smirking with an excitement that very rarely showed on his face (unless he was with a certain someone, but that didn't really need to be said). It seemed that he was really the only person there to actually understand what just went on down in the arena, understanding dawning in his eyes as he proudly muttered, "Attagirl."

Momo glanced at him inquisitively, a silent question in her eyes as she finished chewing on her seventh handful of cheeseballs. "You seem to know of what just happened."

"Aw, come on, isn't it obvious?" the boy grinned, raising a brow at her as he crossed his legs, leaning back comfortably as he continued to watch the match with a pride matchable by no other. "Yeye obviously did something awesome."

Wonwoo rolled his eyes, nowhere near impressed with his answer. His words were vague, if not anything else. It didn't really clarify anything. "Speak in the I'm-not-in-love-with-Yeri language, please," he curtly requested, with Yugyeom quietly mumbling, "You mean speak normally?" from somewhere next to Mina.

Jungkook sighed (dismissively ignoring his friends' jabs), slumping in a resigned manner. "Yeah, yeah, fine. You know the trick she did with her beams in the last Mirage Bat match? Where she substituted the light rays in the atmosphere with her beams to change everyone's perceptions? Essentially, she did the exact same thing again, except on the world around her instead of herself. This time, she made it look like the orbs have disappeared."

Everyone else took a while to process his answer, but when they did, a lot of them surely erupted in a flurry of excitement— namely Taehyung, Yugyeom and Mina, who were both very much stoked to learn about Yeri's trick. "That's freaking awesome!" Yugyeom gushed, grinning like a schoolboy who had received his first gaming console while Mina eagerly nodded next to him.

Joy stroked her thin thoughtfully as she grinned at the explanation Jungkook offered. "So she basically pulled the same trick from earlier. Hm. It's pretty impressive how she improvised so much from the first version of it," she murmured excitedly, seeming surprisingly composed compared to the other three hooligans making a huge fuss.

"Hell yeah! That's goddamn cool!" Taehyung, too, rushed out giddily, seeming awfully childish next to the calm and composed disposition of his girlfriend, Irene, who only smiled softly at his behavior. Other spectators gave him odd looks, but it didn't even seem like he paid all of it any attention.

Down below, Yeri let out a small grin as she saw the other girls flounder about in alarm, though her smile did drop just the slightest at seeing SinB's lost expression. Quickly, she swallowed her guilt, taking a deep breath as she prepared to go through with the second part of her little trick.

Smooth as ever, the young sixth seat of Vestus Academy's Elite Ten thought up a little twist in the beam-turned-light-rays' properties, before moving both her hands in a motion fast enough to rival lightspeed.

The orbs reappeared before their very eyes, only to completely shred.

Everyone was left in complete silence as they stared blankly at the spaces where the orbs had once been, disbelieving at the account of what just happened. Then, all of a sudden, several beeps were heard over the silence, signaling the gaining of points from a certain contestant. Tentatively, everyone turned to look at the scoreboard, only to be greeted by the sight of Kim Yerim's score climbing over the dozens— and climbing, climbing, and climbing, until she swiftly overtook Hwang Eunbi. She was now in second place.

Everyone was quiet.

Then, just like that, a huge commotion ensued, everyone voicing out their bafflement and confusion at everything they had just witnessed, even the game's organizers blinking in shock before hurrying to form more orbs to continue the game.

By that point, the match was down to its final four minutes. Everyone was on edge.

Yeri swallowed nervously as she looked around, trying to ignore the prodding gazes of all the other contestants. Across the arena, she spotted the questioning expression on SinB's face, and the former grimaced, before giving her an apologetic expression seeming akin to an injured puppy. Her fellow first year had only shaken her head, seeming neutral and calm as she turned away from her to get back in the game.

Alright, so she wasn't angry with her. That's good enough, at least.

On the other hand, the tension between herself and all the other girls had actually increased tenfold, intense to the point that it felt suffocating in the spacious confines of the arena.

Promptly, Yeri turned around, knowing damn well that the other girls were burning holes through her body with their eyes as she did. She let out a heavy breath, feeling her body sag with exhaustion at the mass usage of magic energy.

The audience's seats weren't faring any better, either. Everyone was stuck in a state of confusion, and for a moment, even Yeri's group of friends had stared on at the scene with a familiar look of dumbfoundedness. Jungkook and Sehun were the first to gather themselves, staring down the situation analytically before offering their two cents. "She changed her beams' properties while they were still in the form of light rays..." Jungkook murmured.

Dutifully, Sehun nodded. "Yes. And she must've moved them with enough magnitude to destroy the orbs near them. Considering the fact that all the orbs were unseen, it was practically an easy sweep."

"It doesn't sound so easy with how tired she looks," Joy offhandedly commented, frowning in concern at the sight of the girl's slumping figures.

Jungkook, too, frowned, but he was confident above all else. "She'll be fine. I trust her."

"To win? She is more than capable. But to take care of herself?" Irene hummed, shaking her head lightly. "She's not the greatest practitioner of such a custom."

"Hanging out with selfless ol' Jungkookie must do that kind of damage to someone," Taehyung teasingly joked, snickering when Jungkook's unimpressed expression appeared and everyone else began chuckling along with him.

"I've said this once and I'll never stop reinforcing it; I hate all of you," he banefully muttered.

Yeri perked up to look at the countdown just as it had reached the point of three minutes. While new orbs were still being formed all around the area, something big was slowly building in the very center of it, bright and somehow simultaneously ominous and spiraled and glowed like the torrential eye of a storm.

Yeri immediately drew her hand back, instinctively prepared to strike. 'Don't tell me...will it be like the last match, where a giant orb with a health bar appeared near the end of the game? And the person who got the last hit on it received a large sum of points?' she then glanced back at the scoreboard, where the gaps between each of their scores weren't exactly too far.

'At this rate, if someone gets the points from the giant orb, any one of us can actually snatch first place,' she thought with a shocking realization, whipping her head around to face the rapidly growing orb with widened eyes. She had to wait this out— until the orb was at its weakest. Only then will she attack.

But as the orb fully formed to take over almost the entirety of the arena and its health bar popped up right above it to signal its colossal magnitude, Yeri realized with a shock that everyone else was actually planning the exact same thing. No one was making a move on the giant orb. Everyone was only watching preemptively, awaiting the right time to strike. Even the smaller orbs floating around in the air were only left hanging, ultimately ignored in the face of the beast staring them all down.

In the audience stands, Taehyung was the most confused out of all of them, eyes squinted oddly as he leaned forward to stare at the large glowing sphere shining before them. "What the fuck? Who the hell was stoned enough to tell the Decahedron staff that putting a fucking planet in the middle of the arena was a fantastic idea?"

Irene promptly facepalmed just as Sehun let out the longest sigh of his life. "That's not a planet, you goddamn doofus."

Yeri bit her lip nervously as she looked around and took note of the determined expressions manifesting in all of the other participants' faces. Cheng Xiao, Nayoung, Cao Lu and SinB; they were all wearing a face fit for battle, and it made the smallest girl there more afraid than anything else.

Nayoung seemed to notice her moment of hesitation, as she turned around to face her with a challenging gleam in her eyes, almost sneering at her with how her lips were barely upturned. "Come on, now. Aren't you going to make your first move? Or did you really think that we were stupid enough to not think the same way you do?"

"She's right," Cao Lu's levelheaded voice came from somewhere behind the taller girl, her usually wide eyes now piercing as they stared straight through Yeri's being. "We can stand here all day, Kim Yerim, but none of us are going to make the first move unless you do."

"Don't get us wrong, the four of us are not allied, and we do not resent you," Cheng Xiao's soft voice was carried through the clearing, polite and calm in demeanor as she spoke to Yeri with a small smile on her face, appearing almost apologetic. "You just happened to have fooled us too many times. We won't allow it to happen again, so a truce is certainly in order."

Everyone's attention was then directed to a relaxed SinB, who shrugged nonchalantly at the sight of so many eyes on her. "I'm just here to go with the flow."

Yeri creased her eyebrows at their words, unable to comprehend the hostility laced beneath the cracks. Alright. So maybe fucking around with them through these two matches wasn't best course of action. But Yeri wanted to win— or at least, appear as if she tried her best. And she can't do that without showing it directly; and showing it involved kicking everyone's asses.

Fine, then. If they wanted to gang up on her, she'll just have to pick them off, solo.

"Right. Well, okay, then. If you're going to wait for me to attack just to snatch first place, then, so be it," Yeri decided, stretching her fingers as she mentally prepared herself. Her final move, then. And this one is going to take twice as much energy as before. She'll have to brace herself once again.

"Cause in that case, I'll just have to kill that beast of an orb in one shot."

Nobody registered her words quickly enough to catch its implications, because by then, Yeri had already sprung into action.

"What—?!" Cheng Xiao had immediately turned around to fire off a blast of kinetic energy after the evasive girl, only to gape in shock as her attack affected none of the small orbs in the vicinity, the once-colorful spheres glowing an ominous white.

"Substituting her beams for all the smaller orbs? What is she trying to achieve—?" Cao Lu asked herself, clearly baffled as she held her batons with much more alertness than before, trained eyes darting around the area with much trepidation.

SinB hummed, letting her hand down just as she was about to suck a majority of the orbs-turned-beams into the realm between space of time. She was awfully curious on what her schoolmate was planning to do. Even if she lost, she wouldn't have minded seeing Yeri's mysterious plan come into play.

"What kinda ace is up your sleeve now, Yerim?" she curiously murmured to herself, smirking subtly enough for it to not show so obviously on her face.

Nayoung, for the most part, was silent as she waved her hand and allowed a large attack to attempt to destroy the beams surrounding them. Upon doing so, the beams' forms unusually flickered, but it returned back to its form after being left alone once again.

In the distance, Yeri gritted her teeth as she struggled to keep up the shape of her beams against Nayoung's magic. 'Since she's possibly marginally stronger than me, it may be possible for her to override the general laws of my magic. Kinda the same way with Myungsoo, who can easily destroy my beams as he is leagues above me,' she thought worriedly, frowning. 'I guess I'll have to attack much quicker than last time before Nayoung has the chance to completely stop me, then.'

Once again, she brought her beams out everyone as she substituted it for almost everything in the air— as quickly as she could, Yeri filled up every empty space with her substituted beams, changing up their properties just slightly enough to be able to damage the large orb before them all as she prepared to release.

Shakily, she took deep breaths. 'Fuck, this uses up so much energy,' she thought to herself almost regretfully, but she couldn't chicken out on her plan now of all times— not when she was finally ready. Yeri sighed, closing her eyes for a moment.

Then, she opened them again, a new resolve flashing within them as she took an even deeper breath, softly moving her hand back. Her beams followed her movements, as she stared down the large beam in the field. Huh. Since when was there only two minutes left until the match ends? Did she really properly think and use her brain for that long? Goodness gracious! This was so unlike her.

Letting out a wane smirk, Yeri found herself catching Jungkook's eye in the audience's seats once again— a vague sense of déjà vu, akin to a prominent pang hitting her in the heart. Knowingly, he smiled at her, and the girl felt alive all over again.

And then, she let go.

All the beams within the confines of the forcefield surged forth and combined to form one large convergence attack as it fell like a barrage on the largest orb, similar to a hail of missiles as it felt upon the object and brought down its health bar almost instantly. Smoke billowed all through the area from collision, which brought on little to no surprise from anyone. Yeri released a heavy breath, knowing that the worst was over.

Then, the smoke cleared. She slumped down significantly as she prepared to hear the deafening sounds of the buzzer.

As she slowly opened her eyes once again, they suddenly widened at the sight that greeted her.

The orb had one point of health left.

Everyone froze at the sight.

Then, Nayoung acted first, tearing into the three-dimensional space surrounding them with all the strength she could muster to land the final blow against the oversized orb.

Before Yeri could do anything about it, the orb exploded in a flurry of colorful sparkles, erupting in a sound louder than her ears could handle as the noise dissolved into a high-pitched screech echoing over the distance.

The buzzers sounded. Confetti erupted as the Decahedron signaled the end of the final match of the 2016 Decagon Games.

Having lost so much energy, Yeri collapsed to her knees on the platform she had first leapt to the air from, the cold feeling of the stone seeping into her skin as her disoriented vision took in the dull color of the elevated platform. Then, a small smirk made its way onto her face, followed by a long sigh that escaped her.

"...I guess that win just wasn't for me," she muttered to herself with wholehearted acceptance. Somehow, she didn't feel the usual pang of disappointment that filled her in moments of defeat. If anything, she only felt content, happy to have given the match her all. Maybe she didn't need to win. Maybe she just needed to feel alive.

Just then, a hand appeared in her line of vision as the loud cheering of the crowd around her came back into full focus, prompting her to grimace at the sheer volume of the audience. Hell, was the venue shaking?

Yeri looked up to the owner of the hand, greeted by the sight of a smiling SinB, who leaned down to help her up. Hesitantly, she took the girl's hand, allowing herself to be hoisted up as her teammate remained comfortably silent.

Well. Until now. "You know," the brunette casually brought up, yawning as she brought a hand over her mouth. "I don't have much to say, but I'd like to let you know that you looked really cool right then and there. It was...gratifying to watch."

Yeri raised a curious brow at the girl as she looked away from her, appearing almost shy, which was beyond uncharacteristic of the usually cold and chic girl. "U-uh...thanks? I'm glad you saw me that way. I thought that I might've looked pretty pathetic with how exhausted I was feeling."

"Nah, not at all. You may not have gotten first place. But everyone knows that that was your show," SinB said with so much confidence that Yeri had chills running down her spine. Just then, the girl caught sight of someone in the distance, and nudged the girl gently in the side. "Hey. Nayoung and the others seem to want to talk to you."

Yeri then directed her gaze to the other three competitors of the game, taken by surprise at the sight of their kind smiles. Did their personalities only flip a switch in battle or what? SinB nudged her again, prompting her to stutter out, "U-uh...yes?" as everyone else chuckled.

Nayoung smiled at her. It wasn't a wide and toothy smile like Joy's and Taehyung's, but a little more discreet and subtle— kinda like Sehun's and Momo's, in its small and meaningful glory. It gave her the reminiscent taste of home; in the presence of her friends. "I just wish for you to understand that even though you earned second place in the end, your performance out there was amazing. You've earned my respect."

Yeri blinked. "Wow. Uh...thanks?"

Cao Lu nodded eagerly. "Yes, you were an utmost formidable opponent! I'd surely like the chance to compete with you again! Shall we meet again in the Official Mirage Bat matches next year?"

Before Yeri could open her mouth to reply, Cheng Xiao excitedly included herself in the conversation, though still retaining her polite disposition as she kindly asked her, "When the After-Games Banquet and the Prize Giving Ceremony arrives, let's get to know each other! I do enjoy making new friends from the other schools— and I've yet to fully befriend someone from Vestus!"

"U-uh, guys...?" Yeri tried to say, though she was only paraded with even more of Cao Lu and Cheng Xiao's excited chattering, prompting a shake of the head and another small smile from Nayoung as she watched the situation play out with much amusement.

Then, before she could properly articulate a sentence to reply to them, SinB came by the nudge once again, in the arm this time. Startled, she immediately turned to stare at the girl inquisitively, to which her fellow first year then gestured to a few familiar figures to her left.

Turning around once again, Yeri was immediately greeted by Jungkook's charming smile as he stood before her joyfully. "Look at our winner!" he had said so pridefully, and the sixth seat had to resist the irrepressible urge to simply melt into his welcoming arms. If no one else was there watching them, she probably would've done it without a second thought.

As she came by to laugh testily at the sight of the rest of her friends group joining the two of them, she grinned softly. "I'm not really the winner, though."

"Aw, don't worry about it, sugar! The way I see it, you're a winner in our eyes!" Joy cheerily said to her as she flashed the girl a thumbs up, winking just as Taehyung, Yugyeom and Mina whooped and yelled happily— though it was certainly loud enough to turn the already chaotic Decahedron venue into an all-out zoo.

Next to the noisy trio, Sehun had his arms crossed over his chest as him and Wonwoo nodded to her in approval, while Irene smiled proudly at her. Momo's thumbs up was seen appearing above Sehun's giant from where she most probably stood behind him. The joy that was filling Yeri was close indescribable— at this rate, she was more than ready to burst apart at the seams.

Like a cherry on top, Jungkook stared down at her with look that cannot be described as anything else but fond, warm and kind in the form of a home she was stolen from a long, long time ago. Yeri grinned hopefully at the sight of his affectionate expression, feeling her loud heartbeat thundering against her feeble chest.

Sleazily, he grinned back at her. "Well, I guess I'm quite the winner for having you," he flirtily drawled, something in his eyes twinkling cheekily as he promptly pulled her towards him, and as if it happened in slow motion, her lips had finally met his in a long awaited kiss.

At first, she was startled, almost putting up the strength to resist, but as her cheeks colored red and the kiss went on for longer she immediately melted back into his soft lips, her tired arms suddenly finding its strength again as she moved to wrap them around his neck, rapidly beating heart feeling awfully whole and the hesitance that had hung over her thoughts with a looming ominousness quick to disappear.

Like a beacon in the dark, Jeon Jungkook had so easily chased all her shadows away, acting as a black hole sucking all manner of abnormal things into the void. And even as everything else spiraled into his oblivion, her light always remained. He had never once put out her flame.

"Ahem."

Just his hand was about to reach for her hips, an entirely different voice reached the both of them quite pointedly, somewhat familiar but also faraway. The two of them froze as they pulled away, staring into each other's widened eyes as they tried to figure out this person's voice. It was only at that time did they realize that everything around them had gone silent.

Then, a sigh came about, in the same voice that interrupted them earlier. It came out awkward, though a little humorous, somehow like it had always been. "Look, I know that I was gone for a really long while – Soojung filled me in on that already – but...seriously, you two? How much of the games did I actually miss to the point that my sister is actually getting legitimate action from males now?!"

Yeri immediately gasped stepped off from Jungkook, the same sound of shock issuing from her partner's lips as she turned around to the source of this distant familiarity. No way. There was no way that he was here now.

But as her vision cleared for her to come face to face with the person she had lost sight of for so many days, something in her heart had threatened to burst as all kinds of words have died on her lips. Her mouth was left gaping as she stared at the smiling man before her, his crinkled eyes and dimple grin doing absolute nothing to calm the storm that was brewing in her already turbulent heart.

Adorning a smile that was all too familiar for her fragile heart, sleek and youthful as ever, Kim Jongin stared at her with a gaze that truly reminded her of home.

"Miss me?"

——————

[ A/N: WOOO! that's right kids, liya finally updated with her longest chapter YET! it even beat my record on singularity!! WOW!! 38k words...idk what kinda drugs i was on to somehow manage this.

but anyways, i'm sorry to have made you all wait for so long 😭😭 i had a major writer's block in the amount of time i was gone and i really couldn't bring myself to write this chapter!! not to mention that i had my 2 week long exams in that period of time too, but the good news is that i've got 8As out of all my 11 subjects so far! there's 3 subjects left that i haven't gotten the results for yet, so yea, fingers crossed!

and i'm so sorry for not replying to some of your comments!! and not commenting on some of my mutuals' recent fanfic updates 😭😭😭 i know i sound like a broken record for apologizing so much but i'm really sorry!! now that the weight of updating is lifted off my shoulders i think i can finally catch up to my notifications again!!

so as per usual, we'll discuss the events that went on in the chapter, and as you can see, a lot of stuff has happened! in summary; jungri remains as flirty as ever despite not being official lol, wenga and seulmin have officially switched places in the fluffy-to-angsty scale, and sowon x junhoe's past is finally being teased!! yay for all the ships!! vrene and sungjoy made cameos too, so yay!! don't worry i remember myungsoo x sooyoung but i didn't rly know how to include them here so yeah i apologize!!

but the ships aren't the only interesting parts of the chapter!! firstly a new character is introduced to the story (WELCOME TO THE DARK SIDE HOBI), doyeon's true power is revealed, we get to see the shapeshifter in action, and finally, JONGIN IS AWAKE!!! AHHHHH YESSSSS BITCH!!! i wanted to make his awakening a little more emotional but i decided with what we ended up getting because...that scene was just soooo jongin, u get me??

how was that yoongi vs shapeshifter fight scene by the way? i was personally very happy with it as it showed off a lot of his badassery that was simmered down by jungkook's teasing (and his flustered reactions to wendy lol). with his dialogue, i took quite a bit of inspiration from KNB's akashi, bc he exemplifies badass midgets all over the world. when yoongi was giving e'dawn his lil scary eyes, i was basically picturing this scene:

so yea. i'm glad that i got the opportunity to explore yoongi's true strength as an SS-class mage! and so far, the shapeshifter has shown 3 forms, none of which are his real one btw.

miyeon: she was the girl they (using non-gender specific pronouns to make shit easier) transformed into to get information about wendy and yoongi. hyojong/e'dawn: i'm sure y'all know who he is lol and finally solbin: aka best girl. they're obviously not bad people!! the shapeshifter just happens to use their bodies to do bad things, so yea!!

meanwhile, status report on jimin: he's on a more neutral ground now and isn't inherently malicious towards seulgi, which is progress!! now he just wants to make sense of his memories and he is willing to put off his [seduce fetus yeri] mission to figure things out. nothing can stop him in his search!!

u know...it's kinda funny how every other ship here was practically flourishing with all that fluff while wenga was busy suffering...but anyways! a chapterly q&a, which i've apparently missed on the last two chapters; what's your favorite doomsdays chapter so far and why? mine would have to be this one at the moment (lol) simply because i'm happy with the action scenes!

i'd like to thank all of you guys for getting doomsdays to 82k reads now!! it's unbelievable how just last chapter i was excited about hitting close to 60k, and look how much it's grown (in like 4 months LOL)!! THANK YOU! and i will always appreciate the love and support you guys continue to give, be it through comments and votes or in silence!! 💖💓💞💕💖💓💘💕💖💓💞

your patience can never be repaid enough, so thank you!! i hope you all have a lovely day; don't rush on trying to finish this chapter, you guys have got all the time you need 👍 ]