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Heavy breathing emits from the humid room, a grunt resounding from the boy standing in the middle.

It had already been a few hours, and the two people in the room were growing tired. “I thought you were supposed to be nice,” one of them jokes at the figure standing across from him.

The figure only laughs back, answering with, “That’s the beauty of gullible people, isn’t it?”

After helping you recover from your recent embarrassing moment, Luhan decided it was time that he personally worked with Chanyeol for a bit, mainly focusing on his fighting.

Chanyeol glares up at Luhan, still breathing heavily and letting out an annoyed huff. “I am not gullible.” The blonde boy’s stance shifts and he dashes to Chanyeol’s right side, Chanyeol’s eyes following his every step. He’s so focused on Luhan that he doesn’t notice Luhan’s fighting stick darting quickly at him. It hits him square in the gut and Chanyeol doubles over, clenching his stomach and coughing loudly.

Luhan’s stick finds its way back to its owner’s hand, and he stands victorious over the fire user. “Gullible. You need to keep your eyes open at all times, Yeol.”

Chanyeol lets out a growl, looking up at the boy. “My eyes were open, you were just busy cheating and using your powers. Again.” Luhan doesn’t notice Chanyeol’s anger until this moment, hearing his words become lower as he says them between gritted teeth.

Luhan leans down next to Chanyeol, his hand coming up to touch his shoulder. “Relax.”

Just that one word fuels Chanyeol’s anger even more, and he shoots up from his spot, his hands tightening into fists. “How am I supposed to relax when you keep playing games?! I thought you were supposed to be teaching me but you just keep using me as a punching bag!”

Hearing his loud voice, Xiumin runs into the room, his eyes immediately falling on Chanyeol. “Jesus, what did you say to him?” he asks out loud, his question directed to Luhan. Still leaning, Luhan looks back at Xiumin, his face void of emotion. “When was the last time you guys worked on his anger tactics?”

Xiumin takes a second to look up, thinking back to their short sessions with Kai. “Maybe last week? No… the week before?”

Luhan rolls his eyes and stands, whispering a soft “Damn it.” Chanyeol’s hands are fuming at this point, and Luhan walks straight towards him, his eyes in a hard lock with Chanyeol’s. He s a heavy hand into Chanyeol’s chest and rests it there, the impact surprising Chanyeol. This was a side of Luhan that no one, except probably Kai, had seen before. Chanyeol tries to maintain his scowl, but his eyes go wide as the fearless blonde boy moves close to his face, the fighting stick held tightly in Luhan’s left hand.

“Here,” Luhan says forcefully, lifting and ing his hand once more into Chanyeol’s chest. “Focus your anger here.” Luhan’s eyes never leave Chanyeol’s, and the only thing Chanyeol can do is stare back. There is a sense of urgency in Luhan’s gaze, the importance of the lesson becoming heavier on the shoulders of both of them. Chanyeol looks down at the hand on his chest and closes his eyes, concentrating his emotions into the spot where the hand is settled. He breathes deep, his lungs expanding as he feels his muscles tighten and the heat move up his arms. When the heat reaches where Luhan's hand rests, it suddenly emerges from Chanyeol's chest in a cloud of reds and oranges. 

Luhan's eyes go wide and he removes his hand from Chanyeol, the cloud following the movement of his hands. All three boys in the room stare in awe at the small orb of energy hovering harmlessly in the air above Luhan's hand. Chanyeol's eyes go back and forth between the orb and Luhan's face, and he asks,"Was that supposed to happen?" 

Luhan shakes his head, his jaw slack. "I- I have no idea what this is. I've never seen something like this."

And as if right on cue, Donghae walks in, his eyes immediately falling onto the small orb. 

"Nice job. I was wondering when you'd figure that out." He smiles at the boys, who are still confused. Donghae approaches the orb and swipes it from Luhan's hand, the orb now following Donghae's hand movements. Luhan stares at the hand that he still has raised in the air, his mouth agape. Donghae plays with the orb for a moment, twirling it in the air and then throwing it up, catching it with his opposite hand. The three boys walk up cautiously, eyeing the orb with suspicion. "So, what is it?" Luhan asks softly, not wanting to speak loudly as if to disturb the small, mysterious sphere.

Donghae smirks as he suddenly throws the orb right at Chanyeol. It hits him directly in the stomach with enough force to push him back a few steps. Catching his balance, Chanyeol grunts, "Okay, I'm getting a little tired of being a target." Donghae chuckles, turning to Luhan. "That was a ball of energy. It seems you figured out, accidentally if I might add, how to absorb power."

It becomes quiet in the room as everyone digests the new information, and Donghae takes a few paces backwards, setting himself near Xiumin. "Energy absorption is both a useful offensive and defensive skill. Now that you've figured it out, you're going to have to master it in order to use it properly." He spreads his feet apart and sets himself in a hard stance, his arms at his sides. "The energy can be used to attack, as I did to Chanyeol, or..." He raises his hands to the middle of his body and opens them so that his palms are directly in Chanyeol's line of sight. "Chanyeol, hit me."

Without hesitation, Chanyeol swings a fist at Donghae's face, but is stopped abruptly by Donghae's arm. Xiumin stifles a laugh as Donghae scoffs and throws the tall boy's arm down. "No, you twerp, I mean with your fire." Chanyeol's ears perk up as he hears the words that come out of Donghae's mouth, and he tries to resist the urge to smile.

"Are you sure about that? Because," he starts saying as he moves to stand across from Donghae, "this is really going to burn." The room quickly gets hotter as Chanyeol revs up his power, the fire easily spreading down his arms. He gathers up his strength and launches a fire ball that makes a beeline to the dead center of Donghae's body. 

For a second, it looks like Donghae stalls too long as the fireball inches closer and closer to him, until at the last second, he leans over and wraps his hand around Xiumin's arm. Xiumin's eyes go wide as him and Donghae are suddenly surrounded in a pale blue light. Xiumin can feel his energy running through his arm and into Donghae's hand, his energy being transferred to the scholar. And against his will, Xiumin's hair turns the vivid purple that only shows itselfs when his powers are in use. With his free hand, Donghae then calls forth a blue shield that blocks his body, as well as Xiumin's, just in time from Chanyeol's fire ball. The ball dissolves into embers and the shield disappears.

Xiumin yanks his arm away from Donghae, rubbing the area that was grabbed. "What the hell, dude? You could've at least warned me." His purple hair remains for a few moments as he rubs his arm, but slowly fades back into the dark brown that everyone is familiar with. Donghae doesn't apologize, but turns his gaze back to Luhan. "Unlike me, you are a telekinetic, which means that skin-to-skin contact isn't necessary for you to absorb energy. You have the ability to pull out energy from someone, or something."

Luhan tilts his head to the side, sending a questioning look. "Something?" 

Donghae nods. "Trees, other plants, animals - anything living has energy that can be utilized." 

At this moment, you walk into the room and immediately, all eyes are on you. 

You suddenly feel that you have interrupted something important as the boys continue to stare. "Um... is everything okay?" you say as you're stopped between the entrance of the door, Kai popping his head in behind you. "What's going on?" he asks, straining his neck to look inside. You take a few steps foward and allow him to step inside the room, his eyes immediately falling onto Donghae. Donghae walks towards a rack of fighting sticks and grabs one, turning it in his hands and meeting Kai's gaze. "Just teaching the boys a few tricks."

Xiumins rolls his eyes, responding with "Trick. It was one trick." Donghae gives a subtle glare at Xiumin before throwing the stick in Kai's direction, expecting him to catch it. Instead, Kai teleports out of the way just before it reaches him and the stick falls to the floor next to you. Donghae looks around, surprised, and turns to see Kai standing behind him, a look of annoyance on his face. "Oops," he says, coldly. Donghae suddenly walks towards him, the tension rising between each body in the room. He stands firmly in front of Kai, his face just inches away from the teleporter's.

"You know I'm getting really tired of you and this childish act you've been playing recently." From where you're standing, you can see Kai's fist clench, remaining at his side. Donghae continues: "You know it's not my fault! We decided as a group, together, to do what we did, and we did it to protect you!" His jaw clenches as he says this, hiding the fact that his face softens. "Every day, I wished we could have figured out a different way; every day I wished we could have come back to you guys sooner, but it was dangerous, and I knew if we did we would be putting you, Luhan, and Taemin in danger. Not to mention Haeyeon as well! So stop it!" A heavy silence hangs in the room after Donghae's echoes die out. He breathes heavily, his emotions exposed and his energy spent. The sound of his breaths are the only thing you can hear as he composes himself once more, fixing his shirt as if to keep his hands busy.

"You know what, forget it. Be mad. We have work to do." He gives Kai one more glance and turns his back on him. He only manages to take a few steps towards the door before something hits his back and falls to the floor, the sound bouncing off the walls. Donghae rubs the area that was hit as he swings his head behind him and looks down at the fighting stick on the floor. He looks back up at Kai, and Kai smirks at him. "Maybe it's time that I taught you a few tricks." 

Donghae has to hold back a smile as he picks up the fighting stick, twirling it skillfully in between his hands. Kai snatches another stick from the rack and walks forward. Luhan's eyes go wide and he smiles as he grabs Chanyeol and Xumin and drags them to the farthest side of the room. He beckons you to come over and you comply, almost running to your spot. 

"They're gonna kill each other, aren't they?" Chanyeol whispers to the group, his eyes glued to the two figures in the middle of the room. To your surprise, Luhan laughs, and he looks happier than ever. "Are you kidding? This is them getting along!"

The two males in the middle of the room start to take careful, controlled steps to the sides. It almost takes a whole rotation around the room before one of them finally decides to move. Without surprise, it's Kai who initiates the first attack, disappearing from his spot and reappearing behind Donghae, his stick hitting him in the back of the head. Donghae grabs at the air behind him in retaliation, but there's no one there. Kai returns once more with a kick at Donghae's legs from below, but Donghae anticipates it, and jumps just in time. He couples the jump with a swift toss of his fighting stick, the weapon smacking the arm holding Kai up as he leans on the ground. Kai's arm goes weak and he drops onto the ground, his backside hitting the floor first.

As Donghae lands, he points his stick at the boy, his face serious. "Again."

Kai feels a rush of adrenaline course through his body and he throws himself foward, his stick coming up in front of him.

You catch Donghae smile widely this time, not trying to hide it from his opponent. Kai does his best to use quick melee attacks with the stick, coming at Donghae at every angle, but his elder is relentless and proves to be an exhausting opponent. The challengers breathe heavily and you can see the sweat gather, their faces glistening as they move swiftly around the room. You try not to worry about either of their well-being, but at this point, it's second nature. 

The air pulses around them and envelops the room as Kai pops in and out, trying to catch Donghae off-guard, but failing to do so. It continues like this for a a few more minutes until, in a quick flash, Kai is falling from above, Donghae seemingly unaware. But before the fighting stick can make contact, Donghae throws his right shoulder back and swings his body around, flawlessly throwing himself around Kai and placing him in a headlock. 
 

You can hear a small grunt come from Kai as his hands come up, attempting to make any kind of space between Donghae's arm and his throat. As the group watches him struggle, he begins to laugh; ragged and muffled, but it's unmistakably laughter. 
Donghae glances at the boy's face, a wave of confusion washing over him. He releases his grasp a bit and Kai laughs even louder, his voice ec