Several months pass and Kyuhyun’s rigorous training never ceased. However, nor did Yesung’s snappy comebacks. Overtime, Kyuhyun seemed to finally warm up a little towards the younger. Or he just chose to ignore the blonde’s attitude. He had learned to just play along with the other’s silly antics rather than trying to control him all the time, allowing the younger a lot more freedom and comfort. And just for the sake of amusement, Kyuhyun lets the younger sneak up and tackle him sometimes, despite knowing that the boy was approaching. You could almost say that Kyuhyun has grown quite fond of him. Something he thought he’d never feel was starting to emerge.

Yesung personally enjoyed their odd relationship, despite their obvious status and age difference. The younger also had some trouble making friends again ever since he left and returned to the academy, so he really did appreciate the elder’s company and patience. Whenever the younger had some free time, he always seeked the elder’s company rather than spending it alone. Because of that, Yesung believes that Kyuhyun hasn’t been able to finish a book in quite awhile because they were always together now. In addition, Kyuhyun was such a handsome face to see everyday too.

And over time, like what Kyuhyun wanted and expected, Yesung began to become physically stronger with quicker reaction times and more precise attacks. The student had actually surprised Kyuhyun by how quickly he adapted and learned everything thrown his way. He was improving a lot faster than anyone Kyuhyun has ever seen before. However, Yesung still continuously lost in hand-on-hand combat against his trainer (of course), but the fights did seem to be less “one-sided” after a few months.

“You ready to give up yet?” The brunette grinned devilishly from where he was, hovering above the smaller whom he had pinned down onto the matted floor with much ease.

“Are you ready to stop being an ?” Yesung retorts, wriggling an arm free and shoving his hand under the other’s jaw, pushing his trainer’s head back as far as he could, earning a grunt of discomfort from the elder.

Kyuhyun uses his right hand to shove Yesung’s head into the mat and seizes the moment when he was stunned to remove the other’s grasp from his jaw. “I’m not being an .”

“Then I’m not...giving...up yet!” Yesung managed to bite out from where his face was buried into the mat, the smell of sweat and stinky feet wafting into his nose, causing him to gag little. Evening training sessions were always the most brutal for him.

"By the way,” he starts again, managing to jam his elbow up into his trainer’s stomach, causing the elder’s grip to falter a little on him, and Yesung took the opportunity to switch their positions so that he was on top now. “How old are you?”

“This is no time for idle chit-chat, princess.” Kyuhyun warns, twisting a little and easily threw the smaller off of him.

“Oh just answer my question!” Yesung shouts irritably, rolling his eyes as he got back up onto his feet and into his defensive stance when he realized that Kyuhyun was already on his feet again too.

“I’ll tell you, when you earn it.” The elder smirks, not breaking a sweat at all when the blonde lunged to attack first, dodging every attack thrown his way.

“That’s so unfair!” Yesung whines as he swung a kick towards the other’s head, surprising the trainer briefly before he blocked it by grabbing his leg and jerking it forward, causing the blonde to slip and fall onto his back.

Kyuhyun just shrugs nonchalantly as he moved on top of the younger again and grabbed his hands, pinning them above his head to limit his movements. “Take it or leave it,” he says, watching the younger’s expression scrunch into one of discontent. “Are you ready to give up then?”

“Most definitely not.” The blonde replied before a devilish grin split his face, causing suspicion to rise in the elder. But before Kyuhyun even had time to react and question the younger’s motive, his words were swallowed by a pair of soft lips against his own.

Kyuhyun was lost for a few seconds, confused and dazed by the sudden intimate contact. When he regained composure again, he found himself pinned to the ground instead with Yesung grinning proudly above him.

“I know your weak spot~” the blonde sing-songed, tapping the other lightly on the nose. “I win, so answer my question now.” he demanded.

“N-No.” Kyuhyun stammered, wrenching his hands out the younger’s grasp. “That does not count. And you honestly have to stop doing that.”

“Oh come on….” Yesung whines, refusing to move from where he was saddled on Kyuhyun’s hips, going even further to press his hands onto the other’s abs to hold him there. “Just answer me! It’s a really simple question; How old are you?” he asks again, before smirking a little. “And I know you enjoy my kisses,” Yesung says with a wink.

“Why does my age matter to you?” Kyuhyun frowns, ignoring the last thing he said as he moved to sit up onto his elbows, giving up on trying to remove the younger off of him because Yesung will just find another way to attach onto him until he got what he wanted. Kyuhyun learned this the hard way, of course.

“You’re delaying. And avoiding. Stop.” Yesung says, narrowing his eyes at the other. “It’s been several months now, I believe I deserve to at least know your age.”

Kyuhyun sighs in defeat and motions for the other to get off, in which the younger finally obeys, sliding off of his trainer’s lap. “I’m 22.” he finally answers. “So you shouldn’t be kissing me like that.”

Yesung tilts his head a little, questioningly. “Sooooo….are you saying that if I am 18 and legal, you would kiss me too?”

“No?” Kyuhyun says, taken aback by the question. “Don’t put words in my mouth like that,” he says with a shake of his head.

“But like….you implied it, right?” Yesung grins cheekily, sitting up straight.

“No. Stop.” Kyuhyun says with a pointed glare, earning a pout from the younger. “Let’s take a break.” he mutters, trying to change the subject as he got up from the mat.

Yesung extended both of his hands out forward childishly, wanting the other to pull him up instead. Kyuhyun just slaps his hands out of the way as he turned to grab a towel to wipe their sweat off, earning another whine from the younger as he finally stood up on his own.

“You’re no fun…” The blonde grumbles. However, he suddenly felt lightheaded when he straightened up, causing him to stagger a little.

“I’m not here to help you have fun, princess.” Kyuhyun says with a roll of his eyes, grabbing two towels off the rack before turning around. “I’m here to—Yesung!” he calls out when the younger suddenly fell forward, face first.

The trainer quickly threw down the towels and ran back to him, barely catching the other in time. Yesung collapses into his trainer’s arms as he felt the floor slip out from beneath him, his knees buckling as the energy he had in him earlier drained out of him.

Kyuhyun gently lowers the younger down, but still kept a firm hold on his body. “Yesung! Hey! Get a hold of yourself!” he shouts, concern evident in his voice.
The younger opens his mouth a little to respond but his vision was starting to blur and fade, Kyuhyun’s shouting becoming muffled as his world spun into darkness.

Kyuhyun quickly gathers the other up into his arms and rushes him to the academy infirmary as Yesung became completely slack and unresponsive in his hold, worry stirring uncontrollably inside of him as he ran down the halls with the boy in arms.

When Yesung came to, he found himself in a foreign room that was too pristine for his liking. The nauseating smell of latex gloves and medication made it evident to him that he was in the infirmary. However, he did not remember why.

The blonde frowns a little as he slowly, carefully, pulls himself up into a sitting position, glancing towards the only window in the room and taking note of how dark it was outside, indicating that it was night time already. He squints a little as he tries to make out some details in the dimly lit room, the only source of light coming from a small lamp by his bedside. He was greatly startled when his eyes landed upon a dark figure by his bedside, a small squeak of surprise falling past his lips as he jumped.

However, Yesung lets out a sigh of relief when he realized it was only Kyuhyun in a chair by his bedside, the dim light reflecting off of the other’s familiar golden-brown hair. The soft but long breaths that filled the silence of the room made it apparent to him that the other was sound asleep, head propped up precariously in one hand.

Yesung sits there for a moment, debating quietly to himself if he should wake the other or not considering how late it must be right now. He bites his lips a little before finally deciding on trying to wake him and reached forward to lightly to touch the other’s shoulders.“Kyu-ah….” He calls out quietly.
His eyes flutter open almost immediately at the touch, surprising Yesung once again.

“Oh, you’re awake,” was all he said as he sat up straight, leaning back a little in his seat before crossing his arms a little, already full awake. The other was a surprisingly light sleeper, and quite alert for someone who was asleep mere seconds ago. Must be something all warriors have that Yesung still hasn’t quite gotten the hang of.

“Um….Y-Yeah….” Yesung stammers, still a bit taken aback by the other’s alertness, causing the elder to smile at his reaction.

“You feeling alright?” Kyuhyun asks softly, reaching back a little towards the lamp to turn up the brightness so they could see better.

“I-I….yes— I think?” The blonde frowns, shifting a little so that he was more comfortable on the small bed.

Kyuhyun suddenly reaches forward however, frightening the poor boy as he gently brushed Yesung’s blonde bangs out of his eyes and presses the back of his hand to his forehead.

Flustered, Yesung quickly pushes the elder’s hand away. “D-Don’t do that!” he stammers. His trainer just scoffs at his reaction and reaches forward again, slapping the other’s hand away this time when he tried to stop him again.

“Why am I here?” Yesung grumbles, pouting a little when the other stood up and leaned closer as if to inspect him further.

Kyuhyun's brows furrow a little in confusion as he finally moves his hand away from the younger’s face. “You don’t remember?” He asks.

Yesung shakes his head.

The elder lets out a soft sigh as he moved back away. “You passed out halfway through evening training.” He explained. “I brought you here and the nurse said you were over-exhausted and running a small fever.”

Yesung’s frown deepens some more as he reached up to press a hand to his own forehead, trying to check his temperature himself. “Really? I-I didn’t notice…”

Kyuhyun raises an eyebrow, “I can tell,” he said in amusement. “But it seems like your fever has gone down now. The nurse also instructed me to give you this for whenever you wake up,” he says, reaching back to the night stand again to pick up a glass of water and a tiny pill that Yesung hadn’t noticed until now.

“Oh,” Yesung says shortly, bringing his hand back down away from his forehead to accept the water and medication offered. “How long have I been out?” he asks as he took a swig of water.

Kyuhyun brings his right wrist up a little to check his watch. “Well, you passed out around 6pm, so you’ve been out for 9 hours.”

The younger spews out a mouthful of water as he tried to comprehend what the other had just said, a look of disgust crossing Kyuhyun’s face as he reached for a tissue to wipe the water that got on his arms.
“Oh my god! It’s 3 in the morning!?” Yesung shouts, choking on what little water was left in his throat. He knew he was out for a while, but not for that long.

“....yes.”

“And you’ve been here the whole time!?”

“....yes.”

Yesung was stunned silent for a minute, gaping up at the other in shock. He never would’ve expected the elder to be so concerned about him, let alone stay by his bedside the whole night just to make sure he was alright. God he hoped he didn’t snore in his sleep….

“W-Why?” he managed out, confusion and shock still etched across his face. The only response he got back, of course, was a small shrug of his shoulders.
“Y-You should go back to your room and get some sleep then,” Yesung says, now his turn to be concerned for the other.

“No, I think I’ll stay.” Kyuhyun responded back nonchalantly.

“No!” Yesung suddenly shouts. “You need to get some rest too! As you said, I’m fine now, so you don't have to stay anymore.”

The elder just shakes his head as he reaches forward to try and tuck the other back into bed properly, dodging the younger's hands that were trying to push him away. “Knowing you, who knows what else would happen.”

Yesung was greatly offended by the comment but resisted in making a snappy comeback because he knew it was Kyuhyun's backhanded way of saying that he was still concerned about him.

“You look tired though…” Yesung says softly, allowing the other to gently guide him back down into a resting position.

“I’ll be fine.” Kyuhyun brushes off, reaching down to pull the blanket back up around the other’s shoulders. “You know…..I’m not just your trainer,” he says, “I’m your protector too, princess.”

Yesung bites his lips again as he watched the other fuss over him some more, trying to properly tuck him in and make him comfortable. However, once Kyuhyun managed to secure the blanket snuggly around the younger, Yesung pulled an arm out free and grabbed Kyuhyun’s wrist, surprising the elder.

“Sleep with me then.”

Whoops, that wasn’t what he wanted to say.

He had only meant to say thank you.

“What?” Kyuhyun frowns.

Yesung’s grip tightens around the other’s wrist a little, determined to go through with what had slipped out by accident. “Sleep with me then,” he repeats.”Since you are refusing to leave, and I’m not letting you stay awake, then you can sleep with me. This is the middle ground.”

“That’s….That’s not really how it works.”

“Yes, it is.” Yesung says, giving the arm a light tug. “Now hurry up and get your in bed with me.”

Kyuhyun only continues to stare at him as if he was crazy, his brows furrowing in concern for not only his physical health now, but his mental health too.

“Get. Down. Here.” Yesung says sternly, eyes narrowing as he stared up at the other. “Now.”

Kyuhyun inhales deeply and holds his breath for a few seconds as he had an internal battle within himself. “God I’m going to regret this later.” He mutters before climbing into bed, the younger scooching over eagerly, nearly falling off the edge.

Yesung grins cheekily as Kyuhyun gently laid himself down besides the younger, careful not to squish him or elbow him off the bed. Once the elder was comfortable with the blanket draped warmly around them both, the younger quickly snuggled close to him, burying his face into Kyuhyun’s chest.

“Why...um, why are you so close?” The elder asks hesitantly, not really knowing where to put his arms now.

“I’m falling off the bed.” Yesung said matter of factly, slightly muffled by the other’s shirt. He only moves back a little to grab the other’s arm and throws it around his waist before returning back to his original position. “You at cuddling.” the blonde mutters quietly.

“We’re not supposed to be cuddling,” Kyuhyun frowns, but gently brings the smaller closer when he realized that indeed the other was right on the edge of the bed. “This was a bad idea from the start….” he sighs.

“Then you may leave.”

“I’m not going to leave you.” The elder says with a roll of his eyes. “I think we’ve already gone through this.”

“And I told you that this is the middle ground.” The blonde says firmly, finally tilting his head up to look up at the other. Damn did Kyuhyun look good from every angle.

Kyuhyun only lets out another sigh, and thinking that that was final, Yesung closes his eyes and snuggles close again, ready to fall back asleep.

However, a few minutes later, Kyuhyun’s voice broke the lulling silence. “Yesung?”

“Hush, I’m trying to sleep.” Yesung mutters grumpily.

The elder chose to ignore him and proceed with speaking anyways.
“If I’ve been exhausting you, I need you to tell me.”

This time, it was Yesung’s turn to sigh.
“You’re not. I’m fine, really. I probably just got sick from someone without knowing.”

“That doesn’t explain why you’ve been exhausted to the point of passing out.” The elder says softly.

Yesung fidgets for a little bit, trying to find a comfortable position where he wasn’t falling off the bed but was back far enough so that he could actually see Kyuhyun eye-to-eye.
“Stop worrying your little off.” he says, struggling to reach up between their bodies to gently boop the elder’s nose with his pointer finger. “I’m fine now, aren’t I? I didn’t feel exhausted at all until that moment. I have no idea why I passed out.”

“Or…” Kyuhyun starts, reaching up to move the younger’s hand away from his face. “You are just being your usual dumb, and unobservant self.”

“I am going to take offense in that.” Yesung frowns. “Now shut up and let me sleep.” he says, throwing his arms around his trainer’s neck to get snuggly again, but Kyuhyun reaches up and touches his arms lightly, indicating that he wasn’t done lecturing yet.

“I’m serious, Jongwoon.”

“And I’m serious too.” Yesung says irritably, shifting around grumpily so that he was now laying on his back, crossing his arms over his chest. “Why would I lie about this to you? You….you know that I trust you.” he says softly, words slowly drifting quieter as he admitted some of his feelings. “A lot.”

Kyuhyun props his head up onto one elbow so that he was able to see the younger better, gazing down at Yesung who was now staring up at the dark ceiling.

“You’re the only person I trust.” the younger whispers, so quiet that Kyuhyun barely heard him.

The elder reaches up again with his free hand and gently brushes the golden fringes out of the smaller’s eyes, bringing Yesung’s gaze upon him once again, their eyes meeting. Admittedly, he has grown quite fond of the boy before him; too fond. It was very cliché to say that he was different — different in a way that made him special. His quirky personality and sassy behavior was something that Kyuhyun doesn’t quite fully understand yet, but he knew that there was something very genuine about the young boy. Yesung is able to read everyone like an open book, but for himself, he was a mystery to everyone. No one wanted to figure him out, or learn why he acts the way he does. However, Kyuhyun slowly began to realize that the only reason why he was always so feisty and ornery was for self defense. Yesung didn’t know how to be open, so instead of trying, he chose to clam up even more and lash out to keep others away. Kyuhyun cared for the younger more than he really should.

Kyuhyun holds their gaze as he slid his hand down to cradle the side of his face lightly, their lips mere inches away as the younger reveled in the gentle touch, far too used to his trainer’s rougher treatment during combat training.

“When’s your birthday?”

Yesung lets out a sharp breath as he rolled his eyes. “Way to ruin the moment.” he grumbles.

The elder just chuckles in amusement, running his thumb gently over the boy’s cheekbones before moving his hand a bit further down so that his hand now cradled his chin, tilting the boys face up a little so that he could see him better. “Answer my question.”

“It’s…” The younger suddenly blushes head lowering what Kyuhyun believes to be guilt. “....It’s today….” he murmurs

“And you didn’t tell me??” Kyuhyun complained, brows furrowing together in obvious offense. “I thought we were a lot closer than this!”

Yesung reaches up and punches the other half-heartedly in the chest. “It’s not like I ever celebrate it! It’s pointless.”

“It’s your 18th birthday! That should mean something to you, right?”

Yesung just shrugs a little before grinning and reaching up to poke Kyuhyun on the nose again, enjoying the irritated expression that skitters across the elder’s face. “Why do you care?” he grins mischievously, “I never expected you to be the type to care either.”

“I don’t,” Kyuhyun admits, tilting his head a little to move away from the other’s prodding finger that has now shifted its attention to poking his cheek continuously. “But I just thought that I could’ve at least given you something for improving so much, despite you being so annoying and never actually listening to me half of the time.” He mutters, moving his hand back away from the younger’s chin and settling it back onto the blondes waist.

“That is such a backhanded compliment. Should I take offense? Or should I be glad that I’m actually receiving praise from the great Cho Kyuhyun?” Yesung pondered, finally stopping his insistent prodding and moving his hand to cup the elder’s face instead, like what he was doing to him earlier.

“You should be glad, obviously.” Kyuhyun scoffed. “Now I’ve got to think of something last minute to gift you…”

“Shouldn’t you have already been thinking about it?” Yesung frowns. “I thought we were a lot closer than this!” he mocks, reiterating what the elder had said earlier.

“No.” Kyuhyun admits, a small smile making its way across his lips. “It never really crossed my mind to be honest.” He had only thought about it because he remembered how the boy kept bothering him for his age yesterday.

“Hmm, I guess that’s alright,” The younger shrugs. “I’ve got something in mind though.”

Kyuhyun raises an eyebrow in curiosity. “Like what?”

“Are you sure you want to know?”

“Um...why would I not?”

“No seriously, are you sure?”

Kyuhyun exhales slowly followed by a roll of his eyes. “If it has to do with ruling the world and or robbing a bank, then no. Other than those illegal things, I’m pretty sure I want to know.”

Yesung grins mischievously again before gesturing for the elder to lean in closer. “Here, let me whisper it to you.”

“There is no one else around.” Kyuhyun frowns, but obeys the younger as he leans in a tad bit closer.

And really though, he should have expected what happened next.
Using the hand he had on the elder’s jawline, Yesung pulled his face closer and pressed their lips together again. Except it wasn’t a simple peck like what he would usually sneak onto the elder. This time, it was long and lingering, the younger’s lips moving a little so that he had better access.

Kyuhyun knew very well that he should not have let it happen, but he found himself responding to the kiss instead of pulling away like what he was mentally telling himself to do. His hands and mouth were moving on their own accord, reaching up to cup the younger’s face too to bring their lips even closer together. Kyuhyun could feel and hear his own heart pounding loudly in his chest, a million things racing through his mind telling him to both stop and continue what he is currently doing. But those soft lips against his own, gently coaxing, nudging, and nibbling, were really clouding his ability to comprehend the situation. All he knew was that those lips that he has always stared at and craved secretly, were now pressed against his own and all he wanted at the moment was to satisfy that carnal desire of ravishing the younger before him.

“Kyuhyun…” Yesung breathed dazedly against his lips, but no more words escaped his mouth when the elder smashed their lips together again.

Their eyes flutter shut as they allowed the kiss to deepen, the hand that Kyuhyun originally had on the younger’s cheek now sliding back down to the curve of his waist once again, pulling his body tighter against his own. Yesung parted his lips a little when the other’s tongue brushed against his lower lip, allowing the elder access. Kyuhyun was a surprisingly rough kisser, in contradiction to his calm and collected exterior.

Yesung pulls away after a minute, the both of them flushed and breathless. However, he does sneak a few pecks here and there as they tried to catch their breath, Kyuhyun’s hand now gently his back absentmindedly.  

“Happy birthday…” Kyuhyun breathed, and Yesung could feel the other’s smile against his lips.

Yesung grins as he gently caressed the elder’s face, heart thumping in ecstasy in his chest as he admired the handsome man before him. “I’m not satisfied yet,” he whispered. Things were moving too fast for him to comprehend, but he really didn’t want to and just wanted to enjoy the moment instead. The tension between them has finally broken after so many months, and it felt relieving to finally be able to express their feelings.

“So greedy,” Kyuhyun tsked, “We’re supposed to be sleeping right now.”

“I’ve got other sleeping activities in mind,” The blonde quipped, shifting a little to throw a leg around the elder’s waist, not being afraid to get even more comfortable with Kyuhyun now.

“Don’t get too ahead of yourself now, princess.” The elder smirked, sliding his hand down from his waist to the thigh that was now thrown over his hips.

“Sooo…...I was right.” Yesung proclaimed, enjoying the warm hand that was gently his thigh now.

The elder raises an eyebrow questioningly. “About what?”

“If I am 18 and legal, you would kiss back.”

“Sure,” Kyuhyun shrugs. “But you didn’t need to know about that then.”

Yesung rolls his eyes at the comment.
“So you’ve just been waiting and waiting for me to turn 18. This also implies that you’ve fancied me for awhile now, you know?”

“Well I wouldn't quite use the term ‘fancied’.”

“Infatuated?”

“No.”

“Moonstruck?”

“No.”

“Lovesick?”

“No.”

“...Obsessed.” the younger suggested hesitantly.

“Stop it. No.”

“Fancied?”

“Fine. Sure. Whatever.” the elder sighs in exasperation.

Yesung grins victoriously before leaning in to press a soft kiss to his lips again, never seeming to get enough of the elder’s lips. “You did a good job of hiding your feelings though.”

“I’m good at everything I do.” Kyuhyun reminds, tilting his head down a little to nuzzle the younger's neck, taking in his scent.

“You wanna show me what else you’re good at then?” Yesung smiles suggestively, tightening his leg’s grip around the elder’s waist some more.

“Mmm….no.” Kyuhyun answered, moving back away. “You need to get some rest.”

Yesung stares at the other for a good minute, pondering if he should sleep or continue nagging the other, but Kyuhyun had already made the decision for him by pressing one last kiss to the younger’s lips before readjusting the blanket around them and sliding one arm under the younger’s head so that he could actually hold him properly.

The smaller lets out a sigh of defeat before snuggling closer to the man, murmuring a soft ‘goodnight’ as he laid his head onto the elder’s strong chest, bringing one hand up to rest on the other side of his chest to feel the soft heartbeat against his fingertips.

Kyuhyun smiles at how obedient the younger suddenly was before pressing his nose and lips to the crown of soft blonde hair as he closed his eyes and drew the small body closer to him, the other already dozing off in his arms.

"Goodnight, princess."