Everyone was once again gathered inside of the arena once all the newcomers had had their chance for trial. They were all waiting anxiously now for their results, huddled in small masses as they shared their dread and excitement.

“You owe us dinner,” A snide voice calls out.

Kyuhyun chooses to ignore the other as he leans against a wall, wanting to cross his arms only to realize he couldn’t due to the cast Amber had put on him.

“Aww, don’t be so glum,” Eunhyuk grins cheekily, joining Kyuhyun against the wall.
“Who was he anyways?”

Kyuhyun glances at him a little, before looking away again, expression still stoic. “I don’t know who you’re talking about,” he dismisses.

“Oh come on, don’t be so secretive. Donghae and I could totally tell you and that bad- newcomer has had some history together.” Eunhyuk persisted, giving the other a light nudge with his arm.

“Leave him be, Hyukjae.” Heechul says, emerging out of nowhere and tries to settle himself against the wall between the two, going as far as to even shove Eunhyuk a little so that he may fit. “There are things people would like to keep to themselves, just like how we don’t ask about what you and Donghae do behind close doors.”

Eunhyuk gives an awkward laugh as he scratches the back of his head embarrassedly. “Wh-What? What’re you talking about Heechul? I don’t know what you’re talking about, don’t be ridiculous….”

“Nice cover up,” Kyuhyun snorts, quickly moving away when Eunhyuk reached over Heechul in an attempt to punch the brunette.

“Alright you two! I can’t believe you both are considered Rank 1 members.” The eldest of them all shouts. “Why are you even here anyways, Eunhyuk? The results don’t have to do with you in anyway?”

The other shrugs in response as he finally stopped trying to attack Kyuhyun, settling back against wall again. “I wanted to see what that blue-eyed kid got into.” he says. “I haven’t seen anyone with that amount of skill since…..since Kyuhyun’s trial four years ago.”

“Wow, is that a compliment I hear?” Kyuhyun inserts snidely.

“Fight me,” The other says with a glare. “Oh wait, you can’t!” he adds with a laugh, eyeing the taller man and his injured arm.

“I swear to god I can still beat you with one broken arm.” Kyuhyun threatens as he straightens up so that he towered over the other, only to be stopped by Heechul once again.

“Both of you shut up and just wait for the announcements.” Heechul sighs with a roll of his eyes, and right on cue, the admin steps out from backstage along with the adjudicators, the whole arena immediately falling silent.

“Thank you all for joining us today for the trials. Your rankings will now be announced.” The admin calls out, marching up upon the stage with a scroll in hand.

“Kim Kibum, Rank 5. Kim Jonghyun, Rank 5. Lee Taemin, Rank 5. Lee Sungmin, Rank 4…”

There were a few cheers from the crowd at the announcement of the rank 4 member, but most were still waiting too anxiously for their own names to be called out.

Kyuhyun, to be honest, wasn’t even paying attention to the admin at all. Instead, he was scanning the large crowd for a familiar face. He was actually quite easy to find, standing off to the side and away from the crowd.

“Is that him over there?” Heechul whispers quietly, his eyes following the younger’s gaze towards the back of the arena.

Kyuhyun only hums once in response, no longer paying attention to anyone around him, let alone his superior. Yesung wasn’t listening to the announcements either, his attention currently preoccupied by a man beside him, in which he could safely assume is his current guardian, Choi Siwon.

Kyuhyun pushes off from the wall to make his way over to him, only to be stopped by Heechul.

“Are you sure that’s a smart move?” The elder asks, hands tightening around the other’s bicep.

He turns back to look at him, but says nothing as he shakes the hand off and proceeds anyways, disregarding the elder.

The two of them seemed to be in deep conversation, Yesung’s brows furrowed together in obvious dismay as they talked in a hushed whisper.

“Yesung,” Kyuhyun calls out quietly as he approached them, reaching out and gently touching the younger’s shoulder to gain his attention.
A large hand suddenly reaches out and grabs his, jerking it off of the royal’s shoulder as Yesung spun around in surprise.

“Do not touch him,” Siwon warned lowly, grip tightening around Kyuhyun’s hand.

“Stop,” Yesung says quickly, giving his protector a stern look. “Release him.”

Siwon didn’t look too pleased at the request as he stared Kyuhyun down, the other’s gaze challenging and matching his. The protector’s jaw clenched tightly before finally releasing him roughly, stepping back a little with a curt bow of his head in obedience to the demand as Yesung finally turned his attention back to the brunette.

“What.” the younger grits out in a low whisper.

Kyuhyun opens his mouth to reply only to shut it again when he realized Siwon was still awfully close to them. “May we speak in private?”

Yesung inhales deeply, slight irritation evident on his face as he slowly lets the breath back out. “No.” he says shortly. “Whatever you have to say, you can say it in front of Siwon too.”

Kyuhyun’s lips pull into a thin line as his eyes dart to the taller man beside the other, watching as a smug smirk dances across Siwon’s lips. “No, I —”

“Kim Jongwoon,” The administrator interrupts from the stage, still reading names and its matching ranks, before halting for a second as if doing a double-take as she stared quizzically at the scroll in hand. “.....Rank 3.”

Utter silence fills the arena as hundreds of pairs of eyes turned towards them.

Siwon leant down to whisper something to the raven, and Kyuhyun’s eyes followed his every movement, watching the way his hand reached out gently to touch the small of the younger’s back as he leant down, lips pressed close to the boy’s ears as he spoke, Yesung only nodding in response to what he was saying, no longer paying attention to the Celestial member before him.

Kyuhyun didn’t like that.
He didn’t like it at all.

“...Byun Baekhyun, Rank 5.” The administrator pushes on, ignoring the stunned crowd.

Kyuhyun takes a step back from the two, bringing their attention back to him. And for a short moment, Yesung appeared like he wanted him to stay, but it was too brief and Kyuhyun reassures himself that it was just a trick of the eye as he turns quickly to leave, having had seen enough of their interactions to make him sick.

“You alright?” Eunhyuk questions once he returned to them, noticing Kyuhyun’s expression as he reached out and grabbed Kyuhyun’s uninjured arm when he brushed past him.

“I’m fine,” Kyuhyun mutters, but was further restrained by Heechul when he tried to leave the arena again.

“Kyuhyun,” Heechul snaps with a stern stare, before turning his attention to Eunhyuk and gestures for him to leave with a jerk of his chin.

“I don’t have time for you and your ridiculous suggestions or advice.” Kyuhyun sighs, pulling his arm out of the elder’s grasp once Eunhyuk was out of sight.

“This isn’t you, Kyuhyun. This is not like you at all. What happened to wanting power over love? You can’t continue on in the Clan like this.” Heechul warns, leaning close to prevent any prying ears.

Kyuhyun turns to face Heechul fully.
“I haven’t been the same since I’ve met him. Never will again.”

Yesung felt awfully out of place as he stood before the Celestial Clan’s dormitory building during move-in day several weeks after the trial.

Clan members walking by stared at him as he stood there, most having had heard the news of a blue-eyed newcomer that managed to get into rank 3 already when many struggle for many years just to get to rank 4.

He gathers up what little courage he has and shoulders his bags as he strides up to the building, ignoring the many stares he got as he made his way through the halls, trying to find his room.

“Hey!” Someone calls out. “Hey cheater!”
A strong hand reaches out and grabs Yesung roughly by the shoulder and jerks him around.

“Don’t touch me,” Yesung snaps as he takes a quick step back, glaring up at the rude stranger.

“How’d you get into rank 3 so easily, huh?” The other demanded, giving the raven a rough shove, garnering attention from passerby’s. “Do you know how much training and missions some of us have to go through to get up the rankings?! What did you do? Tell us!”

Kyuhyun had just returned from a much needed jog to clear his mind when he noticed a commotion occurring upon entering the dormitories. Irritated, he pushed his way through the crowd, trying to assess the situation so he could disperse it, too tired to deal with much. But the sight definitely stunned him.

“Did you a high-ranking member?” The other persists, once again shoving the smaller, Yesung immediately taking a step back. “Is that how you got in? Huh?! Fight me, you coward! If you’re so good, fight me!” The other swings and his fist makes contact with the younger’s cheek, sending the boy flying back into the audience that had gathered, some cheering for the bully and some trying to calm him, but no one interfered or stop him.
Enjoying the feel of dominance and encouraged by the spectators, he raises a hand to strike the boy again, but a firm grasp on his wrist stops him. Enraged by the interruption, he spins around angrily, ready to shout at the intruder, only to pull back upon seeing who it was.

“What the hell is happening here?!” Kyuhyun demands angrily, releasing the man’s wrist roughly as he steps between them.

“N-Nothing,” The intimidator stammers, his sudden change in behavior making it obvious that Kyuhyun was a well-respected member of the clan.

“Why are you striking a clan member then, Lee Minho?” Kyuhyun snaps with a glare, before turning a little to help Yesung up, who brushed off his assistance. Troubled by the fact that Yesung didn’t resist or fight back, he turns his attention back to Minho with a glare, demanding an explanation.

“He’s not worthy!” Minho blurted out quickly, the situation escalating due to the presence of a superior, and there was no way of avoiding it now.

“Excuse me?!” The brunette challenged with a disapproving look, turning so that he faced Minho fully, crossing his arms over his chest. “What did you just say?”

“He….He’s not worthy,” Minho repeats. “No newcomer can possibly get into rank 3 upon an entrance trial. Everyone agrees with me, I’m not the only one thinking it.” he continues, scoffing a little at just the thought. “For god’s sake Kyuhyun, he broke your arm! Why are you defending him?!”

“It was a trial, and he was doing what he was supposed to do.” Kyuhyun says sharply.

“But he obviously—”

“If everyone is having such doubts about him, then throw down your gauntlet, Lee Minho, and challenge him to a duel!” Kyuhyun interrupts.

Minho, along with the crowd, were stunned silent. But insistent and intent on his opinion, Minho answers with determination. “Fine. I challenge him to a duel.”

Challenging a member of the clan to a duel was rare, but allowed along as a superior was there to supervise and call judgement. Teamwork and respect is necessary and required to carry out missions, so if there were any disputes amongst clan members, they were allowed to challenge one another to settle any disagreements.

Kyuhyun finally turns to face the silent boy behind him, the troubled blue eyes darting up briefly to make eye contact with the elder.

“Do you, Kim Jongwoon, accept Lee Minho’s Challenge to a duel?” he asks out of formality.

Yesung held his breath for a moment as he debated whether to accept or not, staring intently up at Kyuhyun. He didn’t want to cause trouble already upon entering the Clan, but trouble seemed to come to him instead.

“Yes,” he finally answers, looking away from the elder to face Minho. “I accept your challenge.”

“In half an hour, you both be ready at the battle arena. I will be your supervisor.” Kyuhyun says, giving them both a stern look before waving a hand to dismiss the now eager crowd, Minho giving the younger one last glare before leaving too.

“Yesung,” The elder calls out quickly, reaching forward and grabbing the younger gently by the arm when he turned to leave. “Please, we need to talk,”

Yesung turns back around and pulls his arm out of the other’s grasp sharply as if he had burned him. “Don’t touch me,” he says quickly, and Kyuhyun notices that he looked more afraid than annoyed. Strange, considering how affectionate and touchy the younger used to be.

The brunette takes a small step back to give him space, but he continued to hold the other’s steady gaze. “Jongwoon, please. It’s been two years—”

“I have nothing to talk about with you,” the younger mutters, picking his bags up from the ground.

“Fine,” Kyuhyun responds begrudgingly, not wanting to be too persistent. “Where is Siwon then? He’s your guardian, he’s supposed to be with you everywhere. This wouldn’t have happened if he were with you.”

The younger looks away quickly, fidgeting a bit with the strap of his bag as he avoided eye-contact with the elder male, lips curving into a slight pout as he said nothing.

“Jongwoon,” Kyuhyun frowns, crossing his arms over his chest as he stared at him intently. “Did you ditch Siwon?”

No response.

“Kim Jongwoon,” he tries again, and the boy looks visibly irritated, but still doesn’t respond.

“God damn it,” The elder exhales, reaching up to pinch the bridge of his nose as he closed his eyes. “You have a guardian for a reason. You can’t just….wander off.” he sighs. “We’ll talk about this later. Let’s get you ready for the duel now.”

Yesung follows the other obediently, relieved that Kyuhyun did not question him any further.
As they walked towards the arena together, he couldn’t help but to stare at Kyuhyun’s injured arm that was still bandaged. He reaches out absent-mindedly and gently touches the elder’s injured arm, as if wanting to inspect it, surprising them both as Kyuhyun stops abruptly and turns to face him.

Realizing what he had done, Yesung quickly retracts his hand. “I-Is it alright?” he asks, trying to avert the other’s attention away his odd action.

“Um, yeah…” Kyuhyun responds, flexing his fingers a little as proof. “It’s almost completely healed, actually.”

“...good,” The younger says quietly.

“I’ve missed you,” Kyuhyun inserts hesitantly, and Yesung looks up with a mildly surprised expression, not expecting such intimate words to leave the elder’s lips.

“I—” The younger starts, creating a sense of hope to stir within Kyuhyun before the boy suddenly takes a big step back. “I should go,” he mutters, before brushing past the brunette towards the locker rooms.

Kyuhyun sighs again as he ran his fingers through his disheveled hair, lips forming a tight frown as he made his way to the arena, pushing through crowds of others that have heard of the challenge, filing in to watch it go down.

“Heard your loverboy is already being challenged to a duel,” Heechul says with a grin, shoving people out of the way to get to his friend.

“It’s barely been ten minutes! Why does news spread so quickly here?” The brunette sighs, walking into the arena with the other.

“You know how it is here at the Celestial Clan; If we ain’t fighting, we are gossiping.” Heechul shrugs.

“That only applies to you,” Kyuhyun says snidely.

“I’m guessing you’re the supervisor? You sure you won’t be biased at all? I mean, Minho is a rank 3 member too after all.”

“I’m sure,” Kyuhyun says with a roll of his eyes. “The adjudicators at the trials have good judgment, they wouldn’t put Jongwoon in if he weren’t capable. Heechul, if you’re so skeptical about this, you can join me as a supervisor then.”

“Hell yeah I am. And I’m not saying he’s not worthy, I’m just saying you might have a bit of a…..you know, opinionated look on things because of your relationship with the boy.” Heechul says, eyes darting to the center of the arena as Minho entered, raising his arms up in the air and flexing to rile the crowd.
“He’s too arrogant,”

“Who?” Kyuhyun questions, making his way to the adjudicators balcony.

“Lee Minho,” Heechul responds, following the younger. “He’s arrogant and prideful, and this duel could’ve been avoided if he had kept himself in check,”

“Hm,” The brunette hums in agreement. “At least now this will help with settling people’s minds about a newcomer getting into rank 3.”

“My bets on pretty boy!” A new voice shouts suddenly.

Kyuhyun quickly spins around just as the newcomer reached out, grabbing the other by his arm and throwing him forward so that he was leaning backwards precariously over the balcony railing.

“Damn it Eunhyuk, what did I say about sneaking up on Kyuhyun?” Donghae sighs as he emerged onto the balcony as well.

“To not do it,” Eunhyuk chuckles nervously from where he was teetering up high above the arena, a firm but not suffocating hold on his neck by Kyuhyun. “I just wanted to pat him on the back…”

“Well, don’t.” Kyuhyun says with a frown, finally releasing the other.

“Who?” Heechul, who didn’t bother to stop Kyuhyun from attacking his teammate, finally speaks up.

“Who is who?” Donghae questions.

“The pretty boy you mentioned.” Heechul says nonchalantly, before turning to look back with a flamboyant hair flip. “No one else is prettier than me here.”

“Um, Jongwoon of course,” Donghae says in a tone as if it were the most obvious thing ever, grinning cheekily when Heechul’s eyes narrowed into a glare.

“Pretty boy,” Kyuhyun repeats with a snort of disbelief, but gets a light punch to the shoulder from Donghae.

“Oh come on, he’s totally your type,” Donghae laughs, Kyuhyun muttering lowly under his breath about Donghae not knowing him at all. “Yes I do,” he simply retorts back. “You prefer them to be smart and quick-witted. You enjoy a good sense of humor, despite you not having one at all, and they also have to be sweet, kind, and attractive too. Everything Jongwoon is.” he says, before quickly correcting himself. “.....was.”

“Who told you all of this?” Kyuhyun frowns, trying to push the other away.

“Amber,” Eunhyuk answers simply with a shrug.

“Hush you guys,” Heechul snaps when he saw that Kyuhyun was about to retort and question some more, shoving the two apart and squeezing between them to prevent more bickering. “Jongwoon is entering the arena,”

The raven looked vaguely irritated as he emerged, unlike Minho who was still getting the crowd cheering and riled up.

“Silence!” Heechul barks, his voice echoing loudly over the cheering crowd. “This is a duel, not a source of entertainment!”
The crowd fell silent pretty quickly at his words, earning an amused snicker from Donghae.

“Lee Minho, Kim Jongwoon,” Heechul says, turning his attention to the two in the center of the arena. “In this duel, the rules are pretty basic: No killing, no threatening, no gouging people's eyes out…. blah blah blah, you know what the rules are.” he says boredly.

“You’re supposed to tell them the guidelines properly,” Kyuhyun points out, only to be waved off and shushed by the elder.

“Since Minho was the one who declared the duel, Jongwoon gets to pick the choice of weapon.”

Yesung stood there for a good few seconds, staring blankly up at the supervisors in the adjudicator's balcony.

“Minho may choose the weapon instead,” Yesung declares, turning to face his opponent. “I will not be needing one, however.”