Kyungsoo hit the ground along with Sehun, feeling the flesh of his cheek skinned away as he fell. But suddenly a hand covered his mouth and before he could scream, he was hauled away from his friend.

He kicked and writhed but whoevers grasp he was in was holding him tightly, almost as if to keep him safe. But what did that word even mean any more?

The person dragged him for what felt like forever but when it was over, they gently placed him on the ground. Kyungsoo was sobbing at this point. Terrified didn’t even begin to cover what he was feeling. He felt utterly violated.

Strong hands his damaged cheek as if they were examining the wound. But he was still in the darkness so he pushed them away. He didn’t trust anyone right now. Not even a stranger who might have just saved him from the midst of the brawl.

The hands returned to slowly remove Kyungsoo’s blindfold and when Kyungsoo saw the artificial lights that lit up the field, he was beyond relieved. Inches from his face, with a look of great concern in his eyes, was Kai. Kai was his savior.

“It’s ok, Kyungsoo. I am so sorry you got caught up in this all. Please, just please stop crying.” Kai begged, his voice wavering immensely.

Kyungsoo’s breath caught as he realized how much Kai genuinely cared for him. A sudden wave of trust ran through him and he reached out for Kai to reassure his friend that was, in fact, alright. He didn’t have the words right now, he was too in shock.

Kai was surprised by the contact that Kyungsoo had made and he smiled at his new friend.

“Don’t speak if you don’t want to, but I just want you to know that I’m here for you. In what ever form that may be.” Kai explained, and Kyungsoo nodded slowly.

On the field…

Sehun was screaming for Kyungsoo continuously and Luhan just couldn’t bear to watch it anymore.

“He’s fine, Sehun! Kai took him off the field. Keep going!” He yelled through cupped hands.

Sehun’s head snapped to where Luhan’s voice was coming from and listened to the words that his captain friend was sharing with him. Kyungsoo was all right, now it was time to really hit the ground running.

Luhan smiled as he saw Sehun race off, kicking the football with agility he didn’t now that Sehun possessed.

Sehun was halfway down the field when he encountered the barbed wire pit. He knew from his childhood obsession with the army what he had to do. He jumped down onto his stomach, inching under the mess of wire by shuffling. He bet he looked like an awkward snake wannabe but he didn’t care. He was going to make it through. He pushed the football along in front of him with his nose and shimmied for what felt like forever.

Every few feet, he stuck his hand up, covered by his nightshirt sleeve and checked for more barbed wire above him. After about six checkpoints, his hand hit nothing but fresh air. He was free from the second challenge.

Kai walked Kyungsoo into the stands and threw a blanket over the boy's shoulders.

“Sehun’s doing really well for a new footie player. I’m impressed.” Kai commented as Kyungsoo watched his friend escape from the barbed wire trap.

Luhan walked up the bleachers and joined Kyungsoo and Kai. He twiddled his fingers at Kyungsoo in greeting but the boy simply ignored him.

“He’s shy.” Kai advised Luhan, with a whisper.

Luhan nodded understandingly. Kai looked back at Kyungsoo and Luhan could tell that the goalie was quite taken with the quirky little music geek. Kai always needed something to protect, which is why he made such a good goalie, now it was Kyungsoo.

“I hope he makes it through the last part okay.” Luhan muttered, concerned about Sehun’s sense of balance as he approached the third and final trial.

Sehun kicked the football and ran behind it until he was stopped in his tracks by a whirring sound. There was something electronic in front of him and he identified it as another obstacle. He walked slowly toward it and reached his hand out experimentally.

There was a piece of the machine passing through his hand as if it were going around in a circle. The shape seemed spherical but Sehun figured he was meant to pass through it so he picked up his football and tossed it inside the thing.

He tried to take a step into it but once he did, he felt flat on his face. The machine was a spiraling tunnel and it wasn’t stopped for anything. As it turned, Sehun went up along the wall with it until gravity sent him sliding back down.

“I am going to kill Luhan for this one.” Sehun grumbled as he attempted to get up. He slipped as the thing turned and landed back on the ground.

Sehun wanted to have a fit but he knew his time was dwindling so he pulled himself together and concentrated on crawling forward along the ground of the tunnel. If he moved at an awkward diagonal, he could keep ahead of the rotation and remain at the same level. He located his football that was bouncing around in front of him and grabbed it under his arm. He kept up the same tedious process until he tumbled out the end of the wretched thing.

He could hear Kyungsoo’s giggles sounding from the distance and instead of getting annoyed by them, he was instantly comforted. His friend was safe and watching out for him on the final stretch of his initiation.

Sehun stood to his feet, beckoning for the final obstacle to face him but it never came. He dribbled the football right into the net and was struck down as he ran into the edge of the pole.

Luhan’s heart leapt out of his chest as Sehun fell to the turf.

“Oh my god..” Luhan cried as he sprinted down the bleachers. Kai and Kyungsoo were frozen in shock as Luhan crossed the field.

Sehun lay on his back and slowly removed the blindfold from his own head. Dazed, he looked up and saw Luhan’s gorgeous face staring down at him. He smiled, totally out of it because of the accident.

“Sehunnie…” Luhan muttered, kneeling down to his clumsy friend.

Luhan tenderly pushed back Sehun’s fringe, checking out his eyes for concussion. Xiumin had taught him which signs to look for and Sehun, thankfully, wasn’t displaying any of them.

He lifted Sehun slowly up and the rookie smirked impishly.

“I did it!” Sehun exclaimed, lifting his arms up in celebration.

“You did.” Luhan confirmed, a sigh of relief escaping his body.

By then, Kyungsoo and Kai had made their way over and Kai helped Luhan lift Sehun to his feet.

“Is he okay?” Kyungsoo asked, toddling behind the three teammates as they brought Sehun over to the sidelines. Kai and Luhan set Sehun down on a bench.

“He’s fine, just a bit out of it because of the conk on the head.” Luhan explained to Kyungsoo and Kyungsoo actually smiled back at him.

“Thanks, Luhan.” Kyungsoo said, kneeling beside Sehun and resting his head in his friend’s lap.

Kai and Luhan laughed at how ridiculously adorable the scene looked before Luhan looked down at his watch.

“It’s been fifteen minutes. Time to make the call. Cover Sehun’s ears, will you?” Luhan instructed of Kai who did what he asked.

He tweeted the whistle to signal the end of the challenge.

The rest of the rookies were far behind where Sehun had been, none of them even reaching the tunnel by the fifteen minute mark. But it didn’t matter if they succeeded in reaching the net, it was about their resilience to even try the ridiculous challenge that confirmed their spot on the team.

“You may take off your blindfolds. Congratulations, you have all proved yourself as worthy enough to sustain your spots on the Busan Prep soccer team! Good night, boys!” Luhan called, and was amused by the mix of reaction that the announcement caused.

Some people cheered, some look disappointed but when he looked back at Sehun, his was the best of all: the pride that he displayed in completing the task was untouchable.

“Kyungsoo is asleep.” Kai advised Luhan.

“You pick him up, I’ll handle Sehun.” Luhan responded.

Kai walked over to Kyungsoo and gently scooped into his arms. Kyungsoo looked like a little angel in Kai’s arms.

“Alright, you, time to go home.” Luhan said, leaning down to help Sehun back up.

“Really? Already? But we’re having so much fun!” Sehun said, pouting as Luhan lifted him up.

Luhan realized that Sehun needed to sleep the hit to the head off more than anything. The rookie was totally out of it.

“Yup, your bed is probably much more comfortable to sleep on than the turf.” Luhan responded, with a chuckle as they began their journey to Sehun’s dorm room.

“It is! You should try it some time.” Sehun suggested, smiling widely at Luhan.

Luhan knew that the statement had probably been an innocent invitation but it still made him gulp slowly.

“Um, yah, right… maybe.” He stammered, trying to keep his cool. He hoped that Kai hadn’t heard the exchange because if he heard his stuttered reply, Luhan would never hear the end of it.

The rest of the walk Luhan spent listening to Sehun babble on incoherently about how excited he was to be a part of the team, be friends with Kai and Luhan and something about gifts.

Kai pushed Kyungsoo and Luhan’s door open with his foot and set Kyungsoo down gently on his bed. Kai determined the boy’s bed because it had music scores and recipe books all over it.

When he saw that Sehun and Luhan were still outside, he leaned down and pressed a kiss to the sleeping Kyungsoo’s forehead. Kyungsoo stirred for a moment and Kai flew back in shock. But Kyungsoo stayed asleep, so Kai was relieved.

“Thanks for walking me home.” Sehun said, as he recognized his front door.

“You’re welcome. Get a good sleep, okay, mate?” Luhan asked, unattaching himself from Sehun.

“I will. I think I’ll have good dreams tonight.” Sehun muttered, before throwing his arms around the captain.

Luhan was startled by the embrace for a moment but then relaxed into it. Kai walked out of the room and saw them hugging which caused Luhan to spring backward.

“Good night, Sehunnie.” Luhan said and Sehun nodded, his eyes drooping as he walked into his room.

“Quite a night, eh?” Kai asked as they began to walk back to their own shared room.

“Quite.” Luhan answered, a mess of unrecognizable emotions fluttering around inside him as they continued their walk. 

A/N Heyyy guys! Thank you so, so much for the support! Your comments mean the absolute world to me!!!! Okay, I have some good news and bad news.

The good news is I am starting a new fanfic! But, believe you me, it could not be any more different to this story!! I hopefully will get started soon! Just need to get a graphic and I will be good to go!

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand, the bad news. As some of but not all of you know I have been really sick the last fourish days. Well, to make a long story short, I have been diagnosed with all these different disorders and syndromes! Really, the doctors report was like a page long........Yay!! Not. So, because of that, I will have to take a bit of a break from AFF. I won't leave completely but I may have to cut back a bit. I really, really hope you continue to support me! Just comment on this story or on my wall or PM if you have any questions!

Love, VIPnzLOVE

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo