Approaching him took a lot of courage – especially after that horrific embarrassment he had suffered before - but Xiumin was delighted to have an excuse to actually talk to the other again. And quickly. So he moved up towards the beautiful boy and cleared his throat. Both Suho and Lu Han turned to stare at him in silence, waiting for what he had to say.

Xiumin pointed behind him at the instructor that was walking away from them, smiling before he turned back, staring at Suho rather than Lu Han.

“I’ve to inform you that there’s going to be some sort of a competition starting tomorrow.” He explained, leaning against as stone pillar behind him. Suho and Lu Han glanced at each other, a small spark of excitement rushing through them at the thought.

It’d be nice to have some friendly competition.

Suho smiled at the other and spoke softly. Xiumin could practically faint at the sound of the other’s inviting voice.

“Great, thanks for telling us.” Suho smiled like an angel. Or at least, that’s the way it looked. Xiumin simply nodded before moving back into the building, leaving the other two alone again.

Suho and Lu Han watched him leave and then the younger sighed. There was so much tension already.

Lu Han smiled in pity.

His friend already looked so confused over everything. And it was the only second day at school – but the other had to try and remember that although they may be based over powerful gods: they are still simply teenagers. There was no need to push themselves into the big, bad world yet.

Putting his hand on Suho’s, he grinned before shoving the last part of his own sandwich into the boy’s mouth.

“Just eat. Don’t think.”

Both of them laughed at each other as they continued to eat their lunch. Problems like that can be sorted out another time.

Xiumin scoured the lunch hall, looking for the other nine people in his class.

But to be fair, he didn’t feel like moving up to Jongdae. Not if he didn’t want to be impaled. That whole ordeal with Lu Han pretty much scared everyone else, they had no idea what Jongdae was capable of now. Or well, they did know what he was capable of.

So he skipped the dangerous trickster for now – who was also sitting with Yixing – and moved onto the tall blonde who was trying to chat up Zitao.

And by the looks of it, failing.

“Sup guys.” He said, taking a seat opposite them with a friendly smile. Tao nodded and Kris smiled back. Zitao looked pretty annoyed already, so he wanted to get this over with. “There’s going to be a competition tomorrow.”

“What kind of competition?” Kris asked, feeling curious. Zitao simply stayed silent.

“An all-type one.”

“That sounds fun.” The blonde turned to Zitao and waited for him to react. When he got silence, he frowned. “Zitao, what do you think?”

Zitao turned to him and just shrugged.

He packed his bag and stood up, looking at the other two who were silent at his sudden movement. This whole situation had gone on for longer than he really wanted, but at least Xiumin had given him an excuse to leave.

Kris sighed when he did and simply let out a sigh. A bad one.

“That’s a toughie.” That’s all the god of wealth could say. Standing up, he moved to go to everyone else and tell them about it, leaving Kris alone there with a frown on his face.

See, Kris thought this was all going quite well. They were actually talking about stuff.

Stuff that Zitao liked.

But then all of a sudden his expression turned sour and he just became bored with every single word that came out of Kris’s mouth. He had no idea if it was something he said or what. It was sad. Even if Zitao wasn’t enjoying the conversation he was having, Kris was, it was rather enlightening because they had a lot of things in common.

Their music taste.

Their food taste.

Hell, even their cologne taste.

Yet Zitao turned cold and must have decided that he wasn’t worth having a conversation with after all. Kris was still going to try though. He had a feeling that Zitao was worth waiting for.

Finally, Xiumin had spoken to everyone except the two people that he didn’t want to approach. But it had to be done. After all, it was his ‘lunch’ job. So he moved over and sat in front of Chen and Yixing, clearing his throat and stopping their talk.

“Oh… what do you want?” Chen asked, looking a little annoyed that he had interrupted his conversation with Yixing.

“There will be a competition held tomorrow.” Xiumin explained.

“Really? That sounds interesting.” Yixing said, tapping his finger on the table as he thought about all the things they would be doing. Actually, he thought that was exactly what this class needed. “Thanks for telling us.”

“Yeah.” Chen said, smiling a little sarcastically.

“To be honest, I don’t think they’ll let you join.” Xiumin suddenly said, making Chen glare at him.

“What are you talking about?”

“You impaled another student today, you will be punished. I mean, you have to be, right?” As he talked, the glare got fiercer. Chen didn’t say anything, but the boy in front of him was really pissing him off.

And he was expecting some back up from the only person that talked to him but Yixing just sat there in silence.

Xiumin smiled before he left quickly.

Chen slumped back into his seat and just stared at the table. It’d be a lie to say he wasn’t expecting this. Being cut off by something whilst everyone else gets to enjoy it. To be honest, he was a modest guy – he just didn’t like showing anyone that.

Suddenly, he jumped up from his chair, surprising Yixing who was already staring at him.

“What is it?” He wondered.

“I’ve forgotten to apologise to Lu Han.” He gritted his teeth at his forgetful memory. That was something he really had to do. To show the side that no one ever got to see.

Yixing nodded and smiled, glad the other remembered.

Chen instantly moved out of the school, knowing that Lu Han had gone outside with Suho for fresh air after Kris had approached their table.

Outside, it was nice, it was kind of chilly which was perfect. He looked around spotting the one he was looking for beside some benches. Moving over, he shoved his hands into his pockets and slowly walked towards him. The two boys were laughing at each other but stopped instantly when they saw him.

The boy stared at Lu Han and coughed a little.

“Uh hey.” He whispered, already he was feeling nervous just facing him. “Can we talk privately?”

There was no way he was doing this thing in front of Suho.

Nope.

Suho waited for Lu Han to nod and then he left, waving at the boy before entering the school again. Chen ruffled his own hair and moved closer to the blonde who was just waiting for him to start.

“Look, I’m really sorry.” The boy started, looking down at the floor. “I’ve no idea what I was thinking.”

Lu Han just stayed silent, he had a feeling the other wasn’t finished.

Chen took a deep breath.

“Actually… I do know what I was thinking.” The boy moved up closer to the boy and actually stared at him. “I wanted to see if the rumour was true about you, and I done it in the worst way possible. I’m so sorry.” Chen bit his lip, feeling absolutely ridiculous now about the entire situation. He almost killed Lu Han – on the second day no less – just because of a stupid rumour.

Lu Han moved forward, putting a hand on the other’s shoulder, speaking softly and kindly to the other. All because he knew it was a heartfelt apology.

Which he wasn’t really expecting.

“I forgive you.”

That answer was not at all expected. Chen titled his head to the side at the other’s extremely quick act of forgiveness.

“Why?” He asked, but he didn’t want to push it too much.

“Because it’s not in my nature to hold grudges.” Lu Han said, taking his hand away and picking up his bag. “Although, it might take a while for me to process the fact that you impaled me with a sphere.” The boy looked down before he started to giggle a little, just at the sentence.

Soon, the laughter was contagious and even Chen began to laugh as well. This apology had went much better than he had hoped.

After they had finished laughing, both stared at each other with a smile.

“Class is about to start soon.” Lu Han smiled before he turned around. “See you there.”

Chen watched him leave.

At least his conscience was a little clearer now. Now all he wanted to do was go to Yixing and tell him about his success. And he’d be willing to bet that the other was going to be very proud of him.

…

“Dammit!” Kai shouted as placed the bow down at the side, glaring at it like his bad aim was the weapon’s fault. Sitting on the floor, he stared at the arrow on the target board that was off bulls-eye. Images of Sehun hitting it perfectly flew through his brain.

Maybe it wasn’t such a good idea to train with him. He’d feel undermined every time he took a damn shot.

On the other hand, maybe it was a good idea.

He’d certainly get the motivation he needed. And… he could also try and learn a few things off of the boy. Inconspicuously of course. There was no way he’d just ask for help. Secretly, was the way to go.

The gym he was in was empty, which meant no one watched his errors.

So he could try again.

Which he was going to. Kai stood up, taking the bow with him, before he aimed at the target board which was an impressive distance away.

Kai wanted to get better at the bow, mostly because of Sehun. Otherwise, he’d love to challenge someone to hand-to-hand combat, but he didn’t think anyone would take up his challenge. He shot the arrow, groaning when it hit the board right beside his last one.

He needed a change of weapon. This one was just pissing him off. Plus he had practice at Sehun’s afterwards.

Tomorrow there was going to be a competition, Kai hoped it would include some brutal fights were he could actually show everyone how talented he was, not just some lame second placer.

“Your arrows aren’t straight.” Someone suddenly interrupted his thoughts.

“Huh?” Kai turned around to see Kyungsoo leaning on the doorway. “What are you doing here?” He wondered, placing the bow on the ground again as he turned to the other student. Now he was wondering how long Kyungsoo had been standing there exactly.

And what he was doing sneaking around.

Kyungsoo moved forward, his expression still stern as he approached the boy. All of a sudden, the older one picked up an arrow and held it in front of Kai’s face.

“Look at it.”

“Look at what?” Kai asked. Kyungsoo rolled his eyes.

“The arrow Kai.”

The younger sighed and looked at the arrow like he was told to. And that’s when he saw exactly what the other was talking about.

The damn arrow was squint.

Which also meant, his aim was off because of it.

“ me.” Kai whispered, shaking his head in despair. A small smirk appeared on his lips as he thought about what a stupid mistake it was. “Thanks a lot for telling me, I was really beating myself up for my stupid aim.”

Kyungsoo simply nodded, moving over to the board and removing the arrows. Then he took them to Kai and handed them over.

“Use new ones instead of old ones.” He said, leaving straight after.

“…Weird dude.” Kai whispered, staring after him but shrugging. Now he felt a bit more confident about the even tomorrow.

People better watch out.

…

Day three had started and each of the students were equally as excited to start this competition. They had been piled into the larger gym hall where they were told to wait for the instructor to arrive and explain everything. All twelve of them were sitting together, chatting lightly and thinking about what exactly they were going to have to do.

Baekhyun and Chanyeol were sitting together, talking about something the older had seen the other day when Chanyeol thought about something rather important for today.

Tapping the boy on the shoulder to stop him, he smiled.

“Um, what if it’s a fighting competition?” He asked. Baekhyun hadn’t participated in the last two fighting classes, what hope had he in a competition where that was the main point?

The younger sighed a little. But he just shrugged slightly then turned to Chanyeol with a small smile.

“Well… I guess I’ll just have to cheer you on instead.”

“…Thank you Baekhyun.” Chanyeol suddenly said, rather sincerely. The silence that filled the atmosphere between them made it a little tense.

But Baekhyun was still taken aback from the sudden sentence.

“What are you thanking me for?” He wondered, tilting his head to the side.

“For talking to me.” Chanyeol whispered, now praying that he had just shut his mouth instead of saying something rather embarrassing. Sighing, he tried to make it clearer. “I mean… for kind of… breaking me out of the shell I had built around myself.”

Baekhyun smiled as he knew what the other was trying to explain. And he found it rather adorable.

Placing his hand on Chanyeol’s, he grinned.

“Stop being a sappy dufus.” His grin lightened up the entire situation.

“…Right.” Chanyeol replied, smiling back.

On the other side of the gym, Lu Han and Zitao were playing a game on Lu Han’s phone, just passing the time until he actually had something to do. The youngest was winning whilst Lu Han continued to murmur angrily under his voice at his massive lost. The game ended and he groaned loudly.

“That’s not fair!”

“I thought you were supposed to be peaceful?” Zitao rose an eyebrow at him.

“…I mean… well done.” Lu Han shot his friend a forced smile before he noticed something else. “Yifan is staring at you again. What exactly happened yesterday anyway?”

Zitao groaned and didn’t even turn around before he replied to the other’s question.

“We talked… we were having a rather interesting conversation and then I left.”

“…That’s it?” Lu Han asked.

“Yup.” The younger said, shrugging.

“I think you should go and talk to him.” The boy said, grinning. Tao’s expression afterwards was priceless. “I mean, you guys seem pretty compatible, even if you refuse to admit it.” Lu Han explained, shaking his head. “Take the wheel, maybe, you might even like what happens. Besides, we have twenty minutes left until the instructor gets here.” The way he said it made Zitao groan in defeat.

He knew that the other was never going to leave him alone if he decided to decline his order. And perhaps he was right.

Standing up, he ignored Lu Han’s smile and moved towards the blonde.

To say Kris was surprised at his approach was an under-exaggeration. He sat beside him and crossed his leg towards the blonde, their legs close again just like the day before.

Zitao looked up at the older and smiled as best he could.

“Good morning.”

“Oh, good morning.” Kris said, smiling widely. “…Why did you come over here?” He asked, hoping that he wasn’t pushing the other away quickly.

“Just thought I’d say hi, is that okay?”

“Definitely!” Kris shouted, a little too quickly. But the other actually chuckled at his quick reaction. The blonde cleared his throat. “I mean, that’s cool. I didn’t have company anyway.”

“Yeah I could see that.” Zitao smiled a little at the other’s behaviour.

Dare he say it, it was actually pretty cute.

“So, looking forward to the competition?” He wondered, watching as Kris nodded his head immediately.

“Maybe we’ll go up against each other?” Kris asked, grinning.

“Then in advance, I’m sorry.” Zitao suddenly said, standing up and turning away from the boy whilst shoving his hands into his pockets. He knew that Kris was now going to get very nervous at what he had just said. Kris stood up in surprise as well.

It was a weird thing to say.

“Why are you apologising?” Kris asked, a little worried. But then he heard the boy’s beautiful laugh sound through the room.

“For kicking your .”

Zitao left, but Kris could only grin because the other was actually having a conversation with him. This was an advancement in his plan. It was actually working and he had gotten the other to have a good talk with him in a two simple days, this was great. Kris could actually see this as an achievement in his book.

Just as he was about to sit down again, the instructor showed up with a clip board in his hands.

The man looked excited.

“Okay!” He shouted so that everyone could hear him. “Everyone stand up and I’ll tell you what the first activity is going to be.”

Everyone did as they were told, interested and anxious.

The silence was almost intoxicating.

“Okay, the first activity is going to be hand-to-hand combat. There will be two participants as I am aware some of you will be disadvantaged. You will participate in other rounds, but the loser of this one will be disqualified from the entire tournament.” The instructor explained, making some of the students sigh in relief at the fact they weren’t going to have to fight someone.

Especially hand to hand.

That was most certainly not most of their things. It was no weapons, just simple hands and feet.

Now they were wondering who were going to be the participants.

The instructor smirked.

“Kai! You’re up first.” He said, smirking. Kai grinned because he had been waiting for a moment to showcase his abilities that weren’t on a bow. After all, he took after Ull who was also a master at hand to hand combat. “And Zitao.”

Kai gulped.

Ah, he should’ve known that was going to happen. Zitao moved up to the other as well and smirked at Kai who seemed to have gotten a little nervous.

The two boys had traits that were perfect in this style.

Time to battle.

“Fight!”

A/N: It's been a long time everyone! 3 months actually... I've actually been on a hiatus for a while since I've recently started back at University and don't have a lot of motivation to write. But all of a sudden I got it back tonight so I've decided to update this one! This story got featured a while ago and this will be the first chapter afterwards so I want to thank every single person that has subscribed to this story and to those that comment with such nice comments! I am so thankful for all of you and I hope you enjoy this chapter :)