“No, no,” Byunghyun chided with a sigh as he shook his head and frowned at Changhyun who practically wilted under his disapproval.  “You’ve got to aim straight down when you swing,” Byunghyun explained, tapping at the crown of his head with one hand while he gripped Changhyun’s in the other, guiding the trajectory of the path.

                “But I might hit you,” Changhyun pouted, though he stared at the blunt stick in his hand as if it might come to life and do just that anyway.

                “No you won’t,” the other male chuckled while he looked around for another stick to defend with.  “See?” he murmured, holding the improvised weapon over his head defensively as he crossed Changhyun’s implement.  “Now try again,” he urged, keeping the stick where it was as he watched the younger male, well aware the other four were checking in on them, though their conversations continued as usual as if the pair wasn’t making a general spectacle of themselves.

                Clearly nervous, Changhyun pursed his lips while his fingers tightened around the weapon.  Taking a breath, he managed a weak but direct swing towards Byunghyun who flinched at the attack in response.  “Yah!” Changhyun yelped, nearly dropping the weapon when he thought he hurt him.

                “What was that for?” Byunghyun grumbled, frowning at Changhyun again.

                “You flinched,” Changhyun answered quietly, shifting in place with a nervous glance at his instructor while he held his hands before him loosely, the weapon still nestled in his right palm.

                “Of course I flinched,” the still injured male sighed.  “You were swinging a stick at my head,” he explained, doing the same thing to Changhyun who flung up his hands defensively and turned his head away, whining softly.

                “Because you told me to!” the younger male explained, just peeking back at his disgruntled companion.

                “And I blocked it like I said I would,” Byunghyun rolled his eyes before he rubbed the back of his neck and took another breath.  He saw Changhyun unfolding himself further and reminded his brain he needed to be just a teensy bit more patient.  After yesterday, head attacks might not have been the best choice for initial instruction either.  They were certainly among the most effective though…

                “But what if you don’t?” Changhyun murmured uncertainly, back to standing pitifully in front of the elder male.

                “Then it’s my fault for not paying attention,” Byunghyun explained quickly, holding the stick to the side of his body instead.  “Try a side strike instead,” he instructed, nodding towards the braced weapon.

                “Are you sure?” Changhyun asked with a raised brow.

                “I wouldn’t tell you to if I wasn’t.  Now attack,” Byunghyun ordered with just a hint of irritation bleeding through.

                With one eye partially closed, Changhyun did exactly as he was told and he very nearly smacked Byunghyun anyway when he didn’t keep his wrist firm.  The weapon connected, bent back to follow the progress of his hand, and then slid along the defensive weapon before the tip came free and swiped at Byunghyun’s chest in the process.  His only saving grace was the reinforced shirt Chanhee had made him which absorbed the worst of the glancing blow and sent him lurching back as if he’d been hit much harder because of the location.

                “Ack!” he hissed, hand clutching at his chest while his weapon remained raised.

                “No!” Changhyun pleaded, dropping his weapon immediately as he rushed closer to see the damage done.  “I’m sorry!” he practically yelled before he flailed helplessly when Byunghyun waved him back.

                His wound was still ridiculously tender so even though it was a minimal blow, the attack hurt all the same, even if Byunghyun hid it well.  “What did I tell you about attacking?”

                “You told me to attack you!” Changhyun whined, wringing his hands.

                At his response, Byunghyun sighed heavily and dropped his head with a shake.  It came up immediately when he heard someone else talking instead, “He probably said something about attacking like you mean it.”  The shorter male frowned when it was none other than Jonghyun who was wearing that confident smile he had when he knew what he was talking about.

                “But I don’t want to hurt him,” Changhyun explained in a considerably more normal tone of voice, though his pitch rose a bit higher near the end.

                “And that’s what practice is for,” Jonghyun nodded, reaching down to retrieve the weapon Changhyun had dropped so he could press it back into his hand.

                “Which is what we’re doing,” Byunghyun reminded the taller boy pointedly, though Jonghyun played oblivious to the hint.

                “Here,” Jonghyun urged, helping to position Changhyun in a stronger stance.  “If you turn your body a bit like this and spread your legs a touch, you can put more power behind the swing.”

                Byunghyun watched with narrowed eyes as Jonghyun actually had the nerve to guide Changhyun through the attacking motion by holding his hand around the shorter boy’s and leading him in a mock blow.  His other hand rested harmlessly on the back shoulder and Changhyun himself didn’t appear to think anything of it other than to focus on the instruction, but it irritated Byunghyun to no end.

                “Downward strike,” Jonghyun murmured into Changhyun’s ear while he guided the shorter male.  “Side strike and backhand strike,” he continued on, keeping the weapon swinging in smooth, steady as Changhyun’s body leaned along with the guidance.

                “He knows what to do,” Byunghyun muttered while his hand tightened around the weapon, tapping it lightly against his calf.

                “Practice, practice, practice,” Jonghyun grinned, nodding at Byunghyun to get ready to defend.  “Here,” he urged Changhyun as they shifted a bit closer to their opponent.  “Keep your wrist firm this time when you strike and if Byungie guards like last time, you’ll both be fine.”

                “But-” Changhyun started to say until he was cut off again.

                “He doesn’t need you to hold his hand,” Byunghyun snapped waspishly, though he did ready the stick all the same.

                “I’m just helping him get a feel for it,” Jonghyun responded innocently enough, his expression without guile.  Byunghyun wasn’t fooled in the least.  He could swear there was a twinkle in his eye despite all his efforts to the contrary.

                Changhyun looked over his shoulder at Jonghyun with a slightly nervous expression before he glanced back at the elder male and frowned.  “I think I’m-”

                “Just strike like so,” Jonghyun instructed as he guided Changhyun’s hand to perform a firm downward strike that Byunghyun had to hurry and catch.

                “Hey!” Byunghyun flinched, his arm complaining against the considerably stronger attack, though it was nowhere near full strength.  He could see the way that Changhyun cringed at the attack, offering a modicum of resistance when Jonghyun continued the attack with a side strike the next time.

                “There’s a sort of rhythm to it,” Jonghyun explained in the fluid exchange, smirking when Byunghyun’s frown darkened and he grit his teeth to keep from complaining.

                He was okay until the backhand strike.  Byunghyun twisted his torso to get better leverage on the firmer strike and cringed as his body argued vehemently about the supportive muscles recruited to maintain his posture.  “Ack…” he groaned, stepping back from the attack to avoid the rest of the momentum as he lowered his weapon.

                “Easy Jonghyun!” Chanhee warned with a sharp tone to his voice.  “He’s still injured you know.”

                The third party reminder galvanized Byunghyun enough to complain himself and he mumbled, “I am the injured one here.  Why am I the practice dummy?” he scowled, stepping close to shove his weapon at Jonghyun who jerked in surprise when Changhyun eased to the side.

                “Hey!” the youngest blinked, grabbing the weapon in reaction.

                “You block and we’ll run through the attacks,” Byunghyun affirmed while he nodded at Changhyun who suddenly seemed very confused.

                “But I’m still hurt too!” Jonghyun complained as he played up his injury, holding his hand to his ribs and immediately leaning over like they hurt him.

                “Didn’t seem to bother you before,” Minsoo commented in an offhand manner without looking their direction, though he couldn’t quite banish the hint of teasing in his voice.

                “Shut up,” Jonghyun grumbled to his older brother with a downcast frown as he shuffled into place, much to Byunghyun’s erse delight.

                “Oh!” Daniel yelped, twisting all the way around where he sat to stare back at them.  “I’ll switch places with you!” he called with one hand reaching out towards him.

                “No!” Jonghyun and Chanhee snapped at the same time, the former grinning as the latter continued on, “You’re helping me with these shirts.”

                “Aw….” Daniel groaned, slouching where he sat before he sighed heavily and picked up another shirt with all the disdain he could muster.

                Standing next to Changhyun, Byunghyun couldn’t help but exchange an amused smile with his companion as he laughed once and ducked his head, feeling considerably better now that he was beside the boy and Jonghyun wasn’t.  Never mind he knew it was jealousy, he didn’t care because he just didn’t like it.  And it really did make more sense for Jonghyun to be on the defensive anyway… sturdy, strong kid that he was.

                He was surprised when Changhyun murmured, “Are you sure you’re okay?”

                “Of course,” Byunghyun blurted, further astonished to find them closer together than he had thought as Changhyun turned to face him better.  “Erm…”

                Jonghyun cleared his throat nearby and raised one brow with the stick braced against his shoulder expectantly.  “We going to do this or not?”

                “Yes!” Changhyun answered first, turning to face Jonghyun with the stick raised, a determined expression on his face.  He adjusted himself the way that he’d been shown and then glanced over his shoulder, “Do I look alright?”

                Since he’d been watching intently anyway, the question caught Byunghyun off guard and he blurted, “Uh huh!”  Oh that was smooth…  He didn’t look but he could have sworn he heard Jonghyun stifle a snort.  Irritating brat.

                “Alright, Changhyun.  Just swing straight down like I showed you,” Jonghyun instructed when it became apparent Byunghyun was totally lost to his own musings.  When Changhyun moved to do just that, Byunghyun quietly fumed and muttered unpleasantly under his breath.  He was supposed to be teaching Changhyun how to fight.  His thoughts were interrupted again when Jonghyun sighed, “Aish.  It’s just practice but you’ve still gotta put something behind it.  Byunghyun.  Check his hold would you?” he urged, pointing the stick between the two while he stood his ground.

                Confused for a moment, Byunghyun blinked and then noticed what he was referring to.  Changhyun still had that limp wrist attack going on that had nearly gotten him smacked as well.  He cast a tentatively appreciative glance at Jonghyun and then stepped closer to Changhyun who looked so very confused.  “Right here,” Byunghyun explained, grasping the slender wrist in his hand and jostling it slightly to show what they were talking about.  “This is where you keep letting up.”

                “But I really-” he started to say, biting on his bottom lip when he was interrupted.

                “I know,” Byunghyun nodded while he met his eyes.  “Now.  The rest of you is fine, but keep your wrist firm,” he instructed, glancing at the arm held out in front of them as he started to apply pressure that would shift it.  Changhyun hissed at the sensation but he had plenty of time to react and his brow furrowed as he immediately set his mind to thwarting Byunghyun.

                Jonghyun reached out to tap the opposing stick with his, making Changhyun jump, but he nodded in approval as the weapon only flickered and came right back to where it was supposed to be.  “Good,” he nodded approval.

                “Do that again,” Byunghyun nodded at the taller male as he placed his free hand on Changhyun’s side for additional support, both physical and mental.  Changhyun quickly glanced over his shoulder at the contact, lips pursed, and it looked like there might have been a faint flush on his cheeks, but then Jonghyun was tapping the stick again and he had to divert his attention back to defending.  That gave Byunghyun all the chance in the world to look at him in profile with his hands on the younger male’s side and wrist and their bodies less than a couple inches apart.

                Forcing his attention back to the actual lesson at hand, Byunghyun grumbled to himself and conceded that Changhyun was actually a pretty quick study once he got over the fear of hurting people part.  With gentle guidance, Byunghyun coaxed him to present a stronger front against Jonghyun so that the sticks actually clacked firmly.  With each successful execution that didn’t result in someone nearly getting smacked, Changhyun became more confident and a smile played on his lips at his own progress, which made both Byunghyun and Jonghyun respond in kind.

                Then Daniel screamed…

                The high pitched, frantic cry drew their attention as few things could and all three reacted accordingly.  Jonghyun immediately sprang around them, ready to attack whatever it was, while Byunghyun shifted to raise his left arm in front of Changhyun defensively.  Reacting instinctively, Changhyun whirled to his left with his arms awkwardly raised in a defensive manner, putting his elbow at the perfect height to smack Byunghyun in his chest completely by accident.

                Even if he hadn’t been injured, despite the additional bracing in the cloth, such a blow would have stung anyway.  When it hit the already aggrieved spot, Byunghyun coughed, grimaced, and simply crumpled where he stood, the unexpected pain making all other thought nearly impossible.  Changhyun shrieked at what he’d done and spent a few seconds panicking over whether to help Byunghyun or continue trying to protect him.

                “Ugh!  Seriously?!” Jonghyun groaned over everything, which Byunghyun heard as if it was coming through cotton in his ears.

                “I’m sorry!  But something was crawling under me!” Daniel railed loudly, still very agitated.

                “Guys.  Calm down,” Minsoo urged as he shifted to move between them, placing a calming hand on both parties.

                “Byungie?”  Chanhee was beside them in a second when he noticed the injured male on the ground and Changhyun hovering over him.

                “I’m sorry!  I didn’t mean to!  I’m sorry!” Changhyun kept rambling over and over again as he finally dropped beside Byunghyun and wrung the stick in his hands frantically.

                And then Byunghyun was surrounded by concerned faces and murmuring voices all clamoring to find out what happened.  God he was sick of being the center of attention.  “I’m okay…” he croaked around the burning ache in his chest as he kept one hand pressed against the injured spot and waved the other at the crowd.

                Changhyun took that as a cue to explain what happened and he spoke very quickly.  “I heard Daniel scream and then hit Byunghyun by accident and he fell and I hurt him and I’m sorry!”  He hid his face behind his hands as he bowed his head apologetically, waiting to be chastised or yelled at or something.

                The answer brought an astonished laugh from Jonghyun who could only shake his head at the accidental occurrence.  Then Minsoo snorted while he squat next to Byunghyun and exhaled.  “What are we going to do with you?”

                “Help me up, you ,” Byunghyun hissed through gritted teeth as he took a calming breath.

                His response brought a tense laugh from the majority of the group, though Changhyun still looked mortified as Minsoo reached to help the injured male sit up.  When they all realized the actual nonexistent danger was past, Daniel reached down to ruffle Byunghyun’s hair lightly.  “You are like an accident magnet lately.  We’re gonna have to put you in bubble wrap or something,” he laughed with a wide grin, the expression a bit tense but genuinely relieved.

                With a disgruntled frown, Byunghyun snagged the stick from Changhyun’s hand and raised it towards Daniel.  “I’ll give you an accident.”

                “Yah!” the taller male yelped and jumped behind Jonghyun to force his hands into a defensive pose with the stick he was still holding onto at the ready.

                “What are you doing?” Jonghyun frowned with a glance at Daniel who blinked back at him.

                “Using you as a shield?” the older male responded questionably to which Jonghyun nudged him in the ribs with an elbow and freed himself easily.  “Ugh…” Daniel groaned pitiably, clutching his torso in a pantomime of severe injury.

                Their antics brought a chuckle from the other four on the ground, even the still smarting Byunghyun and a nervously smiling Changhyun.  “You two are idiots,” Chanhee laughed once and shook his head.

                “Hey,” they retorted at the same time with wounded expressions on their faces.

                With a glance at the other three nearest him, Chanhee stood up and grabbed both Daniel and Jonghyun by the wrists.  “Come on you two.  You can both help me out for the moment,” he explained, firmly dragging them back towards the hastily abandoned work on the ground.

                “But what if there’s another crawly thing?!” Daniel wailed.

                “But I was already doing something!” Jonghyun argued, though both their complaints fell on deaf ears as Chanhee ignored them entirely, leaving Minsoo, Byunghyun, and Changhyun to themselves.

                Chuckling with a shake of his head, Minsoo looked back at Byunghyun with his hand resting supportively on his back.  “We are gonna have to break this streak of yours soon,” he managed a crooked smile and reached over to pat Changhyun on the head consolingly with his other hand.

                “Sorry,” Changhyun murmured while Byunghyun just sighed and nodded in reluctant agreement.

                Admittedly, he was getting rather tired of being hurt himself.  “I hate being injured,” he grumbled flatly, a curl of his upper lip showing just how much.

                “Don’t we all?” Minsoo laughed outright and his lips.  “We probably won’t be trying to move until around midday,” he explained with a glance at the perpetually overcast sky.  “Maybe you should just take it easy for a bit in the meantime,” he suggested gently, looking between the pair.

                “Good idea,” Byunghyun sighed with a groan while Changhyun mutely nodded.

                “Okay.  I’m gonna go make sure they don’t kill each other and feel free to join us whenever,” Minsoo winked before he stood up and wandered back to the quietly complaining duo who were being observed disapprovingly by Chanhee.

                Byunghyun watched the elder male leave and then turned his scrutiny to Changhyun who looked absolutely pitiful kneeling beside him all hunched in on himself and riddled with guilt.  Well this was no good…  “You know,” he started slowly, his voice drawing the younger male to look up curiously.  “Since I found you, it has been just one thing after another,” he chuckled dryly, his tone amused though he could tell the delivery worried his companion.

                “I’m sorry,” Changhyun whimpered with a miserable expression, his hands holding tight to each other.  “I don’t mean to be trouble,” he added quickly.

                “It’s alright,” Byunghyun waved at him, finally dropping the stick to his side so he could place his hands on top of Changhyun’s so he would stop wringing them.  “I suppose it’s partially my fault,” he admitted with a tense purse of his lips as he tried to gather his courage.

                “No!” Changhyun denied immediately with a quick shake of his head.  “It’s my fault for being so helpless and not able to do anything by myself,” he rambled quickly, obviously distraught.

                Byunghyun was so bad at this and he mentally hit himself in the head in frustration.  “Changhyun,” he murmured, tightening his hand as he tried to stem the flow of words.

                “I’ll do better!  You’ll see!” Changhyun promised determinedly with a quick nod as he swallowed firmly.  “I can be useful I promise!”

                “Hey!” Byunghyun snapped, startling the younger boy enough to halt his rambling.  Changhyun tensed up again and looked at the injured male with wide eyes.  “I’m trying to say something and you won’t even let me get a word in sideways,” he exhaled, frustrated with himself more than anything.

                “I’m-” he started to apologize again before a meaningful look from Byunghyun stopped him again.

                Taking a quick breath, Byunghyun frowned determinedly and blurted, “I like you.”

                For a moment, Changhyun didn’t seem to know how to react.  Granted, Byunghyun’s facial expression wasn’t helping, but after a few seconds, the tension in Changhyun eased and a semi-relieved smile crossed his face.  “I like you too,” he responded, relaxing further as his smile widened.

                Byunghyun wanted to smack himself in the face because by his response, he knew Changhyun had totally missed the point of his admission.  “No, Changhyun,” he tried again, somehow managing to hold the younger boy’s gaze.  Oh, damn his innocent brown eyes…  “I like you,” he stated again with additional emphasis.  There were a lot of possible responses to the admission, but Changhyun simply blinking at him wasn’t the one he was expecting.  “Um…  Yeah,” he murmured, caught off guard by the very lack of response.  “So that’s kind of why I keep getting hurt around you.  I think,” he explained lamely, finally dropping his eyes to his lap as his ears burned with embarrassment.

                Beside him, he heard Changhyun shift minutely, relative silence filling the space between them.  He was well aware of the others talking quietly nearby, completely unaware of what was transpiring between him and Changhyun and utterly oblivious to his discomfit and encroaching mortification.  He didn’t dare risk another look at Changhyun to chance seeing all manner of responses he could envision: uncertainty, disgust, anger though admittedly that one was rather hard to imagine, but certainly not any degree of reciprocity.  At least not based on the silence… which he hated.

                When Changhyun continued to leave him hanging, he cleared his throat and swallowed hard, keeping his eyes locked on the tops of his thighs.  “So?” he asked in a quiet murmur.

                “Erm…” Changhyun trailed off, shifting in place again though at least he didn’t move away.  “I don’t know what to say,” he admitted at last, his voice so quiet Byunghyun almost missed it.

                Daring to sneak a peek, Byunghyun looked up out of the corner of his eyes and saw a very confused Changhyun.  He was neither happy nor disgusted, which was somewhat of a relief, if also mildly disappointing.  Wincing as he spoke, Byunghyun supplied, “Usually it’s a yes you do or no you don’t sort of thing.”  When Changhyun just shrugged with an almost baffled expression, Byunghyun struggled to think as much as his overwrought mind would let him and consider the possibility that he really had no clue at all.  He was among the youngest of the group, not to mention fairly timid, and almost painfully shy in some ways.  Hesitantly, Byunghyun asked, “Have you ever dated anyone before?”

                “Not… really?” Changhyun responded with another confused shrug of his shoulders.

                The answer made Byunghyun want to laugh but he knew that was the wrong response.  Fortunately, it also gave him a slight degree of relief and he felt the crushing weight of embarrassment ease back slightly.  “Okay,” he nodded, both to himself and to Changhyun.

                “Okay?” Changhyun echoed in bafflement.

                “Yeah,” Byunghyun confirmed with a quick breath.  “I just needed you to know,” he explained as he dropped his gaze back to his lap where his hands were tightly clenched together.  After admitting what he felt for the boy when Minsoo asked as well as nearly dying, he didn’t want to let it go unspoken.  At least he’d said it and he didn’t get the response he had wanted to hear, but now it was out in the open and Changhyun could figure out what he wanted to do with it from there.  Hopefully.  He started to try and squash his feelings back in the little box he tried to keep them in to protect himself but was ultimately surprised when a hand appeared in his vision to cover his lightly.

                When he looked up again, he saw that Changhyun was staring at him with a confused but thoughtful look on his face.  “I don’t know,” he reiterated again very slowly with this intense look in his eyes.  Byunghyun practically held his breath as he waited for the younger boy to go on.  That couldn’t be all he was going to say could it?  “But…” Changhyun added as he nibbled on his bottom lip.  “I kind of wanna find out,” he finished with a tentative and slightly hopeful smile as his fingers tightened just a bit on top of Byunghyun’s hands.

                For a moment, the words refused to register in Byunghyun’s head, until they clicked and he blinked rapidly as a relieved smile graced his face in turn.  “Yeah?” he breathed while his heart sped up and he felt more of the fear falling away.

                “Yeah,” Changhyun nodded, leaning close to plant a very quick kiss on Byunghyun’s cheek before he sat back and laughed at himself, rather embarrassed.

                A broad grin broke out on Byunghyun’s face as he worked a hand free to press his fingertips against his cheek in wonderment.  His other shifted in his lap to carefully thread their fingers together and he nodded reassuringly.  “Okay.”  This time, the word prompted a stronger smile from Changhyun and they both relaxed even more, giddy with their own revelations.

                It wasn’t the perfect scenario for Byunghyun, but… it was enough.

(a/n: And I think this is a good stopping point for this story.  There are arcs I can explore later but for the moment, I have succeeded in getting where I wanted to.  Granted, for something that was supposed to be short, I guess eleven chapters isn't too bad.  lol

Byunghyun isn't entirely cursed by a series of unfortunate events but he definitely has his share of bad luck.  haha  Though it all sort of works out in the end.  ;)  And you know I had to get some more trolling in there with Changjo and Niel.  Bahaha  Those two have just been ridiculously fun to play off each other.

While I may do more with this later, for the time being, I am pleased.  I can only hope that you've enjoyed this little romp as well and feel free to leave a comment if you care to.  ^_^  Thank you for taking the time to check it out and happy reading, whatever your next story might be!)