Before they left Sector One, Luhan dropped by Paradise one last time to say goodbye to Emery. The woman practically jumped the man in a bear hug with tears in her eyes. Jongin was next, and Jongdae was dreading his turn. She turned to him, thankfully wearing more clothes than the previous day (if you could even call a cropped tube top appropriate), and hugged him. His face was practically being smothered in her cleavage and once she backed away he fell into a coughing fit, completely embarrassed and blushing.

“Will you visit?” she asked Jongin and him.

Jongin nodded. “Of course! But only if Jongdae wants to.”

Jongdae grimaced. The younger boy always had a way of setting him up for these kinds of situations. “Sure,” he said through gritted teeth.

After their goodbye, they walked off to the gates of the sector. Jongdae clutched his bag, staring out and thinking about the boring and hot journey that awaited them. Luhan put the straps of his bag on his shoulder, heading out. “C’mon,” he said, happily walking off.

Jongin came to Jongdae’s side. “You alright?” he quizzed.

He nodded. “Yeah, just not exactly excited for the heat.” They began following Luhan. He took his cloak off and threw it on his shoulder, as well as putting his mask off of his face.

“Yeah,” Jongin chuckled. “Ya think it’ll be cooler when we leave the West?” His eyes got wide. “Wait. Where’re we even going?”

Stopping, Jongdae looked at the younger boy; he snapped his fingers, catching Luhan’s attention. He walked over. “Whassup?” he asked, watching as Jongdae dug through his bag and took out the map.

Jiyoung said, “We can’t just walk aimlessly through this heat; we need to know where we’re heading.”

Jongdae nodded. “Yep. The majority of the West is a dry, barren desert and we probably won’t last if we get lost.” He held down the sides of the map. He heard Luhan mutter something about “how they were takin’ away the fun” but focused on the map. “I’d say the closest place to go is to the North. Sector Three."

Luhan cracked his fingers. “Nice. The North’s got some mighty fine women, a bit shy, but ya can’t be picky.” He placed a hand on Jongin’s shoulder. “How ‘bout when we get there I teach ya how to get a woman. Ya got the looks to get anyone you want.”

Jongdae’s head whipped up and he glared at Luhan, grabbing Jongin’s shoulder and dragging him away. “Are women the only thing you think about?” he asked, disgusted.

The man smirked. “Well, I also think ‘bout . When I’m poundin’ into ‘em, and they’re screamin’ my name goin’ Oh Luha-!“

“Okay, okay,” Jiyoung spoke,” we get it. You’re a manwhore. And though I could care less about what you have to say, I think it’d be best if we try to start moving – oh, I don’t know – today?”

For once Jongdae was glad Jiyoung could be so outspoken. His jaw clenched as he struggled to keep a clear mind and not jump Luhan. He was a cocky and he was not going to let innocent Jongin become his apprentice.

He dragged his finger across the map to where the large, bolded words “East” sat. “What about after the North, we head to the East.” It came out as a demand more than anything. “Then afterwards we’ll go to the South, and it’ll be over.”

Jongin nodded. “That be sounding like a good idea to me.”

Shrugging, Luhan commented, “I ain't got a problem with that. Never been to the East though.”

“Oh the East is a great place,” he said,” I’ve heard rumors of there being these cool moving boxes that go down the roads.”

“Ya mean cars?” Luhan asked. “They got those in the North and South. The East ain’t that special.”

Jongdae glared at him, rolling up the map and putting it back in his bag. He huffed. “Let’s go,” he grumbled and walked off. His grip tightened around Jiyoung.

“You definitely do not like him,” Jiyoung pointed out.

Jongdae glanced back, seeing Jongin and Luhan talking, which annoyed him for some reason. “He’s so arrogant. It’s like one moment he’s fine to be around and the other he’s trying everything he can to annoy the crap out of me.”

“Just don’t say anything to him.”

He huffed, hissing, “You’re one to talk. If someone says something even remotely bad to you, you go off on them.” Jongdae sighed. “I didn’t mean-“

“Nah, it’s alright,” Jiyoung said. She didn’t sound offended, and when Jongdae tried to focus on her aura he didn’t sense any sort of negativity. In fact, he felt pride, which confused him greatly. “I think it’s great that you’re being honest. They do say honesty is the best policy after all.”

 “You’re really not mad?” He should’ve felt glad that she wasn’t angry, but for some reason it was the exact opposite. He was hoping she’d yell at him. Hell, he’d be alright if he attacked her with magic. His guilty conscience was wearing him down, and he really wished he’d told her the truth when he had the chance. Now he was too afraid to. He didn’t want to tell her and deal with the aftermath of his lies.

“Nope. I see it as a good sign. We’ll become a better team if we’re honest with each other.”

Well that certainly made him feel even worse. She was beginning to trust him, and what had he done? Lied for his own selfish reasons. His hand scratched at his shorts. “Oh. W-well that’s good,” he stuttered. Gulping, he waited for her to call him out or question why he did, but she didn’t.

“Will you be all right to spar later?” she asked instead. “I think we’ll work on physical combat. You guys know nothing about any of the other places, apart from Luhan, so I think it’ll be helpful if you guys know how to fight in case you are attacked.”

Jongdae nodded. “Yeah, that’s fine. No magic, right?” He practically blurted out the question. His fingers dug into his palm, hoping he wasn’t being obvious.

“Nope. I don’t want to exhaust you guys.”

Thank God, he sighed in relief. His finger brushed his shirt. “Oh, alright.” He almost face-palmed when he realized he said that a little too quick.

They walked a for a while, until they decided to make a camp and a fire (Jongdae began to search for wood but Jiyoung impatiently made one). There were no animals around, meaning that when night came they wouldn’t have any food to eat, but thankfully, they’d eaten before they left Sector One. (Jongdae was also glad he didn’t have to suffer through another grueling meal of charred meat.)

For a while, they sat in silence, until Jiyoung said, “How about we begin combat training?”

That’s how Jongdae found himself on the floor, head in the dirt as he let out a groan.

“C’mon, Jongdae,” Luhan teased. “We ain’t got all day now.”

Jongin had finished already, giving Jongdae encouraging words. “You got this Jongdae.”

Jiyoung told them they needed to work on their strength, so she gave them an exercise which was horribly disgusting. Jongdae just about threw up when they started doing them.

Push-ups.

He’d never heard of the torturous exercise, and frankly, he could care less about receiving strength. All he wanted was to fight people, but this? His arms strained to pick him back up into the air – God, he was only on the second one!

“This is just depressing,” Jiyoung commented. “I’ve seen four-year-old girls do better push-ups than you.”

And there goes the blunt honesty.

Jongdae inhaled, grunting as he shakily got up from the ground. He went up, but then he had to go back down. His arms shook, and he was almost to the ground again but he collapsed. He lifted his head and banged it into the dirt.

Damn it. His fists hit the floor a few times, and he tried again, but the same thing happened. DAMN IT!

“Jongdae, it’s okay, we can do the next thing now,” Jongin said.

But Jongdae didn’t want to be the weak link. He didn’t want to be the one to drag the others down, so he did it again. And again. And again and again. He dropped to the floor, arms aching as he tried to force himself to do it, but he couldn’t. He sighed in disappointment. Everyone could do it but him. Was he always going to be the one slowing them down?

Jiyoung stated, “Jongdae, get up. Wipe those tears.” He hadn’t even realized he’d been crying. “You may not be able to do a couple of push-ups but that doesn’t mean you can’t fight. Show me the Kim Jongdae, who took down a bear alone. Show me that you’re more than just a guy who doesn’t have magic and cries when he’s frustrated. Show me you’re capable of defending yourself.”

So he stood up, nodding his head and wiping his face. She was right. Harsh, but right.

“Now, I want you to spar Luhan,” she ordered.

He looked up at the man, who was watching him with furrowed brows, but gave him a smirk once he saw the glare he sent. He cracked his knuckles. “Let’s see what ya got, kid,” Luhan said.

“Here are the rules: No magic, no weapons and no killing each other. The first person to pin the other with their back to the floor for ten seconds wins. Now, fight!” Ten seconds? Jongdae groaned.

Luhan lunged at the speed of light, punching Jongdae in his stomach and jaw. He flew to the side, out of breath and seeing stars. He could see Jongin staring at him out of the corner of his eyes, eyes wide as he stared in horror. There it was – he was being weak again. Jongdae mentally yelled at himself for allowing himself to be attacked so quickly.

Sprinting over, Luhan kicked, aiming at his face, but Jongdae ducked, grabbing his leg and shoving him away. Luhan stumbled back but gained his balance; Jongdae cursed. He should’ve shoved and pinned him to the floor when he had the chance.

He came forward again, swinging a fist at him but Jongdae narrowly dodged each attack, giving him no time to do anything. He managed to catch one of the fists in his hand, pushing him but Luhan grabbed his arm, twisting it behind his back. Jongdae yelped, throwing his head back and hitting the older man in the nose, which loosened the grip on his arm. He took the chance to swing his fist at his face, hitting him in his cheek. Then a swift swing to his solar plexus.

He brought his arm back to give another, but a punch came forward and Jongdae dodged to the side. Luhan slammed his fist into his gut. Jongdae barely let out a groan before the man jumped into the air. The last thing he saw was a foot, a striking pain coming from his jaw before he saw black.

His mother was curled up on her bed, bundled up in her blankets even though the holes in them were preventing her from warming up. She shivered. Jongdae grabbed the rest of the blankets which were jammed in one of the drawers of the nightstand, and wrapped them around her.

“Ya need to sweat it all out, mama,” nine-year-old Jongdae whispered, running his fingers through her black hair.

She had a pounding migraine, one so bad that tears leaked out of her eyes and Jongdae wiped the tears away. He put his forehead on hers, eyes closed as he felt his own eyes tear up. “Mama, it’s gonna be alright. I promise.”

He backed away, going to the kitchen to search for food and slamming the cabinet doors in frustration when nothing was there. The front door slammed shut and Jongdae sat up in a hurry, sprinting over to it.

“Daddy, ma-mama’s sick.” He tugged on one of his father’s wrists, pulling him to the room. “You’ve gotta help her daddy.”

Jongdae was shoved to the floor, yelping as he narrowly missed hitting the table and fell onto the floor. He shakily looked back at his father with tears in his eyes, and it was then he smelled that familiar scent – alcohol.

“Ya ruined my in’ life,” his father slurred, wobbling over to him. Jongdae shrieked as his bottle collided to the floor, glass shards bouncing off of his body. His shoulders shook as sobs racked his body. “Yo-you piece o’-“ he hiccupped –“. You and that damn in’ harlot in there. Ya –“ another hiccup –“ ya ruined my in’ life!”

His father bent over and grabbed Jongdae’s ankles, pulling him from under the table and turned him over so he was facing him. Jongdae choked on his sobs, snot running down his face as he begged, “D-daddy, mama n-needs your he –“

“I ain’t ya in’ daddy!