The date for the ascension was confirmed. It would fall on the second week of August. Time flew so quickly that the date came in the blink of an eye. Both my protectors and the Elites were so calm and unaffected by tomorrow’s festive mood. I, on the other hand, could not keep my mind off of my mid-term assignment and was torn with doing my project or helping out with the coronation process.

                  “You look so agitated by it,” Sehun commented. I had not hung around him much lately because of school and work. Usually Jongin was the one assigned to be by my side, but recently, Yixing would tag along when he was free. After all, Elites were not like protectors. They were not assigned to jobs other than to protect me at all times.

                  “I am,” I took a deep breath and tried to compose myself, “I have Math and English test tomorrow morning. Then I have to rush home to get ready for the ceremony. And right now, I can’t study because I am so frustrated with everything. This is absolutely terrifying.” I dramatically pulled my cheeks downwards and made weird noises.

                  “Sometimes I forget you are still in high school,” Yixing chuckled. I found his accent the most adorable out of the Chinese Elites. He was always, always so kind and sincere that even with my phobia, I still trusted him quite easily. His dimples showed on both sides of his cheeks. “Do you need help with Math?”

                  “Even if I want to, I can’t study because my mind is stuck,” I scratched my head. “Go on. I won’t interfere with your training today.”

                  Because of the mid-term exam and coronation, I skipped practice and watched them trained instead. Two weeks had passed since I brought them here. It was strange how no one bothered us in these two weeks. I thought those Elders would react strongly against the new Elites I had chosen, and yet they stayed quiet still.

                  “You’re not joining us?”

                  I was so deep in my own thoughts that I did not notice Jongin by my side. He just came from the other door. His abs was bared as he threw his clothes aside. He rarely wore clothes during training, probably because he always sweated so much that the clothes became wet from absorbing all of it.

                  “No.”

                  “Scared, aren’t you?” He smirked. I was about to reply but he already jumped over the fence and into the arena. Kim Jongin was the only one on earth who managed to piss me off every single time I saw him. It was a wonder how a month passed by without anything major happening. I’d hoped to punch him at least once so I could see a big hand mark on his pretty cheeks, but he always caught me on time.     

                  “ing Kim Jongin,” I muttered it under my breath and stepped into the arena as well. This time they were practicing with knives, blades and swords. There were all sorts of sharp things to play with, and frankly I would not want to get anywhere near them at the moment, especially Taeyong and Tao.

                  “Does this mean we can get all bloody today?” Kyungsoo the blood on his cheeks. He had his first scratch from Yixing not long after the fight, which was surprising. Yixing sheepishly smiled and lowered down his hands. I nodded, feeling a bit of painful ache on the side of my head.

                  “I don’t think you’ll be up for that, Kyungsoo!” Chanyeol shouted, just as Sehun swung his sword and wounded his right arm, “You’re definitely not one to talk, Park Chanyeol.” I bit back a chuckle and walked past the angry fighter. Chanyeol was holding a butcher’s knife, almost twice bigger than his head.

                  “If you’re not joining the fun, might as well get out. It’d be bad if you got a scratch on that pretty little face,” Jongin grabbed my hand and pushed me out of the way as he blocked Taeyong’s twin blades. His hand was trembling a bit at the sudden impact because half his body was facing me, while the other half was concentrating on the attack.

                  “Get back,” I whispered angrily and pulled my hands away. He impassively shrugged and kicked Taeyong so that the younger male would back off. The two of them continued to struggle, but it was clear who was dominating the fight. Taeyong was bloodthirsty. When he fought, he had this unyielding wild look that sent shivers down the skin. 

Last row was probably the most intense. Luhan had always been a good fighter, third best after Sehun and Jongin. His fighting depended a lot on agility and surprised attacks. He was usually good in strategy and martial forms like taichi. Tao, on the other hand, had brutal strength and specialized in short-range fighting, such as barehanded and nun chucks. I felt terribly unproductive and decided to head back instead.

“Alright everyone, I’m going back to…” A short pause, “To study.” I tilted my head in self-doubt and walked out of the room without looking at anyone.

***

                  For the love of Mother and God, why today out of all days. My period came faster than it should have been and the sight of my own blood gushing out of that tiny little hole made me nauseous. This made it to the top ten worst day list. Period and exam and ceremony just did not go well together. 

                  I was not entirely sure what other girls thought of during their period, but in my mind, it was all red with a mixture of emotions. It was no wonder that when I got down to the dining hall, even the usually unobservant Taeyong had to ask, “What’s gotten to you? You look positively murderous, and that’s frightened quite a few of the servants.”

                  “Thanks for the compliment,” I sneered and took a seat near the window. My sensitivity was at maximum today, and it could go no further than this. One wrong button pushed and I would freak out and yell like a mad woman – not that it never happened before. 

                  “She’s probably just…” Kyungsoo was about to explain, but Chanyeol frantically cut him off with a slice to the throat. That giant might look dumb, but he was rather intelligent. Taeyong, on the other hand, was just confused. I suspected that he had never had any contacts with girls before, hence the lack of understanding for girls.

                  Sehun was unusually late today, appearing a few minutes after I did. His hair was messy without any parting. He wore his most comfortable clothing – training pants and sleeveless shirt – to the room. He probably just woke up. Luhan and Jongin came in not long after, glaring at each other silently before they went on to take seats furthest away from each other.

                  I noticed that Jongin had the fewest scratches on his face, but his arms were wounded. Taeyong probably did some justice to that arrogance. However, he suffered serious blow on his right foot, so when he walked, he limped on a bit to the side. Sehun’s face was scratch-free, courtesy to Chanyeol’s kindness. The later however, was injured on both his arms and probably somewhere on his ribs too, because he kept on clutching onto his stomach to check whether it was fine or not.

                  “Oh wow, your expression is a hot mess,” Jongin made his usual rude remark that I tried to ignore. As the highest-ranking guards, both Sehun and Jongin claimed the seats next to mine. “What are you angry about? Your exam?”

                  Luhan coughed and glanced at me.

                  “Why are you so concerned? It’s not your problem,” I sarcastically replied and picked up the noodle with my chopsticks tastelessly. I’d just lost my appetite early in the morning, “You’d better shut your trap or I will strangle you, Kim Jongin.”

                  “Jongin,” Sehun sighed and shook his head. Though they were rivals, at least there were times they were civil to one another, and this was a rare moment of it. Jongin shrugged ignorantly and turned to me once again with that devious eyes set to melt the heart of girls but not mine, “I’m the one driving today.”

                  “Can I go, too?” A small voice asked nervously.

                  Had it been anyone else, I would have scolded them and told them to stay, but this was the sweet hearted Yixing whom I adored much. I did not have the heart to say no. “Well… If you can stand this man, then sure.”

                  “Wait, I also want to see your high school!” Chanyeol exclaimed. He put his arms around Taeyong, who now looked extremely uncomfortable with intimacy. “This little guy is also eighteen. Shouldn’t you go to school together? Considering that you might need some protection in school as well.”

                  We both looked at each other. I was ashamed to say that this was the first time I had noticed he was in the same age as me. Taeyong did not speak, nor was he against the idea. He was like always – quiet, with that I-don’t-care attitude – exactly like a mini Jongin. Elite or not, he still needed education. “Alright. You are coming with me, Taeyong. Sorry, Yixing, Chanyeol, maybe next time.”

***

                  “Listen. I have super important exam today, so I have talked to the administrative office and told them you are enrolling soon. You should go and speak to them. If they don’t accept, say you are my cousin, and you came from Japan,” I spoke very quickly because the bell was ringing. “You know what? Drag Jongin in and ask him to speak on your behalf. Okay? Sorry, Dear. I gotta run for my life.”

                  So I did, because exam was more important than anything else at the moment. Three hours later, when I came out of the classroom, looking half-dead, Taeyong was still in the office, sitting with his eyes closed, probably dozing off sometimes ago. Jongin was nowhere to be found, and when I asked the officer, he said that the “tall, dark-skinned youth” went to the restroom.

                  “Call him up. The Elders were asking for you right now,” Jongin came up from my back, his sudden appearance creeping me out. I crouched down to the chair level and brushed the hair away from Taeyong’s forehead. He didn’t look so frightening this way. In fact, he looked really, really good. Still, it was hard to believe that he was eighteen because his eyes held so much from the experience he’d had. “Taeyong-ah.”

                  His lids fluttered and I swore that his eyelashes were only second compared to Luhan. “Is it time to go?”

                  I nodded. Duty’s calls. Period’s calls. Well, at least exam was over. So now I could concentrate on the clan for the whole week of holiday. Tonight was the biggest ceremony of the year and I had to be ready for that. There were hair salon, manicure, pedicure, and all those crappy girlish stuff that I sinfully enjoyed. Even so, being the host and one of the main attractions in the ascension, I should and would wear a dress, which was picked for me by the family’s tailor. Superficial as it sounded, that was the only thing that cheered me up for tonight. Because after this, the other clans would hear of my name and know of my face, and then I would not be able to have a peace of mind anymore.