The two Seiryuu protectors secured the vests around their bodies and faced each other indignantly. Jongin’s left hand was clenching a mask, of what resembled the Shadow fighter’s – one that he obtained from the battle. Sehun secured a blue tie around his neck and faced Jongin with a heavy frown. In the locker room, the two rivals were left alone by their peers. The clock was ticking and time seemed so short when they could never ask for more.

                  Two hearts pounding against their chests. Two thoughts so similar and yet they were eerily different.

                  Jongin was pale – a stark difference to his usual healthy glow. Sehun raised his eyebrow, as if waiting. He was waiting for the other to start speaking, and there was this inexplicable feeling that bugged him for weeks now. At first he thought it was Sena’s depression that affected him so. But now he was not sure anymore, especially not when he was facing his former rival. He never did consider Kim Jongin friend – not even the slightest, but Jongin was still a man he acknowledged as a capable rival second to none.

                  “Thirty minutes before departure now,” Sehun glanced at the clock on the wall and stared sharply at Jongin. His plans formulated in Sehun’s mind, and as much as he hated to, he wished he could help. The Jongin he knew and the Jongin standing in front of him were so different. The arrogant, sarcastic smile Sehun had grown used to was nowhere present at this moment. It unnerved him, and yet he felt privileged and at the same time, extremely confused, to have known what Kim Jongin was planning to. Perhaps he shouldn’t have told him and kept him in the dark. Ignorance is bliss, and right now, Sehun wished with all his heart, that Sena would not know, or they could both be dead for all he knew.

                  “Thirty minutes, huh?” Jongin snickered with a mocking tone. His grasp on the mask tightened. He truly resembled a Shadow fighter now; tone physique, white mask, black all-over, and a grim, almost indifferent expression while knowing what lied ahead. Battles were never easy, especially one like this. He was born and trained for this, but this one felt particularly special for him, because he no longer had the kind of insufferable loathing for Yoon Sang Hyun at the back of his mind, and that created a large hole in his heart.

                  “If you have anything to say, you’d better speak now, Jongin. It’s now or never,” Sehun grimaced. His sentences hadn’t meant to sound so cruel, but Jongin didn’t care. His nonchalantness before the battlefield ahead was admirable and quite honestly, frightening. Aside from the Shadow fighters and Byun Baekhyun, Sehun had never seen another man who would be so eager to head down the war as Jongin did. Blood and lives seemed to be of no importance, but he would not be blamed for the way he was raised.

                  “You sound impossibly nervous, Sehun. What happened to the calm, old you? Has the façade been broken after Sena?” He teased, but it pierced both of them all the same.

                  Sehun clenched his hands into tight fists and glared at Jongin for making the most bland joke in time like this. He didn’t want to be reminded of their relationships – of the three of them – that broke apart before everything had started. It could have been peaceful, could have been something more, they could have stayed together forever, just like their promise. But forever did not play a part in the game of fate. Sehun lamented over it again and again and decided that it was not that they did not want to, but rather, they could not.

                  “I confessed to her. I told her my feelings yesterday,” He finally admitted.

                  Jongin tried to ignore that aching pain that hadn’t stopped bugging him since he came back. He shoved away all his ability to think and feel and stared blankly at Sehun. If this was jealousy, he didn’t want anything to do with it. That green monster was eating him alive, and quite frankly, he would hate to go to war with that thought in mind. He trusted Sehun, but that didn’t mean that it would spare him of whatever pain that came afterwards.

                  “Twenty-five minutes now, Oh Sehun,” Jongin glanced at the clock yet again. He couldn’t help that his voice came out colder than he wanted to. He didn’t mean to flinch when he heard Sena’s name, and to Sehun’s amusement, those were perhaps the realest, the most humane reaction he could ever elicit from Jongin. It didn’t bring on a sense of satisfaction as he thought it would. “Are you sure you want to be talking about Sena? It’s not time for that, is it? We’re grown adults now, not teenagers with uncontrollable hormone.”

                  Twenty-two could barely count, but their life experiences had taught them much more than what most adults had. Sehun was a bit surprised by Jongin’s reaction, even as he saw through the lies that flashed so evidently in his eyes. It was another discovery he had: that Jongin could not lie well when it involved Sena. Not that Sehun was any different, if not worse. He snorted and folded his arms in front of his chest. “Love is not limited by age, Kim Jongin. Even some elementary students have felt the privilege of having loved and be loved in return.”

                  “And your point?” Jongin quirked his eyebrows and tilted his head.

                  “Don’t you want to hear her reply?” Sehun challenged not only Jongin’s love for her, but also his rationality. The younger man was one of the reasons behind his breakdown at times. He had that annoyingly astonishing ability to push him to the edge of the cliff and forced him to jump down in the brink of insanity. Jongin’s mentality was unstable to begin with, and a single push was all he needed to go berserk, and yet, Sehun never seemed to catch him at his weakest.

                  “Not my problem,” Jongin shrugged and his heel to leave. He could not stay any longer. He needed to get this off of his chest, and what better way could it be than to get into the front line. Sneak into the enemy’s den, attacked while they were unprepared. He was going with the trained Suzakku soldiers of the first elite squad, along with four hundred others. His mind was filled with so many emotion all at once, and this was a foreign experience to someone who claimed to be apathetic as Jongin.

                  Squad 47. The front-liners which consisted of the fearless, loyal and thrill-seeker soldiers. They were precise, excellent in fighting, sneaky and extremely dangerous. Jongin requested discreetly to charge at the very front, taking the baton in leading the squad to the enemy. There was no doubt, not even a temporary hesitation when he thought about how dangerous it was. It had been so long since Jongin had felt what fear truly was, and the first of it would be the last. Hopefully.

                  Sehun was flustered when the time was counting down to fifteen minutes. This was it. He felt panic surged into his heart as he spoke up to stop the reckless Jongin from going any further, “Don’t you love her, Kim Jongin? Won’t you wait for a redemption so the two of you can be together?” It was all he could ever thought of at the moment when his heart seemed to have won over the rationality of his mind. “If you love her – if you truly love her – you should admit before it’s too late.”

                  “Nothing but provocation,” Jongin dismissed it with a wave of his hand. He impatiently stared at his partner, knowing that as much as he hated to, they had been together all their lives, and there would be no one who understood him better than Sehun. This boy – this boy that had grown to be a man – managed to tick off the nerve of his patience every damn time, and yet, he was the closest Jongin had ever had to a family after all that happened. “Didn’t you relay my words to Sena two years ago?”

                  Sehun was stunned. All he could feel was guilt. “I… didn’t.”

                  He selfishly chose not to because doing so would not only ruin their plan, but also his only chance to capture her heart. But now that he thought about it again, it was such a laughable matter. He should have known that his selfishness had ultimately broke them apart. His sharpened nails pierced through his palm, and drop of blood fell onto his rough skin. He slowly lifted his head again, only to see a serene smile on Jongin’s face that hid the disappointment he felt within.

                  Those grey eyes.

                  They were no longer stormy.

                  They were just dull and lifeless now.

                  “Tell her soon, Sehun,” Jongin said. Each word spoken clearly with force behind it. Sehun was momentarily stunned when he recalled a memory two years ago he wasn’t particularly fond of. His feeling then and now… They were still the same. Nothing had changed, it only intensified. Jongin chuckled sadly when Sehun tried to interrupt him. He shook his head, and let the peaceful silence returned as he spoke, “Tell Sena what I told you two years ago, Hun. I don’t even have the courage to face her now.”

                  Sehun was too stunned to even reply. The churning in his stomach had yet to cease. He felt nauseous as he watched – helplessly so to speak – Jongin put on his mask and faced him with all the magnificence no one could mimic. He was perfection, the epitome of it, and it was not just his good look, toned body and model-like posture that forced that image on him, but the regality in the way he moved and the swiftness and grace that seemed almost otherworldly.

                  “Kim Jongin!” Sehun gritted his teeth and moved forward with agility he used only for training. He wanted to stop him, drag him to Sena so they could resolve this once and for all. But Jongin was used to it. He jumped back and pointed the unsheathed blade towards the younger man. In that moment, they felt strangely connected, but the telepathy lasted no longer than seconds, and the spark died as soon as the other spoke. Sehun observed him, obviously baffled for the first time in his entire life.

                  “Oh Sehun.”

                  Two words. A thousand different expressions. Sehun could have fought if he wanted to, but strength seemed to have left his body when all he could see was Jongin’s grey eyes. They were suddenly ablaze with the flames of eternity.

                  “You are not such a shabby partner after all. Thank you.”     

                  Kim Jongin seemed to have smiled through his mask and it pierced Sehun’s heart – like a stab that hurt him but left no wound at all. His words had brutally shocked Sehun, and as he left to his own plane to take off, all he could thought of was time. And fate. And Sena’s words the night before. “I love him, Hun. I like you. I really, really do,” She confessed and looked deep into his unfathomable eyes. “I love him, and if I can’t be with him, then I don’t think I can ever see myself with anyone else.”

                  “I love Kim Jongin, as much as I hate him, and I know that it sounds impossible to hate on someone you love and love someone you hate, but there is Kim Jongin. I would never have expected him to walk into my life one day. There is… so many emotion… so many words… so much to tell and so little time… I told you I’ve moved on, but I can’t see myself in a relationship with anyone else. I can’t even see myself loving anyone the way I love him. Not now, not in the near future, and maybe never. I’m sorry.”                            

                 A/N: Holy moly, two more chapters before the end. Now I've sorta figured out what kind of story to write next, and I'm sorry but I won't write psychological thriller for now 'cos my personality is taking drastic changes even as I am writing TDH and BOS. I think I need a change of personality for my female lead. That said, look forward to the next two chapters. I PROMISE EVERYTHING WILL BE SOLVED.