Chapter Eighteen

Monday

Yoomi smiled at Junmyeon as she looked up from her breakfast to find him already looking at her. It had only been a little more than two weeks since she first arrived at this academy and was into a whole new world, but it felt like it had already been forever. Although school was a little stressful because of the -few- harder academic classes, her newness to the vaeli world, and the occasional bullies that she had somehow obtained, she had also gotten herself great new friends and a lifelong mate who she adored dearly. She couldn’t ask for more. Except to maybe find out what her power is as well. That, she would like.

The other boys had gotten more used to the idea of her and Junmyeon being mates, but she couldn’t say that they particularly loved it. They would groan every time the bonded couple did anything even remotely close to showing affection in front of them. Sehun had been particularly moody, probably because her mate didn’t have as much time to sit around and spoil him, now that he’d been spending more time with Yoomi. After all, he had always been worried about her replacing him as the ‘maknae’- the title that seemed to grant him the never-ending affection of his hyungs.

However, all of it also allowed her to get to know Sehun more as well. He often liked to interrupt the couple’s time together and pestered Junmyeon even more than usual now that he didn’t get so much attention from the older boy anymore. The ‘maknae’ would frequently be following them around when Yoomi and Junmyeon were together, and so naturally, the girl got to know him more as well. Now that she thought about it, Sehun really wasn’t that bad at all. He was just a little more demanding and attention-seeking because all the boys spoil him like crazy. She could understand it too because even she found him kind of cute at times.

Today was Monday, and Yoomi had to pat herself on the back for surviving the rest of the weekend- especially the rest of dinner Saturday night after telling her friends about her bonding with Junmyeon. Predictably, Sumin had all night, a few of the other boys joining in from time to time, and squealed so loudly while hugging her when she finally left, that Yoomi’s ears had been ringing for an hour that night afterward. Sunday was not a problem since they all just stayed home and Yoomi got to spend more time hanging out with her adorable mate. She had noticed that she kept subconsciously gravitating towards him throughout the day, just as she had the other morning when her feet had taken her to his bedroom without her permission. She wasn’t complaining though since she did enjoy spending time with him and she loved how he would sometimes tell her fond stories of them playing together as children.

It was only after the weekend’s end that the problems really first started occurring.

Earlier that morning, Junmyeon had taken Yoomi aside to talk to her privately. He asked if she would be comfortable with other people knowing about their relationship. He knew how aggressive some of the students who idolized him can be, and didn’t want Yoomi to be bothered by them; he was aware that some students like Choi Jihoon already gave her trouble and he didn’t want to make her school experience any worse.

Yoomi wondered why he would suddenly ask her that since nothing bad had seemed to happen yet. With another pointed look from her though, Junmyeon let out a heavy sigh and finally told her. Apparently, a few girls had caught the two of them hugging in their own little garden at the S-class house on Sunday, and now news of Junmyeon and the new girl dating were all over the place. Let’s just say they aren’t exactly happy about it.

Yoomi was touched that he was so considerate of her feelings, and actually pondered over her answer for a bit. Junmyeon took care of her so well and was such a good mate to her, even going as far as to willingly conceal their relationship for Yoomi’s sake. She didn’t know if she was holding up her end of the relationship. Dating was foreign to her- at least serious dating- and most of the time she still had no idea what she was doing, but she promised herself to try harder for her mate, who always went out of his way to make sure she was comfortable and happy.

In the end, Yoomi decided not to conceal anything. She wasn’t the type of person who liked hiding things from people in the first place. Besides, she hadn’t done anything wrong, so why should she hide the fact that they’re happy together? It’s not a crime. Plus, with how much skinship had been going on between her and her mate these last few days, she didn’t think it would have stayed a secret for very long anyway.

***

“Yo kitten!” Yoomi recognized Jongin’s voice and quickly jogged over to him once she spotted him on the other side of the room. Next to him stood a sulking Sehun, who didn’t bother to greet her like Jongin did, though that was to be expected.

“Yah, Jongin! I told you to stop calling me that name when other people are around!” The girl huffed, worried that someone would overhear. Not only was the pet name embarrassing, but she couldn’t back in front of others without looking like a flirt herself and one of the last things she needed was all of Jongin’s fangirls on her too when she was already going to have to be dealing with Junmyeon’s soon enough.

Speaking of which, they were in combat/sparring class right now, and Yoomi couldn’t wait to let off some steam. All of the whispers surrounding her in the hallways had been slowly getting on her nerves all morning. She understood that she and Junmyeon were a hot topic; however, it still didn’t feel good to be talked about- especially negatively.

Ever since she had come to the academy she had been the target of bullying and gossip. Now, even if the reason for the odd looks had changed, Yoomi was still a little frustrated by them. She was a tough girl that could handle it and she was by no means ashamed of her newly budding relationship with the popular student union president, but after a while, the constant glares and gossip got old and irritating.

Jongin looked like he was about to open his mouth to further but abruptly stopped when he noticed the look on her face.

“Is it the stares?” Jongin guessed, his keen eyes surveying their classmates, although without the usual playful twinkle in them. Suddenly, he seemed more serious than before and she was reminded of the other times he had shown her this face, like when he had punched Jihoon in her defense or confessed to her.

“It’s nothing. They’ll get tired soon enough if I just ignore them.” Yoomi assured before a sly smile grew on her face as she attempted to lighten up the mood and distract both him and herself from the looks they were getting. “Is Jonginnie worried about me? How sweet.”

“I am,” he said simply, looking straight into her eyes. “You’re very important to me.”

Yoomi blinked rapidly with a faint dusting of pink glowing for a minute on her cheeks before averting her eyes from his strong gaze, unable to take the intensity and sudden sincerity from them. Jongin’s personality had been a constant switch between two personas ever since he confessed his feelings to her. He was either erted and flirty or sincere and protective, there was no in-between. Yoomi couldn’t adjust herself to the switching and was now sometimes at a loss on how to deal with him. As much as his constant flirting had irritated her at times, at least she knew how to handle that.

Finally noticing the moping male besides them since she was desperately searching their surroundings for a change in topic to dispel the vague awkwardness she now felt, Yoomi pushed herself up on her tiptoes so that she was closer to Jongin’s ear and whispered to him, “What’s gotten into Sehun this time?”

“Haha, don’t mind the kid, Yoomi. He just got scolded by Yifan hyung earlier when he was caught trying to skip class,” Jongin said out loud to her, not bothering to whisper like she had. He reached over Yoomi’s head then and playfully ruffled Sehun’s hair, earning a disgruntled groan out of the younger boy.

The girl giggled at their antics, finding Sehun to be weirdly cute when he was being pouty. “It’s okay, Sehunnie. Just don’t get caught next time, then!” This earned her a glare from the said boy, to which she just laughed at and began pulling the two boys with her to where Trainer Song and the other students were. She had learned by now that Sehun’s glares were nowhere near harmful and that it was best to just wait until he stopped sulking on his own. He usually gets over it in no more than an hour’s time.

“Alright kiddos,” Trainer Song yelled out when he finally looked up from his clipboard, “I believe you all have had enough practice and preparations, so it’s time for the real stuff now. We’re starting hand-to-hand sparring today, but with no flying yet. I want you all to be completely serious about this.” He gave all the students a stern look to emphasize his point and Yoomi unconsciously stood a little straighter in response. “I will pit you against whomever I see fit and I shall score you based on your effort and perseverance. Each match will be three minutes and whoever stays on the ground for longer than three seconds will be deemed the loser. Am I understood?”

Sehun, Jongin, and Yoomi, along with the rest of the students voiced out a loud, clear ‘yes’ and waited for further instructions. Yoomi was a little nervous since she had never sparred with any of the students here before, and the trainer could put her up against anybody. However, at the same time, she was confident in her own abilities, as she had been doing decently well in this class so far.

“Alright, first ones up are Kim Kai and Lee Jaehee. Everybody else, wait your turn on the bleachers and use this time wisely to observe and prepare yourselves.”

“Don’t beat him up too badly, Jongin-ah,” she teased in a sing-song voice and patted his shoulder in silent encouragement before going over to sit at the bleachers with Sehun. They didn’t bother giving Jongin verbal good luck since it was already clear he would win the match; he was an S-rank after all and has had much more training than all the other students here. Plus, judging from how hard he punched Jihoon that one time, she can guess he’s got a lot of strength and that he didn’t hold back when using it.

The guy called Lee Jaehee was an A-rank, a little shorter than Jongin, but big and burly compared to Jongin’s more lean body. That didn’t seem to phase Jongin at all though, because he merely sent his signature smirk at the other guy and pulled up the sleeves of his shirt, showing his delicious looking biceps, before they both got into low fighting stances.

Jongin’s match was very entertaining, filled with both powerful yet graceful moves that reminded her of when he danced. It wasn’t quite as fluid as watching Yixing fight, but their styles and stances were similar and there was no doubt that he was still an amazing fighter. However, something else about the match caught Yoomi’s attention as well. In addition to the graceful movements of their sparring match, both Jongin and his opponent occasionally twisted in strange ways and integrated movements of another fighting style that was unknown to her. She recognized some of the odd lunges and blocks from what Trainer Song taught them all in their past classes, but still couldn’t quite understand the seemingly erratic bursts of these moves that punctuated the otherwise smooth match. It almost looked disruptive and unnatural to her.

“Is this the vaeli fighting style, Sehun?” She finally decided to voice out her curiosity, gaze still fixed on Jongin and the other boy in the ring.

“I guess.” Sehun shrugged, not being very helpful. However, he did eventually explain to her that the off-beat movements they were using were a mix of various different martial arts and ancient vaeli practices that made up the technique of fighting she was watching that looked strange at first glance. It was also the current style taught and used in schools, the current vaeli way of combat unique to them alone.

The more she watched, the more she began to understand that there were patterns and that the style wasn’t as random and erratic as she had originally thought. There were still unusual bits that didn’t make sense, but upon further inspection, she realized that the unpredictability of their actions was actually something advantageous. Instead of looking out of place, the moves they threw in now seemed to become a part of the dance to Yoomi’s eyes and she had to admit that the fighting style the vaeli had created interested her.

Two at a time, more than half the class had finished their own matches, leaving only herself, Sehun, and a few other students who had yet to take their turns. Yoomi surveyed the students that were left, wondering who she would be up against. She looked back up when Trainer Song grabbed his clipboard to announce the next pair. Suddenly, she felt anxious, as if she knew that he was going to call her name next.

“Lee Yoomi and…” he read off the paper, scanning the list of names of the students remaining to choose the girl’s opponent. She in a sharp breath, anticipating the name he would call out after her own. “Umm let’s see...Oh Sehun? Ooh, both S-ranks, I see. Good, good.” Not only did Yoomi let out a shocked gasp, but the entire class was in surprise at his announcement and causal comments as well.

“What? I don’t wanna fight her, Trainer Song,” she heard Sehun protest from beside her. She could have deluded herself into being flattered, thinking that he refused to fight her because he cared and didn’t want to hurt her, had it not been for his next words and the almost disgusted look he sent in her direction, nose scrunched up in displeasure and everything. “She probably can’t even throw a proper punch or anything. It’s not even a challenge to beat someone that doesn’t have the skills to spar with me in the first place. She’ll get hurt.”

Instantly, Yoomi felt offended by Sehun’s protests, eyes narrowing as she let his backhanded insults sink in. It almost seemed as if he genuinely didn’t want to harm her based on his voiced concerns, but again he was also judging her and underestimating her just like everyone else in this academy. The words “not even a challenge” echoed in her mind and for some strange reason, Xiumin’s lecture to her about being useless popped into her head again despite the days that had passed since then.

Before she could stop herself, Yoomi spoke out, voice ringing loud and clear with an eerily calm sort of self-assurance. “I’ll do it.”

Jongin immediately grabbed the girl’s shoulders and turned her around to face him. “What are you saying, Yoomi-ah? You can’t possibly spar with Sehun- you’ll get hurt!” There it was again, those same words. She appreciated his concern, truly, but it felt as though he was underestimating her as well. Who said that she would get hurt? Who said that she would lose for sure or that Sehun automatically had the advantage? Okay, Sehun probably did have the upper hand in this fight since he was far bigger, stronger, and had trained so much longer than she had, but that wasn’t enough reason to make Yoomi surrender. She would not give up without trying; she could be terribly competitive sometimes and she was tired of everyone insulting her pride and being seen as weak.

“I can do it, Jongin. Just watch and trust me,” she assured him with a smile. Then she turned to face Sehun, the smile still frozen on her face, although it had now become slightly taunting. “Let’s go, Caffé boy,” she grinned as she brought up his old nickname, “I’ll beat your .”

Sehun looked appalled at her attempt to bring up that name again but quickly broke out into a cocky smirk the next moment. His eyes were almost sparkling with mischief and he looked entirely too eager to accept the girl’s challenge. Sehun, too, was a competitive one. “Oh, bring it on then, Latté girl.”

Before Yoomi could go up and get in the ring, Jongin held her back. It was one of those times when he was serious, his eyes holding nothing but genuine concern for her. That expression made Yoomi’s heart warm and she felt even more determined to show him, Sehun, and everyone else what a good fight she could put up. “You’d better do well, kitten, or it’ll be all your