Due to the confusion with her resignation form, a new cadet had been temporarily assigned to Sehun as an assistant. Chaeyoung assumed this meant that her time with the grumpy-faced captain would now be reduced, and while she found herself to be a little disappointed by the thought, she brushed it off. It wasn't like they were friends or anything.

Which was why Chaeyoung had no idea why, in the middle of the dining hall, she was sitting with not only Chanyeol but said grumpy-faced captain himself. She couldn't help staring a little, still replaying the previous moment in her head. Sehun had walked into the cafeteria, stony-faced as ever, before his gaze landed on Chanyeol and Chaeyoung chatting casually like they always did in their little corner of the room. Like always, his eyebrows furrowed at the sight, however, Chaeyoung couldn't help notice that he seemed irritated for some reason. A few moments passed and Chaeyoung assumed he was going to ignore them and head to his usual table like he always did. But then, surprising everyone in the room, he grabbed his tray and headed straight towards them, before wordlessly dragging a chair over and seating himself at the table too. 

And so there they were. 

Chanyeol seemed surprised by Sehun's actions too, but he recovered faster than anyone else. Grinning madly, he playfully punched Sehun on the shoulder. "Decided to join us, have you?"

"Shut up," Sehun rolled his eyes, his face passive and not revealing anything. His eyes landed on Chaeyoung, who was still staring with her jaw dropped, and raised an eyebrow. "You should close that mouth of yours before you start catching flies."

She blinked rapidly, before closing and looking down at her soup meekly. His actions still confused her, but she just decided to accept them. She was in no position to question him anyway. 

Plus, there was that thing recently where her heart seemed unable to keep calm whenever he was around, for some strange reason. She was hyperaware of his presence and it confused her to no end, she just decided to ignore it. Hopefully, it'd go away. Sehun himself seemed greatly amused by her response, but thankfully, he stayed silent. 

"Here, Chaeyoung. I know you don't like capsicum, so you can switch with me," Chanyeol spoke up, switching their side dishes. Today, it had been lucky dip between either roasted capsicum or pumpkin salad. Chaeyoung had been unlucky when she grabbed the next tray available - one with a capsicum salad. She'd detested the vegetable ever since she was young, a fact Chanyeol was well aware of since she always picked it out whenever a dish contained it. So, being the kind soul he was, he switched their side dishes, his own being the pumpkin dish, to save her the trouble. 

"Ah, thanks," she smiled gratefully at him. Sehun watched the entire exchange with a frown. 

"What was that for?" he asked blankly. Chanyeol glanced at him. 

"Chaeyoung doesn't like capsicum, so I switched with her," he explained casually. Sehun blinked, feeling a little irked at how familiar these two seemed to be with each other for some reason. He turned to Chaeyoung, who smiled at him innocently before digging into her pumpkin. Disgruntled for no particular reason, he stabbed his fork into his own capsicum salad. 

"What are you, a child?" he grumbled, shovelling the salad into his mouth. "Who doesn't like capsicum?"

And then he winced internally. 

He certainly didn't.

**

It was another group activity in training, so naturally, Chanyeol gravitated towards Chaeyoung. It had become second-nature to do so. 

"Hey, can I be your partner for this round?" 

Chanyeol looked up in surprise when Song Miyoung, a young, extroverted and fairly popular woman in their class suddenly asked Chaeyoung to be her partner. Chaeyoung looked equally surprised, and her gaze flitted briefly over to Chanyeol. "Uh...S-Sure..."

"Great!" Miyoung smiled sweetly, but Chanyeol was still suspicious. Seo Miyoung was known for being a bit of a Queen Bee sort of figure, not the kind of person who'd associate with someone like Chaeyoung for no reason. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Sehun watching the interaction carefully. Though he looked passive, Chanyeol knew Sehun was scrutinising Miyoung for any sort of threat. The slight narrowing of eyes confirmed his own thoughts - Miyoung was up to something.

Reluctantly, Chanyeol paired up with Miyoung's usual partner, a thin, mousy-haired woman who looked a bit like a horse (no offence intended). He decided to keep an extra eye out for Chaeyoung though, just in case. 

Training started and each pair began doing their own sparring. Chanyeol was surprised by his new partner's strength, despite her thin, lanky appearance, and was too distracted momentarily to see what was happening on the other side of the field. 

"So, what did Captain Oh ask for when he made you stay behind last time?" Miyoung asked casually, parrying Chaeyoung's roundhouse punch. "You didn't show up for a few days after that."

Chaeyoung frowned as she blocked Miyoung's own blow. "No offence intended, but that's really none of your business."

Miyoung laughed mockingly, and with a feint, tripped Chaeyoung and pushed her harshly to the floor, causing her to land with a painful thump. Her eyes were suddenly ice cold as she gazed down at the smaller girl, placing her foot on Chaeyoung's chest and pinning her there - an attempt to humiliate the poor girl. "Tell me, are you sleeping with Captain to get special treatment? Is that it?"

"N-No-"

"Shut up, you lying ," Miyoung glared. "We've seen the way both the captains fawn over you, you useless . You must be doing something underhand. Well no more. I'm here to tell you to back off - it's not fair that you get-"

"Is something wrong?" an icy voice interrupted, causing Miyoung to freeze. She'd specifically chosen this spot because they were more or less out of sight from Sehun. But looking up, she saw that the Captain could see clearly what they were doing - and judging by his expression, he'd heard everything. 

"S-Sir!" Miyoung immediately retracted her foot and saluted. It didn't escape anyone's notice that she had gone pale with apprehension. "N-Nothing is wrong here, sir."

"And you expect me to believe that?" Sehun sneered, his voice deathly quiet and intimidating as hell. He glanced over to Chaeyoung, who'd also stood up and was now dusting herself off. Her eyes were down and her cheeks red with shame and humiliation. She avoided his gaze, which told him everything he needed to know. He looked back at Miyoung, his eyes now turning into a sharp glare. 

"Tell me, Cadet Song, do you really think I'm low enough to sleep with a cadet in exchange for special treatment?" he asked icily and Miyoung flushed, shaking her head quickly. 

"N-No, sir, of course not-"

"But isn't that what you just asked Cadet Park? Isn't that what you think really happened?" he tilted his head, his tone mocking and dangerous, his glare even more so. Even Chaeyoung began to feel a little bit bad for Miyoung, who looked absolutely terrified - which you couldn't really blame her for. Sehun's glare could kill more people than a machine gun. But after a moment, Chaeyoung shook the feeling off - Song Miyoung deserved everything she had coming fo