Kihyun stares at his reflection in the mirror, the bags under his empty eyes… God, it’s been a long three years. But, it’ll finally end today.

“Hyung!” Changkyun’s voice calls on the other end of his bedroom door. “Hyung, are you ready? Everyone’s already outside.”

“Just a minute, Kkungie,” Kihyun replies. Changkyun hums in reply, and Kihyun waits until he hears the younger’s retreating footsteps before sighing heavily. He looks over to his immaculately-kept desk. He opens the nearest drawer to retrieve a miniature plastic baggy, and stares at its contents. Inside is a single, blue pill no bigger than the nail of his pinky.

So small for such an important task…

He in a heavy breath through pursed lips, and slips the baggy in question into a small compartment in his suit atop his shoulder. He’s never thought of anything to put into such a small pocket, but now, he guesses, he’s finally done so. Though, granted, not for the reason he’d thought it’d be.

After taking one last, deep breath, Kihyun finally goes to face the mob outside.

“Who do you think will win today?”

“Do you have any new strategies for defeating him?”

“Are you willing to give your life for our city?”

“What do you have to say to all the nay-sayers out there?”

“Is there anything you want to say to the supporters of your nemesis?”

“While all these are great questions,” Kihyun says, holding up his hands to silence the reporters, “I’ll leave all comments until after the battle. I’d rather not say anything that could give my opponent the edge, after all.”

“So does that mean you’re worried?” a woman near the front asks mercilessly. Kihyun chuckles, though only in order to keep his annoyance at her persistence hidden from the crowd.

“I wouldn’t say that…” he says vaguely. A flurry of snaps go off as the photographers take pictures of his characteristically cocky smirk. His eyes squint ever so slightly against the flashes, but he doesn’t actually blink. He’s already decided to give them the best shots for this one last time.

“You sure you’re ready for this?” Jooheon asks, watching Minhyuk as he readies himself for the fight to end all fights. Minhyuk hums, not giving as committed of an answer as the younger would like. He raises a suspicious brow, but doesn’t say anything. On the small, cracked television in the corner of the room, Kihyun stands with a detestable smirk in front of the many reporters fawning over him.

He watches as Minhyuk grabs a small plastic baggy and shoves it into his pocket. He frowns at this, not liking how he doesn’t know what’s in said bag. But, he doesn’t question it. He doesn’t bother, since him asking about it for the past week hasn’t had any results. Minhyuk pauses as he goes to the door, eyes glued to the television for a moment too long. Jooheon’s frown only grows at this, unable to keep from feeling a bit territorial over his hyung.

Minhyuk’s expression grows tighter as he finally tears his eyes from the screen and glances around the small room he’s called home ever since he left school. He memorizes every corner, every shadow.

After all, this is the last time he’ll be seeing it, one way or another...

Kihyun awaits his opponent on the pre-designated field. There’s a crowd on the sidelines, behind the police tape that’s already been set up. Usually, these fights wouldn’t be so planned, so… so staged… But, that’s the whole point of today, to reach a public end once and for all.

He thinks back to when they had planned all this, to when they had finally figured a way out of this hellish existence.

“What do you want, Minhyuk-ah?” Kihyun had asked, visibly on-guard with his crossed arms and squared shoulders. It’d been so out of the blue to receive a message from the slightly-older. They hadn’t met anywhere off the battlefield ever since this whole mess started. Something, Kihyun would admit, that’s been a very hard change to deal with throughout the years.

“I have a way we can both get out of this mess,” Minhyuk sighed, leaning against the wall of the building next to him. They both had met in an alleyway that fateful day. Kihyun had raised a single brow in silent questioning, very much at a loss as to what the older would possibly recommend. Minhyuk had pulled a bottle out of his back pocket then, pressing his lips together as he had blinked a single eye, his telltale sign for when he’s thinking.

“What is that?” Kihyun said then, stepping forward in curiosity. Though, he’d remembered himself just in time and managed to keep a few feet between them, despite how much he’d wanted to kiss his same-age friend at the mere thought of an end finally coming to all this madness. It was then he’d spotted the label… that damned yet blessed label.

He’d pursed his lips upon recognizing the company name, and taken a step back. It was the name of one of Minhyuk’s “pharmaceutical” companies, aka one of the fronts he’d used for his drug cartel for the past year. Minhyuk’s gaze had narrowed at noting Kihyun’s movements. He’d expected this.

“It’s not what you think,” he’d quickly said. “This is what I’ve been working on the past few months, with Jooheonney’s help. It’s derived from delphinium, it can—”

“I’m well aware of what delphinium does, Minhyuk-ah,” Kihyun interrupted, “and I’m not interested in killing you. So, if you don’t mind—” He’d his heel to leave, only for Minhyuk to grab tightly onto his wrist.

“Then how about a suicide pact?”

Kihyun had turned back then in disbelief, unsure if he’d heard correctly. He stared into Minhyuk’s earnest gaze, so utterly taken by how bright his eyes were in the darkness of the alley. His fingers had instinctively gripped onto Minhyuk’s, causing his heart to ache at how familiar and missed the feeling was.

The chorus of boos surrounding him bring him back to the present. He glances around, his gaze tightening at noticing Minhyuk gliding down onto the field. The slightly-older, amidst his amicable waves and laughs, blows Kihyun a flirtatious kiss. To the rest of the world, it looks like a taunt, but Kihyun catches the sincerity in his eyes.

Minhyuk gives Kihyun a minute nod, which the shorter returns.

A hush falls over the audience as the two squat in a readying position, and then fly towards each other for all it’s worth.

Kihyun can’t help but smile as Minhyuk allows him to land the first hit, his super-powered fist sending the taller flying across town.

This’ll be the best show the world has ever seen, and they won’t even know it.