Three pairs of feet lift off the ground at the same time.

Heechul continues to advance.

And Hangeng continues to retreat.

Yesung rushes forward. Heechul counters. Hangeng blocks the dagger that swipes at him from the right.

Kangin and Jungsoo watch the catastrophe unfold before their eyes, feel their hearts pounding against their ribcages, taste the blood that roars in their ears in their mouths and sense their breaths tight and constrained in their lungs against the tension that hangs too thickly in the air.

The sable boot comes out from nowhere in place of a silver dagger. Hangeng hits Heechul. Hard.

The assassin feels the kick plunge into his body, feels himself sliding backwards from the sheer impact of it.

“Of course I remember,” Hangeng speaks, “And I remember your every weakness.”

The air is filled with the sound of metal clashing against metal. The sound of blades cutting through air. The sight is coloured the dull grey of the assassin’s emotions, coloured red by the blood that spills itself onto the ground.

“As do I.” Hangeng’s blood decorates the ground in a little arc of red droplets. “I remember your every weakness, too.”

Jungsoo sees the way Hangeng and Heechul fight, dancing their death waltz to the bleak melody of a soundless funeral song. He sees the way Yesung waits patiently, wielding the glimmering blade in his hands, watching to see who falls first.

It’s sickening, yet breathtaking.

He remembers the way Hangeng made Heechul want to forget so desperately.

He doesn’t know what it was, but he remembers the way he let Heechul forget.

A shudder crawls through his whole body. He feels like erasing every shred of memory from his mind, every jab of regret and every piercing piece of terror.

He remembers the way they ed, the way he let himself succumb to the wet lips that crashed upon his own, the way he let himself beg for more, the way he let the euphoria mess his brain up every time the man slammed into him harder and faster than before.

And he looks to Kangin, looks to the man who stands silently by him, eyes trained on the mini-war being waged, and he lets his walls collapse.

He is where things are safe.
 

Heechul watches Hangeng closely. He circles, almost as if he were a predator stalking his prey; Yesung stands still, toying with the dagger idly, waiting for the chance to swoop in and end everything.

“I didn’t think a legend would take this long,” Hangeng speaks, “This is dragging on, don’t you think?”

off.

Heechul holds his lips between his teeth, biting down lightly. “Shut up, traitor.”

“Am I a traitor?” Hangeng widens his eyes, a smirk curving his lips, “I stuck to my job, you know. The only thing I betrayed was you.”

Heechul flinches back, his heart throbbing as if stung by a thousand wasps. He hears Yesung laugh scornfully. He sees Hangeng’s smirk widen.

I guess I just didn’t expect you to backstab me like this.

I guess I just thought I meant more to you.

He lunges forward - to Hangeng’s right, and then shifting his weight and diving towards the left, slashing his knife out. It connects with Hangeng’s skin, and the man growls in pain. There’s a slight rasping sound as the material of his sleeve rips. Hangeng spins, aims his dagger with a deadly accuracy - and throws.

And both of them stand, wet in a mixture of sweat and blood, their clothes plastered to their skin. Hangeng recoils, crimson red leaking down his forearms and a cut to the face; Heechul tightens his jaw as he pulls out Hangeng’s dagger from his shoulder, letting it clatter to the ground.

“What happened to your accuracy?” he queries, seeing Hangeng tense. “You would have killed me with that throw in the past. You were better off as my partner, but I guess things change.”

“Things do change,” Hangeng responds, his voice tight. “I’m no longer your partner. I’m no longer your lover. And I will kill you.”

Heechul’s throat is strained. I’m no longer your lover.

He doesn’t know why his eyes still go a little moist, doesn’t know why he doesn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

The truth is a sometimes.

He sees Kangin tense, sees Jungsoo stare at him with widened eyes.

Oh.

He supposes now Jungsoo knows why he had needed to forget so desperately. And he hates himself for admitting it, too; that after all this while, he still has scars over the heart he thought he threw away.

“Back when we were training,” Hangeng calls to him, and he watches the man and Yesung carefully, “You told me I should always be more prepared.”

There’s the faint rustling of fabric as Hangeng reaches down and pulls out an identical dagger to the one he threw moments ago. “And you told me I should keep on practising until I don’t make anymore mistakes. You know, you always encouraged me when I was training with you.” He steps closer to Heechul. Heechul doesn’t move away.

Can’t move away.

“You told me one day that all masters of the blade started off as beginners. Back then, we were just blurred faces in the crowd. Do you remember? They treated us like nothing, we were worth less than a cent to them. Remember? They told us we’d never be gre