A/N: Haha, the reason why a bracelet would flash another color would most likely be because someone of that color sent a message. I explained it before but I didn’t go into detail but it’s not important! This chapter had been pending for awhile but here is to Jeno and Bunny, Dana and Johnny and finally Yuta and Aera. <3 Also will be switching from third person to first person. 

There was something about Aera seated between Jaehyun's legs that Yuta did not like. Sure, she was doing it for him because she wanted to break Jaehyun with him, but why was it that every time he saw Jaehyun lean forward to kiss her on the cheek, he wanted to stand up and tell him to get his hands off her?

Yuta could not help but think of the conversation he had with Aera the night before. Read him? He scoffed and shook his head to himself. As much as Yuta turned away, he had stayed awake and repeated her words in his head. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw the green on her skin, Aera's lush lips between his and it drove Yuta crazy.

He wasn't a good person-- No. Yuta did not deserve to be loved like the rest. He held onto anger and made it a weapon.

Oh, but how she looked with her face against his silk pillows. How he hated the color red on her and how she smiled at him behind closed doors.

He hated it. He hated how he was weak.

This was why the first thing he did when she left his room, he had called Amanda and stripped her off her clothes, pounding into her hoping to reach oblivion. Her moans filled his room but all he could do was close his eyes because he did not want to see her body below him.

"Sit with me this breakfast," he said, slipping on his robe. Amanda had asked him over and over again if he meant it, Yuta waving a hand at her to tell her just to do as he said. "I have a debate coming up at another school, aren't you the one managing it this year?"

"No?" Amanda had answered, her voice raising with a tad bit of hurt. "I think you confused me with someone else."

"Mhm." Yuta did not confuse her with someone else. He just didnt want her to think he wanted her by him because he liked her. He had never wanted any girl next to him before... This time, this time was different. "Sit by me, anyway."

"Oh." Amanda looked confused. Everyone knew they were ing, Yuta with a couple of other girls from other houses, but why her? "Okay."

He wanted to distract himself from Aera. He knew where she would be, tucked under Jaehyun's chin as he guffawed every once in a while, at an unfunny joke Johnny would say. She would always look out of place, like she would be deep in thought while the Integritas around her would pay her no mind.

If he had her right by him, they'd talk, Yuta found himself thinking. Aera had a resting thinking face and he'd take her chin into the palm of his hands and ask her what she had in mind. He'd make sure-- Why was he thinking of that?

Sitting there, Amanda by him and her taking this chance to show off that she was chosen, Yuta couldn't help but glance at the reds. Aera looked relaxed, Jaehyun whispering to her. She rolled her eyes when she looked towards him and their eyes connected.

She gave him a nod and all Yuta did was frantically look away, his body turning towards Amanda almost instantly. From the corner of his eye, he saw Jaehyun whisper something to her and her expression turned sour. What did he say, Yuta wondered, what did he say to annoy her that way?

His hands turned into fists under the table, Aera stalking away with Renjun, another blue. With her away from his sight, Yuta felt so much better. Amanda's fingers grazed his skin when Haechan said something, Yuta processing it before he chuckled.

Amanda must have thought that Yuta was smiling at her because it wasn't long before his lips caught hers.

The fact that Yuta's first thought was wondering if Aera saw bothered him, Yuta turned away almost immediately when he saw her staring.

What bothered him more was that she was smiling.

Why was she smiling?

Yuta couldn't think of smiling if he ever had to see her kiss Jaehyun. Why was she smiling? He asked himself again, not able to drag his eyes away from her. Aera continued to smile when his stomach turned, Yuta having to physically turn away before he would smile back.

How he wanted to touch her, feel her skin against his fingertips.

"We leave in the afternoon," Haechan was saying, stretching. "We have to win this time."

"Why wouldn't we? I bribed the judges and we know all the prompts," Chenle answered, chewing on the cabbage. "And Yuta Hyung can charm the female judges. Not like it worked last time--"

"It didn't work because there was only one female judge. And besides, if there were more, do you expect him to sleep with all of them?" Haechan narrowed his eyes at Chenle. "Women are not toys. No one should ever think that way."

"Sorry, sorry. I'm just saying since I walked in on him doing it last year. She was the only one who gave us the green card. Coincidence? I think not." Chenle shrugged.

"I wasn't bribing her with . It was consensual between two adults who wanted it. It was hardly transactional." Yuta found himself snapping at them. "What time do we leave?"

"1 pm. Did you pack?"

"I'll do it now." He proceeded to stand up, knowing that with the three days he would be away, he would need proper sets of clothes. "See you."

"See ya," Haechan answered, not even looking up.

Yuta went straight to his common room, his eyes dropping on Aera when he decided that it wouldn't hurt to call for a meeting. He was going to be gone for three days, things could happen. He finally sent her a message, Aera's bracelet flashing green when she caught sight of it and glanced at it.

Yuta went to his room first, knowing that she would follow... Praying that she would come. He found himself absentmindedly pacing around the room when the common room door opened and he quickly turned to pretend like he was packing his stuff.

"Yuta?" She asked, Yuta turning around, Aera standing there. "You called."

A curt nod towards her, Yuta finally straightening himself up.

"I'm going to be gone for three days," he finally said, Aera's forehead furrowing. "Debate competition."

"Ah... You told me to come to tell me that?"

He hated how she made it seem like he could have done something simpler. Like he could have just sent her a message through her bracelet to let her know. Yuta kept a straight face, Aera studying him when she sighed.

She moved to the bed, falling back down on it as if it was her own.

"Are you competing?" She asked, Yuta nodding. He went into the closet and grabbed a few clothes, coming out to pack them. "It's like how the Justicias have baking day and how the Veritas have the knowledge bowl, right?"

"That's right. We lost last year," he found himself saying, pausing when he realized what he said. She didn't need to know that. Why was he worried if she knew? Why did he even care to tell her what happened last year? He shook his head, Aera chuckling.

"Why? Did you guys not cheat?"

Her tone was teasing but Yuta gave out a grunt. The turmoil inside him was enough for him to recoil and before he could say anything back, he felt her arms wrap around his waist from behind. Aera had tightened her grip on him, the warmth of her body against him.

Yuta froze, Aera finally pulling away to turn him around so he was looking at her. He followed her movements like a fish in water, Aera looking up at him. Her eyes were curved and much to his surprise, she stood on tiptoe to press her lips against his.

It was quick, just like how his kiss with Amanda was but the brief contact made his heart fill up with a burning sensation. She didn't pull away immediately, their lips barely touching when she brushed his lips against hers back and forth.

"For lady luck," she whispered and Yuta's body moved on their own accord, his arms pulling her towards him. She had a pretty neck, Yuta loved her neck. His slim fingers pressed against the spot he wanted to mark, Yuta closing his eyes to stop himself.

He didn't own her.

He couldn't get too caught up.

He pressed a kiss against her neck when he suddenly blurted out.

"You want to come with me?"

His question had struck her, Aera stepping backward to search his eyes. He, himself, was taken off guard. He wanted to tell her that the question wasn't meant for her but it didn't make sense.

"What would Jeffrey say?" She asked, Yuta snapping out of his feelings into reality. "Win for me."

"Of course," Yuta breathed, a whooping sensation traveling over his body. What was he thinking? "You may leave."

Aera blinked, lowering her head and nodding. She was about to step away, Yuta's hand shooting out to pull her towards him once more. If he had to be gone, the least he could do was make sure she remembered who her lips belonged.

She kissed him back, their lips molding together like they were meant to be. He didn't know how long it had been, but Yuta knew she was getting drunk off his lips when her knees gave away. He caught her in his arms, Yuta half lifting her up and taking two steps back, both of them falling back on the bed.

He had to pull away.

But he didn't want to.

Yuta groaned against her lips, Aera gasping when suddenly the common room door opened and they could hear a couple of Corsivas walk in. She pushed him away far enough to catch her breath, Haechan yelling at them to close the door.

Yuta rested his forehead against her, his heart hammering against his chest.

"See you in three days," he told her, the color of Aera's bracelet swirling into a darker blue. "And don't let Jaehyun touch what's mine."

With a brush against her lips; Yuta stood up, grabbed his bags, and left.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Yuta's absence was almost liberating but also empty. Maybe it was because I often found myself being addicted to broken people and deep down, I knew that Yuta was broken in his own way.

The day Yuta left, I found myself thinking of how desperate the kiss felt like.

I had to keep reminding myself that I was being used.

Today, I woke up to something else and I had looked up to see that my bracelet was flashing yellow. I glanced at the stone to see that there was a message on it, squinting at the words.

"Good news." - Bubu

Bubu? I frowned, suddenly remembering that Bubu was Lee Taeyong. What good news was he talking about for him to send me a message through my bracelet? It was kind of cute that Taeyong called himself Bubu, it made him seem less scary than Taeyong. My mind went to the conversation with Jeno and out of curiosity, I had asked why Taeyong was so feared.

"It's the nicest people that make you realize that people can be pushed to a limit," Jeno told me, pressing his lips together. "Look, Taeyong is just scary because he's also so giving but not to be taken lightly. One word from Taeyong and everyone follows him-- it's funny how he unites the colors. Why do you think we have a baking day?"

"Why?"

"Doyoung and Taeyong got into a fight once and the next day, the yellows got the baking day. No one knows what happened but rumors say that Doyoung and Taeyong fought head to head." Jeno ran a tongue over his pearly whites. "Baking day was supposed to be the Verita knowledge bowl but yeah, we changed it because of Taeyong."

"And those two are best friends?"

"Definitely. They are hardly seen together but they are those kinds of friends who people just know that if you tell Doyoung something, Taeyong will most probably know about it. It's like an unspoken rule."

That being said, I had never talked to Taeyong in a one-on-one situation before so the fact that he had contacted me was rather weird. The words suddenly changed and my eyes widened when I saw them.

"Aro's been accepted. Color ceremony." Taeyong's words were chopped but when I processed the message, I leaped out of bed. Aro had been telling me that he had always wanted to join the younglings and I heard a few days ago that the younglings would have their color ceremony soon.

The younglings, unlike us, were based on the base of the mountains. While we all stayed in the dorms, the younglings would train and head home for the night. They had nap time, more classes on color development to shape their soul, and so on and so forth.

As I finally reached The Great Hall, I saw that Tae-il stood among the crowd with the kids that had arrived. They all stood in a long line and I watched as he gripped Aro's hand, my little brother waving at me very aggressively. It was funny because Aro's shield did not have a color but a force field and I just came to know that your shield takes your color after your soul is allocated with the basin. My brother was way ahead of them, Aro already knowing how to force field his energy.

The marching continued and I noticed some of them were all wearing a certain color.

"Dana. They haven't gone through the ceremony yet, why is it that they are already wearing a color badge?"

"Because of the family they come from. I wore full red when I came here, my whole family reds. Except for Sehun, of course. My brother ended up as a blue." She shrugged, her chin. "Look, that's Chenle's cousin."

I saw a young boy with his hair pushed back with gel. He had such a posh demeanor, Chenle giving his own cousin a glance. They gave each other a slight nod.

Wow, is this how they treat family?

Haechan was quite different. I knew Haechan's clan were filled with yellows, the Sun clan known for their consistency of their family color.

"Be a green! Make me proud, squirt!" Haechan yelled out, cheering for his cousin. His cousin had a bright yellow badge, frowning at the older male.

"Corsiva? Dad will disown me, Hyung!" His small voice echoed but Haechan shook his head, pumping a hand in the air.

As the color ceremony started, the first boy went up. He must have been from a family of blues, his whole robe in a dark shade of blue. He went up, a small smile on his face as he eagerly wrote his name, drank from the goblet, and dipped-- Advisor Kyungsoo right beside him.

The basin suddenly flashed yellow, the boy's eyes widening with shock before he burst out into tears.

"Oh no!" I heard Bunny exclaim. "Let me protect you!"

A saw a set of parents look at the child disapprovingly when Bunn narrowed her eyes at them. We all knew that she had gone through the same thing, Bunny running forward with Na Jaemin to take the child in their arms to comfort them.

"You are going to flourish in yellow, my child. The Justicia's are not to be taken lightly!" Jaemin was saying, Bunny's braids swinging back and forth. "You are meant to brighten up the room!"

"That's true. Don't you know that Justicia wins almost every game in palet?" Bunny asked, patting his head. "And people actually like us."

"M-My dad said that yellows are the underdog of the colors," he sobbed, Bunny giving out a dramatic gasp.

"That is so not true! Where is your father? I will give him a piece of my mind!"

And with that, she was escorted out along with the parents, Bunny's high-pitched voice defending the honor of her color. As we snickered, a presence came up beside me and I saw Jaehyun wiggling his eyebrows at me.

"Apparently, her family holds power over that little boy's last name so I guess Bunny is doing the right thing," Jaehyun said, shrugging. "Color prejudice has got to stop."

"Stop?" I asked, frowning at him. "You literally always blame the closest yellow."

"Well..." Jaehyun gave me a meek smile. "Isn't that your brother?"

Aro had very confidently marched to the front of the stage, my little brother finally preparing for his color to be shown. He smiled at me and I gave him a thumbs up-- Advisor Kyungsoo finally telling him to dip.

"Dip."

Aro plunged his whole hand into the basin when there was no reaction.

"Dip--"

"Dippin', dippin'!" Aro said, this time shoving his whole arm into the basin when much to our surprise, my little brother was thrown back by a force and he flew away. I gasped, yelling out my brother's name when he finally looked up from the ground.

The basin then began to close, the lid sealing it shut and water began to drain from the basin, the liquid spreading on the floor. Letters began to form on the side of the basin, people gasping and I heard a wave of whispers.

"I thought it was just a rumor!"

"Is it starting?"

"This means the legend is true?"

"What legend?" I asked, Jaehyun jerking his head towards the basin. "And why did my brother just fly back like that?"

Aro was fine, Moon Tae-il helping him up.

"Legend says that one day, the basin will go through a change by a single person. One to activate it, another to reopen it," he said, pointing.

"Activated by green-- wits and aggression.

Unlocked by a blue of warmth and oppression.

May the strength of a soul shine through,

with two colors coming to view."

"I guess the day had come," Dana whispered. "Activated by a green of wits and oppression? Would that mean your brother?"

I frowned, Aro, wailing out that he broke the basin.

"Unlocked by a blue of warmth and oppression?" I frowned to myself. Deep down, I knew it wasn't me. "What do they mean 'two colors coming to view'?"

"The olden days knew that as people progressed and the world would begin to change, people would no longer fit into just one color. Sure, the reds are aggressive but that was due to tribal nature. Yellows were caring, but also they were always appointed as infirmary coordinators." Dana bit her lip. "Now, the world has progressed so much, you can have aggression and smarts at the same time. Warmth and sinister thoughts inside the same person."

"It's not as simple anymore to judge the color of the soul by one color," a voice said and I turned to see Renjun there. "It's about time. Do you know what is going to be rare later on? A soul with one color. Someone solid. We are no longer primal creatures but ones who are educated who know what we want but will also go different ways to get it."

"I got rejected by the basin!" Aro yelled, running towards me with his arms wide open. I dropped down on my knees to hug him tightly. "Do I not have a soul?"

"Oh, Aro." I patted his back, my brother breaking into sobs. "No, it means you're special."

"What is happening? I want my son to dip!" A parent roared out. "I traveled here and expect him to be sorted!"

"Dear sir, your son is not going to die if he doesn't get sorted," Tae-il said, a hand in the air. "Everyone, please bring your child home. Sorting has been postponed."

There was a grumble among some of the parents but it wasn't long till everyone left, leaving all the students. Since Doyoung wasn't around, Taeyong had taken over. Advisor Suho was looking at the basin, trying to find ways to open it but it was close.

The advisors then grouped in one team, all of them whispering to each other when they came to a decision.

"All colors except the blues leave The Great Hall." Advisor Suho said and I frowned. "The basin had been activated, now we must find the one who will unlock it."

"Personality tests will be given and I want to research on each and everything about the basin." Advisor Kyungsoo said, glancing at his bracelet. "Chop, chop. No basin, no sorting."

I drew a breath, all of the blues taking the orders given to them.

I looked to the side to see Jeno deep in thought when my eyes fell on his bracelet.

I noticed something strange, Jeno's shade turning lighter before it swirled, Jeno moving his arm when the color was back to dark blue. I frowned, Jeno looking up at me.

"What?" He asked.

"I think someone sent you a message. Your bracelet flashed a lighter shade of blue. Turquoise, almost." That was the only reason why his bracelet would change into a different color, right?

Someone sending a message and flashing the sender's color before turning back into Jeno's blue?

Jeno looked down at his bracelet before shaking his head.

"Nope. No one sent anything." He showed me his bracelet but I was certain I saw something change. "And we have no blue that goes by the color of turquoise."

"Mhm..."

"You must have been shocked at your brother being thrown back. It happens." Jeno patted my shoulder. "We need to take a test."

I nodded, finally letting it go.

With that, we were given tests to complete.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Okay, so maybe the test was the type of test that went a little bit too personal. When I mean personal, I meant I had Renjun on one side of me and Jeno on the other. I stared at the parchment.

"Do you ever feel like a plastic bag--," Jeno began before he nodded and ticked it with a grunt. "Always."

"What does it mean to feel like a plastic bag?" I asked, not understanding the question.

"He means, deflated. Dead. Nada. Like you have no soul in you," Renjun said and I blinked. "Have you ever felt like a plastic bag?"

"Uh..." My voice trailed and I blinked. "No?"

"Lucky you," Renjun said as we continued on with the test.

"Have you ever felt stepped on, hated who you are, and finding it hard to conform to social norms?" Jeno began, Renjun shaking his head but Jeno ticking it with a yes. "Really? None at all?"

"I'm not broken. Maybe a little bit insecure but my aggression makes up for it," Renjun replied deadpan. Jeno sighed, finally ticking it. I never felt the need to conform to social norms but it was because I lived in a whorehouse.

"Would you kill someone if you had to?" Jeno began and I nodded.

"Yes." Both of them looked at me. "What?"

"You would? Well, to be honest, I would too. I'd make it quick, though," Jeno said and I nodded, ticking it. "Maybe with a thumb against his neck or a quick throat slice--"

"I'd just push him off a cliff."

"You guys are weird," Renjun mumbled, shaking his head before he paused. "I'd kill someone, too. If I had to."

"Okay..." I knew the conversation was going towards a direction we didn't want it to go to. "Next?"

"Pain is needed to grow, yes or no. Yes. Wait... No. Why do I feel like it's a yes?" Jeno mumbled softly to himself and I focused on the list of questions in front of me when we heard a small "Hey!".

We all looked to the side to see a Na Jaemin crawling on the ground, making his way down the rows of Veritas, his yellow cloak shining so brightly, it would be hard not to spot him. He gave us a bright smile and Jeno groaned.

"Na Jaemin, what in the world are you doing here?"

"Sneaky sneaky," he whispered despite being totally conspicuous. "Whatcha doing?"

"We're taking a test, what are you doing here?" Jeno asked, Jaemin whipping out a cookie that he had baked.

"Cookie?"

It was funny to me because it seemed like it had happened so many times before, Jeno and Renjun shaking their head simultaneously. Jaemin huffed, his eyes narrowingly almost like he was focusing onto people so he could find his next victim before he gave out an "Ahah!" and began to move down the row.

I chuckled to myself, finally finishing the test.

The test, so to say, ended not so well.

As dark as my color was, it was a surprise how un-oppressed I was.

To be fair, I didn't have a family to conform to. I didn't have people running after my at all times. There was no way I would be the person to unlock the Basin of Verita, fulfilling its prophecy.

Jeno, however... It was down to him. Him and a guy named Wonwoo who had a dark dark history, his family something that he wouldn't talk about. Jeno was completely appalled at the fact that he was a candidate.

Oh no, he wasn't oppressed. He was in denial.

That and after taking the test, his color became a shade darker, making Jeno gasp out almost dramatically. I was still darker than he was and he took comfort in that.

"Why is my color so dark? Makes no sense," Jeno complained, looking at my bracelet as the test ended and he sighed. "Aera, you're the only hope for me now."

"Why does it matter?"

"A dark shade is a disappointment, Jeno," Jeno mimicked, Renjun smirking and saying that Jeno's father did not sound like that.

I stared at Jeno.

Yeah, definitely oppressed.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

It had been three days, and within that three days, Jeno had found every opportunity to stick by me. Why? He kept reminding me that it was because my color was darker than his and it made him feel better about himself. Today, I was sitting at the Verita table, Jeno by my side. Bunny had fallen asleep on the wheelchair, Jeno patting her hand over and over again.

Every time he stopped, she would stir and wake up, Jeno finally coming to terms that he would be eating with one hand. 'Tap, tap', Bunny called it. It helped her sleep and it eased her anxieties. Apparently, if Bunny had her afternoon nap, she would also be a happy girl and because of that Jeno tried his best to keep Bunny a happy girl (!).

"I'm scored a bit lower than I thought I would," Jeno told me, his eyebrows furrowing. "I hate it when I don't reach my personal goals. I'm sad--"

I flashed him my bracelet, the dark color making him smile before he showed me his. I could hear a racket outside and Jaehyun could be seen jogging towards me. He sat down by me and when I looked to the side, I saw that the Corsivas had arrived.

"Yuta is back," he told me, Jaehyun crossing his legs and pulling me closer. "Quick! Look happy."

"Please." I pushed him away, going back to eat my food. "Where were you before this, by the way?"

"Palet practice," he told me when he frowned. "I saw you going to Aro. How is he?"

"He's sad," I answered. Aro was sad that he broke the basin even if we explained to him that it was a