Everyone at the mansion could tell that Yoon Mi was troubled. It was hard for her to ignore the thought that whenever she depended on her Kwon side, she would eventually lose control and that side of her would kill whoever was deemed a threat to her life.

 

*Toughen up your heart or you'll end up losing yourself* DaeHyun said to her when he found her in the art studio painting one night. 

 

"Easier said than done" Yoon Mi sighed as she set aside her paint brush and palette. 

 

Staring at the canvas before them, he cocked his head to the side. DaeHyun's eyebrows drew together in thought as he pulled down his half mask and spoke with his voice, the puzzlement was too great for him to use his power to speak as per usual. "What on earth is this supposed to be? I didn't think that your painting skills would deteriorate..."

 

"Yah! It's abstract art!" Yoon Mi cried in disbelief that he had just dissed her work.

 

"I'm glad it's abstract and not me that you're painting" He critiqued as he took a step closer to try and make sense of it.

 

That was it, he had gone overboard and Yoon Mi was reaching behind to put her hand on her palette while he continued to stare at the painting, she hoped that their bond didn't reveal what she had in mind.

 

Her hand rested gently on his cheek and smeared paint generously across his face. Gaping in shock, Yoon Mi had a feeling that she should flee when she saw the spark of mischief in his eyes.

 

Getting up to run, she only managed to take a few steps before DaeHyun grabbed onto her waist and held onto her firmly. Trapping her in his arms as he turned her around.

 

"D-DaeHyun, I'm sorry! Please l-let me go!" Yoon Mi squirmed in his arms when his face closed in, his paint covered cheek rubbed against hers.

 

Pulling away, Daehyun looked at his handiwork and laughed, "we have a weird matching look with the paint on our faces"

 

"I can't believe you smeared it back on me" Yoon Mi pouted as she remain caged in his arms. 

 

"What you give is what you get" he leaned in closer and nuzzled the tip of her nose. His expression was serious but she could see that his eyes shined with playfulness. 

 

A cheerful laugh left her lips at how ridiculous they looked. The look in DaeHyun's eyes became gentle and loving, "you're finally smiling" he whispered as he caressed the side of her face that didn't have paint on it.

 

"I made you guys worried again haven't I" She said quietly while resting against his hand. "I guess it is time to toughen up like you said... I shouldn't be causing so much problems even after so long"

 

Raising an eyebrow at her "what are you planning?" He sensed Yoon Mi plotting something that was making him uneasy for no apparent reason.

 

"Teach me to fight" Her words echoed in his mind as he stared blankly at her.

 

DaeHyun recalled the last time that HimChan and him tried to teach her how to fight and asked "Are you sure?"

 

Seeing her nod in response, "it's not going to be easy Yoon Mi ... Don't say that I didn't warn you" He searched her eyes to make sure she understood that things weren't going to be easy. No, it was going to be so difficult, it would be like another level of hell.

 

-

 

Tears welled up Yoon Mi's eyes as pain filled her senses. Losing count of how many hits she had taken, how many punches and kicks... They were all one big blur as she tried to block and hit back in unarmed combat. 

 

It took a while to get used to fighting without the rose staff, not to mention fighting HimChan who was her practice partner while DaeHyun overlooked as usual.

 

He couldn't practice with her because they would be able to read each other's moves through their bond. 

 

YongGuk wasn't ideal because he was on a different level; the impact from his weakest punch hurts like hell and Yoon Mi was no-where near that level. YoungJae wasn't willing to be a practice dummy or to do anything physically strenuous so he shot down his request the moment he heard it.

 

JongUp well, his mind was already occupied with surveillance around the house so DaeHyun never thought of asking him and Zelo... He said he couldn't help because he thinks of Yoon Mi like his sister would never be able to hit her.

 

Like their original setup many months back, HimChan agreed to help her fight.

 

Slowly, little by little, Yoon Mi had shown improvement. Not that she could take down any one of the guys but if she fought with any of the girls in school, she would be able to win most of them. 

 

Walking into the practice room on a weekend for their usual session, she was about to do her stretching when she realized that she wasn't alone in the room. Looking at who the other person was, Yoon Mi froze in fear when she recognized that familiar face.

 

Unable breathe right or think right. Her trembling hands covered to prevent herself from screaming at the top of her lungs and possibly fall into a panic attack. 

 

"J-Ji Yong" his name manages to leave her lips in a hoarse whisper as she stared at him with disbelief. How had he managed to get in this place without anyone knowing or without anyone noticing him?

 

She had told herself that there were things that she was going to ask and explanations to be made when she saw him but none of them came to her mind. The questions that kept her up at night crying, they were all stuck somewhere as she was frozen in the shock of seeing him with her own eyes.

 

"Alright, I think we've scared her enough for today" DaeHyun's voice comes out from somewhere in the room.

 

"Seriously? All we've done is showed her an image of him just standing there though" She could hear YoungJae say in disbelief. 

 

Watching the image of Ji Yong vanish before her eyes and HimChan, DaeHyun and YoungJae appearing at the opposite end of the room. Her legs soon gave way and Yoon Mi found herself sitting in haphazard manner on the ground.

 

*He was the one who murdered the rest of her family YoungJae, so seeing your older brother who was once your lover and now is a murderer right before your very eyes after so long... Yes, I would imagine that it has quite a significant impact on someone* DaeHyun mind spoke to HimChan and YoungJae. Briefly letting them know about her past which they didn't know about.

 

"He seriously did that to his family?" YoungJae had a look of shock on his face before continuing on saying "He is such an for killing his family"

 

"Guys, you might want to help Yoon Mi a little" HimChan said and began walking across the room to get to her. 

 

"Yoon Mi, are you okay?" He asked as he crouched down to her level, she was so much in shock that she looked out of sorts. Placing his hand on her shoulder, HimChan shook her lightly. Seeing her eyes slowly regain focus, the three guys let out a sigh of relief.

 

"I-I'll be fine...I just... I couldn't. I froze up. I didn't know how. How to react to him." Yoon Mi said in short abrupt sentences, unable to think coherently as she tried to even out her breathing.

 

Seeing him after gaining all that knowledge, it made her deadly afraid to see him as the questions finally came back to her mind.

 

Why did he kill their family?

Why was she kept alive? 

Why did he look for her that night of the ball many months back?

 

"I'm a pathetic excuse of a Kwon" Yoon Mi covered her face with her hands. "How am I going to face him when the day comes?" 

 

"Then are you going to give up right now just because you've hit a bump?" DaeHyun questioned bluntly earning a disapproving look from HimChan.

 

"Of course not! It's just..." Yoon Mi ran a hand through her hair in frustration "I thought I was doing well, making some progress and all it takes to unravel all that I've worked at is one stupid illusion." 

 

"You gain some, you lose some Yoon Mi. Are you going to let yourself get shaken? Are you going to give in?" DaeHyun challenged her. 

 

HimChan had wanted him to stop but the younger sent a look that told him to not interfere.

 

"Seriously DaeHyun? Can I f--king punch you?" Yoon Mi glared at him.

 

With a mocking laugh, "it depends, can you even land a punch on me?"

 

"You are so damn annoying!" Yoon Mi got to her feet and DaeHyun backed away quicker than she could finish her sentence.

 

It was a ridiculous sight as she chased him around winding between YoungJae and HimChan at times because he purposefully ran around them. 

 

YoungJae rolled his eyes and left the room seeing how things where going no-where, dragging HimChan along cause they pretty much weren't needed since training wasn't going to take place today.

 

"I can read your mind Yoon Mi, either close off the connection or continue hitting thin air." DaeHyun taunted her as he ran around effortlessly.

 

Trying to close it off, Yoon Mi decided to change tactics. Knowing that she would never be able to outrun him in speed, she chose to stop in her tracks suddenly. Causing DaeHyun to halt abruptly as well leaving him to eye her closely, wondering what happened to her and rushing over when he saw that she fell to her knees.

 

---

Annyeong :)