“This is what you’ll use.” Taeil picked up a knife from the table in the kitchen and rotated it as he showed it to you. You gulped, not sure if you were exactly ready to go around slashing at people. He noticed your thoughts and motioned for U-Kwon to come over. When U-Kwon had stepped in front of him, he whispered something. Suddenly, he stabbed U-Kwon, who fell onto the ground.

Your eyes widened in shock and before you could even process what was going on, both U-Kwon and Taeil started laughing. “What?” You asked multiple times as U-Kwon got up off the floor. Taeil took the knife and rammed it into U-Kwon’s chest. You flinched back again, “What are you doing?” You asked in alarm.

“It’s retractable.” U-Kwon grinned as Taeil showed you how he stabbed U-Kwon, except slower this time. That’s when you saw it. The blade at the end of the handle was actually plastic that when came into contact with U-Kwon, disappeared into the hilt. You heard the sound of plastic rubbing together and you sighed in relief. U-Kwon laughed and gave you a light shove.

“Thanks for worrying about me though.” He said with a smile on his face.

“Rubber arrows, retractable knives, hollow bullet rounds, everything’s here.” P.O stated as he went over everything that your team needed.

That’s right, your team was composed of Taeil, U-Kwon, P.O, and yourself. The opposing team was Jaehyo, B-Bomb, Kyung, and Zico. You had never seen U-Kwon, P.O, or Taeil fight before so the chances of your team winning looked slim.

“Tomorrow is D-day, so everyone should get a good night’s rest.” Taeil, the leader of your team, told all of you. Taeil was one of the two people left when you all played rock paper scissors earlier. He lost to Kyung, which let Kyung be the first to pick who was on his team. Kyung, of course, picked Zico. Taeil picked U-Kwon. Then, Kyung picked Jaehyo, followed by Taeil picking P.O. You already knew whose team you would end up with at that point. Kyung took B-Bomb and Taeil chose you. Taeil told you he was going to pick you in the first place to be on his team. Still, you felt like the unwanted kid while all the other kids chose teams for basketball.

That night, you cuddled up in the blankets that the hunters gave you. You found the couch to be pleasantly comfortable. You let your eyes flutter closed as you watched the dwindling flame of the fire. When they fluttered open, something blocked your view. You narrowed your tired eyes to see what it was when you found yourself face to face with someone. Your eyes snapped open and you quickly sat up. You heard a stifled laugh as your eyes adjusted to the sudden motion.

“Didn’t mean to scare you.” A familiar voice said. When your eyes finally adjusted, you saw who it was. U-Kwon was standing in front of the couch dressed in what seemed to be his pajamas; which were baby blue character pants and a white t-shirt. His hair was in a mess on his head.

“It’s okay.” You told him as you averted your eyes, trying not to laugh at the way he looked right now.

“I came to give you some tips.” He said as he sat down on the couch next to you with a warm smile on his face. You swung your legs off the couch and onto the floor as you sat up next to him.

“Tips for what?” You asked, confused.

He rose an eyebrow at you as he relaxed on the couch, “For what else? For the training exercise tomorrow.” You mouthed an ‘oh’ and sat up more attentively than you were before. He laughed at how serious your expression was, making you falter a bit in your straight posture. “I figured you have no idea what to expect. So, first-“

“First, watch out for B-Bomb.” You chanted what U-Kwon had told you last night. You held tight onto the retractable knife by your side. Taeil told you yesterday that all you have to do is stab vitally and the other person is out. Of course, they could get you just as easily. “B-Bomb isn’t fast but he’s patient.” His aim with a crossbow is top-notch. Watch for movement in the trees above you if you don’t want to be shot in the head. That’s what U-Kwon told you. Of course it’d be with a rubber arrow but that would hurt all the same.

You had spilt up with the rest of your team earlier. Mostly because Zico came in guns blazing after thirty minutes into the exercise. You all had no choice but to run. Unfortunately, it had been into different directions. Thus, you were now alone. You were able to keep a low profile as you ducked from tree to tree. You had no sight of B-Bomb but you also had no idea where he could have been. Your feet weren’t aching amazingly. Your stamina had improved greatly in such a short amount of time.

Suddenly, you heard something around you besides the sounds of the birds. The sound of something clicking to your right. You immediately tried to pivot on your foot and run however your body didn’t move as fast as you wanted it to. You ended up tripping and falling over. You stopped your fall with you hands and heard the sound of ripping wind above you. The sound of plastic hitting wood sounded before a small fake knife landed just next to your hand. It was a good thing you fell down or you would have been struck down by the flying blade. You immediately knew whom the weapon belonged to.

“Second, always keep light on your feet.” You reminded yourself as you quickly stood up again and started to dodge between trees, “Jaehyo doesn’t hold back. He just keeps coming and coming until he finally gets a knife in your back.” You knew what U-Kwon said was right as three more knives sailed past your face, nearly missing you as you ran. Your mind worked for a plan of counterattack.

Jaehyo was stronger than you, that you knew for a fact. He was most likely faster, stronger, and more quick-witted. Still, you needed to fight back. Calling it quits and letting him get you was the last thing you wanted to do. That’s when you had it. It was simple, too simple. If you pulled it off, you would only have around a two second window to even land a hit on him at all. Still, a small window like that was better than no window at all.

You quickly chose the tree with the widest trunk that was ahead of you, and of course the closest. As soon as you finally reached it, you took a right and wove around it. That’s when you saw him, Jaehyo. He was so blinded by the number of trees closely living together that he didn’t see you duck behind the tree. That’s when you realized you were right. Jaehyo was fast. Still, as long as you could stab him with your flimsy plastic knife once, you were satisfied. As he passed by the tree you had hidden behind, you quickly swerved around the tree, appearing behind him. Using your backhand, you whipped your knife from your belt and stabbed him, right into his left shoulder. You would have gotten his spine if he wasn’t moving so quickly. Which means, he wasn’t out just yet.

He was taken by surprise, and as you anticipated, your two second window only managed to aid you in angering Jaehyo further. He whipped around, pinned you to the wide trunked tree, and used his right arm to pull his knives from his side. At least he was being sportsmanlike and not using his left arm; acting like he did indeed just get stabbed.

As his right hand came hurdling down towards your face with the plastic knife in hand, your instincts reacted first. You didn’t know how you managed it, but somehow you were able to stop his falling hand. He grunted as he struggled to press it further towards your face. You were more than thankful it was fake, that you could tell from the dullness of the blade.

As you were struggling with Jaehyo, you failed to notice that a pair of hands came up and wrapped gingerly around his neck. Jaehyo was too focused on you to react quickly enough. The hands gently turned his head to the right.

There was a moment of silence as Jaehyo’s fierce expression left his face. He stared not at you but at nothing blankly. “I just snapped your neck. You’re out Jaehyo.” A familiar hoarse voice invaded your eardrums. A relieved expression spread across your face despite your tries to hide it. Jaehyo’s hand went limp and fell to his side. You immediately fell to your knees, your heart pounding hard in your chest. Even though it wasn’t real, the thought that it could have been scared you like hell.

Jaehyo’s upper lip curled in annoyance as he slipped his knives back into the holder under his arm. He turned to face his attacker, “You win this one P.O.” Jaehyo glanced down at you and snarled. He then angrily disappeared into the forest. You knew that that face he made at you was one of regret over losing his prey. That’s what you were out here. Prey for the other team. You watched him leave, your eyebrows tightly furrowed together.

“He’s going back to the house.” P.O held out his hand to you to help you up. “You did good fighting back.” You stared at his hand for a moment before taking it. He helped you get on your feet again. Your legs still trembled from the previous situation. He noticed and stared at you. He could tell you were struggling to steady yourself again. He felt bad. He felt bad that you were in this situation.  You were definitely not doing what a normal teenage girl should have been doing. That’s when he caught himself laughing. You weren’t weak. He knew that. He couldn’t believe he even thought about the notion of you cooking dinner or shopping for clothes. “Remember what I told you.” You looked up at him, “Always stand back up.”

Warmth started to spread through your veins. You didn’t feel scared anymore. In fact, your legs had stopped shaking completely. You knew what this feeling was. Thus, you fought against it. You couldn’t get attached. You had to remain eternal poker face. Just like Myungsoo. The thought of his name sent shivers down your spine. If he was there when Jaehyo had you cornered on the tree, would he have saved you? Or Woohyun like he did at the party?

Dongwoo would surely handle it in the most robust of ways. Sungjong would surprise you with his manly charm he rarely showed. Sungyeol would have fear reflected in his eyes but would still put all of his strength into saving you. Sunggyu would never fail to amaze you with his pure strength. Hoya would save you quickly, in one swift strike, and then gently check to see if you were okay. Woohyun would save you but then scold you for getting into the situation right after. Myungsoo. Myungsoo would just stand there, eternal poker face as usual. Of that you were sure of no matter how weirdly your chest constricted at the thought.

You knew, right now, you had to be like Myungsoo was towards you. “Eternal poker face.” You whispered so low that P.O thought you were breathing out softly. You locked eyes with him, “Thank you.” You said, now finding it easier to fight back the smile that tried to make its way on your face.

You couldn’t get attached. Wouldn’t get attached. It would only make it easier when you would betray them to find out about the necklace later on.

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A/N:

I promise that alot of your questions will be addressed soon (such as the school issue). Everything is getting pretty complicated huh? :)

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