Baekhyun wasn't Crown Prince material just because of his birth. He refused to give up so easily just because his laziness in the past had rendered him a martial arts noob.

Instead, he continued training faithfully for the next week, summoning Principal Kim over to the Palace to teach him sword play, archery, and pure fist fighting.

The EXO-K princes joined in once in a while when the sun wasn't shining so mercilessly on them, but most of the times Baekhyun had to practice himself with the ever strict principal that didn't care that he was the Crown Prince.

Chanyeol popped over a few times, wanting to give his hyung some advice but Baekhyun refused all help stubbornly.

He was somehow a little pissed off that his dongsaeng was so much more proficient in this arena than he was, surprised because he hadn't been bothered by it before.

Perhaps it was just how Chanyeol could talk to Byul about moves and swordplay when Baekhyun had no clue at all, feeling all left out. But he would never admit it to himself because it was a known fact that Byul and Baekhyun never clicked.

"Get some rest Jeonha," Principal Kim finally said, gesturing for the maids to come over with the water and snacks.

Baekhyun stopped from his half squats and sighed tiredly. He could now hold on steadily for around five minutes before the first signs of trembling.

He suffered leg cramps everyday and he always felt like his whole body was sore from head to toe ever since he started this torture.

Baekhyun downed the water hungrily, not minding how he looked as he poured the rest down his head. It was refreshing.

Byul emerged from the building indoors to check on Baekhyun's progress. "How's it going Principal Kim?" she smiled at her ex-teacher.

Principal Kim looked over at Baekhyun. "Well, Jeonha's kind I weak because he hadn't been toning his body, but he's improving quite quickly." Principal Kim praised. "He should be able to reach at least Eunhyuk's level of proficiency soon."

Baekhyun's face lit up brightly and threw Byul a triumphant look. Byul rolled her eyes and laughed.

"If you knew what exactly Eunhyuk oppa's standard was like, you wouldn't exactly be pleased." she muttered. "That guy's almost as bad as you."

Baekhyun pouted and made a face. "Spoil sport." he accused. "I'll manage to beat your some day."

Byul grinned, shrugging. "You try  and if you fail, I'll get to punish you." she bargained.

"Fine!"She offered the Principal Kim some snacks and drinks and Baekhyun went back to practicing his moves and kicks.

Byul turned back to look at him, studying carefully.

"He's a little more serious about this than I expected." Principal Kin confided, a little pleased. "I thought the Crown Prince was just fooling around when the King summoned me into the Palace."

Byul nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, I didn't expect him to be this serious about it either. Didn't expect the Ddong-ha to be able to focus on something." Byul murmured, watching as Baekhyun repeated the moves to improve himself.

Principal Kim looked at his favorite student back in the Military Academy. "It seems he wants to prove himself to you, in my opinion." he tapped his chin.

Byul laughed, shaking her head. "That's a nice way of putting it." she grinned. "I infuriate him and he wants payback." she shrugged.

She turned to look at Baekhyun. "I'm just going to have to make sure I'm ready for it."

Baekhyun grinned to himself. He had mastered some real moves and punches from Principal Kim and he was about to use them.

He desperately wanted to escape from Byul. The whole thing wasn't about him going to find other girls or anything like that. Things had surpassed that stage some time ago.

Things were about proving his capabilities to Byul. She was the one ranting about how weak he was all the time. (Although he did insult her appearance and tomboy character too.)

He waited till it was time for lunch and the same thing happened. He does though his meal as quickly as possible and excused himself.

He didn't even know where he was going to go if he managed to escape Byul, actually. He just wanted to show her that he could.

To his utter surprise, Byul was already there waiting for him. She raised her brows at him. "You're done  so quickly?"

Baekhyun blinked at her. "What are you doing here?" he stared. "Didn't you go for lunch?"

Byul grinned. "Nope. I'm waiting for you to make your escape." she cocked her head to the side. "Are you going to fight me like a man or are you going to run away?" she taunted.

Baekhyun growled. This girl really knew how to pull his strings.

He grunted and stood in his fighting pose. "Try me." he growled dangerously.

Byul looked at him amusedly. "You sure?"

"Just come on!" Baekhyun grunted. He clenched his fists, ready to fight. In fact, he was already imagining their fight in his mind and it ended off beautifully as he pinned Byul on the ground. Aha~

Byul stood up, walking over to him casually. She poked his arm and found it strained, hard. "Woah you're ready." she murmured. "But seriously, you're sure about this?"

"Yes!" Baekhyun exclaimed, annoyed. "Will you just fight me right now?"

Byul tapped her chin for a bit with an amused expression. "Okay then."

In a flash, Byul moved forward, accurately hitting Baekhyun's stomach hard and knocking all air out of his lungs.

Baekhyun fell backwards, and he tried to aim a punch at Byul's face desperately. Byul twisted his arm and rolled him over before he met the ground, pinning him face down on the grass.

The whole thing took less than ten seconds, and Baekhyun didn't even get to show off his skills. If there were any.

"Sooo....remember our bargain?" Byul mused as Baekhyun groaned under her feet.

"Another ten added, you're not doing it properly!" Byul called.

Baekhyun cursed under his breath as he stood in the middle of the courtyard, doing jumping jacks. Maids and servants and court attendants were looking on as their Crown Prince continued with his three hundred, oh scratch that, three hundred and ten jumping jacks. (Which is hell by the way. I almost died when I did two hundred straight in the past.)

Byul resisted the urge to laugh as Baekhyun continued glaring at her while he did it.

"What's he doing?" Eunhyuk nudged her. "I think the Crown Prince is acting really weird these days." he scratched his head.

Byul giggled. "Punishment of course. That Ddong-ha overestimated himself and struck a deal with me, which he lost."

"And you're making him do that?" Eunhyuk shuddered. "Remind me not to make you angry next time." he murmured.

Byul laughed and shook her head, totally enjoying Baekhyun's misery.

Baekhyun growled and frowned at her. *Stupid Han Eunbyul. Aish!!!*