It had been 2 weeks since all the participants have trained there. Day by day, it got harder. There were new moves, new tactics, new survival techniques...there was a lot going on. The trainers became more strict and firm when it came to training.

Rules like being punctual and showing respect were introduced. There was less break time too. Breakfast still remained the same but lunch wasn’t provided. They said it was to train us for the games when were out of food. Dinner was really late, about 1-2 hours before midnight. So basically they train for more than twelve hours a day.

Dongwoo wiped the beads of perspiration off his forehead. He was tired. He needed some sleep but schedule was tight and sometimes his trainer would wake him up in the middle of the night to train some more. Well, he was out of shape so he told himself he needed the extra push.

‘Alright, Dongwoo. I can’t take it anymore. You’re making me feel guilty. I know you’re tired. Go and take a break. Come back when you feel better.’ Chanyeol smiled at him before grabbing his stuff.

‘Ah it’s okay. It’s nothing. C’mon, I still haven’t mastered the move you thought me just now.’ Dongwoo started walking to the opposite side of Chanyeol.

‘No, Dongwoo.’ Chanyeol grabbed his shoulder, ‘just don’t worry about it for now. We’ll practice it later. Right now, you look like you need all the rest you can get.’

‘But I-’

‘I’m serious, Dongwoo. Go rest. Rest for the whole day if you have too. I don’t mind.’ Chanyeol patted his back.

Dongwoo didn’t want to start an argument. He nodded in agreement as Chanyeol left the room. He definitely needed a rest but he wouldn’t take the whole day. He still needed the training and he wouldn’t want to miss any second of it.

            He took his towel and left the room. He would be back in an hour to get Chanyeol. An hour was enough.

            Dongwoo yawned as he walked through the corridor. Wow he was tired. His back was aching and almost all his muscles were sore. Even walking was hard for him. But it didn’t let it affect him during training. He passed by a dark room. He had never seen the room before. He carefully went inside and his hands searched for the switch on the wall.

            He flipped the switch.

            ‘Ah!’ A scream was heard at the far left corner of the room.

            Dongwoo jolted back. ‘Aishh! You scared the hell out of me!’

            The guy appeared to be none other than the purple boy. ‘Ahh, sorry. I thought you were my trainer.’

            The purple boy sat back into his chair before crossing his legs on it. Dongwoo walked over to the guy and stood in front of him. He hasn’t seen him that much in those two months. He finally decided to apologize to him because of his remarks on the first day that they so called ‘met’.

            He opened his mouth but no words came out. A million things ran through his mind but he didn’t know how to start.

            Purple boy felt somebody’s presence in front of him. ‘Ermm...yes? Can I help you?’ He started sitting upright in his chair.

            Dongwoo looked down before bowing a little. ‘Ermm I guess I want to apologize for the time I insulted you because you were staring at me. You just wanted a friend and I was mean to you. I didn’t mean to say those things. Sorry.’ He bowed again.

            The guy’s eyebrows turned into a frown. He was confused. Dongwoo looked up to. The guy kept laughing but didn’t meet his eyes. ‘Ahh...don’t worry...I guess. It’s...okay.’

            Dongwoo, not convinced by his answer, murmured an ‘okay thanks’. Purple boy still didn’t look up to face him.

            ‘Can I sit here? I mean...I’m having a break so I just want to get a quick rest.’ Dongwoo scratched his head.

            ‘Yeah, sure.’ Purple boy still stared into space.

            Dongwoo raised his right eyebrow. He looked at the direction where the guy was looking but there was nothing there. His face didn’t look like it was concentrating on something though. It looked emotionless, but you could tell he was in a deep thought.

            Dongwoo sat on the other chair that was next to him. It wasn’t that close neither was it that far. He sighed with exhaustion before closing his eyes. His eyelids were heavy and he was mentally and physically tired, but he couldn’t sleep. Something was bugging him. It was too quiet.

            He peeped through his right eye. Purple boy was still at the same position he was just now, still in his deep thoughts. Dongwoo’s forehead wrinkled. This guy is really weird. He leaned forward to face him until he could smell the guy’s scent, but the guy didn’t flinch or move. Dongwoo leaned back a little. He faced the direction where the guy was staring at but there was still nothing.

            ‘Ermm I don’t mean to interrupt your....thoughts but what are you staring at?’ Dongwoo asked.

            The guy chuckled. ‘I’m not staring at anything. I’m just thinking about something, that’s all.’ He smiled but didn’t face him as well.

            ‘Oh, alright. Ermm...are you scared to face me or something? You...staring into space is creeping me out.’

            ‘Are you on my left or my right?’

            ‘....Right. Why did you-’ Dongwoo gasped.

            The purple boy turned his head to face him. Now he knew why he couldn’t face him the entire time. The guy’s eyes were like any others but his pupils were all grey. It looked as though there was foggy kind of effect above it. His eyes looked sad but he kept smiling the whole time. Then it hit him, the guy was blind.

            Dongwoo was at lost for words.

            ‘Now you know.’ Purple boy chuckled before looking at his hands.

            ‘Oh my-. I’m s-sorry. I didn’t know. I really shouldn’t have said those things to you. Oh god, I’m really sorry!’ Dongwoo pleaded.

            The guy laughed again. ‘Stop saying sorry. I’m not mad. I’ve never been mad. But I will be if you continue apologizing!’

            Dongwoo laughed together with him before mumbling another sorry. The guy reached his hand out.

            ‘Hoya.’

            ‘Dongwoo.’ He shook his hand.

            ‘Wait let me see who you are.’ Hoya unfolded his legs and placed them onto the ground. His face lit up as he turned his head to face Dongwoo.

            ‘Oh, it’s you. The blue haired guy I met on the first day. I was wondering what your apology meant.’ He continued smiling.

            Dongwoo looked down in embarrassment. ‘Yeah. Sorry again.’ He hesitated. ‘Can you see me now?’

            Hoya nodded. ‘This is my gift.’

            ‘Ermm...I don’t understand.’

            Hoya gave a small laugh. ‘My gift is that if any part of my body touches the ground, I can sense all the things around me. But I can’t see everything clearly of course. It’s blur but I still can make out the things. Everything I see is one colour and the colour I see is blue; which is your hair. That’s how I remember you.’ Dongwoo nodded. ‘Because none of my body parts were on the ground, I couldn’t see you. That’s why you thought I was staring into space. Which kind of to be honest.’

            Both of them laughed. Dongwoo hadn’t laugh in a long time. His laugh was either a forced one or just for the sake of it. Now, being able to laugh with someone made him really happy. And Hoya was not bad. He enjoyed his company. He was fun to talk to and he doesn’t look like all those bastards that were mean to him during training. He might actually be friends with him.

            The two guys talked for a while more before they slumped into their own chairs. Dongwoo finally felt like sleeping and slowly, he dozed off.

            Dongwoo woke up, noticing that the sky outside was a mixture of orange, pink and yellow. It was sunset. It was really pretty. He got up and saw his upper body nicely covered up by a purple blanket. It had the word ‘Lee Howon’ written at the bottom of it. He smiled.

            ‘Thanks, Lee Howon.’

~~~

            Woohyun looked at his watch; 11pm.

            ‘Yeah, some sort of dinner.’ He cursed under his breath.

            There was only 30 minutes left until he had to go back to his room. It was the rules. He walked through the almost empty hallway to the canteen. Most of the participants rushed to the place but Woohyun just took his own time. Who cares about the time anyways? This place is too unfair. Dinner? At 11pm? Unbelievable.

            His eyes kept blinking. After sixteen hours of continuous training, his eyes were dry. He mouth was parched and his skin was rough. He didn’t even get the chance to at least put some lotion in the morning. It was his daily routine of putting lotion on his hands every morning. Water bending took a lot of energy from him.

            As he scratched his neck that was already sore, his felt as if his shoulder got hit by a huge rock. He fell onto the ground.

            ‘OW!’

            ‘Oh god. I’m so sorry! I didn’t see where I was going. Are you okay?’ A hand appeared in front of Woohyun’s face.

            Woohyun grabbed the hand as the unknown man pulled him up.

            ‘Err yeah I guess. No pro-’ Woohyun abruptly stopped when he faced the guy.

            It was the same guy from the first day. His orange hair, his fair skin and he was wearing the same clothes. Woohyun snatched his hand away from his grip. He looked down at the logo on his shirt. Earth Bender.

            ‘YA IDIOT! WATCH WHERE YOU’RE GOING NEXT TIME. DON’T THINK JUST CAUSE YOU’RE AN EARTH BENDER YOU CAN HIT PEOPLE ANYTIME YOU WANT. YOU’RE NOT THAT SUPERIOR.’ Woohyun started shouting.

            All the bad memories of his past came flooding in his mind. And it was all because of him. Earth benders.

            The earth bender was shocked at his reply. He took a step back, his mouth slightly opened. ‘Hey, I said I’m sorry. The least you could have done was apologize back. Not shout like one lunatic. And what do you mean by me being an earth bender?’ The guy was starting to get angry.

            Woohyun tried to control his anger. His hands balled into fists and he clenched his teeth but it didn’t work. Suddenly the water cooler that was beside them burst and gallons of water started rising up to the ceiling. He shoved his hands to the guy’s direction and at full speed, the water smashed into the guy’s chest. The guy fell back to the other side of the hallway as he groaned in pain.

            Woohyun walked towards the earth bender and stood over him. He stared into his eyes as if staring into his very soul. Eventhough it was a simple move, there was a small cut on his forehead. Woohyun bent down to the guy who was clutching his chest. He went to his right ear that was just an inch away.

            ‘If you ever talk to me like that again, I’ll make that cut you have here,’  Woohyun tapped on the cut on his forehead. The guy flinched, ‘would be way bigger. And that you won’t even feel a thing.’ 

            Woohyun got up and glared at him one last time before he left and walked back to his room.