You feel the air being snatched out of your throat and suddenly everything shuts down and you are battling a horrible urge to run, but your muscles are obviously not under your control.


It's like that fateful day all over again.


The sinewy body of the dark werewolf twitches, blood lust eyes and teeth baring in an ugly grin as it approaches you.

There's the deafening thumps in your heart drilling out from your ears and you couldn't move.


________________


Kyungsoo watches from the rooftop all that is happening below at the stadium.


The two storeys building is situated just right next to the battle ground where he had morphed into your best friend, Amber and sneaked his way up. It's empty and quiet, save for the scattering gasps from the crowd below now.


He witnesses the midnight black werewolf materializing and your sudden standstill.

Immediately, Kyungsoo recognizes what's happening and curses under his breath. You are clearly leading in the battle and it's only a matter of seconds before the result is drawn. He hasn't expect the dark-haired male to pull the same dirty trick again.

He feels himself shaking in anger and anxiety as the Projection gains on you whilst you remain fixated to the ground.


"________ ..." He hisses your name, only to feel even more helpless because there's no way you'll be able to hear him from all the way up here.

The werewolf is now three meters away, but you still make no attempt to fight back.



He knows he shouldn't intervene.


The crowd is now rising in chatter and a few lone voices are calling your name out as well.


The werewolf looks ready to pounce.



No.


He drops to one knee and places his right palm flat against the hard concrete, compelling himself to stay focused. The familiar ground underneath echos the senses he's now throwing out, merging and twining as it spreads through the synapses and then traveling in a meandering line towards you.


All he needs to do is send a sensory connection to you. And if that doesn't work, he's surrounding you with that same senses and shattering the earth around you to protect you.


He only hopes he'll be fast enough.


__________________



It's getting hard to breathe.


The haunting werewolf is just a few arms away but you can't seem to release yourself from the paralyzed state you are in.

Memories of the gruesome attack flashes in your mind and you open your mouth to scream, but nothing comes out.



Then suddenly you feel it.

A sensory connection twitching under your feet and shuddering up your body.


Someone is trying to connect to you.


Most likely a Super.



The sensation feels strangely familiar.



Warm and gentle.


Natural and steadfast.



It reminds you of earth.



Earth.






Kyungsoo.






You draw a sharp breath and is just in time to see the werewolf pounce, dark and nasty against the backdrop of the glaring sun.


Black against White.


White.



You raise your hand.




______________________



There's a blinding flash.


The crowd has to shield their eyes from the glaring light and when it finally becomes comfortable to see again, the werewolf has disappeared and Tao is kneeling on the field, panting and a thin line of blood trailing from his nose.



You are still standing, but mirroring the same tell-tale signs of over-exhaustion as Tao, a smear of crimson on your pale and shaking hand as you wipe the blood off your nose.



The cheers explode belatedly in your ear.


You turn around to see Amber running towards you from the crowd, Dr Song and two others following close behind.



"You did it! You did it!" Your best friend claps you handsomely on the back and crushes you in a hug.

You are still dazed when Dr Song announces you as the winner, a cool and collected smile as reward.


"And Healers, please see to it that Tao gets properly treated before he's sent back home." She orders the two followers. "____________  sshii, you too. We'll need to get you some rest immedi-- "



"Wait, I know he's here."

You croak.



"Who?" Amber speaks up first.



"K-Kyungsoo." You choke. "I need to find him... It came from up there."


You point to the building next to the stadium and before you know it, you are running towards the rooftop.




Amber promptly chases after you whilst Dr Song turns to walk away, passing the dark-haired male still slumped on his knees.


"When... Did she learn how to Augment?" He murmurs, almost like he's talking to himself.





"When she fell in love."


She squeezes his shoulder and with a wave, the male is taken away by the two Healers.