"Are you sure you're well enough?" the Guardian of Light warily eyed his brother, "it's only been a few days, Kai. You should rest."

The opposite Guardian just scoffed, unsheathing his double knives. They gleamed an intimidating obsidian and it seemed to reflect their owner's proud personality. Baekhyun sighed. Better to resign himself to his brother's stubborness, he figured.

"If you insist...But the moment you feel sick, I'm going to stop, alright?."

Immediately, Kai lunged at him, crossing his blades towards his brother's neck. Baekhyun narrowly blocked the attack with the hilt of his own sword before jumping away from another swift jab.

"Sure, whatever." Metal against stone, they clashed with each other. As the younger lept back to avoid the shining sabre, Baekhyun sped to strike at his side. Kai evaded it easily.

"You know I have the upperhand with close-range combat. Why not just admit defeat now? Saves your pride and my time." That cheeky brat. But his elder brother was no fool. He wasn't going to get riled up because of a weak insult. Instead, he shot him a smile.

"Don't cry when I beat you, baby bro."

"Fat chance of that happening."

Kai attacked Baekhyun, wielding his double knives like they were extensions of his arms. His movement was fluid and graceful - and deadly. It was a well-known fact that his blades channelled his energy and, although they weren't lethal, they paralyzed on contact. Death (or in this case, failure) was the only option for an opponent that couldn't move.

But the Guardian of Light was faring quite well. He stayed on the defensive side, mostly blocking and dodging but Kai knew better than to let his brother's hands anywhere near his head. Baekhyun's party trick was blinding and it was nothing if not effective.

"It looks like our Alpha candidates are working very hard," Suho's voice rang clear from the kitchen window, "don't you think, Kyungsoo?"

The curious young man peeked from behind the Alpha to shoot the brothers a kind smile; funny how both of them felt the heat rise to their cheeks.

"Well, there's some motivation," Baekhyun muttered as he swung at Kai's lower body, swaying his balance. The younger managed to catch himself just in time to move away from the elder's forceful kick.

They were concentrating now, focusing on their physical and mental abilities rather than their supernatural ones. The atmosphere around them grew all the more intense with every contact their blades met with each other and even though it did seem that Kai was more skilled, Baekhyun's compatibility with his sword was nothing to laugh at. They were simply too evenly matched.

"You're lasting longer than last time, hyung," the younger glanced at the cooking wolf from the courtyard, "you must really want to impress the bi-gene."

"His name is Kyungsoo. And yes, I do want to impress him. But judging from the way you're fighting, I'm guessing you want to, as well."

Kai raised an eyebrow. "I have no interest in him."

"Yeah right," Baekhyun rolled his eyes sarcastically, "we both know bonding is a two-way process. If you hadn't accepted Kyungsoo as a possible mate, it's impossible for you to have been linked to him."

"You're such a know-it-all."

"And you're a dramatic puppy."

Scrunching his nose at his brother, Kai finally decided to up the ante, closing his eyes to release his powers. Baekhyun tensed as he realized that his brother was shifting out of view. His grip on his sword tightened.

"Let's just get this over with." The Guardian of Darkness was 'misting' himself, transcending his physical form to make his body one with the shadows. It was nearly impossible to predict where the attack would come from and Baekhyun could only be ready for everything.

But even a Guardian wasn't omnipotent, as he couldn't avoid the invisible blade slicing his upper thigh. He had avoided the major damage, but the numbness of Kai's darkness was climbing through his bloodstream. Too stubborn to give up, Baekhyun pressed his sword onto the ground to brace himself.

The younger brother attacked once more - this time for the Light Guardian's arms - but the moment Baekhyun felt the daggers graze him, he swung his body around to send a pulse of light in Kai's direction. The intense brightness ended up wearing off the other's misting and when Kai managed to open his eyes, Baekhyun's blade was at his throat.

"I guess I'm the winner, then."

"Wait a few more seconds."

And sure enough, the elder brother collapsed onto the ground, his legs giving out from undere him. But Kai's smug sense of victory came and went when Kyungsoo rushed into the courtyard to check on Baekhyun.

"I'm alright," he insisted, but Kyungsoo wouldn't have it, "I promise, this is just temporary."

"Regardless, we should go see Lay." The bi-gene easily helped the Alpha candidate up and linked his arm over his shoulders, much to the others' surprise. Kai shot them both a nasty look as the three stepped indoors.

"You know, I'm the one that won. You should be paying attention to me - WOAH!"

Baekhyun stared at Kyungsoo in shock before bursting into a fit of laughter. From behind them, his little brother was shouting all kinds of curses.

"I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU ACTUALLY TRIPPED ME!"

A small blush dusted Kyungsoo's cheeks as he realized that it probably wasn't the most mature thing to do, but honestly, he deserved it.

"What a dramatic puppy."

Gods, Baekhyun was in love.