He wasn't serious right? Right? 

That's what Hongbin thought to himself. Leo, or rather Jung Taekwoon, the Hurricane Lion as some even called him, he was challenging Hongbin to a duel? Was that even fair? Hongbin after all was a freshman, in fact, he wasn't just any freshman, he was a freshman who was previously denied from the school (Not that anybody knew that detail but still). He simply shook as he backed up from Leo, but with every step he took back the taller boy took another step forwards, his poker face never collapsing. 

Suddenly, Ken got in the way and shoved Leo back away from Hongbin. "What do you think you're doing Leo? Trying to scare Kong or something? If you wanna fight somebody we can spar too y'know." Ken said in defense and Hongbin couldn't help but to feel slightly relieved. 

Leo however, wasn't even looking at Ken, not even acknowledging him, his eyes were still stuck on Hongbin and Hongbin felt like he was in a trance, he couldn't break eye contact as much as he wanted to. He was scared, scared of what happened to Ravi. 

"I'm not interested in you. I know how you fight, but that one." He paused suddenly, raising his arm and shoving Ken aside as he neared Hongbin again, "That one, you haven't shown off what you can really do, haven't you?" Leo accused as Hongbin blinked. 

"What are you talking about?" Hongbin started as Leo's mouth never quivered from it's blank expression. 

"I was watching you fight, the entire simulation. Nobody could notice but I knew, you were holding back something. I don't know what it is, but I can feel it, I can see it." Leo accused again. His light voice severely mismatched with how hostile he was being and it was a strange juxtaposition that still caused Hongbin to feel slightly agitated. 

"I don't know what you mean-"

"Leave Hongbin-hyung alone!" Hyuk finally bursted. It was the first thing he said since Leo arrived. Hongbin's eyes trailed over to Hyuk whose eyes were widened with obvious fear. Leo's thin eyes trailed over to Hyuk and stared at him just as blankly and simply ignored Hyuk and looked back at Hongbin. 

"I'm not leaving until you fight me." Leo said once more crossing his arms as Ken merely flailed in panick.

"What to do? What to do?" He said, sounding in distress though the way he said it was kind of hilarious, like a catchphrase from some TV show. Hongbin wanted to crack a smile but he couldn't with Leo all up in his face. 

Hongbin knew what he had to do though, he just needed to amuse him for a couple of seconds that's all, maybe if he fought with him and Leo could see that Hongbin had nothing to hide he wouldn't cause so much damage. Honestly, he was confused. Hongbin was a decent fighter, he was confident in his abilities even though he took on the hybrid route with developing his abilities, believing in the pay off. Beyond from that however, he had no idea what Leo was talking about. "Fine, let's duel."

Hyuk and Ken exchanged glances as he could've sworn that a smile was tugging on the edges of Leo's mouth. Very faintly, but it was most definitely present. 

----

Hyuk and Ken left the arena and took their place in the Spectator's room as Leo programmed the arena. 

"No tricks, nowhere to hide." He uttered as he finished programming and suddenly the area shifted once more just like before. This time however, instead of taking on the form of a beautiful and complex biome, it took the form of a classic coliseum. Of course. 

Hongbin readied his daggers, pulling them out from their sheaths as Leo pulled his bo-staff that was tied to his back. He couldn't help but to shake where he stood. Was he seriously going to do this, fight against an already established SWORD agent when he was a trainee? He hoped he didn't get wrecked too hard like Ravi did but he had to be confident, he couldn't back down and this was just another event that had the potential to improve himself even further. 

Without so much as a warning Leo dove in with his bo-staff. Hongbin didn't run away, he ran towards the fire, like he always did. He lunged at Leo, clashing weapons with him and suddenly the scene seemed all too familiar, like when he saw Ravi and Leo's fight. If there was a lesson in that it was that he needed to stay close to Leo. Despite his skills in taekwondo and his bo-staff being a deadly pair, his magic was even deadlier and he couldn't risk giving Leo the chance to cast spells from a safe distance, especially considering Hongbin's style of fighting. 

Hongbin added more strength and managed to throw Leo off balance for a second. He quickly dove down and sweep kicked Leo, sending him into the air for just a second however, Leo quickly grabbed onto Hongbin in that split second that he was in the air from the kick and threw Hongbin under him. Hongbin's vision flew all over the place as his back hit the ground hard and Leo's staff was being held horizontally against his neck. Effectively pinning him down. He coughed in pain as Leo stared deeply into his eyes with true intent. He could hear Ken and Hyuk cheering for him and he knew he couldn't give up, not yet.

Hongbin flung his knee into Leo's gut that was wide open and vulnerable, gaining the advantage as he forced his strength up and flipped them around, this time Hongbin was straddling Leo and he quickly held the knives to Leo's neck, trying to get him into a compromising position. 

Unfortunately however, it seemed Leo predicted this as he slammed Hongbin with his staff sending him rolling off of Leo. Hongbin quickly recovered and held onto his daggers, getting back to his feet as Leo started to rush him. Hongbin with agility dove off to the side and successfully blocked the expected bo-staff slam that Leo planned on in the event that Hongbin had dodged him, their weapons clashing once more. 

"Stop holding back!" Leo demanded, commanded almost he added more strength, overtaking the fight for power in their weapon clash as Hongbin growled in response. 

"I'm.. not.. holding back!" He shouted as he felt fire in his veins and a red energy flared in between Leo and himself, forcing Leo back a couple of steps. Hongbin took this moment to dive in and deliver a solid roundhouse kick right to Leo's gut and then swerving around to kick him again on his side before delivering one final kick to knock him away, sending him backwards. 

He could hear Hyuk and Ken's victorious cheering and squeals of praise as Hongbin was surprised he was even holding his own against Leo. 

Leo got up and scowled at Hongbin. "You're lying. You're still holding back." Leo said calmly in his small sounding voice as he held out his hand and Hongbin's eyes widened. "Ventus Est." He said softly as a gust of wind blew. It was a mere level one wind spell but it was enough wind to throw Hongbin off of his feet and send him flying all the way back to the other side of the coliseum, hitting his back hard as he dropped forward onto his knees, dropping his daggers that rolled off to the side. So, now it was time to play with magic. 

Leo wasted no time in closing the space between them as he came jumping at Hongbin with his bo-staff. Big mistake. 

"Ignis Duo!" Hongbin shouted as a two fireballs shot out from his palm that slammed into Leo's chest, hearing the boy shout in pain. However the second fireball glanced as he sent it away with his staff. While he was dazed from the spell however, Hongbin quickly grabbed his daggers and lunged at Leo viciously. "Ignis Arma!" He casted as fire coated his blades in a crimson sheet, colliding with Leo's staff. "Still holding back am I?" Hongbin said with a confident smirk as Leo looked up at him expressionless.

"Yes, yes you are." He said simply as he seemed to have clicked a button on his staff or something and suddenly, the staff split into three sections, connected by a chain. 

"A Sansetsukon?" Hongbin said in surprise as Leo sidestepped backwards and swiveled around Hongbin, grabbing the middle section of the staff and slammed the other two ends against his back like a nunchaku before kicking Hongbin, sending him falling forwards. Hongbin cried out in pain but he had to quickly recover. While being sent falling forwards he quickly added more momentum and fell into a somersault, rolling away as he jumped, doing a frontflip to create distance between him and Leo. 

"Stop holding back." Leo repeated, sounding like a broken record, and honestly, it was starting to tick Hongbin off. He needed to think of something. He wasn't expecting that the bo-staff was actually a three-sectioned staff. That created an entirely new unfamiliar moveset of Leo that he hadn't observed before and at the same time offered him even more reach. Now he was dangerous not only close and long ranged but mid ranged. He was a juggernaut. 

"For the last time, I'm not holding back!" He shouted as he decided to tap more into his augment spells, he needed to if he was going to beat Leo. 

"Ignis Pelum!" He shouted the spell as a fiery aura surrounded him that didn't burn him, but it would most definitely shield him and burn others. With this he lunged at Leo with his daggers, still aflame from their arma spell as he began to slash at him with expert maneuvers, Leo dodging them as he counterattacked with swings of his sansetsukon, only to have it bounce off of Hongbin's now flame armor. However, Hongbin wasn't done yet. 

He drew in close and placed his palm against Leo once more and repeated the incantation, "Ignis Duo!" He casted as fire blasted like a firecracker against Leo's chest, sending him flying backwards with a painful shout. A spell like that at close range was bound to do some damage. Leo looked incapacitated, or at the very least injured enough that he couldn't get back up. 

"Aw yeah go Hongbin!" A voice echoed, Hyuk's voice. Hongbin smirked as he turned around and looked at the virtual monitor that formed, showing off Ken and Hyuk in the spectator's room. Hongbin smirk grew into a smile as his dimples formed. 

His victory however was premature.

Hongbin suddenly felt the middle section of the staff wrap around his neck as he felt Leo behind him but was too slow to react. He felt Leo pulling back on the staff, choking Hongbin and pressing his back up against Leo's chest. Hongbin dropped his daggers in astonishment as he grabbed at the staff trying to pull it away. "Don't turn away from me!" Leo shouted, actually shouted for once. He could see the pained look in Hyuk and Ken's face as he desperately fidgeted and flailed, his hands grabbing at the staff, trying to pull it and then reaching up and clawing at Leo's face desperately. 

Suddenly, an image flashed in his mind and Hongbin felt himself being ripped from his body. 

Everything morphed, as though the simulation created a completely different room, this one was empty, and black with one source of red light in the center. Hongbin turned around, he wasn't being strangled anymore and this time he was floating almost. "Where am I?" He asked aloud, his voice reverberating as though he were in some music room or a cathedral. He continued to float to the center of the source of light only to see a flame and two red eyes hiding in the flame. The shape of the body was incongruous and Hongbin couldn't even make out if the figure was human.

"What are you doing. Stop being weak and end it now." A deep voice boomed, so loud that Hongbin could feel it in his brain. Hongbin blinked as he found himself back in the coliseum and air was still being punched out of his lungs as Leo was still pulling the staff back against him. Was that a hallucination due to a lack of oxygen? Hongbin didn't know, and he didn't care At this rate he was going to black out. 

"End it, now" 

The voice repeated in his head as Hongbin felt heat surging through his body and he finally grabbed onto the staff and managed to pull it away from his neck. "Let go of me!" He shouted with a scream as red light shone around Hongbin and flame pooled around him. Markings started to appear on his face as his eyes glimmered an eerie yellow mixed with crimson. A shockwave of seemingly magical energy flowed through the entire room sent Leo flying, launching him towards the wall. 

Hongbin started to slightly float off the ground as the shockwaves hit all over the coliseum and seemed to have caused an error in the system as electricity popped out and the simulation broke away and brought them back to the room. 

Hongbin dropped to his knees, his complexion returning and his eyes returning back to normal as he fell off to the side. The last thing he saw was Leo limping towards him, crawling really, with a victorious smirk on his face before he collapsed. He saw the door open as Hyuk and Ken came rushing in. Then everything went black. 

----

It was the same dark room. It was stuffy and Hongbin couldn't take it, it just felt too hot. He felt himself up and realized that he wasn't wearing any clothes, he was , but the darkness was so much. He couldn't even see his own body beneath him and could barely see his own hands. Then, it lit up again, the pillar of fire in the middle of the room. Hongbin floated towards it once more and the eyes were there, as though they were waiting for him. 

"You're still not ready to be awoken just yet." The deep voice boomed out. Hongbin reached his arm to touch the pillar of fire, but before he could, and before he could say anything, light filled his eyes and everything turned white. 

----

Hongbin's vision was blurry, as though he just woke up, he noticed that he was holding out his hand and it was currently holding onto someone elses. He looked off to the side as he realized he was holding onto N's hand. The older boy sighed in relief as he smirked at Hongbin. "You're awake. Finally." He said as Hongbin blushed, pulling his hand back, realizing he was holding onto N's hand. 

"I.. I'm sorry, I had a dream and.. where am I?" He said as his head hurt, as though he just came out of a traumatic accident of sorts, and in some case, he did just that. His honey brown eyes scanned around for Leo, for Hyuk and for Ken, but none of them were there. He was in a small room and a comfortable bed. 

"The infirmary, Hyuk carried you here himself while Ken was carrying Leo. If you're wondering where the others are, well, Hyuk was waiting in the lobby, but he looked pretty beaten up over something, so I suggested that he head back to the dorm. Ken's helping the other nurses heal Leo, his injuries were a lot worse than yours." N said, sounding regretful. Hongbin's eyes widened in shock. What had happened? "We were sparring, and I remembered a red light.. and... Is Leo alright?" Hongbin asked, his eyes filled with concern. Why should he be worried? Leo was the one who challenged him, he wanted this, he got what he deserved... but Hongbin felt dirty, he felt wrong, he felt the need to apologize. 

"I don't know, but Ken's in there with them, so I'm sure he'll be fine." N said optimistically. 

"I... I don't even remember what happened I..." He tried getting up, but his entire body felt sore, as though he just ran a bajillion miles, causing him to tense up and wince in pain as N gently pushed him back into a resting position.

"Hold it there Hongbin." He said with a chuckle. Hongbin was embarrassed, absolutely embarrassed. He blushed instinctively as he tried to hide it by looking away. He couldn't believe how pathetic he looked in front of N of all people. 

"Still, I don't know how you did it. In my time here, I've never met anybody able to mess Leo up that badly, not even me. You're impressive." N said, causing more heat to rise to Hongbin's cheeks. The last bit however triggered Hongbin's memory as Leo's voice repeated like a chime saying the same two words. You're impressive. 

"N could you do me a favor and reach into my pocket?" Hongbin blurted out suddenly as his memory seemed super flashy about remembering little things, except the important things. "I have an energy bar in my left pocket, could you get it for me? I'm feeling a little hungry." Hongbin smiled as N chuckled in response. He reached over and cautiously slid his hand underneath the blanket and reached into Hongbin's left pocket. 

Suddenly Hongbin regretted the request. N's face was brought really close to his. He could smell his skin, and some of his hair brushed against Hongbin, causing him to become slightly flustered. It didn't help that N was reaching into his pocket and looking for something. 

"Got it." N said as he pulled out the energy bar. Hongbin reached his arm up weakly but N placed it back down. "Don't worry, I'll feed it to you alright?" N assured him, smiling as he tore at the wrapping of the energy bar and revealed the bar underneath. Hongbin sighed, feeling even more embarrassed as he opened his mouth like a child. N chuckled as he placed a bit of the bar into his mouth. Hongbin's eyes crossed on the bar as he bit his mouth down, biting a chunk off as he chewed on it, crumbs falling on his chin and his chest. 

N then reached a hand to gather the crumbs with his thumb, rubbing it across Hongbin's chin like a parent would to their child. Hongbin smiled up at N, who smiled back at him. 

Finally the door opened and Ken came waltzing in. "Hey guys! Sorry I'm late to heal you binnie, but the doctors made me help out with Leo... he was... messed up pretty badly and-"

"Yeah, N told me." Hongbin replied blankly as Ken pouted. 

"Anyway, I'm here to make you feel a little less pained alrighty?" Ken assured as he placed his hand over Hongbin and smiled out the words, "Aquas Curatio." And then there was that familiar sensation of water raining on his forehead and pain flushed away from him, at least slightly and numbing the sore feeling he had. "There, all better!" Ken shouted with pride as Hongbin smiled up at him.

"Thanks Ken, I can always count on you to make me feel better." Hongbin chuckled as Ken blushed and fanned at Hongbin.

"All shucks, quit being a charmer beanie it does you too well." Ken joked as N laughed. 

"We'll help you get back to the dorm." N said. 

The two of them helped Hongbin sit up and get off of the infirmary bed. Hongbin still felt a wee bit sore but not as bad as before. He got to his feet and was able to walk on his own, though still feeling a little pained. N and Ken guided him out of the infirmary, but just before he left, he glimpsed at another room to see that Leo was still resting unconscious in a bed. Hongbin felt a knife to his heart as he frowned at the sight. He felt terrible. He prayed that Leo recovered soon. 

----

When they finally arrived at the suite, Ravi and Hyuk were both sitting on the couch, watching the television in the common room. 

"Sleeping beauty awakes." Ravi said deeply as he got up from the sofa to stand, Hyuk doing the same with a relieved yet pained look on his face. 

"Somehow I knew you were going to say that Ravi." Hongbin spat, unamused though Ravi's blatant flirtations were still nice and gave Hongbin a slight ego boost. "Thanks anyway."

Ravi winked as his face grew slightly pissed. "If Leo wasn't already so messed up, I would've messed him up more. What a reckless ." Ravi sighed as N snorted, stifling his laughter.

"Reckless? Coming from you?" Ravi scoffed as everyone in the room smield and chuckled, everyone but Hyuk anyway. "Alright everyone, Hongbin needs rest and we should all turn in, it's getting late and don't forget, classes start tomorrow."

"Yah! Don't remind me!" Ken whined as he grabbed at his hair." 

Everyone started to shuffle off to their rooms, yet once again, Hyuk and Hongbin were left in the common room. "Let's go to bed Hyuk." 

Hyuk looked at Hongbin for a moment and sighed, walking over to their room without a word. Hongbin frowned as he followed the younger boy to their room. Opening the door and closing it behind him. "Hyuk... is something wrong...?" Hongbin asked as Hyuk was standing their in the center of their room, looking slightly bothered. 

"I.. I'm sorry Hongbin I... I should've been more assertive, I shouldn't have allowed you to go into that fight I..." Hyuk started to stutter, sounding pained as Hongbin walked up behind him and grabbed onto his shoulder.

"Hey." Hongbin said as he pulled him into a hug. "Don't worry about it, wasn't your fault. I was the one who went in there with him." Hongbin assured as Hyuk nodded, hugging Hongbin back. He was warm and his chest was surprisingly broad. They let go after a few moments and both started to undress into their sleep wear and folding their clothes like good boys. They both finally crawled into their respective beds as silence filled the air once more. A couple minutes later as Hongbin was about to drift to sleep however, he heard Hyuk's voice.

"Hongbin." 

"What's up Hyuk?"

"When you... did that glowy red thing and caused the system to freak out and everything and Leo was knocked away..." 

Hongbin suddenly felt images flooding back to him as he nodded in response. "You looked... really beautiful... the red light... it did something to how you look, I don't know what it was." Hongbin didn't know how to respond, he looked off to the side and looked at Hyuk dead on. 

"What do you mean Hyuk?" Hongbin asked, only to be replied with a loud snore. Hongbin tried hisbest to hold himself back from laughing. Sleep talking, again. 

Seriously? 

A/N: Hope you guys enjoyed that chapter! Finally something that's hinting at a main plot! I tried to divide up screen time for each member but obviously Ravi was cheated, but don't worry Ravbean fans, you'll have your moment, maybe sooner than you'd expect... Anyway! Stay tuned for next time because class is finally in session! Whoo!