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Honestly had so much fun writing this chapter!

Character development!

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AKD

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One week, turned into two, and two weeks, turned into two months and then two months into two years.

The boys were now seventeen.

By this time Jaemin was completely adept in using a gun with his left hand and then Jeno moved on to train him on using his right hand too. That took him even lesser time to master, proving Jeno's suspicion of the boy having trained before in shooting right.

Soon Jaemin was learning how to shoot more powerful guns that needed an even greater sense of control. Every time he succeeded in something, Jeno felt a strange rush of something filling him. He had little idea of what it was but Jeno began looking forward to pushing Jaemin more and seeing him succeed.

Eventually, he decided that shooting wasn't the only thing Jaemin needed to learn.

"What are we doing here?" Jaemin asked suspiciously as he looked around at the old warehouse they were in. It had boarded up windows and worn down mats covering the floor. "Aren't I supposed to be training?"

"We are training," Jeno confirmed as he pulled off his coat and threw it away. "You think shooting is the only thing you need to be learning? Far range doesn't always help, you know."

Jaemin watched warily even as Jeno rolled up the sleeves of the sweatshirt underneath and stood in a stance. He seemed to have realized what they were going to train in. "So.....I will have to train in martial arts now?"

"Smart boy. I want to know how many basics you know. I am not going to believe your dad taught you shooting but didn't teach you basic martial arts," Jeno smirked and made a motion with his hands. "Now come at me."

Jaemin, as always had stiffened up when Jeno talked about his father. He had a glare planted already on his face as he pulled off his own ratty hoodie, bounced a little on his feet twice and rushed at Jeno.

He aimed a quick roundhouse but Jeno easily caught his leg midair and swept his other feet off the ground with his own sweeping kick. Jaemin let out an undignified squawk before landing hard on the ground. He was suddenly grateful for the presence of the mats.

"Kick is not bad but you're too predictable," Jeno stated coolly. "At least you know how to break your fall. You won't end up with more broken bones like you did the first week here."

Jaemin growled and quickly shot up to his feet and immediately aimed a sidekick, trying to aim at Jeno's hip but to his visible horror, Jeno side-stepped and caught his leg again and tugged hard. With a yell, Jaemin found himself sprawled on the floor once again.

"A Yoko Geri (high sidekick)huh! So you trained in Shotokan karate," Jeno stated calmly once again. "Up. How long are you gonna lie there eating the dust? Don't you want to kill me for talking about your father?"

Jaemin tensed for a bit and bristled all over. He was immediately up and attacking Jeno once more. He launched himself with a yell and grabbed Jeno's waist and arm.

"What are you trying to do?" Jeno's voice was filled with mocking amusement. "Are you seriously trying to execute a judo throw with that sloppy stance?"

And then suddenly the positions were flipped and Jaemin found himself on the ground once more. Jeno had thrown him with a perfect judo hip throw.

"Up!" Jeno's voice was harder now. "You're a pathetic excuse of a martial artist."

Jaemin sprang to his feet and rushed with another livid yell, but he only stretched out his hand to make a grab at Jeno before his own arm got grabbed and locked and suddenly he was airborne for a few seconds before he hit the floor hard again.

An Ippon Seoi Nage, a perfectly executed shoulder throw. Jeno saw him gasping and shaking his head to get his bearings. He was clearly winded.

"Spent already?" Jeno sneered. "A loser, aren't you? Now I'm wondering if I should've saved you at all."

Jaemin launched out again, much to Jeno's amusement and tried to grab hold of his arm while at the same time hooking his other arm under Jeno's armpit. But he was a tad too slow and suddenly Jeno had him in a choke-hold.

"Don't you know attempting an Ippon Seoi Nage (judo throw) when you're this winded is just signing your own death warrant?" Jeno mocked while Jaemin gasped and frantically slapped his arm. "I take back what I said. You're not smart at all."

He only let go when Jaemin was on the verge of blacking out and Jaemin landed on his hands and knees, gasping in breaths and coughing.

"Pathetic," Jeno scoffed. "Get up, Jaemin! Show me you were worth saving!"

Jaemin glared at him with tears in his eyes and stood up once again. He took in a few deep breaths and executed another roundhouse kick which Jeno immediately dodged. But Jaemin changed and shot out his other leg in a sidekick and Jeno jumped back in order to avoid it.

Jaemin quickly closed in the gap and attacked next with a front punch and a hook punch one after another which Jeno managed to block and then grabbed hold of Jaemin's collar, attempting another Judo throw.

But Jaemin seemed to guess what the other was attempting and shoved both his hands between Jeno's own and pushed them away before quickly grabbing Jeno's shirt, dropping backward and then meeting Jeno's belly with his foot in order to execute a circle throw.

Jeno quickly broke the fall and skillfully switched positions so that his legs were wrapped around Jaemin's neck and shoulders and he was held in another choke-hold.

"Good attempt on the Tomoe Nage (jiujitsu throw) but you're not quick enough in switching," Jeno was barely out of breath as he spoke. He was used to much worse than this. "At this rate, you're gonna die getting choked."

Jaemin grunted in reply and slapped the floor hard, asking to be let go but Jeno tightened his hold just a bit more. He only let go when Jaemin's tapping got more urgent.

Both of them separated and Jaemin was immediately launching attacks again. He used a succession of spin kicks, hook kicks and jumping front kicks all of which Jeno either dodged or blocked.

Then he attacked with fast punches in an even quicker succession and Jeno finally had a bit of a struggle blocking them, also having exhausted himself a little after executing all the throws previously. In his haste to block and dodge he failed to notice that Jaemin was in fact closing the gap between them and only realized too late when Jaemin's hands suddenly got a grip of his collar.

Jeno's eyes widened for a fraction of second even as Jaemin smirked and moved forward. Jeno suddenly felt his legs being swept off the ground and he landed hard on the worn mats. Jaemin was immediately upon him, pinning him and preventing him from moving.

Both of their chests heaved from the exertion and the quiet warehouse was filled with their heavy pants. Jaemin hovered above, knees straddling Jeno's hips and legs and hands firmly holding down his arms. His forehead was shining with sweat and eyes wide as well as blazing with something Jeno couldn't explain.

Jaemin's eyebrows then furrowed and he scowled. "What's so funny, asshole?"

Then Jeno realized to his shock that he himself was smiling.

It was a very foreign thing to experience because he didn't remember the last time he had smiled. It felt wrong on his face and his cheeks hurt from using the face muscles he had rarely used before.

But Jeno couldn't help but smile.

"This was entertaining," he merely answered nonchalantly. "You win this one, Na."

Jaemin's frown cleared and his eyes lit up, looked alive for the first time since Jeno saw him two years ago. Then his lips stretched in his own wide smile. Jeno couldn't help but notice how perfect that smile was.

Then Jaemin stopped and looked confused instead, about why he had smiled. "So, that means I'm stronger than you, huh."

Jeno barked out a laugh.

"Wishful thinking, you loser! I wasn't fighting seriously," he said as he pushed Jaemin off and easily stood to his feet. "Your techniques are so sloppy you're even gonna make a white-belt cry."

This time when Jeno walked forward, Jaemin followed him without being prompted. Almost like a lost puppy. And he didn't know if the other felt it too, but Jeno realized he felt certain comfort being with Jaemin.

Also when he thought about Jaemin executing a close to perfect circle throw and the final element of surprise he had used, Jeno felt his chest getting full and felt himself smile again.

He had never experienced this feeling before. Maybe, he thought, just maybe this was what feeling proud of someone felt like.

And it honestly confused him. A lot.

Not Edited

Wednesday, March 18, 2020

Song Recommendation:

"Mad Dong" by NCT 127