Seperate & strike.

Laira opened the wooden frame of the window to allow the air to enter the small room she was given to stay in. She was told that their master, Jung Hoseok, would return in a week, and until then she could stay here.

Sweet Jungkook even offered to train her until that day, so she could improve her skills and impress Hoseok. "He might let you stay if you manage to blow up his mind with your moves," Jungkook had said earlier to which Taehyung scoffed and exited the house.

The little bag she carried with her was still sitting near the gate until Jungkook knocked on her door and dropped it off, adding that if she needed anything he was just a few rooms away.

She opened her bag, removing the folded paper that contained the address of a cafe. She was to meet Jimin or Namjoon there a day after tomorrow, so she could give them an update. What she didn't understand was what was her mission.

Am I supposed to eavesdrop on the bubbling gossip or steal something expensive?

The only instruction she received from her master was to get familiarized with Hoseok's knights. For what? She did ask but received the kind of answer she wasn't expecting which revealed nothing. Therefore, with an uncertain feeling and many questions prodding in her mind, she fell asleep on the mattress that was on the floor, clutching tight the cozy white sheet.

*

"Rise and shine!" She never entertained the thought of punching someone's face for such a long time as she did when Taehyung entered her room, snatched the sheet from her lying form, and poked her face with a wooden sword.

He had a sunshine smile on his face like a little boy who was excited to play for the first time with the toy he received on Christmas. The dim light casting on the curtains indicated that the sun was still on its way to 'rise and shine.'

"Why are you here?" she asked, muffling her yawn and stretching her arms.

"For your first training, of course." That smile again. Whatever Taehyung had in his mind, she could tell it was going to be a hard day. "Why? Not used to waking up in the morning?" he asked, biting what seemed like a smirk.

"I'm a morning person." If she keeps this up, she will surely grow her nose to match Master Joon's height.

"Oh, perfect. Meet me out in the yard in 10 minutes." He left, closing the sliding door behind him.

She fell into the bed with a thud, muffling her scream in the pillow. Waking up early wasn't a problem, but waking up so early was. She barely had 2 hours of sleep and there he was. The devil himself.

After tightening her hair into a clean braid and changing her clothes, she went to the yard. In the break of the dawn, she swung the wooden sword through the fog. The cold instantly hugged her bare arms as she waited for Taehyung to join her.

Instead of him, she saw a sleepy Jungkook who almost walked into the wall before he managed to walk towards her. "I respect your passion, but isn't it so early when we slept so late?" he asked, rubbing his eyes.

She looked from him to a smiling Taehyung who was following him. Unable to understand what was going on, she gave a questioning look to Taehyung who raised his brows. "What? You are supposed to improve your skills. Better start now than regret later," he said.

"Why did you wake me? If you cared so much you could have trained her!" Jungkook complained, picking up the sword nonetheless.

"Why? Are you both tired already? Want to send her back home?" Taehyung asked.

Jungkook instantly turned back and met Laira's eyes with a knowing look, they shared a smile. "I appreciate your efforts to make me leave," she said.

"But that won't be so easy," Jungkook added. "She is my apprentice. She won't give up so fast."

"We will see about that, kids," Taehyung grunted, sitting at the edge of the door, gesturing for Jungkook to start.

Laira instantly fixed her slouching shoulders, situating her sword firmly in front of her. Jungkook took his position, running his fingers on the edge of the sword. She made the first move, striking to his left. He easily reacted, matching her attacks one after another.

It baffled her how in contrast his moves were to Taehyung's. Where Taehyung easily dodged her attacks, gaining himself the center, Jungkook didn't hesitate to meet her sword in a constant manner, answering all her callings.

Was it smart? It was crazy. He wasn't fighting to win. It seemed as if he truly enjoyed the fight itself as if he was feeding on the tick-tacks of the wood against wood, and the jolts with each contact.

With a lazy smile, he retreated into a defense position. She couldn't understand what he was trying to do. Therefore, she resumed her attacks, winning the center for herself, but her victory was short-lived when, in a swift flash, he advanced with his sword. The blow against her sword, vibrating in her bones, sent her falling to the ground.

She was startled, heaving on the grass.

"First, don't always play by the rules," he said, offering her his hand. "Second, expect the unexpected."

"You didn't break the rules," she remarked as he helped her get on her feet.

"No, I didn't, but I wasn't stiff because of them either. Allow yourself the freedom to go beyond the lines without keeping an eye on your movements. You seemed as if you were being watched by the rulebook itself."

To her surprise, he was right. All this time, she practiced while being watched by the "rulebook,' Master Joon, who allowed no room for being anywhere off the perfect scale, but she failed to see why it was wrong.

"Doesn't that mean I perfected the forms?" she asked, dusting her pants.

"It means you restricted yourself to the definition of a textbook version of a swordfighter. It could mean that you 'perfected' all the forms, but that also means you've no intuition."

"Intuition?" she questioned, stealing a glance at Taehyung who was still sitting in his spot with his hand under his chin.

Jungkook nodded his head. "Yes. Using a sword is also an art. To master your skills, you must learn how to express yourself with them. It's like you only know how to trace your pen on what is already drawn, but don't have enough courage to draw your own strokes."

She took a few steps back from Jungkook while he got into his position again. Spinning her sword forward, she gasped when he matched the spin and directly hit the hilt, sending her sword flying out of her hand.

One, she wasn't fully trying to showcase her years of experience so he got the upper hand. Second, she wasn't expecting him to finish what had not even started.

"4, 6? Yeah, you might manage to learn in 6 years, but not in a week. So don't bother anymore. Go home, kid. Your mom must be waiting," Taehyung said before he walked inside the door, leaving the two alone.

"Don't listen to him.' Jungkook patted her shoulder. "C'mon, another round."

It was early morning but now she was standing under the noon's blazing sun. Round after round, it never seemed to end. That reflected Jungkook's love for battling.

She doubted if he cared about improving her skills or if he only wanted a partner to fight with. Either way, the pointers he gave her struck her one after another. She had thought she had mastered her skills, but he proved to her that there was no end to getting better.

He was more experienced and better than her. Although Taehyung went extremely easy on her the other day, Jungkook made it his mission to catch her by surprise each time.

She wondered if they were so skilled then what about Park Jimin? As she knew, Jung Hoseok or any other clan owners were not so skilled, but Jimin was a different case. He was known for his swift water-like moves and sharp sword skills. How good must he be to be better than two of the most skilled assassins she met?

It was sarcasm, she realized. When Jimin had said that she was good enough to take down JK and V, he was making fun of her, but she was so proud of her talent that she couldn't catch it.

"Here, wash yourself." Jungkook held the water hose while she washed her hot skin and arms. "Do you know what is better than a watermelon on a sunny day?" he asked.

"No." She wiped the water off her face.

"Chilled watermelon on a sunny day." He smiled, showing his bunny teeth. With water still dripping off his face, he pulled her into the house with himself.

"You are wetting the floor!" Taehyung sucked his teeth, handing a towel to Jungkook. "There you go." He handed two plates of diced watermelon to them.

"Thanks, hyung." They both sat on the floor about the table.

Oh, right. "You are Korean." She stated as a matter of fact.

"Yes, we are," Jungkook said as if that was a question. "We moved here when we were young."

"Why?" she quirked her brow.

He glanced at Taehyung before taking a bite of the watermelon. With a full mouth, he muttered, "Too soon to tell you."

She puffed her cheeks before nodding her head in understanding.

"I refuse to believe you are only here for receiving training," Taehyung said. Taking a seat on the floor opposite them.

"To receive training and to find a guy for myself. Maybe someone with long hair and a short temper." She tucked the stray strand of her hair behind her ear, and blinked at him.

Taehyung's eyes flicked on hers instantly. "Stay the hell away from me," he scoffed, before getting up from his spot. With a soft muttering of bad words under his breath, he left the room.

Jungkook burst into laughter, struggling with the water and seeds inside his mouth. "You sure know how to annoy him."

She shrugged. "If I told him that I only came here for training, he wouldn't have believed me. He underestimates my passion a great deal."

"That's typical Taehyung for you." Jungkook took another bite. "He doesn't live to eat but eats to live. What I mean is, it doesn't make sense to him that you came all the way just to fulfill your dream."

She sighed. "So that's his personality."

"A man's skills are derived from his personality. In Tae's case, he is efficient and doesn't prolong the battles for self-satisfaction or pleasure."

"Whereas, you seek the fun of it," Laira thought aloud.

Jungkook pointed his chopsticks at her in agreement. "You are a quick learner."

"Nobody taught me to associate such behavioral tendencies with a person's skills before. What about me? What kind of method do I use?"

"I will tell you that later. I believe it's too soon. First, you got to allow yourself to be however you want instead of trying to mold yourself in a certain shape."

*

Two days passed by with training sessions from JK twice a day, once in the morning and another before sleeping. She would eat three meals with the boys, having conversations with Jungkook while Taehyung preferred to be silent except for a few snide remarks.

Now came the day when she had to report her process to her clan by meeting a member in the cafe near the town. She made an excuse to Jungkook to head out to buy some clothes.

Initially, he offered to come along stating that she wouldn't know the direction, but she quickly waved him off saying he was already doing a lot for her and that she could manage on her own.

She was nervously chipping her nails, thinking if she would meet Master Namjoon or Master Jimin. After showing the address to a local and asking for directions, she resumed walking, making sure she wasn't being followed.

It was a small cafe with 4-5 tables. She took a seat on the corner one, waiting for her clan's member to show up. It took another 10 minutes and even her coffee was presented to her, but nobody showed up.

She was swirling the straw when she heard a cough.

When she raised her head, her eyes met those brown piercing ones. On quick reflexes, she rose to her feet and bent down in a bow.

"I waited outside in case someone followed you," he spoke, standing before her in black jeans and a long jacket over a tucked-in white t-shirt.

The same heavy voice and the same scrutinizing gaze. He gestured to the waiter before he took a seat opposite her. He made his order for coffee.

"I was expecting Master Joon," she spoke hesitantly, staring at her cup.

"He couldn't leave Ben alone, so I came instead of him," he stated. With his hands clasped together on the table, he leaned closer. "Is there a problem?"

The clinking of his metal rings against the wooden surface gave her a rush of nervousness.

"No, no, Not at all," she managed to let out. Scooting back in her seat, she continued. "Although I don't know what to report to you, I will begin by stating the condition of their training center."

She explained to him how they were not accepting trainees anymore and how the place was so empty. After giving him the points, she stopped waiting for his reaction. She caught him attentively staring at her out of the corners of her eyes.

"What about JK and V?"

She quickly nodded her head. "Yes. I think I could understand them to some extent."

"And you know JK's weakness?" There was a slight ridicule in his voice as if he was talking to a kid.

"Yes." She swallowed whatever offense she felt. "Each other. JK and V seem to be bonded to each other. Although I don't know yet what connects them so deeply, I believe this strength of theirs is also an evident weakness."

"Great. You succeeded in your first mission. Now, your second one is to divide them."

She looked up in exasperation, then back down. "I apologize, but I fail to understand your intentions."

"You could understand them in two days but not me after all these years?" He lowered his head, getting close to her. "I want revenge."

She glided further back in her seat. "Revenge?"

"Jung Hoseok's first move wasn't to harm my people or to cause me financial issues by stealing some of my equipment, it was a scratch at my image. If he wanted to, he could have timed the attack to harm the trainees or blow up the main sector of our headquarters. He attacked what I prize the most. My reputation. My pride. Now, I want to harm what he values the most. Those boys."

"Why do I need to divide them?"

"Because the queen cannot take down the knights as long as they both are pinned to each other. This advantage of theirs could also be a disadvantage. While they are locked up, it will be easy to attack the King, but what is the fun in a game that ends too soon? Hence, the dividing. Make JK leave the scene and then your target will be V."

"After that, do I-"

"Kill him?" Jimin gave a lazy chuckle, resting his head back on the seat. "We will get all of them. Piece by piece."

That is when she saw him, saw him clearly for the first time after 9 years. He was the same. The same passion glinted in his eyes which he could barely confide within his soul. A great desire to watch the people he hated crumble underneath the sole of his leather boot.

Author's note: I will try to update once a week! Thank you so much for reading.