ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ 𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗣𝗧𝗘𝗥 𝗙𝗢𝗥𝗧𝗬-𝗘𝗜𝗚𝗛𝗧
─◌✰್ 𝗍𝗁𝖾
❝𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗱𝗼𝘄𝗻𝗳𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗴𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝘃.❞

It was really happening. Felix and Changbin were going to duel.

Except that neither of them were fighting over the same woman. Felix loved Alaska, and Changbin loved Lanhua. And seemingly, the girls felt the same way. So Minho had no clue why they were trying to kill one another. When had everything escalated so far, so fast?

But Minho couldn't find it in himself to give a shit. Neither Felix or Changbin were really his friends, right? Even after a month at the mansion, participating in crazy challenges and trying to defeat Yeonjun, surely he didn't need to care about these guys. No matter how uncomfortable it made him, it wasn't his place to stop it. They were from Moonstone anyway, so it wouldn't matter to him in the long run.

The only thing that would matter? The fact that you'd turned him away, when he'd literally begged you to speak with him. The fact that you hadn't said you loved him back, when he knew you'd loved him since the day you met. The fact that Yeonjun had probably heard the entire exchange, and was laughing at him. Now that made Minho want to tear his hair out. Or maybe punch Yeonjun in the fact. Yeah, definitely the latter option.

"Now, is this something you both really want to do?" Yeonjun stood between Felix and Changbin, who were glowering at one another with such venom, no one would ever believe they were best friends.

"You know that this fight is-" Renee began, gazing at the two men with a mix of confusion and concern.

"Yes, we're sure!" Changbin interrupted, casting a glare around the group.

"Completely sure." Felix nodded resolutely.

Yeonjun supplied each of the men with a gun. It didn't surprise Minho that he was in possession of such weapons. Most people in Obsidian had one, so he was not scared of the sight. Well, he supposed the idea that Yeonjun owned one, when the rest of the contestants had to be unarmed at the mansion, was a bit disturbing.

"Alright." Yeonjun nodded. "Then face one another, back to back. And you will walk ten steps. On the last step, you will turn to face each other. I will count to three, and you will shoot. If it ends in a double misfire or you both miss, either we will start again, or you will decide it's a draw."

Both men nodded solemnly, and they went to stand back to back.

Renee turned to face Seungmin, who was staring at the men with a conflicted look on his face. "Aren't you going to do something??" she demanded. "These are our friends! We can't let them-"

"If they're going to be stupid enough to get jealous when there's nothing to be jealous of, they deserve this." Seungmin shook his head firmly. "If I step in, I'll just get shot."

"I tried over and over to get them to change their minds," Robin murmured under her breath. "They just told me they'd made up their minds, and nothing could stop them."

"They're fucking idiots is what they are," Christopher growled, watching them with his arms crossed over his chest. "What do they think they're accomplishing with this? They both like different girls!"

"It's all a misunderstanding." Mya nodded sagely. But her face was paper white, as she averted her eyes from the scene behind her. "I want them to stop."

"I can't believe this is happening," JJ breathed, watching the men with wide eyes. She had stayed behind everyone else, mostly listening and observing rather than partaking in the conversation. She had withdrawn into herself, steering clear of Hyunjin as best she could. Minho could understand, but it hurt him to see. It made him wonder how you would act, when he finally told you the truth.

"Geez, where's Hua and Laska?" Riley groaned, glancing back and forth. "They left in a hurry, it's been awhile. They're probably the only two who can stop this."

But the two girls were nowhere to be found.

The two men began taking steps away from one another. One... two... three... four...

"Please stop them, Minho!" Renee begged once more, reaching over and grabbing his arm. "I bet they'd listen to you! You're the future king!"

"They don't give a shit what I have to say," Minho countered, shooting her a frown. "I'm not going to be their king." But mostly, he just didn't want to get involved. He wanted to wallow in self-pity, wishing that he'd had the courage to just break your damn door down and talk to you, no matter how hard you protested. That was what he should be doing, not standing here watching this lost cause of a duel.

Seven... eight... nine... ten.

The two men turned to face one another, guns at the ready.

"Alright, counting down from three... two... one..." Yeonjun began.

"FOR FUCK'S SAKE, STOP IT!"

Alaska and Lanhua barreled out of the mansion, just as Changbin and Felix shot at one another. Felix's gun misfired, shooting out a useless puff of smoke. Changbin's bullet whizzed left, breaking through a bush and shattering a side window of the mansion. If he hadn't gotten entirely distracted by the two girls, he probably would have hit dead-on.

"What the fuck??" Changbin shouted, voice steeped in anger, as he glowered at the girls. Although he was short, he felt six feet tall, as he bore down on Lanhua. "Don't ever disrupt a man with a gun! Or anyone, for that matter! That was fucking dangerous! What if I'd aimed higher? What if I'd hit-"

Lanhua raced to his side, a fierce look in her eyes. Minho wondered fleetingly if she was going to kiss him. That would probably get him to shut up.

Instead, she slapped him hard across the face, the sound a resounding crack throughout the clearing.

Changbin stared at her, wide-eyed, as he processed what just happened. Everyone gaped at the couple, scared what was going to happen next. Or more likely, what Changbin was going to do to Lanhua.

"Time to dig a grave," Alaska, who had immediately curled into Felix's side, breathed aloud. Felix nodded solemnly.

Then, even more shockingly still, Changbin burst out laughing. The sound was forced, like he was pushing air out of his lungs on every exhale. "Lanhua, what the hell!" He sobered instantly, jaw set as he turned on her. "Don't fucking do that again."

Lanhua placed a hand on her hip, unrepentant. She glanced at Alaska, who nodded her support. "You cannot tell me what to do, Seo Changbin! And I will hit you as many times as it takes for you to get that though your thick skull," she snapped. "You've been trying to force me to do your bidding since my family hired you as my guard. Control where I go, what I do, who I'm friends with, everything. But you know what I think?" She gazed at him expectantly.

"What?" he grunted, acquiescing.

"I think what you're really trying to do is control your feelings for me," she said knowingly. "I think you really like me, and you don't know what to do about it. And guess what, Changbin? I like you too. But what I don't appreciate is you fighting over me, thinking that Felix has been flirting with me, when he hasn't! He loves Alaska. And she loves him, too. No offense, but you've got to have a big ass head if you think she's been flirting with you, at all."

Felix wheeled around to face Alaska, eyes wide. "Y-you love me??"

Alaska shrugged, a sheepish grin on her face. "Well, duh. Did I not do a good enough job of showing you that, like, three days ago?"

Felix flushed. "Well, it sure looked like you've trying to get with Changbin! You kept asking him for help during the flower arranging challenge! And you were staring at his huge muscles earlier today! And then he caught you when you fell!"

"Yeah, well you've been acting super condescending to me!" Alaska cried, face red. "It's like you think just because I'm a duchess, means that I don't know anything about nature. I learned a lot from you back at home, and yet you still treat me like a bimbo! I'm smart, you know."

"And speaking of bimbos." Lanhua glared at Changbin, as if she'd just remembered her anger. "You act like I'm so stupid, and I can't take care of myself! I'm a grown ass adult, and I can do whatever I want! Whether that's being outside in the middle of the night, getting drunk with my friends, sleeping with-"

"You're not sleeping with anyone," Changbin seethed, voice a low scratching in his throat as he glared menacingly at her. "Unless it's-"

"Oh, unless it's the mighty Changbin and his ginormous dick!" Lanhua mocked. "Let's all bow down to him and his-"

"Oh yeah, and speaking of girls being able to be with whatever guy they want?" Robin rounded on Jisung, who'd been sulking next to Christopher during the almost-duel. "Like you get to shame me for my past, when you have an equally shitty one yourself!"

"You've been harming all these innocent men who don't deserve it!" Jisung snapped. "You have all this power, all these gifts! And yet you use them for bad? You deceived people when you didn't need to, why? You're scared? That's crap!"

"Speaking of being scared!" Mya gasped, and Jeongin shied away from her immediately, catching onto the pattern of what was going on here. "You were never going to share those letters with me! Even after you got well, you never came to find me! The only reason I even got to read them was because I found them myself, hidden away. If I hadn't been snooping around, would you ever have told me your true feelings?"

"I thought you said we were over this!" Jeongin protested, pressing a hand to his forehead. "I thought you forgave me! Of course I would have told you my true feelings. I have been trying to get you back since this show began! Besides, you never tried to find me, either. You knew I wasn't dead. But screw that, I thought we were just getting back to a good place. What the happened to that??"

"Hmm, a good place, huh?" Riley pondered, listening to her friends with great interest. She began pacing back and forth, thinking. Then, she pointed an accusing finger at Christopher, who was watching her with caution. "I was hoping that we were just getting to a good place too, but I feel like something's holding us — and by us I mean you — back."

Christopher frowned, confusion clouding his eyes. "What the hell does that mean??" he demanded. "Ever since our date, I've been nothing but open!"

"You keep staring at me like I'm some kind of wounded puppy!" Riley delved deeper. "It's been years, Christopher! I'm fully healed, you can't even tell that I was hurt! I thought you were going to give us another shot, start fresh. But it feels like you're walking on eggshells with me, like you think I might keel over at any moment. I'm strong, stronger than you know."

JJ and Hyunjin were arguing now, too. Honestly, that one was warranted, Minho conceded.

"You think I've been cold?" JJ laughed hysterically. "I wonder why that would be? It's not like you tried to murder me or something! Oh wait!"

"But I didn't!" Hyunjin yelled back. "I defied my orders — orders given to me by the king and queen, might I add — to protect you. I did that because I like you! I want to get to know you, even now!"

"Well how the hell am I supposed to get to know you, when you've been nothing but a monster to me my entire life?" JJ cried. "I hate that I find- I mean, found you attractive. I guess it's my lot in life to be tortured by you, forever. Now I wish you'd just leave me alone!"

"You were trying to change me, weren't you??" Renee glared accusingly at Seungmin, who tilted his head cluelessly.

"Ren, what are you talking about this time?" Seungmin sighed. "I would never want to change you, no matter how uptight you can be. I love that about you."

"And you've always been a huge pain in my ass!" Renee ignored his reasonable words. "You never clean up after yourself, it was like you wanted me to humiliate myself by having to sort out your messes every time you came over. Do you know how embarrassing that is??"

"I just wanted to spend time with you! I told you that already!" Seungmin said defensively. "There was no other way to see you, since you were a maid-"

"You could have snuck out of the castle, invited me on a picnic! Something!" Renee exclaimed. "I have the weekends off, you know. I don't work literally all the time. I'm not a fucking servant, if that's what you think."

Minho watched every argument unfold as if they were pieces to a puzzle that just didn't fit together. What the hell was going on? Had all of these tensions just been building up, ready to culminate right here, right now? Or had this just been a stroke of misfortune? There was no way Yeonjun could have orchestrated something like this.

His eyes searched out the cloaked man, who was also surveying the group, mild interest lighting his eyes. Like he was watching his favorite tv show, one that he'd seen multiple times before. As if he'd expected the current events to unfold just as they were right now. Like he wanted them to.

Minho recalled the book passage that Lanhua had found earlier in the library. "It is said that he is waiting for the right time, and the right plan, to use his powers of hatred and revenge to turn humankind against one another, so they destroy each other themselves, before taking his daughter with him." He thought about the files that Robin and Jisung had found, moments before they seemingly broke up. Minho had taken a look at every photo she was able to capture, along with pictures of the photo on Yeonjun's desk, and the lock of hair in his drawer.

He turned back to his friends. No single voice could be heard over another, as they were all yelling and shouting at one another at the top of their lungs. All the while, you were upstairs... secluded. Alone. And who had planned that?

It was at that moment that everything came together in Minho's mind. The puzzle pieces aligned.

If only he could just get everyone to shut the fuck up for one second, so he could tell them.

laska's note —
dang, it seems like everyone was still holding onto some kind of grudge from the past! especially the girls, they've been put through the wringer. will they be able to work it out, and forgive one another for real this time? how did yeonjun organize all this, if that's what he did? and what do you think minho's theory is? will tessa finally come down to talk with minho, after all this time? we miss our tessho, they've been apart for too long! let me know your thoughts and theories in the comments! 😏

𝖭𝖤𝖷𝖳 𝖴𝖯：
𝟰𝟵 - 𝗱𝗮𝗿𝗸
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