The corridor was empty. Her hands were steady and her face was calm. She was the Duke after all.
Jung Cheondoong was waiting by the elevator, leaning against the wall.
She stopped in front of the elevator, looking at the doors. He moved to stand beside her. Still saying no words.
"He's on the team."
"Final?"
"Final."
The Mask nodded. "You knew they'd overrule you."
"That stings." Her aura was visible now, rather intense, but wouldn't thicken it.
"Are you already thinking of a different way to get rid of him?" Cheondoong said jokingly.
Her mana subsided. She sighed.
The elevator arrived and its doors opened. They stood there a little longer. The corridor was still empty.
The Mask waited longer. He was good at waiting.
She finally looked at him.
"I don't think I have any other option. "
Silence. He bit the skin on her thumb. Just one bite and then returned to her usual composure.
"The key to the Second Seal that has been taken from the Castle, from the monsters, was on his desk."
The elevator doors opened.
"I'll train him," she said. "I'll make him ready....to survive."
She stepped inside.
"And if he breaks?"
She looked at him. Her eyes were cold.
"Then he breaks."
The doors closed.
***
Walking towards Hwang-manager's office, Seungho listed in his head all the things he would be willing to do to stay on the team. Like play torturous games on live TV to make people laugh, pretend to be a boyfriend...he rolled his eyes thinking about that. The kind of things that fans never got tired of making their idols do.
Memories from the summers spent with his mother and older sister, watching TV together, resurfaced. The sound of their laughs fluttering in the summer breeze echoed in his ears.
When did it go wrong back then?
He sighed. Nostalgia had replaced the resentment he usually felt when thinking of his family. And he realized they still didn't know he had become a hunter.
He briefly considered delivering the news, it was a major change in his life after all. But then he remembered why he didn't want to. In their eyes he would still be a failure. He hid his hands in his pockets and hunched his back.
No way! I cannot believe I keep falling for it….hoping things will be different. They never are.
He frowned a little longer. Then raised his head determined to move forward.
He was about to knock at the door.
Ding.
he got a new message.
.
[ NEW MESSAGE ]
[ CONGRATULATIONS ]
[ YOU ARE NOW AN OFFICIAL MEMBER OF THE DUKE TEAM ]
.
Baffled, Seungho couldn't believe it.
What happened??
He was too stunned to celebrate.
Ding.
.
[ NEW MESSAGE ]
[ A NEW TRAINING ROUTINE HAS BEEN SET ]
[ TEAM TRAINING ]
[ IN 20 MINUTES AT THE GYM ]
.
Seungho talked to Hwang-manager briefly and then rushed to the training gym.
He was so eager to speak with the Duke, that when he finally came face to face with her, he was speechless.
The Duke's attitude had completely changed, Seungho didn't know what it meant. But he stood there awaiting instructions.
"Let's get you up to speed. About Monday…."
Sooyoung-sunbae interjected quickly "isn't it too late now?"
The Duke responded while keeping her eyes glued on Seungho "he will be alright, won't you Yang Seungho-ssi?"
"Ye-yes."
"You hesitated there for a second. Is something wrong?" She asked folding her arms across her chest.
"No." Seungho replied resolute.
"Ok, you will be on my right, in between Cheondoong-ah and me."
Jaeha gasped in surprise.
Sooyoung shot a glare at Cheondoong. Cheondoong updated the configuration to show Seungho the dynamics of the configuration.
Right then, Han Minho appeared with someone else. The red haired woman. She was called Go Haneul, but Seungho still didn't know her name.
"Congratulations, young man. This is quite an achievement."
"Thank you."
Seungho bowed. Sangmin immediately came by his side.
Han Minho signaled his son with a nod to come to speak with him. Left behind, Seungho couldn't hear what it was about. Sangmin's expression was neutral, even reverential at times.
The red haired woman moved closer to Seungho looking intensely into his eyes, and then she stopped. Her eyes were deep but there was something disturbing about them. Seungho moved one step backward. Then he stood still, his muscled stiffened to prevent himself from moving further away.
"They can see now...what is inside you." She abruptly turned and left.
Seungho felt scrutinized, and uncomfortable.
This woman is only trouble.
He humphed. Her words were so out of the blue, he didn't know what to make of them, but he had more pressing matters, his training with the Duke.
Han Minho and the red hair woman left, while the whole team entered the training gym.
The Duke explained Seungho in detail what was expected of him, how he was supposed to move and what he was supposed to do.
"This is a coordinated performance. Even if there are some blasts, nothing will actually hit you. Just followed my instructions. And you will be ok."
The Duke seemed relaxed even though serious.
The team started the sequence. And to Seungho it looked like deja-vu. He remembered every move they were making, even though he hadn't watched any of their training.
And now Jaeha-sunbae will reappear on the other side of Bae Ara right over there and hand a weapon to her he got from the other side.
The scene unfolded in front of him exactly the way he had predicted. There was something strongly familiar about it. But also different, like he had watched another scene but remembered the details of this one.
"Seungho-ssi, watch out. Soon it will be your turn."
Seungho made himself ready, he lowered until his knee touched the floor, a sword with the point down also to the floor. Seungho was to jump down and hit the target, over Jaeha's head. Given what he had read of Jaeha's statistics, he would have preferred doing something else. But he needed to learn to trust his teammates. So he did as he was told.
He jumped down.
Too late, Seungho realized he had anticipated his jump. He threw the sword in the direction of an opening where he knew no one would get hit by the flying sword.
A push, just enough to displace him, diverted his direction. He landed fine next to Jaeha, who at the same time was already gone, leaving an empty void. Seungho fell into it.
The Duke stepped close to him.
"You anticipated. This performance is about precision, control, coordination. We have to work as a team, to show we can coordinate a strong attack. For however strong each of us is...alone you will lose. Probably even die. Remember that," and effortlessly she took back her position in the formation.
She knew at all times when she could pull out and where to land without disrupting the performance.
Cheondoong grabbed Seungho by the collar. "Move!" And was already somewhere else.
Seungho started moving, shadowing the Duke, like she had instructed him. Until he was getting closer and closer to parallel her movements.
The Duke got irritated. Seungho again had anticipated the location of her lance, she slammed his hand. It hurt. Seungho was bleeding his hand broken.
.
[ WARNING ]
[ HEALING ACTIVATED: 10 POINTS ]
[ MANA TEMPORARILY COMPROMISED ]
.
"Take a rest, it won't take long to heal" Bae Ara took his hand into hers, rotating to make an assessment.
Her hands were soft.
"That is what you get for disobeying the Duke." After a pause she continues "you can get seriously hurt, much more than a broken hand."
"I didn't mean to anticipate… it just happened."
Bae Ara stood there, and tilted her head as if wondering how that could be possible. She pushed her long hair with her hand. She frowned slightly.
"Does it hurt?" Sooyoung asked waltzing into the conversation ignoring the low-key tension in between the two.
"Of course it does." Seungho said twisting his lips in pain.
Sooyoung laughed it off. "It always does the first time, you will get used to it."
Silence.
"I mean getting hurt, not being punished by the Duke." She laughed again.
Is that supposed to be reassuring…?
Sooyoung suddenly got close to his ear and covering her mouth with a hand she whispered "the Duke has weak points, you can win her over…" she winked and went straight to getting back to her position.
Seungho looked at his hand, it was already healed.
The rest of the training, Seungho spent it restraining himself. Not anticipating moves and hiding his knowledge of the performance. All in the hope not to irritate the Duke any further.
Ironically, he felt relaxed.
"He knows," Go Haneul told Han Minho. "He can sense reality."
"Is that was he is doing?" Asked Han Minho with interest. Then turned to look at her scrutinizing her. "Are you sure reality is the correct word?"
Inadvertently, Han Minho had given Go Haneul the key to the next meeting.