"So." Krystal flipped the knife in her hand. "Do you want to finally tell us what's going on between you and— how was it that one Outworlder put it?— your 'towel-beating boyfriend'?"

Tzuyu and Irene halted and glanced over with a cross of puzzlement and 'what the actual f' kind of looks.

I fired a glare at Krystal. She shrugged, shooting a pointed look at the dark hickey above my collarbone that not even my trainee uniform could cover up. Well placed Jimin, I couldn't help but think.

Krystal hurled her knife, end over end, perfectly into the head of the human-cut out target before us.

Since the majority of the trainers were gone to help defend the North City, the trainees were off the hook for a bit from the high intensity physical workouts. Now we were mainly focusing on mastering weaponry and arsenal.

The base seemed larger than ever with so many people gone. Only the trainees and maybe a few handful of instructors had been left behind.

"I didn't even realize you had a boyfriend," Irene said, throwing her own knife. The blade skidded across her target before clattering to the ground. "Is that why you ignore Yuta?"

I gaped at Irene. "What?"

"Don't tell me you've been oblivious! Yuta's been trying to talk to you for days now. I think you stole his poor heart when you guys were drunk. He's shy though."

Yikes. I hadn't noticed that Yuta might've been trying to get my attention. In fact, I would've thought Suho was the one trying to woo me over, but that was just Suho being himself. He seemed to have pet names for everyone and flashed his charismatic smirks to anyone who so much as looked at him a second longer than necessary.

"Is he cute?" Tzuyu smiled kindly. "Your boyfriend."

"Her boyfriend is Park Jimin!" Krystal exploded. "The silver Outworlder trainer!"

Irene's knife didn't even come close to striking the target this time and Tzuyu froze. "Y-you mean the guy who made that trainee stand in front of the target?" She gasped. Her eyes snapped to me. "That guy?!"

Irene also gaped at me. Her eyes locked down to my collarbone, at the hickey. "You're telling me that trainer did...that to you??"

I glowered at Krystal. "A little louder, Krys. I don't think the penguins in Antarctica heard you."

"How do you even fall for someone like him?" Irene wrinkled her nose. "Don't tell me he made you stand in front of a target and wooed you that way."

"Don't be ridiculous," I snorted.

"I just don't see how you two are even remotely compatible," Tzuyu muttered.

I sighed and threw my own knife at my dummy. It stuck in the thigh. I frowned. I'd been aiming for the stomach. "Jimin's not a bad guy. It's because he's a trainer, he has to show everyone who's in charge."

"By shooting at someone's head?" Irene demanded.

"He knew what he was doing," I mumbled, turning the blade over in my hands.

I threw the knife hard. It slammed directly into the stomach of the dummy. Ever since Jimin had left I'd been jumpy at every piece of news that came in. Jin had also shipped out with the rest of the troops and Namjoon, Jungkook, Hoseok, and I were continually staying in close contact to share any piece of news we'd learned.

So far, the troops had only entangled with the Reformists in minor squabbles that weren't even counted as proper battles. Some people believed seeing the mass of soldiers and militants arriving on scene had temporarily scared the Reformists into hiding.

"How did you even get with him in the first place?" Krystal frowned. "He seems like the guy who'll kill you on sight. Though he is very good looking—"

"Hey." I shot her a stern look. "Girlfriend right here, remember?"

Krystal chuckled and threw her last knife in hand. It struck right through the heart. "My bad."

Deep within me though I briefly wondered, was I his girlfriend? When I thought of girlfriend and boyfriend I pictured a sweet couple going out on dates and sharing sweet nothings together. What Jimin and I seemed much more than that. Something much deeper, more darker. Also, we'd never really DTR (defined the relationship) with each other.

"Jimin and I were assigned together under Order #327," I told my bunkmates. "We got to know each other long before he had to really bring forth the intimidating aura you guys see him in all the time."

"Aww." Tzuyu grinned at that. "So he's a real softie deep down then?"

I grimaced and threw my last blade. It struck a little left to the heart. I huffed in exasperation. "Softie isn't quite the word I'd describe him..." He was literally hard ninety percent of the time we were around each other. "But he's a much warmer person and is very caring deep down."

"I wish my assigned human and I got along," Tzuyu said ruefully. "He was really cute. But he already had a girlfriend."

"Why did you guys get cute sharehouse assignments?" Krystal complained. "My assignment was a bitch."

I lifted my brows at that. "Geez, a bit harsh don't you think, Krys?"

Krystal sneered a little. "It wasn't that she didn't like humans. She didn't like me for whatever reason. And I'm an absolute delight to be around."

"Yeah." Irene rolled her eyes, corners of her mouth twitching. "We can totally see that."

Krystal jabbed a finger at Irene. "You lucky I don't still have a knife in hand."

"You think you're bad, huh?" Irene smirked, not in the least perturbed. "You lucky that I'm not in the mood to morph or else I'll show you who the real bitch is between us."

"No need to get volatile you guys," Tzuyu sighed, throwing her own last blade.

The dynamics of this group was interesting. Krystal was like a bonfire, blazing and filled with energy. Irene was more of a steady flame, never shaken, steady, but with her own dangerous edge. Tzuyu was the main mediator between the two girls, gentle and unruffled.

Sometimes it felt like I didn't have a place in the dynamic of the group. I was just... kinda there at times it felt like. Perhaps I was Krystal's alter ego, the less confident but more smarter ego— not that Krystal was dumb. She just acted before thinking a lot.

"Well. I hope things work out between you and your towel-beating-head-shooting boyfriend," Krystal said, turning back to me. "Especially as he's on the field now."

I gazed off into the distance as if I could somehow see through the walls of adamant, all the way to the North City to where Jimin was.

"Yeah. I hope so too."

✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧

I jerked awake.

I blinked rapidly and sat up in my bunkbed, cold sweat pouring down my back. My heart was pattering quickly against my ribs and I strained my ears.

Only the soft sounds of slumbering breaths filled the room. I glanced over to the other bunkbed where Tzuyu's and Irene's Marks glowed softly.

Maybe it was just a bad dream.

Yet my muscles didn't loose. All my limbs were strung tight like wire and as I slowly shifted to lay back down I couldn't relax. Something had woken me up.

Then I heard it again.

A distant clang echoed through the halls, like metal hitting against metal.

A low groan rumbled through the air next, the sound making me think of two large granite stones dragging against each other.

"Krys," I hissed at my bunkmate sleeping below me. "Krystal something's wrong."

"Hm?" Krystal groaned underneath me.

Another clang reverberated outside the door of our room. Closer. Closer.

"Krystal!" I scrambled up. "Get up. There's something—"

A loud bang cleaved the air. Screams tore through the hall.

"THE REFORMISTS ARE HERE."

✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧