The Secrets We Keep From Friends (Irene x Male Reader Fanfic)

Short Story 14

Warmont Military Training Academy, Sanctuary

Y/n parried a blow from his sparring partner's sword and counter-slashed. His opponent jerked backwards to avoid his blow, not that he had been aiming to hit her. Y/n wanted to create some distance and it worked, although he suspected that was what his opponent wanted anyhow.

The two crossed swords once more, the sound of steel clashing joining those of others training in a cacophonic symphony that didn't seem to have any melody.

With his advanced level of sword proficiency, Y/n had been grouped together with similarly categorised recruits to spar with. So far he had done well against the others, but this girl was different. She was almost just as skilled and her reflexes were a lot faster. Today was the first time that males and females trained together as they had been forbidden from interacting until now. He wasn't going all out with his skills and his father's fighting style for now though, not wanting to show off.

The two sparring partners circled each other, each trying to jockey into a better position. Y/n struck first, anticipating her to parry the blow but she did something unexpected. She dropped low and ran forward toward him, attempting to slash him in the gut as she passed by. Their swords had blunt edges and they wore protective fencing equipment but it would still be painful.

It was a split –second decision, but in the blink of an eye, Y/n somersaulted over her and swung his sword upwards as he landed. His sword knocked hers out of her hand and Y/n quickly thrust his sword at her chest, settling the fight.

The two bowed to each other before they both took off their protective fencing masks. He had to admit she was beautiful like Joohyun, although his mate was of course the most beautiful woman alive to him and he would never even dream of cheating on her.

"You're good," said his opponent.

"So are you. I'm Y/n," replied Y/n as he stretched forth his hand.

"Jung Soojung," said the woman as she shook his hand.

Little did they know, their meeting today would be the start of a lifelong friendship that would define their careers.

Two days later
Y/n sat on his bed packing some of his things as he and the rest of his bunkmates made use of their admin time to reorganise their personal belongings in case of a surprise inspection. General Ji Chan Wook's words had come true, with several trainees transferring out to other units, unable to take the intense training regimen for some reason or another.

Like his former buddy, Eunkwang, whose empty bed Y/n glanced at.

Eunkwang had unfortunately sustained an injury that even if completely healed, disqualified him from serving in the Military Intelligence service branch. It was frankly quite minor, but Military Intelligence had very high standards. The trainers had at least seen fit to transfer him to the Frontier Guard, where he would begin training upon recovery. He was clearly talented and fit, so he was sure to do well there.

Y/n's briefly thoughts briefly wandered to who would be his new buddy. He knew there would be some reorganisations due to the losses and likely some of the more crowded bunks would lose some platoon mates to others.

As if to answer his question, a man walked in with his bags and equipment and stood at the door, a look of uncertainty on his face.

"Can we help you?", asked Ho-seok one of his bunkmates.

"I'm Jang Dong-Yoon. I've been transferred to platoon four section two from platoon two.", replied the newcomer.

"Ahhh I see. That means you're Y/n's new buddy. Welcome to platoon four, I'm Lee Ho-seok. There's your bed and buddy," said Ho-seok as he pointed towards Y/n and shook his hand

The rest got up and introduced themselves as well, Y/n being the last since he was the furthest away.

"I'm Y/n. nice to meet you,"

"Nice to meet you too, let's take care of each other eh?"

Y/n smiled and nodded. He didn't know him personally until now, but he had seen Dong Yoon while training. He was serious on the job but was a crack joker able to break the tension.

As much as Y/n would have been very comfortable with someone more reserved like himself, he guessed having a joker in the section would lighten the mood.

A/N: Maddox and Joohyun both take a further step forward towards their future, and in Maddox's case, he's found some people with whom his life is about to get intertwined with.

Yes, the Soojung in this story is F(x)'s Krystal

As Always, comments are welcome and please do share this story with others if you feel they would like it.