Blood and Roses || Lee Taeyong

Chapter 10 | "suit up"

"Hey hey, how was school today?" Jaehyun asked as Chaerin walked into the training room the following day.

"Hansol avoided me the whole day, so I'd say it was pretty good." She said, dipping her head in greeting to Jaemin and Jeno. "So, what's on the schedule for today?"

"Well, now that you know how to more or less throw a knife, thanks to Jaemin." He said, nudging the younger boy, "we're going to start teaching you knife combat."

"Yeah, like how to actually fight with a knife in your hand without hurting yourself and tricks and stuff." Jaemin said happily. "This, specifically, is my specialty."

"Oh good, how do we start?"

"We'll actually, we're waiting for the others. Taeyong decided that we all need some knife combat practice so we're doing group training." Jaehyun said with a nod.

"Don't worry." Jeno jumped in, seeing the scared expression on her face. "We know they're all very advanced compared to you, so you'll be fighting me and Jaemin will supervise."

"Oh thank god." She sighed. "I was not about to dive right into training with a bunch of skilled assassins."

"I don't think the assassins on the floor are the ones you should be worrying about...."

As Jaehyun trailed off, they all followed his eyes, seeing the rest of the gang streaming it. Chaerin realized what he was talking about as Taeyong entered the room, surveying the space with an indifferent expression before leaning against the wall to observe.

All of the members younger than Jaehyun took to the floor, pairing up snd grabbing knives as the older members stood around and watched.

"Alright, Chaerin, let's start easy." Jaemin said, handing her a knife with a black silicon case around the blade. "Don't worry, this can't cut you."

She nodded, taking the small knife from his hand and gripping it tight as she faced Jeno.

"Okay, I want you to try two things: do the quick move I taught you and then try to take him down. The case is coated in a black powder that will leave a Mark on your skin if it touches you, the goal is to do this without getting any black on your arms." Chaerin nodded in understanding as Jaemin explained everything to her.

She could hear the grunts and thuds of the members fighting around her as she zoned in on Jeno, running towards him and striking out with her fists and kicks before toppling him to the ground with a thunk.

"Not bad, you're definitely getting stronger." Jeno said with a nod, helping her onto her feet as Jaemin walked over.

He examined her arm, seeing two faint black marks on her skin.

"Pretty good for a first try." The younger boy said with an approving nod. "See if you can figure out what you did and try again." He released her arm after wiping off the black powder.

She faced Jeno, letting out a sigh as she ran at him again.

From the sidelines, Taeyong watched her closely, his eyes glued to her figure as she trained with Jaemin and Jeno. Every since she had talked back to him, there was something inside Taeyong that wanted to see more of her, good or bad. He was intrigued.

"What are you thinking, Taeyong?" Yuta asked as he walked over to the leader, standing next to him.

"Hmm?"

"You have that look in your eye." Yuta teased.

"What look?" Taeyong asked, feigning annoyance before turning back to face the floor.

"That one. The way you're looking at Chaerin." The Japanese boy replied, smirking to himself as he followed Taeyong's gaze.

"There's no look, Yuta, I'm just observing their training." He snapped back before focusing on Chaerin as Jaemin high fived her and slid the knife cover off. "It's strange, you know, her being here with us. She's so not the mafia type."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean I never thought a girl like her would want to be in a gang. There's no way she's going to be able to hack it. Gang life is rough, dangerous, unpredictable, and that's the opposite of her. From what I hear, she's so well put together, very organized and engaged with life. The girly-princess type isn't really my thing anyway."

"And yet you can't keep your eyes off of her." Yuta mused, seeing how even as they talked, Taeyong was watching her closely, a certain curiosity in his eye that made Yuta smile. "Don't underestimate Chaerin, I promise that she'll surprise you."

The Japanese boy patted him on the back before walking away. Taeyong thought to himself for a moment, considering Yuta's words before shaking it off.

His eyes widened as he watched Chaerin and Jeno fight, shocked at how quickly she had picked it up. With a final look, he turned and left the room, shaking his head as he went.

- - -

Chaerin continued to practice with the guys and soon it was clear: she was an asset to the team. No doubt about it. Over the next two months, she more than proved herself.

She might not be the physically strongest, but she was a quick learner and incredibly precise. What she lacked in muscle, she made up for in speed and accuracy. Her knife combat had improved, but what really shocked the boys was when they put a gun in her hand.

At first she was a bit hesitant, scared of the weapon in her grasp, but once she started shouting, their jaws hit the floor. She hit the center over and over again, rarely missing. Even Taeyong couldn't hide that he was impressed. She was a natural.

More than that, her hacking had saved the gang several times, defending the gang's most important files from cyber attacks by their rivals all while mentoring Hendery and Renjun on coding.

Taeyong hadnt gotten much better. He barely spoke to her, glaring at her every time she looked at him. During her knife evaluation, he went so far as to cut her arms up to the point of needing a few stitches, claiming it was a taste of reality. Safe to say, he wasn't her favorite person.

Speaking of not her favorite person: she and Hansol were still on a break. She basically ignored him but it was difficult when he walked around the school flaunting a new girl every week. Most of her frustrations were taken out in the practice room where she was right now, throwing knives at a target in anger.

"What did he do this time?" Yuta asked as he entered the room.

"Not Hansol. His idiotic girlfriend." Chaerin seethed out as another knife buried into the target. "She called me a bitch and pushed me over in the hallway. I've never even spoken to her before!"

"Do you want me to kill her for you?"

She turned to Yuta, seeing a dead serious expression on her face before rapidly shaking her head with a chuckle.

"No, Yuta. There will be no killing for me."

"Well, I don't know about that...." He trailed off, eyeing her playfully,

"What's that supposed to mean?"

He didn't respond, instead pulling out a black body suit from behind him, complete with harnesses and knife-lined combat boots.

"No way...." She trailed off, taking the garments from his hands.

"Yes way." He said with a smile. "Better suit up. It's time for your first mission."