GROUND ONE • LEE DONGHYUCK •

twenty-four.

SAGE WAS BROUGHT TO THE FLOOR MAT BY YUTA ONCE AGAIN, THE WOMAN LETTING OUT A FRUSTRATED GROAN.

She had been attempting to take him down for the past twenty minutes. Even with her experience in fighting— she couldn't take him down on a good day. If her skills were sharp than his was sharper. If she calculated his move, he would fake it and then attack her with another move. It was honestly frustrating for her.

Sage had began to sweat and he hadn't even broken one yet. Yuta towered over her, crossing his arms. He looked at her as if he was studying her emotions. He reached out one hand to pull her up, Sage gladly taking it.

"You're not a bad fighter at all Sage. You're letting me get into your head though," he began as he let go of her hand once she was off the floor. "You're letting me control your moves. You get frustrated too easily which makes you unconsciously give up."

She furrowed her eyebrows. How the hell did he know that?

"You wear your emotions on your face," he laughed out. "You can't make expressions like that in a fight. It'll be your biggest disadvantage."

Sage could see why Taeyong said she was in good hands. Although he was very rough and lacked the ability to show mercy, he gave criticism very softly and didn't seem to get mad at all. Sage wiped the sweat off of her forehead and sighed.

"Yuta I don't know if I can do that," she said, sitting down on the mat. Yuta grabbed a bottle of water before sitting down beside her. He slid it to her and she quietly thanked him. "I like to think of something or someone else whenever I fight. If you have any past anger that you haven't been able to let go of, channel your fighting into that."

After a small break, the two had gotten back up to fight once more. Sage let out a small breath before closing her eyes, thinking back to all of the times where she had no hope for a better life. To when she genuinely believed she wouldn't make it past eighteen.

Sage's mother slapped the teenager across the cheek, tears running down Sage's face. She didn't know how much more of this she could take. Her mother grabbed the hem of her shirt, pulling her closer. Her pupils were dilated and she carried a snarl across her face.

"You told the teacher about what happens here didnt you?" she asked. Sage shook her head rapidly, sobs escaping her mouth.

"I swear I didn't! Please let go of me!"

Her mother threw her to the ground, Sage knowing that it would only form another bruise. "Tell her that you're clumsy at home. And cover those bruises better at school before I give you something worse."

Sage opened her eyes, staring almost blankly at Yuta. She took one step forward—Yuta throwing the first punch. She grabbed his arm and twisted it, kicking his leg under him. He fell but grabbed her open arm which only pulled her down with him.

He hurried to wrap both arms around her neck with enough pressure to cut off her breathing. Sage grabbed underneath his arms and pushed her body up, flipping Yuta off of her.

Once he was on the ground, Sage grabbed both of his arms and straddled him at his waist. It rendered him of any movement. Yuta groaned before tapping her leg softly.

"You win Sage."

She smiled and let go of his hands. "Thank you for helping me," she said as she got off of the older man. She gave him a hand and he stood up also.

"No problem. We will practice every other day for three hours in the morning okay?" Yuta told her.

"Okay."

☾

Taemin slid a file to Sage, her eyebrow raising. She opened it to see two invitations to a masked ball. She looked back at him and raised the invitation up. "What's this for?"

"We got intel that a few staff from Ground One would be attending the ball tonight to pick up a few files from there. We've got to get them before they do to find out if they have anymore information on what you found in that study you gave Taeyong."

Of course Taeyong had to tell Taemin. They were partners. She wasn't mad about it so she nodded at his words. "We've prepared both a dress and mark for you already. Do you know who you are going with?"

She shook her head. "I'll have to think about who. Thank you Taemin," she said as she stood up. He nodded and she was off to her room. Although her first choice was to choose Donghyuck, the more she thought about it she realized it would be a bad idea. They were clearly infatuated with each other and one wrong mistake between the two could fail the whole mission.

The only two she would take other than Donghyuck would be either Mark or Jeno. They were both skilled in combat and their intelligence was amazing. She plopped onto her bed as soon as she got into her room. The curly haired woman curled under her covers, tucking her feet close to her body. She still had to do the medical class with Jungwoo but she barely had any energy to.

She closed her eyes and let out a deep breath. A nap would suffice. She was sleep in no time. Her lips were pouted out slightly and her cheeks looked puffy from sleeping against it. Donghyuck and Renjun passed by her door, Donghyuck taking a second glance once he saw her huddled in the covers. He smiled softly before tapping Renjun. He pointed towards her and Renjun laughed softly.

"Yuta is no joke when it comes to training," Renjun said. "Poor thing."

Donghyuck walked into her room as Renjun made his way towards the room he shared with Chenle. He softly got onto her bed and wrapped his arms around the cover that surrounded her body. She opened one eye and pushed him off of her, the man landing on the hard wood floor.

He let out a small yelp as he held his butt. "Go away," she muttered half asleep, the words barely coherent to Donghyuck. The honey-skinned man stood up with a small smile on his face. "I'll wake you up in a hour okay?" he said.

"Two please," she mumbled.

He kissed her forehead. "Okay baby."

Sage was already sleep before she could hear the two words that slipped from his mouth.