Taurus (Stray Kids Bang Chan)

Nine

"Where were you last night?" Bam questioned as he took a seat beside Alyssa at breakfast, oblivious to the amount of attention he had brought to them both.

"What do you mean? I was in my room the whole time," she lied as she stuffed a spoon full of porridge in her mouth.

BamBam shook his head as he quickly sipped on his orange juice.

"No, you weren't. I visited you about two. You weren't there."

"Why did you visit me at two?"

"I was supposed to tell you all the things Chris did to me, remember?"

"Oh, shoot! I forgot."

"So, where were you?"

"I was in my room."

"No, you weren't."

"Yes, I was. Did you open the door and go inside?"

"No."

"Then how do you know I wasn't there?"

"You didn't open the door for me to enter. In fact, it didn't even sound like there was a source of life coming from your room."

"I'm a quiet yet deep sleeper. To wake me up, you'd need to bang to two pans together...or ring an annoying bell in my ears," she lied. She wasn't a deep nor quiet sleeper. She sleep-talked often and even the sound of a fly passing by could wake her up. She just needed an excuse because she was nowhere near telling him she was out with Chris.

"Fine, then when can we discuss this? Tonight?"

"Maybe not tonight...What about tomorrow lunch?"

Bam cocked his eyebrow at her.

"Are you hiding something from me? Usually you prefer to do things at night."

"I've been losing sleep lately."

"Why? I haven't visited you in a while."

"I've been trying to read the rule book since I'm still as clueless about everything as the day I arrived."

Bam hummed in response before quickly finishing his porridge.

"How is your practice going? Are you confident in your battle skills yet?" The Thai boy asked.

"Nah," Alyssa replied with a sigh. "I think it will take years before I can improve my skills."

"Well, you don't have years. The arena battle is in roughly two months. You need to develop your skills fast if you want to survive."

"But how?"

"Hate to break it to you but sometimes you have to practice during break hours. Sometimes the ten hours of practice a day isn't enough."

"Things here are so complicated. I just wish I was back at home in the warmth of my duvets."

Bam chuckled bitterly.

"Such memories start to feel like a dream the longer you've been here. You get used to the way if life whether you like it or not. These years will speed by and become a blur. Before you know it your last arena battle will be approaching. Just try not to be so negative about it."

Alyssa sighed.

"I wonder what I'll do when you leave next year."

"Don't worry about it," Bam ruffled her hair, smiling charmingly. "Just take my advice and I guarantee you'll do well."

***

When the bell for the end of practice rang that night, Alyssa remained in the room full of punching bags.

She punched the sand bags as hard as she could be she couldn't help but feel hopeless, weak.

Ever since Bam pointed out how close the arena battle was, Alyssa couldn't help but worry she wasn't good enough to survive. She struggled as he mind flooded with pictures of her possible death.

That was when there was a knock on the door.

Alyssa quickly turned her gaze in the direction of the sound before seeing Felix behind the glass door.

With a sigh, she approached him and granted his entrance before heading back to the punching bag.

"What are you still doing here?" He asked before looking down at his watch. "It's almost midnight for goodness sake."

"I need to improve my battle skills," she replied without even looking at him.

He remained silent for a while, watching as she punched the bag with all her might.

"Try changing the angle you punch at," he suggested before angling her hands for her. "Also the further you are, the easier."

Alyssa did exactly as he said and indeed, it was a lot easier and did more damage.

"Thanks, Fe," she smiled after seeing the result of his advice.

"You're welcome, but don't only focus on the bag. In all honesty, it's practically useless. I mean yeah, you can tackle someone or punch them to death but most of the time we use machetes."

"Really?" Alyssa questioned before Felix nodded.

"You can use dagger in the meantime," Felix mentioned before handing her a dagger. "It isn't much like a machete but it will help you with the movements and handling. Later on, we'll probably start using the machetes so it's best to get used to everything now."

Alyssa smiled before giving Felix and quick hug.

"Thank you so much...for everything...But aren't we enemies? Why are you helping me?"

He shrugged.

"It would be nice to have a bit of competition on the battlefield."

Her eyes widened.

"I'm kidding," he burst into laughter. "I just want you to survive."

"But why? I heard that you've killed so many people you used to be friends with."

He sighed, running his left hand through his hair.

"I didn't want to kill them. They betrayed me and tried to kill me first, that was the only way of survival. And besides, why do you always call out Chris, Jungkook and I when it comes to killing numerous people, are you forgetting Bam has too?"

Alyssa exhaled sharply, she had never thought of that. Maybe it was because he never mentioned it.

"You may not have realised it but Bam has killed almost as many people as us, hence by he's alive...and if you want to survive, soon you'll be in the same boat."