&&. 𝗟𝗢𝗡𝗚 𝗝𝗢𝗨𝗥𝗡𝗘𝗬. ( ateez )

knight au | c.jh

you let a grunt as you fall to the ground, your practice sword once in your hand now laying next you. you look up at jongho who stands above you with his own practice sword resting on his shoulder as he looks at you with a done look.

"come on, y/n, you call yourself a knight and yet you still can't last one round with me," he tsk at you as you stand up, dusting the dirt off your clothes as you grab your sword off the ground as well. "why are even still here, y/n? you'll never be ready to protect anyone if you can't even protect yourself."

you watch as jongho turns and curtly walks away from you, leaving you by yourself in the training grounds. you look down at the sword in your hands before gripping it harshly as you turn and throw it. an angry yell rips through your throat before you feel tears stream down your face.

he was right, though. how could you protect anyone if you weren't even strong even to protect yourself. you walk over to your wooden sword and crouch down only to hid your face in your knees as you began to silently cry.

you should have never followed after jongho and told your parents and everyone else that you were also going to become a knight. you were tired of having always been compared to jongho and him always putting you down for never being as good as him.

everyone usually saw your relationship as a friendly rivalry between two people who grew up together, but you've always liked jongho and wanted to more than rivals. that's why you always challenged the things he did to get him to notice you more. maybe you should finally just give up and go home.

"hey did you hear about the group of bandits on the outskirts of the city?" you overhear a knight say. you turn your head slight to watch the two knights walk past you as they talk.

"yeah, captain said he was going to put a small team together to go handle them," the other one says.

"geez, hope i'm not on that team," the first one speaks.

"what side of the city are those bandits on?" you ask standing quickly and surprising the two knights.

"the north. geez, y/n the hell you doing hiding like that?"

"don't ask question you don't want to know the answer to," you say before dashing off away from the two, who only watch you confused before looking at each other and then shrugging their shoulders.

☓ ☓ ☓

a few hours had passed after the knights had seen you run off after asking about the bandits. jongho by this time was practice when they came and asked him about you.

"hey, jongho, y/n wasn't at dinner. do you know where they are?"

"no, why would i?"

"aren't you guys friends?"

"not really. our moms were friends so we only grew up with each other."

"wait, you don't think y/n went after those bandits by themselves do you?" jongho froze when he heard that and turned to look at the two males before him.

"what bandits?" one of the knights then explained the situation and how you had asked about where they were located.

jongho felt something in his stomach drop before he rushed out of the practice room to gather his gear before you went to go find you.

"y/n, you dumbass. you better be okay," he says to himself as he runs quickly down the street to the outskirts of the city.

☓ ☓ ☓

it was nightfall by the time you reached the bandit camp. dressed in all black and sword attached to your hip. you hid in a bush watching and counting how many bandits there were. ten. you could handle it, you felt confident enough.

a hand suddenly placed itself around your mouth and you let out a muffled scream as you were dragged away from the camp.

"shut up!" you immediately recognized that voice and you felt yourself slightly relax and jongho held you close to him. "what the hell do you think you're doing? are you crazy?!" he asked in a hushed yell.

"i can could have handled them, jongho. i don't need your help!" you say back in an equally hushed tone.

"handle them? handle them?! y/n, you can barely handle me in a fight let alone ten of those guys! come one let's go back before the notice us." he says and you can tell he doesn't want to talk about this anymore.

so you willingly follow him back to the palace grounds. not a word spoken between the two of you, until you return and then you finally decided to speak.

"why?"

"why what?"

"why did you come find me and stop me?"

he hesitates for a few seconds, "because someone has to stop you from doing stupid stuff all the time."

"jongho..." you say and he finally turns to look at you, "i think... i think i'm going to quit and return home. it's obvious that i'm not suited to be knight... not like you," you say. jongho's surprised by your words, never once since he's known you have you just quit.

"why so suddenly?"

"because you're right. earlier you told me how could i become knight and protects other when i can't even protect myself," you answer.

"you can't just quit and leave me here by myself!" he says suddenly and you look at him shocked by his outburst. "quitting isn't like you, y/n. even if you're not strong like me, i know you have good intentions like a true knight. i'm sorry i've been so tough on you. you just... can't quit, not when we're both so close."

"so... you think i can still become a knight even if i'm not strong like you?" he nods giving you a reassuring soft smile.

"let's finish together, okay?" you nod with a smile this time.

"together."