Chapter 30 | "and what about it"

                                    

                                          
"Alright everyone, listen up! Here's what's gonna go down today" Jihyun says, looking down at the students sitting on the gym floor as she leans on the barriers of the combat arena.
                          
"This is less of a class and more of an...evaluation I guess. As you can see, the council is here, along with the other gang leaders." She gestures to the side of the gym where they're all sitting to observe, pen and paper in hand.
                          
"This is a chance to show your skills, to show why you might have what it takes to make it in the mafia. I have two people here to help me today." She turns and gestures for them to step up.
                          
"Many of you know Jeno, your classmate. He's the only ace trainee right now and has been personally trained by me for the past six weeks. You'll all get a chance to see his skills today and I assume that you'll all quickly understand why he was chosen as an ace." Jeno nods at Jihyun and stares at his fellow students with a cold glare.
                          
"This is Sungchan, I'm sure you've all heard of him. He is my original ace trainee, I mentored him personally before his acceptance into the mafia. He is now one of the three aces of NCT." She says proudly, Sungchan staring down the students with a smirk.
                          
"They're here to show you how it's done. Why don't we start with ground combat. Anyone dare to raise a challenge?" Jihyun says, stepping back to stand slightly behind the two boys.
                          
She looks at the students who glance at one another with uncertainty. She turns and sees Sungchan staring them down with confidence. When she turns to look at Jeno, she sees his nerves as he shifts side to side and his eyes flicking around the room. She lets out a small sigh before discreetly whispering in his ear.
                          
"stop trying to look at all of them, it makes you seem nervous. Take a deep breath, slow you heart rate and let your mind go blank. Pick one of them and stare them down until they crack or challenge you. Eventually one will and when they do, no holding back." She says quickly before stepping back.
                          
Jeno's shoulders relax and she sees him fix his glare on the students, none of them holding eye contact. 
                          
"I'll challenge!" Says one boy, standing up from the crowd.
                          
"What's your name and who do you wish to challenge?" 
                          
"My name is Park Jihoon, ground combat team, and I wish to challenge Sungchan." He says confidently, making his way to the arena.
                          
Jihyun shares a look with Sungchan as she and Jeno step off of the arena.
                          
The two begin their fight, Jihoon lunging at Sungchan repeatedly, but not landing many hits. Sungchan, on the other hand, stays on defense basically the whole time, just simply avoiding the boys hits.
                          
He makes brief eye contact with Jihyun, her giving him a stern look before returning to face his opponent. He then switches to the offense, punching the boy a few times before knocking him to the ground, forcing him to yield.
                          
The students clap for Sungchan but Jihyun isn't happy. He went very easy on the boy and was looking like he was going to let him win. She steps up onto the platform, making her way over to Sungchan. She grabs his arm and harshly whispers to him with a growl.
                          
"You went easy on him. I thought I trained you better than that. If they choose to challenge you, show no mercy, it's not like blood is anything new."
                          
Sungchan nods his head in embarrassment, a new darkness and fire filling his eyes. After seeing how easy he went, another student by the name of Yuqi decides to challenge him.
                          
This time, Sungchan doesn't hold back, blocking her attacks and quickly landing hits on her. After bloodying her up a bit, he ends the fight with a blow to her nose, effectively breaking it. The fight is over in under a minute as she rushes to Twice's office in pain.
                          
After she leaves, the students stare at Sungchan with a new fear. Jihyun steps up to the platform, sending him a satisfied nod and patting his back while the council share looks of approval. She turns to the students and sees one boy raising his hand.
                          
"Yes what is it?"
                          
"He just broke her nose" the student exclaims, causing Jihyun to roll her eyes.
                          
"Yes and what about it?" She asks with a bored expression, mildly annoyed by the stupid statement.
                          
"How can he do that? She's a girl, isn't that rude?" He asks quietly, concern in his eyes.
                          
"I'm a girl, aren't i? if I was holding a knife to your head, wouldn't you try to beat me up if you could? When your life is on the line, or one of your teammates lives, it doesn't matter who you're fighting, you don't hold back. You have to let the emotions leave your head and just act, doing anything else is how people die." She breathes out.
                          
She might be nicer to the students, but they never forget the dark side of her. And whenever they do, it's things like this that remind them of who she is.
                          
"That's enough for now, I'd like to see your skills put to the test, hmm?" She steps off the the side, Jeno handing her her clipboard.
                          
"I'll call your names and you fight, then we'll move on to other tests."
                          
By the end of the day, Jihyun is smiling at the room of students, all of which are slightly bloodied and out of breath. After combat the practiced with knife work, archery, and shooting, leaving the students exhausted.
                          
She walks over to her council, briefly conversing with them before returning to stand over the students.
                          
"Good job today. Now I've got some news." They all perk up at her words, a mix of fear and excitement on their faces.
                          
"First thing: you all did well enough tonight that no one will be eliminated today." Sighs of relief echo around the room.
                          
"Now for the second announcement: I have made my selections for the rest of my ace trainee team." The students look to one another in excitement. Behind her, Jeno's eyes widen, a small frown on his face.
                          
"First off, the highest performing archery student from today, Park Jisung." She stares at the boy, an emotionless expression on her face but Jisung can see the warmth in her eyes as she looks at him.
                          
"Next, the top shooter, Huang Renjun. Also number one in knife work, Zhong Chenle." The students clap for the two boys as they stand to look at Jihyun with smiles on their faces. 
                          
"And lastly, the final member of my ace trainee team, number one in ground combat, Na Jaemin." She looks at her old best friend as he stares at her in astonishment. His heart rate accelerates as he looks at her,  huge smile in his face.
                          
"Good job today everyone, you're free to go. You four, stay here." She says, gesturing to the four standing boys.
                          
She bids farewell to the rest of her mafia members before she and Jeno approach the boys. They don't break their cold exteriors, staring at the four boys with emotionless glares.
                          
"Follow me." Jihyun orders as she and Jeno make their way to the Ace Center. Jihyun and Jeno don't even spare them a glance as they walk through the hallways, the pair remaining completely cold and silent. 
                          
The four boys watch in awe as the wall slides away and they enter the ace center, unable to control the astonished looks on their faces.
                          
Once they reach the main room, Jihyun dismisses Jeno, who heads to his room for a bit. She continues to stare at the boys with an emotionless expression, all of them growing nervous under her cold glare. They begin to shift nervously, anxiety evident in their eyes. She looks to each of them before breaking out into a smile.
                          
"I told you I had a plan, remember?"
                          
———
Bringing the boys back! 
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