After Yeona and O were finished cleaning up the training room, it was time for Yeona to switch to a different trainer. All of them passed by quickly until finally, it was time for Yeona to train with Q.

When Yeona walked into Q’s training room, Q was shuffling a deck of cards in his hands and throwing them at the target. When he noticed Yeona, he sighed, and grabbed the cards from the target. He then stuffed the cards in his pocket, and said, “I thought you didn’t want to train with me.”

“Believe me, if I thought Mujin would say yes to skipping you for today, I’d ask.” Yeona yawned. “So please, let’s just get this over with. What are we doing?”

“Hand to hand combat.” Q replied, and blew out a puff of smoke. “So get ready.”

Yeona pulled up her sleeves and stepped back for some distance, then faced Q. “Ready,” she said.

Q flipped a coin. Once the coin hit the ground, Yeona raced forward, low to the ground, planning to kick Q’s feet out from under him. Before she could blink, she was on the ground, Q pinning her with one hand. Yeona’s eyes flashed angrily, just when she was about to try to punch him, she heard Hades whisper to her.

{Want me to take over?}

'No, I only need a bit of your power.'

{Sure. I hate this guy.}

Slowly, almost robotically, Yeona took off her ring, and a slight transformation occurred. Her eyes turned red, and her scythe appeared. Using its handle, Yeona pushed Q off of her.

Q jumped back, and a single card fell from his pocket and stood on the ground. It was the Joker card.

Name Judge Q, Borrowed Power Joker

Joker appeared with a leer on his face, and a scythe appeared in Q’s hand too.

Hades appeared in Yeona’s shadow, his smirk wide. “Let’s do this!”

Yeona lunged at Q, her scythe outstretched. Then before she got close enough, she froze.

'Huh?'

Sweat dripped down her face, and her heart was beating loudly in her ears.

Thump.

Thump.

Thump.

Q looked as shocked as Yeona felt.

Yeona dropped to her knees, panting. “What’s going on, Hades?!”

I don’t know! The only thing I can think of is using an Absolute Command, then trying to limit yourself to only a bit of power! Put your ring on, now! Or we’ll both die!

Yeona grabbed her ring, but then she felt a bolt of pain that felt like she was being sliced up from the inside. She started coughing up a large amount of blood, and went onto both her hands and knees, shuddering. She cried out.

“Yeona!” Q ran over to her, his scythe and Joker disappearing. He quickly slid the ring onto Yeona’s finger. Hades and Yeona’s scythe disappeared. “What’s wrong?!”

Yeona coughed out another stream of blood. “I...don’t know.”

Q stood up. “I’ll go get Mujin Park, so he could bring the nurses to heal you.”

Yeona grabbed the edge of Q’s clothes. “No….stay. Couldn’t you call him?” Her eyes were filled with tears, then she started coughing blood.

Q’s eyes widened. Quickly, he dialed Mujin’s number. “Sir, Yeona needs the nurses, fast.”

Mujin’s voice came through the phone. “What-what happened?”

“Sir! Now! I’ll explain later!” Q yelled into the phone, panicked.

“Ok…” Mujin, voice anxious now, said something to someone in the background. “We’re on our way. Get her to hold on until then.”

“Yes.” Q hung up, then sat down next to Yeona, who was still occasionally coughing out blood.

“I-it feels like s-something’s ripping me apart…...from the inside.” Yeona managed to get out.

“You’ll have to tell me everything once you’re better, okay? For now, focus on staying awake. We can’t lose you.” Q made Yeona lean against the wall.

“.....” They both sat in silence.

Then, Yeona started coughing even harder, coughing up larger amounts of blood. She started convulsing from the force of it and passed out.

“YEONA!” Q shouted, putting a hand on Yeona’s back. Just then, Mujin, the other judges, and the nurses arrived with nanomachine equipment and ran over to the two. Gently, one of the nurses laid Yeona down on a mat, and attached machines to her to start healing. Tears ran down Yeona’s face as she coughed.

“What happened?” Judge P asked.

“I…..I don’t know myself. We were fighting, and I pinned her down. Then, she took off her ring, and did a partial transformation. I ended up letting go, and she jumped back. Yeona started lunging towards me with her scythe, and she just....froze. After a few seconds, she fell down to her hands and knees and started coughing blood.” Q explained, shaken. He took out a cigarette, and lit it. He put it in his mouth.

After a few minutes, Yeona’s eyes blinked open and she sat up. “Woah.” She swayed from dizziness, and would’ve fell over if one of the nurses hadn’t caught her.

“You probably are dizzy from the blood loss, so you should take it easy.” Mujin said. “What happened?”

“So....when I was using partial transformation, and was going to attack Q, my body just suddenly couldn’t move. My heart was beating loudly, and I felt so hot. Then, I fell over and started coughing blood. It was like something was ripping me apart from the inside.” Yeona put a hand to her chest.

“Was it because of your borrowed power?” Mujin asked.

Yeona nodded. “I.....think so. When I asked him, Hades said it was because I gave him an Absolute Command, then shortly after, I had to hold myself back from using his full power or else he’d possess me.”

“What’s an ‘Absolute Command’?” asked Judge R.

“It’s a command I can sometimes do that makes Hades obey me, and if he tries to disobey, it has severe consequences for him.” Yeona replied. “I can’t do it often though.”

“How are you feeling right now?” the black-haired nurse asked.

“Dizzy, of course. But, it’s a bit hot. And a bit hard to breathe. Is it just me?” Yeona tugged on her collar, sweating.

'She has a fever....' Q thought.

“Yeona, you’re staying at the infirmary today.” Mujin said firmly.

“B-but,” Yeona spluttered. “What about my brother?! And I told Seungtae I was going to visit him!”

“Text your friends and your brother to let them know.” Mujin replied. “Now come on.” They all went to the infirmary.

.

.

.

Yeona leaned against the wall while sitting on the cot, and texted the people she needed to text.

-Yeona_Jin, SeungtaeWoo1, Daewi^Han group chat-

[Yeona_Jin is online]:

YJ: @SeungtaeWoo1 @Daewi^Han I can’t come to the hospital today.

[Daewi^Han and SeungtaeWoo1 are online]:

DH: Why?

SW: What happened?

YJ: I got hurt during training & they’re making me stay @ the infirmary

DH: I’ll visit u

SW: yea, I’ll survive

YJ: No, u can visit Seungtae like u usually do

DH: I’m on my way.

[Daewi^Han is offline]

YJ: Daewi-

Ugh....

SW: It’s fine Yeona.

He’s worried about u.

YJ: Ur way sicker than I am

U deserve him visiting u

Not me.

SW: Yeona.

YJ: What?

SW: Ur our friend.

Why wouldn’t either of us visit u when ur sick?

I’d visit if I wasn’t in a hospital myself

YJ: Thx

Anyway, I gtg. Need to text my brother about where I am 2

SW: k, see u. Hope u feel better

YJ: Likewise, Seungtae.

[SeungtaeWoo1 is offline]

Yeona smiled at her phone, then switched to her chat with Mori.

YJ: Hey Mori

I can’t come home today

[MoriJin is online]:

MJ: Why?

Is it ur friend again?

YJ: No, it’s me.

I got sick

so they’re making sure I’m okay before I go home 2morrow

MJ: K, do u want me 2 come?

YJ: No it’s fine.

Daewi’s coming.

Plus I’m sure u want to train

MJ: I do, but....

U sure ur okay?

YJ: Of course.

See u tomorrow

MJ: See u

[MoriJin and Yeona_Jin are offline]

Yeona turned off her phone, then laid down in bed with a sigh, sweat pouring down her face. She felt hot and it was hard to breathe. She turned onto her side, facing the wall.

'Now I’m freezing instead of hot.' Yeona pulled the blanket over her more. But with the blanket, she started feeling hot again, so she pushed it off. But she was then freezing again. So she put the blanket on herself again, but this time added the ice pack on her forehead that the brown haired nurse had left for her in case she wanted it. Yeona then pulled the sleeping mask she always wore, identical to Mori’s, over her eyes, and relaxed, still shivering and sweating.

.

.

.

Daewi ran into the building, asking everyone in sight where Yeona was. Finally, a red haired man with a scar over one eye told him where she was. Daewi ran up the stairs and knocked on the door.

.

.

.

When Yeona heard the knock on the door, she put the sleeping mask on her forehead, behind the icepack, and said, “Come in.”

The door opened, and in came Daewi, holding a bag filled with stuff, what it was, Yeona didn’t know.

“Hey Yeona. How’re you feeling?” Daewi asked, a slightly anxious look on his face. He sat down on the chair next to the cot.

“Hot....cold....and it’s kinda hard to breathe. A bit dizzy too.” Yeona smiled at him.

“You didn’t say it was this bad.” Daewi furrowed his brow.

“I didn’t want you to get worried and come. It’s not really that bad.” Yeona laughed, but it quickly turned into a cough and an unintentional whimper of pain.

“Yeona....” Daewi sighed. “I know there’s something you’re not telling me, and I won’t ask. But we need to focus on you getting better. That starts with eating.”

“I’m not hungry.” Yeona mumbled.

“But you won’t get better if you don’t eat. Didn’t you tell Seungtae the same thing?”

“The boy in question vomited right after you left.” Yeona hid her face.

“Yeona, I want to help you. Stop hiding and eat.” Daewi took out a container of soup and opened it. He placed it and a spoon on Yeona’s lap.

“Come on.”

“Okay……” Yeona said reluctantly. “I’m going to need help sitting up though. I get dizzy when trying to get up.” She uncovered her face.

Daewi nodded, and helped her put a pillow against the wall and lean against it. Yeona took a spoonful of soup and blew on it to cool down. She took a sip.

“You made this?” Yeona asked, her face passive.

“Um, yeah.” Daewi nodded. “Is something wrong with it?”

Yeona shook her head. “It tastes amazing!” She gave him a radiant smile. “I feel better already!”

Daewi blushed, but to hide his embarrassment, he grabbed the spoon from Yeona and scooped up another spoonful, then put it in Yeona’s mouth, forcing her to eat it, making them both red. “You can’t get better in one second only.”

Sheepishly, Yeona took the spoon from Daewi and continued eating. Finally, she finished and set the bowl to the side, and laid back down again.

“Hey Daewi? Remember when I was sick in first year?” Yeona asked.

“Yeah, what about it?” Daewi asked.

“You made me soup just like this, and both you and Seungtae visited me. Mori was at school because I hid my sickness from him, and he wasn’t going to be home until late at night because of detention then his part time job. I threw up then collapsed. I would’ve stayed there if the teacher hadn’t told you two to go to my house. I had barely talked to you guys, but I knew you guys the best out of our whole class. So you guys came, and found the door unlocked and me right behind the door and delirious. Seungtae carried me to my bed-”

Daewi interrupted. “Calling it a bed is a bit of a stretch.” He smirked.

“Fine, my sleeping bag! You happy?!” Yeona shot a fake glare at him then laughed, and started coughing. Daewi stood up quickly, but Yeona held out a hand for him to stop. She stopped coughing after a few seconds, wiped a bit of blood from the corner of her mouth, then continued.

“Seungtae carried me to my sleeping bag, then you made chicken soup for me, and helped me eat. You guys stayed and took care of me, and we talked and played video games until my fever went down and you guys had to go home. We exchanged numbers, and you guys have been my best friends since then. I was really happy.” Yeona smiled brightly.

“We’ve been happy too.” Daewi smiled gently. “You’ve taken care of us as well. Remember when I broke my arm, the one I used to write with? You wrote and typed all of my work for me. And when it was Seungtae’s birthday, and his parents were on a business trip, and his sister was at work, so he had nobody to celebrate with except us. But you gathered all of our classmates, even though it was a Saturday, and made a whole birthday party.”

“It was nothing,” Yeona mumbled, but she was smiling. “So...what should we do now?”

“We could continue talking maybe?” Daewi offered.

“If you have to go home, you don’t have to force yourself to stay with me.” Yeona laid a hand across her forehead.

“Stop saying that.” Daewi scowled.

“Huh? What do you mean?” Yeona was confused.

“Saying that I or Seungtae ‘force’ ourselves to be with you. We’re not. When you’re absent, me and Seungtae feel it strongly and then want to see you. We like being with you, it’s fun. So stop, and smile. Please.”

“You’re making me sound like a better person than I actually am....” Yeona sighed.

“You’re greater than I can describe!” Daewi said emphatically. “You’re really kind, and very capable. You’ve taken care of your brother for the longest time, and managed to have money for Seungtae’s bills even while getting money for your rent as well. But...”

“.....” Yeona stared at him, stunned.

“You’re stubborn. You get tunnel vision. You’re too shy. You practically work yourself to death, and forget to eat or sleep. You try to please everyone, and end up getting yourself hurt or sad.” Daewi continued.

Yeona felt like with each word, she was getting stabbed in the heart.

“Although, we love you for all of your faults, all of your greatness too.” Daewi smiled at her as he said this. Yeona turned red, steam escaping from her face.

“Y-yeona, are you okay?!”

Yeona laughed. “Of course.” She was back to normal. “So let’s continue talking!”

Daewi smiled, glad she was okay, and they both talked until Daewi had to go home for the night.