It was the day of the competitions and Luhan was feeling very nervous. You had helped him train for the past week and he was confident that he had become a lot faster, but he didn’t know if he was confident with his combat skills. Although you had taught him many things like how to block, throw and strike, he found that he couldn’t remember how to initiate them all in the heat of the moment. Luhan wished that you could be there with him, holding his hand while he was running and whispering adventures in his ear. He was frustrated that he couldn’t show any affection towards you in public because he was meant to be marrying Miyung. If anyone saw you two holding hands or talking too much, they’d surely get suspicious. That was why Luhan had to take you far away from the castle on your little outings, so you didn’t get caught. The only person who knew about these little trips, was Hyun Shik. He was a long time, loyal friend to Luhan and helped him a lot when the pressure got too high. He had helped cover for you when you went to the meadow, he made sure to try and ask you to take Luhan his breakfast and he also helped make the sandwiches for your picnic in the woods. Luhan wanted to prove to everyone that he was a strong Prince, worthy of being the King and he also wanted to make you proud of all the training you had given him.

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You wanted so badly to be competing in these competitions. You couldn’t deny it. This was what you were designed for, the thrill of running and combat. You didn’t want to enter because you wanted to win, you just wanted to have some fun and act like an assassin again since you couldn’t carry out your mission properly. You didn’t have many jobs to do today because all the castle’s attention was focused on the setting up of the competitions. You finished up all your jobs as quickly as you could and dashed back to your room. You had decided to compete. Since Luhan had complained that you didn’t have enough clothes, he had gotten Bo Yun to make you all sorts of dark clothing that all fit perfectly. You put some on and made sure to wear a cloak that concealed your face so you couldn’t be seen and you tied your hair back into a tight bun, just like you used to do when you were on a mission.  You nodded to your reflection and when you were sure you were completely disguised, you made your way to the meadow, where the running competition was to be held.

The competition’s security was laughable and you signed up easily under a fake name. There was a huge tent set up towards the left side of the meadow where all the participants were getting themselves ready for the race. You made your way towards it and had a good look at the competition. There was a group of big, burly men with shaved heads wearing white shirts and black pants, a smaller group of sly-looking men with tight fitting black garments and then you saw Luhan sitting on a chair in the corner, drinking a glass of water. You decided to stay as far away from him as possible since he would probably easily be able to recognise your voice.  You loitered around, listening in to people’s conversations while you waited for the competition to begin.

_____

Luhan was sitting nervously, waiting for the race to start when he noticed a hooded figure enter the tent. Oh great, he thought, more competition. The person looked strangely familiar, but he couldn’t see their face properly due to the hood that was draped over their eyes.

“Luhan, oppa!”  Miyung cried running over to Luhan. What the heck is she doing here? He thought. He wished it was you coming to see him, not her.

“I came to wish you good luck, silly” she teased, his arm.

You stood from the other side of the tent, glaring. You suddenly felt very overprotective and jealous of Miyung throwing herself all over Luhan like that and a small rage began to build up inside you. You shook your head, he wasn’t yours and you weren’t actually together. Stop acting so silly, you scolded yourself.

“Oh you got so strong, oppa” she said, squeezing his arm slightly. He shook her off and rubbed the back of his neck, embarrassed. He didn’t like it when Miyung touched him; it felt cold and made him shiver. He preferred it when you touched him, it made him feel all warm and tingly inside and he always had butterflies fluttering frantically around his stomach whenever he came close to you.

“Everyone, take your places” a loud voice boomed inside the tent. Luhan sighed in relief that he didn’t have to spend any more time with Miyung.

“I’ll see you later, in your room, oppa” she said seductively, flipping her hair and leaving the tent. One of the men whistled at Luhan after Miyung’s last comment and his cheeks turned tomato red. Your fists were balled and you were struggling to keep your anger inside so you left the tent and went to your lane, number 5, ready to begin the race. Luhan was number one and took his place, warming up a little on the spot.  You wanted to try and help him win since you knew how much it meant to him.

“On your mark!”

You crouched down behind the line.

“Get set!”

You got ready to push off.

“GO!”

You immediately shot off and before you knew it, you were already in front of everyone else. Luhan was quite close behind you. You had to keep your head down so your hood didn’t fly off; however, you still imagined that the men behind you were chasing you after you had just stolen their gold, not that they were running the same race as you. The race entailed that you do 500 meters, which was no problem for you, but you didn’t know how long Luhan could hold out since you hadn’t really tested his endurance. You began to slow a bit to allow Luhan to get ahead of you in the last 100 meters. You noticed that he was running with a smile on his face and you hoped that he was imagining some adventure like you had been.

Luhan finished first place, and you managed to slow yourself down enough so that you got third, not to draw attention to yourself. You all shook hands afterwards and went back to the tent for a little rest before the combat competition began.  Luhan had a huge smile on his face and you couldn’t help but smile under your disguise too.

The combat competition was starting and your first opponent was the same guy that whistled to Luhan earlier on. The horn sounded, signalling your battle to commence. He lunged forward to grab you and take you down but you grabbed his arm, kicked him in the knee and kneed him in the gut, sending him to the floor. He groaned, but stood back up. He clicked his neck and knuckles and growled at you. You laughed quietly which only angered him more and he came at you again. He was like an angry bull and every move he made was predictable. You grabbed his arm again and twisted it awkwardly making him cry out in pain. He dropped to his knees and you elbowed him in the back sending him sprawling out on the floor, face down. You sat with your knees on the broad of his back and knelt down by his face.

“Do you give up?” you whispered, in the deepest voice you could muster. He groaned what you took as a ‘yes’ and stood up. He conceded defeat and you left the first round victorious. 

Sorry it's a little shorter, I wanted to include the rest of the competition in the next chapter since Luhan and Mina will be fighting, oooh^^