Deus Didymus: Rend

Pt2Ch40: JYP

Eunbi eyed the box of rations in her hand. What looked like unsold food from shops and bottles of water filled the crate. She glanced toward Chansung, sighing, "Thank you for bringing this to us."

"I really wish I could do more," Chansung frowned. "But keeping you here is already a lot for us, and if you're found here, Minjun hyung will be in a lot of trouble."

"It's okay. You're doing more than enough for us," Eunbi reassured.

As she finished her sentence, a cloud of mist enveloped Chansung, obscuring him from the rest of the world. When the mist dispersed, the man disappeared, prompting Eunbi to slip away from their meeting spot. She strained her ears for prying eyes, promptly entering the cellar she called home.

Inside, dirt and mold covered the long unused room. A pungent must filled the air, and the only source of light came from sunlight that crept through a barred window. Seven cots lined the room, some closer than others.

One by one, Eunbi distributed the rations to her peers. Jia, Yves, Hyunjin, and Gown each thanked Eunbi, receiving a smile from the woman. When it came time for Eunbi to give Il his portions, he took them awkwardly, giving Eunbi a slight now before turning away.

Eunbi started toward the door connected to the cellar, opening it to reveal Yena training by her lonesome. "Eat up. You look like you've lost weight."

"I can't help it, Unnie," Yena frowned. She propped herself against a wall with her rations in hand, "We're not getting much food in the first place..."

"You should ease up on the training instead. You're spending too much energy," Eunbi insisted.

"And sit on my butt? How can I do that when we're supposed to be preparing to take back our country?" Yena questioned.

Eunbi sighed. She glanced toward the other room. Despite blocking their conversation from reaching the other room, she feared Jia reading Yena's lips. She was sure the girl had realized by now, but Eunbi purposely gave Jia a disproportionate amount of food compared to the others. Being eleven, Jia still had growing to do compared to the others.

"It's okay to train, but you also need to take care of yourself. If you're working yourself to the bone, what good are you going to be on the battlefield tired?" Eunbi scolded.

Yena ruffled her hair in irritation, "I'm being left in the dust, Unnie! I can't help feeling like this! You don't understand because you're strong."

"I do understand. I'm always thinking about you guys and your growth, so that's why I know how hard it is," Eunbi said. "You can't compare yourself to monsters like Minho and Chaewon. They have good alleles that let them do more--that's the nature of this world. Your worth in the military is based on how good of an allele you have."

"So you're telling me to give up," Yena pouted.

"I'm telling you not to push yourself too hard," Eunbi corrected. "You're already in the D-Rank. You can take on large groups of normal people and that's enough."

"We're not against normal people, Unnie," Yena mumbled. "Everyone's training hard, and I can't be the one to slack again."

Eunbi pinched her nose, "You may have wings, but you're flying close to the sun. There are going to be things you can't do, and things you can. What's important is that you know where to stop."

Yena stood on her feet. She brushed the dirt off her pants with a heavy sigh. "If I'm flying close to the sun, then I'll just have to become fireproof."

Yena centered herself on the make-shift training dummy she made from sacks of sand and whatever she could find around. Just by watching her, Eunbi knew her fundamentals were stable--that was a necessity to graduate from the academy. But it only underlined the cruelty of her physical training.