nytis
the voice was quiet but forceful at the same time, stopping the noble. for the second time that day, people turned their heads to face the person who stepped out of the crowd. walking in with confidence in each step, soonyoung stopped in front of the noble.
"another one of you rats." the man scoffed. "go scurry back to where you came from."
unbothered, soonyoung smiled with amusement. "picking on people?"
"what about it?" the noble gruffed. "you can't do anything to stop me."
"hmm..." soonyoung tilted his head and smiled. "actually i can." the boy chuckled. "i can tell how amazing your sword skills are after seeing you knocking down stalls and challenging people who haven't ever held a sword." he said sarcastically.
jihoon looked at the two from the ground. the last thing he wanted to do was to get someone else involved in this mess. slowly standing up he looked at soonyoung, "just get out of here, i don't need more people getting wrapped in this."
soonyoung didn't even spare him a glance and continued to face the noble.
"since you boast so much, i'm sure you'll have no problem beating a lowly peasant like me." the air suddenly turned cold, sending shivers down jihoon's spine. something changed with soonyoung. although the boy still had his smile on, his eyes said a different story.
for the first time, his eyes weren't warm and gentle like jihoon was used to. they were sharp and cold piercing right into the noble's own. he must have felt the change too, the man unconsciously took a step back and gripped his sword tighter.
"hey now... don't be scared!" soonyoung laughed cheerfully, "i'm nothing but a rat."
growling, the noble stepped forward again. "you think i'm scared? you think too highly of yourself."
humming, soonyoung paced around near the fallen stall and looked at the swords on the ground. in the end he finally decided on which to take. everyone gaped as they watched soonyoung pick up a stick of wood from the stall. "this'll do just fine." he said to himself, nodding.
"you're giving me a handicap?" the noble was absolutely furious. but then, his face turned into an ugly smile. "underestimating me? you'll regret your choice once you're on the ground bloody and beaten."
soonyoung simply smiled, "who's underestimating who? you'd better fight well." he stood across from the man and twirled the stick. "after all, it would be quite an embarrassment if you lost to a peasant with a wooden stick." and there was those cold eyes of his again.
the noble yelled out some sort of battle cry and charged at soonyoung swinging his sword down like he did with jihoon. but unlike jihoon, soonyoung blocked and managed to push back without falling or even making a face.
"that was a little pathetic," he teased, enraging the noble even more.
and that's how the battle went on. soonyoung fueling the other man with rage and then easily dodging and blocking his blows. at this point, the noble was panting and out of breath while soonyoung... well soonyoung looked how he looked in the beginning, still with that amused smile on his face, not out of breath, not even breaking a sweat."
