And we back

Mark

    "So what exactly is the plan?"

   It had been a while since Hansol had made his way back to tell Jinyoung my message. The sun was now approaching the horizon and I tried my best not to worry. Instead distracting myself with asking Jb every question I could think of,"I said, you will find out." Sighing I absentmindedly paced back and forth, lips moving from side to side. Jb had paused our walk, saying we were close, but had gotten here too early. I didn't understand why we had to wait outside the gates for a certain time, but I wasn't going to ask such a question directly. Instead, I asked for our plan, the main goal, and why the hell the castle was chosen,"Yeah I know you said that, I just think knowing the answer would help me mentally prepare myself." I couldn't tell if I was stalling for Jinyoung to appear, or if I really wanted to know the answer.

  Jb rolled his eyes at me, leaning against a random tree as if my sentence had exhausted him,"I'm not telling you what your mission, or whatever the word is, is. If I did, it would be easier to accomplish. I don't like helping the opposing team." My bottom lip popped out at him mockingly,"How is that fair?" I tended to get more childish, and less sane, when I felt anxious. The action seemed to have bothered him, as Jb looked away without answering. Raising an eyebrow I turned away from him, going to sit beside someone and maybe create a conversation. That was when I realized I didn't even know the names of the people in front of me. All this time I had mostly stuck to my little group of bandits, maybe I should have thought of strength in numbers.

Spinning on my heel I was slightly creeped out to see Jb had turned his eyes back to me, not flinching when I caught his gaze. A small smirk appeared on his face, practically boasting that he had know all along I would try to ask another question,"Ugh...Why the castle? Of all the places in the kingdom I'm sure there is somewhere, anywhere, more convenient and, you know, better." My hands went to lace themselves together behind my back, a nervous and bored habit. Jb's head tilted, maybe I finally asked a good question,"I have some old things to settle, in the castle." I let out a hum,"If they are old things, why didn't you settle them earlier?"

Jb gave me a glare, obviously not pleased with my question,"And here I thought answering your first question would get you to stop talking." I shrugged my shoulders helplessly,"I'm a talkative person." He scoffed,"Talkative maybe, nosy, absolutely." Pushing off the tree he came to stand in front of me,"Look Mark, our bet was that I tell you what you have to do, and you have to complete it in order to win correct?" I nodded with a raised eyebrow as he continued,"Let's remember that I really have nothing to lose if you do complete it, which means I can call the whole thing off whenever I want. I suggest you stop asking questions and wait for my signal, if you know what's good for you."

  Thinking that he had outsmarted me, Jb moved to walk past me. Making a doubtful sound I grabbed onto his wrist. Jb quickly used his other hand to wrap around my arm and move it to a painful position behind my back,"Remember your place!" Instead of feeling intimidated, which Jb would want, I laughed off the situation and slowly slipped out of his grip,"You know, for a leader, your words are not very thought out." I spoke while rotating my arm, making the slight pain disappear,"If I accomplish the mission, we take a revote for a leader. Not everyone likes abusive authority." Spreading my arms out in a 'what can you do' gesture, I looked around to the other members of the rage who were now watching attentively.

When his lips and eyebrows moved downward with an angry expression, a sudden idea came to mind,"Anger issues too Jb? The list just gets longer and longer." Jb took a step towards me as I bounced from foot to foot happily. He began breathing harder,"Is Jb getting mad at me?" I tilted my head, clicking my tongue mockingly. Moving my body a bit forward I playfully pushed his shoulder,"So angry looking. Smile Jb, unless you can't be happy. Can you be happy?" Jb's jaw clenched and I could tell he was trying his best to control the many emotions going through his head. One more word, and he'll break.

  "I bet you can't be happy because the only happiness in your life left you. Your madness made him run away too, and it's all your fault-" A deep, angry, cry escaped from Jb's lips as he recklessly reached his arms out in a lunge. Sloppily going to my neck with no strategy or reasoning. Carelessly stepping to the side I let my hand take place on his back as he passed, pushing hard causing him to fall onto the ground,"But Youngjae wasn't the first person to hurt you. Of course not. Someone else did, when you were young-" Going into a crouch position I patted his head,"Am I right, bandit leader? This is a revenge rage." I couldn't help but feel some sort of happiness or pride from having the person who was always a step ahead, take a step back. But it vanished when I realized even if I made him step back, he still had several more steps to take backwards before we were equal.

Jb wasn't in his right mind as he struggled against me, a tactic Jinyoung had taught me would never work. The more you struggle, the weaker you become, and the less likely you are to escape when given the proper chance,"It is not revenge, its justice! They deserve it, everything they are about to get." Now I was beginning to see a reaction. Something I learned over time living as a bandit, was that none of them were too good at keeping secrets when they are angry. Jb was in a way the king of anger management problems. He acts without thinking, speaks without thinking. If I can get him mad enough to tell me what my mission is, or what the hell we are doing at the castle, I get the advantage. Now people might be thinking why I need an advantage at all. It's very simple, Jb can't be trusted. He doesn't have sides that are not his. People that don't believe in him. So I should always be ready for him to turn on me.

"They deserve what?" Jb went limp under my grip, panting. The end of his struggling could only mean one thing. Oh shi- Even my thought was cut off when Jb used the heel of his foot to dig into my exposed thigh. The slight pain was enough to get my grip loosened, and he took the chance to turn full circle. My hands were forced to let go before getting crushed under his weight. Grabbing the collar of my shirt he pulled my body down beside him before rolling on top of me to hold me down,"Stop trying to get into my head Mark!" Getting off of me with a tired and angry hum, so deep I practically felt his voice vibrating from my place on the ground,"Who cares about the time anymore. We are heading to the castle now, and you will all stay silent in wait for your orders. Understand?"

  Everyone nodded as we began heading out. The silver gates of the castle shining in the distance, still not as far as I needed them to be.

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OKAY IM REALLY UPSET WITH THIS UPDATE CAUSE ITS SO SHORT

so I decided next weeks update will be really long, hope that makes up for it.

How is everyone doing? I have a project due tomorrow or I would have definitely had more time to write a longer update! <3 thank you all so much for almost 5k already 😢😘😊