𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐒 ˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳ 𝐧𝐜𝐭 𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦 - 𝐡𝐮𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐠𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐮

⇛ 𝐂𝐇. 𝟖

as jihyun descended the stairs, no longer feeling the intense stares from hundreds of people, her legs nearly gave way. looking ahead, she saw the other tributes and composed herself, brushing her hair from her face.

"dear, you did amazing." hana said, wrapping a comforting arm around her shoulder.

"i don't feel amazing though." she whispered as they passed the tributes waiting for their turn.

"that was quite the performance out there, foxy. you just may have stolen jisung's spot as the capitol's favourite." jaemin said as she passed him.

she only sent him a raised eyebrow look then shook her head, her eyes landing on mark. she broke away from hana and shuffled closer to him.

"can you sneak out of your apartment at night?"

"i can try." he whispered.

"i'll see you then."

she fell back into step with hana, exiting the area and nodding to donghyuck on the way. she returned to her apartment to watch the rest of the interviews on the tv.

surprisingly, jaemin's interview went completely different to how she expected. she thought he'd be a flirt and at times he was, but mostly he was quiet and caeser was carrying the conversation. he looked uncomfortable by the amount of attention on him, but he did talk about his strength, winning over the audience. they were also adoring his cheeky smile.

mark was close to becoming another favourite of the capitol. he brought up his best friend who he volunteered for mentioning, bittersweetly, how important family and friends were to him. he was a sweet boy and they could all see it. but hidden underneath that, he was tough and smart. he was slowly building up his persona. he knew what he was doing. he was an ace.

donghyuck was playful. he was constantly making jokes throughout his interview and making the audience laugh. it was all an act, of course. he was a variety genius. however, the mood took a turn when caeser brought up his younger brother who he had volunteered for. in a second, anger had appeared on his face. his nostrils flared and his fists clenched, but he managed to collect himself. he leant back in his seat, took a deep breath, smiled, and then spoke softly about his siblings.

with that, the interviews had concluded and jihyun was slowly drifting off into sleep and within a few minutes, she was knocked out.

♆

when jihyun next awoke, she was confused. she sat up straight, frantically looking around. she was in her bed and it was dark outside. this was her last night before being thrown into the arena and she had planned to meet donghyuck and mark on the ground floor. now she was afraid she had slept for too long and it would be morning soon.

she stumbled out of bed, running to doyoung's room to speak with him, but he wasn't there. she began to panic and he was the only one who could help her. she needed him and wanted to find him.

instead, she ended up outside of hana's door. she knocked on the door and after a few seconds, hana opened it, dressed in a green nightgown and her hair tied into a bun.

"jihyun? what's wrong?" she asked, a consoling tone in her voice rather than an irritated one for being woken up.

"i-i can't find doyoung."

"do you want to come in?"

she pushed open her door further and jihyun entered. she took a seat on her bed, bringing her legs up to her chest to hug. hana took a seat next to her, taking in the actions that made her look vulnerable and small. she frowned at this, the same words running through her head: 'she's just a child.' a child that's going to be thrown to her death in less than twelve hours.