𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐒 ˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳ 𝐧𝐜𝐭 𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦 - 𝐡𝐮𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐠𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐮

⇛ 𝐂𝐇. 𝟒𝟏

the next day was the opening ceremony and security had become a lot stricter so jihyun hadn't been able to meet the others beforehand. they knew about sneaking out during the training for their first game and taeyong got in trouble for it then. it couldn't happen again.

jungwoo had dressed jihyun in clothes similar to her first opening ceremony, with electric sparks surrounding her when she pressed a button. her dress was navy blue and flared but simple. her makeup was the more extravagant part of her. lots of blues and glitter.

when she entered the stables, she immediately began looking around for her friends. her eyes landed on jeno not too far from her chariot and her face lit up. she moved forwards about to run towards him, but felt a hand grab her elbow and pull her back.

"it's time." doyoung said, nudging her to get onto the chariot.

"but we just got here and i didn't get to speak to—"

"just trust me. you can speak after."

"fine..." she mumbled as the chariot jolted forwards and she pressed the button to trigger the electricity. "it's strange being on this with you. you're meant to be the mentor waiting in these stables for me to return. this wasn't meant to happen."

"it's going to be alright." he whispered, taking ahold of her hand as the chariot began moving down the path, past thousands of people, to the centre where president snow was.

they rounded the centre, paused in front of snow as he said his speech and then before they knew it, they were back in the stables. it seemed quicker than last year or maybe it was because jihyun didn't try to exhaust herself by faking smiles. she stayed neutral and expressionless.

doyoung had disappeared to find hana, but jihyun stayed on the chariot, petting the horses in front of her. she felt most comfortable with them and wasn't planning to leave any time soon until she heard a voice call out to her.

"foxy."

"jaemin." she muttered, turning to look at him. a wave emotions hit her, making her freeze in place.

"need help getting down from there?" he asked, with a subtle smirk. he held his hand out as jihyun stared at his face, her lips parted.

she reached her hand out but instead of taking his, she wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling herself to him in a hug. her feet left the chariot, leaving her clinging to his neck, him holding her in a hug.

"i missed you."

"i missed you more." he said, burying his head in the crook of her neck

"no, me more." she challenged.

"it's definitely me more but i'm not going to fight you on this so i'll let you pretend it's you." he said, pulling away and letting her feet land on the floor. she quickly drew him back in for another hug.

"just a moment longer." she hummed.

"oi. what's up with you, foxy?" he asked, rubbing the back of her head.

"nothing." she muttered 

"you sure?"

"positive."

"alright. should we find the others?"

jihyun nodded and allowed him to take ahold of her hand and pull her around the stables to find the rest of their friends. they found chenle attacking mark in hugs not too far away and then jaemin joined chenle.

jihyun watched them fondly, waiting for her turn when she felt a presence behind her. as she was about to turn around, a pair of arms wrapped around her waist and a chin was placed on her shoulder. she only knew one person who loved back hugs as much as she did.