𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐒 ˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳ 𝐧𝐜𝐭 𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦 - 𝐡𝐮𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐠𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐮

⇛ 𝐂𝐇. 𝟕𝟓

jihyun had fallen into a deep sleep. jungwoo had made everyone change into disguises before that. they had arrived at district one and she was still sleeping, as were jaemin and chenle.

she was awoken by someone softly shaking her. groggily, she opened her eyes and looked around to adjust to the light and recall the situation she was in. when she did, she glanced to the side at jeno.

"hey." he whispered with a soft smile.

"jeno...? did we land?"

"yes. you fell asleep for a long time." he replied, brushing her hair out of her face.

"i'm regretting it now. i feel even sleepier." she mumbled. she tried to get up but was tugged back down into her seat by the straps she had forgotten to undo. "oh..."

"silly." jeno laughed and began to unbuckle it for her. jihyun leaned back in her seat and watched him, kneeled on the floor in front of her, slightly struggling to open the straps.

"you got it?" she asked and he looked up at her, his eyes widened and his bottom lip between his teeth. she wasn't sure why but she became flustered and quickly looked away to avoid his gaze.

"got it." he hummed, moving back.

the two joined the rest of the group that were waiting for them. the aircraft had landed in some woodlands area, out of sight from anyone else. jungwoo had assured them he knew his way to the capitol from there.

"this is where i depart from you all." ten said.

"what are you going to do now?" mark asked.

"when it's safe again, i'll fly back to thirteen. i'll probably get an earful from coin, but i believe this was the right thing to do. i believe in you."

"thanks, ten."

"one last thing... coin hid this information from you all and made me swear not to say anything." he said, intriguing everyone. "the people of the capitol have been rioting and showing signs of rebelling. they're taking your side. everything you've been doing has been working."

"i knew it would work... but why did coin hide this from us?" jihyun asked.

"because of fear of this exact scenario, you eight storming into the capitol to take down snow. coin likes to do things her way, which means she may not even want to kill snow. taking control of him might be a better decision for her. we don't know her exact motives but she doesn't like you because you don't follow what she says. she's never had people defy her like this and it scares her... you scare her."

"she wanted to control us too." jisung said.

"we've had enough of that bullshit. no one controls us." jaemin scoffed. "it's like coin is becoming the next snow. at this rate, we'll have to put a stop to her too."

"that we can worry about later." renjun said. "for now, our target is snow. we know the districts are on our side and so are some of the capitol. we will have allies when we enter the capitol but we also have to be aware of enemies and backstabbers."

"allies... didn't think we'd have to use that word again." haechan sighed.

"ten, are you sure it's okay for you to go back? when coin finds out you helped us, there'll be serious repercussions. i'm a bit worried." jeno said.

"nothing i can't handle." he shook his hand at them. "i'll be fine. all you have to worry about is completing what you came here to do. now, go. don't waste any more time."

"wait. one last thing. my family—" jihyun began to say.

"will be absolutely fine. you have my word i'll keep them safe no matter what."