𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐒 ˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳ 𝐧𝐜𝐭 𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦 - 𝐡𝐮𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐠𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐮

⇛ 𝐂𝐇. 𝟗𝟒

it was the weekend and jihyun had been out all day with some people she had met through work. she hadn't told the seven where she was going, just that she'd be out for a bit. they were also going to do the same and some of them had work anyway. it was nice to spend time with other people. jihyun didn't have many female friends growing up. she only considered her sisters and cousins her only close friends so it was refreshing meeting new people.

"so, jihyun, you came from panem, right?" one of the girls, ari, asked.

when jihyun was first introduced to the girl, she froze, her heart beating faster than usual. she had heard ara instead and an overwhelming sense of dread filled her. she missed ara a lot. they weren't friends for long but jihyun knew if she was still alive they could've been close friends.

"yeah, yeah i did." she replied, biting into the chocolate muffin she had bought.

"and you came with those boys? they're cute." another girl, olive, asked.

"yeah..."

jihyun suddenly felt very uncomfortable with the topic of discussion. she was expecting them to ask about what it was like in panem, not about the boys.

"could you set me up with one of them? pretty please?" olive asked.

jihyun's eyes widened and she placed her muffin down on the table. she wasn't exactly sure how to reply to that. part of her was still afraid to say aloud what their relationship was in fear of people finding her weird. she loved them, of course, and she felt guilty for still being awkward about the relationship but years of holding back her emotions and putting on a facade to please others had done damage. but she was also annoyed and felt the need to snap at the girl and make it very clear that they wouldn't be interested in her.

"um... i can't do that." was all she said, struggling to find the right words.

"why not?"

"oi. stop it. they're taken." ari interrupted, noticing she was uncomfortable. jihyun looked up at her, thankful. "don't mind olive. she's just desperate for a boyfriend."

"yeah, sorry!" olive bowed her head. "i mean no harm. i'll back off."

jihyun smiled at that and shook her head. she had let her worries get the best of her when she could've easily given a straight forward answer without any judgment. the girls were actually nice people and she hoped they could become closer.

"it's fine. how about we do some shopping?"

later that evening, jihyun returned home. she wasn't expecting anyone to be back yet but she could hear someone walking around in the kitchen.

"ji, is that you?" it was haechan's voice.

"yeah, it's me." she placed her bags by the stairs to take up later and made her way into the kitchen.

"i was just looking for snacks—" haechan cut himself off as he dropped the mug that was in his hand. "holy shit."

he stood in place, not acknowledging that the mug had smashed on the floor and that jihyun was panicking as she stared at the mess and then back at him, waving her fingers in front of his face. he was in a daze, staring at her hair that was shorter than when she left the house. her silky orange hair was cut up to her shoulders.

"you okay?" she asked and he finally snapped out of his trance.

"you cut your hair."

"you dropped your mug because i cut my hair?" she asked, amusingly as she walked over to him.

"why did you cut it?"

"i thought it was time for a change." she said, hoisting herself up onto the kitchen counter. "i love my long hair and i thought i'd never want to cut my hair again after what happened in the arena. but i thought about it even more and i don't want to let that incident hold me back for the rest of my life. so i got it cut... professionally this time."