Hunger | A Jikook Hunger Games AU

̶̶̶̶ «̶ ̶̶̶ ̶ «̶ ̶̶̶ Chapter Thirteen ̶ ̶ ̶»̶ ̶̶̶ ̶ »̶ ̶̶̶

Another day passed. Two more deaths—two boys from District 4. It was a much-needed day to recover from the trauma Jimin had faced the day before. Once again, in less than a week, he was confronted with death head-on.

And he survived to tell the tale...but it was much harder than Jimin ever would have expected it to be. He was in an arena that he will never come out of, of course he knew it would be bad...but he at least hoped he'd be able to protect Jungkook from the worst of it.

Instead he showed him twice already how easy it was to get caught.

He must stop careers from dying on top of him.

All joking aside, it was awful letting Jungkook almost die. There was nothing he could do when it was happening. He knows it was his life being threatened first, and he was Caspian's main target, but Jungkook would have died right after him. And Jimin would have been dead and helpless.

He tried to divert Caspian's attention by taunting him, so he would focus solely on Jimin. That way, perhaps if he was lucky, Jungkook could get free after he died. That was why he provoked the deranged career—that, and his fight or flight kicked into full gear. So Caspian wouldn't feel a sense of accomplishment and move onto the other District 10 boy right after. But none of that mattered. He got to yell at Caspian without much consequence...just a bit of trauma, that was all.

Jungkook was too kind to him. After Jimin's greatest failure yet, Jungkook was still so gentle, so encouraging. Jimin didn't know how Jungkook managed to keep his spirits up so high, at least externally. Jimin seemed to wear all his negative emotions on his sleeve.

But Jungkook felt guilty too. Jimin wishes he didn't. Jimin didn't blame him for any of it—he was the older one, he was Caspian's target, he had failed Jungkook. But...he supposes Jungkook felt the same way. He knows how hard Jungkook tried to get out of the grasp of the two District 2 tributes. He knows Jungkook probably felt humiliated for failing.

Jimin just wanted him to be okay.

Jungkook has been more touchy since the incident. He holds Jimin's hands, pecks his cheek. When they rest, he buries his nose in Jimin's hair. Jimin knows he probably smells terrible—Jungkook does too—but he liked the little touches. It helped him feel grounded. It reminds him that Jungkook is still there.

Jimin wasn't so talkative anymore...he had little to say. There was nothing to plan, nothing to tell Jungkook about...but so much to think about. When Jungkook tried to talk to him, he'd answer quickly, without much room to expand the conversation. He just wasn't in the mood to speak. There was so much on his mind.

His wounds have scabbed over. They bled a lot at first, but the pair managed to stop it. The cuts were still very much visible though, especially the one on Jimin's face. But he was able to take most of the bandages off. The wounds still hurt, but Jimin was okay. He survived, and will continue to survive. There would be no more close calls.

"Mimmie, you need to promise me something," Jungkook says as they sit near sunhigh. He breaks Jimin out of his thoughts. His mind had been clouded recently, overthinking everything.

"What?"

"You...You can't leave me while you're still alive," Jungkook's voice was firm, the words bringing shock to the older.

"Of course I won't. How could you even say that!?" Jimin was offended the man he was closest to would even think such a thing.

"No, no you misunderstood me," Jungkook shakes his head. "I didn't mean physically. I know while the two of us are alive you won't leave my side for a second. I...I mean mentally. Jimin, half the time I don't even know if you're okay. Not like okay in the general sense, but mentally here. You just seem to be so lost in though, I feel like I'm losing you. I know we've already gone through a lot, and it's scary, and sometimes it's hard to focus, but I need you to be here."