uniq; this is a war
Title : This Is a War
Fandom : UNIQ
Pairing : yixuan/sungjoo
Length : 5905 words
Summary : Hunger Games!AU. There can be only one winner in Hunger Games. Sungjoo and Yixuan are left on the game.
Warning : Description of war, blood, character death, suicide?
this is a war
The Game is nearing its end, but it feels just like the start.
Sungjoo runs, trying to widen the gap between him and someone from District 2 which he can’t recall the name. It’s only 5 of them now - Sungjoo, another tribute from his district; Zhou Yixuan, this District 2 jerk, and Sungjoo doesn’t even know the rest. He’s sure there are five of them because he keeps counting the cannon sound, a sign when someone has died.
He’s tired. Really, but if he doesn’t want to kill, the only option he has is running away, hiding. Sungjoo has been trying not to kill anyone when it isn’t necessary, and actually it was a brilliant strategy. He could avoid physical fight as much as possible, keeping his body intact for three-quarter period of the game. But seems like the strategy doesn’t work with this brutal person from District 2, a district where life and death matter is like killing a mosquito - easy and inconsequential. They have an abnormal passion to kill which makes them the scariest monster in the arena.
And to make everything perfect, the situation chooses not to be on the same side with him. Sungjoo stumbles on a huge root under him, falls forward. The sharp thing scratches his face, leaving a long, bleeding wound. One of Sungjoo’s feet trapped between the sprawled radixes, clamps him firmly he can’t move. The sound of District 2’s footsteps is getting closer…
“Shit,” Sungjoo curses under his breath when his opponent appears, a devilish smile plastered on his face.
“Very unfortunate, isn’t it, Twelve?” he asks, very purposely stepping on Sungjoo’s stuck foot, and Sungjoo groans in pain. “Oh, it must be really hurt. Want me to help?” He draws out a blade from his pocket, grinning. Sungjoo doesn’t need to be a brainy to know the blade is going to rip his chest apart instead of release his foot, but he can’t make a fucking move no matter how hard he tries.
Is he going to die? Here? In the hand of a devilish shithead who obsesses to win the game? Witnessed by hundred pairs of eyes on his district, who are waiting for his return?
The blade makes its way closer and closer to his throat. Fuck, this is the end-
Suddenly, a dagger thrown to District 2’s chest, his blood splatters immediately as the thing pierces right on his artery vessel. Sungjoo gapes, can’t hide his shock before gives all his effort to turn his head and see who’s the culprit behind this vicious action. Don’t tell him they kill District 2 because they want to kill Sungjoo by themselves, because the idea does not sound any better than the original one.
Fortunately, it doesn’t. Sungjoo feels so, so relieved as he realizes it’s Yixuan who saves him from death. He doesn’t expect Yixuan to be so fierce, but it really doesn’t matter right now.
“Joonyoung is a fast runner, you’re lucky I came here on time. He’s also a skilled killer with his knife, you know.” Yixuan says, bending down to help Sungjoo out.
Joonyoung? It must be his name. “Well, thank you for the information. I-” Sungjoo grimaces when Yixuan tugs at his foot too hard, “How did you find me?” Sungjoo can hear a cannon booms from afar, and in some minutes a hovercraft will come and take the lifeless body.
“I followed Joonyoung’s track. I knew he’d chase you first out of anyone else because you’re good at camouflage, and District 2 people aren’t very good with thorough search. They need to catch you, and kill you, for this case, before you can fool their eyes.”
Sungjoo blinks, his partner is smart, and he feels weird because he didn’t realize that until today.
“And how did you follow his… track?”
Yixuan looks at him with an expression he interprets as an exhausted look. “You can say that’s my ability,” he answers. “You might have some dislocation on your bones, can you still walk?”
“I guess,” Sungjoo replies, trying to balance himself with both legs but only one is working as instructed. He can’t even feel his right leg and almost fall to his side; he falls to Yixuan instead, thanks to his fast response.
“We need a place to heal your leg before we can fight again,” Yixuan sighs, looking around. “It’s only four of us left. If we’re lucky, we can manage to avoid them until they both… died.”
“And what are we going to do when there’s only two of us left?” asks Sungjoo.
Yixuan bites his lower lip as he pulls Sungjoo up to stand and supports him on his arm. “We can think of it later.”
∞
Yixuan finds a cave near the river and with much difficulty he has finally succeed on dragging Sungjoo there. Sungjoo can’t be much a help because walking with one seems to be broken leg is already hard enough.
“Your face is bleeding,” Yixuan says, touching Sungjoo’s cheek. The blood is dried, and judging from his look, Sungjoo knows Yixuan doesn’t think it’s a big problem. “I have medicine for your wounds, but I don’t know how to fix bone dislocations. And, we can’t stay here forever.”
“Is there any applicable medicine for bone dislocation?” Sungjoo snorts; very, very rhetorical but he doesn’t care. Yixuan just stares at him. “Nah, I don’t think so, too. It’s either I keep walking like this or you have to do something, Yixuan, isn’t that your name?”
“I can’t believe you can’t even remember my name,” Yixuan shakes his head. “We need to do something first to get sponsors. They may help, because I really have no idea. What if I broke your ankle?”
“I’m not a football player. A broken ankle wouldn’t finish my life.”
“I still don’t want to do it before I got a reliable source of guide.” Yixuan insists, and Sungjoo gives up. This guy is determined and he’s far too tired to debate.
“Fine, do as you please. And… thank you, for saving me. Now that I cause you trouble, I really am sorry.”
“It’s nothing,” Yixuan waves his hand in dismiss. “The medicine is on my backpack if you need it. I’ll go get anything for us to eat.”
Yixuan leaves with a pat on Sungjoo’s shoulder. Sungjoo takes a deep breath, wondering how many times he and Yixuan have left on the game.
Yixuan brings some fruits back with him - it’s nothing special, not dangerous either, judging from its look. They are tangerines, cherries, and something between apple and pear, Sungjoo doesn’t think it has a name. But well, he can’t say seeing normal fruits in a place like this is not weird.
“There are fruits other than nightlock?” Sungjoo asks in disbelief, “I thought we were in the forest, not a hippy dippy fruit garden.”
“We are not in a hippy dippy fruit garden,” Yixuan snorts, almost choking at his own laughter. “This is from Seunghoon. He drops it not too far outside, with a note that said…” Yixuan unfolds a small paper on his hand, “These are for you, poor losers. Stay alive and don’t die.”
Sungjoo wants to laugh, at the same time, punch his mentor on the face. Seunghoon is a good mentor, to be honest, but he’s mostly insane, and as far as he remembered, only Yixuan had patient enough to listen when the old man blurted out weird advices. And he always, always uses slang words.
“At least he cared about us,” Yixuan decides, “You eat first.” He puts the fruits on his backpack, shoving it to Sungjoo.
Sungjoo cocks his head, “You’re not eating?”
“I will, later.” Yixuan’s lips curve upward in a tiny smile. “I’m going to look around to see if this place is safe enough for us to stay.”
Sungjoo calls Yixuan before he’s disappearing between leaves and branches.
“We will figure something out, soon.” He doesn’t sure why is he so confident, but he knows. He just knows.
Yixuan smiles, “Sure,” he says. “We will.”
∞
Sungjoo must’ve fallen asleep sometime after he eats, and he wakes up when it’s dark outside. Yixuan is right beside him, back leaning against the sharp contour of the cave wall, his eyes closed. His face looks tired, everyone here is tired, but he’s still in alert. Any single move from Sungjoo will wake him up, and Sungjoo doesn’t want to.
Sungjoo doesn’t remember how many days he had spent with Yixuan. He thinks back to the day where this disaster begins, at the reaping day. He felt like the soul had left his body when his name being announced, but he also remembered a shattered expression of a tall boy with golden hair and brown eyes when that Capitol woman - Sungjoo is really bad at remembering people’s names - announced another tribute’s name. The golden haired boy bravely stepped forward, declaring that he volunteered to replace his little sister. The said little girl was crying on her mother’s chest, calling out his brother please don’t go, please don’t leave me, but the boy didn’t even look back.
The determined face reminds Sungjoo of a while ago, when Yixuan insisted he wouldn’t touch Sungjoo’s dislocated ankle until he knew what he was going to do. The only difference is the one he saw earlier didn’t have tears glisten on his eyes.
They didn’t talk much in the train that brought them to Capitol. They parted right away when each Prep Team welcomed them, busy talking about fancy clothing and such. Yixuan didn’t even look at him when they were called in for chariot rides; only did as much as instructed by Seunghoon.
Seunghoon talked more to Yixuan than Sungjoo, now he thinks about it. They talked about other tributes, and since Sungjoo was aware with his snail-paced memory, he refused to join the conversation. They were only exchanging simple greetings and good lucks before the tracker injected to their skin and they were pushed to the elevator tube, two minutes before the game started.
The longest record of their conversation is today, after Yixuan found him nearly being killed by a jerk from District 2. Yixuan is a nice guy, and Sungjoo would like to know him more. They’ve been living in the same district for years and didn’t know each other until they had to meet in this pit of hell? Awesome.
Yixuan shifts and his eyes stutter to open. Sungjoo offers a smile, which he weakly returns. “Hi,” the blonde boy starts, “You have a good sleep?”
“I guess,” Sungjoo shrugs. “Sorry, did I wake you?”
“No, no, it wasn’t you.” Yixuan stretches his back muscles and Sungjoo just realizes how nice Yixuan’s body is. Not really muscular, but in a perfect shape. And his legs are incredibly long, and his hair looks soft and fluffy Sungjoo wants to touch and feel them under his fingertips - well, it’s getting real weird when Sungjoo keeps looking at him, so he clears his throat and looks away.
“It’s night already. There should be something new in Cornucopia - probably something to solve our problem.”
Sungjoo frowns, “No, you’re not going to Cornucopia without me.”
“And how will you go to Cornucopia with that leg of yours?”
“I don’t know, and that’s why I told you we’d figure out something.”
Yixuan opens his mouth to argue, but closes it right away. Ha, he finally gets that he’s not the only stubborn here. “Okay,” he says, almost in a sigh. “Let’s wait until morning and hope Seunghoon will transform into a charitable man by the night.”
Sungjoo smiles at that. “Yes,” he agrees. “We have some times to kill now. Tell me about the other two tributes, their capability, and other things I may need to know, maybe?”
“One is Kim Jaehyun - District 1. Smart, cunning, arrogant, he’s technically the most dangerous person in this arena. His utmost capability is killing people heartlessly, and he’s good with any kind of weapon. He trained for this game for his whole life, after all.
“The other one is Victoria Song, District 7. Forests are like her playground, she adapted to this area so fast. That means, she knows better about this area than us. She’s also good at hiding, probably can only be beaten by you. Dangerous, but less cunning compared to Jaehyun.”
Sungjoo nods, digesting the information. “What’s her specialty?”
“Fast and unpredictable movement, she can jump trees to trees without any problem. People usually underestimate her because she’s only familiar with small weapon like knife or dagger, but that’s the point. She’s full of surprise.”
Ah, Sungjoo remembers her. A girl who wore tight brown and green costume at Pregame Interview, something resembled a tree, along with abstract tattoo around her slender arms that seemed to portray branches. She amazed everyone in Capitol with her flexibility as she kept doing somersault and things effortlessly like she was made of rubber.
“One is a cunning killer, another is a master in forest,” Sungjoo bites his lower lip, “Is there any probability they’d confront each other?”
“Of course, but even if one of them died, unless they had killed each other, the other one has higher chance to be alive,” Yixuan says.
Well, no one says this is an easy situation. They need to come up with a strategy to fight the remaining tributes, and to Sungjoo to walk.
“Let’s sleep, we can think of something tomorrow,” Sungjoo says, trying to slide himself down into a lying position. Yixuan helps him carefully, and every brush of Yixuan’s skin on him makes his stomach churns. Yixuan is so close, not too close but enough for Sungjoo to get a clearer view of the beauty on his face, on his huge eyes, thin lips, perfect jawline. Yixuan is beautiful, and Sungjoo is definitely a fool for not knowing him earlier.
“You’re so beautiful,” Sungjoo says, absentmindedly, and not really regretting it after - especially when a low chuckle is what he gets in return.
“Well, thank you,” Yixuan smiles, “I’m glad I gave you good impression.”
“How was your first impression of me?” Sungjoo asks, suddenly found a new topic to discuss. “I believe we first met at the reaping day, weren’t we? But you didn’t look at me at all, did I ever exist in your eyes that time?”
Yixuan clicks his tongue, positioning himself as comfortable as possible with his back leaning to the wall. “You were small, chubby, curly haired, red cheeks and were pouting to have more candy but your mom wasn’t allowed you to.”
Yixuan doesn’t get a response. The blonde boy sighs to himself, brushing Sungjoo’s hair lightly. “I knew you wouldn’t remember it, but I still do, even now. What should I do, Sungjoo?”
∞
They wake up to a noise that vaguely sounds like a bell, knowing it was from Cornucopia. Another day of survival is up, and Cornucopia has upgraded their suppliants for remaining tributes. It means, they need to go for another bloodbath to get food, weapon, and medicine, since the situation is getting more crucial.
“How’s your leg?” Yixuan asks, touching Sungjoo’s leg carefully. “Does it still hurt?”
“It does, but not that bad. I can walk, I don’t know how far, but I still can use my hands. We should go to Cornucopia now.”
“I’ll make sure we choose the safest way. Don’t worry.”
“How do you know which way is the safest?”
“Jaehyun doesn’t like to follow a path that may difficult him in process, like height or water. He can’t swim because he isn’t used to watery area, so if we stay close to the river, we’re safe. He’s not good at climbing either, but the second won’t be our choice because it’s too dangerous.”
Sungjoo nods, “Then how about Victoria?”
“She can’t swim, but she’s fast. Her predatory instinct isn’t as sharp as her… desire on competition. I mean, she prefers to win first than to kill first; but it doesn’t mean she can’t kill. What I’m saying is, even if the worst situation is we bump to Victoria, we won’t die that fast. She’s giving us a chance to fight back. And we could win if we stay close to the water.”
Now Sungjoo is 100% sure Yixuan is a genius. He does remember a lot, while Sungjoo has no idea about them. Yes, Seunghoon was dropping him hints and such before the game started, but Sungjoo wasn’t paying attention to all of them. He could’ve died if he didn’t meet Yixuan sooner.
“All right, I trust you. Let’s get going.”
Crossing down the rocky path with bodies practically pressed together and half of Sungjoo’s weight on Yixuan really does make the walk difficult. They are nearing the Cornucopia, no sign of Jaehyun nor Victoria but it doesn’t feel like good news. The area feels twice larger than it was when they first entered the game, now after twenty people died in five days, and the two despicable killers may just appear anywhere.
Sungjoo and Yixuan reach the Cornucopia. Yixuan takes everything he could handle with both hands and pulls Sungjoo to get back down with him. They see Jaehyun just in time they climb down the silver horn, four hundred meters ahead, and Jaehyun looks ultimately displeased at how much they had taken from Cornucopia.
Yixuan squeezes Sungjoo’s hand, whispers on his ear, “Can you run?”
“What?” Sungjoo widens his eyes, “If you ask me to run without you then the answer is no.”
“I found something within this backpack,” he shoves a black backpack at Sungjoo’s chest without blinking his eyes from Jaehyun’s careful movement, he’s getting closer and closer. “It’s a shoe with straps around the ankle up to your knee. I’m pretty sure they designed it for you. Find a place to wear it while I distract him, and we’ll meet later.”
“What? W-wait! Wait! How would I know where you are, and how would you know where I am?”
“Sungjoo, listen,” Yixuan looks at Sungjoo at the eyes, deep and straight. “We will meet again, no matter what it takes. I’ll find you, and I will just do. Understand?”
Sungjoo nods, dumbfounded. He doesn’t really have a chance to grasp at the situation because in the next second, Yixuan presses his lips against his.
Yixuan kisses him.
It takes like, three second for Sungjoo to realize how nice Yixuan’s lips feel on him. And as much as he wants the kiss to last, Yixuan pulls away, mouthing a Run on his lips and pushes him away firmly, but gently.
And Sungjoo runs.
∞
The weird shoe designed by Capitol does make him feels better. It binds around his leg tightly, and Sungjoo has to bite his shirt to restrain himself from screaming when he wears it because it feels like the straps pull his bones back to their previous place. It hurts as hell, but he can walk easier after.
He can hear a boom sound nearby, and he’s cold sweating in panic. Someone is dead - and the available assumption is it’s either Yixuan or Jaehyun.
Not Yixuan, please, not Yixuan. Sungjoo chants a pray on his head, heart hammering against his ribcage. Winning this game isn’t important anymore after he saw Yixuan again, and Sungjoo just wanted to see Yixuan alive, smiling that gentle smile of his, chuckling at his words, educating him with those information Sungjoo didn’t even know were real.
“Yixuan?” Sungjoo calls, “Yixuan? Is that you?”
Sungjoo can hear something, but he can’t figure out what is it. It sounds like weak, dragged footsteps. “Yixuan?” He tries again.
Slowly, Sungjoo walks to a direction he believes is the source of the sound. “Yixuan?”
Something - more accurately, someone - grabs his leg, fortunately it’s his good leg. Sungjoo almost screeches out in shock, but the voice goes down on his throat and replaced by worrying gasps. It’s Yixuan, fucking Yixuan lying on the ground, severely injured and bleeding everywhere.
“YIXUAN!” Sungjoo bends down, shaking his body. “Yixuan! Oh my god, what should I do? Oh my god-”
Yixuan grips his fingers weakly, a sign that he’s alive, leaving a trace of blood on Sungjoo’s palm. “-I killed him…” he whispers, coughing and blood spurts from his mouth. Sungjoo stutters, hands rummaging on his backpack to find some medicines - anything, anything to save Yixuan.
“Wait, wait, don’t talk yet, wait,” Sungjoo found it, carefully dripping the substance to Yixuan’s mouth. Yixuan coughs again, but now without blood, and his face lightens up in an instant. Capitol is really a magical place, after all.
“Are you okay?” Sungjoo asks, cupping Yixuan’s face on his palm. Yixuan nods, and he starts laughing despite his blood and red stained shirt, and Sungjoo has never been this relieved on his whole life. He tilts Yixuan’s chin and kisses him on the lips soundly, kissing him again and again until his lips numb and his vision blur from tears. Yixuan kisses back, arms circling around Sungjoo’s neck to pull him closer. They kiss until what feels like eternity, until Sungjoo can make sure Yixuan is okay, until the beautiful blonde boy is breathless and whimpers against Sungjoo’s mouth.
Sungjoo can’t stop staring at Yixuan’s flushed face, he looks even prettier with his cheeks tint pink after the kiss.
“No one would ever think you could kill an infamous killer in just few minutes,” Sungjoo says, brushing his finger on Yixuan’s cheek. It’s warm, it’s warm and nice and Sungjoo is willing to do anything to keep touching that face. “Your last task is to go home alive, bring the victory out for District 12.”
And that will also mean one of them is going to die in the arena.
∞
“We have to kill that District 7 woman to claim the victory,” Sungjoo says, feeling weird because he’s saying we rather than you. He knows Yixuan won’t like the idea if Sungjoo decided to kill himself and let Yixuan win. It’d probably be a good choice, but not now - not when Yixuan clings on his arm like a koala, though Yixuan is taller than him.
“Her name is Victoria, god, Sungjoo, please learn how to remember people’s names.”
Sungjoo laughs, “Fine, fine. Later, okay? But I think people’s names aren’t important as long as I can remember yours, isn’t it?”
Yixuan rolls his eyes. “Learn to be cheesy at appropriate times. The whole nation is watching us right now.”
“Well, why not? They need a show, if they can have the greatest action scene why can’t they have a romantic scene, too?”
“I agree, you two look so good together.”
Yixuan and Sungjoo turn their heads to where the voice came. It’s Victoria, sitting on a branch casually like she’s sitting on a sofa. Her long hair tied up into a ponytail, her forehead covered in bangs. She is pretty, kind of Capitol’s favorite. If she wins, she’ll definitely be Capitol’s new heartthrob.
“I saw poor Jaehyun’s corpse on my way here. Finally decided to open up yourself, huh?” she asks mockingly. “I’ve been waiting to fight both of you since the game started. But the brown haired was running too fast, and the blonde haired was busy looking for him. What a tragic love, don’t you think? If I had more time I’d like to sit with you and listen to your lovely story.”
Sungjoo’s brows knitted, confused. So while he was hiding to, well, do camouflages, Yixuan was looking for him? Why did he do that?
“Oh, your little boy didn’t know how desperate you were to find him,” Victoria giggles. “I assume you were also the one who killed Jaehyun, Blonde Boy? You seem pretty strong, but how about that handsome little thing of yours? Can he play with us, too?”
Yixuan clenches his fist, firmly shaking his head. “Isn’t it better to play fair, young lady? Don’t you think two is too much for a woman like you?”
Victoria raises an eyebrow, “No, actually two is better than one,” she pulls out a small knife and throws it down, it landed an inch away from Sungjoo’s right foot and Yixuan’s left foot. “We waste too much time. Are you ready for the real thing, gentlemen?”
Yixuan grabs Sungjoo’s hand, pulling him close to his own body.
“Run!” he shouts, as Victoria pulls out whatever weapon she has from her pocket.
Sungjoo can’t run anymore. His bad leg throbs painfully against the tight straps, and it hurts him when he tries to lift his leg. He throws himself to the ground, releasing his hand from Yixuan’s grip. Yixuan turns around, concerned.
“Hey, are you okay?”
“No,” Sungjoo replies, “My leg hurts so much, I can’t run anymore. Can we kill her with something quickly?”
Victoria is right behind them, moving from branch to branch skillfully - almost like flying, or dancing. She’s not rushing things, clearly enjoying the position she’s in. Yixuan was right about she prefers to win first than to kill first.
“You said you could read someone’s track, can you read hers? Like how you did to Joon something, until you found me.”
“Well, Joonyoung didn’t move as fast as her,” Yixuan says, thinking hard. “I probably could try, but we need to stay; not moving. Is that possible?”
“I’ll distract her. Find a way, preferably quick. I don’t know how long I can bear up with my leg, but it’s better than nothing, right?”
Sungjoo moves, dragging his leg and hides behind a trunk, Yixuan almost forgets to blink and breathe seeing how easy Sungjoo fits his body against the material behind him. If he’d given more time, Sungjoo could’ve just painted his body exactly like a tree and no one can tell the difference.
Focus, Yixuan, focus. Yixuan tries to concentrate, reading the pattern of Victoria’s moves. She moves fast, but the way she grabs the nearest branch and chooses a place to stand must be the same, since the trees here are designed similar.
“Aw, look at your handsome little boy trying to mess up with me,” Victoria laughs as she realizes Sungjoo is not there, “I know you’re good at hiding, baby boy, but don’t think you can fool me.”
She throws another knife to a place where Sungjoo was there once, but he’s gone, hiding behind another trunk. Victoria misses it, and she doesn’t like it.
“That’s not funny,” she growls, “I see you’re playing with my patience, and I don’t like it. Let’s get to the main course, then.”
She throws away her backpack after pulling out a bow and an arrow. Yixuan can’t believe his sight - oh, so now she’s into archery, too. What a dedicated young woman.
As expected from Victoria, she can read Sungjoo’s movement with only a short scanning on her surrounding, and Yixuan panics now because Sungjoo is losing his strength to even hold himself upright. He grimaces soundlessly, completely in pain. Yixuan takes a look at the young woman. She’s busy focusing on her target and weapon on her arm, so he takes it as a chance to move.
Yixuan tries to move swiftly, even though his stamina is drained to the lowest point. Almost there, almost there, he forces his body to hang on a little more, Sungjoo is there, and he can almost reach him. Yixuan turns his head, sensing Victoria is ready to shoot her arrow, and he jumps to shield Sungjoo’s body with his own - the arrow pierced on his back, blood soaking into his shirt.
Sungjoo cries; shocked, now that Yixuan doesn’t move at all after Victoria had shot him to the ground. He stares at the woman who clicks her tongue with disappointment that she didn’t shoot on target, hatred burning on his eyes.
Yixuan starts moving, and Sungjoo pulls him to his chest, doesn’t know what to do with the arrow on his back and not daring to pull it out. He can hear Yixuan whispers on his neck, something about her movement pattern, and a soft encouragement that Sungjoo can kill her. Kill her for me.
Sungjoo nods, trembling hand reaching for a dagger on Yixuan’s pocket. Victoria raises her eyebrow at him, her gaze challenging.
“Sorry I hurt your precious boyfriend,” she says, mocking a guilty expression. “I feel bad, will you be okay after hearing the cannon booms later?”
“He will not die,” Sungjoo says, voice hoarse. His anger boiling on every inch of his skin, he’s never been wanted to kill someone this much. “Not before he saw you dead first.”
“Romantic,” Victoria concludes sweetly, and it’s sickening. “Let’s see if you can be useful, handsome boy.”
Victoria starts again - her thing, moving from a tree to another in a span of seconds. Sungjoo concentrates, trying to read her movement, but it’s just too difficult. She’s as fast as a ninja.
Yixuan grabs him on the leg and gestures that he’s going to count to three, and at three Sungjoo can throw her the knife. Sungjoo nods nervously; he’s not confident he can do this but he’s not going to let someone who had hurt Yixuan go away easily. At least he has to try.
Yixuan counts weakly with his finger and when he lifts up the third finger, Sungjoo looks up and throws the dagger on his hand, claiming Victoria’s heart. The young woman doesn’t see this coming; she gapes in shock as the knife jabs her left chest, pushing her down from height and she falls in a loud thud. Sungjoo doesn’t need to confirm for her death because four seconds later, the cannon booms.
Sungjoo sighs happily, wiping his sweaty forehead and looks down at Yixuan. This is not done yet. The brown haired boy crouches down, horror and anxiety written clearly on his expression.
“Take this... out…” Yixuan says, gesturing to the arrow. “It only tears my skin, so it won’t hurt that much when you pull it out. Please?”
Hesitating at first, Sungjoo grips the arrow and quickly pulls it out; Yixuan’s ear-splitting groan hurts him in a way Sungjoo never imagined before. No, it wasn’t only tore his skin, it was much deeper than that and Sungjoo watches in horror as he draws more blood when the arrow finally gets pulled out completely. He rolls Yixuan’s body carefully to lay him on his lap, holding his face, sobbing uncontrollably at the beautiful face beneath him. Yixuan cannot die, no, no; he can’t leave Sungjoo like this.
Yixuan lifts a hand and touches Sungjoo’s cheek softly, whispering at him, “Don’t cry. I don’t want to see you cry,”
Sungjoo holds Yixuan’s palm on his cheek; kissing it repeatedly, his tears can’t stop rolling down his face. He can’t believe just some hours ago he was crying because Yixuan was alive, and now it spins one hundred and eighty degrees.
He can’t do anything for Yixuan, and it scares Sungjoo to death. He keeps holding on Yixuan’s palm to make sure he can still hear his pulse, making sure Yixuan is still breathing. This is not what he has planned before. It should be him lying on Yixuan’s lap, drinking on his beauty for the probably last time, and Sungjoo would be okay, really okay, if he had to die like that.
And then, he hears Yixuan hums.
The melody is familiar, it’s been playing on his head since he was a kid, and he knew it so well. It was a song his mother taught him, and he thought he was the only one who knew the song since his mother made it for him.
“I remember a cute, chubby kid with curly hair sang the song with his mother, his mother held his tiny arm as he wouldn’t stop jumping around…” Yixuan says, smiling weakly at the memory. “It was a joyful song about get loved by people around you. The kid was happily singing, sometimes stopped to ask his mother to buy candies, and when his mother said no he’d continue singing. He was adorable, and lovely, and the most important was, he looked so happy…”
Sungjoo can feel himself shuddering to the flashback Yixuan’s narrating right now. He remembered when his mother brought him to the market, she would hold his hand all the time because Sungjoo might disappear by the time his mother blinked, and to distract him from talking too much his mother would ask him to sing. Sungjoo loved singing; he could sing a certain song over and over again without feeling tired. The song his mother made was his favorite one.
How could Yixuan know about it?
Yixuan takes a deep breath before continue speaking. “That day was exactly two days after my father passed away at a mine explosion. I should be very sad, and I was, until I heard this kid sang his heart out very passionately. I loved how the way he sang made me feel less miserable, reminded me at how much people I had by my side that time. I was so thankful, and fell in love right away after I saw him.”
Sungjoo chokes on a sob; Yixuan knew him all along. He had known him all this time, had fallen in love with him, and it must be the reason why he was bothering himself looking for a hiding Sungjoo in a pit of hell like Hunger Games. Yixuan had loved him for a long, long time, and Sungjoo never once realized it.
“Yixuan, I-I’m… I’m sorry-” Sungjoo can’t help but crying out loud, feeling so helpless and desperate and afraid - he doesn’t want to lose Yixuan. He wants to make up for the years he had spent without knowing someone had fallen so deep at him, someone who loved him even before he could tie his shoelaces. Sungjoo wants to love him back, love him more, and love him right. He doesn’t care about this goddamn game, he just wants to bring Yixuan home, take him to his mother and say that Yixuan is someone he’d like to marry.
“You don’t have to,” Yixuan says, his voice getting weaker. “Reason why I was in Hunger Games is because I wanted to protect my sister, and I wanted to see you… alive. I knew you’d make it, you’d win, so I could leave my mom and sister to you. Take care of them for me, and I’m sorry I was being a coward for so long. I love you, so much, and everything happened between us here is more than enough for me.”
Yixuan circles his arm around Sungjoo’s neck and whispers. “Sing me that song again,”
Sungjoo can’t. He can’t open his mouth without sobbing miserably and the only word he can utter is Yixuan’s name, but he forces himself to sing through trembling lips and hoarse voice. Yixuan closes his eyes, hugging Sungjoo tighter and whispers I love you once again, before his breathing slowly getting farther and farther, and his arms fall limply behind Sungjoo’s back.
Sungjoo takes Yixuan’s body on his arm and walks to the cliff, the edge of the arena. He looks at Yixuan, who still looks stunningly beautiful, and kisses his lips softly before he throws himself to the air beneath him.
The cannon booms two times eight seconds later.
*so, a certain someone remembers i'd once stated i would do thg!au for each otp i have (and they are so many wtf) (yes, it's you, viechan) because i'm that much of a trash for hunger games but now i decided to do it for ones i thought would be suitable for the theme. heheh.
*i'd stop writing angst ok this is the last i promise pls do remind me i'm a forgetful person
*i started this as a drabble but it suddenly had plot and it suddenly became 5k, ur welcome.
*i'm at tumblr and twitter if something does not make sense for you (laughs sheepishly) soRRY FANDOM (i tried) I LOVE YOU ALL
Fandom : UNIQ
Pairing : yixuan/sungjoo
Length : 5905 words
Summary : Hunger Games!AU. There can be only one winner in Hunger Games. Sungjoo and Yixuan are left on the game.
Warning : Description of war, blood, character death, suicide?
this is a war
The Game is nearing its end, but it feels just like the start.
Sungjoo runs, trying to widen the gap between him and someone from District 2 which he can’t recall the name. It’s only 5 of them now - Sungjoo, another tribute from his district; Zhou Yixuan, this District 2 jerk, and Sungjoo doesn’t even know the rest. He’s sure there are five of them because he keeps counting the cannon sound, a sign when someone has died.
He’s tired. Really, but if he doesn’t want to kill, the only option he has is running away, hiding. Sungjoo has been trying not to kill anyone when it isn’t necessary, and actually it was a brilliant strategy. He could avoid physical fight as much as possible, keeping his body intact for three-quarter period of the game. But seems like the strategy doesn’t work with this brutal person from District 2, a district where life and death matter is like killing a mosquito - easy and inconsequential. They have an abnormal passion to kill which makes them the scariest monster in the arena.
And to make everything perfect, the situation chooses not to be on the same side with him. Sungjoo stumbles on a huge root under him, falls forward. The sharp thing scratches his face, leaving a long, bleeding wound. One of Sungjoo’s feet trapped between the sprawled radixes, clamps him firmly he can’t move. The sound of District 2’s footsteps is getting closer…
“Shit,” Sungjoo curses under his breath when his opponent appears, a devilish smile plastered on his face.
“Very unfortunate, isn’t it, Twelve?” he asks, very purposely stepping on Sungjoo’s stuck foot, and Sungjoo groans in pain. “Oh, it must be really hurt. Want me to help?” He draws out a blade from his pocket, grinning. Sungjoo doesn’t need to be a brainy to know the blade is going to rip his chest apart instead of release his foot, but he can’t make a fucking move no matter how hard he tries.
Is he going to die? Here? In the hand of a devilish shithead who obsesses to win the game? Witnessed by hundred pairs of eyes on his district, who are waiting for his return?
The blade makes its way closer and closer to his throat. Fuck, this is the end-
Suddenly, a dagger thrown to District 2’s chest, his blood splatters immediately as the thing pierces right on his artery vessel. Sungjoo gapes, can’t hide his shock before gives all his effort to turn his head and see who’s the culprit behind this vicious action. Don’t tell him they kill District 2 because they want to kill Sungjoo by themselves, because the idea does not sound any better than the original one.
Fortunately, it doesn’t. Sungjoo feels so, so relieved as he realizes it’s Yixuan who saves him from death. He doesn’t expect Yixuan to be so fierce, but it really doesn’t matter right now.
“Joonyoung is a fast runner, you’re lucky I came here on time. He’s also a skilled killer with his knife, you know.” Yixuan says, bending down to help Sungjoo out.
Joonyoung? It must be his name. “Well, thank you for the information. I-” Sungjoo grimaces when Yixuan tugs at his foot too hard, “How did you find me?” Sungjoo can hear a cannon booms from afar, and in some minutes a hovercraft will come and take the lifeless body.
“I followed Joonyoung’s track. I knew he’d chase you first out of anyone else because you’re good at camouflage, and District 2 people aren’t very good with thorough search. They need to catch you, and kill you, for this case, before you can fool their eyes.”
Sungjoo blinks, his partner is smart, and he feels weird because he didn’t realize that until today.
“And how did you follow his… track?”
Yixuan looks at him with an expression he interprets as an exhausted look. “You can say that’s my ability,” he answers. “You might have some dislocation on your bones, can you still walk?”
“I guess,” Sungjoo replies, trying to balance himself with both legs but only one is working as instructed. He can’t even feel his right leg and almost fall to his side; he falls to Yixuan instead, thanks to his fast response.
“We need a place to heal your leg before we can fight again,” Yixuan sighs, looking around. “It’s only four of us left. If we’re lucky, we can manage to avoid them until they both… died.”
“And what are we going to do when there’s only two of us left?” asks Sungjoo.
Yixuan bites his lower lip as he pulls Sungjoo up to stand and supports him on his arm. “We can think of it later.”
∞
Yixuan finds a cave near the river and with much difficulty he has finally succeed on dragging Sungjoo there. Sungjoo can’t be much a help because walking with one seems to be broken leg is already hard enough.
“Your face is bleeding,” Yixuan says, touching Sungjoo’s cheek. The blood is dried, and judging from his look, Sungjoo knows Yixuan doesn’t think it’s a big problem. “I have medicine for your wounds, but I don’t know how to fix bone dislocations. And, we can’t stay here forever.”
“Is there any applicable medicine for bone dislocation?” Sungjoo snorts; very, very rhetorical but he doesn’t care. Yixuan just stares at him. “Nah, I don’t think so, too. It’s either I keep walking like this or you have to do something, Yixuan, isn’t that your name?”
“I can’t believe you can’t even remember my name,” Yixuan shakes his head. “We need to do something first to get sponsors. They may help, because I really have no idea. What if I broke your ankle?”
“I’m not a football player. A broken ankle wouldn’t finish my life.”
“I still don’t want to do it before I got a reliable source of guide.” Yixuan insists, and Sungjoo gives up. This guy is determined and he’s far too tired to debate.
“Fine, do as you please. And… thank you, for saving me. Now that I cause you trouble, I really am sorry.”
“It’s nothing,” Yixuan waves his hand in dismiss. “The medicine is on my backpack if you need it. I’ll go get anything for us to eat.”
Yixuan leaves with a pat on Sungjoo’s shoulder. Sungjoo takes a deep breath, wondering how many times he and Yixuan have left on the game.
Yixuan brings some fruits back with him - it’s nothing special, not dangerous either, judging from its look. They are tangerines, cherries, and something between apple and pear, Sungjoo doesn’t think it has a name. But well, he can’t say seeing normal fruits in a place like this is not weird.
“There are fruits other than nightlock?” Sungjoo asks in disbelief, “I thought we were in the forest, not a hippy dippy fruit garden.”
“We are not in a hippy dippy fruit garden,” Yixuan snorts, almost choking at his own laughter. “This is from Seunghoon. He drops it not too far outside, with a note that said…” Yixuan unfolds a small paper on his hand, “These are for you, poor losers. Stay alive and don’t die.”
Sungjoo wants to laugh, at the same time, punch his mentor on the face. Seunghoon is a good mentor, to be honest, but he’s mostly insane, and as far as he remembered, only Yixuan had patient enough to listen when the old man blurted out weird advices. And he always, always uses slang words.
“At least he cared about us,” Yixuan decides, “You eat first.” He puts the fruits on his backpack, shoving it to Sungjoo.
Sungjoo cocks his head, “You’re not eating?”
“I will, later.” Yixuan’s lips curve upward in a tiny smile. “I’m going to look around to see if this place is safe enough for us to stay.”
Sungjoo calls Yixuan before he’s disappearing between leaves and branches.
“We will figure something out, soon.” He doesn’t sure why is he so confident, but he knows. He just knows.
Yixuan smiles, “Sure,” he says. “We will.”
∞
Sungjoo must’ve fallen asleep sometime after he eats, and he wakes up when it’s dark outside. Yixuan is right beside him, back leaning against the sharp contour of the cave wall, his eyes closed. His face looks tired, everyone here is tired, but he’s still in alert. Any single move from Sungjoo will wake him up, and Sungjoo doesn’t want to.
Sungjoo doesn’t remember how many days he had spent with Yixuan. He thinks back to the day where this disaster begins, at the reaping day. He felt like the soul had left his body when his name being announced, but he also remembered a shattered expression of a tall boy with golden hair and brown eyes when that Capitol woman - Sungjoo is really bad at remembering people’s names - announced another tribute’s name. The golden haired boy bravely stepped forward, declaring that he volunteered to replace his little sister. The said little girl was crying on her mother’s chest, calling out his brother please don’t go, please don’t leave me, but the boy didn’t even look back.
The determined face reminds Sungjoo of a while ago, when Yixuan insisted he wouldn’t touch Sungjoo’s dislocated ankle until he knew what he was going to do. The only difference is the one he saw earlier didn’t have tears glisten on his eyes.
They didn’t talk much in the train that brought them to Capitol. They parted right away when each Prep Team welcomed them, busy talking about fancy clothing and such. Yixuan didn’t even look at him when they were called in for chariot rides; only did as much as instructed by Seunghoon.
Seunghoon talked more to Yixuan than Sungjoo, now he thinks about it. They talked about other tributes, and since Sungjoo was aware with his snail-paced memory, he refused to join the conversation. They were only exchanging simple greetings and good lucks before the tracker injected to their skin and they were pushed to the elevator tube, two minutes before the game started.
The longest record of their conversation is today, after Yixuan found him nearly being killed by a jerk from District 2. Yixuan is a nice guy, and Sungjoo would like to know him more. They’ve been living in the same district for years and didn’t know each other until they had to meet in this pit of hell? Awesome.
Yixuan shifts and his eyes stutter to open. Sungjoo offers a smile, which he weakly returns. “Hi,” the blonde boy starts, “You have a good sleep?”
“I guess,” Sungjoo shrugs. “Sorry, did I wake you?”
“No, no, it wasn’t you.” Yixuan stretches his back muscles and Sungjoo just realizes how nice Yixuan’s body is. Not really muscular, but in a perfect shape. And his legs are incredibly long, and his hair looks soft and fluffy Sungjoo wants to touch and feel them under his fingertips - well, it’s getting real weird when Sungjoo keeps looking at him, so he clears his throat and looks away.
“It’s night already. There should be something new in Cornucopia - probably something to solve our problem.”
Sungjoo frowns, “No, you’re not going to Cornucopia without me.”
“And how will you go to Cornucopia with that leg of yours?”
“I don’t know, and that’s why I told you we’d figure out something.”
Yixuan opens his mouth to argue, but closes it right away. Ha, he finally gets that he’s not the only stubborn here. “Okay,” he says, almost in a sigh. “Let’s wait until morning and hope Seunghoon will transform into a charitable man by the night.”
Sungjoo smiles at that. “Yes,” he agrees. “We have some times to kill now. Tell me about the other two tributes, their capability, and other things I may need to know, maybe?”
“One is Kim Jaehyun - District 1. Smart, cunning, arrogant, he’s technically the most dangerous person in this arena. His utmost capability is killing people heartlessly, and he’s good with any kind of weapon. He trained for this game for his whole life, after all.
“The other one is Victoria Song, District 7. Forests are like her playground, she adapted to this area so fast. That means, she knows better about this area than us. She’s also good at hiding, probably can only be beaten by you. Dangerous, but less cunning compared to Jaehyun.”
Sungjoo nods, digesting the information. “What’s her specialty?”
“Fast and unpredictable movement, she can jump trees to trees without any problem. People usually underestimate her because she’s only familiar with small weapon like knife or dagger, but that’s the point. She’s full of surprise.”
Ah, Sungjoo remembers her. A girl who wore tight brown and green costume at Pregame Interview, something resembled a tree, along with abstract tattoo around her slender arms that seemed to portray branches. She amazed everyone in Capitol with her flexibility as she kept doing somersault and things effortlessly like she was made of rubber.
“One is a cunning killer, another is a master in forest,” Sungjoo bites his lower lip, “Is there any probability they’d confront each other?”
“Of course, but even if one of them died, unless they had killed each other, the other one has higher chance to be alive,” Yixuan says.
Well, no one says this is an easy situation. They need to come up with a strategy to fight the remaining tributes, and to Sungjoo to walk.
“Let’s sleep, we can think of something tomorrow,” Sungjoo says, trying to slide himself down into a lying position. Yixuan helps him carefully, and every brush of Yixuan’s skin on him makes his stomach churns. Yixuan is so close, not too close but enough for Sungjoo to get a clearer view of the beauty on his face, on his huge eyes, thin lips, perfect jawline. Yixuan is beautiful, and Sungjoo is definitely a fool for not knowing him earlier.
“You’re so beautiful,” Sungjoo says, absentmindedly, and not really regretting it after - especially when a low chuckle is what he gets in return.
“Well, thank you,” Yixuan smiles, “I’m glad I gave you good impression.”
“How was your first impression of me?” Sungjoo asks, suddenly found a new topic to discuss. “I believe we first met at the reaping day, weren’t we? But you didn’t look at me at all, did I ever exist in your eyes that time?”
Yixuan clicks his tongue, positioning himself as comfortable as possible with his back leaning to the wall. “You were small, chubby, curly haired, red cheeks and were pouting to have more candy but your mom wasn’t allowed you to.”
Yixuan doesn’t get a response. The blonde boy sighs to himself, brushing Sungjoo’s hair lightly. “I knew you wouldn’t remember it, but I still do, even now. What should I do, Sungjoo?”
∞
They wake up to a noise that vaguely sounds like a bell, knowing it was from Cornucopia. Another day of survival is up, and Cornucopia has upgraded their suppliants for remaining tributes. It means, they need to go for another bloodbath to get food, weapon, and medicine, since the situation is getting more crucial.
“How’s your leg?” Yixuan asks, touching Sungjoo’s leg carefully. “Does it still hurt?”
“It does, but not that bad. I can walk, I don’t know how far, but I still can use my hands. We should go to Cornucopia now.”
“I’ll make sure we choose the safest way. Don’t worry.”
“How do you know which way is the safest?”
“Jaehyun doesn’t like to follow a path that may difficult him in process, like height or water. He can’t swim because he isn’t used to watery area, so if we stay close to the river, we’re safe. He’s not good at climbing either, but the second won’t be our choice because it’s too dangerous.”
Sungjoo nods, “Then how about Victoria?”
“She can’t swim, but she’s fast. Her predatory instinct isn’t as sharp as her… desire on competition. I mean, she prefers to win first than to kill first; but it doesn’t mean she can’t kill. What I’m saying is, even if the worst situation is we bump to Victoria, we won’t die that fast. She’s giving us a chance to fight back. And we could win if we stay close to the water.”
Now Sungjoo is 100% sure Yixuan is a genius. He does remember a lot, while Sungjoo has no idea about them. Yes, Seunghoon was dropping him hints and such before the game started, but Sungjoo wasn’t paying attention to all of them. He could’ve died if he didn’t meet Yixuan sooner.
“All right, I trust you. Let’s get going.”
Crossing down the rocky path with bodies practically pressed together and half of Sungjoo’s weight on Yixuan really does make the walk difficult. They are nearing the Cornucopia, no sign of Jaehyun nor Victoria but it doesn’t feel like good news. The area feels twice larger than it was when they first entered the game, now after twenty people died in five days, and the two despicable killers may just appear anywhere.
Sungjoo and Yixuan reach the Cornucopia. Yixuan takes everything he could handle with both hands and pulls Sungjoo to get back down with him. They see Jaehyun just in time they climb down the silver horn, four hundred meters ahead, and Jaehyun looks ultimately displeased at how much they had taken from Cornucopia.
Yixuan squeezes Sungjoo’s hand, whispers on his ear, “Can you run?”
“What?” Sungjoo widens his eyes, “If you ask me to run without you then the answer is no.”
“I found something within this backpack,” he shoves a black backpack at Sungjoo’s chest without blinking his eyes from Jaehyun’s careful movement, he’s getting closer and closer. “It’s a shoe with straps around the ankle up to your knee. I’m pretty sure they designed it for you. Find a place to wear it while I distract him, and we’ll meet later.”
“What? W-wait! Wait! How would I know where you are, and how would you know where I am?”
“Sungjoo, listen,” Yixuan looks at Sungjoo at the eyes, deep and straight. “We will meet again, no matter what it takes. I’ll find you, and I will just do. Understand?”
Sungjoo nods, dumbfounded. He doesn’t really have a chance to grasp at the situation because in the next second, Yixuan presses his lips against his.
Yixuan kisses him.
It takes like, three second for Sungjoo to realize how nice Yixuan’s lips feel on him. And as much as he wants the kiss to last, Yixuan pulls away, mouthing a Run on his lips and pushes him away firmly, but gently.
And Sungjoo runs.
∞
The weird shoe designed by Capitol does make him feels better. It binds around his leg tightly, and Sungjoo has to bite his shirt to restrain himself from screaming when he wears it because it feels like the straps pull his bones back to their previous place. It hurts as hell, but he can walk easier after.
He can hear a boom sound nearby, and he’s cold sweating in panic. Someone is dead - and the available assumption is it’s either Yixuan or Jaehyun.
Not Yixuan, please, not Yixuan. Sungjoo chants a pray on his head, heart hammering against his ribcage. Winning this game isn’t important anymore after he saw Yixuan again, and Sungjoo just wanted to see Yixuan alive, smiling that gentle smile of his, chuckling at his words, educating him with those information Sungjoo didn’t even know were real.
“Yixuan?” Sungjoo calls, “Yixuan? Is that you?”
Sungjoo can hear something, but he can’t figure out what is it. It sounds like weak, dragged footsteps. “Yixuan?” He tries again.
Slowly, Sungjoo walks to a direction he believes is the source of the sound. “Yixuan?”
Something - more accurately, someone - grabs his leg, fortunately it’s his good leg. Sungjoo almost screeches out in shock, but the voice goes down on his throat and replaced by worrying gasps. It’s Yixuan, fucking Yixuan lying on the ground, severely injured and bleeding everywhere.
“YIXUAN!” Sungjoo bends down, shaking his body. “Yixuan! Oh my god, what should I do? Oh my god-”
Yixuan grips his fingers weakly, a sign that he’s alive, leaving a trace of blood on Sungjoo’s palm. “-I killed him…” he whispers, coughing and blood spurts from his mouth. Sungjoo stutters, hands rummaging on his backpack to find some medicines - anything, anything to save Yixuan.
“Wait, wait, don’t talk yet, wait,” Sungjoo found it, carefully dripping the substance to Yixuan’s mouth. Yixuan coughs again, but now without blood, and his face lightens up in an instant. Capitol is really a magical place, after all.
“Are you okay?” Sungjoo asks, cupping Yixuan’s face on his palm. Yixuan nods, and he starts laughing despite his blood and red stained shirt, and Sungjoo has never been this relieved on his whole life. He tilts Yixuan’s chin and kisses him on the lips soundly, kissing him again and again until his lips numb and his vision blur from tears. Yixuan kisses back, arms circling around Sungjoo’s neck to pull him closer. They kiss until what feels like eternity, until Sungjoo can make sure Yixuan is okay, until the beautiful blonde boy is breathless and whimpers against Sungjoo’s mouth.
Sungjoo can’t stop staring at Yixuan’s flushed face, he looks even prettier with his cheeks tint pink after the kiss.
“No one would ever think you could kill an infamous killer in just few minutes,” Sungjoo says, brushing his finger on Yixuan’s cheek. It’s warm, it’s warm and nice and Sungjoo is willing to do anything to keep touching that face. “Your last task is to go home alive, bring the victory out for District 12.”
And that will also mean one of them is going to die in the arena.
∞
“We have to kill that District 7 woman to claim the victory,” Sungjoo says, feeling weird because he’s saying we rather than you. He knows Yixuan won’t like the idea if Sungjoo decided to kill himself and let Yixuan win. It’d probably be a good choice, but not now - not when Yixuan clings on his arm like a koala, though Yixuan is taller than him.
“Her name is Victoria, god, Sungjoo, please learn how to remember people’s names.”
Sungjoo laughs, “Fine, fine. Later, okay? But I think people’s names aren’t important as long as I can remember yours, isn’t it?”
Yixuan rolls his eyes. “Learn to be cheesy at appropriate times. The whole nation is watching us right now.”
“Well, why not? They need a show, if they can have the greatest action scene why can’t they have a romantic scene, too?”
“I agree, you two look so good together.”
Yixuan and Sungjoo turn their heads to where the voice came. It’s Victoria, sitting on a branch casually like she’s sitting on a sofa. Her long hair tied up into a ponytail, her forehead covered in bangs. She is pretty, kind of Capitol’s favorite. If she wins, she’ll definitely be Capitol’s new heartthrob.
“I saw poor Jaehyun’s corpse on my way here. Finally decided to open up yourself, huh?” she asks mockingly. “I’ve been waiting to fight both of you since the game started. But the brown haired was running too fast, and the blonde haired was busy looking for him. What a tragic love, don’t you think? If I had more time I’d like to sit with you and listen to your lovely story.”
Sungjoo’s brows knitted, confused. So while he was hiding to, well, do camouflages, Yixuan was looking for him? Why did he do that?
“Oh, your little boy didn’t know how desperate you were to find him,” Victoria giggles. “I assume you were also the one who killed Jaehyun, Blonde Boy? You seem pretty strong, but how about that handsome little thing of yours? Can he play with us, too?”
Yixuan clenches his fist, firmly shaking his head. “Isn’t it better to play fair, young lady? Don’t you think two is too much for a woman like you?”
Victoria raises an eyebrow, “No, actually two is better than one,” she pulls out a small knife and throws it down, it landed an inch away from Sungjoo’s right foot and Yixuan’s left foot. “We waste too much time. Are you ready for the real thing, gentlemen?”
Yixuan grabs Sungjoo’s hand, pulling him close to his own body.
“Run!” he shouts, as Victoria pulls out whatever weapon she has from her pocket.
Sungjoo can’t run anymore. His bad leg throbs painfully against the tight straps, and it hurts him when he tries to lift his leg. He throws himself to the ground, releasing his hand from Yixuan’s grip. Yixuan turns around, concerned.
“Hey, are you okay?”
“No,” Sungjoo replies, “My leg hurts so much, I can’t run anymore. Can we kill her with something quickly?”
Victoria is right behind them, moving from branch to branch skillfully - almost like flying, or dancing. She’s not rushing things, clearly enjoying the position she’s in. Yixuan was right about she prefers to win first than to kill first.
“You said you could read someone’s track, can you read hers? Like how you did to Joon something, until you found me.”
“Well, Joonyoung didn’t move as fast as her,” Yixuan says, thinking hard. “I probably could try, but we need to stay; not moving. Is that possible?”
“I’ll distract her. Find a way, preferably quick. I don’t know how long I can bear up with my leg, but it’s better than nothing, right?”
Sungjoo moves, dragging his leg and hides behind a trunk, Yixuan almost forgets to blink and breathe seeing how easy Sungjoo fits his body against the material behind him. If he’d given more time, Sungjoo could’ve just painted his body exactly like a tree and no one can tell the difference.
Focus, Yixuan, focus. Yixuan tries to concentrate, reading the pattern of Victoria’s moves. She moves fast, but the way she grabs the nearest branch and chooses a place to stand must be the same, since the trees here are designed similar.
“Aw, look at your handsome little boy trying to mess up with me,” Victoria laughs as she realizes Sungjoo is not there, “I know you’re good at hiding, baby boy, but don’t think you can fool me.”
She throws another knife to a place where Sungjoo was there once, but he’s gone, hiding behind another trunk. Victoria misses it, and she doesn’t like it.
“That’s not funny,” she growls, “I see you’re playing with my patience, and I don’t like it. Let’s get to the main course, then.”
She throws away her backpack after pulling out a bow and an arrow. Yixuan can’t believe his sight - oh, so now she’s into archery, too. What a dedicated young woman.
As expected from Victoria, she can read Sungjoo’s movement with only a short scanning on her surrounding, and Yixuan panics now because Sungjoo is losing his strength to even hold himself upright. He grimaces soundlessly, completely in pain. Yixuan takes a look at the young woman. She’s busy focusing on her target and weapon on her arm, so he takes it as a chance to move.
Yixuan tries to move swiftly, even though his stamina is drained to the lowest point. Almost there, almost there, he forces his body to hang on a little more, Sungjoo is there, and he can almost reach him. Yixuan turns his head, sensing Victoria is ready to shoot her arrow, and he jumps to shield Sungjoo’s body with his own - the arrow pierced on his back, blood soaking into his shirt.
Sungjoo cries; shocked, now that Yixuan doesn’t move at all after Victoria had shot him to the ground. He stares at the woman who clicks her tongue with disappointment that she didn’t shoot on target, hatred burning on his eyes.
Yixuan starts moving, and Sungjoo pulls him to his chest, doesn’t know what to do with the arrow on his back and not daring to pull it out. He can hear Yixuan whispers on his neck, something about her movement pattern, and a soft encouragement that Sungjoo can kill her. Kill her for me.
Sungjoo nods, trembling hand reaching for a dagger on Yixuan’s pocket. Victoria raises her eyebrow at him, her gaze challenging.
“Sorry I hurt your precious boyfriend,” she says, mocking a guilty expression. “I feel bad, will you be okay after hearing the cannon booms later?”
“He will not die,” Sungjoo says, voice hoarse. His anger boiling on every inch of his skin, he’s never been wanted to kill someone this much. “Not before he saw you dead first.”
“Romantic,” Victoria concludes sweetly, and it’s sickening. “Let’s see if you can be useful, handsome boy.”
Victoria starts again - her thing, moving from a tree to another in a span of seconds. Sungjoo concentrates, trying to read her movement, but it’s just too difficult. She’s as fast as a ninja.
Yixuan grabs him on the leg and gestures that he’s going to count to three, and at three Sungjoo can throw her the knife. Sungjoo nods nervously; he’s not confident he can do this but he’s not going to let someone who had hurt Yixuan go away easily. At least he has to try.
Yixuan counts weakly with his finger and when he lifts up the third finger, Sungjoo looks up and throws the dagger on his hand, claiming Victoria’s heart. The young woman doesn’t see this coming; she gapes in shock as the knife jabs her left chest, pushing her down from height and she falls in a loud thud. Sungjoo doesn’t need to confirm for her death because four seconds later, the cannon booms.
Sungjoo sighs happily, wiping his sweaty forehead and looks down at Yixuan. This is not done yet. The brown haired boy crouches down, horror and anxiety written clearly on his expression.
“Take this... out…” Yixuan says, gesturing to the arrow. “It only tears my skin, so it won’t hurt that much when you pull it out. Please?”
Hesitating at first, Sungjoo grips the arrow and quickly pulls it out; Yixuan’s ear-splitting groan hurts him in a way Sungjoo never imagined before. No, it wasn’t only tore his skin, it was much deeper than that and Sungjoo watches in horror as he draws more blood when the arrow finally gets pulled out completely. He rolls Yixuan’s body carefully to lay him on his lap, holding his face, sobbing uncontrollably at the beautiful face beneath him. Yixuan cannot die, no, no; he can’t leave Sungjoo like this.
Yixuan lifts a hand and touches Sungjoo’s cheek softly, whispering at him, “Don’t cry. I don’t want to see you cry,”
Sungjoo holds Yixuan’s palm on his cheek; kissing it repeatedly, his tears can’t stop rolling down his face. He can’t believe just some hours ago he was crying because Yixuan was alive, and now it spins one hundred and eighty degrees.
He can’t do anything for Yixuan, and it scares Sungjoo to death. He keeps holding on Yixuan’s palm to make sure he can still hear his pulse, making sure Yixuan is still breathing. This is not what he has planned before. It should be him lying on Yixuan’s lap, drinking on his beauty for the probably last time, and Sungjoo would be okay, really okay, if he had to die like that.
And then, he hears Yixuan hums.
The melody is familiar, it’s been playing on his head since he was a kid, and he knew it so well. It was a song his mother taught him, and he thought he was the only one who knew the song since his mother made it for him.
“I remember a cute, chubby kid with curly hair sang the song with his mother, his mother held his tiny arm as he wouldn’t stop jumping around…” Yixuan says, smiling weakly at the memory. “It was a joyful song about get loved by people around you. The kid was happily singing, sometimes stopped to ask his mother to buy candies, and when his mother said no he’d continue singing. He was adorable, and lovely, and the most important was, he looked so happy…”
Sungjoo can feel himself shuddering to the flashback Yixuan’s narrating right now. He remembered when his mother brought him to the market, she would hold his hand all the time because Sungjoo might disappear by the time his mother blinked, and to distract him from talking too much his mother would ask him to sing. Sungjoo loved singing; he could sing a certain song over and over again without feeling tired. The song his mother made was his favorite one.
How could Yixuan know about it?
Yixuan takes a deep breath before continue speaking. “That day was exactly two days after my father passed away at a mine explosion. I should be very sad, and I was, until I heard this kid sang his heart out very passionately. I loved how the way he sang made me feel less miserable, reminded me at how much people I had by my side that time. I was so thankful, and fell in love right away after I saw him.”
Sungjoo chokes on a sob; Yixuan knew him all along. He had known him all this time, had fallen in love with him, and it must be the reason why he was bothering himself looking for a hiding Sungjoo in a pit of hell like Hunger Games. Yixuan had loved him for a long, long time, and Sungjoo never once realized it.
“Yixuan, I-I’m… I’m sorry-” Sungjoo can’t help but crying out loud, feeling so helpless and desperate and afraid - he doesn’t want to lose Yixuan. He wants to make up for the years he had spent without knowing someone had fallen so deep at him, someone who loved him even before he could tie his shoelaces. Sungjoo wants to love him back, love him more, and love him right. He doesn’t care about this goddamn game, he just wants to bring Yixuan home, take him to his mother and say that Yixuan is someone he’d like to marry.
“You don’t have to,” Yixuan says, his voice getting weaker. “Reason why I was in Hunger Games is because I wanted to protect my sister, and I wanted to see you… alive. I knew you’d make it, you’d win, so I could leave my mom and sister to you. Take care of them for me, and I’m sorry I was being a coward for so long. I love you, so much, and everything happened between us here is more than enough for me.”
Yixuan circles his arm around Sungjoo’s neck and whispers. “Sing me that song again,”
Sungjoo can’t. He can’t open his mouth without sobbing miserably and the only word he can utter is Yixuan’s name, but he forces himself to sing through trembling lips and hoarse voice. Yixuan closes his eyes, hugging Sungjoo tighter and whispers I love you once again, before his breathing slowly getting farther and farther, and his arms fall limply behind Sungjoo’s back.
Sungjoo takes Yixuan’s body on his arm and walks to the cliff, the edge of the arena. He looks at Yixuan, who still looks stunningly beautiful, and kisses his lips softly before he throws himself to the air beneath him.
The cannon booms two times eight seconds later.
*so, a certain someone remembers i'd once stated i would do thg!au for each otp i have (and they are so many wtf) (yes, it's you, viechan) because i'm that much of a trash for hunger games but now i decided to do it for ones i thought would be suitable for the theme. heheh.
*i'd stop writing angst ok this is the last i promise pls do remind me i'm a forgetful person
*i started this as a drabble but it suddenly had plot and it suddenly became 5k, ur welcome.
*i'm at tumblr and twitter if something does not make sense for you (laughs sheepishly) soRRY FANDOM (i tried) I LOVE YOU ALL