01.

Lee Kwang Soo wins the game because he knows there’s no such thing as an alliance when only one person makes it out alive in the end.

He never intended to slaughter his alliances in their sleep, but he knows they would do the same thing once all the others are down. He knows, it’s either this or someone else from their group would slit his throat anyway.

On his shift that night, with a trembling hand and a knife firmly held in his palm, Kwang Soo approaches his supposedly partners and finishes them in one go. It happens all so fast, no one was even able to react. All they were able to do was staring at him with their eyes wide open, their mouth agape as to say something, or maybe let out a scream. They were silent deaths.

There are five more deaths in total before the tournament comes to an end. All made by him.

Kwang Soo wakes up every night from then, drowned in guilt and flashbacks of that night. He still remembers the horrified look of each and every one of them. He may have won, but sometimes he wishes he had just let fate decide instead of taking the matters in his own hands.

He might have survived, and yet he’s barely living.

02.

It runs in the family, they say.

When his name is called out in the reaping (Your tribute for District 1: Kim Jong Kook), his brother pats his shoulder. His mother chokes up in silent tears, while his father only gives him a firm nod. His grandfather came home alive, followed by his father, and lastly his brother. It’s something of a family tradition to go in there, fight for survival and win the game.

He’s been trained for this game for most of his life. He’s been prepared for anything that could possibly happen. He’s physically and mentally prepared. And yet, when the woman from the Capitol calls out his name in her loud and shrill voice, he feels like his legs are giving up on him.

He thinks of how all three of them came home changed people. He remembers seeing his brother trudging his way back home with slumped shoulders and hollow eyes. He pretends he doesn’t hear his brother screaming every night, or sees his father using alcohol most of the time to chase away the memories from the arena. He pretends he doesn’t know how they’re all haunted with their blood dripping hands, the lives they took to survive.

Kim Jong Kook steps to the front, catches Ji Hyo’s eyes a few rows away. Her eyes are welling with tears, her lips are trembling, she’s mouthing don’t go, please don’t go. His gaze lingers long enough to assure her that he’s going to come back. Ji Hyo breaks down in tears, her whole body shaking as she watches him being taken away. Her fingers instinctively reaches for the little arrow symbol that’s hanging loosely around her neck. He’s coming back, he’s going to survive she tells herself as tears uncontrollably stream down her cheeks and her heart breaks into a million pieces.

-

As no surprise, Kim Jong Kook comes home a victor, adding yet another name from his family to the list of winners.

03.

Song Ji Hyo wins the Hunger Games at the age of eighteen.  

Jong Kook, having come back battered and bruised from the horrid battle for survival, holds her hand, assuring her it’s unlikely to happen. It’s the last time her name could be drawn, it’s the last time she has to stand in line, praying for dear God her name won’t be called out.

(Your tribute for District 1: Song Ji Hyo)

For a moment, she feels as if the world stopped spinning on its axis. Everything is so surreal, she can’t fathom what’s going on anymore. She feels hundred pair of eyes glued at her, feels the way Jong Kook’s hand won’t let hers go. She’s escorted by the Peacekeepers, brought to one of the luxurious waiting rooms of the Justice Building.

Jong Kook sneaks in to see her for a brief moment.

“I–” She stutters, on the verge of breakdown. “I don’t think I can make it.” She sobs, burying her face in her hands.

“Look at me, Ji Hyo.” He says slowly, placing his hands onto her shoulders. “You’ve trained as much as I did. Remember all the hunting we did together? You’re even a better archer than me if I have to be honest. We both prayed it would never come to this, but there’s no going back now. Don’t you dare say goodbye because we’ll meet again. We definitely will.”

He gives her a long kiss that leaves a bitter aftertaste. She almost misses the look of despair in his eyes, the way he holds her tighter, and how the kiss is more desperate than it really should be. Although Kim Jong Kook has always had an undying faith in every single thing she does, he’s still wavering in the face of this cruel game.

-

She knows as a fact that going in there is equivalent to selling her soul to the devil. The game pits human beings against each other. Nothing could ever justify taking another person’s life. And yet, no one bats an eye while watching the opponent being sought out of life.

She makes her first kill on her third day. An arrow aimed straight at the tribute’s forehead. Ji Hyo went into the arena, never thinking she would have to resort to killing. She’s had no choice, especially when she’s wounded herself. Going into hiding, she discovers a chip that seems to track their whereabouts when tending her wound. Suddenly a thought crosses her mind.

Ji Hyo rips the tracker out, leaves it behind, and goes into hiding. This could be her ticket out. Half an hour later, her image flashes across the sky announcing her (supposed) death.

-

When the one remaining tribute fr