Hwanhee doesn't remember the last time he was this shocked. Maybe the time he almost got bitten by a rattlesnake comes the closest, but no, none of his experience will ever match the sheer fear flowing through his body when he was picked as District 9's tribute in the Second Quarter Quell.

"Congratulations," a man with sharp eyeliner tells him, shaking his hand. "I'll be your mentor. My name is Jaejoong. Follow me."

He turns and walks into the Justice Building, but Hwanhee panicks, looking back at the crowd. "But my family!"

Jaejoong beckons. "You'll get to say goodbye. Hurry up. The elevator is here already."

He deposits Hwanhee into a room with a couch and a few chairs. There's also a writing desk, but Hwanhee doesn't want to touch it. Outside the windows, the sun reflects off the golden wheat, turning the side of the building gold. Hwanhee rushes to it, struggling to open the windows before he finds that he can't. A moment of panic overtakes him; will he never get to smell the scent of grain again?

But then, the doors open, admitting his family, and Hwanhee's worries melt away into sadness. He rushes into his brother's arms, forgetting for a moment that he's going to shipped off to the Capitol soon.

"Hwan, it's okay, it's okay, look at me." Changhyun takes his face in his hands and looks him in the eyes. "You need to get your hands on a blade. Like, a scythe or something. You know how to work around sharp edges."

"And if you can, find a large field," his fiancee, a short woman called Yujin, adds. "You've been hiding in fields ever since you were little."

"But I don't know what the Arena's gonna look like!" Hwanhee whines, burying his face in his brother's shirt. Tears come to his eyes, and he wipes them away. "I-I don't even know if I'll make it past the first day..."

"Don't say that." Changhyun inhales sharply and gathers his brother into his arms. "You'll make it. You're gonna come back, okay? You're going to make it." He rocks back and forth, trying to convince himself as much as Hwanhee. "You're going to come back."

Hwanhee doesn't say anything, only holds onto his shirt even tighter. Ever since their parents died, Changhyun had raised him on his own, despite only being two years older. He'd dropped out of school to make sure Hwanhee wouldn't, worked in the fields to support them, and even traded on the black market to get goods for cheaper prices. He'd done so much, and Hwanhee doesn't want to let it all be a waste.

He owes his life to his brother.

"I'll try," he offers, wiping his face with his brother's sleeve. "I mean--"

But the time is over, faster than he'd thought, and Changhyun and Yujin are being pulled away, and Hwanhee's screaming 'I love you I love you I love you' over and over until the door slams shut and his words echo sharply around the room.

The next person who comes in is his best friend, and he leaps onto him and hangs on like there's no tomorrow. Dongyeol only returns the hug, holding him as he cries.

"You know," he says once he's finally pushed Hwanhee off of him. "They let you take something in with you."

"A token." Hwanhee's familiar enough with the rules. He holds out his hand, and Dongyeol drops something into it. "What's this?"

"Your brother gave it to me," he says, looking away. "He said he didn't have time to give it to you himself."

It's a pin, shaped in the form of three stalks of wheat. Hwanhee recognizes it. He gave it to Changhyun for his birthday one year. It was the first thing he ever bought with his own money. 

Unbidden, tears come to his eyes again, and he lets Dongyeol pin it to his shirt before he leaves. "Take care," Dongyeol says, clapping a hand on his shoulder. Then, without another word, he follows the Peacekeepers out of the door.

His next visitors are unexpected. His boss, Jinwook, and his vice-boss, Sooil. They sit down across from him and, instead of shedding tears, give him advice on how to survive other types of environments.

"You're not used to the woods," Jinwook says, "so if you get stuck in one, you better try to find a meadow or something. Something close to the wheat fields."

"And if you get put with mountains," Sooil continues urgently, "make sure you find some sort of cave. A lot of them will have tunnel systems and ideally, you can just live out the Games there without anyone finding you."

"Do that with dirt too." Jinwook can't seem to gather his thoughts. "Sometimes rats are huge and they make tunnels."

"Ice!" Sooil remembers at the last minute. "Keep warm, don't make fire unless you know you're on land, build a snow house or tunnel system in the snow, but don't depend on it forever unless your entrance is well-hidden. And remember breathing holes."

How do they know all this? Hwanhee tries to remember everything they've told him, and when they leave, Jinwook's eyes shine with unshed tears. "You need to come back," he says.

He'll try, he promises, but in his heart, he knows he probably won't.

tbh not sure if most ppl read the last chapter lololol but here we ing go. i didn't know who should have been bitto's fiancee so i just pulled a random 96 girl out of my head and in my memories yujin should fit. so that's that, and i genuinely have no ing clue what the rest of this was. also, it's 10:34 and i'm already tired. i should watch the last lecture since i didn't go to the public showing. but youtube is best friend uwu.