Chapter 2

I am seated beside Luhan as the train moves away from District 6. The badly dressed lady is in front of us, smiling like an idiot. I take time to marvel at how beautiful and luxurious the train is. Silk, real food and high-tech devices. I know that Luhan is facinated too. We're from the same district, anyway. And from where we come from, we have never been in the 'first-class'. Finally, after smiling so much, the lady says something.

"Two hundred miles per hour and you can barely feel a thing. I think its one of the wonderful things about this opportunity, that even though you're here and even though its just for a little while, you get to enjoy all this!" I agree. Because after we die, we'll never get to enjoy all this things. After a few minutes of silence, the lady gets up. "I'm going to look for Leetuek." This Leetuek person, I'm sure he's our mentor.

After the lady left, Luhan turns to me. "Sooyoung. I don't think you'd actually know me but I--"

"I know you. We have lockers next to each other in school."

"Oh, good. You noticed." I nod. "So, um, have you ever met him? Leetuek."

I shake my head. "Have you?"

"No. But he must be pretty good. I mean, he did win this thing once."

"Yeah, but that was a long time ago. And he's been the mentor for our district for years now and none of our tributes have ever won."

"Point taken but we need all the help we can get. I mean, we're going up against the Career Tributes, kids who are prepared and trained from birth for this. Who are much larger and stronger than we are."

"I know, but there's also the fact that 1, 2, 3 and 4 don't allow their females to train so the good news is, we'll have only 4 Careers to go up against."

"Sweetheart, I don't think you should be looking down on the females." I turn around and a man with messed up hair, untidy clothing and a bottle of liquor in one hand came to view. "Afterall, you are one, yourself."

I assume that he's our mentor, Leetuek. He takes slow, lazy steps towards us and slumps down on the chair in front of us. Now I know why our district hasn't been getting any victors. Their mentor's a drunkard.

"So, mentor, what's the plan?" Luhan asks.

Leetuek arches his brow. "Plan?"

"You know, how are we actually going to survive in the arena."

"Oh. Okay, so all you gotta do is to embrace the probability of your imminent death... and know that there is nothing I can do to save you."

I clearly lost my mind when threw a butter knife at Leetuek. Like I planned, it didn't hit him . It miss him by only a centimeter.

But I'm not the only one that had gone crazy. Luhan throws a knife to Leetuek's glass and it shatters.

"These are my new pants and you just got liquor all over it. And you," Leetuek turned to me. "Tried to kill me." He nods his head approvingly. "Looks like I have two fighters to this year." He stood up. "Well, I guess I'd better get ready for supper. Can't go to the table looking like I've wet myself." He walks towards the door and it lifted up automatically. After he's gone, Luhan and I were alone again.

"We should probably go get ready too." Luhan stands and walks towards the door. "I'll see you at supper, Sooyoung." With that, he is gone and I'm left alone.

This guy, Luhan, seems nice. I don't think I have the nerve to kill him. So I'll just have to hope that some other tribute gets to him before I do. I head out the door as well, and I can see Luhan about to enter his room. Before going in, he gives me a small smile.

I was greated with a beautiful sight. The bedroom was just as luxurious as the dining room. I decide to take a shower and change out of my dress. I tied my hair up into a ponytail after showering and come out of my room for supper. Outside the door, I can see Leetuek and the lady sitting at the table already but Luhan is not with them.

I didn't notice that Luhan was behind me the whole time until I turn around. "L-Luhan!" I hiss. "What are you doing?!"

He gives an apologetic small. "Sorry, Sooyoung." He opens the door. "After you."

I roll my eyes and walk in the dining room where Leetuek and the lady look up. "Ah, sweetheart. You guys are just in time to see the Reapings of the other 15 districts." Luhan and I sat on the couch with the lady and Leetuek as we watch the kids's names being called out.

District 1, 2, 3 and 4 had big, strong males and wimpy looking females. But like Leetuek said, I shouldn't underestimate or overestimate our opponents. "So what do you guys think?" Leetuek asks us after the Reapings of all 16 Districts have finished.

"Big, scary, mean-looking guys from the Career Districts... We'll never be able to take them."

"Sweetheart?"

"The girl from 16 reminds me of my little sister."

"Look, if you want to win, you don't let the Careers scare you, alright? And you," Leetuek turns to me. "Better get that image off your mind. You'll find that you'll be unable to kill her if you don't." Luhan and I nod. "Alright, now, if you people don't mind..." Leetuek stands and takes his liquor. "I'm going to finish this in my room." Leetuek almost bangs the wall but avoids it and walks out the door.

He's right. I know I will kill the girl at some point. As for the male Career tributes... Well... I probably won't stand a chance against them. Afterall, they have been trained before the games. And I know they're set on winning since they're names weren't called out. They volunteered themselves.

"Get up! Get up! It's a big day today!" I recognize this voice. It is the badly dress lady's. And I still don't know her name. To be honest, I don't really care much. I climb off my bed to get ready for the big day. I guess in a few moments, we'll be at the capitol. One step closer to the games. One step closer to my death. I walk out of my room and stood outside the door of the dining room. The lady is busy powdering her face while Luhan and Leetuek were talking.

I walk into the room and Luhan smiles at me. "Good morning." I smile back.

"Oh, joy... Take a seat, sweetheart."

"What are you guys talking about?"

"Oh, I was just asking about finding a shelter."

"Which would come in handy if you all were still alive..."

I glare at Leetuek. "How do you find shelter."

"Pass the jam."

"How do you find shelter." I repeat, more harshly.

"Give me a break, sweetheart. This mentoring thing is really tough."

"I said, how do you find shelter." I glare daggers at Leetuek.

"Fine. You want know how to stay alive? You get people to like you. When you're out there, dying or freezing even a matchstick can mean a difference. And where are you going to get that? Sponsors. You get that from sponsors. And to get sponsors, you have to make people like you. And right now, sweetheart, you're not off to a good start."

I try my best not to swing a punch onto Leetuek's face as Luhan gets up and walks over to the window. "Look! We're here. It's so big..." He's fascinated. The train passes through a dark tunnel and we're drving through a crowd of Capitol people. Luhan gives his smile and waves. "Come on, Sooyoung!" He calls to me.

Leetuek smirks. "He knows what he's doing."

I blink Leetuek away and join Luhan. But I didn't smile nor wave. I just stare at them with a hint of anger in my eyes.

One minute I was at the train staring at the Capitol people with hatred. The next, I was tied down onto a table with whom I assume are the Capitol stylists waxing my legs. I bite my lips to hold back the screams I want to let out. Luckily they tied me up or else I would've just kicked them in the faces.

Finally, after the intense eyebrow plucking, waxing and showering, I was alone in a room. They told me to wait for my actual stylist. He comes in, and I notice that he's not over dressed as the people of the Capitol. He has a peek of gold eyeliner on his lids, though.

"I'm sorry you're in this mess." He walks over to me. "And I'm here to help you." He holds out his hand. "I'm Eunhyuk, your stylist."

I shake his hand. "Most people just congratulate me."

Eunhyuk shakes his head. "I don't really see a point to that." He smiles. Eunhyuk's smile is friendly which makes me feel a little better. "Tonight's the tribute parade. We're gonna take you out and show you to the world."

"So you're here to make me look beautiful."

"I'm here to help you make an impression. We're supposed to dress you guys according to the power your district represents. District 6 represents Telepathy. Now, most of the stylists are going to dress their tributes in fabric. But I wanna do something that the people are going to remember. Did Leetuek say anything about getting sponsors?"

"Yes, but I'm not very good with people."

Eunhyuk pats my shoulder. "We'll see."

I can see the other stylists doing some touch-ups on their tributes. Some were ridiculously dressed, some were okay. Eunhyuk explained to us a minute ago that when the horses starts to pull the chariot out, we'll have to press the buttons that are on our suits. Luhan is dressed in a white sleeveless suit. I am dressed in a white sleeveless dress with the top poffy.

Luhan turns to me and I can see the nervous look in his eye. "Hey, don't worry. It'll be fine." I assure him. He still isn't convinced. I hold his hand and give him a squeeze of comfort. He smiles and I don't let go of his hand.

What was his name? Seunghyun. They call him Top. He's our host for the games and I can hear his comments as the first chariot holding District 1 rolls out. Chariot by chariot, district by district, I can hear the crowds cheering. The girls and boys on each of the chariots were waving their hands to the crowds, ignoring each other.

Finally, it is time for our chariot. As our chariot goes out into the parade, I can hear Top gasping to his partner. "What is that? That chariot right over there." Luhan and I already pressed our buttons and we realized what it does. It sends white balls and cubes floating all around us and some following us as our chariot goes. I can see and hear that the crowd loves us. I didn't realize I was still holding hands with Luhan until he holds our joined hands up. I guess people can remember that since we're the only district that actually touched or even looked at each other.

And as we did, the crowds cheered even louder for us. They don't even glance at the other tributes behind us. Their eyes were glued onto District 6.

"Now, you see that? I love that. Two teenagers, holding their hands up, saying I'm proud I'm from District 6. We will not be disregarded! I love that!" Top exclaims.

We wait until all the chariots gathered onto the front before our presidents speaks. By then, our cubes and balls were gone. I look to Luhan and he was smiling. Our hands were still holding onto the other. "Welcome, welcome! Tributes, we welcome you." My smile fades and turns into a scowl. The president is the reason why we have the games. He's the one who created it. Its purpose? Simply to entertain the Capitol people.

"We acknowledge your courage and your sacrifice. We wish you Happy Death Games." Please don't say it. "And may the odds be ever in your favour." Luhan must've notice that I was twitching as he lets go of my hand and rubs soothing circles on my back.

The horses pulled the chariots out of the parade ground and into a building where Eunhyuk, Luhan's stylist, Leetuek and the lady rushes to praise us. Leetuek is about to say something when he stops and looks away from me. All of us turn our heads to see the male District 2 tribute, his name's Jonghyun if I remember correctly, smirking and staring at me. "Let's... uh... let's go upstairs..." Leetuek swings his arm around mine and Luhan's shoulder.

I turn back and he is still smirking. I know what he means. If I'm not careful, I will die in his hands for sure.

Hello! So I hope you enjoyed this chapter. A big thanks to mentrachan, SY-JaeHa, pykaSY1310, lov3s_ang3l_19, aliahelfxtion, Fruiter, onjiexotic, KamiliaBBC and momoiro for subscribing. It really means a lot.
If you are wondering, the Districts each represent a power. So I thought that why not correspont EXO's powers to their districts. There are the Career Districts which are 1, 2, 3 and 4 who have not EXO or SNSD members in them. They are SHINee with unknown female tributes. If you're wondering which who's in which district, well, SHINee has the first four. The rest are all EXO and SNSD. Some of the EXO members have unknown female tributes since there's only 9 SNSD members.
Just so you know, there's still I guess around 3 or 2 more chapters before the Games starts.
So, thanks for a reading and don't forget to check out the next chapter when it's posted. :)