"Kim Jongin."

The name reverberated around the stone clearing filled with silent, stony faced people. As the name reached the ears of the people, many of them breathed out a sigh of relief that it wasn't them or one of their loved ones. Some shut their eyes in silent prayer. A baby in the crowd started crying; his mother desperately tried to hush him. Yet the people stood still, an air of anticipation in the place as they awaited the boy named Kim Jongin.

The announcer, a young lady called Minzy, frowned when no one stepped forward after ten minutes. She flicked her short red hair in slight annoyance and peered at the slip of paper in her hand. "Kim jongin? Please step up to the stage-" The sentence was barely out of when the people parted to let a tall, tanned boy walk through. His dark brown eyes were shell-shocked and he wore an expression of shock. Minzy could practically read the boy's thoughts. 'Please let it be a mistake. It's not me. This is not happening.' She knows those thoughts as well as her own, due to her five years of experience as an announcer. Most of the tributes wear the same look when they hear their own names being called out.. To them, the world had just came crashing down on them.

To Minzy, it was just all in a day's work.

So right now as the boy made his way to the stage Minzy watched him impassively. Just another boy, another tribute for the Game, she thought dismissively. This one didn't look like he would last to the end. He didn't look like he could fight. Still, as a professional, she summoned up a winning smile and faced the boy. "Ah, Kim Jongin. You had me scared for a moment, when you took your time to come up here." She laughed without mirth. " A long walk to the stage, I imagine! Come here." The boy slowly made his way to her side and stood facing the crowd. Minzy could feel him trembling beside her and she grinned inwardly. Cute, shy, scared Jongin. Outwardy, she kept her wide friendly smile and held up Jongin's hand. "So this is our dear tribute, from District 12! Kim Jongin, age 16. Let us give him a round of applause!"

Just then there was a commotion in the middle of the crowd and a young man dashed out. " JONGIN!" he yelled. Immediately Peacekeepers lunged forward to pull him backwards, away from the stage. " Let go of me! Jongin!" The young man yelled.

" Taemin hyung! " Jongin shouted but Minzy cut him off.

" What's the meaning of this disruption?! You, down there! Who do you think you are?" Minzy asked furiously. The young man, Taemin, stopped struggling against the Peacekeepers' hold and looked up at Minzy.

"My name is Taemin, and I'm Jongin's elder brother! I won't let you take him away! " Taemin said agitatedly. Minzy just looked at him and sighed with annoyance. It wasn't the first time that a sibling or something would rush out to yell and cry and all that, just to gain sympathy for the tribute so that the Capitol people would sponser the tribute more than the others. Pathetic. She waved a hand at the Peacekeepers in an gesture for them to remove Taemin from the clearing. When they started dragging Taemin away he twisted back to look at the boy on the stage. Jongin grabbed Minzy's hand.

" Don't hurt Taemin hyung!" he pleaded, his brown eyes glistening with unshed tears as his brother was dragged away. His bottom lip trembled; his overgrown bush of a hair fell over his left eye as he pleaded. Minzy stared at the boy impassively. Her years of woking for the Capitol had rendered her cold and heartless to such things. She had seen too much, so much that she found herself no longer wanting to care. But as she stared into Jongin's eyes she felt her stone heart crack a little. Something shifted slightly in her, she felt herself saying with genuine gentleness , "They won't hurt him." Some of the worry drained out of Jongin's eyes and he let go of her arm, staring in the direction of where the Peacekeepers had taken his brother. Later, as Minzy rode the train back to the Capitol, she couldn't stop thinking about the two boys. Especially Kim Jongin. ----------------------------------------------------------- Hellooo~ hehe a short chap one! ^^ haha this chap may seem kinda random XD next chap will be in jongin's POV:)) will try to update soon but no promises:( cos I got to update three other fanfics ASAP 0.0 Hope you guys enjoy it~ Ps: just for fun, do you guys know why jongin is in District 12?:))))))