What the hell is happening?

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Chapter one:
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How did I get here? Standing silently in a plastic tube with tears gently cascading down my cheeks.

How did I get to this point of torturous silence?

Maybe I should start from the beginning.

------ around a week earlier ------

I make my way down the broken down path of rock leading to my regular spot. It was a normal day, except for the fact that today is also the choosing.

To me, the choosing was nothing but a false sense of hope. A game saying that all of this pain that families go through is for the betterment of everyone else.

Well, I can tell you that that statement is nothing but absolute horse shit. No families are better off when their child goes off to a blood bath. The large majority of people that get chosen in district 12 are under the age of 16. Sixteen years old. No matter the fact that it's separated. And this is helping us?!

The kids that go off to be killed could've been so much more. They could've been the scientists that find the cure for cancer or cataracts! And what is this damn capital doing? Sending them straight to the grave.

I had just reached my favorite spot for performing. It was the middle of the buying center. I usually go there because the more well off people tend to head straight for the better products, and you have to go around this area to get there.

Performing isn't a very good way to get money, I know. But what am I to do? I'm only 15, no one is going to hire me. I have to take care of my father and sister, ever since he fell ill and my mother died of a sickness. What do you honestly expect me to do?

I place my old, raggedy hat on the stones, stepping up to the patchy with the least amount of loose rocks, and start to sing. I don't really know where these songs come from, of where they solidify in my mind, but the regulars seem to love them. As I'm singing, I move my body in graceful swirls and beautiful bends.

The hat I felt starts to accumulate currency and after singing and dancing to my hearts content, I've only made about $13. It's not a terrible amount and sure is nothing to complain about. It might last me a solid three days at most, and I'm okay with that.

I have to pack up my little belongings that I brought to head home to freshen up for the choosing.

Heading home around two minutes later, I encounter the same people. The old butcher, the town seamstress, the regular capital guards who love my performances enough to not write me up for 'disturbing the peace', and finally my old home.

"Meiwoo! I'm here!" My little 9 year old sister comes running to me, crashing unceremoniously into my thigh.

"Bro! Where you beeen!" She asks, dragging out her sentence. I smile down at her, just replying the usual place.

I pick her up and set her on my back, "have you checked on dad? Remember, the choosing is today and he has to come with us." She pouts, remembering what today is while nodding all the while.

I bring her into our shared, tiny room, taking out her nicest dress, that sadly still has a hole or two in it. "Meiwoo, can you put your dress on?" She nods up at me with her tiny little smile planted into her face.

I hand her the dress while going into my little drawers, taking out a gray dress shirt and blue trousers. I sigh once again while looking at the sad, dreary clothes and mumbling to myself, "this will have to do, not much choice."

After both of us are done, we head into my fathers room to see him slowly bending over to put his shoes on. I hurriedly try to stop him as to not hurt himself further. I place a hand on his knee to turn his attention on to me, taking the second show into my hand and helping place it on his foot.

"Son," I stop from tying the laces and look up to his weathered, tired face. "I want you to know that whatever happens today, whether you are chosen, your best friend is chosen, or if you schoolmate is chosen, that you always need to remember that things will be okay. I won't say that everything will be okay and dandy, but things will get better." I nod up at him while finishing the laces.

"I understand. I have hope that everything will be alright!" As I smile brightly up at him, his hand comes to my shoulders to give me a weak and tender hug. I pull away and grab his cane, helping him move to the door.

"Meiwoo! Lets head out now." She runs back over to me from our room, grabbing on to my outstretched hand.

Heading out of the door, with my fathers hand on my shoulder and Meiwoo's hand in mine, we start towards the district center.

Making it there with a bit of time to spare, I bring my father and Meiwoo over to a concrete block for Father to lean on. Spotting on of the regulars that watch me perform, he comes over.

"Ah! Boy, your performance this afternoon was beautiful! Tell me, where did you come up with the ideas of these beautiful songs?" I feel very flattered, shortly answering that it just came to my mind. He nods and goes to speak again, but is cut off by the loud speakers playing the very annoying voice of Kim Hyuna.

"Good morning residence of District 12! Are you ready for your choosing?" She revives a deafening silence. "Ah, fair point I guess. Well lets start then!" Meiwoo tightly grabs onto my hand and buries her small head into the fleshy part on my abdomen.

After swirling the names of the children that are 10-14 years old names a few times, she reaches into the bowl and pulls out a crisp white piece of paper, holding the dire fate of one unlucky child. "Your champion for the younger people is, Ahn Hye-Jin!"

A smaller girl with a wide set jaw and bright orangish red hair starts to climb up to the podium with small tears going out of her eyes.

After hearing that the younger champion wasn't my sister, I turned her to face me, giving her a brilliant smile. As I'm communicating with her, Hyuna starts again.

"Now for the older champion! That will be," I'm still giving my sister a large hug out of joy that she isn't the next pe-

"Jung Hoseok!"

What? I stiffen in my sisters hold. I'm starting to breathe heavily, shaking. Meiwoo looks up at me with tears already down her face and every bit of joy wiped off her face within a nanosecond. She doesn't say anything, she just clings to me with such a force that a nine year old couldn't spare.

All of a sudden I feel a guard grab onto me and her, trying to separate us, "NO! Don't leave me!" She screams with so much hurt oozing into her higher pitched voice. I'm still numb, till I see them grab her so hard that she can't breathe, "NO! TAKE CARE OF HER, DONT HURT HER!" I can only scream till I hear a softer voice in my ear. It's the guard that always watched my performances, "kid, you have to be strong. Be strong and win. Prove that you can protect her."

I listen to him, trying to wrap my head around the situation. It's all still surreal, even as I'm placed on to the podium with every eye following my every move.

"Great! Now we have our two champions!" She grabs both of our hands while me and Hye-Jin look to each other. All being said is, "I'm sorry."

"Now, may the odds be ever in your favor!"

I am Jung Hoseok, and I'm deathly terrified of this game.

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Heeelllooo! This is a new story and since its new, the updateds will be kind of sporadically spaced out. I think this is the longest chapter I've ever done, over 1300 words!

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