castle • nomin

chapter six.

the tribute parade goes off without a hitch- jaemin and joy easily recieved the best reactions, making the mentors jobs so much easier. the crowd loved them, they cheered their names, tossed heeping amounts of roses in their direction; honestly, jeno almost felt bad for the others.

almost everyone is in a good mood that night- jeno allows himself to a glass of wine, and aurelia treats herself to about five. "to celebrate another year of victory for district two," she excuses herself.

jeno walks her to her room later on, once everything has settled down. her gold makeup smudges onto his cheek after she kisses him goodnight, and he leaves, scrubbing it off. by the time he gets back, everyone else is in their rooms- he can hear enobaria snoring.

he lightly jogs to his own room and slips into the shower, making sure to scrub aurelia's mark off his cheek. he doesn't allow himself nearly as much time as the prior morning- it's a luxury he won't let himself get used to.

he wraps a towel around his waist to go change. a knock at the door pulls him out of his head, and he quickly slips his sleeping attire on before opening the door, deciding a muscle shirt and sweats would do.

"i know it's late and you probably want to head to bed, but i-" jaemin starts, cutting himself off when he meets jeno's eyes. he allots himself a moment to regain composure.

"you, what?" jeno asks sternly, waiting for the boy to finish.

"oh, yeah. i wanted to talk to you about what image you're gonna aim for with me, but i see you're heading to bed, so we can talk tomorrow," the words tumble out of his mouth like a fountain, and he is about to walk away, when jeno flicks on the light. "i wasn't gonna head to bed yet, we can talk."

jeno walks to a small table in his room and sits, gesturing for jaemin to follow suit. he does so, sitting in the seat adjacent to his mentor.

"your image... i was thinking about it during the parade- you don't fit the brutal image, unfortunately. i know that one the best, it would have been easiest. but i don't think we can play you off as meek after the parade," jeno swings his legs up on to a chair next to him, crossing his arms over his chest. jaemin stares at him intensely, and jeno almost laughs.

"i can put a better shirt on, if you need," he jokes, flustering the boy.

"no, i-it's just," jaemin stumbles to defend himself.

"i'm just kidding," jeno says. "you're a lot smarter than you're letting on to, and i can see it. you analyze before you move, you watch the crowd. i think we play you off as cold, calculating. intelligent, dangerously so."

jaemin smiles arrogantly. "so you think i'm smart now, too? my, my."

groaning, jeno stands up. "you're arrogant, aren't you? what am i gonna do with you?"

"whatever you want," jaemin replies, also rising, and the older boy freezes.

"you don't want that," jeno warns, and jaemin raises an eyebrow testingly, "don't i?"

jeno isn't sure where it comes from, or why he reacts that way, but before he knows it, jaemin is pressed against a wall, jeno's arm on his chest. "shut up, before your mouth gets you killed."

jaemin rolls his eyes. "you don't scare me. you wouldn't hurt me, and we both know it," he says knowingly. "i mean, unless you're into that..."

releasing the boy, jeno slumps back down in his seat, rubbing his temples. " you're insane. focus on surviving, the games are in less than a week!"

jaemin slowly walks to the door. "no one who volunteers is quite sane," he quotes his mentor, "besides, you haven't said no yet, and frankly, i don't think you will."

jeno glares at him, but jaemin stares back with the same, albeit gentler, ferocity. jeno rolls his eyes. "come back alive, then we'll talk."

the tribute flashes one last grin, and he's gone.

jeno would like to scream. this tribute gets under his skin in impossible ways.