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CHAPTER TWELVE
The Feeling Of Belonging
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KANG Y/N
The voice belonged to Xiomi, and even though she wasn't the tallest, she was very intimidating in her own way. Not as intimidating as Kim Jihal though. I quickly moved out of the way of her and her scary voice, not daring to let Jimin touch my hand again. That was what had gotten us into trouble in the first place, after all.
Park Jimin shot me a glance at that, questioning my actions with an almost lazy eyebrow raise. In response, I swatted his hand further away. Be gone.
Park Jimin laughed quietly, looking down at the floor, his hair falling into his eyes as he did so. He didn't seem to mind the two female careers at all, even if they were fuming with rage. I wasn't like that, not at all, I couldn't ignore their burning gases.
They made me want to bow down to them or throw something at them. My mind wasn't really too decisive. Although, as they were seemingly intent on cornering me, the latter was looking more and more appealing.
"Spare me, will you? I was having such a great time with Y/n before you guys came," Jimin said, sending a bright smile their way. All I could do was shrink into myself, not wanting to draw any attention to myself.
Making enemies before the games even start... Great job, Y/n!
Kim Jihal was pale in a pretty way, but it seemed that in this particular lighting, she looked too pale. As if something was wrong and she wasn't feeling all too well. Her black hair, rosy cheeks and scarlet lips made her pale skin even more apparent.
She was beautiful, like Snow White in all those tales. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't drag my eyes away from her. That fact didn't escape her.
She smirked at me, and it wasn't nice or pleasant. There was danger there, and I felt my heartbeat exhilarate.
Finally, I was able to break free from her bewitching gaze and so I looked for a way of escape. Making eye contact with Jungkook was easy as his gaze was already glued to me, apparently following me wherever I went. My brows furrowed at his sharp gaze.
He was looking at me as if I had done something wrong, something I would greatly regret doing in the arena. He most probably was right, but since I was still somewhat mad at him, I didn't immediately respond to his stares.
I looked away from Jungkook and back to the situation at hand where I found that Jimin was lightly arguing with the female tribute of district two. Jihal however was just staring at me, a silent fire in her eyes. It looked like she thought the argument between Xiomi and Jimin was beneath her, as if she couldn't really care enough to spare either of them a glance.
"Shut up," she finally said to Xiomi, her voice void of any emotion. Jimin smirked at her reply, and she smirked right back. My heart gave another lurch. What was with all this smirking?!
She then reached up to grasp Xiomi's arm and pulled her along, away from Jimin and I.
I looked at Jimin, ready to excuse myself, but it seemed like Jungkook, who had just recently appeared at my side, beat me to it.
"She'll be coming with me to eat, hope you don't mind," he said, gritting his teeth a bit. The way he said it, in such a nonchalant manner, didn't match with the way he was grasping my arm tightly, almost as if he was afraid to let go.
"I don't mind, in fact, I think it's best for you to save Y/n right about now." Jimin smiled falsely and I could tell that Jungkook wasn't pleased with the way he mentioned my name. It was odd how he minded more than I minded this whole ordeal.
All I could think of was getting away from the two of them and the headache this was causing me.
"That's okay, she'll manage everything just fine," Jungkook said, but then nevertheless quickly grabbed my hand, leaving Jimin before he could say anything else.
I remained silent, even though I was pondering over Jungkook's behavior. He was acting in a way that both warmed my heart and scared me.
He seemed like he was afraid of Jimin, like he was afraid for me, but not for himself. As if whatever danger Jimin brought with him was only a danger to me, but not to him.
What did all this mean? And why did he have to confuse me like this? What was in it for him?
By the time Jungkook and I got to the dining hall, most of the other tributes were already seated and were enjoying their meal. This so very humane sight helped calm me some more.
One could see that that the alliances in the arena were going to look a bit like the seating patters now did. It was funny, if you thought about it.
Kim Seokjin, Min Yoongi, Jung Hoseok and Kim Taehyung were seated at one table, and I was sure that in the arena Jimin, and maybe Jungkook, would join their group.
Without a doubt, they were my biggest competitors. Everyone's biggest competitors. I still wasn't sure about my district partner though, was he foe or friend?
Better safe than sorry, Y/n...
Then, there were the female career tributes, and they were seated with Lisa and Jennie. But Lisa and Jennie looked a bit pissed off, especially Jennie. Something, maybe the way Jennie was scowling at them, and 'stealthily' tugging at Lisa's wrist to get away, told me that this alliance wouldn't last very long.
The Yi siblings were seated with Lee Taeyong, and at first I thought that it was stupid of him, but then, as I thought about it some more, I realized that if he was skilled enough, it would be easier for him to then kill two major competitors. Still, fact remained that being apart of a trio with siblings was a bad idea.
Byun Baekhyun and Jung Lili were seated with Lee Hana, and they were laughing and having fun. Their table was the only truly lively one. The three of them seemed much too innocent for all of this, and in a way, that made me feel I belonged there.
The rest, some I knew, some I didn't, were scattered and sitting alone.
Where should we sit?
Jungkook was staring at the table with the boys, watching closely, a frown decorating his tense features, as Jimin joined them with a smirk of his own on his face. As he sat down, he shot Jungkook a wink, fanning the fire.
I could tell, hell, maybe everyone could, that Jungkook wanted to be sitting with them. He belonged with them, and at the moment, I was what was stopping him.
A sigh escaped my chapped lips, making Jungkook's eyes snap back to mine in an instant, almost as if some force commanded him to do so.
"Jungkook, go to their table. I'll go to them." I pointed to the table that was waving me over, knowing that he understood which table I meant for him.
Byun Baekhyun, Lee Hana, and Jung Lili, the three people that occupied that table, were the ones waving me over. The loud table.
But Jungkook still seemed reluctant as he was staring at me with emotions that I couldn't quite decipher. Confusion was swirling in his eyes, hesitance was there too, and above all, I was able to make out some kind of anger. It was too much.
I sighed again, still trying to appear unmoved, and pushed him into the direction of the boys' table while I walked towards the cheery table, grabbing a platter of noodle soup as I did so. It wasn't a lot of food, but after all that, I wasn't sure I could eat too much anyway. This would have to do.
While walking towards my new table, I briefly made eye contact with Min Yoongi who was staring at me all weird. Almost as if he was slightly angry? No, sad?
That table had problems with coherent emotions and thoughts, apparently. They had no problem, however, when it came to doing a good job of confusing me.
I couldn't decipher what they were feeling and that meant that I couldn't trust any of them. No matter how much I wanted to believe that Jungkook really meant it when he said that I was his friend. If he wasn't willing to open up, and be honest, there would be no chance for any sort of alliance — let alone friendship.
When I arrived at the table, and awkwardly took a seat, sending everyone an equally awkward smile, the first one to greet me back was Byun Baekhyun, a handsome yet mischievous looking boy who had black slightly wavy hair, brown piercing eyes and thin evenly shaped lips that easily spread into a warm smile. That smile also told me that he definitely wasn't meant for the arena.
Jung Lili seemed much younger than everyone, despite being older than both Jungkook and I. She was pretty too, in a strangely innocent way, but something told me that despite her appearance, she would be able to pack a punch. There was just something about her that made it seem like that — maybe it was the way her calculating eyes never stayed on one spot for too long.
Lee Hana was the most surprising, the crying girl was gone and she was now replaced by a cheery person who held a great amount of determination in her eyes. She wasn't as pretty as the others, but her beauty was more noticeable once you got closer to her. When the light hit her, the softness in her eyes and the delicate curve of her nose became more and more apparent.
"That stare was pretty intense, it seems like you made enemies," Baekhyun mumbled, loudly slurping up his noodles. Every now and then, his eyes would dart over to Jungkook's table.
Lili nodded worriedly and stared at me weird. "You can stay with us from now on... you don't have to go back to that district partner of yours," she muttered and Hana beside her nodded along with her.
I smiled and nodded. "My name is Y/n." They probably knew who I was, but it was a good way to start talking.
"I'm Baekhyun. Nice to meet you. Kinda," the boy awkwardly smiled before returning his attention to his food. He was very fidgety.
"Jung Lili. Fun fact: I was voted as the cutest girl among the tributes this year. My mentor told me."
Her giddy smile made me laugh, and something told me that she really was proud about that achievement of hers.
"Congratulations..." I said, smiling lightly. The way she beamed at me made me feel all hot.
The other two just rolled their eyes playfully.
"Lee Hana. And, uh, I wish that we didn't meet though, same with those two." Hana motioned at us and I immediately knew what she meant.
The three of them were already friends and I was on the way of becoming their friend, they didn't want to be in the arena together.
We didn't want to die together. Kill together... Kill each other.
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