chapter twenty-three: the safety
UNEDITED—
KANG Y/N
I stared at the sleeping boy in front of me. Byun Baekhyun.
What the hell happened?
The last thing I remembered was seeing Hana's face in the sky and then everything went black.
Should I wake him up?
I looked at Baekhyun, really looked at him.
He was four years older than me, but he didn't really look it.
His hair was dark and fell over his eyes, his skin was slightly tan in the morning light, even though his eyes were closed, I knew that his eyes were hazel and finally his lips were spread into a grin...
Wait a minute, wasn't he frowning in his sleep a second ago?
"Are you done staring Y/n?" Baekhyun suddenly whispered while dramatically opening his eyes.
I let out a quiet scream, and fell off of the log.
Baekhyun was laughing, or at least I think he was. His laughter sounded like a dying animal.
"Baekhyun. What happened?" I asked the boy who was still cackling like a deranged penguin.
That quickly shut him up and his carefree expression was replaced with one of pure seriousness.
"You were freezing to death and I saved you," Baekhyun said shortly, looking into the dying fire.
I didn't say anything at first, I just looked down at myself.
I was wearing some kind of heat strip on my arms, a blanket was tied around my feet and I was wearing a heat-absorbing jacket.
But...Baekhyun ran away from the cornucopia, how did he get all of this stuff?
"Thank you Baekhyun-ssi, but why? We aren't really allies."
"But we're friends, aren't we?" Baekhyun asked me, drawing closer to sit on the log next to mine.
I looked into his eyes and I saw how genuine he was acting. I knew Baekhyun was a good kid, he would never willingly kill anyone.
But did I consider him a friend? Yes, I actually did. But there can't really be friends in the arena Y/n...
"Yeah, I suppose we're friends," I answered him shyly, looking down at my feet.
Baekhyun looked satisfied, his lips were spread into a cocky grin.
"And friends help each other."
"But we're in the arena and we-"
"The truth is, I'm bad at everything... I literally cannot use any weapon, allies?" Baekhyun cut me off, completely ignoring what I was going to say.
He wanted to be allies? Well, why not?
"Okay. Allies it is, but just for future reference. If you want to be in an alliance with someone, don't promote the fact that you're talentless."
"Ouch. Y/n is secretly a savage." He teased and I hit his head.
I was feeling better now, not as cold and a bit happy.
I was hungry though and that needed to change.
My stomach grumbles loudly at the thought of food, causing Baekhyun to laugh.
"Is a storm coming? I definitely heard thunder." Baekhyun said and I once again hit his head.
"Bring me food, peasant," I ordered him, cuddling back into my warm bed.
Baekhyun probably made it for me while I was asleep. It was very comfortable, but not very safe.
My little hideout stood deserted and I wanted to crawl back into its shadows. It had felt so safe in there, even though it was cramped.
Baekhyun returned with a strip of lamb and I stared at him, completely dumbfounded.
I was very small, even for my age, but that didn't mean that I ate little. I was feeling that I could eat a whole cow and here Baekhyun stood, a measly lamb strip in his hands.
"I don't think you should eat a lot."
"Are you calling me fat?" I joked, while trying to locate where he hid my food. The food definitely wasn't in my hideout anymore.
"No, you were unconscious for about a day and you shouldn't eat a lot at once," Baekhyun explained and I started spluttering in horror.
"What?! I was unconscious for a whole day?" I asked in indignation.
"Yeah, that's what I just said. No one died while you were in dreamland though." Baekhyun spoke casually as if this wasn't a big thing.
Wait Y/n, should you really make an issue out of this?
No one died while I was unconscious, why did that make me feel glad, yet disappointed at the same time?
You are a horrible person Y/n, how dare you feel disappointed?!
"If no one died, won't the capital get bored soon?" I asked hesitantly, I didn't want Baekhyun to find out that I was afraid.
"They might, but I have a feeling that one of the careers is hunting my district partner." Baekhyun blurted and I stared at him quizzically.
How did he know? Why is he acting so suspicious? And isn't his district partner Lili?
"What? Why? Why aren't you with Lili Unnie?" I asked him.
"Turns out Lili isn't who I thought her to be... and the career tributes are probably hunting her because they realized that she's a threat."
"I guess that makes sense," I answered back uncertainly.
Baekhyun handed me the lamp strip, it was hard.
Shrugging, I brought it to my teeth and ripped off a piece.
It took a good while to chew and the taste was very strong. It was probably salted quite a lot back in the capital.
Baekhyun started busing himself with random things and I stopped paying attention to him. I needed to think.
So, Baekhyun saved me from the cold and he Magically had high tech supplies.
I slept through a whole day and Lili, a person I considered to be nice and friendly, turned out to be... what exactly?