"Calm down, Doll. What's the matter?" Heeseung grabs the pen out of his hand and Sunghoon lowers his arm before feeling an intense wave of nausea run through him.

He must've been hyperventilating.

"I... took some of the sleeping pills. I feel like shit." He groans, motioning towards the slightly ajar drawer.

Heeseung sits down on the side of the bed, pulling the younger boy up and against his chest. With his right hand he opens the drawer and picks up the bottle of pills from among the other objects.

Sunghoon is partially out of his mind so he doesn't fully comprehend the position the older has put them in. Regardless, he leans heavily against the other's shoulder and closes his eyes. The intoxicating scent of vanilla once again washes over him, and he sighs. He is comfortable. He is safe.

"Doll, please don't take Capitol drugs if you don't know what they are. These are..." Heeseung sighs, spinning the bottle in his hands before promptly shoving it into his jacket pocket.

"Where did you even get these...?"

He lets the boy sit like that for a few more moments, right hand rubbing soft circles on his back— obviously for the boy's wary state and certainly not his own. Sunghoon almost falls back asleep before Heeseung nudges him to get up.

"Come on, it's your turn in the training center. We need to go."

Sunghoon whines as he's pulled to his feet, and he quite literally feels like he's floating— Heeseung ends up carrying him— until they reach the elevator. Minjeong doesn't even watch them go.

Heeseung takes Sunghoon's hand after he puts him down, and the latter starts to regain some control of his body. The fog starts to lift from his mind with every passing second.

Riki and Seon meet them at the bottom of the elevator, both of them looking at the pair in concern. Heeseung assures them that he'll be fine and grips his hand tighter until they reach the doors of the training center.

Sunghoon feels the shift in the boy beside him immediately.

"Sit down, I want to make sure you don't pass out before we start— or even worse, fall while you're holding something sharp."

Heeseung helps him onto the floor before starting his lecture, "You need to score high. A weak act will do nothing with this game's demographics. The Capitol and its citizens are already expecting much from you. Your age and build alone already has many people in your corner."

He crosses the room in a few strides and picks up a bow and quiver, "Normally I would spend more time on basic composition and posture when going over weapons, but if you're as good as you're betting on then I won't make you change anything."

In Sunghoon's state he flinches when the older takes an arrow and shoots it right past his face— to the point where he can feel the air rush by his ear.

"As long as you can shoot straight at a target..." he trails off, and Sunghoon feels a jolt as if the drowsiness has just drained out of him.

Heeseung sluggishly hands him the bow and takes a seat on top of the axe rack, "Try shooting the target over there first."

The metal feels foreign in his touch, but he knows the weapon all the same.

"How confident are you in your shooting?" Heeseung asks as Sunghoon lines up with the target on the other end of the room.

"Um... relatively so... I can probably hit a small target from hundreds of meters away." Sunghoon admits, releasing the arrow which impales the center of the wooden board.

"Nice." Heeseung comments, almost slipping as he jumps off the rack.

He crosses the room and disappears into one of the storage closets.

Sunghoon goes to retrieve his arrow, putting his weight against the board and ripping the metal out of the wood to put it back in his quiver

"Hey, Hoon?" Heeseung calls, and Sunghoon notches an arrow on his string.

"Yes?" He asks, not particularly paying attention or turning toward him.

"Shoot fast."

Sunghoon hears footsteps as he comes out of the room and he tosses something across the center. Turning in a panic with his already drawn bow, he shoots the object clean through mid-air.

It hits the ground with a soft thud and clatter, causing Heeseung to whistle, "Nice one, Park. You're better off than I thought."

Sunghoon flushes, walking over to the bean bag and picking it up.

"Normally I would tell you to straighten your posture..." He trails off, walking over to lazily fix his back which inadvertently sends jolts through Sunghoon's body.

"And make sure your head's up..." He tilts the boy's head up by his chin with two slender, yet calloused fingers.

Heeseung notches an arrow in the bow and brings his arms up until Sunghoon is aiming at one of the dummies in the sword station.

"Finally, your hips shouldn't be bending back." He finishes, and Sunghoon's grip on the bow falters when the mentor positions him the right way.

He didn't even realize how close the boy was to him until that very moment— he can feel his breath on his ear.

"And shoot."

Sunghoon lets go of the arrow with a recognizable twang, and the arrow digs right into where the heart would be.

Heeseung hums in satisfaction and backs away from Sunghoon, who feels like he can finally breathe properly again.

"You can shoot just fine, I'm impressed. How about we do a trial run. I'll hide somewhere in the room and charge you. You have to shoot me before I reach you."

Sunghoon, who is attempting to pull his arrow out of the plastic, almost trips in disbelief, "You do realise you are asking me to shoot you?"

"Yes, Sunghoon. That's the point."

"As in... with these arrows. These very metal... very sharp arrows."

"Yes, Sunghoon. That's part of the deal." Heeseung shrugs sluggishly, impossibly calm for the task he's just given the boy.

"Heeseung what if I kill you?" Sunghoon cries in disbelief, finally yanking the arrow free of its plastic prison.

The mentor laughs, something that would be chilling to most, but to Sunghoon it felt comforting.

"Don't worry, darling. You can't."

Before he can argue any further, Heeseung slips behind him and places his hands over his eyes, "Now keep them closed and count to ten. Then we start."

Sunghoon whines but obliges, feeling the warmth disappear almost as soon as it appears.

10... 9... 8...

Heeseung is impossibly silent. He can't hear where the boy has gone at all.

7... 6... 5...

There's no noise.

4... 3... 2...

Nothing.

1 ...

Sunghoon immediately notches an arrow and begins turning slowly to survey the room. Heeseung is hiding relatively well since he can't immediately spot him hiding behind anything.

He doesn't want to leave his position in the center since it gives him the most space from any hiding places within the room, so he continues his slow circling until a loud bang echoes behind him.

Whipping around, he holds his bow up, ready to shoot in that direction but something inside him yells at him to stop.

Not right. Heeseung wouldn't make that error . Sunghoon thinks earnestly, spinning back around so fast he almost gets whiplash and lets go of the arrow in the opposite direction.

He almost trips over his own feet but Heeseung catches him mid-fall, the arrow clutched in his left hand and a sly smile on his face. The boy flushes.

"Good split-second decision. You take into account your target's experience." He drops the arrow to the floor, Sunghoon quickly noticing the specks of blood falling with it.

The older paces a few steps in front of him, feet shuffling and almost tripping a few times before turning to face him, "I don't think you need any more coaching for your shooting. You're clearly experienced enough that it would just be a waste of our time."

Sunghoon doesn't respond, instead staring at the blood that was starting to drip and pool in his hand.

"I need you to do something that will give you a high score..." Heeseung hums, completely ignoring (or oblivious to) the fact that he was spilling blood on the floor— the puddle of crimson quickly forming beneath him.

Sunghoon huffs, stepping over to the older and bunching up his shirt to compress over the cut. He is still a flush red, but if he ducks his head far enough the older wouldn't have to see.

Heeseung barely takes notice as his eyes wander the room looking for something that can possibly land Sunghoon a high score. Something that has to be risky... something that will alert the shifty eyes of the game makers.

While Sunghoon continues to press firmly on his hand— causing his pristine white shirt to become soaked with blood— Heeseung perks up, "Do you think you could hit that?"

Turning his attention from the cut, he looks up at the clock above the spectators section.

The clock itself was caged in with metal, leaving only thin gaps to see the arrows and subsequent numbers on its face.

He judges the distance and space, "Yeah, I should be able to."

"If you're able to shoot the minute arrow that should be enough to land you a high score."

Heeseung suddenly hisses and pulls away from Sunghoon, who yelps in surprise and immediately shoots out an arm to make sure he doesn't fall. He noticed the boy acting odd earlier but paid no mind to it, but as he helped him sit down on the floor he could tell that he was looking a bit pale, and quite frankly exhausted.

"Heeseung, are you alright?" Sunghoon asks quietly, hand held firmly around his wrist.

He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath, shaking his head, "I'm fine. Let's just do some knife training before our time is up."

Sunghoon almost forces him back down to the ground but he knocks past him to go grab some knives. He passes him one then stands opposite of him, knife clutched with white knuckles in his right hand.

Sunghoon spins the knife awkwardly in his hands and keeps a keen eye on Heeseung who seems to be getting into a fighting stance across from him.

"First of all, make sure to hold it properly." He demonstrates a proper hold, and Sunghoon switches his grasp on the handle to match him.

"Second, always be wary of your opponent. You should be ready to jump or attack at all times." Heeseung begins circling him, and Sunghoon slowly follows his movement, spinning to keep an eye on him.

"Third, don't let yourself get cornered..." He drawls before lunging at him.

Sunghoon yelps in alarm and their blades meet before he's nearly pushed to the ground from the momentum.

"Are you paying attention?" Heeseung grunts, pulling his force away and backing away from Sunghoon who is currently ducking on the ground.

"Yes." He lies through gritted teeth, waiting for an opportunity.

"You're a terrible liar." He replies bluntly, tossing his knife to his left hand.

It's in his right again by the time he attacks again, and Sunghoon sidesteps him just barely, too concentrated on an opportunity of attack to dodge.

Before he can get repositioned, the older pushes him lightly to the ground.

"What's on your mind?" Heeseung finally asks after he disarms him.

Sunghoon can only stare up at him, arms pinned to the floor and his knife sprawled a few feet away.

"Are you left handed?"

Sunghoon gets easily distracted, he admits. Not to say he's been watching the older for the past few days (he has), but he's noticed that he's always right-handed when he's around the other victors, but whenever he's preoccupied or distracted by something he switches to his left.

He notices how he habitually throws and picks up weapons with his left hand before switching it to his right, and he notices how he caught the arrow with his left hand rather than his right. Odd details if it wasn't his dominant hand.

"I'm sorry, what?" Heeseung asks, clearly confused.

"I'm not saying that I've been watching you— but I notice there's a tremble whenever you use your right hand for too long. I see you stop yourself from using your left hand when we're eating dinner. Sometimes you habitually pick things up with your left hand instead of your right." Sunghoon blurts rather embarrassingly— somehow able to point out every single one of the older's quirks.

A brief silence covers the room.

"Yes, I am." Heeseung says slowly, tilting his head farther down to peer at him.

"Why aren't you using your dominant hand?" Sunghoon presses, having stopped his efforts to retrieve his knife.

"It puts me on par with everyone else. It builds a tolerance in case I ever lose my left hand." He says impossibly blunt.

Sure Heeseung is good, but he's good enough that he would become ambidextrous just to level the playing field?

It looks like he wants to say more but District Eight steps in at that very moment, claiming it was their time to start practice.

Realising the compromising position he and Heeseung were in, Sunghoon quickly pushes him off and scrambles to his feet. He puts the knives back on the shelves and all but runs out of the training centre wondering what the hell just happened.

And why it made him feel that way.