Sunghoon startles himself awake in the dead of the night. He's sweating, but also feels like he's been dunked in a vat of ice water. Two conflicting feelings that make his entire body feel numb.

He can't remember if it was a nightmare that woke him up; what the nightmare was, if it was one, and he almost forgot where he was immediately after waking up.

With his heart still racing, he hears the elevator outside in the living room ding. Trying to calm his breathing, he sits up and looks at the glowing red projection beside his bed.

3:21.

He quietly opens the drawer next to his bed and grabs a pen since it was the closest thing he had to a weapon. Sunghoon gets up and cracks his door open just a bit, but the room was completely dark.

Fifteen seconds later the elevator dings again, and the room is flooded with a stream of light. Sunghoon holds his breath until the familiar figure of Minjeong comes into view behind the dining table.

Confused, he is about to open the door and ask what she was doing, when he sees another shadow move in the elevator before it closes and descends back to the main floor.

Minjeong shuffles robotically back to her room, not even sparing a glance at Sunghoon and leaving her door open as she falls right back into bed.

Sunghoon stares in shock and confusion, waiting a few more minutes to make sure the second person is gone, before stepping out into the main room. 

What in the world? Sunghoon questions, turning on one of the lights and looking at the closed elevator, then the open bedroom door.

Peering in, Minjeong was laying down flat on her back in the middle of her bed. It looked like her eyes were still open and her arms tucked tightly at both of her sides.

A bit freaked out, Sunghoon closes her door, turns off the lights and retreats back to his own room.

What happened to her? He asks himself, staring at his own closed door as if he could still see the rigid position she was in.

Who was the second figure? Why didn't she show up to dinner?

The thoughts were running a mile a minute, and he sat awake in his room contemplating until his clock read 6:58.

He decides to go to breakfast early, getting changed into one of the only outfits in his closet, and taking the same elevator he was dreading for hours prior.

He stands alone in the elevator, head tilting to look up at the security camera in the corner of the confined space before being let out on the main floor.

Jungwon is already awake, as are the tributes from Three and One. He goes to sit in the seat across from him and slumps down onto the table, partially exhausted after losing a few precious hours of sleep.

The mentor says nothing to him, just picks at his breakfast in silence.

Jaeyun joins them shortly after, instantly bringing up conversation to the quiet table. He complains about his poor sleep last night, and that he wished he would have had a few glasses of wine before bed.

"When you go in there, try something new." Jungwon later says for the third time over their breakfast, barely sparing Sunghoon a glance, "If you have a skill in a weapon, save it for the private lessons. If you don't, everyone will know your strengths and use them against you."

"And don't skimp on survival skills. If there's no Divine in your arena I can assure you there's a higher chance of dying from dehydration than a knife to the heart!" Jaeyun adds with a little too much enthusiasm, shovelling a forkful of eggs into his mouth.

Sunghoon hasn't touched his plate since he sat down, the nerves of training having caught up to him once he woke up that morning.

"So survival skills and new weapons." He repeats, to which both of them nod.

"And since you don't have a mentor I wouldn't share what weapon you're good with, if any. Heeseung can coach you much better than us, and you don't want to know how fast news spreads in a place like this." Jaeyun warns.

Ten minutes before the training centre opens, Minjeong comes down with Eunbi and barely touches her plate before lining up with the rest of the tributes in front of their instructor.

Sunghoon finally gets a good look at everyone up close. Since he was one of the oldest, he was also one of the taller tributes. The only people who really rivalled his build were K, the boys from district Two and Three, and Seon.

And on the topic of Seon, Sunoo suggested looking for alliances. As far as first impressions have gone, he's the only tribute Sunghoon has liked so far.

Their instructor glares at them as he scans the group, "Within the next three weeks, twenty-three of you will be dead. The one remaining will depend on how you spend the next four days of training. Pay attention to what I have to say because it may be what saves your life. First, no fighting with the other tributes, you will have plenty of time to do that in the arena. Second, don't ignore survival skills. Most tributes die from exposure before an axe to the head."

His voice is bleak as he leads them into the centre and stops by one of the stations, "Use the equipment responsibly. Any sign of dispute and multiple of our section operators will be here to shut it down. Be mindful of the other tributes and spectators in the room. You may proceed.

Sunghoon initially hesitates in walking off, but ends up following the stream of lower-end district tributes to the survival zone. All the careers ignore the instructor completely and camp around the weapon stations.

Sunghoon himself begins at the fire starting station, although he quickly finds himself distracted by K who is whirling knives into the hearts of the dummies across the room without an inch of misfire.

He chuckles nervously, and turns his attention back to the stick he's been trying to make a spark from for almost ten minutes now.

"You're rubbing it the wrong way." A voice says smugly from above him, and Sunghoon shoots his gaze upwards to see Seon sitting down beside him.

"How can you rub a stick the wrong way?" Sunghoon huffs, stopping his movements and handing it over to his outstretched hands.

"Your pivot isn't in the right place, so even if it does spark it won't hit anything." He explains, moving the stick down and repeating a vigorous turning action before small embers start to form on the surface below it.

A bit perplexed, he stares at the motion before Seon stops to explain the logic and physics of it all.

"We should head to the weapons station together. I think everyone else is too scared to go over and join the careers." Seon suggests, tilting  his head in the direction of the tributes who are whispering among themselves and making eyes at the weapon stations situated on the opposite side of the room.

"I've always wanted to try swords, come on!" Sunghoon lets himself be dragged towards the sword station, locking awkward eyes with the trainer in charge before turning to examine the weapons.

Seon picks one up with ease and twirls it around his hand a few times, "The weight on these aren't bad. Almost makes it seem like they won't stab through something solid, though."

Sunghoon picks one up as well, not liking the grip as much as he would have expected as he attempts to slash the dummy in front of him. It hardly moves.

"Maybe swords aren't for you." Seon tries joking, swinging his own and making a notch in the torso.

"I'm not sure if I'm even going to be good with any of the weapons." Sunghoon lies through his teeth, putting the sword back on the rack and glancing towards the spectator section.

A lot of peacekeepers, politicians, and of course the mentors were sitting up in the spectators box watching them. Surprisingly, he makes eye contact with Heeseung who subtly tilts his head towards the climbing station.

Sunghoon didn't even consider trying it under the presumption that there wouldn't be much to climb in the arena. However, he nods back slightly and the boy goes back to drinking something red from his glass.

"I'm going to head to the climbing station, good luck finding a weapon." Sunghoon waves to Seon, who nods in acknowledgement.

The instructor at the base of the rope wall tells him he can do whatever he wants on it, and that since it covers the top of the entire training centre, he may as well go around and test his stamina.

Climbing up is easy, and he compares it to climbing up the trees in District Seven. He scales the fifteen foot climb up in seconds, and takes a few minutes to steady himself before crawling horizontally across the rest of the ropes that were about a metre short of the ceiling. He decides to crawl across to the other side of the room where the other ladder was located.

He is partially glad that no one seems to notice him lurking above them, as the sight from below probably wouldn't be as flattering as his sight from above. He almost blows his cover when he spots a boy sprawled on the ropes in front of him.

Startled, the ropes rock and alert the boy of his presence. He waves shyly.

Sunghoon recognizes him as Taki, the fourteen year old from District Eleven. He's positioned above the careers who take no notice to the two hanging above them.

"So we're all going to rush the cornucopia?" The girl from District Two— Jimin, asks while spinning her knife..

"Only if we're spread out, which we should be." K responds, throwing another knife that lands in the dummy's neck.

"Don't want to accidentally kill a teammate." Geonu— District One's male— nods, putting his own knives back on the rack.

"Even if there aren't a ton of kills in the bloodbath, the bunch this year looks pretty useless. We'll clean them up fast enough." Saerom of One shrugs, throwing her last knife before going to retrieve them with K.

Sunghoon decides that he's heard enough, and crawls toward the ladder on the other side of the room, dropping harshly to the floor as soon as she hears K shout, "Hey!"

He's pointing up at Taki, and the boy understandably looks fearful for his life. K tells him to come down and Sunghoon ducks before hiding in one of the stations out of the careers' sight.

Was that why Heeseung told me to go up? Sunghoon wonders, tying knots he barely pays attention to.

The instructor is nagging him on how to tie it properly, but he's tuned them out completely to think.

If the careers are near each other they won't all be going to the cornucopia... but if they aren't, we're probably screwed. He concludes, finishing his sailor's knot.

Showing it to the instructor for inspection, they look displeased but nod that he's done it right. He goes to leave for another station.

All the bets are on him being good with axes, and if he made a show at being awful at them, maybe he would be left alone? Either that or someone would see and make fun of him for being an easy target.

Regardless, after some personal mind games he walks up to the station and takes hold of one of the axes. These ones were made entirely of metal, unlike the clunky wooden ones from home that usually gave you splinters if you held it the wrong way.

It was way lighter than the ones he was used to, and he didn't dare touch the edges to check how they were. A swift drag was likely more than enough to draw blood.

Eventually, he brings his arm back and throws one of the axes at the instructor's command. Surprisingly, he hits the side of the dummy's torso.

"If that's the best you can do you'll be dead on the first day." A voice comments from behind him, and Sunghoon whips around to see K leaning against the weapon rack.

He's slightly taken aback by how close he is— and how good he looks when Sunghoon doesn't get the immediate dread of danger when he sees him.

"And what's it to you? I'm sure you want me dead anyway." He bites back, briefly forgetting that making enemies before the games even began was a bad idea.

K gives him a small smirk, "Who's to say that wasn't a death threat?"

Sunghoon freezes, eyes slowly trailing toward the trainer only a few feet away from them. He didn't seem to be listening.

K puts a hand on his shoulder and tilts his head to the side, "Pretty faces can't save you from a blade to the heart, Sunghoon. Be careful out there."

He smiles, patting him on the back before catching up with the rest of the careers who were now grouped around the spear station.

Sunghoon stands at the station for a long time until the lunch bell rings. Everyone quickly disperses back into the dining hall for their break.

Sunoo meets him directly outside the doors of the centre, leading him to the table where Jungwon and Jongseong are already sitting. Their tributes seem to be with their alliances at other tables.

"What did K say to you?" Jongseong asks immediately as Sunghoon goes to sit down.

"He's a blunt guy. Probably a backhanded compliment or convoluted threat." Jungwon shrugs, picking at his food.

"He said I was going to die on the first day and that it was a threat." Sunghoon mumbles, going to reach for a sandwich left in the middle of the table.

Sunoo gasps, "What a brat. He thinks he's so strong and smart—"

"Because he is, Sunoo." Jungwon sighs in exasperation.

"And he's got Heeseung as a mentor which is even worse! He's going to be able to—"

"Sunoo, don't scare him." Jongseong snaps, pulling him back into the chair beside him.

"Anyway, we saw you talking to Seon. Do you think you're going to ask for an alliance? I think Riki would be pleased." He continues, trying to move the conversation forward.

"Maybe, I'm not sure. An alliance would be nice but it's not the first thing I'm thinking of going into the arena." Sunghoon admits, taking another bite of his lunch.

Also because of your severe phobia of getting attached to, and losing people, Sunghoon.

He shakes his head, deflecting,  "Have any of your tributes mentioned alliances yet?"

"Well, I know District One and Two are working together like always. My tributes are planning on working together." Jungwon comments, tilting his head towards Jongseong.

The older boy nods in return, "My tributes are likely working together too since they're not part of the careers this year. It's unusual to see alliances outside of the first few districts, but I could ask Riki if Seon would be interested."

Sunghoon hums in agreement, finishing up his lunch before leaning back in his chair. Again, his eyes begin to wander to where Heeseung and K are sitting. He narrows his eyes when he notices Taki sitting down beside K.

"What are you going to do about him by the way?" Sunoo asks, referring to the elephant in the room.

"Avoid him if it's at all possible. If I have to fight him I guess I'll have to figure it out in the moment." Sunghoon says truthfully, although he doesn't quite like the odds of either of those plans.

"Well, Sunghoon." Jongseong pats his shoulder, "For your sake, I hope you're secretly a god with one of those weapons. Because if you're not, I don't want to send you home in one of those coffins."