Chapter Text
“And what will you do if you win?” The interviewer’s voice recited in an accent Sicheng didn’t recognize. Chenle smiled sweetly and looked into the camera, propping his head up on his palms endearingly.
“I don’t really know, but I’ll have more than enough time to think about it after the Games, y’know?” Chenle’s smile was bright, but his eyes didn’t smile with him. “For now, I’ll just try my best!” He winked at a camera and the crowd clapped.
Renjun scoffed beside him, rolling his eyes. The boy’s long hair was pulled into a nice bun on the top of his head with bangs on either side of his face, revealing his annoyed expression.
Sicheng looked at him, but didn’t say anything -he only looked back at the screen as Yeonjun busied himself with applying more blush onto Renjun.
“Ugh! My poor Binnie is sick! I wonder if he’s watching from home… goodness, I hope he is!” The man murmured, daintily dusting a faint rosy color onto an irritated Renjun’s nose. “Gosh, I hope it isn’t anything serious like my little Taehyun…”
There were claps again from the screen and Sicheng paid attention again, Chenle apparently shaking the interviewer’s hand and smiling all the while, waving to the cameras and retreating backstage.
The next person was in a slick black suit like Chenle was, his tall physique filling out the suit quite nicely. The long seam running down his trousers was bejeweled and he wore elaborate earrings and necklaces adorned with gems, just like Chenle had.
Sicheng looked at Johnny and frowned. He had an awful little pit in his stomach that he couldn’t shake, but god, did Johnny make it worse.
“And what will you do if you win?” The interviewer asked, per routine.
Johnny only reclined in his chair, seemingly unbothered. His hands rested behind his head and he smirked knowingly. “It isn’t a question of ‘if’, is it. It’s ‘when’. When I do win, I think I’d like to become a Peacekeeper.”
There were claps on the screen and another scoff from Renjun. Sicheng half-listened to the rest of the interview, only noting how he seemed thrive off of the attention and seemed cocky. Unbothered and laid back.
He practically blinked and the next tribute was onstage in a flash. Sicheng remembers him; Lucas, the charming muscle-pig. His hair was slicked back nicely and he wore an expensive robe with dress pants, topless chest slightly exposed, but he still reminded Sicheng of the futility of putting a puppy in expensive clothing; It was still an rambunctious puppy in the end, one who still wouldn’t know when to sit down and shut up.
“And what will you-“
“I’LL BE THE RICHEST MAN IN DISTRICT TWO! YEAH!” Lucas exclaimed with excitement, practically leaping out of his chair. “AND I’LL, UH TRAIN THE NEW GENERATION WITH ALL I’VE GOT!”
The interviewer looked taken aback, eyes widened as Lucas sat back down in his seat. “Oh my gosh! Someone’s excited, isn’t he? The Games are tomorrow, not today!”
Sicheng kind of laughed at that. Lucas really was like a puppy in expensive clothing, so excited and loyal, but albeit… unintelligent.
“If his arms weren’t humongous, he’d have absolutely no chance in hell.” Renjun observed, Sicheng nodding wordlessly. There was a squeal and Yeonjun turned Renjun around in his chair, the two brothers now matching almost completely apart from Sicheng’s eyebrow slit.
“Isn’t he so wonderfully pretty, Sichengie?” Yeonjun asked, cooing as the youngest swatted him away.
“Yeah. You look really nice, Jun.” Sicheng agreed, giving a comforting smile and thumbs up to Renjun, who only huffed and turned away.
“Oh, don’t huff at me! I mean it!” Sicheng stuck his tongue out playfully at his brother and directed his attention back to the screen, where a new tribute sat in the plush velvet chair wearing a similar outfit to Lucas’s, waving at the cameras endearingly.
Sicheng watched intently, taking notes on whatever he could; Mannerisms, speech patterns, the way his hands moved… anything.
“Nice to meet you, Mister… Chi… Chitta… Chittaphon?” The interviewer asked, butchering the pronunciation. The boy winced but chuckled awkwardly anyways.
“I would say nice to meet you as well, but isn’t it a shame that you don’t know my name, yet I know yours, Mister Bang?” the boy replied cheekily.
Well, knowing the interviewer’s name was a given. Chris Bang was the Capitol’s favorite host of all time. He loved his job interviewing tributes and never made them feel uncomfortable, or so Sicheng’s heard. Everyone knew Chris Bang.
“Oh, I apologize. Did I pronounce it wrong?” Chris sat up straighter in his chair and he waved him off.
“Perhaps… but I’ll allow it since you’re cute. A nice face goes far. It’s quite nice to meet you, Mister Bang.” He mused with a giggle. Sicheng gagged internally.
“Call me Chris.”
As it turns out, the boy has a little sister and both of his parents at home. He apparently is also the nephew of District Two’s mayor, so his family had the resources to put him through a combat academy. The deadly fan moves were part of a routine, not just for fun or to be flashy. It made Sicheng shiver.
Somewhere along the way, he started telling some sob story about a cat, but Sicheng couldn’t focus on that. No, Sicheng was focused on how the tribute looked like a cat himself, ready to pounce and kill its prey at any given moment. His eyes were striking and narrowed like a cheetah’s might be.
“What will you do if you win?”
“Well, with my score of ten, it’s obvious I’d-“ he cocked an eyebrow suddenly and put on a playful grin. “Oh, sir! Are you just trying to get in with me good? Wouldn’t you like to say ‘I knew Chittaphon before the fame!’” He teased, both of them now laughing.
He scored a ten out of twelve last night. A perfectly even, perfectly pretty, perfectly formidable number for him, Sicheng thought.
“I just want everyone to know my name, that’s all.” Ten smiled, though his smile never actually reached his eyes. “And DONT worry… you will.”
The crowd clapped and Ten smirked, looking back at Chris, who raised his eyebrows. “How confident! I expect nothing less of District Two! Ladies and gentlemen… how do I say your name again?” Chris leaned over to Ten, who snatched the microphone and batted his eyes at the cameras again.
“Chittaphon Leechiyapornkul, everyone! Thank you!” Ten said, shoving the microphone back into Chris’s hands and blowing kisses at the camera.
The next tribute stepped onstage, and then the next. The District Three boys were interviewed without much fanfare, and the only part Sicheng caught was the Mark kid waving at the cameras, pitifully and shakily telling his family that he misses and loves them.
Soon enough, a tribute stepped onstage and Sicheng watched intently, this time in intrigue rather than strategy.
Yuta brushed back his long red hair, which matched his crimson vest and pants identical to Shotaro’s. His lipstick had also been done and Sicheng felt himself staring a little too intently at the bright, bloody red that glossed and shone as he spoke.
“Mister Bang! You’re much better looking into reality than on a screen.” He batted his eyes and settled into his chair, moving his long hair to his right shoulder, exposing the left. There were no dark marks, no purple like he’d seen during the evaluation or even earlier in the day. Sicheng sucked in a breath and watched the large screen.
The host blushed a little bit, then cleared his throat. “Thank you, Mister Nakamoto-“
“Please, call me Yuta.” He waved to the camera and his smile was brilliant, more luminous than the lights that bathed the stage. Sicheng marveled at how the man captured the attention of everyone watching, himself included. Yuta seemed so friendly opposed to the training grounds when Sicheng saw him.
It turned out that Yuta had two half-sisters at home and, despite living in the fishing district, was ironically allergic to shellfish. He’d also bragged a little about his family coming from Japan hundreds of years ago and settling in Panem. Sicheng was slightly envious, as he didn’t really know where he was from.
Yuta seemed unbothered, flirting with the camera and doing cute gestures for the audience. Sicheng loved when he’d talk with his hands and flash his pretty nails with pretty black nail polish with silver flames.
“Alright, Mister Nakamoto.” Chris tapped his cue card on his knee and smiled cheesily at the cameras instead of Yuta himself. “What would you do if you won the Games?”
Yuta thought for a moment, before shaking his head. “I’d hate to win if that means Shotaro doesn’t. It’s all for Shotaro, you know?” He nodded. Sicheng didn’t know, but nodded too from where he sat in his waiting room, eyes glued to the screen.
“Really, for me it’s more about the-“
“If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you have crush, Winnie.” Renjun laughed loudly, interrupting Yuta’s speech. Sicheng shot him a dirty look and shushed him loudly.
But by the time he turned his head back to the screen, Yuta was already up from his seat and shaking hands with Chris, preparing to walk off stage. Sicheng groaned and looked Yeonjun.
“What did Yuta say? Did you hear him?” He asked frantically, Yeonjun shrugging.
“Oh dear, I have no idea. I zoned out, love.” Yeonjun replied sympathetically. Sicheng watched in disbelief as Yuta waved at the cameras and even blew one a kiss before walking off.
Of course, the next tribute was Shotaro. Then the District Five boys. Then Sungchan.
“Hello everyone! My name is Kun Qian and this is my story….”
As the next tribute stepped up and introduced himself, Lay walked in suddenly and pointed at Renjun.
“You. Little one. Let’s go, you’re on next.” He nodded towards the door and Renjun followed, muttering curses under his breath and fixing his hair out of his face.
“Don’t do anything stupid, Jun. Think very carefully before you say anything.” Sicheng warned from where he sat, Renjun nodding dutifully. Sicheng would have believed him if he wasn’t holding back a clear, definitely malicious smile.
The boy stopped in his tracks and he turned towards his brother. Something in his expression was unconvincing, but Sicheng couldn’t quite place it. “Don’t worry, Winnie. I’ll be okay.”
Sicheng wasn’t convinced. “Okay. I love you, Jun.”
Renjun stopped for a moment, sighing in exasperation and glaring at Sicheng. “Yeah, yeah. Love you too.”
And with that, Renjun was gone and Sicheng’s eyes were glued back onto the screen.