The Reaping | Siwon
There were hardly nights when Siwon didn’t feel restless. There was constant thoughts roaming his mind at night that kept him from sleeping peacefully like his younger brother whom he shared his room with. Kiwon looked hardly as tense as his older brother even with the Reaping only several hours away.
Siwon was sitting on his bed, forearms resting on his knees as he watched his younger brother of 15. Tributes are chosen between the age of 12 and 18, therefore Siwon has no more need to worry for his own participation at the age of 26, but he had two younger siblings whom he didn’t want to lose – especially not during the cruel event that all of the Capitol looked forward to year after year.
Three more years until his little brother was safe, one more year for his sister Jiwon who was still rebellious and spoiled at the age of 17. Siwon looked down at his hands, fingers slowly curling outward as he counted or tried to at least. How many times did the names of his siblings have been added to the lottery?
It was only three years ago that Siwon began working at the power plant, with that job his father and he have been able to earn enough money to provide for their family without asking for terrasse. Kiwon was 12 at the time, so his name had only been added once and once more for every year that followed, so four in total. Jiwon was a different story however, she had been 14 at the time meaning they had risked adding her name extra in exchange for wheat, oil and other basics for three years. If he counted well, how many slips with his sister’s name will be in the lottery this year? Nine, so much more than necessary, Siwon thought as he rubbed his face and felt a cold shiver run down his spine.
Perhaps they were lucky however, Siwon’s name had been in the lottery 21 times by the age of 18, his family needing the extra terrasse to take care of the three children and two parents, but Siwon had been prepared every single year to enter the Games. He couldn’t say the same about his fragile sister and his passive younger brother.
“God, I beg of you..” the tall male whispered softly, hands sliding from his face to form a prayer.
If only it were possible to take their place.
This thought flashed through the grown man’s mind once more when he stood waiting by his parents’ side, eyes strained on his younger siblings and darting over to the girl he had met not too long ago.
“The first tribute is — Hwang Mi Young!” the woman clad in all blue had announced, her cheerful voice making Siwon’s stomach twist and turn. A look of utter disgust crossed his face momentarily when the girl slowly made her way to the stage, the rest of District 5’s residents applauding. Siwon lowered his eyes to the ground, clapping involuntarily after his father nudged him.
She was still young, the age of his sister and it pained him that a girl as lively as Tiffany had to be chosen to enter the inhumane Games. Siwon grit his teeth, ears twitching at the sounds of the Capitol woman rummaging through the other glass ball filled with slips. Everyone fell silent, the air still thick with tension and several held their breaths as the woman revealed the slip of the male tribute.
“The last tribute is — Cho Kyuhyun!” her voice boomed through the silent crowds, the applauding returning slowly as everyone’s eyes were fixated on the young boy that stepped forward, his face pale and eyes questioning the reality of it all.
A throbbing pain formed in Siwon’s head, his hand coming up to hold his aching head at the fact that not only Tiffany, but Kyuhyun had to enter the Games – two youngsters Siwon had grown quite fond of even if they had met only several times.
The Reaping was horrible, Siwon could only imagine how Tiffany and Kyuhyun’s family must feel as he embraced his trembling sister and listened to her as she told him how cocky and slightly annoying Tiffany was in school, but that she didn’t wish for her to die. Siwon simply nodded his head at Jiwon, hand finding his younger brother’s head who found comfort in his mother’s embrace.
His heart ached for the two youngsters on stage and their family, eyes lingering on Tiffany and Kyuhyun in what could be seen as a farewell when he raised two fingers high in the sky and finally turned around to guide his family back home where they would prepare to follow the updates of the Game.
When they arrived home, it felt wrong to smile so they didn’t choosing to gather around the table in a silent prayer for both tributes of their District, a ritual they did every year in the hopes one of them would be announced the victor and return home. Siwon opened his eyes after he had sent his prayer to above, tilting his head back to stare at the brown, slightly rotten ceiling of their small cottage.
Tiffany or Kyuhyun, even if they would be the only ones left in the Games, who would he cheer for?