Chapter Text
Jimin glances up as his brother enters the room unwinding his scarf with a gruff. Jimin's face lights up with a grin. "Hyung! You're back!"
Jihyun grins back as he walks towards him.
"What, are you too grown up for welcome back home hugs now?"
"Hyung," Jimin whines but he still stands up and winds his arms around Jihyun. Jihyun laughs as he squeezes him tight. He draws back after a while studying Jimin from arm's length. "Hmmm, you haven't gotten any bigger I see. Hyeri not feeding you right?"
Jimin groans and tugs himself away from Jihyun. "I eat hyung," he pouts flouncing back into his chair, "I just never get bigger. Hyung knows that."
"Alright alright. Don't pout. Hyung is sorry for teasing you."
Jimin's pout threatens to dissolve into a smile but he quickly hides it behind the book he'd been reading pretending to ignore him.
Jihyun gives a playful sigh and reaches into his pocket. "Hyung brought you something Minnie."
Despite himself Jimin's eyes flicker towards him. "What is it?"
"First give hyung a smile, hmm."
Jimin's smile is bright as he holds his arm out. "Gimme,"
Jihyun laughs and hands him a leather bound object.
Jimin's eyes widen as he caresses the cover.
"Hyung is this really-"
"Yep. It's a book." Jihyun says proudly.
"But how-"
"Remember that friend of mine that I told you about? The one who lives in the Blue district. He knows someone who knows someone. He was able to get it for me at a pretty good discount."
"Hyung," Jimin's eyes begin welling up with tears. Books are very very rare and worth a king's fortune anywhere. In the districts though, it is unheard of. He can absolutely guarantee anyone that no one in the yellow district has even seen a book let alone owned one in the last century. He cannot even begin to imagine what Jihyun had had to give up for the book he was now cradling in his arms."
Jihyun walked over to him ruffling his hair. "C'mon little Min, don't cry, hmm. Hyung got it for you so you could smile more. Do you not like hyung's book? Is it that Min?"
"I love it!" Jimin exclaims clutching the book even tighter, "That's not it. It's just that this must have been so costly-"
"Now now," Jihyun interrupts, "Don't be like that. I already told you my friend got a huge discount for it. And honestly, I didn't even spend anything on it. My friend gave it to me. "
"Promise?"
"Yes, I swear. So why don't you wipe your tears and come help me unload the wagon like a good boy, hmm? You can open your book after dinner. Sounds good?"
"Okay," Jimin agrees still staring awestruck at the book, fingers reluctant to let it go."
"Excellent." Jihyun straightens up and surveys the small sparsely furnished room. A small fire is flickering joyfully in the corner, a blackened chimney leading the smoke out. Directly over the fireplace is the little stove they use to cook. Above, hanging on rusted metal hooks are several pots all blackened on the outside from use but all of them are a sparkling silver on the inside. In the center of the room is the mat they all use for meals and whenever one of them has free time. Which is rare. Right next to the fire is the wooden chair that Jihyun made that Jimin is currently occupying.
It's not much at all but it's home and the three of them have been living there for as long as Jimin can remember.
Jihyun's survey of the room ends and his eyes land back on Jimin. "Where's Hyeri by the way. I haven't heard a peep from her. And I know she's not in the fields. I passed by them on my way here."
"Jimin's eyes wide nervously. "Ummm" he begins fidgeting in his seat.
Jihyun's eyes narrow suspiciously. "Out with it."
"Noona went to visit a friend," Jimin blurts out.
"Which friend? Hyeri doesn't have any friends ever since the Peacekeepers dragged Seunghee and Jisoo to the Capitol."
"Umm she made a new friend?" Jimin says hopefully.
Jihyun groans and runs a hand through his short cropped hair. "You'll have to try a lot harder than that if you want me to believe you."
Jimin is saved from digging his grave any deeper by the sound of the door opening. Hyeri sticks her head in, the rest of the body soon following. Jimin's sister is finally back.
Hyeri's face brightens as soon as she sees Jihyun but then just as quickly morphs into horror that she tries to hide with a smile.
She shuffles the rest of the way into the room closing the door behind her much quieter than usual. Her eyes widen in affected innocence as she smiles disarmingly. "Oppa, you're here."
Jihyun doesn't return her greeting. "And where were you?"
"I was in the fields," she answers brightly.
Jimin grimaces. Hyeri is in big trouble. No one does cross examinations like their brother.
"I passed by the fields on my way here. I didn't see you."
"That's because I was on the other side."
"That would be more believable if that bow wasn't hanging over your shoulder. And your gloves have blood on. What have I told you about skinning with your gloves on?"
"Oppa, I'm sorry. Really."
"How many times did you go into the forest?"
Hyeri opens her mouth no doubt ready with another lie but Jihyun waves her off. "Nevermind. I know you're just going to lie again. I can always tell you know. I can always tell when you're lying."
"So why do you bother asking," Hyeri grumbles as she hangs the bow on the wall.
Jihyun sighs. "At least you're better than Jimin. Can you believe he told me you were hanging out with friends?"
"Why do you sound so surprised. I do have friends I hang out with."
"Right," Jihyun snorts. He shoves a coat into Jimin's arms. "C'mon you two. Let's go unload the wagon before anyone thinks it's up for grabs."
They're all seated down for dinner Jimin's eyes fastened on Jihyun's face, hanging on to every word as he retells his latest trip. Jimin has never been anywhere away from the tiny village at the edge of their district. Well, he was born in the Capitol but he was so young when they moved he doesn't remember it all. He's been begging Jihyun for the longest time if he can go with him but Jihyun has never once relented,instead appeasing him with little gifts whenever he comes back from one of his trips.
After a while, Jimin pushes back his plate. Jihyun glances at it with a frown. "Minnie, you've barely eaten."
Jimin pouts back. "I'm full hyung."
"Are you feeling sick again?" Hyeri asks worried.
"No. I'm fine. I'm just not feeling very hungry."
Hyeri studies his face. "You're worried about something. What is it?"
"I'm not worried about anything?" Jimin turns his face away nervously biting at his hands. Hyeri reaches out and tugs his hand away. "Out with it, Min."
Jimin heaves a wavering breath. "The Purge is this week."
Hyeri stands and wraps her arms around him from behind. "Oh Minnie, nothing's going to happen this year. Jihyun's already been through the Purge."
Jihyun's fist clenches. "Hyeri's right Minnie. The Yellow district hardly gets Purged anyway. And you know how rare it is for a family to be purged twice. You've got nothing to worry about."
Hyeri squeezes her arms tighter around Jimin. "Here's what we're going to do. You're going to stop worrying about something that's not going to happen and instead you're going to focus on celebrating your birthday after the Announcement. You're finally turning 18. Aren't you excited?"
"And, I'm taking you with me to the Green District this time." Jihyun adds.
Jimin looks up an excited grin on his face all thoughts of the Purge momentarily forgotten. "Really hyung? You promise?"
"I promise. Now eat a little more so you'll be strong enough for the trip."
The day of the selection dawns bright, the sun glaring down in over exaggerated cheerfulness. Jihyun wakes up early to put out the fire and then goes to make sure that the door is locked and barricaded. Things are always wild on Selection day. It is always advised for citizens to stay indoors that day. Most people who venture out that day are never heard from again.
Jimin is fidgety from the moment he wakes up. Hyeri does her best to calm him down but her own nervous energy does nothing but exacerbate him.
Jihyun slams his chopsticks down and glares at them both in exasperation. "Jimin, could you please stop walking around like that? You're making me nervous. And Hyeri, stop hovering around him. He's not a baby anymore. He's turning 18 tomorrow."
Jimin immediately sits down but his hands won't stop shaking as he reaches for plate. Jihyun's eyes soften. "Min, you have nothing to worry about. None of us will be selected. No family has ever been purged twice."
Jimin knows he's right but still he can't shake off the foreboding feeling that something is wrong.
The night the names are called always feels like a funeral.
The whole district is gathered in the dusty square just after sunrise, the sky still pale and uncertain above the cracked rooftops. No one speaks. Even the children know better than to fidget. It's as if the wind itself understands the weight of the day and carries the silence through the narrow streets.
Jimin stands between his siblings.
His fingers are wrapped tightly around the sleeve of Jihyun’s jacket. He's not holding his hand. Jimin is too old for that now. But he's standing close enough that if he lost his balance, if his chest suddenly tightened the way it sometimes did, his brother will feel it.
Jihyun squeezes his shoulder reassuringly.
“Hey breathe Minah,” he murmurs quietly, "Our family has already been purged. You're safe."
The words are meant to comfort him. They have comforted him every year before now.
Jimin tries to believe them.
He is small for almost eighteen, his shoulders narrow beneath his oversized coat. His lungs burn easily, and even standing too long sometimes leaves him lightheaded. He was born too early and lost his mom too early Jihyun often tells him. It's not because he's weak. The thin mountain air of their village is harsh for someone like him, but it is the only world he knows.
And he loves it.
Their crooked little house.
The fields Hyeri works every morning.
The sound of Jihyun chopping wood outside their window.
They are poor. Everyone in the district is. But they are happy.
More importantly, they are finished with the Purge.
Jihyun had already gone.
Five years ago his brother had stood exactly where Jimin stood now, his name drawn from the lottery box that determined who would be sent to the Capitol. Jimin had been nearly thirteen then, crying and clinging to him in front of everyone. Jihyun had survived the six months somehow. Thin, scarred, eyes that glanced around with a nervous wary energy, quieter than before. But alive. He'd come back. Proving that his family had the genes needed to survive.
The Capitol rarely selects from the same family more than once. The survival of one meant the survival of the family.
Which meant Jimin would never have to go.
He had repeated that fact to himself every year like a prayer.
Beside him, Hyeri brushes imaginary dust off his sleeve.
“You look pale,” she says softly.
“I’m always pale,” Jimin mutters.
She snorts quietly, bumping her shoulder into his.
Across the square a tall metal stage has been erected. Two enormous speakers crackle to life, filling the air with static before the Capitol chant begins to play.
The Selection has officially begun.
The Earth is tired.
We hear her call.
Too many hands,
Too weak to stand.
So rise, the chosen.
Rise, the strong.
The wild will judge
What souls belong.
No mercy given.
No mercy owed.
The strong will carve
The rightful road.
Let hunger test you.
Let blood reveal.
The world is kept
By iron will.
Three hundred chosen.
Three hundred sent.
The weak will fall.
The strong ascend.
The Earth remembers.
The Earth decides.
The ones that will
Walk out alive.
Everyone straightens. Chants along to the crackling voice, drowning it out.
The announcer steps forward. She's a woman dressed in immaculate white, her hair sculpted perfectly despite the dust blowing through the district.
Her smile was bright and empty. It's obvious she's from the Capitol even before she speaks. Everything about her is too clean. Sterile. There's something robotic with the way she moves. As if her limbs are not fully her own and she has not quite mastered the art of moving them.
“Citizens,” she began smoothly, her voice echoing across the square. “Today we honor the brave youth who will represent your district in this year’s Purge.”
No one claps.
They never did.
“Three hundred of you from around the country,” she continues. “Have been selected to earn their right to live. For why should the weak gorge themselves on an already starving Earth?”
Jimin feels his stomach twist.
The Purge had been created twenty years ago when the population crisis reached its breaking point. Earth no longer had enough food, water, or space for everyone.
So the government found a solution.
Every year three hundred young people were taken.
Placed in a controlled wilderness.
Six months.
Limited resources.
No rules.
They called it natural selection.
The weak died.
The strong returned.
The announcer opens the first glass box.
“The female candidates will be called first.”
Her hand moves around in the glass bowl and comes out empty. "No females have been selected from this district this year," she announces.
There is an audible exhale of breath from half the people standing. The girls and and their family are no doubt,relieved. Some are crying, some frozen, some already surrounded by their families in desperate embraces. They will not lose them this year.
Jimin tries not to look as the woman reaches into the opaque glass bowl that will decide the boys to be selected.
He hates this part. The waiting. The quiet dread spreading through the crowd.
Jihyun shifts beside him.
“You okay?” he asks.
Jimin nods quickly.
“Yeah.”
But his chest feels tight.
The woman removes her hand from the bowl her hand clutching a piece of paper.
“Now,” she said brightly, “the boys.”
Jimin exhales slowly.
It doesn't matter.
His name wouldn’t be there.
Jihyun had already been chosen.
Their family had already paid its price.
The first few names are called.
Hyungsik. Taemin. Heesung. Yongsik. Jimin doesn't know any of them. Doesn't recognize them at all. His attention drifts, his gaze falling on the cracked pavement beneath his shoes.
He is thinking about breakfast.
About the warm porridge Hyeri had left cooling on the stove before they left the house. It must be cold by now. They'd have to warm it up again when they got home.
About how he will probably sleep all afternoon once this is over.
“Park Jimin.”
The world stops.
For a moment he thinks he’s imagined it.
The crowd shifts uneasily. Everyone knows about the sickly Park boy who barely made it when he was born. They all know he's not coming back.
The announcer looked up from her list.
“Park Jimin,” she repeats. “Please step forward.”
Jimin blinks.
His mind feels blank.
Someone in the crowd whispers his name.
“No,” Hyeri breathes beside him.
Jihyun goes completely still. Jimin looks up slowly. The stage seemed impossibly far away.
“Jimin,” the announcer says, her smile tightening. “Please come forward.”
Hyeri grabs his arm.
“This is wrong,” she says sharply, panic rising in her voice. “Our family already-”
Jihyun is already moving.
He pushes forward through the crowd toward the guards standing near the stage.
“This is a mistake,” he said firmly. “I already completed the Purge five years ago. Only one per family is required.”
The guard barely looks at him.
“Step back.”
“But-”
Another guard shoves him away.
“Guess your family is unlucky.”
The words hit like a gunshot.
Jimin’s ears ring.
Unlucky. All his life he's been told how lucky he is. He was lucky he made it when he's mother didn't. He's lucky he doesn't know his father. He's lucky Jihyun is his brother. Guess his luck has run out.
Hyeri’s grip tightens painfully around his wrist.
“You’re sick,” she says desperately, looking toward the stage. “He’s sick! He won’t survive a week!”
No one responds. If he doesn't survive, he didn't deserve to live to begin with.
The announcer is already moving on.
“Next name…”
Jihyun staggers back toward them, his face pale with fear.
“This is bullshit,” he mutters under his breath.
Jimin swallows. His legs feel weak.
“I-”
His voice shakes.“I have to go, don’t I?”
Neither of them answer. That is answer enough.
Hyeri suddenly pulls him into a tight hug, her shoulders shaking.
“You don’t,” she whispers fiercely. “We’ll fight this.”
Jihyun shakes his head slowly.
“You know we can’t.”
Everyone knew the rule. Refusal meant execution. Jimin’s throat burns.
He doesn't remember walking toward the stage. He only realizes he’s moved when a guard grabs his arm and drags him up the steps. The announcer barely glances at him.
“Stand there.”
Jimin joins the growing line of boys. Some look as terrified as he feels. Others look determined. A few already look like predators. Jimin hugs his arms around himself, trying not to cough. From the stage he can see his siblings clearly. Hyeri is crying openly now. Jihyun stands rigid beside her, his fists clenched so tightly his knuckles have turned white. Their eyes meet. Jimin tries to smile. It comes out fragile and broken.
The rest of the names blur together.
By the time the final candidate is chosen, the moon has climbed high above the square. Tonight is a full moon. Around thirty boys in varying stages of puberty stand on the stage.
The announcer lifts a microphone.
“Selections are over,” she says.
“Your training begins immediately.”
Guards begin leading them away from the silent crowd assembled in front of them.
Jimin stumbles slightly as he walked down the steps. He doesn't get far. Suddenly arms wrapped around him. Hyeri.
She buries her face in his shoulder, sobbing.
“You have to come back,” she whispers. “Promise me.”
Jimin nods weakly.
“I’ll try.”
Jihyun steps forward. For a moment neither of them speak. Then Jihyun pulls him into a crushing hug.
“Listen to me,” he murmurs quietly in Jimin’s ear.
“Find Min Yoongi.”
Jimin blinks.
“Yoongi?”
“My friend,” Jihyun says. “If he’s there, stay with him.”
The guards begin shouting for them to move. Jihyun squeezes his shoulders.
“He’ll protect you.”
Jimin nods slowly.
Then the guards pull him away and he's being pushed into something that vibrates incessantly underneath him. He stumbles into a boy who grips his arms tightly. He nods his thanks, his mouth refusing to open. He's petrified. The boy grins down at him. He has a really pretty smile.
"Hey, relax. It's just a train. Think of it like the Capitol's wagon."
Jimin just stares back at him, eyes wide and glistening in the dim light. The boy's smile softens. "Want to sit with me?" he offers.
Jimin nods and allows him to lead him away.
"I'm Taemin," the boy says as he tugs him down onto a seat. He settles down beside him.
"I'm Jimin."
"I know. Park Jihyun's little brother."
"You know my brother?" Jimin asks quietly.
Taemin laughs. "I should hope so. I had a massive crush on him. I even thought I was in love."
Jimin's eyes widen. Taemin glances at him. "I take it he didn't tell you about me?"
Jimin shakes his head apologetically. Taemin gives a rueful smile. He sinks back into his seat. "I suppose he always meant more to me than I did to him."
Jimin doesn't know what to say so he says nothing.
The train doors slide shut behind the last boy to enter. A shrill whistle erupts into the air as the train begins to move. As the vehicle pulls away from the district, Jimin presses his forehead against the cold metal wall and closes his eyes. Six months. That was how long the Purge lasted. Six months in a place where killing was allowed. Six months where the strong hunted the weak. Jimin’s chest tightened painfully. He already knew which category he belonged to.
And somewhere far away in the Capitol…
his hunters were already on the prowl.