[ despite the sharpness, hung - hung doesn't flinch away, or draw back, and instead shifts his grip to lace their fingers together. like maybe weaving them together, like this, will help to tether her in place. especially if that's what she's going back to. ]

... you'd have a chance to change it, now, wouldn't you? Time supposedly stops, back home. While we're here. You'd be able to change your ending and go with Emporio.

[ this doesn't change the death of her father. the likely death of her friends. but she could live. she and emporio could get out of there alive, together, and be alright, be safe.

it's not said with naivety. rather, it's said with something akin to hope. because for as fleeting as this competition really is, with two months feeling so long but barely any time at all, this is still...

jolyne is someone that's left a mark on his life. one that he'll never be rid of. ]