× day three ⤖ part one ×

                                    

                                          
[Minji's P.O.V]
                          
I open my eyes to find bright sunlight shining against my face. I grumble slightly, removing my hand from my blankets to shut my blinds. I reach to my right to find that my hand only hits open air. I drop my hand, confused to find that it hits a hard ground covered with leaves, not my soft bed. I sit up with a start as the memories of the past few days come rushing back to me. My stomach drops with the realization that I'm not in my cozy bed in my comfortable room. I'm in the arena.
                          
"Minji? You okay?" Someone calls softly.
                          
My head swivels towards the source of the noise. It's Jisung, sitting on the ground a few feet away from me, knives in each hand, leaning tiredly against the tree behind him. I look around to see the rest of the group still sleeping, so I keep my voice down.
                          
"Yeah, I'm good. I just forgot I was here for a second when I woke up," I chuckle, the disappointment evident in my voice.
                          
Jisung nods. "Happened to me yesterday." 
                          
His eyes close like he's starting to nod off to sleep. It's only then that it hits me - I was supposed to take second shift last night. My hand shoots to my mouth.
                          
"Oh my god, I'm so sorry. Did I not wake up last night? I'm a deep sleeper, you have to shake me hard-"
                          
Jisung quickly waves his hand, so I stop talking.
                          
"No, no, it wasn't you. I never tried to wake you."
                          
I furrow my eyebrows.
                          
"Why not?"
                          
Jisung shrugs, his mouth stretching open in a yawn.
                          
"You looked really peaceful sleeping. I didn't want to bother you."
                          
"Jisung, are you serious? Look how tired you are! You can't take the entire watch yourself."
                          
Jisung shakes his head as if to dismiss my worry. "I'm fine. Seriously. Plus, it would've been your first watch. I didn't know if you would know what to do."
                          
"You guys went over it with me last night. I could have done it."
                          
"But you looked like you needed sleep."
                          
"So do you. You need it just as much as I do. Don't do that again, okay?"
                          
Jisung nods. "Fine, I won't. I'm sorry."
                          
Things return to silence for a second, before a sigh of annoyance comes from Hyunjin's sleeping bag.
                          
"Believe it or not, the rest of us need sleep, too, so could you try to keep your voices down?"
                          
"Sorry," I whisper, not having realized how loud our voices got.
                          
I kick my sleeping bag off my legs and walk over to Jisung, taking out my knife. I point to my sleeping bag.
                          
"Sleep."
                          
Jisung chuckles. "It's morning."
                          
"It's, like, 7:00, and our itinerary is clear today, except for staying alive. So sleep."
                          
Jisung raises an eyebrow at me before sighing and getting up.
                          
"Alright, if you insist."
                          
I take his place on the ground with my back against the tree. Jisung climbs into my sleeping bag and, within a minute, he's fast asleep.
                          
I can imagine nighttime watch being scary, but taking watch in the daytime is proving to be quite boring.
                          
I fiddle around with my knife, tap my feet, and repeatedly toss pebbles into the air and catch them again. It feels like hours have passed before I detect movement from the sleeping bags. Jaeeun has gotten up, and she's walking over to me. Oh, god. I was hoping she wouldn't try to talk to me.