the end of this shared

Jongin is waiting for the odds to be in his favor.

In the Games there are many ways to win. There's brute strength (dubious), charm (helpful), outwitting the other trainees to debut solo (difficult), choosing the right group (dependable). All of this is a matter of timing. Showing the right amount of charm, befriending another trainee before someone else does, performing on camera just as a rich sponsor is in a generous mood, being the most unconventionally handsome one in a crop of trainees. Jongin's never been good with timing, always too early and too late. As he gazes down on Lu Han, silent, something like despair settles on him. He can't say why. It grounds him like an anchor back into his body and back into that moment when the MC called his name, and he had stood in front of the stage, and for the first time doubted that this was the fate he wanted after all. The heaviness of Lu Han's gaze, just like the heaviness of the thought he entertains for the first time: what if he was to die after all?