hope | c. snow

6

CORIOLANUS KNEW THAT THE FUTURE LOOKED BRIGHT.

All the tributes from the richer districts—One and Two—had been kicked out of the competition, with three of them dead and one on the run, not to mention that Gahel Moon, who was the biggest obstacle, was way out of the race for the Plinth Prize.

His injuries prevented him from making further plans with his tribute, and on top of that, Coriolanus had discovered something he could use against.

Gahel Moon liked him.

It was already known that Gahel Moon liked men to the whole Capitol since so many were lined up to try and become his fiancé, but Coriolanus hadn't imagined that he would like him.

After all, he had heard all about the Moons and the Snows' relationship from Grandma'am and how his father and Arthur Moon were always up against each other's throats.

And based on how the boy acted toward him, how was he supposed to know that he liked him?

Normal people who liked another person probably didn't try to pick a fight with the said person, especially by pointing fingers at the one thing that they tried to hide.

At least he said it privately, but that didn't help.

The only reason Coriolanus found out was because Sejanus Plinth had told him, and he knew that he wouldn't have found out if it wasn't for the incident back at the arena.

"What?" Coriolanus had asked, not believing what he had heard from Sejanus after preparing Lucy Gray for her interviews.

Sejanus shrugged. "Gahel liked you. In ... not a friend way, but romantically. He only told me, but I thought you might want to know, especially with him getting injured and everything."

Coriolanus wondered if what he was hearing was true, and his brain began to work quickly to determine what this meant for him.

Sejanus looked at his friend worriedly, concerned that his information might've been too much or something Coriolanus didn't want to hear.

Only after a minute, Coriolanus successfully reached an explanation and smiled.

"Thank you, Sejanus. I need to see him. Where is he?"

And when he went to visit Gahel Moon, he knew that what Sejanus said was true. 

The boy cursed when he wasn't around, and when he was, it was easy to tell that he was restraining himself from doing so. His ears were unnaturally red when he talked to him, his voice lower and most importantly, he tried to take care of his appearance as discreetly as possible.

Although Gahel tried his best to be discreet, Coriolanus could tell because of the many girls and boys before Gahel who had confessed to him. Gahel probably didn't find the need to take care of his appearance before because he was always perfectly dressed, but not in this situation when he was bound to the bed and didn't have any access to the self-care materials he probably needed.

And honestly, there were so many signs that Coriolanus was shocked that he had failed to recognize once he realized that Gahel liked him.

So, the future looked bright.

He could use this, Coriolanus thought. Having the Moon's son like him held much more power than Gahel probably knew, and injuring his leg would only work in his favor.

The moon shone brightly on him.

-

THE NEXT DAY, GAHEL MOON STALKED INTO THE AUDITORIUM, an elegant silver walking cane in his hand and dark circles under his eyes, making him appear more threatening than he normally did, which was saying a lot. Everyone was scared of him before, and now even more were trying to avoid him. He didn't look well, to say the least. His eyes were bloodshot, stitches on his forehead and neck, and walking with a very noticeable limp.