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ilovebabygirls · 28 days ago

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PERSEVERANCE . kang dae-ho

pairing — kang dae-ho × female reader | mention of kim jun-hee × female reader (platonic)

tags — pure angst | some comfort & fluff | third person point of view

words count — 15k

summary — she was nowhere near a fighter, barely surviving through the games. that is what she believed until she encountered a certain former marine who swore he would protect her with his life. will he be able to keep his promise when a fight breaks out?

last updated — 20/02/2015

requested by @miy-svz

latest work — kang dae-ho boyfriend headcanons

heads spinning. bodies were trembling in fear. the repetitive circular motion of the carousel causing unsteadiness. her heart was beating out of her chest in panic. she was on the verge of tearing her ears off, the eerie melody and children's voices haunting her. she felt nauseous and the smell of blood was doing nothing to help out. her feet were anchored to the ground. her legs were slightly spread apart so as to not lose her balance. she felt dizzy but distraction would rush her to her demise. at this point, she regretted all her life choices, from the great amount of student debt she amassed to study abroad, to accepting playing children's games she was unfamiliar with because of cultural differences.

fortunately, in this living hell, [your name] found hope. she had allied with seong gi-hun's group, also known as the previous winner of the games. the young woman was grateful to be part of this team. the odds had to be in her favour. she was surrounded by strong and reliable people, and in particular one of the kindest souls.

kang dae-ho.

although the first impression he had made on her had not been the greatest, she eventually realised she had been mistaken. she had noticed him in the dormitory after the first vote. a small crowd had gathered around player 456. most players who had come had voted to remain in the games, they were definitely asking for guidance to work on a strategy for the next round. perched on top of her bed on the opposite side of the room, she had deeply sighed as she watched the scene unfold with disdain. the crowd had seemed to consider they had a fair chance of triumphing in these games. she was incapable of fathoming how anyone would gamble their life for money. then again, compared to some of the people who ended up in this place, she was not the one with the most debt amassed.

the young woman had lifted her gaze to the clear golden piggy bank hovering over the room, a constant reminder of their desperation. all that cash hanging over her head and she was unable to reach it. it spoke to her, messed with her mind and interfered with her common sense. these people were toying with the players, a system exploiting the penniless for their profit and entertainment. regardless, greed did not consume her yet, and the student was far from willing to sacrifice her life.

the woman was ripped away from her string of thoughts when a deep exclamation erupted. two men were standing where the crowd once was. she recognised one of them as the man who had stayed close to player 456 during the first game. player 390 was proudly smiling in front of a tall man and muscular in a half ponytail, slapping his arm in a fatherly manner. his form was strict, worthy of a soldier, as he saluted the older man. he was the source of the disturbance. macho and prideful were a few of the terms she had come up with to describe the view. she had sent their way the most judgmental look she could have mustered, which they did not catch, too focused on their little show.

"the lunatic said the next game was going to be dalgona." she had overheard a woman say near her bunk.

dalgona? like the sweet? were they gonna have an eating contest?

[your name] had officially met the man as she was looking for a group during the six-legged pentathlon. the players had entered the artificial and colourful courtyard as the feminine voice was introducing the next challenge.

it was not going to be a dalgona.

thank god.

the young woman had been slightly relieved at the announcement since she had never competed in the presumed game. moreover, being part of a group was reassuring, knowing she could count on her teammates to win, or instead, they could bring her down with them. at least if she managed to be accepted, nay tolerated, in a group. [your name] had been dragging her feet around the playground for a while, scrutinising her surroundings. the walls were painted a baby blue shade, clouds drawn haphazardly all over them, similar to events in kindergarten where children would decorate the classroom with their craftwork. the main entrance looked like school gates with inspiring words on top of it. alongside the main entrance were countless fake windows with different coloured curtains and chalk drawings on blackboards. rainbows adorned the doors throughout the arena contrasting with the deathly atmosphere.

many players had already formed teams of six, men sticking together assuming letting a woman in was suicide. less than three minutes were left on the clock, time was ticking fast. everyone she had asked to join had either rejected her, laughed in her face or the team was already full. [your name] had been so desperate that she had even approached that marvel fan rapper wannabe known as thanos, however, she had been immediately shushed by his lapdog with a bob who insulted her under his breath. the purple-haired man had simply pouted at her, tilting his head like a puppy. thanos said something in english she did not comprehend, despite speaking the language, before jiggling his hands in front of his face, displaying his tattoos and ridiculous multicoloured nails. the rapper turned his body away, jumping and crossing his legs, and strutted away with an exaggerated movement of his shoulders, his two teammates on his tail. she shook her head in disbelief and pulled her attention away from the trio.

it was now easy to detect who had been left behind. her eyes darted around the playground in search of a despairing soul. her gaze eventually locked with the one of a young woman her age, who she remembered from "red light, green light". [your name] had stood behind her during the crocodile line strategy presented by player 456, she had helped the girl up when the latter's legs had almost given out under her weight. [your name] had pressed the stranger's back against her chest, tightly hugging her body. however, the student had been startled when she felt a large bump but had chosen to keep quiet.

her legs had a mind of their own and led her to the unmoving player.

"did you find a group yet?" she questioned, her fists clenched in her pockets. she tried to appear nonchalant, when in fact, she was terrified. her eyes betrayed her as she blinked too much to be relaxed. what would happen to people without a group? would they form a group together? or would they be eliminated on the spot despite being an even number, allowing them to make equal teams?

"not yet..." the woman responded. her interlocutor hummed in return, slowly nodding.

"do you wanna team up?" [your name] proposed, pursing her lips, nervously waiting for the girl's reply.

"yes, please." she quickly agreed. "i'm jun-hee." she introduced herself.

"[your name]." she coldly responded, offering a weak smile.

"now, we just need four other people. easier said than done..." the young woman admitted as jun-hee nodded.

they roamed around one more minute, eyeing groups who would perhaps take them in. they were not demanding, anyone would do. however, they were aware they were a not sight for the sore eye or promising candidates. a pregnant lady (most were not aware of her condition, regardless, she was still a frail-looking woman) and a foreigner (she would be a millstone round the neck simply by her cluelessness concerning the rules of the games). jun-hee landed her eyes on a specific group and began to walk in their direction. [your name] directed her gaze to where her teammate was heading and her eyes widened. she ran after player 222 in a hurry.

"i don't think they are gonna be very welcoming, jun-hee." she warned. jun-hee paid her no mind and maintained her pace. the man who had been previously yelling in the sleeping quarters had already fetched two players just as spirited, player 390 seemingly the most satisfied by the young man's find. too late, the team was full, not that they had any chance of joining. nevertheless, jun-hee would not let this prevent her from shooting her shot despite [your name]'s vain murmurs of protest.

jun-hee planted herself in front of the group and spoke up, her teammate awkwardly standing a step back.

"excuse me. please let us join your team." she pleaded, her eyes wide open. she appeared like prey in the wild.

"sorry, we've already got six people—" player 390 replied before he was abruptly interrupted.

"she is pregnant!" her teammate suddenly blurted out. all eyes were on her as she stood next to jun-hee, who was as startled as the men. the young woman straightened her posture, released a breath she had been holding and cleared her throat.

"you don't need to let me join, but please let her..." she whispered, getting a hold of herself after her short outburst. she hoped the men would show some empathy or, at best, pity her new acquaintance. if one of the two women could escape from an evident death, she deemed it necessary to overshare personal details even if it was not her place to do so.

"please help us." jun-hee finished, instinctively placing a hand on her bump and grabbing the other woman by the wrist.

a few seconds of unnerving silence ensued. none of the men knew the appropriate way to react. they all gawked at the woman's belly, her grip tensing on [your name]'s wrist in apprehension.

dae-ho had been the one to break the silence, advocating for the two women when he had recommended the two marines for the team.

"we can't let them fend for themselves. especially a pregnant woman. i say we let them join." he said, holding his hand up in a fist as his mouth tightened into a thin line. he threw an apologising look at the men, feeling slightly embarrassed. he had brought them over just to let them go in a matter of seconds. gi-hun immediately agreed with the young man and player 001, who seemed to follow anything the latter declared, acquiesced. player 390 was the only one who had not said anything since [your name] revealed jun-hee's pregnancy. regardless, his opinion would not count as his teammates had reached a decision.

"you have two marines to protect you, girls. you're safe with us." he forced out a smile. the group dismissed the other two men whose protests were ignored. they walked away, one patting the other's back. [your name] could not feel sorry for them, they would find a team in no time, however, the newly formed team was disadvantaged if people's opinions were taken into consideration.

to everyone's surprise, the team crossed the finishing line a couple of seconds before the end of the countdown. after all, the two girls turned out to be a valuable addition to the group, both of them completing their mini-game in one attempt (unlike young-il who had crashed out and cost them priceless time).

as the guards escorted them back to the dormitories, dae-ho walked alongside her and decided to strike up a small conversation.

"i am glad we survived. are you okay? i mean, after all that." he began, skimming over her figure to confirm any scrapes she could have. she frowned at the sudden interaction.

"don't worry, i'm fine." she assured. "you... uhm, you were really good at gonggi. like you did that all your life." she added to dissipate the awkwardness that only she was feeling.

"you could say so." he chuckled before moving his attention to the woman's mini-game. "i don't know how you passed 'cham cham cham' in one go. are you a telepath?" he joked, throwing [your name] a wide smile which she responded with a genuine giggle.

"actually, the guard made it pretty easy. i just had to observe how he did it with the other teams. he would start with the same two moves and the third one would be different. so i just had to pick the first direction he chose on the third round." she explained with a proud grin. dae-ho let out a long impressed noise, briefly clapping.

"i wouldn't have caught on." he praised with a toothy smile.

"what's your name?" he bluntly asked, taking her off guard as he tilted his head.

"oh, uhm... my name is [your name]." she introduced herself as the man hummed.

"that's a pretty name. i'm dae-ho, kang dae-ho." he replied placing his hand on his chest. "nice to meet you." he finished, an optimistic glint in his eyes. then, the group was stopped in front of the door to the dormitory.

[your name] was happily surprised by dae-ho. she was wrong all along. it will teach her before judging a book by its cover.

dae-ho was the quintessence of sunshine. through the darkness, he was the light she longed for. he never allowed her to renounce hope, always cheering her on. during their free time between games, they would talk about their childhood memories, dae-ho eagerly telling her how his sisters would use him as their human doll, and how, as a child, he much preferred their company over the one of kids his age. as for her, she would describe specific aspects and customs from her home country, attempting to teach him some words from her mother-tongue as he would miserably fail to pronounce syllables.

as maladroit as he could be, it was heartwarming.

jung-bae's sudden question brought her back to reality.

"what do you think it'll be this time?" jung-bae asked gi-hun from behind. she prayed it would be the last round as the uncanny and robotic feminine voice did not indicate how many more they would be compelled to play. before gi-hun could answer, young-il beat him to it.

"two." the imperturbable man promptly said as jung-bae made him elaborate.

"there are one hundred twenty-six people left, and there are fifty rooms. so there won't be enough rooms for everyone. only for hundred people." he explained. how did he know all that? did he manage to calculate the probabilities? did he just guess? it was irrelevant. "the rest will be killed."

over half of the players had already lost their lives in this nightmare.

she was fucked.

gi-hun would obviously pair up with his best friend. young-il was beyond her reach to run to safety within the time frame offered (and quite frankly, she was a little bit afraid of the man since the stunt he pulled during the six-legged race). hyun-ju would pair up with young-mi as she was her protege, and the old woman and her son were holding each other for dear life. as for dae-ho, he had made it his life mission to guard jun-hee. after all, she was pregnant, which made her a priority.

priority or not, [your name] wanted to live just as much.

she had voted to leave this place without hesitation since the voting system was introduced to the contestants. she deserved to live as much as anyone else, nonetheless, she also wanted her teammates to survive. young-mi would have died in the last round if it had not been for another group that had dragged the young girl into their room at the last second. hyun-ju was out of her mind when her friend was nowhere in sight, ramming into and yanking the door almost busting the hinges when the countdown ran out. the tall woman had lunged at the man who had forced himself into the safe room by pushing her out of the doorframe, preventing her from looking for young-mi. player 333, also known as a scammer, lashed out, claiming he saved everyone (he only saved himself uninterested by the people surrounding him). according to him, young-mi was condemned since she fell. harsh, but had the merit to be honest. everyone fell silent and eventually slowly agreed with him. when the nine of them finally exited the room in a dreadful frame of mind, young-mi yelled out hyun-ju's name, throwing herself in the woman's arms as she uncontrollably wept in her shoulders. both women collapsed to the ground trembling and choking out sobs.

she could always pair up with the new addition to their group, player 246. he seemed dependable and close enough to reach. she had never interacted with him, but pleasantries were not necessary in a game where death flirted with you every now and then. her strategy was to cling onto the man and bolt for any door while fending off frenzied players.

the machine abruptly halted as players held onto one another to keep their balance.

"two!" the voice announced as the lights began to flash.

young-il was correct.

[your name] looked around as player 246 got off the platform, holding gi-hun by the arm. her ticket out was slipping away. young-il was also out of the picture as he had grabbed jung-bae and bolted away the moment the number was revealed. her frenetic eyes failed to find any of her teammates on the carousel. players were fighting, pushing and pulling each other off the platform, ripping their tracksuits up. the melody was maddening as her pulse quickened. she felt palpitations in her whole body, unable to properly think without panicking. logically, one of her friends was still here considering the group was now made up of an even number.

where were they then?

tears threatened to spill, she was petrified, alone, like in the outside world. she eventually resigned herself to her fate, instead choosing to bravely endure it.

death.

[your name] closed her eyelids and faintly exhaled, welcoming the end.

as the first tear rolled on her cheek, she was yanked from the platform and rushed to a bright yellow door. her eyes widened, landing on a broad figure with a tiny ponytail. dae-ho grabbed her arm as he reached her and raced to the first door he laid eyes on. no one was in front of them, if they kept the same pace they would reach the safe room in time without any trouble. her lungs were on fire, dae-ho's grip was definitely cutting off her blood flow, and her shoes were slipping on the floor. but, adrenaline was pumping in her veins and she was determined to live. if she did not do it for herself, she owed it to dae-ho to ensure his survival.

the former marine nearly crashed against the door as he twisted the doorknob, jerking the door open. he entered the safe room, looking over his shoulder to confirm his partner followed close behind despite tightly holding her by the wrist. [your name] had managed to put a foot past the entrance before another player seized her by the collar, nearly choking her in the process. the player snatched her from dae-ho's grip when the latter brought his guard down and threw her in a puddle of blood. her head took a harsh blow at impact and bounced against the floor.

only ten seconds remained on the clock. the player who had attacked the young woman tried to push past dae-ho, stepping on the woman's ankle without a care for her well-being to enter the room. she felt a throbbing pain in the area and screamed. dae-ho sprung into action and blocked the player's way giving him a swift kick in the abdomen with his knee. as the attacker stumbled back, dae-ho rushed to [your name]'s side, clutching onto her wounded ankle as she winced because of the sharp ache, dragging her into the room with one second left. she lied still as dae-ho charged at the door, keeping it closed until it automatically locked. the ex-marine tried to overlook the despairing pleas in the arena as the player who assaulted his friend banged on the door. the player launched a string of curses at the man while simultaneously imploring for his life. the player stuck his arm through the small rectangular peephole, grabbing dae-ho by the collar and pressing his face against the door until blood eventually squirted on the ex-marine's face. gunshots echoed through the arena as a hole appeared in the middle of the contestant's forehead, life gradually vanishing from his eyes. dae-ho tightly shut his eyes to dismiss the monstrosities as the player's body slumped, hanging from the peephole like a rag.

both of them were heavily panting. dae-ho slid down against the wall, his legs finally giving out. his body tensed up and trembled as more gunshots were fired in the circus tent. the palms of his hands were pressed against his ears as his knees were pulled to his chest. he tried to do that one breathing exercise his therapist had taught him, and he ultimately managed to get his heartbeats under control. he opened his eyes and scanned the room. [your name] was lying on her back, her hands hiding her face as one of her legs was folded and the other casually stretched out. dae-ho hurriedly crawled to her shaking figure and delicately laid his large hand on her shoulder. her body relaxed under his gentle touch.

"are you okay? tell me you're okay." he begged. he helped the woman to sit up, placing her back against his chest carefully. she winced and moaned, the pain in her ankle and head intensifying.

"did you just use me as a mop?" she broke the silence out of breath, kidding to lighten the mood. dae-ho was speechless as she began to softly giggle.

"i was so scared when you got attacked by that guy. i thought i lost you." he said, tightly hugging her, his face buried into her hair. his hands clutched onto her vest, which was drenched in blood, tainting his hands, but he could not care less.

"you're not gonna lose me, dae-ho. never." she hugged him back with as much devotion.

"you saved me. i really thought it was gonna be the end for me back there." she admitted when they pulled away. she was ashamed since she had doubted him, assuming he would reach for another teammate, taking the easy route to save himself.

"you did scare me a little bit. you were frozen in place." he explained exhaling. the beeping of the forklifts that carried the coffins could be heard outside the room. they would be freed from this torture in a few minutes. "i grabbed your hand, but you didn't move at first, so, i had to be a bit more forceful." he said, softly stroking her back.

[your name] had been in such a state of panic that she had not felt his touch. dae-ho wanted to save her, he wanted to partner up with her this whole time. he had never hesitated one second. guilt flashed in her eyes and she lowered her head, her reaction confusing dae-ho. he leaned in to make eye contact with the girl before she abruptly threw her arms around his shoulders, crying in the crook of his neck. a restful silence settled between the two as dae-ho consoled her, all her emotions conveyed in an instant. the man suppressed his own feelings, convinced the only way to calm her was to be tougher on himself.

"everything is gonna be okay. i'll never let anything happen to you." he whispered in her ear as he delicately caressed her hair.

eventually, the door unlocked itself. dae-ho carefully stood up, lending a hand to the injured woman. he snuck his arm around her waist as she used his shoulder for support. she was struggling to hold herself. dae-ho was using most of his strength to prevent her from collapsing into another puddle of blood.

as they left the room, they were met with jun-hee embrace who had run as fast as possible towards them, given her condition. player 333 was on her tail with a defeated look, probably annoyed jun-hee's attention was on people he deemed unimportant. [your name] tensed up at the sensation, still hugging her friend back. however, the grimace the wounded player pulled did not go unnoticed by the pregnant woman.

jun-hee took a step back and scanned her friend from head to toe.

"what happened to you?!" she questioned, her eyes widening at the woman's pitiful condition.

"just the price to live." she answered, forcing a smile out.

"some player pushed me and walked on my ankle. i think it might be sprained. i hope it's not broken, though..." she continued, lifting her leg to show her ankle from different angles.

"let's just go back in the dormitory. she needs to rest." dae-ho added as the guard ordered the remaining players to gather in a crowd in front of the entrance of the arena. everyone was exhausted, their shoulders slumped, their steps slow and sloppy. a hundred players were left indicating the amount of the jackpot had to be massive by now.

they would finally be freed. far away from this torment.

safe and sound.

despite the pain, this thought brought a small smile of relief to [your name]'s face.

she survived.

she was going home.

these were the dumbest people she had ever encountered in her entire life. they truly did not cherish their lives.

after "mingle", another vote had taken place. casting her vote had been rather humiliating. she was limping and relatively slow. someone on the other side had even roared at her to hurry up, that they did not have all day. unfortunately, they did have all day, unable to escape this horror if more people had no regard for human life. she had shot him a glare and resumed limping towards the console displaying the bright red and blue buttons. moreover, she had exposed her injury, turning her into an easy target for the ill-intended players. she was served on a silver platter to eliminate.

soon enough, the results were in. it was depressing.

a tie.

the most disappointing part was that most people would have been able to pay their debt with the amount each player would have been given. however, the call for money was apparently too tempting. the players, proudly wearing their blue patches, did not understand they were doomed, or perhaps they were too arrogant to even consider it. they believed they were more qualified to beat these games than the people they viewed as cowards. they already pictured themselves in a pool of bills, grazing the upper-class society like they merited, free of concerns for the clear-sighted people who knew they would never be accepted by the rich. there is no winning for the poor in capitalism. the players were just puppets in these people's cruel games. lambs willingly throwing themselves in the slaughterhouse after being shown the outcomes.

in the beginning, [your name] understood why most players had selected to stay in the games. for a lot of them, the outside world had nothing to provide and dying was certainly better than their tough and tedious routine. however, they would all have had sufficient funds for a fresh start. they would never leave the game until only one of them came out victorious. selfishness reeking from their soul. they had been repeating they would play "one more game" since the rules of these silly, yet murderous, tournaments were revealed. they would not quit at any obstacle, each one of them's greatest wish undoubtedly was to obtain the whole cash prize.

money had a hold on them and had clouded their better judgement.

this was further proven when a ferocious fight broke out in the men's restroom, taking the lives of five players. [your name] had insisted on heading to the restroom by herself, deeming it unnecessary to be chaperoned by hyun-ju, although the others had insisted. she needed some space to reflect on what had occurred and to freshen up.

she entered the empty austere restroom, grateful no one else was present. finally some peace and quiet. she chose a random stall and slopped on the toilet lid, exasperatedly exhaling. she meticulously rolled up her pant leg to examine her injury. it was not pretty to see. as a matter of fact, her ankle was severely swollen and a slight blue hue had appeared on the skin. if it was not broken, it was at least severely sprained. she could barely maintain a straight posture, which caused cramps on her hip, let alone move her foot. she sighed, irritated, and rested her back against the toilet tank, relaxing her entire body and basking in the short serenity she was offered.

a short-lived moment.

shouts, insults and banging erupted from the men's restroom which lasted for a good ten to fifteen minutes. she jumped, climbing onto the toilet seats, in case anyone peeked under the stall if, eventually, the fight carried on to the women's restroom. she disregarded the pain in her ankle as her survival instinct took over, and pressed her hands on the cheap walls to balance herself on one foot. worried she would be preyed on if she made a single noise, she stayed hidden until a triangle mask guard knocked on the door.

it was not until she regrouped with the men that she realised the extent of this madness. she was met with a barbaric sight. guards had their guns aimed at the players ordering them to keep their hands up and visible. they were drenched in blood, a lethal glint in their eyes as they trembled with fury as some had been disfigured and tumefied in the confrontation. player 124 was the most striking with his erratic breathing, his hair obscuring a part of his face, and his constricted cat-like pupils. his friend was nowhere to be seen, he had probably perished in the fight which explained player 124's belligerence.

money had these people walk on a leash.

after they were escorted back to the dormitory, [your name] directly headed to her bunk where she had been staying with dae-ho and jun-hee. she ignored the absurd allegations player 124 threw as they walked through the doors, keeping her head down. she did not want to draw any undesired attention.

dae-ho instantly laid his eyes on her fatigued figure. she was walking close to the bunks, hiding herself from prying eyes. she trudged, relying on the metallic bars for support. he hastily pushed players out of the way, stepped over the rigid mattresses spread on the floor and clumsily hopped over the ones still on the beds. he rushed to her side as she stopped in her tracks, finding it increasingly difficult to even graze the floor with her wounded foot. the man snuck his arm around her waist as she instinctively placed hers around his broad shoulders.

"my saviour..." she joked breathlessly, holding onto dae-ho's muscles. he furrowed his brows, concern spread all over his facial features.

"tell me they didn't hurt you?" he asked, his eyes begging for clarification.

"don't worry, i stayed hidden in the women's restroom." she explained. "thank god you weren't there, though..." she finished, looking up at dae-ho, who agreed.

he could not even imagine what she had witnessed back there. everyone was astounded when both groups came back from their trip to the restroom. during the games, the players were not explicitly pitted against one another. "red light, green light" was an individual game, the six-legged pentathlon formed alliances as cooperation was the core of this challenge, and "mingle" made these same groups depend on other teams for survival. now, players directly attempted to harm one another bare-handed or with makeshift weapons.

"let's not think about it. you need to rest. you've barely touched your food." he said as they reached one of the beds in the far right corner.

[your name] carelessly flopped on the rigid mattress, letting out a groan. she put her weight on her arms to get into a comfortable position. dae-ho had walked where he had negligently abandoned his food. a few pieces of stale and cold kimbap sat in the crumpled aluminium foil as some grains of dry rice had scattered on the stairs. her rolls were untouched, still warm thanks to the preservation of the foil since the cheap wrapping was sealed. dae-ho grabbed her meal and his scraps, dodging the players who were heading to the stairs and sitting down after player 47 hurried the red team to gather.

"here, eat your food. you need some nutrients to stay healthy." the man urged his friend. he unwrapped her kimbap rolls, grabbed the fork provided with the meal and held it in front of her mouth, encouraging her to eat. she obliged, sitting up against the cold metal and devouring the piece of tasteless food.

"there are some leftovers, too." he informed, stabbing another piece of kimbap. [your name] shook her head once she glanced at the half-eaten food on the bed.

"we don't get enough food, dae-ho. you should eat it all." she argued, pushing the leftovers towards him.

"tsk! you need it more than me! i ate enough anyways." he insisted frustrated, catching the attention of a couple of bystanders. the fork still loomed over her lips which she simply pushed to the side.

"just at least eat half of what you have left. ii makes me feel guilty, like i'm stealing from you..." she admitted as she ended up eating the rolls by hand.

"don't be silly. i'm offering. you need to be cared after, especially now. i'm just doing my job as a marine when a comrade is down." he explained, warmly smiling at her. after some convincing from the young woman, he eventually shoved a roll down his mouth, obnoxiously chewing.

"happy?" he said his mouth full as [your name] playfully gagged at the sight.

the red team was anxiously huddled up on the stairs, some of them uncontrollably fidgeting. the silence was unbearable as player 047 counted the people still alive. the older man had started over three times by now to guarantee an accurate answer. one of the teams would be unmistakably disadvantaged during the second vote considering the fight had killed five participants, an odd number. dae-ho and [your name] were sitting on the nearest bed, shoulder to shoulder. the man stared into space, unable to stop his shaky leg. he kept flexing and relaxing his fists continuously, deeply inhaling and exhaling to tame his racing thoughts. the young woman noticed his strange nervous demeanour, her eyes softening at the sight. she gently placed her hand over dae-ho's knee, startling the man. their eyes met, [your name] offered a friendly smile as she squeezed his leg in an attempt to ease his mind from his apprehensions. his shoulders instantly loosened as his chest warmed up from her sweet gesture. she was such a good friend.

player 47 finally stated the total.

forty-eight.

two contestants had died on their side.

they would win the vote by one (if nobody changed their mind by tomorrow, which was less likely to happen).

the bell rang throughout the sleeping quarters, announcing thirty minutes before lights out. player 047 insisted on tomorrow's vote's importance, one last chance to escape this place. the group vehemently agreed with him and attempted to conceal their happiness to avoid roughening up the opposite team. the blue team stood ferociously in their military-like rows, appearing more threatening than usual, surely because they were predominantly men, not the most trustworthy kind. their faces had completely dropped, and their snarky remarks were cut short. the opposite group slowly dispersed and disappeared into their bunks, throwing daggers on the red team's way.

ten minutes had passed, and a small group congregated around [your name]'s bed, who could not walk long distances, sharing their apprehensions. jung-bae was still optimistic, affirming they would win the next vote no matter what. gi-hun instantly pooped his bubbly and lugubriously described what would ensue in the next hour. the blue team would massacre them one at a time to increase the prize and guarantee the prolongation of the games. young-il suggested attacking them first. he highlighted their foolishness, firmly assuming the red team would sit and wait, clueless of their intentions.

a couple of players agreed with him, however, the point was not to kill before being killed but to put an end to the games, to get revenge for all those the masked people murdered due to their classism and for their amusement. the red team was indisputably physically disadvantaged, indeed elders and young women were considered a liability. young-il had proven himself to be an amazing fighter, humiliating thanos and his minion. jung-bae was a former marine, but his prime was in the past. as for dae-ho, he was young and also a retired marine, he had a rather strong build (not that [your name] had noticed his broad shoulders or his muscular chest when he was distracted). however, these three would still be outnumbered by the bloodthirsty and money-hungry players.

gi-hun knew it.

[your name] knew it.

everyone knew it.

they could not lie to themselves.

gi-hun did sound like some crazy conspiracy theorist, vaguely talking about an organisation whose desire was to see the participants butcher each other. after all, this made sense. they were here playing deadly children's games for money. for all they knew, the events could be broadcast all over korean billionaires' televisions. even worse, this could be a worldwide concept with the lower class population preyed on and manipulated into believing they had a choice, that it was simply the consequences of their actions.

"you're telling us the pink dudes are not the only people there? there are more fucked motherfuckers? like higher-ups? [your name] angrily asked, supporting herself on her elbows, after dae-ho asked where the people watching the games were. everyone looked up as gi-hun brought their attention to the ceiling, implying the people in charge were on the upper floors.

"fucking cowards..." she whispered under her breath.

gi-hun carried on with his detailed plan to overthrow their system, but the more she listened, the more sceptical she became. it was one thing to advocate for everyone's freedom and dismantle an illegal organisation, it was another to jeopardize the lives of innocents by keeping them unaware. quite frankly, they had little to no chance of defeating the oppressor either way. however, more people seemed on board than not, and regardless, gi-hun would not change his position. he was determined, but was he prepared?

the group dissipated, leaving dae-ho and [your name] by themselves. ten minutes remained on the clock. jun-hee stayed with player 149 who fussed over her baby's health as her son sat embarrassed by his mother's over-the-top behaviour. hyun-ju, young-mi and gyeong-seok sat on the staircase between bunks. young-mi was beyond consolable after gi-hun's statements, tears streaming down her cheeks as hyun-ju tightly hugged her. gyeong-seok stroked her back, the young girl reminding him of his toddler left at home. she was absolutely terrified. she had begged the blue team to be reasonable and spare everyone's life, in vain. gi-hun and the other men were discussing in the corner, surely coming up with a more effective strategy than hiding and stealing the guards' guns. they did not have much room to improve the plan since they had to act quick.

"so... this is like... the end, i guess." [your name] broke the silence, dae-ho whipping his head in her direction.

"what do you mean?" he asked, frowning.

"we're getting out of here." she elaborated as the man slowly nodded, not contributing much to the conversation. tension was palpable in the already oppressing atmosphere, this place knew what would happen tonight.

"are you scared?" she asked, her voice hardly above a whisper as she anxiously fidgeted with her fingers. dae-ho parted his lips as stammering murmurs came out. the man was contemplating lying, containing himself by putting on a brave facade, perhaps he also did not want her to perceive him as a wuss. however, he opted for honesty. she had been kind and caring towards him these past few days. she would not judge him for showing emotions.

"yes," he answered, gulping. "'i'm terrified..." he admitted, humourlessly chuckling.

she hummed in agreement, she was just as frightened. she was not only afraid for her own safety but her friends' too, particularly for dae-ho and jun-hee to whom she quickly grew attached. harbouring such strong feelings for people in such a short time would usually be judged pathetic, nay creepy. in this place, societal norms were pointless, and bonding over a shared life-threatening experience had a way of bringing people close. life was short and regrets were futile, befriending the pregnant woman who was ghosted by her shitty ex-boyfriend had been a great decision and falling in love with the gonggi expert was effortless. she would no longer listen to people's opinions and let them walk all over her. it was a bit heartbreaking that she realised it a little late though.

"now that i think about it, we never really got to know each other." she pointed out.

"what do you mean? i told you so much about my life. what more do you need to know?" he laughed, tucking his hair behind his ears.

"that's true, but i don't know anything basic about you. i know a lot about your sisters, some things from your childhood, but nothing else." she explained. "if we're gonna die, i wanna know everything about you." she mumbled, avoiding eye contact. however, dae-ho caught her words as a grin crept on his lips.

"i mean we have seven minutes left. should i start?"

from favourite food to favourite films, indirectly sharing cultures, the two got to know each other on a deeper level with superficial questions. nearing the end of the countdown, both were lying down, facing one another, making direct eye contact during brief silence. dae-ho's eyes were gentle, glimmering at the view. she glowed like the sun, the brightest star of all.

"okay, let's dive deeper." she hummed.

"oh, i'm scared." he joked as he feigned shivers all over his body. the woman giggled, playfully pushing his shoulder.

"why did you let your hair grow this length?" she wondered, twirling one deep black strand of dae-ho's hair around her finger. despite the lack of showers and hygiene products in this place, his hair remained soft. in fact, most people's hair had become greasy because of how much they sweat and the humidity. dae-ho's hand instinctively laid on top of [your name]'s to feel her closer. she cupped his face, her thumb softly rubbing his cheek.

"to have control over myself, i guess." he answered, unsure.

once again, the opportunity to lie grazed his mind. dae-ho was usually reticent to open up despite being such a joyful and light soul. he could be seen from miles away. people assumed he was an open book, not one nonchalant bone in his body. he just preferred to keep to himself despite his loudness. but he felt like he could tell anything to [your name].

"in the marine, they cut my hair really short and i had to keep it that way until i was discharged. growing it felt like a weight lifted off my shoulders. like moving on from this part of my life, you know." he admitted, unintentionally biting his lip. her eyes held compassion and pride. despite their current predicament, she could tell dae-ho had bounced back and gotten back on his feet.

all by himself.

she whipped her head up to glimpse towards the countdown. three minutes lights out.

"one last question for me. why did you come here?" she asked. until now, their financial distress had not been brought up.

[your name] had supposed the man had been scammed or had a gambling addiction, but dae-ho did not seem the type to gamble or spend money on ephemeral pleasures. perhaps he was in a similar situation as her with student loans. it was less likely the reason, she had learned in their conversation that he did not attend college, his father enrolling him in the marines right after he graduated high school.

"well... i never told anyone..." he began, his eyes avoiding her gaze in shame.

"you don't have to tell me anything." the young woman assured. "it's up to you." she gave a sympathetic smile.

"i know... i still want to tell you though." he admitted which gladdened her heart.

"so basically..." he started, sighing. "after i was discharged, i had to be institutionalised. it was court-mandated. i stayed there for over a year, i think? not sure. and they diagnosed me with pstd."

[your name] intently listened to his story without interrupting. she could not imagine how hard his life had been. dae-ho always had the impression he needed to prove himself to his surroundings, always bringing up his time as a marine in conversations, like it legitimised him. most of the time, players would roll their eyes or mock him. however, these people only wished they could be half the man he was. brave, benevolent and gentle.

"all my savings went to paying my medical bills. i had to take out a loan to pay the rest and it got me here. i couldn't pay rent anymore and there was no way i would reach out to my family. they don't know where i am to this day..." he shamefully mumbled the last sentence. "i got a loan and around five months ago shark loans went after me. they've been more persistent this month, saying if i couldn't pay we could find another arrangement like giving some bone marrow and a kidney." both of them grimaced at the gruesome proposal. "i was already living paycheck to paycheck, i can't even hold down a job..." he finished clenching his jaw.

she was left speechless.

"i'm so sorry—" she uttered as dae-ho interrupted her with a frustrated groan.

"aish, don't be. you didn't do anything." he retorted, scowling. "if anything you make this place bearable." he confessed, rubbing circles on the back of her hand. their faces were only a couple centimetres away, hot breath tickling their skin. [your name]'s lips parted as she struggled to come up with a reply. dae-ho caught on to her effort, seeing the gears turn in her brain. he let out a breathless chuckle and continued.

"i think i have time for one more question." he said as he peeked over his shoulder, the countdown indicated one minute. he had to be fast.

"i don't wanna have any regrets, since— you know... we could die any moment." he mumbled, biting his lower lip nervously. "when we get out of here, do you wanna go on a date with me?" he finally asked, directly staring into her widened eyes.

in truth, dae-ho had already developed a sort of infatuation for [your name] the night they kept watch in case of players attacking them. she had been a bit dubious about gi-hun's claims, why would anyone go on a killing rampage wen they were already stcuk in deadly games? the group was building barricades out of mattresses. some had been placed on the floor under the metal bed frames, much to jung-bae's dismay, and some propped up like shields. she was not the only one sceptical, young-il mirroring her doubts. gi-hun, restless, insisted on the nature of these games, and how the masked people got into people's heads, turning them into cold-blooded murderers. he had witnessed it with his own two eyes. young-il backed away as fast as he voiced his query.

that night, gi-hun and jung-bae's banter had woken up the young woman who rolled out of bed groaning. she harshly rubbed her eyes, softly slapping her cheeks to pump some adrenaline as she violently shook her head. she had begrudgingly opened her eyes, blinking and squinting to dissipate the wet blurry layer over her pupils. [your name] turned around to see if jun-hee was awake, but was met with an empty spot, only a messily spread thin blanket as the sole attestation of a prior presence. dae-ho was still sound asleep on the other side of the bunks, his lips slightly parted with soft snores barely noticeable.

"you're so noisy, you sound like pre-teen girls." she compared as she approached them on all fours. both had turned around and eyeballed her, offended by her comment.

"just go back to sleep, we are holding up here." jung-bae waved her off with a grin. gi-hun had merely nodded in agreement, skimming over the area.

"you're probably my only chance of getting out of here with just a scratch. i'd rather you not snooze off mid-game." she replied, sitting criss-cross behind them.

"a marine is always on the lookout, don't worry." jung-bae said roughly slapping her on the shoulder, which she grabbed and squeezed to ease the discomfort. gi-hun side-eyed his best friend and turned towards the young woman with a tight-lipped smile.

"just go to sleep, you need it." he had assured her, his face immediately dropping as his stare returned to the room.

"for all i know you're not immune to fatigue either. i won't be able to go back to sleep anyways, so at least let me be helpful." she retorted. jung-bae was about to argue but was interrupted by gi-hun who agreed after briefly staring at her.

she was left alone with her thoughts, her eyes kept flickering back and forth between the quiet room and the cash prize. she did not think of herself as a materialistic person. she did have a phone, but an old busted one, she enjoyed dressing well, but could not even afford fast fashion. when she could, she enjoyed treating herself to a good meal or a trip to the mall to window shop. even before her crippling debts, she would barely spend money on herself, too busy worrying over saving money or too guilty to spend it on herself.

look where it got her.

raking over two hundred billion wons.

risking her life playing children's games to pay her debt.

she felt pathetic.

she closed her eyes, relaxing her shoulders, relishing in the quietness and the light glow emanating from the golden piggy bank. she imagined herself in the streets of seoul, in a coffee shop scrolling through her phone with a pastry and her drink of choice. something plain but she had taken for granted when her life had not gone downhill yet. now, affording public transportation was a luxury, taking short and cold showers before heading to her job, always refraining from going to the grocery store at the end of the month after a quick peek at her bank account, surviving on oversalted instant soups and cheap eggs. with the prize money, [your name] would stop by any convenience store as the fancy took her. she would fill up her cart to the brim with fresh fruits and vegetables, no more of those frozen meals with ice left even after heating up the product thrice. she would high-quality hygiene products instead of these thin pads and unbranded soaps. she would not steal anymore, often hiding items in her pockets, hoping no one witnessed her act of thievery before heading for the cash register.

she was in dire need of stability.

the frugal life was necessary but tiresome.

she wanted more.

she wanted to live the dream.

she was torn away from her moment of peace when a large hand fell on her shoulder, her body tensing up.

"i'm so sorry, i didn't mean to scare you." dae-ho apologised, chuckling when [your name] whipped around to face him.

"you? scaring me? you wish." she huffed as she turned back to the room. her blasé countenance made him overthink their fleeting interaction, clearing his throat to get her attention back.

"it's my turn to keep watch. you can go back to sleep." he explained, crossing his legs with his back hunched and his forearms resting on his thighs.

"actually, i'd like to stay here. i can't sleep anyways." she nonchalantly responded, not even bothering to look at him. dae-ho ruminated on her answer. she was being so dismissive, unlike her behaviour with jun-hee, fooling around and talkative. was he making her uncomfortable?

"then... i hope you don't mind if i stay with you." he confidently answered.

"i mean... i wanted to be alone." she slowly replied, pursing her lips. "but, i wouldn't mind the company." she admitted, an imperceptible grin hanging on the corner of her lips.

"that's settled then. let's be alone together." he beamed, straightening his posture. his enthusiasm was contagious which earned him a smile.

the buzzing from the light, their soft breathing and the agitated movements of the sleeping players were all that could be heard. plain silence. neither comfortable nor unbearable. no tension. no awkwardness. absolute silence. both in their own world.

dae-ho drummed his fingers on his knees, goggling at the piggy bank. no one could pry their eyes off the voluminous container and he was not an exception. dae-ho had never seen such a huge amount of money in his entire life, except when he would watch these american films about money heists his father owned. dae-ho was not used to wealth, being the youngest of five siblings. his family was not poor, far from it, they were upper-middle-class. his father earned enough for his mother to be a stay-at-home, and he attended an all-boy private school with tutoring lessons once a week. they were well-off, but his family was respectful and, therefore, never flaunted their wealth around. however, dae-ho always received his sister's hand-me-down clothes, he did not have any toys as his father believed they were too distracting, and throwing a birthday party after the age of twelve was out of the question. if it had not been for his sisters, he was pretty sure his childhood would have been entirely morose.

"what are you gonna do with your share of the money?" he absentmindedly asked out of the blue. she raised her eyebrows in surprise and pondered.

"uhm... i haven't really thought about it to be honest. obviously, paying my debts. but then, i have no idea." she said, shrugging. "i'm probably just gonna live life the same, minus the struggle for rent and food." she humourlessly laughed.

"what about you?" she returned the question, finally looking at him. dae-ho was still staring at the money looming over them. she had planted her elbows on her knees and her cheeks were pressed against the palms of her hands.

"oh, me?" he said, unexpecting the interest she took in him. "well, paying my debts too, but i always wanted to move to the countryside. buy a house somewhere quiet. maybe start growing my vegetables." he explained, lost in thought.

"i would like to start a family too." he confessed, he lowered his head with a dreamy smile plastered on his face.

"didn't know you were that much of a family guy." she replied. "i mean, it makes sense, you're close to your sisters." she hummed, nodding.

"i love kids. i've always idealised the perfect family." he revealed, sighing.

dae-ho had always craved his father's attention. just the bare minimum of tenderness from the stoic man he idolised. he would participate in extra-curricular activities he did not particularly enjoy such as wrestling just to be noticed in a positive light. he eventually gave up on the idea of a close bond with the patriarch, indeed focusing on healing the toxic mindset pushed on him over the years under his family's roof.

dae-ho wanted to be a better man than his father.

a better parental figure.

he wanted to give what he had always craved to his future son.

"i am sure you'll be an amazing dad, dae-ho."

his heart sunk to the pit of his stomach, his palms were damp and his breath was stuck in his throat. she patted his back in a friendly manner, with a tight-lipped smile thrown his way.

validation.

all he longed for given to him by a girl he had met the very same day.

was it that easy? was his father just that callous?

he profusely blinked to prevent the sea of tears from streaming down his face. dae-ho harshly rubbed his eyes, clenching his jaw to choke down the coming sobs. he would not allow himself to be vulnerable, especially in front of a stranger, let alone a woman. he had to be tougher.

but how could he when such a random act of kindness touched his inner child?

"no, i'm fine. i— umh— thanks..." he stammered, clearing his throat she checked on him. "it just means a lot to me." he finished, locking eyes with her. a hint of the young boy he once was showed her his deep gratitude.

back on the shared mattress, [your name] was left speechless. she was stumbling on her words because of the bomb dae-ho had dropped. dae-ho frowned as her answer never came.

he screwed up and had misinterpreted her behaviour around him for something more than friendship. to her, it was just casual. why did he have to be so selfish? he should have kept this information to himself. no matter the circumstances, no one developed feelings for someone in such a short period. confessing before the fight was reckless, his thoughts would be stuck on the woman who was about to reject him. how stupid of him.

"just forget what i— humph!" he tried to excuse himself but was interrupted by [your name] crashing her lips on his in a passionate kiss.

the kiss was clumsy and rough as teeth accidentally clashed, an unpleasant sensation. it was out of character for both of them, but a way to let out some pent-up frustration. one simple kiss that turned into a makeout session, blatantly ignoring their surroundings and curious eyes. her hands clutched to the collar of his dirty shirt as his hands grabbed her hips, pulling her as close as humanly possible. they wanted to freeze in time, stuck in this warmth for eternity. regardless, the eerie voice brought them back to the harsh reality, announcing lights out. their friends were already in bed, hugging the thin blanket to their necks, anxiously waiting to go through with the plan.

the couple pulled away and gazed into each other's eyes.

they felt like they belonged.

a puzzle and its last missing piece reunited at last.

beautiful and complete.

"we'll have to plan that date later, i guess." she whispered as he hummed. every player around had already regained their bunk, people still glaring from across the room at the rival team.

"i have to go..." he mumbled and reluctantly stood up. a hand grabbed his wrist preventing him from getting away, forcing him to sit back on the mattress.

"stay safe." [your name] whispered, concern washing over her face.

"i will." he swore.

dae-ho captured her lips in a brief but severe kiss. it was a simple peck filled with explosive emotions. it was a promise. it was the hope for a bright future. it was determination.

"you too." dae-ho whispered back. "don't ever leave your hiding spot, even when the fight ends." dae-ho instructed. he was hesitant to leave her side but eventually walked over to his bed. he looked over his shoulder one last time, worriedly chewing his cheeks as he forced out a smile to reassure the woman who reciprocated the effort.

the room darkened, merely illuminated by the artificial hue of the two letters on the floor.

they would be in for one hell of a night.

cries, wails and shrieks echoed through the slaughterhouse. the hunt had begun and the predators were bloodthirsty, attacking without hesitation, unbothered by the stench of the poor lambs' blood. the place was wrecked as bunkbeds were knocked down on the floor, pillows stabbed and metal poles used as weapons. corpse pilled up, both from the murderers and their victims. the perks of being killed by a guard were the prompt death and the efficient technique employed. a bullet to the head or the heart and your final breath was barely taken.

it was a massacre.

[your name] was hidden under her bed alone. she had her hands tightly clasped over her mouth, holding her breath to not be detected by the menace. no one could hear her gasps due to the din, but she could not lower her guard under any circumstances. her eyes were firmly shut to protect herself from this horrifying spectacle, feeling the intense pounding of her heartbeat resonating in her chest. already forced to listen to the cries of agony, she did not need to witness it too

shouts came from above as the bed loudly squeaked. two players were fighting. she felt her body tremble with each blow hurled at the man pinned down by his assailant. the blue player pushed his victim to the ground, the man had a long gash across his face and was unable to stand up. [your name] and the player locked eyes for a brief second before the latter was harshly grabbed by the hair and violently rammed into the metal of the bunk bed. she could not handle the sight and hid her face again. as the helpless cries of the victim ceased, she peeked through her fingers only to be faced by a hollow stare and teeth jammed into his gum.

she began to hyperventilate.

she was frightened, convinced she would be next.

the young woman was completely isolated from her group. apparently, their strategy would be more successful if people trained in combat were paired together. therefore, dae-ho was with jung-bae, gyeong-seok with hyun-ju, and gi-hun with young-il. the more vulnerable players stayed together, jun-hee was with young-mi, and, as expected, yong-sik clung to his mother (even if he had any fighting experience, geum-ja would have forbidden him from involving himself in this grand rebellion).

dae-ho had pleaded with gi-hun to stay by [your name]'s side in case a mishap happened. however, the older man reasoned with him, swearing the young woman would be safe as her bed was secluded from the others, insisting that, if they wanted to achieve the revolt, following the plan to the tee was crucial. dae-ho eventually dropped it and reluctantly agreed.

he would soon realise it was a great mistake.

[your name] felt a strong grip on her bad ankle and was dragged from her hiding spot. she tried to hold onto the floor with her sweaty palms, digging her nails in, to no avail. she screeched at the top of her lungs from terror as the pain in her ankle intensified. a last resort to save her life, the young woman threw her arms around the metal pole supporting the bunk bed. her assailant flopped on her back and yanked her arms away from the pole. she yelled for the person to get off her as she was flipped on her back, her body forcefully slammed on the ground.

player 124.

a bloodied fork in his hand and a hysterical glint in his eyes.

his face was dripping with blood.

not his.

nam-gyu straddled her, limiting her movements. he raised the fork above his head and aimed for her stomach. she dodged his blow by rolling on her flank, crossing her arms around her body to protect her organs. the fork smashed to the ground, slightly bending due to the force used. the player raised his weapon again, but adrenaline rushed through her veins. she sat up and struck his torso with both forearms, injuring his airway and resulting in a fit of coughs. as he stumbled back, she took it as a chance to crawl away from the fight. her back was met with another bunk bed, she rapidly flipped on her knees and grabbed the metal bars to pull herself up. she slowly climbed the row of beds to escape nam-gyu, pushing on her wounded ankle despite the ache.

nam-gyu quickly got on his feet and lunged at the woman, seizing her by the back of her jacket, and tossing her on the floor once again. the ferocious man straddled her with more force than before, this time aiming for the jugular. [your name] blocked the first blow by shielding her face with her arms. the second blow stabbed through the palm of her right hand, the tines poking through, just mere millimetres away from her nose.

the fork was ripped away from her hand, causing severe bleeding, as player 124 was struck in the head from behind. she grimaced, the pain was intolerable, moreover, she was further weakened. the young woman clenched her hand into a fist to restrict the gushing flow. she was panting with the exertion, limping to the dark corner of the arena, hoping to blend in with the shadows. she had considered going through with climbing the bunk bed until she saw payers knocking them down like dominoes, crushing players. she quickly gave up on the idea and fled the scene.

her eyes were set on her target. despite the excessive flashing lights, they would not flutter. she limped to the corner, invisible to the metal players, her clenched fist close to her chest which stained her already filthy white top a dark red shade. [your name] almost reached shelter when a muscular arm snuck around her throat, tightly squeezing which obstructed her airways. her hands instinctively grasped the limb, attempting to pull it away from her neck. her head was about to explode like a balloon as her eyes bulged out of her skull. suddenly, a sharp ache shot through her right thigh. she dug her nails into her assailant's arm, but his grip only tightened. she forced her chin under his forearm and brutally bit his exposed skin. a deafening cry pierced through her ears, tasting blood on her tongue.

the lights turned back on as guards barged into the arena, one of them shooting his weapon into the ceiling to startle the players. her attacker let go of her, pressing his hand onto his fresh wound as she collapsed on the floor. her leg muscles convulsed, unable to move. the weapon had drilled a deep hole into her leg, perforating her femoral artery.

she was about to bleed to death.

two guards approached them and ordered them to surrender. her attacker complied as the guard backed him up against the wall, the second guard threatened the harmless woman with his gun.

"don't shoot... i'm alive..." she begged, her voice sore as tears streamed down her cheeks. the guard simply shoved the barrel of his gun to her face. he would not hesitate to shoot a bullet between her eyes if he deemed her a danger.

nobody knew of the trouble she was in, her group believed she was hidden under the bed, out of danger. therefore, the revolt began. as he was lying on his back, having witnessed the player's penchant for murder, dae-ho had his mind stuck on [your name]'s well-being. he knew she was secure, sheltered from any risk, but she had to be scared.

the rebellion broke out. a bullet through the brain and the guard intimidating her dropped to the ground. bullets flew around as panic coursed through the guards' veins. indeed, they had their fair share of traumatising experiences working this job, in addition to their upbringing which clarified their career choice, however, players rising up in revolt was out of the ordinary. the first guard turned on his heels, taking cover behind a flipped bedframe, and instantly fired shots in her teammates' direction. [your name] was really close to the retaliation, terrified of getting shot by a lost bullet.

amidst the chaos, she wondered if anyone cared about where she was. did jun-hee notice her absence? would anyone go look for her?

the rebels fiercely resisted, fearless of the endless possibilities of this fight. dae-ho knocked out one of the guards who had restrained jung-bae. his act of bravery was short-lived, frozen in place, racked with crippling fear, cowering behind the staircase, unable to process the present. dead bodies and detonating noises triggering him.

the uncanny voice ordered the soldiers to retreat in an oddly sweet tone. the soldiers were outnumbered, having lost too many of their colleagues, more would go down if they stayed. the entrance doors slowly closed, and soldiers rushed to safety, except for their superior who had been too focused on emptying his firearm on those he considered vermines to save himself.

beginner's mistake.

well...

he was still a kid after all.

they took the chief guard, hyun-ju disabled their surveillance cameras and proceeded to collect the guns and magazines scattered around the room. dae-ho let out three brief breaths to cool his overheating mind down and followed gi-hun's directives.

"everyone! don't be scared. gather around, please! we're not trying to hurt you!" gi-hun yelled as jung-bae backed him up.

the room fell somehow quiet, [your name] took it as a chance to make her presence known.

"help... help! p-please— somebody, help!" she gathered her remaining strength to implore.

hyun-ju whipped her head towards the commotion and bolted to its source. she gasped at the sight and threw her rifle on the ground, dropping to her knees on the woman's side. she was a leader at heart, being a former sergeant first class in one of the special forces brigades of the republic of korea and all, it was second nature to her. a little bit of blood was nothing as she had witnessed worse in her time in the military. however, her friend's frail condition broke her heart, but hyun-ju did not let it transpire.

she assessed the problem as [your name] uncontrollably wept, furthering the pain as her leg jerked with the added tenseness. she judged her attitude to be puerile and childish, she was just relieved someone had bothered to come and rescue her.

"you're going to be okay, [your name]. everything will be fine." hyun-ju comforted, fondly stroking her hair.

hyun-ju jumped on her feet and ran to the beds used as barricades.

"someone help me! we have a player down!" she yelled, beckoning to her allies.

"coming!" dae-ho shouted back. after the lack of assistance he provided during the rebellion, he wanted to be as helpful as possible. oblivious to the sight he would be confronted by.

his pupils shrunk.

his breath stuck in his throat.

his mouth was agape.

his hands shook.

"we are gonna flip her on her back." hyun-ju instructed, crouching on the young woman's side.

thousand words to be spoken, none suitable to the crisis. he was dumbstruck with panic, loathing injuries and blood, he was confronted with such a stomach-churning sight. he should have relied on his gut feeling and blatantly disobeyed gi-hun's orders. rage bubbled in the pit of his stomach, aimed at no one but himself.

naivete had struck as trustworthiness was granted.

an innocent victim paid the price.

"right now, dae-ho!" she ordered once she noticed his unresponsive state. the severity of her tone startled him and regained his composure. dae-ho rushed into action, throwing his weapon and kneeling on the opposite side of [your name]'s body.

"it's going to hurt." hyun-ju informed the girl who kept crying. she counted down to three as dae-ho carefully placed his hands underneath the body. they flipped the woman on her back, landing in the man's embrace, as she shrieked from the ache.

"[your name]... it's dae-ho, i'm here." he weakly stated, his lips quivering. overwhelming nausea flowing through his stomach as he held onto his own tears.

"you're gonna be fine, hyun-ju knows what she is doing." he reassured, unsure. she finally opened her eyes, diving into dae-ho's gentle stare. he forced out a tender tight-lipped smile, a semblance of optimism. a sense of familiarity.

"raise her leg a little, i need to stop the bleeding." hyun-ju instructed. she removed her jacket and ripped the sleeve up to use it as a bandage. he lifted her leg like a fine priceless china, but she broke into pieces.

"dae-ho, you're shaking." hyun-ju warned, peeking at him through her eyelashes. he jerked his gaze to the woman, patiently waiting for him. dae-ho swallowed hard and corrected his posture, mumbling an unnecessary apology.

[your name] undeniably required professional medical aid, but for now, hyun-ju had handled the excessive bleeding. after her significant blood loss, it was a miracle she was still conscious, swimming in the crimson river that had steadily poured for a couple minutes.

"we have to move her." hyun-ju informed in a monotone, after tying the dirty piece of cloth around the deep gash. "carry her to the bed where the others hid." she ordered. dae-ho rushed into action and scooped her up, his arm under her knees and back.

"tell me if i'm hurting you." he stated. her head was leaning against his broad shoulder, her tears damped his shoulderblade, and her low irregular breathing tickling his neck alarmed him.

gi-hun beckoned to hyun-ju when she entered his line of sight, standing in stunned silence as dae-ho followed behind carrying [your name]. victim of his recklessness in overthrowing the masked people.

you could have heard a pin drop if it was not for the injured woman's whimpers. jun-hee, who had moved from her hiding spot, shouted her friend's name and scurried towards them, holding her pregnant belly.

"what happened?!" jun-hee frantically asked, grasping her friend's unwounded hand.

"i w-was attacked." she feebly uttered. dae-ho laid her on the rigid mattress, placing her head on the cleanest pillow.

"who attacked you?" dae-ho continued, anger boiling within.

"player 124." she stated, dae-ho clenched his jaw at the revelation. despite never interacting with the man, he was familiar with his despicable behaviour. "he pulled me from under the bed. and then some other guy did that to my leg." she explained.

dae-ho skimmed over the crowd, his eyes locking on nam-gyu. a coward hiding behind the beds after the killing rampage he went on. the ex-marine aggressively got up, marching towards player 124, driven by outrage, but was inevitably stopped by jun-hee.

"it doesn't matter, dae-ho." [your name] coughed out.

"it matters to me, [your name]." he insisted as he kneeled before her.

"i'm alive, and you're here. that's all i care about." she breathed out, reaching for his hand. he swallowed and tenderly reciprocated the gesture, bringing the back of her hand to his mouth for a kiss.

dae-ho gazed into her eyes, afraid she would vanish into thin air if he tore them away from her. he was memorising every single one of her features. from the moles scattered across her face to the pores. from the eyebags to the shape of her mouth that he longed to kiss one more time despite its dry skin.

she was the embodiment of perfection.

"dae-ho, come here!" jung-bae beckoned. the rebels formed into a line once they collected all the weapons and magazines spread around the room, displaying them on a wood plank. these had already been used, and hardly enough to fend off the troops they rebelled against, how were they supposed to reach the headquarters against an entire army with these?

dae-ho began to get up when [your name]'s grip tightened, stopping him in his tracks.

"don't go, please." she pleaded, tears welling up. the frazzled woman was desperate.

"i have to." he curtly answered.

it was his duty.

"no you don't!" she retorted. "this is a suicide mission. gi-hun is out of his mind if he thinks any of this will work." she harshly said, a tone of urgency slipping through. a small group against trained snipers, their chances of success were slim.

"i have to protect you." he claimed. "we'll get out of her and you'll get the medical help you need in a hospital." he assured, letting go of her hand.

"i promise you, i'll come back." he swore before joining the rebels, ignoring her pleas. an easy lie to give, short and sweet. nothing was set in stone. their fate as treacherous as their life beyond the island.

dae-ho was lined up with the other men, he was handed a weapon he clumsily held, scrutinising it in puzzlement, clueless and afraid. his jumpiness betrayed his confident facade.

jun-hee was sat next to an emotionally distressed [your name], caressing her hand as she quietly sobbed. the pregnant woman had dissuaded her ex-boyfriend from joining the fight with a simple nod when the latter seemed to consider gi-hun's request. dae-ho had willingly chosen to endanger his life despite [your name]'s desperate pleas. jun-hee believed he should have stayed by her side to soothe her pain. the injured woman persevered but was not spared from affliction. in the hope of escaping this prison, dae-ho had selflessly chosen to risk it all but had selfishly joined the revolt to prove something to himself. most players lacked the courage to even contemplate fighting for anything other than their own gain, yet dae-ho continued to see himself as a coward.

"he is gonna be okay." jun-hee said, unconvinced with her lie.

"don't lie to me, please." [your name] retorted in a faltering tone.

after hyun-ju's brief demonstration on how to operate the rifles, the group headed for battle. dae-ho glanced one last time over his shoulder, jun-hee weakly waved at him and [your name] was indiscernible behind the makeshift barricades. although her feeble state justified her lack of effort to bid her final goodbyes, she did not want her last memory of dae-ho to be sorrowful.

around half an hour had passed, ear-shattering bullets were fired in the colourful labyrinth and ricocheted on the walls startling the players shielded in the sleeping quarters. yong-sik was shivering on the floor, his eyes focused on his shoes. on the staircase, young-mi clung to geum-ja who was doing her best to reassure her. jun-hee was still by her friend's side whose blood loss had drastically increased. the mattress had absorbed most of the liquid that oozed from the gash, and the excess dripped on the floor forming a sticky puddle. her heartbeats had slowed down and her skin felt cooler. her complexion was sickly. her gaze was unfocused, her vision blurry from tears as well as the haemorrhage.

"i need water..." [your name] voiced, her throat burning from her cough.

"i know." jun-hee replied, her lips quivering. "i'm sorry."

the group had roamed around the room, seeking help from other participants, wondering if they had any spare water or a clean piece of cloth to dry her sweaty forehead. some shared remorseful looks and apologies as others, such as player 100, could not care less about the girl's well-being.

"why don't you let her die, already? put her out of her misery!" the old man shouted, pointing his finger at geum-ja who had kindly approached the group of men.

"you greedy scumbag! don't you have some empathy?!" the old woman yelled louder, anger laced in her voice.

"when she dies, it will be more money for us." he spat cruelly.

"you're probably gonna be the first one shot when those guards come back, you asshole!" geum-ja countered at player 100's face before getting pulled away by her son.

in a grim atmosphere, the group sat on the staircases by [your name]'s bed. any remaining hope had vanished, however, geum-ja could not bear to wallow in sorrow. she cheerfully turned around and raised her fists.

"when they get us out of there and you're out of the hospital, you should join us for dinner." the old woman suggested, referring to jun-hee and [your name]. as no one spoke up, she resumed.

"hyun-ju and young-mi are already coming. the more the merrier as they say." she grinned at the weakened woman who blinked, her lips apart.

"you can even invite dae-ho. such a brave young man." she praised clasping her hands.

the young woman faintly smiled. for a brief moment, she entertained the idea.

laughter echoed through the dining room, everyone passed food around, enjoying the delicious dinner geum-ja had cooked. dae-ho was by her side, fingers intertwined as his thumb stroked the back of her hand, chortling at one of yong-sik's jokes. she and young-mi were gushing over jun-hee's newborn (girl or boy [your name] was spoiling that baby rotten). hyun-ju was done with her transition, glowing as her true self. geum-ja told stories about her childhood on the couch and showed yong-sik's baby pictures. the latter whined behind his mother with flushed cheeks as she insisted on the importance of capturing every moment before they grow up to be ungrateful brats. losing track of time, dae-ho and [your name] eventually left the house around midnight to get home to their shared apartment. a rather small apartment, but it was home. their home.

the dream.

but it was only a dream.

"i-i don't w-wanna die." she blurted out, tears streaming down her cheeks.

"don't say nonsense, you're not gonna die." geum-ja berated. "you're a strong girl, and we're getting out soon." she lingered waiting for the group to back her up. once they noticed her expectant glare, they agreed with the old woman, wavering tones and unconvinced sentences. good intentions but an awkward execution. it was the thought that counted.

an unnerving silence arose cut by [your name] whimpers. they were worn out, plagued by the sweet fragrance of death and the melody of misery. the shots fired in the distance as the sole sign of their friends' state until dae-ho barged into the room like a madman murmuring something inaudible like a mantra.

"dae-ho..." [your name] whispered as she heard his trembling voice. what was he doing here?

yong-sik carefully approached the crazed man, observing his behaviour. dae-ho had flung himself at multiple corpses, rummaging through their pockets.

"dae-ho, what happened?" yong-sik tentatively asked. "why are you back by yourself?" he continued after being met with shuddery breaths.

"magazines!" dae-ho blurted, holding up one of the items. "get the magazines from those bastards' pockets. hurry!" he urged and rushed towards another corpse.

the former marine was drowning under the pressure, fully submerged by his mission. bearing the burden of the revolt on his shoulders. his eyes scanned the area, dae-ho was erratic and dizzy, repeating one thing.

magazines in pockets. magazines in pockets. magazines in pockets.

"dae-ho—" [your name] repeated above a whisper as she was taken by a coughing fit.

geum-ja took it upon herself to chase after dae-ho, no longer capable of witnessing the young woman's suffering. she struggled to keep up with his pace, scurrying after him. dae-ho eventually stopped running to count the magazines he had collected, giving her some time to reason with him.

"dae-ho, my boy. you're killing yourself." she scowled, skimming over the young man's a. her apprehension was gone in one ear and out the other as continued to rummage through the magazines. his ears were ringing, filtering out any outside noise.

yong-sik returned with half a dozen magazines, placing them in the pile formed in a green jacket.

"this was all i could find." he informed as dae-ho nodded. his skin grew paler by the second, his sanity gradually declining. geum-ja reached for his arm to prevent him from disappearing into the labyrinth again, to no avail. his mind was dark and foggy, he was unable to see farther than his task.

"kang dae-ho!" jun-hee angrily shouted from the barricade. the man froze like a deer caught in the headlights, her outburst ripping him away from his dissociative state. before she could go on, something in the background caught dae-ho's eyes, he dropped the magazines and ran past a confounded geum-ja and yong-sik.

despite the stinging sensation in her hand, the piercing pain in her leg and her aching muscles, [your name] had gathered her remaining strength to roll off the bed, ignoring young-mi's alarmed voice. she fell on the cold floor with a loud thud. she had landed in a puddle of her own blood, splashing some on her face as well as on young-mi's already dirty shoes. her physical appearance was the least of her worries. young-mi dropped to her side, grabbing her friend's elbow to usher her back to bed. [your name] harshly brushed her off and crawled towards the centre of the room. she collapsed several times under her weight, barely capable of dragging her body. she was met with stunned stares, disgust or disinterest from the same people who caused her harm. blood gushed from her wound, leaving a glistening red trail behind her.

she had pushed herself to exhaustion, unable to crawl any more. the young woman tried to stand up but fell onto the floor.

she was giving up.

dae-ho fell to her side and cradled her to his chest. he cupped her face in his sweaty hand, unnoticed by [your name] who was drenched in cold sweat and drained of energy.

"you came back." she coughed out, looking up at him through her hooded eyelids.

"i'm so sorry, i'm so sorry, sorry, sorry," he profusely apologised, uncontrollably weeping, tightening his grip on her sickly frame. "i should've stayed with you." he cried.

"you're here now, that's all that matters." she muttered, her chest hardly rising.

"dae-ho?" she called out weakly. the man hummed, sniffling.

"where are we g-going for our d-date?" she sweetly asked, as dae-ho erupted in a flow of tears. he let out a trembling breath before describing what he had planned for their first date.

"i was thinking of taking you to this korean barbecue near my apartment— or a picnic... i just want to spend the evening with you." he confessed as she lightly smiled, picturing the cosy evening. just the two of them, sitting close to one another, eating some smoked veggies and meat, relishing in each other's presence.

"i was thinking of bringing you flowers. a really big bouquet, because you deserve the most— and with the money i could have bought the most beautiful one for you." he choked out.

"tulips." she whispered. "i love tulips."

"i would have brought you tulips." his voice wavering as he sniffled.

"then, we will stroll hand in hand around town, just chatting— just hearing the sound of your voice makes me happy." he faintly chuckled as [your name] weakly grinned.

"we will sit on a bench, i will place my arm around your shoulders." he said as the young woman's head leaned against his chest.

"then, if i don't get cold feet... i will kiss you. and i will make the first move this time." he murmured waiting for her reaction.

nothing.

nothing came.

"[your name]?" he asked, slightly shaking her body to wake her up.

she was not dozing off.

"[your name]?!" he let out a gut-wrenching scream as he shook her body.

she was gone.

hyun-ju barged into the room yelling for dae-ho, her deep voice resonating throughout the room, only stopping in her tracks after catching a glimpse of the scene. dae-ho was wailing, his eyes were tightly shut as her empty ones stared into space, his hand firmly pressed to her cheek, his lips on her forehead as he rocked his body back and forth. his lungs scorched, his head reeled, his heart broke, he felt nauseous. she had passed away in his arms, helpless as he held her mutilated body.

so much wasted potential.

the ambition of making a name for herself gone, the determination to prove herself as a foreign student fading, the ashes of the past never reincarnating in a magnificent phoenix, instead flying away with a gust of wind. nevertheless, she was not to pity. she was free. free from the horror of this world. free from unrealistic expectations. free from her misery. her friends were still there, in this hellhole, traumatised and exhausted, drowning in debts. now mourning a loved one.

dae-ho lost someone who would have undoubtedly been the love of his life, the one to offer him the respect and tenderness he deserved, the one he would have desired the spend the rest of his pathetic existence with.

his reason to persevere.

"get down on the floor." the square mask guard ordered, firing his weapon into the ceiling as all participants obliged.

the pink guards barged into the room, their guns aligned to their line of vision. each guard loomed over a player, threatening to kill them at any wrong move. coffins were brought right after the soldiers and they proceeded to gather all the corpses, starting with the players. a guard raised his weapon at dae-ho, who had not taken notice of the chaos ensuing, and if he did, he did not bother to acknowledge it.

"let go of the body." the guard demanded. the grief-stricken man was unresponsive, too distraught by his loss, refusing to leave her side.

the guard turned over his colleagues, giving them inaudible directives. two circle mask guards moved towards the devastated man and ripped her lifeless body from his embrace. dae-ho fought back, alternating between shouting insults at the guards and begging them.

"no, no, no— please don't take her away you fucking assholes! no! please, please— oof!" he implored, clutching onto her lifeless form. the soldier hit him square on the head with the back of his rifle, dae-ho stumbled face-first onto the floor as his nose bled. the soldier pressed the barrel of the gun to his temple.

the two circle mask guards had grabbed [your name] by her ankles and from under her armpits, her body slouched in their negligent grip. they laid the body in the coffin, dae-ho's final glimpse at the woman before she was no more than a past memory.

the man's lips quivered as he broke out into tears. jun-hee pulled him into an embrace, her sobs matching his until they could no longer cry, tired and devastated.

he failed.

he failed to protect her.

he failed to bring the magazines to hyun-ju.

maybe his father was right.

after all...

... he was a failure.

tag list — @takuma-talkz | @kangdaehoisfineshyt | @casually-simping | @sunndroppp

#kang daeho x reader #kang dae ho x reader #kang daeho #kang dae ho #daeho x reader #dae ho x reader #dae ho squid game #squid game x reader #squid game imagine #squid game season 2 #squid game #kim jun hee #junhee x reader #kim junhee x reader

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damn-stark · 20 days ago

Text

Chapter 4 A silly phase

Chapter 4 of Sinnerwoman

A/N- Getting a lot of people shipping Inho with mc what’s that about 🤭

Warning- ANGST!! Some fluff. Weapons, talks of pregnancy, swearing, blood, violence, and death. Spoilers for the show!

Pairing- Hwang Jun-ho x fem!reader

Episode- 2x04 and 2x05

(Let me know if you want to be tagged)

——

In the depths of your mind where your dreams form, lives your sister. Every second, minute, hour, and every day that you lived with her is still clear there. It’s why you look forward to being able to sleep because that’s where you can find her.

Most of the childhood you lived before you got adopted no longer lives in your mind. No matter how much you try to recall your early years of life, only a vast emptiness unfurls in your mind with the exception being your sister. And you can say being able to let go of your past is an advantage because you’re able to forget most of the bad parts of the life you lived before your adoption, but not being able to conjure up your past also has its disadvantages, mostly when you think or dream about the day you lost your sister; the day you escaped a cruel place because you know someone helped you but all your focus was on your sister.

You clung onto her with your hands and with your eyes to not be far apart or lose sight of her.

“Shh. It’s okay. We’ll be okay, just be. Quiet.”

A hand keeps your mouth tightly covered while in the distance the sound of motors roars louder than the waves hitting at the boat.

Yet through the fear of being caught, all you let yourself care about is your sister. She keeps you from sobbing with fear as the threat gets close to uncovering you. Even though she’s far from being an adult, she brings your mind ease and keeps your heart calm like the sun breaking through stormy clouds, like flowers blooming in the spring, and beautifully formed snowflakes falling on your palm.

Even though she’s scared, she makes sure to keep her eyes and her face from showing that fear in order to help you. And it really does help because you think you can make it out.

However, then the sound of rapid bullets goes off seconds before they hit the boat and one scrapes your shoulder, making you kick back so hard the hand falls from your mouth and you scream, proving the threat that their suspicions are right; people are hiding in the boat.

Albeit rather than climbing on your boat, more bullets hit the boat, causing water to start quickly leaking through the holes and weighing the boat down second by second.

“It’s okay!” Your sister exclaims to capture your attention from the cold touch of the water reaching your legs. “When we get out I need you to swim to the surface just like we practiced, okay?”

You nod nervously as you try to hold her gaze in the darkness. “Okay. Okay, and you’ll surface with me?”

She offers you a shaky smile but it helps you feel reassured for a little while, at least, until the water blankets your body, leaving only your head untouched.

“Come on! Come on!” You hear someone scream seconds before water rushes through and you’re completely covered.

From one second to the next, you’re being grabbed by your wrist and yanked out of the completely sunken hideout. You try to look for your sister, that's the first instinct you have when you’re out surrounded by nothing but an endless blue abyss hiding death in the deep depths, but the salt in the water burns your eyes as the water itself quickly fills your lungs, making every instinct only think about panic and fear. It paralyzes you and makes your heart and your mind race until finally you're out and hit with fresh air.

Alas, after you wipe the water off your eyes and open them you're far from relieved when you don’t see your sister. You see the violence made by bullets flying past you and getting thrown from your side, but not her.

You call out to her and throw yourself from side to side, but you can’t catch even a sight of her. Water keeps hitting your face and the waves keep trying to shove you down and sink you until once again a hand grabs you after bullets no longer fly through the air.

“Come on there’ll be more on the way. We have to go!”

“No,” you shriek and yank their hand off your wrist to turn back around, catching sight of your sister floating in the water at long last—

“Hey…”

A sharp breath hits your lungs as you’re startled awake.

“Hey! Stop moving before I strap you to that bed.”

You follow the soft scolding voice and see Player 380 looking at you above her thin blanket before she closes her eyes and puts the blanket over her head.

“Sorry,” you whisper and look at your other side, noticing In-ho still sleeping on his back since it’s not time to wake up yet.

“This room is eerie enough already, making it hard to sleep in, I don’t need you thrashing around and scaring me too,” she keeps throwing at you but this time she sounds muffled.

“I’m sorry. It was a…nightmare. Kinda,” you explain in hopes she would understand you’re not doing it on purpose.

“Okay,” she deadpans and you quietly turn your head to look at her again. Or rather the lump that she now is since she has the blanket covering her.

“Stop. Staring. It’s creepy,” she mutters, making you jump and immediately look up instead since you won’t be able to go to sleep. You know that for certain.

“Sorry,” you mumble and seconds later you hear her hands hit her torso as she uncovers herself.

“Well. I'm awake,” she grumbles. “Thanks.”

You press your lips together and nod gently as you keep your eyes focused above.

“I’m going to pester you now in return,” she adds, drifting your gaze to the corner of your eyes to try and catch a glimpse of her—“what had you flinging yourself around?”

You hesitate and swallow thickly before you give her a short response. “My past.”

She hums. “Yeah, I can see why that would have someone scared.”

“If I make it out of here I’m never going to be able to go to sleep without thinking about this place,” you mutter and she scoffs.

“Or that song they play every morning. Or the voice behind the PA. Or the guards.”

You chuckle breathlessly and slowly tilt your head to the side to look at her without hesitation or guilt.

“Do they think kids just go around listening to that kind of music or something?” She asks expecting no clear response.

“It’s all just for the aesthetic,” you tell her, earning her unwavering gaze and a quirked brow.

“Really?”

You nod stiffly and quickly try to mask that confident answer. “I assume anyway.”

Her face eases and she averts her gaze again before she continues speaking to you. Either keeping her word about pestering you or…well…she genuinely wants to talk—“what do you think we’ll play next? Something easy I hope.”

You shrug. “I don’t know. I just know if it’s not involving water I'm fine.”

She snickers. “Can’t swim?”

You shake your head. “No. I can. I'm more so scared—Of deep bodies of water,” you add so she doesn’t make fun of you for something that she might think is a childish fear.

“Have you ever watched those movies where the girl has to fight in an arena with other players from different parts of her country?” She suddenly changes the subject.

“Uh,” you voice with confusion before you grasp what she’s referring to. “Yes?”

She nods. “We’re those players. Only instead of being pitted against each other, we play child games together.”

You laugh nervously. “I don’t think it’s exactly—”

“But it is,” she cuts you off and looks at you with no hint of amusement. “Only we might be the monsters too for continuing to play after we learned the truth.”

Like being slapped in the face you stare at her with disbelief until the music begins to blare through the speakers and the lights slowly turn on, telling everyone it's morning now and another day has started.

“It would suck if it was a water game,” she adds as she sits up. “If we have to work in teams, maybe we can work together. Okay?”

You nod and watch her climb out of her bed before you turn to your side to look at In-ho and see if he’s still asleep, but you catch him sitting up already.

“Where did you go last night?” You ask out of curiosity, making him peer over his shoulder.

“You were supposed to be asleep,” he says.

You scoff as you sit up. “Yeah, but I woke up and saw your bed empty.”

He sighs and looks away. “Well,” he mutters. “If you must know, I went to talk to Player 456. It seems I have gotten his trust.”

You hum and start to make your bed. “Well, it doesn’t seem like it’s hard to gain. He seems like…a good man. Genuine.”

In-ho stiffens and slowly turns around to look at you with a gaze that slowly hardens as if he’s off put by your comment that was just a mere observation. Nothing else.

“Don’t forget why we’re here,” he says without raising his voice, but you do catch the warning, the threat in his calm voice which is more unsettling than him sneering or exclaiming.

“I,” you part your lips and drag out a small breath. “I’m just saying he seems like the trusting type.”

He holds your gaze as he tries to dig in to try and uncover any hidden meaning, but you are telling the truth.

“Okay,” he mouths before he points his head to the floor. “It’s almost time to gather around. Come on.”

You nod slowly and watch him climb out of bed. Before you can finish making your bed a squadron of pink guards walk in followed by the generic voice speaking through the PA system right on time. “Attention, please. The second game will begin momentarily. Please follow the instructions from our staff. Let me repeat…”

You tune her out and finish making your bed before you climb out and reach In-ho past the bed line waiting to simply head to the second game because unlike everyone else, suspense to know the second game doesn’t cling on to either of you because you know what follows. Of course, you pretend to be clueless to those who ask your thoughts on what the next game might be.

Nevertheless, it’s a good thing no one asked for your thoughts. None of the men you had talked to yesterday talked at all while you were formed in front of the Pink guards so you didn’t have to lie.

It’s not until you’re ascending that maze of stairs that leads you to the next game that someone finally breaks through the silence to speak to you. “You know I knew I recognized you from somewhere,” Dae-ho steals your attention from the thoughts you were lost in. “Yesterday when that lady called you out I finally remembered where I recognized you from. You’re that missing detective. You were all over the news.”

You sigh and nod. “Yeah. That’s me. I was just giving you a hard time when you asked.” You say and offer him a soft smile, making him scoff softly before his face contorts with concern.

“Are you okay? Were you kidnapped or something?” He queries, making Player 390 peek back over his shoulder.

“No.” You scoff nervously. “Not at all. I chose to disappear. It was a choice.”

He hums and nods slowly in comprehension. He proceeds to look ahead for a second before he grabs the collar of his sweater and looks back at you again in an attempt to say something, but Player 390 beats him to it. “You should go back to your family after you get out. They must be worried. You shouldn’t put this stress on them.”

You laugh dryly at the ground and then shake your head. “No, you got it all wrong sir. No one is waiting for me to return.”

You hear someone suck in air between their teeth most likely out of embarrassment.

“That can’t be true,” Dae-ho tries to rebuttal you. “I mean you must have someone. A boyfriend. Someone.”

You shake your head but stay quiet for a second before you respond. “Nope, but it’s okay.” You nod and then lift your head, meeting Dae-ho’s curious gaze and seeing player 390 scratch the back of his head as he looks ahead—“That won’t take away from my victory. Because I do plan on winning. What is it you Marines say?” You smile and Dae-ho mirrors that gesture before he blurts.

“Victory at all costs!”

You laugh and nod. “Exactly.”

Dae-ho flashes you a charming toothy grin. “Well I like that spirit…” he trails off and then asks for your name so you give it to him and that smile doesn’t fade, it only grows wider. “What a pretty name.”

“Tsk.” You click your tongue shyly. “Thank you.”

Not so much longer after that conversation ends you finally reach your destination, a room with clouds painted on the walls, a school painted on another, and two large rainbow circles painted on two ends of the ground, leaving every Player but In-ho and you flabbergasted by what they’re walking into.

“Welcome to your second game,” the woman on the PA announces. “The game will be played in teams. Please divide into teams of five in the next ten minutes. Let me repeat. This game will be played in teams, please divide into teams of five in the next ten minutes.”

“Is Dalgona a team game?” Player 390 asks his friend, but his friend doesn’t answer, instead Player 100 butts in.

“Aren’t we playing the Dalgona game?”

“No.” Player 456 shakes his head. “It doesn’t look like it.”

“What’s the game then?” Player 100 follows up by asking.

“I’m not sure,” Player 456 responds kindly and honestly, but Player 100 proceeds with viciousness.

“What? You said you’d done this before. That triangle was the easiest. Was that all bullshit?”

Player 456 bows his head softly as he apologizes. “I’m sorry.”

“Sorry won’t cut it! You talked like you knew everything. All these people believed your bullshit. What are you going to do? Will you take responsibility?” He exclaims and after he does In-ho moves swiftly in front of him to pass him a threatening look that makes the old man go from angry to unsettled.

“That’s enough,” In-ho warns the old man, making him step back and be left speechless. Even if he could think of something to respond with, the lady from the PA system speaks over the crowd again.

“Please divide into teams now.”

The doors begin to close and the timer finally starts and counts down from ten.

“Yeah, just drop it,” Player 226 tells the old man. “Don’t waste your time talking to this nutjob. We shouldn’t have fallen for his nonsense. Jesus. Come on, let’s form a team first.”

“Previous winner?” Player 100 grumbles as he walks past with a group following right behind him. “Damn lunatic!”

“Dalgona? Triangle? Screw you.” Player 226 walks off saying.

Once the team of stupid men is gone Player 456 turns to address your group with the same softness he used before. “I’m sorry.”

“I still trust you,” In-ho assures him first. “I’d like to play the game with you if that’s okay?”

Before In-ho can get a response to his question, Player 390 interjects. “All right. Let’s be real men and give it a shot.”

You slowly look at him with a questioning look and he clears his throat and corrects himself. “You too.”

You huff with amusement and let him continue.

“It's a children’s game, right? We used to play games all the time.”

“That’s right, sirs and miss,” Dae-ho chimes in. “I’ll join you. I feel like I can do anything with you.”

“That’s the Marine spirit,” Player 390 praises Dae-ho with a pat on the back. “It’s embarrassing for brave Marines to be carving Dalgona anyway. If we’re playing a game, it should be worth risking our lives for.”

You snicker with amusement.

“Like Buck Buck or the Squid Game, right?” He adds.

“Yes!” Dae-ho agrees. “I will certainly risk my life to win, sir.”

“I will too for all of you,” you finally voice. “If you all will have me of course.”

“Why wouldn’t we?” Dae-ho is the first one to welcome you without protest or hesitation.

“Right,” Player 390 agrees. “I mean having an ex-detective in our team will boost our chances, won’t it men?”

You giggle and then turn to look at Player 456. “If it’s any consolation, sir. I still trust you too. It’s not your fault they changed the game. You tried to help and that was the best thing to do. I hope you don’t stop trying. Who knows who you can save.”

Player 456 holds your gaze and the corner of his lips lifts up before he bows his head. “Thank you. That was very kind.”

You offer him a smile and one last thing. “I have faith in you.”

He draws in a deep breath and you catch In-ho’s gaze and hold it for a second before he looks away.

“What do you think it will be?” Dae-ho asks, making you walk over to his side and follow his line of gaze to the rainbow circles on the ground.

“Maybe…a relay race?” You pretend to act clueless, making him chuckle.

“Okay, when did you ever play that as a kid?” He teases.

You face him with a serious deadpanned face. “Well, I was homeschooled so I wouldn’t know what happens at a playground.”

Dae-ho’s face falls and he starts to look apologetic, so you cut in.

“I’m messing with you again.” You snicker and he laughs nervously—“but really I was just offering an idea going off the circles.”

He hums as he nods.

“Excuse me,” a timid voice cuts in and focuses your attention on them, Player 222. “Can I join you?” She asks without having a clue that you’re already a team. Or maybe she doesn't care.

“Sorry,” Player 390 responds for the group. “We’ve already got five people.

“Please help me,” Player 222 interjects and then touches her belly. “I'm pregnant.”

All eyes fall on her belly but yours goes to In-ho before they go to Dae-ho as he comments on the matter. “Oh, your belly.”

“It’s okay,” you interject as you look at Player 222. “I can go find a different team. There’s still 30 seconds left.”

Immediately In-ho counters. “Are you sure?”

You meet his gaze and nod with a small assuring smile. “Positive. I don’t mind.”

You then look to Player 222 and look at her kindly. “You’ll be protected with them.”

She bows her head right away. “Thank you so much.”

“No problem.” You assure her before you step away to face the entirety of the group. “Good luck. I’ll see you when we win.”

“Be careful,” Dae-ho tells you first.

“I will. You be careful too so we can see each other at the end of this.”

He grins. “Oh, we will!”

“Hey,” In-ho steals your attention but hesitates before he shares what he wants to say. “Be careful.”

You blink with surprise before you nod as a warmth unfurls over your cheeks. “You too,” you redirect before you offer them all a thumbs up and then leave the group in search of one person. You are positive that she already has a group, but like Player 222 you plan to invade and conquer.

Luckily when you spot her you find that purple-haired weirdo gathered around her too, so hopefully you’re right when you assume he’s like a lot of the guys you’ve dealt with when you worked.

“Hey, Player 380,” you greet with a small smile so you don’t come on too strong and out of character. “Got room for one more?” You ask while also ignoring the others on purpose.

“Uh—”

“We already—”

“<Of course>” Player 230 speaks over the other two in English, proving your assessment about him exactly right. “I will always help a lady in need.”

You slowly look away from Player 380 to face him, catching him nodding dramatically before he turns and waves away Player 256.

“Gyeong-su out!” He exclaims and shoves him away before he gets in front of him to block his way and face you. “Welcome, my lady to the Thanos world.” He greets you as he makes little horns on his head with his fingers, making your lips twitch.

“Thanos?” You ask as you fight hard not to snicker. “Like the purple alien from the hero movies?”

He nods. “Exactly.”

You nod stiffly and whisper. “Okay. Got it.”

The timer beeps as it announces the end of team selection, leaving no time to make more small talk.

“Time for team selection is up,” the woman from the PA announces before the pink guards march over, rounding up all the players to direct half of the teams to sit inside one circle while the other half sits inside another. Unfortunately, you and In-ho got placed on two separate sides so you can’t converse with that group, but it also gives you a chance to spread your secret agenda without him lurking.

“The game you will be playing is Six-Legged Pentathlon,” the PA lady shares what you know but what is news to the others. “You will start with your legs tied together. Each member will take turns playing a mini-game at every ten-meter mark, and if you win, the team can move on to the next one. Here are the mini-games. Number one, the Ddakji.”

You pretend to be reassured by the first game as it’s announced.

“Number two, Flying Stone. Number three, Gong-gi. Number four, Spinning Top! Number five, Jegi,” the woman finishes announcing before adding more information. “Your goal is to win all the mini-games and cross the finish line in five minutes. Please decide players for each mini-game.”

“You guys pick,” Thanos throws at the group before turning away.

“Well,” Player 124 interjects as he leans forward to look at everyone in the group. “We have two girls who’s gonna play Gong-gi?”

You and Player 380 share an annoyed look before you lean forward to look back at him and counter. “Don’t count on me. I don’t know how to play that.”

“Me neither,” Player 380 echoes.

“Don’t—tsk,” he hisses and turns away in annoyance. “Why did we let you be in the team then?” He retorts as he looks back at you.

“You didn’t,” you remark. “Thanos did, so anyway. I’m good at Ddakji,” you share. “I'll take that.”

“I’ll take flying stone,” Player 380 claims her game, leaving only three games to choose from.

“I can play Gong-gi if that’s okay with the rest of you?” Player 125 offers next.

“Sure, sure,” Thanos assures him mindlessly while Player 124 sighs before he chooses between the last two.

“I guess I’ll do Spinning Top, leaving Thanos with Jegi. Okay, Thanos?” He makes sure to ask him but said man doesn’t catch what’s said to him, so player 124 nudges him to gain his attention.

“What?” He exclaims as he looks over. “Did you all pick?”

Player 124 nods. “Yes. You ended up with Jegi.”

Thanos nods without uncertainty. “Okay. Cool. I like that.”

“Not like you had much of a choice,” Player 380 mutters and turns away. “Anyway. Player 002 you better be a good detective and win the first round.”

You laugh softly. “Yeah because Ddakji was totally a skill needed to be a detective.”

She messes with her lip ring and scoffs. “Oh, I know it wasn’t, but don’t lose the first round.”

“Impossible to do so. I’m a class act,” you talk yourself up with a teasing smile. “And I’m defiant. I won’t let these fuckers watch me die and laugh at my face. And you shouldn’t either. Neither one of you,” you say and look at Player 125 who’s paying attention, and then look at Player 124 who's eavesdropping.

Player 380 nods slowly in comprehension. “Okay.”

You drift your eyes to Player 125 and query. “What’s your name?”

He stammers before he offers you a response. “Park Min-su.”

You offer him a faint smile and then offer him your name in return before you let your teammates know too, earning a rapid response from Thanos. “Choi Su-bong.”

You hum and comment, “That works a lot better than Thanos.”

He turns his head and quips. “Thanos is my stage name baby.”

You crinkle your nose in disgust and roll your eyes. “Anyway. You,” you point to Player 124.

“Nam-gyu,” he answers curtly, but it’s not like you expect much from him anyway. He didn’t seem welcoming when Thanos traded the other player for you and he still doesn’t look like he’s a fan of you.

“Se-mi,” Player 380 finally reveals.

You offer your teammates a warm look and a friendly smile that lets them know you’re someone to rely on.

“Great, good. Now. We won’t let them see us die. Got it?”

Nam-gyu scoffs and averts his gaze, but in return, Thanos grins at you. “Oh yeah, I like that!” He exclaims. “Let’s go, team!”

You giggle. Not to gain their trust, not to let them mindlessly know you’re someone to trust amongst a sea of strangers, but because you’re genuinely amused by his excitement.

No one else on the team seems to be amused by his antics, just you, but you can’t really blame them, you’re waiting your turn to either live another day or die today with no way to escape. When the first team starts that reality welcomes a tension that grows thicker and thicker. Not only amongst your team but every team watching and waiting their turn. More so on your side because the first team can’t seem to get past the Flying Stone.

“Fuss up now,” Nam-gyu spats at a nervous Min-su. “Can you throw or not? I will not be stuck in that station, do you hear me?”

“Calm down,” you mutter as you watch the man playing fail again. “You won’t get anything from stressing him out. I’m sure he’s got it.”

Nam-gyu mutters something under his breath but you don’t care to know what he said. You keep watching the players playing at your side and as time ticks you start to lose hope for their success.

Eventually, twenty seconds are left on the timer and finally, the team can pass to the other game, but it’s way too late. They won’t make it. So knowing what follows you slowly tilt your head down to avoid the violent scene that’s coming, but even if you expect to hear the sound of flying bullets after the timer goes off, you still nervously rub at your thighs when bullets fly through the air.

“We should have left!” A player blurts while the lady in the PA system announces the losers. “We’re all going to die now! We’re all going to die because of those who voted to continue!”

You look up and notice that almost every player is crouched with their heads in their hands out of fear. All those except for Thanos; he’s crouched, fidgety, but unbothered by all the violent commotion. Which can be good to get your team to win, or it could be really bad.

You’ll see when it’s your turn.

“Can you…” Nam-gyu’s shaky voice catches your attention and when you look over you see him talking to Thanos—“Can you please give me one of those?”

“Those?” Thanos rebuttals cluelessly.

“The thing you took. You’re keeping them inside your cross,” Nam-guy insists and you know what has Thanos so unbothered and fidgety; drugs.

Not a surprise.

“<I don’t know what the fuck you are talking about>,” Thanos spats in English as he just keeps fidgeting.

“If I get nervous and lose the game, we’ll all die,” Nam-gyu uses desperation as his plea. “My hands are shaking like crazy.”

Thanos scoffs. “Nam-su.”

“Attention please,” the PA breaks through the room.

“Nam-gyu,” said man corrects Thanos without bothering to listen to the announcement.

“Right. Nam-gyu,” Thanos corrects himself as he reaches into his sweater to pull out a chunky cross.

“Please wait while we tidy up the venue,” the lady from the PA shares.

“Do you know what this is?” Thanos asks as he shows off his cross. Or rather what it contains inside.

“Ecstasy? Ketamine?” Nam-gyu guesses.

“It’s a new kind,” Thanos says. “It’s fucking crazy, man. You can’t handle it.”

“Hey,” Nam-gyu whispers whilst Se-mi leans towards you.

“Okay, detective, would you have busted them?”

You watch as Nam-gyu rolls his sleeve up to show something to Thanos.

“I did all kinds of stuff when I was working at the club,” Nam-gyu tries to continue persuading Thanos. “I even brought you some when you came to the club.

“Oh, yeah,” you tell Se-mi smugly. “Big time. My partner and I would catch a lot of people like them in our early years.”

“You junkie,” Thanos mutters as he hands Nam-gyu a pill.

Seconds later while Nam-gyu is consuming his pill, he slowly looks over and catches Min-su staring so he immediately quips. “What?”

You roll your eyes and look at the walls.

“Nothing,” Min-su tries to dismiss him nervously, but Nam-gyu takes that as an invitation to continue the conversation. You’re stuck waiting so you listen in.

“What’s your name again?”

“It’s Min-su.”

“Min-su,” Nam-gyu repeats. “Min-su what’s that famous quote by Admiral Yi Sun-sin?”

Without letting the young man answer Nam-gyu blurts the quote. “Those seeking life shall croak. Those seeking death shall live.”

You scoff and just continue looking ahead.

“So don’t be scared,” Nam-gyu continues. “Just tell yourself that you don’t care if you die. Then we’ll survive, win the money, and get the fuck out.”

“Hey,” Se-mi interjects nonchalantly. “Mind your business.”

“Me?”

“Yes, you. Mr. Shaky Hands,” Se-mi remarks sassily, making you smile.

“What’s with the attitude?” Nam-gyu snaps before he looks at Thanos. “We shouldn't have picked girls. She’s got attitude.”

You snicker and you then feel his piercing stare.

“What are you laughing at Miss Detective?” Nam-gyu now ropes you into the conversation.

You smile wider and before you can answer, Se-mi responds back. “You’re a prick. You had to pop a pill for your nerves.”

“Fucking bitch,” Nam-gyu mutters, making you finally snap your head toward him and causing Se-mi to glare at him.

Nothing can be exchanged between the two because the sound of doors opening and forklifts rolling in steal everyone’s attention, so all you’re left with is just tension.

“Players, please wait while we tidy up the venue,” the PA goes off again so you just look out again to wait.

Eventually, the next players go. On one side Player 120, the old lady, and that shaman lady are playing, but they’re hard to watch over the sea of players in the way, so without much of a choice you watch the players on your side play their games.

The one Player playing Ddakji misses once so that earns an immediate comment from Nam-gyu. “You better be right and know how to play. Class act,” he mocks.

You roll your eyes his way and quip unbothered. “Why don’t you focus on your own game.”

He scoffs. “Girls.”

You ignore him and continue watching the players. As time comes closer to the end and they make it further than the last team, you stand up to watch closer and more intently. Once they finally finish the last game with only a few seconds left you find your heart racing with anxiety, so you dig your nails in your palms and wait, counting each step until they, like, the other team cross the finish line, making everyone in the room burst with excitement.

And with all the excitement swirling in the room as different players win it’s easy to forget that these are life-or-death games. And even if your life along with In-ho’s would be spared, nobody else’s would be so you carry that guilt on your shoulders, making every win feel like your own and every loss feel like a slap to the face.

The same can’t be said for your team when it’s finally time to go up next because those negative emotions are heightened to a high breaking level. You don’t show it, but you feel it with every pound of your heart.

“Go Player 002!” You hear from across the room before you hear them repeat themself. Only this time instead of your number they shout your name, and when you look over you see that it was Dae-ho. He’s at the other side but he and the rest of his team have their eyes on you.

“You got this!” Player 390 encourages you after Dae-ho, making you beam at them like never before and feel your heart skip a beat.

“Good luck!” Dae-ho adds one last thing, so you follow up by throwing them a thumbs up that’s accompanied by the same beaming smile. Before you can turn away your eyes fall on In-ho and he offers you an encouraging nod, so you shoot him a sweeter smile before you look at your team.

“They won’t see us die,” you try to offer encouraging words that only Thanos finds encouragement in. The others are either too shy, headstrong, or unbothered so you move on to locking arms and starting when the timer starts

“One. Two. One. Two,” you all chant your steps as you approach the first game. Your game. “One. Two. One. Two…” You all trail off as you come to a stop and right away get the two different colored Ddakji.

“No pressure or anything,” Se-mi says by your ear as you take the blue Ddakji while the red one is thrown on the ground.

“Ok,” you whisper. “I got this.”

You’ve only played this hundreds of times. Not when other lives depend on you to win, but you have played under pressure so there's no difference.

Thus you draw out a deep breath before you reel your hand back, and then slam the Ddakji hard on the piece on the ground, making the red piece successfully flip over on the first try.

“Pass,” The PA announces as the pink guard makes a circle with their hands.

With that first victory in your belt, your teammates praise you as they jump, scream, and push you with joy, making you feel flustered but also proud. When you hear the commotion from the other players, and when you catch your friends watching from across the room you can’t help but giggle with excitement, unknown to the fact that the act you had put on is coming apart in the best way possible because even if you had worked with teams. Even if there were times when you were celebrated, the amount of praise you're receiving now from everyone watching and from your team warms your heart in ways it’s always looking to be comforted.

Nevertheless, your turn is over so you move on. You count every step with a higher sense of excitement until you reach the next game.

“You got this,” you encourage Se-mi as she’s next for Flying Stone.

She nods as she grabs the stone the Pink guard offers her. “Yes. Now be quiet,” she mutters.

You press your lips together and hold your breath as she pulls her hand back seconds before she flicks her wrist and lets the stone fly.

It seems like it’s going to miss as it skids on the ground, but thankfully Se-mi is able to knock the other stone off the ground, making you unable to contain yourself and get drunk off the excitement and relief expressed by all of you.

Once the excitement passes you lock arms again and continue stepping toward the next game, shouting each step with more ease and more bliss. Yet how long that bliss lasts falls to Min-su, and he fails to contain it when he drops one of the stones.

“You motherfucker!” Nam-gyu implodes as he shakes Min-su violently.

“Hey!” You bark. “Leave him be or else we will die.”

Nam-gyu passes you a glare but leaves Min-su be, letting him try again.

This time around he’s able to pass all stages without dropping a single stone, making you and Se-mi praise him with screams before you move on.

Now the Spinning Top is Nam-gyu’s turn, so you decide to pay him back for being such a prick. “You know how to do this right? You won’t wrap the string wrong?”

“No,” he hisses. “Now shut up.”

You snicker and Se-mi joins you.

Much like Min-su nevertheless, Nam-gyu fails his first attempt, causing Se-mi to shove you to the side to be able to grab Nam-gyu by the collar and shake him as she snaps at him. “You fucking prick!”

Instead of being worried, you chuckle and only tick Nam-gyu off more before he wraps the string again and gets ready to try again.

“You better pass! Pass! Pass!” Thanos barks at him, causing him to swat Thanos away before he hurls the Spinning Top on the ground and finally makes it spin successfully.

“Pass!” The PA announces as the guard also marks it with his arms, making you all burst with joy.

Lastly, the last game relies on Thanos, and you’d be lying if you said you weren’t worried. “You better pass this, tweaker,” you give into the stress once you reach the last station.

He shakes his head like a dog and then throws the Jegi. When it comes close to his foot, he kicks up and manages to keep in the air for the first, second, third, fourth, and fifth time, securing your victory. Only it didn’t mean you got to make it out alive, so after a hasty celebration you lock arms for one last time.

“One. Two. One. Two. One. Two!” You all chant over and over again until finally you cross the line, causing every last one of you, and every single member of the audience to celebrate with screams and hops.

Once again you can’t contain yourself, so you hug your team and get drunk off the victory and the praise, feeding off that short-lived joy. And before it could die down you turn to your friends and catch them all celebrating along with you with smiles of their own. Yet one smile impresses you more than the others and even takes you back, and that's In-ho’s. Real or fake you take that to heart and cherish it.

Maybe it blinds you too, but you don’t care at that moment. You don't even think of it any other way but out of sincerity.

“Good luck!” You shout at your friends whilst you throw them a thumbs up before you can leave.

However, before you can walk out the doors to return to the hall, one of the Pink guards with a triangle mask blocks your path. Not to get you in trouble or say anything at all at that matter, they just stand in front of you and watch you.

You find it uneasy, more so because you can’t look inside their mask to look at them in the face, but you are also their boss so you lift your chin and deadpan. “Excuse me.”

You shove past them to catch up with your team and continue riding off that win. “Good job everyone! That was truly an epic win! And you!” You slap Min-su’s back. “You saved us with that Gong-gi!”

He laughs nervously and shakes his head. “Not really I failed once.”

“And almost cost us our lives.” Nam-gyu retorts, but you don’t let that comment go unnoticed.

“And you failed once too. And that was with the pills.”

Nam-gyu slowly glares at you over his shoulder before he rebuttals trying to sass you. “You’re a detective. Why are you here with the slum?”

You scoff and let Min-su go. “It doesn’t matter if I’m a detective or not, I go through the same shit as everyone else. You'd be surprised.”

“Really? Tell us something then?”

You roll your eyes. “No,” you counter. “Why do I need to prove myself to you? I’m here, that’s proof enough. Anyway, Thanos, that was some nice skills. Have you thought of soccer? Considering this rapping thing didn’t work.”

“Oh, I thought you didn’t know me?” He immediately remarks as he sneaks a quick glance at you.

You snicker. “I never said I didn’t. I judged your name, that's it.”

“I would never change my profession. Rapping is my call.” He says as he does weird hand gestures.

You and Se-mi share an amused look before you add one more thing. “If only we had something to drink. This calls for it.” You groan. “And some really good food.”

“You said it,” Se-mi mutters as she groans dramatically.

Eventually after a long descension of stairs, you make it to the player hall where you wait in silence as you all wind down, and you’re smacked with anxiety as you now have to wait on your friends without a clue as to how they’re doing or when they’ll return. And after a while of waiting and watching teams coming back and lowering the prize money, Nam-gyu sighs loudly before he inputs a stupid comment.

“Fuck, way too many people made it.”

You roll your eyes but continue resting against the metal steps.

“Hey. How many do you think are left?” You hear Nam-gyu ask and when you peek over you see him picking at Min-su.

“Sorry?” Min-su probes.

“How many roaches do you think we have left in here?” Nam-gyu clarifies, and this time Min-su examines the room rather quickly before giving Nam-gyu a rough estimate.

“About 200.”

You smile with awe but immediately frown at Nam-gyu’s following comment. “How do you know? What are you, an AI bot? Go count them.”

“Now?”

You look over and see Nam-gyu nod at Min-su’s question, so said young man begins to stand up to do as he was told without any hesitation, which makes him appear weak, but nevertheless, you put your hand out to stop him and sit him back down.

“Stop. You’re not going to do that. Don’t listen to this idiot. Why don’t you go count them yourself?” You then direct at Nam-gyu. “Or have all the drugs you shot up fried your brain that you can’t do simple math?”

“Excuse me?” He challenges you, but you don’t fall victim to his intimidation like Min-su. You sit up and glower at him, making him push himself down.

“The masked men will come and tell us soon,” you add.

“You little pig,” he sneers under his breath, so you slowly stand up to glare at him even harder.

“<Stop it,>” Thanos cuts in. “What’s your name again?” He points at Min-su.

“It’s Min-su,” said man shares, whilst you sit back down and look back at the iron door.

“How old are you?” Thanos continues to question him.

“I’m 27.”

“So you were born in 1997,” Thanos quickly makes the math before he remarks. “Why do you treat him like he’s your boss? He’s the same age as you. Nam-su, isn’t that right?”

You snicker.

“It’s Nam-gyu.”

Thanos nods. “Yes, Nam-gyu. Isn’t that right?”

“Yes,” he answers without that arrogance he directs toward Min-su and Se-mi.

“You’re the same age. Treat him like a friend,” Thanos tries to ease the tension. “We’ll work better as a team that way. Okay?” He says before he then snaps his head to look at you. “How old are you?”

“30,” you share, so he moves on to ask Se-mi.

“Born in 1996,” she says.

“It’s settled,” Thanos adds. “You two are the same age,” he refers to Nam-gyu and Min-su and then points to you and Se-mi. “You detective are the oldest, along with Se-mi. Hey,” he directs at Nam-gyu. “Call them Noona since they’re older.”

Nam-gyu laughs and Thanos insists.

“I’m okay. Please don’t,” you assure them.

“Hey, hey, detective,” Thanos stammers. “What is it about you being stabbed in the uterus? Was it at work?”

That was a crazy change of subject.

“Well,” you sigh and lean forward to prop your elbows on your knees and rest your chin on your hands. “I wish, but no. Some…” you pause and draw in a deep breath before you share a very short summary of the events. “I got jumped by a group of men.”

“Okay, impressive.”

Se-mi snorts and mutters. “Idiot. Why would being jumped be impressive?”

“She survived,” he states as if it wasn’t obvious that it was what he was referring to, making you giggle breathlessly.

Before more can be added or asked the iron door opens, making everyone in the room fall silent. When you look over, a relieved breath escapes your lips before you jump to your feet and become the only person to be glad by the return of In-ho and his team. Everyone else looks rather disappointed that their share of the prize money is going down.

“Young-il!” You exclaim and forget to thank your team, you bolt down the stairs and immediately meet In-ho halfway with a proud grin painted on your face. “You made it!” You muse as you grab his arm and shake him very gently.

“We all did,” he speaks softly with a faint smile tugging at his lips and his eyes locked on yours. “You made it too.”

You shrug and smile smugly. “I wasn’t going to let them watch me die.” You say and offer him a genuine smile and rub his arm, causing his eyes to glance at your hands before you let go and move down the line.

“Good job, guys,” you praise Player 456 with a more restricted excitement. After that when you reach Dae-ho you don’t hold back, you squeal and grab his arm to shake him. “You all made it! I was so worried! But I’m so happy now!”

“And you’re the only one,” he says with a grin of his own that he can’t hold back. “But you! You made it too! Just like you said you would!”

You grin brightly. “I told you we’d see each other again!” You muse as you keep a hold of his arm before you turn your head to glance over at Player 222 since Player 390 is waving over at a different team. “I’m happy to see you too! Besides being proud, how do you feel?”

Player 222 touches her belly and nods gently. “Good. I’m good. Thank you for asking.”

You pass her a faint smile before you finally see Player 390’s attention is available—“That sweet old lady. I miss my mom,” he says to the ceiling before you take his attention.

“Good job sir. I was rooting for all of you.”

“Oh? Thank you,” he says as he looks down at you. “I was rooting for you too, detective! Amazing win!”

It’s been a while since you’ve smiled so much. You haven’t had a reason to, but right now you smile again. “If only I could have watched you all play!” You muse.

“We swept it,” he says as he puts his hands on his hips. “I mean there was a little bump, but besides that, we completely swept it.”

You laugh. “I’m glad. You’ll have to retell me every move. I want to know.”

“Okay, okay,” Dae-ho interjects excitedly. “But first let’s sit down,” he says as he pulls his arm up to grab your hand and pull you with him and the rest of the team to sit in a corner.

“And then,” he continues. “Tell me first how you made the Ddakji jump that high. We saw it from our side it was impressive”

You let his hand go and shrug before you go timidly. “Practice. I would play it with friends. And perhaps I was imagining a few douchebag’s faces.”

He and Player 390 chuckle at that and your face only grows warm before you giggle and note all the excitement that you have displayed at this moment. It’s not that you can’t express such high excitement, it’s more so that there were points in your life that you had nothing to be so excited about. Your life has been filled with a lot of ups and downs, you’ve had to suppress so many emotions, and or grief has robbed you of that delight, so the times you can express your excitement have been few, and when you do it surprises you.

“I’m sorry about earlier, everyone,” In-ho interjects, causing your grin to fade as you grow confused.

“No,” Dae-ho assures him. “It’s okay.”

“Don’t be,” Player 456 also interjects. “If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t have made the last kick.”

In-ho chuckles softly at the ground, leaving you impressed but still confused as to what went on while they were playing.

“Player 222,” he calls for her attention as he looks over at her. “Are you feeling alright?”

She nods. “Yes. Thank you all for including me on your team.” She bows her head before she looks up and meets your gaze. “And you for letting me take your place. Thank you.”

“Of course. It was nothing,” you assure her with a kind smile. “Please don’t worry about it. I wouldn’t have trusted you with anyone else but my good friend Young-il.”

She bows her head and you smile at her even though she doesn’t catch it that moment.

“She smashed that Ddakji and flipped it on her first try,” Player 390 retells what happened. “That was impressive. She did great, even while carrying a baby.”

You smile wider in awe whilst Dae-ho claps lightly.

“We were lucky she joined our team,” Player 390 adds before Dae-ho cuts in and nudges his arm.

“What about your Flying Stone play?” He muses before he looks over at you. “You should’ve seen him. He hit it with one shot. With an underhand pitch at that. Bam!” He exclaims as he makes the hand gesture before standing up and mimicking it again. “You were like Kim Byung-hyun,” he says and sits down, making Player 390 laugh, and In-ho grin, which is much more impressive than any game.

“And you?” Player 390 redirects the excitement at Dae-ho. “Was Gong-gi the only game you ever played?” He asks before doing quick hand movements. “We could barely see his hand,” he tells you. “It was like a martial arts movie.”

“Really?” You probe with happy curiosity. “A Marine excellent at Gong-gi? That’s news to me.” You tease Dae-ho, which he laughs at before he shares next.

“I’m the only son for two generations. My mom only let me play at home with my sisters.” He chuckles, and you smile with admiration at that.

“And yet they let their precious son join the Marines?” Player 390 wonders out loud, and that’s when you catch the glee behind Dae-ho’s grin falter, and his body stiffen. He doesn’t express his discouragement. He’s good at hiding it.

“My father’s idea,” he shares with that same falter in his voice. “He wanted me to be more of a man. He fought in the Vietnam War, you see.”

Your excitement dwindles at the loss of his.

“Wow,” Player 390 muses. “He sounds like a great man.”

Dae-ho nods softly almost like he doesn’t want to. “Yeah.” He agrees and immediately looks down.

“Was he a Marine too?” Player 390 asks as he scoots himself closer to Dae-ho.

“Yeah, well…would you excuse me for a moment?” He avoids the question to get up and step down to face all of you. “Listen. Perhaps we should learn each other's names. I still don’t know your names, gentlemen. Or yours, miss,” he directs at Player 222. “I’ll start.” He raises his fist as his joy sparks again. “I’m Kang Dae-ho. Dae means big, ho means tiger.”

“Wow,” Player 390 chuckles. “Big tiger. Cool name.”

You nod along in agreement.

“My name is Park Jung-bae. Righteous and twice,” Player 390 shares. “My parents wanted me to be twice as righteous.”

“My name is Kim Jun-hee,” Player 222 shares next in a quieter voice. “I don’t know what it means though.”

“Jun-hee,” In-ho calls out. “When you get out of here, go see a doctor right away,” he suggests. “You’ve been under a lot of stress. You need to get yourself checked out.”

You all nod along, and she does too before she reassures him. “Okay.”

“I’m Oh Young-il,” In-ho gives his fake name.

“Young-il?” Jung-bae asks.

“Yes.” He nods before looking down at his number. “Young-il sounds like zero one, and that’s my number. Easy to remember.”

You snort at the convenience of it all.

“Oh!” Dae-ho exclaims and points to In-ho. “That’s true! Your name is your number.”

Dae-ho, Jung-bae and you laugh at him, whilst In-ho probes Player 456.

“Oh, Gi-hun. What's your last name?”

“My name is Seong Gi-hun,” he shares and looks around at each one of you.

“I see,” In-ho comments whilst Dae-ho repeats his name.

“Seong, literally means last name,” In-ho points out and laughs at his own joke. You don't even laugh. As surprised as you are that he’s making a joke you simply sigh at the silliness of it.

“And you,” Jun-hee brushes past the awkwardness to now get your name. “What’s your name?”

You sigh and sit up straight before you share your last name and your first name.

“Oh, you and Dae-ho share the same last name!” Jung-bae points out and you both look at each other and smile before he presses deeper.

“What does your name mean?”

You shrug. “I don’t know. I wish I did.”

“You and uh, Young-il seem to know each other,” Gi-hun points out, making you and said man share a look. “Is that right?”

You don’t hesitate to nod and share the story you told each other you would share if someone asked. “Yeah. We're uh, family friends.” You smile faintly as he nods in agreement. “We just both coincidentally ended up here. Like that mom and son.” You laugh softly.

Thankfully before anyone can ask more, the doors open and the squadron of guards steals all the attention as well as every ounce of ease anyone might’ve felt after beating another game.

“Congratulations to all of you for making it through the second game,” the masked manager proclaims. “Here are the results of the second game.” He says before the lights go off, the ceiling opens, and a tube drops money in the piggy bank, causing people to slowly draw toward the center to watch the dollars fall into the plastic pig. They don’t all gather in the middle, but they’re all still so in awe about the money going up.

“In the second game,” the masked manager speaks over the sound effect echoing through the room as the money goes up. “110 players were eliminated. The prize money accumulated up to this point is 20.1 billion won. Since there are 255 Players remaining, each person's share is 78, 823, 530 won.”

“Wait, what?” One man remarks. “It’s still under 100 million? It’s not even above 80 million!”

“Only 110 people died?” One lady questions. “Is that all? Did you count them right?”

You scoff and shake your head.

“That’s all?” A different man speaks up. “But you shot all those people!”

More and more people complain and doubt the numbers out of greed and disappointment, but nothing assures you more of how today's voting will go than a man near you commenting quietly to himself. “Fuck. I almost died twice, and that’s all I get? I’d get more money than that if it let someone beat me up!”

You were ready to continue the games. You were going to press O even if your friends voted the opposite of it, but now you know there’s nothing to worry about because you know without a doubt that you will be forced to stay another day. So to gain more of your friends' trust you will pretend to sway towards leaving.

“I completely understand your disappointment,” the masked manager speaks over the commotion. “However, we always keep the door open for you to pursue new opportunities. You will now take a vote to decide whether to continue the games or not.” He finishes reminding everyone before the doors open and two guards now roll in the machine to cast your votes.

“Whether to continue the games for a bigger prize or to stop here is entirely your choice,” the masked manager reminds everyone. “Please feel free to exercise your right to choose in a democratic manner.”

You touch the blue patch on your chest and then look up to pretend to contemplate your choice.

“Don’t worry,” you hear In-ho say. “I want to stop here too. I should go and be with my wife at the hospital.”

“I’m telling you,” Dae-ho adds so you look down at him. “We’ll get out this time. Damn it.” He tugs at his own patch. “A marine should think strategically and know when to retreat. Isn’t that right, brother?” He asks Jung-bae as he grabs his shoulder and shakes him playfully.

“Yeah,” Jung-bae rolls out and you catch his hesitation right away. You and In-ho both do, so you share that slight tell with a shared glance—“Yeah, you’re right. Marines aren’t invincible. We should get out.”

“We have to end the games here,” Gi-hun echoes his friend. “I will help you guys out when we get out.”

You offer him a kind smile as he looks at each one of you.

“Please trust me and support this vote,” he adds.

“Guys,” Dae-ho calls for the attention of everyone in the group. “All huddle up again. You too,” he waves you over.

You blink in confusion but you huddle up with all of them, catching Dae-ho put his hand out in the middle of the group.

The others proceed to stack their hands over the other while you look confused.

“Come on,” he urges you. “You too. You’re part of our team even if we didn’t get to play together.”

You look at him with surprise before you break into a happy smile and stack your hand over In-ho’s.

“In one, two, three. Victory at all costs!” Dae-ho exclaims.

You grin and exclaim what you were told to say along with the others. “Victory at all costs!”

“Hmph!” Dae-ho expresses before he massages Jung-bae’s shoulders.

Not so much later after that you’re told to gather up to commence the voting process for today.

“This time, the vote will begin with Player 001,” the masked manager lets everyone know. “Player 001, please cast your vote.”

You and your friends all glance over at In-ho before he walks down, breaking through the crowd to reach the machine at the end of the room.

This time with no need to feign contemplation, he casts his vote to leave, exchanging his blue patch for the red one.

“Player 002,” the masked manager now calls you down, so you offer your friends a reassuring smile before you pass the crowd and walk down the room to cast your vote to leave. You don’t want to, once again you would vote to stay to continue your plan, but you know, based on everyone else’s thoughts that you will stay another day, so you choose to leave to gain the trust of your friends.

And slowly you’re proved right. Everyone’s greed takes over their reason to the point that Gi-hun feels frustrated and has to say something. “Everyone!” He shouts.

Yet before he can share his thoughts you’re surprised to hear In-ho stand up for Gi-hun. “Are you all out of your minds? You still want to keep going after watching all those people die?” He asks as he walks out of formation to be in the center. “Who’s to say you won’t die in the game? We have to stop,” he says as he walks down the line. “We’ll all die if we keep going! Come to your senses, and leave with that money. You’ve got to survive first, or there won’t be a next step.”

“What do you think we can do with a mere 70 million?” One player voices his thoughts and when they walk to the middle you see that it's Player 100. “I don’t know how much you owe, but for most people here, that doesn’t even cover 10% of their debt. Am I right? There’s no next step for us! That money won’t change anything!”

“Yes, he’s right!” A different player backs him up. “With that amount of money, I won’t last long.”

“It was 25 million after the first game,” Player 100 continues to try and convince the remaining crowd. “And now it’s 78 million! After one game, the amount more than tripled! If we play one more game, the prize will be at least 240 million!”

People murmur in agreement, but one player who already voted emotionally shares her fear. “But I can’t do this anymore. Please,” she sobs. “Please let me out of here. I really…I really want to go home. I don’t want to die.” She cries harder but a man walks to the center to argue.

“Young lady,” he tries to share his pity. “You’re young, so you’ll probably have another chance. But I don’t.”

“Please.” The previous girl begs between sobs.

“My family and I have no future,” the man continues. “My business failed, and now I owe over 500 million. I’ve got to make at least half of that here if I want a real shot at a fresh start.”

“And if you die?!” You now join in the debate and slowly walk to the center. “If you die, who knows if your family will even get your body. Then what? What about them? A life in the street, because you were selfish and chose to wager your life to watch a few more people die instead of taking what you can? Maybe this money doesn’t guarantee a fresh start.” you point at the money above. “Maybe it does, I don’t know, but for those with someone out there waiting for them, are you really willing to risk your family living in ruin all because you choose to bet it all? Don’t you see? You cannot let those fuckers watch you die!” You shout and point at the pink guards. “They don’t get to have their entertainment and watch another pair of fools come and die. We have to leave now and show them that we aren’t idiots chasing after money like rats chase their cheese. We are smart, we are people whose lives matter, and they will not take advantage of our vulnerability. Be smart. Wise. And take advantage of what we get. Maybe then we get to come back so we can watch them suffer like we have.” You grimace smugly as you look over at the guards with no ounce of deceit.

It’s all true from your beating heart.

“Don’t get discouraged!” Player 226 protests. “Ddakji, Red Light, Green light, Spinning Top! It’s not like the games are that difficult. Look.” He points at the money. “There are still 255. Way more than half of us survived! We’ve made it this far, so let’s do this one more time!” He pumps his fist.

“You make such a good point, young man,” Player 100 praises him. “That’s right! We’ve all played the games well and survived until now! Now let’s play one more game! Just one more, and that’s it. Let’s play just one more game!”

“Yeah, let’s play one more!” They start a chant that a lot of players echo. You know it’s not what sways people to vote to stay, it helps, but mostly everyone who already chose to stay had their mind made. This just gave them a reason not to be ashamed of it. Those who were undecided told themself that if it’s what people want, how could they choose otherwise, so they chose to stay. Jung-bae wasn’t either but he did prove your assumption right when he chose to stay.

——

*LATER*

“I would kill for some spicy tofu stew right now,” you grumble as you look at the bread and the boxed milk you got for dinner.

“Oh please don’t remind me,” Dae-ho groans. “Why can’t they give us something good if they want us to keep going on?”

“I got it. Drinks and Stew. After we win we have to make that happen,” you suggest.

“Oh? You know a good place?” He asks, making you chuckle.

“My place. We can go to my place.”

“She really makes excellent tofu stew,” In-ho catches you off guard by backing you up, making you slowly smile, and feel your heart flutter.

“Oh! Well if that’s so then sign me up!” Dae-ho exclaims. “You Jun-hee? I’m sure you’ve been craving more than just bread, and it will be good for the baby and you.”

Said girl looks down and hesitates before she answers timidly. “Yeah, I would like that.”

“Sadly you can’t drink, but maybe after you have the baby we can all gather for a drink and karaoke,” you suggest. “I’ve mastered Total Eclipse of the Heart if I do say so myself.” You giggle. “Isn’t that right Young-il?” You ask as you look at him over your shoulder. “Am I good? Perhaps not, but I’ve mastered it.”

“You’ve mastered pestering me every Friday night with that song, that’s true.” He counters, making you feign a laugh and making Dae-ho and Gi-hun chuckle at you.

“Whatever,” you grumble as you take a seat next to Jun-hee. “You have fun. Watching me.”

“I have fun watching you pass out after that, yes.”

You brush him off and then turn to Jun-hee to hand her your packaged bread. “Save it, or eat it now. Just take it, okay? You’ll need it.”

Jun-hee glances at what you offer her and shakes her head. “No, no, I can’t. We all haven’t eaten anything all day. I can’t take the only meal you’ll have.”

You grab her arm and pull her hand toward you to place the bread on her palm and close her fingers around it. “Please. Take it.” You insist, making her exhale deeply before she nods gently and gives in. “Good. Besides, I have my milk….can I ask,” you add as you open the milk carton. “Does your baby move a lot?”

Jun-hee opens her bread package and then glances down at her belly. “Mostly at night as of late, but for the past couple of days the baby hasn’t moved a lot. Just here and there.”

You smile at her belly with admiration before you offer her the same smile. “Have you picked out a name?”

She shakes her head. “No. Not yet. It’s just been a hectic couple of months.”

You hum. “Well, do you have someone looking out for you? Do you have someone waiting for you when you get out?” You ask and perhaps you’re being overbearing, but you can’t help it.

“Uh, no. To both questions.”

Your breath gets caught in your throat as you’re hit with pity and a more eager need to help her. Yet before you can offer her a thing, someone nudges your shoulder, interrupting your moment.

When you look back you see In-ho offering you half of his bread. “Take my half,” he offers. “I don’t want to hear your stomach growling at night.”

“Oh!” You gasp and take the half-piece before offering him a smile. “Thank you.”

“Brother!” Dae-ho shouts. “Jung-bae, brother!”

You look over and find said man just across from the group sitting by himself and ignoring Dae-ho, so Dae-ho puts his bread down and gets up to go over to Jung-bae.

“Hey, just come back here,” you hear him say.

“No, I'm good here,” Jung-bae argues.

“Oh, come on,” Dae-ho insists as he grabs Jung-bae and stands him up against his will—“you should’ve gone farther away then. It bugs me seeing you sitting all pathetic.”

When Dae-ho brings Jung-bae over he lets him go and Jung-bae looks at the group awkwardly before he addresses all of you. “I’m sorry. Jun-hee, Young-il. I’m sorry.” He offers before he looks down at you and offers you the same genuine apology. “I'm sorry.”

You offer him a faint assuring smile. “It’s okay,”

Lastly, he leans toward Gi-hun to offer his last apology. “Gi-hun, I’m sorry. I borrowed some emergency cash, and the creditors are harassing my ex-wife and kid. If I play one more game, I think I’ll be able to settle my debt. So—”

“Jung-bae,” In-ho cuts him off in that deep and scary voice he uses when he’s upset. Only this time he really isn’t but he knows how to turn it on. “You of all people shouldn’t have done it. It’s not twice as righteous.”

You snort as you take a bite from your bread.

“But,” In-ho sighs. “Looking at the results, even if you had voted against, we would still have been outvoted.”

“Right?” Jung-bae exclaims as he leans toward In-ho. “It's not entirely my fault,” he says to try and not feel guilty.

“All right,” Dae-ho interjects as he approaches Jung-bae from behind. “To be honest, I understand why you did it. The money isn’t enough for me either, so when I went up to vote, I did think about playing one more game.”

Jung-bae suddenly grabs Dae-ho and presses. “You did?”

“I said I get it,” Dae-ho says as he pushes him away and turns him to face the group.

“Thank you for understanding,” he shares as he sits down. “But I voted in favor partly because I feel confident. We did so well as a team, didn’t we? If we stick together one more time, I’m sure we’ll be fine. Jun-hee. I’ll make sure we survive the next game—”

“The next game?” Gi-hun quotes Jung-bae as he cuts him off. “In the next game, we might have to kill each other.”

You look down at your piece of bread to avoid looking at anyone even though the next game is nothing like that.

“Gi-hun,” In-ho inputs. “That’s a bit much. There’s nothing we can do now, so let’s try to stay positive. We should eat, pull ourselves together, and try our best again. Here, Jun-hee. You can have my milk. Hang in there until the next game.”

You look over and see Jun-hee offer In-ho a sweet look as she tries to also decline his offer. “No, it’s okay.”

“Take it,” In-ho insists. “I don’t drink plain milk.”

Jun-hee takes the milk and thanks him just as sweetly. “Thank you.”

“Have my bread too,” Jung-bae now tries to offer her out of guilt. “I don’t deserve to eat.”

You sit up and take the bread from him instead of letting her take it. “Actually,” you explain. “I already gave her my bread, so I’ll take it.”

“Oh?”

You offer him a beaming smile and he watches you immediately open the package. Before you can take a bite you do split it in half and hand him a half. “Don’t want you to go to bed hungry.”

He chuckles nervously. “Oh thank you.”

You hum and turn away.

“Can I have your milk then?” You hear Dae-ho ask Jung-bae, but he gets no response.

“Hey,” Jun-hee calls for your attention which you don’t hesitate to give her. “Can I ask if you have any stories from when you were a detective? If you don’t mind.”

“Oh, yeah! I would like to hear one too!” Dae-ho echoes.

You smile shyly before you get up and step down to be able to face the entire group as you give them what they want to hear. “Okay, well I have many, but there was one time where I found a man who was planning to bomb a New Year’s Eve celebration a couple of days before he did it.”

“Really?” Jung-bae queries.

You nod smugly. “Yep! I was even recognized by the mayor and I was on the news.” You shrug. “When I caught the man he wanted to take us both down, but then my partner and a squadron rushed in, stopping him before we could be exploded to pieces.”

Jung-bae gasps in awe and you bow your head playfully.

“Does that scar have a story?” You hear Jung-bae follow up with a question and when you look at him you see him pointing at the scar above your ear, and immediately your smile falls, and that excited gleam goes out from eyes like a dying star fading from the night sky.

“Uh, no,” you answer nervously and slowly return to your seat. “Not at all.”

“The speech you gave earlier,” Gi-hun says before the silence could grow awkward. “It was good. Thank you for being brave enough to speak your mind to try and stop the games.”

You nod softly and then look back at him with a gentle look. “I tried my best. I’m not so good at inspiring people with speeches like those. My brother was more of the free spirit and the political head who could summon all of his emotions to what he wanted the people to hear.” You scoff. “So I tried to take a page from his book. I’ve been trying since I saw that choosing to stay was wrong…” you pause and shift around to face him with regret. “I am sorry. I chose to stay the first day and I argued against you. I'm sorry.”

He shakes his head and assures you. “It’s okay. You saw that you were wrong and have tried to fix that error. We can’t do anything about it now.”

You hum and turn to Jun-hee. “I’m going to the bathroom. Do you want to come with me?”

She perks up and nods, so you go off. Fortunately, there’s nothing that makes the trip to the bathroom harder or longer than it needs to be. The woman from the first day who called you a pig was in the bathroom when you got there, she looked at you with a glare, but she didn’t share anything else but dirty looks. Thus you’re able to return to your group and not so much later, after break and dinner is over it’s time for bed, and rather than splitting off from the group for the night, Gi-hun invites you to stay near him.

Albeit you don’t climb up to any beds, you all gather on the ground and make a small fort for the six of you.

“Lights out in ten minutes,” the woman on the PA announces as you help Jun-hee with the pillows and the blankets since the men insisted on setting up the mattresses—“please prepare for bedtime.”

“Is this really necessary?” Jung-bae questions Gi-hun. “I don’t like sleeping under there.”

“Once the lights go out, somebody might attack us,” Gi-hun throws out with no explanation, worrying everyone but In-ho and you.

“What?” Dae-ho queries. “Who?”

“The prize money still goes up if we kill each other,” Gi-hun shares. “It's part of the game they designed.”

You feign a stressed sigh before you turn and help Jun-hee to the ground from the bed frame she was balancing on.

“Gi-hun,” In-ho interjects with doubt. “I think you’re overreacting here. Even if that were true, people wouldn’t do that.”

“In the previous games, dozens of people killed each other at night,” Gi-hun counters with his evidence as he slowly walks to In-ho in hopes it gets across to him. “Right here. You have no idea how people can change…in this place.”

In-ho holds his gaze for a second before he nods and gives him the benefit of the doubt. “All right, I guess I didn’t know what I was talking about. I'm sorry.”

Gi-hun turns away, letting go of the tension that had begun to build, but not without adding something else. “Once its lights are out, we need to take turns keeping watch. I’ll take the first watch. You should decide the order for the rest.”

“I can go after you Gi-hun,” you quickly offer without discussion.

“I’ll keep her company. It’ll be late. It's better to have two pairs of eyes in case one of us nods off.” Dae-ho adds his own offer and when you look over at him he’s already looking at you—“if that’s okay with you, anyway.”

You smile at him and nod without protest. “Of course it’s okay.”

He mirrors your smile and you in response hold his gaze for a second longer. Once you turn away you catch In-ho’s wandering gaze, but he doesn’t let it linger. He averts his gaze just as quickly as you caught him.

Thereafter, due to Gi-hun’s display of intensity to the situation, you all find your mattress; Dae-ho sleeps at one of Jun-hee’s side while you sleep at the other to keep her secured from any lurkers who might target her because she’s pregnant.

And maybe it was because you knew you were huddled up with a group of people you trusted, or you were simply exhausted, but you were able to find sleep. And tonight no dreams or nightmares woke you up. You could have slept through the night, but you were woken up by Dae-ho when your turn to keep watch came around.

“So,” Dae-ho breaks the silence without letting it sit for a moment. “Why are you here? What made you accept being here? If that’s okay to ask.”

You wrap your arms around your knees and nod gently. “That’s okay.” You draw out a deep breath and hesitate for a moment before you start off slow. “You see, I was adopted. My mother wanted a sibling for her son and since she couldn’t have any more after him, they went and chose me. She loved me as much as she loved her son. And my brother never took long to get used to me. He loved me too.” You smile faintly at the mention as if recalling a sweet memory. “But my father…” you pause and sigh, feeling your smile and your face fall. “My father was colder. Distant. I didn’t feel like he loved me as much as the others did, so I sought it. I sought his approval for so long until I opened my eyes. He didn’t like that so he banished me.”

“Just for that?” Dae-ho cuts in abruptly but still quiet enough so as to not disturb the others.

You swallow thickly and hook your fingers together tightly. “It’s more complicated than that,” you muster a strained laugh. “But it doesn’t matter anymore. He's dead now…and he’s still tormenting me from hell by making me come here to prove a point.”

“Oh.” Dae-ho laughs nervously. “So it’s not about the money?”

You rest your chin on your knees and mutter. “Proving my point is more important, but I do need the money.”

“Well,” he sighs. “I can’t judge you for prioritizing your father. My father isn’t as great as I boasted him to be. He’s really shitty.”

You turn your head to look at him with a sense of relief as you both find common ground.

“But I’m here to hopefully pay my debts and maybe just maybe help my sisters out,” Dae-ho shares, making you smile softly with admiration.

“How many sisters do you have?” You ask.

He chuckles. “Four. They’re all older.”

You grin wider. “Four? Wow? I get it now.”

“What?” He queries.

“Why you’re so sweet,” you muse and nudge his arm gently.

Dae-ho smiles timidly at his hands before he leans towards you with his lips and his eyes drooped. “You have a brother. Are you sure he won’t be waiting for you?”

You shake your head stiffly. “No,” you whisper and avert your gaze to examine the surrounding area. “My brother is gone. He…was a lot like Gi-hun. He stood up for what he believed in, but he had teeth and never learned to bite…” you trail off and slowly drop your head. “I had a sister too. Older, but I lost her a long time ago.”

“What was her name?” Dae-ho asks and you can’t help but smile fondly as you think about her.

“Her name was No-eul,” you reveal. “And my brother's name was Tae-woong.”

——

*A FEW YEARS AGO*

“No-eul!” You shout loudly in hopes she will hear your cries and wake up. “No-uel!”

“Come on!” You’re urged and grabbed by the arm to be pulled back, but you fight back with all your strength and manage to slip from their grasp and swim desperately toward your sister.

“No-eul,” you mewl and cradle her, thanking the body water for helping you keep her afloat in your arms. “Wake up. Come on, you have to wake up.” You plead, but it’s no use she doesn’t open her eyes or move.

You don’t check her pulse or catch if she’s drawing out small and labored breaths. You’re too scared and panicked to think straight.

“No-eul,” you whimper and nudge her face. “We have to go,” you remind her and wait for a response, for a small twitch or something, but she’s lifeless, and before you can push harder with more desperation, you’re suddenly grabbed with a force that hurts.

“They’ll be back with more people, let’s go!” They yell and yank you away, causing you to let go of your sister. “She’s gone!”

“No!” You argue and try to push their hand off you, but they won’t budge this time. “We can’t leave her here! No-eul! She has to go back with us! She’s still alive!”

“No!” They bellow. “She’s dead and we will be dead soon if we don’t leave. Now come on!”

You shake your head and keep fighting, even if it’s tiring and water keeps getting in your mouth you keep fighting until you’re forced on a boat and driven away with your sister's body no longer in sight.

——

*NOW*

You sigh deeply and with tears in your eyes, you stare out at the beds occupied by sleeping people as you relive the day you lost your beloved sister over and over again.

Dae-ho must have seen the tears welled in your eyes, or maybe he was just caring in that way, but he presses himself against you to let you rest your head on his shoulder. And for a moment. For a fraction of a stolen moment, things are simple.

There’s no blood bath. There’s no hoping you won’t get attacked by some crazy player, and there’s no fear you won’t live to see another day. There in the middle of the night as you have your head on Dae-ho’s shoulder you get a taste of simplicity. A taste of how things were and how things can be if you choose not to be so lonely again.

However, before an hour can pass, or even ten minutes can pass, the moment is interrupted by In-ho. “You can go to sleep. I’ll take over,” he offers.

You pull your head off Dae-ho’s shoulder as you both stand up on your feet.

“But our shift is not over yet,” Dae-ho argues. “You should go back to sleep and get as much sleep as you can.”

In-ho shakes his head and counters. “No,” he deadpans. “It's okay. I can’t sleep anymore anyway. Go. The both of you.”

Dae-ho glances at you before he looks down and can’t find the strength to fight against In-ho, so he gives in. “Okay. Thank you, Young-il.” He bows his head and you offer him a smile before you follow Dae-ho back to your beds.

However, before you can reach your mattress you come to a stop and glance back, catching In-ho sitting down in the darkness of the hall all alone.

You know there’s no need to go and keep him company. He’s the one person you trust the most to stay awake and keep your surroundings safe, but you know that you won’t be able to sleep with the guilt of knowing that he’s here sacrificing hours of sleep to watch over you and the group. Thus you turn on your heels and make your way back to your previous spot that is next to In-ho this time.

“Got room for one more?” You ask playfully while he’s looking up at you to meet your gaze.

“Go to sleep,” he tries to push you away, but you muster the strength to fight back and win.

“I have too much stuff in my mind, so I won’t be able to even get a wink of sleep now,” you tell him part of the truth as you take your seat beside him. “So I’ll keep you company.”

In-ho blinks before his eyes find their way back to you. He doesn’t say anything. He doesn’t argue. He just holds your gaze before his eyes wander to the scar above your ear and then gets his gaze lost ahead.

You scoff before you laugh softly, and then without a nudge, you rest your head on his shoulder.

A/N- next chapter more inho!!!

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