Chapter Text
Hyun-ju was exhausted. Her along with 11 other players tried to rebel against the guards. As far as she knows, only her and Dae-ho made it back.
She let out a deep sigh. Speaking of… Hyun-ju kept glancing over at the young marine. He was clearly in distress, but she didn’t know how to help. When she had tried to talk to him earlier he just kept apologizing over and over like a broken record. There was something clearly going on with him mentally. Maybe if she-
Before Hyun-ju could finish her thought, a loud buzz rang through dorm. She turned her head towards to the door, and she saw the guards bring in a coffin. She heard Jun-hee, who was sitting next to her, let out a small gasp.
All the players (excluding Dae-ho) made their way to the center of the room to see who was in the coffin. Hyun-ju and her group were right next to it. She leaned down as she slowly removed the lid to the coffin.
It was Gi-hun.
Guem-ja let out a gasp. “Is he dead?” She asked, her old voice trembling. Hyun-ju put her fingers on his neck to check the pulse.
Bum, bum
“He’s alive,” she answered, her voice barely above a whisper. “Quick,” Hyun-ju said, urgently, “help me get him to a bed.”
Guem-ja and Yong-sik helped Hyun-ju bring Gi-hun to a bed. They carefully laid him onto the bed, being sure to not make any sudden movements. They didn’t know what kind of state the man would be in when he wakes up.
After getting Gi-hun settled, Hyun-ju glanced at Dae-ho. He looked terrible, almost like he was about to throw up. He was also staring right at the group. The young marine noticed Hyun-ju’s gaze as he turned to the opposite direction. What was up with him?
~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•
Gi-hun felt his head pounding as he slowly opened his eyes. He blinked a few times to get the blinding light out of his eyes. He saw in front of him, Jun-hee, Guem-ja, Yong-sik, & Hyun-ju. Gi-hun was glad that at least one of the members of the rebellion had survived.
They started talking to him, but everything just felt muffled. Gi-hun tried to get up, but they insisted for him to rest. He just ignored them as he continued to sit up. He slowly dragged himself out of his bunk. He felt everyone’s eyes on him. He hated it. He hated everything.
As Gi-hun looked around he noticed Hyun-ju was the only one from rebellion in sight. His heart sank to his stomach as it became more twisted than these horrid games.
“Where is everyone?” Gi-hun asked the soldier, already knowing the answer. She just gave the poor man a solemn look as she slowly shook her head. Gi-hun dropped his head to the ground. This was his fault after all.
Hyun-ju asked, hesitantly, “Where’s Jung-bae?” Gi-hun just gave her a knowing, sad look. The Frontman’s words echoing in his ear.
Player 456, did you have fun playing the hero?
Now witness the consequences of your little game.
Dae-ho had been listening to the group’s conversation. He didn’t mean to, but it just happened. He perked up at the mention of Jung-bae. His eyes widen in horror as he realized what Gi-hun’s answer was.
Jung-bae was dead. Jung-bae. The man who had treated him better than his father ever had, despite only knowing him for a few days. No no no no no no no.
His father’s voice screaming inside his head
Your fault your fault your fault your fault your fault YOUR FAULT YOUR FAULT
Dae-ho suppressed a sob as he tried to keep himself from crying. He didn’t deserve to be sad. Not ever. Not since Jung-bae or Young-il or Gyeong-seok could never be sad again because of him.
Buzz
Dae-ho snapped out of his thoughts as he saw the guards walk in. He sucked in a breath as he waited for the guards to just go and kill him and Hyun-ju for participating in the rebellion. They never did.
Dae-ho watched as the money filled the room. 35 players… no, 35 people dead. 9 of which were his fault. He felt sick to his stomach.
Suddenly, he heard screaming, but it wasn’t screams of horror but rather desperation. He looked up.
Gi-hun
He asking, begging , the guards to kill him. Dae-ho felt bile rise in his throat. His pain was because of him . He had to close his eyes. It was too much. Screaming screaming screaming screaming screaming screaming screaming screaming
The guards started the voting shortly after. The Xs didn’t stand a chance.
18 players to X
41 players to O
1 vote abstained.
At least one more day in this horrid place
~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•
Sweet potatoes. Hyun-ju wasn’t a fan, but she starving. Although, she doubts she’ll be able to eat much after everything that went down. If she had just been better.
The woman followed Dae-ho, keeping her steady eye on the boy. She was worried for him. She saw the way he reacted when she tried to grab the ammo. The way he flinched…
Hyun-ju stopped in her tracks as she finally took her eyes of off Dae-ho and turn to stare at Gi-hun. The man looked… lifeless. It was similar to how she was after mingle but… worse. She watched as Guem-ja gave him some of her food, begging him to eat. That woman was too good sometimes.
Hyun-ju walked to them and joined the group. As she was sitting down, she took another quick glance over at Dae-ho. He looked like he was about to vomit. She couldn’t help but feel bad for the marine.
“I’m sorry,” Hyun-ju apologized, “I should’ve done more to deliver the ammo.” Yong-sik was quick to disagree with her. It had almost caught her off guard.
“If anything,” Yong-sik continued, defending Hyun-ju, “it was that man, Dae-ho’s fault! We all saw it. He just froze up. By the time Hyun-ju got here, the guards were already here!” Hyun-ju looked down.
‘That man’
It didn’t feel right. He said it like they weren’t talking to each other like they were lifelong best friends just hours ago. She wanted to defend him. To say that wasn’t Dae-ho’s fault, but she wasn’t there. She didn’t know happened. All she knows is that he was clearly having some form of a panic attack when she got there.
“I’m going to go talk to him,” Hyun-ju said instead.
“Again?” Guem-ja asked, “last time you tried talking to him-“
“I know what happened last time. But just trust me on this. I feel like there’s something more going on right now with him.”
“Like what?”
Hyun-ju just looked at the older woman and smiled. She told the group that she wasn’t sure what but had an idea.
Hyun-ju walked up to Dae-ho, slowly. She didn’t want to trigger him again. She thinks she knows what’s going on… PTSD. She’s seen countless cases of it as a former Sargent.
As Hyun-ju approached Dae-ho she noticed he was curled up in a tight ball.
“How are you doing?” Hyun-ju asked, making sure to keep her voice low as to not startle the young man. Dae-ho just glanced up at her and curled into a tighter ball, avoiding eye contact. Her heart sank looking at him. He looked hurt, not physically but mentally.
“You should eat,” Hyun-ju insisted, kneeling down next to Dae-ho, “You need to keep your energy up for the next game.” Dae-ho finally looked at her directly, but then he buried his head into his knees immediately after.
The man mumbled something along the lines of ‘not hungry’. Hyun-ju frowned. Well… it was still a start. He wasn’t just repeating ’I’m sorry’ over and over like last time. She also noticed he didn’t seem as jumpy as last time she tried talking to him.
“Do you want to talk about it?”
“…not really.”
Hyun-ju left it at that. She didn’t want to force him to talk if he didn’t want to.
The woman sighed as she got up. She looked back at Dae-ho and told him she going back to the others. He didn’t respond. Hyun-ju’s not sure if he had even heard her with the way he’s been.
I should’ve just told them the truth. Dae-ho thought as he watched Hyun-ju walk away. He looked down at his potato. He took a small bite and instantly felt a wave a nausea kick in. He just wanted to go home.
What Yong-sik had said to Gi-hun replayed in his mind. It was haunting him like the spirits tied to place.
It was Dae-ho’s fault.
If he had just delivered the ammo. If that idiot could have just done what he supposed to then Jung-bae…
Hyun-ju came back to the group. Guem-ja was asking her something, most likely what she thinks happened with Dae-ho, but Gi-hun didn’t care. He slowly turned his body towards the boy.
Dae-ho was just sitting on his bed eating the potato at first slowly, but he gradually started full on munching on it; he looked similar to a hamster. This was his fault. How can he even eat knowing that he’s the reason Gyeong-seok, Young-il, Jung-bae are all dead?
It’s the last one that hurts Gi-hun the most. Jung-bae trusted Dae-ho and look at what happened. He could still hear when the two first met.
You were in the marines? Which class
Dae-ho chuckled awkwardly at the sudden question.
Oh just wait
Jung-bae rolled up his sleeve to reveal an identical tattoo.
Sir! Class 1140 sir!
At ease Dae-ho! I was class 746!
Gi-hun remembered how excited Jung-bae was to meet another marine in the games. Meanwhile Gi-hun didn’t know if he had wanted to laugh or cry at the fact that it seemed there two Jung-baes.
Now it was clear. He wasn’t like Jung-bae. He was a coward. He was just a coward who only cares about himself and doesn’t care about what happens to anyone.
It’s his fault.
~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•
Nam-gyu was alone. Thanos was dead. That stupid idiot couldn’t even get his name right.
It’s Nam-gyu. Nam-gyu
All he ever said was “Nam-su.”
Did he ever even care?
Nam-gyu sighed. Why did he care if Thanos cared? He opened the cross to take one of the pills. He was running out. That’s… not good.
He just wished that Thanos were here.
~•~•~•~~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•
Gi-hun didn’t sleep. He couldn’t sleep after everything.
Dae-ho did sleep.
Gi-hun watched that loser sleep through the night like nothing had happened. He cursed at the coward underneath his breath.
There would be a few times when Dae-ho would toss and turn almost as if he was having a nightmare. Gi-hun wanted to feel bad for him, but he just couldn’t. It was fault after all. All he did was mess things up!
After a couple hours, the lights turned on as that horrid song played. Gi-hun watched as Dae-ho woke up slowly. He looked up at the light; he looked almost… confused. Like he had forgotten where he was.
Dae-ho hated waking up. He could barely sleep last night. He had nightmares after nightmares. Most them of Jung-bae. Some of them were of himself dying. He hated his dreams, but he hated reality worse.
The young man looked around the room. He could feel someone watching him. Dae-ho turned his head to the side and he saw… no no no no no.
Gi-hun
The older man was staring right at him. He looked angry. Had someone told him about his failure? Did he know the truth? Did he know that he was nothing but a coward and a pathetic loser?
The boy’s mind started to race. Dae-ho knew that he didn’t have a chance in the next game. There was no way he could survive on his own. He was… weak. He also had a bad feeling about Gi-hun. He planning something, and it wasn’t going to be in favor of Dae-ho.
~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•
The players were headed to the next game. Dae-ho was walking slowly. The fatigue and guilt catching up to him. Each step he took felt like another reminder of his failures.
Dae-ho kept his eyes on his feet as he walked. He didn’t want to look at the people he failed. That’s all he ever did, huh?
You’re such a failure, Dae-ho.
His breathe hitched. Dae-ho quickly shook his head as while lightly hit his forehead with his wrist, trying to get his father’s voice out of his head.
You’re useless.
Dae-ho’s head snapped up as a collective of gasps filled the room. The boy scanned the room to try and see what the others were shocked about. Then… he saw it.
The players who were killed during the rebellion were hanged. They were hung up in some sort of twisted human chandelier. It horrid and there were so many bodies , but Dae-ho could only focus on one.
Jung-bae
He stared at the marine. Dae-ho felt bile rise up. Nonononononono
Jung-bae
Across the room, Gi-hun was staring at Dae-ho he couldn’t bring himself to look at their allies. Especially since both Young-il and Jung-bae would be up there.
It was his fault. Gi-hun watched as the traitor stared at Jung-bae before quickly looking away. Dae-ho started coughing before taking another quick glance the chandelier of death.
If looks could kill, Dae-ho would be dead 10 times over. Gi-hun just stared and stared at the boy. He looked over and made eye contact with Gi-hun. He looked scared, terrified even, but that didn’t matter.
This is your fault.
Behind Gi-hun was player 377. He was also looking up at the chandelier. Han-nam… Him and player 015 were close. He was 377’s only friend in this place. He could still feel the dread when he saw Han-nam volunteer for the suicide mission.
377 saw the man in front of him start walking away, so he followed. If he remembered correctly, he was the guy who claimed to have played the games before and was the one who started the rebellion.
~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~~•~•
“Before the next game begins, please go to the gumball machine and get assigned a red or blue ball and stand at the designated area.”
Hyun-ju looked around. What could the game be? On the side of the room, there was a key shape, and on the other side, there was knife shape.
Hyun-ju watched as the other players got their ball. One by one. It’s scary, Hyun-ju thinks, that their fate can be determined by one simple lever. That up to this point, it has been simple decision that led them up to this point. Some decisions by them, some by the ones in charge of these sick games. Player or guard. Bread or lottery. Stay or leave. Red or blue. Kill or be killed. It’s a simple case of to be or not to be.
The players went up to the gumball machine one by one. Slowly, Seon-nyeo and one of her followers went to the gumball machine. Blue. Both of them. Seon-nyeo shared a “I told you so” glance with player 006 as the two of them walked to the blue side.
Nam-gyu ran up to the gumball machine. He starred at it for a second before turning the knob. Red. He skipped over to the corresponding side, imitating his late friend.
Hyun-ju walked up. She was trying to hide her nervousness. She had to be strong… for Jun-hee, Guem-ja, Gi-hun, Yong-sik… even Dae-ho. She turned the knob. Blue. She let out a small, imperceptible sigh as she walked over to the blue side.
Jun-hee was next. She walked over slowly. It was clear the young woman was in pain. She turned the knob. Red. Jun-hee looked over to Hyun-ju, wishing, hoping, that neither of them will have to be alone on their teams.
Dae-ho walked up to the machine. The poor boy was still trembling from earlier. He could feel Gi-hun’s eyes burning into the back of his head. He swallowed as he turned the knob. Blue. You have got to be kidding me… He was on the same team as Hyun-ju. He walked over the blue side, quickly walking past Hyun-ju, avoiding eye-contact with her. He wasn’t ready for her to know the truth; he wasn’t even sure he was ready to face his truth.
Player 377 went after Dae-ho. He kept his eye on the man as he avoided his teammate. 377 looked at the gumball machine trying to take in all the details of it. He turned the knob. Blue. It was the same team as the ex-marine. 377 walked over to the blue team and stood next to him. He flashed a small, genuine, smile; unlike everyone else, he didn’t blame him. It was clear it was a suicide mission from the start. If anything, he thought it was 456’s fault. Dae-ho didn’t see the smile, or he simply chose to ignore it.
Jeong-dae went up to the gumball machine. He walked with that fake confidence nobody bought. He wasted no time turning the knob. Blue. He scoffed as he walked over to the blue side. Of course his most loyal ally, Yeong-sam, would happen to be on the opposite side of him.
Min-su walked up next… he was still shaking from Lights Out; Se-mi’s screams of terror, the way Gyeong-su looked so happy before being kicked out, and even the way Thanos would subtly make sure Nam-gyu didn’t hurt him was haunting the back of his mind. Before he knew it, he was already at the gumball machine. He turned the knob. Red. Of course. Just his luck, he managed to get on the same team as the guy who killed Se-mi. He walked over to the red side, making sure he stayed as far away from the addict as possible.
Myung-gi went up next. He looked over at Jun-hee. She was leaning over. His heart ached at seeing her in pain. He turned back to the machine as he turned the knob. Blue. Dang it. He took another quick glance at Jun-hee before walking over the blue side.
Guem-ja walked up to the machine. She kept looking over at her son along with Jun-hee and Hyun-ju, making sure all three of them are ok. She spun the lever. Red. That’s good. She knows Hyun-ju can handle herself, but Jun-hee… The young woman looked like she was in pain. Guem-ja quickly walked over to Jun-hee and helped her stand up straight. The old woman watched as her son walked down, hoping they don’t get separated.
Yong-sik had watched his mom get red. He hoped he got the same. He needed to protect her, and he knew that his mom would also try to protect Jun-hee. He also knew that Hyun-ju can handle herself. Everyone saw how experienced she was during the rebellion. His eyes flickered over to the other blue player he knew, Dae-ho. He kinda felt bad about calling him out to Gi-hun. He’s seen the way Gi-hun has been staring at the man. He turned the knob. Blue… He looked over to his mom. She reassured that it was ok as they didn’t even know what the next game was. Yong-sik hoped that was the case. He walked to Hyun-ju and gave her a small smile which she returned.
The last person to get their team was Gi-hun. He walked down to machine. What’s even the point? He thought bitterly. There was only one ball left. He turned the knob. Red. The good thing was that he wasn’t on the same team as that traitor. He glared at Dae-ho as he walked towards Jun-hee and Guem-ja.
“Welcome players, to Hide & Seek.”
~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•
The players all got vests color corresponding to their team color. The guards then went and gave the blue players a box.
“So is this like regular hide and seek… or is there some kind of twist?” a player spoke up, wanting to know the rules of the game.
“The players on the red team must find and kill at least one player on the blue team or be eliminated.” Chaos broke out. Both teams didn’t know what to do. Dae-ho felt his heart drop to his stomach. Gi-hun… He just knew that man, someone he looked up to and even considered a friend, would make him his target.
Admits the chaos, Hyun-ju was calm, collected. She looked down at the box and opened it. Inside was a key. She held it up for the guards to see.
“What’s this?” Hyun-ju asked. It was amazing how she could silence an entire room in two words.
The guards explained that the keys can open doors, and the blue team can find an exit. The red team disagreed with this, saying that it gives them an unfair disadvantage. The guards noted that the players would find this unfair beforehand, and they passed around a red box.
“Thank you so much,” Nam-gyu thanked the guard as he was handed his box. He opened it, and a huge, creepy smile plastered across his face. A knife. He took it out of the box, and he barely touched the knife to test out the sharpness of the blade. It was a deep cut.
Nam-gyu started laughing maniacally, pointing the knife at the blue players. They all gave him looks between terror, confusion, and concern.
Gi-hun held his knife up to his face as he slowly turned his head towards the traitor. He will pay for what he did. It’s his fault.
Dae-ho could feel Gi-hun starring at him. He glanced over at the red side and saw Gi-hun glaring daggers at the poor boy. Dae-ho started to tear up. He didn’t want to die. He wanted to get out and see his sisters, or at least the ones that were alive anyway. He rubbed his face to stop the tears from falling down.
A few of the blue players started to protest, saying that it wasn’t fair that they didn’t have any protection. Player 100 even piped in saying they need a shield or something.
“Yeah, it’s not fair, we need some sort of protection from them!” player 377 chimed in. Dae-ho looked over at him. He was pretty sure that the younger man blamed him for the rebellion as well. When he stood next to Dae-ho, he smiled at him. It felt like he was laughing at him almost. Dae-ho hoped he was just being paranoid, but if he remembered correctly, 377 was friends that one player, 015. He remembered seeing them together before the rebellion. He must blame Dae-ho for getting his friend killed. Everybody else does after all.
Dae-ho quickly snapped out of his thoughts as the guards started to speak again. They said they can switch teams with another player before the game starts.
This is it.
That’s my chance to survive.
~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~~•~•~•~•~•~•~•
“Hey Min-su,” Nam-gyu said as he approached his former teammate, “you ever kill anybody before?” Nam-gyu sat down and held up his knife. He still had that sick, sadistic smile on from earlier.
Nam-gyu frowned as Min-su ignored him. He didn’t like being ignored. The addict suggested to the man to try to switch teams if he can’t kill anyone. He started talking about how he couldn’t find Min-su during lights out and how he must be good at hiding.
Min-su began to grow frustrated with Nam-gyu. He started talking about Se-mi and how he killed her. To the shock of Nam-gyu, Min-su turned angrily towards him. He had never the man that angry before.
“Did you see it?” Nam-gyu asked. He knew the answer of course. Who else would give away their hiding spot by throwing their only weapon to protect that stupid girl.
The addict came to the conclusion that Min-su wasn’t going to respond or swap teams. He would’ve been proud of the dude for finally toughening up if weren’t for the fact that he seemed to be mad him, for a good reason at that. Nam-gyu got up and began telling Min-su that he’s got this in English, mimicking Thanos.
Jun-hee’s stomach hurt. It was more than cramps. She could tell that the baby could pop out at any given moment. She took a deep breath trying to stabilize herself.
“Jun-hee!” She heard a voice call out.
Oh great.
Myung-gi
“What do you want?”
“Switch with me.”
Is he insane?
“I already told you… I don’t trust you.”
“Jun-hee please. I know you, you can’t kill somebody.”
“You don’t know anything about me.”
“Well I know you won’t be able to kill anyone in your condition. Give me the knife; I’ll find someone to kill then I’ll find you and protect you.”
Jun-hee hesitated… she remembered the bathroom fight. She didn’t know what happened there, but she could tell by the way her ex looked, he had taken someone’s life.
“Is it that easy? For you to kill someone?”
“Yes.”
Jun-hee scoffed.
“To get out with you and the prize, I would kill everyone here.”
Jun-hee looked away. ‘And the prize.’ He didn’t see her for her, he saw her for the money. She wanted to trust him, but she couldn’t, not after everything.
“And I would do anything for my baby.”
“Then… kill me.”
Jun-hee met his eyes. What
“You come find me and you kill me. That way, both you and the kid can get out.”
Jun-hee just starred at him. Maybe he wasn’t as selfish as she thought.
“Switch with me, ma,” Yong-sik said as he sat down next to his mom. She just looked at him, surprised.
“No. I know my son. Even when those other kids beat you up, you never fought back. You could never kill anyone,” Guem-ja remarked. The thought of her boy killing someone made her sick.
“And what about you?! When dad beat you, you never fought back.”
Guem-ja starred blankly at the reminder of that man. The only good thing that came out of that relationship was Yong-sik.
Yong-sik grabbed his mom’s hand as he reassured her that he would be fine. He knew that even she would be able to, she couldn’t, not with her bad knees.
“Okay, Yong-sik.”
Dae-ho ran around the room. He approached every red player, asking, begging them to switch. He was currently trying to convince player 349, but she didn’t want to be hunted. He tried to reassure the woman that he would protect her, but she just ran away.
Dae-ho let out a shaky sigh as he turned to look at Gi-hun. The man was till staring at him. He knew that there was no way he gonna survive this.
You’re such a failure
Dae-ho’s breath hitched. All of a sudden, ge didn’t see Gi-hun, he saw his father. He was tired of being treated like trash.
The young man cursed under his breath as he made his way toward Gi-hun. He walked quickly, like a man on a mission. He didn’t know what he was going to say, but he just COULDN’T STAND Gi-hun starring at him like that!
“What’s your problem?”
Gi-hun didn’t say anything. He just kept staring.
“Will you please stop looking at me like?!”
Gi-hun just kept staring; Dae-ho was starting to get hysterical at this.
“WILL YOU PLEASE STOP STARING AT ME! BLAME ME ALL YOU WANT JUST STOP LOOKING AT ME!”
Dae-ho put his hands to the temple of head. He hated his brain sometimes. He just wanted everything to stop and go back to normal. He finally looked back at Gi-hun. The man was still staring at him, stone face but this time, there hint of a surprise, most likely shocked from the boy’s sudden outburst. Dae-ho realized that the man wasn’t going to stop, so walked he away before he escalated things.
As Gi-hun watched the boy walk away, he tried to process what had just happened. Dae-ho always seemed so sweet. Cowards always did show their true colors in moments of crisis. He recalled the time when the young man had blown up on the O players. It had caught everyone who knew him off guard. He recalled the boy having both Jung-bae and Yong-sik having to hold him back.
Gi-hun wondered for a moment if his explosions had an underlying cause or if that was how he actually was, if his whole personality was a lie. He didn’t care though…
It’s his fault
Dae-ho was on the verge of tears. He accepted that no one was going to switch with him. He accepted that Gi-hun was going to kill him. He wondered what would’ve happened if he hadn’t decided to team with Gi-hun that day.
I’m going to die.
I’m going to die from the one person I trusted.
Maybe this is what I deserve…
From afar, player 377 watched everything go down. He felt bad for 388, or as he heard his former teammates called him, Dae-ho.
377 still didn’t understand why they blamed the poor boy. He was clearly having a panic attack and wasn’t well. Besides, it was a dumb plan to begin with. He still didn’t understand why Han-nam would volunteer for it.
The young man made his way towards Dae-ho. They were on the same team and both were alone. It was clear that the marine was really out of it after his explosion on 456.
“Excuse me…” 377 said, trying to get the boy’s attention.
No response
“Excuse me!” He said, louder this time.
That seemed to snap the boy put of his thoughts. He looked up at 377 in confusion.
“Sorry to bother you, but um… I was wondering… Would you like to do this together.” 377 asked, gently, putting his hand to the back of neck.
Dae-ho was completely out of it. He was just on the verge of a panic attack and now that one player that had been looking at him was asking to team up with him. He didn’t know why he would want to.
“Why would you want to team up with me?”
“Uh… Han-nam, er- player 015, he was my only ally and he died in the rebellion… You don’t seem to be talking to your teammates, and I can’t survive this on my own.”
Dae-ho winced at the mention of the rebellion. Why would he want to team up with him if he’s the reason his friend died?! Not to mention, if he was teaming up to survive, Dae-ho wasn’t the best option. He had Gi-hun after going after hum.
“I would, but… if you want to survive, I’m not the best option.”
“Why not? You survived the rebellion, not everyone did.”
“Look at Gi-hun, 456, he’s going to be going after me.”
“Then we can face him together,” 377 said with a slight smile. Why was he so desperate to team with Dae-ho?
377 stuck his hand out. Dae-ho starred at it for a second. He was playing through the pros and cons. The other player was right, there was no way he could survive on his own. He took the young man’s hand.
“…sure.”
377 smiled, grateful that he won’t be alone during the games.
“Oh um… if we’re teaming up, then we should know what to call each other… I’m Kang Dae-ho.”
“Shin Ji-eun.”
~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•
Jun-hee walked up to her ex, her vest and knife in hand.
“Swear on your life.”
Myung-gi starred at the girl for a second before nodding.
“I swear.”
Guem-ja and Yong-sik were currently still switching their vests.
“Are you you’ll be ok, ma?”
“I promise Yong-sik. Your dad always threatened to kill me, and who end the ended up dying first?”
“…Dad did.”
“Exactly… besides, I have my secret weapon,” Guem-ja told her son as she motioned to the knife in her hair.
Dae-ho and Ji-eun were together in the line. They made their way to the room. It was… beautiful. The skies were starry; it reminded Dae-ho of when him and his sisters would go camping together. It was one of the few times he felt safe… he knew his father wouldn’t try to do anything when his sisters were around.
Hide, hide, it’s time to play
Don’t let your hair give you away.
Hide, hide it’s time to play
Don’t let your clothes give you away.
Dae-ho froze. He didn’t know what to do. He could feel himself starting to spiral again. He heard that old man yell something, but he couldn’t concentrate on it. He was going to die.
You’re so pathetic.
You can’t do anything right.
You’re going to die a coward.
Dae-ho lightly bonked his wrist on his head, trying to get his dad’s voice out of his head. Suddenly, he felt a hand grab his; he flinched at the sudden contact. He looked up and saw Ji-eun looking at him in concern.
“Are you ok?”
“I’m fine,” Dae-ho quickly, too quickly. He could tell the younger man didn’t believe him, but he just let it go.
“Come on!” Ji-eun said, “time’s ticking.” He dragged Dae-ho into one of the corridors, making sure that no one was following either of them.
Hyun-ju was scared, but she wasn’t scared for herself. She was scared for Ms. Jang and Jun-hee. Neither of them were fit enough to defend themselves. She looked around the room as the blue players started to separate.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Dae-ho. He was hyperventilating. Hyun-ju was about to go over to him to talk to him, but she saw a player, 377, calm him down and run into one of the corridors.
Hyun-ju saw Jun-hee and Ms. Jang together, trying to figure what to do. Hyun-ju ran up to them.
“You can guys can stick me. I’ll protect you,” Hyun-ju promised. Jun-hee nodded her head. Hyun-ju grabbed the young girl’s arm as she helped her up the stairs with Ms. Jang following close behind. It was clear to both of the older women that Jun-hee wasn’t doing well.
Myung-gi was waiting for when the reds go into the maze. He was silently giving himself a pep-talk. The only person he had ever killed was Thanos and that was self-defense.
“Hey MGCoin.” Myung-gi looked up and saw Nam-gyu, Thanos’s junkie friend, standing next to him.
“What do you want?”
“We should this together.”
Was this guy serious?
“Think about it. Do you really think that the blue players will just let us kill them? No. I can help you.”
Nam-gyu then started talking about how cool it was when he stabbed Thanos. He said he was ‘grateful’ for getting rid of him. Myung-gi just ignored him. He wasn’t going to team up with that guy.
“Look! I’m not asking for like a relationship here. Just a… one night stand so to say.”
Myung-gi finally looked at him. What kind of example was that? But as he thought about it, he was going to need help with killing a player, especially if it’s someone who knows how to fight.
“So…?”
“Fine.”
Gi-hun was sitting in the corner when the timer went off. It was time for the red players to go into the maze.
The former winner had his target, his prey. Dae-ho was going to pay. He stood up, his knife was clutched in his hand.
“It’s your fault.”