The Favorite- Front Man x Reader- Squid Game

Part 28:

⚠️for the story, TW! Hallucinations ⚠️

He seemed to mutter that last part with the intent of me not hearing it, but I thankfully did. I smiled slightly to myself and blood rushed to my cheeks. I looked down and said a soft "thank you".

    (Front Man's, I guess I can now choose to say In-Ho's ❤️, POV)

    She looked so cute when she was flushed like that. It was so adora- no. Nuh-uh. Never. I would never say or even think that she was...adorable. I can't allow myself to be anything with this girl in front of me besides coworkers. I was just... admiring Jane's amazing work. Yeah. Y/N's stylist did a great job with this outfit. I'd be sure to tip her well later and give her a nicely sized holiday bonus when the time comes.

I pulled away from Y/N and looked at the fancy gold clock on the wall. The minute and hour hand each pointed at the time, and I calculated that we had 8 minutes until breakfast. I signaled for her to hurry it along, and then I started walking. After a bit I slowed down and then stopped from something that I saw. Jun-Ho...

He was right there in front of me, exactly how he was on that day... nothing was different or out of place. The left shoulder of his shirt still had a disturbance from the bullet... the one that came from my gun.

My breathing had hitched, and Y/N was right behind me. She put her hand on my shoulder lightly and started saying something, but I couldn't make out the words coming from her mouth. She sounded like she was above the surface while I was underwater, drowning.

Jun-Ho then looked to my right towards Y/N.

"Let her in..."

I swallowed. Let her in? What does he mean?

He turned back to me and gave me a lasting glance before he started to fade. I wanted him to stay, to stay and actually talk to me, but he didn't. He disappeared into thin air like a rainbow when it knew that it's beauty could not be shown for much longer. That's what he was like in life. A rainbow.

I then felt her shaking me. I snapped out of my own mind and looked at the girl. She seemed to be searching my eyes for something.

"Hey... what's wrong?" She questioned.

I looked at her, and I could not form the words. So, I did what I usually did. I walked away.

She, of course, followed me, which I expected. I tried to walk so fast that she wouldn't really be able to get close enough to talk to me but slow enough to where she didn't get too far from me and then get lost in the facility. In the end, she just ran up to my side. I can't say I was surprised. What did surprise me though was her not asking me what happened again. She just left it alone.

    I...appreciate... that about her. She seems to understand when people need their space, which not many people can do. Most others will just annoy you, hence why I hate people as a whole. There are some exceptions. Most of them are within these walls.

When we got to the door of the breakfast room, I opened it for her and she smiled in gratitude. It made me feel weird. It gave certain feelings that I would imagine gentlemen in the 1950's would have after being polite to a lady they are courting. Was that was this is? A courtship? It couldn't be... I don't ever like her- well- NO. No, I don't.

    Il-Nam had already stood up and started to hug Y/N while I was shaking these unwanted thoughts from my head. It was pathetic of me to even start thinking of a girl this way. There was no way I could continue.

    "You look marvelous, my child! I'm sure the VIP's will be impressed. Your stylist did an amazing job."

     Y/n thanked the old man for his kind words, and he let her go so she could go sit down at the table. He turned to me.

    "Ah, looking dashing as always!"

    Il-Nam came up to shake my hand and made a remark about how glad we must feel that it is the last game day. The girl across the room said that she definitely is. On the other hand, I don't really care that the VIP's are here. They are annoying sometimes, but they don't truly cause any harm. If it weren't for them, I would still be living my miserable life of a disgraced ex-cop and never would have gotten any new job with a record like that. Not to mention I wouldn't have met Y- no. I definitely would not miss her if I had started my life anew. Even if I got a second chance, I would definitely not miss her. Not even a little bit. I could miss her less- wait, or is it I couldn't miss her less? The latter...this is just aggravating.

    (Y/N's POV)

     Today we were having pancakes and sausage for breakfast. The former looked very golden brown and soft while the latter looked very well-seasoned and slightly charred. The sweet and savory smells were mixing together to form a delicious aroma. I noticed there was also a container of buttermilk syrup paired with a butter dish and glass of orange juice. Absolutely marvelous.

    The Front Man had come to sit already after having a similarly positive remark about his appearance today. He seemed to be more distant yet again after the incident with me having a not-so pleasant time with drinks. I'm sure it'll be okay with him... he'll get over it in time.

...

   The meal was done with, and us pair of current leaders parted ways with the previous Host. We were walking to the room we had been in the first day to check in with the cameras and workers. I hope he wouldn't do the same thing as last time, and if he did, I would surely become fed up and give him a piece of my mind.

     The dark room was the same as I remember. It had a buzz of urgency in the atmosphere because there certainly was a pressure to do everything correctly. If things didn't go smoothly, I'm sure that they'd find themselves on the wrong end of the Front Man's pistol. The thought made me chuckle. They would most likely not be able to make him see reason, either. I wonder how you could work under stakes like that. Or steaks... those should be for dinner.

    The same manager from the days prior came up to us, and we were promptly informed that the work was still continuing to be done and, thankfully, done well. I smiled graciously and looked around the room again. This room alone must have cost so much money. All the technology? There must've been so many computers. 100? That would already be about 35,000 dollars. The especially big expanse of players' tiles on the ground must be an unimaginable amount. I would give an estimate of 100,000-200,000$ for this place alone. I say dollars because won was still a challenge for me to convert to. I'm good at mental math, but those big numbers? No. I could do that on grocery store visits, but definitely not with those big prices,

    I was too caught up in my calculations to realize that the man beside me had left, so the only sign I got was a polite "excuse me" with a hesitant tap on my shoulder by the manager. He informed me that my partner was gone, and I awkwardly nodded a "thanks" before jogging out.

     Fortunately, he didn't leave me behind, and he was still in my line of sight out in the hallway. I approached him.

    "Why do you insist on being so rude? It's not hard to be kind. Or at least respectful," I chided.

    He grunted in response and quickened his pace as a makeshift punishment for my scolding. I huffed and caught up.

   "You're a meanie," I claimed.

   "And you're a child."

    I was surprised by the playful tone in his voice, but I didn't show it or overthink it too much. He would still hate me at the end of the day.