pretty flower | 강새벽

020

I take a shaky breath as the guard pulled out a ball, worried that our team would be next. The guard pulls out an identical ball, this time with the number 7 on it. 

"Team seven, please stand up." the square guard spoke. Hesitantly, team 7 stood up, looking around. I glanced over towards Deok-su, finding him smirking at the other team. A shiver ran down my spine as I watched the interaction. 

"Teams one and seven will play first. Teams one and seven, please enter the towers." 

The teams headed towards their designated towers and we all watched, not sure as to how we should feel. 

Once the teams made it to the top of the towers, each team grabbed onto their side of the rope, standing up and situating themselves. Two guards shook flags in sync a few times before walking off the towers. The square guard raised a pistol to the ceiling, pressing the trigger to indicate the start of the game. 

Yells began erupting from on top of the towers as the teams began pulling. I watched in awe as they pulled, the red flag in the middle barely moving. 

"Feet," I mutter, not realizing Mi-nyeo was close enough to hear me. 

"What?" she asks, looking down at me. 

"Don't worry about it. It was nothing." I say, watching the teams fight for dominance. 

More screams came from the towers, causing my attention to be drawn back upwards. The red flag that was in the middle of the rope was nearing Deok-su's team. The opposite team, team seven, was nearing the edge of their tower, screaming. 

"DIE!" Doek-su yelled as his team continued pulling on the rope.

Team sevens team members began falling to the ground of the platform, dragging the other members down as well. Deok-su's team continued pulling, causing team seven to fall off the platform with screams. 

Everyone who wasn't playing gasped as they fell and my eyes diverted to the yellow and black circle in between the two platforms. A large piece of metal fell through the circle, cutting the rope causing team seven to fall once again and Deok-su's team to fall to the ground of their platform. 

I take a shaky breath, still looking at the guillotine-like device that had cut the rope. The sound of beeping came from directly below the towers, where team seven had dropped. 

Eliminated players are numbers 245, 120, 037, 408, 027, 273, 058, 243, 327, 241. 

I watch as the guards set up a new rope, stringing it through the guillotine-like machine in the middle, the red flag sitting directly in the middle. 

"I will draw for the next round." the square guard spoke, snapping me out of the trance I was in. 

Just as before, the first guard pulled out the black balls with yellow letters painted onto them. 

"Team four." the square guard said as the ball was raised, revealing it to everyone. My heart stopped. My everything stopped. 

Sang-Woo stood up slowly, causing everyone else to stand up. I stand up with shaky legs, holding onto Mi-nyeo as I tried not to fall. 

"Team five." the square guard called, causing the team directly next to us to stand up. I looked towards them, finding the team solely composed of men, who were giving us smug looks on their faces. 

We had four women on our team, which now seemed like a disadvantage. 

"Fuck. It's a sausage fest." I hear Mi-nyeo mutter and my knees feel weak again. 

"We're going to die." I panic, my chest filling with fear. Anxiety filled my body and my body felt numb. 

I look back towards team five, looking more towards the back of the team, tears brimming my eyes as I tried to breathe.