BITTERSWEET, squid game

chapter five

AMARA COULD FEEL THE MELANCHOLIC ATMOSPHERE right to her bones as all the remaining players were taken back to the original place with the bunk beds. She scanned the crowd and realised that nearly half of the original people hadn't made it back, and that thought made her want to cry. She could even see a woman sobbing into her hands and a man, supposedly her husband, embracing her while they were sat with their backs to a bed, and him rubbing his hand up and down her arms in a futile attempt to comfort her.

A few moments later, the door to the room opened and the Pink Men filled in, which caused everyone to get up. The monotone voice said again, "Congratulations. You all just passed the first round. Firstly, I will announce the results of the first game."

"Four hundred and fifty six players participated in the first game, out of which, two hundred and fifty five were eliminated. The rest two hundred one that succeeded, are you, rightly so."

That was more than half of the original players. If Amara didn't mention this before, she certainly felt ready to curl into a corner and sob until her tears dried out.

And then, it started.

"Please, get us out of here!"

"I want to go home! I'd rather live with my debts than die here, trying to play some stupid game that people less than half my age play!"

"I have a child! So young, and unnamed! Please let me just go back and name my child! Let me leave, please!" This was player 212, Han Minyeo, as Amara remembered from the time she was displayed on the screen. Minyeo was on her knees with her arms folded, and was literally begging. Amara felt sad for her and her child, because there were chances that her unnamed child would become an orphan. That was one of the saddest things to ever happen to anyone, and Amara, whose parents had cut ties with her, understood how it was to live without your parents' support.

Amidst all the yells and pleads, Amara found her way towards Ali. He wasn't saying anything, but they both knew he wanted to get out of there, too. She held his hand in hers and squeezed it, trying and failing to get him calm; because how could a person give someone something that they didn't own?

The Pink Men pointed their guns at the crowd, and everything died down. Then, a man Amara recognized as Cho Sangwoo stood up. He came forward. "Clause three; the games may be terminated upon a majority vote. I have got that right, have I not?"

"Yes. You are right," Monotone Voice replied.

"And that means that if most of the members here agree to stop the game, then it will be stopped. Right?" he continued upon receiving the affirmation from the Pink Men.

A yes.

"We will cast a vote of the termination of the games, if you wish so. But consider this, players," Monotone Voice said, as one of the Pink Men pressed a button on a remote and a huge, golden piggybank that lit up the room with its golden light hung from the ceiling, like some sort of sick idea of a chandelier. Slowly, bundles of money fell into it.

"Since two hundred and fifty five players were eliminated in the first game, the total is a sum of 25.5 million won. This is so because a hundred won is at stake per member. If you wish the games to be terminated right now, this sum will be sent to the families of these eliminated members, and you will return home with nothing. However, if you continue playing, the winner at the end will be the sole holder of 45.6 million won. It is up to you whether to choose to continue or stay."

Now, this sent Amara into a dilemma. She badly needed the money. But she also was selfish enough to care about her own life, and she was pretty sure she wanted to go back home, the actual one, and see her brother.

But, she also thought about how her vote would affect each and every person's fate in the room. There might be people whose only last chance of survival in the cruel, money-minded world might be this, and they might actually be looking forward to the cash prize and clearing out their debt. And there were, obviously, people who had families and wanted to go back. If she voted to continue the games, then wouldn't they be stuck here for, practically, their whole lives?

"What are you going to do?" she asked Ali.

"Of course, I'll choose to end it. What about you?"

Amara wanted to say, bang my head on the wall, but of course she didn't actually say that out aloud.

☾

"As you can see, there is a voting podium in front of you. There are two buttons, one red and one green. Pressing the green would mean your favour to continuing the games, and pressing the red would mean your vote for terminating the same. We will commence the voting from the descending order. Player 456, please come forward and cast your vote."

That was the man with the long hair, or Seong Gihun, if she remembered correctly from the time the players were shown on the screen with their debt and the ddakji game. He came forward, his manner clearly showing he was hesitant. He stood for some time before the podium, and finally, pressed the red button.

Many people after him were called so, and Amara was not surprised to see that equal amount of people wanted the games to continue. However, what caused the confusion was when Player 212, Han Minyeo, the one with the unnamed baby, pressed green. Suddenly, all the sorrow that she had felt for her vanished. Amara wasn't sure if she ever would be a mother, but if she ever was one, she would never abandon her own child like that. And that too unnamed? How young was this child, exactly?

"Player 199, please cast your vote." Ali went forward and unhesitatingly pressed red. That was when Amara noticed it, on his left hand, his last two fingers looked like they'd been cut off. She debated whether it would be rude of her to ask him about it later, but before she knew it she was called.

"Player 123, please come forward and cast your vote."

And in that moment, she faced herself with the hardest decision of her life, and her dilemma of earlier came back. People were on the brink of death, in this place or out of it. 

She wanted to hit green. At that moment, paying off her debt seemed the most convenient option, because life wasn't better out there anyway. But was it worth the lives of so many people? She had studied law, and she knew even one vote mattered a lot. 

Then she thought about Ali. It was nonsensical how she had known him for such a small time, and yet her instincts screamed at her to protect him from everything. Maybe it was because she saw a glimpse of her own brother in him, she didn't know. But if she pressed green while he pressed red, she felt like she would break his trust.

And that moment, the fact that even one person trusted her or even didn't abandon her meant a lot, so for his sake, she pressed red. 

☾

IM SORRY FOR DISAPPEARING I SWEAR I DIDNT DIE OR SMTH. 

pls let me know your honest criticism/comments on the whole of this work, because i feel like i need to know how to improve. if you need me to add anything or change something or any scene ideas you can drop them too!!