BITTERSWEET, squid game

chapter seven

Gihun sighed in defeat. "I'm sorry for dragging you with me. I should've known it would be a waste," he said, sitting on a bench alongside the road.

"It's not your fault. Of course they wouldn't believe such a ridiculous tale," Amara replied, slightly bouncing her knee up and down next to him. She kicked the ground with her feet as yet another couple kissed. She paused when she realised that they were both girls. A smile found itself on Amara's face. 

"But seriously, why wouldn't they believe us? Do they think we're so jobless that— I mean, we are jobless— but that isn't the point. Anyway, so I wanted to say—" Gihun was cut off when he noticed the man who came towards them running. He stood before them, resting his hands on his knees, panting. Two people followed right after him.

"Found you!" he said, smirking so wide his lips might've fallen off. Instant fear washed over Amara as she found herself looking at them. The loan sharks. 

"And you are. . ?" Gihun looked skeptical, like even he realised who they were because of the similar mannerisms. 

The loan sharks turned to him, surprised at the new face. Well, they had to be. Amara never had much friends, and the loan sharks only ever happened to be around her when she was alone. 

"And what is it to you? By the looks of it, you look like a fraudster, just like her."

Amara came up with an idea to escape from them, and that idea made her sick to her stomach. What she was about to do was one of the cruelest and most unkind thing she could've ever done, and she mentally apologised to Gihun a million times for doing it. The Amara from two years ago would've never forgiven her for doing this. The Amara from two years ago wouldn't even have landed herself in this situation, and here she was, being chased by loan sharks in a country that she couldn't even call her own. No family to depend on, hardly any friends to rely on, this was what Amara Mazumdar had been reduced to, with her old self shackled in some dark, deep corner of her heart.

She ran.

While they were busy talking to Gihun, Amara did the worst possible thing ever to save herself; she ran. She couldn't help it. It was the perfect opportunity, given to her on a golden platter. She could hear Gihun's yells of her name, and the loan sharks close behind, but she had had a good head start. She ran in the direction that they had come from, remembering not to run off anywhere too far from her apartment. She had learnt from experience that the taxi fare was not something that would help her current situation. 

Then she spotted him, and went into an internal panic. Apparently, he noticed her too, and started sprinting towards her, which heightened her panic. She did a 90 and started running off in another direction. Amara guessed he wanted to speak to her or something, but she was totally not in the right situation or mood for it. 

Amara felt like she was in an episode of Tom and Jerry, with all those men chasing her.

Turns out Jerry was not fast enough, because Tom was right there, standing uptight in front of her. "Amara. Hi," he said. 

Junho. 

If Amara's life was a book, the chapter titled Junho was the best chapter. And one titled After Junho was the worst. A little while ago Amara had thought he was the epitome of everything that she had ever wanted in any person. And he was. He had cared for her better than anyone else. He had made her feel home in a place full of people that considered her alien. More than anything, he had loved her. 

"What do you want?" she asked. This was not how she wanted the day to go. Everything was happening altogether at jet speed and she wanted to cry. 

"That card. The card that you and that other guy had. What is it?" Junho asked, furrowing his eyebrows. He looked so worried that Amara had no other choice than to be concerned, but she was embarrassed and didn't want him to know why she had been in that place.

"What is this, some kind of delayed response? Because the last time I filed a complaint to you guys, we were kicked out and called a 'mental couple claiming some nonsensical bullshit'," Amara replied, panting because of all that running. 

Junho sighed. "I'm sorry for what they said. But they couldn't do anything else. What would you would have done if you were in that situation? Anyway, please tell me about that card. I need to know what it is. It's really important to me," he paused, taking a deep breath to compose himself. "It's about Inho. He's missing."

That one sentence hit Amara like a truck. Hwang Inho. Junho's older brother. Anyone who knew Junho knew that although he didn't idolise Inho, he cared for him deeply. Both of them were police officers, and Junho would approach Inho if he needed any help or advice. Inho being missing must be a big thing to Junho, and even though Amara didn't know him that well, he had been kind to her the first time they'd met. 

Plus, Amara had met Junho after so long. Although she wasn't his girlfriend anymore, this wasn't how she wanted their first conversation after such a long time to go. And she had no reason to be rude to him either.

"Okay, I'll tell you everything. But as of now, I'm being chased by four men who are probably double my age. Three of them have the intention of scooping my kidney out. So, can we get somewhere safer, first?"

The look on the policeman's face made it clear to Amara that he was taken aback. His expression morphed into a stoic one and he nodded. 

It was going to be one hell of a ride.

☾

THEY MET AKNJJKNCKSJCSKJ

i updated after so long omg