All I Want| Squid Game

chapter 1

"You know I'm not mad, right?"

Min-ah's breath always caught there. "You should be."

"I'm not here for anyone else to know. I'm here for you."

And Min-ah — who could break bones without blinking, who once faced down a man with a gun pointed at her chest — would fold like paper at the sound of Jun-hee's voice.

°°°

The man begged.

They always did — near the end. This one was older, arrogant, still clutching his wrist like he could hold the bone together. His blood was dark and pooling on the floor, spreading like a shadow.

Min-ah watched him bleed. Eyes blank. Breathing calm. One gloved hand still wrapped around the pipe she'd used to knock him down.

"Didn't have to go this way," he rasped.

Min-ah tilted her head. "Then you shouldn't have run."

She moved closer, boots slick with someone else's panic.

"You stole from the wrong people. That's not my problem."

She crouched beside him. Clean. Patient.

Cold as glass.

"And your wife shouldn't have lied about your accounts."

He blinked. "You—"

She drove her elbow into his temple before he finished the sentence. He slumped, unconscious. Maybe worse.

Min-ah exhaled slowly, stood, and wiped her hands.

She didn't feel anything. Not regret. Not anger. Just... stillness. Like a lake with something dead under the surface.

Two hours later, she stood in the elevator of their building — sweat gone, clothes changed, the pipe wrapped in plastic and stashed behind a false wall.

She hit the 5th floor with her knuckle. Counted the seconds until the ding.

By the time she stepped inside the apartment, she was someone else.

Jun-hee looked up from the futon, hair in a lazy knot, oversized hoodie slipping off one shoulder.

"There you are."

Min-ah didn't speak. She just dropped her bag by the door and crossed the room in three quiet strides.

Jun-hee opened her arms without hesitation.

And Min-ah folded into them like it was instinct.

Jun-hee smelled like laundry detergent and cherry lip balm. Her fingers ran across Min-ah's shoulder blades like they were tracing old scars — which, in a way, they were.

"You're tense," Jun-hee murmured.

"Long shift," Min-ah said against her neck.

Jun-hee kissed her hair, hands steady. "I ran you a bath. It's still warm."

Min-ah didn't deserve her.

Not the warmth.

Not the patience.

She pressed her lips to Jun-hee's collarbone. Just once. Just enough.

"I'll be quick."

The bathroom light was dim. Steam clung to the mirror. Min-ah stripped, stepping into the water with practiced grace. Let the heat soak into her bruises.

She looked down at her own reflection — warped in the surface of the water.

Her knuckles were raw.

Her ribs ached.

But her chest hurt for other reasons.

By the time she returned, Jun-hee was curled up on the futon, flipping channels. Her face lit up when Min-ah climbed in beside her, towel-dried hair still damp.

Jun-hee tucked herself into her side like she always did, head resting on her shoulder.

"You always come back late when you're trying to protect someone," she whispered.

Min-ah didn't answer.

Didn't deny it either.

Just pulled her closer and let Jun-hee fall asleep against the same arms that had choked a man unconscious hours earlier.

Min-ah knew she had teeth.

She just didn't know what would happen the day she had to bare them for Jun-hee.

°°°

A/N: hiii! I hope you enjoy the first chapter!

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