457 - RETURN: How it should have ended.

#4 A game inside a game

But when I was honest with myself, I had never truly intended to kill him.

"My goal is and must be to save lives. Lives I care about. Lives your brother took.", I started slowly, "But killing him won't stop the games; I learned that the hard way, trust me. So I rather intend... preventing him from whatever plan he had with me. I mean... he kept me alive, even saved me multiple times until the end. He even broke his own rules to give me a chance to exit that thing alive. But..."

Now my memories had flipped to the downside of it all, making me re-live the moments when I thought my heart had shattered in there, showing me the devastating truth I couldn't run away from.

"He killed innocent people. Acted like he was my friend just to reveal his true identity later, undoubtedly for the only reason of breaking me down to the core. To make me lose my beliefs in humanity, to erase everything good inside of me."

Jun-ho nodded deliberately. "And now you're going to take revenge?"

Did I want revenge? 

Partly, yes. I wanted justice. But most of all, I wanted to rebuild my credibility, show them that I was right  all along, prove all of those bastards wrong who had laughed about me.

No, it wasn't just revenge. It was also a question of pride. And the urge to see what was really behind the facade of that man who had fooled us all.

Yes, he had betrayed us, murdered some of his own guards as well as Jung-bae, leaving us in the games like he wasn't one of us – but strangely, he wanted me  to live. Me and the baby. And then in those last seconds before life had left my body, his walls had shattered, allowing those tears to wet his eyes. And still I didn't get it.

"I'll do the same to him that he did to me. I'll throw him, fluster him, completely shatter every sense of logic he thought he had. He thinks I'm a pawn on his chessboard, some entertainment he can toss around. But not anymore. This time, I know  things. I'll keep upsetting him until he questions his own beliefs, the ways his sick and twisted mind works. Until in the end I'll reveal to him that I knew his identity all along. That I was the one in control while he thought himself safe inside of his murder-place. And for that reason, I need to know everything there is to know about Hwang In-ho. His weaknesses, his sore spots, his beliefs. What he likes. What he hates. What drives him insane. Everything."

There was a pause after I had ended and Jun-ho nodded. "I see."

"He thinks he knows me, that I'm easy to manipulate. But I'll beat him with his own weapons. He thinks I'm the incarnation of innocence and naive kindness. But I'm done playing nice. This time I won't shrink back, this time I'll know who the real enemy is."

Maybe it sounded cruel – but I meant it. I had enough of being the reasonable one, I wanted those punished  who deserved it. And if I threaded it cleverly enough, Frontman himself would help me with that plan.

Jun-ho hesitated as his natural drive to protect his family was probably screaming at him to not agree to anything that could endanger his brother in the slightest – but that brother was a menace and he knew it.

"I'm with you, Seong Gi-hun. Just tell me how I can help you."

"First we send the crew out to look for Park Jung-bae and Kim Jun-hee, if by chance they are anywhere to be found. Maybe we can prevent them from entering the games in the first place. And then..." I paused, giving Jun-ho a meaningful look, "then talk to me. Tell me everything about the man who was your brother."

***

Halloween Night

The air inside the club was thick - an overwhelming mix of incense, alcohol, and smoke from fog machines. Blue and purple lights spilled from chandeliers on the ceiling, slithering down like ghostly fingers, casting a cold shimmer on masked faces. Too many.