Molded

11: The Card Game

"Gi-ae! Come downstairs!" Sangwoo called out to you. Quickly, you ran down the stairs, seeing a strange man tied up and Bum sitting on the floor. Sangwoo had a stack of cards in his hands.

"We're playing Cops and Robbers. Join in."

"Oh! Fun!" You took a seat in the circle as Sangwoo continued explaining the game further. Once he had finished and given Bum the cards,  the game began.

The first round was always a practice round, a rule you had instated, so you weren't particularly worried. Nevertheless, Sangwoo sat behind you and watched over the game. You picked from the strange man, the strange man picked from Bum and Bum picked from you. Slowly, but surely, the game continued on with a nervous overtone. Then, you picked the bad card.

Immediately, Sangwoo leaned over, plucked the card from your hand and returned it to the stranger next to you.

"Wh-what?! That's not fair! She chose that card!" He whined, looking desperate.

"And I un-chose it for her. Deal with it." Sangwoo rolled his eyes and moved closer to the man.

"Dammit! Why the hell am I doing this?!" the man cried out, seemingly randomly. You stood up quickly and stood behind Sangwoo. This was the safest place, and you knew it.

"He's scary..." you whispered, as you wrapped your hands around Sangwoo's bare torso.

This irritated Sangwoo; after all, you had been enjoying this game and this man's screaming had made you recoil and revert back to being shy, a state that while adorable, made taking you out in public all the more difficult. He wanted you to feel safe around people. Safe enough at least, so that he didn't have to hold your hand the entire time. Not that he minded. This man needed a reminder of how to act.

"Stop acting like a little kid. This isn't your fucking playground." Sangwoo yanked the stranger's hair back

"Ah...uh...y-yes..." The guy stuttered out. Sangwoo released him and pushed you to go back to your spot.

"I don't want to be there anymore. He's scary." You whispered as you held on tighter to Sangwoo.

"Gi-ae, really, he won't hurt you. He's tied up for fuck's sake."

"Well I don't want to play with someone who yells like that. I'd rather go get some ice cream or something. Can't I just..." You cupped your hand around your mouth and his ear, "play the next round?"

"You know that mean's you forfeit, right, Gi-ae? You can't win now."

"That's okay. I just enjoy playing games with you Sang." You chirped sweetly. Sangwoo rolled his eyes playfully and kissed your cheek.

"Fine. Go get something sweet for us. But be quick about it." And with that you ran upstairs. Returning with a white bowl full of pink strawberry ice cream, you quickly sat down in your spot. Bum and Sangwoo however, were in the middle of something. "I said it was a practice round, didn't I?"

They always hate that. But it's not fair to play a game for real if no one knows it. And even if you do know it, it's nice to get a refresher. You thought cheerfully as you ate your frozen treat.

"This is the last round," Sangwoo announced.

"Ooooh! Alright! Nice!!" The man called out. You scowled in return. You didn't have a good hand this round and it didn't look like Sangwoo would be helping you out. The game once again progressed, this time with Bum looking substantially more worried. You on the other hand, simply ate through your ice cream and drew random cards.

Shit. He's going to lose. Thought Sangwoo. Not how I planned it. I'll have to help out. And so he did, by telling Bum which cards to pick. And the game progressed further and further, with the stranger muttering things about his wife and Bum getting a disturbingly... giddy... look on his face. You yawned. This was boring. Clearly, you weren't going to win or lose but you knew that Sangwoo would be mad if you quit again. Looking pointedly at him, you tried to signal your boredom.

When is he going to kill him? I'm already bored. I could use some serious entertainment. You pondered lazily.

She's getting bored, I can tell. Hmm. I'll have to spice things up a little for her. Sangwoo plotted. Ahh... I know what I'll do. Sangwoo motioned for Bum to pick the last card; the left one. It felt like time froze. The sheer look of panic fell off of the strangers face and slowly, he began to laugh.

Why is he laughing? Bum questioned to himself. Then, he looked at his card. The Joker.