A series of losses and harsh slaps later, you bewilderingly gazed at the well-dressed man before her. She was now 200,000 won richer and you couldn't help the way that your lips tugged upwards in a triumph grin.
"I did it, finally!" you cheered enthusiastically. The adrenaline had caused you to ignore the stinging sensation on your cheek. A new, evident hand print replaced the fading one, being way more prominent than the old one due to the numerous times you were struck by his hand.
The 'salesman' clasped his hands in front of him, smiling lightly at you as you proudly commended herself for your achievement. "I suppose we could call it a game." He took another thing from his pocket and extended his arm out, beckoning for you to take it.
Your smile quickly dropped as you took a step back, your eyes narrowing in suspicion. "Woah, wait. What is this? You just said we were done."
He said nothing and gestured for you to take the card again, but when he realized that you weren't making a move to retrieve the item from his grasp, he began speaking. "If you wish to make more money, then I suggest taking this into consideration. Join these games, we haven't got much openings remaining and you can garner a fortune by participating."
Hesitantly, you took the card out of his hand, continuing to warily glance at him. "This is.. legitimate?" you softly questioned as you skeptically analyzed the object in your hand. He responded by giving you a firm nod before he began to pack his belongings into the briefcase. You were still dwelling over the legitimacy of the man before you, pondering if he was just some sort of scammer.
Yeah, he definitely is.
Etched on the back of the card is three geometrical shapes; a triangle, a square, and a circle. While the front has numbers engraved into it. A cell phone number, presumably. You bit down on your bottom lip as she stared at the card, not realizing that the man was already beginning to walk away.
"Think it over," he called over his shoulder and you lifted your head up to watch his retreating figure as he entered the subway. "You wouldn't want to be awake most nights wondering what could've been, do you?"
Once he was out of sight, you brought your attention back to the money in one hand and the card in the other. With furrowed brows, you appeared to be lost in thought as you contemplated over the enticing offer.
———————————
"No, I'm totally serious, [F/N]," you laughed as you exits the shop the next day. Three bags were occupying your hands and your cellular device was placed between your shoulder and ear as you talked to your friend on the other line. "This random guy came up to me yesterday and said if I play some games, I can make money or whatever."
"Isn't that some sort of scheme?" [F/N] questioned curiously. "I mean, are you sure you won't end up dying?"
You hummed. "Uh, I suppose that's a possibility, yes.. but, I'll most likely die either way. Didn't I tell you one of the sharks tracked me down the other day at work?"
You heard your friend let out a startled gasp. "[Name]! Why didn't you call me right away?! Were you hurt?!"
"I'm fine, but he gave me a limit of two weeks to get the money.. who knows how long it'll be before another one catches up to me," you shuddered at the thought, making your way towards the bank to deposit the rest of the money that was left after buying your niece some new clothes. "As much as I'm wary about it, I think this could be a golden opportunity for me if it's real!"
[F/N] groaned. "I might as well be fifty at this point. I'm going to get grey hairs from worrying about you all the time."
You playfully rolled your eyes. "Well, you don't need to constantly worry about me. I told you, I'm—?"
You didn't finish your sentence as your regard became fixated on the sight that unraveled before you. You stared as a man ran into a younger woman and the two of them got knocked down. The man scrambled to his knees, profusely apologizing for the collision and picked up her fallen drink and straw, handing the items back to her before he widened his eyes.
You curiously glanced to what his frightened eyes were locked on and saw some other men running towards him. He clambered to his feet and quickly jetted away, without sparing anymore regard to the woman he'd knocked over, the other men hot on his tail.
"—[Name]? Hello? Are you there?!"
"Oh." You didn't realize you had detached from the call and quickly responded to your worried friend. "Sorry, I zoned out."
You were about to take another step forward, but halted once you saw the other girl had pocketed some money that obviously wasn't hers. When the fallen girl detected your gaze, you quickly turned away as if you hadn't seen anything and began walking again, chatting to [F/N].
———————————
"[G/N]!" You called out once you entered your home, closing the door behind you and taking off your coat and shoes. "Guess what I bought!"
The younger girl emerged from the bedroom the two of you shared and excitedly began bouncing up and down when she noticed the bags in your hands. Though, when she realized that the contents inside were clothes, she lightly frowned.
"I told you I didn't need any clothes," she said.
You hooked one of her eyebrows upwards, placing the bags on the table. "What? But you said you wished your schoolmates would stop bullying you for those ones?"
She nodded to confirm. "Yeah, but you didn't have to waste your money on me, Auntie. I'm alright."
"[B/N] pitched in to help buy you these," you grinned, taking a sweater out and holding it on display for your niece to look at. "Isn't it cute?"
[S/N] nodded again, though hesitantly this time. "Yeah, I guess.. but how much did these cost? [B/N] said you borrowed money from people, so you should've used the money to give it back."
You frowned as [B/N] walked out of his room with a deadpan. "[G/N], don't be worrying about that," he told her. "We're fine. If [Name] wants to make stupid mistakes, let her."
You lightly glared at your nephew. "What has gotten into you lately?" you muttered, handing the sweater to the younger girl. "It's like you're going through puberty all over again."
[B/N] scoffed, rolling his eyes. "However you earn money shouldn't affect our little sister negatively," he then eyed the items suspiciously. "I didn't give you that much. How did you afford all of this?"
"I earned some more," you replied with a small shrug. "Yesterday, at the subway."
The younger male didn't respond, instead he scavenged through the items and happily showed the clothing you had purchased to [S/N]. "If you have any more trouble at school with bullies, tell them that I'll fight their older siblings."
[G/N] giggled as you watched their interaction with softened eyes.
He then told her to go put her new clothes away and she happily skipped into the bedroom that she you. [B/N] then turned to skeptically analyze you. "Another loan shark?"
"No," you frowned. "I earned it, I said."'
[B/N] pondered over your words for a few seconds before staring at her with disgust. "Did you.. [Name]! You're so gross!"
"What?!" you gasped. "How dare you assume that, you sick minded freak! Why are teenaged boys so perverted?! I played a game with a salesman and earned that money. Nothing more, nothing less."
"Whatever," [B/N] said. "I'm going out. You don't need to save me a plate for dinner tonight, I'll probably stay the night at a friend's place."
"Wait, you have school tomorrow—!" you attempted to argue, but got responded with silence from the boy as the door slammed shut. You groaned, placing your face in your palms.
———————————
The day quickly faded into nighttime and you were now laying down on the bed that you shared with your niece. [G/N] snored softly as you stared blankly at the ceiling. You then turned her head to look at your sleeping niece, the serene expression on the young girl's face unconsciously you smile.
I can't sleep.
You sat up and adjusted yourself so that your legs were hanging off the side of the bed. Your eyes glossed over to the card on the top of your nightstand and you pursed her lips. You turned to look once again at the young girl, gnawing on your bottom lip— which was a habit of yours.
Fuck it.
You snatched the card from the table and took your phone off of the charger, standing up and quietly making your way out of the room. You closed the bedroom door, ensuring [G/N] was still fast asleep. You entered the bathroom and unlocked your device, dialing the number engraved on the card.
When it started ringing, you held the phone up to your ear and patiently waited for the other line to pick up.
"Hello," the voice on the other line spoke, "who's calling?"
"Uh, hi," you hesitantly said. "I was given a business card with this number on it."
"Do you wish to participate in the game?" You furrowed your eyebrows cautiously, a little weirded out. "If you wish to participate, please state your name and birthdate."
". . ." you paused for a few seconds, before internally sighing. "[Surname] [Name]. [Birthday]."
———————————
Standing in the area you were told to be at, you pulled your coat tighter over your shivering body. After another few moments of standing there, a white van pulled up and you knitted your eyebrows together in a confusing manner. The van halted in front of her.
"[Surname] [Name]?" You hesitantly bobbed your head in confirmation. "Password?"
"Uhm.. Red light, green light?"
The backdoor of the vehicle slid open, revealing random people sleeping in the backseats.
Okay, this isn't weird at all.
You reluctantly climbed into the vehicle and the door automatically closed beside you once you were situated in the seat. You looked over at the driver and blinked, processing if your vision was messing with her or not.
The driver wore a red hooded jacket with matching pants and a black mask, but the thing that stood out to you the most was the gas mask placed on his face. Before you were able to utter a word, gas began spewing out of the air vents.
You widened your eyes and worriedly began to gloss around around, accidentally inhaling the smoke, forcing your vision to slightly blur. Gradually, blackness began evading your perception before it fully took over and you unwillingly succumbed to unconsciousness.