Two big yellow doors opened and everyone stepped inside the game hall, revealing two tall yellow platforms. Each team stood behind their designated numbered sign, ours being 4, and inspected the room.
Instead of looking around the room like the latter, I watched a certain person as they continued talking with a smile to the girl we'd recruited.
I feel a slight tap on my shoulder and I turn around, finding the crazy lady with 212 printed on her clothes. "You're jealous about their relationship, aren't you?"
I roll my eyes and stare behind her, not answering her.
Was I jealous? She wouldn't leave, would she?
I watch them carefully, even more carefully as the girl places an arm around Sae's shoulder.
I didn't know her that well. We met during this stupid game. Why do I care so much? She probably only said what she did to get me to trust her. She probably never meant anything.
I sigh angrily, crossing my arms and glaring at the girl who had her digits on my belongings. I turn around at the sound of a masked man speaking.
"Welcome to the third game. This game is Tug-of-War. You will pull on a rope on that tower. Make your opponents fall and you win." the masked man spoke causing everyone to look around at each other.
I turn around once again, finding the girl staring at the back of Sae's head before looking away again.
"Now I will hold a draw to decide which team goes first." the masked man spoke again "Everyone, please sit down."
Everyone sat down around me, but I stayed standing up, staring at the masked man with a grim smile.
"Sun-Hi, sit down." I hear Sae whisper-yell from behind me. I turn around and look at her, before facing the masked man again. I bit the inside of my cheek, my face twitching slightly as I felt myself angering.
"Fine," I growl as I sit down, leaning against the crazy lady. The crazy lady loosely wraps her arms around my shoulders, placing her chin on top of my head. Her touch had a very motherly feel to it, only causing me to enjoy it more. It reminded me of my mother's hugs before she passed, the hugs she used to give every night or anytime I was feeling down. The hugs that were given when she was proud of me or when she missed me. Her hugs were the things I missed the most from her, most likely because they made me feel safe.
"You're still young, you will have so many opportunities to find love. Don't let yourself break due to one person, you need to remember that you are more important." the crazy lady said, causing me to smile.
"Thank you, Miss?" I ask, tilting my head up so I could see her face.
"Mi-nyeo. Han Mi-nyeo." She smiled, causing me to feel safe again. Something about her, even though she seemed like a crazy lady, was kind and just misunderstood.
"I will draw for the team on the left tower." The masked man spoke again, signalling the plan on his right to place his hand in the black box in front of him. The circle guard on the left pulled out a black ball with the number 1 on it.
"Team one, please stand up." the square man said. Team 1, which was Deok-su's team, stood up. I felt Mi-nyeo's grip tighten slightly as Deok-su stood up.
"You're too good for him." I look up at Mi-nyeo again, and she nods with a slight smile.
"Next, I will draw for the team on the right tower." the square guard spoke again, signalling the other circle guard to plunge his hand into the yellow box in front of him.
I take a shaky breath as the guard pulled out a ball, worried that our team would be next. The guard pulls out an identical ball, this time with the number 7 on it.
"Team seven, please stand up." the square guard spoke. Hesitantly, team 7 stood up, looking around. I glanced over towards Deok-su, finding him smirking at the other team. A shiver ran down my spine as I watched the interaction.
"Teams one and seven will play first. Teams one and seven, please enter the towers."
The teams headed towards their designated towers and we all watched, not sure as to how we should feel.
Once the teams made it to the top of the towers, each team grabbed onto their side of the rope, standing up and situating themselves. Two guards shook flags in sync a few times before walking off the towers. The square guard raised a pistol to the ceiling, pressing the trigger to indicate the start of the game.
Yells began erupting from on top of the towers as the teams began pulling. I watched in awe as they pulled, the red flag in the middle barely moving.
"Feet," I mutter, not realizing Mi-nyeo was close enough to hear me.
"What?" she asks, looking down at me.
"Don't worry about it. It was nothing." I say, watching the teams fight for dominance.
More screams came from the towers, causing my attention to be drawn back upwards. The red flag that was in the middle of the rope was nearing Deok-su's team. The opposite team, team seven, was nearing the edge of their tower, screaming.
"DIE!" Doek-su yelled as his team continued pulling on the rope.
Team sevens team members began falling to the ground of the platform, dragging the other members down as well. Deok-su's team continued pulling, causing team seven to fall off the platform with screams.
Everyone who wasn't playing gasped as they fell and my eyes diverted to the yellow and black circle in between the two platforms. A large piece of metal fell through the circle, cutting the rope causing team seven to fall once again and Deok-su's team to fall to the ground of their platform.
I take a shaky breath, still looking at the guillotine-like device that had cut the rope. The sound of beeping came from directly below the towers, where team seven had dropped.
Eliminated players are numbers 245, 120, 037, 408, 027, 273, 058, 243, 327, 241.
I watch as the guards set up a new rope, stringing it through the guillotine-like machine in the middle, the red flag sitting directly in the middle.
"I will draw for the next round." the square guard spoke, snapping me out of the trance I was in.
Just as before, the first guard pulled out the black balls with yellow letters painted onto them.
"Team four." the square guard said as the ball was raised, revealing it to everyone. My heart stopped. My everything stopped.
Sang-Woo stood up slowly, causing everyone else to stand up. I stand up with shaky legs, holding onto Mi-nyeo as I tried not to fall.
"Team five." the square guard called, causing the team directly next to us to stand up. I looked towards them, finding the team solely composed of men, who were giving us smug looks on their faces.
We had four women on our team, which now seemed like a disadvantage.
"Fuck. It's a sausage fest." I hear Mi-nyeo mutter and my knees feel weak again.
"We're going to die." I panic, my chest filling with fear. Anxiety filled my body and my body felt numb.
I look back towards team five, looking more towards the back of the team, tears brimming my eyes as I tried to breathe.
"Team four and team five, please enter your towers." the square guard spoke again, his tone sounding even crueller this time.
Sang-Woo began walking, everyone following him. Mi-nyeo nudges me slightly, but I don't move.
"You need to go." She whispers, nudging me again. I shake my head no, stubbornly.
Mi-nyeo sighs and lets go of me, walking away with small glances towards me. I stay standing there, watching as my team starts walking towards the tower.
If a player refuses to play, they will be eliminated.
The player consent form flashed through my mind and I felt my palms get sweaty.
"Sun-Hi, come on." Sae wraps her arm around my waist, pulling me with her. She didn't give me a choice as we walked, not letting go of me as we walked.
I wasn't sure if I was supposed to be mad at Sae or not, but at this moment, she made the fear dissipate slightly.
I nod my head and start walking, feeling Sae's grip loosen on me slightly as she steps behind me, holding onto my shirt.
We caught up with the rest of the team and just as we did, we passed Deok-su and his team.
"What a shame. I wanted to kill you guys myself." Deok-su snicked as he passed.
"Yes, it is a shame. Because I would've enjoyed watching you hopelessly dangling from the rope after we won." I spat back, regaining my normal attitude.
Deok-su scoffs and keeps walking, not saying anything afterwards. As Deok-su passed Mi-nyeo, I watched the look on her face, knowing it all too well. It was the same look I gave Sae not too long ago. The look of betrayal. The look of true pain.
We continue walking until we are stopped inside a yellow, metal elevator. As soon as Sae stepped in, the doors closed. Everyone turned to face the door and the elevator shook, causing panic to fill my body again. Something about the unsteady shaking that could drop at any moment, was terrifying.
"Don't be discouraged." the old man spoke causing everyone to look at him generously "Tug-of-War isn't about strength."
"Than what? Can we win by talking?" a man from our team spoke, 196 printed on his clothes.
"He's right." I stutter, the looks drawing towards me "You can win Tug-of-War with strategy and teamwork."
"The only one who can save us now is the Lord." 244 spat, not allowing anyone to elaborate.
"You're barely standing, old man. And you're a child. Stop talking nonsense and save your strength." 196 spoke again, looking at the old man.
"Let's hear them out at least," Gi-Hun explains, leading to a few nods.
"I've done my share of Tug-of-War in my hometown when I was young, and I rarely lost." The old man says "Even when there was a ssireum athlete on the other team, putting the odds very much against us. Listen closely, and I'll tell you how I beat them back in the day. First off, the leader is very important. That person gets close to the face of the opposition's leader, and the rest of the team looks at the leader's back. If the leader seems weak or dispirited, then the game is already over. Then at the end of the rope, you'll need someone dependable, like the anchor of a ship. How you place people is also important. One left one right. Alternate with the rope in the middle."
As we get onto the tower, we all comply with what the old man was telling us, doing just as he told us. "Place both feet parallel to each other, and hold the rope in your armpit. That way, you can put in all your strength. And lastly, this is the most important thing. When the game starts, for the first ten seconds, you just have to hold out. You should practically lie down. Push your abdomen to the sky, and bend your head back. So that you can almost see the groin of the person behind you. It's almost impossible to get pulled in then. Hold out just for ten seconds like that. Then the opposition team will get flustered thinking, 'why won't they even budge? '. They probably believed they were much stronger. If you hold out for that long, there will come a moment when the opponents' rhythm slips."
Everything he had said was true and was working perfectly. The only thing that the old man hadn't mentioned, was the leather cuffs that wrapped around our wrists, keeping us connected with the rope.
We were all lying backwards, the rope firmly staying still until Gi-Hun quickly yelled out, causing us all to straighten up again. "Pull!" he yells, and we start pulling as hard as we could. Gi-Hun's sudden words indicated that the other team had slipped. We all pulled aggressively in sync, our hips and arms thrusting as we pulled.
"Get your shit together!" I heard someone from the other team yell as they pulled the rope towards them again. We didn't stop pulling, still moving together as a team. The other team then began pulling again, causing our team to move closer to the middle.
"Do something, god damn it!" Mi-nyeo yells fearfully.
"Pull yourselves together and listen up!" Sang-Woo yells, but before he can say anything else, I blurt out a plan.
"We need to take three steps forward, at the same time!" I yell.
"Forward are you crazy?" Mi-nyeo yells.
Sang-Woo speaks up again "That's what I was going to suggest! It'll make them trip!"
"That's bullshit!" Mi-nyeo cries.
"You need to trust us! It's worth giving it a shot. If we fail, we're going to die anyway. We might as well try something and I don't hear any other ideas." My face hardens.
"Let's give it a shot!" Gi-Hun yells, still pulling.
"I can't!" Mi-nyeo cries.
"If you can't, we're all going to die!" I've given up on being empathetic.
"On the count of three! One! Two! Three!" Sang-Woo counts and all together, we take three steps forwards. The other team falls to the ground of their tower, and I watch as Gi-Hun as one leg left not dangling over the edge of our tower.
"Pull!" I yell, queuing everyone to pull again. Everyone pulled and Gi-Hun regained his balance back onto the tower. The other team was on the ground which helped us majorly. We kept pulling, still struggling as the other team tried to stand up and pull, but fell back again, causing them to pull again slightly.
We keep pulling, and I tip my head sideways, glancing at the other team as they neared the edge of their tower.
My ears are ringing with the sounds of grunts coming from around me as we continue pulling, eventually, I can't hear anything anymore. I can still see everyone, I can see people opening their mouths and yelling, but I still couldn't hear.
We keep pulling, and I watch as the other team reaches the edge of their tower, falling off but staying connected to the rope. They dangled from the rope and we start being pulled forward at the weight of them. Gi-Hun's foot reaches the edge once more before the guillotine-like machine cuts the rope, sending us backwards harshly.
We all fall backwards and just stay there. Some landed on top of others whilst others stayed laying on their side of the rope. I happened to be one of the few that landed on top of someone else.
As I fell, I felt a pair of hands grab onto the back of my shirt, pulling me back even more. When I landed, my head hit someone's warm stomach, resulting in the person flinching before relaxing completely. Their hand runs their fingers through my hair and I feel the tears welling up in my eyes once again.
What an amazing time to be having flashbacks.
My breath shakes and I still can't hear properly. Instead of complete silence, the ringing came back into my ears and I could hear muffled sounds coming from around me.
"Sun-Hi?" I hear enough to make out who it was.
"Sae?" I cry, wanting to wrap my arms around her, but my body was numb and sore and my wrists were still trapped by the cuffs.
I look down at my wrists and try to release my arms, but fail, causing panic to arise again. Sae runs her fingers in my hair loosely again, inching towards my face and cupping my cheek to the best of her abilities.
"You're okay. We're okay." She pants, just as tired as everyone else. I nod my head slightly, closing my eyes and listening to the sound of breathing from around me.
I released a breath harshly, not realizing I was holding it, to begin with.
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