CHAPTER 21: MARBLES.
I suggest playing the song (to get in the moment, pls try it lolol) once you see: 🎶🎶🎶
Song: Save Myself (Ed Sheeran.)
"the time for finding a partner is now over."
Y/n took a deep breath as Kenji beside her clapped his hands together.
"you guys, you're all making a big mistake! Do you really think you can win without me on your team? It's me, Han Mi-Nyeo!"
"poor thing, anyways let's go." Kenji said, grabbing Y/n's wrist,
"wait!" Y/n looked at Ji-Yeong and Sae Byeok, as they just walk right pass her, Ji-Yeong giving her a slight wave.
Y/n bit her lip and looked down, "wow, god must hate me." she whispered,
Kenji clenched his jaw, "let's go, Y/n."
"but what about her?" she asked, pointing at Mi-Nyeo.
"she'll be fine."
◾◾◾
Sae Byeok's POV.
Mi-Nyeo's voice echoed through the walls, Ji-Yeong looked down.
"it really sucks not getting to talk to Y/n..." she whispered,
I rolled my eyes, well she has company with her.
"dude fuck off!" I saw her whisper shout at Kenji,
Looks like she can handle her wound...
Hasn't she lost a lot of blood already?
It's like the both of us didn't even existed in each other's worlds, with the way the both of us are acting now.
I just hope we finish this round all in one piece,
A guard went in front of me and Ji-Yeong, as he started walking with us following.
I kept looking at the guard, just in case he gets any ideas of killing us,
We suddenly stopped at a small stairway from this neighbourhood looking setup,
"players, please take one bag each from the staff member before you."
The guy in front of us handed us a little pouch, that has...
Marbles?
"there should be a set of ten marbles in each bag. Please check and confirm the number."
"what's this for?" Ji-Yeong asked,
I counted the marbles one by one,
Looks like we're going around this town, I guess to battle with the other teams? And try to get their marbles?
That's means...
I have to battle with Y/n?
"in this game, using your set of ten marbles, you will play the game of your choice with your partner."
What?
Me and Ji-Yeong looked at each other,
"the player who manages to take all ten marbles from their partner, wins."
Oh fuck,
I looked down and closed my eyes,
"you will have thirty minutes for this game, let the game begin."
Ji-Yeong sat down on the stairs as I lay my back on the wall,
How the fuck are we suppose to do this?
"since the Korean War, nothing has been this sad. Tragic."
I took a deep breath, not even giving her a glance.
"what should we play then?" I asked her,
"wow. You're so cold, as cold as ice." she said, making me look down.
Am I that cold?
"so you a spy from the North or what?"
Alright I've had enough of that spy shit, "hey, stop the dumbshit."
"what game are we going to play?" I asked her making her stop,
I don't wanna deal with anything that's outside this games right now,
Whoever dies between me and Ji-Yeong right now, dies.
"you tell me. These boomers know all these games. Ten marbles, then we can create our own game. I'll try to come up with one." she said as she looked at her bag of marbles.
I wonder how they're doing...
Ji-Yeong suddenly shot up her head, "so let's, end the game in one round."
My eyes widen, looking at her.
Is she serious right now?
"all or nothing. A simple bet."
This is imposible, she's imposible!
"don't tell me that you would rather do what they are?" she pointed at the other players that were behind the wall playing some kind of game,
She has a point, "okay. Playing what then?"
She chuckled, "why are you in such a hurry? You're just dying to kill me, huh?"
I looked away,
No.
It's not like that,
I just don't kill people just like that, I barely even killed anyone here.
And if there was, I did it to defend myself.
"we're just playing one round here, and we got time left too. Let's wait till the end."
"what are we gonna do before then?"
"talk."
"about what, though?" I asked her, my head still facing the ground,
It's either she or I die today,
"things we never told anybody about, I guess. One of us is gonna die here, so... Doesn't matter what we tell each other. No one can really embarrass themselves anymore." she looked at me,
"okay?"
Fine.
◾◾◾
"why did you come here from the North?" Ji-Yeong continued to ask me,
"I thought things were good over here." I guess I was wrong,
This is way worse.
The only good thing that has happened to me here was when I found a place where Cheol could stay at,
And meeting... Y/n.
"and so, were you right?"
No, obviously. How the hell is this better from what we experienced back there?
"your family, are they here with you?"
They were supposed to be.
"just my brother."
"your parents?"
....
A lump in my throat started to form, as I gripped on my bag.
"my father got shot trying to swim across the boarder and drowned. And our mother," I took a stop,
The last time I felt this vulnerable was when me and Y/n fought, when I was with Cheol and when I told Y/n all of these.
"she was hiding in China and got sent back once the immigration agents found her."
"where is your brother now, then?"
He should've been beside me, he should be beside me but he isn't.
"in a shelter."
"and your feelings for Y/n? When are you going to tell her that?"
"if I get out of here."
She looked at me,
What?
What did I sa-
What?
"and your feelings for Y/n? When are you going to tell her that?"
"If I get out of here."
M-my feelings for Y/n...
Our memories suddenly flashed before my eyes...
*FLASHBACKS*
"HEY! WOLFCUT! GET OUT THE WAY OR ARE YOU PLANNING TO GET RAILED?!"
"hey! I told you to move, are you oka-"
"Woah are you gonna rob me?"
"wanna go check my RV out?"
"welcome to my humble home!"
~~~
"I'm Y/n, Y/n L/n."
"Kang Sae Byeok."
~~~
"Y/n we might get kicked out-"
"it's not like we're doing something illegal" again", Sae"
~~~
"hey Sae?"
"yeah?"
"I'm happy I met you tonight."
"And I hope you find whatever it is you're looking for, or get the things you want. Remember that I'm always rooting for you :)"
"good luck out there Sae, I admit I'm going to miss having a companion even after being with you for a couple hours hehe. But anyways, whenever you need a place to sleep at, or even someone to point a knife at for fun, me and my RV is always travelling and I don't mind travelling back to you."
"Safe travels, Y/n. Good night,"
~~~
"take this with you or I'm running over you with this RV :)"
"thank you, RV girl."
*FLASHBACK OVER. *
"hey, are you okay? You zoned out..." Ji-Yeong called my attention,
Oh shit...
Am I-
inlove?
"I'm surprised you answered that question so suddenly, I thought you'd hesitate." Ji-Yeong chuckled,
That's not what's in my mind right now,
Fuck.
I'm inlove with Y/n.
I love her.
I fucking fell for her.
~~~
"if you were really my friend you'd understand!"
"well then I guess you're right! I DON'T UNDERSTAND."
~~~
"you know what, let's do another question. If you win the money and get out of here what's your plan then?"
R-right... My plans.
"I did this to get a house where I could be with my brother first. Then I'll get our mother out of the North."
I heard her chuckle, "Hey, with a price that big, you can do a whole lot more than that. You gotta want something else too. Is there anywhere you wanna go?"
I looked down, well there's this place...
"Jeju Island."
"Jeju Island?"
I nodded,
I've heard there's a lot of sights to see there, I'd like to take my family there.
And maybe... If I-i can,
I'll take Y/n and Ji-Yeong with me too.
"there was a thing about it on TV. It looked exotic, it didn't looked like Korea at all."
"hey, don't you think you should dream bigger, huh? Do Hawaii, hold on. Go to the Maldives for a while instead! And have a mojito, too."
~
"it's not like I had a choice! And it was the first thing it came to mind. Good thing those food were stuffed in my tummy, so it looked more believable! Also, I grabbed us some drinks! Mojitos!"
~
"Mojito?" I asked Ji-Yeong,
"like the movie, Lee Byung-hun's in it. "go to Mojito, and have a glass of Maldives." really?" she quoted with a chuckle, shaking my head.
"oh no, we gotta fix that then. Well, once we're out of here, we'll have a girls night out ane make Mojitos and everything, okay?"
Ji-Yeong....
I looked down,
That's impossible right now, with our situation, only a miracle can save us.
And I'm not one to dream, nor even hope for anything after all that's happened to me.
"oh, we can't both get out of here. E-even Y/n." she looked down with a smile,
I looked at the clock,
10 minutes were left...
"when did you realise you were inlove with her?" Ji-Yeong asked me, changing the subject.
Just now. I realised it just now, WHEN THERE'S A CHANCE THAT I MIGHT LOSE HER RIGHT NOW.
It's the end for me.
I still don't trust that Kenji, he might have saved me last time, but I-
I still don't trust him with her, I was about to answer Ji-Yeong but the player in front of us suddenly got shot.
"player 2, eliminated."
"you ever have to see anyone die before those?"
"Once, we have a hue plague go through my town when I was a kid. As time went on, more and more towns got sick and died. Soldiers started carrying the dead into piles and lit them into fire. That's jow my grandpa, grandma, and older brother all died. They're burned them, together."
I-i thought I couldn't handle telling these stories to someone,
I didn't even get to mention them to Y/n, because it still hurt.
But that's what you do when you lose someone you love, you live on and accept it.
"damn, your stories a bit too dark even for me."
"and you? What have you seen?" I asked her,
I guess Ji-Yeong isn't that bad, maybe that's why her and Y/n got close, she's a great listener.
She suddenly got quiet, as we both heard another gunshot.
"first body I saw, my mother's."
"One day, I came back from school, and my mom was lying there, dead on the floor. And next to her, was my so called dad with a knife. The next body I saw... That was my dad's."
What?
So she-
"and the person standing there holding the knife... That was me. He was goddamn pastor too. And when he hit her then did the things he did to me, he would talk to God. He'd always ask for forgiveness. He didn't pray that day after he killed her. I was too mad he even forgot, I guess. "
We've spent a little more time talking until I realised I haven't asked her yet,
"what are you gonna do if you win all that money and get out?"
"I don't know what I would do, someone was waiting, at the prison the day I got out. I thought he was a creditor who came to collect my dad's debt. But he pulled out a card, that weird card. I had no where else to go, so I never thought about what I'd do if I got the money. "
It's the same man I met...
"how about going with you and Y/n to Jeju Island?"
She forgot one of us is going to die.... Again.
I felt my heart ache, even if Ji-Yeong and I just got close, I can't help but feel emotional that someone between us is going to stop here.
"sorry, I forgot again..."
I haven't heard Y/n nor Kenji's numbers yet, what the hell are they doing?
"I wonder how's Y/n and Kenji out there, they haven't announced their numbers yet."
3 minutes were left, I stood up and took a deep breath.
🎶🎶🎶
"let's do this." Ji-Yeong smiled at me and nodded.
"whoever throws one over there, and makes the shot that comes closest to the wall, wins. How's that?"
I nodded.
It's now or never.
"We met the same night the man gave me the card." I told her, she looked at me.
"what?"
"how me and Y/n met. We met the same night."
"the same night? I guess you guys are really meant to be."
"thanks, Ji-Yeong." I looked at her and gave her a little smile,
"I'm proud of you." she told me and patted my back.
"who should go first, then?"
"it should be your turn, since your number is lower."
I went down, and threw my marble.
It's close, that's-
Great...
She went next, as I looked down.
Ji-Yeong took a deep breath and looked at her marble,
As she suddenly dropped it.
Wha- what the fuck?
"hey- what are you doing?" I grabbed the collar of her jacket pushing her to the wall,
"I lost, you won."
What the fuck does she mean? She literally just dropped her marble, she didn't even try!
"Stop. Why the hell would you try to do that?"
She just can't do this, she can't do this to herself.
Why- why did she have to do it?
"hey, butter fingers. What else can I say?" she asked me with a smile,
"what you said, about making sure that I won. Is that what this is? You think I'll be thankful that you did this, huh? Take another throw. " I demanded her,
There's a chance that I'll lose Y/n today, I-i can't lose another-
Friend.
A lump in my throat suddenly formed, as I realised...
That this was Y/n was saying.
"and still wouldn't be able to win. Ugh, just let me lose this thing in style, okay?"
I suddenly remembered how much Y/n cared about other people at what Ji-Yeong's doing now.
But- she can't do this! There's probably another way, another way where we can get through this situation right now.
"Ji-Yeong, that's bullshit! Stop acting cool and just do a real throw!" I suddenly felt anger rush through me, as I realised that she's getting stubborn,
She can't fucking do this to herself!
Why does she have to put me first before herself?!
"I have nothing."
I stopped,
"what?"
"you got a reason to get out of this place, but I don't."
Ji-Yeong...
I-i don't know what to say, my heart feels like it's getting crushed..
It's like the pain she's feeling right now is poisoning me,
Like it was killing the both of us.
"I thought hard about what I'd do. If I were the one who got out since you asked me earlier... No matter how hard I thought though, I-i got nothing."
"the one who should have a reason to get back out there, that's what's right."
A tear escaped my eye,
Sh- she cares...
~
"No I'm not going to calm down Y/n! If you really do care about other people then why won't you care for yourself?! Who's going to save you when you saved everyone else?!"
~
I-i understand now...
"You can do it. You and Y/n. You guys, don't die in here. Okay? And go... Go meet your mother. Go get your brother too." she sniffed as I continued crying,
"and go to Jeju Island, so you can finally tell Y/n what you feel. I'll watch over you guys."
I-i can't! There has to be a way,
Fuck Sae Byeok, think!
Ji-Yeong made me realise that being giving doesn't always mean being naive as I thought when Y/n gave the needle to some player...
It's because she put others needs, before hers.
And that's what Ji-Yeong is doing now,
for me....
The guard called our attention, Ji-Yeong smiled.
As I walked off with the guard, all I felt was guilt.
I feel like I failed, like I'm just about to lose another loved one.
I was losing a friend.
"Kang Sae-Byeok!"
I stopped,
I-i can't look at her...
"thank you... For playing with me."
A gunshot was heard,
"player 173, eliminated."
"player 240, eliminated."
I was trying to keep myself from crying but I only ended up sobbing,
A friend.
No- at that point Ji-Yeong didn't just became a person I knew the name of...
She was...
A best friend.
And-
I lost her.
A/N:
How we doing? <33
Up next, Y/n's POV.
keep in mind that the photos aren't mine (including the screenshots, GIFs) , all credits goes for the owners of the photos! <3