You couldn't say your life growing up was bad. You had a family, an apartment, a cat, friends, good grades..but you wanted to move out as soon as possible.
One of the reasons: you were TIRED of constantly arguing with your mother. You were sick and tired of it. She wouldn't let you to do stuff everyone else your age would do, but she was also too protective and constantly insulting you. In her head she was helping you by always making you doubt yourself. You were tired of it. So, as soon as you turned 20, you already had a decent job, you moved out to a small apartment, using university as an excuse to move.
You managed your time well, and for a few years it went great, between going to university and going to your shift, it wasn't easy to keep relationships. You'd often be too tired to even look at your phone at the end of the day.
Life was pretty good, average. Until one day, just your fucking luck, the store where you worked closed for good. You don't even know why, you just arrived at the place when it said "closing for good.". The boss didn't even care to tell you.
Hell, he didn't even answer your calls, and neither did your colleagues.
You went home, but you knew you were fucked. You were now jobless, great.
Over the next week, you had tried to get a job somewhere else, well you had to try. But no one was hiring. But eventually, you managed to get a job interview at a small supermarket, they asked if you had any job experience you told them about your old job, and the manager's smile immediately dropped, an apologetic expression appearing on her face.
"Sorry miss, we can't hire you, it'd look bad for our store's image"
You were confused, what the hell was that supposed to mean??
"What do you mean?? What does my old job have to do with your store's image??"
"Miss, that place's owner was found guilty of many scams, we can't hire someone that worked for him..I'm sure you understand..y'know maybe people will think you were also helping him with the scam..until it's proven otherwise we can't hire you, apologies"
You were speechless. Damn. You hadn't even been aware of the scam, but now the fact you worked there ruined your chances of getting a decent job for now.
You nodded, stood up and left without another word.
Soon after, you quit university, you couldn't afford going into that much debt. You already took a loan for the years you've already completed, and you can't afford to take another one for next year now that you were jobless. Your bank account was getting worse every day, with you only being able to do small jobs like babysitting, or animalsitting.
You spent two whole years living like this. The money was barely enough. You knew you couldn't keep up much longer, and you had no one to ask for help. You refused to let your parents know about your situation, you knew they'd use it against you if you told them. You felt ashamed asking your friends for money. Did they even consider you their friend anymore?
You couldn't take it, the stress of it all, so you started drinking. Classic move you thought you'd never do, but you did. You somehow found comfort in the taste of alcohol, even tho as a child you swore you'd never drink. But then again, you swore many things as a child, and you were pretty sure she'd be disappointed in you anyway. So why not add drinking to the list of things she'd be disappointed in?
You knew you shouldn't buy cheap booze, that you should save up to pay rent, otherwise you'd get evicted. But from all the stress, alcohol seemed like the perfect solution.
Needless to say, your debt kept increasing. Day by day, it kept getting worse. Your landlord threatened to kick you out if you didn't pay rent soon, and he made it clear that he was serious when he cut your warm water off.
Today was rough. You babysat an annoying kid, and the parents didn't pay you the amount they should have paid you because "their kid is crying". As if that's your fucking fault, the fucker was crying before they even left.
You walked over and sat on the bench near a river, taking a swing from your bottle. The bittersweet taste enough to make you feel better. You looked at the river. And thought about doing something irrational.
In your head you saw your mother, telling you how brain dead people were probably smarter than you, how you were a disgrace, pathetic, dumb, a scared idiot..
You clenched your fists, every insult she'd ever thrown at you echoing in your head.
You stood up, placing the bottle on the bench, and before you even took a step towards the river, you felt a tap on your shoulder. You immediately turned around, and saw a 6 foot man in a suit holding a suitcase.
He was smiling.
"Want to play ddakji?"
You blinked, confused. What the hell did he just ask?
You were sober enough to understand that that was a bit weird. You hesitated, why on earth would he ask that? Thats so random??
"Sorry? Ddakji-?"
"For every round you win, I'll give you 100,000 won. But if I win, you have to give me the same amount"
You think for a minute. Why the hell would he do this? You didn't mind tho, you NEED that money, but if you lose, you can't give him that amount. Nonetheless, you accept. I mean, you'll probably lose the first round anyway and say something like "whoops, forgot money at home" and leave.
You accepted and you started playing. Needless to say, you sucked at that game. You lost, and the man looked at you. You stared at each other in silence. He was still smiling.
"You don't have money, do you?"
You shook your head.
"That's okay, you can pay with your body"
Before you can even be shocked at his statement, he added.
"Every time you lose, I get to slap you."
Well..you need the money, so in your mind it's a fair trade. You accepted.
And holyshit the man did NOT hold back, you felt the slap, and took a step back from how strong it was. You were pretty sure your cheek was red.
Yall played a few more rounds, in the end you won 3 times, and you lost track of how many times you lost.
After it was over, the man handed you a business card with 3 shapes on it, a circle, a triangle and a square. And there was a phone number on the back.
"If you want to win more money, contact this number"
Before you could even ask any questions, he left.
You walked back home with the money stuffed in your pockets. You opened the door to your apartment, and stepped inside. You looked around when it hit you : you had nothing to lose if you call the number.
You were pretty sure it was legit, since the man DID give you the money after you'd win. You hesitated, would you really trust a random man that gave you money? It sounds like the perfect kidnapping plan..
You stood there, thinking about the pros and cons, before taking the card out of your pocket and calling the number. The phone rang for a few seconds before a distorted voice answered.
"Hello?"
"I'd like to join the games"
"Please state your full name and age"
You sighed, you were really doing this.
"Y/N L/N, 25"
"Very well"
The voice on the other side of the phone proceeded to give you details of where they were going to pick you up.
About two hours later, you stood at the pick up place. It was night and there was no one around. You started to think it was a scam, when you suddenly saw a van approaching.
When it came closer, the window went down and a masked man asked you for the password.
"Red light, green light."
The man got out of the passengers seat, and opened the back door for you, it wasn't bright. You stepped inside, and you saw a whole bunch of people unconscious. You barely had time to turn around and say anything before some sort of gaz filled the van, and you started to lose consciousness. You looked at the mask man, your vision started to blur.
You only had the time to mumble a quick:
"What the fuck.."
Before you lost consciousness.
**A/N
Word count: 1438
If anyone's reading this, tysm for making it to the end, I hope this wasnt too horrible to read😓
Again, first time ever writing a fanfic, so it's obviously not gonna be amazing or even good, so PLEASE tell me how to improve🙏**