Hyunju walked down the old steps of the street, the sun shining a little too strongly today. The warmth was almost overwhelming, but it meant she could finally wear her favorite dress. Earlier, she had bought a charming straw sun hat, complete with a silky red bow. The hat made her feel lighthearted, a small indulgence on a sunny day. It completed her look, giving her already beautiful outfit a little extra originality.
It suited her perfectly, she thought, getting a glimpse of herself every now and then in the reflection of the houses' windows she was walking past.
It was something she was doing more and more lately— finding herself pretty enough to smile at her reflection and proudly show herself to the world without any shame.
The money she had received for the games was more than enough for her bottom surgery; thank god the prices are lower here in Thailand. She had enough money to be completely free for at least a few years, but she liked working, so she does some farm work with a family in the village next to the city she lives in.
The city itself isn't too busy, either. It has stray but well fed cats dozing off on benches and pretty flower pots all around. Quite a lot of walls are painted by local artists and children like drawing with chalk on the ground.
'Ding!' Hyunju's phone rang from getting a message. It's surprising, though, because she doesn't keep in touch with many people outside of the internet. She recognized the sound; it was the notification for a text message.
Hyunju smiled as she got to see the person who messaged her. It was Geumja. They call quite often; so that means that Hyunju knows how Junhee and her baby are doing, and all the others too.
Geumja usually writes to Hyunju with periods at the end of her sentences, but this time, it was all... Exclamation points? This either means she's very happy and/or very surprised.
'Hyunju! Are you home? I need you to go home if you aren't already! Quickly!', the message read.
Hyunju started typing, a little nervous and very, very confused. 'What is happening?', she wrote as she subconsciously started going towards her house, following her friend's orders.
The message was read immediately. Geumja started typing again. 'It's complicated,' she wrote, 'just go home and wait a little! Someone's going to ring at your door, be prepared! I can't tell you who it is!'.
Hyunju tried to call her, but she wouldn't pick up. Instead, she got another message saying 'don't call! Just go home! Call later!'.
Hyunju rushed home, trying to grab the right keys from her handbag. She breathed heavily out of fatigue from running in the heat.
Her house was quite far down the street, considering it was number 95.
As she entered her house and turned the air conditioning on, Hyunju tried to think of who this mysterious guest might be. The best she could think of was the postman: maybe she'll get a package from Geumja, Junhee or Yongsik? Some kind of gift? Or maybe it was actually SOMEONE visiting her; but she doubted it.
Hyunju, after making such genuine friends in the games, did in fact hesitate to move here, but she knew how much happier she'd be away from this place she used to call home.
"Hi Mimi," she greeted her cat with hurried pats on her back. She smiled at the memory of her new friends asking why she called her pet that name.
Truth is, there are two reasons. But she could only say that "mi" meant beautiful.
Hyunju hastily washed her face, mostly to freshen up after the run. Face still dripping with cold water, she straightened up in a jolt after hearing her doorbell ringing.
She quickly dried her face and walked towards the door.
-
'I'm going to die.'
That's what Youngmi kept repeating to herself as she was calling her friend through the tiny hole of the green metal door.
She didn't know if the sickly smell of iron was from the door she was anxiously pressing on or blood of the bodies being dragged away in the coffins with the pink ribbons.
The only thing she could think about was how she was literally about to die. She couldn't even see her friends and her family one last time; the best she could do was look at Hyunju. She was the closest to home she had right now.
Looking at Hyunju gives her a warm feeling, some sort of reassurance. She doesn't know exactly why, though. Everything felt like slow motion when they were together, like some sort of dream.
"BANG!"
But Youngmi felt a warm feeling, now, near her stomach. She knew what had just happened and she knew she'd only get a few more milliseconds before completing disappearing from this world.
Or that's what she thought.
Youngmi could feel herself waking up in a dark and cramped place. The only thing she could do was move her arms to her belly where she could feel blood rushing out of her. The thought of it was so displeasing and uncomfortable that she thinks she fainted a few times.
The pain was overpowering, but Youngmi still felt it. Youngmi knew death was at her door, but she knew very well that feeling something, anything, was a sign of life.
Unless, she already was in hell. But being alive in this situation just might be worse.
Youngmi still felt, continuously, she still felt something. She still could think, and she remembered that one sentence she learned in philosophy class: "I think therefore I am."
She thought and she felt. She didn't know where or when everything was happening, but she knew she was alive—or at least, not dead.
Youngmi tried to open her eyes when she felt herself strengthen up again, but she couldn't see much. Everything was quite dark and still blurry.
"Unnie." She muttered subconsciously. If anyone saved her right now, she hoped it would be Hyunju.
"Unnie."
"... Yes?" Youngmi heard an answer. The sounds still felt distant and faint, but she knew she heard someone answer.
It wasn't Hyunju's voice, though. And that sucked. But Youngmi will be grateful no matter who it was.
"Player 095, how do you feel?" The feminine voice spoke again, in what sounded like a worried mother's tone. "Player 095. Can you answer me?"
"Y-yes..." Youngmi muttered, trying to sit up from the bed she was laying in. She could slowly but surely start to make out the elements around her. It was a small bedroom; it didn't look cozy to live in at all, though.
The woman who was talking to her had relatively short black hair and unusually pretty freckles all under her eyes. She was wearing a pink suit.
A pink suit. Youngmi's heart started to race. This woman was a guard. With the panic, she managed to sit up and pull herself as far away from her as possible. Her pitch black eyes looked even more terrifying with the darkness of the room.
"You look awake enough," the guard muttered in relief. "I'm not here to hurt you, 095. I'm against the games as much as you probably are, too."
"Wh- where..." Youngmi started, trying not to let her guard down even though the woman sounded genuine. "I'm Kang Noeul, guard number 011. We're on an unused floor of the place, this floor is only for bedrooms and stocks of food. I disabled the cameras; don't ask how, but believe me, I did. It is currently 11:20pm. Does that answer all your questions for now?"
Youngmi nodded. "Thank you for saving me, miss."
Noeul lifted one eyebrow in surprise. "... Miss? Didn't you call me unnie before? And, by the way, what's your name? I hate calling people by numbers. It's inhumane."
"I'm... uh... Kim Youngmi... When I said unnie, I was thinking of someone else. I'm sorry."
"Call me Noeul, Youngmi. I'm pretty sure we're about the same age, anyway."
Youngmi was surprised by what Noeul just said. Not that the guard looked old, but it was more about the way she spoke and the motherly tone of her voice.
There was something very cool about her.
Suddenly, Youngmi felt a big pain near where she was shot. She bent forward in discomfort. Noeul patted the woman's back. "I'm sorry I had to shoot you anyway, I had to make sure you'd seem dead to the other pink bastards," she scoffed. "It's treated, though. You'll feel better quite soon if you don't move around too much."
As the pain was getting tolerable again, Youngmi relaxed and moved to the edge of the bed, where she moved her legs so that her feet touched the ground. "N- Noeul," Youngmi started, nervous about the answer she was going to give, "have you perhaps seen the last round's results?"
Noeul sighed and paused. "Is it about your frie-... Or uh, whatever you call her. Player 120?"
Youngmi nodded, waiting for an answer.
"She's okay. I mean... She's alive. She got saved by a man I happen to know."
Youngmi sighed in relief. They were both alive, and that's what mattered the most. She wanted to ask about Geumja and Yongsik too, but she thought it'd be too many favours already.
"How did you know I would be asking about her?" She asked, shocked about how attentive Noeul is about everything.
The guard went to sit down next to Youngmi as she breathed out a hum of reflection. "I wanted to take my time to observe people this round, thinking of who I could save if I had to save one person. That's when I saw you holding player 120's hand; I knew you weren't supposed to be in a place like this. You looked so genuinely terrified, I thought I might be able to help you."
But why? Youngmi thought. Why did Noeul want to save someone? What was her plan?
The two sat in silence for quite some time. There was a slight buzzing in the air, probably coming from some sort of machinery or electrical circuit illuminating the floors above. The fact that both could hear it was a good sign, because it meant that they'd probably be able to hear people coming by their steps or by their hurried whispers.
Youngmi wasn't quite sure about what to say, because she barely knew the woman sitting next to her; she was a guard working for the games, after all.
Despite that, she was her savior. She was the person who went out of her way (as far as breaking the deadly rules of the system) to keep Youngmi alive.
It weird, she thought, Noeul might have done as much as Hyunju did, but she had another new feeling for the player that she didn't have for the guard.
'No,' she shut her eyes closed, nearly feeling guilt for what she was hypothesizing, 'that CAN'T be it.'
As Youngmi was lost in her thoughts, Noeul turned her head, then her gaze towards her.
"If I may ask," she started with an involuntary raspy voice, "what motivated- I mean, what forced you to join the games?"
The latter lifted her eyebrows up in surprise when she heard that question. In fact, it's a very personal question. Even so, Youngmi felt comfortable enough to answer it.
"Well," she started, "the truth is, my mother, she's-" she got cut off by Noeul's hand shaking in front of her.
"I'm sorry," the guard apologised whith an embarrassed expression, "I didn't mean to ask such a personal question."
Youngmi shook her head. "It's okay, really. I prefer talking about anything than just sitting here in silence."
Noeul's face relaxed, removing the frown and the slight blush on her spotted cheeks. "I'm listening, then."
"My mother needed an organ transplant. She needed the expensive treatment urgently, and I managed to collect enough money to afford it. But then, when I checked my bank account, there was nothing left. Thankfully, though, my uncle took us in for now, but I felt too guilty about being so reliant on him that I tried to apply for multiple jobs, and the recruiter came up to me when I was on my way to an interview. I thought this game was going to be innocent..." She started to feel tears in her eyes.
As she rubbed them off with the back of her hand, she felt Noeul doing slight rubs on her back in comfort. "You're as kind and selfless as I imagined you to be, Youngmi," she whispered, her tone of voice shifting to be even softer.
The guard then looked up at the wall as if she spotted a bug. Youngmi looked and saw nothing. "Ah," the guard halfheartedly giggled, "I thought I heard something. Man, this place is going to make me schizophrenic." She rubbed her hand on her forehead and pinched it in frustration.
Youngmi hesitantly patted Noeul's back. She knew she had to do something to pay her back for everything, but right now, the only thing she could do is to listen to her and not be a nuisance.
"Have... You slept a little?" She asked, already knowing the answer.
Noeul shook her head. "I can't, it's too dangerous."
Youngmi bit the inside of her lip, thinking about what she could say to convince her new friend to sleep at least a little. "I'll keep watch. I've rested plenty."
Noeul shook her head again, but more determined this time. "You don't know this place enough for me to let you keep watch just so that I can doze off a little."
Youngmi frowned and got closer to the guard, nearly begging her. "Then you can explain the place to me briefly. You need to sleep, Noeul. You've done too much for me already."
...
Keep watch. Listen carefully. Don't make any noise. Keep watch. Listen carefully. Don't make any noise.
That's basically what she had to do for the next 2 hours. She was glad it wasn't for longer, but at the same time, she wanted to let Noeul sleep for longer. However, the woman clearly said she wanted to be woken up at 3:00am, not a single minute later.
Youngmi didn't really understand much of what Noeul told her for her escape plan, but it somehow seemed promising enough; Youngmi wasn't too worried about herself anymore.
Keep watch. Listen carefully. Don't make any noise.
How is Hyunju doing? She thought. Noeul told her earlier how when she was still unconscious, there was an announcement for a 'special game', which probably meant that a fight broke out and that players were being killed by each other. But Hyunju was a soldier, after all, she would survive.
Youngmi looked at the time. 2:58am.
In two minutes, she'd wake Noeul up, and they'd start escaping this hell.
Youngmi wanted to know her story, too. They didn't have time to share about their life, but they sure will he able to do it later on.
-
Hyunju nervously placed her hand on the door handle, then quickly opened it, as if she were ripping off a band-aid. She instinctively looked at the floor—because she's naturally shy.
"Cho Hyunju?" The low and steady feminine voice of the person in front of her resonated. Hyunju looked up to see a short black haired woman with freckles on her face. "Y-yes, that's me."
The woman didn't look like a post worker or something like that, considering she was wearing very casual baggy clothes, stylised with jewellery. She could have been one though, but Hyunju had to learn to just guess things before them being revealed to her. That's how she survived the games, for example.
The mysterious woman sighed in relief and dropped her head down to face the floor with a grin on her lips. "We finally found you."
Hyunju frowned. What does that even mean? Did she do something wrong? Is this woman undercover? And why the hell is she naturally speaking korean to her in Thailand as if it were an official language here?
"Who... Might you be?" Hyunju asked as she slightly closed the door as if to protect herself from the stranger.
"Your friend, Jang Geumja... She sent us here to find you."
She knows Geumja?
"What do you mean... 'us'?" Hyunju frowned even more as she felt slight cramps from the weird expression she was maintaining.
The stranger curled her lips into a slight smile again. "I wouldn't want to be rude, but would you mind discussing it over coffee?"
...
"I'm Kang Noeul," the stranger said as Hyunju poured her some freshly brewed coffee, still standing up from preparing a plate of biscuits. She waited until Hyunju poured herself some to continue.
"I was a masked guard in the games. Guard number 011."
Hyunju paused in complete surprise right before sitting down. "What...-" "Please sit down, Hyunju."
Noeul bit the inside of her lip, while Hyunju's mind was all over the place.
She had so many questions, but even so, she started with an affirmation.
"I guess you're not here for trouble, as you're dressed casually."
Noeul nodded slowly, seeming eased by how she gained her trust easily. "I do have multiple things to talk to you about, though, and you'll have to choose an outcome of our conversation."
Hyunju had no idea what she meant by that, but she nodded anyway. "I'm listening," she nervously said, sipping on the warm coffee.
Noeul took a deep breath. "You might've heard that one guard went missing, after round 3."
Hyunju's eyebrows lifted up in surprise, because she did in fact remember hearing guards slacking off and chatting about the only piece of interesting drama they'd get in that place.
She nodded. "Yeah, I've heard."
Wait.
Hyunju's eyes turned to meet Noeul's. "You escaped?"
The ex-guard's head bowed to sign a 'yes'. "It's a long story and I do want to let you decide if you want to hear it or not, because... Well.... There's more to it."
"Please, tell me what you want to say," Hyunju's impatient but polite voice echoed in the dining room.
Hyunju glanced at Noeul's hands on the table, both fidgeting with the spoon she was using to stir sugar into her drink.
What was it? What was so important? What was so special to say for her to have traveled so far just to find her?
"When I escaped, I saved Kim Youngmi."