i.
She had received a small card with an invitation on the back of the logo. The man she had played with moments before seemed a bit strange, but the game he was inviting her to seemed promising.
It's just a game, what could possibly go wrong? If she lost, she would simply resign herself to going back home and continuing to save up for her operation in Thailand. But if she won, she would have everything ready to travel and finally become what society considered a "real woman".
Besides, she had nothing to lose; her family had turned their backs on her, and she no longer had any friends. So, after a few days, Cho Hyun-Ju decided to accept the invitation; a little extra money would certainly come in handy.
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Hyunju woke up in an enormous room. There were hundreds of beds and many people around her. She was no longer wearing the clothes she had on yesterday, and she felt disheveled and bare without her lip gloss. What surprised her the most was the green uniform she had been put in: it was too small for her, clinging to her hips.
The background music had stopped, and she saw how everyone was getting out of their beds to look around. Maybe getting the money would be a bit more difficult than she thought.
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Once the guards in pink suits gave the instructions for the games, the other players began to line up to sign the required clauses and permits. Hyunju couldn't help but think that she was surrounded by hundreds of people, feeling watched and judged by the majority, who looked at her with disgust. She was like the "elephant in the room", impossible to ignore, and she just wanted to disappear.
After signing and successfully passing the first game, she could only think of one thing: she needed to get out with the money, no matter what. One small mistake would cost her life.
It might be selfish of her, since most of the players were terrified after the first game, many had died, and some just wanted to go home. But not Hyunju. At the very least, she would raise enough money to travel to Thailand and pay for her operation. She just hoped she wouldn't die trying.
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After the first vote, Hyunju returned to her designated bed and managed to fall asleep after minutes of staring at the ceiling.
In the distance, a faint sobbing could be heard, and she tried to ignore it, but she knew that many people there already wanted to leave, and she had contributed to that not happening today. Hyunju hoped that tomorrow's game would be easier than today's, so she could continue saving the necessary money to get out of there.
The day after the first game, Hyunju had heard the rumor circulating among all the players, supposedly the next game would be Ppopgi. If it involved extracting a cookie, it would be very easy for her. So, she expected to survive the second game.
But Hyunju's confidence faltered when they were sent to a colorful room, where two racing tracks seemed to be set up, and all the players looked at each other in confusion. This was definitely not a simple cookie game.
The voice over the loudspeaker gave the instructions: they had to form teams of 5 players. Bad luck for Hyunju.
She began searching everywhere for a team that would accept her. Despite being tall, she felt ignored by the other players. She walked by teams that were missing a player, and they even pretended not to hear her. Time was running out when she decided to approach a group of men.
"Excuse me, I was wondering if I could join your team..." Hyunju said, tapping one of the players on the shoulder to get his attention. When they all turned around, Hyunju felt their disgusted expressions, and none of them responded. With resignation, Hyunju turned around and continued her search. Until, not long after, she came across a girl who, like her, was alone.
The girl was a bit shorter than her, her eyes were bright, and her hair was a bit disheveled. They looked at each other for a moment, and Hyunju decided to break eye contact to continue her search, as time was running out.
"Excuse me... Would you like to form a team?" the girl asked her, her voice sweet and nervous. Hyunju decided to accept the invitation.
Now, both of them were searching for three more people to join their team. As the seconds passed, it became increasingly difficult to find anyone available, so they had to hurry.
When only a few seconds were left before the time limit expired, they decided to join player 149 and the boy accompanying her: player 007. Later, player 044 joined them, although she seemed a bit odd at first, they had to accept her to complete the team of five players.
The game would be easy if they worked as a team, so the five players organized themselves to complete the five games without failing. They watched as the first two teams were eliminated for failing the test. At least now they knew how it worked.
They were one of the first teams to participate, so they were called to stand up. Hyunju was a bit nervous, she looked at her teammates and they were all nervous, except for the girl who appeared to be player 095, so she decided to give her words of encouragement.
"My name is Cho Hyun-Ju, what's yours?" Hyunju said, addressing the girl beside her. Her response came a few seconds later.
"I’m Young-Mi, Kim Young-Mi."
"Youngmi is a beautiful name," Hyunju thought as she heard the girl's name. She really thought it was a beautiful name. Something about her stirred up thoughts of Youngmi. She took Youngmi's hands, they were soft and smaller than hers.
"Listen, Youngmi, since I met you and you asked me to be teammates, I knew you were a very brave woman. You can believe it too."
The tension that Youngmi carried in her body lessened after those words, Hyunju could feel it. Youngmi smiled at her and Hyunju returned the smile. Youngmi's smile was very beautiful.
The other players introduced themselves to each other, perhaps it would be their last chance to do so. After passing the five-minute test, seeing that they succeeded, the other participants congratulated them on their achievement. At least for today, they had avoided death.
They were sent back to the huge room where the beds of the other participants were, they were the first team to return. Player 149, Jang Geum-ja, gave her a strong hug when they arrived at their respective beds. She felt comforted after the bad time they had. "You all did incredibly! Did you see that we could do it?!" Geumja exclaimed, hugging her son, player 007, Yongsik.
She could even see more of Youngmi's smile, which was now bright and expressed genuine happiness. As the minutes and hours passed, they saw more players enter, some of whom Hyunju had seen in the morning never returned. Even some groups that had rejected her with contempt had been eliminated, she couldn't help but feel bad about it.
Once all the teams had finished playing, and the team of player 456 had finally returned, who had claimed yesterday to have already been there and won the prize, Hyunju's team went to a corner to continue talking about what had happened a few hours earlier.
The guards in pink suits entered to give instructions on the saved money, only 110 people had died... The total amount of money was very little for all the expenses she needed. So, she would definitely vote for another round.
Until Geumja approached Youngmi and Hyunju. "I'm glad to have met you... When we get out of here, I invite you to dinner at my house, and if you want, you can stay overnight." Geumja sounded very excited saying this.
"Are you serious? Hyunju, will you go?" Youngmi asked excitedly about Geumja's kind invitation. Youngmi looked at her with the bright eyes she had when they met in the morning, only now instead of reflecting fear and nervousness, they reflected hope and happiness. Hyunju could only smile and nod, not wanting to break Youngmi's hopes, she looked very beautiful like that.
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The voting began, and it started with player 001. In the first round of voting, he had voted for another round, but it seemed that this time he had changed his mind. Geumja's son voted for another round, which surprised her because she really thought he would follow his mother's orders and vote to leave.
As the voting progressed, she felt a hand grab her arm with fear, it was Youngmi, who was standing beside her. Hyunju could feel that Youngmi was trembling, so she took the hand that Youngmi had placed on her arm and whispered.
"Hey, don't get nervous, okay? We'll get out of here," Hyunju said with a tender look. Something about Youngmi seemed so lovely that Hyunju felt like hugging her and stroking her hair.
"What if we don't leave today?" Youngmi asked with fear, it was clear that she really wanted to go home. Hyunju didn't respond and just gave her hand a small squeeze.
When Youngmi's number was called, she nervously went to cast her vote. Without hesitation, she voted for the X and joined the group of those who had voted for that option. Hyunju saw how Youngmi turned around to look at her and dedicated a small smile to her. Hyunju couldn't help but smile back at her, her smile looked so sincere that she didn't want to extinguish it if they stayed another night in this place.
Hyunju began to think a little about what was happening, it was obvious that the girl had attracted her, and that there was always a great probability of losing her every second that passed. It was inevitable that at any moment something could happen or that even in the next game one of them could die.
But her goal was clear, to gather the money to leave this country that had turned its back on her and to undergo the operations she needed. Hyunju's head could only say that for tomorrow's vote she would vote for the X, if the money was enough for her expenses.
When it was her turn to vote, she thought about it. Until that moment, it was clear what she wanted, but now she had two possibilities in front of her: To leave this place with the money and go to Geumja's house for dinner as she had promised, or to stay for another game and risk her life once more.
"I'll vote for the X tomorrow" and she pressed the circle that indicated she wanted to continue.
When she went to see the people who had voted for the circle, she saw Youngmi's face, the expression of hope she had moments before vanished and now gave way to the same nervous expression. Hyunju looked at her one last time and felt a knot in her throat.
She was lost in her thoughts when she heard player 001 speak to everyone, it seemed that overnight he had completely changed his opinion and now wanted to convince others to leave. Hyunju and Youngmi looked at each other for a few seconds, it seemed like Youngmi was about to cry when she finally did.
Youngmi's crying was desperate, she wanted to go home, not play anymore, but it seemed that the opinion of the others was not going to change because of a young woman crying desperately. The knot in Hyunju's throat was less bearable than before, and now her desire to cry when seeing Youngmi was uncontrollable, but she contained herself.
The voting continued at its normal pace, and by the time the last player, 456, voted, it was obvious that there would be another round. The difference was notable.
The guards in pink suits began to deliver food, and Hyunju went to the corner where she had previously met with Geumja, Yongsik, and Youngmi. The latter looked lost, her gaze was no longer sad, she was no longer crying. Now Youngmi looked serious, there was no expression on her face, but Hyunju wanted to apologize.
When she was about to speak to Youngmi, Geumja and Yongsik returned. Geumja was noticeably angry because her son had voted to stay for another round. That's when Yongsik pointed at her "She also voted to stay! Why don't you tell her anything?!" Geumja approached her and asked her the reason for her decision.
"Why did you vote to stay? We had already decided that we would go to my house for dinner... Is it because of your operations, right?" Hyunju didn't respond, what she said was correct. She wanted to get closer to Geumja, who had been very kind to her, even Yongsik, but she also wanted to clear things up with Youngmi, she didn't want her to think that she didn't want to leave.
"Everything was fine before I said who I really am..." Hyunju began, she felt Geumja and Yongsik's gaze. "Although the others always thought I was a bit weird, there were no problems" the knot in her throat that she had since the moment of the voting became stronger, and at any moment, she would burst into tears. "But when I said I wanted to become a woman and started my transition... Everything changed"
It was something that Hyunju had kept to herself for a long time, she had no one to talk to about what was happening to her, and it was simply liberating. Her parents stopped talking to her, it was true that she was fired from her job, and she no longer had friends.
"And what will you do with the prize money?" Geumja asked, and Hyunju began to think about how her life would be after being there. "I plan to go to Thailand and live there" she smiled, remembering those moments when she was a teenager and saw pictures of Thailand and how beautiful it was.
"I've been to Thailand! There are very beautiful girls there!" Yongsik said. It was true, the girls in Thailand are very pretty and skinny, they all look like models.
"You're also beautiful, unnie" was heard very low, but Hyunju knew immediately that it came from Youngmi. Her desire to cry came back again, but this time she didn't contain herself, it was the first time someone had told her she was beautiful.
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A few hours later, they announced that they would turn off the lights and it would be time to sleep. The anxiety about what would happen tomorrow was eating away at her, she hoped that tomorrow everything would be perfect to get out of there once and for all. It turned out that Youngmi was sleeping a few beds away, so Hyunju deduced that the person who cried on the first night was Youngmi. That made her a little sad.
After the half hour they were given to prepare for sleep, the lights were turned off. A short time later, she heard two women standing and heading towards the door, she assumed they were going to the bathroom, so she decided to follow them. They were Geumja and player 222, who looked a bit pale.
When they entered the bathroom, Hyunju saw Geumja asking the girl if she needed help. When player 222 closed the door to her stall, Hyunju approached Geumja.
"She's sick, isn't she?" she asked curiously. What was someone sick doing here?
"She's pregnant, and I think it's her last trimester," Geumja said with concern in her voice and entered her own stall. Hyunju's surprise was noticeable, this was even worse. What was a pregnant woman doing betting with her life? Maybe she had reasons to do so, but it was horrible to even think that at any moment something could happen to her or her baby.
When she left her stall, she heard crying coming from where the pregnant woman was, Geumja came out of her stall and approached Hyunju. "Is she still in there?" Hyunju nodded, and Geumja quickly knocked on the stall door.
When Geumja opened the stall door, she saw player 222 crying desperately, maybe the baby was on its way. But nothing like that, the woman was scared, and it was understandable, right now her fate was unpredictable, and some mistake could cost her life.
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Once she returned to her bed, she couldn't fall asleep. She couldn't stop thinking about Youngmi and what would happen tomorrow in the next game. She hoped that tomorrow everything would go well and she could leave this place with the money secured and be able to accompany Youngmi in whatever she needed afterwards, maybe she would invite her to have coffee and get to know her better.
She was thinking about Youngmi when she felt a hand gently touching her shoulder. Hyunju was startled by the surprise and saw Youngmi in the darkness.
"Youngmi-ah, what are you doing here? You should be sleeping..." Hyunju said, sitting up in bed and making space for Youngmi to sit. "I couldn't sleep, unnie, I just wanted to talk to you." Youngmi said, sitting in the space on the bed.
"What did you want to talk about, huh? What did you want to talk to me about at this hour of the night?" Hyunju smiled and fixed a strand of her hair that covered her face.
"I'm scared, unnie." Youngmi's gaze was the same as in the morning, full of fear. "What if something happens to us?" The girl grabbed Youngmi's arm and snuggled up.
"Don't be afraid, I know everything will be okay and we'll pass the test together." Hyunju replied, stroking Youngmi's hair. "Do you want to sleep with me? At least tonight, that I'm sure is our last night in this place," Hyunju proposed, stroking Youngmi's disheveled strands.
"Of course, unnie, I'd like to sleep with you," Youngmi replied with a small smile and lay down beside Hyunju on the uncomfortable bed. Since the bed was too small for both of them, they had to snuggle up closer.
"Do you feel a bit uncomfortable?" Hyunju asked, feeling Youngmi very close, so close that she could feel her breathing. "I'm not uncomfortable, unnie, it's okay. Don't you think it's a bit cold?" Hyunju, upon hearing this, sat up in bed and took off the jacket she was wearing. "Here, cover yourself with this..." "Thank you, unnie, you're very kind to me," Youngmi said, covering herself with Hyunju's jacket. Something deep within her told her that it was the moment to ask her out.
"Do you think I'm beautiful?" Hyunju asked, lying down again beside Youngmi. It was a genuine question; it was the first time someone had considered her beautiful and told her so, which excited her.
"Well... Yes. I'm ashamed to admit it, but from the first day... I thought you were very attractive." Youngmi's face blushed, just like Hyunju's. No one had ever told her these things before.
"So... Do you like me?" Hyunju took Youngmi's hand and started playing with it, tracing imaginary lines on her palm.
"This is too embarrassing, unnie." Youngmi let go of Hyunju's hand and covered her face, red with shame.
"No, no. Don't be ashamed... I said it because you like me, Youngmi-ah." Now Hyunju was the one feeling ashamed; her red face, like a tomato, didn't know where to hide, but Youngmi's surprised expression said a lot. "You're serious, unnie?" Hyunju nodded and licked her lips, waiting for a response. "If that's so, you... Also like me," Youngmi smiled and stroked Hyunju's hair.
The scene was very tender; both of them had their legs crossed, and Youngmi was wearing Hyunju's jacket. They stared at each other for several minutes, without saying a word, until Youngmi spoke again. "Unnie, can I kiss you?" The question was very sudden for Hyunju, but she nodded, and after a few seconds, she felt Youngmi's lips on hers; they were soft, just like her.
The kiss was tender, the feelings were new, and it felt wonderful. Youngmi's lips fit perfectly onto Hyunju's, and they simply continued.
Hyunju caressed Youngmi's back while she played with her hair. After a few minutes, the kiss deepened, it was no longer so innocent.
They both felt the need for each other as they deepened the kiss further. The heat became more intense with each passing second, and their hands began to explore each other's bodies.
"Hyunju unnie, are you sure you want to continue?" Youngmi asked, momentarily breaking away from Hyunju's kiss. "I want it now more than ever, Youngmi, do you?" Hyunju continued to caress Youngmi's back, and she nodded. Once they started kissing again, Youngmi's hand touched Hyunju's breasts.
Hyunju simply sighed and felt Youngmi's hand slip under her shirt, touching her breasts. "They're so soft, unnie." Hyunju just smiled and enjoyed the sensation of being touched by Youngmi.
Youngmi pulled off Hyunju's shirt and revealed her breasts, a little small, but very soft. They were very cute. Hyunju's bra was removed and Youngmi continued caressing.
They were still lying on the bed, kissing each other while Hyunju's hand went down to Youngmi's crotch. It was at that moment that Hyunju put her hand inside Youngmi's green pants and touched her crotch covered by her underwear. Youngmi moaned softly and continued caressing Hyunju's breasts.
“Can I touch there?” Hyunju asked and Youngmi nodded. Once she gave her permission to continue, Hyunju slipped her hand inside Youngmi’s underwear, touching it. Her fingers touched Youngmi as she spread her legs. “Do you like it?” Hyunju asked as she continued touching down there. The girl nodded and she continued touching Youngmi, who was getting wetter.
Youngmi looked like she wanted to moan, so Hyunju started kissing her so as not to wake up the other players. After a few seconds, Youngmi was rubbing herself against Hyunju’s hand. When they broke away from the kiss, Youngmi asked. “Can I touch you?”
The question made Hyunju a little uncomfortable, it was obvious that there was a big difference between the two. “Please, I promise to make you feel good” Youngmi looked into the darkness at Hyunju, who just nodded, still a little unsure.
Youngmi pulled down Hyunju’s pants and revealed his underwear, taking out his length and slowly stroking it. Hyunju continued to touch Youngmi, who opened her legs further and stroked Hyunju’s cock.
Hyunju, left for the moment, stuck two fingers inside Youngmi, who silenced her moans biting her tongue. Hyunju's fingers began to move slowly inside the younger girl. After a while, Hyunju's fingers began to move faster and deeper inside Youngmi, who tried to silence her moans as she continued to touch Hyunju's length.
With her free hand, Youngmi continued to touch Hyunju's breasts, her movements becoming more and more desperate and for a moment Hyunju thought that Youngmi had had an orgasm.
She continued to touch Youngmi until she felt her whole body tense up and then release. Hyunju pulled out the fingers that were inside her and gave her a desperate kiss, while the younger girl continued to touch her breasts and cock.
“Are you enjoying it, Hyunju unnie?” The squeezes on her breasts intensified and the movements on her cock were getting faster. “Because I'm enjoying it a lot” Youngmi began to kiss Hyunju's neck.
In a moment, Youngmi was now on top of Hyunju, sitting on her lap. The view that she had was a delight, then Youngmi began to rub against Hyunju's cock.
“Youngmi-ah, what are you doing?” Hyunju grabbed Youngmi's hips while she continued to rub her intimacy against Hyunju. “I'm just having fun, unnie” she smiled mischievously and continued with her thing, Hyunju was so excited to have the younger like this, at any moment se would explode.
After a few minutes, she presses the tip against Youngmi’s entrance, giving it a few teasing thrusts. They both moaned softly, lost in the pleasure they felt and the new sensations.
“You’re beautiful, Hyunju. You’re so fucking beautiful,” Youngmi said, trying to get Hyunju’s cock inside her. Once she got it all in, she started to rock slowly, moaning against Hyunju’s neck.
“Hyunju, huh? Where’s the “unnie”?” They both giggled, Hyunju’s hands traveling up the other girl’s back and starting to massage her hips.“You’re beautiful too, Youngmi.”
Youngmi's movements were slow, but very pleasurable for both of them. The glances they gave each other and the kisses they shared were proof of how much they were beginning to love each other, and the moment couldn't have been better.
Hyunju straddles Youngmi slowly, her hips grinding against her in a sensual rhythm. Her girl-cock slides in and out of her entrance with deliberate ease. She leans down to whisper in Youngmi’s ear, her breath hot against her skin. “I’m so fucking close…”
Youngmi's moans against Hyunju's neck intensified, the movements were erratic and it was noticeable that both were very close. Seconds later, Hyunju came, leaving Youngmi's interior quickly. The younger came seconds later, letting herself fall on Hyunju's chest.
“Are you sleepy yet?” Hyunju stroked the girl’s hair on top of her, feeling her tiredness after the activity they did. “Hmmm I guess so. Can I put my clothes on?” Youngmi sat on the bed and started to put on the green pants and put her and Hyunju’s jackets back on.
Hyunju watched the girl get dressed and did the same, adjusting her bra and putting her shirt back on. Once dressed, they both lay down on Hyunju’s bed.
They both smiled shyly, even after making out, they weren’t able to process that they both liked each other. They continued to give each other a couple of kisses until Hyunju separated to speak. “Do you want to go out with me?”
“What do you mean, Hyunju unnie?” Youngmi said, caressing Hyunju’s lips.
“You know, going out for coffee or going to the theater.” They continued kissing, Youngmi not responding to Hyunju’s proposal, until minutes later she spoke again.
“Okay, I want to go out with you.” Both of their smiles were sincere, reflecting many new feelings blossoming.
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The next day, the same song played to wake up the players. When Hyunju woke up, she didn't feel Youngmi beside her, maybe she had returned to her bed hours after Hyunju fell asleep.
Hyunju remembered what happened the previous night and couldn't help but smile foolishly. When she got up from her bed, she saw Youngmi waking up and approached her.
"Hello, Youngmi-ah. Did you sleep well?" Hyunju said as she approached Youngmi's bed, the girl's face with baggy eyes, but a wide smile.
"Good morning, unnie." Hyunju smiled and sat on Youngmi's bed and took her hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. "Today we're leaving... Is our date still on?"
Youngmi looked her in the eye, returning the squeeze to Hyunju. "Unnie, do you think we're leaving today?"
Hyunju couldn't assure her 100% that they would leave today, but she trusted that many people would vote to leave today and it was already very likely that they would return home tonight.
They stared at each other for a moment, until Youngmi seemed to remember something and then took off Hyunju’s jacket. “Here, I don’t want you to be cold, thank you for giving it to me.” Hyunju grabbed the jacket and put it on.
The jacket now had Youngmi’s scent on it, it was sweet.
They continued talking until the guards entered the room and gave instructions to head to the next game. Youngmi's nervousness seemed to return. "Unnie, what if something happens to us?”
Hyunju felt a bit bad about starting to make promises that probably wouldn't come true. This was the third game, and players would start acting more on survival instinct, making it more likely that something would happen to one of them. But she wanted to keep up the optimistic spirit, at least until nightfall.
"Trust me, Youngmi-ah, we'll get out of here today." She gave a nervous smile, and along with Geumja and Yongsik, they headed to the next game: Mingle.
Hyunju was familiar with this game, having played it several times with her school friends, and she knew the dynamics perfectly. If it came down to using force, she would do her best to protect herself and Youngmi.
She held Youngmi's hand tightly as the remaining players entered the large, colorfully lit room with multiple doors.
Once the voice over the speaker gave the game instructions, everyone climbed onto the large platform in the center of the room, and the characteristic Mingle song began to play.
As the song continued and the platform moved slowly, Hyunju gripped Youngmi's hand even tighter, both hands sweating from nervousness.
"Ten" the platform stopped, and immediately all the players started forming groups of ten, desperately shouting and rushing towards the doors around them. Time was running out when Hyunju, Geumja, Yongsik, and Youngmi met up with player 456's group.
"We're nine," Hyunju thought, frantically searching for one more person to complete the group of ten. When she saw player 044, she let go of Youngmi's hand and quickly ran to drag her to the group.
The ten players rushed to the nearest door and quickly squeezed through. Once the time was up, Hyunju heard the door lock and gunshots outside. Hyunju couldn't help but look at Youngmi, who was more nervous than ever.
When the voice over the speaker finished announcing the eliminated players' numbers, everyone returned to the platform, now with the floor covered in the blood of the eliminated players.
The song started playing again, and Hyunju held on tighter to Youngmi, with Geumja and Yongsik close by. "Four" the voice said over the speaker when the song stopped, and the platform came to a halt. Hyunju looked at Yongsik and Geumja, and the four of them quickly headed to a door.
Once they were safe, the four of them let out a sigh of relief. Hyunju looked at Youngmi again. "See? We're getting through this game successfully." She tried to cheer up Youngmi and calm her down a bit.
When the gunfire stopped and the voice over the speaker announced the eliminated players' numbers, the four of them exited their door, with Hyunju leading the way. But once they were out, they saw 044 in the distance, with a deep look of resentment, heading towards Youngmi.
"This bitch is crazy," Hyunju thought, and grabbed Youngmi's hand, leading her back to the platform with Geumja and Yongsik.
The music started playing again, the platform moved. And Hyunju's nerves were now uncontrollable. The voice was now asking them to form groups of three, so Hyunju grabbed Youngmi's hand and looked for someone to form a team with.
Hyunju and Youngmi were searching for someone who would accept them both, and Youngmi's hands were shaking as she saw that only 10 seconds were left before the game ended.
Hyunju almost saw her own demise until she saw a man calling out to them from his door: player 246. Both of them didn't hesitate and quickly ran to him.
Once they entered, they arrived just in time, with only two seconds left before time ran out. They looked at the man who had taken them in.
"Thank you, sir. Without your help, we wouldn't have made it out alive," Hyunju said, showing gratitude towards player 246.
"No, no. Thank you for listening to me, even with all the people shouting." 246 trembled slightly, and it was noticeable that he was also a bit nervous. The three of them in the room trembled as they heard the gunfire outside. Many people were dying in this round.
When they exited the doors and reunited with Geumja, they saw that she wasn't with her son, but they were still happy to see her. Geumja gave Youngmi a tight hug, who returned the hug with equal enthusiasm.
Behind them was 246, and Youngmi didn't hesitate to show her gratitude to Geumja, highlighting that player 246 had arrived at the most unexpected moment. "Time was running out when he arrived, like a true knight!" Youngmi exclaimed, very excited, while Geumja also showed her gratitude for saving them.
Hyunju wasn't paying much attention to the conversation, searching for Yongsik in the crowd. That's when she heard his voice behind her and turned around.
She saw Yongsik looking remorseful, as if he had done something wrong, as if what he had just committed was a horrible crime. But Geumja just approached him and hugged him. "So he abandoned her..." Hyunju couldn't help but think as she watched the scene in front of her, Yongsik apologizing while crying desperately.
All the players got back on the platform, but this time Hyunju didn't feel Youngmi close to her. For some reason, she had moved away from her side. The music kept playing until it stopped, and the voice over the speaker announced the next number,
"six."
Hyunju quickly looked at the people around her, and they all formed groups of six. They all headed to a seemingly empty door, but when they opened it, they found player 100's team, who was kicking them out with insults.
Hyunju continued searching among the doors until she found an empty one and signaled to her team to enter. When only a few seconds were left, she saw that everyone was already inside, except for one player, Youngmi. "W-wait, and Youngmi?" Hyunju asked the others, seeing that the younger girl was missing, but in the distance, she heard Youngmi's desperate voice calling for help, she had fallen and needed to get up quickly to enter.
But when Hyunju was about to go get her, she felt a strong body pushing her inside the small room and closing the door. Hyunju tried to push the guy and go get Youngmi, but time had run out.
The doors locked, and Youngmi's voice was heard on the other side, crying as she realized she had been left outside. "Hyunju..." Youngmi said, her voice trembling with fear.
“YOUNGMI, no, you can't stay outside, no, Youngmi..." Hyunju tried to open the door, but it was impossible. Youngmi cried louder, and Hyunju did the same, unable to accept that Youngmi was going to die. She started to despair, banging on the door, but nothing she did was worth it. She looked one last time into Youngmi's red, swollen eyes, and saw how they shot her and ended her life.
Hyunju screamed desperately, her whole world shattering into a million pieces in a matter of seconds. Behind her, she heard Geumja's voice, also crying, unable to accept that Youngmi was gone. Everything became blurry for a moment, she had promised so many things, and now none of them would come true.
But that feeling changed when she saw player 333, who had pushed her and prevented her from helping Youngmi. "IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT, YOU BASTARD, IF IT WASN'T FOR YOU, SHE'D BE HERE!" Hyunju grabbed the man by the neck, who was angry and confused, just like the others.
Geumja was still crying in the background. "If it wasn't for me, you all would have died!" player 333 shouted, looking at everyone with an air of superiority, now addressing Hyunju. "If you had gone to help her, time would have run out, and you would have died for staying outside, along with her, and everyone here would have died too, because they would be missing a player!"
Hyunju looked at player 333 with hatred, and that's when player 222, the pregnant woman, looked at Hyunju and began to speak. "It's true, thank him, we're alive." She said it with a serious expression, and in the background, Hyunju saw Geumja wiping away her tears, still sniffling, as she had grown very fond of Youngmi.
Player 388 also looked at Hyunju and agreed with 333. "It's true, there wasn't enough time."
And that's when Hyunju realized that there hadn't been enough time, it was inevitable. Youngmi was dead, and it was just a matter of luck. It wasn't anyone's fault, everyone was there to survive. She was one of the people who decided to stay another night to increase the accumulated money.
Youngmi and Geumja had voted to leave the day before, and she should have followed them and voted to leave. That way, she would have had the opportunity to leave that place with Youngmi alive. All she could do was cry, it was all she could do at that moment. The person who had confirmed her body and intimacy the night before was now gone.
When the six of them left the small room, the voice over the speaker announced that this would be the last round of the game.
Although Hyunju no longer had the desire to do anything, she decided to get back on the platform. The song started playing again and quickly stopped.
"Two"
People were running around her, but for some reason, she was paralyzed, with no intention of moving, watching as everyone else rushed to the doors and fought for a spot. Until she felt someone grab her arm and take her to an empty door. It was player 246.
When the door locked with a latch and gunshots started being heard, Hyunju snapped back to reality. "Are you okay?" 246 asked, a bit agitated from having practically dragged Hyunju by force.
But 246 quickly realized that Hyunju wasn't okay, her face was completely red, tears still falling, and her hair a bit disheveled. That's when 246 understood that the girl Hyunju was with earlier was no longer there.
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