tw/cw - angst, major character death.
a/n - i altered it just a bit but i do hope sae-byeoks personality is still somewhat accurate
"aren't we partners in crime? you know i'll always get you out of trouble kang sae-byeok, and that includes surviving this game."
you'd laugh at recalling your previous words, leaving a bitter taste on your tongue and a sour expression on your face. how utterly stupid you had been to believe such things. that the rules of these games would ever allow you even a semblance of fairness and prosperity. they were designed for trickery and inevitable calamity, and you had been too blind to realize until now, with two bags of marbles and an opponent with the image of freckles and eyes you adored.
"quite the predicament we got ourselves in huh?" you mused, seated beside the girl on stone steps secluded with a small wall. a silence had settled the moment the rules were explained, the opposite of previous times where you had played with the ends of her fingers and she had rested her head on your shoulder from exhaustion. it was far from the comfortable solitude you were so used to sharing with her. you found a distaste for the feeling.
"stop that." she muttered, equally as frustrated at the concept. she wouldn't stop staring into the void of space where she retreated into her thoughts, leaving you to fill the tension with whatever came to mind. you knew she wasn't trying to be harsh, she was simply upset she too had fallen into the game master's trap
you tilt your head at her, nudging her gently with your foot, "stop what?"
since the moment you entered this arena she finally turned to look at you, and you hated the despair that clouded her gaze. she may not have very expressive facial reactions, but her eyes told you everything you needed to know, "acting like this is fine. that you don't know what this means."
you smiled gently despite how much it hurt to stretch your lips, ignoring your own troubles in hopes to ease hers, "my dear sae-byeok. i know full well what it all means, i'm much smarter than you perceive me to be. im just...trying to lighten the mood."
a flash of anger dispersed the muddy gray before she quickly looked away, going back to burning desperate holes into the dirt that covered the path and digging the soles of her feet within, "it's not working."
"appears so." you sighed, twiddling with your fingers as the tension grew heavy once more.
you didn't have the heart to start the game to decide your fates quite yet, wanting as much time with the individual who's leg pressed against your own before time was up. so much you still hadn't done, opportunities gone to waste because of the choices leading up to this moment. to be seated along the sidewalk eating ice cream that was already melting off the stick, bleaching the strands of her hair because you knew how pleasant she'd appear with just a simple streak of color. would you ever get the chance to kiss her properly, until her breath was yours and so on? oh how you wished the both of you could continue without the regrets that currently shackled your limbs.
"sae-byeok, do you believe in different realities?" you inquired quietly. she was always the one to listen to your sudden rambles and curiosity towards life, and the one to provide her own questions about the things that occurred and the reasons behind it. it
made your heart ache thinking about how this would be one of your last heartfelt conversations you used to look forward to each day.
she ceased her movements of wringing her hands, blinking once before peering up at you with confusion in her gaze, "different realities?"
you hummed, allowing a smile to grace your lips, "i like to think...the universe has endless possibilities. we decide our own fates, but even just one change can alter and dictate the rest of your decisions from then on."
you turned your body to face her, bumping your knees against her limbs and pulling her hands into your lap. she always let you play with her fingers whenever you felt the anxiousness wrap like chains around your lungs, feeling the white scars that carved into the skin and the roughness of the callouses of her pads. you kept your gaze on the movements of your body, trying to keep the mood light and your voice steady.
"imagine this. in a different reality, me and you would not have chosen each other as partners. we'd clear this game and become rich with our lives with far more money than we needed. you'd buy that big house you wanted and live with your mom and your brother, and i'd visit you every morning and cook because we both know you can't," you laughed, remembering the cookies burnt with charcoal that the girl in front of you had presented what felt like years ago but in reality was just mere months, heart squeezing painfully inside your chest at recalling her confused look and down turned eyes. it was the first time she had ever looked so soft and at ease, your light laughs in forms of fits and giggles carried through the night, "maybe then, i could tell you the things i couldn't before, at least in better circumstances. i could've said 'i love you sae-byeok' without knowing it'd be my last."
her fingers tightened, enough so that caused you to wince from the sudden pressure. you glanced up to meet her stare, seeing the trembling lips and the waver in her eyes, "stop it. is this some sick joke?"
you swallowed thickly, hating the expression on her face. she always looked much prettier with a smile, "have i ever lied to you?"
hickory sharpens into daggers that cut through your facade and leave your irises to glisten with tears akin to her own, "no. you cant say that when-"
"when i've clearly lost huh?" you laughed once more, quickly choking on the emotion lodged inside your throat, "you've stolen my heart kang sae-byeok. my breath, my attention, everything that is me. what's one game compared to all of that?"
it felt heavier inside your hands, holding the weight of what was to come posed as cerulean glass rounded to smoothness. you didn't dare to look at her as sae-byeok tossed the marble across the dirt, landing several meters away from the wall. you would feel her hands shaking your body as your fingers stumbled and released the marble far from where her own lay, her frustrated cries ringing in your ears.
"do it again. throw it again please just..." her voice cracked, betraying the composed state she was trying to keep herself within. she lowered her head, forehead pressed against your chest as her body shook with the silent cries leaving her lips.
"i hope..." your voice wobbled, and you cleared your throat while putting your hands around her frail fame and clutching her tightly against your chest as if it was the last time you'd be able to do so, "that all your dreams come true."
"shut up," she croaked, trying to release herself from your embrace, "we're going again. you won't throw your life away for me-"
"i'd give you everything and more sae-byeok." your soft whisper causes her frustration to cease, feeling the way you pulled back slightly to hold her face in the palm of your hands. if it was possible, you'd believe that you currently
held the whole world within your grasp, "perhaps...in a different reality...i'll be able to hold you longer than they allow."
more tears ran down her cheeks, silent which you wipe away gently with the pads of your thumb. you lean forward and press your lips against the corners of her eyes, one on the right and one on the left, before allowing yourself just one last smile for her memory, and hers only.
"your dreams are beautiful sae-byeok. keep nurturing them until they are in full bloom." voice hushed, trying to keep the tears from flowing and the ache within your chest at seeing her turned back, and the cold barrel of a gun pressed against your temple.
