but she survived | sae-byeok x ji-yeong

a cocked gun, but never a gunshot to be heard

Thirty minutes. That's how long it had taken. Sae-byeok had not thought she'd care about anyone in the game. Her focus on winning the prize money. Caring for someone in there wouldn't gain her anything. But those thirty minutes had proved her differently. Because on those fake stairs they had sitten, both talked about something none of them had ever thought they would. And with every word, every small smile on Ji-yeong's face, Sae-byeok started to feel something. Something she had promised herself she wouldn't feel. A mix of caring and trust. But why did it have to be for her? One of them would die before the thirty minutes had passed. Ji-yeong, for some reason, didn't seem to feel very fazed about the situation. And her accidentally reminding them that one of them was near death didn't help either. She kept on making plans for them. Girls' nights, trips, all things they couldn't do.

She made reality hit harder and harder when the timer showed the remaining three minutes. Sae-byeok's throw wasn't the worst, but the distance between the small marble and the wall still made her throat tighten with nervousness. Her eyes landed on the shorter girl behind her, who just returned the gaze with a faint smile. She got herself ready for her throw, holding the marble in her hand, and then suddenly- she dropped it. Right in front of her. The nervousness completely vanished, but instead, anger replaced it, filling her head.

"What are you doing?" Sae-byeok asked her, pushing her up against the wall with a hand on her shoulder.

Ji-yeong answered with her usual small smirk and careless mine. "I lost. You won." It made Sae-byeok's insides boil with anger. She was going to die, why did she act like everything was fine?

The further into explaining her actions, the harder holding back tears became for Sae-byeok. And when the first one dropped down on her freckled cheek, she didn't even care to hold them back anymore, letting them stream down her face. But her features were still completely neutral, the only thing exposing her true sadness was the salty tears.

Walking away from her was probably the worst thing. With heavy steps she was headed towards the exit, following one of the masked guards, when Ji-yeong's voice filled the room, making Sae-byeok's shaking body freeze in place.

"Thank you-" It was quite obvious that she was trying to not make the sobs affect her words. "for playing with me."

Sae-byeok was holding her gaze at the masked man's hood, waiting to hear the sound of a gunshot. But she never did. She only heard steady footsteps from behind her, and a male voice whisper something unclear.

"Player 240, there has been a .. problem," a deep voice stated, letting out a long sigh. A problem? "It looks like we will have to let you go for this round. But don't let this inspire you in the future, it will not happen again."

 "Are you serious?" Ji-yeong asked, her voice filled with disbelief.

The guard lowered his gun, before confirming. "Yes, I certainly am."

Sae-byeok heard Ji-yeong thank the man while letting out small cries. She didn't know if she dared turn around. Maybe it was a sick joke to make her watch them kill her. She closed her eyes, trying to swallow even though her mouth was completely dried out, and slowly started to turn around. And then she felt her. Ji-yeong's body clinging onto her own, arms locked around the tall girl's torso. Sae-byeok was breathing heavily, looking down at Ji-yeong who was resting her cheek on her shoulder. She couldn't wrap her head around it. It didn't feel real. She didn't want to let go, scared that she would disappear, and Sae-byeok would get thrown back to reality, where the gunshot would actually go off. But it was real. She put her hand on the back of Ji-yeong's head, holding her close.

"You can finish your celebration back in the sleeping areas," A guard said, breaking the silence. Sae-byeok looked behind her, finding out it was the one that was supposed to follow her out. "Now, both of you must follow me." He turned around, beginning to walk.

"This sure was destiny telling us that we should go to Jeju Island and get some mojitos," Ji-yeong spoke, sliding her hand into Sae-byeok's with a smirk and eyes blank with tears.

Sae-byeok looked at Ji-yeong, her face in its usual stoic expression. But then, for the first time, Ji-yeong saw it turn into a lopsided smile. "I suppose it is."

-

"How-.. is this possible?" Gi-hun stammered, his mouth hanging open. There was complete silence in the room. "No offense, okay? But you're not both supposed to be alive right now."

"How did you do it?" Deok-su asked in a low voice, going up into both of the girl's faces threateningly. Sae-byeok took a step in front of Ji-yeong, looking him directly in the eyes. A man jumped down from where he was sitting, running past Sae-byeok, accidentally giving her a push, and towards Ji-yeong, shaking her shoulders. "WHY? You two barely know each other and you get to live?! I had to kill my wife. MY OWN WIFE-" Sae-byeok grabbed his arm, answering with cold eyes. "We don't know how she got to live and why, but it is not her fault that you couldn't save your partner."

His chin was wobbling, his eyes fixated on Ji-yeong once more, who was standing with wide eyes. He then let go of his grab on her, letting out a painful sob. "I can't do this without her. I can't. Please, I beg you to stop this game. You just had to kill the ones you were closest with, and you're good with that just to get the money?!"

Sae-byeok put her arm around Ji-yeong's shoulder, pulling her to her side, while her hand was placed tensely on her upper arm. Ji-yeong looked up at her, eyes soft and ready to meet Sae-byeok's, but she wasn't returning the shorter girl's glance. She was still looking right forward at the crying man with a clenched jaw.  

"So what if we stop now?" Sangwoo intervened, making everyone's attention land on him. "You think your wife will stop being dead if we all go now? And she'll forgive you for letting her get murdered? If you can't keep going, then why are you alive right now?"

"Hey! You think that'll motivate him or something?" Ji-yeong asked, tilting her head to the side. "I mean, I see what you mean, but just- let the poor man grieve his wife in peace. Your words aren't exactly an ideal motivational speech." she only mumbled the last sentence for herself, sighing deeply.

"Yeah, she's right," Gi-hun agreed, putting a hand on Sangwoo's shoulder. "Everyone is having a hard time at the moment, let's not do this right now."

The widower turned around, sitting down heavily onto his lonely bed that used to be accompanied by his wife's. His stare on the floor was completely empty, almost inhumane. Sangwoo turned around with his hands in tight fists as he, as well, returned to his own bed.

As the conversation seemed to be over, Ji-yeong took it as an opportunity to look back up at Sae-byeok. But this time, she wasn't just looking up at her jaw, no, two dark eyes were burning right into her own. She originally had planned on saying, maybe even asking her something, but the feeling of her looking right into her soul, made every thought inside her normally overwhelmed head completely disappear. I'm tired, was what she ended up saying, before breaking eye contact and looking down at her shoes that had a bit of splashed blood here and there.

"Okay, we should also be heading to bed by now," Sae-byeok answered. Her deep voice had gotten raspy from yelling earlier. "I think the lights will be out soon."

Ji-yeong couldn't resist it. She carefully placed the arm that wasn't already occupied on the freckled girl's waist on top of it, holding her in an embrace.

Sae-byeok took a moment to react, before she rested her chin on top of Ji-yeong's head, squeezing her slightly with the arm that was already around her shoulder. "Goodnight, Ji-yeong. I'm happy you got to survive today," she whispered into her ear, the words making a shiver run down Ji-yeong's back. But not a scared shiver, like she had gotten from the first gunshot in red light, green light. Or when they were told to play against their partners in the recent game. No. This was a shiver of something she hadn't felt before. A shiver of shyness. A shiver of a million butterflies all swarming around inside of her. A shiver of happiness and excitement.

-

a/n - hi everybody reading :) thank you so much for reading this, I hope you liked it. have a great day, morning or night <3