but she survived | sae-byeok x ji-yeong

like acrobats high up in the air

The game was glass stepping stones, as they called it. Two bridges being represented in front of the players, both made out of tiles of glass. The announcer explained that some of the tiles were tempered glass, which could hold up to two players at the same time, while the others were a completely normal glass that would break just by the weight of a single player. They would have to figure out which was which, as they crossed the bridge. There were eighteen tiles on each bridge and to win you had to guess which was tempered glass only by stepping on them. You would then land on the platform on the other side of the bridge.

Ninety-six looked absolutely horrified, turning to the guard that informed him exactly what he was scared of. That he was going first. After wasting a whole minute of just standing on the edge of the platform, his body visibly shaking, more and more people got impatient, Deok-su's threat being the last straw for him, as he finally jumped out on the left tile.

Everybody held their breath, scared for the poor man to fall to his death but he didn't. He had chosen the right one. His decision seemed to give him a bit of confidence, as he didn't use long on choosing which one to jump onto next. Sadly for him, he wasn't as lucky the second time, the tile being normal glass and he fell to the ground, his scream echoing through the room as he hit the ground with a thud. Ji-yeong's body jerked with shock, subconsciously placing herself closer to the tall girl next to her. Sae-byeok was startled as well but still chose to silently comfort the latter by letting her hand run up and down her back.

The next in line chose to take a look down at the man, letting out a sob at the sight. She tried to collect herself, though, looking like she was trying to find some kind of pattern in the order of tiles. But her conclusion was wrong, as she too fell to her death.

Time went torturously slow and the tension in the room got thicker and thicker with every tile that broke, every scream that was heard, and every person that with hope in their eyes landed on the wrong tile, seeing their life get taken away from them while falling further and further down till everything went dark and silent.

Soon, it was only Ji-yeong, Sae-byeok, Gi-hun, and Sang-woo that were left on the platform, everyone else on the dangerous tiles. Gi-hun started explaining in a low voice but his words were clear and precise. "There are ten tiles left, and eleven people still playing. If they manage to step on one or two each, the four of us can get across to the end."

His words actually calmed the two girls a bit, giving them some kind of hope. But Sang-woo was quick to ruin that. "That might not be the case. If one of those players gets scared and starts to run down the time, we are in danger at the back of the line."

Ji-yeong sighed deeply, mumbling a small 'great', before turning to look at the timer. Ten remaining minutes.

Sae-byeok was the first to jump out onto the first tile out of the two girls, Ji-yeong following right after. Sae-byeok was trying to keep her head cold, but jumping from tile to tile, feeling her body tremble as she landed was making it difficult. She took a glance over her shoulder, checking up on how Ji-yeong was doing. Her hands were in fists and her face shone with nervosity. Sae-byeok then noticed Gi-hun behind the latter, looking between the two first tiles anxiously.

"It's the left," she affirmed sternly. "It's the left one. Get it together."

She watched as he trusted her words and jumped onto the left one. Hearing him let out a shaky exhale while turning her head back around.

It was going pretty good for Ji-yeong. She knew which tiles to step on, so she felt pretty safe so far. But her heart was still pounding so loudly that she could hear it in her ears, but she chose to ignore that.