EGOIST (Sang Woo x Fem!OC) [COMPLETED]

31

There was about less than two minutes left.

"Let's get this over with."

Hae Young looks down at Mi-nyeo with dead eyes, though her shaking hands said otherwise. Mi-nyeo stands before her, slow, stalling. She gives her a nod, though none of them makes the first move.

Mi-nyeo stares at the clock in anticipation.

"This is the shittiest day of my life." She sighs. Hae Young just nods. It was hers, too.

"I just wish you didn't pity me." She says. "You should've forced your way to one of those men. Those scumbags." She scoffs. "They're the ones who deserve to die."

"No one deserves to die like this."

Mi-nyeo looks at her, a smug expression on her face.

"Even at a time like this, you still remain altruistic?" She shakes her head. "You really are something, Moon Hae Young." She takes a step closer. "These games aren't made for you..." There was a pregnant pause before she reclaimed her statement.

"No, these games are made for people like you." She corrects herself. "You care a lot about people more than you think."

Hae Young remains emotionless, looking at the shorter woman. "And so do you."

Mi-nyeo smiles, a genuine one this time, of gratitude and softness that she never realized she'd show towards someone who gave her an ounce of respect. She will never forget her.

Hae Young finally returns the smile, wobbly and water as the tears she was trying to suppress this whole time finally fall. No matter what she did to hide it, she was still absolutely, inevitably human.

Mi-nyeo pulls her in for an embrace, both clinging on to each other with little connection, but so much faith, and everything between them was desperation, and regret. If only they had a little more time, if only things didn't turn out as they are now. Though, in the hypothetical sense that they didn't have to kill each other, would the two remain the same as they are now? With that embrace, with this fucking game, they finally acknowledge each other, woman to a woman, that they're all just human through and through.

Mi-nyeo pulls her closer, tighter, arms suddenly wrapping tightly around Hae Young that she couldn't move her upper limbs. It was like restraint. "What are you--"

"You're too good for this world." Mi-nyeo whispers to her, as she feels the sudden weight in the pockets of her jacket.

"Mi-nyeo--"

"--Go get the treatment your dad deserves." She finally lets go, Hae Young stares at her in disbelief, cheeks soaking wet with more tears.

"Go travel. Spoil yourself." She says. Mi-nyeo was crying now, too. "You lucky bastard." She laughs dryly.

"Why are you doing this--"

"--You still have something to live for."

"You can't do this, I've already decided!" Hae Young shouts, reaching into her pockets, but Mi-nyeo seizes her hand immediately.

"--I've got nothing." She tells her. "You still have your chances of winning, to get your dad back. Because once I get out of here, I only have my debts waiting for me." She chuckles at the thought, though it came out more of a sob.

"You can't pity me like this--"

"I'm only giving you the chance you gave me." She tells her. "Don't let me, or anyone else who died in this shithole, die in vain."

Mi-nyeo's hands remain tight on Hae Young's wrist as she looks up at the digital timer. It buzzes then she smiles.

The pink soldier approaches them, seizing Mi-nyeo by the arms. Harshly pulled away, Hae Young feels her grasp pulled away roughly. She didn't want to die, she thought. No one does. That last clamp of desperation, the grip around her wrist. She needed it again, and she just needed more time--

"Player 099. Pass." She listens to the intercom, as another pink guard appears to escort her out of the game room.

"No, wait--"

"Hae Young."

She stops, hearing Mi-nyeo call out for her one last time. They look at each other one last time through teary eyes.

"Go win for the rest of us."

Bang.

It happened so quickly that she couldn't stop and comprehend Mi-nyeo's body falling to the floor, her blood splattering on the walls, and the blood pooling around her head. She's dead, she's gone. Hae Young wins. The pink guard seizes her by the arm. Her body slowly followed, but her mind still remained on that spot, watching slowly as Mi-nyeo's body slowly disappeared in her field of sight.

The guard takes the marbles and pushes her out back into the white game room. There was ringing in her ears as the sudden urge to throw up hit her hard. She runs over to a corner, expelling her guts onto the pristine white floors. All the guilt, the regret, the turmoil came out, and when she finished, the whole world was hazy. The guard just walks up to her, seizing her again by the arm.

"Let's go." He says, ignoring the fact that she had just soiled their floor.

She follows him, stumbling. Shocked. Wiping away the remnants off the corner of her mouth with her sleeve, the heaviness still hasn't left her yet. But she buries that moment deep into her heart and mind; the image of Mi-nyeo's blood sputtering burned into her brain, the people that fell in tug of war. Bodied, and just bodies; those that piled up by the green door, those that fell after the sound of a snap. The scent of melted sugar and dalgona, the sting of her cut in the palm of her hand. She reminds herself why she's here in the first place, and what she had done to get this far. This isn't the first time she's gotten a second chance again, and she'd always vow she wouldn't waste it. So she won't. She presses hard on the wound of her cut, making her feel pain. Because a part of her thinks that maybe this is just a dream, or that somewhere in those games, she had already died. But the coolness of the room, the lights, the sounds, the pain--all the pain, reminds her that she is here. She is alive, and it is not a wonderful feeling to be alive.