𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑦𝑒𝑟 002, 𝙨𝙦𝙪𝙞𝙙 𝙜𝙖𝙢𝙚

𝔑𝔦𝔫𝔢𝔱𝔢𝔢𝔫

Classical music played as Sang-woo, Gi-hun, Sae-byeok and Dae-Hyung walked through the stairs back to their dorm. The girl was at the back, Gi-hun ahead of her as Sang-woo led the group. Gi-hun stared at Dae-Hyung's back, the boy cradling his eye. The cut didn't feel deep or on his actual eye, more of a cut down his eyelid. "You alright?" Gi-hun tapped the boy's shoulder, him only humming in response. The four eventually got to the dorms again, Dae-Hyung looking around at the empty space. Four beds lay in each corner of the room, Dae-Hyung limping to the farthest on without conversation. Drawings adorned the walls, Dae-Hyung noticing them finally. Sae-byeok let out shaky breaths as she walked into the dorm, watching Sang-woo walk up to Dae-Hyung. "Hey-" "Get off me." The boy spat, walking away as Sang-woo watched him leave. The door closed as Sae-byeok limped to her bed, Gi-hun grabbing Sang-woo's shoulder.

"Why'd you do that?" He asked, Sang-woo glancing at Dae-Hyung before huffing. "What the hell did you expect, huh?" He asked harshly, Gi-hun watching as Dae-Hyung felt his cut. It ran down his cheek and up above his eyelid, giving him a line of blood trailing down his neck. "Why go an push that guy? Dae-Hyung was horrified-" "You got lucky in the back of the line. Must've forgotten how things are here. And, Dae-Hyung was shocked. He'll get over it soon. What if that other guy ended up wasting our time on that one step like that criminal?" Sang-woo asked, Gi-hun in shock. What was Sang-woo saying? "Would you have done nothing?" Sang-woo asked, Gi-hun staring him in the eye. "But he was on the last tile." Dae-Hyung sat with his back against the wall, not knowing what else to do. He guessed he had to wait until mealtime and then go to sleep for the next game tomorrow. Getting comfortable, he heard Gi-hun and Sang-woo's argument.

"He would've moved to the next one soon-" "How can you know that, huh?" Sang-woo yelled, Gi-hun staying silent. "That last guy could tell the tempered glass apart the whole time, but he watched all those poor bastards die out there." The man spat, Gi-hun scoffing. "The only reason you and I made it is cause he could tell the tiles apart." The man shot back. Sang-woo mocked the man as he spoke. Why try and go through these games that were designed to kill people without killing anyone? What's the point in that? Don't try and keep everyone alive, that's not the aim. That won't make you win. "Come on! Just stop it with this bullshit. That guy is not the reason that I'm still here, okay? I'll tell you the reason. It's that I'm willing to do almost anything to win this. Me and Dae-Hyung both have gotten through this with that intention." Sang-woo proclaimed, pointing to the boy as Gi-hun looked to him.

"Stop with the excuses. I'm not buying it. Plus, Dae-Hyung isn't a murderer." He defended, Dae-Hyung closing his eyes and leaning back. "You killed someone. His blood is on your hands. Not Dae-Hyung's. Yours. You pushed him." Gi-hun pointed to Sang-woo's chest, the man scoffing again. "Get it together huh. We'll be killing everyone if we want that money. Think about it for just one second. You should be happy that me and Dae-Hyung aren't afraid to get our hands dirty." Sang-woo spat, Gi-hun humming. "And if it were me on that tile? Or Dae-Hyung?" He asked, Sang-woo groaning tiredly. "Come on! Gi-hun! Your life is so damn pathetic, and here's why. It's because you always gotta open your mouth and ask something idiotic. Dae-Hyung means a lot to me, okay! You're a nosy ass idiot who's too slow to keep it shut. Someone who always has to get into trouble but somehow can't tell he's in it."

Gi-hun kept stoic at Sang-woo's words, nodding. "Okay. That's right. That's how I got caught up in this whole thing. Because I was slow, crazy incompetent. Just a dimwit who lives off his mother. And Dae-Hyung means a lot to me too, I care about the kid. But, you're here with me in this place. Isn't that interesting?" The man asked, getting in Sang-woo's face as he kept quiet. "Why is that? Ssangmun-dong's golden child, the genius Cho Sang-woo, who went to SNU was here? Rolling around this shithole, slamming with us, simpletons, huh! Is it my fault that you're here? Is it Dae-Hyung's?" Sang-woo glared at the man his breathing shaky. Dae-Hyung opened his eyes when an alarm blared, the doors opening. The masked square entered the room, four circle men with boxes each in their arms. "Players, we sincerely congratulate and commend you all for successfully making it through the first five games. The four of you are now finalists and as such, we have prepared a special gift for each of you."