GAME OVER | SQUID GAME

◽️ CHAPTER FIFTEEN ◽️

( Give the ddakji guy a name so I can write easier. I don't wanna put the actor's name, that would be kinda weird 😭 )

"I'm happy to see you're a little more comfortable with spending money now." Sang-woo commented, watching his new partner pick up multiple (expensive) articles of clothing. Gi-hun let out a giggle.

"Better late than never, I guess. Might as well buy something new so I don't look like I'm still in poverty. Plus...I think I deserve to treat myself after all that." He said rather proudly at the end. Sang-woo opened his mouth to speak when another voice chimed in.

"I'll have to agree with you on that one, sir." A man in casual clothing walked up to them both and Gi-hun's eyes widened at the familiar face. Sang-woo, on the other hand, didn't look very pleased to see him at all. In fact, he was tempted to punch him in his nose and break it.

The man that used to play ddakji with the potential contestants placed a hand on Gi-hun's shoulder and shot him that gentle but oddly sinister smile of his.

"What do you want?" Sang-woo asked, wanting him to leave them alone faster. The smile went from Gi-hun to Sang-woo and he nearly cringed.

"All I want is to congratulate our winner for...winning again, if you would like to call it that." His gaze fell on Gi-hun, who's face flushed a bit, "he's very persistent...very brave...yet so caring and soft at the same time." he gently rubbed Gi-hun's back before looking at Sang-woo once again. "I find those to be very admirable qualities about him."

"Alright well you said your congratulations, can you leave?" Sang-woo said, clearly annoyed. Gi-hun held up a hand.

"Wait. How do we know you won't start up those games again?" He asked, furrowing his eyebrows.

"Ah, you think so poorly of me. I suppose I can't blame you. But you need not worry, I was just the guy recruiting the players. I know nothing about the production of the games. Don't tell anyone, but seeing as you're my favorite player, I would like to help you in the event that you spend more money than you should at one time." The man replied, handing him a card. Gi-hun took the card and was pleasantly surprised to see no weird shapes on it. Just a regular card with a phone number on it.

"I don't like him." Sang-woo said, watching him leave. Gi-hun stuffed the card in one of his pockets.

"I'm a little iffy about him too but it's best to keep an eye on him just as much as he's keeping an eye on us." Gi-hun replied.

- SQUID GAME: GAME OVER -

"How's Ga-yeong doing in America?" Sang-woo asked as the two men put a bunch of shopping bags in the car trunk.

"She's been doing great in America, actually. She's picked up a lot of English and in just one year. I'm proud of her. For the sake of my late mother, who's most definitely watching over her, I asked Ga-yeong how her Korean is and she's as fluent as she's always been. Old woman thought she'd forget." Gi-hun explained, laughing at the end. Sang-woo couldn't help but to smile.

It'd been so long since Gi-hun smiled that big. So long since he laughed and felt pure joy in his soul. When he smiled, his eyes smiled too and there was just undeniable joy that was so contagious that Sang-woo couldn't help but to feel it too. He was proud of his old friend. And for a moment, he agreed with the guy that started it all;

Gi-hun wasn't the brightest, never has been. He didn't have much of an interest in those big jobs like business or health or politics. He was just a happy soul living life as best as he could. It got him in a lot of trouble but as said before, he was persistent and brave. So very brave, even if he didn't want to admit it.

Sang-woo looked down at his hands, staring off into nothing as the sound of Gi-hun's became a muffled noise. Sang-woo wasn't sure if he was brave. It was desperation and his own cockiness that drove him through those games and in the end, he met his own demise. Gi-hun was right, he was scared. Terrified, even. He didn't want to go back to where he was before and yet he was given a second chance, even though not all his problems were solved.

Sang-woo always believed he was smarter than everyone. It was a lump of confidence that kept getting bigger until it burst and got him hurt. Looking at Gi-hun, he saw the complete opposite; irresponsible and high-spirited.

"I remember why I looked up to you so much in the past." Sang-woo suddenly said, cutting off the older male. Gi-hun looked at the younger as he closed the trunk.

"Eh?" Was all Gi-hun could get out.

"You've always been so...optimistic.." that was the word, "so high-spirited, never worrying about anything until it smacked you in the face. You think of other people even in the face of death. You looked after the people who ended up dying right in front of you anyway. I know I keep saying it but you looked after me, the guy that killed everyone out of cold blood and desperation, feeding off of my own cockiness and convincing myself that I'm smarter than everyone, able to outsmart everyone, that's why I'm here. In the end, I could've ended it but you're here now and continuing to help me. You see how bad people can get but continue to treat them like delicate flowers. You never focused on intelligence, or on what your skills were. You just wanted to live and have fun. I mean- yeah I was scared but-" Sang-woo started to ramble until he felt a pair of lips gently peck his own.

"Breathe. Think about what you want to say and say it. I don't need a full on essay, babe." He replied with a giggle at the end. Sang-woo's cheeks turned red as he took a deep breath.

"I guess what I want to say is...I admire how pure you are. I admire how you're able to prove that there's always...another way..." he said, his voice trailing off as he remembered what he tried to do that night, he remembered everything. "You've always been like that. Always so...hopeful and confident in the future.."

"I have no idea where this is coming from but I appreciate that. Never knew you looked up to me liked that. I was always looking up to you and you're younger than me. Thing is, Sang-woo, there's nothing to look up to me for. Or have you forgotten what I said? You were scared, Sang-woo. I was too but at the same time, I didn't want to watch people die. Over time, I grew closer with our team so both of us were trying to keep our loved ones safe, even if it was you that I wanted to see at the end the most. Let's just agree that the whole situation was complicated, okay?" Gi-hun said as he made his way to the driver side of the car, Sang-woo following to the passenger side.

"It was but without that experience, I never would've-"

"It's okay, Sang-woo. We argued over two motives that made complete sense. I wanted to save everyone and you didn't want to die, whether it was by the guards' hands or...your own. Were either of us really...wrong?" Gi-hun said and asked.

Sang-woo just exhaled and nodded his head with a slight smile before holding Gi-hun's free hand as the older started to drive off.

'It's alright if he doesn't understand. The way I feel about him is too complex..even for me.' Sang-woo thought as he looked at the older. 'You're a good person, Seong Gi-hun...'

The drive was silent, with only music to connect the two souls sitting beside each other. Stopping at a red light, Sang-woo glanced at the car beside them and saw the guy from earlier. He was smiling not at Sang-woo...but at Gi-hun. Though he shot a little wave at Sang-woo.

He didn't want to assume things would go wrong, but he had a bad feeling building up within him and he didn't like that this guy seemed to take an odd interest in Gi-hun.

'Breathe, Sang-woo...'

To Be Continued...🔺

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Hiii I told you I'd continue this story ~ ♥️ Please please please give the ddakji guy a name, it's so hard to just describe him as a man 😭 he also might be an intruding third party to their relationship because ✨drama✨ and he gives me sugar daddy vibes idk-

Also sorry if this chapter was short and all over the place, my mind is all over the place too as I've been focused on so many things at once! I hope you enjoyed for what is though ♥️