𝑳𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝑭𝒐𝒓 𝑴𝒆 || 𝑺𝒒𝒖𝒊𝒅 𝑮𝒂𝒎𝒆

Chapter 12 - Thank You...

"In this game, using your ten marbles"

"You will compete with your partner. The player who takes all ten marbles from your partner wins."

Hwang Shin-young's POV

Once I heard that, I felt my heart drop. I'm going to be competing with my childhood best friend...

I looked at Ye-Jin who seems to be smiling sadly. She looked at me and held my hand. "Let's talk somewhere private, shall we?" I slowly nodded.

We sat down on a staircase and I heard Ye-Jin let out a big sigh. "You know, ever since the Korean War, nothing has been this tragic." She looked at me.

"So, how have you been all this time? For this past 6 years?" She asked me. "I'm fine. I'm living a good life with my sister.." I lied. I know that she wouldn't believe me easily. "Shin, don't lie to me. I'm your best friend. I can tell when something's wrong with you." She told me.

I sighed. "Fine. When you left, a lot of things have changed. You still remember Jun-ho, right?" I asked her. She nodded. "Well, he got lost. Grandpa and Grandma were murdered. Me and Eunjin didn't have a place to stay. Soon, we were adopted by my uncle. He abused us everyday. That's when I decided to drop Eunjin off the orphanage. I joined this game to win the money. For Eunjin's future, so that we could have a better life. The money could also help me find Jun-ho. I miss him so fucking much. When I win this game, we will become happy, and we would be complete again."

She patted my back and soon grabbed my badly bruised wrist. I winced in pain. She slowly moved the fabric upwards, revealing all the cuts that my uncle gave me before. Little blood was coming out of my wrist. Ye-Jin's eyes widen.

"You've suffered for years just to provide a better future for your little sister?" She asked worriedly. I slowly nodded. She sighed and removed her hand from my wrist.

"Seriously. Shin, you also have to take care of yourself. How could you continue your dreams if you're like this? I'm just saying this as a friend, you should take care of your health." She told me. I chuckled a little.

"Also, what's going on between you and that 67 girl I think?" She questioned. I immediately looked at her. "What do you mean?" I asked. "She came up to me when you and that Ji-yeong girl were talking privately. She asked what was our relationship together. I told her that we were childhood best friends and after that, she walked away. She seems to be jealous. Is she your girlfriend or something?" She asked.

My cheeks went red and I quickly looked away. "No. We're just friends." I replied. She chuckled. "Tch. Shin, I know you like girls. Plus, you two would make a cute couple."

"Seriously, you're just like Ji-yeong. And fine, I like her okay? Just a little bit." I told her. She smiled widely. "Just a little bit huh? Or maybe more?" She teased me. I scoffed and chuckled a little.

Ye-Jin's POV

It was nice having fun with my childhood best friend again. I missed her smile and everything. But, only one of us could survive in here, and that must be her. She has gone through a lot of pain more than me. She deserves to win. She deserves to be happy.

I noticed that there were only 3 minutes left until the timer ends. "Yah, Shin. Let's do it." I told her. She looked at me sadly and sighed. We stood up at the same time and began to walk towards a dead end. I thought of a game that we could play.

"Whoever throws a marble closer to that wall wins. What do you think?" I looked at her. She looked back and nodded.

"You should go first, Shin. Your number is before mine." I told her. She let out a shaky breath and stepped forward.