Red Light

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Sae-Byeok awoke to the sound of classical music and jolted up quickly glancing in every direction. She was in a large room filled with triple tiered bunk beds. Hundreds of other people were similarly scampering out of their own bunks and beginning to look around the room. A sea of green moved towards the empty center of the room. She looked down to see that she, along with every other person in the room had on a green jumpsuit. The number 067 was stitched across her chest. She shuddered at the thought of the masked man she saw in the vehicle that picked her up undressing her and redressing her in this uniform. She stood up from the bottom bunk and began moving towards the empty space as well.

"You bitch!" Out of nowhere a fist connected with her face, sending her sprawling to the ground. She picked herself up quickly and turned towards her attacker. All color drained from her face as she found herself looking into the eyes of a man she thought she had been rid of for good. Jang Deok-su. He somehow looked even larger than the last time she had seen him.

"Hey! Geez. Didn't think I'd run into you here." He stalked closer to her. She held her ground, refusing to show any weakness towards him. "Look at those eyes. You're temper hasn't changed." He scoffed when she glared at him. "Then again, you're not the type to wuss out just from a couple of blows. I fed you, put a roof over your head, even taught you my skills, and you stab me in the back?" She clenched her teeth to keep from insulting the man.

"You already took more than what I owe you." She replied, feigning disinterest.

"If you're so confident, why did you run away?" She hated how the crowd of people were closing in around them making any sort of escape impossible.

"I didn't run away. I just went independent." She knew she would hit a nerve with that but she couldn't help herself. Deoksu, who has the number 101 begins laughing at her.

"What?" He asks in baffled amazement. Before she can say anything else he swings at her again. She quickly leans back, avoiding the blow completely but he isn't done there. He grabs her by the throat and throws her to the ground. When she tries to get up he grabs her hair and throws her down again. She tries to get up for a third time and he kicks her in the ribs. She curls in on herself trying to escape the pain. He grabs her by the hair again forcing her to look at him.

"Independent?" He asked, chuckling humorlessly. "You think you're Yu-Gwan-Sun or something? Go out and wave the national flag, then." He looked around at the others who had surrounded them, making sure they heard the rest of what he was about to say. "Oh, right. You're from the North, so wave the North Korean flag." He raises his fist and is about to bring it down on her face again when a body practically hip chucks him out of the way.

"Come here!" He grabs her shirt and hair and yanks her head to the side revealing a scar she got years ago. "That scar on your neck!" He cried out. "Yes, it's you, the pickpocket! Give me my money back!" What are the odds she would run into the man she had just pickpocketed the day before in here of all places? "Where's my money?" He began shaking her back and forth. "Give it back!" Deoksu had enough however and planted his foot into 456s' side, causing him to fall away.

"What the hell!!" The man asked as Deoksu stalked closer to him.

"Who are you?" He asked, making 456 practically shrink under his intense gaze. 456 slowly backs away from him as Deoksu continues to advance. "Who the hell are you?" He asked louder. 456 became a stuttering mess.

"Me? W-well...I'm Seong Gi-hun from Ssangmun-dong." He replied. Before he could get any more out the man cut him off.

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