𝗽𝗹𝗮𝘆𝗲𝗿 𝟯𝟯𝟯 (𝗿𝗲done); 𝘀𝗾𝘂𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗴𝘂𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝘅 𝗳𝗲𝗺!𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿

VIII

as you eat your breakfast, you weigh your options. do you really want to do this?

the woman announces that it's time to start the next game. you make your way to a porcelain room; the same room you went to last time you had to choose teams.

you scanned the room for anyone that didn't have a partner. you see a girl just sitting down in a corner of the room. "she looks like a good teammate." you think to yourself.

you walk up to her and upon looking closer you notice that she is player 204. you approach her and ask "hey, want to partner up?"

she slowly looks up at you stays still for a second. "sure, i guess so." she says melancholy. (did i use that right lol)

"okay, great" you say. you stick out your hand and she places her hand in it. you shake, proving your alliance.

"what's your name?" you ask her. "jae." she replies. "pretty. i'm y/n." you say back.

the time to form teams is up. you and jae head to the game hall. upon entering, you feel like it's oddly familiar. it's a village setup, with a sunset painted on the walls.

the woman on the PA starts saying the rules of the game. it's marbles (but you already knew this). whoever ended up with 20 marbles within the time limit won.

you grab the bag of marbles from the triangle guard in front of you. you smile slightly at him, as you notice that he's the same guard you called cute a few nights ago. hehe

right after that, you see h/n patrolling the area near you and jae. "let's hope he didn't see that" you think.

"so, what game d-" jae begins before being cut off by you.

"listen, i uh..i've given this some thought, and i've decided that me going on just..it wouldn't be worth it. i'm even more screwed out there than in here. so, can we just have a conversation? can we just..talk?"

she looks at you stunned, but still speaks. "are you sure?" she says grimly. "100%." you say back.

"okay, we can have a conversation." she says and sits on the sandy ground.

you sit beside her and start talking. "so, what's life out there like? you got any family?" you ask her.

"yeah, i have a little sister. she's staying with my aunt. i'm trying to get her out of there, my aunt is...not a nice person." she says sadly.

"i'm sorry to hear that. where are your parents, if you don't mind me asking." you say.

"my mom and dad died in a motorway accident a few years ago. i have a small family, and only my aunt was around. it was either that or foster care." she says.

"wow, i'm so sorry. but, it almost makes me happy that i'm sacrificing myself." you reply.

"how so?" jae questions.

"because, i know i'm giving a chance to someone that has something to live for." you tell her.

you look back up at the clock.

10:47

"what about you? you have anything left?" she asks.

"hah, besides loansharks waiting to kill me, no i don't. my family is small as well. my parents..well..i don't know where they are." you tell her.

"one day when i was about 13, my mom left the apartment and just..never came back." you say sadly. you still remember that day vividly.

"that's messed up. i'm really sorry." she says sympathetically.

"and my dad, i've never met him. i'm about to be murdered by loan sharks, my job is crappy, i'm not in school, i've got absolutely nothing." you tell her honestly.

"well, don't you at least want a chance?" she asks you.

"i don't have one." you say.

the timer goes off. the game is over. you hand jae your bag of marbles, her eyes start watering.

you pull her in for a hug. "thank you for being my partner. now, you go out there and win that money. do it for your sister." you whisper.

"i'll never forget you." she trembles as you hug. you eventually pull away, and she begins walking away.

h/n comes around the corner, and nods his head at jae, motioning for her to get moving. she does so and walks out of sight. "i'll never forget you either." you think.

h/n cocks his gun and shoots a blank. you collapse to the ground, hitting the dirty floor with a thump.

"player 333, eliminated."

he walks away and returns with a coffin. you're being loaded into it when you hear a gun fire and a body drop. then you hear an announcement that makes you want to scream in agony.

"player 199, eliminated."

it takes everything in you not to scream right there. silent tears flow down your face as the lid is put on the coffin.

ali. how could this happen to him? why? he was such a sweet guy. he was one of the most caring people you'd had ever met. he didn't deserve this. you almost wanted h/n to actually kill you. you deserved it more than poor ali.

"you!" h/n shouts at someone, whom you're assuming is another guard. "help me bring this spare coffin to my room." he demands.

the other guard does so and you feel yourself being lifted into the air. "sir, how come this coffin is so heavy?" the guard asks.

"don't ask questions, 56. do you want to be the one in this godforsaken coffin? get moving." h/n barks at the guy. you hear him mumble some nonsense, probably insults, under his breath.

you try your best not to slide around inside the box, but these two weren't making it any easier. why were there so many stairs? why so many sharp turns? you were going to get motion sickness if this carried on any longer.

luckily for you, it didn't. the coffin was placed down onto some sort of floor and 56 was sent away. as soon as you heard the door shut, the lid popped off, the sudden light of the room blinding you.

h/n hoisted you up by your shoulders so you were sitting straight up. he saw the marks on your face and the tears still in your eyes. "baby," he said, pulling you towards him into his arms.

you started to cry again. "he didn't deserve it, ali didn't deserve to die." you said, turning your face into his shoulder. "i should have been the one to die there. i deserve it more than he did."

h/n had his hand on your back. "now, don't say things like that. of course he didn't deserve it, he seemed like a good man. but that doesn't mean you should have taken his place." he said in a comforting tone.

"yes i do. i was in that stupid game for myself and myself only! he was there because he was trying to help his family! i was just being selfish!" you said loudly, more tears falling from your eyes.

"shh, shh," h/n said, pulling away to look at you. "you weren't being selfish. you need to have money too. you need to afford to live and eat. you are not selfish." he reassured you.

"come on, let's get you showered and into bed, you've had a tough day." he said, picking you up bridal style and carrying you down the hallway of his rather large room.

—

SUUUUUUUURRRRRPPPPPRRRRIIIISSSEEEEEE

i don't know if anyone is even still INTO this story, but here ya go 🤍 had some of it in the drafts for the while and finished it tonight. thank you to those who stuck around and read, and THANK YOU FOR 14K READS!!!

i just wanna take a minute and say that even tho i didn't update for months (🫣), this story is immensely precious to me. i'm beyond grateful for my lovely wonderful amazing readers, and this story reminds me of a better time in my life (aka the time that i joined wattpad)

again thank you thank you thank you.

i love you so much pls eat something today and also drink some water

here's to chapter VIII