BURY A FRIEND ♱ squidgame

𝗘𝗣𝗜𝗟𝗢𝗚𝗨𝗘

"𝐇𝐈 𝐒𝐌𝐎𝐊𝐄𝐑", Gi-hun said, with a faint smile. His hair was longer, and his face was unshaven. And, he looked like a homeless person. Nabi kept her firm grip on the door handle, as she struggled to understand the situation standing before her.

"Baby, who is it?"

Sae-byeok's voice snapped Nabi out of her shock. Nabi peeked over her shoulder and then looked back at Gi-hun. "Sae-byeok?", Gi-hun asked with wide eyes, as he heard the familiar voice. Sae-byeok quickly walked out of the kitchen, not believing her ears.

She froze before she could even reach the door, her mind wandered off, just like Nabi's had a few minutes ago.
Nabi was the first to talk.
"How are you alive?", she asked, her voice echoing through the stairwell. Gi-hun shook his head and shrugged, trying to stay calm as he suppressed all the memories from the last few months.

"Gi-hun?", Nabi asked again, making the man break down. He sobbed as the pain flooded back, pulling him with it. Nabi grabbed the man gently and pulled him out from the stairwell.
Sae had recovered from her shock and was now standing still, looking at her girlfriend with a questioning expression. Why was she inviting this man to their apartment?

Nabi gave Sae a look, as she walked Gi-hun to the couch, helping him sit down. "Do you want water?", she asked gently, placing an assuring hand on the man's shoulder. Gi-hun shook his head. He already felt like a burden.

The next twenty minutes were dead silent. Sae-byeok had taken Cheol to his room and was now standing in the living room, hands crossed.

Nabi got the man to calm down, which to be honest, impressed Sae-byeok. She had always been the one to calm Nabi down, making sure that she knew that she was safe. Even after the games. So, to see Nabi so calm and nursing made her. . . proud.

"I won the games", Gi-hun said, fidgetting with the zipper of a pillow. Nabi and Sae-byeok shared a glance. "We kinda figured."

"But, when I heard you were alive. Both of you. I- how? Why?"

Those were questions Nabi had tried to answer herself for a long time. There was no point in lying now, after the trauma the three had shared.
"The man behind the games was related to me", Nabi whispered, ashamed of the disgusting reality of the situation.

Gi-hun's head shot up. His eyes traveled between Nabi and Sae-byeok for a while, before settling back to the pillow. He scoffed, it almost sounded like a laugh, but Nabi could feel the bitterness through it. "Good for you."

Nabi insisted that Gi-hun would stay the night, but the man assured him that they had a place to go to. Nabi felt guilty as she watched the man go. They now had each other's phone numbers, and the man promised to call Nabi every Sunday.

It wasn't until now that Nabi realized why the man felt so familiar. She swore to God, that she had seen a familiar face to his in her mother's wallet. And it creeped Nabi out. She had the money for a DNA test, for a father-daughter test. But she had had way too many shocks for the next 30 years. Nabi didn't need to seek one more. If she could even try and let the idea go, she would. . . She had to.

"Are you okay?", Sae-byeok asked, hugging the girl from behind. Nabi stroked the girl's hand, leaning onto her with a small feeling of relief. She needed to clear her mind of everything.

"Only because you're here", Nabi answered truthfully, turning around in her girlfriend's arms. She quickly kissed her, letting herself melt into the touch of her loved one. It took a few seconds for Sae-byeok to answer, but when she did, it made Nabi's knees give in. Sae-byeok grabbed the girl's waist and lifted her, so Nabi could wrap her legs around her torso.

Sae-byeok was glad she had closed the door a few minutes ago.

Nabi was scrolling through apartments that were on sale. Her laptop was lying on her stomach, as Nabi herself was lying between Sae-byeok's legs, her head resting on the girl's chest.

"What was wrong with this one?", Nabi asked, tilting her head a little so she could see her girlfriend's face.

"Too big. We don't need two extra rooms", Sae-byeok sighed, her eyes still closed. They had been spending the whole day in bed, enjoying every moment they could together. This all was still so new to both of them.

"Okay, valid", Nabi murmured and continued to scroll through the apartments.

It felt surprisingly natural for the two to spend time with each other like this. However, Nabi was probably more nervous and embarrassed than Sae-byeok. She had been so scared to let anyone this close, to let anyone see how life had marked her skin. But the way Sae-byeok comforted her, like she did last night, kissing her burn marks and telling her how beautiful she was, over and over and over again. It made Nabi feel so loved, in a way that she had never been before. She had never truly received love from a woman, so Sae-byeok felt like a gift from heaven.

"I need to go. I'll be late", Nabi yawned, closing the computer and sitting up. Sae-byeok groaned, wrapping her arms around Nabi's waist, not wanting her girl to leave.
"Not yet", she whined, sounding like a child. Nabi smiled and pressed a kiss on the girl's knee, before getting up.

"Put some clothes on, you don't want to traumatize Cheol", Sae-byeok said, looking at Nabi with a faint smirk as the girl dressed. Nabi threw a pillow at the girl, as she finished getting ready. "I'll be back in an hour. See you", Nabi said with a smile.

Nabi walked out of the room, chanting a quick goodbye to Cheol, as she struggled to put her shoes on.
Nabi took her keys and her bag and left the apartment, smiling widely as she walked down the stairs. The first thing she needed to do was check the mail, and then she needed to visit the bank.

Nabi took the key that opened the mailbox and peeked inside. She expected to see nothing inside, but there was a box. Nabi's brows furrowed as she set her bag down, so she could see the box better. Nabi couldn't describe the feeling she felt as she saw the three symbols on top of the package. She hesitated to open it, but her curiosity couldn't resist waiting. The golden bunny mask was lying in pink silk inside the box, with a small note.

'It's time.'