WHEN Hyun-Jung walks into her home, it's quiet as expected this late at night so she quickly heads for her bedroom, as silently as she can but when she opens her door, her mom is sitting there with her arms crossed.
"Hyun-Jung... where have you been?" Her mother asked and she just took a seat onto her desk chair, letting out a soft sigh. "Um... out, with some friends." She said and her mom scoffed, looking away. "With that man? I saw you hugging a man in the street... Who is he and how have I never met or seen him before?" The woman asked her daughter.
"He's a co-worker at a new job I got... his name is Kyo Ji-Hoon. He's a good sunbae..." She said and her mother looked at her with squinted eyes. "You can't fool me, Hyun-Jung... Is he your lover?" She asked instantly and the eighteen year old girl just looks away.
She rolls her eyes. Ji-Hoon's words reply in her mind. "Anyone gonna believe you?" He was right. Her mom wouldn't believe her. "He's not my lover, mom..." She said quietly. "Chae Hyun-Jung! Look at me!" Her mom raised her voice and she slowly turns around.
Her eyes are glossy and her mouth is watery, that's something she was trying to hide from her mom. She glanced up at the woman, who conceived her, who birthed her and raised her. The woman she never thought would ever utter these words to her. "I'm not proud of the person you're becoming. You bring shame to our family. You bring down our image. I don't want you living with us. I don't want you associating with us... you can sleep the night then pack up and leave. Goodnight, Hyun-Jung."
The tears flow once the door closed and they didn't stop, they blur her vision as she continuously wiped at her eyes, trying to make it stop but the words replay in her mind. Her mind always does this to her, turn against her and make her hear the same thing over and over again that hurts her, almost as if to hurt her even more than she already was.
She did as told, she packed her things that she needed, she fit it all in a handbag and stuffed other things into her backpack before leaving the bedroom. She quielty walked past her parents' own room, biting down on her bottom lip to hold in her sobs before walking off. She set down her bags and looked all around.
Her home. Since she was a baby. Now she had to leave. She did it so easily. Her feet carried her out the door, down to the front where she gathered herself together and took a big deep breath. She began walking and when she got close, she dialed the number.
"Hello? Who is this?"
"Chae Hyun-Jung... can you come outside?"
She waited patiently by the sidewalk and looked up at the sight of Ji-Hoon. "Hey, what's going on?" He adjusted his hair at the sight of her and she let out a sigh. "Uh, it's a lot to ask... but can I stay with you? I just got kicked out." She said and he looked all around. "What? Um, yeah, of course, Hyun-Jung. Let me take that..." He reached for her bag and despite having known this guy for one day, she felt... safe. He was all that she had now anyway.
In his apartment, it was actually pretty cozy. "You can sleep in my bed and I can take the couch... I have work tomorrow morning so I'll be out early." He says and she quickly nods. "Thanks again, Ji-Hoon..." She smiles softly and he nods. "No problem... We can talk more tomorrow, alright?" He says and she nods.
That night, Hyun-Jung couldn't exactly sleep, she laid awake, listening to music and staring at the wall. As for Ji-Hoon, he fell asleep and moved to lay on his side. He had set an alarm and was planning to wake up pretty early. Eventually Hyun-Jung fell asleep and when she woke up it was around eleven, nearly twelve as she exits the boy's bedroom, scratching the back of her neck and looking around.
It's empty and quiet. She walks into the kitchen curiously to see some food on a tiny table. A note is right by the plates which she picks up. Enjoy, you're my guest. Leave the dishes in the sink. - JH. She smiles and set down the note before sitting down. The food is cold but she digs in anyway, it's porridge with eggs on top. When she finished eating, she rinsed the bowl and set it into the sink before pouring some water for herself into a glass cup.
She walks around, looking at the picture frames hung up or set onto furniture. She paused when she saw one that made her heart drop to her stomach. Ji-Hoon and player 324. He knew him? She stared at the photo and picked up the picture frame to get a closer look.
Her brows draw together in concern as the photo doesn't look that old before setting it down. She moves to the next photo, it's the same boy but he has light brown hair, maybe before he fried his hair to make it blond. They look fairly young in this one, maybe thirteen or fourteen. The sound of beeps and the door swinging open makes her quickly set it down, along with the glass of water she had been drinking. "Ji-Hoon?" She said and he walked further into the apartment.
There's anger clear on her face and she didn't wanna make it worse as she grows quiet. "Do you wanna go have some fried chicken? On me." She quickly forced a smile and he looks at her. "Yeah? With what money?" He says and her smile slowly faded away.
"Right..." She said quietly as he sat down onto the couch, letting a big deep breath out. "They let me go... I don't have a job. And I've worked everywhere else in this area, I'm either unreliable or they already don't wanna take me back. And what's worse is I failed out of college." He looked up and she's timidly just standing there, playing with the hem of her sleeping shirt which is long enough to cover past her hips, and she had pyjama pants on.
She's not use to having guy friends. Her friends were always girls so she's not sure what to do or say. "Do you wanna go back?" She blurted out of nowhere as his eyes are fixated on the floor. "Go back?" He's confused as he looks up at her and she just softly nods her head.
"Yeah... I mean, I have nothing. I got kicked out. And you don't have your job. We just have to go and win this game. Then we get 45.6 billion won, Ji-Hoon." She walked over and sat next to him as she smiles widely at him. "Yeah... we'd get like, what? 22 billion each?" He nodded his head as he looks at the girl beside him.
"Yeah... so are you in?"
"Sure. I am, if you are, Hyun-Jung."
AUTHORS NOTE
i'm obsessed with writing for this fic probably because i was so excited for it <3
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Fanfiction✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* kang sae-byeok chae hyun-jung had no idea what she was getting herself into when she agreed to participate in the games, but all she knew was she had debts to pay. ❝ money is the reason we exist. ❞ [ fem oc x 067 ] [ squid game ]
