WHILE they waited, Hyun-jung kept shifting her weight from her left foot to her right, then back and forth as she's becoming anxious. And then that stupid music came on. "Attention. The fourth game is about to begin. Please follow the staff's instructions and swiftly make your way towards the game hall." And then it repeated the instructions as Hyun-jung sighs.
They leave the sleeping room and began making their way to the colorful staircases and when they got there, Hyun-jung didn't realize at first until everyone stops so she looks up to see what was going on. Four of those masked men were hung up along with a player. Hyun-jung recognized him, he was on 101's team.
"Players, what you witness before you is what remains of those who broke the rules for their own benefit. They tainted the pure and fair ideology everything here has been built upon. Each and every one of you is considered an equal within the walls of this facility. You must be guaranteed the same opportunities without being disadvantaged or facing any kind of discrimination. We truly apologize for allowing such an unacceptable incident to occur." The masked manager tells them.
They then carried on, heading up the staircases to the game hall. When they got there, Hyun-jung glanced all around, it looks similar to the one they were in the other day. Their team gathered together and they announced on the speakers, "players, welcome to the fourth game. For this game, you will be playing in teams of two. Please look around and find someone you wish to play with. When two people agree to play together, shake hands to show you have become partners." The woman says and goes on to repeat the instructions.
Everyone was looking all around at one another as Hyun-jung glanced to her side at Ji-hoon. "There can only be two players per team. You will have ten minutes to find your partner." The announcement concludes.
Naturally, Mi-nyeo got to work almost instantly, "hey, handsome. Let's do this, huh?" She says to Gi-hun. "I'm better than you think. And I'm stronger than most guys too. Guess what? I know how to con just about anybody I see. I'm not a genius, but I still got it work out. Huh?" But because he ignores her, she turns and walks over to Sangwoo next.
"Hey, let me play with you. Then I'll be your dream girl all night long." She says and he just lets in a deep inhale, sighing as he looks away. "I'll do anything you tell me. I'm not a regular girl. Hmm?" She leans closer and he looks away, clearly not interested. "You're pretending that you do not want me on your team. Is that it? Why? Can't decide? Want me to choose instead, huh?" She says, pointing at them.
"Stop embarrassing yourself. No one will want to play with you like this." Sae-byeon says and Mi-nyeo sighs. "And you should all be honest. You don't want a girl to team up with or an old guy." Sae-byeok says, aimed mostly at Sangwoo and 196 who's been more harsh towards the girls and 101. "Of course we don't. We could die. We already almost died in the previous round." He says and Hyun-jung rolls her eyes. "This man is right. And it was Adam's rib the Lord used to make Eve after all. And that's the reason that we're choosing men. They played diffferent roles than women." Priest guy says and looked up at Mi-nyeo.
"You idiot. We're not playing in Eden right now." 240 says and Sae-byeok stood up, walking away suddenly. "Uh, hold on a second." Gi-hun said as Hyun-jung looked in the girl's direction. "Why? You want a girl?" She asked and he doesn't really say anything so she walks away and 240 got up, walking away as well.
"You're all idiots. You two," Mi-nyeo points at Sangwoo and Gi-hun. "You're making a big mistake and you're going to regret it." She says before walking away and Ji-hoon sighs, holding out his hand towards Hyun-jung. "Together to the end?" He asked and she looks up, smiling before clasping her hand to his.
"Together to the end."
The two sit together now, discussing how they will go about the next game, whatever it is and Hyun-jumg noticed in the distance that 240 had walked up to Sae-byeok, and they had shook hands. She stared at them for a moment, playing with the hem of her sleeves, "no need to be jealous, you know... I can tell Sae-byeok likes you." Ji-hoon suddenly whispers to her and she immediately looks at him.
"I wasn't jealous..."
"But your stare lingered." He's smiling all smug and she just rolled her eyes, looking away. She sighs. "Not like it's any luck to find love here... We're all on the verge of death every day here. We're all in debt. She's just someone I think looks pretty, she has nice freckles and her bangs are cute and I like girls with short hair..." She's suddenly rambling about Sae-byeok and she instantly looks up, and at him.
"Oh, my God," she puts her hand over her mouth and he laughs, glancing around. "Min-ho would've understood... he was always about pretty girls too." He chuckles and she nods, rolling her eyes with a smile. "Yeah, when I first met him, he called me pretty..." She says and he glanced at her. "You are." He says and looked away as the clock got down to zero. "The time for finding a partner is now over."
Everyone got up to head into the actual game hall as Mi-nyeo began screaming her head off as she was only one left. "It's me, Han Mi-nyeo! I've made suckers out of everyone there is from Dongducheon to Gangnam! Guys..." She grabs onto Ji-hoon. "I'll definitely be way better than her!" She nods to Hyun-jung by her side and Ji-hoon scoffs, pushing her arms away. "Find someone else..." He walks off, his arm around Hyun-jung who is grimacing.
She continues yelling at others, trying to make them break up their partnership with others and holding up the start of the next game. She was eventually left behind in the room as the doors close and everyone else stood before the fourth game's venue. There's nineteen masked guards with the triangle masks and then the announcement plays over the speakers.
"Attention. All players, please follow the staff to your designated positions for the game." The woman said and then each guard went to each duo, leading them away. Ji-hoon and Hyun-jung follow after the man, glancing at one another. Everyone went their separate ways and Hyun-jung kept glancing around, it looked like a neighborhood they were in.
Once the guard stopped, Hyun-jung glanced from the guard to Ji-hoon who's looking around. "Players, please take one bag each from the staff member before you." The woman on the PA announced and the man raised his arms, holding out two small bags. "There should be a set of ten marbles in each bag. Please check to confirm the number." The two did so and Hyun-jung nods. "Marbles?" Ji-hoon sighed.
"I never really played these kind of games... But I believe in you. And I believe in myself. We'll win this." Hyun-jung said as she looked at Ji-hoon, smiling brightly and he smiles, glancing away. "If you believe in us, Chae Hyun-jung, then so do I... This is why I chose you as my partner." He said and she just tilts her head to the side, smiling softly now. "In this game, using your set of ten marbles, you will play the game of your choice with your partner. The player who manages to take all ten marbles from their partner wins." At that announcement, the smiles disappear from their faces and Hyun-jung sighs, putting the marbles back into the bag. "I knew there was a catch..." She whispers.
She sat down onto the step nearby them as they announce there was a timer for thirty minutes. As it begins ticking, Hyun-jung looks up at Ji-hoon. "I can't do this..." She said with her eyes filled with tears, shaking her head.
AUTHORS NOTE
i will forever feel so sad for the married couple... their reactions :((
+ it's new years eve. cool 😀
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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 ]
