AS the countdown began, Kyo Ji-hoon sighed and sat beside Chae Hyun-jung. "Don't cry, Hyun-jung... It'll make me feel bad." He whispered, hiding his face and she looks away, pursing her lips. "I don't wanna do this. Can we just change partners? Can-can I switch with the Mi-nyeo girl? Uh, uh, Player 212?" Hyun-jung asked the guard when she stood up.
The man ignored her and she sighed, turning around as Ji-hoon stood up. "I'll make it easy for us... I'm giving you the marbles." He said and she shook her head right away. "No. No, Ji-hoon. No way." She said as she turned away, his arms wrapped around herself.
Her hands are clutched around the bag of marbles and Ji-hoon sighed. "You wanna know something? Min-ho and I were just gonna stick to just to the two of us... and then he saw you, I guess. And then when I saw you, I figured you weren't that bad. You seemed nice. You seemed like a good kid. You seemed like someone trustworthy. Someone I would want winning that 45.6 billion won." He says.
She turned around, "and what happened to winning it together? 22.8 billion each, you said that. You promised that." She tells him and he shrugs, sitting down. "You can share it with your girlfriend. Kang Sae-byeok." He's smiling and his tone is in a teasing manner and she sighed, sitting down beside him.
"Don't be this way, Ji-hoon. I'm not gonna let you give me your marbles... I'm gonna play fair and square. We'll just see who wins. Okay?" She said and he shook his head. "I already have a game in mind. Just gonna wait until the last minute... I want these last few moments of my life with you." He said and she sighed.
"Or they could be the last few moments of mine..." She says as she crossed her arms. "Hey, Hyun-jung?" He said suddenly and she looks at him. "Yeah?" She says and he glanced down at the ground. "Since both of us don't really have family anymore, we can be each other's family right?" He asked the girl.
"Of course, Ji-hoon." She said, sighing as she leans against his shoulder. They sat in quiet for a moment and Ji-hoon grabbed her hand suddenly, grasping it tightly in his. "Ji-hoon, I don't want you to go. And I don't want it to end this way." She said, her tears are back and staining the sleeve of his jacket. "I don't either. Fuck, I should've picked literally anyone else. I'm so stupid, why didn't I think of it logically?" Ji-hoon suddenly stood up and Hyun-jung just looks up at him with a worried look on her face.
"I mean, we worked together on the Tug-of-War... Of course this game, we play against each other in pairs. It makes sense, you know?" Ji-hoon said and sighed as he brings out his small bag of marbles. "Can we just sit... and not talk about that?" She said and he nods softly.
He sat beside her, playing with the bag of marbles in his hands and Hyun-jung glanced at her. "Tell me about Min-ho some more..." She says and Ji-hoon just smiled softly. "I thought he would think low of me for being here... but he didn't. And I'm glad he didn't do that with you either... I still dream about it sometimes. When he... got shot right in front of us." He said as he stared blankly at the floor.
"I have dreams about it too... sometimes about my parents." She says as she looks away. "Why? What about your parents?" Ji-hoon is quick to take the attention away from the topic of Min-ho. "That I've been abandoned by them... I honestly didn't know what I was doing with my life for the past two years, living like that, not going to college and begging friends and family for money, that I promised I'd give back but never did. I was a real disappointment and I came here, hoping I can win the money and give it all back... you know? And whatever was left, I'd buy myself my own place and find a job." She said as she shrugs and he sighs.
"And you deserve that, Hyun-jung." He says and she glanced up at him. "So why are you here, Ji-hoon?" She asked, staring at him with curiosity in her eyes and Ji-hoon looks away. "I'm in debt to loan sharks... I was struggling, you know? I'm a college student and I'm not doing good. My grades are bad and they stayed low, so the college told me to get better or I get kicked out. And I didn't even try, so I got kicked out..." He sighed, looking away.
"I tried going from job to job, the loan sharks would just take my money each time I got paid and say it wasn't enough, because of interest." He explained and shook his head. "I honestly didn't expect to end up here... But when I did, I met Min-ho, who came up with a plan right away, and then I met you..." He paused.
"You'll be fine without me, Hyun-jung." He said as he raised his hand to brush his hand against the back of her head. "Don't say that, please." She said as she looks at him and he sighs, wrapping his arms around her. She hugged back instantly, closing her eyes as she put her forehead against his shoulder. Ji-hoon raised his hand to her upper back and rubbed her back gently, smiling before pulling away.
"Come on... let's play the game." He whispered and the two of them stood up, the timer above them displaying that there was three minutes left. "What's the game, Ji-hoon?" She asked as she stood by him and he slowly nods, walking off. "Here." He said and drew a circle a few feet away from them. "Whoever gets their marble in the circle will get the other's ten marbles." He says and she slowly nods.
"Sure... okay." She whispered and he walked over to where she was standing. They stand there and look at one another before looking away. "Honestly, I thought you'd become competitive and mean... and try and win this one." Hyun-jung said as she opens up her bag of marbles to take one out.
"Nah. I'd only make you cry once I claimed my victory." Ji-hoon says as he shook his head. "I'll cry either way." She explains, shrugging as he takes one of his marbles out. "Together to the end, Hyun-jung?" Ji-hoon says as he looks down at the girl who slowly nodded.
"Together to the end, Ji-hoon..."
AUTHORS NOTE
i really didn't wanna do this 😭
i adore them together and they're like brother and sister kind of duo, but it had to be done. same with the ending of this book (it's all planned out i just gonna write it)
YOU ARE READING
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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 ]
