pretty flower | 강새벽

044

( 𝗞𝗜𝗠 𝗦𝗨𝗡-𝗛𝗜 )

"Please don't ask questions."

"Sun-Hi? What are you doing here? Where's Sae-Byeok?" Gi-Hun frantically asks, his eyes wide in anticipation and worry, rushing towards me.

"Gone."

"Gone? Like she didn't make it?"

"She's gone, Gi-Hun. That's all that matters."

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine."

I look away from the money pot hanging above our heads and look over towards Gi-Hun and Sangwoo, who were both dressed up in fancy tuxedos. They had simple black overcoats and pants with lacy white shirts and bowties. The only thing that differed from each tux, was the single piece of fabric that was carefully stitched onto the left side, the numbers we'd been assigned, meticulously painted on them.

"You're not wearing your number." Sangwoo points out as he glances at the tuxedo I, myself, had on.

"It's not my suit," I state emotionlessly.

"Where's Sae-Byeok, Sun-Hi?" Gi-Hun asks, turning my attention back towards him.

"I already told you. She's gone." As I roll my eyes, I watch both of them shift uncomfortably in their shoes. "And I also told you don't ask."

They didn't say anything else nor did they move until I walked away, sitting on the edge of Sae's bed. It was clear to see that many questions filled their heads, but they didn't dare to ask them.

I refused to let anything get in my way at this point. Including the pains that covered my body as the fabric swept across my skin, ripping the cloth bandages out of place.

"She's okay," I mutter, grabbing onto the sheets in front of me as I remember the times when Sae laid next to me, a vague smile across her lips when she slept. Her arms wrapped around my waist, holding me close to her body so the distance was almost nonexistent.

We hadn't been separated for very long, but even seconds away from her left my soul empty and incomplete.

"She's okay," I repeat, closing my eyes to picture her in front of me, cupping my cheek as she always did. Telling me that everything was going to be okay. Her dark orbs locked with mine and her freckles unveiling themselves.

"We're okay." She whispers and I feel the tear roll down my cheek, hitting the soft material beneath me. I open my eyes, wiping the salty teardrop away, feeling the cloth pull against a stitch that just came undone.

Before I knew it, a guard was walking into the room again, directing us out quickly and into a large room where we were forced to sit still.

"Sun-Hi?" Gi-Hun whispers when the guard is out of proximity to hear him.

"Shut up or you're going to get shot."

"Are you okay?"

"No, I'm not okay. Would people stop asking me if I'm okay? Try telling me that you're okay after all the shit we've had to go through! We've seen people be killed, we've even caused some of their deaths ourselves. We've had to fight against those who we never wanted to, betraying whoever to survive. I'm not okay, Gi-Hun. I kicked Sae-Byeok out of this hellhole so she could stay safe. I told her I was going to find her after I won the money, but now I can't even promise that. With my luck, I'll be dead before morning. So stop asking me if I'm okay."

Both Gi-Hun and Sangwoo stare at me, at a loss for words. I scoff, crossing my arms and looking back at the ground in front of me.

Why ask someone if they're okay if they're clearly not okay? Why ask when you can see the pain on their faces? Why ask, when you know full well that there is nothing you can do regardless. You can't control how others feel or how you'll react to their attempted help.

"Let's go." The guard says, grabbing onto my arm aggressively.

I don't argue. For the first time since I'd come to this horrible game, I didn't fight against the grasp of the random stranger. Nor did I speak as he dug his fingers into my already throbbing bicep.

All three of us get dragged into a room - the bedroom - set up as a dining room, with three long tables set up in a triangular shape on top of a black and white, checkered board. Lamps circled the table, illuminating the area with a golden glow.

"Sit." The guard holding onto me commands, pushing me into a chair on one side of the table. The other two guards push Gi-Hun and Sangwoo into their chairs.

I stare at the table in front of me, finding it set up nicely. The table cloth was spread out evenly, not a thread out of place, with silverware so exuberant, it could be sold for millions. 

"You gonna kill us now or later?" I scoff, crossing my arms as I glare at the guards shuffling around me.

"Keep talking and it will be now."

"Maybe I should keep talking then."

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WORD COUNT: 852