These Violent Delights Have Violent Ends

Chapter 6: Crimson & Clover

Your time spent preparing for the next round of games went just as you expected. The new host was ruthless. Il-nam was involved in some planning, but with his health declining he wasn't around much.

You hated the changes the host made, the most weird and disgusting being the new VIP lounge. He changed it from the neutral classy look it had to a gaudy, fake rainforest theme, with the worst part being the live models painted to look like animals and used as decoration and furniture. That certainly was a strange one to hire for.

As time went on, you rarely saw In-ho, and when you did he was silent and cold towards you outside of discussing work matters. Even though nothing really happened between the two of you, it still kind of broke your heart. You were just so excited to spend more time with him but now you were growing apart.

And In-ho knew exactly what he was doing, even though he didn't want to do it. It broke his heart too to see you and ignore you or keep discussions restricted to work, but he knew it was probably for the best. He didn't see himself as a man good enough to be with you. It'd be better if the two of you just forgot about everything and grew apart.

One evening, you were sitting in a conference room going over potential players with In-ho. It had been a while since you'd seen each other, and In-ho was being his usual cold self. As you were scrolling through the information, you gasped.

You saw your former boss, Sang-woo, come up on your screen. Turns out he fucked up just as much as you had.

In-ho eyed you. "What is it?"

You laughed. "It's Cho Sang-woo. My former boss. Who you punched at the bar."

He stayed silent, pulling up the information on his computer.

You scoffed. "That fucker. No wonder he approached me that night." You kept reading the information on his debt and scoffed. "And he had the audacity to say I was the one who fucked up? He's definitely getting in."

"Works for me."

You eyed In-ho. He was clearly not paying much attention. He didn't have to act so uninterested. "You know, you can still be nice to me. I think you've forgotten that."

In-ho looked up at you, almost glaring. "I'm aware."

"I'm just saying."

"I'm being perfectly fine towards you."

"Well I think you could be nicer."

"You know why it has to be this way."

You looked down, the familiar wave of sadness coming over you again. You sighed and rolled your eyes. "I know."

In-ho gathered his things and promptly left the room, saying nothing to you. Once he was gone, you took in a deep breath and rubbed your face, feeling frustrated. It just wasn't fair.

Meanwhile, In-ho made his way back to your main residence. He couldn't stand to be in the same room with you anymore. He knew he'd say something he shouldn't, and if the host knew there was even an inkling of something going on you'd be done for.

~~~

The day the games began you sat with In-ho in the main room. You thought back to this moment last year, when you had just started having feelings for In-ho. Even though you were sitting closer to him, you felt further away than you ever had.

The weight of the past several months started to overwhelm your mind. You joined this organization to give yourself something to do, but now you wanted to escape it. And you had nowhere to go to feel better because the one person who could help is stuck here with you.