Easy On Me || Kang Sae-byeok ✓

xiv

Mari's slowly opened her eyes when she started to hear noise around her, she raised her hand and brought it up to her face rubbing it. She winced when she saw the bright lights. It took her a second to realize where she was but she realized that she was back in the room, which means that she got a second chance. She carefully climbs out of bed and walks down the stairs, she takes a look around but like before she can't find Ji-yeong. Mari folded her arms around herself and she glances up to the screen above the door which now read 187 players instead of the 201 that was displayed before they left.

Mari presses her lips as she walks towards the middle of the room, from her advantage in the middle she still couldn't see Ji-yeong and she was beginning to get slightly worried. She could see that people were starting to partner up and form groups but that wasn't Mari's plan. She was going to do this alone just so she didn't hurt anyone she cared about. "Your mealtime begins now, All players, please line up in the center." The electronic voice said echoing throughout the room. "Let me repeat. Your mealtime begins now. All players, please line up in the center."

She watched as the guards brought out a table before placing stacks of gold bento boxes on top of the tables. Mari walked quickly so she was one of the first ones in line, she held her hands out as the guard handed her a full water bottle and one of those gold bento boxes. It was warm under her hand as she tried to find a place to eat, she could have her lunch on her bed but she would prefer to eat with Ji-yeong, just like in old times. "Mari, over here." She turned her head to see Ji-yeong waving her hand holding her open box in her palm. Mari resisted the urge to jump up and down with joy as she found her friend, she walked over and when she was in earshot she smiled and spoke. "Hi, I was getting worried," Mari says as she sits crossed-legged in front of Ji-yeong on the bed.

"I was sneaky." Ji-yeong chuckles as she digs into her kimchi, Mari carefully places the box on the bed in front of her and takes the top off to reveal kimchi, an egg, rice, and some vegetables. It was reminiscent of what Mari would have in school for lunch. "It's cold so be warned," Ji-yeong warned as Mari was spooning some rice into her mouth, Ji-yeong was right. The rice was cold and soggy but Mari still ate it not knowing when they would eat again. "So, what do you think the next game will be?" Mari asks eating a piece of the egg. "I don't know, after the challenge I overheard people saying that red light, green light was a childhood game so maybe that's the theme but we've only played one game so we can't be sure." When Ji-yeong mentioned childhood games it was like a switch turned on in her brain. "We've played two because Ddakji is a childhood game as well." Ji-yeong looked at Mari shocked before she quickly finished her food. "Do you know any more childhood games?" Ji-yeong asks as places her spork in the container and places the top back on.

Mari looks down the stairs for second thinking before turning back to Ji-yeong with a frown and a shake of her head. "I don't, I didn't play a lot of games growing up. I only know about Ddakji because I heard other people talk about it. What do you think about the people here?" Mari asks as she boxes up her bento box and looks at Ji-yeong before picking her nails on top of the bed. "I think that the people here are full of trouble, just like us. The slideshow aired our various problems if you will. I killed someone and you're in debt, it's clear that all of us have our problems." Ji-yeong explained before grabbing the two boxes and starting to walk down the stairs with the finished boxes to give back to the guards.

She looked around debating if she should go back to her bed but decided against it, at least if she stayed in this spot she would have Ji-yeong to talk to. Mari looked around and watched as other people started to talk to people like they were forming groups. She noticed that the older man from before was talking with numbers 001, 199, and 218. "Do you think we should start a group? Like them?" Mari nodded her head towards the men once Ji-yeong made her way back over to her. "No, we should just stick together and we'll be fine. We don't need a whole group to worry about, we just need to worry about ourselves." Mari nodded and shrugged, she brought her knees up to her chest and looked at Ji-yeong before she abruptly dropped her knees and started to climb out of the bed.

"Where are you going" Ji-yeong questioned with a raised eyebrow. "I'm going to go to my bed if that's alright. It was night when they grabbed us so I would have to guess that it's almost time for lights out." Mari eyed Ji-yeong carefully before she waved one finger at Ji-yeong before she started to walk toward her bed. "Light's out in 5 minutes." The electronic voice said which made Mari jump as she didn't expect it. Mari quickly walked towards her bed and slipped her shoes off placing them under her pillow, she knew how quickly belongings can get stolen in prison and Mari had a feeling that where ever they were wasn't all that different than prison.