Dead End | Jun-ho

18 | Aera

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Aera fiddled with the hem of shirt barely covering her thighs. She tried to pull it down, feeling a little self-conscious.

"Before I answer any of your questions, which I'm sure you have many, I need to let you know that not all of them I will answer. There are some things that I can't disclose with you, and you need to understand that."

Aera nodded, going to look up at him but realising she wouldn't be able to see either way. It was so strange that she was the one with the covered face this time and he no longer had his mask on. The sudden realisation that his bare face was right in front of her, and she wasn't allowed to see.

"To answer your question from before, it's strictly for confidentiality." He paused. "I trust you Aera, but if you saw my face or any of the other guards', you could easily report us to the police."

"What makes you think that when, or if I get out of here, I won't tell the police about this place?" testing his patience, she smirked, raising her eyebrows.

"You probably would, and I don't blame you. However, most likely, they wouldn't believe you. Saying it aloud even sounds crazy."

Aera wanted to try and not dwell on his answers too much. It was frustrating, but she understood that she couldn't know everything.

Sitting here, finally being able to ask anything she wanted without getting lectured for it, was surprisingly overwhelming. The girl had non stop gone on about it over the past couple of days and it felt like she'd been... distracted. At this point, she just wanted to get on with her life and forget it even happened, no matter how deeply traumatising it was.

"Can you explain to me, what this place actually is?"

Aera was trying so hard not to be impulsive and ask the question she wanted to know the answer to the most. She was going to leave it till last, wanting the smaller details first.

"A while ago, a man realised that he had too much money and came up with the idea of putting random, in debt people into games and in conclusion, putting them out of their misery. He randomly selects people every year who fit into the category and gets this man, who you've also met, to play Ddakji with them. He gives them a card and being the desperate people they are, they always want more and so they call the number. Once you get into the car, there is no turning back. You're all forced to compete against one another in six games and whoever wins, gets his money."

She didn't want to challenge their peace, but she'd tried to keep it long enough, long enough up until this moment.

"And you think that's right? Acceptable?" Aera took a pause, trying not to get as riled up as she wanted to.

"I don't necessarily think it's right-" he began.

"Then why do you work in such an awful place, Jun-ho?" She harshly cut in.

"I cannot answer that question, Aera."

Even with a blindfold on, he could see her burning holes through the fabric. "The games go on for a maximum of six days and then we leave. It's not like this is my full-time job. It's one week a year."

"But you just said you don't think it's right, so why do it for that week? It doesn't matter how long you work for; it still counts."

"Look, it wasn't my decision-"

She cut in again, "So you're being forced to?" Aera leaned in closer to him, praying he'd answer.

"Aera!" Jun-ho sharply yelled, being stern with her.

The girl jumped, leaning back into her seat and further away from him.

"One, do not interrupt me and two, what did I say about not being able to answer everything?" he firmly told her.

Aera went silent, her head drooping to the floor before mumbling something. Her head was quickly pulled back up by
Jun-ho's finger on her chin. Not that it made any difference, she couldn't see. "Hm?"

"I'm sorry." she lightly shook her head, laughing internally because just a couple of days ago she would have fought back. And now, here she was, feeling as belittled as ever. Aera wasn't too fond of him when he got angry, much preferring his, if you could even call it, soft side.

Soon after, a chill ran across her body, causing her to jolt in a shiver. She wasn't entirely sure if it was to do with the unusually cool air or his harsh tone. Aera heard him get up, his footsteps walking towards the doors. "Jun-ho?"

"I'll be right back."

The girl sat there for barely a minute, rubbing up and down her goose-bumped arms, the sounds of the ocean reminding her of the sudden flourish of cool air.

Quite the opposite, a warmth slumped onto her as she felt something soft drape over shoulders, reaching down to the small of her back. She hadn't even heard him come back out again.

Jun-ho sat back down next to her. "Sorry, I should have thought of that."

Aera felt at a loss of words. There was only one way his anger made her feel, but she'd never admit it to herself, or say it aloud. The way her father had treated her was... unexplainable.

Jun-ho had strangely, drastically changed in a couple of days and the way he had shouted at her just then was nowhere near as bad as their first encounter. It just reminded her of certain, other circumstances.

Breaking the silence between them, he spoke. "Or, we could just go back inside, if you'd like."

"No." Aera mumbled, answering quickly. "I like it out here."

The girl had missed the outdoors and couldn't bear to spend another second in the gory place if she'd been given an opportunity to actually be outside. It felt freeing for once, finally breaking the suffocating confinement.

One moment of silence longer, and Jun-ho took a deep breath in. "I'm sorry, Aera. I need to uh, stop shouting when I'm angry."

He changes emotions so easily.

"That's okay. Can I ask my next question?" Aera asked, completely dismissing his apology. She appreciated it, but quickly wanted to forget anything that reminded her of her monster of a dad.

"Oh, uh sure." he shook his head to himself, knowing he'd made her feel uncomfortable.

"Why do you always say my name? After like every sentence?" it was a boring question to most, but she was leaving the interesting questions till last.

Jun-ho chuckled lightly, "Force of habit, I guess. It's like, I'm just reminding you I'm talking to you and no one else. It's personal." he unconsciously scratched that back of his neck, "I find I do it with a lot of people actually."

"I guess it does make me feel recognised." Aera bit her lip, "I don't think I've ever heard my name so much."

Jun-ho smirked to himself, thinking of a way to make her feel better about before. His hand shifted; light movements danced around her blanketed shoulders. Jun-ho fiddled with the fabric, wanting to feel closer to her. "Or maybe I just... like your name." the man came close, whispering into her ear.

Why did he have the power to make her feel a million emotions in the span of ten seconds?

She was thankful that it was dark, because a dark red tint of blush had certainly surfaced onto her cheeks, yet again.

Aera preferred it when he made her feel like this: special, wanted. She hated when he got angry.

His fingers trailed down the blanket, reaching the end of his sleeve. He continued down, his long fingers tickling her naked arm. Jun-ho linked his fingers into hers, not like before, this time he was fully holding her hand. "Any more questions?"

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