𝐈 𝐍𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑 𝐃𝐈𝐄 • 𝐍𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓 𝐇𝐀𝐒 𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐄

𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗙𝗶𝘃𝗲

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Tension was in the air as the students sat in the lobby, teary-eyed as they attempted to formulate any possible ideas to get out of this alive. That, had somehow resulted in their new and, in Jiwoo's mind, very idiotic plan. It had all come together after Yoonseo and Jungwon had gone to the roof to try and find any signal.

That was where they had seen the pathway leading out of the youth centre. So, they devised the plan which included them leaving to see how far the boundary lines went. They believed that perhaps they could find a village with people to help them try and escape this miserable game that was controlling them.

Immediately, Jiwoo offered to go with her brother but he told her no, claiming that it would be too strenuous for her to do. He reminded her of the time they had gone on a hike with their parents, the girl forcing their father to carry her majority of the way because she was insistent that she had broken her ankle.

Eventually, some of the others agreed to go with him, and so with a threat that if he did not return alive she would kill him, Jiwoo watched them leave.

To pass time, she had found herself conversing with Kyungjun, the two separating from everyone else as they sat at the top of the stairs. It was perfect, they could watch over the remaining students and also remain away from everyone.

Jiwoo fumbled with the edge of her skirt as she glanced at the few remaining students in the lobby. The two had been engaged in a conversation about their dream travel destination, anything to distract their minds from what they had just witnessed.

As Jiwoo detailed her dream to visit Thailand, Kyungjun listened to her attentively, looking the most interested in a conversation that he had ever been. He did not know what took over him when he spoke to the girl, as if he was not himself anymore. It was the way she spoke that made him want to know everything on her mind just so she would continue talking, her voice ten times better than any lullaby.

Caught up in the moment, Kyungjun raised his hand and moved her hair out of her eyes and the girl froze at his movements, glancing up at the boy who was looking at her with something unrecognisable. However, his hand dropped and he was turned away from her before she could even say anything.

Not that she could even if she had wanted to, her mouth had dried up and she cursed herself for reacting in such a way.

It was wrong, she knew that.

When she turned to look at the boy, she opened and closed her mouth, unsure what she was even meant to say. Once she closed her mouth, her eyes moved towards the two approaching figures and she grimaced, his friends were arriving.

Pulling herself off the ground, she wiped off the invisible dirt from her clothes and turned to leave, not even sparing the boy a goodbye. As she left, she was unaware of his eyes following her until she disappeared around the corner and out of sight.

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Sprawled across the floor of their room, Jiwoo slept soundlessly. She had her head resting in Yoonseo's lap while said girl was resting her head on Jungwon's shoulder. They had returned to their room, stressed and anxious about the others on their trip to find help. After reassuring one another that they would be fine, they found themselves falling asleep.

However, their peace was immediately disturbed when the siren sounded, startling the girls awake. Jiwoo pulled herself into a sitting position, rising so fast she almost crashed her head into Yoonseo's.

Their phones buzzed and the girls grabbed their devices, checking their notifications quickly to see what had happened.

"Kim Donghyun was a Citizen."

The three girls shared a horrified look as they glanced down at their notifications once again, checking that it was real. Someone else had died and that made Jiwoo anxious for her brother, was he going to be next?

With no desire to go back to sleep, the girls were alert and panicked, agreeing to go and wait in the lobby for the others return. They moved to sit on the stairs, looking towards the door every few moments as if the door was going to open and they would return unharmed. Jiwoo had begun ripping the skin from around her nails as a distraction, unfazed by the slight sting that followed.

After a couple of hours their prayers were answers as the door opened. Jiwoo snapped her eyes from her shaky hands and widened her eyes when she saw the familiar students walking in. She barely comprehended their arrival, rising from where she had been sat on the stairs, throwing herself into her brother's arms. He paused at her greeting, frowning slightly as he moved to wrap his arms around her.

Saying nothing, she pulled away from the embrace and moved her hands to his shoulder, keeping him in place as she glanced down to check he was completely unharmed. Just when she went to open her mouth, a student behind her cut her off.

"What happened to Donghyun?" He asked quickly, wanting to know what had happened before they had received the message.

Nobody answered, their eyes darting to the floor beneath them. Annoyed at their lack of answers, Mina frowned. "Hey, say something. What happened to Donghyun?" She repeated the question, growing more and more irritated when nobody replied. "What's going on?"

Finally, Somi spoke up and offered a semi explanation. "He thought...the line stopped there." She told them tearfully and Jiwoo restrained a scoff, she saw right through her act. "So he was checking, then he slipped."

Jiwoo did not notice the figure standing directly behind her until he spoke up, "How far into the village were you able to go?" Kyungjun quizzed them and sighed when he got no response. He was too distracted to realise the sharp intake of breath from the startled girl at his side. "You said you would meet people and call the police. Did you do it?"

As he raised his voice, Jiwoo jumped and spun around to face the boy. "Hey, give them a second to breathe before you start screaming, asshole." She snapped, rolling her eyes.

How somebody could change so much in such a short span of time confused her. It made her wonder what ever got her so flustered, what she ever saw in him.

"We couldn't go." Junhee replied calmly, sending his sister a grateful glance before his eyes moved back to the floor. "The entire place is enclosed with the line." At his words, Kyungjun turned around and threw something at the wall, the loud bang making several students flinch from the sound. "We're completely locked in here."

"Then does it mean..." Yoonseo began, trailing off slightly as she pieced it together, "we can't leave this place until the game is over?"

Junhee nodded as the others glanced at one another tearfully. They really had no way out of this, either they find the Mafias and make it out, or they die. Either way, someone they loved was going to die, their classmates were going to die.

It made Jiwoo wonder if she valued her life that much that she would sacrifice the lives of her classmates.

Would she really let them die so she could survive?

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Words~1263.
{edited:no}