𝐄𝐍𝐃𝐋𝐄𝐒𝐒 𝐋𝐈𝐄 | нwang ᴊunнo

5

☐△◯

THE SUGAR HONEYCOMBS game was one of the most difficult and disturbing moments of the game. Players had to choose one of the shapes – a star, a triangle, an umbrella or a circle – and then cut it out of a piece of thin sugar without breaking it. What seemed like a simple task of precise cutting quickly turned out to be an extremely difficult test for each participant. Every wrong move, every false step could end tragically.

As Guards, we were not allowed to show any emotions. The mask with the circle on our face effectively covered up any signs of fatigue or any doubt. Our task was one – to make sure that the rules of the game were followed. We acted like machines, unable to afford to hesitate.

The players began the game. You could hear the gentle tapping of metal tools hitting the sugar, and the tension in the air was almost tangible. Everyone tried to cut out the shape without damaging it. And then I noticed how 029, who was standing next to me, would occasionally glance at me – not literally, because his eyes were covered by a mask, but as if he was somehow signaling his presence, trying to attract my attention. His posture was unnaturally calm, and at the same time, something about his behavior seemed to be out of place with the rest. I felt like he was trying to tell me something, even if he didn't say a word. Something in his gestures, in the way he looked at me, told me that this wasn't the usual look of the Guards, which ignored everything around them.

Maybe it was just my imagination – after all, each of us had a task and we couldn't afford any form of interaction with the other Guards. We were here to enforce the rules, not ask questions. Despite this, I couldn't shake the feeling that 029 was trying to convey something, as if he was looking for some way to get my attention.

Then the first problem appeared in the hall: one of the players hit the sugar too hard and the piece cracked. Shots were fired immediately. The body fell to the ground, dead. I held my breath for a moment, feeling my heart beat faster, but I had to control myself immediately. No one was allowed to show emotion. This was part of the game. No matter how brutal, it was part of the mechanism that had to work.

I felt 029's gaze again, but this time more clearly. Although I couldn't see his eyes, I felt as if his posture, the way he held his weapon, and the way he kept glancing in my direction, were strangely... telling. It wasn't accidental.

Then another player made a mistake, and his piece cracked. And again shots were fired. I followed the rules and made sure no one broke the rules, but the feeling that 029 expected something from me was nagging me. Something about his demeanor was different. Maybe it was just my assumption, but I felt that he knew more than his role as a Guard allowed.

He wasn't like us – he didn't react automatically to every move the players made, he didn't stick to the rules.  Something about him seemed... out of place. In this game, where only  strict enforcement of the rules mattered, his behavior seemed like an  exception.

But I didn't have time to think. The game was still  going, and I had to stay focused. I had to maintain order, keep an eye  on the players, make sure no rules were broken. I couldn't afford to  hesitate – especially now, when the whole situation was becoming more  and more unpredictable.

I heard the shots that echoed through the spacious hall, each sound piercing my ears like a knife. The players' pleas for mercy, their desperate cries, were like echoes bouncing off the cold, empty walls. I knew it didn't matter - no plea, no word had a chance to change the outcome of this game. And yet, hearing them, something inside shuddered. It didn't make sense.

Then I heard a gunshot. All of the guards including me turned around to see a player holding gun to a square guard's head.

"WHY DO SOME GET EASY SHAPE, WHEN OTHERS ARE STUCK WITH DIFFICULT ONES?!"- his voice was frantic, desperate. It was too much. The players started to look, but they still didn't move. The atmosphere was getting more and more tense.