PAWNS [squid game]

○10○

Jiah flinched at the sound of a voice over an intercom calling for 'player inspection'.

The gas had once again failed to knock her out. She stayed awake the whole ride. Now that she thought about it, it was the intercom that had awoken her last time. Then, the guard stuck her with a needle.

She couldn't let them know she was still awake.

She fakes the whole ordeal. She could smell the salt of the sea when the doors finally opened.

A guard steps in, waving a red light around. Jiah goes limp as the guard grabs her face, moving her hair to scan her neck area. With a confirming beep, the guard moves on to scan the rest of the vehicle's passengers.

The ferry ride felt like it took hours. Once they've arrived elsewhere, guards take the players out of the vehicles and onto individual gurneys. Jiah let her head fall to the side, hair covering her eyes as she attempted to see what was going on.

She gets a quick look at the dozens of beds and other players. The guards were changing the players out of their normal clothes and into the green tracksuits.

There was a strange sense of order and discipline to how the guards maneuvered around the job. It made Jiah wonder how long they'd been doing this.

Soon after players ae changed, they're wheeled into the same room as before. Bunk beds lined the walls, but there was a clear decrease of numbers.

Once the music begins to play, Jiah feigns waking up.

"Yah," Saebyeok calls from the bunk below Jiah. "Did you see that shit?"

"Did you?"

Jiah tosses her legs over the side of the bed, making the jump down as Saebyeok sits up.

"There's hundreds of those guards," Saebyeok recalls.

"And they're so.. well trained."

Saebyeok nods, pointing to Jiah in agreement. "This has been going on for a while. It's so pristine and organized."

Across the room, Dohyun was running his hand over his eyes. Why had he done this? He was angered and lashing out and it might cost him his life.

"Excuse me," Britney greets nervously.

Dohyun does a small bow that Britney mimics.

"Thank you. For before," she says, choppy.

"Ah. Red light, green light," Dohyun recalls how he'd dragged Britney over the finish line.

"Yes. Thank you," she bows again.

Dohyun nods, laughing to fill the silence.

Britney spots Jiah and Aheum and nods to them. "My friend."

Dohyun glances over and nods. Maybe they could finally talk, unlike last time. The pair walk over to Jiah, Saebyeok, and Aheum.

"I was thinking something else," Jiah's voice catches Dohyun's ear.

"What's that?" Aheum asks.

"The numbers. The three of us line up." Jiah points between the trio. "067, 068, 069."

"Okay?" Saebyeok pushes.

"The numbers seemed random. Or just.. the order of who entered. But, the three of us come from similar backgrounds."

"Oh, yeah? You hopped the border?" Saebyeok teases.

"I mean the life. We ended up in gangs or red-light districts. There has to be something there."