Killer Addiction - (Squid Game)

Chapter 47 - He Wasn't Trash

(A/N: POSTING THIS EARLY BECAUSE I REALLY LEFT THE LAST CHAPTER ON A CLIFFHANGER AND I FELT SO MEAN. THERE'S ANOTHER CHAPTER THIS FRIDAY DW)

As the players scattered, many were left behind, skidding and scrabbling against the floor to reach one of the fifty rooms.
Young-il's grip on her wrist was iron, his urgent strides making it impossible for her to set her feet anywhere but to follow.
For once, her mind had only a single, screaming thought at its epicentre.

WHY THE FUCK IS HE SAVING ME?

The thought echoed off the walls of her skull like it signed a tenancy agreement.
No sooner then was she brought back to reality.
Young-il threw open the door to a yellow room, only to pause.

There was someone in here.

"Out." The word left his mouth like a stage direction, forbidding any other argument.
"B-but we were here before you guys!" The man stammered, flicking his gaze between the shellshocked girl and the stoic man holding her hostage.
A frightened ram staring down a hungry cougar.

Young-il paused, then gave her a cold stare.
'-You'd kill someone?'
'I would.'

The memory rang in her ear again as his hand finally released her, only to storm across to the poor man and force him into the wall.
It was only when he had him in a headlock that Dae-eun finally understood what the hell was going on.
He's going to kill him. Right in front of me.

She was about to intervene, to pull him away, to offer a different idea, but fate had other plans.
"Hey! OPEN UP!"
Another voice called through the opening in the door, prompting the white-haired girl to begrudgingly employ herself as a doorstop.

Bracing herself against the door, she kept a hand on the handle, her shoes screeching on the floor as she struggled to hold it shut.
Finally able to think for a moment, she noticed something rather odd about the interior of this yellow room.
Bloodstains and bullet holes, gouges in the wall.

Why would the guards shoot inside one of the rooms...?
Surprisingly, it was Young-il squeezing the man's neck that gave her the answer.
If there's more or less than what was called, the room gets eliminated.

The chaos outside the room reached a fever pitch, the players desperate to get into the room rattling the door and pounding on it like a pack of starving animals.

Ten.

The man's tune soon changed when he realised Young-il's grip was unbreakable, he began pleading for his life.
"P-Please, don't kill me, I have kids... please, please don't..."

Nine.

Young-il's eyes darted up to meet hers, his gaze holding her hostage for a moment before his expression twisted, almost looking...resigned.
Dae-eun felt her heart fall into her stomach.

Eight.

The man's pleading devolved into panicked sobs, shuddering as he squeezed out tears to mingle with the sweat rushing down his face.
"Please, please... I'm begging you..."

Seven.

The banging on the door somehow rose in volume until it began to make her ears ring, the door bending and groaning in protest with every thump.
She didn't know how much longer she could hold this...