Chapter Text
There was one thing that Kang Min-Na hated most in the world, and that was being forced to do stuff she didn’t want to do. Wait, no. She hated something else even more. Men.
Despite her appearance she was, in fact, NOT some clubbing coke-whore who folded for any guy who handed her a drink or called her some cheap compliment. So waking up in a warehouse surrounded by guys AND being stuck wearing some itchy, disgustingly-green tracksuit was definitely not on her bucket list.
Pink guards flooded in through a door on top of a slightly raised platform, each wearing a black mask with shapes printed on them: circle, triangle, or square. The people around her were confused, asking stupid shit like “where are we” or “what’s with these shoes?”. (On second thought, maybe those weren’t the stupidest things to ask) But all she cared about was one thing, and she made that extremely clear. “These don’t fit, and the color sucks.” She held up her jacket to prove her point. “Can I just have what you’re wearing?” She smirked as she added “I like pink.” The others didn’t move, but the square mask simply replied “I’m sorry, but that is not possible. You must be in your uniforms for the games.”
Well, that didn’t work.
She tuned out the rest of the words spoken to check up on her nails- at least her polish didn’t chip.
Of course, that all changed when the clicking of a TV being turned on snapped her back to attention. “Player 333, Lee Myungi. Current debt levels, 1.8 billion won.” That must suck. But then she felt her mind go blank as the screen changed to show a clip of her being slapped while playing ddakji against that cursed salesman. “Player 196, Kang Mi-Na, 45 million won in debt.”
How the hell did they know?? … and did she really look THAT pathetic while being slapped?
The man kept rattling on, listing the names and numbers of other players, adding to the shame by showing clips of failed ddakji games and stating debts. “Cho Hyunju, 330 million won in debt. Choi Subong, 1.19 billion won in debt. Player 198…”
Was everyone here really that broke? If so, then why collect them all and stick them in a room together like mice?
“All of you in this room have crippling debts and are now on a cliff edge. When we first came to you, you did not trust us either. But as you know, we played a game and gave you money as promised. And so you trusted us, and volunteered to participate according to your own free will. You have one last chance to decide. Do you want to live like a piece of trash, running from creditors? Or will you seize the last opportunity we are offering?” Slightly harsh way to put it, but Kang Mi-Na already knew her answer.
That was further escalated by the introduction of a massive piggy bank descending from the ceiling, glowing yellow and casting a golden sheen across the upturned faces of all who looked. “What you see now is the piggy bank where your valuable prize money will be stored. After each of the 6 games you play, the prize money will accumulate in this piggy bank.” Holy shit, that was a big ass piggy bank. “How much is the prize money?” Someone yelled out from the crowd. “The prize money for the games is 45.6 billion won in total.” The square mask stated this number as if it was a small, insignificant amount that one might find on the street while walking home.
Hint: 45.6 billion won is NOT. Insignificant.
The rest seemed to go by in a blur; blah blah, majority vote, blah blah family drama. She did get a giggle out of that, though. What kind of mother doesn’t even tell her son that she entered a game to earn bank AND not question the random money her son earned.
Yada yada, some purple-haired asshole and his greasy little companion started yelling at mister 1.3-billion-won-in-debt about a crypto scam. She couldn’t really care less about what happened with the other players, because in the end SHE would be the one taking home that prize money. Next thing she knew, they were lining up and filling out consent forms. Honestly, she just skimmed through the contents and scribbled her name down before moving aside.
While she waited for the guards (they reminded her of something you would see at a club, or maybe a prison) to finish processing forms, she stood by a random collection of bunk bed posts as she idly twisted a strand of hair around her fingers. She scanned through the competition, only stopping to linger on a few people who caught her attention.
First, player number 120: Cho Hyunju. She was surprisingly tall for a chick, but she pulled off the suits pretty damn well.
Oh, yeah. Fact number two about Kang Mi-Na, player number 196.
She was a raging lesbian.
Men pissed her off, and always had. Women, on the other hand, made her feel comfortable. Tall, short, skinny, chubby. The expressions, voices, and style all managed to tug at her heartstrings in ways men never did.
Anyways, back on topic.
Second, player number 124; or as she decided, Mr. Drippy. He reminded her of an alleycat, slinking behind the purple guy almost shadow-like. Plus, his hair clung to his face in a way that seemed sticky. Gross.
Third, the purple guy himself. Honestly, if it weren’t for the little commotion he caused earlier (and his odd duo) she wouldn’t have bothered to even look at him. He radiated a sort of fuck-boy vibe, plus he looked totally jacked. “How the hell did he even get in here looking like that? He’s so obviously high.” This comment was muttered to herself, but was still audible enough to be picked up by the person behind her.
“Yeah, they should pull him out early. Don’t want him screwing this up for everyone else, right?” Mi-Na almost jumped out of her skin as a voice sounded in her ear, and she spun around to face the newcomer.
Oh. My. God.
Kang Mi-Na froze as she made eye contact with the girl who was casually sitting criss-crossed on the bunk above her.
She looked almost the same age, smiling as she leaned over the edge of the mattress. Her black hair framed her face in a way that clashed with her pale skin perfectly, adding emphasis to the slight dimple by the corner of her mouth. Her features were bold, but also soft and defined, giving the rest of her appearance a friendly-yet-sly feel. But what really tied it together were the piercings. She had a silver nose stud, matching several ear and lip cuffs of the same color. She even wore a thin black choker around her neck. The number on her coat read “380.”
She reached out her hand, which Mi-Na accepted after a moment to meet in a handshake. The conversation basically ended there, signaled by a loud buzzer that rang from all corners of the room. The other players in the room all began to move towards the doorway, ushered by the guards. 380 hooked her fingers around the bed post and swung down gracefully, landing beside Mi-Na with a smile. “Shall we go? Looks like we might be starting soon.”
After joining in with the other players, Mi-Na quickly lost sight of 380, which may have been a good thing; she couldn’t stop staring. As she followed the crowd throughout the winding stairs and hallways, she fiddled with her uniform and shirt. They were so ugly it hurt. She kept making edits to her outfit as the progressed, switching between tying the jacket around her waist and zipping it up while draping it off her shoulders. Eventually she settled on wearing it regularly, but with the addition of tying her shirt up to crop it. Her photograph was taken, and she resumed the treck throughout the halls. Reaching the end of their journey, she found herself in a room with a giant pair of closed doors in front. While she waited as the other players filed in, she continued twirling her purple clip-in braids around her finger. But her peace was quickly interrupted by whooping and hollering behind her, as a crowd of boys pushed someone towards her.
Ew. It was that purple haired dude, and he was looking straight at her. He stopped and smirked at her, making little finger hearts with his hands. “Hey, Señorita. Know who I am?”
Despite the feeling of nausea that creeped through her bones, she felt herself slipping into that good-girl persona that she often used in school. “Should I?” Past experiences taught her one thing about boys, and that was that she should go along with their antics, at least until it wasn’t safe. Otherwise, things could get… messy.
“Nah, that’s all right. There’s no time like the present to get to know each other.” He kept looking around at the crowd as if he was hyping them up. “Is this you trying to flirt?” She added that last bit without needing a response, but she got one anyways. The purple guy stuck his hands out in front of him and began to beatbox:
“You and me together yeah, I feel the power. Found her hidden in the weeds, yeah- my beauty flower ~ Red-orange-yellow-green I’m a legend, Thanos ~
Sweet-ass tracksuit looking tight, hope I get the green light~” He made a face that resembled one you might see in a cheap drama, and held up more finger hearts. “I like you!”
She turned away from him without saying anything back to him, but caught sight of Mister Drippy in the corner of her eye. He was scowling at her, practically stabbing daggers with how hard he was glaring. ‘Well damn, it’s not like I WANTED him to talk to me. No need to act all upset about it man.’ She scoffed at him, but kept her thoughts to herself. The doors opening brought her some relief, mainly because she had something else to focus on besides the chattering and whooping still being done behind her.
Stepping out on to a field of sand was not what she expected from the first game. The walls were painted to resemble a sort-of wheat field, with a fake sky dotted with fluffy clouds. Above, the ceiling was gone, letting the sun shine down and warm her face. The room was quite disturbing- and no , it wasn’t because of the giant mechanical doll standing at the opposite side. It was because the sand got in her socks.
The purple guy- or as his awkward little rap stated, “Thanos”- was trailing behind her. He kept trying to talk to her, but she didn’t really take notice. “What’s over there?” She said as she pointed to the doll. Before she could really ponder anything, a woman’s voice rang out over the intercom. “Welcome to the first game! You will be playing Red Light, Green Light. Players who cross the finish line within the five minute time limit without being eliminated will win this game.” The rules began to repeat, but she couldn’t hear them over the sound of a man screaming. Some old dude ran out into the space in front and turned to face them, gesturing wildly with his arms. “Everybody, you need to listen to me! This isn’t just a game, it’s more than that. If you move after ‘red light’, you’re going to be shot!”
What the hell was he talking about? She scoffed, and glanced in Thanos’s direction. “What? Is he high or something?” If anyone here would know about being high, it was gonna be that guy.
“Green light!” The doll turned away, and a timer began to count down. The crowd of people shuffled forwards, including Mi-Na. Regardless of what that weird guy was talking about, she still was going to win. “Freeze!” He screamed this right as the doll chanted ‘red light’ and turned its head to stare at them. The man screaming was beginning to piss her off. This continued for a few more ‘green light!’ until she was absolutely sure the screaming guy was gonna be the cause of her losing. Every time he yelled, she felt herself flinching. ‘Red light!’ Again, the man screamed and she almost stumbled. A light buzzing approached her ears, and suddenly a light touch was felt on the nape of her neck. “What was that??” She said, mainly to Thanos. He was right behind her, and if it turned out that he was poking her she was gonna lose it. “It looks like it knows you’re a flower. There’s a bee on you.” Without seeing him, she knew he was smirking. That stupid smirk. Once she finished this game, she was gonna slap that look right off his face for trying to mess her up. ‘Oh, he is totally poking me right now.’ If it really WERE a bee, she might’ve freaked out, but of course it wasn’t. So when the doll turned away with a ‘green light’, she whipped around and pushed him. “You trying to mess me up? We’ll see about that.” He fell over from the force, knocking over the person behind him. He sprung right back up, the smirk gone. “Why’d you push me? There really WAS a bee. “ Before she could say something witty in response, the person who got knocked got to his feet and advanced on her with an angry look. “Why the hell’d you push-“ ‘Red light!’ The man kept moving, still continuing his sentence. “-him? He got me too!” He stopped, realizing his mistake. Thanos let out a little cackle, his stupid look returning. “You moved idiot.” The woman’s voice rang out over the speaker. “Player 406, eliminated.” The man stood there for a second, unsure of what would come next. But he didn’t need to wait long, because the unspoken question was answered for him. A loud gunshot cracked through the air, and crimson liquid sprayed from the man’s forehead as he was shot straight through the head. He fell backwards from the impact, and later there motionless. A pause, then screaming. Players began to realize what happened, and started to flee. It all happened so fast.
Yelling, screaming, gunshots. Amidst it all, a certain voice could be heard yelling the same things: “STOP. HOLD YOUR GROUND.”
What. The. Fuck.
It all felt like a blur after that. Once the gunshots stopped, the doll turned away again and green light was called. People began to resume the crossing, but with more caution and fear. Thanos even popped a pill midway, that bitch, and began shoving people over and waving goodbye as they were shot. As for Kang Mi-Na, she couldn’t seem to move.
She killed that man. If she hadn’t pushed Thanos, he wouldn’t have fallen. Then he wouldn’t have been moving when red light was called. But the worst part was realizing how close she had come to death. As the seconds drained away, she stood there, frozen. Until a hand on her shoulder made her look up from the ground. Player 380 was standing by her side. ‘Red light!’ Everyone around her froze, but 380 kept speaking to her in a soft voice. “I know it’s scary. But if that clock runs out,” she looked up at the timer on the wall, “we’ll die anyways. We can make it, see?” A gunshot sounded again, and someone nearby dropped dead. “But-what if I-“ Mi-Na was choking on her words, but she didn’t need to try and say it out loud. “I’ll be right here with you. But we will need to start moving when we can or else we won’t ever make it.” That last part was strained, and she suddenly realized that she could feel the slight shaking of 380’s hand through her sweat-stained coat.
‘She is just as scared as I am, but… how is she able to still speak?’
‘Green light!’ 380 looked at her and smiled, a weak yet tender smile. Kang Mi-Na nodded. She might die tomorrow. She might die the day after that. But she wouldn’t let herself die right now.
The time was ticking down to its last seconds. She was so. close. Only a few feet away. 380 was still beside her, her hand remaining on her back the whole way here. When that doll called its final green light, she ran as if her life depended on it -which it did. As she collapsed onto the sandy floor past the line, she could sense that 380 was still there, lying next to her. As the timer went off, and the gunshots began once more, all she could hear was the sound of her and 380 breathing in sync.
She was alive. And for some reason, she had the sense that if she had done this before, she wouldn’t have made it to this point. But she did.