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┗━━━━°⌜𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘷 ⌟°━━━━┛
〄 SAE-BYEOK didn't know what she had expected when she agreed to take part in the games the man said would earn her money, but it was not getting into a fight barely ten minutes in.
And she certainly wasn't expecting to see the face of Jang Deok-su.
She would be lying if she said that taking even one glance at that unpleasant man didn't make a blaze of anger burn deep within her.
Though she would try to not let it bother her. She had a priority, she had a game to win. Deok-su was just another inconvenience in her way.
A damn nuisance for sure.
Her gut ached with every step she took to get away from the burning eyes of the crowd that had formed to watch as he beat her. He had gotten her good, but this was nothing.
Kang Sae-Byeok could always take a hit.
A dribble of blood ran down her chin from the bloody corner of her lip. She wiped it away with the sleeve of the sweatshirt she was given before it could drop to the floor.
She took the steps one at a time, careful not to make her undoubtedly bruising abdomen ache more than it already was.
The crowd had gotten prying, closing in closer and closer to overhear what Deok-su had said to her, all the things he tried to guilt her with. Sae-Byeok had been struggling to find a way to get out when the perfect chance arrived. Another had man slipped into center of the circle. But when his eyes had landed on her, she spied realization in them. And as the man slowly approached toward her, it dawned that she had seen this man before. She had stolen from him.
To her fortune, Deok-su had thrown the man off of her, saying that he wasn't done with her. Then the two started arguing, and Sae-Byeok didn't waste the opportunity to slip back into the crowd and start walking away.
She was almost at the very rear of the room when she noticed a lone figure in her sight.
A girl, around her age, sitting on one of the beds, away from the crowd and chaos. All her concentration was on a string of thread she twirled around her fingers. As if that was the most important mission in the world: curling the piece of string, instead of trying to find out something about the games. Or even bother to walk down to the center and see what the commotion was about.
Maybe it was the evident lack of care for the happenings around her that drew Sae-Byeok toward the girl. Maybe it was the tedious expression on her face. Maybe it was the unusual attentiveness for the piece of thread. Maybe it was all three.
But, something made her ascend the rest of the steps and come to a halt before the bed the girl occupied.
Player 023, the bolded number on her sweatshirt read.
Sae-Byeok didn't know what to do now. What had she been trying to do, even? She didn't want to talk to this girl, she snuck to the back to find some solitary, not company.
The girl looked up, pushing the strands obscuring her face away. The first thing Sae-Byeok noticed were here eyes. A darker shade of brown, inside them, a shimmer of that monotony flared. Her black hair gracefully framed her face and fell down to below her shoulders. Sae-Byeok sucked in a breath, she was pleasantly surprised. The girl was indisputably one of the prettiest girls she had ever laid eyes on.
But, that did not matter. Not even in the least. Not here where she was focused only on winning and not some random girl. She pushed her previous thoughts away to some far corner of her mind, willing them not to come back.
"Wanna get into a fight with me too, huh, 67?" 23 rose an eyebrow, her voice not unkind, but not exactly friendly. Her face suddenly changed, her whole expression lighting up as she smirked. A taunting little smirk that made Sae-Byeok regret walking up to her. Almost.
"Your lip is bleeding." The girl told her, pointing a finger at her lips, a part of the blue thread tangling off it as she did so.
"I haven't noticed." Sae-Byeok was sure the girl could hear the sarcasm in her voice.
The girl pulled her knees up to her chest and tilted her head. She looked at Sae-Byeok. Really looked at her. 23's eyes met hers and she just stared, hard, like all Sae-Byeok's secrets were written on her face and she was reading them. 23's eyes were impossible to interpret as she regarded her closely, making Sae-Byeok clench her jaw in unease and anticipation.
"You're not very nice, are you?" The girl asked suddenly, breaking her staring. As if she just came to that realization and the words were out of her mouth before she could stop them. Though the girl didn't look like someone who paid much care to what she said, given her demeanor.
"Nice gets you nowhere." Sae-Byeok shortly responded, her face stoic as it always was.
23 regarded her again, and under those eyes Sae-Byeok felt small, scrutinized.
"Maybe not where we are now." The girl hugged her knees with both arms. A smile tugged at her lips, not one of joy, but what Sae-Byeok could only guess was irony, "Every man for themselves, right?"
Sae-Byeok's only indication that she heard the girl's words was the light nod of her head. Then, she looked away from the strange girl, focusing her stare on the throng of people still awaiting answers from the makers of the game.
Hadn't they've been waiting enough? Where were the people in charge hiding? Sae-Byeok was losing her patience. She had been here without explanations for long enough.
She didn't know how the girl could stay so unbothered during all this.
When she stole a quick glance at 23 she found her playing with the string again.
What was so interesting about that damn string?
Before she could let her mind ponder about the girl little ways from her, the grand door of the room opened. Though she could not see exactly what was happening because of the people gathered around, she caught a glimpse of red hoods.
She dared yet another glance at the girl. And as if she sensed the eyes on her, 23 looked her way, meeting her gaze.
Sae-Byeok quickly looked away, cursing herself for letting the girl catch her staring. Then, without muttering another word she was off, striding toward the crowd to see what was going on.
"Good conversation, 67!" The girl called from behind her, though Sae-Byeok didn't look back for even a second, "Even though you barely said a word despite approaching me first."
At that, Sae-Byeok rolled her eyes. That girl had audacity, it seemed.
