𝙄 𝙒𝙄𝙇𝙇 𝙉𝙊𝙏 𝙆𝙄𝙎𝙎 𝙔𝙊𝙐 ♡ 𝙖𝙡𝙞 𝙖𝙗𝙙𝙪𝙡

004

PLAYTIME

Haydn's Trumpet Concerto in E flat major. That was the very familiar orchestral piece that seemed to be playing as you slowly gained consciousness.

Your eyes fluttered open. Your phone was gone, and you were dressed in a green tracksuit, laying on a metal bunk bed. Shifting in the plush mattress, you took a deep breath, not wanting to get up. You were so sick of sleeping on the cold, hard floor. This was beyond an improvement. Just when you were about to drift back to sleep, the voice of a man and a young lady brought forth the attention of, mind you for not having noticed the hundreds of others in the warehouse-like quarters, nearly hundreds of people. Not wanting to involve yourself, you pulled the blanket over your body and shut your eyes again.

That was until the sound of blows landing filled the room. Furrowing your brows, you did your best to block out the sounds of a man interfering with the dispute from earlier. You paid no mind to it until the doors opened, stopping the fight. Finally. Peace and quiet. You closed your eyes once again, going back to sleep. You hardly got any, since you were always up at work, pulling overtimes. This was the sleep you deserved. Honestly, you didn't even care about the money anymore.
You continued to sleep soundly in the bed as whatever went on out there went on. It was just you, this bed, and a nice, long re-

"Excuse me. Ma'am, I think you should wake up."
A male voice would say. You felt an overshadowing presence beside your bed, and a pair of dark eyes staring at you. Slowly opening your eyes, vision blurry at first, you reviewed your surroundings. You were still here. You then turned to face whoever was beside you.
"We're signing our consent forms. You should go get that done, instead of sleeping."
He'd continue. Your eyes unable to adjust to the light for a moment, you couldn't quite distinguish his features. After a bit of squinting and blinking, the figure had slowly taken form. It was a bit of a tall man with a square-ish face, tired, dark eyes, and a pair of rectangular glasses. He must be another player. 218.
"Consent forms? I had no idea. Thank you for letting me know."
You'd hazily say, still not completely woken from your sleep. Those few minutes were the best sleep you've gotten in years. Getting off the bed, you walked towards the lines of people waiting to sign their documents. You stood in line, arms crossed as 218, as you'd call him for now, stood behind you. Bored, you stuffed your hands in the pockets of your tracksuit before glancing behind you.
"Hey, ajeossi. What's your name?"
You'd ask him, to which he sighed in response before answering with his ever so calm voice.

"I don't think I'm that old. I'm 39. My name's Cho Sangwoo. What about you, 274? What's your name?"
He'd ask politely. His response seemed to surprise you slightly. He wasn't that far apart from you. Almost a ten year difference. You were currently 30. Wow, time certainly flew by.
"L/N Y/N. I'm 30. I guess I can't call you ajeossi after all."
You'd lightly chuckle. As embarrassing as it was, you had a tendency to chuckle, or laugh when not knowing what to say to someone. The were nervous, or awkward laughs, to put it.
"That's a nice name. Are you sure you're 30? I almost mistook you for a student."
He'd laugh softly before cutting himself off, looking at you with a bit of a look of realization, raising a hand defensively.
"I- my bad. I didn't mean that in a creepy way."
He'd tense, bringing a snicker to you. If only your coworkers back out there were this calm with you. You tried to be friendly with them, but all they ever saw was their scary, neckbreaking section leader. It wasn't your fault you seemed angry when you were tired.
"It's no big deal. I know what you meant."
You'd say smugly, causing the other to nod.

The man, who had identified himself as Cho Sangwoo, returned a small smile before you walked to the table. The document was short and concise, nothing but three simple rules and a signature bar. Quickly scanning over the rules, you picked up the pen laying beside the document and signed your name before nearly setting it back down to rest on the table, waiting for Sangwoo to finish his signature before the two of you headed back. You hadn't expected yourself to make friends, but here you were. Acquainting yourself with a man you would have never known outside.
You took a seat on one of the black, steel stairs, motioning for Sangwoo to sit beside you. He did as offered, the two of you sitting in a brief silence before you decided to crack at a question.
"So... How'd you end up here?'
You'd ask, Sang woo, adjusting his glasses as he cleared his throat.
"Me? Well, it's nothing much. I'm like everyone else here. Desperately in need of money. I lost it all to stock loans. I don't like sharing it, though, so now you have to tell me why you're here."
He'd answer, a small smirk tugging at the corner of his lip as you paused. Stocks, huh? Sangwoo seemed like he'd be a pretty smart guy. Looks and formality. Of course, you weren't saying that just because he wore glasses. That would be awfully vague of a description just to make a judgment like such.
"Hm. Nothing unusual. The company I work for is spiraling into insane debt, and my corrupt boss utilized me for money, taking off my pay and begging me to make official bank loans. Can't quit either, since I can't get a job from the low credit score my debt gave me."
You'd shrug, Sangwoo giving an understanding nod.

Just as Sangwoo were about to open his mouth to continue your small conversation, the music you'd heard when you first arrived, Blue Danube, began to play again in the background as a female voice announced several instructions. It seemed that the first game were to start soon. You and many others who were seated got up, Sangwoo walking with you in the single file lines that had been created by the masked employees.

Following them, you were all led into a massive channel of corridors, all designed and painted in abstract shapes and bold, various colors. The sounds of footsteps flooded the room. It sounded like a rainstorm. Everyone, including yourself seemed rather befuddled by the strange, yet interesting architecture choice. All players were led down to a series of booths. Trying to get a look at what it could possibly be, you tilted your body to the side to try and get a glimpse. You were too far, however.
"It's a photo booth. They're taking our pictures. Likely for identification."
Sangwoo's voice would suddenly buzz behind you, causing you to turn and look at him. Turning back towards the booths, you let out a small noise of realization. That made sense. The technology in this place was beyond shocking to you. You wish you had your phone. You'd take a picture if you could. You liked to take pictures of abstract things such as paintings and sculptures.

It had been several minutes until you finally reached the camera. The screen displayed a smiley face emote, encouraging you and others to smile for the camera. You planned on doing so, but it had gone by so quickly, you were caught in a slightly surprised, puzzled expression, smiling too late. Not wanting to hold up the line, you simply walked away, following where the other players were headed, slowing down as to wait for Sangwoo to finish. You felt a little lost going alone without knowing anyone here.
You had met once his picture was taken, and so the two of you set off to a pair of metal, green doors, bringing everyone out to an artificial setting of fake sky and grass against the walls. The sky above was real. The ground was dirt path. Similar to that of what your elementary school used for the yard's ground. Your mother would scold your brother for getting the dust all over his shoes, often spanking him as you kept yourself occupied with a book. You had no friends in elementary due to learning how to speak very late, so you never played at recess. Just read. You couldn't communicate with others from elementary to the first year of middle school. It gradually got better, of course. You now spoke fluent, perfected Korean, and several other languages.

Across the wide, vast flooring stood a large, doll-like robot with rosy, chubby cheeks, bangs, pigtails, and a simple dress. It resembled how many korean little girls looked back in the day. There was also a tree barren of leaves it stood in front of. How peculiar. You turned to Sangwoo, opening your mouth as to ask him what he thought of this, when suddenly, a male voice called out from amidst the crowd, a pair of footsteps approaching in your direction.
"Sangwoo! Iyah! I didn't expect to see you here! Aren't you supposed to be in America?"
A man with slightly outgrown hair and a stubbly beard would call. His eyes told a very sad story, but even so, something in him seemed to shine when he smiled. He seemed like a very sweet man who tries, whatever the latter may be. By the pure looks of it, Sangwoo seemed to know this guy, just by the way he was addressed by him. The man then stopped beside the two of you, placing a hand on the other's shoulder.
"Oh, did you make a friend?"
He'd ask, glancing over at you, raising a hand as to casually wave, adding in a small nod, to which you bowed back. His overall appearance seemed like a parent trying to seem nice and approachable to their child's friends.
"Friend? Oh, we just me-"
"Yes, I did. Y/N, let me introduce you to Gihun. Hyeong, this is Y/N."
Sangwoo would interject. You and Gihun exchanged looks briefly. Well, you couldn't say much, since Sangwoo had already gotten the job done.
"Oh, oh, that's so nice to hear! Nice to meet you, I'm Seong Gihun of Ssangmun-Dong. I'm childhood friends with Sangwoo."
The man would introduce himself, letting out a stifled laugh as he spoke. His tone and formality already gave away where he was from. Just a few words and he didn't have to add where he was from.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Gihun-shi . As you heard from Sangwoo, I'm L/N Y/N. I just met Sangwoo. I think i've been to Ssangmun dong before. A friend from highschool lives there."
You'd smile. Suddenly, just as the two of you were about to shake hands, the loudspeaker announcement the games and its rules. Blinking, you turned to Gihun and Sangwoo with a puzzled expression, confirming if you heard that right.

"Mugunghwa kkochi piyeoseumnida..?"

Index:

Hyeong - Older brother to a male, respectful