LET THE GAMES BEGIN • squid game

( 06 ) honeycomb

N  A  R  I

They make their way through the never ending hallways again, Nari being alone because she lost the two people she knew in the crowd.

When they arrive at their destination, it appears to be an oversized playground. It was like a pastel nightmare.

" Players, welcome to the second game. We will begin shortly." Nari racks her brain for any games similar to this, but she comes back with nothing.

" Players, before the second game begins, choose one of the four available shapes you see on the wall. Once you've chosen your shape, please stand in front of it." Nari scanned the shapes. Star, triangle, circle, umbrella.

She had no idea what the game was.

" Go easy, go simple." She muttered to herself, thinking.

She shrugged before deciding to pick triangle.

Soon after she lined up, the doors opened, and a guard and a table full of metal cases sat in each.

" Players, please take one case each from the table at the front of your line." She thanked the guard as she took it, and stood awkwardly by the slide once she had it, not knowing if she's allowed to open it or not.

" Please, take a moment to open the case and check the contents." She opened hers up to see a piece of what appeared to be honeycomb, with a triangle shape slightly cut out and a needle.

212, who sat beside her, seemed frustrated.

" The second game is sugar honeycombs. The shape you have chosen is the shape you must remove from the honeycomb." Nari sighed in relief, grateful that she'd picked the easy one.

Nari ignored the instructions, as she'd done this a few times before. A timer for 10 minutes started, and she immediately grabbed the pin and wet the tip on her tongue before starting to scratch.

After maybe a minute, she picked it up and carefully broke one side off, thankfully not cracking it.

She heard a bang, and couldn't see it, but she could hear someone fall down the slide. Then another bang, and another. It just kept going.

She glances over at 212, and her eyes light up at the great idea she had. Heat up your pin and it will melt.

She carefully pulled her own lighter out and heated the tip before trying to scratch, the honeycomb melting immediately. She finished with five minutes left to spare, and showed her triangle to the guard with a smug look.

" Player 455, pass." Nari smiled and walked out, but dropped her lighter in front of 067 as she passed. When she glanced up at her, she acted like she was lighting one.

She breathed a sigh of relief when she arrived back in the bedroom, sitting on her bunk and waiting for the others to arrive.

She smiled lightly when 067 walked through the door, and she handed her lighter back when she got to her.

When everyone arrived, they announced the cash added.

" Out of the 187 players who participated, 79 players were eliminated. The prize money accumulated this round is 7.9 billion won. The total prize money accumulated so far is now 34.8 billion won."

It was then mealtime, and they all formed a line in the centre of the room.

But, Nari ended up at the back of the line, and when the man in front of her seemed confused, she glanced over.

" Uh, I didn't get anything." He said, pointing at the empty tray.

" Six of us didn't get meals!" The woman behind her complained.

" We prepared food for the exact number of players."

Nari sighs as the goons who ate their food snigger, and the man starts a fight, breaking 101's bottle.

101 starts beating the man, and he goes still. Nari walks over and tries to wake the man, but no response. Then, she checks his neck for a pulse, nothing.

She stands and only shakes her head before walking over to 067 and sitting next to her, resting her chin on her knees.

456 asks the guards if they can help, but they say nothing. Because they don't care.

||

Later that night, Nari and 067 sat in the same place,  watching the clock tick for lights out.

" You can't go to sleep tonight." Nari glanced up from the ground at 067's voice.

" Why?" Nari sounded like a innocent child.

" Who knows what they might try." 067 gestured to 101 and his goons, and Nari nodded. She was disappointed to see 212 with them. She thought she was nice. Oh well.

" Ok." Nari nodded, facial expression blank. She watched them mess around, seemingly targeting people, before 101 made eye contact with her. She gulped, but kept her hard expression until he looked away.

" Hey, pickpocket." Both girls looked up at the voice, and saw 456 standing in front of them.

" Are you two okay? It looked like that thug really had it out for you guys." Nari only sighed, uncomfortable.

" So what?" 067 asked.

" Tonight, if anything happens, we'll all meet by my bed right there. Are you two in?" Nari glanced up at 067, who met her eyes, before turning back to 456.

" I don't trust people. And that's twice as true for anyone who'd end up in here. Got it?"

" You think that's how it works, huh? Listen, you don't trust people here because you can. You do it because you only seem to have each-other." He sighs and walks away, and they both watch as he does.

Later on, the countdown was on a minute, and Nari had decided to stay in the bed beside 067's, so she's there if anything happens.

" Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five," Nari breathed deeply as the countdown almost ended, hoping for a night of silence.

" Four, three, two, one."

||

next chapter kinda brutal...just sayin 😦