LET THE GAMES BEGIN • squid game

( 08 ) tug of war

N A R I

A few hours later, Nari wakes up to see the rest of the group slowly waking up, and she rubs her eyes gently as she adjusts to the light. The godforsaken classical music plays again.

" Are you ok?" She looks over to see Sae-byeok staring at her, her usually empty eyes holding a hint of worry.

" Yes. Why wouldn't I be?" She lies, her side hurts quite a bit.

" I saw you peeking at your side earlier. Looks bloody."

" Its just a scratch, it's fine." Sae-byeok sighs and looks away.

" Hey, old man. Did you stay up all night?" Gi-huns voice catches her attention, and she looks over.

The old man chuckles. " I thought they would attack again or something."

" But, aren't you exhausted already? It's not good to stay up for that long." Nari spoke up.

" It's alright, dear. You don't really need that much sleep when you're old. " Nari purses her lips and looks away.

" Attention, players. The third game will begin momentarily. Please follow the staffs instructions and swiftly make your way towards the game hall." Nari sighs and stands, moving forward to walk but stops when someone grabs her arm.

It was Sae-Byeok. " If you're in pain, say something, ok? Don't lie." Nari nods slowly, and they walk off.

||

" Players, this game will be played in teams. All players, please divide yourselves into teams of ten people. Your time limit will be 10 minutes."

They ended up in a white room, with a timer on the wall for 10 minutes. Nari stays close to Sae-byeok's side.

They made their way to their group and stayed silent as they spoke.

" Something that has teams of ten players. So maybe it's tail tag or why did you come to my house?" Gi-hun suggests.

" Our team already has two girls and an older guy, one of them being a kid. I'm thinking we better get more men first." Sangwoo suggests, and Nari scowls at him. It's a respectable idea, but that doesn't mean she's happy about it.

" What if they make us play Gonggi or elastics? Then, what do we do? Girls are usually better at that stuff-" Gi-hun brings up the possibility.

That's true, but when it really comes down to it, usually men are better." Nari snorts.

" I'd like to see you play a game of elastics." Sangwoo ignores her.

" It's our lives we're betting on right now. And we need to win." He has a point.

" Let's each bring one guy to join us," Sangwoo gestures to the two girls. " You go together." Nari was going to go with Sae-byeok anyway.

They both wander off quickly, and notice a girl sitting at the top of the stairs, on her own.

They share a glance and then start making their way up the stairs.