pretty boy (jun-ho x pink soldier)

(not) holding out for a hero

That day, after the workers were dismissed, Jun-Ho followed number 28. They walked through the confusing hallways, through so many twists and turns and doorways that Jun-Ho loses track, despite his best efforts to memorize it so that he can get back. 28 opens a door and Jun-Ho expects it to lead to another pastel-colored hallway, but behind it, there's a dark stairway.

28 flicks on a flashlight and leads the way down, a pit of anxiety forming in Jun-Ho's stomach. It's something he's used to, though. With his years of experience working as a police officer and putting himself in dangerous situations, you'd think he wouldn't get nervous, but the anxiety is just as bad as day one. That's just something he's learned about fear; it doesn't go away with practice- the unknown is always daunting. 

But he's going off track.

"29, what happened yesterday?" 28 says as they arrive further down the staircase. "Where were you?"

"Sorry," is all that comes to Jun-Ho's mind. 

The man stops. "'Sorry'?" he turns to Jun-Ho. "I stopped the other guys from killing you because they didn't trust you. Since you saved my life during the last dive, we're even now." Jun-Ho feels a bout of gratitude towards the dead man who he's impersonating. 28 points the flashlight straight at Jun-Ho's face, making him cringe, and he has a moment of panic where he fears that 28 might recognize him as not being number 29.

"If you do that again, you're out," 28 threatens before he resumes walking. 

They make their way down the rest of the musty, dark stairway in silence, and come upon a big metal door, upon which 28 knocks. a soldier with a triangle mask opens the door for them, and uses a device to scan 28's mask. 28 walks in, and the triangle gestures for Jun-Ho to come forward. As he gets scanned, he looks over the man's shoulder and sees an operating table, with a player's corpse lying on it, their insides- quite literally- on display. Another player operates on the body, a triangle soldier standing over the table and holding open a bag of clear liquid.

"Number 29," the man scoffs. "So you're finally here."

"I gave him a warning," 28 says from where he's standing next to the operating table.

"We couldn't make the delivery last night," the other triangle says, clearly pissed. "We can't let it slide with only a warning!"

"Then you can deliver this yourself," 28 retorts, returning the attitude. "You think it's easy to find divers like us in this place?" 

The man's glare is apparent even through the mask. "Make sure tonight's delivery goes off without a hitch," the triangle directs at Jun-Ho, and Jun-Ho nods, trying his best not to create suspicion. The soldier at the door gestures to come in, and closes the door behind him.

"What, you aren't even done with one?" 28 says.

"The doctor is slow today; more so than usual," someone says, but Jun-Ho isn't paying attention as his eyes fall to the row of open caskets with dead, bloody players lying in them. "Hey, quack, hurry it up. This is all pointless if the boat leaves before we deliver."

"You come over here and try doing this, especially when you're sleep deprived," the player says curtly. "I'm just barely escaping death every damn day."

As the doctor- or at least Jun-Ho assumes he is one- digs his hands into the body, 28 walks up behind the player and rests a hand on his shoulder. "That's why we tell you what the games are beforehand, and gave you that extra food," he says as the player retrieves what Jun-Ho recognizes as the heart. The man glares at the soldier, and roughly shrugs his hand off his shoulder, placing the heart gently in the bag.