That Night It Rained | Yuta

25 | Winner Takes All

Min-hyuk drove everyone to the tournament. It was a place on the outskirts of the city so not far from their house. It was an open field where a tall grey building was constructed with a parking lot adjacent to it. Inside, except for the reception area, everywhere else seemed pitch dark.

'Okay, guys, from here only me and her go inside.' Haechan turned to everyone.

'Fighting!' everyone shouted and sat near the entrance.

Inside, it was somehow darker which Jina had thought was not possible. There, Haechan introduced her to the other team members who were already geared up. Haechan had informed the others of Jina joining the team and even though they didn't know who she was, they were glad since they could still participate. He handed over the gear to her and showed her how to buckle it all up.

'What's our strategy?' Jina asked and before anyone could even answer, she told them her own which they seemed to agree with. Although, even if they didn't, Jina didn't really let them protest.

'We got this! Let's go!' they shouted in unison and took positions on one side of the playing field while the other team was stationed at the other end. They entered as soon as the light above them turned green signalling the start of the tournament.

The rules were simple, whichever team survives till the end, wins. The surviving player or players have to come out of the playing field in the end and press the buzzer indicating the end of the game and their victory.

Jina was on the offence meaning she, along with Haechan and a few other members of the team were actively seeking to eliminate the members of the other team. Jina was attentive and cautious of any movement around her. Her eyes were looking for targets like a hawk.

She stealthily walked through behind a pillar taking position and, 'Pew!' her laser sounded. She eliminated one of the members of the other team and air-fived Haechan from afar who was watching her.

'One player of the blue team out!' an announcement blared on the speaker but nobody cheered as they couldn't risk giving away their positions.

They moved carefully in some places and ran through others and the announcements kept blaring out of the speaker as they were eliminating the players on the other team, one by one while also losing some of theirs. They game was close to the 30-minute mark now. But their team which had started off with a good strategy was now behind. There were only three members left, Haechan, Jina and another beside them but they were outnumbered with eight members left on the other team.

'This is not good,' Haechan whispered. 'They know we are only three and it's only a matter of time they find us and encircle us from all sides.'

'We need to separate and take them down from different directions.' Jina was already looking around the area to find strategic positions. She assigned each of them their mark and they went in different directions, placing themselves in a way where they can still see each other.

'Pew!' came the sound and Haechan and Jina looked at their teammate who was eliminated and the announcement blared through the speaker.

In the reception area, the members could hear the announcements and the tension was rising equally high outside. It was as though listening to a game commentary on the radio and their favourite team was losing.

'They are only two. They won't survive. They are going to lose.' Taeil looked worried.

'We need to help them,' Yuta said.

'How?' Taeyong asked.

'We need to go inside.' Yuta got up from his chair and looked towards the entrance.