fatal flaw - kang sae-byeok

(6)

it had been hours since mia's interaction with sae-byeok, but she still couldn't get rid of the warm feeling in her stomach, or the blush which was scattered across her cheeks. sae-byeok sat close-by, her hand on her own chest, wondering when her heart rate would come back down.

suddenly, the all-too-familiar sound of classical music sounded, and mia immediately had a bad feeling. of course, nothing in this place was ever good (apart from her rendezvous in the bathroom), but she couldn't shake the feeling that something was about to go seriously wrong. perhaps it was the fact that on the outside, she couldn't feel an ounce of happiness before it was ripped away, old habits die hard, she thought.

the speaker sounded, informing all players to move into the next room, a game was about to start. mia had barely recovered from the last one. still, she put on a brave face, gave sae-byeok a slight smile, and grabbed her hand.

even before they had reached the game, the whole crowd received a brutal message. the bodies of 3 poor souls hung before them. 2 guards, 1 player. the remaining guards explained that these individuals had broken the rules of the game for 'their own benefit'. mia recognised the player as the doctor of the group, and she tried to shift her mind from imagining what he did in order to receive the guard's help. glancing around the room, everybody was mortified. mia hated herself for the monster she had become, but she couldn't help but think that this was useful - if everybody was shell-shocked, they might not perform as well as they could. perhaps that was the purpose of the sick wake-up call.

upon entering the game room, the players were instructed to form teams of 2, and to shake their teammate's hand in order to confirm their choice.  mia obviously sought to play with sae-byeok. holding her hand out, she received an unexpected response.

''no. no way''.

''what? why not? who else would you want to play with?'' mia questioned, hurt.

''we can't play together. i know what they'll do. make one of us die. half the numbers, finish the game faster'', sae-byeok looked up, ''and i can't do this without you''.

mia took a second to think.

''let's be realistic. we're probably not making it out of here together. only one person can win. if i had to choose, i'd rather die with you, than anywhere else. i don't want to risk not spending my final moments with you''.

and with that, mia grabbed sae's hand and shook it, before the other girl could even process what mia had just said.

before sae-byeok could scold mia for her reckless, but romantic, decision, all eyes were drawn to the scene in the middle of the room.

''you should be my partner! i'm han mi-nyeo!''

can she just stop the dramatics for one game? mia thought.

''you're all making a huge mistake!''

number 212 began hysterically begging for a partner, grabbing people, screaming at others, clearly terrified of what happens to those left without a partner.

when it was time to start the game, 2 guards carried the woman away, kicking and screaming. mia genuinely felt bad for her, fearing what would happen to her.

the rest of the players were taken into a different game room. seeing the decor, mia felt as if she'd escaped the game. the room was a replica of a small town, one that felt strangely familiar to her. the wallpaper showed a beautiful sunset, and the room was made into a maze of small houses and porches. mia tried to ignore the warmth in her heart and the lump in her throat, as she knew that this game was going to be the opposite of a warm welcome home.