ISOLATED • squid game

[ SIXTEEN ]

( season 1, episode 6 : gganbu )

A timer for 30 minutes was set on the board. Jiwon took a seat on one of the steps, her body tense. Sae-Byeok sat on the step behind her, silent.

" Do you remember that time we fought because you wouldn't let me speak to the kids making fun of you at school?" Sae-Byeok asked, and Jiwon smiled at the memory.

" How could I forget? I thought you were gonna kill that girl." Jiwon replied.

She remembers it like it was yesterday. She had been at school once when a little girl at recess told her nobody wanted to play with her because she was smelly. Which was entirely not true, and well, childish.

She remembers Sae's reaction when she told her. If she had gotten any angrier, steam would've started blowing out of her ears.

It turned into a screaming match of Jiwon begging her not to do anything and Sae-byeok trying to explain to her that she can't let it slide.

Jiwon didn't speak to her for days, but eventually, as kids usually do, she forgot why she was mad and everything was merry again.

At the time, Jiwon thought her sister was being crazy, but looking back now, she realises how it was just her loving sister being protective over her.

She couldn't bare to see her die.

There was no way she was gonna let Sae die in whatever game they played. She was essentially accepting that her time was up.

She loved her too much. If that meant that she had to die, so be it.

" What game are we even gonna play?" Sae-byeok pulled her out of her thoughts, and she thought for a second.

" What about the one we played as kids? See who can throw a marble the furthest. One round." She replied, her sister only nodded.

||

They sat in silence for a few minutes. Jiwon had moved to sit beside her sister, leaning her head on her shoulder.

Every so often, a gunshot would ring out into the room, making Jiwon flinch. Sae just kept a hand on her sisters knee, rubbing slightly with her thumb and reminiscing.

Jiwon was her baby sister. Sure, she was a woman now, but she would still see Jiwon as the little 7 year old with pigtails and a pretty pink summer dress, running through the sprinklers in their back garden.

Her eyes grew glossy. Shunning her for the past months was her biggest regret. When Jiwon needed her older sister, she wasn't there. The guilt eats her up inside.

A tear rolled out of her eye, and she quickly wiped it away, standing and turning to her sister.

" Let's do this, kid." Jiwon smiled fondly, standing up.

They each held a single marble, standing a safe distance away from a wooden fence.

" You go first," Jiwon told her older sister, and she turned to her. " Your numbers lower."

Sae-byeok shrugged, aiming her marble and throwing it. The clear sphere bounced against the fence and rolled back a bit.

Jiwon smiled, taking a deep breath. She relishes in her sisters company for just a moment. It would be the last time she'd ever do it.

She pretended to aim, before lazily dropping the marble at her feet.

She laughed breathily. " Darn." She muttered, feeling her sisters gaze burning holes into the side of her head.

Sae-byeok grabbed her arm, pulling her around to face her, mouth hanging open.

" What the hell was that?" She asked, and Jiwon shrugged sadly.

" I lost."

Sae-Byeok scoffed, shoving her up against the wall.

" Thar was stupid. Come on, throw again." Sae-Byeok demanded. Her sister only shook her head.

" No can do, Sae." Her frustration was overflowing. Her head was spinning. Her stomach was churning.

" Why would you do that? Jiwon!" Sae exclaimed, pushing her against the wall again. Jiwon just let it happen, shutting her eyes as they grew teary.

She opened her eyes, seeing that her sisters grip had loosened, and tears were rolling down her cheeks.

With a trembling lip, Jiwon reached out a shaky hand and tucked a strand of hair behind Sae-byeok's ear, then resting her hand on her cheek.

She leans into the warmth, and Jiwon's heart shatters. She continues to smile, though, not wanting Sae to see her fall apart.

A lone tear rolls down her cheek, as Sae pulls away, hands over her face.

Jiwon crouches in front of her as she slides to the floor, stroking her hair.

" I love you." She mutters tearfully, unable to keep smiling. Sae-byeok pulls her into her arms, letting out a choked sob.

Jiwon takes in her sisters warmth, knowing she will never be able to feel it again.

She pulled away, much to Sae-byeok's dismay, pulling her sister up and putting her hands on her face.

" You're gonna win this thing. You hear me?" Her voice cracks as she speaks, her heart aching at Sae-byeok's broken expression.

" I just know it."

" I love you too." Sae-byeok mutters through her tears, answering her earlier statement. She puts her hands over Jiwon's, pulling them away and just holding them.

The guard steps forward, and Jiwon knows her time is up. She presses a kiss to each of her sisters hands, before pulling away.

Sae-byeok turns around, unable to watch.

Jiwon exhales, smiling fondly as the gun is pointed to her head.

" I'm...glad we found each other again." Are her last words.

Sae-Byeok flinches as the gunshot rings out, letting out another choked sob as she hears her sisters body hit the ground.

" Player 73, eliminated."

No reconciliation, no 'suprise, I'm alive!', Jiwon is dead.

||

hey...hey..how y'all doing?