squid game x reader oneshots

𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙬𝙚𝙖𝙠𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙨 // in-ho x reader

tw: age gap

not proofread

word count: 1536
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in-ho was never meant to be on the floor.

he was supposed to stay behind the mask, up in the his tower where the air was cold and no one asked questions. where things were clean. detached. but this game was cracking at the seams.

player 456. the genius. he'd won the game again and he was back. he couldn't let the man defeat him. and the only way to really understand how bad the plan could get... was to get inside.

so he put himself in.

just another player in a green tracksuit, badge number 001. anonymous, bleeding into the crowd. no one recognized him. i mean, his face had been gone a long time. no one, except maybe you.

you looked at him that first day. really looked
not like you knew who he was, but like you notice his presence. like you couldn't stop yourself.

your gaze met his through the blur of bodies in that fluorescent hell, and something in your eyes made his stomach twist. not because it was fear. it wasn't. he wasn't scared. but you were beautiful. god, how you were. you were afraid. impressionable.

young.

so fucking young.

too young to be here.

and yet you were.

and now, so was he.

he figured you'd die in the first round. red light, green light.

you were too slow. too fragile. he watched your legs shake as you stepped into the field, your arms wrapped around your chest like they could keep your heart from breaking open. when the first body hit the ground, you screamed. not out loud. not like the others. but your face cracked.

you looked like a porcelain doll about to fall off the shelf. you still made it across, thank god. he watched you collapse to your knees when you crossed, retching into the sand, whispering thank you like someone had saved you.

no one had.

you did that on your own. he could've saved you if you were in trouble, though. but he tried to push the thought of you away.

he kept his distance. he had to. but in the dorms, when everyone else slept too loudly or plotted in corners, he watched you sit with your back to the wall and your eyes wide open.

you didn't sleep. not really. just blinked slow, like you were waiting for someone to come for you. they would've. if he hadn't been there.

you didn't know it, but every time a man looked at you for too long, in-ho was watching. every time someone stood too close, he moved in just enough to make them back off. sometimes all it took was eye contact. sometimes it took more.

the second game was new: the six-legged pentathlon. a timed course of five childhood mini-games, all in a rotating track. ddakji, flying stone, gonggi, spinning top, jegi. teamwork was required. moving alone was a death sentence.