for once, her father was right: hell is real, and it eats itself alive in this room.
the lights pulse without any rhythm, blinking in and out only to reveal a new scene at its feet, gorier than the one before. 315 has his hands wrapped around a woman’s throat; another player lays in a pool of his own vomit, frothing at the mouth; ji-yeong almost slips on someone else’s blood as she crouches behind a bunk, her sweaty hands sliding against the bars. it reeks of desperation, of piss and filth, screams followed by silence followed by screams again swallowing every body in the bunker.
ji-yeong’s never been a fighter. even at seventeen, the day she held two lives in her hands, she knew this to be true. she hid and ran and held her breath until she blurred into the background, always there but never a focus, just as she is now. it kept her out of trouble; it kept her alive. she’s not sure whether that makes her a survivor or a coward, but at the very least there’s this: in this game they’ve all created for themselves, lives splitting between the dark and the light, she’s certain she will win.
a woman shrieks from afar, swinging a loose piece of metal at another man’s head; he crumples to the ground just as she’s pulled backwards by her hair. death becomes an opportunity: ji-yeong weaves out from behind the mattress, spotting a corner at the far edge of the room littered with bodies. an idea hatches as she scrambles to her feet: if she coats herself in blood— if she can just get to the other side—
a man grabs the collar of another, shoving him back so they break the gap between where ji-yeong stands and where she’s heading next. to her disbelief, she recognizes them. 231 was a lackey for 101, the gangster who had started this all; the other was 456, the very last player and the first who had voted for them to go home — whatever that was — after red light, green light. she wasn’t surprised to see him back ( after all, she returned, too ), but she is surprised to see he’s somehow wandered from the pack he had clung to since the second game. being alone works better for her; for him, it pulls at his skin and exposes the soft shell of vulnerability underneath. he stands frozen in place, limbs locked in fear, head snapping in each direction in search of— what, protection? safety? the naivety of it almost makes her laugh. carnage never ended behind a closed door. there wasn’t a safe place in this whole damn world.
but it’s then another flinch of light exposes a broken bottle in the other player’s hand, glass teeth cracked in excitement, and before she can stop herself ji-yeong flings herself behind the unsuspecting man, clamping her hand over his mouth and lurching them backwards.
she doesn’t know what makes her do it, and if they both manage to make it out alive, she hopes he doesn’t ask. in the moment she can pretend it’s self-preservation. with them blocking her way, there was more of a chance that someone would come around to turn their eyes on her. but deep down, a swarm of thoughts crawl up her throat; the unfairness of that sort of death— the way the man had stooped over him even as they stood face-to-face— how the crimson bottle resembled a knife drenched in moonlight—
a memory rams against her skull, trying to break free. yeah, right, she muses, like i’m gonna let you kill me here.
ji-yeong pulls them back behind the bed, nearly tripping over her feet, shoulder slamming into steel with a gritted, “shit”. 456 expectedly thrashes in her grip, fists and fingers attempting to swat at her face. “hey,” she snaps in his ear, trying to pin his arms down with her free one in order to avoid the attention of the other man, “hey! i’m trying to save you, babo. you wanna live or not?”
@gamedebt liked for gi-hun .