After losing the Squid Games in 2020, you unknowingly catch the attention of the front man. So instead of killing you he has a different proposal in mind. Along with being his lover he wished for you to be an officer helping oversee the games. It’s now 2023 with a new game beginning and In-Ho surprises you when he enters the games as a player. When a familiar face appears as another player, Gi Hun, you are surprised to see a connection blooming between the two men and question your own forced relationship with In-Ho. Of course there is no need for you to do that since In-Ho intends on keeping you both.
Warnings: canon typical violence, power imbalance, dark fic, non/dub con, angst, manipulation,
Is ABSOLUTELY based on ABBA’s song The Winner Takes it All
A/N: Heyyyyyyyyyyy soooo I may have started yet ANOTHER series, I do still plan on finishing Yet I Still Bleed but my hyperfixation may have moved to squid games for a bit… So I hope you guys enjoy this one! I’ll try to get updates out as often as I can but I never know when I will stop or take a break. Hopefully with season 3 coming out this summer I’ll have more motivation lol. Anyways, enjoy!
Warnings: canon-typical violence, angsttttt, Series is Gi Hun x In Ho x Reader but this specific chapter is Sae-byeok x reader, also: Reader takes Ji-yeong’s place but isn’t Ji-yeong, but you’ll see what I mean when you read!
Word Count: 1,386
All dividers by @steddiecameraroll-graphics
There were countless things you could blame for your failure. The lights were too bright, the neighborhood scene too jarring. Even that you were still exhausted from fighting for your life only an hour before when players turned against players. But that would all be a lie. The real reason you lost was emotion. Something that had always gotten the better of you. And now it was why you were going to die.
“It’s Sae-byeok.”
“What is?” You had asked, looking at Player 067 in confusion, the marbles in your pocket suddenly feeling heavier than before.
“My name. Kang Sae-byeok.” You felt yourself sigh internally as your choice became more complicated. Would she remember you when she won?
“Sae-byeok.” You rolled her name over your tongue, finally having a name for the first person you had met in the room full of beds. “It’s pretty.” You shot her a shy smile which she didn’t return. Probably too lost in the situation at hand.
“And you?” She was as cold as ice as she usually was, but deep inside you saw a small sign that she may have begun to thaw.
“L/n Y/n.” You answered confidently. As if the action of claiming your name was enough to give you a legacy before dying.
“Who should go first then?” Sae-byeok asked, as the two of you stared at the brick wall with small green vines twisting towards the artificial sunlight.
“It should be your turn.” You said stiffly. “Since your number is lower.” You reasoned out loud, putting into play the plan you had begun while sitting on the stairs with Sae-byeok.
Two triangle guards moved closer as you shifted your weight from leg to leg, they were no doubt waiting for the outcome of the game, waiting to shoot you.
As Sae-byeok shuffled forward, your eyes fluttered shut quickly and your hands shook. ‘This is for the best.’ You had to remind yourself. ‘Sae-byeok has a brother to take care of, a family to go home to.’
You shook your head slightly, knocking yourself out of your moment of fear as Sae-byeok’s marble rolled about 4 inches from the wall. A good throw. She turned and gave you a somber look before allowing you to take her place.
Time seemed to stop as you second guessed your plan. After this there was no turning back, no second chances. But you had no one to go home to and she did. You thought back to when the two of you had first met when they served the measly meal made up of rice and fish and how you had clung to her throughout the games, trusting that she was a survivor. And she is a survivor. So she would survive this.
You took a deep breath, before allowing the marble to fall from your fingers directly below you and stood tall, projecting a confidence you didn’t have.
“Hey, what are you doing?” Sae-byeok exclaimed, shoving you against one of the walls of the houses.
“I lost. You won.” You said simply, giving her another small smile.
“Stop it. Why the hell would you try to do that?” She yelled at you, showing more emotion than you had seen her ever show before. Perhaps she truly did see you as a friend after all even if she would never admit it out loud.
“Hey, I’ve got butter fingers. What else can I say?” You joked sadly, watching as the guard who had been observing you reached up to his ear and stood eerily still. You shifted your glance back to Sae-byeok, wanting to commit a familiar face to memory before you go. A face that you had been a blushing, sweaty mess around, but one that would remember you.
“What you said…” She paused, looking at you with quiet devastation in her eyes as she spoke. “...making sure that I won. Is that what this is? No. Take another throw, try again.” Her sadness changed into determined anger as she let you go.
“And I still wouldn’t be able to win.” The thought left your mouth before you could stop it. Not that you would’ve. “Let me make this choice.” You begged softly.
“Y/n that’s bullshit! Stop acting sentimental and just do a real throw!” She shook you again roughly, probably trying to knock some sense into you that wouldn’t come but you only huffed out a small laugh.
“We promised to tell each other our secrets, didn't we?” You repeated your promise to her as her eyes watered.
You wanted to tell her, probably should tell her that your heart skips a beat when you are around her, that your hands grow clammy when she talks to you, but you couldn’t. “My secret is, is that I have nothing.” You said instead.
“What?”
“You have a reason to get out of this place but I don’t.” Your voice shook with emotion and you felt tears rise in your eyes.
In any other situation you would try to block out Sae-byeok’s shaky breathing, the pain written on her face, but since you were about to die. You found yourself soaking it all in, trying to make your last moments with the woman you played the games with last. The woman you cared about and if you had the time to truly know each other, the woman you may have loved.
“I’ve thought about what I would do… if I won.” You blinked back tears. “No matter how hard I thought though, I’ve got nothing.” Nothing without you.
“The one who needs to survive, who has a reason to get back out there, that’s what’s right.” Smiling through your tears you nodded again. Your heart slowly breaking as tears roll down Sae-byeok’s cheeks.
“You can do this.” You continue encouragingly. “Don’t die in here, okay?” You wanted her to promise. To swear that she would survive and be happy. “And go…” You sniffled loudly before continuing. “... Go meet your mother. Go get your brother. And go to Jeju Island.” You let out a chuckle at that last sentence, a real one.
“I will. I promise you I will Y/n.” Sae-byeok reached for your hand and gave it a quick, tight squeeze before she choked out a small sob. Then silently stepping back and collecting the marbles you had thrown earlier. A triangle guard gestured to the path through a paneled gate, which she paused after walking through, turning to look back at you with pain written all over her face.
“Thank you L/n Y/n. Thank you for playing with me.” You appreciated her support, the fact that she wasn’t going to let you die alongside people who you didn’t know, who didn’t care for you as she did in her own way.
And you found yourself not fearing what comes next, as the two of you made eye contact, you wanted the last thing you ever saw to be her eyes, the very things that had drawn you to her in the beginning. But you weren’t even allowed that reprieve.
The gate swung shut in front of Sae-Byeok, the thick wood it consisted of leaving no way for the two of you to see each other and your heart plummeted as the triangle guard next to you raised his gun slowly. Your ears began to ring and you could vaguely make out a strangled cry from beyond the gate, that couldn’t be Sae-byeok… could it? So raw and full of emotion?
Tears fell down your cheeks in quicker succession as you swallowed your fear and prepared for darkness to consume you.
When the gunshot rang out, the person banging against the gate froze. Her cries silenced immediately, turning into choked sobs.
“Player 240 eliminated.” The loudspeaker cheerily spoke, and you took a shuddering breath, stunned as to why you were still breathing. But before you could call out to her, could even question why you weren’t full of holes, two strong arms gripped you tightly, pressing a damp chemically smelling cloth to your face and pulling you towards the sandy ground.
It was then, thrashing in a panicked craze in the second triangle guard's grip that you finally succumbed to the darkness you had expected. Only it appeared that they planned for you to wake up again.
Hope you all enjoyed! I’m not the best at writing angst but hopefully this turned out good. 
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