~Y/n pov~

"Another fight might break our once the lights go out. Let's prepare ourselves."

Sang-woo's voice broke me out of my thoughts.

"How so?"

"We have these woman and an old man. We're the weakest team here."

"You think women aren't as good as men?" I raised an eyebrow at him, "We can do just the same and better."

He glared at me but didn't argue.

I hope it's because he's scared of me.

Probably because I went off at Mi-nyeo earlier. She deserved it.

"Let's pick a weak team first and attack them." The religious dude said.

Player 240 scoffed, "The Lord's servant is the vicious one here."

"We're all sinners already. Our hands are drenched in blood."

"Offence is the best form of defence. Let's attack first."

"In the fight last night," Sae-byeok spoke for the first time in a while, "do you know how the man in front of me died? Someone he thought was on his side broke his neck. Do you all trust me? I don't trust any of you."

There was an awkward silence for a few seconds before Gi-hun stood up.

"All right. We should focus on protecting ourselves first. Let's set up a barricade before the lights go out. It'll help to have some form of cover." Gi-hun explained.

I stood up too, "Finally a good idea. Did we end up with all the dumb fucks?"

Some people looked like they wanted to protest when I said that but they stopped as I had already walked away and started creating a barrier.

Gi-hun came and stood beside me, "You seemed really annoyed earlier."

"Who wouldn't be?" I responded.

He nodded, "They deserved it but please try to calm down."

"Huh?"

"If you mess with the wrong person they might try and kill you. I'm just worried." His voice went quieter and I almost didn't catch what he said next, "I won't know what to do if you die. I need you. So please... live."

My eyes widened and I gazed at him with a loving expression, "You too. Don't die."

Gi-hun smiled and we continued to work in silence.

It was a comfortable silence.

Everyone else started to help too.

We were almost done now.

Gi-hun was about to put on the last part when Player 101 started talking to us.

"Hey, Ssangmun-dong. So desperate to stay alive." He smirked, "But you really thing this will help?"

"What about you? Those scumbags on your so-called team. Do you really trust them?" Gi-hun responded confidently, "If I were one of them, once the fighting starts at night, I'd take the change to kill you first. After all, you're the strongest one."

Player 101 looked shaken up at the realisation that he couldn't trust his own team.

He didn't say anything and glanced back at his team, slowly walking over to them.

Gi-hun moved the last bit into place, blocking our view of him.

I raised an eyebrow at him, "What was that about not messing with the wrong people?"

"Ah, sorry." Gi-hun frowned.

I smiled, "That was cool."

Gi-hun smiled too.

The lights were about to go out now.

We all set up a sleeping area on the floor.

Sae-byeok looked cautiously at everyone before placing her stuff beside mine.

She was a step above me and a bit away.

The steps were huge so they could fit two or three people.

Gi-hun placed his stuff beside me and someone else placed their stuff beside his.

I sat on my makeshift bed and turned to face Sae-byeok.

"Don't worry."

She looked at me with a startled expression.

"I won't let that bastard get you." I smiled.

She smiled slightly and nodded, "Thank you... I mean it."

"We should keep watch, just in case anyone tries to attack us." I spoke up so everyone could hear.

They all turned to face me.

Sang-woo nodded, "We'll have two people stay up. If it was one person they could betray us and if it's two people they can keep each other awake."

"I'll go first." The old man suggested, "Old people don't get very tired."

"Hey, how can we trust an old man like you and fall asleep in peace?"

"I'll go first." Sang-woo spoke.

Gi-hun gazed at him when he suggested that.

"I'll join you." Ali added.

That was the first pair.

"I'll go next." I stated.

"Me too. Wake me up when you get tired."
Gi-hun smiled.

Ali nodded.

We all shuffled to our beds.

A few moments later, the lights went out.

"Are you okay?" I whispered quietly to Gi-hun.

He shook his head, "Can we talk about it later?"

I nodded though I was unsure if he saw it or not.

"Yes." I responded.

I pushed my bed against his as we shared our covers and warmth.

Gi-hun rested his head against my collar bone and curled up against me.

I wrapped an arm around his waist, my other hand ran through his hair to comfort him.

His breathing evened out as he fell asleep.

Once he was asleep, I allowed myself to sleep too.

~*~

Gi-hun shot awake, startling me.

I had woken up a few minutes ago and
Sang-woo was trying to wake up Gi-hun.

Sang-woo didn't look fazed at all, "Let's switch."

We both got up and sat near the entrance of the barricade.

Sang-woo and Ali went to sleep.

"So, what was earlier about?" I asked.

"It's just this whole situation."

That's understandable.

"It's okay. We'll make it through this." I tried to reassure him.

"But that's the thing.. what if we don't make it?" Tears ran down Gi-hun's face.

I pulled him into a hug and placed my head on top of his.

My hand going up to gently wipe the tears off his cheeks.

He seemed to be out of it as he stared into space.

"Gi-hun?" I asked.

He jumped and then looked up at me.

"Are you okay?" And don't lie." I looked at him with a serious expression.

"It's just at work, we went on strike. We set up a barricade like this." He stated.

He'd told me this story before.

"You don't have to say anything else." I held him close and allowed him to feel vulnerable.

I bent my neck and placed a kiss on his forehead.

Gi-hun was quiet for a few moments before he spoke, "Thanks."

"For what?"

"For always being there. I love you."

My eyes widened at the unexpected confession.

Gi-hun froze, "No wait... I.."

"I love you too."

He relaxed when he heard those words, "Really?"

"Of course.. for a long time. I never expected my feelings would be reciprocated."

I've loved him for so long but I never thought this day would come.

I was satisfied just being friends because I thought it could never be more.

Gi-hun turned to me and stared at me for a few seconds.

I avoided eye contact.

My face was going red, I could feel the heat in my cheeks.

"What?"

He cupped my cheek with his hand and made me look at him, "You're beautiful."

His eyes flickered down to my lips as he moved closer.

Butterflies erupted in my stomach.

I leaned in two.

Our lips met in the middle.

His warm lips against mine.

The emotions behind that kiss were overwhelming.

I'd never felt so loved.

Gi-hun pulled away and rested his forehead against mine.

We both turned to look out at the rest of the room.

This time, we sat closer than before and held hands.

His hand fit perfectly in mine.

We sat there for a while.

Someone behind us started breathing heavier.

I glanced over and saw it was the old man.

"Gi-hun?" I nudged him.

He looked over at the old man, "Oh shit."

We quickly scrambled over to him and felt him forehead.

He had a fever.

Gi-hun searched for a water bottle.

"It's empty."

"Here." Sae-byeok handed a fall empty water bottle to me.

"Thanks."

She nodded in reply.

I placed a damp cloth on his forehead and moved back to the spot we were in before.

Gi-hun rested his head on my shoulder in exhaustion and draped his body over mine.

Sae-byeok sat beside me, "I'll keep watch too."

Gi-hun managed to peacefully fall asleep when he heard that.

He must be exhausted from all the crying.

"Y/n?" Sae-byeok asked.

"What?"

"Thank you. For helping me all this time even though you didn't have to."

"You don't have to thank me." I smiled.

"Hey, this is selfish but.. could I ask a big favour of you." Sae-byeok looked away nervously.

"Of course. Anything." I nodded for her to continue.

She seemed to gain some confidence from this, "Then, can you look after my brother if I don't make it out alive?"

My eyes widened, "Don't say that. I'm sure you'll make it."

"Please. Just promise anyway." Sae-byeok begged.

"Of course. Where is your brother?" I asked curiously.

"He's.. in the orphanage. I promised him I'd come back for him and we'd live with mum." Sae-byeok smiled sadly.

That's not selfish at all.

~*~

I woke up to a loud alarm.

Startled, I sat up and looked around in confusion.

The door opened and in walked a bunch of guards.

Everyone else was looking around with confused expressions too.

"Attention. All players, please make your way to the centre of the room."

Something serious must be happening.

I looked around the room and that was when I realised.

That doctor was missing.

Did he try to escape or something?

One of the soldiers grabbed parts of our barricade and moved it so we could get out.

Wow, how kind of them.

"Hey, move it."

I followed everyone else as they made their way to the centre of the room.

The guard pointed his gun at the old man when he didn't get up.

Gi-hun stopped and turned around, "Listen. He's very sick right now, sir."

Another guard pointed a gun at Gi-hun.

"C'mon." I told him.

The guard pulled the blanket off the old man and we saw that he had wet himself.

He is old after all.

He's probably on death's door.

Gi-hun looked at him with sympathy before turning and following me to the centre of the room.

Eventually, everyone was lined up in the centre of the room.

The guards walked down the line and looked us up and down.

Gi-hun took off his jacket and gave it to the old man.

He's so kind.

"The fourth game is about to begin. Please follow the staff's instructions and swiftly make your way towards the game hall."

I had a bad feeling about this next game.

Of course, I was going to trust my gut.

When we walked up the stairs I noticed there were bodies hanging from the ceiling.

Everyone stopped.

The doctor was there too.

"Players, what you witness before you is what remains of those who broke the rules for their own benefit. They tainted the pure and fair ideology everything here has been built upon. Each and every one of you is considered an equal within the walls of this facility."

Is that how player 101's team knew what the next game would be?

"You must be guaranteed the same opportunities without being disadvantaged or facing any kind of discrimination. We truly apologise for allowing such an unacceptable incident to occur."

We all continued to move up the stairs.

And we were led back into the white room from before.

Did we have to get into teams again?

It'll be like last time, won't it.

We'll team up and then go to a different room to play the game.

"Players, welcome to the fourth game. For this game, you will be playing in teams of two."

Gi-hun turned to look at me.

"I have a bad feeling about this next game. I'm not sure what will happen so I think I'd rather pair with a stranger." I stated.

Gi-hun nodded, "We have no idea what the game is so... don't worry I'll find someone."

He turned to look at Sang-woo but noticed he had already made a team with Ali.

Someone tapped my shoulder.

I turned to see a girl stood there.

She looked slightly younger than me.

"Can we team up? I'll make sure we win." She sounded determined.

"Sure." I nodded which made her smile.

We shook hands.

"Hey handsome. Let's do this, huh?" Mi-nyeo smiled at Gi-hun.

He glanced at her and stood there awkwardly trying to ignore her.

Mi-nyeo sighed and turned to Sang-woo, "Hey, let me play with you. Then I'll be your dream girl all night long."

Sang-woo looked uncomfortable.

"I'll do anything you tell me. I'm not a regular girl."

I almost laughed at her pathetic attempt to find a teammate.

"You're pretending that you do not want me on your team. Is that it?" She turned to me with an annoyed expression, "It's because of what that h/c bitch said yesterday, right?"

"No. It's because no one likes you." Sae-byeok stated, "Get lost. You're embarrassing yourself."

Mi-nyeo huffed and ran off to try and find a teammate.

Sae-byeok walked off and the other girl followed after her.

Gi-hun looked around for a teammate.

I just realised. There's an odd number now... so what happens to the person with no partner.

Player 212 had no partner and she was dragged out of the room yelling and screaming.

I wonder what'll happen to her.

She's no playing the game so does she just play in the next game or are they going to kill her?

I turned away and quickly rushed after my partner as we were led into another room.

It looked like a neighbourhood.

"Attention. All players, please follow the staff to your designated positions for the game."

A guard came up to me and my partner and led us to some steps.

We were both handed a bag of marbles.

"There should be a set of ten marbles in each bag. Please check to confirm the number."

I poured and marbles out and quickly counted them.

Then I placed them back into the bag.

"In this game, using your set of ten marbles, you will play the game of your choice with your partner."

I smiled bitterly at my partner, "Guess one of us will die here, huh? We have a thirty minute time limit. I'd rather not play a long game."

The girl nodded, "Just one round. So... let's talk."

We both sat against a wall.

"What's your name?"

"Ha-rin. You?"

"I'm y/n. Let's talk about things we've never told anyone or something. One of us is going to die anyway. Anything you want to get off your chest."

She hesitated for a second before responding, "I killed my parents."

I blinked in confusion, "What?"

"They were abusive. Used me for my money. Made me work while they did nothing. Hit me, mentally abused me. My dad even..." tears sprung to her eyes and she started to sob.

"Hey. It's okay." I comforted her as she cried.

Her head snapped up, "I have nothing..."

"I used to think that too. That I had nothing. I just got out of a bad relationship. I was in debt and my parents had died recently. There was nothing for me. Not even my friend cared." I glanced at her to see if she was listening, "And then I reconnected with someone from my past. And so I promised myself that I'd live. Not for myself... but for him."

"I really have nothing. I just want to end all of this pain. Please let me." She sniffled, "I hope you survive this hell hole and get to be with this guy. He sounds amazing."

"What? In that case, what game do you wish to play?" I frowned but I respected her decision.

This is what she's decided.

One of us is going to die here anyway so...

"A game?" She smiled and simply passed her bag of marbles to me, "There's no need."

Half of the time was already gone.

"Thank you so much." She smiled with tears running down my cheeks, "I haven't known you long but you've been the kindest. The only friend I could ever truly call a friend... this is goodbye."

She wrestled the gun off the guard.

My eyes widened, not expecting that.

The guard was surprised so he let go off the gun.

She grabbed the gun with tears steaming down her cheeks.

Bye...

A gunshot rung out as she collapsed to the ground.

Some of the blood splattered on my cheek.

Why didn't I stop her? I wasn't expecting her to do that...

It all happened so suddenly.

I barely knew her so why... why do I feel sad?

I turned to the guard when I had snapped back to my senses, "Um... I have twenty marbles."

The guard seemed to be in shock too.

He quickly snapped out of it and nodded at me.

He picked his gun back up and led me out of the room.

"Player 372, passed."

I'm so glad I didn't pick someone I knew.

If I had picked Gi-hun... no.

I don't even want to imagine it.

It seems like I'm the only one who's passed so far.

Everyone else was still playing.

I was lead back to the room where I saw
Mi-nyeo.

"Ah, you're alive." I stated.

She didn't say anything in response.

I went to the toilet to clean the blood off my face.

The others will be back soon.

~*~

________________________________
3038 words

A/n I wasn't really sure what I should have happen in the marble game so I made it up as I went along. I think it turned out pretty well.