~Y/n pov~

Eventually, everyone who survived entered the room.

Player 101 looked at Mi-nyeo in shock while she just smirked at him mockingly and waved.

Gi-hun looked really upset.

He partnered with the old man, right?

Sang-woo was here but not Ali.

I wish Ali was here instead.

Sae-byeok was also here much to my relief.

Everyone was given food all we all went to sit somewhere.

It was completely silent in the room.

Gi-hun was sat next to me and Sang-woo was near us.

Gi-hun was just sat there staring at the ground, not eating.

It must've been really hard for him.

I took small bites of my potato and somehow managed to finish it all.

Nudging Gi-hun's shoulder to get his attention, I offered him a small smile.

He didn't smile back.

I leaned closer to him, "Please eat something."

He frowned and stayed silent.

I frowned, "Please... for me?"

He sat there unmoving for a few seconds before bringing the potato up to his mouth and taking small bites.

I took his free hand in mine and squeezed it reassuringly.

"Don't worry about it." Sang-woo broke the silence. "He was an old man you only knew for a few days."

How heartless.

I knew this was really hard on Gi-hun.

Gi-hun stayed silent.

"See that man there? His partner was his wife." Sang-woo nodded over at player 69.

Gi-hun finally looked up and looked over to the depressed man.

The man stood up.

"Let's just stop all this. I can't keep doing this. I can't." Player 69 looked down as he started crying, "The majority must agree. Well, come on, let's get out. Half of us, that's all we need to end this right now. Don't any of you want to leave this horrible place? Anyone who wants to go, stand up. Let's get out of here."

No one said or did anything.

"How can you call yourselves human?! How many of you can continue with this insanity just for the money? You just had to kill the one you were the closest to at this place, and you're good with that just to get money?"

I noticed Sang-woo get up from the corner of my eye.

"So what if we stop now? You think your wife will stop being dead if we all go now?"
Sang-woo approached player 69, "And she'll forgive you for letting her get murdered? If you can't keep going, then why are you alive right now?"

Sang-woo grabbed the trembling man by the collar and shook him.

"You should've been the one who died in there instead." He told him harshly, "See that? That's the price of being in here. And your wife and the other paid it with their lives. And you wanna go and leave? You wanna start from the beginning again?"

He was saying the truth but he was being way to harsh.

Player 69 started crying.

"You wanna do that? Starting over again from nothing with that guilt." Sang-woo dropped the sobbing man on the ground, "And is everybody here ready to do that as well? Go ahead, stand up! Let's see who thinks they are!"

It was silent. No one stood up.

~*~

Gi-hun didn't eat the whole potato but he ate half so that's good enough.

The man from earlier was quietly crying to himself.

Gi-hun was lifeless. He hadn't spoken a word.

Everyone was quite spread out now. There were no more bunk beds.

It was just a bunch of beds in a huge circle.

I sat with Gi-hun in his bed.

The timer hit zero and the lights were turned off.

I shuffled and sat so I was against the headboard.

Then, I grabbed Gi-hun and pulled him so he was in between my legs and facing me.

I cupped his cheeks with my hands and rested my forehead on his, "It's okay to let it out."

Those words seemed to break him as I felt my hands getting wet from the tears.

His body trembled as he tried his best to cry quietly.

It was dead silent in the room apart from player 69's gentle cries.

Gi-hun was crying so silently that the only other person who even had a slight chance of hearing it was Sang-woo.

Even if he heard Gi-hun crying I don't think he'd care.

I pulled Gi-hun closer and wrapped my arms around him tightly.

He shuffled into my lap and buried his face into my shoulder.

I rested my cheek against his head and whispered comforting words in his ear while rubbing his back in a soothing manner.

Gi-hun trembled and clung to me tightly.

My heart broke at his vulnerability.

I hated seeing him like this.

My shoulder was getting wet from all the tears but I didn't mind.

My main focus was to calm him down.

I pulled my head away from his and gaze at his crying face.

His head was tilted to the side slightly so I could see his face.

Sweeping his hair away from his forehead, I bent down a place a kiss on his forehead.

My lips lingered there for a few seconds before I pulled away.

I cupped his cheeks and made him face me.

He looked so exhausted.

With my thumb, I wiped the tears away.

I placed a delicate kiss on both of his cheeks before lightly pecking his lips.

The tears had stopped but his body still shook.

"It's okay. I'm here. I'm not going to let go." I whispered to him in hopes of calming him down.

I moved so I was lying down.

Gi-hun was laid on top of me.

He made no effort to move away.

I held him tightly in my arms and he wrapped his arms around my torso, burying his face into the crook of my neck.

I ran my hands through his hair and just held him.

Eventually, his breathing had evened out which told me he had fallen asleep.

I placed one last kiss on his head before allowing myself to drift off to sleep.

~*~

The classical music playing woke me up.

Gi-hun raised his head and blinked a few times, trying to adjust to the bright light.

He had a slight bed head which was cute.

"You okay now?" I asked, placing my hand on the back of his head and tangling my finger in his hair.

Gi-hun smiled, "Yeah. Thanks."

I'm so glad he's smiling again.

Gi-hun snuggled back into my arms and closed his eyes.

There was a buzzing noise and some guards came through the door carrying a coffin.

I furrowed my brows and looked around.

Player 69 had hung himself.

His face was an awful blue colour.

Gi-hun looked up and stared at the dead body for a few seconds before looking away.

I watched as they placed him in the coffin and carried him away.

"Player 69, eliminated."

I gently rubbed Gi-hun's back as I sat up, taking him with me.

Gi-hun stayed glued to me for a few seconds before he finally got up.

I got up too.

"Attention, all players. The fifth game is about to begin. All players, follow the staff's instructions."

The classical music started playing again.

~*~

Opposite us were sixteen mannequins.

They all had vests on with numbers.

"Welcome, players, to the fifth game. Before we begin, please make your way down the steps and choose one of the mannequins that you see presented before you. Once you're chosen, take the corresponding vest."

I glanced at Gi-hun with worry, he still looks a bit out of it.

No one moved for a few moments before lots of player rushed for all the middle numbers.

I followed Sae-byeok as she grabbed number fourteen.

I grabbed the fifteenth one.

There were a few more people who hadn't decided yet.

Gi-hun was one of them.

"Your attention please. The number you see on the mannequins correspond to the order in which you will be playing. Please make your decision carefully."

Other people rushed forward until the only numbers left were one and sixteen.

Gi-hun still hadn't chosen.

My worry for him increased.

I watched as he took slow steps towards number one.

He stopped and glanced between the two vests.

The other person who hadn't chose yet came up to him.

"Excuse me. Could I be number one instead? As long as I can remember, I've been hiding behind people when I got scared." The man looked nervous as he talked to Gi-hun, "My life has been this thing that I've never really been able to truly control. And I tried to act like I wasn't afraid, but I was. And now, as always, I'm choosing my number last after everybody else here. I wanna get at least one last chance to claim ownership of my life."

Gi-hun looked at the man with sympathy and handed over the number one vest to him.

Of course he'd do that.

He doesn't deserve to be in a horrible place like this.

Gi-hun came over to me.

He was obviously really nervous.

I took his hand in mine, "Calm down."

Gi-hun nodded and calmed his breathing as we walked behind the rest of the group.

He had successfully managed to calm down when we had reached the room the game would be in.

There was a glass bridge.

There were two squares all the way down.

It's a good thing I picked one of the last numbers.

"Hello, players, let me welcome you all to the fifth game. The fifth game is Glass stepping stones. The stepping stones before you are made from one of two types of glass, one will be tempered glass and the other will be normal glass. The tempered glass stepping stone are strong enough to hold the weight of two people. However, the normal glass will break even if just one person steps on it. For this game, you will guess which one of the next two tiles is the tile made of the stronger tempered glass, and only are on those across eighteen pairs of tile. To pass the game you have to cross to the other side safely."

The person who had the first vest looked back at Gi-hun with a looked of regret and horror.

Gi-hun took in a shaky breath when they locked eyes.

The first player hesitated before taking his shoes off and staring at the two glass tiles.

I looked up at the timer.

We had sixteen minutes.

If the people in front take too long we won't make it.

"What are you doing?!"

"We're losing time!"

People began to shout impatiently at the first person.

Player 101 walked up to him, "Take your step now or I'll push you."

"I'll go. I'll go, okay?"

The first person finally jumped.

He was relieved when the glass didn't break.

"Okay, keep doing that. One after the other." Number two encourages the first person.

They were going next so they were obviously nervous.

He looked between the two tiles before jumping forward.

The glass shattered and he let out a yell as he fell to his death.

I couldn't see because I was so far back but I heard a horrible splat noise when his body hit the ground.

Number two made her way to the second glass tile and then froze, muttering to herself.

She finally decided and jumped to the left one.

She let out a scream as it shattered.

This one dude started working out the probabilities.

He then took a chance and managed to jump across almost half of them before one shattered.

His contribution will not be forgotten.

The next man tried to copy him and then paused and looked between the two tiles.

"Which way did he go next?" He turned to look at the woman behind him, searching for an answer.

She was trembling from all the pressure, "I don't know it happened to quickly. I think it might've been left."

Other people started agreeing or disagreeing.

He ultimately decided to trust her and that led to his death.

The woman looked terrified at what had just happened.

She jumped to the right one and then looked at the two tiles in front of her.

A few more people fell.

The time was going down and I was starting to get nervous as they had only made it halfway across.

"There are ten tiles left and eleven people still playing. If they manage to step on one or two each, the four of us can get across to the end." Gi-hun looked a bit more confident now.

"That might not be the case. If one of those players gets scared and starts to run down the time, we are in danger at the back of the line." Sang-woo pointed out, shattering all of
Gi-hun's confidence.

Sang-woo kindly shut the fuck up.

Gi-hun's already so emotionally damaged. He doesn't need this shit.

I need to protect him.

The crazy religious man just prayed.

Player 101 threatened to push both of the people in front of him.

Number seven rushed forward and tried to push the religious maniac off.

This only resulted in him falling off himself.

The religious maniac grinned crazily and thanked God.

That was short lived as he soon also fell to his death.

The player behind him had pushed him.

He turned to player 101 with a scared expression, "Don't push me."

"Hey, come on. I got no reason to push you. You gotta cross so I can. Huh?"

The man successfully jumped to the next tile without dying.

I took my shoes off and jumped forward two tiles.

Gi-hun was next.

I glanced back at him to make sure he was okay.

He was stood there shaking while looking at the first two tiles.

"It's the left one." I stated confidently.

He nodded and jumped onto it, fully trusting me.

I motioned for him to jump onto my tile.

Moving slightly to make room for him.

He hesitated for a second before jumping.

It could hold two peoples weight and we both weren't exactly heavy.

I moved and jumped to the next one.

It seems like the person in front has made it successfully again.

Gi-hun jumped so we were on the same tile again.

His eyes were bloodshot and he was trembling.

He looked like he would burst into tears at any moment.

I wrapped my arm around his waist tightly and pulled him into a side hug.

"You're doing good. Now you just keep going." Player 101 reassured the person in front of him.

He bent down, "I think I know which is which."

"You mean it? You can see the tempered glass?"

"Pretty sure." He jumped confidently only for the glass to shatter.

Idiot. Only experts would be able to tell.

Gi-hun's trembling had stopped now.

One of his hands, gripped my jacket tightly as he search for comfort and reassurance.

Player 101 turned to face us, "Hey, everybody, listen! Anyone wanna get across? Well, you better go first then."

"What are you doing, you asshole?!"

"I'm not going until you do."

"Are you crazy, man? But the rule is we go in order."

Player 101 laughed at him.

He was a coward and wanted to save himself.

"You can just kiss my ass. We're in Hell here. There's no rules in Hell. You wanna go so bad? Go ahead." Player 101 smirked.

"You scum bag! If you don't move up, I'll push you then."

"Do it then! We'll all die here together. Hey, listen, everybody! I'm not dying here for anyone. Get up here and go ahead. If you don't we'll all die together. Your choice, dickhead."

"The clock is ticking. You gotta go soon."

"You'll be waiting here til we're all dead." Player 101 laughed.

"Just go!" Mi-nyeo pushed the guy.

He bumped into player 101 but he shoved him off and sent the dude falling to his death.

Mi-nyeo smirked, "My God, you're all such idiots. Man, you used to act like such a thought guy. Babe, what happened to you? Oh, man, you're pathetic."

"You're an ugly old bitch, okay." Player 101 retorted, "Look, I'm not moving forward. Not at all."

"Deok-su. All of these people dead but the worst thing is.. I let you fuck me in the bathroom that day. I'll go next. I'm not a coward." She jumped onto the same tile as him.

She looked like she was about to jump but she turned around and wrapped her arms around player 101's waist, locking her hands together so he couldn't escape.

Player 101 looked panicked, "What are you doing?"

"You're such an idiot. Did you really believe I'd die so you could go on?"

Player 101 smirked and tried to pry her hands off.

"Let me go." He spat once he realised he was stuck.

"Remember? We said we'd stick together right it the end."

"Crazy bitch, let me go! Damn it! Get your fucking hands off me right now!"

He struggled and it looked like they were going to fall a few times.

"You betrayed me. Now you're going to die."

"No. Please? I'll go first okay." Player 101 tried to convince her but there was no tricking Mi-nyeo again.

"You coward. Deok-su. I need you to know.. you've got such a tiny dick."

Damn, go off.

Mi-nyeo smirked and fell backwards pulling him with her.

The glass shattered and they both fell to their deaths.

Player 101 screamed the whole way.

Well until he didn't.

What a way to get revenge.

~*~

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3017 words

A/n Gi-hun is so sad and traumatised I just want to give him a hug.