player 166

player 043

player 209

player 028

everyone sat in their assembled groups of five, all of them squeezed in the two rainbow circles. the PA had just announced what game they will be playing which is six-legged pentathlon.

"you will start with your legs tied together.

each member will take turns playing a minigame at every ten meter mark, and if you win.... the team can move on to the next game.

here are the mini games:

game one, the ddakji.

game two, flying stone.

game three, gonggi.

game four, spinning top.

game five, jegi.

your goal is to win all the mini games and cross the finish line in five minutes.

please decided players for each mini game."

everyone started figuring out which game they were best at. some were familiar with all the games while others had never even played any of the games.... some of them started getting fearful trying to explain how to play the games to their teammates

kyung luckily has played each game especially with soo. all these games were essential in their childhood, kyung had confidence that her and her teammates would make it though this game

she got wedged onto a team full of men, they didn't seem to mind having a woman play next to them. they actually were welcoming letting her join them, "which game would you say you are the best at?" player 209 leaned his head forward looking at kyung, all of them looked at waiting for an answer

kyung shrugged, "i'm pretty good at gonggi." she claimed sounding very unsure of herself

"are you sure? you seemed nervous answering that question." player 166 called out earning a slap on the back of the head

"shut up!" player 043 scolded him, "she is clearly scared and you calling it out on the spot is only going to make her anxiety worst!" he whispered yelled

the two of them started arguing with each other like two brothers not caring about how everyone around them was looking towards them. kyung exchanged a look with player 028 who was sitting right beside her

they both laughed quietly as the boys kept on bickering, on the other side of the room, thanos watched her grinning from ear to ear. nam-gyu was watching her closely shaking his head, "she clearly is a fast one."

thanos ignored him watching her smile grow bigger, she seemed to be getting along well with her team.

gi-hun also watched her along with the others, "at least she is comfortable with her new team." dae-ho brought up trying to break the awkward silence, gi-hun glared at him then sighed heavily

he regretted what he said to her, it just came out automatically without him thinking. gi-hun didn't mean it. the last thing he wanted was to upset kyung especially knowing that she isn't doing good

kyung had always been a quiet girl. gi-hun would always see her sitting in the corner of the pub that jung-bae owned staying to herself. he had faint conversations with at first, kyung barley would speak to him but overtime the two of them began bonding

same with jung-bae. those long days over in china were hot, depressing and tiring for kyung. her parents would abandon her leaving her at the pub for hours sometimes the whole day to go do God knows what...

they both felt sorry for her, watching how she'd try to get her parents attention begging for them to spend time with her. whether it was there at the pub or going out on the hectic streets of shanghai. the girl didn't even care if they spent the day cooped up in their hotel room, all she wanted was some attention from her parents

both of them took on fatherly kind of roles eventually when it came down to the young girl, feeding her plus making sure she was safe. some nights were sometimes spent over at their places staying with their families who welcomed her with open arms. those were the only times she ever felt seen other than from soo and her folks

"she's going to be fine, plus she doesn't seem like the kind of person to hold grudges." player 001 said looking at kyung

gi-hun turned his attention to him just staring at him for a minute, "i just need to make sure she makes it out of here alive along with the others."

"what's your connection to her?"

gi-hun grew suspicious eyeing him suspiciously, player 001 raised his hands in defense starting to laugh. "only if you don't mind me asking."

"practically a long lost daughter." he answered dryly starting to crack his knuckles, it still didn't feel real that kyung was in here. gi-hun never expected to see her again... but she always crossed his mind

"how long have you known her?" he asked nosily, kyung was interesting to say the least. player 001 noticed that almost immediately

gi-hun exhaled, "i've known her since she was ten years old." he replied not revealing too much about the girl, player 001 decided to back off hearing displeasure in his voice

"well she seems like a good kid."

gi-hun watched as her and the young man beside her were discussing something so passionately that happiness just oozed from them each, "yeah, she is."

somewhere in the ocean miles away from the coast of SEOUL....

a bunch of pink jumpsuits were laid out within each boat for jun-ho and all of his assailants to wear. also assembled above the jumpsuits were masks all consisting of three different shapes

jun-ho had everything all planned out, he was sure that this plan would work out. he doesn't expect the execution to be performed perfectly but as long as they can get on the island without getting busted, he knew they would be fine

a phone call from soo appeared on his burner phone, he picked up with no hesitation. "hey, are you guys okay?" jun-ho asked stepping away from everyone who was going over what will happen when they get near the island

"we're fine! i was setting up the burner phone you had sent to us." soo informed him sounding sleepy, her voice was sluggish

"good. good. how's hana?" jun-ho asked walking around in circles, he was trying to distract himself from all the anxiousness crowding in his mind and body

his stance being around all these men is cold, calculating and composed but ever since realizing kyung is participating in the games.... his mind has been rattled

kyung has a heart of gold and is such a strong girl but even the strongest soldiers struggle. jun-ho is aware of some of the things that kyung struggles with behind closed doors.

her nightmares plus her anxiety attacks and many more things she struggles with. he has dreaded doing so much work lately because it takes away from being able to support her constantly like he normally does. but even when on the clock, he always is there.

he has helped her on multiple occasions when kyung falls into darkness. the death of both of her parents was so tragic, a devastating experience that changed kyung forever

jun-ho started to recall the day that they he had to break the bad news to kyung about her dad...

kyung had just had a long, grueling day with both of her jobs. it was six in the morning as she walked down the hall with her hands gripping the car seat that had a sleeping hana in it, the baby was knocked out cold

she had just gotten hana from soo. all she wanted was some sleep. kyung was walking in a straight line, her puffy eyes were apparent coming from tiredness

when she walked through the entrance door of her hallway, she could see jun-ho about to knock. "what are you doing here?" she asked surprised to see him this early in the morning

jun-ho took his hat off in a respectful way, his quietness made kyung's heart beat rapidly. she walked over to him, "what is going on?"

there wasn't any other way to say it so jun-ho just spit it out being tender, "it's about your dad."

kyung rolled her eyes, "what is it now?" she asked already over it. hana is a week old and her father has barley even been present, always out on the town leaving kyung to care of the baby. kwan has not even tried to bond with hana, not once.

kyung can't even recall him ever holding her or even trying to feed her, bathe her, burp her, anything essential to caring for a child. it has caused them both to bump heads tremendously

she didn't even understand why both her parents were selfish enough to conceive and bring another baby into this world especially considering how awful they are as parents. they never really deserved that title, if anything kyung would prefer to call them donors

jun-ho fixed his lips to break the news but kyung started going off, "i'm so tired of him. he can be a shit father towards me, i'm used to it but hana doesn't deserve this...."

he just waited for the right time to interject, he knows the teenager has been holding all of this in for awhile. it was best for her to get it off her chest. "i swear sometimes i just wish he would—-"

"kyung, listen to me." jun-ho interrupted her, she shrugged her shoulders getting antsy

"what? where is he? somewhere knocked out, doped out on fucking drugs? i wish he would just———-"

"he's gone, kyung."

she turned motionless, freezing in a stance. "what?" she asked shakily, jun-ho quickly took action grabbing ahold of the car seat carefully taking it out of her tightly gripped hand

kyung got choked up feeling like she couldn't breathe, "w-what happened?" she trembled feeling like her legs were about to give out

"they found him inside an abandoned hospital, he overdosed——-" her mind was fuzzy, anything jun-ho said after that was muffled. kyung felt down to the floor, jun-ho catching her before her knees hit the ground

she started to wail uncontrollably in his arms

"she's okay but also missing her big sister. she has still been very fussy. i think she misses her plus her mother's touch." soo said sounding sad

it was sad knowing that this baby will never know who her parents are, even though her parents weren't the best.... every baby needs their mother. so much development and foundation is built between a mother and their baby.... something that hana will never have

"has she been sleeping okay?" jun-ho asked

soo couldn't even lie on the spot, "not really—- if she isn't being fed, she is cranky and fussing up a storm."

"have you tried skin to skin?"

soo answered, "yeah."

"swaddling?"

"tried that." she replied with a yawn

"pacifier?"

"didn't work." soo said with sadness

it was heart-wrenching to hear hana cry, no matter what soo did it felt like hana grew even more upset. she'd do anything to soothe the baby and make her stop crying, even her parents didn't know what to do

"do youn think she is sick?" jun-ho asked with worrisome rubbing his forehead

"i don't think so, we've checked her temperature and everything. it all came back normal."

jun-ho started thinking silently then offered up an idea, "lay her down on her back and stretch her legs out, do that now then give me a call back in a few minutes."

soo was on it like lightning, "okay, bye."

kyung sat amongst side her teammates who were safe and sound, they all were chitchatting with each other. kyung sat on the floor, her back hitting the side of the bed that the boys were on. they all were sitting criss cross laughing loudly

how they still had their sanity after hearing the barrage of gunshots before it was their turn confused kyung. she couldn't even look, covering her ears immediately hoping it deafen the popping sounds

she hung her head lowly not looking up at the bodies, luckily her team gave her a heads up for when it was clear to look up after the guards came and got all the bodies

they didn't even have the common courtesy to clean up the blood smeared on the floor. kyung had to do breathing techniques when her eyes scanned across the crimson puddles that her shoes made contact with

her team was one of the very first ones to play, one of the only teams to make it through all of the rounds with no errors. they flew through the games with flying colors which had everyone giving them a standing ovation

jung-bae, player 001, gi-hun, jun-hee and dae-ho were her loudest cheerleaders, the dynamic she shared with the men was admirable. it was clear that kyung was the leader, she stepped up when it was needed which was has to be done in order to survive in here

thanos was over the moon for her along with myung-gi. player 120 and player 149 and the rest of their team were encouraging her. she had endless amount of support during the game

she and her mates unfortunately had to miss out on them all celebrating and watching everyone play the game. it was beautiful and moving witnessing them all come together and cheer one another on

but at the same time, the rally of support was gone in the blink of an eye when guards walked up killing people who didn't make it to the finish line in time. all of the teams had different dynamics, some unfortunately not meshing well

the key to the games is to remain calm or at least try which some people didn't do. some would fuss at their teammates causing them to get nervous and start shaking violently. outbursts were common in most of the games which doesn't help anyone focus

kyung got lucky with her team. each of them treated each other with respect, carried on with calmness as they proceed to game after game. she couldn't have asked for a better team

kyung locked eyes with her original group before being escorted out of the room, she was terrified not knowing if that was going to be her last time seeing any of them or not. but she had faith, she had a good feeling they would get through this game

"are you okay?" one of the players from her team asked suddenly, they all got quiet waiting for her to answer

she faintly nodded her head looking each of them in the eyes, "i'm okay, thanks." she promised, the door mechanically opened with another team walking through the doors

kyung gasped happily seeing it was player 120's team. her eyes lit up seeing them, they all looked over at her and waved happily except for player 044 who made her way to her bed not looking at anyone. there were red stains underneath her nose it seeming like she was brutally hit or slapped. kyung quickly returned the favor getting up going to sit with them getting a proper introduction to each of them

"if that ruby red haired devil gives you anymore issues, we have your back honey!!" geum-ja playfully hit kyung on her shoulder meaning business, they all laughed jokingly at her but she was more than serious

yong-sik groaned, "there will be no fighting mother! she is not worth the hassle!" he ridiculed shushing his mom

"oh hush!" she yelled hitting him upside the head

kyung laughed at their dynamic then grinned, it was clear from the beginning that geum-ja loves her son so much and will do anything for him. it was adorable seeing them share such a close bond

kyung looked at hyun-ju softly apologizing to her, "i'm really sorry about mangyeon, she has always been like that."

the energy within the group changed, hyun-ju looked saddened remembering the cutthroat words the girl spat at her. "it's okay, you shouldn't apologize for her own actions."

"but i should because you don't deserve that." kyung replied with quickness, hyun-ju looked at her lap seeming upset

kyung progressed, "you're not a creature. you are a beautiful woman and i hope you know that." she scooted over to her placing a hand on her knee

hyun-ju chuckled having glistening eyes by now, "thank you." she whispered sniffling quietly

"no, thank you for sticking up for me. i appreciate it so much." kyung looked at geum-ja with a smile.

"us girls have to stick together, right?" young-mi added herself into the conversation, her presence feeling lukewarm and innocent

all of them smiled at one another nodding, "definitely." kyung expressed with a smile

the door kept opening and closing many times. everytime it did, her stomach dropped waiting for her four men to walk through. eventually, thanos and his team pranced in. kyung watched as him and nam-gyu were bouncing off the walls with energy

their other three teammates looked at them crazily, the short-haired girl with sick ass piercings rolling her eyes at them. they went to take a seat, thanos stopping in his tracks seeing kyung. they immensely eye gazed each other, each set of brown eyes telling a different story

he winked at her then went to sit with his team. kyung scoffed in disgust continuing to look at the door waiting, yearning for the core four to walk inside

holy cow we are about to hit 1k reads soon thank you!!!