I LOVE YOU SO
Chapter Fourteen
❛ Their Lives Ablaze. ❜

ANOTHER INHUMAN GAME commenced.

The players looked like specks of dust on the towering platforms. Squinting, trying to make them out clearly, they almost looked like a skyline, and Aera and the other players below were like fishes in the sea, watching as the people on the land busied on.

Bang, the gunshot pierced her ears, making Aera jolt with a hand flung to her mouth that was agape, "we should've just continued to sleep Sae," mumbling against her palm, "I can't go through any more of this," she set her hand down so it pressed against the smoothly painted floor.

With her eyes flickering towards her side again, Sae-byeok also set her palm down, shifting backwards slightly, she moved her hand slightly so that her pinky finger overlapped on to Aera's own pinky finger. Appreciating this, a soft grin illustrated itself onto Aera's pinkish cheeks, a warm feeling sizzled within her hand from the touch.

The players above began to groan deafeningly, their grunts filling the room extensively as the lengthy rope was being dragged from east and west. A series of cries chorused with the grunts, as it grew even more laborious each time. With her free arm, Aera brought it up to cover half her face, so she could be ready to cover her eyes.

Biting down on to her bottom lip, hard, Aera's arm began to tremble as her breathing became unbearable. Tears glazed over her pure eyes, they stung as they began to trickle down her cheeks. She didn't want to be up there. It seemed like it was impossible to escape. Sure, Aera learnt that already from the previous games, but, they were going to be so far from the exit, whilst being a thousand feet up, it caused her nerves to break down.

The right hand side team began to lose their momentum. Flailing around with their hands locked in place, booming cries resounded throughout the room as the losing team was being flung off the side. Glancing shakily towards the left, Aera furrowed her eyebrows at the sight of Deok-su's team, they pulled and pulled whilst the opposing team flew off the edge.

This was exactly the same as yielding a sword, though it was impossible to back out. You have to yield the sword; you have to yield the rope. You have to fight with the sword; you have to fight with the rope. You have to kill with the sword; you have to kill with the rope. Just looking at the rope on the losing side, it fell vertically, the people attached to it caused it to be linear.

One side will always be digging up the other team's graves.

Automatically, the large, sharp blade that's the size of a whale, cropped the rope in half, disconnecting the right hand team from the rope. The sea of players below, chorused a horrified gasp at this and lurched backwards.

In a rush, Aera covered her face with her arm, the one that was ready to hide her eyes. Turning her reddened face around, some hiccups flew out of Aera's mouth as she squeezed her eyes shut. The room around felt like it was sweltering, the voices became distant, only the sound of ringing droned inside of her head, Aera clutched the side of her head, still turned around, beginning to feel dizzy.

"I'll tell you when to turn around, okay?" Blinking uneasily, Ji-yeong fiddled with the loose thread that came from Sae-byeok's jacket and the lint she found on Aera's jacket. She sent a comforting nod towards Aera, Ji-yeong kept her eyes trained on her so she could keep her grounded.

Unable to speak, Aera could only master a weak nod, rubbing at her right eye with rough exhales and inhales. Flinching at the sound of a thundering thud, Aera felt Sae-byeok's gentle hands clamp on to Aera's ones when the losing team fell on to the floor. The unexpected gesture caused Aera to take a sharp breath, her eyes flickered towards their hands.

"When can I turn around?" Aera started to feel light-headed.

"Not yet Aera," both Sae-byeok and Ji-yeong chorused with their lips drawn into a shaky line.

"I'm right in front of you," reminding Aera once more, Sae-byeok patted Aera's hand, with a thumb doing small circles on the back of Aera's icy palm, one that was cold from the fear.

It was as if their lives were becoming ablaze- all that Sae-byeok wanted to do was to make sure Aera was free from all harm.

━━━

EVERY TRUDGE WAS burdensome. Aera felt as if she were trekking towards the gates of hell- just journeying towards them caused her to experience a heavy load of despondency. Staring blankly towards the elevator, a truck load of guilt ran heavily through her veins. There was no chance of saving anyone in this game. The weight of survivors guilt revisited her once more.

Aera scorned herself for being unable to help anyone. She hated herself for not saving the victims that were murdered from the Dalgona game or the war that broke out within the dorm room. She didn't realise that those deaths were practically inevitable.

"I got your leg good," Deok-su sneered into her face as he strolled by, "it'll be fun to watch your team die, all because of you," lifting up an arm, callously, he pretended to swing his fist towards her face.

Being too out of focus to react, Aera crossed her arms with a shudder, her nose wrinkled at the scent of his old sweat. Sniffling, the hairs on her arms started to arise, the air felt chilly, a strong sign that Aera's fear stopped her from being able to function properly.

"Asshole," she heard Sae-byeok murmur.

Drawing nearer towards the jaws of apprehension, the yellow elevator welcomed them dreadfully as the doors screeched open. Cringing at this, Aera rubbed at her arms once more, her throat running dry. Swallowing nothing but thin air, her feet shook as she stepped into the lift and pressed her back against the wall for stability. The elevator rattled as it began to be pulled upwards.

Aera drowned in so much fear, that her tears stopped trailing down long ago.

"I wanted to grow up to be a photographer, so I can travel the world, not whatever this is," Aera mumbled.

With her eyebrows drawn upwards, a slight tug could be seen on the corner of Sae-byeok's lips as her eyes softened, "you will Aera."

Aera tugged at her own hair stressfully, with a hand on her chest to try and bring her heart rate down, "but I can't. Not when I'm here. I want to be a photographer- not a- not a murderer. Didn't you hear what that brute said earlier? I'm going to be the reason why you all die. I don't want that to happen. I don't want to be a murderer," bringing her hands up to thrust them down to her sides, Sae-byeok caught her wrists before she could do so.

"Murderers don't have a heart like yours Aera," Ji-yeong piped in with a comforting smile.

"You're not a murderer," Sae-byeok's warm breath tickled the tip of Aera's nose, making Aera's tear coated eyelashes to flutter slightly. Sae-byeok's eyes morphed into a more earnest look, "and since when did you listen to what that brute said?"

"True, I'd never listen to him," Aera shivered once more, her legs almost gave way as her vision pixelated from stress, but with her eyes focused strongly on Sae-byeok's seraphic face, it almost caused her nerves to die away. "Thank you guys," was all she could say, but it was enough to express her gratitude alongside the faded stressed tone within her voice.

There was some part of her that needed a remedy to anaesthetise the creeping dread that still crawled along her back, something to take her mind off of the fear she was experiencing at that moment. Slowly dragging her back away from the wall, feeling a thin layer of sweat clinging onto her t-shirt, Aera fiddled with the silver, cold locket between her fingers. The heart shaped pendant was in tact, but there were scratches along the surface of it from the barbaric situation; almost as if it were mirroring her own heart within her body.

"Whether you all have a job or not, what are your dreams?" Hwang Aera spoke up with a more stronger voice, her fatigued cocoa brown eyes followed her team mates, from the left to the right. A flicker of dejection flittered past her eyes when she noticed how most of them struggled to find an answer.

"To work in NASA," the person in the far left corner of the room managed to gather his thoughts. Aera could see a faraway, yet a glimmer of ecstasy masked by hopelessness behind their drained eyes. "But I currently work at a Fish Market."

". . . I wanted to be a CEO of a retail company . . . but uh, recently I got a job at a supermarket to sell Tteokbokki." Another added.

This encouraged the other team members, as a fuzzy murmur sparked around the room. A drizzle of tranquility wrapped itself around Aera's heart as she listened, it squeezed for all the lost hopes. But, it didn't squeeze as much, for she knew that just because something may seem lost, all is not lost, and perhaps, one day, their dreams could find their way back to them again.

"To have a place of my own," a half-soft, yet full tone tumbled from Ji-yeong's tender smiling lips, the thought of owning a space that's under her name, well, brought a warm, joyous feeling to wrap around her body. She felt safe with the idea on her mind.

"You have to let me visit often Ji-yeong," Aera immediately replied with a gentle grin, her features illuminating at the shorter girl's goal, one that Aera was set to help her achieve too.

"You don't even need to ask Aera," the delicate smile upon Ji-yeong's face made her cheeks appear rosier, there was a sort of purity upon her expression, making the situation they were in, infinitely barbaric.

The facility was no place for such innocent minds.

"To watch my son grow up under a good roof, and to teach him Badminton," joining in on the conversation, Ali's voice echoed around the thin, yellow, metal walls, his uplifting tone made it evident that he was grinning wildly at the idea.

The tense feeling that contaminated the air, began to drift away.

"I also, want to be able to look after my daughter, to see her go to College," a reminiscent chuckle left Gi-hun's lips, "and to take her to the Bubble Tea place in our town, like how we used to." Gi-hun and Ali shared a look, almost as if they were sharing a mutual feeling: respect.

Dream after dream, they were all filled with passionate thoughts and strong hearts, and after hearing this, Hwang Aera thought that this was better than any remedy you could have. These voices inspired her to strive on.

To live.

She felt a thumb run across the back of her hand, it sent a feeling of comfort within her veins. Flickering her cocoa eyes towards it, she noticed that it belonged to the raven haired girl. Sae-byeok's eyes were filled with such softness, still fierce looking, the emotion illustrated within her pupils was also, respect. As if her eyes were to say: thank you, for that.

Sometimes it does take all your might to lose hope, but it's also a talent to hold on to it. For it encourages goodness in your life.

( 2068 words )

DEAR ALL,

Honestly I'm going to be so sad when I end this book❤️‍🩹 but I can do a Q&A thing at the end so you guys can ask my character and the other characters what you want or say anything, you can start to comment them now, but I'll do another section for it when I reach the end‼️💪

Love you all sm okok💟 thank u for all the comments u guys are so funny and he best okok bye🫂

WITH LOVE, SYLVIA