─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───
CHAPTER SIX:
red light, green light.
─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

       When the doors opened, revealing the game hall Mei had paused for a brief second, allowing others to pass by her. To get a better look, she found herself following them outside, "Welcome, players. After you enter the arena please stand near the entrances and await for further instructions." A female voice said over the speakers as Mei stepped into the arena, taking a look around at the space.

The walls were designed to look as though they were in some kind of field with a painted blue sky around them—but when Mei looked up, she could see the true sky above her and birds flying overhead. Looking down and licking her lips, Mei stared ahead. A large doll stood at the end of the arena in front of a singular tree. It had to have been over ten foot tall, wearing a red dress and a yellow shirt. On either end of the doll, stood two of the masked men.

Mei took in a deep breath, her white sneakers stepping carefully over the sandy ground, "What the fuck." She whispered to herself, wondering what game they could possibly be playing. Other than the doll, the players and the masked men—the arena was completely empty, not a single game in sight. A race, maybe? She thought to herself.

"Senorita," A voice called out from behind her, making Mei turn around to face the man that was approaching her. The first thing she noticed was his purple hair and the second was the shit-eating smile on his face. "Couldn't help but notice you standing there—your beauty is as large as this arena." He chirped, waggling his eyebrows at her.

Mei turned to face him, cocking her head and folding her arms at her chest, "Weren't you just calling a girl your beauty flower a second ago?" She sassed him, arching a brow. Despite the fact she'd been analysing her surroundings, her ears had been listening in on the conversations around her.

The man threw his hands up, holding them out, "You're all my beauty flowers," He announced, earning a scoff of amusement on Mei's behalf. He stepped closer to her. "So, pretty lady, what's your name? I'm Thanos—you'll be hearing that name in your dreams." He assured her, cockiness radiating from him.

Mei's lips parted, "Oh, will I?" She questioned, shifting her weight from one foot to the other.

Thanos—though Mei was sure that wasn't his real name, nodding his head as he hummed, "Yup," He chirped in English. "You still haven't told me your name though, beautiful." He reminded her.

Mei put her hand over her heart, "Oh, how bad mannered of me." She theatrically gasped before turning on her heels and walking away from the man, leaving him standing there with his jaw loose as she scoffed to herself. Thanos was attractive to say the least, probably the type of guy she'd go for usually—but she wasn't there to be romanced, she'd only entered the games to win.

She stood in the horizontal line the players had made, sticking her hands into the pockets of her tracksuit as all of the doors slammed shut behind them. She glanced over her shoulder momentarily before looking back ahead of her, preparing herself for whatever was about to come, "Welcome to the first game," The woman's voice on the PA called out. "You will be playing Red light, Green light." She said, making Mei's brows furrow.

She'd been a little too old by the time she'd moved to Korea for kids games, but she was at least familiar with most of them, hence why she had been good at Ddakji, though she'd had her old housemaid to thank for that. Red light, Green light was something she'd never played, but she understood it well, often seeing the kids in her neighbourhood playing versions of it.

Mei looked around as the woman's voice began explaining the game, watching the faces of the other players. Everyone seemed pretty confident, knowing how much of an easy game Red Light, Green Light was. And Mei felt pretty confident too—though a little concerned. If it were such an easy game, how would they narrow down the number of players?

Mei's attention was suddenly drawn further out into the arena when a man ran out, "Everyone!" He yelled as Mei stared at him, realising he had been the man she'd been watching not too long ago—the ones whose eyes held a secret story. "Everybody you need to pay attention!" He called out again when people didn't bat him an eye, but he had Mei's full undivided attention.

"Hey, listen up!" He yelled even louder, waving his hand in the air, sending a wave of silence across the arena.

"I'm gonna tell you something and you gotta listen close. This isn't just a game, it's more than that," He spoke, his voice loud enough for everyone to be heard. Mei shifted on her feet, tilting her head as she listened to him. "If you move after 'red light' you're gonna be shot!" Mei's brows furrowed at his words as she looked around her, watching the reactions of everyone else. Some were laughing at him whilst others were taking his words with concern.

"Excuse me sir. What exactly are you saying? That we're all gonna die playing Red Light, Green Light? Really?" A woman Mei couldn't see in the crowd called out, a disbelieving laugh to her voice.

"That's right," The man agreed. "If they catch you moving, you're going to be killed! They're gonna shoot you. There's guns in the walls!" He exclaimed, pointing upwards with his finger.

Mei looked up, scanning the walls with narrowed eyes, but she couldn't see anything, "Pay close attention! That sensor catches you, you will die! You see that big doll thing there? Look at it! Its eyes are like motion-tracking sensors! If it sees you move, you die!" Mei didn't want to believe a single word the man was saying, but the look on his face and the desperation in his voice had her believing otherwise. He didn't seem like some kind of lunatic.

"Hey, you bastard! You're not fooling us!" Someone yelled from the crowd.

"You gotta believe me! I swear I'm not lying!" He cried out.

At the same time, a mechanical whizzing filled the air as the animatronic doll began moving, turning around and covering its eyes with its hand. The man seemed even more panicked, "No matter what, do not panic! You can't afford to! Remember everything I told you! Stay as still as you can! Don't try and run away!" He yelled in one last desperate effort.

Mei stared at him, watching him carefully before inhaling and adjusting her footing. She wasn't sure if she believed anything the man was saying—but she was going to take his words with caution and be as careful as she possibly could.

"With that, let the game begin." The PA voice said as the five minute count down began.

"Green light." A little girls voice called out—the dolls voice.

Everyone began moving, including Mei, taking several steps forward. But the man didn't move an inch, holding his hands up and watching everyone make their first moves. Mei was in the middle, nowhere close to him but she could see how seriously he was taking it, trying to control the crowd.

"Red light!" Mei came to a halt, not moving an inch as she looked by the man and to the doll, watching it carefully. The harder she looked, she could swear she saw its eyes flickering around like the shutter on a camera.

"Now hold!" The man yelled, his back turned to the doll, hands held up—unwavering. Mei kept still, as did the rest of the crowd as the dolls head turned around, watching them for movement. "Good job! That's it, keep nice and calm, just like that!" The man praised, his eyes flickering between each of the players in front of him.

"You got it! Move steady as you go and then stop before 'red light'. If you do that we'll make it out alive!" The man reassured them.

"Green light!"

Everyone began moving once again, taking slow and purposeful steps.

"Red light!"

Mei came to a halt, closer to the man as he told them to hold still. She took in a small shaky breath, the idea of being still suddenly beginning to bother her. She couldn't explain it, but now that she knew she had to stay still it was like she had the itch to move.

"Green light!" Mei moved quickly, getting closer to the man. When the doll called out 'red light' again, she had stopped right in front of him.

She blew out a breath, "What's the deal with this, huh? Are you being serious?" She whispered to the man, keeping her hands in her pockets, not moving an inch as she looked at him,

The man's eyes flickered to her, "Cover your mouth when you speak—it could be seen," He told her in a sharp tone. Mei almost done it right there and then until she remembered she couldn't move or she would be eliminated. "And yes, I'm being serious. You can't move an inch, alright? You just have to hold still and you'll make it through." He assured her, his eyes boring into hers, wild and frantic.

Mei watched him carefully before sighing, "Alright, old man. Whatever you say." She agreed, just as the doll called out 'green light'.

She moved by the man, not bothering to look back at him as she continued forwards across the arena. They were a little less than half way when the doll called 'red light' again, making Mei come to a quick halt. She watched the doll, never once talking her eyes from it—mostly because she believed it was what was tracking their motion and because it was the closest thing to the finish line.

When 'green light' was called again, she moved, beginning to get into the swing of it, deciding that the game was fairly easy. She could still hear the sound of the man screaming his head off behind her and momentarily questioned his sanity.

It went back and forth like that for a while, the doll calling out, everyone moving, no one being eliminated yet and the man yelling from behind. Everything seemed to be going well and Mei was growing closer and closer to the finish line—at least, up until a woman began jumping around and screaming her head off, swatting at something in the air.

Mei shifted her gaze towards her, watching as she tried to swat some kind of bug off of her before coming to a halt and throwing her hands up. She laughed a little, looking at the guy that had called himself Thanos from behind her, "Oh shit. I just moved, didn't I?" She laughed, uncaring.

Mei almost wanted to laugh herself, but a sudden bang made her flinch ever so slightly. The girl that had yelled stood on the spot for a split second before her body slumped down the ground, making Mei's eyes widen as her heart began thumping erratically in her chest—suddenly having the urge to move more than ever.

Once again, the man was yelling at everyone to stay still—not to move. But they'd all heard the sound. Each and every single one of them had heard the loud bang that echoed throughout the arena, a sound that was a little too close to a gunshot—just like the man at the back of the crowd had warned.

Mei watched ahead, trying to get a look at the girl on the ground. It was hard, trying to get a peak through the legs of the other players. But then she spotted it. There was a dark red substance oozing out onto the ground, soaking it in the crimson. Mei gulped, watching on as a woman that was close to the girl that had fallen began to slowly turn her head.

Mei panicked, "Don't fucking move! He already warned—" Her panicked yell was cut off by the sound of the woman suddenly letting out a horrified screech as she caught sight of the body that lay on the ground.

And that's all it took.

Another bang went off, causing everyone to erupt into chaos. Mei held still as more bangs began to go off—which she realised were, in fact, gunshots when more bodies began falling to the ground. She squeezed her eyes shut, focusing on keeping herself still as her body shook ever so slightly.

"No! Stop moving!" The man cried out as more and more panicked players began to move before half of them began running and screaming, suddenly realising the situation they were in.

Mei kept her eyes squeezed shut, gnawing on her lip from the inside. The shots were going off like crazy and people were screaming all around her. She could feel her body begin to shake even more. Terrified of moving too much, she grasped her fingers around her knife in her pocket, slowly opening it, making sure her arm wasn't moving as she did so.

She heard the knife click open inside her pocket and moved her hand ever so slightly, grasping the bladed end with her hand. More shots. More screaming. She breathed in shakily, beginning to tighten her hand around the blade of the knife, her lips parting slightly at the pain. But it did exactly what she had planned it would—it took her mind off the chaos around her and instead, made her focus on the pain throbbing in her hand as blood dripped into the inside of her pocket, staining it from the outside.

During it all, Mei could hear the man yelling at everyone to stop moving, but it seemed no one was listening. Mei didn't dare open her eyes, hearing the rattling of the doors from behind her as people tried to get out, followed by more gunshots.

"Hold still!" She heard the man scream at the top of his lungs—and just like that, everything went silent for a second.

And then, one last gunshot.

Mei's hand flinched from inside her pocket, tightening around the death grip she had on the blade. It wasn't until the silence remained did Mei finally open her eyes as the PA voice began reminding them of the rules. She found her eyes shifting around, her lips parting at the sight of bodies lying all around her, blood splashed everywhere.

She wanted to throw up at the sight of it, her mouth watering but she held it back, swallowing down the lump in her throat. She didn't release the grip she had on the blade, the pain being the only thing to keep her mind occupied.

"Green light!"

No one moved.

"Red light!"

Everyone held still.

When 'green light' was called again, Mei heard only one person move. Her eyes locked on the back of player 456–who she realised was the man that had been trying to warn everyone, "If you don't cross the line in time, they'll still kill you!" He told them, keeping his mouth covered with his arm. "Look at the dolls eyes! They're cameras that scan the field for motion! But it's not able to detect you if you're behind something!" He said, flexing his hand behind his back to prove his theory.

Mei's eyes watched him, never once looking away—now solely focused on him instead of the doll at the finish line, "So if you're short, line up behind someone who's taller than you! Single file, like you're forming a conga line! Times running out! Go at the next green light!" He ordered, like a soldier spitting out drills.

"Green light!"

    Mei was suddenly grabbed from behind, "Mei, get behind me." It was Ji-ho and he was pushing himself in front of her, his hand wrapped around her wrist as he dragged her forward, her feet moving unwillingly.

"Red light!" The pair froze, Ji-ho's wrist gripped around Mei's wrist, her pocketknife long forgotten in her pocket. Blood dripped from the wound on her palm and into the sand beneath them, the sound echoing in her ears.

After a few seconds, a gunshot suddenly rang out making Mei flinch. She waited, counting down the seconds, waiting for the bullet that would eventually come her way. But it never did. Ji-ho's taller form was blocking her from the motion sensors.

Mei let out a sigh of relief as Ji-ho gave her wrist a comforting squeeze, "Green light!" Everyone began moving again, picking up the pace as the finish line grew closer and closer.

Mei was stepping after Ji-ho when there was a sudden grip on her and she was thrown to the ground, taking Ji-ho with her. Her body hit the sand, making her wince as she looked up, "I told you, bitch," Do-yun said, smirking from above her. "Don't fuck with me." He growled, beginning to move on ahead of her.

Mei panicked, quickly scrambling to her feet but her legs gave out beneath her, making her slip to the ground.

"Red light!"

( authors note )

      long ass chapter but i couldn't post yesterday because i had no wifi😒 hopefully y'all enjoyed this chapter now that it's actually getting into the plot!

        — taylor x