─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───
CHAPTER TWENTY—THREE:
a forks not gonna fucking kill me.
─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

       Mei hadn't moved from the top bunk, though Young-il had soon joined her not too long after Ji-ho left to sit with the rest of the team. They'd spoke about this and that—with Mei asking if once they got out they could go and get some ice cream together. With the bland food they'd been eating, she was craving the freezing sweetness. Young-il had laughed as he'd agreed, wrapping his arm around her and pulling her into his chest.

         In the comfort of his arms, Mei found herself dozing off. She lay on the bed, cuddled into his side as he sat with his back to the wall. His hand were in her hair, smoothing it out and curling the locks around his fingers, making her all the more sleepy as she nuzzled closer into his chest.

         Her eyes were growing heavier, sleep almost taking over her when the PA in the corner of the dormitory suddenly rang out. She jumped a little, lifting her head to look at Young-il as he shifted, "The following players have been eliminated," The PA voice announced, waking Mei up in record time as she sat up straight, staring ahead. "Player 230, 268, 299, 311 and 401." Mei felt her heart drop at the news, not understanding what had happened for players to suddenly be eliminated.

         She thought about the numbers that had been called out, her brows pulled downwards, "230... that was Thanos," She realised, turning to look at Young-il who looked at her in question. "The guy you bet up with the purple hair." She clarified. The nuisance, she should have said—since he'd been trying hard to change peoples votes to 'O' ever since the last vote.

          Then it clicked.

         Many of the men had disappeared to the bathroom and had then suddenly been eliminated. Mei theorised in her head that something had to have gone down in the bathroom—possibly something to do with the voting process. But if she was right, then that meant that those men had killed each other.

          The entire room fell into a silence as the ceiling rumbled, the piggybank emerging. Mei blinked, watching on as money fell into the bank after the eliminated players were called out. She suddenly felt like she could throw up. Those men had killed each other in the bathroom and despite it not being a game, money had still been added to the piggybank.

           She looked down, watching as Gi-hun stared at the bank in horror before glancing across at the screen that read the total of money in the piggybank. 380,000,000 per player. She found herself gulping, now realising that any players death would add to the total—despite it being a game or not.

           The doors on the opposite side of the dorm clicked open, a guard entering followed by the remaining players that had gone to the bathroom. Mei shifted, sitting on her knees as Young-il put his hand on her back. She watched them enter with their heads hung low, stumbling on their feet, their clothes stained with fresh blood.

           "Listen, Team O!" A voice suddenly yelled out frantically, making Mei's gaze shift to the source of the voice. It was the man that often followed Thanos around like a lost puppy—Mei didn't know his name, she'd never cared to ask, but his pupils were dilated and manic as he flailed his arms in the air. "When we were in the bathroom, those fucking 'X' bastards tried to kill all of us! They killed some of us, including my friend—"

         "That's fucking bullshit," A voice argued, making Mei's eyes widen in horror when Ji-ho stepped out from behind the man. His face was dripping in blood along with his clothes. "You started that shit in there—we were just defending ourselves!" He accused, pointing a finger at the younger man's face who shook his head.

        At the sight of Ji-ho, Mei made a move to get off the bed but Young-il grasped onto her wrist. She turned, looking at him. He shook his head at her, telling her without words to stay out of it. After a moment, she yielded, sitting back down onto her knees and observing the scene in front of her.

         "They threatened one of the people on our side!" Someone else called out as the two teams split down the middle, all drawing closer to each other. Mei diverted her gaze to the man, played 047 as he tried explaining what had happened. "They threatened one of the people on our side! They attacked us to win the second vote!" He insisted, his voice hoarse as he yelled.

         "Hey," Player 192 from Team 'O' called out, pointing at 047. "You killed one of us first. You were trying to win the vote by killing us!"

         "Fuck you. You killed some of us too," Player 145 seethed, blood dripping down his face. "Did you think we would just let you kill the rest of us?" He demanded, making both teams begin screaming at each other.

         "So," Player 100 said as he took steps towards them, making Mei's gaze immediately narrow. "Which side lost more people?" He asked, making Mei's stomach churn when she realised exactly why he wanted to know. Their vote had been a tie—depending on how many players had died on each side, the vote could change drastically.

          "Alright, everyone! Let's count the numbers!" Player 100 exclaimed when no one replied, grouping his team together to do a headcount.

           "Yeah, that's right! Let's count ourselves! Come on down!" A player from the 'X's side called out, ushering everyone towards him.

          Mei didn't move, watching on in horror, "If we lost more than them," She began saying, slowly turning towards Young-il. "Then they're going to win the vote—we won't be able to leave." She breathed out shakily, feeling herself begin to panic.

         Young-il grabbed onto her, pulling her into a tight embrace, "We'll figure something out." He reassured her, placing a kiss to the top of her head as she exhaled against him.

         Mei gave his arm a squeeze before removing herself from his embrace, going to meet everyone down at the bottom. She noticed Ji-ho amongst the crowd, standing still as he stared into space and quickly approached him, "Ji-ho," She called out as she made her way through the crowd but he didn't seem to hear her. When she reached him, she grabbed onto his arm, startling him from his daze. "Ji-ho." She repeated, tilting her head as she looked up at him, pleading him to look at her.

         He slowly glanced down, his eyes meeting hers but they looked empty. She ran her hand up his arm comfortingly, "Ji-ho, what happened in there?" She asked him softly.

        Ji-ho exhaled shakily, "They tried to convince some of us to change our votes," He began saying, glancing over to the 'O's behind him who were hurriedly doing a headcount. "When it didn't go their way they attacked." He told her, attempting to walk past her but he stumbled, making Mei catch onto him.

         "Whoa, are you hurt?" She asked him, realising he was clutching his waist.

          He pushed his lips into a fine line, "It's nothing—"

         "Let me see." She demanded, grabbing onto the front of his jacket that was zipped up. Ji-ho stared at her for a long moment before unzipping his jacket. Mei's lips parted at the blood soaking his shirt.

           Hesitantly, she reached out and lifted his shirt. Her eyes were met with a wound that appeared to be pretty deep—four small little puncture marks. Her eyes widened as she looked up to him, "Ji-ho—"

          "I'm fine," He insisted, nodding his head. "A forks not gonna fucking kill me." He insisted, a small breathy laugh leaving his lips though he wasn't smiling.

         Ha-rin was suddenly at their side, putting her hand on Ji-ho's back, "They stabbed you with a fucking fork?" She asked him in disbelief, looking down at his wound.

         "Could've been worse," Ji-ho said as he began limping towards the bunks, Mei and Ha-rin taking one of his arms each to help him walk. "Least I'm not that Thanos guy." He concluded, yet another laugh leaving his lips. Mei didn't even want to ask.

         They both settled Ji-ho down as they continued the headcount, Mei sliding herself in between Young-il and Dae-ho. By the time the headcount was finished, they came to the realisation that they'd only lost two people whilst the 'O's had lost three—which meant that they should win the next vote if no one changed their minds.

When the PA voice announced that lights out would be in thirty minutes, Gi-hun glanced across at Mei, meeting her eyes. He could tell that she was weary, not celebrating like the others when they realised they had one more person than the 'O' team. She couldn't explain it, but she felt all the more nervous. They'd already killed people before to try and sway the vote—what would stop them from doing it again?

Everyone began dispersing, except for Mei's group who stuck together. Mei stood to her feet, looking across at the 'O' team. She felt her stomach churn as she watched them, "Hey," Gi-hun said as he approached her, putting his hand on her shoulder. "You alright?" He asked her, a concerned look on her face.

Mei looked up at him, slowly nodding, "I just don't trust them," She told him, pivoting her head towards the 'O' team who was sending them death glares from across the room. "They already killed two of us—who's to say they won't try it again?" She rhetorically asked as she looked up at him, meeting his gaze.

He squeezed her shoulder, "They might," He agreed. "But we'll be alright. There's more of us—and we'll all keep each other safe." He reassured her, trying to offer a smile but it came across as a grimace.

Mei sighed heavily, "It just shouldn't be like this," She said. "We shouldn't be killing each other."

Gi-hun mimicked her sigh, "You're right—but these people are desperate," He reminded her. "I've seen all of this before. Desperate people are always going to do the most desperate things." He told her, a solemn look on his face.

Mei tipped her head back, looking up at him, "The last time you were here, something like this happened, right?" She asked him in realisation, noticing the haunted look on his face—as if he were watching history repeat itself.

Gi-hun breathed out heavily before nodding, "It was different back then though—it wasn't over a vote," He informed her. "You still got that pocketknife?" He asked her, raising a brow.

Mei nodded, reaching into her pocket to wrap her hand around the object, "Good," Gi-hun said before giving her a nudge with his shoulder. "You should probably give it to someone you trust though—you're right handed and your right hand is injured. You might not be able to fight back as well as you usually would if something happens." He told her as Mei's grip tightened around the pocketknife in her pocket.

She let out a scoff, "Injured or not, I'm not letting this knife go," She refused, shaking her head. "I could be missing fingers and still go down fighting—I'm not letting any of those bastards kill me." She insisted, a determined look on her face.

Gi-hun smiled then—a true and genuine one as he let out the smallest of laughs, "You know, you really remind me of someone—actually, you remind me of two people I used to know," He began telling her, making her give him a questioning look. "They were both too stubborn for their own good." He said, the smile still on his face as he thought of the people he spoke of.

Mei rose a brow, "They're dead, right?" She asked him. "You're talking about people you met the last time you were here—so they have to be dead." She pointed out, realising that Gi-hun was telling her that she was perhaps a tad bit too stubborn just like the people he had known.

"One of them is alive." He said, the smile ghosting on his face.

Mei furrowed her brows, "But you said you were the only one who survived." She remembered, questioning if he had been lying.

He nodded, "I did." He agreed.

"So you lied?" Mei prompted.

Gi-hun sighed, "Two of us made it out," He confessed. "But she might as well have died in here." He added, making Mei stare at him in confusion. Though, she decided not to push him on the matter. It was none of her business—and besides, she didn't think he'd lied for any reason other than to scare people into believing only one of them could make it out at the end which she couldn't fault him for. He'd tried to save lives by installing fear into them.

"Well I'm not dying in here," Mei insisted, glancing over the the 'O' team who were all in a huddle, whispering amongst themselves. She looked back to Gi-hun, raising a brow, "None of us are."

( authors note )

      hiiiii! i now have more chapters written so i can start posting again!!

       — taylor x