⭐️ ————— Mi-ya kept her gaze on the door, waiting for it to open and she would see the familiar group she was waiting for.

She fidgeted with her necklace around her neck, her leg involuntary shaking as she sat on the step, next to Hyun-ju.

Her group had gotten through the game together and survived. Now, Mi-ya was anxiously waiting to see her other group walk in.

Had they made it through the game?

Did something go wrong?

Mi-ya subtly shook her head as she ran a hand through her hair, a quiet sigh leaving her lips.

"Are you okay?" Mi-ya turned at the quiet voice, looking down at Young-mi, who offered her a timid smile.

Mi-ya instantly nodded her head at the girl, offering a smile back. "Yeah, just thinking." She said, making Young-mi nod her head as well.

The group of five remained in silence for a while until Young-mi spoke up once more. "Unnie." She spoke, looking up at Hyun-ju. "Can I ask you something?" She nervously asked?

Hyun-ju instantly nodded her head with a soft smile. "Yes."

"How did you know it'd be easier to flip the Ddakji with the other side?" Young-mi questioned, looking up at her.

Hyun-ju softly looked down at the younger girl. "I used to play Ddakji with my friends when I was a kid." She simply explained, shrugging her shoulders. "And that was my secret trick."

"Listen," Mi-ya turned her attention to Geum-ja as the older woman leaned forwards on the bed. "Can I ask you something too?" Hyun-ju nodded her head. "When you were playing Jegi, how come you didn't want us to look?"

Mi-ya pursed her lips as she turned to look back over at Hyun-ju, a soft expression on her face. "Oh." She let out a nervous breath. "Well, I..." Hyun-ju trailed off.

"Are you shy?" Geum-ja chuckled, tilting her head to the side as she spoke.

Hyun-ju shook her head at that. "It's not that." She looked over at Geum-ja with a soft look. "I'm just not completely done."

The older woman was confused at Hyun-ju's words, frowning in confusion. "What do you mean?"

But her son instantly knew what Hyun-ju was talking about, turning to his mother and shaking his head. "Mom, stop asking questions. You're being nosy."

"It's alright." Hyun-ju shook her head, turning back to the older woman. "I still have some procedures left." Mi-ya softly smiled at her, squeezing her arm, making Hyun-ju send her a grateful look. "I just didn't want people to stare at me."

"What procedures?" Geum-ja asked, raising her brow. Then, she realised, her eyes widening as she leaned forwards. "Oh, so that's how you got yourself those too?" She pointed to Hyun-ju's chest, making Mi-ya widen her eyes at the sudden words. "Of course. I knew they were too big-"

"Mom, please!" Yong-sik was quick to stop his mother, shaking his head as he covered her mouth. "I'm so sorry." He instantly apologised to Hyun-ju.

Mi-ya shared a look with Hyun-ju, sending her a reassuring and comforting look with just one glance.

She then glanced down at her hands, biting her inner cheek as she got stuck in her thoughts once more.

"That young lady made it." Geun-ja gasped, pointing over to the door, which made Mi-ya's head shoot up, looking over Young-mi.

A reliever sigh left her lips as she watched Gi-hun, Dae-ho, played 1, played 390 and played 222 walk in.

They had survived.

Geun-ja politely waved at them, wafting Yong-sik's arm, making him do the same. Mi-ya softly smiled at them all, glancing at Gi-hun, who nodded his head at her.

She then glanced over at Dae-ho, who was waving over at her with a grin. Mi-ya couldn't help but reciprocate his smile, watching as he beckoned her over to the group.

Mi-ya nodded her head as she turned to the four around her. "Would you excuse me?" She softly asked them.

"Of course." The older woman nodded her at Mi-ya, patting her shoulder. "Do ask if the little lady is okay." She quickly added as Mi-ya rose to her feet.

"I will." Mi-ya said, waving at the group as they all smiled at her. She carefully walked down the steps and towards Dae-ho, where he lagged behind the group so she could catch up with him.

When Mi-ya made it to Dae-ho's side, she placed her hands in her pockets as she looked up at him. "I am so glad you all made it. I was starting to worry."

"We got lucky." Dae-ho casually shrugged his shoulders, grin not faltering on his face as they followed the group to their corner. "You should have seen everyone! They were so good at the games!"

Mi-ya softly chuckled at his giddiness, nodding her head at his words. "Which game did you do?"

"Uh, Gong-ji. The only one i knew I was good at." He told her, making her hum, nodding her head once more. "I use to play it with my sisters."

"That's cool. Gong-ji looked too complicated for me." Mi-ya shook her head, pursing her lips. "I'd drop all of them each time." She joked, chuckle leaving her lips as she looked up at him. "That's why I picked spinning top. I use to play it with my brother all the time."

"It was amazing how you did it first attempt!" He beamed, patting her arm as he spoke. "It took player 1 a couple of times to do it."

Mi-ya tilted her head to the side as she glanced over at player 1, who moved to sit down beside Gi-hun.

"It was probably nerves." Mi-ya shrugged her shoulders, smiling up at Dae-ho as they moved to sit down on the stairs with the rest of the group.

Mi-ya looked over at player 222, who lowered her head and held her stomach. "How are you feeling?" She quietly asked, leaning forwards to talk to the girl.

Player 222 looked up, slowly nodding her head. "I'm okay, thank you." She bowed her head, making Mi-ya smile once more. "Thank you, for before."

"Don't mention it, I told you that they would help you." Mi-ya nodded to the four around them. "And they did."

Player 222 softly smiled at her words, nodding her head once more. Mi-ya leaned back once more, glancing at the rest of them. "I'm happy you all got through the game." She added, watching as the rest sent her nods and smiled.

Player 1 then cleared his throat, looking at the group. "I'm sorry about earlier, everyone." He apologised, and Mi-ya guessed it must have been about his part in the game.

Dae-ho was the first to speak, shaking his head. "No, it's okay." He comforted the man.

"If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have made the last kick." Gi-hun added, sparing player 1 a smile as he spoke.

Player 1 chuckled at that, nodding his head before glancing down at played 222. "Player 222, are you feeling alright?"

The woman nodded her head as she looked over at him. "Yes." She said, then bowing her head. "Thank you all for including me on your team. Especially played 67." She glanced at Mi-ya once more, who sent her another warm smile.

"She smashed that Ddakji and flipped it on her first try." Player 390 grinned, mimicking player 222's actions. "That was impressive. She did great, even while carrying a child."

"What about your Flying Stone play?" Dae-hi tapped his arm with a grin. "You hit it with one shot. With an underhand pitch at that." He then stood up, carefully moving past Mi-ya. "Bam!" He chuckled, sitting back down beside Mi-ya. "You were like Kim Byung-hyun."

Player 390 chuckled at that, patting Dae-ho's arm back. "And you? Was Gong-gi the only game you ever played?" He then gestured Dae-ho's game play. "I could barely see your hand. It was like a martial arts movie."

"I'm the only son for two generations. My mom only let me play at home with my sisters." Dae-ho chuckled at he spoke.

"And they let their precious son join the Marines?" Player 390 questioned, raising his brow.

Dae-ho's grin faltered slightly, but he nodded his head. "My father's idea, he wanted to be more of a man." He simply said. "He fought in the Vietnam war, you see."

"He sounds like a great man." Player 390 nodded his head, smile on his face, making Dae-ho nod his head. "Was he a Marine too?"

"Yeah, well..." Dae-ho cleared his throat, standing up once more. "Would you excuse me for a moment?"

Mi-ya moved back slightly as Dae-ho walked past her to stand in front of them all. "Listen. Perhaps we should learn each other's names." He suggested, looking down at the five. "I still down one your names, gentlemen." He gestured to the three, then turned to player 222. "Or yours, Miss." He nodded his head, grin returning to his face. "I'll start. I'm Kang Dae-ho. Dae means big, ho means tiger."

"Wow." Player 390 pointed up at Dae-ho, grin on his face. "Big tiger. Cool name." He chuckled. "My name is Park Jung-bae." He then introduced himself. "Righteous and twice. My parents wanted me to be twice as righteous."

"My name is Kang Mi-ya." Mi-ya spoke with a soft smile, glancing around at the group. "Uh, which means charming and graceful. I think." She added, pursing her lips in thought.

"My name is Kim Jun-hee." Player 222 then introduced herself, looking around at the group. "I don't know what it means though." She awkwardly said.

"Jun-hee, when you get out of here, go see a Doctor right away." Player 1 told her, a soft look on his face. "You've been under a lot of stress. You need to get yourself checked out." He then turned to the rest of the group. "I'm Oh Young-il." He smiled at them all. "Young-il sounds like zero one, and that's my number. East to remember."

"Oh, that's true!" Dae-ho pointed towards Young-il, grin on his face. "Your name is your number."

They all chuckled at that, then turning their attention to Gi-hun. "Oh, Gi-hun. What's your last name?" Young-il asked.

"My name is Seong Gi-hun." Gi-hun told them, nodding his head with a small smile.

"Seong literally means last name." Young-il laughed as he looked around at them. But, none of them laughter, making him pull an awkward look.

Mi-ya sent him an awkward smile, slowly nodding her head at him. Then, the alarms blared, making everyone turned to the doors as the guards walked in.

Mi-ya sat up, swallowing thickly as she stared at the guards. "Congratulations to all of you for making it through the second game." The square guard spoke to them all. "Here are the results of the second game."

Mi-ya carefully stood up, walking to stand beside Dae-ho as the lights dimmed out. She stared up at the piggy bank, her lips pursing.

She watched as the money dropped into it, the money going up on the screen, as the player numbers went down.

She didn't care how much money was in the damned thing. She wanted out. "In the second game, 110 players were eliminated." The guard informed them. "The prize money accumulated up to this point is 20.1 billion won. Since there are 255 players remaining, each persons share is 78, 823, 530 won."

Mi-ya let out a heavy sigh at that, lowering her head. That was a lot of money, "wait, what? It's still under 100 million?" A player spoke out. "It's not even 80 million!"

"Only 110 people died? Is that all? Did you count them all?"

"That's all? But you shot all those people!"

"It's more than that!"

"Count them again!"

Mi-ya shook her head at their yells, her lips parting. Were people that money hungry that they would sacrifice their lives and others?

"I completely understand your disappointment." The guard spoke up once more. "However, we always keep the door open for you to pursue new opportunities." What the hell did that mean? "You will now take a vote to decide whether to continue the games or not."

Mi-ya swallowed thickly as she stared at the voting stand, pursing her lips as she fidgeted with her hands.

She knew her group would all vote to leave, and the other friends she had made. Nobody wanted to stay.

"This time the vote will begin with player 1." The square guard told them, making Mi-ya glance at Young-il. "Player 1, please cast your vote."

Young-il glanced at the team, sending them a nod before walking forwards. Mi-ya sent him an encouraging smile as he walked past.

She watched as he stared down at the buttons, picking the X button and accepting the red patch. Mi-ya let out a sigh of relief at that.

More people went to vote, and Mi-ya glanced at Yong-sik as he stepped forwards, watching as he walked towards the buttons.

Her brows pinched together as he picked O, her lips parting. She was evidently confused. Why had he picked to stay? Make glanced over her shoulder at Geum-ja, who had a look of betrayal on her face.

Mi-ya sent him a sad smile, lowering her head at the older woman, to which Geum-ja was grateful for.

After a couple of numbers, it was Mi-ya's turn. Dae-ho squeezed her shoulder when her name was called out, sending her a resting smile.

She sent him one back as she squeezed his hand on her shoulder before walking forwards. She glanced down at the buttons, instantly picking X and walking towards Young-il, who sent her a smile as she stood beside him.

She continued to watch the numbers go up, swallowing thickly as the 0 number overtook the X.

When it was Young-mi's turn, Mi-ya smiled when she picked X, subtly gesturing for the younger girl to come stand beside her, which Young-mi accepted, standing beside Mi-ya.

Mi-ya softly squeezed her arm, sending her a small nod, to which Young-mi reciprocated, lowering her head.

And then, Mi-ya and Young-mi watched as Hyun-ju stepped forwards to do their vote, only for her to press O once more.

Mi-ya pursed her lips as she lowered her head, a quiet sigh leaving her lips as she did so.

"Everyone!" Mi-ya spun around at Gi-hun's voice.

Mi-ya carefully moved as Young-il gently moved her to the side, walking past her and Young-mi. "Are you all out of your minds?" He yelled out to everyone. "You still want to keep going after watching all those people die?" Mi-ya pursed her lips at his words. "Who's to say you won't die in the next game?" He glanced around at everyone before  walking towards Gi-hun. "We have to stop. We'll all die if we keep going! Come to your senses, and leave with that money! We've got to survive first, or there won't be a next step!"

"Why do you think we can do with a mere 70 million?" Someone spoke up, making Mi-ya turn to the blue side, internally groaning as she watched player 100 step forwards.

Does this man never stop?

"I don't know how much you owe, but for most people here, that doesn't even cover 10% of their dept!" He then turned to everyone around them. "Am I right? There's no next step for us! That money won't change anything!"

"Yeah, he's right!"

"That's right!"

"With that amount of money, I won't last long!" A player said, pointing up at the piggy bank.

"It was 25 million after the first game, and now it's 78 million!" Player 100 continued to yell. "After one game, the amount more than tripled! If we play one more game, the prize will be at least 240 million!"

"But I can't do this anymore." Mi-ya turned to look at the woman beside her as she cried, making Mi-ya wrap an arm around her in a comforting manner. "Please." She pleaded, leaning into Mi-ya's side, who gently rubbed her arm. "Please let me out of here. I really..." she lowered her head as she cried. "I really want to go home. I don't want to die."

Young-mi continued to cry, Mi-ya still holding onto her with a sad look. "Young lady." Mi-ya glanced over at the man that stepped forwards. "You're young, so you'd probably have another chance." The man then shook his head. "But I don't."

"You won't have another chance if you're dead." Mi-ya suddenly spoke up, her lips parting. She was shocked she had even spoken up, but she needed to. It had to be said. "None of you will have a chance. A chance to have more time with your family or friends. Because you'll all be dead!" She looked around at everyone, her eyes landing on Gi-hun, who nodded his head in agreement. "Some of us want to see our family again!" She turned back around to the man with pursed lips. "But you are stopping that!"

"Don't get fucking scared!" Mi-ya spun around as a man spoke, played 226. "Ddakji, Red light, Green light, Spinning Top! It's not like the games are that difficult!" He then turned around and pointed. "Look!" There are still 255 players. Way more than half of us survived!" That wasn't true. "We've made it this far, so let's do this one more time!"

Mi-ya shook her head once more as the people started to cheer 'one more game.'

And it looked like they were playing one more fucking game, seen as though O won, yet again.

— madeleines corner

IM SORRY THIS TOOK AGES!

I've been soo busy with college I've had no time to write! CRIES

BUT IM HERE.

I hate the voting chapters because EVERYONE YAPS LIKE OMG. Chill and press a button. LMAO

but mi-ya just comforting everyone SCREAMS AND CRIES AND FALLS TO THE FLOOR.

But bro... 5K READS RAHH ILY ALL

AND I LOVE ALL YOUR COMMENTS!! ITS AMAZING RAH! MWAH MWAH!

But more cute Mi-ya and Dae-ho interactions RAHHHHHH

they'll have more guys don't worry.

Ok now I need sleep because I have college LMAO.

So good night, or good morning!!

ALSO, THE NEW SEASON OF XO KITTY TODAY RAHHH!!

Who's your endgame for kitty?!?

Mine has to be min ho. RAHHH

ENEMIES TO LOVERS YES PLEASE

16th January 2025
3208 words