≿━━━━༺❀༻━━━━≾

SIXTEEN | WITHOUT CRIMSON-STAINED HANDS

▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

EXCESSIVE SWEAT FELL from Soo-Jin's eyebrows as she was getting hot. She could feel the roughness of the rope beneath her palms. She was observing the group on the other platform. They still had a chance to win against them. They had a strategy, even a failsafe plan. They just needed to use them.

Soo-Jin chewed on her bottom lip and nodded, exhaling. Chang Soo-Jin, you are smart, talented, and determined. You are not fucking dying today.

She then felt the guards tighten the binds on her wrist, and that's when she noticed that the small padlock was slightly unhinged like it was broken. She crossed her eyebrows and was about to study it more closely when her teammates started putting the rope under their armpits. She did the same thing and when one of the watchers wave a flag, there was another one who fired a shot, signalling for the game to begin.

She kept her gaze fixed on the back of Gi-Hun's head. Soo-Jin knew she could depend on him and she always will, but she also knew him. While he was courageous, Gi-Hun had the tendency to get a mental block then suddenly freeze.

For the ten seconds, they bent their bodies backwards and tightened their grasp on the rope. Soo-Jin gathered all the strength she could muster in her body and almost let out a scream. Her muscles ached, and a burning sensation rose from her chest and ran across her whole body. The rope never slipped nor budged from their hold and Soo-Jin knew it was only a matter of time before the confidence of the other will falter.

"Now's our chance!"

And their rhythm began.

Soo-Jin grunted repeatedly as she pulled the rope with all her might, moving in sync with her groupmates. She could feel her heart booming against her chest and every part of her body was alert.

Team Five in front of them edged closer and the red cloth was moving towards them. But, just as she expected, the other group gathered back their strength and they gained their momentum. Soo-Jin could feel her footing slip despite almost bending herself downwards.

"We’re losing! Goddamn it! Do something!"

"The fucking momentum!" bellowed Soo-Jin, wincing as she felt the burn in her palm. Adrenaline was coursing through her veins and her breathing accelerated. "Momentum!"

"Get yourselves together and listen!" Finally, Sang-Woo spoke up. "Take three steps up when I give the signal!"

"Up? What now? But, that’s the edge!" exclaimed player 212, terrified since they were now almost near the edge.

"Look, just trust me and they’ll fall!"

"Ali!" Soo-Jin called him. "When we take that steps up, wrap the remaining rope around your body and hands then pull like hell. Got it?"

"Yes!"

"There’s no way I’ll do that!"

"We might as well try!" Gi-Hun shouted, grunting as he tried to pull more.

"No way! I can’t do it!"

Soo-Jin gritted her teeth as she screamed, "Fucking move up or you’ll die, 212!"

"On count of three!" signalled Sang-Woo. "One! Two! Three!"

They all took the steps forward and slacked the rope from their grip. It was then that the woman felt like she was in a movie and her whole surroundings were moving so slow. She could feel a sudden warmth and see a bright light. Her mind then drifted to the past.

She once again saw Hana in her wheelchair, a cheerful smile painting her lips. She didn't let her condition affect her and instead used it as inspiration to pursue her dreams. Her sister wanted to be a painter and whenever Soo-Jin was available, she would always be her model in the paintings.

"Where are you going again, unnie?" asked her sister as she was delicately painting on her canvas. "Going to another fight again?"

Soo-Jin didn't reply and instead just wore her shoes.

"I told you, I still have enough paint and my artworks are selling very well in the market. We have enough. You don't have to get yourself beaten up for that cash."

"We need it, Hana. Your dialysis is coming up again and my salary won't be enough."

"It's just that... the last fight you joined in, you suffered a fever for days." She stood up from her chair and knelt in front of Soo-Jin, sobbing. "I'm scared, unnie. I'm scared that one day, you might not return to me because you're dead."

The woman was deeply saddened by this and she sniffed, wiping away the tears that formed in her eyes. "I will return to you, Hana. Alive and well. Bleeding or bruised. Even if I have to crawl back from the deepest depths of hell, I will return to you..."

Her sister laughed. "Okay, that last sentence was creepy as hell, but I get it. You'll come back."

"Always."

Soo-Jin's mind drew her back to the current and the first thing she caught sight of was Gi-Hun swinging on the edge, his right foot holding on to the platform. Almost immediately, she turned around to Ali and nodded. He picked up the end of the rope. "That's it, Ali!" she told him. "Wrap it all over you!"

"Pull now!"

As she predicted once again, the other group lost their balance and rhythm and they were no longer going to regain it. They were already on the ground and dragging them will now be easier for their strengths have lost their bodies.

The other group scrambled to get a grip of the rope, but Soo-Jin's team already had the momentum. Working together again like paddlers in a dragon boat race, they pulled the rope towards them and they were already nearing the elevator.

Seconds later, and finally, Team Five fell from their platform, but then their own team was getting dragged as well because of the heavy weight of the other team. Soon, the angled blade cut the middle of the rope and they all collapsed to the ground. Soo-Jin panted, looking up to the ceiling. She could feel her pounding heartbeat in her head and there was a tingling sensation in her fingers and legs.

She didn't know how much time passed after that, but later on, she felt people shaking her. Minjun, Sang-Woo, and Gi-Hun's faces appeared before her. They were talking, but she couldn't hear them. A little while later, her eyes focused once again and she heard them.

"Soo-Jin? Are you okay?" Gi-Hun's worried tone filled her ears. She swallowed and nodded.

"I am okay." She sat up and groaned as she felt her back ache. Turning to Sang-Woo, she smiled. "It worked."

"It worked, yes. Your plan worked. Now, let's go."

Both he and Minjun helped her up and lead her to the elevator where she sat on the floor, exhausted. The young boy laid his head down on her shoulder as he said, "We're okay, miss. We're safe. We're survived."

She slowly nodded. "Yes, we survived."

That's when she heard the player 244 praying. "Oh, Lord, protect me..."

"Hey, dude. Who you think you’re praying to, huh?" interrupted the new female newcomer. She had an airy personality in Soo-Jin's opinion like she almost doesn't care. "To God? You think you made it out of there because of God, don’t you The reason you’re still breathing and thanking that nice God of yours… is that old man there. And that guy over there who came up with that awesome last-minute trick."

The man continued his prayer, not minding the girl who was speaking her mind. "You know if there’s anybody that you should be thanking, it’s them, not God."

"You sad lost soul." growled the praying man. "What would you say about everybody who was nailed to the cross for our salvation today? They sacrificed themselves for us. We are here, thanks to their blood. I pray to the Lord on behalf of all us sinners. I gave thanks for their sacrifice."

Soo-Jin blinked and wanted to discuss with him about his words, but then she was too tired. She only leant her head against Sang-Woo's knee. They killed all those people. They made that choice. Their blood was on their hands. The woman knew in herself that will forever be etched in her memory.

They were never going to get out of here without crimson-stained hands.

"God made a decision to help our team win. That’s why we’re all here."

But, what was the fifth commandment? She thought. Thou shalt not kill. What did they just do? They were all murderers now.

"Bullshit. You killed those guys out there." answered player 240 and then she clasped her hands together in prayer. "Oh! If we say some prayers, do we all get to go to heaven? I should really pray too if that’s how easy it is."

Soo-Jin only observed the young girl as she started praying. "Our God who art in Heaven, we worked as a team to send people to your side. And we sent a bunch of them today. And please help us with a whole lot more to be with you. And I hope that from now on…"

"Be quiet!" snapped Sae-Byeok, still gasping and looking up to the ceiling.

"Me? Or you mean that guy?"

"Everyone."

The elevator doors opened and Minjun slung Soo-Jin's arm around his shoulder to carry her. The group made their way back to the large room where they met the flabbergasted faces of Deok-Su's members. The woman didn't even bother looking at them and just laid down on her bed. She was bone-weary that all she did was just sleep.

An hour may have passed ever since she fell into a slumber. Massaging her temples and still feeling all the aches in her body, she stood up and went to the bathroom. But, not before assuring Minjun that she was going to be fine. The boy was really worried about her health that he handed her an energy drink. She was slightly baffled where he got one, but he told her the guards gave them one each, and since she was asleep, she didn't receive her share.

Feeling energized by the Bacchus energy drink, she opened the faucet and washed her face.

"Soo-Jin..."

She lifted her head and smiled when she saw it was Gi-Hun who had a troubled expression in his face.

"Yes, Gi-Hun? What is it?"

He then stared at his hands and still dazed, he mumbled, "We killed them. We pulled them to their deaths..."

"I already expected it to happen." admitted Soo-Jin, sighing. "Since the carnage last night..."

"Don't you feel guilty? We killed them."

"If we didn't do it, then we would be the ones on the ground, dead. Our bones cracked, our skulls smashed, and our brains all splattered. It wasn't just yourself that you saved. It was the whole team."

The woman wasn't comfortable with the subject. There was no room for guilt when one is fighting for their life. All of them were fighting for that money.

"Then, personally, would you kill a person just to win?"

Her bestfriend's question made her squirm because she still had no definite answer for that. "All I know is that I cannot afford to lose this game. I can't and won't lose."

"But -- "

"Why are you here in this games, Gi-Hun?"

He swallowed, looking at himself in the mirror. The spark in his eyes were dimming because of all the deaths he witnessed. "Because of my mother's ailment... and Ga-Yeong."

She then washed her hands. "I'm here because of Hana. We're all here because of personal reasons, Gi-Hun. We came back here voluntarily since we're all in need. You should've already prepared yourself to do everything when you came back here because I think -- no, I know..." she closed the faucet, glancing back at her friend. "We're not getting out of here with our conscience free from guilt."

And with that, she left him in the bathroom to ponder about her words.

To be honest, she herself was deeply scared. Can she actually kill the people she knew almost half of her life? What about Minjun, Sae-Byeok, Ali, the old man? The people she now grew close with?

Which weighed more: them or the money?

She returned to her bed where she saw Sang-Woo waiting for her. "Ya, are you okay now?" He asked, concerned.

She only gave him a tight smile and sat on the floor, patting the space beside her. He immediately understood what she meant and sat beside her. Releasing a deep breath, she leant her head on his shoulder. "Do you remember what we would always do whenever we would win some competition or get the top one award in the student rank?" She lowly brought up.

"Yes, we would go out for chicken and beer... or if we have enough, we would go visit our parents and celebrate with them."

"Or we would do Soju and bed..." She smirked, giving her companion a knowing look.

Sang-Woo stiffened, choked, and coughed loudly.

Soo-Jin laughed as she was reminded that he acted the same way when she said it.

The female sophomore ran inside the student library, apologizing profusely at the librarian who harshly shushed her when she entered. Searching for the man who had her heart and soul, she traipsed to the studying area where she saw him. She slowly pulled the chair beside her to keep it from screeching.

"Soo-Jin?" Sang-Woo whispered, bothered by her sudden appearance. "Don't you have a class at this hour?"

"No, we were dismissed early!" She excitedly murmured leaning close. "Because..." She then slid the certificate across the table. "I won the debate competition!"

His eyes lit up and he adjusted his glasses. They have been studying all the possible topics that could be used for the debate and she was more than elated that most of them came out. God knew she had been so exhausted and she almost filled his study desk with all her books and essays. He held up the certificate with a wide smile. "We should celebrate! I always knew you were going to win. I know, since debating with you is like punching through a steel wall, it's useless."

She threw him a glare, but he only kissed her forehead. "I'm kidding, nae sarang. But, seriously, we should celebrate. Chicken and beer?"

Soo-Jin smirked since she had been having the idea all day. "Well, I actually have a different kind of celebrating in mind right now."

He tilted his head, curious. "What is it?"

Smiling innocently, she leant close to his ear and purposely, let her breath fan over it. "I was thinking we should buy Soju..."

He hummed.

"And... then have sex."

Immediately, her boyfriend stiffened, choked, and coughed. When all of the other students lifted their gaze, he swallowed and apologized.  He then stared at the floor. "Chang Soo-Jin..." he uttered, lowly.

"What?"

Her flustered boyfriend adjusted his glasses then loosened his necktie. He then smirked. "Let's go..."

The woman's thoughts were then dragged back to the present time. "Soo-Jin," scolded Sang-Woo, narrowing his eyes. "Choose an appropriate time and place to speak your thoughts."

She raised her hands in surrender. "Okay, okay. Appropriate time, appropriate place. Copy." Turning her head, she saw player 212 speaking in the middle of their gathered group. "I am still surprised that old man's strategy worked."

"Me too."

"I had an idea about what he was saying, and I was really amazed by it. " She clicked her tongue then remembered their conversation last night. "You know, he keeps on saying to me that I look like his deceased daughter-in-law."

"Really?"

"Really. It's strange, you know. His second son and daughter-in-law got into a car crash with their daughter. It sounds similar to what happened with me when I was a kid."

Sang-Woo crossed his eyebrows as if he was piecing the information together. "Did he tell you when and where it happened? or if the daughter survived?"

Soo-Jin turned to him, scoffing, "What are you implying? You think I am his granddaughter?"

"Think about it. He keeps on telling that to you and his son and daughter-in-law got into a car crash."

"Aish, I think it's just coincidence."

"Soo-Jin, just ask him when and where the car crash happened and if the daughter lived. Your parents did tell where they found you, yes?"

"Yeah."

"Then, ask. You won't lose anything if you just ask."

She pursed her lips. "Okay, fine. I'll question him about it later. Now, come on, let's go see what they're conversing about."

Gi-Hun approached her and Sang-Woo and handed them some corn cobs as snacks.

"You two are okay?" he took a bite of his food, sitting down. Soo-Jin patted his back. She knew he was still shaken up by his realization that they were going to indeed kill one another to win that prize money.

"You know what? I really thought we were going to die out there." were the first words she heard from player 212 as she narrated their whole experience back in the third game. "And then, as soon as we’re all leaning back, I felt so powerful!"

She gestured with her arms, eating her corn. "Like, "Whoa! It works. Is this real?"" She then shook her head, chortling. "Ya, old man, how do you know that?"

"As a kid, I would always…"

She then pointed to him. "Oh, you copied that one thing. From that movie. What’s it called? The guy who dodges bullets like this." Player 212 bent her body backwards. "Right?"

At this, both Ali and Minjun happily exclaimed, "Matrix!"

"Ya, when you got to Korea, did you only watch movies?" She gave Ali a judgemental look, catching Soo-Jin's attention. She narrowed her eyes.

"And our man…" the narrator turned her attention to Sang-Woo, giving him a flirtatious smile. ""Everybody, three steps up when I signal!" Omo! I can’t believe how cool that was. How did you come up with it under all that pressure?"

"It wasn't my idea, originally." Sang-Woo spoke up, expressionless then tilted his head to Soo-Jin. "It's hers. She made a failsafe plan before the game officially started."

"We both came up with it." Soo-Jin shrugged, munching on her food. "We planned it together."

Player 212 clapped her hands, astounded. "Wow! I always knew you were so damn smart, bold woman! From that improvise you did until now? Amazing! I salute you!"

Then, Minjun commented, "But, then earlier, you were the one who said no to the idea."

"Yeah? Was that what you heard?"

"Yes!" agreed Ali then proceeded to act. "You cried and said, “But that’s the edge. There’s no way I’ll go.” Like that."

Player 212's lips contorted into a frown and she scoffed. "Ya, you. You got a visa? I bet you don’t. You’re an illegal alien."

Blinking, Soo-Jin didn't waste any time and snatched the nearest pillow to her. She hurled it at Player 212 without hesitation. She didn't like what she said, not one bit. Ali was an honest man who came to Korea to earn money for his family and to be insulted just like that... Soo-Jin, of course, wasn't just going to let that go.

"Ya! Insult them again and the next thing that will fly will be this corn and it will hit directly in your face." She glared, cocking an eyebrow.

Player 212 raised her hands in surrender, backing away. She scratched her scalp. "Aish, if only I don't admire you so much... no wonder you always get in trouble with that bastard over there. You've got anger issues!"

Soo-Jin rolled her eyes.

"Ya, boys, what about it? Why keep the strange foreigner when we could just ditch him? Our team’s more secure that way, huh? Guess I’d better do some major restructuring while I’m here. Who’s captain here, guys?" she proclaimed as if she was the head of the group.

"Mr. Brains, you’re the captain, right?" She pointed to Sang-Woo then to Soo-Jin. "Or maybe, it's you, bold woman?"

"There’s no captain. We’re all equal here."

"Ah! That’s great. Building an egalitarian society!" She declared, raising her snack. "Damn, guys. I gotta say this is quite a change from that huge asshole who just bosses you around and pretend he’s king."

"Oh, about that, grandma, why did you get kicked out?" Gi-Hun innocently brought up the question which made 212 snap her gaze to him and Soo-Jin swore she almost laughed at how her bestfriend's expression instantly changed from nonchalant to terrified.

Player 212 gasped. "Grandma? Don’t you ever call me that! Here, Han Mi-Nyeo. Got it? Mi-Nyeo. That’s my name." She introduced herself. "And I didn’t get kicked out. I made the decision to go, all right? Those crazy thugs there? You can’t lock me in with that crew."

"They only got rid of you," suddenly voiced out Sang-Woo, assured in what he was saying. "then they only wound up with male players. Right before the game at that. You know, it’s almost like they knew about it ahead of time."

"Are you sure about that?" She whispered to Sang-Woo, catching a glimpse of Deok-Su laughing with his team.

If they did indeed had some inside information about the details of the games, then it defeated the fair chance the game managers and creator proclaimed to them.

Locking gazes with Deok-Su, Soo-Jin realized she has to remove whoever was giving her enemy the advantage. Wasn't Jun-Ho around? She could ask him to report about the cheating in exchange that she search for his brother in this warehouse... if he was still alive, of course. She'll just have to find him.

"Don't worry. I'll take care of it."