NO TIME TO DIE. Squid Game
╰┈➤ Low Chances ( Chapter Nine )

"COME ON, LEE-HAN." Nari choked, looking at the man before her with desperate eyes. Within the alleyway they stood, the cool night air blowing the girl's hair messily around her, she swallowed the lump in her throat nervously. "It's all I've got." She said, adding the last bit in nothing more than a low mumble. The girl groans and rocks on her heals with her hands in her pockets, pressing her lips into a straight line. She couldn't meet his eyes, his gaze angry and saying exactly what was going on in his head. That wasn't nearly enough and Nari knew it, so her gaze fixed on the cracks in the floor.

"This isn't going to cut it." Lee-Han said, his face unamused as he looked down at her. He shook his head and ran a hand down his face. "Nari, I've let you skip out on several payments. You think this is good enough?" He asked, waving the envelope of money toward her. Nari watched as it flopped in his grasp.

"Well if it's not good enough I'll gladly take it back." She spat, narrowing her eyes. She sighed, rolling her eyes and biting the inside of her cheek. "Look- it's all I've got so either deal with it or eat shit." She muttered, pushing her luck with her remarks. She then fixed her gaze in the floor, not wanting the man to catch on to her. The girl was lying, it wasn't all she had, a few stray bills finding their home in Nari's back pocket. Before her, Lee-Han narrowed his eyes, anger bubbling in his throat but he bit his tongue.

"I'm not even supposed to have that." She added, nodding toward the cash in the man's hand. "I stole it from my sister- you're welcome."

"Thank you, Nari." He said, "I really appreciate it." His tone was sarcastic, his patience fading with each word that escaped the girls lips. His eyes scanned her face, waiting for her to meet his gaze but never doing so. He suddenly grabbed her by the shirt collar, pulling her closer and yelling at her through grit teeth. "Don't test my fucking patience, Jeong." He hissed.

Nari's eyes widen as he slams her against the wall behind them, his hand shifting from the grip it had in her collar to the empty space around her neck, his fingers gripping it tightly. She coughed, the gesture cut short as she choked for air, unable to get any. She closed her eyes, trying to let out a weep but the sound came out inaudible. She clawed at his hand which he drops not much longer than seconds later.

Breath rushes through her lungs in an instant, the girl coughing at the overwhelming amount of air she's flooded with. Tears well in her eyes as she bends over, feet in her gaze as she looks back up to Lee-Han before her.

"Stand up." He snarled. Nari listened, retreating from her bent over position and standing up straight despite still attempting to catch her breath. Her lips trembled as she began to cry, tears making paths down her cheeks. She was well aware of how pathetic she was at the moment, but couldn't care less. Lee-Han was one of the very few people, aside from her parents, that's made her cry. She genuinely feared him.

"I get my money back tomorrow, you understand?" He said, taking the envelope and sliding it into his pocket as he met her gaze. His eyes were angry, Nari seeing the expression clearly despite being forced to gaze through watery eyes. "All of it."

"How-" his fist makes contact with the side of her face, his knuckle catching the side of her nose. The back of her head jerked back, smacking the brick wall that laid behind her. "Fuck!" She yelled, reaching up to her nostril and feeling the damp, crimson that seeped onto her finger.

"I don't care how you do it, Nari, fucking figure it out." He shoved her in the shoulder, watching as she pressed herself against the brick behind her. The wall is cool on her skin, especially in the nippy, dark air, but she didn't mind, trying to put as much distance between him and the man as she could.

Lee-Han grabbed her shoulders, shaking her slightly as he continued to shout. "I've let this go on for too damn long. It's tomorrow or never, don't understand." Nari tore her gaze away. "Or-"

"No." She spat, knowing damn well he'd suggest pressing his disgusting lips against her again. "No you fucking creep! That was fifteen years ago!"

Suddenly his fingers are wrapped around her chin, redirecting her gaze toward him. His fingers dug into her cheeks, anger in his touch. "You left. I never-"

"I left for a reason you fucking-" her voice was already mumbled by the hand that tried to keep her gaze forward, pressed against her chin, but was cut off completely as his palm wraps around her lips, blocking the mouth all together.

"Watch what you say to me, Jeong." He lifted his eyebrows, his gaze warning her. "We both know you can't get your hands on cash in such short notice- Hell you haven't done it in fifteen years." With one final shove, he let her go, watching as her head bounced off the brick behind her again.

Nari rubbed her nose, wiping away the blood and the tears that stained her cheek. "What's the point." She muttered. "I'll just have to pay you back anyway. I could save myself the trauma and just rob a fucking bank or some shit."

Lee-Han opens his mouth to speak but stops himself, sighing and shaking his head. He laughed. "Get the hell out of here. "

"Wha-"

"Before I regret it." He yelled loudly, his words carried away into the cold night air. Nari nodded and wasted no time, taking one quick step to direct her before taking off in a spring. "You have two weeks!" Lee-Han shouts after her, the sound falling on deaf ears as she made her way down the sidewalk.

( 🪦 )

"AGAIN? REALLY?" Nari cringed, at the comment, gritting her teeth at the teenager behind the counter. She looked at him angrily, pulling out a bill she had tucked away and hid from Lee-Han.

"Relax, kid. I can afford it this time." She hissed, slapping the cash onto the counter and watching as he took it, one eyebrow raised. Her slid it to the edge before picking it up, placing it into the cash register.

"You want a bag?" He asked, his teenage voice annoyed and filled with attitude. Nari pressed her lips into a thin line, narrowing her eyes and snatching the package from the counter.

"No." She said, mocking his voice with an annoyed tone of her own. With that, she made for the exit, her package of ramen, which she actually owned this time, in hand. As soon as she'd turned her back to the teenager, her sarcasm faded and her face fell. With little emotion other than the small amount of sorrow that could be found in her eyes if you looked hard enough, she left the store. "I can't wait until you graduate." She muttered as she reached the door, entering back into the cool night air. The ground was damp, a result from the falling rain, shop lights illuminating the streets with vibrant colors and reflecting off of wet surfaces. It was rather pretty Nari thought to herself as her feet met the sidewalk. The cold rain touched her skin, causing her to shiver.

"Damn rain." She muttered

"Nari?" Someone said, cutting her thoughts short. It wasn't hard for her to recognize the distinct tone to the man's words, knowing very well it was Gi-Hun who spoke. She quickly wiped her cheeks, unsure if any evidence of tears remained but wanting to be sure, then turned toward the man to see him sitting at a small table outside the shop. As he met her gaze, he smiled softly at the sight of her, waving her over.

Nari nodded a greeting and walked closer, claiming the seat he had gestured toward her. She claimed a spot in the chair and set her package of ramen on the table, rubbing her sweaty palms on her pants beneath it as she gave Gi-Hun an awkward smile.

"Hey, are you okay?" He asked softly, leaning forward until he was in her view. He set his small cup down on the table top as Nari lifted her head and nodded, kicking her self for not hiding her emotions good enough. Little did she know it had nothing to do with her lack of defense, but rather that Gi-Hun had looked hard enough and did in fact see the sorrow that filled her gaze. To the normal person, it would have gone unnoticed, but to Gi-Hun, he took concern.

"I'm fine." She muttered softly, forcing a smile.

Gi-Hun knew something was up, her voice having an ever so slight shake to it, but he didn't push, instead continuing on with the conversation and disregarding that he had ever even asked.

"What are you doing over here?" He asked, taking a chunk of raw noodle that laid in the open ramen package across the table.

"My sister lives around here. I swung by and now I'm getting something to eat before I head home." She couldn't meet his eyes, her gaze lingering on the ramen in front of her.

"At this time of night?" Gi-Hun asked, his mouth full. "She couldn't have been too happy to see you."

"Yeah, definitely not now- I stole her money and ran."

Gi-Hun's eyes widened, Nari cringing at the over shared fact. She shook her head, expecting a comment about pickpocketing or player 67, but instead watched as Gi-Hun set down the bottle Nari didn't even know he had. She felt his gaze lingering on her, deciding to lock her sight onto the bottle. When she still felt it, even after along while, she finally looked up to see him looking back at her, concern in his eyes.

"Are you sure you're okay?" He asked softly.

"I'm fine, alright?!" Nari said suddenly, her tone much louder than she intended. Her words cut through the silent night air like a knife, catching Gi-Hun off guard. His eyes widened, his expression filling with hurt as her scanned her face. "I- I'm sorry."

"It's okay-"

"No," she muttered, pushing her chair back and preparing to stand. "I should go."

"Wait!" Gi-Hun said suddenly, stopping her before she could leave. He gently glanced a hand on her wrist and waited for her to stop before gesturing his head to the package of ramen on the table. "Join me."

"I said I never wanted to see you again." She remarked, a soft smile forming unknowingly on her lips as she sat back down, rejoining him. She watched as the man shrug, smiling softly.

"At the games." He said, recalling what she said as she walked away from him not too long ago. Nari shook her head amusedly, reaching over toward her own package of food on the table. She tried her hardest to keep her eyes of the bottle of alcohol beside it, her eyes taking an abnormal amount of interest to the noodles she clutched to. She also tried not to pay much attention to the smile that lingered on her lips. A smile. It may not have been much of one, but the corners of her mouth curled upward for once, and even doing so in a genuine manor.

"Wait." Someone nearby asked softly. Nari, her curiosity getting the best of her, looked to her left to find player 001, the very man who had broken the tie and sent them home, walking by. The aged man paused as he scanned the two who sat at the table, his smile forming as he met Gi-Hun's gaze. The corner of his eyes crinkled at the happy gesture, the man walking over and claiming the final empty seat. He set the bag aside. "Aren't you..?"

"It really is a small world." Gi-Hun said quietly,

"You're player 456, right?" The man asked, his voice dry as he sat down. He watched as the other man nodded then turned his gaze toward Nari. "And you're..." He trailed off, Nari unsure if it was because be forgot her number of because he hadn't seen her in the games.

"Player 11." She finished for him, forcing a gentle smile as she met the mans gaze. She nodded slowly as she watched him piece things together, rubbing her sweaty palms on the legs of her pants.

"Right." He said, nodding. "You were the one who was always yelling a the guards."

Nari listened as Gi-Hun chuckled, telling herself not to take offense to it as the old man's smile widened, proud that his remark had cause at least one of them to find humor. "What are the chances..." He said slowly, "What are you two doing around here?"

"I actually live right down the road." Gi-Hun answered, pointing with his finger to the darkness down the street. Nari redirected her gaze in the direction he gestured, then forced another awkward smile as she turned back around to see the man waiting for a response from her.

"My sister lives close by." She said softly. rocking ever so slightly in her seat, the cold rain starting to chill her.

"And you?" Gi-Hun asked, "Do you come around from this area?"

The man shook his head, a smile on his lips, "I have a friend who lives by and I had no where else for this old man to go... so I am staying there for awhile."

"What are the odds were all here at the same time?" Gi-Hun asked, a smile on his lips.

Nari leaned back comfortably in here chair, slowly feeling more comfortable with each word spoke. She placed her hands in pockets, "Pretty low, I'd say," She replied, her eyes lingering on player 456's lips. She couldn't decide whether she was admiring the fact he could smile comfortably with such ease, or if she was jealous of it. Today was one of the very few times she had smiled genuinely in years and it certainly was one of her very first easy smiles, she couldn't imagine how it was so normal for someone like him.

"Nari?"

"Hm?" She said, suddenly pulled out of her thoughts, her eyes tearing away from the sight of his curled lips. She hadn't realized she had missed so much, lost in thought, until she was pulled back into the conversation, unsure what to say. With widened and curious eyes, she scanned Gi-Hun's eyes for a clue of how to respond.

"You want some?" He finally spoke after a long moment, gesturing a bottle in her direction.

"Oh!" Nari replied a bit louder than intended, shaking her head. She sat up taller in her seat and frowned apologetically. "I don't drink." She tried to ignore the disappointment in his gaze at her response, watching as he offered to the old man across from him. The elder nodded, taking the bottle from his grasp and pouring himself some alcohol into the small glass Gi-Hun had offered. Nari's eyes lingered.

She swallowed the lump that formed nervously in her throat, sweat building on her forehead despite the cold, damp, night air. She shifted awkwardly in her chair, tearing her eyes away. She let out a shaky breath, her hands traveling to the back pocket where the remaining cash laid.

"Fuck it."

Two words. Two words that can change everything. It was that moment that everything went down hill. As she yelled each word aloud, getting quickly to her feet and sending her chair backward slightly, she was on her way to throwing fifteen years of progress away. As players 001 and 456 watched her, not knowing she was about to take the first step of walking back into the life she'd given up, she clutched the money between her fingers.

Moments later she slammed the cash onto the counter within the sore, along side a six pack, from there the night unfolding each time the glass bottle met her lips again.

She told herself it was to forget, to forget about the games, about her sister and about Lee-Han, but if anything it was helping her remember.

It helped her remember the person she was fifteen years ago.

And both Gi-Hun and The old man watched as it happened.

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