THE SICKLY SWEET SOUND of a nostalgic lullaby awoke Hyeon Minseo━the twenty-two year old girl felt numb, her legs refusing to move with a persistent ache as bright lights passed the gaps of her nimble fingers that covered her squinting eyes. The thin sheets did little to warm her trembling body, and the mattress beneath her was terribly uncomfortable. Not like the one at home, her bedroom mattress was soft and springy━This wasn't her bedroom mattress.

          Minseo shot up, eyes now wide and fearful. She looked around, the lack of her glasses however meant she couldn't really make out much. All figures were blurred, yet she could figure there were a vast amount of people equally as confused as she by the muffled mumbling of questions and little answers that echoed around the large room.

          Her feet found the floor, and upon looking up, Minseo saw she was on the bottom bunk of many. She didn't like that━when she was younger, a little girl with nothing but pigtails and puffy cheeks, she always had the top bunk. Her older and only brother, Taesuk, had the bottom bunk. "That way I can protect you if any intruders come in," is what Taesuk said, standing firmly on his reason. Young Minseo had complied mutely, simply nodding with a bright smile and glistening eyes, knowing her older brother would always be there to protect her.

          However, Hyeon Minseo was now without the protection of her beloved older brother. Instead, she was in a large room with many strangers, on the bottom bunk, waiting━anticipating for the intruders.

          She was no longer dressed in her white t-shirt and baby pink maxi skirt, her old beaten converse stained with markers from school now replaced with clean white plimsoles that caved in too tightly on her small feet. Minseo didn't want to know how she got changed, and she couldn't dwell to much on the fact when she soon noticed the large bold numbers patched over her jacket.

          004. In big, white, bold letters. 004. The unlucky number of not only the entirety of South Korea, but Hyeon Minseo especially. Panic set in━if Minseo wasn't entirely fucked before, then she most definitely knew the Gods weren't helping her any more so from here, so she was entirely, and utterly, fucked.

          "Young girl," the voice of an elderly woman called out meekly from behind her. Minseo turned suddenly, her actions quick enough to shock the elder. "Do you know where we are?"

          Minseo tried to speak, yet no words were able to form from the rasp of her throat. She instead shook her head hesitantly.

          The elder woman made her way over. Her frail hands held onto Minseo's crossed arms, an immediate warmth vibrating through her shivering body. "Well how about we stick together? Nobody likes being alone in a new place."

          "Okay," Minseo muttered eventually, her voice nothing but a mere whisper. "That sounds nice."

          The elder woman smiled softly. "It does, doesn't it? I'm Jang Geum-ja. By the seems of it, my name is now 149. What's your name?"

           "Hyeon Minseo," Minseo replied, mimicking her gentle smile. It felt foreign, the trace of a smile of her porcelain face, but it felt nice. "Thank you."

          "Don't thank me for anything," Geum-ja wrapped her arm around Minseo's. The two ladies stood at similar heights, and Geum-ja looked over at Minseo with determination in her wrinkled eyes. "Let's go out there."

          The two soon found themselves amongst a crowd, the echoes of questions growing louder and more aggressive by the second. Every man was for themselves, each shouting with a new question with a harsher tone, each fist curling roughly by the minute.

       Hyeon Minseo was never the architect of events, never the one who set things in motion. She was the quiet observer, the silent witness to the world around her. That was her role, that was her essence. She watched, always from the edges, her eyes tracing every detail━the way people held themselves, the cadence of their words, the subtle language of their bodies. She kept meticulous notes, not in ink but in the quiet corners of her mind, cataloging the world in all its messy, intricate patterns.

          Hyeon Minseo never sought to insert herself, never needed to prove her value or worth. She had learned long ago that she was invisible━always on the periphery, never the focus, always drifting in the space where the spotlight never quite touched. To be unnoticed, to remain in the shadows, was her quiet comfort.

          But that moment, that instant, unraveled everything.

          In the thickening hum of rising voices, each one clamoring to be heard, one voice broke through the cacophony—a soft, almost fragile whisper that seemed to still the very air around it.

          "Mimi?"

          Minseo's heart skipped a beat too many. She turned slowly, cautiously, as though afraid to disturb the fragile quiet of the moment. Through the writhing, fevered bodie━those reaching for their own fleeting freedoms━she saw him.

          Her absent uncle, Seong Gi-hun, standing there, as though he had always been just a breath away from her, waiting.

          For once, the world shifted. For once, she was seen.

          Hyeon Minseo, forever the shadow, the invisible one, had always been content to remain outside the fray. But in that singular moment, the ground beneath her shifted, and the steady rhythm of her life was irrevocably altered. In the eyes of the one person who could truly see her, everything changed.

Yang Hye-ji is 𝓗yeon 𝓜inseo
𝜗𝜚˚⋆ 22 ᐟ Pink Hair Princess
⌗ Don't Grow Up, It's A Trap ⋆ Love Is Everywhere

MINSEO & DAE-HO's STORY !
𝟬𝟬𝟭. anthems for a 17 year old girl, yeule
𝟬𝟬𝟮. the adults are talking, the strokes
𝟬𝟬𝟯. louise, tv girl
𝟬𝟬𝟰. real man, beabadoobee
𝟬𝟬𝟱. i love you, fontaines dc
𝟬𝟬𝟲. answer, tyler the creator
𝟬𝟬𝟳. sarah, alex g
𝟬𝟬𝟴. maps, yeah yeah yeahs
𝟬𝟬𝟵. strangers, ethel cain
𝟬𝟭𝟬. simulation swarm, big thief

━━━ author's note;

TWO DOWN ONE MORE TO GO.
this is the second of my three squid game
fics i have planned, if you haven't seen or
read what is released of my inho/junho fic, if interested, go give it a read☺️

daeho holds a special place in my heart. a true
gentleman i absolutely adore him. therefore, like
all my other fictional crushes, a fic is in order!

i've never wrote a character like minseo, so i'm so
excited to delve into her personality and develop her
to truly show how cute, loveable and selfless she is.

also, more on her and gi-huns relation will be shown
soon, so do expect extreme overprotective uncle vibes
to be coming from my fav grumpy man<3

as always, permanent dedications to my favourites,
i love you all endlessly !!!! p0ltergiiest trulyjohnlock velvetverse cqntralperk trulyjohnlock ourcane tinymell
oliviascouture TSBSLEE thelunaverse IoveIost — and to whomever reading, i hope you all enjoy!