𝗧 𝗜 𝗠 𝗘     𝗜 𝗡     𝗔     𝗕 𝗢 𝗧 𝗧 𝗟 𝗘

MUTED HUES OF BLUE, YELLOW, AND PINK ENGULFED YU-NA IN YET ANOTHER FAMILIAR ENVIRONMENT — the bright and colourful environment felt like an overwhelming smack to the face compared to the harsh coldness of the room stacked with beds that reached the high ceiling.

She could confidently say that she preferred that coldness, not having been brought back to a stolen childhood simply by pastel walls. She was sure that the others around her felt similar in that regard, or some were even brought back to a happier time when they weren't plagued by the debt weighing on their shoulders. But to Yu-na, it was suffocating and claustrophobic.

Being guided along by the masked man in pink who scattered themselves throughout the halls, Yu-na moved with the crowd. While others had already begun forming groups despite only having been strangers moments ago, she chose to keep to herself as she stood alone among the wave of people.

She was tall among the rest who waited in lines, taking note of what exactly they were lining up for before the woman over the PA system could reach the ears of herself and everyone behind her. The room was something that could have been extracted straight out of a painting in an art gallery, artfully constructed in complex patterns where a simple staircase would have sufficed.

All of her attention was focused above, watching the other players move through stairs and pass by open windows. It seemed as though it went on forever. The white flash in the corner of her eye diverted her gaze, catching on one girl who was having her photo taken with a soft pink wall used as her background. It was the girl from the train. Yu-na could not stop the soft smile that spread across her face. She was even closer than they had been in the previous room.

Yu-na watched intently, her lingering gaze never once leaving the girl as she stepped out of the divided section and pulled at the teal tracksuit to loosen it from her midsection — as though she were hiding something.

She cursed as the next round of people stepped up to have their photo taken, watching as the black and blonde-haired girl began making her way through the maze of the never-ending staircase. Again, the girl was slipping away from her for what felt like the hundredth time.

Impatiently tapping her foot, she fidgeted with the metal pierced through her lips, twisting the metal loops as she began to lose the girl as she got further and further through the pastel labyrinth. Yu-na looked through each divided section and sighed as one was completely held up by a purple-haired man and a group of individuals that clung to him like a virus. She was tired of waiting.

Yu-na took full advantage of the fact that she was taller than most around her, pushing forward and through the wave of people waiting ahead of her. As she cut the line, a few grunts and harsh words were thrown at her — nothing she hadn't heard before. If anything, they were somewhat similar to how her mother would talk to her on a good day.

As she reached the start of the remaining line, a man whom she had cut in front of took her by the wrist in a harsh — almost bone-crushing — grasp. "Hey! You think you can just cut the line like that? Wait like everyone else!"

Turning on her heel, she looked the man up and down. No older than 50, and yet, he was aging poorly. Her eyes ventured down to his tight hand latched around the thin bone of her wrist before pulling it free so it rested back at her side. With a step forward, she invaded the man's personal space. She wasn't quite towering over him, but just tall enough for her intimidation to be effective.

"Is there a problem?" Yu-na's lips pulled crookedly to one side of her face in the form of a smile as the man rapidly shook his head after eyeing the girl up and down the length of her body. "Good. Let's keep it that way, yeah?"

She returned to keeping to herself, waiting at the head of the line for the person taking their photo to be instructed to move along. Yu-na stepped forward when it was her turn, or rather, the turn she had taken from the man who kept throwing a dirty look at her.

Even though her back was facing the man, she could feel his glare piercing through her. She centered her position to face the wide screen against the smooth pink wall that separated her from the person on the other side who was also having their photo taken, flattening the bumps in her tracksuit as she straightened her posture.

A pastel green smiley face popped up on the screen along with the word 'smile' resting just above in a matching pixelated form.

"Please look into the camera!" A cheerful, yet robotically forced voice came from the screen, and Yu-na did as she was told, staring soullessly down the lens of the camera. "Smile!"

With a deep breath, her eyes remained steady on the lens as she gave the best smile that she possibly could given her circumstances. It was toothy, yet forced.

Her eyes were bright and illuminated by the flash that caught her off guard, threatening to blink and ruin her photo as the camera clicked. She blinked rapidly for the next few moments, trying to return her vision to a normal state as a faded white imprint of the flash invaded her view.

Yu-na shoved her hands back into the pockets of the teal tracksuit and stepped to the side, looking back up through the nauseous labyrinth of ascending staircases. She tried her best to spot the girl through the hollow carved windows, but there was no sign of the girl. Throwing a weary glance at the masked man in the pink jumpsuit just off to the side of the staircase entry, she began her pursuit of the girl.

Passing through endless corridors swarmed by a particular shade of pink, she peered through one of the hollow windows and caught a short glimpse of the girl. She hadn't seen much, other than the awkward yet steady walk up the stairs and the three-digit number on the back of the tracksuit that was lightly covered by the underneath layer of blonde strands.

Playing with the silver loops through the skin of her bottom lip, Yu-na contemplated her next move. "Excuse me," she muttered, placing her hand on the shoulder of the person in front of her before overtaking on their right, carefully jogging up the stairs as she repeated the same phrase to anybody that was in her path — which had been the vast majority.

With each glance up, she could only catch small details of the girl before she disappeared from sight again as she passed through the corridors infested with childhood innocence.

      What felt like a never-ending staircase finally came to its end, and she found herself guided by the trail of masked men that led to a set of double doors — similar to those that would be found at a play center. She moved along with the crowd, and beneath her feet, the sand of the open field crunched.

      Yu-na could almost taste the lingering scent of the ocean, the salt in the air was faint but she could hear the waves. Birds flew overhead, calling out to each other.

      All, including her, were mesmerised by the scene in front of them. While the sky above was real — evident by the pale clouds that passed through with the wind — they were still encased by walls that acted as an open field for children to play in. She had to momentarily squint to spot the two guards off in the distance at the end of the field, on either side of an oversized doll facing the people that continued to flood through in waves. The tree behind it was dead, no leaves attached, and instead pale — restricted of any nourishment.

      Her eyes moved away from the scene, instead looking for the girl. It was only a few moments before she spotted her, the short blonde strands entangling themselves among the black as she stood alone along the length of the invisible line that travelled horizontally from one end of the field to the other of people lined up.

Her stride was almost like a skip across the sand with her hands still in her pockets. The tips of her white shoes barely crossed the invisible line as she stood side by side with the girl from the train.

"I was hoping I'd find you here," Yu-na smiled, brushing the loose, dark strands that had come across her face due to the wind as she looked down at the girl on her left. "Some might call it a coincidence. I say it's fate."

Yu-na was left hypnotised as the girl looked up at her with large dark eyes. "Yu-na," the girl said in recognition, almost whispering the name as though she thought she'd never see her again.

Hearing her name roll off the girl's tongue so softly, Yu-na's heart skipped a beat. She had been waiting days for the possibility of this moment, and finally, there wasn't an overweight cat named Mi-cha to disrupt them with her constant need for all attention to be on her.

Tucking the strands of hair behind her ear that flew wildly through the wind, Yu-na used the sharp bone of her elbow to nudge the girl. "Ah! So you do remember me after all! And here I thought I looked like some creep." She joked, admiring the way the sun kissed the shorter girl's skin. "You know... since you know my name, I think it's only fair I get to know yours."

      "Ah..." the girl lowered her head, casting her gaze on her white shoes that carefully grazed the white line. When she looked back up, her eyes were bright, and the small smile that Yu-na had the opportunity to see while photos were being taken returned to the girl's face. Her lips were soft as they parted, "Jun-hee."

      "Jun-hee," Yu-na repeated, the name sweet against her tongue as she looked out into the open field before drifting up toward the overhead sun. "Pure and shining. A fitting name for someone as bright as yourself. Like a star." As her eyes fell onto the doll in the distance, she couldn't help the chill that ran down the length of her spine. It felt as though it was staring right back at her with intent. She broke away from the contact and looked down toward Jun-hee, "we should stick together since we don't know anyone else. Might give us an advantage over the others, right?"

      She watched closely as Jun-hee turned her head over her left shoulder, following the small girl's gaze until it landed on player 333 — the man that she had practically told to keep quiet only moments ago.

      "Ah, crypto boy! You know him too?" Yu-na clicked her tongue, a pang of jealously rippling through her as she later sighed. It was almost as though Mi-cha had been replaced in the form of a crypto loving loser.

      The girl's lips pressed into a line as her hand grazed her stomach, "something like that..."

Hushed murmurs from the players around them were silenced by the sudden and harsh slam of the metal doors behind them — all three entries and exits closed — keeping them limited to the area of the field. Yu-na's head whipped around to look, suddenly unsettled. Jun-hee followed her action, taking a deep and nervous breath. They both faced back toward the field, listening closely to the crackling over the PA system that hit each of the four walls that contained them.

"Welcome to the first game!" Although cheerful, the woman's voice was robotically monotone. "You will be playing Red Light, Green Light. Players who cross the finish line within the five-minute time limit without being eliminated will win this game."

Yu-na scoffed, "like the children's game?"

She parted her lips to make an ego-fueled comment about how easy that money was going to be before getting cut off by a harsh slam from a man that pushed passed her, crossing the white line to face everyone. Her hand rubbed against the area he had put his hand on as her eyes found his face.

The man from earlier that had been looking directly at the camera that watched from above. She knew there was something odd about him — it was obvious from the get-go.

"Everyone! Everyone, listen up! Pay attention!" Just as the group had begun chattering, they stopped, their voices lost as the man, player 456, frantically waved his arm. "Listen carefully! This is not just a game!"

Yu-na looked over one shoulder, and then over the other before breaking into a smile. It was truly dramatic and almost entertaining. "Get a load of this lunatic..." She whispered just loud enough for the people around her to hear and nod their heads.

"If you lose the game..." The man paused, "you die!"

As quick as her smile came, it was wiped off of her face as her arms crossed over the length of her chest. Yu-na could feel the way her heartbeat faltered at the man's words, and instead of a scoff that many of the others in the crowd gave, she swallowed the lump in her throat. Beside her, Jun-hee's face was as still as stone, serious and yet, no different from her resting face as she, too, listened close.

Yu-na knew the man was probably insane — she could tell by the look in his eyes. There was little to no light in them, as she knew from the moment she looked into them that there was a story. But, despite the man's possible insanity, his words still ran goosebumps against her skin.

      "Hey! What are you talking about?" Yu-na sighed, looking over her shoulder to see where the screeching woman was. "We're going to die playing Red Light, Green Light?"

      "Yes! That's right! If they catch you moving, they will kill you!" Yu-na listened to the man's words as her eyes moved away from the woman. He pointed up toward the sky, "they will shoot you from somewhere! Stay on your toes!"

      Yu-na leaned in low toward Jun-hee's ears, "you think he's telling the truth? I almost find it hard to believe..."

      She whispered before straightening back up.Jun-hee stood up on the tips of her toes, almost mimicking Yu-na but in reverse so that she could reach the tall girl's ears. "I don't know..."

      "If you get caught, you die! That doll's eyes are motion detectors!" 456 continued to shout across the field.

      A man in the crowd stepped forward, "I think he's trying to scare us so he can win the prize money!" In unison, the people around him began to agree.

      "You have to believe me!" The lunatic man's voice suddenly shifted, from desperation to becoming stern. As his lips parted to shout whatever else he had in the tank, his body swirled around to meet the sound in the far distance. The eerily large doll in the form of a young girl creaked as it turned at a slow pace until it was face-to-face with the dead tree. It paused for a moment before raising its arm to the tree, mimicking the action of closing its eyes.

      "Do not be alarmed or panic!" Player 456 turned back to the crowd, almost pleading with them. His voice was strained. "No matter what happens, do not panic and start running!"

      The PA system crackled to life, "let the game begin."

On the screen in the far distance, Yu-na could make out the red digits that popped up. The five-minute timer had begun. It was close to a child-like voice over the PA that had replaced the woman. "Green Light." Most people had moved, watching the man hold his hands up. Yu-na didn't move an inch, nor did Jun-hee beside her. They stood still to assess the situation.

"Now freeze!"

Fifteen seconds had passed since the game had initially started, and the doll sang "Red Light" before its head whirled around while its body remained in its place.

"Well done! You just need to stay calm like this!" Player 456 continued to shout toward the crowd, his eyes scanning for anyone moving. "We just have to move and stop at the right time. We can survive together!"

Yu-na's lips pressed in a line as she kept still, her eyes resting on the man. She had previously joked about it being deja vu to Player 456, but now, it didn't seem like a feeling that he had lived through something like this. It seemed like a reality. With her head still as stone, her eyes moved up toward the time that was counting down.

All parts of her body didn't want to move now that she was filled with unease, but, if what he said was true... then she would have no choice. She recalled the instructions before the man's outburst. Players that crossed the line within the time limit wouldn't be eliminated, and time was only being lost if she remained still when it was okay to move.

Silence settled over the field before the doll's head whirled back around to face the tree. Tension was high as its voice echoed across the four walls.

"Green Light."

Yu-na used her elbow to nudge Jun-hee, nodding her head out toward the field, "come on! We need to move!"

She stayed close to the smaller girl, lingering just a little further behind as she watched Jun-hee struggle. Her jog was awkward and light, forcing her to place a hand over her abdomen as she winced. Yu-na hadn't picked up on it much, only focused on getting them both over that finish line.

"Red Light."

They stopped almost perfectly in line with Player 456 as he faced toward the entry they had come through to prevent the doll from sensing the extreme movements of his face. "Freeze!" Yu-na's eyes flickered from the older man toward the doll as its head spun. Now that they were closer, she could see the rapid movement of its eyes. "Don't move and stay still!"

"Are you okay?" Yu-na whispered, keeping the movement of her lips minimal as she looked at the back of Jun-hee's head. "You're walking kind of funny."

It was a quiet reply, mixed with a slight groan. "I'm okay..."

The stopping and starting, followed by the man's determination for them all to cross the finish line, continued on until they reached halfway into the field. Each time Yu-na looked up at the clock, at least fifteen seconds would pass between each time the doll sang and when it turned to look at them.

"Red Light."

She could hear the slight whispers to her right as she looked up at the clock. About a minute and thirty seconds had passed. At this pace, they would have enough time to cross the line. Her eyes were fixated on the sound of the voice. It was followed by a frantic scream. A girl with her hair tied up, waving her arms frantically around the perimeter of her face. Yu-na looked around using just her eyes. Everyone was waiting, counting down the seconds for the confirmation of what the shouting man had said.

Yu-na wasn't sure if she would prefer for what the man said to be true, or for it all to be a lie. She would rather have some kind of confirmation — not that it would put her mind at ease anyway.

Then, the gunshot rang out. Clear and cut, hitting the four corners of the field. It rattled within Yu-na's body as her face flinched. She didn't dare to look over, and she didn't have to. The loud thump of the girl's body hitting the sand was more than enough confirmation.

"Player 196, eliminated."

Her breath picked up as every inch of her body fought against her fight-or-flight response. Her heart hammered against her chest, pounding to break free of its bone confinements. The man had been right. And she dreaded that.

      Silence fell over the field. But, it wasn't long before the standard reaction of the human mind and body kicked in. One scream followed after the other, leading to the echoing sounds of gunshots to relentlessly take out any player whose movements were captured by the motion detector within the doll.

      Yu-na watched the doll's eyes move rapidly, and in her peripheral, she watched the blood bath. Bodies fell to the floor, their blood spilling out across the grains of sand.

      "If you run, you'll die!" Player 456 hung toward the back of the group — Yu-na could hear him from behind.

      But, many were too frightened to listen to his calls. After all, they were only human. The ones that had yet to meet their bullet-wounded fate ran toward the three sets of doors they had originally come through, despite them being locked. The ones that made it to the door were stacked, their blood spilling across the green that matched the colour of their tracksuits.

      She had to close her eyes. It felt as though it went on for hours. The screams, the bodies, and the blood. She was trying hard to get her breath steady. Player 456 could faintly be heard, but, his screams could hardly pierce through the sound of the massacre.

      And then, silence. The screams had stopped, and the loud bang of the gunshots ceased.

      A harsh breath passed through Yu-na's lips. They had been led like lambs to the slaughter.

"Let me repeat," the monotone voice over the PA came to life once more, "you can move forward while the tagger shouts, "Green light, Red light." If your movement is detected afterwards you will be eliminated."

Yuna scoffed, careful not to move, "no shit."

After the massacre, the doll spun back around toward the tree before singing "Green light, Red light." Nobody had moved an inch, their bodies set in stone in fear of having the same fate. They all believed the man — having just witnessed his truth.

"Green Light." Player 456 was the only one that moved, passing through the still and frightened crowd. He came to a stop, making sure to cover his mouth using his forearm.

"You will also die if you don't make it there in time!" He shouted, and Yu-na looked up at the time remaining. The massacre had gone on for a while, wasting the time they had to cross the line. There were just barely two minutes left and they were still only halfway. "That doll is a motion detector! But it can't detect motion that's not visible to it!" His palm was rested against his back, and everyone on the field watched closely as he opened and closed it. "Get behind someone bigger than you! Like you're doing Follow the Leader! We're running out of time! We've got to move!"

"Green Light."

Some people gathered behind Yu-na, something that she dreaded. Her heart had already sunk the moment 456 had told them all to get behind someone bigger than them. It was a rushed effort, and Yu-na still remained behind Jun-hee, crouched and staring at the three-digit number on her back. 222. She didn't want it to be the last thing she saw.

Single file lines hadn't quite been formed, only some were had it been a group of around four. A few gunshots rang out, and Yu-na still flinched. She would have thought that she'd be used to it given the minute-long massacre of it being on repeat. But, she supposed there was no getting used to something like that.

The doll's head spun back around, its eyes stilling. "Green Light."

Yu-na jogged behind Jun-hee, keeping an eye on the girl as they lined up behind Player 456, two other men, and an older woman. The lines of people had become more straight as people crouched behind one another. She cursed the fact that she was one of the tallest in the room, crouched behind the smallest girl on the field. But, she was glad that she had.

"Red Light."

Jun-hee's knees gave in, the long distance of the field finally catching up to her. As the small girl put out her hand to steady herself and leaned it against the older woman's back, Yu-na's instinct kicked in. It could have been risky — possibly even a death sentence — but she managed to snake her arms around Jun-hee, her face brushing up against the girl's back.

That's when she felt it. With one arm close around 222's chest, and one in the lower abdomen section, she could make out the firm bump underneath the tracksuit. So that's what she had been hiding the entire time? Yu-na's eyes widened, and a strained sigh left her lips. "I got you," she whispered. She didn't say anything else, or, it was more like she couldn't. Anything she could have said would have just gotten stuck in the lump of her throat.

"Are you both okay?" The older woman ahead was shaking, reaching her aged hand carefully around her back until it came into contact with Jun-hee's hand.

      Both Yu-na and Jun-hee remained silent, still cautious of the dangers of speaking like the man had been so adamant about. They were sure that the older woman would have understood their fear.

      The doll turned back around to face the dead tree, singing its tune again before turning back to face the frightened group. They stopped, and then they started again. Over and over. Gunshots here and there, along with the screams of people who had just fallen short of the finish line.

      Yu-na's breath was heavy, as the doll sun "Green Light" for what would be her last time on the current side of the finish line. She used her remaining energy to trail closely behind Jun-hee, crossing the finish line with a heavy heart. She couldn't help but feel relieved. She removed the teal tracksuit from her body, lowering the zipper and slipping the material off.

      Her body was drenched in sweat. Not because it was hot, or that it was too far of a distance to jog. But the beads dropped from the length of her arms from her current state of nervousness. When she slung the tracksuit top over her shoulder, she saw Jun-hee — sitting alone against the sand with her back pressed against the wall.

      Yu-na's gaze lingered on her for a moment before she could finally focus on the crunching of the sand beneath her feet again. She had no care for what was happening behind her, shutting that side of the field completely from her mind as she threw her back against the blue wall that had been painted with trees and hills. She was much less graceful than the smaller girl — her body dragging against the wall until her rear roughly hit the sand.

      They both sat there, their heavy breathing almost in sync with one another as they watched the others cross the line. Yu-na's eyes closed for a moment before opening wide, her eyes travelling across the piled-up bodies along the sand and around the doors.

      "You're pregnant," she whispered, anxiously using her tongue and teeth to play with the metal loops pierced through the skin of her bottom lip. She managed to part with her overwhelming fear as she looked away from the mass of dead bodies, her gaze instead falling on Jun-hee.

      The girl's look was nothing short of frightened, and Yu-na couldn't blame her for the way she felt — for the way they all felt. But, this was different. Jun-hee wasn't just playing to save her own life — not now. She was playing to save two.

      Jun-hee could barely nod, her lips parting on and off to get the words out. "Yes." Silence settled over them as their eyes remained connected. "Thank you," she whispered, barely managing to get it out.

      They didn't exchange any more words as they watched in horror as a man who was being dragged over the finish line was finally shot dead. Yu-na placed her palm against the length of Jun-hee's tracksuit-covered thigh, giving it a reassuring rub with her thumb as she threw her head back against the wall and closed her eyes.

      This wasn't just some game.

      Maybe her life outside of these four walls wasn't so bad... maybe she would have preferred being beaten up at the train station...

──★ ˙ ̟. A U T H O R S N O T E

╰┈➤ sorry for the long wait! but at least it's kind of a longish chapter to hopefully makeup for that time (i just couldn't find the time or motivation to write for the past week) — again, i've been consumed by work 😭🙏🏻

╰┈➤ if there's any mistakes rn, pls ignore.

★ vote   💬 comment — etc. <3