Work Text:
Being shot in the head was such a strange thing.
Back in her prison days, Ji-Yeong had seen her closest friend shot in the head by a guard. Ever since then, she’d wondered what her friend had felt. Was she afraid? Did she know she was being shot? Did she feel regret? Longing for a lost love? Sadness? Anger? Pain? Was there even enough time for her to know what she felt? She later did some research and came to the conclusion that the maximum amount of time someone could live with a gunshot wound to the head was 500 milliseconds.
Ji-Yeong, of course, never thought that she would know what it was like to be shot in the head, how it felt for every synapse in your brain to light up and go dark in under one second. She thought that in six days she could play some stupid games and go home a billionare. She never expected to meet the person who should have been the love of her life, only to be ripped away from her by some sadistic asshole and their need to see people die.
She almost found it funny how the universe, or whatever the fuck brought her here, had given her life half an hour of meaning. Half an hour of purpose, of joy. She wondered if it was some twisted karma she had earned for killing the man who gave his DNA to create her. The sickest part of it all is that she could never truly say she loved Sae-Byeok, for love was an experience. It needed time to grow and blossom, time to bloom.
She’d never know Sae-Byeok’s favorite color, her favorite food, her favorite season. She’d never know what body wash she used, or her favorite brand of toothpaste. She’d never see something as simple as Sae-Byeok walking through the front door to greet her after a long day of work. She’d never know the things you’d need to know to love someone. She’d never have a life with Sae-Byeok.
In a perfect world she would be on Jeju island, lying in Sae-Byeok’s arms as they chattered away about some stupid movie and sipped on mojitos. Instead, she had to live with one last deep look into the eyes she could love so much as she was pulled into the alleyway by the man with the circle on his mask.
During the last 500 milliseconds of her life she thought about Sae-Byeok and Sae-Byeok only. She sent a desperate wish to whoever was out there for Sae-Byeok to escape this hellhole with her life, and drink a mojito on Jeju island, even if it was without her.