Chapter Text
“good day, i’m here to pick up kang cheol." saebyeok said to the receptionist of the children’s home she left cheol in.
it had barely been a week since the games ended and gihun, sangwoo, jiyeon, and saebyeok were the finalists, hence, the only ones who made it out alive. the police arrived just before saebyeok fell unconscious due to the blood she was losing. she thought she was going to die with jiyeon hovering over her and begging her to keep her eyes open, but she closed them and accepted death anyway. she remembered thinking that maybe it wasn't so bad to die if jiyeong's face was the last thing she'd see.
but it turned out, death didn't accept her, since she woke up in a hospital two days later, the sight of a tiny jiyeong sleeping at the foot of the bed greeting her as she regained her consciousness.
and just earlier today, she was released from the hospital. the first thing she wanted to do was get her brother with the money she received (since the prize money was divided between the four of them), and jiyeong, being her usual nosy self, decided to tag along.
“this place is so depressing, i’d be mad at you too if you left me here.” the girl standing beside her commented in a nonchalant manner, earning a glare from the receptionist.
saebyeok fought a smile as she pretended to not hear anything, “i’m here to take cheol home.”
the receptionist just looked at her. rude.
saebyeok continued, “9 years old? a skinny guy with black hair? i’m her older sis-”
“i know him, alright. he stabbed a boy with a pencil yesterday, pushed another boy into the trash the other day, and got in a fist fight the other other day.” the receptionist stated.
“must be in the blood.” jiyeong snickered to herself.
“well, i’m taking him home today so he won’t be a problem to you from now on.” saebyeok said firmly.
“you don’t seem like a very good guardian.”
saebyeok stayed silent for a moment, not being able to look after her brother well was one of her biggest insecurities and that statement hit her right in the core. jiyeong seemed to notice and said, “well, this doesn’t seem like a very good children’s center.”
“how could you, a shabby young lady, be the judge of that?”
“saebyeok’s brother would never hurt anyone unless threatened. and cheol got that from her. i know that the little shits who cheol had beaten up probably did something just as bad, or maybe even worse. so do your job and go get saebyeok’s brother.” jiyeong said in the most serious tone saebyeok had ever heard her speak. the tall girl looked at her with admiration for a moment before looking down at the floor once again.
the receptionist stared at jiyeong from a moment before saying, “very well, i’ll go get him. you girls can go wait in the lounge.”
saebyeok struggled to settle down in the small children’s chairs in the lounge room due to her long legs. jiyeong, on the other hand, comfortably fit in the chairs, and with her legs apart.
“this room reminds me of the game,” jiyeong said, looking around the colorful walls which looked nothing but dull to her eyes. the little toys, the fluffy teddy bears, and even the china dolls looked everything but pleasant to her.
“tell me about it.” saebyeok scoffed.
“that fucking game ruined innocent things like this for me.” the anger in jiyeon’s voice was almost heartbreaking and saebyeok wanted to fuel her frustration with her own.
but all saebyeok did was let out a sound of agreement, suddenly feeling too tired to converse.
they sat in comfortable silence for about five minutes when cheol, along with the rude receptionist from earlier, entered the lounge room.
“noona!” cheol ran to her arms the moment he saw his sister, dropping his duffel bag to the floor.
saebyeok, along with the tiny children’s chair, collapsed to the ground. the tall girl felt the chair’s material break on her back, but all that mattered to her was the boy in her arms.
“cheol, i missed you so much.”
“i thought i’d never see you again." cheol cried in her arms.
“i thought so too, buddy. ” saebyeok thought as she held her brother tighter.
saebyeok closed her eyes, revelling in the moment when cheol tapped her on the shoulder, “noona, i think you broke the chair.”
“what do you mean i did? it was you!”
cheol stood up from her arms with a challenged look on his face, “no it wasn’t!”
saebyeok looked at the boy with a small smile before looking down where she was laying on — a broken chair that was now two big chunks of plastic.
saebyeok and cheol were walking to the nearby diner with jiyeong trailing behind. she once promised cheol she’d take him there for a nice stack of pancakes once she had money, and today, she finally is.
jiyeong had her airpods in, which was the second thing she bought from her prize money, the first one being a nice phone. that in mind, cheol decided to finally ask his sister something that’s been bugging his brain since they left the center.
“so noona, who’s the pretty girl? your girlfriend?” cheol teased, making saebyeok’s ears go red.
“she’s not my girlfriend." saebyeok tried her best to speak indifferently.
“she’s pretty though.”
“just because she’s pretty doesn’t mean she’s my girlfriend.”
“so you admit that she’s pretty?”
saebyeok sighed, “she’s not too bad on the eyes.”
“you’re just saying that to seem cool, you probably think about how pretty she is all the time.”
“cheol!”
they arrive at the diner, and it’s even nicer on the inside than it is outside. for a moment, saebyeok thinks about how she probably can’t afford it, but soon realizes that she can.
she can. and that realization just made this entire situation seem even more real. she wasn’t in the game anymore, and she wasn’t thinking about how she’d survive out of the people dying every day. she was free, and she was with cheol.
and jiyeong.
a few moments later, she found herself sitting down on the nice booth beside her brother and across jiyeong. when the waitress placed their plates in front of them, saebyeok fought the urge to salivitate.
she had ordered a (huge) burger with a side of fries, cheol ordered his promised stack of pancakes, and jiyeong ordered a chicken sandwich.
in no time, the three of them dug into their food. saebyeok didn't know how hungry she was until she took the first bite of the huge ass burger she could barely fit in her mouth. she looked at jiyeong across from her who was eating messily with sauce all over her lips.
"hey, noona's friend," cheol called out with food in his mouth, "what's your name?"
"i'm jiyeong." the girl answered with a sweet smile.
"where did you and saebyeok noona meet?" cheol asked curiously.
"she came up to me and said i was pretty." jiyeong said jokingly. what other choice did she have? she couldn't just tell a nine-year-old boy that she met his sister in a game where people would literally get eliminated when they lost.
saebyeok looked at her, stopping her movements, "i did no-"
"really?!" cheol exclaimed, "we were talking about how pretty you were earlier."
"is that so?" jiyeong smirked as she looked over to saebyeok, whose face was burning up.
"i think she likes you."
"cheol! don't make me take you back to the center again."
"you wouldn't." cheol said before sticking his tongue out at his sister.
"yeah, you're too much of a softie to do that," jiyeong said teasingly.
"you're the only one who would call her a softie," cheol commented, "she's like, the opposite of that."
"i know, i just don't wanna feed her ego by saying she's a badass or whatever."
"yeah! she likes it when people are afraid of her, it's really weird."
"right." jiyeong agreed as if she'd known saebyeok her whole life.
"i'm still here, hello?" saebyeok said loudly.
"oops," cheol said adorably, making jiyeong giggle.