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Everyone was guided to the white room they've been in a few times to only watch people die in return. Once every person who is still alive entered the white room, they were greeted by mannequins with pink harnesses with numbers on them.
Heeseung took a minute to examine everything and think what the challenge could be.
'It's more likely to be a challenge that will be in a numerical order'Heeseung said in his thoughts trying to figure out what the next game could possibly be.
"Hyung" Heeseung hears a delicate voice softly whisper in his ears.
He turns his head to the right and sees it was Sunoo who was standing right beside him with a scared look on his face.
"What do we do this time?" Sunoo asked.
Heeseung paused for a minute and looked at the rest of his friends beside him. He got their attention and whispered a plan for them to make it past this game.
"From my understanding, I'm 100% sure that this will be a game that we are going in numerical order. So I think we should choose the numbers towards the back" Heeseung explained to everyone.
"Why don't we just go for the middle then?" Jay asks cocking an eyebrow.
"No... I have a bad feeling about this. Just get the numbers towards the back" Heeseung said certain that his theory is right.
"We're counting on you hyung" Jake said putting up two fists in the air with a small smile.
[Please choose a number for the next game to begin] the voice of the lady spoke in the speaker.
Heeseung motioned everyone to hurry and pick the numbers before someone else does. Heeseung makes his way past people still standing on the platforms they were standing on and made his way to pick a number. Heeseung motioned for the others to pick the very last ones before someone else does. Ni-ki chooses the very last number, jungwon choosing the second to last one, and so on. Heeseung chose the number that was before all of them to insure they would survive... even if that meant he has to die for them.
The group grabbed their numbers and put the pink harnesses on top of their green uniform that they've been wearing for days. They all moved over to the other side of the room and waited for the other people to pick their numbers. The voice of the lady on the speaker suddenly went off after no one else made an effort to pick a number.
[The numbers you choose is the order you will he going in for the next game].
The group of friends looked at Heeseung with a shocked expression at how accurate his guess was. He smiled at them looked away from their piercing stares. Heeseung didn't graduate from the best university in Korea for nothing. But, look where that ended, he's in here now fighting for his life just to pay off his debts.
...
The group of people were told to enter the other door that was in the room. The person who chose #1 led them out of the white room to the next game. Once those huge doors opened, they were all met with a dark room that was lit up by bright, colorful, neon lights and a bridge to get across.
The guy who was number one walked past the door and closer to the bridge looking to see what was on there. The rest of the groups also piled out of the blank room and gathered in the dark room. Heeseung who was fortunately tall enough to see over everyone, saw that the bridge was made to have the tiles made of glass. Heeseung could feel the color in his face drain completely.
He knew he was fucked.
[This is a game of stepping stones, the tiles of the bridge are made with glass that could hold up to two people and the other one is made up of tempered glass. You have 20 minutes to get across the bridge.]
The time started and people were freaking out as to how the hell they would make it across. The guy at the front asked the makes people how he could tell the difference but, alas, they stay quiet as usual. The guy trembles as he looks down at the tiles and contemplates which one to choose first. Everyone else was panicking because the guy wasn't choosing one and moving.
"Hurry up! We're gonna die if you don't move!" a person on the group yelled impatiently.
The guy finally made up his mind and jumped on the left tile. Everyone held their breaths as he landed on it and it held his weight. People let out a large breath in relief and encouraged the guy to keep it up and he jumped to the tile in front of him. Unfortunately, that caused him his life.
Heeseung was in the back with his friends thinking hard on how to spot the difference between them.
"Hyung... I'm scared" Jungwon said with tears in his eyes holding Heeseung's hand.
Heeseung felt himself soften at the younger and turned around to face him completely. He shakily put his hands on Jungwon's face cupping his cheeks. He stared at Jungwon with a smile on his face that told him everything would he alright but Jungwon could see right through Heeseung. He knew Heeseung was scared too, everyone was.
"I'll get us out of here" Heeseung spoke resting his forehead on Jungwon's.
"I promised you guys, and I'm not breaking it" Heeseung said placing a kiss on his forehead.
Heeseung felt more nervous as more people fell to their deaths from choosing the wrong tile. It was finally his turn to go. He slipped off his shoes and jumped on the left tile remembering that was the first tile. The person in front of him moved up as the person leading everyone fell to their death.
Jay, who was the next person after Heeseung, too slipped off his shoes and jumped on the first tile scared shitless. Heeseung looked at Jay and the rest of the boys who were behind them with a determined look and nodded his head telling them they'll survive.
Soon enough, the rest of the boys are now on the bridge shaking out of their witts. Heeseung was moving up quite fast. Faster than he wanted to. They only had about 7 minutes left before the timer would run out. Heeseung was trying to find a way to tell the difference between the tiles until he remembered something his dad told him many years ago.
'When working with glass, if you see stain marks on it or hear a crackling sound, remember that it's tempered glass' was what Heeseung remembered his dad telling him. His dad wanted him to work with him in the same factory but Heeseung didn't want that.
But Heeseung thanks his dad for telling him this or he would be good as dead right now. The person in front of Heeseung fell through the glass and Heeseung jumped to the opposite one that didn't break. Heeseung bended down and started looking under the glass panels.
"Heeseung hyung, what are you doing?" Sunghoon asks confused as the time is running out.
"I know a way to tell them apart.." Heeseung spoke as he continues to compare the next two tiles.
"Really?! How?" Ni-ki asks.
"My dad told me that when working with glass, if you see stain marks on it or you hear crackling because it it over 700°, it's tempered glass" Heeseung said looking back at the other behind him and stood up getting ready to jump.
"Heeseung hyung! Be careful please!" Sunoo spoke with teary eyes.
Heeseung looked back at him and smiled before jumping to the next one. He landed on the tile and waited a moment to see if his theory was wrong. He's still standing, so his theory was correct. The other sighed and thanked god for keeping their hyung safe and moved forward.
Heeseung began checking each of the panels to see which one was tempered glass and which one was not. They made it pretty far until they got to the last tile. They currently had 2 more minutes and were running out of time.
Heeseung bent down to look at the glass but then the lights suddenly turned off. It was now pitch black in the room. He couldn't see anything. He could still see the glass in front of him, but he couldn't tell which one is tempered now.
"Fuck!" Heeseung exclaims.
"What is it hyung?" Sunghoon asks could concerned.
"I... I can't see the last tile. I can't tell which one is which" Heeseung said losing hope.
The others breathed out in misery. They would never get out of here alive. Heeseung suddenly stood up and looked behind him at the timer that now showed they have a minute left. He bit his lips to stop himself from letting out a sound and turned to his friends that he will never see again.
"If I step on this next tile and don't make it... Please survive for me" Heeseung said with tears welling up in his eyes.
"Hyung don't say that!" Jake yelled.
"I love you guys..." Heeseung said with a sad smile and jumped to the tile in front of him that now cracked under him and broke.
The last thing Heeseung heard as he fell were the screams of his friends yelling his name. He finally got the ground. He could rest in peace for once. He didn't have to worry about running away from loan sharks. He didn't have to worry if his mom was still healthy and alive. He didn't have to worry anymore.
The only thing Heeseung can ask for is to let his friends survive and go home. They deserve to go home more than he does. He has nothing. They have things and people to go back home to, he doesn't. There would be no reason for him to survive the game just for him to be put into misery again.
In his mind, he feels he won the game. If being able to see his friends for the last time before he died while he fights for his life, then he's satisfied with that. He led them to victory, he fell, and now they need to lead each other victory.
Something he just couldn't do...