Work Text:
I push you up against the wall - gently, but firmly. I don’t want to hurt you any more than you’ve already been hurt. But I want you to know that I’m serious. “You think I’m going to be grateful for that?” I scoff at you. “Take another throw.”
You look at me with your large, beautiful eyes, welling up with tears. “And I still wouldn’t be able to win,” you tell me with a bitter smile. “Can’t you at least let me lose in style?”
“Ji-yeong, that’s bull shit!” I yell, finally losing my cool. “Stop acting like that and just throw it again, for real this time!” It’s not like me to beg, but for you, I’d do anything. You deserve the world in my eyes. I’ve only known you for a day, but I’m already in love with you.
Your eyes darken with grief. “I have nothing,” you whisper.
That's not true! I want to scream. You have my love! But the words never leave my mouth.
“You’ve got a reason to get out of here,” you continue. “I don’t.”
You have me! I argue wordlessly in my mind. Do I mean nothing to you, that you would leave this world without me? Don't you know how much anguish that would cause me? I'd never forgive myself!
“I actually thought about what I’d do, when you asked me what would happen if I were to get out of this place. But, no matter how hard I thought, I got nothing.”
We could go to Jeju Island! We could be happy! I decide, not once realizing that only one of us was going to make it out alive.
“You’re the one with the reason to get out,” you smile through your tears. “That’s what’s right.”
I don’t even notice the tear streaming down my own face. I am too focused on the curvature of your lips, the desperation in your eyes, the lovely softness of your skin. I don’t want you to throw your life away. Especially for my sake. I want you to be happy. Deep down, I want both of us to be happy.
A pink soldier silently leads me away, and I hear your voice call out to me. “Kang Sae-byeok!”
I do not turn around. But I am listening to you.
“Thank you for playing with me,” you sob. I can hear the stutter in your voice.
I turn back around, and I run to you. I can’t hold back anymore. I don’t even see the pink soldier holding his gun at you, ready to shoot. I just want to hold you in my arms before he takes you away from me. So I envelop you with my entire body, inadvertently tackling you to the ground.
The shot misses.
I kiss you fervently all over your face. “I don’t want to leave without you,” I cry. “I can’t. I won’t!”
I take your hand in mine, and as fast as we can, we leave the room before any of the pink soldiers can catch us. Their bullets whiz through the air, narrowly missing us. I don’t even hear them. You follow me, giggling the whole way. I don’t know how you manage it, but you make even the most grim circumstances seem hopeful.
“The air is so clear here,” you smile into the distant ocean.
I nod, turning my gaze back to the sea before us. “Yeah,” I agree. “It is.” I start to think about all of the things I had to do to get us here; escaping the Games, and all of the robberies I had to commit to free my brother, to save up enough money to buy our plane tickets to Jeju Island, plus to get some new clothes for the change in climate. It was all worth it. If I could do it again, I would.
“Why aren’t you smiling?” you ask me coyly, taking a sip of your coconut water through a blue straw.
I look at you again, and your beauty inspires me to smile back at you. You look so calm and relaxed, so healthy and happy. In my wildest dreams, I could have never imagined that you would be so stunningly gorgeous. And I’m presently dying for your affection. “My girlfriend hasn’t given me a kiss in a while,” I jokingly remark.
You giggle, and it makes my heart melt. You lean over close to me and kiss me on the lips. You taste like sweet coconut. “Is that better?” you whisper, tenderly caressing my cheek as our lips come apart.
My life couldn’t possibly be any better than this. “Yes,” I say, softly taking your hand in mine. I’m living in a tropical paradise with the love of my life. I couldn’t ask for anything more.