Chapter Text
“Canceled, what do you mean our reservation’s canceled?!”
Gyeongseok couldn’t stop the volume of his tone as he stood there at the hostel’s front desk, mouth stupidly wide open in shock. Before coming here, thousands of what-could-go-wrong was already on his mind but none of them involved being kicked out of their reservation and being practically homeless for the night.
“See here, Mister.” Luckily, the place had someone fluent in Korean. “It’s the Yi Peng Festival in a few days, we’re going to get a huge number of tourists because of that. We can’t hold your bed for you outside the schedule we gave you. If you fail to pay during that time, we will automatically offer your bedspace to the next paying guest.”
Keep calm, keep calm. Gyeongseok heaves a sigh, one hand running through his hair. “I understand.” He replies with a small smile. He shouldn’t fault service workers for his stupidity. Whether he likes it or not, it was his fault anyway. How could he forget that they have a reservation to confirm? “Sorry to bother you.” He finishes with a respectful bow.
Gyeongseok makes his way to where Nayeon is waiting with their luggage. His tired ass plops on the couch beside his daughter.
He’s an idiot
He’s a loving father, a hardworking person, a handsome man (they said), but above all else, he’s an idiot.
“Daddy’s an idiot, isn’t he, Nayeon?” Gyeongseok runs his fingers through his daughter’s long hair, hoping that she isn’t disappointed in him for them not having a place to stay tonight, or if the event’s going longer, for a few days.
“Hmm.” Nayeon simply nods, a huge grin on her chubby face, and her opinion was an emotional gut-punch to Gyeongseok. Atleast she was smiling, even if it was out of making fun of him.
Gyeongseok sighs. “Thanks, Sweetie.” He fishes his wallet out of his pocket for the nth time, hoping that the Bahts in there somehow multiplied. He didn’t have enough money for the cheapest hotel, and now they lost the reservation he made. “But you had fun today, right?”
Nayeon’s face lights up. “I did! The place is so colorful and everyone is so nice! And I saw many people so happy with your drawings, Daddy!”
A huge smile crawls up Gyeongseok’s face. Despite their misfortune that resulted to their current situation, he, too, had his share of fun today.
Perhaps that’s why they’ve been calling this country the Land of Smiles. From arriving at the gate, to boarding a bus, and then mingling with the locals, Gyeongseok could only count the number of people who didn’t flash them a bright, welcoming smile in one hand, and with fingers to spare.
Everybody seemed to be happy. Talking, eating, dancing and just vibing with the all around positive energy in which said energy has rubbed off on Gyeongseok not even five minutes of being in here. Before he knew it, he had joined the on-the-spot gathering on the marketplace. He had propped up his trusted portable easel and then scribbled a sign in Thai language offering portraits. Thanks to Google Translate for that.
Even a shy girl like Nayeon broke out of her shell. Gyeongseok was worried at first, not being able to keep his two eyes on his daughter. This isn’t his former workplace after all, but thankfully, nothing harmful or threatening came to her. Even if he probably come home to Korea for tonight and return tomorrow, Nayeon would surely still be there, playing with kids her age. So he let her run wild, while he focused on his impromptu task.
All afternoon, he drew unfamiliar people with their familiar features. Just like he had been doing when he became a traveling freelance artist last year. He wasn’t doing it for the spare change he earns, or for some recognition. He only wanted what Nayeon said, to make people happy. The traveling part? It was part of a healing, Both his and Nayeon’s.
Gyeongseok’s mind returns to the present. Anymore daydreaming and reminiscing, they would probably be charged for overstay. So he gathers their things, tucks his easel under his arm, and reaches for his daughter’s hand.
“Let’s go and have dinner?” Gyeongseok sends a reassuring smile to her, despite his brain going apeshit with worry. Where the heck are they going to stay tonight? Hah. He’ll get there when he gets there.
First, food.
“Yes, Daddy!” Nayeon nods enthusiastically. Gyeongseok’s stomach drops from guilt. If only they had enough budget, he would take Nayeon to better restaurants. No matter, he’ll just make sure that she would have more than him.
But even if he had money for it, he still wouldn’t be able to. All the restaurants and eateries they pass through were filled to the brim with customers, foreigners and locals alike. It wasn’t a lie when they said that the Yi Peng Festival is one of Thailand’s most famous.
Nearing the end of the street where it’s darker, they eventually find a noodle cart ran by an old man. There were three tables in front of the cart with only one occupied, so Gyeongseok hurriedly places Nayeon into one of the plastic chairs.
Chicken noodle soup seem hearty and healthy enough. Great. Because even if Nayeon’s completely cured by now, he wouldn’t risk feeding her cheap junk foods ever again.
“Two bowls of this, please.” Gyeongseok says in English, tapping the picture of the soup he wanted on the menu board. In case the man couldn’t understand him, he pulls up two of his fingers then taps the fading image of the soup again.
After eating is when Gyeongseok’s worries start escalating into slight panic. The twilight sky is quickly shifting to a starry black. He knew that the locals are nice. That the city of Chiang Mai has little to no criminal activities, but the prospect of being homeless for the night in a foreign country is still making him feel uneasy.
Desperate for some help, or just to get tips, Gyeongseok went in and talked to the noodle vendor. Since the man couldn’t understand English, they conversed through Google Translate, passing his phone between them as they do so.
His hunch was right. It is indeed difficult to find some place to stay, even for a night during the Yi Peng, which is why bookings and reservations are recommended to be done in advance.
Good news, Gyeongseok did just that. Bad news, he’s an idiot.
I would help you but my house is
small and you don’t have
any spaces here.
The translation from the man read. Gyeongseok quickly types back,
Oh no it’s okay!
Please don’t trouble
yourself.
He appreciated the gesture nonetheless but was a bit alarmed how trusting the people here are.
They chatted for a bit before Gyeongseok paid for their meals, rearranged their luggage, and instructed Nayeon to stay close to him. The two of them continued walking down the street, in the hopes of finding a place to stay, or even just one bedspace for Nayeon, he didn’t care if he’d sleep outside the building beside a gutter, all he wanted was a safe space for his daughter to get some rest.
His panic is worsening, and he could tell that Nayeon is getting tired from moving all day. This won’t do. He needed to stop for a moment and collect his thoughts, he needed a place where he could think.
“Daddy! Can we take a seat there first?” Nayeon pipes in. And in great timing too. His daughter was pointing to her right, where a surprisingly empty playground seems to be beckoning them for a quick stopover.
“Excellent idea, Sweetheart.” Gyeongseok breathes out gratefully, earning Nayeon a pat on the head. Not letting go of his daughter’s hand, they make a beeline for the benches, or he does, because Nayeon suddenly broke out of his hold and like any other child who come across a playground, she instantly plopped herself onto one of the swings. Gyeongseok could only smile fondly. Oh, of course.
For a moment, Gyeongseok watch her play. “Woooaah!” Nayeon exclaimed as she went even higher than she anticipated. Fear engulfed the father for a few seconds, but then Nayeon hollers in delight, she had never been this high before that she could almost see the stars! Soon, the air was filled with happy giggles and the high-pitched shrieking of the swing’s chains as they propelled her front and back. Nayeon’s long hair danced in the wind. She is so beautiful
Gyeongseok already forgot what he was supposed to do. He was supposed to find them beds.
Gyeongseok feels a lump in his throat form.
Five years ago, he wouldn’t have thought that Nayeon would be able to become the little girl that she is now. As a father, of course he always believed that she would get cured one day, but as a human, flawed and frail, his hopes and dreams for his little girl were no match against science and reality. There were times back then that Gyeongseok didn’t know which role should he play, a dreamer of a father or a realist human being?
Then one day, both these sides of him somehow fused, which has lead him to accept the invitation to the Games.
A game with a huge prize money promised in the end?
Suspicious, but what is there to lose? And so Gyeongseok humored them, and himself, unknowingly letting himself experience one of the worst circles of hell he would have to live through.
Life after those wretched games was not an instant paradise. He would rather not recount the traumatic hell he went through in that vile place, but people would often think that a sack of money would wash away all life’s problems, and Gyeongseok did too. He entered the games only for his daughter’s sake, so the plan was to leave that shithole alive only for his daughter’s sake too.
He survived, the masterminds lost, the game was shut down after he and the rest of the survivors equally split the prize money. He went home with the money in hand, determined to begin Nayeon’s more advanced treatment.
Gyeongseok really thought that he was going to victoriously ride into the sunset.
Little did he know that the horrors would only start by then.
First, an even heavier anxiety engulfed him. Nayeon wasn’t responding positively to the treatment. Each time the doctors would reattempt, the wait and anticipation felt more nauseating than when he was fighting for his life during the games. I have the money, he assured the doctors. So please, do everything you can.
Then came the nightmares.
Gyeongseok thought being openly exposed to bloody corpses had already desensitized him. After the second game, he had barely reacted to dead bodies which was even fortified by him participating in the shootout in which he had taken those guards’ lives without batting an eye.
Sometimes, in his dreams, he would wake up to the morning fanfare but when he would open his eyes, it was dark in the room, yet he could see other people’s silhouettes getting up as well. Then their form would appear clearer and clearer to him. What he thought were other players waking up would turn out to be their mutilated corpses, all with bloody eyes and disfigured faces, staggering in his direction until they surround his bed.
He would try to scream, but it’s as if a rotten hand would surround his throat. He would try to run but it’s as if time has been moving so slow.
It was more tolerable than the other one, where those same dead people would bemoan to him, to plead with him, to ask him why was he alive, why did they have to die, why did he leave them all to die? He would want to reason out but no voice would come. It would be useless, anyway. The cries of the dead would drown it out.
That was just the beginning of long, long sleepless nights.
Exhausted from worrying for Nayeon.
But forced to be awake by the plaguing nightmares.
Gyeongseok didn’t know where to run. He thought he had escaped from hell when he got out of that glorified slaughterhouse. They had given him the cash prize, but the traumas and nightmares were their real parting gifts after all.
Along with the nightmares came the survivor’s guilt, he had ran himself crazy trying to separate his own hard-earned money from the bloody cash prize. He had convinced himself that it was cursed, that dirty money was definitely cursed, which is why Nayeon wasn’t getting well.
It was all too much for him, until one day he did the unthinkable.
Gyeongseok turned to drugs.
It only started when he was getting desperate for a wink and he may have had popped in a sleeping pill or two. For the first time for a long time, he woke up feeling refreshed, like he could take on the whole world. Needless to say, it got worse before it got better.
The day Gyeongseok nearly overdosed was the same day Nayeon, at long last, responded to the treatment.
Gyeongseok broke down in tears. Not only out of relief but from the gut-wrenching fear that gripped him. The fact that he almost died the day hope has finally shined down upon them. He began his journey to recovery alongside his daughter’s. It was difficult, but they’ve done it well. It only made their bond as father and daughter stronger.
And when Nayeon was finally, finally declared as cancer-free two years after the treatment, Gyeongseok swore right there and then that the two of them would live their life to the fullest from then on.
Traveling the world has become their medium. They’ve been to most parts of Asia since last year. Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines...Gyeongseok fell in love with the culture and the people. Like his daughter, his easel had been traveling with them as well, just setting it up wherever he wanted to and paint whatever his heart desired to. Nature, colorful streets, people, city lights, food...
Then people started approaching him for portraits and sketches, earning him a bit of spare cash to help them in their travels.
Gyeongseok have been doing that since then.
He surrounded himself with bright and lively things to erase the darkest days of his life. Little by little, he had learned how to forgive himself. Little by little, he had learned how to love his life again.
And now, he had come to Thailand hoping to fall in love once more.
“Daddy, I’m thirsty!” Gyeongseok looks up from his phone to see Nayeon playfully sticking her tongue out to emphasize her point. Just directly in front of the park is a small convenience store. It should be safe to send her alone.
“You see that store, Nayeon?” He points at the building a few distances away and Nayeon nods. “You can buy your drink there--no soda, okay? You can get some snacks too if you want. You know how to count Baht, right?”
“Yes, Daddy.”
“Smart girl.” Gyeongseok hands her a bunch of 1 and 5-baht coins so she would have an easier time counting them. “Look for cars before crossing the road. Daddy will be waiting for you here, go on.”
Gyeongseok watch her go. He’s worried about letting her go alone but they can’t just leave their luggage behind. Leaving Nayeon while he himself go is out of the question too. Atleast he could watch her over here. Besides, Nayeon is nine years old now. He’s bound to teach her about independence sooner or later.
He lets out the breath he’s holding when Nayeon was able to safely enter the store, yet his line of sight never strayed from his daughter, watching her every movement.
Which is why he didn’t notice the five suspicious men creeping up towards his spot. Two men closed in from his right, another two from his left. When the last one blocked his vision of the convenience store, only then did Gyeongseok acknowledge his visitors. “Sawadika. Can I help you, gentlemen?” He asks in a slightly trembling mix of Thai and English. He was no fool, he knew these guys didn’t exactly approach him to say hello.
“Foreigner?” One of the men smirked at his friend. Gyeongseok recognized the term even if it was said in Thai. It confirmed his suspicions that these guys are bad news.
“Great!” Another one cried out happily. “How much money do you think he’s got?”
Gyeongseok gathered their things, moving as casually as he could to not raise suspicion. “Would you like this seat?” he gestured at the bench he was sitting on. “I apologize. I was just leaving--”
“Hey, hey, hey...where are you going, Tourist boy?” The one at the front says in perfect English. It reminded him of one of his co-players from five years ago, the one with the ridiculous purple hair. He would’ve been laughing if not for him catching something that glinted in the moonlight peeking out of the man’s jean pocket. “Sit back down!” A hand suddenly finds it’s way to his chest and before he knew it, he was being roughly pushed back on the bench.
“S-Sir...excuse me.” Gyeongseok was forced to remember that the last time something poked him in the chest, it was the tip of a gun. “I think you got the wrong person.” His eyes frantically dart to the convenience store at the distance. For the first time, he was thankful for a long queue. Don’t come back here, Nayeon!
“Hold him down.” The leader barks at his goons in Thai, which is why it came as a shock when Gyeongseok’s both arms were suddenly in death grips. He tries to stand but then another set of hands held his shoulders down. “Down, boy!” one of the men yelled as if he was a dog. Those who weren’t holding him started pawing at their luggage.
“P-Please..don’t--”
“Oh, Mister Korean, huh?” The leader taunted in English. The asshole had his passport out and was grinning at whatever the fuck he’s finding hilarious. “No wonder he’s kind of pretty, right, boys?” A bunch of ‘yeah!’s and whistles answered him. Then he chucked Gyeongseok’s passport aside, continuing his search for something valuable.
“Boss. Look what we have here!”
Gyeongseok blanches. Horror washes over him when one of the men raised the familiar, transparent bag for all of his wicked friends to see. The smirk and deranged laughter they let out sends his veins crackling like lightning. The rest of them hooted and hollered as they wave Nayeon’s bag of underwear in front of his face. Fucking bastards.
“Good find. That would sell for good money.” The boss responds in English as if to further mock Gyeongseok.
Adrenaline and white hot anger surge up to his brain. Suddenly, he felt lightheaded. The helplessness paralyzing him shatters like a crystal. Gyeongseok roars in fury as he attempts to shake off the hands that captured him. Caught off guard, two of the goons released him which enabled him to land a surprise kick on the man in front of him. The boss landed on his ass, but the goons quickly recovered from shock.
One of them backhanded him in the face so hard, his vision went swimming. It was not enough to knock him down though. With his world still spinning, Gyeongseok staggered towards one of them before he bodyslammed the shit out of his victim. He heard someone yell, and then a roar that rivaled his own. A pair of hands finds his shoulder, the owner forcing him to bend down as someone’s knee collides with his abdomen.
“Urkk!” He coughs out in pain. Why do erotica novels romanticize having someone’s guts getting rearranged when it doesn’t feel good at all? Gyeongseok wraps an arm around his stomach, his wobbly footing sending him careening backwards until he lands back down the bench. Big mistake. The men were smart enough to pin him down again. One for each of his limbs. The boss charges forward, one arm pressing heavily on Gyeongseok’s throat.
“You gave us quite the trouble, huh?” It’s like all his muscles seized up; his blood congealed when the man reaches for the knife in his pocket. Light travels along the sharp edge, finishing as an ominous glare when it reached the very tip of the weapon. It’s kind of ironic how he’s cowering from a small knife when he had submachine guns pointed at him in the past.
Looks like Gyeongseok had been too complacent in life. Did he really think that the games would be the last time death chases after him?
He may have survived the games, but he is going to die here. In a foreign country he thought he could fall in love with too. Nayeon.... Nayeon’s still in line with her drink and armful of snacks. I’m sorry, Baby. Please don’t look. Nayeon’s coming back to find their things gone, and her Daddy soaked in his own blood.
The man pulled back his hand, the knife all but ready to plunge itself in his chest.
Maybe he should’ve given up all they had.
“OW! FUCK!” There was a loud sound of something hard hitting against metal before the man let out an ear-splitting scream of pain. Gyeongseok's eyes fly open, only to see the knife on the ground beside a large stone. “GGRAAH!” The boss angrily fists the front of his shirt before throwing him face first on the ground as if it was somehow his fault.
It was why he didn’t see the newcomer approach.
“You people shouldn’t have come here to Chiang Mai! Every bit of you is unwelcome here!” A deep voice lashes out in angry, rapid Thai. Something about it feels familiar, yet he couldn’t place it. For one, he had come across a lot of people due to his job and hobby. Second, he was probably fucking dying and his brain’s coming up with some shit.
Mocking laughs and guffaws met his savior’s words. “Oh, we apologize...Ma’am...Sir, or whatever you are. So, what’s a ladyboy like you gonna do about it?”
The tense atmosphere boomed with more ill-natured laughter. Gyeongseok makes an attempt to get up, so he could tell the sons of bitches to fuck off or something when the laughter was suddenly cut off by the loud sound of flesh meeting flesh.
For the second time, Gyeongseok saw the boss plopping on the ground in his peripherals. The rest of the goons let out an indignant cry, and then a rallying cry. “CHARGE!” One bellowed. Curious, Gyeongseok forces his aching neck to check out the scene before him.
The newcomer was a tall woman with shoulder-length hair, he couldn’t see her face as she was almost moving at an astonishing speed.
Despite the violence happening around him, Gyeongseok couldn’t help but watch in amazement as the woman danced gracefully like a ballerina with the strength of a Taekwondo master. All her kicks and punches landed where they should, with no unnecessary, wasted moves unlike Gyeongseok’s sloppy ass movements.
Amidst the pained cries of the goons, the unmistakable police siren rings out loud. The rushing vehicles causing people from the store and those inside their homes to scramble outside for a look. Gyeongseok watch the ground become bathed in red as the police cars close in on their location.
“Hello, Miss!” an officer calls out upon stepping out of his vehicle. They were speaking in Thai so Gyeongseok pays them no mind and instead whined to nobody in particular about his aching body. Later, he should thank his savior after he pull himself together. “Thanks for the call and subduing these bastards! Keep this up and we’ll eventually lose our jobs!”
The laughter that followed suggests that the two are in friendly terms.
Her deep chuckle permeates in the air, enters his ears and has him malfunction for a bit. I want to hear her laugh again. I want to make her laugh again and again.
It must be a sign of brain damage. He didn’t even hit his head.
Suddenly, his ribs send a painful throb all over his body to remind him that his brain’s not affected at all, but his stomach is. Gyeongseok doesn’t bother stopping the pained groan that escaped him. And he’s still lying face down on the ground like a spoiled child whose mother didn’t buy him a toy. Pathetic, so pathetic. And in front of an amazing woman too.
“Oh, shit!” Gyeongseok freezes upon hearing the woman curse. Did she just speak in Korean? However, he didn’t have time to contemplate further because soon, there’s two sets of footsteps hurrying to his direction. He heard the officer barking out orders to his colleagues before they finally surround him. Realizing that he must be a tourist, the woman speaks out in English. “Sir, are you alright? Can you stand?”
What would be her reaction be if I speak in Korean, hmm? Will she be surprised? pleased?
Who in their right mind would start prioritizing how to flirt with a badass woman before they tend to their damaged ribs?
Gyeongseok’s an idiot.
He’s not on his right mind.
Speaking Korean in the suavest voice he could muster, he breathes out, “Yes, I’m okay, thanks to a strong, beautiful queen like you coming to my rescue.”
Even though he’s in pain, Gyeongseok finally raises his head to take a look at his savior.
And then he finds himself eye-to-eye with Player 120.