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Gong Yoo sighed as he walked down the subway station, business card in one hand, suitcase in the other. He hadn’t had much luck recruiting people as of late, many passing him off as a scam or worse; flirting with him.
Looking around the almost empty subway station, all Gong Yoo could see were men and women dressed in business suits much like his own, on their phones, presumably going home from a long day at work. Not a brokie in sight.
He was about to cut his losses when his gaze caught onto a little head of hair, previously hidden by the man in front of them.
Bullseye.
Suitcase in hand, Gong Yoo walked up to the owner of said hair- a young man who could easily have been mistaken for a high school boy, glancing around uncomfortably as he tried to fight his way against a swarm of people to the nearest bench. It was kind of…pathetic.
Perfect.
“Hey.” The man flinched beside him, glancing at him from the corner of his eye before looking down again.
“Can..can I help you?” Gong Yoo smiled.
“What’s your name?” The man hesitated, before mumbling out a small “Min-su…Park Minsu.”
“Well, Min-Su, would you like to play a game?” Min-su looked up, confused.
“I’m sorry?” Gong Yoo smiled again, his best "I'm not gonna kill you" smile, and reached for his suitcase. It opened with a click.
He could feel the man next to him stiffen as he took in the hundreds of thousands of won stacked against the suitcase, and Gong Yoo gave him a little chuckle before taking out the two Ddakji cards.
“Let's play a classic game of Ddakji, huh?” He handed Min-Su the Ddakji cards. “You flip my card over successfully, and you win 10,000 won. Simple, right?” Min-Su eyed him warily.
“And if I lose?”
“Well, you can pay with your body.” He watched in amusement as Min-Su’s face lit up in a blush that seemed to consume his entire body, the man stammering fruitlessly as he slowly backed away.
“Oh, don’t be like that,” he flashed Min-Su a tooth-filled grin. “You lose, and I slap you, that's all, really. So, what do you say?"
“O-oh..” Min-Su blinked. One, twice, then nodded. “Ok, then,” came the mumble as he took the blue Ddakji from Gong Yoo’s hand.
*****
Gong Yoo placed his red Ddakji on the ground and made way for Min-Su to position himself properly. Min-Su cast him a grateful look before lifting his hand into the air, slamming the Ddakji down and-
He missed.
Entirely.
Gong Yoo could only barely stifle a laugh as he and Minsu watched the blue Ddakji slide across the subway platform, bumping and turning, before skidding to a stop 10 feet away. It was one of the most pitiful things he had seen, topped maybe by the puppy-dog-eyed look said man gave him when he turned back around.
Gong Yoo lifted his hand, prepared to strike the man in the face...and stopped.
He stopped. Hand left in the air comically when he found that he couldn't do it.
Min-Su was giving him a wounded look as though he’d already been struck upon, his body trembling as though he’d been told he’d die, rather ironic given the circumstances, Gong Yoo thought wryily, lips creeping up into a dry smile.
Gong Yoo lowered his hand, and Min-Su flinched before staring at him in confusion.
Gong Yoo stared at the smaller man nervously, unsure himself why he hadn't slapped him yet. He had sent hundreds to their deaths before, had killed plenty himself, so why was he hesitating now, when just a few hours ago he had struck an old lady and her son with no remorse?
The two just stared at each other dumbly while Gong Yoo tried to think of an excuse, before finally chuckling. It was a strained, unsure sound. “What, you didn’t think I’d actually hit you, right?” he patted Min-Su’s back reassuringly, if not awkwardly. “Just try again, ok?”
Min-Su stared at him for a little, cautious about whether Gong Yoo was lying or not, before shakily nodding his head again.
“O..ok.”
***
Min-Su, it turns out, was pretty bad at Ddakji.
***
Gong Yoo found he didn’t mind much.
***
Min-Su watched in confusion as the guards in the red suits pulled up video after video of people getting slapped, and thought to himself how unfortunate the others were for getting a different recruiter than the one that had approached him.
***
As Gong Yoo felt the gun lodge itself in his chin, his last thoughts were how he hoped the shy man with the mushroom hair would make it out of the games alive.
He closed his eyes and smiled.