Chapter Text
It was getting better. She was getting better. The sun came to greet them for the first time in weeks, and there was a light breeze. It was as if the weather knew her state of mind. Hyun-ju had walked to the restaurant herself, enjoying the fresh air and the sun on her face. This morning she had painted her nails in a dark shade of red, and tried on some new make-up. After that, she put on a beautiful long coat, and chose tot carry her black handbag with her.
Today, for the first time in three months, meeting with the former players didn’t scare her anymore.
Bringing up their shared experiences had been hard on her in the beginning. Hyun-ju often chose to just listen to the others. She didn’t feel like she was ready to talk about it. What was even there to talk about? What’s done is done. It felt good to have people around her that shared the same experience, but they couldn’t completely understand.
When Hyun-ju entered the games, she considered herself to be rather alone. The freeing feeling of finally being able to show her true self made up for it, in a way, but not totally. Serving in the military taught her that life can be tough, and that sometimes you just have to pull through. Which is exactly what she had planned on doing: she was going to pull through, and find her happiness in Thailand. That had been her plan. What she didn't plan on, was finding her happiness in the middle of a near-death experience.
She wasn’t supposed to let people in, this game was hard enough already. Like always, she could do it on her own. But then Young-mi and Gyeong-seok had somehow swooped their way in, healing wounds she didn’t even know she had.
Tears filled up her eyes everytime she thought about losing them.
The first time Geum-ja invited them over to her house, Hyun-ju was going to decline. But that night, like every other night, she had a nightmare again. About them . When she woke up in sweat and tears, she decided she had to go. For them . So at 3 o’clock in the morning she left Geum-ja a voicemail accepting her offer.
At first she was scared they might not like her outside of the games, in her usual clothing, in a non life-threatening situation. Luckily that fear was soon swept away, and to her surprise she found genuine friendship in them. Geum-ja was like a mother to all of them, and now they frequently had dinner at her house. Those nights were healing her, in a way. She had never expected to make friends again in Korea. However, she also hadn't expected to share a near-death experience with 455 strangers. So here she was: traumatised, but not completely alone anymore.
Geum-ja, Dae-ho, Yong-sik, Jun-hee, Jung-bae and Gi-Hun had made life more bearable, and she was beyond grateful for that. Gi-hun didn't join them every time, but tried to be there as much as possible. Everyone could see that the games still haunt Gi-hun the most. After having been there twice, and being betrayed by the people he trusted most, it was hard for Gi-hun to connect with them sometimes, but they all appreciated him trying.
Loud laughter snaps Hyun-ju out of her thoughts. Jun-hee's baby just burped, and now not only her, but the whole restaurant knew from the way her friends were cheering for the little one. Hyun-ju smiled at the scene, she was truly blessed to have these people in her life. However, a part of her couldn't help but feel this little sting when she saw Jun-hee with her baby. Hyun-ju would love to be a mother herself.
As if somebody heard her thoughts, this little girl is suddenly clutching her leg. Hyun-ju freezes. Her friends give her a questioning look. She makes a confused face in return. She must have lost her parents, Hyun-ju assumes.
She gently strokes the little girl's head, which causes her to look up. The child is wearing a face mask that Hyun-ju realises should be covering her mouth and nose, but is now only covering her chin.
'Hey sweetie, what's your name?' She asks kindly. The child looks at her with big, scared eyes. It seemed like she wanted to answer, but changed her mind last second. She must be shy , Hyun-ju thought, let me give her a little push .
'I'm Hyun-ju,' she said with a calm, warm voice 'and I think we should be looking for your mommy and daddy, they're probably worried'.
'You're the princess!' the child suddenly exclaimed, and Dae-ho laughed at this. Hyun-ju would have laughed too, if she wasn't so utterly confused.
'A... a princess?' is all she could stammer.
'You're the princess daddy told me about! It's you!' the girl stated, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
'Sweetie, I think you must be confusing me with someone else, I'm not a princess' Hyun-ju let out a nervous chuckle.
'But you're Hyun-ju' the child said, a little unsure now.
'That's my name, yes.' Hyun-ju said with a hint of pride, this was her name now.
'So you're the princess!' Apparently the little girl was not so shy anymore, since she just climbed into Hyun-ju's lap. Hyun-ju gave the child a warm smile and gently stroked her little arms. She didn't want to crush this girl's fantasy, but she also didn't want to lie. And she needed to find her parents, or otherwise they'd think Hyun-ju was some lunatic who told little kids she was a princess. She was about to ask where her parents were, when suddenly the girl said 'Don't you remember the games with daddy? He's looking for you!'.
The whole table went silent at this. Everyone was frozen with questions in their eyes. Hyun-ju stiffened. 'What- what are you talking about?' her voice was a little uneasy now.
The little girl looked at her. She must have seen the confusion in Hyun-ju’s eyes, as she began to explain.
‘A while ago, I didn’t see daddy for a long time. I thought he would never come back, but then, after a few days he was with me again! Daddy told me about this great adventure…’ The child made big gestures while telling the story and Hyun-ju had to hold her or she would have fallen.
‘Daddy went to a realm far far away to play dangerous games. He told me he made friends in that realm, and daddy even fell in love with a princess!’ She whispered the last part as if it was a secret, unaware of the fact that everyone at the table heard it. ‘Daddy said the princess was tall, and strong, and smart, and beautiful and that her name is Hyun-ju!’
Hyun-ju almost choked on her own breath. This could not be real. Besides, the only men she interacted with were either at their table, or dead. She must be going crazy.
Unaware of the tension in the room, the little girl continued. ‘You must come with me and find him. Oh daddy will be so happy!’ Now bursting with excitement
Hyun-ju wanted to protest, but before she knew it the little girl hopped off her lap and started to pull her arm.
‘Sweetie, I’m not-’
‘Na-yeon!’
In the span of a second the little girl went from pulling her arm to being embraced by a man who Hyun-ju assumed was the father.
‘Don’t run away like that again! Daddy was so scared!’ still holding the little girl like she was the most precious thing in the world. ‘Oh and wear your mask Na-yeon! It’s for your own safety.’ he said as he pulled away from the hug and placed the mask on her little nose.
That’s when she saw him .
Today was going to be a busy day for them. First he and Na-yeon would go grocery shopping. Gyeong-seok promised her to buy her favorite ice cream before she had to go to the hospital again. Afterwards they’d have dinner in a restaurant where both of them went frequently, and then it was time for her treatment again.
That last part was always the hardest. Gyeong-seok couldn't imagine it would ever be easy for him to watch his daughter in a hospital bed. The money from the games had given her the treatment, which he was very relieved about, but unlike most of the other players, it did not guarantee a solution to his problem.
He’s felt uneasy ever since her diagnosis, but the stress had gotten worse after the games. At first that surprised him. He had the opportunity to help Na-yeon, so why did he still feel so much anxiety? The answer to that question came pretty soon. Everytime he tried to sleep that place haunted him. Gyeong-seok had tried to find other players before, but he didn't even know most of their names. The only name he knew was hers , player 120, Hyun-ju.
It was stupid of him, but when he came back he told Na-yeon about her. At first it was just to give his daughter a reason as to why he abandoned her for almost a week, but slowly he started to realize he liked talking about Hyun-ju. Everytime his daughter asked about ‘the princess' Gyeong-seok would reminisce about her again. It was all very silly, he was well aware of that. But he would probably never see this woman again, and this way he made sure she stayed alive in his memory. He had also drawn and painted her a couple times. To be honest she was his only muse these days. God I’m so pathetic Gyeong-seok thought.
Their food at the restaurant had been great, and Na-yeon loved it. Gyeong-seok was glad to see his daughter so happy. She's quite literally all I have he thought as he watched his little girl make a drawing. It saddened him to know that in a few hours she would be so vulnerable and sick again.
He checked his watch. ‘It’s almost time for us to go baby. Daddy's going to use the bathroom real quick, and then it's time to leave. Be a good girl and stay here okay? Just finish your drawing, and before you know it I’ll be back. This is why being a single-dad is so stressful he thought as he got up to make his way to the restroom.
When he came back to an empty chair, his mind started racing. This could not be happening right now. Gyeong-seok could not lose her too. He started spurting through the restaurant, looking at every table, under every table, he even went to check the ladies bathroom. For a minute he considered actually calling the police. But suddenly he saw her. His little daughter was comfortably sitting in this woman’s lap, talking to her.
Gyeong-seok’s mind was spinning too fast to comprehend all that information. From the minute he saw his daughter he raced to her and wrapped her in his arms.
‘Na-yeon!’ He let out a breath of relieve. I'm never letting her go he thought. ‘Don’t run away like that again! Daddy was so scared!’. He slowly pulled back and said ‘Oh and wear your mask Na-yeon! It’s for your own safety.’ Thanks to her treatment, his daughter was very vulnerable to viruses, and Gyeong-seok insisted she wore a mask when talking to strangers. Speaking of strangers, I should probably thank whoever just took care of my daughter Gyeong-seok thought.
That's when he saw her.