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Chapter Text

Thirty minutes. All she had to spill her soul to the last person who would hear, or care. Thirty minutes to wonder what could have been, if maybe her father lived up to his prayers, or her mother was brave.

Thirty minutes to steal glances at Player 67. Not someone she loved, someone she could love, longed to love. Someone she wanted to build a life with. With long lashes, and dusted freckles and the most beautiful eyes she’d seen. Like an angel. A cold, beautiful angel, with a locked away warmth.

And even as they talked, for thirty minutes, Ji-yeong felt the emptiness inside her. When Sae-byeok talked about why she was here, and what she was fighting for, Ji-yeong realised. She had nothing. Really truly nothing. Even as she laughed, she supposed she had been in denial about it. When she had her whole life left to live, she knew there must be something out there. Some country, place, drug, job, person that could give her meaning. And when the clock was ticking down on the last thirty minutes of her life, she knew she had nothing. Not until she met Sae-byeok.

But for her to live…

Sae-byeok would have to die. And then her life might as well have ended. To have met the one person she could love, and then kill her, would be like death itself.

And if she died…

Then Sae-byeok could live. Win. Save her family, and go to Jeju Island.

Sae-byeok threw her marble, and it rolled up to the wall, leaving a little dust trail. And now it was her turn.

She sighed, and stepped forwards, leaning down. She looked down at her marble, the light bouncing and shining on it, like liquid. Slowly, she let the heavy glass roll out of her finger, hitting the ground with a soft thud. Her future gone. Her fate sealed.

It rolled a short way, and she stood up.

“Hey, what are you doing?” Sae-byeok stepped towards her, grabbed her shoulder, and pushed her into a wall, hard. Ji-yeong winced as the bricks dove into her back.

“I lost. You won.”

“Stop. Why the hell would you do that?” Sae-byeok screamed, thrusting her again into the wall, fully gripping her collar.

Her lips were so close. If only she could lean forwards…

But it was never meant to be.

“Hey, butter fingers, what else can I say?”

And even as Sae-byeok argued her case to live, Ji-yeong argued her case to die. And she saw the stifled sob, and tears rolling down Sae-byeok’s cheeks, dripping off her face.

“And…” She laughed, with a sob. “And go to Jeju Island.”

The guard led Sae-byeok away, complete with her twenty marbles. Away from Ji-yeong.
She wondered how it felt to die, whether it was quick or slow, agonizing or painless. Though she had committed to her decision, tears still rolled down her cheeks. No matter its worthlessness, she loved life.

But she loved Sae-byeok more.

Sae-byeok walked away, and she impulsively called out. “Kang Sae-byeok!”

Her breath was shallow, uneven, every one a reminder she was alive. A smile widened across her face, smiling in the face of death. “I’m honoured…” She swallowed hard.

“That we were partners.” She chuckled quietly, and smiled with trembling lips.

Her last thoughts were of Sae-byeok. Her smile, her lips, her face, her story.

And then she was gone.

Chapter Text

She was hot all over, burning, on fire, but she was cold, so cold, skin clammy and covered in sweat. Every breath was a labour, keeping her eyes open, a chore. The wound in her side alternated between a dull ache, and a pit of fire and pain. The blood gushed, trickled, leaked out, coating her skin with rich scarlet, staining her shirt.

She was so tired.

Tired of fighting, tired of hoping, tired of living. Her thoughts flickered to Ji-yeong. How long ago was that? A day, two days, a lifetime ago. The image was faded, and watery in her mind, like it was going to disappear, like she was forgetting.

She didn’t want to forget.

She could see the streaks of bright colour in Ji-yeong’s hair, her nose piercing, her eyes.
She couldn’t remember her smile, her number, her last words.

Sae-byeok was crumbling. Memories of her mother, her brother, her old life flickered and slipped through her mind. As Gi-hun stepped away to the door, she wanted to scream for him to stay. Beg him to stay. But it was too much effort to speak, croak, move.

She heard footsteps behind her, but she couldn’t turn over. She felt a knife on her throat, a cold line of metal, but she couldn’t resist. It hovered there, barely touching her skin, unsure.

And then it pressed in, a strip of agony.

And now her blood drained twice, thrice as fast, draining the life from her. She could feel herself fading, faster than ever. Perhaps she was flying up to heaven, where the stars and the moon would greet her. Maybe she was sinking down to hell, where she’d meet her final judgement.

But really, it felt more like floating away. Like the chains on her heart were breaking, like the walls she built were crumbling. Sae-byeok closed her eyes for the final time, and breathed her final breath.

Maybe she was floating to Jeju Island. And maybe Ji-yeong was waiting for her. With an umbrella.

And mojitos.