Chapter Text
Hyunju hears a loud knock on her door as she finishes dressing in her pink uniform for the first day of this year's games.
She makes sure her mask is on tight before strapping her gun around her shoulder.
"Open this." A firm voice says behind the door.
Hyunju mutters a curse under her breath before slowly turning the knob. In front of her, was another masked triangle guard.
"Guard 025." the guard says, "We were instructed to escort the players to their first game."
Hyunju recognizes that awful voice despite the distorter. She wanted nothing to do with anything that Guard 026 was telling her to do.
So she grabs the side of the door, wanting nothing but to slam it in his face, but he keeps his hand on it, not letting her shut it.
"I'll come out when somebody else tells me to." Hyunju says.
"You need to stop with this all this bullshit and come out."
Guard 026 grabs onto the front of her uniform, tugging her out of her room with an incredible amount of unnecessary force.
Hyunju, in disbelief, slams him against one of the walls with the side of her gun, "You don't dare drag me out like that no matter what, got it?!" she angrily mutters.
"Hey!" another triangle guard yells from across the hall.
Hyunju immediately lets go, identifying this triangle guard as guard 011 because of her short height and higher pitched voice.
"This is why you two can't do anything together despite being work partners." Guard 011 says, picking up Guard 026's fallen gun on the floor and shoving it back in his hands.
"Can I change my number then?" Guard 026 groans.
"You two can suck it up, that's what." Guard 011 turns back to walk to where she was instructed to be, "You better hurry up. The players are waiting and you'll get set on fire if you're late."
She turns the corner, leaving Hyunju and Guard 026 alone there again.
Guard 026 is about to say something, but Hyunju holds her hand up, "Don't say anything or I swear gonna shoot you right here."
They start walking down towards the bedroom area in a deafening silence. She can feel Guard 026 trying to step on her heels from behind her, and it takes all her might to not strangle him.
She didn't know when all of this started. This hatred they had for each other that was an unknown reason to every guard who knew them.
She hasn't even figured it out herself.
They've been working together for multiple games in the past. They had joined the same year as circle guards and were assigned to be task partners because of it. They both got promoted to a triangle guard around the same time as well. They had watched the same people die and win every year, they've cleaned up the same areas at the same time, have watched the same players play the same games for years....
But for whatever reason, they don't fit the shape of each other's hearts.
But it wasn't always like this...
When they first met, they talked well to each other and got along fine as work partners, but just one random day, she was shooting people who had lost a game of marbles and he suddenly went crazy on her, threatening to shoot her for no apparent reason.
And since that day on, it has been a mystery to everybody why all of this had started.
If only she knew the reason....
〇△⃞
Hyunju is back in her room after the first game has ended. She takes off her mask, sighing of relief that she can see and breath properly again.
She takes a seat on the corner of her tiny bed, purposely facing away from the camera and leaning against the wall, exhausted.
Hyunju looks at her hands. They wouldn't stop shaking.
Even if this job pays well for her to save up and leave for Thailand, killing people will always take a toll on her. Whenevrr she shoots, she never takes a second look...
"The games have been stopped by the majority of votes. Please line up behind your doors to help clear out the players." The intercom says.
Hyunju sits back up, sighing of relief. Whenever this happens, it means the guards would get a few days off before they continue the games for the players who were willing to join back again.
And sure enough, after they transported all the players from the island back to their homes, the guards were free to leave for a whole 48 hours until the games started back up again...
〇△⃞
"Gyeongseok! You're here!"
Gyeongseok smiles warmly hearing the familiar voice as he walks into his favorite cafe before they close.
"Hi Mrs. Yang" he says, giving her a hug. Mrs. Yang had opened this cafe over a decade ago, and Gyeongseok had been her first customer. They had built a connection over this, and he never stopped going there ever since.
Mrs. Yang lets go, patting his arms and scrunching her nose, "Now I won't keep you waiting here, I'll go get her so that she can talk to you."
"She's here?" Gyeongseok laughs, embarrassed at how eager his voice sounds.
"Aren't you surprised? She said her plans got delayed for a bit and offered to help me for a couple of days, now just wait here for a second."
Mrs. Yang quickly disappears through the side doors and just a minute later, someone comes tumbling out,
"Gyeongseok! Hi!"
"Hyunju!" he beams, reaching out for her to give her a hug.
He frowns, "I thought you said you had the whole week off?"
Hyunju nods, "I do, but my...plans got delayed so I said I'd help Mrs. Yang out until I have to go back. I could've stayed home, but I miss her too much when I'm gone."
Gyeongseok smirks, tilting his head, "That's so Hyunju. Why are you always so nice?"
Hyunju shakes her head, "Shut it genius boy, you say it like it's a bad thing."
Gyeongseok snorts at the nickname Hyunju calls him whenever he does or says something stupid. He rolls his eyes, "Oh cmon, you know it's not a bad thing."
Hyunju scans the room for a little while before turning back to Gyeongseok, "Is Nayeon not here?"
"She's with my sister, I didn't bring her today." Gyeongseok pouts, "Were you hoping to see her instead of me?"
"No of course not!"
"Liar."
Hyunju snorts, "I was just wondering, okay? Don't be like that. You know you're my favorite person."
Gyeongseok's heart does a triple backflip from those few words she had said. He tries to discreetly hide his blushing face with a cough.
The truth was, he has been in love with Hyunju for the longest time. Yes, he started coming to this cafe to see Mrs. Yang, but he kept coming more often to see and talk to the beautiful woman who had worked there, which he later learned her name was Hyunju.
She started remembering him after a while and they have become pretty good friends over time.
But after days and nights of the same orders and many failed flirting attempts....he has made absolutely no progress with her romantically.
There would be times when he had tried to ask her if she wanted to go on a date with him, but it always had just ended in a mess with Hyunju (who definitely caught onto his crush very quickly) making fun of his speech skills.
Even now, Gyeongseok is just simply talking to Hyunju about his day, but he feels like fainting because of how nervous he is.
"Okay I'm sorry to stop you but...do you need some water or something? You look like you're about to throw up." Hyunju worriedly says, fanning him with her hands.
"Nonono I'm fine, I- uh....I just think- is it hot in here?"
"It's 15°C genius boy." Hyunju giggles, "Do I make you that nervous?"
Gyeongseok feels his face getting hotter. He just gives up and covers his red face with his hands, which makes Hyunju crack up,
"I'm just kidding Gyeongseok, my goodness, don't puke all over the counter."
He finally laughs, trying to compose himself by taking deep breaths, "I'm sorry, I think something's wrong with me today."
"You literally act like this all the time." Hyunju chuckles.
"Do I really?"
"Pretty much. Do you act like this everywhere?"
Gyeongseok frowns, "Not exactly..."
"Then why can't you be a normal human being around me?" Hyunju asks, crossing her arms, trying to give him a perfect opportunity to ask her out.
Ok she got him now.
But like the stupid idiot of a man he is, all he does is say, "I don't know...because you're...you."
"Because I'm me?" Hyunju asks, squinting.
Gyeongseok clears his throat, "Wheres the bathroom?"
Hyunju sighs, trying hard not laugh. He's been here more times than she could count, why was he asking her where the bathroom was?
She points her finger towards the right of the cafe, "Use your eyes, genius boy."
He mumbles a "Right.." under his breath before scattering off to the direction she pointed in.
Once he's out of sight, Hyunju rubs her eyes in disappointment. Is he ever going to ask her on a date?
Apparently Mrs. Yang is thinking the same thing as she finds Hyunju looking annoyed. She laughs and rubs her back, "That man is never going to make a move huh?" she says laughing.
Hyunju lets out a deep breath she was holding, "I really do like him Mrs. Yang, but he can't even form words to speak to me."
She chuckles, helping Hyunju up to her feet, "At least we know he really likes you then right?"
"I guess..." Hyunju mutters, letting herself crack a smile.
"Good. Now make sure he's okay yeah? I'll make him his usual before we kick him out for closing."
〇△⃞
The mask is back on. Great. 48 hours went by too quickly.
Out of the 456 players who played red-light green-light, 336 died. An all-time high record. And out of the 120 survivors, 97 wanted to re-join, an all-time low.
And as she lined up outside her door before getting the day started, she prayed with all her might that the games could end earlier than usual so that she could go back home as soon as possible...
〇△⃞
"Can you fucking stop?!" Hyunju yells at Guard 026 for coughing for the third time in a row. They were instructed to patrol the restricted areas before the next game starts.
"I'm coughing for goodness sake!" he retaliates.
"Well it's making me want to shoot you even more, so freaking shut it!"
Guard 026 scoffs, turning to face her, "We promised we wouldn't kill each other right? Because if that happens, were both dead."
"Then shut the fuck up!" Hyunju yells. The tunnel that they're in echoing loudly, buzzing both of their ears.
"I don't understand why you have to be like this all the time."
Hyunju's jaw drops, feeling at a loss for words. She turns her whole body to face him directly, "Excuse me? You're the one who started all of this!"
"Can we just be in silence for the rest of the time?" he angrily mutters.
"You know what? No. You brought it up so now we're gonna talk about it."
"We see each other for less than a month each year. We don't even know who the other person is so we don't need to talk about it."
Hyunju ignores him, "That first year when we started working together, we were fine. And all of a sudden, one day you just randomly started cursing at me for no reason! So this whole thing is actually your. fault." Hyunju says, walking closer towards him.
"Stay back." Guard 026 firms, grabbing tighter onto his gun.
"What? Are you gonna shoot me, huh? You'll be dead."
Guard 026 stays silent not letting the rifle out of his grip. Hyunju groans in frustration, wanting to slam her own head against the wall.
"This feels like hell..." he mutters under his breath, closing his eyes, praying that they could be released before one of them strangles the other.
"Oh be quiet...." Hyunju moans.
And for the next few minutes, they manage to stay in complete silence, holding themselves back from whatever else they wanted to say.
Suddenly, a loud clank was heard somewhere in the tunnel which makes Guard 026 flinch in the slightest. He hopes she doesn't notice, but of course she does,
"Get a grip. It was the fucking gate closing."
"Don't talk to me." he grumbles.
"Then stop trembling so much, genius boy."
Hyunju turns her head to look at him, finding it suspicious how he suddenly shut up without following her comment with another remark of his own...
When it's finally time to go back, Hyunju points to the ladder, "You go first."
"No...I'll...I'll wait for you, just go and I'll come up soon."
Hyunju furrows her brows from underneath the mask, as she doesn't hear a single ounce of hatred in his voice for the first time in years.
"Fine." she says despite her thoughts, grabbing onto the ladder and climbing up until she's out of sight.
Once her footsteps have faded enough, Gyeongseok takes off his mask, finding it hard to breathe.
"Genius boy."
The nickname Hyunju calls me when I do something she doesn't like. It's just a coincidence right? It's just a coincidence....
Gyeongseok, now feeling sick, grips onto both sides of the ladder, wondering if he's even able to hold himself up. It takes all his strength to climb himself back up.
And once he gets into his room before he's supposed to escort the players to their next game, his mind is still running a mile a minute.
The guard he has hated for years...the one he's been thinking of killing multiple times...It couldn't be her.
But it wasn't just the fact she simply said the words 'genius boy' It was the way she said it in that special, specific tone of hers that makes you feel stupid.
Gyeongseok loves Hyunju more than anyone, and has heard her call him that nickname a million times.
Theres no denying it. It's her. Hyunju is Guard 025.
Gyeongseok feels himself mentally breaking down, not knowing what to feel or what to do with this information he's collected.
How could them two even be the same person? He couldn't imagine it. He would do anything to be wrong right this moment.
But for now, he needs to live with this realization...Live with the fact that Hyunju is most certainly the guard he's been working with for years at this awful game.
He needs to live with the fact that he's going to have to face her again here in a few minutes.
He needs to suck it up and not let this affect his performance today.
Hyunju... Gyeongseok thinks to himself while strapping his gun across his shoulder for the next game, his fingers not being able to stop shaking.
What am I supposed to do now? I just found out my sworn enemy and the love of my life is the same person...
I don't even know whether to love or hate you anymore...