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Game two. They didn’t know what they would be playing, only that they had to form groups of five. Nam-gyu followed Thanos as he walked up to a group of three guys.
“Would you like to join the Thanos world?” He spoke holding his head high, as if it were a privilege to be asked by him.
The three guys looked him up and down and then laughed.
“Yeah you’re guys that got your asses kicked yesterday. Sorry but no.” The one who was likely their leader said and then shooed them away.
That wasn’t the first group to turn them down. Thanos must have asked nearly thirty people and so far they all said no.
Nam-gyu sighed as he watched Thanos approach another person and then told to go away. He would never admit that the reason no one wanted to play with them was that they had made themselves look stupid in front of all the other players when they tried to take on Player 001. It was two verse one and they still lost. Not a single hit from either of them on 001.
Even Gyeong-su ditched them. Some number one fan of Thanos he was. But that was okay. He often got a little to close to Thanos for Nam-gyu’s comfort so screw him.
It would be Nam-gyu’s choice to team up with strong, yet ugly looking people. Three people that could help them win whatever game they would play but be an eye sore. That way, Thanos’s attention would never drift to them.
But Thanos more often than not went up to girls. Young pretty girls. And every time he spoke to one, it pissed off Nam-gyu. He’d stare at her with his arms folded, looking for any flaw on her that he could use to convince Thanos that she wasn’t that pretty. But he could never find one.
He had nothing to worry about because they all turned Thanos down. And every time they did, Thanos looked utterly confused, not realizing that any appeal he had to any of them was gone when 001 slammed him to the ground.
And then without warning, Thanos took off, running across the room. Nam-gyu had to run to catch up to him and almost crashing into to someone along the way. He caught up just as Thanos was tapping a girl on the shoulder.
“Hey senorita would you like to join the Thanos world?”
“Uh no.” She said and then laughed and turned back to her friends.
Yong-sik led him mother through the large crowd, hoping to find three people that would agree to join their team. As much as he loved his mom he really wished she wasn’t there. Not because her life was in danger in these games, but if it were just him, he could have easily found a team. But with her being probably the oldest player and weaker and slower than the others, she was going to be a hard sell.
He’d never abandon her. Eventually there would be three people left over that would need a team. But who would those three be? Three other slower and weaker players? It certainly didn’t give him any confidence that they would come out of this game alive.
Walking around and looking for someone that just might team up, he kept seeing it. That purple hair moving through the crowd, ever so slowly getting closer to them. Someone else was having trouble finding a group.
No… just no.
Day one, that guy and his friend laughed when his mother scolded him for joining the games. Day two, they got into a physical fight with player 333 and were subdued by one single person, player 001.
Those guys were trouble.
But there was no avoiding him. After one more rejection, Thanos, as he called himself, was standing in front of him and his mother forcing a smug look. Yong-sik could see there was panic behind his eyes. Yep, the guy was having trouble finding a team.
Well you should have behaved yourself and not acted like a fool.
But then the thought occurred to him that he and his mom were rather pleasant people, had been no trouble, and they still couldn’t find a team. Life wasn’t fair.
Next to Thanos stood his clingy friend, glaring at him and his mother, as if the thought of teaming up disgusted him.
Well the feeling is mutual buddy.
“Would you two like to join the Thanos World?”
He and his mother looked at each other. He expected his mother to shake her head no, but instead she raised her eyebrows at him as if considering it.
“Um… mom can we talk for a moment?” He put his arm on her back and guided her away.
As soon as the mom and son stepped away, Nam-gyu turned to Thanos. “Um… Hyung, are you serious?” He couldn’t believe it when Thanos had gone up to those two. They were quite different from the type he usually asked to join his team.
He just… couldn’t be that desperate yet. There were still plenty of people out there looking for a team.
“What’s the problem with them?”
“Um… that lady is like a hundred years old. What if the next game is something like tug o war? Or capture the flag? You do realize that if we lose the game we die right?”
“Don’t worry about it. I’m strong enough for both of us. And if we have to run and she’s too slow, I’ll carry her.”
“I don’t know about that.”
Thanos was strong, but not that strong. Carrying an old lady would only slow him down. Nam-gyu was here to get enough money and pay his debt and get out alive. Not to die because he had to be nice to some weaker person.
“Come on Nam-su, we should respect our elders.”
“Its Nam-gyu. And yeah you were totally respecting your elders yesterday.” He rolled his eyes. His shin still hurt where player 001 kicked him.
“Oh I get it…” Thanos grinned. “You really want some cute girls on our team don’t you?”
Nam-gyu’s eyes widened. “No… why would I want that!” Thanos was so dumb and clueless sometimes. Although not it felt like his brain was short circuiting because he wasn’t sure if he wanted some cute girl that had some strength and speed but Thanos would be constantly hitting on her, or the old lady that would probably get them all killed.
The old lady. Definitely the old lady. If they died they no one else would ever get the chance to have Thanos.
“Okay, they can join.” Nam-gyu said resigned.
“Good to see you’ve come around.” Thanos patted his shoulder. “And after we get out of here maybe the old lady will make us dinner.”
Nam-gyu nodded slowly. If they got out. He was pretty sure today was his last day on Earth.
Once they were out of earshot Yong-sik turned to his mother.
“Mom you can’t be serious. We cannot team up with them. Do you know how bad that would make us look?”
Geum-ja sighed. “Son, no one else wants us on our team. I don’t think we have a choice.” There was a sadness in her voice as she spoke. “And…” She glanced over at Thanos. “The one at least seems strong.”
“But those two have been trouble since we got here.”
He couldn’t believe two grown men, one that looked to be middle aged would act like kids. He often got second hand embarrassment any time Thanos spoke and wanted to be as far away from his as possible. But his mother was right. They had no luck finding a team. Despite losing that fight, Thanos was strong and if they did wait around for the left overs they could get paired up with three very weak people.
“It will be alright. I grew up during the Korean war. I can handle them.” His mother forced a smile. “And I think that purple one had a name?”
“He calls himself Thanos.”
“Thanos? That’s unusual.”
“Its a stage name and its a character from a comic book.”
“Well Thanos might be our only hope if we’re going to get through this game. I’ll make sure he behaves himself.”
He had to take a moment. That was the strangest sentence he ever heard come out of his mom’s mouth.
“Let’s go tell Thanos we’ll join his team.”
Thankfully, Thanos was still waiting for them and hadn’t moved on to someone else. Yong-sik felt sicker with each step closer. It was like any good standing they had with anyone else in the games was slowly evaporating.
“So… you two joining us?”
“We would love to young man.” His mother spoke before Yong-sik could say anything.
Thanos grinned and held out his fist in front of Geum-ja. “Welcome to the Thanos World.”
Geum-ja just looked at him confused.
“He wants a fist bump mom.”
“Oh!” His mother balled her hand into a fist and lightly tapped Thanos’s. Behind him, his friend stood with his arms folded rolling his eyes.
Then Thanos offered Yong-sik a fist bump and he reluctantly returned it.
“We should introduce ourselves.” His mother spoke. “I’m Jang Geum-ja and this is my son Park Yong-sik. And you are?”
“I’m Thanos.”
“No I want to know your real name.”
“Choi Subong.”
“Nice to meet you Su-bong. And you?”
“Kim Nam-gyu.” The friend grunted.
“Hey um…” Yong-sik said looking around. “This is nice and all but we still need one more person.”
As if on cue, player 044 walked up to them.
“You insolent fools how dare you! You should have sought me out but instead I had to come to you? How insulting. I ought to cut you to shreds with a straw cutter.”
Yong-sik rolled his eyes. Maybe there were worse people that could have been on their team.
“Oh great, what’s this nutcase on?” Nam-gyu scoffed.
The woman glared at him and before she could say anything Thanos held out his hand.
“Welcome to the Thanos World.”
“Hyung!!!!”
“Thank you. I am Seon-nyeo, Shaman of the sea.”
Attention all players. The team selection has ended. The game you will be playing is six legged pentathlon. You will start with your legs tied together. Each member will take turns playing a mini game at the ten meter mark. The mini games are as follows. Game One: Ddakji. Game Two: Flying Stone. Game Three: Gonggi. Game Four: Spinning Top. Game Five: Jegi. Your goal is to complete all five mini games and cross the finish line within the time limit. Please choose your games now.
Thanos led them all to a space and they sat. Thanos in the middle, Nam-gyu and his mother on each side of him and him and the Shaman on the ends. Yong-sik went over the games in his head, trying to figure out which one would be best for him to do.
“Mom you can do gonggi right?” He thought that would be the hardest of the games. The other four he thought he could do, but not gonggi.
“Yes I can. You used to play ball as a boy. Can you do flying stone?”
“Yeah.”
“I call jegi.” Thanos spoke up as though he were afraid of getting stuck with the last pick.
So that left spinning top and ddakji.
“How did you do playing ddakji against the recruiter?” Yong-sik asked Nam-gyu.
Nam-gyu folded his arms and frowned. “Terrible. I didn’t win a single round and my face hurt really bad for the rest of that week. And all my co workers were asshole about it.”
“Oh…” Well he was not going to play that game.
“I want spinning top.”
“Then the Gods have chosen me to do ddajki.”
“No you just chose last.” Nam-gyu mumbled.
“You insolent fool!”
“Hyung why did you let this loon join our team?”
“She wanted to join, that makes her worthy of the Thanos world.”
“You bring a curse upon you.”
“Oh shut up!”
Yong-sik groaned. Two of them couldn’t get along and one was a bit delusional.
“Will you two stop it already!” Hey yelled.
The two glared at him. They were among the scariest looks anyone had ever given him. Ones that made him want to sleep with one eye open.
“Yeah we need our teamwork to be tight if we are going to get through this.” Thanos spoke up.
Yong-sik blinked. Maybe Thanos had some maturity after all.
“She started it!” Nam-gyu pointed to Seon-nyeo.
“I don’t care. You stop this right now. She’s much older than us, show some respect to your elders!”
“I am not your elder!” The shaman snapped at him, almost breaking character.
Nam-gyu groaned and pulled his legs into him self rested his chin on his knees and pouted. Like a little kid that got scolded by his parents.
At least, those three were being quiet and not causing trouble. All they had to do now was wait for this game to begin and for their turn.
“You got your nails done.” His mother said to Thanos.
Yong-sik groaned. Mom don’t make friends with them.
“They’re the infinity stones.” Thanos said holding up his hand.
“The what?”
“Infinity stones! Haven’t you seen Avengers Infinity War?”
No his mom had never seen a Marvel movie. Those weren’t the kind of movies she’d enjoy.
“I have not.”
Thanos’s eyes widened. “So… you collect all the infinity stones, snap your fingers and half of humility is destroyed.”
“Oh that sounds-”
“When we get out of here, I’ll have you over to my place and we’ll watch the movie…. Actually we’ll have to watch all the ones that come before it or you’ll be lost. We’ll have a movie night. You can bring your son.”
“Can I come too?” Nam-gyu asked with his lower lip stuck out.
“But yeah there’s about ten movies that come before it, we’ll watch them all.”
“I look forward to it.” Geum-ja said politely.
Thanos didn’t seem to understand that they would be at his place for days if they did that. Not only that but there were a few of those movies that Yong-sik would not look forward to watching again. But it didn’t matter. They were going to play this game, if by some miracle they got through it, they would all go their separate ways and never have to deal with each other again.
“Now can I ask why you got into a fight with that other young man?” Geum-ja asked putting on a sweet smile that Yong-sik knew was fake.
Thanos grimaced. That was MG Coin. He’s a finance bro and he gave me some very shitty advice. Told me to invest in Dalmatian Coin. I did and I lost all my money!”
“Oh something similar happened to my son.”
“Mom seriously...” He really didn’t need Thanos knowing his personal business. But Thanos was all too interested to hear as he leaned in closer to her.
“Some man ripped him off and put him in all this debt. That’s why we joined the games.”
Thanos stood up. “Is that guy here? We can go and kick the shit out of him-”
“No he is not here.” Yong-sik said loudly. Even if that man did end up in these games he did not want Thanos involved. “And did you already forget what happened to you the last time you picked a fight?”
Thanos sat back down. “When we get out of here, we’ll go find him. We’ll give him an ass kicking.”
“Yeah sure.” Yong-sik rolled his eyes.
No they would not. Yong-sik was going to pay off that debt and forget about everything that led up to this. He wanted it done and over with.
“I sense you are scared.” Seon-nyeo said to Nam-gyu.
Yong-sik rolled his eyes. She didn’t sense anything. He could see the guy’s hands shaking from all the way over where he sat. Now he was regretting not separating those two because this would probably not end well.
“I am not.” Nam-gyu said coldly.
“The Gods say otherwise.”
“Well you’re Gods are wrong… I just don’t care.”
“You don’t care?” Geum-ja looked over at him.
“Yeah there’s a quote by the famous Admiral Yi Sunsin. Those who seek life shall die, those who seek death shall live. So you just act like you’re going to die anyway and tell yourself that you don’t care what happens to you. That way we’ll win, take our cash and get the fuck out of here. So no I’m not scared.”
His mother was quiet for a moment. “You’re very well read.”
His mother continued that sweet old lady act. And it worked on both Nam-gyu and Thanos. Just wait till those two got on her bad side.
Nam-gyu nodded and smiled. “I read a lot in my spare time.”
“You must be very intelligent. What is your job?”
His face dropped. “Club promoter. Club Pentagon. That’s how I know him.” He pointed to Thanos.
Yeah you two know each other so well that he never gets your name right.
“Oh that sounds exciting.”
Nam-gyu shrugged. “Not really. I mostly just serve drinks and clean up after a bunch of gross fuckers. Uh wait… not him… he’s not gross, he’s one of our favorite guests.” Nam-gyu said the last part fast as if correcting himself leading Yong-sik to believe that Thanos probably trashes the place when he’s there and Nam-gyu just doesn’t care when he does it.
“Well I spent most of my life delivering babies. That job was beautiful but it could get gross at times.”
Nam-gyu turned away from her, uncomfortable with that topic.
The first two groups were called to play their games. Both teams lined up on their track and their legs were tied together.
Yong-sik sat up, looking over the group in front of them. He needed to see how these first two games went and how hard they would be to complete in five minutes.
“No Nam-su you can’t handle these.”
“Its Nam-gyu! And I can… look.”
Yong-sik didn’t even want to know.
A gun went off signaling the start of the game.
Both teams got through ddakji with little issue. They moved on to the next game. Flying stone. One team hit the stone on the first throw. The other… he missed. The five had to walk to the stone, pick it up and then go back behind the throwing line, which took a lot of time. He threw it again and missed again. And then missed his next throw too.
“Whoa he’s pissing himself! That’s nasty!” Thanos announced to pretty much to the entire room. “Ew! Now they’re all stepping in it! What if they slip on it and fall?”
Yong-sik groaned. Any consideration that Thanos had some maturity was now gone. He and Nam-gyu were both laughing the unfortunate man.
“Do you think its still warm on his leg?”
“The Gods are not pleased with your words.” Seon-nyeo said looking disgusted.
The man missed again. Thanos’s commentary was probably not helping.
“But no seriously. If that were me I’d at least aim it at-”
“Su-bong that’s enough.” Geum-ja said through gritted teeth. Her patience had finally worn thin.
The other team was stuck on gonggi. The woman tried and tried to get through all five rounds. But she ultimately always got stuck at round three. Once she did get to four but couldn’t pass it.
In the end, their time ran up with out completing their games. The guards got out their guns, aimed and shot them all right there.
The room got silent.
And then the next two teams were called.
The first two teams failing did not exactly inspire any confidence, but Hyun-ju had hope that her strategies would work.
“Alright everyone, we got this.” She said once their legs were all tied together.
Her team consisted of Player 096, Young-mi, Player 125, Min-su, Player 380, Se-mi, and Player 256, Gyeong-su. Se-mi, Min-su, and Gyeong-su were already a team when Hyun-ju and Young-mi found them. Gyeong-su had trouble finding a team until he met Se-mi and Min-su. People didn’t want to team up with him because of his association with Thanos and no one was wanting to team up with Min-su, thinking he was weak and a liability. Hyun-ju had her own troubles finding a team and Young-mi was too shy to ask anyone.
She had faith in them all. And she was not ready to die here because someone couldn’t spin a damn top or throw a stone.
The gun went off.
“One… two… one… two…” They counted, keeping in step with each other.
When they reached the first game, Young-mi picked up the ddakji. She slammed it down on the other card but it didn’t flip. She picked it up breathing heavily.
“Young-mi, try it with it flipped.” Hyun-ju instructed. She had played the game many times while in the army. It was what she and the other guys did to pass the time.
Young-mi flipped the card, took a deep breath, and slammed it down. This time the other card flipped. They cheered, and so did the crowd around them.
“Alright let’s go.” Hyun-ju ordered.
“One… two… one… two…”
Se-mi picked up the stone, aimed it, and threw. It just barely missed its target.
“Fuck!” She yelled.
“It’s okay, don’t panic. We’ll go get it.”
They walked to the stone, Se-mi practically dove to grab it.
“Now remember, backwards.”
They walked backwards which saved them so much time.
Se-mi threw the stone again, this time it hit and they cheered.
Now to gonggi. She thought this game would be their down fall. Both Se-mi and Young-mi said they were no good at it and Hyun-ju had never played. Her father never allowed it because that was a “girls” game. But Min-su said he used to play with his aunt and he thought he could do it.
They knelt down at the gonggi table and the guard handed them the pieces. Min-su got through the first round. And then the second. But on the third he dropped them. Min-su hung his head.
“It’s okay, just try again.” Se-mi said.
“Yeah, come on, you got this.” Gyeong-su patted him on the shoulder.
Min-su tried again. Hyun-ju could feel her heart pounding.
First round. Passed. Second round. Passed. Third round. Passed. Fourth round. Barely passed.
They were all quiet as Min-su did the fifth round. She could feel the tension in Gyeong-su’s arm which was still linked around hers.
And he passed. The whole room cheered very loudly.
Now to spinning top.
Gyeong-su picked up the top.
“make sure to wrap it around the axle first.” Hyun-ju said. Now that they were through gonggi, victory seemed to be in reach and she just wanted this to be over.
Gyeong-su did as instructed and then released the top. It spun on the floor and the room erupted in cheers again.
Now to her turn. They walked to jegi. So close and they had plenty of time left on the clock.
Hyun-ju picked up the jegi and then a horrifying thought occurred to her. She looked at her team.
“None of you watch!” She ordered.
Her team looked at her confused but then they all looked away.
“None of you either!” She yelled to the audience. “Turn around!”
To her surprise, the audience listened.
She dropped the jegi and kicked it. One, two, three, four, five.
She looked at the guard who gave the signal that she passed the game.
The audience cheered again as they made their way to the finish line and crossed.
Nam-gyu rocked back and forth as the team crossed the finish line. So it was possible to pass all five games within that time limit. Well good. Maybe they weren’t all doomed to die.
The pill Thanos gave him did wonders. His hands stopped shaking and he no longer felt sick. That dumb Shaman was also finally leaving him alone. God she was annoying. Although he had to wonder what nonsense she’d come up with if she had a pill. It was almost tempting to ask Thanos to offer her one. But she’d probably snitch on them.
Thanos wasn’t kidding, those pills were strong.
More teams played their games. Some won. Some lost. Blood flew everywhere whenever a team lost. The tracks were covered in it. That and vomit from those that got sick and piss from that one loser. Nam-gyu wondered if he could finger paint in all that mess. Maybe he could draw Thanos’s face. Or jump in it like it was a rain puddle. Would that make everyone mad if it splashed all over them? Maybe he and Thanos could glide around on it or lay down and make blood angles. Then their shirts would be red instead of white and green.
Thanos’s shoulder bumped his. They looked at each other and laughed.
The wait seemed to take forever and watching the games was getting old. There were only so many times you be excited for someone to throw a stone at something, or laugh when someone missed the jegi or the ddakji. Now it was just boring.
Finally their team was called. Nam-gyu stood up and nerves came over him. Wait was the high wearing off?
Their legs were tied together. He was between his mom and the shaman. Yong-sik looked at his team. Thanos was bouncing on the end, a little too excited to play and not like their lives depended on them not failing. Nam-gyu was shaky, his mom looked nervous and the Shaman was praying.
They all linked arms except for Seon-nyeo. She held her hands together.
“Dear Gods of heaven and earth, dear Gods of heaven and Earth, please guide me through this trial.”
“I thought the Gods were already on your side.” Nam-gyu smirked.
“Silence young man.” Seon-nyeo glared at him. “Before you bring their wrath upon us!”
"Well your Gods didn't keep you out of debt so sounds like they already brought it on you." Nam-gyu continued.
“Guys not now! You two can fight over this when this is over!” Yong-sik practically yelled. He didn’t like the shaman either… or Nam-gyu that much. But they needed to work together for the next five minutes and right now any hope he had of getting through all five games was dwindling fast.
Seon-nyeo finally linked arms with him. The pink soldier raised his gun and fired.
“Go! Go! Go!” Thanos cheered while pumping his fist in the air as they made their way to the first game. He was off step with everyone.
“Hey you’re going to make me fall!” Nam-gyu yelled.
“Go! Go! Go!” Thanos ignored him.
They made it to ddakji. Seon-nyeo picked up one of the cards and held it.
“Go! Go! Go! Go!” Thanos bounced up and down.
And Seon-nyeo just stood there with her eyes closed.
Yong-sik nudged her. “Um… you really need to go… we don’t have that much time.”
“I go when the Gods tell me the time is right.”
“Yeah well tell your Gods we only have five minutes and to hurry it up!” Nam-gyu said.
“You cannot rush fate.”
“Oh just slam it down already!” Geum-ja snapped. Her sweet old lady act was slowly slipping away.
“I’ll help you out senorita! I will rap to the Gods! She’s playing ddakji, she’s gotta flip it so she doesn’t get shot in the head-”
Yong-sik cringed. His rhythm was all over the place and the lyrics… just what were those? This guy had an album out right?
“The Gods now say the time is right.” Seon-nyeo said through gritted teeth. She slammed down the ddakji and it flipped.
“Way to go senorita!”
They moved to the next game. Faster to make up for the lost time. Thanos even started to skip, which made Nam-gyu stumble.
Yong-sik grabbed the stone. He aimed and threw. And it landed short.
He groaned. So much for making up for lost time.
“Let’s go!” Thanos was already walking to retrieved it.
“No so fast!”
Yong-sik walked in time with his mom and the Shaman. When they got to the stone he reached and picked up. Then they walked backwards like Hyun-ju’s team had done.
“Let’s go!” Thanos moved faster. That made Nam-gyu stumble and fall. He almost took his mother down with him but Yong-sik caught her and steadied her.
Well if there was one thing that guy was good at, it was falling on his ass.
“Get up Nam-su! We don’t have much time!”
“It’s Nam-gyu! And you made me fall!” He tried to get up but Thanos kept moving backwards.
“Su-bong hold still!” Geum-ja yelled. “Let him get up!”
As Nam-gyu was standing up Thanos grabbed him and pulled him the rest of the way. They walked backwards, completely out of step and Yong-sik was sure Nam-gyu almost fell again.
Once they were back behind the line, Yong-sik aimed again. He absolutely had to knock the stone over. If he missed again, there was no way they could make up that time. No with this team.
“Come on you got this bro!” Thanos cheered.
“Yong-sik, imagine that stone is the man who swindled you out of your money.” His mothers said, sensing his anxiety.
He imagined it. That man’s stupid face and that stupid grin.
“You destroyed my life you fucker! You ruined everything!” He threw the stone and it hit the target.
His team cheered as did the audience and a huge weight felt like it was lifted off his shoulders. And they moved on to gonggi.
“Go! Go! Go! Go!”
All five knelt down around the table. Geum-ja picked up the pieces.
“Go! Go! Go! Go!”
She got through the first round. And then started round two, but she dropped the pieces and sighed.
“Go! Go! Go! Go!”
“Su-bong, you need to be quiet.” She said forcing a smile.
To everyone’s surprise. He listened. But he still bounced.
“Come on mom, you can do this. Didn’t you say you used to play this game during the war with bullets? Just imagine its the hair of the woman dad cheated with.”
His mother’s eyes went cold. He had only seen that look a few times. When she was really mad.
“You hussy disgusting rotten whore!”
“Yeah you show that bitch who’s boss Ms Jang!” Thanos pumped his fist up into the air.
His mother got through the five rounds fairly quickly, making up for a lot of lost time. Maybe they could do this after all.
Yong-sik glanced at their two remaining teammates. Maybe.
Jung-bae turned to him. “Wow I thought they were a complete mess, but it seems like they are getting it together.”
“Yeah I was worried about them.” Gi-hun kept his eyes on the game. How did that poor old woman get teamed up with that obnoxious purple haired guy and his lackey? She was just here to help her son. It didn’t seem fair at all.
“But they still have two more games and I’m not sure about those two on the end.”
That purple haired one just couldn’t stand still. Young-il had put him in his place the day before he was still so smug and over confident.
Nam-gyu picked up the spinning top, his hands were shaking. He had no idea how to play this game. He only chose it because he wanted to be next to Thanos. That and he knew he couldn’t do ddakji.
Thanos was still bouncing around and Nam-gyu had to wonder if he snuck another pill without him noticing. He really could use another.
“Go Nam-su! Go Nam-su!” Thanos was swinging his fist around, sometimes it would cross in front of his face blocking his view of the top and ruining his focus.
“Nam-gyu.” He finished wrapping it up and ready to release it.
“Go!” Thanos jumped up into the air.
That startled Nam-gyu and he released the top way too early. The top fell down on its side.
“It’s okay bro, try again.”
Nam-gyu picked up the top, his heart pounding and hands shaking more than before.
“Go! Go! Go! Go!”
He wrapped it up again but dropped it half way through. He picked it up again.
“Go! Go! Go!”
That hand swung in front of his face.
His his hand slipped and the string pulled off and he had to start over again. He frantically tried to wind up the rope but it slipped off again.
The time was ticking down. He really couldn’t do this. He didn’t want to team up with women because he thought they would lower their chances getting through the game. But the reality was, he was going to be the reason they all died. All because of these stupid toys.
“Go! Go! Go!”
That hand swung in front of his face again.
“This is your punishment for your words earlier.” Seon-nyeo said. “And my punishment for joining your team.”
“Oh shut up!” He yelled. His last few minutes alive weren’t going to be being insulted by the shaman.
“Hey Nam-su, you should really stop bringing the wrath of the Gods on you.”
“Nam-gyu!”
He tried to calm himself down. That stupid quote was being no use to him because he actually did care if he lived or died.
The crowd was cheering, encouraging them. The remaining players were going to watch him fail. Just like yesterday when he was taken out by a single kick from player 001. Today it was because he couldn’t spin a fucking top. They probably all wanted him to die. Just like his co workers who thought he wasn’t listening when they’d joke that he’d one day die of an over dose and they’d find him in his apartment weeks later rotting away. Well fuck them all!
He glanced at Thanos, who was still cheering him on. Well at least when he died it would be next to him.
“Go! Go! Go!”
“Su-bong be quiet! And calm down! You’re distracting him!”
Geum-ja lifted her hand. Nam-gyu braced himself for the slap. But it never came. Instead she put her hand on his wrist and rubbed her thumb around it in a circle.
“Just breath.” She said. “And ignore everyone else. You can do this.”
In any other circumstance he’d smack that person’s hand off of him. If he did that here, he’d probably get his ass kicked by the son and maybe even Thanos. And then they would all die. And it was kind of nice to have someone not insulting him when he fucked up.
He took a few deep breaths, feeling himself calm down.
He looked back down at the top.
“Make sure you wrap the string around the axle first.” Geum-ja instructed.
Well that would have been nice to know.
He did as she told him. When the top was wrapped up, he released it and it landed and spun.
He let out a sigh of relief and the crowd cheered.
They moved on the final game. Thanos still out of step, hurting Nam-gyu’s ankle and twice he stumbled. But he didn’t care anymore. They were almost done.
Thanos picked up the jegi.
“You need to get this on the first try. We have very little time.” Yong-sik said eyeing the clock.
“Don’t worry I got this.”
“Just imagine it that MG Gold guy’s face.” Geum-ja said.
MG Coin. Thought Nam-gyu
A look of rage came over Thanos’s eyes. He dropped the Jegi and pulled his foot back. Nam-gyu thought he was going to kick that thing up into the stratosphere. But Thanos managed to control himself.
“I lost all my money because of you, you bitch!”
One.
“I trusted you!”
Two.
“You were my favorite Youtuber!”
Three.
“To the moon? To your ass more like it!”
Four.
“You fuck face!” He kicked the last one very hard. It went up above their heads. But that didn’t matter.
Five.
The crowd cheered loudly. They were done. They got to live another day. He wanted to break down and cry.
“Hey bro pick up your mom!” Thanos yelled over him to Yong-sik.
“Huh?” Nam-gyu looked at him.
Without warning, Thanos wrapped his arm around Nam-gyu’s torso and lifted him off the ground.
“Let’s go!”
And their team ran. Oh that’s right. They still had to cross the finish line to complete the game.
“Hey what are you doing hyung!” It was so damn embarrassing. It wasn’t like he had any trouble running.
“I won’t let you fall this time Nam-su!”
“Gyu!”
Thanos had him tight but he was still sliding down and it hurt.
“Hey you’re going too fast!” The Shaman cried out.
“Ask your Gods for speed senorita!”
They crossed the finish line with barely a second to spare. Thanos dropped him. Nam-gyu fell to his knees breathing heavily.
“Whoo!” Thanos pumped is fists up into the air. “One for the Thanos World!”
They were taken back to the dorm. Every one in the room looked at them as they walked in, some looking a little disappointed. He hoped it wasn’t because of him and his mother.
“The Thanos world dominated!” Thanos walked ahead of them all and pumped his fists into the air, as if it were some grand entrance.
Yong-sik would’ t have exactly called that dominated. They barely made it across the finish line in time. But Thanos seemed to be enjoying the attention… good or bad.
Well that was over. They could all move on and never have to work together again. Maybe Hyun-ju would let him and his mom stick around her team. Now that he thought about it, he should have found her earlier and asked her to team up.
“Hey Ms. Jang you were awesome. You got through your game and got Nam-su through his.”
“Nam-gyu! And I was about to figure it out on my own! And why did you carry me like that? I can run you know!”
“Bro I didn’t want to die.”
“We did make a good team don’t we?” Geum-ja said.
Thanos nodded grinning.
Okay mom, you don’t have to talk to them anymore. The game is over.
“You know when we get out of here, I want to have you both over for dinner.”
“Mom!”