𝐇𝐀𝐋𝐅 𝐑𝐄𝐓𝐔𝐑𝐍

“𝐇𝐄𝐘, 𝐌𝐀'𝐀𝐌, 𝐖𝐄'𝐑𝐄 𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐄 𝐀𝐆𝐀𝐈𝐍, 𝐖𝐀𝐊𝐄 𝐔𝐏.” A soft voice whispered into Kyu-ri's ear. “Hey, I—”

𝐖𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧 a second, Kyu-ri's immediately opened and her hand quickly reached over to grab the person's shirt.

“𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 the fuck do—”

𝐈𝐭 was Yu-mi.

𝐋𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 go of the younger girl's shirt, Kyu-ri sighed. “Oh, it's just you, Yu-mi.” A pause. “And— Ugh, don't call me ma'am, it's Kyu-ri. Yoon Kyu-ri.”

𝐘𝐮-𝐦𝐢 nodded, clasping her hands together.

“𝐊𝐲𝐮-𝐫𝐢,” Yu-mi spoke, trying out the word on her tongue, “nice name.”

𝐈𝐭 wasn't hard to see that even though Kyu-ri had a moment of softness towards the girl, she had easily fell back into the cold demeanor, ignoring Yu-mi once again.

“𝐘𝐞𝐚𝐡, yeah, semantics, whatever.”

“𝐒𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐬?”

𝐊𝐲𝐮-𝐫𝐢 pushed off her bed, no longer giving Yu-mi attention. It was as if after she said her name, the younger girl didn't exist anymore.

𝐘𝐮-𝐦𝐢 raised a hand, pointing a finger up, opening her mouth to begin saying something else, but stopped when she saw Kyu-ri's back turned to her in a cold manner.

𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 were back though.

𝐀𝐧𝐝 Kyu-ri wondered why Yu-mi changed her mind. The younger girl seemed so sure that she wanted to end the games, but what had gotten her to just... come crawling back?

𝐈𝐧 an awkward moment, Kyu-ri turned her head back, double-taking in a bit of bewilderment that Yu-mi woke her up, that she was even here.

𝐁𝐮𝐭 noticing that the younger girl wasn't facing in her any more, Kyu-ri turned her head back forwards.

𝐀𝐬 she began to walk back, someone yanked the back of her jacket roughly, stopping her from moving further.

“𝐇𝐞𝐲, what the—”

“𝐊𝐲, sweetie...” The voice of the person behind her drew out. “Let's make a deal.” Kyu-ri immediately recognized the voice, groaning as she heard it.

“𝐒𝐚𝐯𝐞 it, Ji-ho, I don't want to be involved with you.”

“𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐞 on, lighten up, Ky.” “Stop calling me that, jerk.”

𝐊𝐲𝐮-𝐫𝐢 scoffed, stepping away from Ji-ho. She was clearly fed up with the older man, trying to get away from him.

“𝐃𝐨𝐧'𝐭 do that.” Ji-jo quickly started up again, pulling Kyu-ri back again. “We're not done.”

𝐊𝐲𝐮-𝐫𝐢, facing the opposite way, narrowed her eyes and scoffed.

“𝐈'𝐦 done here. So, therefore, we both are done.” “No, no, Ky—” “I said to stop calling me that!”

𝐎𝐧𝐜𝐞 again, Kyu-ri pulled away from Ji-ho, pushing him back.

𝐉𝐢-𝐡𝐨 began to get annoyed by her antics. He geith is teeth as his jaw clenched and squeezed his hands together.

“𝐊𝐲, are you fucking kidding me?”

“Attention, your mealtime starts soon.
All players, please form a line...”

“𝐆𝐞𝐭 back here right now.”

“Let me repeat the instruction.
Attention. Your mealtime begins now.”

“𝐊𝐢𝐥𝐥 yourself, fucker.” Was all Kyu-ri shot back, scoffing as she turned to glance at him.

“𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭'𝐬 not very nice, now is it, Ky?”

𝐊𝐲𝐮-𝐫𝐢 turned around, eyes now wide with anger. Slowly, she stepped towards Ji-ho. “You want to tell me what being rude is? Go to hell, fuckface!”

“All players, please form a line in
the center of the room.”

𝐈𝐧 a huff, Kyu-ri pushed Ji-ho back, sending him into the floor, then turned on her heels and walked towards the lines.

𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞 was handed the same meal, paired with a water bottle.

“𝐇𝐞𝐲, sit by me?” Yu-mi suddenly asked, nudging Kyu-ri. “You look lonely, and I'm guessing that you actually are...” She finished her sentence off with a shrug, glancing up at the taller girl.

𝐖𝐢𝐭𝐡 her own small shrug, Kyu-ri agreed, sitting over next to Yu-mi's small group of people.

“𝐔𝐦, hi...” Kyu-ri muttered, placing a hand up to wave slightly at the three boys and girl that Yu-mi sat next to.

𝐎𝐧𝐞 boy smiled back at her, waving, but the rest had no response and just began to eat their own food.

𝐆𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠 up, Kyu-ri noticed the number of people who were currently there.

“𝟏𝟖𝟕... Woah, a lot of people came back...” She muttered, furrowing her brows. It was hard to believe that so many people came back. 87 of those people hadvoted to leave, but then came back. It was crazy.

“𝐇𝐨𝐥𝐲 fuck...” Yu-mi muttered, suddenly only just then noticing how many people were there.

“𝐒𝐨, uh, Yu-mi, why did you come back?”

𝐀𝐭 first, the question is met with complete silence, but Yu-mi swallows, trying to find the words. “Uh...” They start to form on her tongue, but fall apart.

“𝐈... I don't have a home...” She began, now playing with her food, messing with the rice with her fork.

“𝐌𝐲 dad kicked me out because I didn't have money. But... uh... Well, he was the one who pushed me into debt. I didn't have a choice. Then, he gained a debt himself. So, it just got kind of... bad.”

“𝐇𝐮𝐡...” “What?” “Mmm, nothing.”

__________

𝐖𝐀𝐊𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐔𝐏 𝐈𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐌𝐈𝐃𝐃𝐋𝐄 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐍𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓, 𝐊𝐘𝐔-𝐑𝐈 𝐇𝐀𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐔𝐃𝐃𝐄𝐍 𝐔𝐑𝐆𝐄 𝐓𝐎 𝐏𝐄𝐄. “Well, fuck, I don't wanna piss the bed, that's... that's just weird... and gross...” Kyu-ri muttered to herself, shaking her head.

𝐖𝐢𝐭𝐡 a sigh, she clumbled out of her bed, stalking towards the bathroom. But it seemed that some other girl already beat her to it.

𝐁𝐮𝐭 the other girl began to get loud, Kyu-ri flinched in instinct.

“𝐇𝐞𝐲, hey, hey! Open the door, you jerks! I have to pee really bad, right now! Don't you jerks ever take a leak? Let me use the restroom! I gotta go now!”

𝐓𝐡𝐞 woman, 212, began to cry, bang on the door, and beg to be let into the bathroom.

“𝐇𝐞𝐲, just let me use the bathroom for once second. Jeez, come on! Look, it's mostly men in here, okay? Want a puddle here?”

𝐊𝐲𝐮-𝐫𝐢 stepped towards the girl, hesitant to get too close. She opened dher mouth to speak, but once again 212 went off.

“𝐃𝐚𝐦𝐧 it!” She yelled, punching the door. “Damn you, scumbags! I hope you're ashamed how you treat us humans, damn it! Who do you think you are?”

“𝐌𝐚𝐲𝐛𝐞 you should calm down. He's just staring...” Kyu-ri muttered.

“𝐇𝐞𝐲 Triangle, I don't need you. Get me your superior. Just get me that square head guy!”

𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐧, just like that, the guard with the square mask stepped in. “You may not leave this room past your given curfew.”

“𝐃𝐚𝐦𝐧 it. You masked guys think you control when I'm supposed to pee, huh?”

𝐉𝐮𝐬𝐭 like that, the square mask guy closed the window. It was annoying, and the light was no longer there.

𝐊𝐲𝐮-𝐫𝐢 groaned, rolling her eyes.

“𝐎𝐡, what the... You freaking bastards! You don't think I'll go pee right here and now? Shit!”

𝐊𝐲𝐮-𝐫𝐢 leaned up against te door. “Hey, please guys, I don't want to see this and I don't think you do either. And if I'm honest, she... I think she'll actually do it. So, could you please just open the door...”

𝟐𝟏𝟐 walked a few feet away and pulled down her pants. “Here I go. You all ready to hear some rain?”

𝐍𝐨𝐰, Kyu-ri really didn't want to watch that, she felt violently uncomfortable in the moment, even.

𝐁𝐮𝐭, thankfully, just like that, the door opened. Kyu-ri let out a breath she didn't know she was holding.

“𝐅𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰 me.”

“𝐃𝐚𝐦𝐧, Koreans won't listen to someone until they start screaming at you. Goddamn it.”

𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐧 212 walked up to go in, followed by Kyu-ri, 067 stopped the two of them. “I gotta go.” She said, looking at the triangle guard.

“𝐎𝐡 yeah?” 212 asked, laughing. “I beg to get the damn toilet, and you're gonna sit right on top of it like that? Hey. You're s pretty annoying girl, aren't you?”

𝐖𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭 another word, 067 walked in, not listening to 212.

“𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 a rude little brat. Hey.”

𝐊𝐲𝐮-𝐫𝐢 followed suit, walking in last.

𝐀𝐥𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡, walking in, she made sure to shoulder check the guard who had opened the door. Fucker should've opened up sooner...

𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐧 Kyu-ri was in her stall, she could hear 212 in the stall next to her making some questionable sounds. But Kyu-ri just ignored it and did her business.

𝐒𝐡𝐞 tried to be quick, feeling uneasy in the atmosphere of the bathroom. With a sigh, she flushed the toilet and went to the sink to wash her hands.

𝐒𝐮𝐝𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐥𝐲, 067 opened the stall that 212 was in without a warning. “Don't scare me like that!” The older woman exclaimed.

𝐋𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 the side, 212 tried to see if anyone was watching, making sure nobody caught her smoking. “What?” She then asked.

𝐈𝐧 a swift motion, Kyu-ri switched off the sink and slowly made her way towards the occupied stall. “What's going on?” The younger girl asked, drying her hands off on her pants.

𝟎𝟔𝟕 said nothing and pulled out a pocket knife, which clearly scared 212 as she began to cough on her smoke and lean away from 067.

𝐊𝐲𝐮-𝐫𝐢 eyed the knife oddly, mostly just wishing that she had figured out how to smuggle one in herself.

“𝐖𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐚 smoke some?” “You can stay put on the Biel and smoke some more.”

𝐀𝐧𝐝 then, no further reasoning, 067 stepped up on the toilet that 212 was on and began to reach for a vent.

“𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 are you doing?”

𝐍𝐨 response.

𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲, 067 managed to pull the vent down after unscrewing it with her knife. When she did this, all three women glanced up through the vent.

“𝐖𝐚𝐢𝐭. Are you going to go in there?”

“𝐈 wanna see what's up there. You two buy me some time,” 067 began, typing up her hair, “then I'll tell you if I find anything.”

“𝐃𝐞𝐚𝐥.” 212 said, patting her shoulder. “Step up here.”

𝟎𝟔𝟕 stepped on her shoulder and 212 made a strained noise, something along the lines of "oh, wow, this hurts," but she never said any words.

𝐁𝐮𝐭 then, 067 paused, stopping and no longer stepping on her shoulders. She turned towards Kyu-ri and pointed at 212.

“𝐒𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐜𝐡 places. You're taller, so it'll work better.”

𝐊𝐲𝐮-𝐫𝐢 glanced at 212 who just shrugged. She was probably happy to keep smoking and doing nothing. Well, nothing other than buying 067 some time.

𝐖𝐢𝐭𝐡 an awkward glance at 067, Kyu-ri sat down on the toilet. Almost immediately, 067 stepped right up on her shoulder, which caused Kyu-ri to wince. She breathed in through her teeth, trying not to make any noises.

𝐎𝐧𝐜𝐞 067 made her way up into the vent, Kyu-ri felt the weight leave her shoulders, which felt much, much better.

𝐊𝐲𝐮-𝐫𝐢 sighed, leaning her head forward. “She's tall, huh?” She asked 212 awkwardly, watching the other girl nonchalantly smoke, nothing coming from her mouth other than the smoke.

𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 back, Kyu-ri chuckled, ignoring how uncomfortable she suddenly felt. “Okay...”

𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 out of the stall, 212 began to buy 067 some time.

“𝐎𝐡, my God... I bet to hell I've been here today. Ohh... It hurts a lot!”

𝐊𝐲𝐮-𝐫𝐢 sat on the toilet still, glancing up at the older woman, closing her eyes shut tightly.

“𝐈𝐭'𝐬 like trying to push a kid out!”

𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐧 212 mentioned that, on how it felt, Kyu-ri furrowed her brows suddenly remembering. Hee-won. Ji-ho. The whole mess, what the hospital was like.

“𝐘𝐨𝐮 did so good!” Ae-ri exclaimed, clapping her hands together. “You did great, Kyri!”

“𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 would you like to name her?”

𝐊𝐲𝐮-𝐫𝐢 paused, glancing at Ae-ri, then zoning out for a few seconds, just gazing.

“𝐇𝐞𝐞-𝐰𝐨𝐧. Yeah, I want to name her Hee-won.”

“𝐂𝐚𝐧 I see the baby?” Kyu-ri immediately asked, glancing at the doctor, then at her sister.

“𝐘𝐞𝐬, of course ma'am. Could you just... give us a moment?”

𝐊𝐲𝐮-𝐫𝐢 narrowed her eyes, staring down at the floor as she remembered the weight in her arms, the warmth of it all.

“𝐀𝐡! I'm dying!”

“𝐀𝐰𝐰... Look at her, Ji-hyo!” Kyu-ri exclaimed, being a certain type of careful that she had never been before, not even with Ji-ho.

“𝐖𝐞𝐥𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 to the world, Yoon Hee-won.” Ae-ri whispered, her hand resting on the blanket covered shoulder of Hee-won.

𝐈𝐭 was truly something special.

𝐁𝐮𝐭 finally, 212's yelling finally brought her back to reality.

𝐊𝐲𝐮-𝐫𝐢 snapped up, shaking her head. “Huh, wha..?” Furrowing her brows, Kyu-ri then tried to remember what she was doing again.

𝐎𝐡, yeah, right.

𝟐𝟏𝟐 began to just plain out groan dramatically, rolling around the walls of the bathroom stall. “I'm dying. Why won't it come out?”

𝐀 few seconds later, there was a knocking on the door. “It's time to come out.”

𝐊𝐲𝐮-𝐫𝐢 and 212's eyes widened, glancing at each other. They both knew that 067 hadn't came back out yet and they needed to keep buying time.

“𝐉𝐮𝐬𝐭 give me a second, okay?” The older woman called out with a dramatic groan. “Come on you. Oh, it's all blocked.”

“𝐘𝐨𝐮 know, you did say you had to go pee earlier. He... might've added two and two together.” Kyu-ri mumbled.

“𝐍𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐞!” 212 shot back. “Those guards are idiot jerks!”

𝐊𝐲𝐮-𝐫𝐢 only arched a brow at this and ignored how stupid she sounded herself. “Whatever...”

“𝐘𝐨𝐮 bastard, get out! Hurry the hell up! We're in a rush, okay?”

“𝐘𝐨𝐮 need to go back. Come out now.”

𝐖𝐢𝐭𝐡 an annoyed groan, Kyu-ri walked out the stall. “Hey, sir, can't you tell she's trying to hurry up!? Just give her a minute, dipshit!” She practically screeched out.

“𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲'𝐫𝐞 gone!” 212 yelled. “All of them, the stall wipes, they're gone!”

𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐧, she ran up and turned on a sink. “But I'll use the sink. No, don't come in. You just stay out there. Did you hear that? Don't come in here. I'm not wearing pants, okay?”

𝐊𝐲𝐮-𝐫𝐢 snorted at the attempt. It was good, kind of genius, but very, very desperate.

“𝐎𝐤𝐚𝐲... The water is nice in here.”

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐨𝐬 ensued due to the desperation both girls had for the guard to not come in. 067 had began to crawl back, Kyu-ri could hear that, and could only pray that she crawled backwards faster than she crawled forwards.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 knocking came again.

“𝐘𝐨𝐮 have to come out.”

“𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞'𝐬 no toilet paper in here either!”

“𝐈𝐟 you don't, I'll drag you out.”

“𝐈 have to wipe myself, okay!”

“𝐒𝐢𝐫, please don't come in. 212 isn't wearing pants, so just... give us privacy, alright?”

𝐓𝐡𝐞 guard came barging in, looking around. The sink was still running and the bathroom had this weird thing going on with it.

“𝐇𝐞𝐲, aren't you supposed to check each stall for toilet paper? Get that square guy in here! I need to file a complaint.”

𝐊𝐲𝐮-𝐫𝐢 stood in front of the stall the other two girls were in, watching the guard come closer.

“𝐒𝐡𝐞 isn't wearing pants. Didn't she tell you that? That's invasion of personal space if you come in here, alright?”

𝐓𝐡𝐞 guard still pushed past Kyu-ri and opened up the stall. And in it?

𝟎𝟔𝟕 holding a roll of toilet paper and plugging her nose while 212 sat on the toilet.

“𝐘𝐨𝐮 bastard, what the hell?”

𝐈𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲 the guard slammed the door back shut and turned around, facing Kyu-ri once again.

“𝐈 can't believe this.”

𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 was a momentary silence between the two before Kyu-ri spoke up, “Oh, so you're a pervert? Did you like seeing that or something? Maybe some kind of kink you have going on? I mean, honestly man... that's kind of gross.”

𝐓𝐡𝐞 guard said nothing.

“𝐘𝐨𝐮'𝐫𝐞 disgusting.”

𝐓𝐡𝐞 toilet flushed and 212 came out, followed by 067.

“𝐘𝐨𝐮 little bastard, you... Hey, jerkface. You, I said don't come in, didn't I? You harassed us in there, yeah? Hey, the second I'm out of here, I'll sue your ass, okay? Is that clear, asshole?”

𝟐𝟏𝟐 shoulded-checked him, earning him his second for the night.

𝟎𝟔𝟕 soon followed, glaring at the guard as all three girls exited the bathroom.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 only thing Kyu-ri had doubts about was the fact that... 067 never fully screwed the vent shut again.

𝐁𝐮𝐭 as the girls walked back, 212 became insistent, a little annoying even. “Hey, what did you see?” She asked over and over until 067 finally said something.

“𝐈'𝐥𝐥 tell you tomorrow.” “Why tomorrow? Tell me now. Hey. What did you see? You must have seen something. You were up there for so long. Come on.”

“𝐉𝐮𝐬𝐭, stop, go to your bed. I said I'll tell you tomorrow and I promise that.” 067 shrugged the older girl away.

𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐧 it was only Kyu-ri and 067 left, walking to their beds, the shorter girl paused.

“𝐇𝐞𝐲, can I know?” She asked, sure that 067 would once again say, "tomorrow." But to her surprise, she actually didn't. 067 stopped and turned to face Kyu-ri.

“𝐎𝐤𝐚𝐲, I'll tell you right now.” She told the younger girl.

𝐊𝐲𝐮-𝐫𝐢 swallowed, nodding awkwardly. Biting the inside of her cheek, she felt a shiver run up then back down her spine as 067 leaned in to whisper.

𝐊𝐲𝐮-𝐫𝐢'𝐬 back was now against a bed frame, holding her up, but also pinning her in place.

𝐇𝐞𝐫 breath was warm on Kyu-ri's ear, feeling like a welcome presence, when in reality it had no right being there. But Kyu-ri didn't mind, in fact, she kind of even liked it.

“𝐈...” 067 paused, finding the right words, the right way to tell Kyu-ri, even though it should've been real simple to begin with.

“𝐎𝐤𝐚𝐲, I saw them cooking... There was sugar, it was like candies or something. And... they were stirring. I think maybe... Dalgona.”

𝟎𝟔𝟕 leaned back, letting Kyu-ri process the information.

“𝐈'𝐦 sorry, Dalgona?”

“𝐘𝐞𝐚𝐡. I think. But you can assume whatever you want, obviously—” “No, no, it's probably a better guess than anything I could think of.”

𝟎𝟔𝟕 smiled, slightly, but it wasn't like a happy smile, it was more of a condescending, "I win" type of smile— a smirk even. She arched an eyebrow along with this and leaned even farther away from Kyu-ri.

“𝐖𝐞𝐥𝐥, night then.” “𝐔𝐡, yeah, goodnight.”

JETT YAP!!

oh. my. goodness. 3000 words this chapter? (and you can fact check that without the Yap session) HOLY SHIT!! (I actually have time to write now; I wrote this in 40 minutes)

Anyways, nehehehe, did you guys see that Emei and Gigi Perez dropped new music?? (and Lyric did too👅) I love February. It's such a music month.

AND MILUNE RELEASES DEBUT ALBUM IN FOUR DAYS!! (it's probably gonna be released by the time I put this chapter out, but um, whatever)