Did he really say that you would be a wager? Like actual…

„Well, if Zico ordered it, we should leave now. I’m done anyway.“ Jaehyo nodded and scanned your body a last time, approving to his own work being done.

You blinked and gulped, your throat feeling all dried out, it was scratching uncomfortably to swallow or even breath in.

The ash haired guy smiled softly at you and waved you over to follow him. P.O was watching you with sharp eyes when you passed him by and you sheepishly looked at the ground to avoid direct eye - contact with the weird, bug - eating man.

Wager… this was not only a theme park or circus… On top of that they were gambling at this place? 

The longer you had to stay here, the more you questioned how on earth you got to a place like this and how it could be that it was even existing.

♤♡♢♧

Jaehyo had led you into another red room. So, the room Zico hat locked you up inside hadn’t been a single piece. The torturing red with its very intermittent black embellishment must have been the main pattern of the theme park buildings interior.

The room was enlightened by some red traditional Chinese balloon lamps which were hanging from the ceiling and the insulated sunlight from outside that was shining through the green stained glass of the windows. The room itself looked more likely like some kind of saloon, little tables and chairs around them, people sitting at them and playing cards. 

To you the soundscape in this room was more than pleasant. The death threatening silence which had followed you like thick fog throughout your stay at the 7 Deadly Sins vanished in this room and made you feel as there was actual life around you.

When you entered the room, the guy who was sitting at the table in the middle of the room got up from his seat and smiled victoriously at the two of you. He clapped his hand and then flattened the cotton of his black suit with white edges as accents. His black hair was neatly styled and he had an overall handsome face, though his eyes had that deceitful, cat - like spark in them.

„You finally arrived!“, he cheered and his smile turned into an amused smirk before he approached Jaehyo. „Jaehyo, my dearest. How about you joining today’s game?“

His invitation caused the tailor to laugh uneasily. „You know I’m not that talented and lucky at gambling.“

The gambler just patted Jaehyo’s shoulder and pressed him down on one of the seats. „So it’s decided: You’ll stay!“

While he was busy with his colleague, you had hoped he’d forget about you but after forcing Jaehyo to take seat, U-Kwon’s whole attention was directed towards you.

„You, too. Sit!“, he told you with an inviting, yet commanding tone.

After getting to know Zico and P.O you didn’t want to mess with anyone in here and someone who had made gambling to be his personal mission couldn’t be a too convenient companion. Not like you had already made your experiences with people like him, but the bad feeling that had clasped around your neck didn’t want to set you free.

„I’ll explain what’ll happen once my friend Dave will arrive.“ 

Dave? Would that be the fourth person on the table? The last one to join the round? 

„I’m in the middle of a race, my success to others is bad news.“, U-Kwon went on with his briefing and laughed happily about his own luck, „And I’m about to hit the jackpot! I want the money and you will help me with it!“

You would help him with it? As his wage…? Hopefully he knew how badly this could turn out…

U-Kwon’s friend Dave shortly after arrived and when he sat down on the table, the gambler started distributing the cards. You figured then, that you wouldn’t play. The only ones gambling would be the three males at the table.

„What do you have for me today? I brought a lot of money.“, the guy called Dave told U-Kwon. He was an american with brown hair and a very common hairstyle. His Korean was perfect, though. Dave had several tattoos covering his arms which where exposed due to his tuck up sleeves and a black, glimmering piercing was shining on his right ear. 

You’ve never been around people like this before… and it made you feel anxious to stay around them for too long. The only one who gave your mind some peace and calmness was Jaehyo who looked extraordinary but still the most normal amongst all of the people you’ve met for the past hours.

„She’s my wage.“, U-Kwon answered to his taker and grinned. „You can do with her whatever you want if I lose. Are you interested?“

His statement moved your head quickly towards him. Whatever he wanted?! You opened your mouth to protest but then you saw something shining on the inside of Dave’s jacket. Was that a gun? Was everyone in this room carrying a weapon with him? By scanning the room for one time you realized another thing… you were the only female. 

Suddenly you felt even more threatened.

„Sure, why not.“, Dave agreed with a nod and indicated U-Kwon to finally begin.

Stressed you watched how the males started playing Texas Hold’em. Unfortunately you didn’t know about the game at all, so you had to read from their faces who was about to win or not. It was clear how bad Jaehyo must have been, he was constantly sighing and making a suffering face. Dave and U-Kwon both had a poker face on. 

If it wasn’t you who would change the owner if U-Kwon lost, you would have thought that this game was extremely boring and that you didn’t share just a bit of the guys’ excitement for it. But since your life was more or less depending on it, you tried hard to understand how it worked. Asking Jaehyo for a brief introduction to the game wasn’t possible as the guys were sunk into their game once it had started.

The game found its end when U-Kwon threw his cards onto the table and shouted so enthusiastically that everyone in the room was turning their heads towards the center.

„I won!“, he declared.

Dave angrily pushed his chair off the table and got up.

„Bullcrap! You cheated! The cards are marked!“

In the very next moment he had grabbed his silver gun and directed it straight at U-Kwon’s forehead.

The gambler’s facial expression changed from euphorically to an annoyed and down looking one.

„That’s not very nice, my friend!“, he said and his right hand pushed the gun away in a quick movement. The following happened so fast that you almost weren’t able to follow. U-Kwon hauled off and planted a punch on Dave’s chin which made him lose his balance and fall to the ground.

What happened next was unbelievable. Some of the people in the room fled but those who stayed started joining the fight. The whole situation was going wild and even the calm and gentle Jaehyo got up from his seat and grabbed the closest chair to use it as a battering ram. He was running into the fighting mass and caused an uproar of screams.

Even the person that had helped you keeping sanity was turning into a crazy freak…

In the heat of the moment you took your chance and looked for the way out. While everyone was fighting, you managed to escape the room and immediately looked for the exit You didn’t know where you had to go but everywhere was better than to get involved into the fight and possibly getting shot by Dave or smashed by Jaehyo’s chair.

♤♡♢♧

The floors looked all alike with the weird circle drawings on them and the further you got, the worse the lamps became. To some point they were blinking irregular and made strange noises. 

When would this nightmare finally stop? 

In hope you wouldn’t run into either Zico or P.O, you had to be especially cautious. Since there wasn’t a single window in one of the hallways, opening a door was like Russian Roulette. You either found a left alone floor or room or ended up being caught by others.

The lamps were buzzing annoyingly and causing you some serious headache when one of the doors was suddenly opened and a guy with glasses on was looking at you. He had usual looking middle parted light brown hair. Like everyone else at this place (except for Zico) he was wearing a suit which in contrast to the rest was a very simple black one. He wasn’t wearing any special accessory… except for two other things in his hands. A fork and a knife.

„Finally my dinner arrived!“

Dinner? You weren’t delivering dinner. 

When he slowly walked towards you and over his upper lip it started to dawn on you… you were delivering the food. You were the food!