The greatest griefs are those we cause ourselves.

~ Sophocles (496 BC - 406 BC), Oedipus Rex

The door was unlocked and swung open automatically exposing the fully lit corridor to the mansion. Siwon fell on his knees in disbelief as he watches the blood drain out of his best friend’s corpse like a running tap. Donghae’s eyes were wide open and fixated on Sooyoung who could do nothing but stare back at him. Yuri covered with her hands in shock. As the reality that their friend had died sunk in, Yuri broke down into tears.

Nobody said a word for ten minutes. Yuri continued crying. Sooyoung continued staring at him, as though making sure to see that he was really dead.

“Donghae, wake up!” Siwon exclaimed as he moved towards Donghae’s body and held him in his arms.

Yuri shuffled her feet over to Siwon and put her arm around him. “He’s gone. Siwon, it’s over.”

“No, he’s still with us. He’s still warm.” Siwon removed the axe from Donghae’s neck and held his face close to his chest. He Donghae’s cheek and a smile appeared on his face as he recalls the memories he shared with Donghae. They would usually spend their time working out together in the gym, competing to see who could develop the nicest abs and arms. Of course Siwon had an advantage because he would secretly work out at sunset every day in his home which Donghae never knew about.

“Come on, wake up, Donghae.” Siwon repeated himself and slapped Donghae on the cheek.

Yuri started crying hysterically again as she hugged Siwon. “Siwon, stop this. You know that’s not going to happen.”

Siwon let go of Donghae and laid him to rest on the white marble floor. He used his hand to cover Donghae’s eyes and mouth so he looked like he was sleeping peacefully.

“It’s my fault right?” Siwon turned to Yuri and asked in a soft, low voice.

“No, it was an accident. You didn’t want any of us to die. You were trying to stop us from killing each other and that’s why you took the axe.” Yuri laid Siwon’s head on her shoulder as the man cried, for the first time in his adulthood, he cried in agony. It was so difficult for him to accept the fact that he had indirect caused the death of his best friend. It was all because of his stupid plan that resulted in this tragedy. Who was he to think that he was capable to find a solution? He was doomed from the start, forced to play this cruel game set up by their captor.

Sooyoung stammered as she pointed at the door. “The door is open. We are free to go. Let’s leave.”

“Sooyoung, can’t you see Siwon is torn up by Donghae’s death? You can go alone if you want to. Let him calm down first.” Yuri was furious and she could not understand how Sooyoung, someone whom she used to love and respect so much was now no longer the best friend she knew. How could she become a monster just within three hours in this game?

“There’s no point sitting here and crying over his death. Let’s see it this way, Donghae died for the greater good. Because of his death, the three of us will live!” Sooyoung was right in her own way and there was no way that Yuri and Siwon could deny that. They both knew in their hearts that a death was inevitable but they just could not be the one to execute it. Sooyoung and Donghae could, and Donghae paid the price with his life.

Siwon got up on his feet and held Sooyoung by the shoulders. “Sooyoung, I can’t believe you wanted to kill Donghae. You would have murdered him if not because of the accident.”

Sooyoung stared Siwon straight in the eye. “The masked man was right. Why should three innocent people die with him? He was obviously guilty of hiring someone to hit Yoona. He was the only one who could not respond back when the accusation was made towards him and his strong reaction was a clear sign of his guilt!”

Siwon let go of Sooyoung as he realized that what she said made sense. He knew for sure he was innocent of the charge that was made against him. He knew where Yuri was eight months ago when her step-sister met with the accident at home. It was either Sooyoung or Donghae who was guilty. From the way Donghae had looked at him a while ago, Siwon could see the uneasiness and sadness in his eyes. Donghae might have been the guilty one among them.

Siwon took one last look at Donghae’s body and walked out of the room as Sooyoung and Yuri followed silently. There was now a portion of the corridor which they had not previously seen with a staircase that led downstairs.

“Hurry, let’s go! Maybe we can get out of here!” Sooyoung ran ahead of Siwon who walked hesitantly beside Yuri.

“I don’t have a good feeling about this,” said Yuri as she shuddered in fear. “I don’t he’s going to let us off. He did say it was only the first part.”

The trio walked down the staircase which was made of wood. Because the mansion was probably over fifty years old, the staircase creaked at each step they took. It was dark downstairs and they were dreading to find out what happened.

A door was revealed on the second floor when the light bulb above it was lit up.

“I really don’t want to get into any more rooms.” Yuri commented but Sooyoung dragged her towards it as Siwon helplessly followed along. Much as the rebellious nature in them wanted to go against what had been planned, they knew that this time there was no escape unless they followed the twisted path prepared for them.

They entered the room which was pitched dark. As the door shut behind them and locked instantly, the middle of the room lit up with a jar, a Swiss army knife, a weighing scale and a tape recorder on a table.

“That… must be his message for us.” Sooyoung dragged her feet over to the table and held up the tape recorder as she pressed play.

“Welcome to the second part of the game where I call it “The Room of Sacrifice”.  In this part of the game, you have three minutes to fill the jar with 10 ounces of content excluding the knife and this tape recorder. The best part of this game is that not everyone has to take part in it. If you can complete the task in three minutes, you will win the game. If not, you’ll suffer a hefty penalty which I will only reveal at the end. Your time starts now.”

Before they could fully make sense of what this was all about, a timer started on the wall.