Despite the disintegrating trust among them and the fallen desire to stand united as one, they still came to an agreement to play the game. No one wanted to waste any time, and after being relayed that there would possibly be a total of seven games altogether, they sped up the process.   “Who goes first?” Nam Joon asked as they headed towards the kitchen to sit around the dining table. He took the Russian Nargant M1895 handgun from his safekeeping and placed it on the table as everyone was finding a seat.   It seemed such a casual thing to do, but the position of one’s seat could aid in the strategy to win the game of Russian Roulette.   “Are we going anti clockwise?” Jung Kook asked, drawing a seat.   “Sure.” Nam Joon shrugged, his main interest was still on Myung Eun who had successfully convinced the others the number was fifteen. He was curious to see what would happen next.   “You sit here,” Jung Kook gently pulled Ye In by the wrist to sit her down. He then took his place on her right side.   “Why aren’t we scattering?” Ye In whispered to him.   “If the other players got you checkmated and forces you to say the number, you can just pass it to me,” Jung Kook said.   “But then you will die,” Ye In remarked, giving him an incredulous look. Was he even thinking his plans through or was he trying to act like a hero?   “Alright! Let’s start the game!” Tae Hyung spoke and took a seat on the left of Ye In, making it impossible for Jung Kook to change seats now. Everyone were more or less seated with the ones they had formed an unspoken alliance with. The division had never been this magnified to the eye.   “As long as we know the number, it shouldn’t be a problem,” Jung Kook reassured her. His eyes fell to her hand, hesitating to grab them in his grip. Maybe he should lay off the overly friendly skinship first.   “I am suddenly not so sure anymore,” Ye In whispered faintly, almost inaudible when the others started making a ruckus about who to start. It could either be advantageous or not.   “Let’s start with the oldest!” Ji Soo spoke. She stretched her arm out to fetch the gun from the center and handed it to Soo Jung who was the oldest among them.   Everyone had guessed their own possibility of the appointed number; the number when the real bullet was supposed to go off. The first round should be easy, it was what came afterwards that made it hard.   Soo Jung did not say a word and took the revolver in her hand. It felt so foreign and weighed heavier than its small appearance. Though she knew the gun would be fired at the fifteenth turn, the trembling fear remained when she slowly directed the gun to her own head.   “I can’t watch,” Mi Joo squirmed, quickly hiding herself behind Ho Seok in the hope he could shield her from the gruesome image.   Click.   Soo Jung’s hands slowly regained its balance after she had pulled the first trigger. Nothing happened, simply because the game’s suspense wouldn’t end during the first turn. There was no way the game master would let it happen. And based on their clue, the number was fifteen. So she braved herself, squeezed her eyes shut, and continued to pull on the trigger two more times.   The click was heard twice, and Soo Jung opened her eyes in relief. Her shoulders were rising along to her short breaths, terrified of her own action. She let go of the gun and slid it over to Ho Seok, the player on her right.   “Shoot,” Ho Seok cursed as he picked up the gun. Similar to Soo Jung, he also knew the gun would not go off during the start of the game. But due to Soo Jung’s bravery, the count was already at three.   “Come on, it’s still safe,” Tae Hyung shouted openly to him. He didn’t directly mention the deadly number they had obtained from the clues, but everyone silently agreed the range was supposedly above ten.   “You’re right.” Ho Seok took a deep breath and took the revolver. It was amazing how such a small item could cause such a big damage as far as taking someone’s life. He too shot the gun, twice.   “That’s it?” Ji Ae questioned.   “That’s it.” Ho Seok apologetically gave it to Mi Joo, seeing her horror struck expression. “You can do it.”   “I can’t…”  Mi Joo was already having a mental breakdown. Her eyes casted such a hollow gaze, piling up the wet tears before it would come streaming down her face. “I don’t wanna do this. I really can’t.”   Her voice was screeching and she nearly tumbled over from her chair. Mi Joo tend to present herself as the overly cheerful and sassy drama queen from time to time. However, the ones in the room were the very same people who knew how much of a coward she truly was. They had justified her for her weak actions many years ago. The very same action that caused a loss. The exact reason why she would never be on good terms with Yoo Ji Ae.   Yoon Gi was rolling his eyes in boredom, wondering why he had to take the seat next to Soo Jung, making him the last person in line to play the game of luck. And now this foolish girl was going to elongate the nerve wrecking gameplay. He was about to open his mouth when someone else had beat him to it.   “Stop acting like such a stuck up child!” Ji Ae was the first one who lost it, smashing her fist against the table. “Do you seriously think any of us enjoy playing this game? Do you think we enjoy shoving a gun down our throat like we welcome death? No!”   Mi Joo was already a crying mess at this point, letting every single syllable of Ji Ae’s speech verbally slither her open like a piercing sword. Her conscience was aware of her wrongdoings, but she was numb to any glint of hope that pertained.   “Ji Ae, calm down,” Ho Seok tried to defend his friend by reducing the harshness in Ji Ae’s words. But a death glare from the angered girl made him whimper away like a puppy.   “Act like a teamplayer for once and stop being so selfish. Your actions may not hurt yourself, but it will affect others. And most of the time, it affects us negatively,” Ji Ae continued, the harshness in her tone fading as she ended her statement. It was back. The memories of the past returned.   Mi Joo tucked her lips beneath her teeth, sniffing to herself uncontrollably as her nimble fingers reached to the gun. She did not utter a word of apology or even fought back using a defensive retort. She directed the gun towards her head, taking a deep breath before she decided to act selfless for once. Her hands were trembling terribly like a person experiencing problems in controlling the inner nerve systems.   “You’ll be safe.” She heard Ho Seok’s faint whisper in her ear, and as she pulled the trigger, knew his words were more fact-based rather than a mere encouraging statement.   Nothing happened aside from the mechanical click. She stared at Tae Hyung beside her with her big red swollen eyes, and handed the gun to him next. Though they had counted the possible number, Mi Joo was too afraid to take any risk.   Unlike the others, Tae Hyung was rather reckless and brazen in his attitude. The only time he showed his cautious persona was only when he did anything engineer related.   “The current count is six, right?” He asked and swiftly picked the gun in his hand, even twirling it around to show off his ability to handle a gun. Except that he couldn’t. So when the gun slipped off his finger, nearly pushing the trigger as it pointed at others, they all began to panic and dodge any possible attack.   “Oops.”   “Please don’t play around with it.” They could sense some annoyance in Soo Jung’s normally patient tone. The game was getting on her nerves too.   “Alright, alright. Just trying to liven the solemn mood a bit.” Tae Hyung rolled his eyes. He was confident he was safe and quickly pulled the trigger three times. Just as predicted, nothing happened.   “What’s the current count?” Ye In questioned, taking the revolver next.   “Eight,” Tae Hyung answered quickly.   “Ah, thank you.” Ye In flashed him a weak smile and turned to meet Jung Kook’s eyes. She did not have to verbally communicate for him to understand what was going on. It was a simple test to see whether honesty was still their main virtue or if they had decided to indulge themselves in a lie. Tae Hyung opted to deceive her, but no one else corrected him. They exposed their true selfish nature.   “The count is nine,” Jung Kook mouthed to her soundlessly and she nodded.   Ye In was very daring, but smart. She may not have an entire plan figured out, but she was able to read other people’s behavior and decide what to do based on that.   Pulling the trigger once made several people gasp, some more than others. There was a particular group of people who looked slightly pale now, especially Ji Soo who usually looked so composed. So she pulled for the second time, and fear sunk deeper for those people. So she ended her turn.   “It’s at eleven now,” Ji Soo uttered under her breath, being seated next to Jung Kook. They remembered that fifteen was the death count. She stared at Ji Ae with concern. The two sat together. The only way to escape was for Jung Kook to pull only once.   Before they could formulate a plan, Jung Kook had already fired once, but nothing appeared. He seemed rather relaxed since he knew the number wouldn’t possibly reach him.   “Stop!” Ji Ae spoke out of panic. “The next one will fire a bullet.”   “Really?” Jung Kook frowned.   “Yeah. Thirteen is an unlucky number after all,” Ji Ae tried to reason.   The others who knew the number was fifteen were watching with interest. Myung Eun especially was very observant of the unfolding scene. Yoon Gi was right. Everyone would try to betray and deceive each other, even if they were friends. No one could be trusted.   “And by having me