The streets of the city were desolate; completely empty and unnervingly quiet. A lone figure walked through the various piles of trash and usual muck that littered the sidewalk. He tugged his jacket together as he walked, trying to keep warm in the cold night. A few of the street lamps flickered on and off, sending down small beams of light onto the cold and lonely figure. He stopped walking and stood under a lamp post; he glanced up at it, staring up at the halo of dimming light that it shone down on him. He breathed slowly, in and out again. The small puffs of breath could be seen in the dark night. The light reflected off his features; his dark brown hair hung loosely, a few strands falling over his left eye limply. His dark eyes dull, he smiled weakly before continuing on his miniature journey. He walked onward, observing the dead city as he did. This area of Seoul used to be densely populated, a thriving area of the city.

“That’s how it used to be. Before the game.” He thought as he kept walking.

                The arrival of the “game” changed everything, this area of the city became the slums overnight; the gangs took over, the bosses of said gangs took hold of the territory and refused to relinquish it. The authorities had tried to reclaim the sector from the crime lords but it was to no avail. He kept walking; a gust of frigid wind hit him dead on, sending trash flying around his feet as he pressed on ward. After the arrival of the game known as “Hell Gate” everything went to hell for the residents of the city, well for the average residents like himself. He passed a rundown park, a melancholy smile tugging on his lips as the wind pushed the rusted swings. The loud creaks from the swings now accompanied him as he continued walking. He passed an old apartment complex, graffiti littering the walls; scrawls of obscene words, phrases and depictions permanently decorated the sides of the building. A loud “pop” echoed in the night from behind him, the sound startled him causing him to turn abruptly. He turned just in time to witness one of the street lights exploding behind him, glass rained down on to the cracked pavement. With a slight headshake he pressed on, the cold air had begun chilling his hands; he clenched and unclenched his fists a few times before shoving them into his pockets in a vain effort to keep warm. The jeans he wore were ragged and old, same with the once pristine leather coat he wore.

                A figure stepped out from the shadows to his left, blocking his path. Cautiously he took a step back, he knew full well this was gang territory, and he didn’t want any trouble. The figure entered the light, and stared him down ominously. The man was not much taller than himself, he was however much larger than him. The burly man narrowed his eyes, lifted up a large hand and motioned calmly for someone to approach. Behind him two more figures appeared and stood by the presumable er, waiting for orders.

“That ‘im?” One of the figures slurred.

“Wha the hell do you think bruh? Why the else ‘ould we be out ‘ere?!” The other one mocked as he took a drag of his cigarette.

“Shut the hell up !”

“Both of you quiet!” The man in the center yelled.

                Both of the henchman closed their mouths at the order; the one on the right spat on to the concrete.

“Get him.” The man yelled.

“Yes sir.” The two chorused, immediately encroaching on the young man before them.

                The young man took another step back, glancing around for an escape route. He turned around and bolted, a chorus of shouts followed him as he ran. He glanced behind quickly, only to see the trio quickly closing in.

“! What the hell did I do to deserve this?!” He swore mentally as he ran.

                A large hand grabbed his collar and pulled him back abruptly; two sets of arms secured his arms and held him down. He struggled against the hold as the hand released him.

“Stop struggling brat or this will be a lot worse.” The er threatened.

                Despite the advice the young man struggled regardless, adrenaline kicking in. The beefy hand grabbed onto his dark hair and yanked, hard. He let out a cry of pain as he was forcefully made to look up at the er. The man stared down at him with a cold and deadly stare that chilled him to the bone.

“I ing told you to stop struggling!” The man yelled.

                A harsh punch connected with his jaw, and the young man felt his head rock to the left as it did. He looked up through his eyelashes as the man connected another strong punch to his solar plexus. All the air left his lungs and he coughed harshly as he struggled to breathe, another punch followed, this time to his chin. The uppercut would have sent him flying backwards if it weren’t for the two henchmen holding him up. The er laughed and punched him once more in the head, effectively knocking the younger man unconscious in the arms of the henchmen. When he awoke he could hear two people yelling in the back ground, he sat up slowly and groaned at the surge of pain in his head. His right hand went up to cradle the injured cranium in an attempt to soothe some of the pain. The yelling increased in volume.

“What the hell happened? What’s with the yelling?” He thought groggily.

“Calm down dammit!” One of the voices yelled.

“I won’t calm down godammit! How the hell are we supposed to make him compete?!” The other voice shouted back, this voice was more effeminate than the other.

                He let out a groan, the yelling was making his head hurt worse; as the groan left his chapped lips the yelling stopped and two men entered the room; one had blonde hair, who’s bangs fell over his right eye. His dark eyes looked down at him with a compassionate stare; a small smile accompanied the stare, underneath the smile two dimples appeared. The other man was taller, and had longer and darker hair. His hair was a dark brown, falling around his shoulders; the man’s dark brown eyes were not nearly as calm as his counterpart’s and much more threatening.

“Hey there, you awake?” The blonde asked him.

“No idiot he’s ing asleep. What do you think?!” The other growled.

                The blonde shot the other man a disapproving look and sighed, running a hand through the blonde locks.

“My name’s Leeteuk, and the grumpy one’s HeeChul.” The blonde said calmly.

“I’m not grumpy, do not introduce me as such!” HeeChul grumbled.

“Well what am I supposed to introduce you as then?” Leeteuk asked in an amused tone.

“The almighty, gorgeous and unbelievably y Kim HeeChul will do.” HeeChul replied with a smirk.

                Leeteuk chuckled and returned his attention to the young man that was staring up at them in a mixture of fear and confusion.

“What’s your name?” Leeteuk asked.

                The young man shook his head vigorously, his dark brown locks flying out as he did. The action made his head hurt more, the pain morphing into a dull throb.

“C’mon tell us kid, we’re not gonna hurt you.” HeeChul added.

                Another head shake; Leeteuk sighed and knelt down in front of him. The young man scooted backwards so he was up against the wall.

“Hey, hey, you don’t need to be scared of us. We won’t hurt you, I promise.” Leeteuk cooed.

                He held out a hand to the younger man and waited patiently with a reassuring smile. HeeChul scoffed and rolled his eyes at the action but the look he gave the younger man was less attitudinal and more compassionate than before.

“D-DongHae…Lee, DongHae.” The young man spoke shakily.

                Leeteuk’s smile grew as DongHae introduced himself, albeit reluctantly.

“DongHae huh? Nice name, you wanna get up any time soon kid?” HeeChul asked snarkily.

“HeeChul, be nice!” Leeteuk scolded.

“What? I didn’t say anything mean. God you are so old.” HeeChul retorted.

“I’m only nine days older than you!” Leeteuk snapped, standing up as he did.

“You’re point?” HeeChul asked with a smirk.

                Leeteuk sighed and returned his gaze to DongHae who now looked more amused than scared but still rather confused. The younger male took the hand Leeteuk had offered him and the elder of the two pulled him to his feet slowly. DongHae felt the throbbing in his head getting worse as he stood up and nearly fell over as Leeteuk helped him stand. He wobbled before nearly toppling over, seeing the unsteadiness of the younger male Leeteuk’s other arm shot out to stabilize DongHae.

“Easy there, you okay?” Leeteuk said as he brought DongHae closer to him.

“…Head hurts.” DongHae mumbled.

“Dammit, I’m gonna beat the fools that brought you here.” HeeChul swore.

“…Where is here?” DongHae asked.

                Leeteuk and HeeChul exchanged worried glances as they fell silent. After a few minutes of awkward silence Leeteuk cleared his throat.

“I don’t think telling you right now would be the best idea. Will you trust me on this?” He spoke quietly.

                DongHae gave the older man a distrusting look, but against his better judgment nodded silently.

“Alright then, let’s get you something for that headache. Follow HeeChul.” Leeteuk said, smile returning.

                HeeChul rolled his eyes and walked out with a huff; the attitudinal male stomped out of the room, uncaring of whether or not his hyung and the younger male where following him or not. They exited the room and passed into a series of twisting and decrepit hallways. DongHae noticed that there was graffiti all over some of them; gang symbols were drawn on there, but on top of that were messages. DongHae’s eyes widened as he read the messages, they were desperate pleas for help; pleas to God, pleas to the others and warnings for others that were to follow.

“W-what is this?” DongHae asked shakily.

                Leeteuk glanced down at the male that was still in his arms as they walked, seeing the startled expression and the exclamation followed the younger male’s gaze. Leeteuk’s expression changed to one of melancholy, he knew why those messages had been left. He had seen countless people writing them, and then heard the screams and wails of pains that had immediately followed. He cursed internally, and sighed as he looked down at the younger male. From the looks of it he couldn’t be older than a teenager.

“Just a kid, he shouldn’t have to go through this. None of them should have.” Leeteuk thought sadly.

“Leeteuk-hyung! Stop day dreaming and tell me what the hell to give the kid for his damn headache!” HeeChul yelled.

                The yell snapped Leeteuk out of his thoughts and made DongHae cringe; they had exited the hallway and entered a large room lined with beds. DongHae’s eyes strayed from the effeminate man that stood in front of him looking rather annoyed, to the various syringes, pill bottles, gauze, and other medical supplies that lay around the room.

“What is this place?” DongHae wondered.

                Leeteuk led the taller male to one of the beds and motioned for him to sit down; DongHae did, and watched as the older man began rummaging through the various pill bottles. HeeChul flopped down onto a ratty-looking office chair with a sigh and put his feet up on the desk that lay in front of him. Leeteuk found the bottle he was searching for and pulled out a few blue pills, he handed them to DongHae.

“Here, these should help your headache.” He said.

                DongHae took the pills and eyed them warily; HeeChul noticed the action and rolled his eyes.

“Yah! Take the damn pills! They aren’t poison, yeesh. Kids these days.”

                DongHae shot HeeChul a glare and took the pills, he struggled to swallow them dry but attempted nonetheless. The pills went down and the door to DongHae’s right opened; HeeChul immediately dropped his feet to the floor and stood up, glowering at the door. Leeteuk turned as well, glaring at the door. A large man entered the room, and DongHae gulped, it was the man that had attacked him. The man stood in front of Leeteuk and HeeChul looking completely unaffected by the pair’s glares; he crossed his muscled arms in front of his chest and smirked.

“KangIn…” Leeteuk muttered.

“Leeteuk-ah, I see you’re taking good care of the brat.” The man, KangIn spoke smugly.

                DongHae’s gaze went from Leeteuk, to KangIn to HeeChul; the younger man noticed that HeeChul reminded him of a cat. The older man was practically hissing at the much bigger man, whole body tense. DongHae froze when he felt KangIn’s gaze land on him; slowly he turned his head to look up at KangIn from his seated position.

“Hey brat, welcome back to the world of the living; well, not for long.”KangIn laughed.

“KangIn!” Leeteuk and HeeChul yelled.

“What? You didn’t tell him yet? Aww, you two have gone soft. Wait till the others hear about this!” The larger man laughed.

“T-t-tell m-me w-what?” DongHae stuttered.

“That you’re gonna die kid. You’ve been chosen to play the game, that’s why you’re here.” KangIn said.

                DongHae blinked, his mind working a mile a minute.

“The game? He doesn’t mean…oh God…no. I’ve been chosen to be a Hell Gate player?!” DongHae thought in a panic.

                Leeteuk noticed DongHae’s growing panic and rushed to his side; the older male gathered DongHae into his arms. He had seen this many times before, the complete shock that accompanied discovering why they had been brought here. It broke even the strongest of men down, and DongHae was no exception. Leeteuk didn’t know why he had been chosen, he never knew why any of the players were chosen but the sight of someone so young having to go through this was almost unbearable to the older man. DongHae felt his mind go into a numbing shock; he stared blankly ahead as he thought about what KangIn’s statement had meant. Hell Gate, the game that had destroyed everything, he had become a player. He knew the game had originally been used as some sort of gang initiation rite, but lately on the news they had been saying that regular citizens had been kidnapped and then turned up dead as a result of the game. He, like the other outsiders knew not what the game entailed, only that all that had played it died, brutally. People lived in fear that they might be chosen for the next game; he too worried that due to some twist of fate he would have to participate. And now here he was a newly selected player about to participate in the game of a lifetime. The game that killed so many, a game that he hoped he would never have to experience. A game that could kill him, easily. A game that has never been won. 

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A/N: So that's chapter 1! Hope you guys liked it and I didn't dissapoint, probably once I get all the characters introduced and stuff I'll do an explanatory bit. Hehehe. Like I said before in the foreward please feel free to critize, ask me any questions, or just leave an encouraging comment. I'd like to know how I'm doing, especially since I'm a little more comfortable with this style rather than the way I've been writing my other stories and such. Umm.....yeah......that's about it I guess. Thank you to all that subscribed! <3 You get cookies and your first chapter faster than expected! <3 Thanks for reading,

~Umma