The first thing that Jung Eunbi’s new classmates noticed were her eyes: cold and distant, but full of disdain.

She looked at everyone as if they were roaches, as if they were pests that interfered with her business. Her lips were straight and thin, refusing to show any sign of interest or courtesy. Her back was straight and she stood awfully still, refusing to let their strong gazes affect her in any way.

She didn’t really mind the odd stares that her classmates gave her. She could see the look of hostility gleaming in their eyes, their hearts burning with aversion towards her existence. It was like they didn’t want her here; it was like they were silently asking her, “Why the did you choose to transfer to this school?”

Eunbi didn’t blame them for thinking like that. Shicho High School was a school well-known for their rigorous academic programs. Students were highly praised and awed for just being associated with the school. Despite the positive image, most of the students inside knew that it was an institution that welcomed behind-the-scene corruption. In order to get into the school, a student would have to prove that they either had the money or the intelligence. Without either one of those, it was extremely difficult for a student to continue their studies at the school.

On the other hand, for transfer students, it was almost like hell. Transferring into the school in the middle of the year was rare and unwanted. Unfortunately for Eunbi, that’s exactly what she was doing.

“Alright, everyone. Settle down.” The teacher looked over at Eunbi with a dull expression. He heaved a sigh—a terrible, loud sigh. “We have a transfer student here. I know it’s rare to have a transfer student in the middle of the school year, but I hope that you will welcome her with open arms.”

No need for that, Eunbi wanted to say.

“Let’s see…Lee Dongmin? Raise your hand.”

A confident hand shot up in the air. Eunbi’s eyes shifted from the entire class to the student with chiseled features and sharp eyes. He was undeniably handsome, and he seemed to be a well-respected individual. The way the entire class just stared at him in pure admiration made Eunbi feel like she could rely on the male student.

“Dongmin is our class representative. He’s also the student body vice president. Please look for him if you have any questions,” the teacher said.

Dongmin smiled and waved. Eunbi just nodded her head.

“We’ll assign your seat next to Bae Yoobin. Yoobin, raise your hand.”

It took a few minutes, but a pale hand slowly rose up from the sea of heads. Eunbi’s eyes landed on a frail girl who didn’t even try to look at Eunbi. Her head was hung low, her eyes glued to her own desk. The girl’s body trembled as if she was terrified of something—

A few snickers echoed in the room. Eunbi's eyes narrowed as she finished her thought:

—Or of someone.

“Freak,” someone in the crowd whispered.

Eunbi turned her head, her short wavy hair bouncing out of place. She looked at the direction of the whisper and squinted her eyes, trying to figure out who had uttered out the rude remark. She looked over at the teacher, wondering if he had heard the same thing. He seemed oblivious of the situation, but if he wasn’t, then he was doing a fantastic job pretending that he didn’t hear the cruel comment.

“There’s your seat. Hey, Yoobin, aren’t you finally glad to have a desk partner?” the teacher asked, trying to lighten up the mood.

So he did hear it, Eunbi thought. Her brown orbs landed back on Yoobin, who meekly nodded. Yoobin’s cheeks reddened in embarrassment. She tried to hide her face with her short black hair and slowly raised her head. When Yoobin finally locked eyes with Eunbi, she gave the transfer student a sorry look, as if she was apologizing for being her partner.

“Go ahead and sit down,” the teacher commanded.

Eunbi walked over to her seat while the teacher wrote something on the board. Along the way, she noticed a random classmate sticking out his foot, trying to trip her. Instead of avoiding the foot, she stepped on it, causing the student to hiss in pain. She smirked to herself before taking her seat at the back of the class, right next to Yoobin.

She turned her head to say a word or two to her new desk partner, but Yoobin refused to look at her. Her anxious eyes were glued to the front and to the clock, which hung on the wall above the chalkboard. Eunbi shrugged her shoulders and didn’t bother to say anything else.

After all, the point of coming to Shicho High School wasn’t to start over or to make new friends.

Eunbi pulled out phone from her pocket, staring at an application with the pixelated words “TP” written at the center of the black-boxed icon.

Choi Yuna, I wonder where you are right now, Eunbi thought, hiding her phone away and looking up to listen to the lecture.

However, the moment she lifted her head, an blaring jingle rang in her head. Her eyes widened as she realized that her surroundings began to blur and bend. Everything became wavy and whatever the teacher was saying became mute. Darkness swallowed every matter around her, creating empty glitchy spaces. It was as if time had stopped existing for the moment and space was unable to contain itself in its rightful position. She pulled out her phone and stared at it, noticing a clock-headed pixelated character jumping in the middle of the screen with "TIME TO PLAY" blinking rapidly. The little mascot jumped up and down, smiling at her like a haunted doll in a horror movie.

Eunbi could only close her eyes and brace herself.

The next thing Eunbi knew when she opened her eyes, she was standing in the middle of darkness. There was nothing she could see except for herself. She heard her phone ring the familiar jingle that had echoed in her mind just a brief second ago. She stared at it before swiping the green button, accepting the call. She slowly raised her phone next to her ear. The only thing she could hear was the sound of a clock ticking in the background. She remained quiet until the person who was calling her finally spoke up.

"I see that you're not a new user, but a returning one," said the stranger's voice. The voice was low and rough, a little bit on the husky side. Eunbi could easily imagine a shadowy man speaking to her at some kind of office with a loud clock.

"Yes," she said. "I've registered to play this morning."

There was a short pause.

"Are you sure you didn't register by accident? You have the opportunity right now to cancel your contract without any penalties. Otherwise, if you say that it wasn't an accident, then you will automatically accept the contract and will proceed with the games," the man explained cautiously.

She felt like he was trying to tell her to turn back, that it wouldn't be a good idea to return to Timepiece. It was a good advice—an advice that Eunbi wouldn't take.

"This is not an accident," Eunbi stated confidently. 

There was another pause. She heard a short chuckle as a white glare appeared behind her. The light moved in shape of a rectangle before opening a different portal.

"Welcome back, Eunha," the man said. "Please step into the portal to play."

She took a deep breath. She closed her eyes for a moment before stepping through the portal.

When she arrived at the other end of the portal, the portal closed behind her. She still found herself surrounded in darkness, but there were other players in the room. Her eyes caught sight of a familiar man who seemed pretty lost with the entire situation.

Is that…Dongmin? she wondered. She was about to approach the classmate until she heard a stage light turn on.

She lifted her head, noticing a clock-headed man standing high above on a platform in front of them. The man was wearing a formal black suit. His hands were covered with white gloves while his neck hid behind a thin black neck gaiter. He was fully covered and didn't show any skin. There was an enormous clock behind him, spinning at a steady pace. The minute hand spun one way while the hour hand spun the opposite. It was as if time was losing its mind in the endless black space.

The clock-headed man stepped up to the microphone and extended his arm, bathing under the glorious spotlight. 

"Welcome to Timepiece!" the clock-headed figure exclaimed. His voice was dripping with excitement and enthusiasm. A few new players wondered where the voice was coming from and only assumed that the clock-headed man was speaking to them. "Please roll your dice!"

Several pings! echoed in the room. People looked down at their smartphone, noticing that there was a new pop-up screen. It was the same pixelated clock-headed man on the screen, dancing  with a large cube in his hands. It kept dancing from left to right and right to left with a speech bubble that read:

< PLEASE ROLL YOUR DIE >

Eunbi rested her thin index finger on screen and swiped it upwards. A die magically appeared out of her phone and flew in a curved motion, leaving glitter on its path. It eventually disappeared as it hit a barrier that seemed to block the players from touching the stage. The barrier bent and wiggled a little, creating ripple effects every time a die sunk into the barrier, mimicking a pebble that was thrown into a lake.

After everyone rolled their dice, another screen popped up on their phones:

< DICE HAVE BEEN ROLLED. CALCULATING… >
< 0 EVIL EYES HAVE BEEN ADDED. CALCULATING… >

There was a dim light that barely showed a group of people standing behind the clock-headed figure. Spotlights began to move in different directions, highlighting from person to person. All the members standing behind the clock-headed man were dressed formally, but some of them chose to show some skin. They all covered their face with animal masks, hiding their identity and only showing the beast within them. There was an intense drum roll as the spotlights began to circle around faster on the stage

Finally, all the spotlights moved to one person in the crowd behind the clock-headed man. The chosen member showed his delight through his extreme body languages; the man stretched his fingers and touched his heart and mouth constantly. He was wearing a formal black suit, except he did not wear a neck gaiter like the clock-headed man. He also had a mask of a cricket instead of a clock. The members around him clapped and looked at him, some hooting while others whistling.

< THE HOST HAS BEEN CHOSEN. CALCULATING… >

"It is my honor to be hosting this game!" the cricket-masked man exclaimed. "Since the last hosted game was chaotic, I'd like to host a simple game that everyone is familiar with: RPS."

A game of luck, Eunbi thought. As expected of a cricket.

Eunbi hitched her breath. A loud ding! echoed in the room. Everyone looked down at their phone.

< THE CLOCK TURNS CLOCKWISE. TICKING… >

She sighed in ultimate relief. As long as it's clockwise, it's good.

< THE CLOCK HAS STOPPED TICKING. REVEALING GAME INFORMATION… >
< GAME: RPS >
< TEAM: GROUPS OF 3 (1 VS 1) >
< ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: NONE >
< GAME WILL AUTO BEGIN IN 30 SECONDS >

Here it comes! Eunbi thought. A brilliant white light flashed before her eyes, forcing her to close her eyes.

A second later, Eunbi removed her arm from her eyes. She lifted her eyelids, noticing that she was in a small grungy industrial room that only had a window with cheap blinds and an metallic door. She turned around, recognizing Dongmin, whom she had seen earlier during the Process Stage. Her eyes looked over to a girl who was already conscious. Yoobin was sitting on the sofa, trembling and worried sick. She bit her thumb hard, bruising it a little as her legs shook with fear. Her nervous brown eyes looked up, only to see Eunbi awake. She gasped and stood up before losing her strength and falling back down on the sofa. Yoobin whimpered a little as tears swelled up in her eyes.

"Relax," Eunbi told her in a stern voice. She looked over at the door next to the single window. Above the door, there was a clock symbol in red. "It looks like we haven't started the game."

She took out her phone from her skirt pocket and opened a screen that showed the rules to the game. There was a pixelated character of the cricket-masked man at the bottom of the screen. Above him, there was a large speech bubble that listed all the current rules for the game:

1. ALL RULES ON THE CONTRACT APPLY TO THIS GAME. TIMEHOST RULES ARE SUBJECTED TO CHANGE IF THE SITUATION REQUIRES IT.
2. THE GOAL IS TO WIN ROCK-PAPER-SCISSORS AS A TEAM! 
3. THERE WILL BE 5 ROUNDS. EACH TEAM MEMBER MUST PLAY AT LEAST ONCE. ADDITIONAL ROUNDS WILL BE PLAYED IF SCORES FOR THE FIRST 5 ROUNDS END UP AS A TIE.
4. WINNERS OF ROCK-PAPER-SCISSORS WILL RECEIVE ONE POINT (TIMETICK). WHICHEVER TEAM GAINS THE MOST POINTS WIN!
5. A LOSS IS -1 TIMETICK. A WIN IS +1 TIMETICK. YOU HAVE A TOTAL OF 1 TIMETICK.

It's been a while since I played a team game, Eunbi thought. She heard someone groan. She looked down and noticed the class representative finally waking up. He placed his hand over his head, sitting up and  while rubbing his eyes.

"Ow… That light," he muttered. He blinked a couple of times before meeting eyes with Eunbi. When he realized that he was in an unfamiliar room, he jolted and hit his head against the metal wall. He groaned and rubbed his sore head while Yoobin remained awfully still.

The red clock turned green. The blinds automatically rolled up, forcing the window expose what was going on outside. Eunbi slowly walked over to the window, examining her surroundings. She realized that there were three rooms total: the rooms she was in, the room in the middle where the game would be played, and the opponent's room. Through the window, she was able to see the middle room and the opponent's room through the opponent's window. She saw one girl and two guys frantically talking. When the three strangers realized that Eunbi had been watching them, they stopped and eyed each other nervously.

"My head… Ugh…" Dongmin looked around. "What's going on? Where am I? Are we kidnapped?"

"I'm only going in when there's a guy coming in," Eunbi announced, ignoring the class representative. She glanced at Dongmin and Yoobin. "One of you guys go first."

"You're… Eunbi, right?" Dongmin asked, still at lost.

Eunbi narrowed her eyes. "No, I'm not. I'm Eunha."

"What? So it's Jung Eunha, not Jung Eunbi? I thought it was—"

"It's her alias," Yoobin said quickly. "I-It's best not to throw other people's real names carelessly." She took a deep breath. "I-I'm Binnie."

"Do you have an alias?" Eunbi asked, turning to Dongmin.

"What alias? I'm Lee Dongmin—"

"No, no, no. I mean, like, the name you wrote on the contract."

"The name I submitted? I put 'Cha Eunwoo.' I never put my real name for games," Dongmin said. He took out his phone and sighed. "There was a guy who was messing with my phone and he might've done something. I couldn't log out of this 'Timepiece' application."

Eunbi nodded at Dongmin and looked at Yoobin. "I assume that this isn't your first time playing, right, Binnie?"

"I… I had a group before, but things got complicated and… Well, I'm in a tough spot right now," Yoobin said quietly. "If I lose this game, I lose my Rights to Existence."

"Oh, so we're all at one Timetick," Eunbi said. "Great, now we're motivated."

"I am so confused," Dongmin said, getting up from the ground. "First off, what's going on?"

"You were there," Eunbi snapped, glaring at the boy. "Don't you remember the cricket guy? The clock spinning? The clock-headed man?"

"What happened to our school? This can't be some sort of dream. What's going on?" Dongmin repeated. He reached for his head. "I just remember hearing some kind of loud music and that everything started to blur and disappear around me."

Eunbi groaned. "Oh my god. I can't believe—"

She stopped. She squinted her eyes when she noticed that the opposing team sent in the girl to the middle room. Eunbi quickly turned to Yoobin and Dongmin.

"Okay, Cha Eunwoo, Binnie. Which one of you guys want to play Rock-Paper-Scissors with her?" Eunbi asked, gesturing her head towards the window. The two looked over past Eunbi's shoulders and widened their eyes.

"That's Jiho!" Dongmin exclaimed, smiling.

"Who the hell is she?" Eunbi asked.

"She's in Class 2-C. Her name is Kim Jiho. She's nice," Dongmin said.

"Well, don't keep calling her that. Ask for her alias," Eunbi said.

"I don't get it. Why do we have to call each other by our fake names when we know each other's real names?" the class president pointed out.

"Your name is like your personal information. Are you going to leak out all your personal information to a total stranger in reality?" Eunbi asked. Dongmin shook his head. "See? Exactly. You're prone to meeting dangerous people in Timepiece. The minute someone knows you're real name, they can dig out information about you and use those information against you." She pointed at the window again. "Now, which one of you are willing to play against her?"

"I still don't know what's going on. You explained nothing," Dongmin muttered. "But I guess I'll go. It's only Rock-Paper-Scissors, right?"

"Exactly," Eunbi said, nodding. "Just one game and you can come back."

"Right. Got it." He was about to leave through the door until Eunbi grabbed his wrist. She squeezed his wrist and gave him a serious expression.

"Try to win this," Eunbi said. "This is not a game."

You just called this a 'game,' he wanted to point out. Instead, he nodded and opened the door, entering the middle room. The door sealed closed behind him, preventing from returning until he finished the first round.

Eunbi carefully observed Jiho and Dongmin through the glass window. She crossed her arms and stared at Jiho's relieved expression and Dongmin's charming smile. They both took a seat in the middle of the room. At the center, the silver seats were arranged facing each other. From where Eunbi stood watching, she could see the side profile of the two current players. There was a single light shining above them, giving them just enough light to see whatever shape they would make with their hand.

For the first few minutes, Dongmin and Jiho seemed a little chatty. They constantly opened their mouth, speaking enthusiastically and comfortably with each other.

Eunbi's fingers traced the glass. Soundproof.

 Then, Jiho started to break down in tears, covering her hands with her face. Her lips moved rapidly while Dongmin rested his hand on her shoulder. He had a pitiful expression on his face, helplessly sitting and only able to pat her shoulder in comfort.

Dong…Dong…Dong…

The speakers—hidden in all three rooms—played the sound of a grandfather clock. Yoobin looked around, trying to find the speaker, but Eunbi only looked ahead at the two players.

"Ready to play? It's time to play!" The voice shrilled in a high-pitched tone. "Ready? Rock! Paper! Scissors!"

Their hands whisked out their play. Dongmin held up scissors while Jiho also held up scissors. She had an overall look of relief while Dongmin smiled playfully. They both got up, shook hands, and went back to their own room.

As Dongmin came in and closed the door behind him, Eunbi gave him a suspicious look.

"What did you guys talk about?" Eunbi asked.

"Nothing much," Dongmin said. "Apparently, Jiho is on the verge of losing, too, so we decided to both pick scissors. We've decided to collaborate with each other."

Eunbi wanted to scream at him. "You guys what?"

"We talked a little and we were thinking, 'Hey, what if we collaborate together and pick the same thing so that we tie?' Then we won't have a winner or a loser," Dongmin said. "She's going to explain the entire situation to her teammates, too."

She curled her fingers into a fist. "You want us to play Rock-Paper-Scissors for the rest of our lives?"

"Whoever put us in here will be tired of us soon enough. I mean, watching people play Rock-Paper-Scissors isn't the most fun thing to do in the world," he pointed out casually.

Eunbi kept awfully quiet before she let out a helpless chuckle.

"You don't get it, do you? You don't understand that we're trapped in a timeless game, do you?" She lifted her finger up towards the ceiling. "They, the audience, will never break. Instead, they will watch us, the players, break first. They are able to watch us freely like a television show. We, however, are not free. At this very moment, we're like people on screens, trapped in a never-ending episode of games. We're in this infinite loop that never stops until we either win or lose."

"You're not explaining things properly. I don't understand," Dongmin said. "I want to understand, but how can I when you're just spouting out nonsense? For someone who doesn't have a clue about what's going on, don't you think it's reasonable for me to just want to end up in a tie with others?"

"I seriously wish this wasn't a team game," Eunbi muttered. She turned to Yoobin. "Binnie, you go."

Yoobin stared at her, shocked. "H-Huh? No, I can't. I-I can't."

"You just have to listen to them," Dongmin said. "We agreed that they'll be making all the calls."

Yoobin looked a little unsure while Eunbi gave herself a face-palm. She whimpered a little and groaned loudly as she gently hit her forehead against the wall.

"I'm surrounded by a bunch of idiots," Eunbi murmured. She glanced over the window, noticing that the group on the other side was staring at her. I'm probably making myself look suspicious. "Go, Binnie. Just do as they say."

Yoobin nodded. She took a deep breath and stepped out of the team room. She entered to the middle room and sat down on the same chair where Dongmin sat earlier. Eunbi and Dongmin carefully watched as they noticed one guy with black bangs step into the room.

"Do you know him?" Eunbi asked.

"Nope. I don't recognize the guys," Dongmin said.

"Only the girl, huh," Eunbi mumbled.

The guy with flat black hair and Binnie chatted for a few minutes before the speaker echoed in the air.

"Are you ready? I hope you are!" the same voice exclaimed. "Ready? Rock! Paper! Scissors!"

Yoobin and the boy flashed out their hands, revealing paper. He smiled and shook her hand before heading back to his own room. Yoobin returned to her room, joining Dongmin and Eunbi.

"Are we seriously just going to keep ending this in ties?" Eunbi asked.

"I-I think so," Yoobin said. "The guy I was with—His name is Jaehyun."

"I don't believe this," Eunbi muttered.

"Anyway, they want you to go in," Yoobin said.

Eunbi looked at Dongmin and then at Yoobin. She let out a frustrated sigh, but went along with their little plan for now. She entered the middle room and sat on a chair with crossed arms.

A minute later, a boy with a fancy raven hairstyle entered the room. His hair was styled in a messy side part with plenty of volume. He was good looking, but his facial features didn't stand out to Eunbi. Instead, she noticed his walking posture. He walked in a way where he confidently entered the room with his hands in his pocket and his shoulders slightly slouched. He casually took a seat across from Eunbi.

"Hey," the man said. "I'm Ju-ne."

"Eunha," Eunbi said shortly.

"Really cool, right? Timepiece? Have you ever seen something like this before?" he asked. 

"I have," she said.

"Whoever made this game is amazing," Ju-ne rambled on. "The guy's ought to be a genius."

"So what are we picking?" Eunbi asked.

"Scissors." Ju-ne smiled. "But aren't you impressed with this game? This is the sec—"

The speaker , interrupting Ju-ne. Eunbi secretly thanked the speaker for shutting him up.

"Round Three, let's go! Ready? Rock, paper, scissors!"

The two players revealed their hands, showing two fingers sticking out of their fist. Ju-ne extended his hand for a handshake, but Eunbi ignored him. They both nodded in acknowledgement before leaving to their own room.

Once again, Eunbi took note of how Ju-ne went back to his room: overconfident with a snarky smile.

She entered her room, seeing Dongmin with a proud smirk and Yoobin who looked a bit more worried about the situation. 

"See? My plan is working, right?" Dongmin asked.

"Who's going in from the other team?" Eunbi asked Yoobin, ignoring Dongmin. 

Yoobin looked through the glass. "Um… Oh. Jaehyun is."

Jaehyun? Eunbi peered through the window. As Yoobin reported, the black-haired boy sat on the chair, waiting for his opponent to come out. That was rather fast.

"Well, I guess it's my turn," Dongmin said.

"Hold up," Eunbi said. She lifted her hand at Dongmin and used her other hand to point at Yoobin. "You go."

Yoobin widened her eyes. "W-What? Why—"

"Go," Eunbi said. "Trust me."

Yoobin seemed a little hesitant. She glanced at Dongmin for approval. He only nodded his head, not sure at what Eunbi was trying to say. She let out a shaky sigh before gathering up the courage to step out of her room, entering the middle room.

Once again, the two chattered a little, perhaps revealing what they would play. The speaker , repeating the entire process:

"Round Four! Almost there! Ready? Rock! Paper! Scissors!"

Yoobin and Jaehyun both revealed paper. They stood up, bowed with a gentle smile, then returned to their rooms.

"We're in four rounds and it's still a tie," Yoobin said as she was coming in. "I think we can end the fifth game as a tie successfully."

"See? Look at this. This is how adults should work: you talk about problems and solve it," Dongmin said. "I'll go—"

"No," Eunbi said. She narrowed her eyes when she saw Ju-ne enter. "I'll go."

Dongmin was about to protest, but Eunbi was already out at the door. Ju-ne gave her a warm smile while she plopped down at her seat. She studied him a bit longer before letting out a soft giggle.

"I'm sorry," Eunbi said, finally smiling. "I'm being rude. Honestly, I didn't think I could trust you guys, but you've proven me wrong. I've misjudged you. I'm sorry."

Ju-ne continued to grin. "Oh, don't worry about it! I mean, this is Timepiece. I won't be surprised if someone feels a bit tense with the situation. I mean, look at Binnie. She's always shaking and panicking whenever she's in this room. We've noticed that."

"Yeah," Eunbi replied, giving him a tight smile. "You're right."

"Well, it's time to pick scissors," Ju-ne said. "Afterwards, we'll see what happens."

"Of course," she responded, nodding her head.

The speaker . "Last round! Round Five! Ready?"

Eunbi closed her eyes for a second and inhaled through her nose.

"Rock—"

The two stared intensely at their unplayed hand.

"Paper—"

The raised their fists, ready to play out their hand.

"—Scissors!"

Eunbi and Ju-ne revealed their hand: all fingers curled up into a bold and tight fist.

Rock.

Eunbi kicked her chair behind her and lunged forward, grabbing Ju-ne's collars. She gave him a hostile expression, her teeth seething in anger. Her eyes burned, furious that she was about to be betrayed. She snarled at him as her eyes smoldered and narrowed.

"You ing !" Eunbi cursed. "You tried to trick us!"

Ju-ne gritted his teeth, only able to utter out one word: "."

"Please return back to your rooms!" the speaker announced.

Eunbi threw Ju-ne down, knocking him over his chair and forcing him to crash to the ground. He glared at her and was about to attack her until his teammates banged on the glass, telling him to go back. He hesitated, but returned to his room while Eunbi went back to her own room.

Yoobin and Dongmin looked at her with great confusion and worry as she slammed the door behind her.

"What happened? Why did you attack him?" Dongmin asked.

"That ing traitor! That whole group was going to win!" Eunbi shouted. She kicked the wall and glared at them through the window. "We're not 'collaborating' with them anymore."

"What?" Dongmin cried out. "But it was working so well—"

"Hell no, it wasn't! It was never working!" Eunbi exclaimed. She glared at the three opponents through her window. "Those guys were toying with us. They were trying to gain our trust by getting ties with us. All they needed was one win in order to win, so at the fifth round, they were planning to stab us in the back. They lied to me about what they were going to play. He said to pick scissors, but I chose to play rock because this was all too suspicious." She looked at her own teammates. "They've been secretly observing us, too. When Ju-ne mentioned how they've been watching Binnie's behavior, I knew that they weren't to be trusted."

"So if they played scissors, we would've betrayed them," Yoobin whispered.

"This isn't about 'if' and what would've happened. It's what did happen. He played rock, and I played rock. He lied about playing scissors. We ended as a tie and broke the stupid peace agreement," Eunbi said.

The speaker , playing the same three-second jingle of a grandfather clock. Three heads looked up and stared at the plain ceiling.

"Well done! The game ended up in a tie!" the high-pitched voice exclaimed. "Unfortunately, the game will not end unless there is a winner. Therefore, we will move onto Round Six."

"See? I told you," Eunbi muttered bitterly. "There's no end until there's a winner and a loser."

"For Round Six, We will only accept a player who played the least amount of rounds."

Yoobin and Eunbi looked at Dongmin, who realized that he was the only one who played Rock-Paper-Scissors once. He looked over at the window and noticed that he would be playing against Jiho. 

"You will also be forbidden to talk when you are in the middle room! " the announcer exclaimed. "Any strange or obvious mouth movement will result in an automatic loss, so please be aware to seal your lips and play the game."

"They can't do that!" Dongmin cried out. "How am I supposed to tie with Jiho?"

"Oh, but we can! It's part of Rule #1," the announcer said. The blinds automatically closed, preventing the three from seeing their opponents. "In order to create more suspense for the sake of our audience, we will be cutting off any connections from the other side. Now, you will be playing this game as a true game of chance. Good luck!"

The three-second jingle rang again and the speaker buzzed off.

Eunbi leaned against the wall while Yoobin looked terribly worried. Dongmin crossed his arm and frowned.

"Well, you heard what they said," Eunbi said. "The player with the least amount of game is going to the Play Room." She eyed at Dongmin. "That's you."

"If we play another game of Rock-Paper-Scissors with the same idea of getting a tie, then they'll probably loosen up the rules for us," Dongmin said in a hopeful voice. "They'll probably realize that we're serious about ending this game as a tie or something."

"They're not letting us communicate with the other side. How are you going to tell what the opponent is going to play?" Eunbi pointed out. Dongmin grimaced. "You brought this upon yourself. The Timehost realized that you were trying to find a loophole in the system. They, of course, do not like loopholes. This is basically your punishment."

Dongmin remained awfully quiet. He looked over at Yoobin, who forced herself to look away. 

"Whether we lose or win is all up to you," Eunbi said, tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear. She glared at him. "So you better ing win, got it?"

"I can't make any guarantees," Dongmin muttered.

Eunbi scoffed and looked at Yoobin. "How the hell did this guy become class representative?"

"Timepiece and our lives at high school are not the same," Yoobin said softly. "This and that are completely different."

Eunbi stared at her. "Maybe for you, but for me, they're the same thing."

"What happens if I lose Rock-Paper-Scissors?" Dongmin asked again.

Yoobin and Eunbi exchanged looks before Yoobin shook in fear. She whimpered softly and sat on the sofa, trying to calm herself down by holding onto her head. Eunbi, a bit pale, tried to remain calm and composed.

"If you lose," Eunbi said, "then we all lose our Rights to Existence."

"And what is that?" Dongmin asked.

"It's exactly what it sounds like," Eunbi said. "Our rights to exist—our free will. If we lose our Rights to Existence, we will have absolutely no control of our lives, and we won't even know that we have no control."

"Then who would control it?"

"Timepiece would."

"How?"

Eunbi shrugged. "I'm not the one who knows all the technicalities of the whole process. I've seen what happens to people who lose. I can only speak from what I've saw."

"Have you seen it?" Dongmin asked Yoobin.

She refused to answer. She started tearing up and began to sob, shaking her legs.

"Don't push her," Eunbi said. "She seems pretty fragile."

"I don't get it," Dongmin said. "It doesn't sound bad. I mean, you'd still be living normally and—"

"Just go," Eunbi said, giving up on explaining the entire situation. "You're wasting time. Literally."

Dongmin pursed his lips before sighing. He went over to the door and opened it, entering the room. Once the door shut closed behind him, the blinds to their room opened, letting the girls see what would happen at the center.

He sat on the chair and waited for a few minutes. Then, the door to the other room opened. He looked up and noticed Jiho entering the room. Her lips quivered in fear, but it didn't seem as if the host considered that a penalty. The window to her room opened, revealing Ju-ne and Jaehyun staring through the window. They seemed pretty confident when they saw Dongmin sitting down.

Dongmin noticed, but didn't say anything. Even if he wanted to, he couldn't. He paused and looked at Jiho for a minute, trying to predict what she would try to choose. She became aware of his questioning gaze. She jolted and almost let out a whimper.

The speaker , saying, "Welcome to Round Six! I hope you're ready!"

I'm not, Dongmin wanted to say, gulping.

"Ready? Rock—!"

Seeing those guys, it looks like they told her to play rock, Dongmin thought, shortly glancing at Ju-ne and Jaehyun. They probably knew that I was going to be the one playing, and they probably went with the idea that if it's a guy, then a guy will play rock.

"Paper—!"

I can probably win this if I play paper, but… Dongmin noticed Jiho's terrified expression. You know what? I don't care about what Eunbi said. A lost is a lost, a win is a win.

"Scissors!"

The two threw out their hands: rock versus scissors.

Dongmin widened his eyes, stunned, while Jiho let out a horrified scream. She stared at her shaking two fingers while the guys in her room enlarged their eyes. They slammed the window with their fists, opening their mouth and screaming out inaudible words. Dongmin looked down at his fist before staring at Jiho.

She picked scissors, Dongmin thought. Wasn't she going to pick rock?

"Congratulations! Team Eunha, Binnie, and Cha Eunwoo wins! The scoreboard reads 1 to 0. Your Timehost will now summon a portal for you to exit. You have 10 seconds to exit."

A white portal appeared right in front of Dongmin. He turned to the window to see if his teammates were going to come into the middle room, but realized that Eunbi and Yoobin were gone. He assumed that his teammates had already entered through their own portal. 

He turned to Jiho, who collapsed on her knees and screamed in agony. A pang of guilt tugged his heart.

"Good game," he managed to say. Jiho cried even louder, pulling her hair.

Dongmin took a deep breath, sighed, and walked through the portal, entering the blinding light.

"…Alright class. That's the end of ninth period. Please go home safely."

Eunbi blinked her eyes. She looked at the clock, shocked at how long the Rock-Paper-Scissors game took. The sky was already orange and the sun was almost done setting. She glanced over at Yoobin, who seemed less shaky than before. Her eyes rolled over to Dongmin, who seemed startled and confused. He slowly raised his hand, and the teacher called on him.

"Um… School is over already?" Dongmin asked softly. He turned a little red when a few classmates chuckled.

"I'm very happy to hear that you enjoyed listening to my lecture. As I said earlier in class, I will be holding extra lessons after dinner time, so if you'd like to join me, please do," the teacher said. "Although I don't think you need to be here any longer, do you? You seemed to have understood the calculations very well."

Dongmin blinked his eyes. "I-I did?"

"Yes! Now, I won't hold anyone up, so you're free to go home," the teacher said. "I'll be in class 4-A at eight o'clock if you guys want extra review. Class dismissed!"

Right when the teacher left, students began to get up. The room got chatty and they started to get excited as the long school day was over.

Dongmin turned around, finding that Yoobin was gone and Eunbi was standing up, looking out the window with a painful expression. His brown orbs rolled over to the sunset.

Beautiful, he thought.

For a second—perhaps even a millisecond—something covered the light. A large lump fell from above, hiding the sun's radiance as a shadow fell across his face for a brief second. Dongmin's eyes widened when he realized that the lump was actually a human body. His heart stopped. He shot up from his seat and rushed to the window, opening it to see what had fell from the sky.

A student from the second floor screamed. Dongmin's eyes grew incredibly wide as he noticed the bloody and twisted figure on the ground. Several more students began to open the windows to their classroom and stared at the dead body. More girls screamed while guys hollered for help. The students were in a chaotic state, unsure of what was going on and what to do. 

Dongmin turned to Eunbi, who had disappeared. He looked back down at the body, identifying the body.

That's Jiho, isn't it?

Author's Note: Holy cowwww. Honestly, I rewrote this chapter like 10 times before I've decided to post it. I totally underestimated how difficult writing this story was going to be. I was just thinking, "Ayy, action and thriller and stuff! Yay!" but now that I'm writing it, I'm like, "Shoot, this is hard." I think it's going to be a good experience, though. I don't know if future chapters are going to be this long. I wrote everything in one chapter because I wanted to get things out and moving as soon as possible. I have a feeling that the story will be rushed, but who knows. Anyway, hope you guys enjoyed the first chapter! The two other main characters, Jungkook and Mingyu, will appear in the next chapter, so don't worry! I plan on having the character information page up after Chapter 3 (maybe Chapter 5 if I'm lazy).