Saerom

That man is insufferable. I see the way the cheers his ego. Make him feel important and better than everyone else.

Wish I could throw my fist into his face.

.

But I play nice and don’t boo him despite my overwhelming urge to do so. I gotta play nice if I’m gonna win this. I have to pretend to simp for him like all the other losers out here cheering for him like their life depended on it. (And now that I think about it, maybe it does.)

“He’s such an ,” I mutter close to Mingyu’s ear, hoping that at least he would validate my feelings.

Mingyu laughs. “Typical rich boy. Did you really expect anything else?”

“Gosh, I wish a meteor falls from the sky and crushes him right about now.”

“You do realize that you’re competing to marry him, don’t you?” Mingyu says.

“You and I both know that I’m not going to win. And neither are you,” I mumble. I turn my head to all the people around us. Two hundred other contestants. There are some really pretty girls in here. Some hot guys too. There’s no way I’m gonna win from all of them. Especially knowing that I can’t hold my tongue for the life of me and I’ll probably explode and insult him on live TV.

But although I’ve managed my expectations, there’s still a part of me that hopes I win.

I turn my head. A few people down from me is Seungkwan, sitting there watching Joshua and applauding with the audience. I’ve been avoiding him all day; the last thing I need is to hear him whine about all the contracts we had to sign.

“Those contracts were ridiculous,” I’ve heard him say a million times. “The company is refusing to take responsibility for any injuries we may sustain participating in the game. They’re also saying they would not be held liable in the event of death, Saerom. Death! That’s Squid-Game level insanity!”

I signed those documents without reading a single word. I didn’t give a .

“Not to mention those questionable clauses about lack of privacy on the island. And the fact that ‘ual compatibility’ may be a part of the game! They literally forced everyone to sign a contract that gives the company the freedom to do whatever it wants with us. I can’t believe this is legal!”

Personally, I think Seungkwan is worried about the wrong things. As part of the contract, they took away our phones and electronics. We won’t have internet for as long as we’re on this dumb tick-infested island! If that’s not abuse, I don’t know what is.

Also, these stupid green uniforms they’re making us wear feel dehumanizing. Not to mention ugly. How am I supposed to seduce the chaebol of Hong Pharmaceuticals into marrying me if I have to wear ugly sweat suits that make me look like a poop-green inflated balloon?

But all Seungkwan could talk about is the vague clauses about possible injuries, potential death and/or ual harassment.

Speaking of ual harassment, there’s this creepy old geezer lingering around a young girl a few seats down from me. It’s lost on me how this old guy managed to make it into the game when it’s clear his only motive is to prey on young impressionable girls looking to marry up, but whatever. Perhaps it was random after all.

I ignore it for a long time, hoping he’d just sod off by himself, but he doesn’t. He keeps pushing himself closer to the girl on the bench, eventually letting his hand linger on her thighs and leaning in to whisper in her ear despite how she flinches.

She’s like one of those delicate flowers who can’t stand up for herself. Something about her reminds me of my sister Seoyeon, and that triggers me into shooting up and approaching them.

Much to the discontent of the people in the row in front of me, I step on to their benches and push through all the green-clad hopefuls toward where that girl is sitting.

“Hey!” “What the hell, stay in your seat!” “What is wrong with you?!” I ignore all the insults they throw at me before finally making it behind the girl and wedging myself on the bench between her and the old man.

“Excuse me, miss,” says the old guy. “What do you think you’re doing?!”

“Piss off, grandpa,” I say to him.

He’s baffled by my attitude, but he doesn’t counter me. He just scoffs at me. “You’re a feisty one, aren’t you?”

“Say that again, and I’ll punch you.”

“You’re fiesty,” he says, as if challenging me.

I really want do to punch him. But I know punching him will probably get me disqualified.

But oh, I really want to punch him.

And so I do.

I stand, make a fist and punch him square in the jaw.

Everyone gasps.

The grandpa holds his nose and groans. “She punched me! That punched me!”

“Oh please, stop being dramatic. I didn’t punch you that hard.”

And then I notice. It’s quiet. Unusually quiet.

Everyone is staring at me. 200 contestants looking at me like I’m a villain. Even the camera crew has turned their cameras and are pointing them at me instead of Joshua.

Even Joshua is looking at me.

No, no! I can’t lose now. I can’t get sent home before I’ve even begun.

And so I point at the old geezer.

“He was harassing me!” I claim loud enough for everyone to hear. “He was touching me inappropriately. He deserves it!”

“That’s a lie!” the old turd replies. “You’re the one who shoved yourself here beside me. You all saw it!”

I did lie. The man never touched me inappropriately, but I didn’t want to throw the young girl under the bus and tell national television that she was being harassed.

But the other contestants probably did not see that. They only saw me push myself next to him. So I guess I’m screwed. But I won’t get screwed without a fight.

“I just said she was feisty!” the man said. “I swear!’

The other contestants also nod along, siding with him: “yeah, I saw it. She punched him because he called her feisty.” “She was being very disruptive and forced herself in that place.” “He did not touch her at all. She was the one who was messing with him!”

Great. There goes my chance at a life of luxury. And my clean police record too. And my reputation.

Two of the red-uniformed staff members grab me, and pull me away from the crowd like I’m about to be arrested.

I hold out my middle finger at the old man, then at the cameras.

 

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A/N: heyyy everyone. So sorry for how long it took to make this update. I actually got a job, moved across the country, had some family issues, and then I kinda got busy because of some really good publishing news (*cough*cough* please wait, my stories will actually hit the shelves!!).

But now I'm making a schedule and staying on track with Wed Game. I will finish writing this story, and I PROMISE I won't take as long to to update from now on. I'm going to commit to once every two weeks AT LEAST, but I'll try my best to update weekly. Please stick around.

Thank you to everyone who patiently waited. I will not disappoint!!