two • the games have started
Thrill Games
After the train lurched into a stop, the teams were led to aboard small rowboats. After being transported through a murky river under a gray sky, the contestants reached their battleground, a rich styled woods filled with lush trees. At the four corners near the boundary lines sat a log cabin for each of the groups. The Bronze Class took southwest, Silver northeast, Gold southeast, and Platinum took the remaining northwest.
Once on the damp soil, there was no turning back. Groups ran towards their cabins, trying to avoid eye contact. After all, no one knew if the person they see would become their next murder or the next one they murder.
“We need a head count.” Jaebeom announced in a calm tone despite the sprint he just ran across the fields.
“We need a leader.” Jiyoung added and heads around her nodded.
“Alright, we’ll decide on a leader first.” Jaebeom agreed.
“You should be our leader.” Min pointed at Jaebeom who blinked rapidly from surprise.
“I agree,” Mir chimed in, nodding enthusiastically, “you should be our leader. You have leadership qualities.”
“And you seem to be in pretty good shape.” Hongki nodded, panting a bit.
“I don’t know-” Jaebeom turned to Nichkhun, a member he had bonded pretty fast with. Nichkhun shook his head and tightened his grasp on Yuri’s hand.
“You’re not dragging me into this Jay; you’re the big boss.”
“Just take the job Jay” Wooyoung aided Nichkhun and finally Jaebeom agreed.
“So,” Jaebeom cleared his throat, “let’s set some rules. Since we are a team, we want to make it out as a team. No matter what happens and what mission we receive we will fight to death to save our members. Araso?”
Murmurs buzzed amongst the team but they soon reluctantly nodded. Loyalty and love for each other was needed to make it out as a whole team.
“So, that’s rule number one.” Jaebeom raised another finger, “The second rule is that we will never walk around alone. At least, each person needs to have one more person with them. When you’re going to the bathroom, go with a group of people. We’re trying to avoid solo time that could lead to abduction.”
“What if it’s late at night?” Hyosung asked.
“Then you’ll have to wake someone up.” Jaebeom answered.
“Ew,” Jessica furrowed her eyebrows, “nobody should wake me up or I will be the one killing you.”
“Fine,” Taeyeon glared at the “princess”, “but when you need to pee late at night don’t wake anyone up either.”
Jessica glared at Taeyeon who proudly turned back to await Jaebeom’s next rules.
“Three, if someone-” He paused for the next part was difficult to say, “-if someone does, unfortunately, not make it through a round, we will learn to let go and not lose hope. We will win for them too.”
“Four, there is no bickering or fighting amongst members.” Jaebeom eyed Taeyeon and Jessica warily, “We are a team and we need to be united.”
“And five,” Jaebeom paused for emphasis, “we must win.”
Smile appeared on the team’s faces.
“Yes we will!” Wooyoung stuck his hand out, “We’re the Platinum class, the most royal class amongst them. We will win.”
Nichkhun and Yuri placed their hands on top of Wooyoung’s and soon, others joined in. Taeyeon reluctantly planted her hand on top and Jessica slowly added her hand in. With the most cheerful voice they shouted out a cheer, a cheer of hope and determination,
▬▬▬▬▬
“.” Taeyeon heard Jessica cuss next to her. Taeyeon shot her a dirty look which Jessica missed, “How the hell am I supposed to fit all my stuff with so little space?” Taeyeon rolled her eyes at Jessica’s comment. There should be a restriction to how much a contestant could bring to the games because half of Jessica’s luggage already filled up more than double of each assigned space each member (minus Jessica) agreed to have.
“Taeyeon unnie, do you have enough room? I have some extra space.” Yuri, the girl who was sharing the bunk with hers, asked, smiling sweetly at Taeyeon as she politely asked. This was the kind of teammates Taeyeon wanted.
“Aniyo, I have a lot of room too.” Taeyeon gestured towards her bed and Yuri grinned.
“Of course she doesn’t have a lot of stuff,” Jessica snorted, “she’s too poor to buy anything.”
Taeyeon tensed and Yuri frowned.
“You shouldn’t say these things Jessica.”
“And why not?” Jessica glanced at Taeyeon warily before dumping a few throw pillows on top of her silk bed sheets, “It’s true isn’t it?”
Yuri sighed, “It’s offensive unnie, we’re a team now, can’t we try to get along?”
Jessica laughed coldly and continued to pile stuff on top of her bed. Yuri placed a hand on Taeyeon’s shoulder in a comforting manner. Taeyeon shrugged.
“It’s alright Yuri; I don’t take idiotic people like her to the heart.”
“What did you just say?” Jessica asked, grinding her teeth.
“You’re an idiot, a pathetic daddy’s girl who doesn’t know anything about the damn world.” Taeyeon replied, matching Jessica’s ferocity. The two held a threatening staring contest until Jaebeom came by and stood in between them.
“What are you two doing?” Jaebeom demanded as he started to and fro between the blonde haired girl and the brunette. The two turned away without saying anything else.
“Alright, let’s finish unpacking in five,” Jaebeom clasped his hands together, “It’s getting pretty dark and we still need to do bathroom runs.” Everyone nodded in agreement. Each class had their own toiletry area but they were all placed a good distance from the cabins. It was obvious that an ambush was planned if one were to walk alone, especially at night.
Jessica grumbled about how bossy Jaebeom was as she continued to try to shove item after item to her are. Yuri, watching her struggle, sighed and took a few of Jessica’s makeup kits and other hair products aside and slipped into her cubby that was half full. There was plain furniture in each of the cabins: some basic bunks, a few sofas, a small coffee table, a tiny kitchen, a small fridge that would be restocked when nobody was watching, a few dressers, and tall lockers.
“Don’t damage any of them.” Jessica called out to Yuri who placed them carefully on the shelf, “they’re very expensive. They’re from Europe.”
Taeyeon shook her head at Jessica’s behavior. She was sure the blonde princess wouldn’t make it out of here alive.
“That’s my Yuri.” Nichkhun planted a small kiss on Yuri’s cheek as she added Jessica’s belongings to her side of the drawer. Yuri grinned back at him.
“I can’t be selfish at a time like this can I?” Nichkhun shook his head in reply and helped Yuri with arranging Jessica’s belongings. They barely finished when Jaebeom called for the bathroom run. Bathroom runs were arranged to happen almost six times a day: the morning, mid morning, noon, late noon, early evening, and late evening. The late noon run was the longest since it would also become their shower period. Mir had somehow brought a bell with him and Jaebeom would use the bell to call people together. He swung the gold colored object now, the shrill chiming ringing through everyone’s ears.
He did a head count and everyone walked out, huddled together.
Together.
But not for long.
▬▬▬▬▬
After washing up and running the last minute toilet errands, the team hiked back to their cabins and Jaebeom did another head count before dismissing everyone to go to sleep. Even so, Kwon Yuri stayed awake on her bunk, sitting upright as she flipped through pages of her family album she had brought. Everyone was allowed to bring what they wanted so long as it wasn’t considered an advantage like a weapon or some sort. Yuri’s finger trembled as she outline the familiar faces of her family.
“You should sleep Yul.” She looked down to see Nichkhun climbing the ladder to her bed. She moved aside and Nichkhun sat next to her, an arm enveloping her into a comforting embrace.
“I can’t.” Her words came out in a throaty manner. She felt coarse and weak and lost. Nichkhun eyed the photos and made no comment. Silently, he reached over and shut the book.
“You need to sleep…for strength.” Nichkhun whispered to her and her hair. Yuri leaned into him and began to shake a bit.
“Strength.” She repeated the word, “Strength. For what? I’m not going to make it out of here. Oppa, I know.”
She felt Nichkhun tighten his hold on her, “What nonsense are you saying Yuri?”
“Oppa,” she let the familiar scent of her boyfriend console her worries for a bit before continuing, “I’m not fit enough.”
“You’re the most athletic girl in our school Yuri, what do you mean?”
“This game-” Yuri’s voice quivered, “-this game requires you to kill. I can’t do it oppa. I can survive anything physical but not mental. Killing someone will finish me off.”
“You’re not going to kill anyone. I’m not. You’re not. We’re not.” Nichkhun tightly said and Yuri wondered why he sounded so confident.
“How do you know?”
“I just do.” Nichkhun shot back and then coaxed her to lie down.
“Stay with me oppa.” Yuri pleaded and Nichkhun smiled as he took the small spot next to her and covered the thick quilt over the two of them.
“I wouldn’t be anywhere else.” He said and Yuri went to sleep, quite soundly until a loud blasting came from the loudspeakers. At once, everyone sat up. Yuri reached for NIchkhun and he reassured her it wasn’t him who was taken. The siren was the trademark of the Thrill Games. Once the siren rang, it meant a sacrifice from each team had been taken.
“Damn it!” From the other side of the room, Jaebeom’s frustration was heard and meant he was safe from this round’s stealing too.
“Let’s have a role call.” Nichkhun announced, “Yuri and I are both here.”
“Taeyeon’s in.” Taeyeon announced for herself.
“Woo and I are safe too.” Jaebeom finally replied.
“Hyosung and Jessica are in.” Hyosung glanced at the drowsy Jessica who seemed oblivious to the serious matter.
“Mir and Hongki.”
“Taemin is in!”
“I-It’s m-me.” Suddenly Min’s shaky voice alerted the cabin, “I-I mean my partner. J-Jiyoung…s-she’s gone!”
Jaebeom and Nichkhun were off their beds at once and rushed to where Min was, near the center of the room. The youngest member of their team was sleeping on the bottom bunk which was now evidentially not holding a person.
“Good morning contestants.” A fake yet horrendous voice boomed into the speakers, “Mission one has just been assigned. Please dress and meet in the center.”
There was a frenzy in the cabins as everyone threw on whatever and put on the most comfortable pair of shoes they owned.
“Try to stay calm,” Jaebeom instructed as they met at the center of the field, “or at least pretend to be.”
But when they reached the center no one was calm.
Why?
Because the center had changed into a giant board game mat and in the center-
Four people: Jiyoung, Minhwan, Sunhwa, and Seohyun were in their own tank which had a pipe sticking out of them. The most horrendous thing was that the tank was beginning to fill with water and the pipe sticking out was slowly but constantly draining out blood.
“Mission one will start soon. Pick a member to play the board game. You have two minutes.” The same monotone said.
“I’ll go.” Jaebeom instantly said.
“No, you can’t.” Nichkhun countered, “You’re our leader. I’ll go.”
“Oppa,” Yuri’s eyes began to water and Nichkhun shook his head.
“I have to Yul,” Nichkhun planted a quick peck on Yuri’s lips, “I’ll be alright.”
“But-”
“-It’s okay, I’ll go.” All heads turned to the second youngest of the group.
“No Taemin, you can’t.” Jaebeom shook his head. Taemin began to protest but everyone outnumbered his idea.
“I say bratty should go,” Jessica glanced at Taeyeon.
“No, she’s not going.” Wooyoung said and Taeyeon made a face.
“Why?”
“Because-” Wooyoung paused and tried to think of a reason. Taeyeon snickered.
“It’s because I’m a girl isn’t it?” Taeyeon glared at Wooyoung, “I’ll go.”
“But-Jay, say something.”
“Taeyeon-ah please don’t be-”
“Time’s up. Teams, send out your representatives.” The host announced and Taeyeon was up on her feet, walking to the giant; start’ tile of the game. To be honest, Taeyeon didn’t want to go. As she walked now, fear and anxiety washed over her. But Kim Taeyeon wasn’t the type to back out from a dare and she wasn’t going to let Wooyoung look down on her. With a balled fist and a determined look on her face, she arrived at her destination.
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