probablyamberheart

[probablyamberheart]

001 (HYACINTH | Hwang In-Ho)

HYACINTH MASTERLIST

FrontmanxOC

2.8K words

'The hibiscus flowers bloomed.'

The crowd moved forward. After about some two seconds, Gi-hun gestured to them to stop. After the doll stopped speaking, he yelled, 'Freeze!'

Everyone stood still and glanced at each other with their restricted vision. No one dared to move, not even an inch.

The doll scanned the crowd. When no movement was detected, she turned around to face the tree and started reciting the phrase again.

'The hibiscus flower has bloomed.'

People jogged forward and stopped at Gi-hun's command. 'Well done! You just need to stay calm like this! We just have to move and stop at the right time. Then we all can win. We can survive together!'

'The hibiscus flower has bloomed.'

'The hibiscus flower has bloomed.'

Gi-hun stayed rooted to the ground at the same position for four rounds, much to his friend's concern, waiting for everyone to pass him, and turned around to finally face the doll at the front, with an arm around his face, to cover his mouth. His friend also had not moved since some two rounds and was whispering curses to him to start moving.

'Cover your mouth!' Gi-hun yelled at his friend.

This time, the doll stayed facing them for a longer time. Ye-jin had her head hung low. She heard people struggling to breathe, as they stared into the doll's eyes. Their feet were shaking in place. At a distance away from her, she heard some people whispering amongst themselves.

'Bee?!' a woman shrieked loudly and started panicking. When the bee left, she stood still and realized. 'Oh crap, I moved.' She let out a laugh, which stopped immediately after a distant shot of a bullet.

Dae-Ho's grip on her hand tightened.

There was an eerie silence. People were trying to control themselves from screaming.  A woman beside the dead body looked down at her.

She happened to glance at the woman's forehead, which was bleeding heavily, and started screaming. Immediately, the sound of another gunshot was heard. This was it. Many people around her started panicking and running away, towards the door. This time, numerous gunshots could be heard. They ran towards the door, but what was the point? Each one of them was shot dead.

'If you run, you die! You will all die if you move!' Gi-hun yelled, hiding his mouth behind his arm.

There were a few more gunshots. People were frightened.

'Don't move! Keep yourself still!' he yelled again.

'Let me repeat. You can move forward while the tagger shouts, "The hibiscus flower has bloomed.". If your movement is detected afterward, you will be eliminated.' A ladylike voice finally announced.

'The hibiscus flower has bloomed.'

Dae-Ho was shaking madly, so Ye-Jin squeezed his hand tightly to support him. Every time someone was shot, he had flinched. 'Don't worry,' she whispered to him, 'this will be over soon.'

'The hibiscus flower has bloomed.'

'The hibiscus flower has bloomed.'

Everyone was scared. For five rounds, no one moved from their position.

When the doll faced the tree, Gi-hun quickly ran forward to the front of the crowd. He still had his left arm in front of his face to cover his mouth.

'You'll also die if you don't make it there in time!' he said, loudly, 'That doll is a motion detector! But it can't detect motion that's not visible to it!'

He gestured something with his right hand, which was behind his body. 'Get behind someone bigger than you!' he advised.

Ye-jin glanced at the time. There were almost two minutes left. 'We're running out of time! We've got to move!'

'The hibiscus flower has bloomed.'

Everyone jogged forward, quickly forming small lines. The smaller hid behind the ones with a larger frame.

'The hibiscus flower has bloomed.'

This time, the doll stared at them longer than before. She slowly and carefully scanned the crowd of people with her eyes.

Ye-jin was at the front of her line. Despite Dae-ho being larger in build than her, she knew she had to hide him to protect him. He was struggling to concentrate with all the gunshots going about around them. She was looking down the whole time, trying to keep her breath steady.

Just in a moment, she heard a large thud beside her. She stared at the scene through the side of her eyes. Three people were on the ground, one looked up and cursed at the purple-haired guy, who had his arms outstretched. She gulped internally. Did he just push them down?

'Bye,' greeted the guy, with his lips curved into a psychotic smile. She shuddered. This guy was not any good at all! She did a good job by avoiding him. Se-mi was right all along.

'The hibiscus flower has bloomed.'

'The hibiscus flower has bloomed.'

There were some two to three people who could not hide behind someone in time and sadly got shot. But with Player 456's advice and technique, many managed to cross the line in time safely.

Ye-jin panted for breath and side-hugged Dae-ho, who was having a hard time breathing. 'It's alright.' she comforted, softly, 'It's over.'

She patted his back and looked at the remaining few people, who still had to cross the line. There was a banter going on, and a woman was shot dead. The man who got pushed also had a bullet pierce through his body. 

'The hibiscus flower has bloomed.'

Gi-hun looked around at everyone who had managed to cross the line. 'You did a great job.' he said and turned around to those who still had to finish.

Gi-hun's friend turned to Ye-jin. 'Is he alright?' he asked her, gesturing to Dae-ho.

She gave him a small, reassuring smile. 'He will be.'

'Well, it's nice that everyone alive managed to cross the line.' he exclaimed happily, as everyone crossed the pink line successfully.

Ye-jin stared at the field and at the players left. She noticed a guy was still alive. He only got shot in the leg and was trying to crawl towards the finish line, but his injured leg stopped him. 'T-that one there-' she bemusedly pointed out.

Player 456, who had just approached his friend, immediately turned his head around and followed her eyesight. She was right. There was that guy, trying to crawl, pleading for someone's help.

He immediately ran back to the playing ground to the injured man. 'HEY! Where are you going?' his friend yelled after him.

There were only ten seconds left on the timer. His friend looked so concerned. She felt horrible in the stomach, watching the scene occur in front of her. What if they both died together? After all, Player 456 saved all of their lives. He did not deserve to die for saving another person's life.

'The hibiscus flower has bloomed.'

To her happiness, she noticed another person run back to the field and hold the injured man steady from the other side. They both looked at the pink finish line in determination and ran as fast as they could, eventually jumping at the end, before the doll turned her head around.

Gi-hun patted off the dust from himself and glanced at the injured man in concern. 'Are you alright?' he asked him, patting off dust from the injured man's jacket too.

The man looked at him in admiration. 'Thank you.' He turned to the other person and thanked them too.

Ye-jin smiled at Player 456's kindness and valor. When the other person turned her head to get the hair out of her face, she realized there was the same person the old mother was talking down at, at the photo booth. The person did a great job, too.

Shoot

The injured man immediately fell into the sand, shot dead. Player 456 and Player 120 gasped in shock and cautiously looked at the dead man's body. Ye-jin and Dae-ho glanced at each other, becoming melancholy.

'Player 444, eliminated.'

Player 456 looked really disappointed, as if he wanted to cry or yell or do both, but could not decide what to do. They stood there, mourning the person whom they just risked their lives to save.

The room turned darker. She lifted her gaze and noticed the roof closed in on them. She held Dae-ho's hand and walked him out of the room. They walked down the stairs without any words, still thinking about all the deaths they had witnessed. Ye-jin let out a shaky breath. She shook her head, trying to put her mind away from those thoughts.

When they were escorted back to their room, they sat in the room, all confused and frightened. Ye-jin, who happened to lock eyes with Se-mi, gave her a relieved smile, to let her know that she was glad that Se-mi made it out. She sat next to Dae-ho on a mattress, resting her head against the wall. She brought her knees to his chest and looked down. They were frightened.

There were some sounds of movement outside the gate of the room. The lights changed, and the room turned bright white again. The pink guards stormed through the gate, into the room, and stood on the pedestal. This time, there were triangles painted on their masks, instead of circles. Each of them had a long black gun in their hands. Leading them was, as usual, a square guard. Perhaps he was the head for them.

At the sight of the guards, people backed away and hid behind the beds.

'Congratulations for making it through the first game. Here are the results of the first game.' announced the square guard, using his remote to switch on the player number data on the screen. 'Out of 456 players, 91 players have been eliminated. 365 players have completed the first game. Congratulations again for making it through the first game.'

There was a slight movement in the crowd at the other end of the room. The old mother stepped out of the crowd along with her son.

'Sir! Please don't kill us!' he begged them.

'Please don't kill us. I beg you!' his mother requested, sitting on her haunches and bowing down. 'As for my son's debt, I will do whatever it takes to pay you back! Please forgive us!'

She looked at her son and pulled him down with her, too. 'Don't just stand there. Beg for his forgiveness.'

'I'm sorry. Please forgive me. I promise I'll pay it back!' he said, rubbing his hands together in apology.

'There seems to be a misunderstanding.'

'Please don't kill us!'

'Please spare us!'

Many people crawled to the floor and bowed to the guards. Dae-Ho glanced at Ye-jin. 'Should we join them too?' he asked her. She held him back and stared at the guards.

'I don't think anything will change by doing that.' she said.

The pink square guard took a step forward on the pedestal. 'We are not trying to harm you. We are presenting you with an opportunity.' he tried to explain, with the same robotic voice of his.

'Clause three of the consent form.' Player 456 spoke up, loudly, garnering the attention of other players, "The games may be terminated upon a majority vote." Correct?'

The pink guard nodded. 'That is correct.'

Player 456's lips spread into a flat smile. 'Then let us take the vote right now,' he demanded.

'Of course. We respect your right to freedom of choice.' Everyone looked at each other in relief and stood up from the ground. 'But first, let me announce the prize amount that's been accumulated.'

The square guard pointed the remote at the ceiling and pressed a button. Immediately, the lights dimmed and turned golden. A translucent golden tube inserted itself in the piggy bank and started dropping some amount of cash into it. People gathered around to see how much cash was dropped into the piggy bank. They were astonished and amazed by seeing such an amount of money in front of them.

Including them, Dae-ho stood up and took a look too. 'Woah, that's a lot of cash.' he exclaimed in surprise. Ye-jin forced a smile and nodded, staring at the empty space on the mattress beside her, where he had sat a few moments ago. Some people pushed each other out of the way just to see the money drop into the Piggy bank.

'The number of players eliminated in the first game is 91. Therefore, a total of 9.1 billion won has been accumulated. If you quit the game now, the 365 of you can equally divide the 9.1 billion won and leave with your share.'

'How much is that?' The old man with the highest debt in this place demanded out loud. More people gathered forward.

'Each person's share would be 24,931,500 won.'

'Fuck, we almost died, and they're giving us 24 million? That's fucking bullshit.' said Su-bong's sidekick.

The purple-haired lad blinked madly. 'Twenty million?!' Su-bong asked, not believing it at all. 'YOU SAID 45.6 BILLION!' he yelled.

'The rule is that a hundred million won will be accumulated for each eliminated player. If you choose to play the next game and more players get eliminated, the prize amount will increase accordingly.'

Ye-jin scoffed and smiled bitterly. Somehow, the words seemed like an insult to them. Why was she worth some money at all? And that too, a hundred million won. Was she a horse that they happened to now possess?

'How much will it be if you survive until the end?' asked the old mad, in a rude tone.

'As I already told you, the total amount of prize money for all 456 players is 45.6 billion won. Those who make it through all six games will equally divide 45.6 billion won.'

'So, if you're the only one to survive, you get 45.6 billion?' the person beside the old man confirmed.

'That is correct.'

Many people gasped in amazement, excitedly talking amongst themselves. 

People somehow forgot how they were begging in front of the guards some five minutes back, prioritizing their lives over anything else. Truly, people can change for money.

'So, we can take a vote again and decide to leave after the next game?'

'As promised in the consent form, you can take a vote after each game and decide to leave with the prize money accumulated up to that point. We always prioritize your voluntary participation. Now, let's begin the vote.'

The lights of the room changed once again. On the floor, there was a partition that divided the room into two halves. As Ye-jin faced the gate, the left side of the partition had a large red cross, and the right side had a blue circle on the floor. The left side of the room, along the partition, was illuminated red and was for those who wanted to leave the games. The right side of the large room, along the partition line, was illuminated green and was for those who wanted to stay back and play another round. There was a voting machine installed at the front of the room, under the pedestal, temporarily brought by some guards to take the votes.

Those who were sitting on beds or on the stairs stood up and joined the crowd that gathered at the far end of the room. Ye-jin got up and patted her bottom back, but she noticed that Dae-ho was no longer next to her. She looked around frantically, but she could not find him.

Maybe he got lost, she thought. She ignored the pit in her stomach at the alternative thought that formed about him and walked her way into the crowd. He was a nice person. She could see by the way he showed concern for her. Surely, he would not be a guy whose greed controlled his actions, or was he?

On her way towards the left corner of the crowd, she ran into a sturdy chest, absorbed in her thoughts. She hit her forehead hard, so it ached badly. But there was something strange about this interaction that made a chill go down her spine. 

'Ouch!' she mumbled, holding her forehead with her hand to massage the wound, and bowed to the person. 'I'm sor-'

But the moment she glanced up, she noticed that he was no longer in front of her. She turned around on her heel to glance at the person, but only his broad back and his short, dark brown locks were visible to her. There was a 001 label on the back of his green jacket. He seemed to be in a hurry and was warily following someone.

'What a rude man.' She thought, huffing. There was no point in extending the issue, so she quietly stood at the left corner and stared at the others.

'If you wish to continue the games, press the O button. If you wish to end them, press the X button.'

[probablyamberheart]

RED LIGHT, GREEN LIGHT (HYACINTH | Frontman, Hwang In-Ho)

HYACINTH MASTERLIST

FrontmanxOC

3.5K words

'Dae-ho-sshi?' she confirmed, awkwardly. He nodded eagerly.

She tried to exercise her mind to find out who he was, but the void in her memory kept bothering her. His name seemed quite familiar, but she could not pinpoint how he was related to her. Were they old friends? Perhaps a classmate? Was he a close friend? ...or did he like her?

She scoffed internally. Why would this handsome young man ever like someone like her? That assumption would be horribly wrong.

She bit her lips nervously and glanced behind. There were only some ten people behind her, while the rest climbed up the stairs. 'Well, maybe we should go up first... we can talk whilst walking?' she suggested, trying to excuse herself and avoid his sudden confrontation.

'I agree.' he softly answered, making way for her to go first, so that he could follow her behind.

She quickly stepped away and walked up the stairs, trying to ignore the way he was intently staring at her.

'I think you really are Ye-jin.' he said finally, making her stop for a moment before she shook her head slightly, and decided to continue walking, 'At first, I thought I was mistaken, but then now that I took a closer look at you and heard you, I think it's definitely you.'

It seemed as if he really knew her well and also was keen to meet her once more... How could she turn down this kind and charming man and walk away? She sighed. 'I-I am Ye-jin actually.' she revealed.

'I knew it, noona!' He gasped and skipped a few steps, putting an arm around her shoulder and looking at her sideways. 'You have not changed much at all-'

Was she older than him? Oh my... She blinked in confusion.

'-the way you acted as if you did not know me, when I wrote you a marriage proposal as a child. I mean, I thought we were very close. We played Ddakji and Gonggi all the time. We threw plane planes at strangers. You used to hit my head when I throwed a tantrum over milk. You never told anyone else about the secret rooftop to anyone other than me-'

Wait, what? Did that man really ask her out before? And they did all that as a child? She looked even more confused. 

'-and the same way you are pretending to not know me in this place.'

Ye-jin gave a guilty smile. She did not mean to offend him by not recognizing him. She just did not remember him. However, the man was far more carefree and giddier than he looked. He took it as something amusing and let out a loud laugh.

She felt bad. She just could not recognize him or greet him with the same enthusiasm he showed her.

Maybe it was time to reveal a little about herself. Afterall the man seemed harmless. It would also make her feel less guilty to not see him make a fool out of himself by trying to etch her memory, when the only thing it was filled was with her grandmother and herself.

'Erm actually,' she started, mustering up the courage, 'I genuinely do not remember you. I-I think I know you quite well, but it just that, uhm, my mind is bit boggled, if you know what I mean.' she sighed. 'I had some damage with my brain...'

There was a slight pause.

It was amusing to see how his excited face morphed into sadness and soon transitioned into concern. 'Why? Did something happen to you?' he asked, hurriedly scanning her face and her body.

She gulped, feeling her stomach churn badly. This was her first time talking about her situation with someone, that to, a complete stranger. She did not know how to confess about it.

'I asked my grandmother to be clearer about my condition, but she just told me that it was just a brain damage. I-I had somehow gotten into a car accident once, and since then, I've had trouble recalling memories from the past.'

'Oh' he exclaimed in shock, still listening patiently. She took a deep breath and continued talking.

'My grandmother told me that it was for the good that I did not remember my past anymore, because it had hurt me a lot before this happening. I tried to recall by skimming through my grandmother's old photo albums and my old belongings. I even unconsciously reached the front step of my mother's huge house to talk to her and ask her about my past, but I was afraid to do that, wondering what she would say to me after such a long time, so I silently left.

I had trouble recalling the present events at that time, but my grandmother stayed with me all the time so that I could never forget her. Slowly I started remembering how the dishes my grandmother made smelled like, what she made every morning for breakfast, and how my grandmother loves cleaning the tiny house alongside me, as she laughed and told me stories about her past with my grandfather.

She helped me as much as she could, and I'm glad that I'm doing better than before. But I still cannot seem to remember my past.'

'Wait, you don't live with your mother anymore?!'

'It seems to be that way...' She looked down. 'I don't remember what happened or why she left. My grandmother did not tell me anything at all.'

'So, she has not made any effort to tell you anything at all.'

She chuckled lowly. 'I loved her my grandmother a lot, but sometimes she would be a pain, especially when she refused to tell me anything about myself. She always said that it was for the better that I did not know.'

Dae-ho nodded in understanding and gave her a kind smile. 'So,' he asked her, his eyes lit up, hopefully, 'did it ring any bells when you first saw me?'

She cracked a little smile. 'My head did hurt a little. I could remember you from my past but had trouble recalling how I knew you.'

He sighed in relief. 'I'm so glad that you remember me.' he revealed. 'Once we finish this game, I'll see if I can help you with your mind-boggling issue.' With that, he grinned widely. She chuckled and slapped his shoulder jokingly.

When they reached the final step, they let a loud gasp, and Dae-Ho removed his arm from around her shoulder and supported his back by putting his hands on his waist.

'Gosh, that was so tiring!' he exclaimed, panting slightly.

'Smile'

In front of them were six large, pink photo booths. People took turns to take an identity photograph. Many people were crowding around the first photobooth, around the purple haired guy, and creating a fuss about not being allowed to take pictures together. She rolled her eyes walked with Dae-Ho to the other end.

'After having your picture taken, follow the staff's instructions and proceed to the game site.'

Dae-Ho patted her shoulder softly. 'I'll go first and wait for you, noona.' She nodded and smiled, watching him take his picture. And gosh, he looked adorable.

'Is that a man or a woman?' she heard someone whisper behind her.

It was the mother of that curly haired man. She followed her gaze, and her eyes landed onto a person, with the build of a man and soft masculine features on his face. His hair was long, nails were painted charcoal black, and there was light makeup on his face, especially around the eyes.

'There are people like that. They're men who want to be women.' her son tried to explain, making some stupid, and not so convincing hand movements.

'Why would they want to be women?' His mother frowned. 'Men are men, and women are women.'

The son tried putting a hand in front of her mouth, trying to stop her from speaking more. 'You can't say things like that!' he whisper-yelled.

'Good grief, that's unsightly.' commented his mother, scrunching her nose in disgust, as her son pulled her to the empty photo booth.

'Noona, here!' she heard Dae-Ho yell, and she turned her head towards him. He had finished and the was waiting for her, so she quickly jogged towards to photo booth and stood in front of it, apologizing to the person who was about to use it before she took her chance.

SMILE

She adjusted her hair and gave a small, nervous smile.

Click

When the picture got verified, she stepped away, letting the next person finally click their picture. She stood behind Dae-ho in a fourth line, as the others in the line waited for the others to finish taking their picture.

'What took you so long?' she asked him, as they followed the others and climbed some more steps. Her feet were aching badly, and her breathing became uneven. She climbed eight sets of stairs! She just wanted to rest against a wall for some time.

He let out an awkward laugh. 'I guess the uncles behind me were too eager to get their pictures clicked, so I let them do it before me.'

'You're too kind, you know that?' She chuckled, stopping for a moment took catch her breath.

He looked at her in concern, holding her body still with his strong arms. 'What happened?'

'I guess I'm a little tired. They made us climb almost six floors!' she huffed. 'From our room, I only saw four floors and overestimated my strength.'

'Well, makes sense.' He snickered. 'I feel tired too-wha-'

Ye-jin and Dae-ho stumbled on the step, as the purple haired lad pushed them to the side, staring intensely across at the other side of the stairs, at that pretty woman. He climbed up the stairs faster, pushing more people out of the way.

Dae-ho immediately took support of the side wall, by putting his hand against the wall to steady himself. He involuntarily caged her against the wall, restricting himself from nearing her by stopping himself just inches away from her face. She let out a quiet gasp, lightly flushing at the sudden action. She looked anywhere but into his eyes.

'GIHUN-AH!' somebody yelled from a distance. She jumped in shock, at the sudden interruption, and softly pushed him away, gulping nervously.

'Gihun-ah! Gihun-ah!' A plump man called out repeatedly, running up the stairs towards Player 456. Player 456 stopped in his place for a moment and turned around in surprise.

'Jung bae-ya..' he finally spoke, after a long look at the stranger's face. He couldn't believe his eyes.

'Fuck, you were alive this whole time?' the stranger wondered out loud.

Player 456 ignored his question and frowned nastily. 'What are you doing here?' he raised his voice.

'What am I doing here? What are you doing here?' he half-scoffed, following the Gi-hun guy behind, 'No one's heard from you for three years. I heard your mom passed away. I had to hear about it from my wife! What kind of friend are you? Were you going to cut me out because I didn't lend you money?'

She exchanged a look with Dae-ho and started climbing up the stairs, letting him follow her. Gosh, that was something! She looked down and hurried up the stairs in embarrassment.

'Divorced?!' Gi-hun repeated his friend's words in silent fury. He hit his shoulder loudly. 'Did you have an affair?!'

His friend scoffed and looked down. 'As if I could manage one.'

She turned her head and stole a glance at Dae-ho, who was blindly following her, by staring at her shoes. His mouth was in a pout and his ears were bright red. She bit back a smile. How adorable.

When they reached the topmost floor, they stood there waiting for the gates to open. It was suffocating for her to stand in the crowd, all squished between strangers. Her breathing became uneven. Thankfully, Dae-ho stood around her, like a shield, protecting her from accidental shoves or pushes.

In some time, the green gates opened, and they entered another large, dark room. Dae-ho tightened his grip around her hand.

Slowly, the light shined in the room, illuminating her surroundings. The walls of the room were painted realistically as a grassland, and the sky was painted blue. She looked up, noticing the large roof open, letting them see the bright blue sky. A flock of birds flew across the sky. The fresh air blew past them and the strange smell of the sea water hit her nose.

          "Promise me that you will meet me here once you come return."

           "Why won't you go with me?"

A sharp pain shot in her head, and she leaned into Dae-ho, scrunching her face in pain.He looked shocked. 'Wha-'

'It's just the smell.' she interrupted him, crinkling her nose in disgust. 'I'm really sorry for all this. I don't know what's going on with me.

My head used to ache a lot like this during my post-surgery period. It stopped aching long back, but ever since I stepped into this place, it started hurting again.'

'What triggered you this time?' he asked her, cautiously.

'I guess it was the smell of the seawater.' she shrugged slightly.

He blinked in shock. 'You smell seawater here?!' he looked around and sniffed. 'But I don't smell anything...'

'All the players, please wait a moment on the field. Let me repeat.'

The purple haired guy walked past Ye-jin, pushing her out of his way, as he reached the vicinity of the pretty lady. 'Hey Señorita!' he called out, strutting towards her.

His Señorita stopped walking, and turned around, slowly.

'All the players, please wait a moment on the field.'

'Don't you know who I am?' he asked her, pointing at himself.

She gave him a sarcastic smile. 'Do I have to?' she asked, changing her tone to match his.

He looked away, adjusting his hair, and chuckled. 'No, you don- Ouch!'

The man stumbled forward, on accidentally bumping into a strong person's chest. He turned around and looked up at Dae-ho, who happened to frown at him.

'I'm sorry, señor.' he joked, taking a slight look at the pretty lady beside him, who gave him the nastiest look she could ever give.

His eyes narrowed and his lips formed a half-smirk. 'Señorita, do you know who I am?' he repeated the same question to her.

'Do I have to, Su-Bong-sshi?' Ye-jin jeered, reciprocating his advances mockingly, with a fake smirk.

He let out an audible high-pitched gasp. 'I'm Thanos! T H A N O S!' he yelled, spelling out his nickname and showing his multicolored nails next to his face. 'Who the fuck is this Su-bong? I don't know him.'

'Well, whatever. Keep flirting.' She rolled her eyes and pulled Dae-Ho with her towards the opposite direction.

Thanos blinked in confusion, watching her leave with the guy, before he turned back towards his Señorita with a large smile on his face. His Señorita scorned. 'We can get to know each other. Tell me about yourself.'

'Are you hitting on me?' she joked, bringing her playful attitude back, which she lost when they were interrupted.

He cleared his throat and adjusted his purple dyed hair, giving her a flirtatious smile. 

    'In the sea of faces,

    you caught my eye.

    My beauty,

    my flower blooming among weeds.

    Red, orange, yellow, green.

    I'm a legend, Thanos.'

She looked at him head to toe, with an amused scoff. She would not admit, but she was quite impressed.

    'Look at us in this blue-green.

     Now give me the green light.'

He rapped, swaying his hands in the air along with the flow of the lyrics, accidentally hitting another person, who glared at him. 'Watch it, scumbag.'

 'I like you!' he finally announced to her, wrapping up his mortifying rap, by wiggling his eyebrows. She looked away, hiding a smile.

'What's the thing?' Dae-ho asked to no one in particular. Not just him, but many others were asking each other the same question.

She blinked and glanced at the front. In front of them, about at least a hundred meters away, there was a tall, dark brown tree and a huge doll, who faced them. The doll was a young girl, with cute pigtails and wore a yellow plaid dress. There was a long, pink line, almost at the end of the room and there stood two circle guards before the line, near the doll.

'Looks like a large doll to me.' she answered him.

He laughed. 'Well, I'm not blind. I can see that too.'

'Then why bother asking me what it was?' she sassed jokingly, making him smile widely.

At least he was not as frightened as before and was chuckling at her jokes from time to time. She had noticed how scared he was when they first entered the dark room. He was holding her hand tightly, that she felt like crying out in pain, but she let him hold onto her for a while.

All of sudden, the gates behind them shut close. Everyone turned around in shock and quickly turned back to the front, looking at each other cluelessly.

'The first game is Red Light, Green Light.' announced the lady, with her soft voice.

'We're playing Red Light, Green Light?' the old mother exclaimed. She was standing some distance away from Dae-ho and her, but her voice was loud enough to be heard from the back.

'See? We're playing games, not gambling.' her son spoke, happily, holding her hands in his.

'So, this is a children's game.' The mother laughed quietly. She looked relieved and happier.

'Cross the finish line in five minutes without getting caught. If you do, you pass.'

There was a round of happy talks going around. Dae-Ho looked glanced at her, and she glanced up at him, giving him a small smile and squeezing his arm, to reassure him. When he looked the other way, she stopped smiling and paused for a moment.

Everyone looked so content, yet there was something about this mission that did not sit right with her. Just that something made her mouth feel sour. She gulped silently and stared at the doll, that stood far away, staring at them.

Was that it, just to reach the end line? This can be accomplished by many, and even if they lose, it will not matter. They could return back home... But why would they give cash for such a simple mission? Surely there could be something different in this game, wouldn't it?

'EVERYONE!' someone yelled beside her. She jumped in shock and turned her head.

'Everyone, listen up! Pay attention!'

Player 456 ran to the front, making sure he was visible to many, and waving his arms to garner attention. 'Listen carefully!'

She frowned. What happened how? What was he doing, when the game is to start at any moment then?

'This not just a game!' he explained, yelling loudly, carefully pausing in between, to make himself very clear, 'If you lose the game, you die!'

Many people gasped in shock. There was an eerie-like silence.

A pit formed in her stomach. Surely it would not be true, would it? She slowly glanced at Dae-ho and held his hand tightly. He looked both shocked and confused.

There was definitely something that was irking her about these games since the beginning, but now it made a little more sense. Even though she knew she should not believe a random person asserting something without much proof, his words made more sense than anything else she could think of. Afterall, how can a person in such a place, with unimaginable debts pay them off, having nothing with them as a collateral, rather than their own life?

'What is he saying?' snarled someone in the crowd loudly.

'What are you talking about? We're going to die playing Red Light, Green Light?'

Gi-hun nodded quickly. 'That's right! If they catch you moving, they will kill you! They will shoot you from somewhere!' he revealed, pointing at the front, above the doll.

People laughed at him. 'Is he mentally insane?!'

'That doll's eyes are motion detectors!' Gi-hun continued yelling, paying no attention to the people's mean comments about him.

'We might join Dad today.' the son joked, making his mom laugh. She playfully hit his shoulder.

'Should we believe him.' Ye-jin wondered out loud. Dae-ho looked at the Player 456, who was passionately explaining the game and pleading them to listen to him.

'He does look like he wants to save us all.' he answered, after a pause, 'I don't think there is any harm in listening to him.'

Some people scoffed angrily.

'I think he's trying to scare us so he can win the prize money.'

'That's right! Don't pull any tricks, asshole!'

Gi-hun took a deep breath and sighed deeply. 'You have to believe me!' he pleaded.

At the exact moment, the doll slowly turned her body around, facing the tall tree. She lifted her left hand and rested it on the stem of the tree. Gi-hun did not turn around to face the front and stayed at his position, facing the crowd.

'Don't be alarmed or panicked! No matter what happens, do not panic and start running!' he repeated again.

'Let the game begin.'

The pink timer on the large screen, above the doll, started counting down from five minutes.

'The hibiscus flower has bloomed.'

[probablyamberheart]

KANG DAE-HO? (HYACINTH | Frontman, Hwang In-Ho)

HYACINTH MASTERLIST

FrontmanxOC

3.7 K words

'I would like to extend a hearty welcome to all of you.' greeted the square-masked person, with a robotic voice, distinctively that of a man. 'Everyone here will participate in six different games over six days. Those who win all six games will receive a handsome cash prize.'

Ye-jin stopped leaning against the support and focused on the guard's words carefully.

'Excuse me.' a man spoke up from a corner of the room, timidly, 'You said I'd be playing games, but you practically kidnapped me. So how can I believe that?'

People nodded their heads and agreed. She felt herself agree too.

The square guard gave a little bow with his head. 'I apologize. Please understand that it was necessary to maintain the game's security.'

'What's with the mask then?' a lady asked, in a rather crude tone, from the crowd gathered at the center of the room, 'Is your face also a secret?'

'Yeah! Why are you hiding your face?' A man near here yelled. 'Is this some kind of illegal gambling house?'

'Even the dealers don't cover their faces in those places.' added another guy. Many people around him agreed, talking amongst themselves about the strange place and these guards.

'To ensure fair gameplay and confidentiality,' the square guard tried to explain, 'it is our policy not to reveal the faces and identities of staff. Please understand.'

A pretty and petite woman, around her mid-twenties, stepped forward, holding her green jacket in the air. 'Did you take off my clothes and put these on me.' she asked, giving the jacket the most disgusted look, that if the jacket were a person, it would have felt guilty for existing.

Now that she raised the question, Ye Jin looked down at her clothes in horror. She felt sick in the stomach at the thought of it right now. How did she not think of this earlier at all?

Did some random stranger strip her of her clothes and dressed her into these prison uniforms? Did they do anything else to her? She gulped and tried to shake the negative thoughts away.

'What's with these shoes? My shoes are limited fucking edition. They're hard to find!' A fair looking man, also in his mid-twenties, bellowed, holding a shoe in his hand, almost threateningly. 'You're going to replace them if they get ruined?' His distinctive mop of purple hair was easily visible from the back of the room. 

'These don't fit and the color sucks. Can't I just have what you're wearing instead?' whined the same lady. 'I like pink.'

Honestly, at this point of time, the lady was just being annoying with her irrelevancy with the situation they were in. Ye-jin pursed her lips, ignoring the lady's words, just wanting to get over with all this mess she had gotten herself into.

The square guard gave the slightest bow with his head. 'I'm sorry, but that is not possible. You must be in your uniforms for the games.'

A guy from the front of the crowd stepped out, and towards the guards. 'What about my phone?' he shouted 'Why did you take my phone and wallet? Give them back, please.'

'We're keeping your belongings safe. We'll return them once the games are over.'

The guy looked desperate. 'At least give me my phone. I need to check the crypto market. If I lose money, will you compensate me?' he pleaded. There were some people around him who stepped forward and agreed with him.

'We will return it to you once the games are over.' spoke the square guard, with the same monotonous voice.

'I need to monitor the real-time prices! Do you know how much I've invested?'

The square guard turned around and changed the screen that displayed the number of participants, with the remote in his hand, to a man's red face. By the looks of it, although not very clear, the person on the screen was the same person who just asked for his phone back. He had just been slapped for failing the Ddakji game. Not once, but many times.

Would she have been slapped too, for failing the game? She was left appalled.

'Player 333, Lee Myung-gi.' Ah, so the screen did display the player. 'Age 30, used to run a YouTube channel called MG Coin. After convincing subscribers to invest in a new crypto coin called Dalmation, causing losses of approximately 15.2 billion won, you shut down and disappeared. You're wanted for fraud and for violating telecom and financial investment laws. Current debt levels, 1.8 billion won.'

She let out a loud gasp, garnering attention of people around her, much to her embarrassment.

When she looked around to see if there were any watchful eyes left, she noticed that same, poor Player 456 facing the wall, instead of the guards, and busy glancing at the cameras. Her eyebrows shot up. She did not know whether to be concerned or just amused.

Nevertheless, she held her breath, silently praying that they would go through her past too. Despite the embarrassment she would face, she wanted to know more about herself. Her life was filled with voids, and she had no idea what fit where.

'Player 196, Kang Min-na, 45 million won in debt.' The preppy, talkative lady looked around in embarrassment.

'Player 120, Cho Hyun-ju, 330 million won in debt.'

'Player 230, Choi Su-bong, 1.19 won in debt.' Ye-Jin chuckled at the name. She could make out that it was the purple haired lad.

'Player 198, Jang do-yeoung, 1.4 billion won in debt.'

'Player 226, Kim Yeoung-Sam, 1.9 billion won in debt.'

'Player 444, Kim Nam-du, 2.02 billion won in debt.'

'Player 343, Sim Jae-Seok, 2.89 billion won in debt.'

It seemed as if they were only planning to mention those who had the highest debt in this place. She sighed, feeling disappointed with her expectations, but also glad that she was not a part of them. Imagine being alive with such debt!

'Player 006, Park Mi-Hwa, 3.1 billion won in debt.'

'Player 283, Lee Eun-Ju, 4.02 billion won in debt.'

The was a little silence, before the square guard announced the last person, with the highest debt amongst all.

'Player 100, Im Jeong-Dae, 10 billion won in debt.'

Ye-Jin gasped yet again. This time, she was not the only one. Many people's faces contorted in horror and held their head in shock.

'One more game!'  the man yellow at the screen.

'Ten billion? Who's that?' asked someone from the crowd of people at the center of the room.

A plump man, standing upright, glared down at those who pointed at him and whispered about him. 'WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING AT?' he bellowed loudly. 'Do you think it's easy to get a ten-billion own loan? They don't lend that kind of money to just anyone! Only to those who are capable of paying it back.'

The square guard took a step forward and turned off the display. Immediately the murmurs died down.

'All of you in this room have crippling debts and are now on a cliff-edge. When we first came to you, you did not trust us either. But as you know, we played a game and gave you money as promised. And so, you trusted us and volunteered to participate according to your own free will. You have one last chance to decide. Do you want to live like a piece of trash, running from creditors? Or will you seize the last opportunity we are offering?'

He pointed the remote to the roof of the room.

The bright white lights dimmed on impact and the color of the room now had a golden hue. Slowly, a large, yellow, translucent piggy bank dropped down to some two meters from the roof and stayed still. The roof closed around the top, securing the piggy bank still.

'What you see now is the piggy bank where your valuable prize money will be stored.' explained the guard, 'After each of the six games you will play, the prize money will accumulate in this piggy bank.'

Everyone looked at the piggy bank in pure awe, captivated by its existence.

A man with the curliest hair she had ever seen, raised his hand slightly. 'How much is the prize money?'

'The prize money for the games is 45.6 billion won in total.' answered the guard, flatly.

'45.6 billion won?!' a person beside him asked, wanting to confirm what he heard. After all, 45.6 won was quite a huge amount of money.

The curly haired man tilted his head slightly to the side. 'And one of us will get it?' he asked.

'We will give you the details about the distribution of the prize money after the first game.' the square guard answered, monotonously, 'For these games, you will be given a special new advantage.'

'What is it?' someone in the crowd demanded.

'After each game, you will be given a chance to vote on whether to continue the games or not. If the majority votes to stop the games, you can leave with the prize money accumulated up to that point.'

Player 456 finally looked away from the cameras and took large steps forward, making his presence known. Many people turned their heads to take a look at him.

'Are you saying that we'll still receive the money, even if we leave after the first game?' he asked, loudly and clearly.

The square guard nodded. 'That is correct.'

The man's face contorted in shock. He quickly turned around and gave a heated look at the surveillance camera behind him.

She chuckled scornfully. What was his obsession with the cameras at this place? Why was he so determined to be noticed by the cameras? She shook her head and decided to ignore the strange guy. He was none of her business.

Her eyes focused on a slight disturbance in the crowd. An old lady was pushing her way towards the curly haired man. 'Good heavens. Excuse me.'

When she reached him, she whacked the back of his head loudly, the echoing across the room. 'You idiot!'

Ye-Jin pursed her lips to hold her laugh. This was not the time or place for humor, after all, but how could she not laugh at this awful coincidence?

'Mom!' he blinked hard, feeling as if his eyes just deceived him. 'What-what are you doing here?'

His mother glared. 'That's what I wanted to ask you! What are you doing here?' she retorted crudely, slapping his shoulder.

He bent down, trying to dodge her beatings. 'You're embarrassing me.' he hushed.

'Embarrassing?!' the old lady scoffed. 'If you knew what was embarrassing, you wouldn't be here!'

The man looked around desperately and apologized to the others. 'Stop it! We'll talk about this later.' he whispered to her.

'No, we won't.' she said and grabbed her son by the end of his jacket, in an attempt to drag him to the near end of the crowd. 'Come on, you're leaving. You're leaving now, okay?'

The son, however, broke free from her clutch and held her hands in his. 'Mom, why did you come here? Do you realize where you are? This is no place for an old lady!'

'Why did I come here? To pay off your debt, of course! Do you even have to ask? You fool.' she yelled, slapping his shoulder loudly.

The man turned to the pink guards in anger or perhaps concern for his mother. 'Why would you have a naive old woman here?' he demanded. 'Will you take responsibility if my mom collapses?'

His mom pulled him back, slightly. 'Yong-sik,' she started, softly, 'I'll stay and do this. You go home.'

The man looked frightened and sad. 'Stop it! I'm already here. I can't just leave.'

'But you promised me. You promised never to gamble again!' said the woman, with a large frown evident on her face.

The son pulled her closer and pleaded with his hands, 'No, this isn't gambling. We're just playing games here. I'll just play one game and go.'

His mother immediately slapped his shoulder and pushed him away. 'You idiot, it's the same thing!'

The square soldier stepped forward. 'Be quiet! That's enough.' he ordered, tonelessly.

'-Don't you dare-' 

'Quite a nuisance, aren't they?' a woman spoke out near Ye-jin. She turned around to glance at the source of the voice. It was a pale lady with a black pixie cut and many piercings on her face and ears. By the looks of it, it seemed as if the woman was talking to her. Ye-jin blinked in confusion.

'-Are you kidding me?-'

'I feel like I should not agree, but I do.' she answered her, quite unsure how the lady would take her words.

Afterall, she did hold concern for quite a few people in this place. They seemed pained and confused. They reacted just as how a goat would have reacted on being transferred to a tiger's cage. However, the lady already seemed pretty invested in these games. Her concern for the people around her was probably nonexistent. Would her words disappoint her?

'THEY'RE JUST GAMES! RIGHT, EVERYONE?'

The lady only chuckled deeply. 'They are delaying the process.' she added. Ye-jin just nodded in agreement and stared back at the scene.

Before the mother and son could make use of the silence to continue with their banter, the square guard interrupted them.

'If you wish to participate in the games, please sign the player consent form. Those who do not wish to participate please speak up now.-'

'Ah finally he speaks.' the woman beside Ye-Jin muttered, joining others in the crowd as they divided amongst themselves and formed seven queues.

'-We always give you a chance to leave the games.-'

Ye-Jin looked around quickly. The third line had the lowest number of people at that instant, and also, the pixie cut lady was standing at the end of the line, so she timidly walked and stood behind the lady. She did not know anyone so far, other than this fair woman with whom she exchanged only a few words.

'Nice to see you again.' the pixie cut lady winked at her. Ye-Jin chuckled softly.

She looked around and noticed the mother and son still bickering at the near front of the second line. The purple haired lad, who had finished filling his consent form, strutted to the front of the first line. The MG coin guy, whom she could see more clearly than before, stopped just in time to avoid running into the tall purple haired guy. That scrawny looking man decided to bow respectfully and walk past the tall stranger, but the stranger stopped him with his large frame. He glanced up at the stranger's face in confusion.

'The amazing Myung-gi from MG Coin? Is that you?'

'Who are you?' asked Myung-gi, with a small frown on his forehead. He took a step backward, cautiously.

The purple lad leaned closer, scanning Myung-gi's face crazily, and almost desperately. 'You may not know me, but I know you. MG Coin. I was subscribed to your channel. And I lost a shitload of money, you asshole!'

'So did I.' another guy added, putting his right arm around the tall lad's shoulder and playing with his shoulder length hair with his other hand.

Myung-gi took a deep breath and pursed his lips together. 'You might have gotten the wrong person.' he answered, turning sideways to get rid of the two crazy people following him around.

The purple haired guy pushed him backwards and held his shoulders in his arms, shaking them wildly. 'I watched your content all day, every day. Now I even see you in my dreams, motherfucker!' he yelled into the guy's ears.

Pat

Pat pat

'Huh?' Ye-jin jumped in shock and turned away from the scene. The pale lady gave her a non-amused look and hand her a pen. 'It's your turn. Go sign it.'

Ye-jin slowly took the pen from her hands, giving the guard a look of apology.

The lady leaned closer to her left ear, much to her surprise, and whispered, 'Those guys scream trouble. Don't pay attention to them at all. If you associate with them, you'll be the one losing more.'

Ye-jin gave a quick nod and walked forward, trying to catch her breath.

'-You told you to bet it all. You swore it's shoot up-' She did not pay any more attention to how he was now strangling Myung-gi's neck.

PLAYER CONSENT FORM

1. A PLAYER IS NOT ALLOWED TO VOLUNTARILY QUIT THE GAMES.

2. A PLAYER WHO REFUSES TO PLAY WILL BE ELIMINATED

3. THE GAMES MAY BE TERMINATED UPON A MAJORITY VOTE. INCASE OF TIE, PLAYERS WILL VOTE AGAIN.

4. IF THE GAMES ARE TERMINATED, PLAYERS WILL DIVIDE THE PRIZE EQUALLY.

SIGNATURE ________

She took a slight glance at the square guard, unsurely, who was busy watching the players sign their consent forms. 'Those who do not wish to participate, please speak up now.' he said, staring intensely at Player 456, as if the words were intended for him.

Player 456, by the expression on his face, did look like he did not wish to play the games at all, however he quickly skimmed through the words of the document and signed the consent form, letting the person behind get his chance to sign.

She must have gone crazy for being involved in such a mess in the first place. Even though her debt was little, she had no job at the current moment, her only blood relation just died, leaving her all empty and alone. Would it matter much if she played these games. Afterall, she had no one to hold her back anymore. But really, should she really be doing this?

Ye-Jin heaved a sigh, dissuading her conflicting thoughts and signed her document too. It would not matter much, she thought. She lost everything. What else was there to lose?

She snapped out of her trance and walked towards the pale lady, who gave her an amused look, and made space for her to sit next to her on a random bed. There was already a young man seated near her. His head hung low, and he looked very frightened with everything. Very cautiously, she sat down on the bedding next to the pale lady.

'I know you have the potential to be tad more independent than this. Don't be nervous and stick around me everywhere. I know everyone probably feel the same way as you do.' she advised to Ye-Jin, who cracked a little smile.

'Are you nervous too?' she asked her. The pale lady half shrugged.

'I guess so... my heart is beating like a madman, if that makes any sense.. well, does it?'

'No, but yeah.' and the two spilt into silent laughter.

'So,' Ye-Jin started, gasping for breath, after their stupid laughing session, 'I-I haven't had the opportunity to ask you your name... so, wha-'

'Se-mi. Just call me that.' she interrupted Ye-Jin nervous question, with a half smirk. 'What about you?'

'Oh, I'm Ye-jin. Ahn Ye-jin.' she replied, carefully turning her head to the boy sitting beside her. He was already looking at her, so she gave him a soft smile. 'And what is your name?'

He quickly glanced at Se-mi, who nodded her head at him. 'M-m-minsu' he stuttered.

'That's nic-'

'Please form a line. You shall follow me outside the premises.' the square guard ordered, loudly and clearly. Ye-jin closed her mouth and jumped of the bedding, along with Se-mi. There were about 3-4 people signing the form, as the square guard instructed everyone. The others were either standing or sitting on a bed, just like them.

At his orders, they moved from their comfort and tried to get into one of the four long lines. There was quite a ruckus created by the old uncles in the first line, whom either pushed others out of the line or got pushed away instead. The uncle with the highest debt, it seemed, had already formed a gang of active players, who viewed him as their head. She tutted and quickly joined the second line along with Se-mi and Minsu.

To her other side, in the third line, the purple haired lad was adjusting his hair and practicing his rap, as his eyes followed the pretty lady, who created a huge fuss about her jacket just an hour back.

Se-mi scoffed. 'Look at that pathetic bastard.' she murmured, rolling her eyes and looking away.

When the last person of the first line reached the gate, her line started moving out of the large pink room. When she stepped out, she let out a quiet gasp in awe. She had expected the outside to not be well-maintained as the inside of the room, but how wrong she was! As she turned around the corner, there were many pink and yellow staircases that ended at about three or four floors up. There were some cyan painted windows, through which pretty much nothing could be seen.

'The first game will begin momentarily.' announced a lady, with a sweet and kind voice. 

Whilst climbing up the stairs, she noticed the circle guards present almost at every corner and in front of every small hallway. What exactly were down those hallways? Surely there could be something worth guarding down there. She could not help wonde-

'Ah!' she shrieked lowly, as she was yanked to side around a corner. She glanced at the person in pure shock. 'Wha-' her mouth opened but stayed parted in surprise, on sight of the person infront of her.

The person holding her wrist was a dashing young man, almost about her age. She probably had never seen such youthful and gorgeous man in her entire life. Well, she probably had never seen such handsomeness in person, but maybe in a few photographs she had once come across, when skimmed through her grandmother's belongings, out of curiosity.

His build was large and strong, which she could tell by the way he held her hand. His dark brown eyes were scanning her face, and the way he looked at her face made her feel obliged to let her cheeks flush bright red. The nose of his looked perfect, absolutely perfect on him, and his soft pink lips were full-

'Are you Ye-jin?'

'Eh?!' She snapped out of her trance and gave him a bewildered look. 'D-do I know you?' she asked, a pitch higher than her usual voice, embarrassed on being caught gawking at him.

The man gave a large, toothy smile, which made him look even more charming. Ye-jin gulped and tried to look away. 'I'm so relieved to see you again!'

She blinked in confusion. 'Who-'

'It's me, Kang Dae-ho.'

[probablyamberheart]

STRANGE MAN, STRANGE GAMES (Hyacinth | Frontman, Squid Game)

HYACINTH MASTERLIST

FrontmanxOC

1.3 K words

A loud, cheerful instrument played in her ears, bringing her to her senses. She groaned and rubbed her eyes, wanting nothing but to go back to sleep on this unfamiliar, soft, and comfortable pillow. Still resting her head on the pillow, she glanced around.

When the initial blur disappeared, she could see her surroundings more clearly. There were many mattresses around her, as if stacked over each other, like a large bunk bed. There were not just a few, but many such prison beds.

All the people were neatly dressed in a distinct green color that perfectly fit their bodies. Was she supposed to change before joining the game, too? How come that guy had not told her about anything?

She looked down at herself and gasped. She was no different. She was wearing the same clothes too.

Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

It was only yesterday that a strange man with strange-looking attire approached her in a Seoul subway station. She was sitting on a seat, still grieving the loss of her only family relation. He had offered her to compete with him in a rather delightful challenge, Ddakji, in return for money.

How could she refuse such an easy challenge?

Despite not having any money on her, since she had spent it all on her grandmother's hospital bills and paying their debts, leaving nothing for herself, at least she was confident about her Ddakji skills. She remembered playing Ddakji with her friends in school and in her neighborhood. 

Just like how she always won against her friends, she won against the man, much to his surprise. He gave her a kind smile and handed her a light brown-colored card with a triangle, circle, and square, and a number on the back of the card.

She gave a bittersweet smile. 'Now, what will I get by joining this?' she asked, shaking the card in her hand as she spoke to the man. Was he expecting her to gamble?

She realized that this was not just a fun game but involved gambling. Why would anyone in their right mind give away money for free? She had no money with her to play these gambling games, so why did he approach her in the first place? She had nothing that she could bet other than her own life, which she would never want to give.

'Ahn Ye-Jin, 31, Seoul. You were from a wealthy family in Seoul, but you cut relations with your mother and lived with your grandmother elsewhere until you aspired to become an actress and moved back to Seoul with your grandmother to fulfill your dream as an actress and your grandmother's dream of opening a traditional Korean side dish (Ban-chan) restaurant. You are currently in search of a stable and quick job to pay off your debts and your grandmother's hospital bills. You are also in a desperate search for someone who can help you file a case against the hospital your grandmother was admitted to.'

He stopped for a while and took a deep breath, smiling at the flabbergasted look on her face. 'If you join the games, you can earn a large sum of money, which can help you live a luxurious life until you die.'

She blinked in shock. 'C-can you repeat that again?'

'I beg your pardon. Repeat what exactly?' He asked, kindly, with his same thick accent.

Her lips quivered. She felt revolted about whether to delve further or leave it be, just like her grandmother always told her to. No matter how many times she asked her grandmother about her parents, she would remain tight-lipped.

'The thing about me cutting ties with my mother and moving somewhere else..' she started, 'Can you tell me more about it? Where did I move to?'

The strange-looking man only smiled faintly. 'I cannot disclose more than what I am supposed to disclose. If you truly lived your past, you would definitely remember it in the near future.'

With that, he dusted his coat and left her at the station, in her own thoughts.

She was left curious about the game.

Not for the money, but for the man who knew more about her past than she did. Did she know him before? How did she find out about her past from the stranger without knowing it herself? She had to find that man and know more.

She remembered registering herself for the game, reminding herself that she had just lost the only family member she had just a few days back and had no one who would care if she disappeared or not. After all, it was only a matter of six days.

She also remembered entering a strange, white van.

She remembered everything blacking out.

Now she was here in these weird prison clothes, a prison bed, and a pink prison room, with cameras almost everywhere. There was a large screen on top of the gate to this large room, which showed the number 456. What was that supposed to mean?

Everyone around her stepped out from their beds and moved to the base of the room. She followed a young lady with shoulder-length hair and did the same as the others did, reaching the base while looking around at everyone and everything.

There are quite a few in their twenties, the majority of people are in their mid-thirties or forties, and some hand-picked people are more than fifty.

As she walked down, she noticed a lady stay back and sit on the edge of her bed, holding her bloated stomach. Was she pregnant, or just bloated?

She felt concern for the lady. If she were really pregnant, she should be resting at home and taking care of her health, not being forced to move around, especially in a suspicious place like this. What was she doing here? What brought her here?

She shook her head, thinking it would be rude to ask her directly, and let her be. She continued walking down the stairs. After all, the lady probably had her own reasons to be here.

As she glanced around, she noticed a strange woman, with eyeliner tattooed under her eyes, giving a man a strong, pointed stare. The man had a number printed on his shirt and jacket. 456, it read.

That was when she realized that they all had a unique number of their own, distinguishing them from each other. She immediately looked down to see her number. It read 455.

Oh great. 456 on the screen probably reads the number of players. She is the second-to-last, and that man is the last player.

'-I sense you're holding onto many things. You can't leave or stay. You can't fight it. It's your destiny. You have souls hovering over your head who are lingering in this world-'

She rolled her eyes in exasperation and continued walking. The last thing she wanted to encounter was a lunatic who made money out of people's fears.

Poor player 456. He did not deserve to hear from that strange lady the very first thing in the morning.

She heaved a sigh and leaned against the rod of the tall bunk bed, casually hearing people's confused murmurs.

When almost everyone gathered around the bottom-most bed and on the base of the room, the gate opened. Almost immediately, the crowd of people fell silent, curiously looking over each other's heads to take a look at the person who opened the gate.

Some strange-looking people entered the large room. They were all dressed in pink, and each of them covered their face with a black mask and a white circle drawn on it. A person with a white square painted on the black mask stepped forward and looked at the crowd gathered in front of him.

'I would like to extend a hearty welcome to all of you.' greeted the square-masked person with a robotic voice, distinctively that of a man.

'Everyone here will participate in six different games over six days. Those who win all six games will receive a handsome cash prize.'

[probablyamberheart]

HYACINTH | Frontman, Hwang In-Ho

'What are your intentions?'

His cynical stares His brief touches His suspicious words

What did he want from her? What was so keen about her? She promised herself never to let her guard down in front of him. But until when could she hold the promise?

CHAPTERS

Prologue

Strange Man, Strange Games

Kang Dae-Ho?

Red Light, Green Light

001

Voting

Dalgona?

The Loony's Prophecy

His Story

Confrontation

Pentathlon

Sabotage?

Gone Insane

Odd Feelings

Memories: I

Memories: II

(to be continued)

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[probablyamberheart]

PROLOGUE (HYACINTH | Frontman, Hwang In-Ho)

HYACINTH MASTERLIST

FrontmanxOC

1K words

Author's note: I apologize for the short prologue chapter. The other chapters are longer and better. There is quite a mystery planned. The story may seem bland as of now. Well, that is because I don't wish to spoil the story for my fellow readers. Once again, thank you for reading!

'I deeply apologize for your loss. We could not save her'.

Despite the sad silence in the emergency hallway, her ears were ringing loudly, like the train that leaves the station with a heavy sound. The doctor's words kept repeating in her head. It has been almost an hour, yet her feet stayed rooted on the floor in the blood-stained emergency hallway, unable to move out, despite the staff telling her to walk out of the way.

'-we tried our best-'

She let out a disturbed breath, holding a hand on her neck to control her shaking sobs. Her tired, puffy eyes were glistening with fresh tears. She tried to wipe her tears with the sleeves of her sweater, but the sleeves of the sweater were already damp from her crying.

'Halmeoni-' she whispered sadly, '-why did you do that?'

She sniffled softly. Her downcast eyes lifted on hearing a noise from the emergency room. The same doctor had emerged from the room to announce the result to another family. He repeated the exact same words to them. She did not have to tilt her head to witness their misery, since she knew all about it already.

She felt wronged.

Her grandmother was not bleeding much when she let go of her to the nurses in the emergency room. Her grandmother was a strong and brave woman. How did she pass away in the room?

And how could it be that the doctor had not saved anyone until now? Should his incompetence be held accountable for her and others' loss?

Her eyes narrowed. She glanced at the doctor, who turned on his heel nonchalantly and walked towards his emergency room. Her body was shaking in anger.

She stormed towards the guy before he could enter the room and pushed him to the nearest white wall with all her strength. Her left hand held the guy's throat firmly to the hard wall.

The tall guy, despite his smart and manly attire, looked frightened. He gave her a confused frown.

She snatched the ballpoint pen with her right hand from the pocket of his coat and pointed the tip of the pen at his eye, just inches away from there. He was having a hard time catching his breath.

'Miss, w-what are you doing with my pen?' He asked, stuttering, trying to bring his composure back. He was struggling to find words.

'Well, what do you think?' She hissed. 'Tell me. What have you been doing with my grandmother and their daughter? Why are they both dead?'

He blinked hard, finally gaining some composure, and stood taller, despite her hand choking his neck, pulling him down.

'How many times do you have to repeat it to you? She died an unfortunate death. We are apologetic from our side. There is nothing we could do about it.' He spoke deeply, in the same formal tone he used to speak with every other patient.

She scoffed, putting more pressure on his neck. 'I paid the hospital a hefty sum of money to save her!'

He was getting angry. He grabbed the wrist of her hand that had hold of his neck. 'Is it my fault that she is so old?! If not today, she would have died in a month.' He whisper-yelled, glancing around to see if any patients were listening to their conversation.

There was a slight silence. Her lips quivered.

'Ah, so that was what you thought.' She deadpanned, trying to control her anger, but in vain. 'SHE WAS A HEALTHY WOMAN! SHE WOULD NOT HAVE DIED IF IT WAS NOT YOUR INCOMPETENCE THAT KILLED HER!'

He tightened his hold on her hand and forced it away from his neck, holding her wrist down. 'I TRIED MY BEST TO SAVE HER, AND HERE YOU STAND, HAVING THE AUDACITY TO INSULT MY WORK?!' he bellowed, his voice now echoing through the walls of the hallway. He probably had forgotten about the other patients.

'What duty exactly? Killing your patients and running away with the expensive hospital fee?'

He opened his mouth to talk back, but the nurse arrived just in time to call him back for another surgery. He tried to leave, but she held him back, leaning closer to his face to take a little sniff. His face contorted in shock.

She frowned.

There was a faint but strong smell of alcohol... Now that he was very close to her, she could also notice a faint redness in his eyes.

So, it was vodka, to be exact.

Her eyes widened. She let go of his hand and stepped backward in shock. She couldn't believe her eyes. Was this even allowed? How could he do this? This was just so unprofessional of him.

She closed her eyes and took a shaky breath. She felt like lashing out at him and stabbing his eyes with his pen or doing something even worse. She was having a hard time controlling herself.

'Did you drink alcohol before performing surgery on my grandmother?' She snarled.

She was fuming mad. She wanted to report him, to make him pay for all the mess that he made. But she knew the hospital would have his back. She had no money or power whatsoever.

He scoffed, almost nonchalantly, and turned his back to her to take his leave. 'If I ever see you again in this place, I will have to have security drag you out of the hospital. Mark my words'.

'Why would I visit such an unprofessional hospital ever again?' She scorned. 'Good luck murdering your next patient.'

'Mind your words, miss,' he warned. 'And hand me my pen back.'

She glared at his hand and walked past him, not forgetting to hit his shoulder as she walked towards the gate.

[probablyamberheart]

Welcome to Amber Heart's Blog!

Being mean is not cool. Spread joy and awareness! You exist for a reason. Don't insult the person who gave you life by brooding and complaining. Make sure you live your life to the fullest. Be kind and leave a great imprint on others so that people will look up to you.

She/Her Scorpio ISTJ Asexual Hopeless romantic My hobbies are writing books, singing melodious songs, speed skating, watching dramas related to crimes or social causes, drawing portraits, etc. I love talking about philosophical stuff and advising early teenagers. We can talk sometime on my Instagram handle! AmberHearttalks

MASTER LIST

SQUID GAME ➼Hyacinth | Frontman

STRAY KIDS Series: Amber Heart and Stray Kids ➼Dearest (OT8) ➼Perfection (Hwang Hyunjin) ➼Idol (Yang Jeongin) (OT8 upcoming)