Chapter Text
You twist the little card in your hands.
It's small, small enough to fit in any pocket.
It has a golden shimmer to it and the front is decorated with a circle, triangle and square in black ink.
Your cheek still stings as you turn the card around to take a loon at itself back.
There's nothing on the back aside from a phone number and a strange icon that looks like a child's drawing of a house.
Both in black ink as well.
456-034.
When you look up the stranger is long gone.
Encountering was truly strange.
He came up to you while you were waiting for your subway back home.
"I'm sure you've played ddakji before, right? Play a few rounds of ddakji with me. And each time you win, I'll pay you ₩100,000.." he had said.
No 'Hello' or introduction from him.
You had asked him what would happen if you lost and he asked you if you have the same sum of money but you denied.
Who in their right mind carries several ₩100,000 with them in the South Korean subway?
He seemed disappointed in your denial for a moment, clicking his tongue a few times before his face suddenly lit up in an idea.
"How about you play with your body then?" he asks, seemingly satisfied with his idea.
He didn't sound like a pervert, at least not the way they usually sound like so you were unsure what he meant.
He was quick to catch your puzzled gaze and explained that, every time you lost, he'd slap you which would be ₩100,000 each time.
You contemplate for a moment before deciding to just do it, you're several million Won in debt and can use every extra money you can get your hands on.
"Okay..." you therefore agree and the stranger in front of you seems happy.
He pulls out the game of Ddakji and asks you to choose a color so you do.
He gives you the chosen color before putting the other envelope on the ground.
You miss on your first try and he slaps you.
The slap is hard enough to make tears sting your eyes, to make your cheek burn, but it's not enough to overshadow your desperation for money.
When it's his turn, he wins immediately making another slap land in your face.
You win the next round and he actually gives you ₩100,000.
You stare at the small stash of money for a moment, now eager to keep playing with the stranger.
You two play a few rounds, you win two more times than he does before he tells you it's time for him to leave.
A bit disappointed you nod.
You would've played for days if it meant more money for you.
His hand vanishes behind the jacket of his suit for a moment before it suddenly waves something in front of you.
A business card.
"I know a lot about you. 240 million Won debt, a sick younger sibling that desperately needs medication you cannot afford and parents who abandoned you. Be quick and join the game, there aren't many spots left." he says as you carefully take the small card.
You're so occupied with inspecting the business card that you don't even notice him revealing all those things about you before he's gone.
✩°｡ ⋆⸜ ✮✩°｡ ⋆⸜ ✮
Sleep doesn't seem to want to come to you that night.
You toss and turn for hours, thinking about the stranger, the game of Ddakji, the money and the card he gave you.
You went out a station earlier after your subway arrived to transfer the money he gave you straight into your bank account.
After coming home you tried to go straight to sleep, exhausted from the two jobs you worked that day.
But no matter how heavy your eyelids felt, you just couldn't fall asleep with your mind wandering around the possibility of how much money you could make if you joined the game the stranger told you about.
A game sounds easy enough.
If you lost you'd just go home and keep living the life you're currently living but if you won...
Maybe you could pay off the debt.
Maybe you could afford the medication and the service dog your sibling needs.
Maybe you could only work one job after winning the game, a five day week instead of a seven day week with the three jobs you currently have to work off some of the debt and be able to keep affording your siblings stay in the hospital.
With a groan you sit up in your bed and grab your phone off the nightstand, checking the time.
It's roughly 1am, you need to be up in four hours again to get to your morning shift at the reception of a hotel in Seoul.
You look to the side, taking a peek at the business card on your nightstand.
It's barely visible in the darkness of your room but you know it's there, you know where to guide your hand to so you can grab it.
Should you though?
The stranger knew some oddly specific things about you which, honestly, really creeped you out.
Sure, some people know a bit of your situation.
Some colleagues who you grew close to know of your sick sibling but no one but you knows of the debt you're in because of it.
But winning could give you s better life, give your sibling a better life...
You take a deep breath before you gather all your courage and unlock your phone, grab the business card and call the number on the back.
It rings a few times after you pressed the call button.
Given the time you don't expect anyone to answer and just when you're about to hang up, someone answers.
Again, there is not 'Hello' or introduction.
"Please state your full name and age to participate in the game." the voice says and you're so surprised by the sudden answer that you actually have to think for a second.
"(Y/F/N), 24." you almost stutter into your phone and the other side of the line is quiet for a moment.
The voice returns, telling you to go to a certain spot at a certain time and day and to tell a person in the car a secret password before the person hangs up.
You recall date, time, spot and password a few times in your head as you open your notes app and write it all down.