C H A P T E R    T W O  :
"Will you like to play a game with me?"
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    Yi-Seo's and Hwa-Young's argument kept repeating in Yi-Seo's mind. How could she react like this?  Yi-Seo has never saw her sister act this way, she probably received a phone call from her ex husband to put her that position.

Yi-Seo shook her head, shaking the thoughts away before stumbling upon Mrs.Cho shop.

"Gi-hun, do you still gamble?" Mrs.Cho asked, her tone laced with wordiness and concern.

"I didn't gamble. I earned this money fair and square." Gi-hun replied defensively.

"Then what's with your face?"

Yi-Seo's turned to see his face all bruised up.

"You're getting into fights now?"

"I'll believe it." Yi-Seo butted in.

Mrs.Cho attention shifted to her. "Oh darling, how are you?" She changed her tone and smiled at her.

"I'm okay, I could be better." She gave her a small smile.

"How's your mom?"

"She's back in the hospital. She fainted and is now in a coma." Yi-Seo bit her lip and shoved her hands in her pocket.

"I'm so sorry to hear that. Hopefully she gets out soon."

"Thank you." She nodded. "So Gi-hun, you're gambling again?"

Gi-hun shook his head. "Aish, I did not gamble. Like I said, I won this money - Forget it." He sticked his tongue out at her. Yi-Seo sticked hers out also and laughed.

"You two stayed as children." Mrs.Chi chuckled.

"What's Sang-woo up to these days?"

The mention of Sang-woo's name made Yi-Seo body stiffened.

"His job doing okay?"

"He's always busy." Mrs.Cho complained. "He's abroad right now on a business trip."

"That ungrateful punk." Gi-hun muttered. "Tell him to call me once he gets home." Gi-hun then yapped about he helped out Sang-woo get into SNU and many other things that made Yi-Seo laugh and Mrs.Cho to roll her eyes.

"Gi-hun, I aspire to have your confidence level one day. It's truly heart touching." Yi-Seo placed her hands over her heart and bowed dramatically. Gi-hun rolled his eyes and looked away.

"Stop talking nonsense. Take this and go home." Mrs.Cho gave him the bag of fish. "Don't go to a bar. Go straight home." She ordered.

"Aw man, I was about to ask Gi-hun to grab a beer with me." Mrs.Cho glared at Yi-Seo. "I'm sorry ma'am it was a joke." Yi-Seo lifted her hands up in defense.

"Matter of fact, drop Yi-Seo to her apartment. Make sure she doesn't grab a drink either."

"But Mrs.Cho-"

"No buts, go home now."

The two best friends looked at each other in defeat and accepted their fate. They both sent Mrs.Cho a smile and waved her goodbye.

"After all these years, she still scares me." She whispered to Gi-hun as they walked to her apartment.

"We're still children to her." Gi-hun muttered and suddenly wrapped his arm around her. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, why?" She looked up at him.

He looked down at her, his eyes softening. "One, your mother is in the hospital. Two, you tensed up when I mentioned Sang-woo's name."

Yi-Seo forced a small smile. "I have faith my mother will be okay." She paused for a moment. "And for Sang-woo, I've been hoping for a message or a call back. I've been worried about him."

"Yeah, I know." Gi-hun pulled her closer. "Yoon Yi-Seo, you are one of the strongest people I know. You got this."

"Thanks." She smiled and then stopped her tracks. "You can go home now. Don't worry about me, I'll get to my apartment soon."

Gi-hun shook his head. "It's only 2 minutes away, I can walk you home."

"I'm sure Gi-hun, either way I have to stop by the gas station to get some food. Besides, im sure your mother is waiting to cook that fish." She sent him a reassuring smile.

He let her go. "Alrighty, if you say so. Good night Yi-Seo!"

"Good night Gi-hun, don't do anything dumb!" She yelled as she walked down the street.

——

    Yi-Seo was at the park, trying her best to get drunk but every drink she had, didn't help. She just sat there, starring into space; wondering where it all gone wrong.

The thought of her mom being at the hospital and the fight she had with her sister suffocated her mind.

"That ungrateful little girl." She whispered to herself before finishing her beer.

She took her blazer off and wrapped it around her legs. She took a deep breath before grabbing a mint from her bag. She felt the presence of someone beside her but chose to ignore them.

"Ma'am?" The guy finally spoke up.

"Can I help you?"

"Do you have a minute?"

"I guess." She faced towards him.

"Would you like to play a game with me?"

Yi-Seo looked at him confused and then chuckled. "You come with a suitcase and a suit just to ask me if I want to play a game? What is this, a social experiment?" She shook her head

"Look, I would love to but my life is pretty shitty and-"

The salesman quickly opened the briefcase, Yi-Seo couldn't help but look at it in awe.

"Ma'am, you've played ddakji before, haven't you?" He said and showed two, one in blue and another in red. "Play ddakji with me. Each time
You win, I will give you 100,000 won."

Yi-Seo began to listen to him closely. "So if I flip your ddakji over, you're willing to give me the money that's in there?"

"However, each time I win, you must give me 100,000 won." Yi-Seo stared at him. "I'll let you go first."

"Let's give it a go then."

"Which color do you want?"

"Blue." She said confidently.

—

Yi-Seo stood up confidently, praying that she will get it on the first try. Truth is, ddakji was a game she always struggled with. Even if it was a basic paper game, she didn't have enough force to flip it over.

She closed her eyes and lifted up the blue ddakji and threw it on the ground with all her mighty strength. She peaked a little bit, hoping for it to flip the red one over however, she failed. She sighed and cussed to herself.

The salesman smirked and grabbed his. Lifting it up and easily throwing it on the group, flipping hers over.

"Fuck." She muttered to herself and then came into realization.

"Do you not have any money?"

"About that ..." Yi-Seo bit the inside of her cheek. "Is there another way I can pay?"

"You can always use your body." He replied. This made her side eye him.

"My body?" She looked at him confused then chucked. "If you wanted to have sex with me you could've just-"

Her words were stopped when the salesman smacked her hard on the face.

She held onto her stinging face. "What the fuck was that? Ouch?" She sighed in disbelief.

"I'll shave off 100,000 win per slap." This made Yi-Seo curious but she decided to suck it up and continue playing.

—-

It only took one smack to make Yi-Seo to flip his ddajki over. She got all the money from the suitcase.

She could finally help out her sister to pay the hospital bill. Even if it was worth getting smacked in the face.

She laid in bed, analyzing the events that just happened. Wondering how that salesman knew everything about her. Her family and the amount of debt that she owned.

Maybe it was in fact a social experiment.

She grabbed the card with three different shapes on it. A circle, triangle, and square. Reminding her one a game she used to play as a kid.

She flipped the card over and saw the phone number the salesman referred too. She thought about it.

If she only needed to play kid games to earn money, she could benefit financially from it. She can have fresh start, help her mother and sister out, and even move to America.

She grabbed her phone and dialed the number.

"Hello". a young man answered

Yi-Seo stayed quiet, not knowing what to say. But then spoke up. "I received this business card and I'm calling to-

"Do you wish to participate in the games? If you wish to participate, please state your name and birthdate."