C H A P T E R N I N E :
"But believe me, I do not regret it."
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   Yi-Seo weakly opened her eyes, her vision blurred by exhaustion. The harsh, fluorescent lights above her came into focus, and an all-too-familiar sense of dread washed over her. She recognized the room immediately—the same cold, sterile space where it all began. Sitting up slowly, she pressed her palm to her forehead, trying to steady herself as the pounding headache reminded her of the sleepless nights. Two days without rest, two days of feeling uncertain.

Everything was as she remembered—the stark white walls, the faint hum of electricity, and the suffocating tension in the air.

"Yi-Seo!" A voice yelled, she looked the persons direction, seeing it was Gi-hun.

She took the covers off herself and walked towards him. "Hey!" She smiled. "Hello, Sir." She greeted player one as she observed his features.

"Hello there!" He smiled widely at her. His attention then turned to the people in front of him. "A lot of people came back."

Yi-Seo looked at the screen, seeing there was a total of 187 players.

"You're right." Gi-hun agreed. "I guess everyone had a tough time. Jeez, even that woman who didn't name her baby is back!" He pointed at player 212.

"You're right. I wonder if she managed to give her baby a name." The old man added.

"That baby must've been nonexistent. I think it was just some excuse to get out of the games." Yi-Seo, looking at the two.

"Don't be insensitive!" Gi-hun looked at her. "What if she did have a baby?"

"I'm not being insensitive." Yi-Seo arched a brow at him.

"Yes you are."

"No I'm not."

"Yes."

"No."

"Yes you are!"

"That's not being insensitive! Do you know what being insensitive even means?"

"Yes I do."

"Yi-Seo, Gi-hun." Sang-woo interrupted their bickering.

Gi-hun turned around, "Hey, Sang-woo."

"Hi." Yi-Seo waved.

"You guys are both here. I didn't think any of you would come back."

"Me neither." Replied both Gi-Hun and Yi-Seo at the same time.

"Jinx!" Yi-Seo said. "You owe me a meal. No take backs." Gi-hun playfully rolled his eyes at her.

"What about you?" He asked Sang-woo. "Did you see your mom?"

Sang-woo stayed quiet and looked down, as he was ashamed.

"Good sirs!" Ali yelled, running towards them. "And ma'am." He smiled at Yi-Seo.

"My savior!" Gi-hun said while pointing at him.

"I'm glad to see you again, sir." He then looked at Sang-woo, "Thank you so much for the bus fare that day."

"You gave him money for the bus?" Gi-hun asked.

"He said he'd walk from Yeouido to Ansan."

Ali then looked over to Yi-Seo, "Thank you ma'am for the food." He bowed.

"That's heart-warming." Gi-hun smiled like a proud father. "My two best friends always being generous. Comrades from boot camp, is that it?"

"What's a boot camp?" Asked Ali.

Sang-woo looked at him in disbelief while Gi-hun responded. This made Yi-Seo giggle quietly.

"You know the military? Where you shoot guns and go through training."

"Oh, where soldiers live together?"

"That's right." Gi-hun nodded. "Wait. Now that we're on the subject, why don't we team up like we're in the military?"

"You're right. We don't even know what we'll have to play." Agreed Sang-woo. "It's better to form a group and be prepared for everything."

Yi-Seo crack her fingers, sitting beside the old man.

The old man chucked, "don't want to get in the conversation?"

"Not really. When those two start thinking, no one can stop them." Yi-Seo shrugged.

"Listen. Why do you join us?" Gi-hun asked Ali. "He's amazingly strong. You saw it, right? He lifted me up with one hand."

"Can I really join you two?"

"Yes, sure. You're the private, a new lackey." Gi-hun assigned his position. "He's the competent corporal." He pointed at Sang-woo. "And I'm the sergeant on my way out."

"Thank you sir." Ali bowed.

"You can stop the 'sir'." Sang-woo said.

"Hey." Yi-Seo spoke up. The three men looked over at her. "What about us?"

"Oh yes!" Gi-hun snapped his fingers, thinking. "You can be the sergeant major who gave his life to the military."

"Thank you." The old man said.

"And Yi-Seo..." Gi-hun placed his fingers on his chin, thinking. "You're the whole package. You have the beauty— external and internal, and the brains."

Yi-Seo smiled at his compliment. Sang-woo cleared his throat and looked at the other direction.

"My goodness, our team checks off all the boxes."

Classical music started playing from the speakers. "Your mealtime begins now. All players, please line up in the center. Let me repeat: Your mealtime begins now. All players, please line up in the center."

——

Yi-Seo grabbed her tray and scanned the room, seeing if the group of guys were sitting where they met up.

"Mind if I sit here?" she asked, her voice casual but her heart racing.

Sang-woo glanced up, surprised, and then gestured awkwardly to the spot beside him. "Oh, yeah, sure. Go ahead."

Yi-Seo opened the tray, surprised to see a good meal. She picked up the spoon, getting some rice and eating it.

"This would've been better if it was warm." She said as she chewed. Gi-hun agreed then started rambling off.

"I thought you would call." Sang-woo blurted out, but in a whisper voice. Yi-Seo looked at him confused.

"Oh." She took one last bite of her rice. "These past days have been hectic."

Sang-woo nodded, his fingers fidgeting with the edge of his tray. His lips parted like if he wanted to say something but instead, he stayed quiet.

Yi-Seo tilted her head, "Did you ... wanted me to call?" She asked hesitantly.

He looked down at his tray, a faint smile tugging at his lips but never fully forming. "I don't know. Maybe."

For a moment, they both focused on their food, not saying a word. The tension between the two were louder than the voices around them.

"The last time," Sang-woo said suddenly, breaking the silence. "When we kissed." He glanced up at her, his expression carefully neutral. "It just—felt like maybe we would... talk after."

Yi-Seo froze, her spoon halfway to her mouth. The last time. The kiss. She didn't expect Sang-woo to bring it up, but hearing it made her heart beat faster.

"Did you regret it?" He looked at her directly, his eyes widening.

"Sang-woo, of course not." Yi-Seo placed her spoon down. "I would've called, I swear but everything happened so fast— I didn't even have time to process my life."

"I know, I'm sorry. It was stupid for me to bring this up." Sang-woo cleared his throat and looked down at his food.

"It wasn't stupid." Yi-Seo placed her hand on his shoulder. "But believe me, I do not regret it. I would've done it again."

Words from the author:
Omg, I've been so busy this week. Sorry for the late updates but I'll try to get back on track! 🙏🏻

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