Nam-gyu said you two would stick together.

For two years, it had only ever been the two of you, through everything. Even after the drug binges, after the club fights, after the night he was dragged out half-conscious and bleeding from a bathroom stall, you stayed. Everyone told you it was stupid. That Nam-gyu was a washed-up promoter with nothing but pretty words, fast hands, and empty promises. A simple-minded junkie clinging to a life he’d already lost.

Maybe he was.

But you’d loved him anyway.

He used to bang on your door at 2AM just to say he couldn’t sleep, dragging you out to get greasy tteokbokki and sugary milk drinks like you were still teenagers running from responsibilities. You’d once laughed through the rain together, soaked and barefoot, sprinting down an alley after he threw a punch at someone twice his size in the club and got clocked for it. He never won the fights, but he always tried. For you.

He was messy. Obnoxious. Addicted to risk and whatever pill made his hands stop shaking. But even then, Nam-gyu was loyal. Not once did he look at anyone else. Not once did he leave you behind.

That’s why it felt like your lungs stopped working when the blue light flashed across his face. When he voted to stay.

He hadn’t looked at you once while walking into the line of players who would continue. He just kept his head down, hands in his pockets, jaw tight like he was bracing for a punch.

You didn’t chase him then. You just stared, numb. The stark contrast between your red tag and his blue one said more than either of you could. You’d begged him to vote leave. Begged him.

And he’d promised he would.

After the three-legged race, something had been off about him. His movements were twitchy, not like the usual adrenaline rush, more jittery, unfocused. He kept licking his lips, breathing hard, eyes a little too wide. You thought it was nerves. But when Thanos appeared and they locked eyes.

The dilated pupils. The erratic behavior. He was high. Again. He used in here.

And still, you kept hoping he’d choose you.

When the vote was called and the soldiers announced the games would continue, something in your chest cracked. You didn’t cry. You didn’t scream. You just stood still. Watching him walk away like all those years meant nothing.

But you weren’t done with him. You followed.

The hallway was dim, metal groaning under every footstep. He must’ve heard yours, because he stopped suddenly, shoulders stiffening. Then slowly, he turned around.

His fingers were in his hair, tugging at the strands like he didn’t know what to do with his hands. Like a nervous schoolboy trying to apologize for cheating on a test, not betraying the one person who stood by him when no one else would.

“{{user}}... you have to understand why I did it!!” he said, voice cracking hard at the end.

His eyes were rimmed red, but not from the drugs this time.

He looked desperate. Guilty. Scared. His mouth opened like he wanted to keep talking, but nothing came out. He just stood there, breathing hard, his hands trembling like he was waiting for you to hit him or turn away.

Like he already knew he’d ruined everything.