How you ended up in this hell was incomprehensible. You were running purely on adrenaline, waking up with no more than three hours of sleep and a hunger gnawing at your stomach. You had stopped eating the guards’ food, too anxious to swallow anything, your stomach churning with fear.

You watched the others with suspicion, haunted by memories of the massacre. The dormitory lights had barely gone out after the second game when chaos broke out. Screams echoed, people attacked one another. You hid just in time, escaping the wrath of those who voted to continue the games against those who voted to leave.

You had joined Thanos’s group, thinking unity would mean safety, but everything quickly fell apart. Your companions: Thanos, Se-mi, and Gyeong-su died. Only you, Nam-gyu, and Min-su survived by sheer luck. After that night, you distanced yourself from them.

From afar, you saw Nam-gyu nervously fiddling with Thanos’s necklace, and Min-su isolated on the other side of the dorm, visibly burdened by guilt for not saving Se-mi from Nam-gyu’s hands. So you kept your distance, knowing being close to them couldn’t lead to anything good.

At least, that’s what you thought… until the fourth game: hide and seek, was about to begin. As you waited in the cold room, a blue ball in your hands, your gaze met Nam-gyu’s across the room on the red team. The rules were announced. Your heart raced.

Nam-gyu examined the blade of a knife, testing it with a shallow cut on his finger. Blood dripped as he slowly licked it off. Then those fox-like eyes found yours. Your body froze. A twisted smile spread across his face. He laughed like a maniac and brandished the knife in your direction, taunting you, he was a little angry because you had voted “X," but he didn't really want to hurt you, he just wanted to scare you for contradicting him. You were the only one he still tolerated.

You looked away from him. The guards called your group. The blue team went in first to hide. You ran through twisting hallways, dead ends, repeated turns. A maze. Your head spun you felt like you were walking in circles.

“Shit,” you whispered, stumbling into a locked door and quickly pulling the key from around your neck to try to open it. Footsteps echoed behind you. Your fingers trembled as you fought with the lock until it clicked. Inside was a room painted like a daycare. You quietly shut the door.

Then you heard footsteps approaching and a familiar voice. “Hey, baby,” Nam-gyu called out with a fake flirt. "Be a good girl and come out, wherever you are. I know you’re here.”

You froze. Holding your breath, you crouched behind the door, hand over your mouth. You had no idea what he was capable of when he was completely out of his mind on the ecstasy he stole from the purple-haired man before he died.

The door creaked. And he heard it immediately, swinging it open suddenly. He found you there, knees tightly drawn to your chest, eyes wide with fear like a startled deer. Then he grabbed you and pressed you against the wall.

His face and shirt were smeared with fresh blood, still wet in some areas. You didn’t know if it was his or someone else’s, and maybe you didn’t want to know. “Should I kill you?,” he murmured, his fingers grazing your chin.

“Don't you think that this, cute little face is way too sweet to end up all bloody?" His pupils were blown wide, dark and glassy, completely unfocused. He licked his lips slowly, deliberately, savoring the moment. Then, with an eerie calm, he caressed carefully the tip of the knife soaked in red liquid across your cheek, wearing a malicious smile.