Chapter Text
The guards knew they shouldn’t gossip during work time, especially about their boss. They knew that if he were to find out, there would be punishments, ones that could lead to them taking their last breaths. They were very much aware of every risk, were cautious of their wording, of their surroundings. It was ridiculous, but they couldn’t resist it - not when their boss was acting differently. Not when he was observing a particular player with such an intrigue, one might assume he was crushing on him.
“Player 456 is a lucky guy’’ was what most thought of him from the ones that had access to the monitoring. When going through all players, everyone thought he’d be amongst the firsts to die, and he actually was very close - if only he hadn’t been saved in the last moment. He was a naive guy with a warm presence, definitely not very bright, unnoticeable in the crowd of players. Nothing interesting about him, yet he kept being in the middle of everything, even becoming an ally of the host of the games who had decided to participate in the games before dying. What the boss found so interesting in him was beyond everyone.
Two of the triangle guards that were on duty in the monitoring room were looking at the live footage of the camera that had a nice view of player 456. The man was sitting on the stairs in the main room, chatting with a few other players, nothing interesting. It was quiet in the room, all guards enjoying the calm before another storm. There was going to be a game in a few hours, now the players were having their breakfast.
“I wonder if he’s going to die today,’’ one of the two guards whispered. The other shrugged.
“His chances of dying are increasing, you know. He’s not going to survive until the finale.’’
“The boss will be devastated,’’ the other said and laughed, “that man is protecting the host unlike everyone else. If he dies both won’t like it.’’
“Imagine if he wins.”
The two immediately laughed, unable to imagine it. This man couldn’t hurt a fly, how could he kill anyone? He had no special skills whatsoever, he was a regular boring man nearing his 50’s, the VIPs also did not like him much. Only the boss was fond of him for some bizarre reason that no one understood. He had no chances of winning.
The guards continued to laugh quietly in their corner. Meanwhile, another guard entered the room in a hurry, headed towards the main computer where all the files were.
“What’s up?’’ a circle guard asked him, the guard turned to look at her.
“The boss wants the footage of the Dalgona game,’’ the guy replied and leaned in to whisper, “he wants the best footage of player 456.’’
The circle guard raised an eyebrow, then a realization struck her. She had been the one to watch that footage on that day, the man’s positions during that game were… quite sinful in other scenarios. He had been on all fours, licking the dalgona, desperate and… The boss was a sick man, the fuck.
“No way,’’ she whisper-screamed, holding back from running down a hand through her face. “I don’t want to say this out loud, but the boss definitely wants to fuck him then.’’
“What’s the footage?’’ the guy asked and leaned on the desk. “It can’t be that bad, right?’’
“Let’s just say… it’s not very appropriate and it awakens some desires. I didn’t know the boss was that type of guy.’’
The other guard coughed, red in the face under the mask. He thought it’s for research purposes, not for the boss to take care of his morning erection.
“Fucking hell, I’d be emberassed to look him in the face after that.’’
“Believe me, it’s only about to get worse if that player stays alive.”
The two began hoping for player 456’s death in the following game…
Two square guards were standing on duty outside the male bathroom, extremely bored. It was nearing bed time for the players, meaning barely anyone would come to the bathroom, so they’d just stand there and do nothing (not that they did anything when players were there, but it felt different).
To break the silence, one of them asked, “Eun-chan, did you hear what the boss wanted this morning?’’ The other guard shook his head and urged his friend to continue. “He wanted the dragona footage of player 456.”
“Oh no God, really?’’
“Yep. He wanted it sent to his TV, the whole thing. Min-hee told me during lunch break, she was in the monitoring today. He wanted every single angle, she and Ha-joon spent nearly half an hour going through the footage.”
Eun-chan shook his head in surprise, his eyes widened.
“Has this ever happened before?” he asked. It was his first year working in the games, but he had gotten close with a few coworkers, even knowing their names and having made promises to see them when it was over.
“No, and that’s the thing. The boss had a wife , you know. Yet here he is, obsessing over this rando that will die soon. I’d be worried for him if he didn’t scare me.’’
Eun-chan shrugged.
“Imagine if he gives 456 the win.’’
“He would not do that,’’ the other guy said. “He has never done it. Plus, the VIPs don’t like him from what I’ve heard, they wouldn’t be satisfied with that finale.’’
“Just imagine it, Tae-joon. Gun-ha told me how the boss is ogling that man’s ass. He won’t let him go just like that, take my word.’’
“Nah, the boss just wants to sleep with him, don’t go too far. Have you seen him, Mr. Hwang?’’
“No, but I bet he’s secretly blushing under the mask.’’
“Ugh, Eun-chan, stop saying bullshit. He definitely doesn’t blush.’’
“He would, for player 456.’’
Out of nowhere, the radio beeped, signaling that a couple of players were coming to the bathroom. The two squared guards stopped talking, returning to their threatening appearances, and glared at the incoming players, one amongst them being the player 456. Eun-chan had to refrain himself from coughing when he saw him, that old man with his long hair and sweaty face.
Eun-chan, straight in his bones, but an ally in his heart, didn’t get how that man captured the Frontman’s attention.
“Genuinely, what does the boss see in him?” he asked and Tae-joon turned to look at him through the mask.
“I mean, have you seen that man’s ass? If I was gay, I’d want it too, you know.’’
“Really? Now I wanna see it too, see what’s the appeal. That guy has been talked about the whole day.’’
Soon enough, the men left the bathroom and Eun-chan saw it.
“Now I get it… I’d risk my job for that ass bro, the boss has never been more relatable.’’
And with that, their night shift continued…
The other day, a couple of triangle guards were chatting during their break time with Min-hee and Eun-chan in the lunchroom. They were all gathered on a big table, with their masks off, enjoying a nice warm dish, as their chatter echoed in the space.
“That player is still alive,’’ one guy said, the topic of the conversation being player 456 for the third day in a row. “I’m starting to believe the boss is praying for his survival and the Gods are listening to him.’’
“Don’t be ridiculous,’’ another guy said, scoffing audibly, “the man is just lucky.’’
“Wasn’t he a gambler?’’ Min-hee asked, toying with her food, “his file said he lost most of his money on gambling.’’
“Oh yeah,’’ one of the younger guards added, “he bet on horses. Weird as fuck, that old man.’’
“He has a charm, come on now,’’ another guard opposed. “Y’all can’t tell me he isn’t a sweet guy.’’
“Ew, Yoo-gun.’’
“I can’t see him as anything but the boss’ future toy, if he wins.’’
Loud disgusted comments started being thrown at the guard who said that, amongst which was the sentence, “He won’t win!’’
“Let’s bet on that!’’ offered Yoo-gun, laughing at his coworkers’ disgust.
They all agreed on betting 400 won - 4 people thought player 456 would win, 7 thought he’d lose. The results of today’s game weren’t pleasant for the majority of the guards…
Surprising for most people was player 456’s survival in the 5th game, making him one of the top 3 players for the win. His chances were high, given that player 067 was barely living, but no one actually rooted for him, except for the Frontman and Eun-chan.
“That man can’t win,’’ Min-hee uttered, observing the footage of the dinner between the three finalists. “I want 067 to win.’’
“Girl, she’s dying,’’ Eun-chan said, spinning in his chair. “I know you rooted for her gay romance with that other girl, but be fucking for real. We all know who’ll win.’’
Min-hee hit him with her elbow and made a disgusted face. Her long dark hair was in a low ponytail, her mask taken off. She was in her mid 30’s, but didn’t look a day past middle 20’s. Her main job was with the footage, keeping tabs on people and gathering information. “I’m genuinely hoping he loses. I wouldn’t stand having to track him for the boss.’’
“Is that what we do with the winners?’’ Eun-chan asked. His mask was also off, revealing him to be a young man with short brown hair, a couple of faded scars on his face and a mostly goofy face, making him be the clown of the guards (whenever the boss and their boss weren’t around). His duty was simple, killing players during the games and keeping watch during the other time. Right now he didn’t have to do either, since most guards were free to be in the monitoring.
“Yeah, we put tracking devices in them,’’ the older woman said and wrote a code on her computer. “Even on the boss, since he is a previous winner. He has one right behind his left ear, it’s a very bloody job to remove it.’’
“Huh, interesting. I wonder if we’ll put one there on 456, when he wins.’’
“I don’t know, it’s up to the boss. He has bet on him.’’
“Man is in love,’’ the square guard said and faked a dreamy look.
“Ew, shut the fuck up.’’
“He issss, and he isn’t even hiding it.’’
Seconds later, the monitoring room’s doors opened and the Frontman entered. Everyone immediately put their masks on and kept doing their job, while the boss headed towards the two square guards. A shiver ran down Eun-chan’s back, he hoped whatever the boss wanted didn’t have to do with what they talked about seconds prior.
“Square guard 006,’’ the boss said with his deep robotic voice, looking down on the woman that worked on her computer, “Send me the detailed files of the three finalists. Have them printed by tonight, I need 6 copies of each other.’’
“I’ll have it done in a few hours,’’ Min-hee said. Before the boss could leave, she dared to ask, “Are you content with the finalists, sir?’’
The man stopped in his tracks, taken aback a bit by the question, “You could say so, yes. I hope the odds are in my favor.’’
The woman bit back her tongue, holding back from making a comment about player 456, and answered, “I hope so too. May the best player win.’’
Realistically , player 218 had the biggest chances to win. He was the smartest amongst the three, was willing to kill to continue to play, had the looks and understood all risks. Plus, as far as the guards were aware, he and player 456 had been childhood best friends, making for an interesting drama. Most guards were rooting for him, knowing he wouldn’t disappoint them.
The boss nodded and walked away, leaving the two guards alone again. Everyone took their masks off, continued to talk the moment the boss left the room. Eun-chan laughed nervously and cracked his fingers.
“Man, that was so scary,’’ he said.
“You kill people for a living, get your shit together. These are the risks of the job.’’
The man shrugged and glanced at the screens on the wall, searching for the player he had bet on.
“Min-hee, what’s his name?’’
“Seong Gi-hun,’’ she answered and looked at him, “We usually don’t care about a player’s name, only if he’s a winner. You must have too much trust in that man, hm?’’
“Well… I feel like we’ll be hearing about this guy in the future.’’
Everyone in the monitoring room was going crazy during the Squid game. The two left players, 218 and 456, the childhood best friends that had to kill each other, were so tragic to watch, yet so interesting.
Ha-joon and Tae-joon, the twins, one being the husband of Min-hee, were watching the game unfold, while Eun-chan was at the battlefield alongside two other guards. The battle was bloody, heavy rain was pouring and both men had equal chances of dying. 456 was mad, screaming at his old friend, punching and stabbing, covering his black suit with blood. 218 was pinned to the ground, dirty and bloody, bleeding, yelling. The two were quite the sight.
“I bet the boss is going to ask your wife for footage of 456,’’ Ha-joon said and elbowed his twin, “At this point she should be making him edits of him.’’
“She’s paying more attention to this guy compared to me, genuinely.’’
“I don’t know how you’re not jealous, it’s insane.’’
Tae-joon shrugged and looked around the room. Everyone was rooting for player 218, no one wanted to hear anything about player 456 and the boss’ attraction towards him (yet they were all intrigued and kept making theories on what the boss felt). They were done, even if it had been only a week of hearing all about this guy that bet on horses and had a nice ass (but as much as they hated to admit, this made their work days funnier and their chats nicer).
As the game progressed, they all began fearing that player 456 would succeed in ending the battle. No one wanted that, everyone knew that the boss would be furious, that the VIPs would be pissed, that all the money would be wasted. Fortunately, on one side, player 218 declined. Unfortunately…
“WHAT IS HE DOING?’’ one triangle guard screamed, as the man grabbed the knife and stabbed himself in the neck.
Loud screams of frustration echoed in the room. Player 218 died. Player 456 was the winner. The winner of the 33rd Squid game. And now, everyone knew that the boss was kicking his feet in the air from joy. Many people lost their placed bets.
And on one of the screens, the guards saw Eun-chan jumping from excitement, hidden in the dark, as the man he rooted for won. Min-hee, working from the Frontman’s room, was furious at her fate. Now she’ll really have to do edits of that man’s ass…
Min-hee sat in the monitoring room again, all alone. She wore a set of pink wireless cat headphones, spinning on her chair, bored, as she was forced to listen to the conversation between the boss and Gi-hun, the winner, in the white limousine. She was also supposed to watch the footage, there was a hidden camera in the car, but she felt like it’d be too much. It looked like a scene straight out of a porn video, with the winner blindfolded and the boss crossing his legs and looking at him like he’s a prey. She would root for them if they were lesbians, but they were two old men and she couldn’t care less about their tension. She was leaving the island in two days with the people closest to the boss, her husband and friends already back in town, that’s what occupied her mind.
Out of annoyance and want to make someone suffer just like she did at the moment, she snapped a picture of the screen and sent it to the guards’ group chat. Immediately there were dozens of messages that cursed her, some for being lucky to watch that (there were some bastards that genuinely liked that “ship’’ and wanted more of them together, ugh), some for needing to bleach their eyes after that sight. She laughed and typed, ‘ Should I post this on Only Fans?’ , and everyone thought she should.
In the end, she didn’t, but kept that picture and sent it occasionally to group chats to remind people of the sinful dynamic between the boss and the winner no one wanted. She kept working for him throughout the year between this and the next game, keeping tabs on player 456 and informing the boss, who had admitted to her that he had a crush on him like it wasn’t obvious.
One thing that everyone, especially her, missed is that the boss placed the golden card in the mouth of player 456, Gi-hun, back in the limousine. That footage was in the boss’ harddrive, favouried and often rewatched during early mornings and lonely nights…