Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Player 456. Did you have fun playing the hero?” In-ho, his voice is robotic and shaky behind his mask. Erasing every sign that a human being wears it. It helps hiding his true emotions, which in this case, is important. They can’t hear the uncertainty. In-ho would lose.

Gi-hun looks deep into the Front Man’s eyes. In-ho feels uneasy, knowing what he is about to do. What needs to be done.

Gi-hun tries to look brave. Showing, he is not afraid of what about to happen. What he thinks is about to happen.

But In-ho turns the gun in the last minute. 

The gun is now in front of Jung-bae, who desperately looks at Gi-hun, hoping his best friend would somehow save him.

“Gi-hun…” he begins, but In-ho doesn’t let him finish. Before Gi-hun could jump to save him, In-ho pulls the trigger, shooting Jung-bae in the chest.

Gi-hun cries out, grabs his best friend's body. Calls his name, shakes him, hoping his friend will wake up. That he is still alive.

The guards are holding Gi-hun down, before he could have a chance to take the Front Man down. His shouts and crying echo sadly through the halls.

In-ho turn away from the scene. He can’t look at Gi-hun.

It needed to be done, that’s what he keeps telling himself. It really did. Gi-hun couldn’t even grasp the danger he put himself in when he started the rebellion. In-ho should’ve stopped him. He caused trouble not only for himself, but for In-ho too. How could the Front Man let a player get so close to the control room? Attempting to bring down every worker, to take over the island?

Fortunately only a few people knew what the Front Man had been doing in the last three days. He needed to tell his true identity to a few guards he trusted deeply, so they could keep him safe. 

And of course, the Officer knew.

In-ho begins to walk to the elevator, when the Officer steps in front of him.

“Captain. What should we do with Player 456?”

In-ho doesn’t look at him. He stares at the elevator like it’s his only chance at escaping. Gi-hun is still shouting, still crying. In-ho needs to run away, to have his peace and quiet. A glass of whisky, some music to settle his running mind.

A good shower maybe. He still has his sweaty and bloody player suit on him. He probably stinks too.

He loads to wash himself clean. Not just from the dirt, or sweat or blood. From his sins too.

“Knock him out. Take him back to the sleeping corridors in a box. Make an example out of him: If the players try something like this again, they will end up in one of those coffins their savior has arrived.”

In-ho turns his head toward the Officer.

“Order the guards to empty their guns. 456 will try to take it from them, maybe even shoot a few. We can’t let that happen. We already lost too many.”

The commander only stares at him, silent. Like he is judging him. In-ho doesn’t like that.

“Is something wrong?” In-ho ask, trying to sound threatening. He doesn’t believe it came out that way. Only tired.

“No, sir.”

“Good. Then do what I said. And also, now we have a shortage among the triangle guards. Promote some of the circle guards higher. We need the manpower.”

“Understood.”

The commander bows a little, before turning to the guards and Gi-hun. 

A loud hit. Then the crying stops. 

In-ho steps into the elevator, waits for it to scan his mask. Once it opens, he steps in, enjoying the quietness of the space.

But it’s too quiet. He got used to hearing something around him.

The players complaining. Dae-ho’s constant talking. 

Gi-hun’a laughter.

It had been years since he heard so much. Not just his own breathing, or the players painfully screaming. The shooting guns.

Real human emotions. 

In-ho breathes heavily. There isn’t much air in the elevator. His chest feels tight.

He threw it all away. He made himself go there, just for what? So he can torment Gi-hun? Did he even achieve his goal? Showed his enemy that humanity is dead? That there is no hope?

Fucking hell there is no air.

The elevator dings, the doors slide open. In-ho practically runs out, taking off his hood, unclapsing his mask. He takes a deep breath, trying to sooth his beating heart, his running mind.

It doesn’t help.

With heavy steps he goes for his leather chair. Puts his mask down onto the table. Grabs his half empty whisky bottle and pours himself a glass. He drinks in one go.

He sits down, trying to make himself comfortable, then reaches for the remote. He clicked through the cameras, some showing the empty hallways, some showing the guards sleeping corridors. Finally he finds where the players are gathered, some resting on the bunk beds, some chatting about the recent events. In-ho sets on a good angle, and waits for Gi-hun to arrive.

He looks over to the bottle sitting on the table, examining it. He likes it, it’s smooth and has some cinnamon in it. But he feels like it’s not strong enough for times like this. So he gets up, taking the whisky bottle with him and walks over to his bar. Searching through the shelves, he finds one of his favorite bottles. It’s the one he drank when Jun-ho was on the island. And for some unfortunate turn of events, he ended up shooting his own brother.

Yeah. He is not proud of that night.

When he got the bullet out of his shoulder, he almost drank the whole bottle. It’s 53% strong, the strongest on the shelves. He knew that night that he would probably need it in the future, so he saved some, opened another one, and drank the whole thing. He ended up being so wasted, he threw up all over the floor, and passed out.

Maybe history will repeat itself.

He switches the bottles, and sits down again. The main doors open, and four pink guards carry Gi-huns…coffins.

In-ho tries to reassure himself that Gi-hun is in fact not dead, just unconscious. 

The other players had stopped talking, walking closer to the centre of the room, curious about what’s happening. The guards put down the coffin, turn, and leave the room completely.

Player 120, 007, his mother and Jun-hee  approach the box with careful movements. They open the coffin, shocked that they find their leader lying there. Player 120 and 007 lift Gi-hun up with care, and lay him on his bed, waiting for the moment he wakes up.

In-ho pours another glass of whisky for himself, when out of nowhere, his phone starts to ring. He exhales sharply, puts his whisky onto the table beside him, and gets up.

I can’t even get just a little bit of rest in this goddamn place.

He takes his mask with himself. He doesn’t know who is calling, so he needs it for his own safety. No one can find out his true identity. 

Well…more people can’t.

He doesn’t clap the mask on, just places it in front of his face, so his voice is still distorted by the modulator.

In-ho picks up the phone. “This is the Front Man speaking.”

A familiar voice answers on the other end.

“Sir, this is Captain Park. We are getting closer to the island. I don’t know how much longer I can hold them off. I tried to speak to them, but your brother is too stubborn.”

Of course he is.

“Lead them to North, it will win us some time. Soon the games will end, just 3 days left. Improvise. That’s why I pay you.”

In-ho remembers the day when he hired Captain Park. In-ho has always been interested in fishing. That’s how he met with the Captain.

After Sun-hee pointed out that In-ho doesn’t have a life besides being her loving husband, and being a detective, she convinced In-ho to find some hobbies. In-ho was always fascinated by fishes when he was little, drawing them in his notebook during lessons. So he visited a fishing shop, bought the necessary requirements, and went to the docks. He rented a boat with a professional captain, and sailed to a good fishing place, recommended by others.

That professional captain was Captain Park.

He wasn’t just a sailor, he was friendly and helped a lot, so In-ho could be good at fishing. Teached him different methods, telling about the best places to catch fish.

They spent a lot of time together. In-ho went fishing every other week, so he can still spend time with his wife, but also engage with his new found hobby.

He never talked about it with Jun-ho. He was a little shy about it, that Jun-ho's big, brave, caring brother who was the best detective in Seoul was…fishing in his free time. Such a dad hobby, isn’t it?

Either way he really enjoyed it.

After Sun-hee’s death, he found shelter in Captain Park and in fishing. He would spend days sailing on the sea. 

And after too many beers, he confessed everything that has happened to him in those few days. All the horrible things that happened. The games. The trauma.

Since then, In-ho doesn’t drink beer.

The funniest thing about it all, is that the Captain has believed him. It turned out that Park had already heard rumors about an island where some shady things were happening. How no boat or ship has ever sailed close to it, because it would disappear.

And he didn’t judge when In-ho announced that he will join the Games. As a leader nonetheless. 

When the games weren’t going, In-ho would spend even more time with Park. After a while he became somewhat a father figure to In-ho. He could share anything, take the heavy weights off his shoulders.

That’s why it was Captain Park who saved Jun-ho out of the water after their encounter. He even asked Park to look out for Jun-ho. Be there with him, because In-ho couldn’t.

Of course he would pay Park a good amount of money for his services, even though the Captain always said that he would do this for free. 

That’s the reason Jun-ho never had to pay to Park for sailing him around the coast. Because In-ho was already paying him.

In-ho was glad that Jun-ho was trying to find the island. That way Park could watch him, and In-ho would feel his brother a little close to him. Jun-ho’s stubbornness came in handy at that time.

Now he was a pain in the ass.

In-ho told the Captain the coordinates of the island, so it would be sure that the Captain will keep Jun-ho as far away as possible, and had no chance finding the place.

“Understood. And if I can’t come up with anything. Or fail to convince them? Should I kill them all?”

“No!” In-ho said too quickly. “They overpower you. You are already suspicious to them, thanks to the drone guy situation.”

“ Captain, we need you. We have to get closer to that island so we can look for any clues. ”

It was Jun-ho. 

In-ho’s eyes start to sting at the sound of his voice.

“If anything goes wrong, don’t hurt Jun-ho. Never. Or you will regret it.” In-ho snarled, then ended the phone call.

He goes back to his sofa. takes his glass of whisky in his hand, but doesn’t drink it. He sees that Gi-hun is now awake and with his friends.

The soldiers come in to announce the results of the rebellion, and how much more money gets put into the piggy bank. Gi-hun doesn’t look up, he just stares at the guards before making his move.

“Why did you keep me alive? Why didn’t you kill me?” Gi-hun shouts in agony. He tries to take the gun from a soldier, and pulls the trigger. Thank god In-ho ordered them to empty their magazines.

In-ho leans forward, takes his mask and radio.

“Handcuff him to his bed, so he doesn’t hurt himself or others” He says shakily to one of the triangle guards.

“You’ve won.” Gi-hun cries.

In-ho should be happy, shouldn’t he? He got what he wanted. He let Gi-hun live so he can teach him a lesson. To show him that there is no hope left in humanity. Every one of them should be thrown away like trash. 

Then why does victory taste so bitter?

The moment they handcuffed Gi-hun to his bed In-ho let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding. Now Gi-hun is safe. From himself. 

In-ho gulps his whisky down and sets the glass aside. Then he hears heavy footsteps behind him.

He doesn’t need to look back to know who it is.

“Did you really think you can just barge in like you own the place without consequences? Do you have a death wish, officer?” In-ho barks as he hears that the footsteps have stopped behind his chair.

“I apologize for disturbing your rest captain. We finished cleaning up from the rebellion. We haven't disposed any of the players' corpses yet. Do you want to teach a lesson with it to the players? Should we hang them?”

“Are you trying to make a fool out of me? Don’t you think they would notice that Player 001s body isn’t on the human chandelier?”

“Of course, my apologies. How can I be so stupid.” The officer said with a sarcastic tone. In-ho doesn’t react to it. He would never give him the upper hand.

Silence falls in the room. Before In-ho could ask the officer what more does he want, he speaks again.

“What were you thinking, In-ho?” The officer’s voice is clear, he took off his mask. “You help the players rebel against us, you kill your own people, just so you can…what? Play with your little pet?”

“Enough.”

“We had to promote circles, who are unsuitable for the triangles job. Don’t you think that will be a problem soon?. Did you think of that while creating your master plan?” A scornful laugh leaves the officer’s mouth. “Not everyone is as stupid as you think. It’s one thing that the V.I.P.-s didn't catch that you made yourself a player again. Hell, they loved that you let a former winner into the game. Two, without their knowledge.” The officer sighs. “But your workers? They whisper behind your back. The square guards know your face, just so they could protect you in case of emergency. And now you order that we should keep a player alive? Did you go back in time when the management and leaders could choose favorite? In that case I choose Player 222. Pregnant women are hot.”

“Are you out of your mind?” In-ho finally turns to look at the officer, who looks back with a smug expression. “How dare you speak to me like that? I’m making the calls here. I don’t need to explain myself. I say something and you do it. Without question.” In-ho almost shouts, his anger building up in him. “You are below me, not next to me. Just because you are wearing a black jumpsuit, doesn’t make you matter in the system.”

The officer just laughs, “Isn’t your goal is that the games are more fair? I’m just reminding you, in case you forget it.”

In-ho had enough. He pulls his revolver from his belt, and points it to the officers face. The gun shakes in his hand in anger. The officer doesn’t even flinch.

“Do you think you can hide your little scheme away from the Grand Master? Eventually he will sniff out the rules you have broken. The rules you set up by the way.”

“Enough!” In-ho shouts. “You have no right speaking to me like that. I could get rid of you in minutes. Throw you into the ocean. Or better, among the players. Don’t think they wouldn’t tear you apart in minutes. Would be a sight I would kill to see.”

In-ho has fucked up. He let his emotions show, a privilege he could never afford. He needs to be seen as someone cold and calculated. Not someone you can throw around with words like a ragdoll. Closing his eyes and taking a deep breath, he lets the red fog clear in his mind.

He lowers the gun, and speaks now in a calm voice. “Leave. I will not ask again.”

The officer bows, still smiling, still smug. In-ho doesn’t care. He will deal with him later.

The officer is just as replaceable as In-ho. They are just a piece on the chest board. Still, he needs to keep his ground. Must be someone that people are afraid of.

Once the officer left In-ho lets out a shaky breath. He had a long day. He will blame this…slip up on that. Besides the vote, nothing much will happen today. Gi-hun is safe, all he must do now is just order that the players can no longer attack each other. They would instantly attack Gi-hun, and he could not protect himself. Hell, maybe he even let them. But In-ho can’t let that happen . 

Since too many things happened all at once during the rebellion, In-ho needs to catch up with everything that he left out.

He walks to his room, bringing his mask with him, and sits behind his computer. He already has too much paperwork, the pile of documents almost falls onto the floor. Well. He skips sleeping tonight too.

The documents are mostly about the dead players and soldiers. But before he gets into it, he turns on his computer. He searches through the camera recordings when the rebellion was happening. More like, what’s left of it. Player 120 ever so cleverly destroyed most of the cameras, and only the hidden ones were recording. They were placed all over the hallways, it’s more than enough for In-ho to catch up on some things.

With careful eyes, In-ho watches all the recordings back to back, replaying key moments, rewatching it from different angles. What In-ho is really curious about is what happened when he was busy faking his death and killing Jung-bae. He already left the main fighting place. If something important happened there, he should know. He needs to know everything.

For a while he finds nothing out of the ordinary. Just guards falling, bullets flying. Everyone doing there job.

When he reaches the time after the rebellion had fallen he finally finds something worth knowing.

Opening the commanders report, it says that getting rid of the bodies was the triangle guards duty from 010 to 020.

As he looks closer, one of the guards' actions is rather…interesting so to say. Nothing out of place to someone who just watches the recording. But In-ho has to keep an eye out for everything, has to think of all of the scenarios that could happen behind his back.

That guard steps closer to Player 246's body. He pleads probably for his life, then the guard shoots him. The player falls to the ground, the guard crouches down, but does nothing for a couple of seconds. They just stare at the player before scanning their body.

The commanders report lists of the guards who scanned the players bodies. He reads that Player 246’s body was scanned by guard 011.

In-ho rewatches the moment again and again, from different angles. What he sees makes him smile.

011 had shot the player in his belly. Of course, it’s no surprise that a guard hadn’t killed a player instantly. In-ho knows about the organ harvesting that has been happening on the island for a couple of years now. It’s out of his hands, he can’t do much about stoppingit. But In-ho knows 011 rather personally. Well, they are not that close, but knows enough about her to be aware that No-eul is not part of the operation. Hell, she even despises it.

So why the sudden change of heart? That would be very unlike her. In-ho suspects the answer, but as a former detective he knows, he needs more proof.

He searches through the players file on his computer until he founds 246’s. He reads it carefully, notes down every detail in his head.

After that, he opens the live footage that the cameras are showing, finds the guards corridors, and looks for 011s room. She is getting ready for bed, following the procedure with almost robotic movements. In-ho clicks further 013, 014, 015…

He stops at 016's room. The guard is sitting on their bed, mask and jumper still on. They rest their arm on his thighs, but their right hand almost hugs their belly.

Sneaky.

In-ho reaches for his mask and radio. He raises the mask in front of his face for a second, and speaks into the radio.

“Bring guard 011 to my quarters.” He puts his mask next to his monitor. An answer comes through in seconds.

“Understood.”

While waiting for No-eul, In-ho busies himself with the reports and documents. He starts with the players' files, who they were, how they’ve played their games. What rules did they break, and cause of death. It’s the easiest, he just needs to sign them, and later send it forward to the Grand Master. He reaches for player 246’s file. After a moment of thinking he signs it. 

Next, he needs to read through the guards file. That’s a bigger bite, he leaves it for later.

He stands up from his chair, grabs his mask, because he needs it near him all the time, walks out of his room and closes the door. He walks back to his leather chair, but doesn’t sit down.

He left his tv on, the camera is showing the whole sleeping quarters. The vote has long ended, the players had their dinner, now it’s lights out. He reaches for his radio and quickly orders a square guard, that the players no longer can attack each other.

He knows the players won’t attack tonight either way, the circles already had an advantage. Still, better be safe than sorry. 

His eyes stop at Gi-hun, who is sitting by his bed, one hand is handcuffed. He is not sleeping, eyes are fully open and stares at the ground. It looks like he is not even consciously here. Just a body, without a soul. It looks terrifying.

In-ho shivers a little. He never saw Gi-hun like this.

I did that. It was my doing. How could I-

His thought process was disturbed by the lifts ding.

“You asked for me, sir?”

“No-eul.” He turns to look at her. He didn’t put on his mask on purpose. That way he can show that he means no harm. It’s a sigh of thrust really. And No-eul already knows his face anyway. She watched his game all those years ago, so it really doesn’t matter now.

The girl stops before him, thinking for a second. Then she pulls off her hood, and unclaps the mask.

“Whisky?” In-ho asks, already walking to his bar. He selects a not that strong whisky, smooth and creamy for meetings like this. He grabs a glass for her, and lifts it up in question. No-eul nods so In-ho pours some for her. He walks back, hands the glass to her, then takes his own from the table. When he poured enough he placed the new bottle next to the stronger one.

In-ho raises his glass towards No-eul in a gesture of toast, then drinks the content of the glass in one go.

“What do we toast for, sir?” She asks after drinking her whisky. She didn’t gulp down the whole, more like small little sips. Like she wants to savoir the taste. 

“To you.” In-ho says casually. “For trying to fool me.” In-ho reaches back and pours another glass for himself. 

He lost count of how many he drank tonight. 

Well. It was one of those days.

In-ho raises his eyes from his glass to look at No-eul, who is stunned for a second. Then she quickly gathers herself, and her face is emotionless again. Good. Learning that skill, being emotionless all the time is important here. Show your true self and you are dead. In-ho needed to learn that the hard way.

“What do you mean, sir?”

“I know you saved a player and dressed him up as a guard. My question is why?” He asks, voice still calm. He doesn’t want to alarm the girl.

No-eul looks at him hard, refusing to answer. In-ho sighs. It’s like dealing with a stubborn child.

“I’m not mad. You are not in trouble. I’m just simply curious. I read the player’s file, but I still want to hear it from you.” In-ho explains, lifting his glass to his lips, drinking the whisky. He puts it down onto his table. Even though he craves more, always more, he had enough for the night. If he gets drunk, or has a hangover, he can’t function at 110%. He can’t let that happen as the Front Man.

No-eul is silent for a couple of seconds, then gives in.

“He has a child. He is here because he doesn’t have money for his daughter's treatment. I know what it’s like to lose a child. I don’t want it for him.”

In-ho nods. “He paints at the same amusement park where you worked. So you already know him by face, correct?”

“Yes, sir. His daughter liked my costume.” No-eul says, a small smile almost forming on her face. In-ho lightly chuckles.

“You knew I would find out eventually.” In-ho speaks the truth, No-eul simply nods her head. “Why?”

“I want to leave the island sir. Take him with me.”

In-ho lets out a sigh. Of course. He understands the girl, and isn’t surprised.

Over the years, there have been occasions when a worker has tried to leave the island during the games, especially the triangles. They are the ones who get their hands dirty, whose job is to kill people. Not everyone is ready for this task. Even if they are carefully selected and brainwashed long before the games start. The triangles are the hardest to keep. True, most of them are just like the players. Unemployed scums, who are chased by loan sharks. However, they do not go through an important process of the games: animalization. The soldiers are working in good conditions, they get enough food, they do not have to survive deadly games every day, they do not have to kill each other and they get a fixed salary. Therefore, their minds don’t break, so the thought of running away comes easily for them despite the good money.

But No-eul is not like that. She has been here since In-ho’s games. If her problem was killing “innocent” people, she would have quit a long time ago. But she has several games under her belt, so far there has been no problem.

She is probably just as fed up with the system as In-ho. She has been around almost the same time as him. It gets tiring after that many years. And Player 246 was probably the last waterdrop into the glass that changed everything.

“You can’t leave the island just like that. It would be suspicious, and I don’t have a good scenario at the moment to fake two guards' deaths.” In-ho says, with some sadness in his voice. “Jeong-hoon would probably find out, and we both don’t want that.” No-eul pulls her mouth in disgust. “And I can’t resurrect a player. So we have to keep the play up. He needs to act like a guard for the remaining days. You guys don’t need to hold on much longer. I know he is injured, so I will see that you both are in an easy, not burdening post tomorrow. I will put you on surface duty.”

“Okay sir.” No-eul nods, and even though she tries to hide it, there is some relief on her face.

“If his condition is getting worse, alert me. You guys need to lay low. Understood?” In-ho raises an eyebrow.

“Yes captain. Thank you.” 

“Anything else I need to know about?”

“I made a mess in the operating room.” No-eul says eventually.

Great.

“Okay. I will have some of my closest guards handle it, so the officer doesn’t sniff out anything with his dogs.” In-ho sighs, already planning ahead. He starts to have a headache. “Dismissed.”

No-eul bows her head, and turns to the direction of the lift.

In-ho is really tired now. Before continuing reading through the mountain of reports on his desk he decides to take a shower.

Once in the bathroom, he starts peeling off the layers. He takes off his gloves, unzips his jacket. Underneath the clothes, he still has his 001 T-shirt. He had to change back into his Front Man outfit so quickly that he could only throw off his jumper and pants, leaving the T-shirt. When he looks in the mirror above the sink, Young-il is looking back at him. His hair is flat, the T-shirt is still on. He should burn it, it won't be of any use anymore. 

So why is it so hard to take it off? To get rid of Young-il?

Maybe it was no coincidence that it was so easy to “play” Young-il. Because it wasn’t acting. It was a deeply buried part of him that he let emerge for a few days. 

Finally, he took off his clothes, folded the 001 shirt neatly, and simply threw the rest on the floor. He stepped into the shower, hoping the warm water would calm his trembling body. 

When he reached for the soap, he noticed a blood stain on his hand. Gihun’s blood . Maybe it got on his hand when Gihun naively trusted him and gave In-ho his last magazine. 

He trusted Youngil, so the Front Man could betray him . 

He looked at the stain on his hand for a while, which was getting fainter and fainter under the water, but it wouldn’t go away. It had already dried on his hand, he should scrub it off. But he can’t. 

He thoroughly cleaned every other stain on his body with the soap, but he never touched his hand. It kept fading, but still stayed there. 

After he's done, he steps out of the shower, a towel wrapped around his waist. He walks over to the faucet to brush his teeth, catching a glimpse of the scar on his shoulder in the mirror.

Jun-ho.

He hopes the captain will take good care of him. Inho never wanted to hurt his brother. The image of Jun-ho seeing In-ho’s face after he took off the mask still gives him sleepless nights. 

Hyung, why?

Inho couldn't answer back then. Now can’t either. He had to shoot him, otherwise someone else would have done it. But unlike In-ho, they wouldn’t miss. He uses this excuse to calm himself. That he made sure Jun-ho survived. 

He sent Park to rescue him from the water and made sure he got to the hospital safely. After that, he asked Park to keep an eye on him for  years, to keep him away from this hellhole. 

But Junho is just too stubborn. Why does Inho always attract stubborn people? Junho, his wife...Gi-hun.

Neither of them listened to him, even though they only meant well.

He meant well when he begged his wife to abort the baby so she could live.

He meant well when he shot Junho in the shoulder to keep him out of danger.

He meant well when he asked Gihun to get on the plane.

Neither of them listened to him, and now they had to pay the consequences.

Chapter Text

“Captain, we need you. We have to get closer to that island so we can look for any clues” Jun-ho said, trying to shout over the loud splashing of the waves and the roar of the ship.

The Captain stood for a few more minutes next to the radio before leaving the lounge.

“Who were you talking to?” Jun-ho asked, curious.

Park doesn't answer right away, he takes a deep breath, rubbing his hand nervously against his thigh. 

“Oh, I just informed the coast guard about our position. They said it wasn't a good idea to go any further because a storm was coming and the waves would be strong.”

A simple, easy and logical answer. Then why was the captain nervous after he stepped away from the radio?

“Okay.” Jun-ho nods. “We'll investigate this island, then check into a nearby motel. We'll discuss the next step there. Mr. Seong doesn't have much time left, 3 days and the games are over.”

“Are you sure you want to continue the search, Junho? We can't search enough islands in 3 days, and there's still a lot left. Wouldn't it be easier to wait another year, with a more thought out plan?”

Junho looks at the captain in confusion. He's been helping him with the search up until now, keeping him close. Even when Junho wanted to give up, it was Park who convinced him to continue. He kept Jun-ho’s hope alive. So why would he suddenly give up now? Maybe he was scared? So far, that hasn't been a problem.

“We can't give up now, Captain. Gih-un may not survive this years game, and he's our only link, our only clue. We have to keep searching, at least to save him.”

“You're right, sorry” The captain laughed nervously, then patted Junho on the shoulder.

“We have to keep going when innocent people's lives are at stake. I'm steering the ship closer to the island.”

Park went back to the cabin, but Jun-ho didn't take his eyes off him for a while. Only when they were sailing closer to the island did he turn around and raise the binoculars to his eyes. 

From here, he couldn't see any important trace of the games, no helicopter landing pad, no dock. They drove the drone close to the island, hoping it will show something they didn’t see. 

But no matter how slowly the drone flew over the island, they found nothing. No secret exit, no roads. Just a bunch of trees. 

Another dead end, another wasted day. 

Jun-ho advises the team that it’s time to rest. It's getting dark anyway. So they sail back to the nearest dock and stay at a motel next to it.

Most of the mercenaries would head for the store nearby, probably to buy some booze, but Jun-ho tells them no. Already one of their nights where almost every one was drunk ended in tragedy, with one of their men successfully drowning in the sea because he couldn't handle his alcohol.

Besides, he doesn't need hungover soldiers. Everyone needs to be at their best if they want to successfully find the island tomorrow.

After everyone has paid for their own room, Jun-ho advises them to unpack, take a shower, and then come to his room to make a plan for tomorrow.

While everyone rests for an hour, Jun-ho sits at the table and looks at the map. He doesn't understand, what is he missing? He feels like there's just a small piece missing from the puzzle to find the island. Jun-ho just can’t figure out what.

The hardest thing to find is what's right in front of you...What if he'll never find the island because of him, because he managed to break in 4 years ago, so they moved the games away to a new place? 

Let's say the 2021 games are on the island, Jun-ho wouldn't have been able to get back into action because he was recovering from his injury. During that, they would be able to find a place, transport the documents, and thus once again the game is a secret to the whole world.

It wouldn't be hard for them to succeed, those V.I.P.s are paying enough money…

No, no! He doesn't want to think about them, except when he imagines how he's going to kill those bastards with his bare hands-

A knock interrupts his train of thoughts. Come in , he says, and people start streaming into his room and sit at the table. The rain can be heard pattering on the window, but even this pleasant sound doesn't soothe anyone's heart. Especially not his own.

“Today, we searched this group of islands...” Junho begins, crossing the eastern part of the map with a red marker. “...so I suggest we start here tomorrow.” The map points to the far upper part, beyond several unexplored islands.

“We have to approach everything from a different angle. If we continue on with this tactic, looking at every single island, big and small, it will take months to find the game’s location. And we can't just rely on luck, time is working against us. We have to think with their heads. If I were the leader of this whole thing, I would definitely be the furthest from the visited islands, away from the fishermen and away from the trade routes. And that…” Jun-ho draws a large circle on the map with the marker. “...will lead us here.”

As he looks around, he sees people at the table nodding their heads, agreeing with him.

Except Captain Park. 

He shakes his head, nervously picking at his beard before answering. “I don’t recommend it. The currents are very strong there, even fishermen, as you said, avoid that place. It would be difficult to control the boat, and we need the coast guards permission to go that far.

Jun-ho is yet again surprised at the Captain’s words.

“But didn't you say you found me in a place exactly like this? You always said you didn't understand what I was there in the first place, since it mostly an abandoned place on the map.” 

What were you doing there?

Jun-ho realized he had never asked the Captain that question. He had always lectured Jun-ho about why he was on an island where not a soul ever went, even bigger ships avoided it. But Jun-ho was always so grateful that the captain had rescued him that he just laughed and waved. But what was the captain's reason to sail there in the first place?

“And about the coast guards…don't worry.” Jun-ho continued. “I'll arrange the permit in the morning. It'll only take a couple of calls.” 

“I'm just worried about you son. I don't want you to put yourself in danger.”

Jun-ho let out a dry laugh. “We're over that, don't you think?”

The captain continues to look at Jun-ho, but says nothing more. Jun-ho looks hard into his eyes, as if he could find the answer to his questions there.

“Okay. Then we'll continue there tomorrow” Kim, the mercenary leader, breaks the silence. He looks at Jun-ho and nods with a slight smile.

They discuss the rest of the things, when to leave, what equipment they need, then everyone gets up from the table and leaves the room. Jun-ho hopes they won't continue partying or anything like that. They'll get up at dawn tomorrow so they have as much time as possible to sail out. And if the game really takes place on one of the islands they're going to sail to, then Jun-ho needs a well-rested team.

After making a few phone calls and getting permission from the coast guards, Jun-ho also goes to rest. He enjoys every minute he gets to sleep in bed, from tomorrow until the end of the game he'll have to make do with the hard bottom of the ship.

Although the bed is comfortable under him and the soothing sound of rain seeps through the windows, Junho's mind still wanders.

What is In-ho doing now? Why is he so hard to find? Why doesn't he let Jun-ho find him?

Maybe he hates Jun-ho. Maybe Jun-ho should let Inho rot in his own pain, like he's been doing ever since Sun-hee died.

He remembers that day like it was yesterday. He will never forget it. He remembers how his mother could barely get the news out, she was gasping so much, her tears falling like waterfall on her face. He remembers collapsing after his mother broke the news. He couldn’t comprehend it. 

Sun-hee was such an innocent soul. Sunshine itself. She not only lit up In-ho’s life, but Jun-ho’s too. She didn’t just look at him as a brother-in-law. It was like she was his sister. She ruffled his hair every time Jun-ho told her about how he had pranked his own smug boss yet again. When Inho and Sun-hee went somewhere, whether it was to the movies or an amusement park, she always made sure Jun-ho was invited too. 

There were times when she just wanted to be alone with In-ho, of course, but she also made sure Jun-ho didn’t feel left out of the family. Sun-hee didn't want Jun-ho to think she stole her big brother from him. When they announced they were having a baby, Jun-ho almost fainted with joy. In.ho, as befits him, broke the big news in a joke.

The three of them were just reorganizing their apartment a bit, and Jun-ho was helping In-ho assemble the new sofa. When he was lifting a heavier piece and struggling a little, In-ho spoke up. 

“You have nine months to build muscle, uncle Jun-ho, otherwise your shoulders will suffer from the constant weight.  

Junho didn't understand the words at first. “ Yeah yeah, shut up”

In-ho and Sun-hee just looked at each other, smirking.

Then Jun-ho realised.

He dropped the piece of the sofa from his hand, he was so surprised, then in a voice thin with excitement, he asked, " Really ?" 

Sun-hee stepped in and showed him the photo of the ultrasound. Jun-ho looked at it for a while, then with teary eyes, he hugged In-ho and Sun-hee at the same time, while he kept repeating, " I'm going to be an uncle. "

Afterwards, Jun-ho kept begging to go with them whenever they went shopping for furniture for the baby's room or baby clothes. But of course, he didn't get offended when they made it a two-person program.

Regardless, Jun-ho always bought a toy and gave it as a gift to them every time he went to their place.

He did help with decorating the room, assembling the furniture, and painting the walls. As soon as they found out the baby was a girl, Jun-ho In-ho had started painting the room pink. Inho even drew little animals on the walls after they were done. Bunnies, dogs, otters... but he drew flowers, rainbows, and put stars on the ceiling. Sun-hee couldn't help unfortunately, she said pregnancy was making her weak.

It wasn’t the pregnancy that made her that weak.

When he received the news that Sun-hee was suffering from acute liver cirrhosis and needed a donor, Jun-ho reacted immediately. He tried to help with as much money as he could. When Inho told him that it would improve Sunhee's condition a lot if she aborted the baby, Jun-ho, no matter how much his heart ached in pain, agreed. If Sunhee were to carry the baby during her illness, both her and her little one's life would be at risk. 

“We'll try again.” Inho reassured his wife. But Sunhee wouldn't budge. She didn't want to throw away the little life growing inside her that easily. 

The treatments continued to eat up everyone's money until it ran out. Jun-ho and In-ho's mother tried to give, tried to help, but it also affected her health. She barely ate, every time she gave In-ho money she said she needs it more than me , but after a while In-ho stopped accepting it.

Even from Junho. 

In-ho said that Jun-ho had to start building his own life, not trying to save his brother.

Initially, Inho resorted to drastic measures. He accepted money from a criminal, which immediately got him fired from the police. And even after that, he wouldn't accept money from Jun-ho or their mother.

He was at Sun-hee's bedside in the hospital day and night. Jun-ho also went to visit her as often as he could.

Until one day In-ho announced that he was going away for a few days. He had found a new opportunity for money, and it would take a while for him to get it. Jun-ho was skeptical at first, but then he shrugged. He trusted his brother, and In-ho knew that Sun-hee would be in good hands in his absence.

Junho had just come home from work and was getting ready to go to the hospital when his mother broke the news. And that hurt him the most. That Sun-hee had always been there for everyone. But when her body gave up, when she needed someone to be there for her, to hold her hand in her last minute, no one was there. 

Not In-ho, because he was hunting for money. Not Jun-ho, who was doing the same thing, just differently. No one. With tear filled eyes, shaking and tired, they went into the hospital to make arrangements to take Sun-hee away and put her to her forever lasting rest.

During the funeral arrangements, Jun-ho tried to reach Inho by the phone several times, but it always went to voicemail. Days passed, and Inho was nowhere to be found.

A few days after Sun-hee’s death, Jun-ho decided to go to their apartment. When he entered, everything was left in place as he had last seen it. 

However, a faint light filtered out of the baby’s room. Inho was sitting there, leaning against the wall, under one of the drawn animals. Hugging his knees, as he cried softly with his head bowed. The baby’s bed was in ruins. Blood was dripping from Inho’s knuckles where the wood had stabbed and cut him.

Without saying a word, Jun-ho squatted down next to Inho, put his arms around him, and let him bury his head in his shoulder, while tears streamed down Junho’s face as well.

That was the last time he hugged Inho.

Afterwards, In-ho sold the apartment without asking for any help and used the money to buy a smaller one in another part of the city. He went to the funeral, but he didn't talk to anyone, didn't give a speech. As soon as it was over, he snuck out before anyone could come to offer their condolences.

Although Junho knew where Inho's apartment was, he never visited it. 

Also, he was never invited. He simply went there, knocked, and waited for an answer, which never came. He tried to reach him by phone, but he was unsuccessful there either.

Inho simply disappeared. He quietly told the world that he wanted to be left alone for good. He stopped contacting his family, his friends. Over the years, as it turned out, he didn't even visit Sun-hee's grave either.

When In-ho and Jun-ho met again it was on that cliff.

No matter the cost, he needs to save In-ho.