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baekhvuns · 10 months

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BAEK WHAT'S WITH THE "MATURE" CONTENT AGAIN, WHAT ARE WE TALKING ABOUT THAT'S APPARENTLY SO MATURE 😭🧐😂

Anyways, I need to split the message into 2 separate ones cause it won't send 🙄 guess I had a lot to say

London who? I don't know her! I've lived in Prague for a while, so I'm okay with it, was thinking of going back to Berlin actually, but I'll see how it goes!

About SM, I was really hoping for Taeyeon's come back, but now... and Fifty Fifty are truly speed running the kpop experience, escaped nugudom quickly, got a massive hit, now they're suing. I can't believe SM is thinking of debuting a new gg NOW?! I'm so sick and tired of them. Now they announced more rookies, probably for NCT Tokyo if it's still happening :V why remove Sungtaro just to add one Korean and one Japanese rookie???

Okay so Hear Me Out! I like it more that I imagined? It's chill, but catchy, finally a song I can easily listen to, but it's not too boring and coming from me it's a big compliment hahdhaggagshahasgga I like that it's lowkey, even though EXO deserves better, but at least they didn't give them a song with 10 switches, chanting and cringy lyrics. I'm curious about the title track! And BAEK, TEN, TAEYONG X TAEMIN CHALLENGE??? Man is collecting SuperM, to think we could've gotten Kai too... :(

Mr Byun Bakehyun's teaser photos? 👀 Again, simple teasers, yet impactful and nice looking. KQ can't relate 🤡🤡🤡 I was browsing through Pinterest and came across some cybercore photos, literally taken with smartphones and they looked more aesthetically pleasing and interesting than whatever Ateez has going on 😭

AND MINHO X SANHWA AAAAAAA WHEN I TELL YOU I FUCKING DIED! Finally manifested something good 😭😭😭❤❤❤

But this comeback is bitter sweet, because of Onew, Kibum has a cold, Taemin fell off the stage?! Why are they cursed :/// but I'm still happy to see them back, I watched Idol Human Theater and they were as weird as ever

Omg, is this another unpopular and controversial NCT take, but... I can't enjoy Haechan's vocals, he can sing, but his tone is too nasal for my liking, I know he contrasts well with other 127 vocalists, but 😭 and sometimes they mess with his voice and add autotune so it makes it worse. I don't really listen to Dreamies, but I definitely think he fits them more, I know both him and Mark love their groups, but be fr, they shouldn't be that overworked.

When I heard Jamal rap in 2 Baddies my heart dropped, glad he got Perfume at least. And now he's playing a murderer?! See, but 127 could totally do some rock/metal shit, something like Guerrilla and let Yuta scream! SM let Yuta yell challenge, he needs it! Or even something like Taeyong's Ghost, especially after the switch up when the song went a bit crazy insane. I got the vision 👀 SM hire me so I can bring some justice and infiltrate the HQ

Btw, finally the whole cover, perhaps he read our messages 👀 (ok, but I mentioned the cover to him, so what if he listened to me ahgdhagshshsgshs - delulu) https://www.instagram.com/reel/CuEx-7fIBm2/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

Btw how's that Yunho fic been treating you? 😅 I need to re-read Bodyguard soon for the anniversary - DV 💖

i actually hate it here bc i answered this entire ask and it did not save ☺️☺️

BAEK WHAT'S WITH THE "MATURE" CONTENT AGAIN, WHAT ARE WE TALKING ABOUT THAT'S APPARENTLY SO MATURE 😭🧐😂 /// Anyways, I need to split the message into 2 separate ones cause it won't send 🙄 guess I had a lot to say /// London who? I don't know her! I've lived in Prague for a while, so I'm okay with it, was thinking of going back to Berlin actually, but I'll see how it goes!

NO BC IM ACTUALLY SO MAD AT THEM THEY DO THIS EVERY ASK AND I HAVE TO SEND IN THE REVIEW FOR IT LIKE COMEON and now i had answered this entire ask. but tumblr glitched. and. i don’t have anything. TO PRAGUE??? ANON WHERE HAVE U NOT LIVED ATP??? LIKE I GOTTA START A YOUTUBE TRAVEL VLOG CHANNEL I WILL BE UR PATERON SUBSCRIBER, EXTRA MONEY OM THE SIDE SOUNDS PRETTY GOOD TO ME ANON 🤚🏻🤚🏻let’s see if this gets labeled 😭😭

ur right i wish they treat her better esp w the concerts and the mismanagement she’s experiencing, like sm?? this is so true bc this is how it feels like

NOOO LITERALLY I JUST KNOW RHEY WILL DEBUT A 9 NUMBER GG THAT RESEMBLES SNSD AND FHEN PUT THEM IN KWANGYA, MY EXACT QUESTION??? WHY TAKE SUNGTARO OUT IF UR GONNA PUT THEM IN DIFF FONTS BACK IN NCT??? glad to have the resonance album bc at least they were in it even for 1 second 😭😭😭

it’s chill it’s catchy it’s warm it’s exo! and it’s so lowkey, makes me smile whenever i hear it ive been playing it any chance i get bc the “head me out hear me out” is STUCK IN MY HEAD like the song be making ur hips move and im into this! proper bside material 🤚🏻 YEAH IM GLAD THEY DIDNT GIVE THEM THE KWANGYA LYRICS and the way they were supposed to collab w h.e.r. sm ent im about to end u. sometimes i just wish that pink one looks too good the photos seem pretty litty 😭😭

the title track is called cream soda….and is a apparently very sexy with sensual vocals?? and a mix of kokobop and love shot?? yeah it’s over for me. I SAW THAT BAEK X TAEMIN AND SUPERM CRUMBS 😭😭😭 THEY BOTH LOOKED SO CUTE DBWNHDKW and for that, fUCK RAVI. KAI IS DEVOURING THE VAMPIRE CONCEPT SO LIKE CHEST, BED ROOM EYES AND FRAT BOY LOOK FHWKFHWK FUCK RAVI FUCK SM !!!!! looked at the track list for the album and this album is about fucking and???

now. do not even get me started on that. i saw them when i was in bed, just barely had woken up eyes but and w the new twt update i was panicking and then the photos dropped and when i tell u. i fell. i FELL.

CUNTRESS IS IN THE HOUSE THE EYESHADOW BAEKHYUN US BACK!!! 200K LIKES AND 30K QUOTES??? STOP LOOKING AT HIM???? yes!! simple but effective, they let their features and makeup and filters do the work, the rest is up to the photographer pls kq look at them 😭😭 those atz edits w cyber core is so much better like kq pls hire some atinys atp we volunteer to be the pictorial management

Also I still haven't made up my mind about the album, like it has its moments, but I don't feel like listening to it apart from Bouncy, even some of my non-Atiny friends love it so it did something to my brain 😭 /// AND MINHO X SANHWA AAAAAAA WHEN I TELL YOU I FUCKING DIED! Finally manifested something good 😭😭😭❤❤❤

i agree, i only listen to the bouncy chorus part and haven’t gone back to it,, LMFAOOO TELL THEM TO STAY AWAY FROM SEONGHWA HE BITES !!! NO FBWJDJW WE WON WE LITERALLY WON?? AND SANS DAD KNOWING MINHOS FAMILY LIKE HE GOT MORE CONNECTIONS THAN SAN 😭😭😭😭

Love your thoughts on Hard and agree, this is my AOTY, sorry to everyone else! I get that people may dislike Hard, but certain Shawols are so annoying, Shinee isn't just View and Replay, this is the group who released RDD for fuck's sake, haven't they heard Alive...? They're no strangers to weird music, and Hard isn't even that experimental... these fans know what's up https://twitter.com/SaraOT5/status/1674250382044721152?t=3j6cx8BgfEE7d1WuMd6onw&s=19 /// But this comeback is bitter sweet, because of Onew, Kibum has a cold, Taemin fell off the stage?! Why are they cursed :/// but I'm still happy to see them back, I watched Idol Human Theater and they were as weird as ever

NO CAUSE HARD IS MY SOTY!!!!! i randomly do the hard like a criminal and the step any chance i get like im doing it as i type this,, it’s my new rover after bouncy 😭😭😭NO THEY ARE RIGHT!! ppl say they want a diverse discography and when they get it it’s still a problem??? like damned if u do damned if u don’t??? like yeah they aren’t gonna do replay forever??? replay came out a decade ago like let it go?? ppl need to enjoy music and it’s diversity,, at least it’s not the same!! “they were as weird as ever” ah what a relief 😮‍💨

okay i can def see points made here esp about the auto tune part where it messes w his voice his voice absolutely fits dreams, they’ve got some good songs! very classic boyband but nct core,, maybe that’s why his tone fits their songs better, slightly fitted to towards slowed songs esp ballads! NO BC SOMEONE GOTS TO CHECK MARKS CONTRACT AND IF HES BEING PAID

JAMAL 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭 LMFAOOO BFQKHDWK JUMPSCARE NAURR 😭😭😭 his voice in perfume sounds so pretty!! ANS A MURDERER??? i hope it doesn’t like jinx him bc all nct projects like this fuck them over and never see the day of light i just hope it works out bc i wanna see him play a psycho role <33 UR RIGHT NCT COULD DO GUERRILLA SO WELL AND YES LET YUTA SCREAM 😭😭😭 no bc sm gotta hire us, at least we can fix their mess and mass clean their hq

IM NOT RVWNBFBWKFHWKD HE DID THIS FOR U !!!! IT WAS FOR U HE HEARD U !!!! IDC WE ARE DELULU TONIGHT HE DID THIS FOR U!!!

Btw how's that Yunho fic been treating you? 😅 I need to re-read Bodyguard soon for the anniversary - DV 💖 /// Part 2 lol (hope it sends, the fuck is going on with this website. It's still better than Twitter, but still 💀)

see the thing is i have it ready, i have the teaser ready all set up and tagged, but i get extremely nervous to post bc it’s been so long and i have been trying to post since friday and i just talk myself out if bc i become scared 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

Omggg, Don't get me started on yet another New Jeans controversy. Dumb fucks trying to justify MHJ's behaviour every single time??? Why are they dickriding her so hard?! I don't get why NJ's have such deranged fans. See, ETA is an unfortunate title, but it could be a coincidence and I could totally believe it was supposed to mean Estimated Time of Arrival if it wasn't for the names?! This bitch feeds off attention (fitting) whether it's positive or negative and people eat it up every single time. Ofc the song and MV won't be centred around terr*rism (at least I hope so), but the inspo is there anyway... I had to block someone I know for being annoying about it

NOO, LITERALLY EVEYRTING U SAID HERE FACTUAL!!!! i actually do not one bit believe that she did not know anything about this, trying to stir up stuff so ppl talk about the comeback, abspielte pathetic,, sure the title eta os random (honestly ive never heard of this name before) but the names???? THE NAMES???? i can’t fathom the fact that she knew what she was doing yet is still gonna use it as an aesthetic??? idk if this a hybe thing bec do u rmr the polls?? 😭😭

Speaking of comic/manga theme, don't know if you've seen the covers of Pentagon's Love or Take https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=2UI4HR2dYn0 I own all the versions and they're so pretty!

I HAVENT NOT AND IM OBSESSED BC WHAT THE FUCK???? i need this bad this is such a refreshing concept like omg??? kq pls 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

https://twitter.com/nobodylikehwa/status/1674135298790379522?t=bBkkShDrAMx-DXs9YhXB2g&s=19 <- BESTIE WE NEED TO MANIFEST HARDER LIKE, HE'S SURROUNDING HIMSELF WITH YSL AND BEGGING AT THIS POINT 😭 I just don't understaaaaaaaand. He's a popular member, looks like a model, why aren't they calling him?!?!?! All the gifts from Lego and Animal Crossing are cute, but come one fashion world DON'T PISS ME OFF

HES ASKING FOR IT COMEON YSL LISTEN TO HIM 😭😭😭😭 need him to go there and pretend to be THE guy 😭😭😭 kq gotta hurry bc ive heard the manager’s set them up with brands idols want and get connections 😭😭😭😭

Btw, not to be that Shitstar, but this https://twitter.com/helytes/status/1672898558285021188?t=uzX2UfZQWUqzoAFyG3UE0g&s=19 annoyed me, like wtf bitch?! Sure I clowned him for not being a gangster, but if you watched all the Bouncy challenges or his fan cams (gotta rant about this too, because his fan cams this cb are really baaaad, he's always hidden, either by cameramen or... Hongjoong's crotch 😭) you'd see that he SELLS the concept well. Not sure why KQ decided to underutilise him, they gave him the rap part which was a big event for some people, but other than that he's invisible (sorry he got them awful grillz too...) idk something about it is just... iffy. Just had to vent 🤧

no wait ive also noticed the fancams being blocked or filmed horribly 😭😭😭 UR RIGHT HE SELLS THE CONCEPT, his swagger and the facial expressions (keep that tongue inside mr park) + the way he carries himself around the concept is just immaculate,, the grills and the constant way he shows it off irks me for like no apparent reason 😭😭😭

Did this for us, our sweet Shawol and such a successful fan! https://twitter.com/pshsource/status/1674030496521547778?t=NfhIMOBKvKmp2eKbaDCg7A&s=19

never been this jealous of hwa and san of meeting shinee like that 😀

Also bestie what's with Neymar, I saw that he cheated, but only read his apology yesterday and 🤡🤡🤡🤡 embarrassing. When people apologise for cheating and act dramatic like that I can't help but laugh, even though it's such a shitty situation obviously. You wanted to get wet with someone else and now you're acting like a lovesick Jane Austen male lead??? And the girl is pregnant 💀💀💀💀 footballers stay faithful challenge

LMFAOOOO NO BC I SAW THAT AND LAUGHED SO HARD LIKE HE MADE A WHOLE POST ABT IT HES SO EMBARRASSING AND DURING BRUNA BEING PREGNANT??? SCREAMED BC BRUNAS SISTER WAS THE FIRST ONE TO TREAT HIM LIKE AN ADULT THIS STORY HAD ME CRYING TBWKFJAJJDQLBDWK he’s a player on and off the field like messi truly the only good guy i guess 😭😭

and the way he’s having a daughter, yeah that’s his karma for cheating she’ll show him 🤚🏻

Started King the Land and it's so cliche, but the right type of cliche for me and Yoona x Junho are so good together. Not them getting dating rumours already nsgsjahshaggsgsgaha??? Hilarious, but also the amount of people shipping them, lol, their chemistry is truly great

I DBWKDHAK I KEEP GASPING AT JUNHO LIKE HE FITS THE ROLE SO WELL??? he’s styled so well and i just, i just i get the butterflies when i see him <3 he’s sick and the mole on his nose bridge god 😭😭 in my absolute peak, PEAK delulu era,, UR RIGHT ITS THE RIGHT AMT OF CLICHE I ACTUALLY LOVE IT,, when yoona says “wait im going to war??” and he just loses it hAD ME CRYING 😭😭😭 NO BC I WAS SO EXCITED TO SEE THE NEWS I REFUSE TO BELIEVE THEY ARE NOT DATING I HAVE A GUT FEELING IT MIGHT BE MORE THAN JUST DATING anyway this is me AND IM A DELULU BC OF THIS THEY LOOK SO WELL TOGETHER TOO

but do u know what we need. a woo do hwan ceo au. idc someone has to do it, after the drama w lee minho seeing him in that suit had me drooling

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CuAsHUaABJw/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA== LIKE DO U SEE HIM

Nah this is crazy, because if Ten was a London boy and art student chances are we would meet and... imagine that 😮 https://twitter.com/TENsfeed/status/1675848474494119936?t=Ii-TKhJWZ9sCHAqmxh6lvA&s=19 - DV 💖

STOP??????? HE WOULDVE BEEN BRI’ISH?? IMAGINE THAT??? and if u were friends w him 🤨 will start my delulu bc if mark wasn’t in nct right now he would’ve been in town 😭😭😭

also this is so fucking funny he’s so nosy 😭😭😭😭 i love it

my two worlds uniting like 😭😭

#✉️ : ask #dv 💖 anon

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neo-shitty · 3 years

Text

checkmate — ot8

description. in which a group of friends played a realistic game of mafia where it was all fun in games until one of them goes missing.

pairings. (though not focused) han jisung x female!reader, bang chan x byun taehee (oc), seo changbin x jeon saeyeon (oc)

genre. mystery, thriller, mafia!au (*wink)

warnings. swearing, usage of weapons, character death/s

word count. 19.3k

notes. i finished writing this fic way back in november but i was torn between chopping this fic into chapters (the way it was written) or posting it the way it appears in my google docs (as one long ass file). i hope you’ll enjoy reading this as much as i had enjoyed conceptualizing it in the shower.

about checkmate. Here are a few things you need to know about this AU before proceeding: Stray Kids and the three other characters (you and the two other OCs) are in one big friend group and are in the same graduating class. And because they’re all from the same batch, I’ve aged down Chan and Lee Know to ‘99. Hence, the ‘99s are Chan, Minho, Changbin and Taehee (OC), the ‘00s are Hyunjin, Jisung, Felix, Seungmin and you, and the ‘01s are Jeongin and Saeyeon.

i. night one.

High school had always seemed like a grey area in life. Maybe it was because of the sweet mix of innocence and corruption in the minds of everyone you got to interact with that made it seem like it was neutral. The halls were littered with people with various upbringings and influences of their own. No one was either good or bad yet—there was no way to tell which among you would make it in life or not. Just a bunch of angsty young adults torn between being worried with what the future held and making the most of the present.

In high school, people were bound to make friends that either lasted until graduation or the remainder of their respective lifetimes. There was no way to tell where their lots belonged but sometimes they wished it belonged in the latter. It had only been you and the two other girls until the eight boys took you under their wing in sophomore year—an unspoken rule the boys had with people who sat at the back row along with them.

2 school years and a shit ton of bickering later, you were all inseparable whenever together. God help the teachers that had all 11 of you in the same class together throughout high school. Thankfully, this academic year, it only happened once a week and all you could do was wish your homeroom teacher well.

The crew met at lunch everyday, another unspoken rule that was never decided but followed throughout the entirety of your high school days. It was impressive how two whole lunch tables were vacated the day Hyunjin cracked a height joke to Changbin which sparked a food fight in the middle of junior year. After that day, the whole gang set out to search for a new spot to eat lunch because according to Chan, staying together weighed more than eating conveniently at the cafeteria. Some of the kids disagreed with it but no one ever bothered to be vocal about it.

And this is how you all ended up eating lunch on the bleachers of the school gym for the remaining two years of high school.

Eating in the gym meant that you didn’t have to compete with the voices of the preps from the other table or the lunch lady whose patience had worn thin from the lunch rush. Which also meant that you didn’t have to keep your voices down whenever you played Mafia. The game never failed to be entertaining despite being played for roughly two years now. Anyone in the crew could even say they’d improved their own deducing skills as they cracked down the Mafia more easily with every round played.

All of you except Jisung anyway, who either got voted out of suspicion for being the Mafia or being killed by the Mafia themselves.

So when Lee Minho walks into the gym one day with a tempting offer in hand, Jisung is the first to say yes.

The hoverboard Minho is riding halts right by the bleachers before he picks it up. The other boys stop their game of basketball and gather round. Hoverboard in one hand and flyer in the other, he raises it up for everyone to see.

“What do you guys think?” he asks, watching everyone’s eyes skim over the flyer he’d picked up from the school bulletin board.

“I think it’s a great idea.”

“I think it’s pretty stupid.”

The voices come in unison, creating a rift in the decision of the crew in an instant. A bubble of laughter escapes out of one person's lips and the others follow. Jisung stands up from his seat on the bleachers, eyeing the smirking purple haired boy who was staring right back at him.

When the laughter dies down he finally speaks, “Do you have a problem?”

“What’s the point?” Seungmin answers, “You always lose anyway.”

Laughter fills the empty hall again, echoing off the walls in a seemingly mocking way that makes Jisung ball his fists. Chan purses his lips in annoyance, tracing the creases on his forehead before standing up to stall the fight threatening to happen at any given moment.

You watch as the tension between the two 00’s intensifies. When you catch a glimpse of Chan’s stressed face, you take it upon yourself to reign Jisung down. “Jisung, just sit down please.”

“Oh,” he turns to you, eyes wide in disbelief, “so you’re siding with them too? Fine.”

You wanted to argue but it’d only cause more ruckus. At least, even when he had his back turned to you, Jisung obliged to sit down. You let out a sigh and leave him alone.

Chan jumps down from the bleachers before taking the flyer from Minho, “If it isn’t clear to any of you yet, the flyer offers the most realistic Mafia game ever. All free. We just need to give them our names, show up at the address and we play.”

“Seems sketchy,” Taehee remarks.

“You doubt everything,” Changbin rebuts, to which the girl just shrugs.

Jeongin jumps down from the bleachers, taking the flyer from Chan to read it for himself. He turns to the awaiting crowd before him, “What could go wrong? It was posted on the school bulletin board after all.” Chan points in agreement before turning to see the reactions of the rest of the people there.

“It’s just a game of Mafia,” Felix finally says, “and we’re graduating so we might not get this opportunity again.”

Jisung finally turns around and faces everyone else, “I know right. I feel like this is going to be the best idea ever.”

“Yeah, best idea ever.”

Is the first thing Saeyeon says upon arriving at the designated address. The warehouse looming before you was illuminated by nothing but the lightbulb at the front. There were no streetlights leading up to the alleyway that led to the building and there were no signs indicating where to go.

“Are you sure this is the right place?” Hyunjin asks, eyeing the building skeptically. Minho double checks the address on the flyer and his phone before nodding.

Before he could answer, someone else speaks. “Yes, this is the right place.”

Everyone turns to the direction of the voice. Around the corner of the warehouse was a door held open by a woman in a Vendetta mask that matched the one on the flyer. She gestures for the crew to follow and doesn’t bother waiting. There’s a fair exchange of confused expressions before someone leads the rest to follow the woman in.

You fall behind, along with the once enthusiastic Han Jisung. You watch as his eyes scan the surroundings nervously before he finally looks at you.

“I thought you were excited about this?” you tease, making Jisung pout.

“I am,” he answers, “it’s just a bit creepy.”

You got what he meant, feeling your own goosebumps make themselves evident on your skin. “Don’t worry, I got you.”

Upon entering the warehouse, you were asked to sign your names in a log book. You eyed the staff by the entrance, analyzing the details of the worn out mask she was wearing. It catches you off guard when a metal bracelet is snapped unto your wrist.

“What’s this for?” you asked, feeling the weight of the metal band on your arm.

“It’s a part of the game,” another staff member answers. “Shall we?”

You are then led through a maze of crates. The warehouse was just like any other. Everywhere you looked, there were piled wooden cargo boxes and miscellaneous objects you’d normally find in storage places. Overhead, there were dangling lamps but they were all left off. Save for the one in the middle of the room.

In the middle of the room stood a wide round table. Half of the crew were already seated, chatting about how cool the venue seemed. You thought it was overrated, but you had to admit it made the whole game more thrilling.

Once everyone was seated, the organizers took their leave, leaving the eleven of you alone in the warehouse with nothing but the table and the dangling light overhead to accompany you.

“Welcome to Mafia 2020.”

The voice catches everyone off guard and the whole room falls silent in anticipation. The voice comes from the speakers, loud enough to echo the warehouse but not loud enough to cause a disturbance in the vicinity.

“For every night following the start of the game, you’re given one hour to deliberate who you think the Mafia may be. You are given the option to skip a night or vote someone suspicious out. Upon making your decision, you are asked to speak into the intercom the name of the person you wish to vote out. If you have any inquiries, you are welcome to speak into the intercom and we’ll respond as soon as we can. Before you leave the premises, you are required to write a name on the signature pad by the booth near the main exit. The member whose name is written by the Mafia will be eliminated and will no longer be allowed to attend the warehouse meetings. If one’s name is written by the Police, they will be investigated and their role in the game will be revealed. If written by the Doctor, they will be saved.”

“Just like the usual,” Changbin says and the others nod in agreement.

“The only rule we have is that you are not allowed to say the name of the person you wrote down. We will be monitoring you closely. Your one hour begins now.”

“Wait, the game already started?” Jeongin asks, eyes-wide just like everyone else’s. “But they haven’t given us our roles yet.”

The voice comes again, for the last time that night, “That’s for all of you to figure out as the game progresses. Good luck and have fun.”

And the line goes dead. The questions they uttered to the microphones mounted on the round table remained unresponded.

“Now what?” Felix inquires and Saeyeon just shrugs beside him.

Rational as he always is, Chan is the first to respond, “We could always skip the night.”

“Or we could vote Jisung off like we always do,” Seungmin answers from across the room, with a cheeky smile plastered on his lips. He earns the laughs from the others in the room.

Jisung’s chair rattles as he stands, “Why do you always pick on me, huh?”

“Your misfortune is my happiness.”

“Alright, everyone. It’s decided then. We’re voting Seungmin off,” Hyunjin stands from his seat, walking towards the main exit as if he were to cast his vote already and Seungmin runs off to catch up to him.

Laughter and applause erupts from the crew again with Jisung basking at the way the tables have turned so quickly. You could only laugh at how chaotic the ‘00s were.

Seungmin drags Hyunjin back to the center table in a tight grip but the latter still insisted, “I’m not kidding, we’re voting him off tonight.”

“Or we could always skip the night,” Jeongin says in agreement with the eldest.

“Yeah,” Taehee agrees, “we can skip the night and write Seungmin’s name on the pad and hope the Mafia gets him.”

“I like the way you’re thinking,” Changbin agrees, tipping the ‘99s scale of rationality in favor of being mischievous rather than mature for tonight. Minho spots the disappointment etched on Chan’s face but tries not to let his conscience waver. Jisung could not stop applauding at how he regained the upper hand without much effort.

Saeyeon speaks up to draw attention back to the game, seeing as the others have started getting distracted, “I agree with Chan, though. We can skip the night since nothing’s happened yet. No one’s suspicious yet and since we don’t know what roles we play either, there’s not much to work with.”

“Unless the Mafia makes a move, anyway,” Felix backs her up and the others nod in agreement.

“Right. So let’s drag this game out as long as we can. It’s not everyday we get to play real-time Mafia,” Minho says and it concludes tonight’s meeting.

Like earlier, you and Jisung are the last to exit the building. The others have gone ahead to the main street.

“So their element of ‘realistic’ is playing the game in real time?” Jisung asks, kicking an empty tin can lying on the walkway back to a pile of trash bags.

“Most probably,” you answer, just as unsure with what to expect from the game as Jisung was.

“What happens when people are voted out or killed by the Mafia?”

You eye someone in the crew. Something in the back of your mind tells you that unlike the rest of the players, the Mafia was told of their role, making the game a monopoly. But it was way too early to speculate anything, so you only shrug at Jisung’s question before you go separate ways.

ii. night two.

With the game on-going, you thought you might as well live together. At school the next day, you’ve talked of nothing but the possible Mafia. Only this time, it was a lot harder to figure out with the Mafia not knowing who they were themselves. Lunch was filled with baseless accusations thrown from one person to another that would end in fits of laughter. You had long stopped trying to mediate the quarrels of the ‘00 boys, knowing well there was no point in doing so when they’d get back to bickering in no time.

As much as you tried to dismiss the game throughout the day, your mind wouldn’t stop bugging you—paying attention to any possible move the Mafia could make. You’d thought of every person in the crew as a potential one, but no one acted any different than they would on other days. But you couldn’t help keep a watchful eye. Even more so now that you were all together for more hours than the usual.

Not only were you together for lunch but you spent after school together too—eating an early dinner at a local barbecue before heading to the warehouse after sundown. This time, you walked with the other girls, letting the boys fall behind them.

“Any guesses on who the Mafia may be? I have one, but I’m not quite sure yet,” you inquired to the two girls on either side of you.

“I really think it’s Seungmin,” Taehee answers with a serious look on her face, made clear by the single lightbulb as you passed the front of the warehouse.

Saeyeon elbows her side, “Is that why you wanted to eliminate him first thing yesterday?”

“‘Dunno, actually. Just instinct,” the other girl says, tapping her temple with a finger before wrenching the warehouse door open.

“I don’t think Seungmin is the Mafia this time, but I think it’s one of the boys too,” you say before slipping into the warehouse after the two of them.

Like the night before, the warehouse was dimly lit, with only the light over the table left on. None of the staff were around this time, but the equipment set up around made it feel like they were. Cameras at the corner posts followed you as you crossed the room, focusing at the center table as everyone took their respective places. The speakers were silent until you were all settled in.

“Good evening, players,” the same voice as yesterday booms through the speakers, hushing all of your conversations in an instant. “On the first night, both Mafias have written the same name.”

“Probably Seungmin’s,” you heard Felix mumble beneath his breath.

Jisung eyes Seungmin, ��But he’s still here.”

“However,” the voice continued, “the Doctor has also written the same name, therefore saving that person’s life from the two Mafias.”

The room is a mix of astonished expressions and poker faces. You were one of the latter, seeing it as a predictable outcome of yesterday’s meeting.

“The Police, on the other hand, have uncovered a Mafia and a Citizen. With that, your one hour begins now. Good luck.”

“So, there are two Mafias?” Jeongin stated, arms crossed on top of each other on the round table.

Changbin straightened his stance, “Just like the usual, I tell you.”

“I think it’s safe to assume that both Mafias wrote Seungmin’s name down,” Hyunjin announced, “along with the doctor.”

“Mafia, ‘Eliminate Seungmin’ challenge: failed,” Jisung says, snapping his fingers in disappointment. Seungmin sticks his tongue out at Jisung childishly before smiling to himself, having survived the first night of the game.

Chan taps the microphone before him, pressing the button by the stand before proceeding to speak into it, “Are we allowed to ask who didn’t write Seungmin’s name without getting disqualified?” Shortly after, a ‘No’ comes through the speakers. “Alright then. If you didn’t write ‘Minnie’s name, there’s a possibility you may be one of the Police.”

“You seem so worked up on this, Chan,” Minho asked, eyeing the eldest almost skeptically. “You didn’t write Seungmin’s name did you?”

The overhead light powers down for a split second before gleaming in a bright red color that coats everyone in a scarlet filter, “I think I can’t answer that.”

“Are you assuming that you might be one of the Police?” you asked, shifting your gaze from the table to the eldest across you.

“Maybe,” Chan answered, “The possibility is there since the Mafias wrote Seungmin down. I’m giving Seungmin the benefit of the doubt that he may not be the Mafia, because why would anyone write their own name down in a game that’s unsure as this? Also, Seungmin can’t be both the Mafia and the Citizen at the same time. And those who haven’t written his name, could be one of the Police themselves.”

“And if the Mafias targets you next?” Taehee asks, a brow raised at the man sitting beside her.

“I’m assuming the Mafias don’t know they’re the Mafia yet, so I’d like not to think about it.”

Jeongin tinkers with the microphone on top of his side of the table, something he usually did when he was deep in thought, “The possibility of Seungmin being a Mafia is still there though. If one of the Police wrote his name down, we still aren’t sure whether he was the Citizen or the Mafia.”

Seungmin frowns but it makes him think too. This time, he isn’t thinking of himself as entirely innocent with the situation at hand. Come to think of it, above everyone in the room, the possibility of him being a Mafia was higher than everybody else.

“What if Seungmin’s the Mafia and he wrote himself?” Felix suggested, narrowing his eyes on Seungmin jokingly.

Hyunjin did the same, “Sus.”

“This is impossible,” Changbin leaned back on his seat in exasperation, “The first people to figure out their roles are the Mafias themselves. And if these two are smart enough they could vote out two people every night and win immediately.”

“If the Police are smart enough, they could figure out that they’re the Police themselves too,” Saeyeon answered, tapping a pen on the table to a rhythm to keep herself from overthinking the game too much.

Minutes of debating possibilities only made everyone even more confused than you initially were. Suspicions towards other people in the group have arised and have been shut down—both on baseless accounts because they could only draw so many conclusions with the information revealed earlier.

“Okay,” Minho raised his voice enough to shut everyone’s arguing. “Fine, since you all don’t want to skip votes tonight. But I am telling you, we don’t have enough evidence to prove anything right or wrong at this point.”

“So when are we going to start guessing for potential Mafias, smartass?” you rebutted. “When there are 5 players left?”

The room falls silent as the tension grows more intense with every second you spent on the argument.

“This game is harder than we think, remember that. And as Jeongin said, the Mafias would be the first to figure out who they are. If they realize it, it’s over and they win,” Saeyeon said, trying to keep her sassy tone at bay despite the bottled up frustration built up by the exchanges from early on.

“And what do we say to that?” Chan asked, voice stern and laced with annoyance.

“Mafias never win.” Everyone says in unison. It’s something you’ve proved time and time again with every game you all played together.. Every time, the Mafia would only come close to winning and every time, they never succeed.

“Then that settles it. Who’s the most suspicious among us?” Felix inquires.

Taehee points from across the room, “Seungmin, duh. The possibility of him being the Mafia is slightly larger than everyone else’s.”

“Or I could be a Citizen,” Seungmin answered, trying his best to defend himself. “You’ve been picking on me since yesterday, it’s unfair.” This time, he’s at the receiving end of the mocking tongue out.

“Deserve,” Jisung remarked, earning a few snickers from those close to him.

“Alright,” Chan held his thumb up, taking it upon himself to be the moderator of the game. “We’ll vote out Seungmin in 3, 2, 1.”

Though not everyone’s thumb is facing down, the majority of them are, resulting to Seungmin’s eviction from the game. And no one is more glad to see the man leave than Han Jisung who, for the first time in a while, isn’t the first to be eliminated from the game.

“Seungmin out the building!” Jisung teased as the other boy walked past him on the way out. He flinches when Seungmin comes back, arm-raised and ready to hit him. But Seungmin doesn’t push through with the playful hit and instead finds his way out. He turns back one last time, pouting at everyone who just bid him farewell.

When the warehouse door shuts close again everyone turns their attention back to the center table.

“God, it’s the first time I haven’t been eliminated early. I don’t know how to play beyond this,” Jisung says, slumping down on the chair he was sitting on.

Changbin clicked his tongue, “Yeah, we should’ve voted you out instead.”

“2 Mafias remain. Your one hour is nearly over. Please cast your votes now and leave the premises immediately. Good night, players. ”

The voice goes as quickly as it came, stopping everyone in mid-conversation.

“What?” Hyunjin asks confusedly.

“Told you so,” Minho says to you before kicking himself off his seat and heading toward the main exit. You don’t bother acknowledging him.

You all slowly file out of the building watching the remaining light shut off as Chan shuts the warehouse door behind everyone. He lets everyone walk ahead but Taehee stays behind to wait for him.

“A penny for your thoughts?” she asks, catching the faint outline of Chan’s furrowed brows in the dark.

Chan sighs, “Maybe I was right that he was the citizen.”

“Or maybe he was the Doctor and wrote himself down to save himself.”

“That’s possible too. But he wasn’t the Mafia, unlike what someone kept on insisting earlier.”

Taehee halts and turns to look behind her. There, the dimpled boy stood still in the middle of the dark alleyway—hands tucked in his pockets, catching the girl’s irritated glare with a nonchalant expression.

“Okay.”

“I’m kidding!” Chan catches up to her, draping his arm over her shoulder before giving her a squeeze as they made their way out the alleyway.

The others wait for them by the main street. Chan does a headcount of everyone right as they met on the sidewalk, only to notice that someone was still missing.

He looks around, “Where’s Seungmin?”

The purple-haired boy was nowhere to be seen.

iii. night three.

Jeongin could only shrug when his call was once again left unanswered. He shoves his phone back into his back pocket before staring up at the house before them. Saeyeon figured it would be rude to just barge into the Kim's residence without giving them a heads up. But with their calls left on voicemail and their friend disappearing without a trace the night before, the pair didn’t have much of a choice.

Jeongin climbs up the fence of the residence to open the gate up for Saeyeon who waited by the entrance. Unlike most days when they’d pass by, the house was awfully silent and completely devoid of any ruckus that would normally be present. They walk up to the front porch. Their footsteps would have alerted anyone in the house by now but there’s still nothing but silence. Jeongin reaches out to knock on the wooden door. When it’s still left unanswered, he turns the door knob slowly only for it to click locked.

“They might’ve left for a trip again or something,” Jeongin concluded.

“Without notice?”

“Don’t they do that all the time to visit his older sister?”

They don’t, Saeyeon thought but at the time, they couldn’t conjure any other logical explanation behind Seungmin’s sudden disappearance. They get back on the road and continue walking to their high school instead.

Today, the walk is quiet. And though Jeongin attempted to make small talk, their conversation would fall back into dead ends. He figured they were both bothered by the same thought but no one dares to speak about it further. As much as Saeyeon used to wish that Seungmin would just vanish for once because he wouldn’t stop cracking jokes all the way to the school, in the silence she finds herself missing his antics. Jeongin wasn’t any different, just quietly sipping on his tetra pack with eyes glinting at every interesting thing that passes them by, but not bothering to say a word.

“Only the two of you?” Changbin says almost bitterly when they run into each other by the school entrance.

“Yeah, just us,” Saeyeon answers, lips pursing into a smile when she catches Changbin’s eye.

“Weird,” the boy says, “but maybe he’ll show up at lunch?”

He doesn’t and that’s the first time in a while that not all eleven of them showed up at the school gym. Unlike the other day where they were boisterously accusing one another, today they were quiet enough that a pin drop could be heard throughout the entire gymnasium. A bento box prepared by Felix sat in Seungmin’s place on the empty bleacher chair where he usually sat and no one dared to take it away. Saeyeon notices the expectant gazes they all would cast at the gym’s entrance throughout the whole hour.

But the break passes and they take their leave and Seungmin was still a no show.

“I’ll call you after class and we’ll go to the warehouse together, okay?” Jeongin says and Saeyeon only nods in response. “Ya, don’t think about it too much. I’m sure Seungmin is fine. Maybe it’s just a part of the game like Hyunjin said. See you later?” Jeongin ruffled her hair before leaving her at the gym’s front steps.

Later never comes.

It was getting late and it was nearly sundown, which meant they needed to meet at the warehouse soon. Saeyeon checks the time, he should’ve been done by now. The campus was nearly empty with only a few students passing by every now and then—all of which making their way to the exit.

“Just you, this time?” Changbin asks when she sees her sitting alone by the waiting area.

Saeyeon turned to the direction of the voice. The invoice playing through her phone speaker was still telling her that the number she dialled was unattended. She gives up on trying to call, smiling back sadly at the guy before her.

“Jeongin stood you up?” the boy asked.

“I think so,” she answered, trying to hide the disappointment in her tone.

Changbin sighs, “I haven’t seen Chan or the others the whole afternoon either. This Wednesday’s been kind of weird.” There’s a small pause before he continued, “Let’s get something to eat and head to the warehouse together? Sounds good?”

Saeyeon’s eyes glint at the suggestion, staring up at Changbin who was already munching on something, “But you’re already eating.”

“But you aren’t,” he answered, grabbing the girl’s outstretched hand that was pointing at the sandwich he was eating. “Let’s go.”

Surely, they’ve been around each other for the past few years because they were in the same friend group but there was still a tinge of awkwardness whenever they were left alone together. There had always been clear, but unspoken, divisions within the group and the awkward silence between them at the moment was living evidence of it.

“Thank you,” Saeyeon whispers, bowing her head slightly before proceeding to eat.

Thankfully, the whole meal isn’t spent in silence. Somewhere along the way, Changbin started talking about his suspicions. He pinpoints faults in their friends’ actions, noticing how some of them were more unnerved than others after Seungmin’s disappearance. Some of these, Saeyeon looked over earlier. As the sun sets slowly at the west and the sky starts to darken overhead, they set out and head for the warehouse.

The 00s are gathered outside of the perimeter fence, listening closely to whatever Hyunjin had to say—probably another theory as to who the Mafia might be. The others make space for the duo that had just arrived; an odd pairing, they think, but they let them off with only a few teases.

“Jeongin isn’t with you today?” Felix asks Saeyeon. To which she only shook her head. “Then I guess he’s with the 99s?”

But the 99s arrive and Jeongin isn’t there either. Taehee had a phone pressed up against her ear while Minho kept his eyes trained on the ground. Seconds pass and the girl shakes her head, tapping her phone a few times before pressing it to her ear again impatiently. Chan wasn’t with them too and it’s what makes everyone more baffled. Changbin specifically.

“Where have you been?” He asks, standing faster than the others when he sees the pair come into the alleyway, looking both pissed and worn out.

“No, where have you been?” Minho raised his voice back, “We’ve been looking all over for Chan. Bastard isn’t answering any of our calls.”

Saeyeon takes her place beside Changbin, eyeing the duo as they stopped at the front of the warehouse. “Jeongin isn’t answering his phone either. I thought he was out with you.” The pair shake their heads, the aura of the group shifting with their mood.

“Now that’s just fucking weird,” Felix says upon overhearing the conversation.

“No kidding,” you added, a hint of worry in your tone.

Everybody turns when the warehouse door is pried open by a staff member. “Everyone’s already here,” the staff says in a statement-like manner rather than a question. “You may proceed inside.”

“No, we’re still missing 3 people.” Hyunjin said, doing the headcount in Chan’s place as the tallest person around. “2 if we aren’t including Seungmin anymore.”

The staff member only turns to the group’s direction, whispering the word precisely before disappearing into the warehouse.

Today, the chairs around the table are a lot more spaced out. When everybody files in and fills every seat available, they finally notice the number of seats have been reduced. Not only by one, but by three. The same greeting comes through the speakers but there weren’t any conversations to hush this time around.

“On the second night, both Bang Chan and Yang Jeongin were killed off by the Mafias. The Doctor, unfortunately, saved the life of an unharmed citizen. The Police have uncovered a fellow Officer and a Citizen. With that, your one hour begins now. Good luck.”

“If you wrote either Chan or Jeongin, you’re a Mafia. Confirmed,” Hyunjin announced once the voice stopped speaking.

Saeyeon tried finding the blinking cameras around the warehouse, “So if the Mafias wrote two different names, two people are eliminated from the game?”

“I think so,” you answered.

“It’s really realistic, isn’t it?” Changbin spoke, breaking the silence at the 99s part of the table. “We can’t contact them at all when they’re out of the game.”

“I think that’ll go on for the rest of the game,” Minho adds.

“What if,” Felix says in a deeper tone, “it isn’t only for the duration of the game, but they’re actually killed for real?”

Hyunjin eyed him, “You’re scaring yourself, idiot.”

“Hey, goosebumps,” Jisung commented, rubbing his arms, “What if that’s what’s happening?”

You turned to the wide-eyed boy beside you, “You’ve got to be kidding me right now?”

A metal chair rattles when Taehee pushes herself up to get to the microphone in front of her. “Where do the eliminated slash voted out people disappear off to?” she said into the mic, but she gets nothing but static feedback. “Nothing?”

“Got any texts from Chan?” you asked her.

The girl only shook her head, “The minute he replies, I’m breaking up with him.”

“Can’t break up with him if you aren’t even together,” Jisung answered from across the room, earning a glare from the girl to which he just dismisses with two raised fingers as a white flag. “How about you,” he turned to Saeyeon, “heard anything from Jeongin yet?” Again, the response is the same.

Hyunjin narrowed his eyes on the speakers, “What if the Mafias already know each other and they’re discussing who to get rid of next?”

Changbin let out a frustrated groan. “I can’t stand this. I feel like we’re losing to the Mafias. That’s never supposed to happen.”

“I still think the Police are pointless because they don’t even know they’re the Police,” Minho commented, “don’t know which person’s role is which, and don’t even know each other.”

“For real though,” Hyunjin cut the other off, “I think the Mafias know they’re Mafias by now,” Hyunjin continued, voicing out the hunch he’d been keeping to himself. Watchful eyes turned to him and he tried to pinpoint which among them seemed more nervous than the rest but he couldn’t.

“Why?” Saeyeon asked.

“Because the people going missing match the people they’re writing. By tomorrow, they’ll be sure as to who they are. The day Seungmin was voted was confusing, today’s results could seem like a coincidence, but by tomorrow they’ll be entirely sure.”

You leaned your head back, struggling to process the information handed to you, “It’s so complicated it’s making my head ache.”

“Blame it on Minho for dragging us into this,” Jisung said.

“You all agreed to it?” Minho countered defensively.

Changbin looked at him from two chairs away, “And when we find out that you set us up and you’re one of the Mafia?”

Minho stared back confusedly, “Why me?”

“You’re usually quiet,” Hyunjin says.

“I always am.”

“Exactly, but you’re so noisy today.” Felix backed them up. A few glares are exchanged among them but an argument doesn’t ensue.

Hyunjin cleared his throat, “On the other hand, someone else had been a lot more quiet today than on most days,” he adds to his hunch. It was a bold move to be daring enough to be vocal of suspicions especially when the Mafia had the upper hand.

The room fell silent.

“Who?” you asked curiously.

“They know who they are,” Hyunjin answered. “If I’m eliminated tomorrow then my hunch is right.”

“Then tell us who it is then?” Minho asked, impatience evident in his tone.

The other boy shook his head, “I can’t.”

“You don’t know anything, do you?” Saeyeon asks, glaring at the blonde from where she sat.

All eyes trained on Hyunjin, everyone’s at the edge of their seats. For a second, it seemed as if the Mafias were on the brink of being uncovered. But Hyunjin’s serious face falters and he breaks into fits of laughter.

Felix groaned, “I hate you.”

“God, I miss Chan already,” Changbin says to the 99s beside him. “Stop me, I want to strangle someone.”

“You know neither of us would stop you, right? Go ahead,” Taehee answered, pointing her hand at Hyunjin’s general direction.

They pass the hour with senseless conversations, no longer bothering to figure out who the Mafias are because they’re still left with dead ends. It was hard to be in their group. Everyone was competitive when it came to the game, maybe it was the reason why the Mafias were so hard to pinpoint. Maybe the others were right, maybe the Mafias already knew who they were. Or maybe they didn’t.

“So who are we eliminating this time?” Jisung asks everyone after they were warned that they had 5 minutes left for the meeting.

“I think I’ll pass,” you say, slumping into your seat, frowning at another unproductive meeting—the thought of losing to the Mafia weighing on you. “This is stressing me out.”

“Are we trying to drag this out as long as we can?” Minho asked, a smile tugging at the corner of his lips.

Felix turned to him with furrowed brows, “Why do you enjoy dragging this game out? It’s tiring.”

“Yeah, Minho?” Jisung narrowed his eyes, “Why?”

Minho only stares back at them, a smirk still playing at the corner of his lips but he doesn’t say anything. Instead, he’s the first to stand and cast his vote at the booth.

“Sus,” Hyunjin whispered after discussing his suspicions with Jisung by the booth.

“Sus indeed.” Jisung repeats before he heads inside the booth to cast his vote.

There, he sees that his hand is still shaking and he tried his best to keep it still as he wrote a name down. He wishes the blonde didn’t notice.

iv. night four.

Nothing changes in the world beyond the game, which was off considering there were three vacant seats in the back row during Homeroom and nobody seemed to notice. There were no missing case files for Seungmin, even when it’s been over 24 hours since he disappeared. Chan’s and Jeongin’s apartment were yet to be checked but there was little to no hope they’d be there too.

No one seemed to care about their disappearances. Nobody except the people within your circle anyway.

Jisung tore his eyes away from the window and scanned the back row. The 3 vacant seats rendered the classroom silent. Besides their adviser discussing graduation matters up front, it was all silent. The usual white noise of hushed chitchats from the back was missing.

He watched as everyone moved in a calculated manner, startled by the smallest things and seemingly on edge throughout the entire period. Everyone observed one another with sharp eyes, as if they didn’t trust anyone else in the group but themselves. Or maybe it’s how it seemed to him.

You and the girls didn’t join them for lunch today and it ticked Jisung off. He never liked the idea of change and he despised it even more now with three of his friends vanishing in a span of two days and the thinning trust towards you had with one another. Though he tried to convince himself that it was all a part of the game, something in the back of his mind told him it wasn’t.

Above else, he thought it was all his fault.

“Where are you going?” Hyunjin asked when the boy stopped in the middle of the hallway. Jisung only looked back at him apologetically before turning on his heel and heading to the other direction—away from the gym and hopefully, away from everything. He was thankful the boys didn't bother following him.

He stumbled into the quadrangle but even the open space wasn’t relieving to him anymore unlike it used to. Being outside the campus wasn’t any different either. The suffocating feeling, it’s just there, like someone had a hand wrapped around his neck throughout the entire day.

He didn’t return to school in the afternoon.

Instead, he headed downtown to the place that could possibly silence all his thoughts and convince himself that he had nothing to worry about. It wasn’t me, it was just a coincidence, he told himself but he found it so hard to believe. Not with the weight of his conscience and the piling evidence on his shoulder. The apartment was his last hope.

He punched the four digits that made up the door’s code. It beeps open but the apartment isn’t empty when he enters.

Two heads turn as soon as he walked in. “Jisung’s here,” Saeyeon says once she catches sight of the boy.

You find his eyes staring back at you and as if on cue, you put back the disk you were holding and walk over. “Didn’t think you’d follow us here but here you are.”

“I didn’t,” Jisung whispered, “I just wanted to check—”

Jisung doesn’t get to finish his sentence. “If Chan and Jeongin are really gone?” Taehee asked, walking into the central room of the apartment after rummaging through Chan’s room. “They are. But everything else is here.”

Jisung nodded at the confirmation, right as the last of his hope fizzled into nothing.

You noticed the blank look on the boy’s face, which was unusual considering he always had a positive outlook on things. Today, he looked numb and lifeless. “Hey, what’s bothering you?” you asked, grabbing Jisung’s arm when he attempted to turn and leave. “You want to go somewhere?”

The boy only mustered a nod in response. You turned back to the girls, mumbling a quick goodbye before leading Jisung out of the apartment. The hallway was empty when you exited the room but you waited until you’re in the elevator before you started talking.

“What really brought you here, Jisung?” you asked, less concerned and more inquisitive—suspicious.

Jisung frowned, feeling the distrust through your tone, “As I said I just wanted to check if they were really gone. I didn’t believe Jeongin when he said Seungmin was gone without a trace. Now he’s gone too.”

You turned to face him, “Why are you beating yourself up about it?”

He sighed, “Because I was excited for this and now my friends are going missing one by one. When everything turns back to normal, I think I don’t even want to play this game again.”

You cupped his face in your hands, forcing him to look into your eyes instead of the elevator floor. He blinked, eyes glossy and threatening to spill tears at any given moment. “If anyone should be beating themselves up for this, it should be Minho and not you. This was a collective decision. We all basically signed up for this and got exactly what we asked for.” Then, you slowly drew back your hands, “But I think you have something else in mind.”

Jisung stared at your retreating hands and then at the expression on your face.

“Perhaps,” you whispered, right as the elevator dings to let you know you’ve reached the ground floor, “you’re thinking you’re the Mafia?”

The sky darkened outside as seen from the window of Chan’s apartment. After a homemade dinner they managed to make out of the contents of Chan’s cupboards, all four of them headed to the warehouse together and found the others already waiting for them by the entrance. Changbin stood by the warehouse door, counting the members as they walked past him. He made it to 6 when he realized that yet another one had gone missing.

“You’re the last one?” Changbin asked and Jisung only nodded apologetically. “That means 7 left. This game’s going fast.”

For the first time since the game started, the center table has been replaced today. It was less wide compared to the previous one and resembled a dining table. Only 7 chairs remained today. The warehouse seemed more spacious with the narrowed table and Jisung couldn’t help but wonder what the place looked like when it was illuminated in the morning. Because at night it felt haunted and it sends a chill up his spine.

“Greetings, players,” the speakers blared. “It has come to our attention that the Mafia have killed off two players last night. First person to be eliminated is Hwang Hyunjin. However, the second person is safe. The second player, who also happened to be the game’s Doctor, saved themselves.”

“Now that Doctor is just amazing. First, they save Seungmin and now they save themselves from the Mafia?” Felix said with his jaw still left hanging from the announcement.

“On the other hand,” the voice continued, “one Police wrote their fellow Police and the other investigated a Citizen. Your one hour begins now.”

Minho crossed his arms over his chest, “Why would someone write themselves down?”

“To find out what role they’re playing perhaps?” Changbin answered. “If they wrote themselves and nothing happened, they’re just a Citizen. If it’s announced that a Police was discovered, or a Doctor healed themselves then it’s immediately them. Or, at least, the possibility is there. What a clever strategy.”

“And if you’re a Mafia?” Taehee asked.

“Then you end up killing yourself.”

“Isn’t it creepy though?” Felix uttered, straightening himself before leaning against the table. “How Hyunjin just said, I mean I’m not sure if he really was just kidding or not, that he knew something about the Mafia and then disappeared the next day. I think he really knew something and the Mafia or Mafias,” he emphasized, “silenced him.”

Saeyeon pursed her lips, “Sounds like real life to me.”

“We got so much more than we asked for with this game,” you commented. “It’s amazing.”

“Yeah,” Taehee agreed, “so much more stress.”

Jisung played with his fingers before raising his hand up, “Question. Who among us already voted for themselves?”

Surprisingly, the overhead light doesn’t turn red at the question and two other hands are raised in reply to his query—Saeyeon’s and yours.

Taehee raised an eyebrow, “Great. Now, I feel dumb for not thinking of the same strategy.”

“So, one Mafia wrote Hyunjin and the other wrote either of these two,” Minho said, pointing at the two girls adjacent to him. “Who among you wrote their name last night?” But before anyone could answer, the light flickered red, “Well shit, we can’t ask that. Whoever you are, you’re the doctor.”

Saeyeon scooted over and asked into the microphone, “May we ask what the remaining roles are? Like how many Police are left?” But the answer to her question never comes.

“We can always take our chances and vote one person out and find out how many Mafias remain,” Changbin suggested.

“We can’t risk it,” Taehee countered, “There’s 7 of us left.”

You tapped your fingers on the table, “If we make a mistake and eliminate someone who isn’t a Mafia, the Mafias finish the game in 2 days time. I’m sure they already know who they are by now.” Your eyes wandered to a person in the room but your gaze doesn’t linger, careful to not get caught.

“What if this whole thing is a prank and the Mafias have already been eliminated and they’re just playing games with us?” Felix asked, pointing at the cameras. The idea made some of the people in the room chuckle and shake their heads while the others were unamused.

A frail silence fills the room shortly, right before Jisung speaks again. “We,” he stuttered, “we aren’t eliminating anyone tonight?”

Everyone exchanges skeptical gazes—each look lacking genuinity. They all have narrowed eyes at one another, untrusting and watchful. “God,” Taehee groaned, “I can’t even trust anyone anymore.”

The staring contest is broken when Changbin spoke, “I have a feeling one of the Mafias is certain as to who he is. I couldn’t stop thinking about what Hyunjin said that someone’s more quiet than usual.”

“Who?” Saeyeon asked.

“Don’t tell me you didn’t notice how quiet he has been lately?” Changbin answered, forefinger pointing at the person directly across him—Jisung.

The room fell silent at the first real accusation of the game. It was something they always anticipated whenever they played. Knowing something and being vocal about it made you more susceptible to the Mafia. It was a risky move, knowing well that if they weren’t right, the Mafia could target them next for being capable of putting two and two together.

But he was Seo Changbin, the most observant of the eleven and it wasn’t the first time he was bold at exposing who the Mafia was.

“What if we eliminate Jisung?” Taehee suggested, finally seeing the Mafia flags in Jisung’s movements when Changbin mentioned it. Her hunch is further solidified when Jisung flinches instead of answering back like he normally does.

“He doesn’t seem like a Mafia.” The voice comes from you and they all turn to look at you, brows raised in disbelief.

Minho shook his head, “Wow, I’m having flashbacks.”

Taehee sat on the edge of her seat, “Remember that time you saw him vent while we played Among Us and you still didn’t tell us shit?”

The seriousness of the atmosphere shatters when you’re reminded of the memory. A laugh bubbles from Jisung’s lips which causes everyone else to erupt in laughter, leaving you with red-stained cheeks and resurfaced embarrassment.

Changbin is the last to stop laughing, “Love really is blind.”

You faltered when you first tried to speak again, a laugh escaping your mouth and sending everyone into a second wave of laughter. You thought it was the first time you had heard them laugh genuinely in the past few days. “The evidence,” you finally managed to say without giggling, “isn’t enough though.”

Minho raises both his arms in exasperation. “Okay, so now, you’re saying that?”

Wasting no more time, Taehee presses down on the microphone too hard when she finally says, “We wish to vote out Han Jisung.”

Jisung sighed, “You all pick on me too much.”

“It’s for our own safety,” Felix answered, hand-outstretched and ready to cast his vote.

Saeyeon took it upon herself to lead the votation, “Vote out Jisung in 3, 2, 1.”

And by the Mafia Lord’s grace, the votes are split exactly in two. The 99’s all had their thumbs down, while Saeyeon, Lia and Felix didn’t.

“Han Jisung is safe,” a voice announced through the speakers and Jisung shot out of his seat in triumph.

“The fuck, you two?” Minho asked, eyes-wide and furious.

“______ was right,” Saeyeon dismissed, “evidence isn’t enough.”

“And if Changbin’s gone tomorrow?” Taehee asked.

Changbin narrowed his eyes, remembering that you and Saeyeon—who both voted for Jisung’s stay—have all skipped lunch and arrived together with the suspected Mafia at the warehouse today.

The three others only shrugged. Han Jisung smirked, glaring at the 99s before he says, “I won’t let you forget this.”

v. night five.

The uncertainty of being the Mafia follows him into his dreams.

He was sitting on the bleachers opposite to the group. All ten people across him were smiling, something he hasn’t seen them do for a while now. Someone had cracked a joke that left everyone holding back their laughter. For the first few moments, it was as if they didn't notice he was there at all until Seungmin turned in his direction. The mop of purple hair smiled and he couldn’t help but do the same. The boy raised a hand and waved him to come over.

He nodded, getting up on his feet before hopping his way down the bleachers. He nearly misses a step when he hears a voice speak—loud and clear in his mind, “Who did you write down?”

He froze on his tracks. The next time he glimpsed at the group in front of him, there were only six people left. The group’s laughter had died down into hushed whispers and their faces were devoid of the emotions they had earlier. All six people were hunched over together but were never really present. Their eyes stared at empty spaces in the gymnasium and their minds seemed to wander further.

The voice asked the same question again, the same way it did before.

He shifts his view and he finds that he was no longer at the school gym. Instead, he’s back at the alleyway leading up to the warehouse. The owner of the voice catches up—his blonde hair being the only thing visible in the darkness of the alleyway. For the third time that night, Hyunjin repeats the same question.

The other boy doesn’t say anything. In fact, he couldn’t say anything at all. Not when he felt the tingle of the metal bracelet against his wrist. Not when he saw someone in the back, pressing their forefinger over the lips of their Vendetta mask. Not when the name he’d written was the name of the boy who asked him the question. Not when the same boy disappeared the next day, the same way the other people he wrote down did.

Jisung woke up with a start. He could still hear Hyunjin’s voice in his head, asking him the same question over and over again. His heart thumps rapidly in his ribcage and his breathing was heavy. He shakes his head, willing himself to calm down. He recalls the conversation he had with you the day before.

“Perhaps, you’re thinking you’re the Mafia?”

For a moment, Jisung freezes right as the elevator opens. The bracelet on his wrist warms as he grows nervous. The both of you are forced into the busy lobby of the apartment complex. Everyone else seemed to mind their own business but Jisung couldn’t shake the eerie feeling that someone was still watching you. He eyes a recently vacated couch and leads the way there. Your eyes automatically scanned the surroundings, like how you’ve accustomed to whenever they started talking about the game.

Jisung sighs but right as he was about to reply, you opened your mouth to speak, “I’m here to tell you that you aren’t. Or at least that’s what I think.”

From the corner of your eye, you see Jisung turn in your direction. For a moment, you hesitate looking back at him but you end up doing so anyway. In his eyes, you could see the fear he hadn’t been doing such a good job in hiding. His eyes were glossy with tears threatening to slip but they don’t. Then he blinked and his eyes seemed more confused now than the former.

“Look,” you started, “I know this is hard to understand but I think I know what role I’m playing in the game and if I’m right, then you aren’t the Mafia.”

Jisung raised a brow, “What makes you so sure?”

You eyed a familiar stranger from the lobby’s window and Jisung’s gaze followed. The man was walking on the opposite side of the road, looking over his shoulder every now and then as if he was being followed. Then, he disappeared into the alleyway.

When the man was completely out of sight, you finally spoke. “The Mafias never show themselves that easily.” The sound that left Jisung’s lips is the first genuine chuckle he’d had today. “Seriously, Jisung, 9 times out of 10 the Mafia is usually someone we don’t suspect at all.”

“And what if this is the one time that the Mafia’s actually someone you already suspected?” Jisung countered.

“Then we’re fucked,” you answered, a light laugh leaving your lips. “But what a good last game that would be? The Mafias winning and all that.”

You both fall silent as you think of the possibility. It wasn’t far from becoming reality with all of you falling on dead ends with your suspicions and the Mafias having no slip-ups in this game so far. While you thought of your possible reaction when you finally find out who the Mafias are, Jisung’s mind wandered over to different things.

“If you don’t trust yourself, write a random name tonight. If they’re still around by tomorrow night,” you say in a comforting manner, patting Jisung’s knee in a steady pace before standing up, “then you’re not one of the Mafia. I’m hoping that would ease you at least. You’ve been looking worried all day.”

“And if they disappear?” Jisung asked, following behind you as you walked back to the elevator.

“I have some hope that they won’t.”

“What happens if—”

The question died on his lips as he felt the metal bracelet heat up against his wrist again. He bites his tongue, holding back the scream threatening to leave his lips due to the searing pain. He felt his fingertips dig deep into his balled fists as the burn is engraved on his wrist. As he calms down, the metal bracelet cools.

“Are you alright? You seem pale,” you asked from inside the elevator, holding the doors open as you patiently waited for Jisung to come in. “I’m serious, you aren’t the Mafia. The game can’t be that easy.”

Little do you know that being the Mafia isn’t the worst of Jisung’s worries.

It was the knowledge of being aware that there was something else beyond the game of finding Mafias and building suspicions on each other. It was the lack of assurance that their friends were truly okay when all evidence (or the lack of it) seemed to point that they weren’t. It was the crippling anxiety of other people seemingly knowing what he was thinking—evident in the burn on his wrist and further cultivated by the memory of the girl in the Vendetta mask seemingly telling him to keep his mouth shut.

He knew there was something off with the game. He was just hoping that someone else besides him had noticed.

Felix notices an oddity in the way everyone else around them moved.

He’s unsure where the suspicion started. Sure, he wasn’t as observant as Changbin was, but he didn’t need to be that smart to notice that some things changed ever since the game started. It wasn’t something he intentionally wondered about, he just felt that something was off. While everyone was busy trying to figure out who was who in the game, he was busy trying to put a finger on what felt different.

“I still don’t get how they still haven’t noticed anything at all.”

His voice came in the form of a whisper to the group. Everyone else had nodded in agreement as they walked down the cemented paths of the campus leading up to the exit. The 00s, along with Saeyeon, had after-school club meetings together on Friday afternoons. Today, as they left the room, they remember that they lacked two people which should’ve been, at the very least, noticeable in the 20-member club.

“Hey,” Saeyeon waved at a fellow member who passed by, “have you seen Hyunjin?”

The other girl took a second to think, “No, I haven’t seen him today. Isn’t he supposed to be with you?” Saeyeon only shook her head before turning her attention back to the group.

“I think if you looked at it from another person’s perspective, it seems normal that they’re absent,” Jisung says to which you only nod in agreement.

“Yeah, maybe you’re right.” Felix says as he catches the eyes of a few juniors that seemed to wander in their direction.

It’s in that moment that he figured that maybe it was the other way around. Maybe it wasn’t the others who didn’t notice anything, maybe it was their group. He notices that the people around them moved in an eerily robotic manner that would pass off as natural if you didn’t look hard enough—the same way people outside of the main characters of a dream would act. It only adds into his list of speculations about the game. Where the voted off members go. Why the metal bracelet wrapped around his wrist burned his skin whenever he was thinking of the game from an outsider’s perspective. Why he felt like their group were holograms in the real world—present, but not entirely there either.

Something in the back of his mind tells him that there was so much more to this game than figuring out who the Mafias were and he figures it’s about time he told the others about it.

They skip dinner today, considering they were already a little late because of their club meeting and sundown would be in minutes. They take a shortcut on their way there, making it in half the time than it normally did. And when they arrive, only two people are waiting for them.

Minho’s eyes scan the four people when they emerge from the alleyway. Felix does the same and he falls quiet upon realizing that there should’ve been one more person around.

“Taehee, this time?” you asked as you filed into the warehouse.

Changbin sighs before he speaks, “Went to the bathroom and never came back.”

“At least the Mafia didn’t eliminate two right?” Jisung says to Felix but the latter doesn’t reply.

The table had been changed once again. The room’s centerpiece stood in strong contrast to its dim surroundings. The white marble thing shined elegantly beneath the only light source in the room and imprinted in its center was an empty chessboard with a few misplaced pieces. Nobody takes an interest in it, thinking the thing might have just been another prop the staff must’ve put to set the vibe.

Tonight’s announcement passes like it normally does and their one hour of deliberation begins. Suspicions are laid out on the table again but Felix is barely listening. He was up all night the previous night—not used to the silence of the apartment he shared with Hyunjin. Maybe it really was all a part of the game and he wanted to praise the game organizers for doing a great job for making the whole thing convincing.

But the camera resting on Hyunjin’s bed told him otherwise. He knew that Hyunjin wouldn’t go anywhere without it. But there weren’t any signs of forced entry in their apartment. Almost as if Hyunjin had just vanished in midair.

For the entire day, he’d been trying to open up the topic to everyone but the searing pain emanating from the metal band on his wrist made his words fall dead on his lips. But he was desperate to know what really happens to those who got killed off or eliminated; knowing well that if he spent another night in that empty apartment that he’d be haunted with the same thoughts again. He needed answers and he needed them now.

Even just by thinking about it, the metal bracelet starts to heat up on his wrist. “God, every time I get the urge to tell you guys anything this bracelet starts making me feel jittery,” Felix complained in frustration.

All heads turn in his direction and the previous conversation is abruptly halted. Their eyes then wander to the metal bands on each of their wrists.

“Yeah, the bracelets. I still wonder what they’re for,” you wondered as you lifted your arm to feel the weight of the metal band.

Felix opens his mouth to say something—feeling the band burn against his skin, growing hotter with every passing second.

“Don’t,” Jisung whispered subtly beside him. Felix turned to him but the other boy just looked back as if he hadn’t said a word—completely unaware of the other pair of eyes staring in their direction.

“Why?” Saeyeon asked, “What are you trying to tell us?”

Felix still had his gaze on Jisung. And though the latter seemed like his usual jolly self, his eyes were etched with worry. Confused, Felix turns his attention back to the center of the circle. The burning sensation on his wrist is still there but more tolerable now. “It’s the truth about the game.”

Minho groaned, he hated talking about it more than anything. “Here we go again.”

“No, listen,” Felix says as he tries to keep a straight face as he feels the metal band warm again.

“I’m telling you, Felix,” Minho says sternly, “this is nothing but a game and you’re taking this too seriously.”

“And I’m telling you that it isn’t. Have you ever looked at everyone else besides us long enough that they start seeming more like robots than humans? I only noticed that when the game started.”

While the others contemplated on Felix’ words, Minho wasn’t having any of it. “Who the hell stares at people long enough to notice that? You’re just being a fucking kill joy again.”

“It’s called being observant. I’ve been thinking about it. I know I joke a lot about it but we’re never really sure what’s happening to our friends. We just collectively decided that they’re just being kept hidden because that’s what makes the game realistic. Well, what if they aren’t safe? What if something bad happens to them whenever they’re voted out?” His voice is loud enough that it echoes off the walls of the warehouse. He ignores the way the bracelet had probably burned beyond his skin already. If he wasn’t going to speak up now, then when?

“Felix, calm down. I think you’re overthinking,” Changbin says from across him.

“Yeah, maybe. But with the others going missing without a trace? Right under our noses? Maybe I really should be overthinking. It’s baffling why nobody else is as worried as I am.”

“If you want to find out what’s happening to them so bad then get out.”

Felix turns in Minho’s direction, finding the other’s eyes locked on him with a tinge of annoyance that made the younger boy scream at how ignorant the other boy was being.

“Minho, stop that. He’s just telling us what he thinks,” you say in an equally annoyed tone.

“I know, but he’s just thinking too much over something so simple. This is just a fucking game. With the cameras they have around, I’m thinking they’re documenting all this to show the world how the first realistic game of Mafia went. I’m sure they have our friends. We signed up for this and we’re chickening out when things get realistic when that’s exactly what we wanted in the first place?”

The room falls silent at the exchange of opinions and everyone is left torn. A part of them believed that everything was just a part of the game but Felix’ words made them think twice about it.

After a few more moments in silence, Felix finally speaks, “Can a player quit without getting voted out?” he asks into the intercom and a ‘No’ comes through the speakers shortly after. “Fine. Vote me out then.”

“Felix,” Jisung says from beside him.

“No, I want to see what really happens just so I could prove him wrong. Go ahead, vote me out.”

“Vote out Felix,” Minho says, being the first to raise his thumb up while glaring at the younger boy. Others debate whether wasting a vote on someone who wasn’t even subject to being the Mafia was worth it. “Come on, we don’t have all day.”

When a unanimous decision is reached with only Jisung having his thumb down, Felix ups and heads out of the warehouse. Jisung rises from his seat, catching up to Felix before he gets the chance to leave.

“Why’d you do that?” Jisung grabbed Felix' arms right before he reached the exit. “We could’ve talked about what we both knew.”

“Not with these things burning our wrists.” Felix answers, raising his left arm where the band was frying the skin on his wrist.

Jisung purses his lips before he speaks. “Tell me what happens out there. Send me some sort of sign, anything if you can.”

“I don’t think they’ll let me, but I’ll try,” Felix says, taking Jisung’s hand off his arm before he shuts the warehouse door behind him.

“One Mafia remains.”

Everyone is stunned at the announcement; some jaws drop open while Minho just raises a brow at it.

“No way,” you say in disbelief. “There’s one left? Was the other one Felix?”

“He’d always been so good at playing Mafia. I didn’t even think that it could possibly be him,” Saeyeon commented.

“We can’t be sure though,” Changbin uttered skeptically. “When did we last get an update with the amount of Mafias around? The night Seungmin was voted out?”

“But the night Hyunjin was killed off by one Mafia, the other killed off the Doctor and didn’t succeed, so there were still two Mafias at the time,” you answered, narrowing the Mafia’s elimination day down to today only.

Minho shrugged, “Either Taehee or Felix then.”

“What if Taehee voted herself out after finding out you two voted yourselves?” Changbin says, pointing at you and Saeyeon.

“Yeah, she did mention that,” you agreed.

Saeyeon furrowed her brows, “Sounds like something she’d do on a normal day but not something she’d do as a Mafia. She would’ve known she was one of the Mafia by then.”

“What if Hyunjin was the other Mafia who voted the Doctor off and the remaining Mafia voted off Hyunjin?” Jisung asked.

“Possible,” Minho replied, “but you haven’t been voted off. If he was a Mafia, you would’ve been gone the first night.”

Jisung scoffed, “What if you’re the other Mafia and targeted him that night because you’re still pissed over him calling you when we played Mario Kart?”

“I’m not that shallow,” Minho says but Jisung doesn’t believe him and neither did anyone else in the room who was listening to their exchange.

A few moments pass before someone speaks again, “I think the Mafias knew they were Mafias but they didn’t know each other,” Changbin says tapping a pen on the table as the gears in his mind turned.

“Or maybe the remaining Mafia knew the other but wanted to win this thing solo,” Jisung concluded/

“You’re noisy again today. Feeling confident you aren’t the Mafia, Jisung?” Minho calls him out.

Jisung turns, feeling rather irritated with the constant pestering of the older boy. “Because I’m really not the Mafia.”

“The way you acted yesterday didn’t seem like it.”

“That was yesterday,” Jisung says in exasperation. Being defensive didn’t help his case at all. “Today is different.”

You clear your throat before another endless quarrel sparks between the two, “At this point, everyone has a fair chance of being the Mafia.”

“The Citizens are at an advantage though. There’s only one Mafia left,” Saeyeon points out, eyeing everyone in the room to see some sort of slip up but there’s none.

“Plot twist, even at that advantage, we lose and the Mafia wins,” Jisung says jokingly.

Minho leans back on his chair, arms tucked and eyeing everyone skeptically, “Mafias never win.”

“And in the case that they do, how do they even do it?” Saeyeon asks.

Changbin stops tapping the table, the entire warehouse falling silent before he speaks, “By putting the blame on someone else.”

The overhead light flashes red, signalling the end of their meeting for the day. A huge sense of relief fills them, knowing there’s only one more person to go. For the first time since the game started, things were looking up for them.

Or at least, that’s how it seemed.

“Your one hour is nearly over. Please cast your votes now and leave the premises immediately. Good night, players.”

When Felix is out of the warehouse, nothing seems out of the ordinary. Instead it just felt eerie, walking out of the dark alleyway alone for the first time. But then he reaches the sidewalk and he’s unsure why everyone had their eyes on him—seemingly hyper aware of his presence like the juniors in school were but this time, they don’t look away.

Felix soons discovers that maybe they weren’t looking at him but at whoever was behind him. He freezes, feeling something cold pressed up to the back of his head. He wonders why no one around him is reacting the way normal people would when they’d come across a scene like this.

That’s all he thinks about before everything goes dark and quiet.

vi. night six.

“Death of Seoul Mayor—Park Jaejin—marred with controversy.

SEOUL — Thousands continued to mourn the death of former Seoul Mayor Park Jaejin on Wednesday, but the somber mood was disrupted by controversy over his unquestioned death.

Park, who was serving his second term as mayor of the capital, was found dead at a prairie in Seoul early Saturday, However, no investigations regarding his death were made due to the assumption that his death was “self-inflicted”.

A conservative group filed for an injunction Tuesday against acting Mayor Seo In-yeop, who assumed office after Park’s death, in an attempt to stop the five-day funeral service. Seo In-yeop, first vice mayor for administrative affairs, will serve as mayor until an election is held next year.”

The first news about their friends’ disappearance is announced on the morning news the next day.

Saeyeon was eating breakfast when the news anchor laid out the details of the missing case files of all six students. She stills at the sight of her six friends smiling in what seemed to be their ID photos on the screen. There, she realizes that they’ve only been missing for a few days but things have changed so drastically that it felt like she hadn’t seen them for a long time. An interview of their homeroom adviser is aired in which she appears to be distressed over the disappearances but Saeyeon thought the woman cared more about her reputation than the disappearing students themselves.

When she finishes her meal, she heads out and starts her daily walk to school and like the past few days, she’s alone again.. She still hasn’t gotten used to the silence but she tells herself the game would be over soon and everything would be back to normal. Or at least she hoped it would.

But she walks into the campus and notices that everyone’s eyes lingered on her much longer than they normally would. And that’s when she knew that things have taken a turn for the worse. She tries to feign ignorance as she walks past a hallway full of people who’s loud chattering hushes into quiet whispers the minute they see her at the end of the corridor.

“Secret’s out,” a voice whispers from behind her and she flinches for a moment. “Where are the two boys you always came with?”

Saeyeon doesn’t bother to answer and walks past everyone. She couldn’t wait for lunch time. Being in a separate class from the rest of her friends, especially now that Jeongin was no longer around to accompany her was taking a toll on her. There was something with the way that everyone was staring that made her more conscious of her every move.

She couldn’t wait for lunch time, even if it meant that she needed to face whoever was responsible for everything that was happening. For now, she just had to pretend that the earphones plugged in her ear blared music until she reached her classroom at the end of the hallway.

Saeyeon didn’t know which she hated more: the lunch crowd when they were loud and rowdy or the lunch crowd masked in this eerie silence. It was the same as earlier—hushed whispers and judging gazes. However, faking ignorance was no longer an option when someone blocked her way before she managed to reach the stairwell.

“So, where are they?” The boy who’d blocked her way stares down at her with a brow-raised in anticipation. She looked up to him before taking a careful look around and seeing everyone watching them from where they stood.

She swallows the lump in her throat, “I don’t know either.”

A low chuckle leaves the boy’s mouth, “You can lie all you want. It’s impossible that you don’t know your own friends' whereabouts.”

“I’m telling you the truth,” Saeyeon replies honestly but it was clear that the other party didn’t want to believe in anything unless it was the answer he wanted to hear. “If I knew anything, they wouldn’t be reported missing.”

She stumbles back when the boy takes a step forward before bending to meet her eye. “Or maybe you know something,” he taunted, “and if you told anyone about it, one of your friends would come and get you next. Is that it?”

Before Saeyeon could come up with some kind of retort, a voice came from the platform below them.

“If I were you, I’d shut up.” They both turn their heads to the boy standing at the foot of the steps. For a moment, Changbin looks up to meet their glances before he walks up the stairs and past the boys blocking Saeyeon’s way. “Let’s go,” he says, reaching out for Saeyeon to take his hand.

But his hand is slapped away by the arrogant boy, “And what are you gonna do about it, shortcake?”

Saeyeon shakes her head, taking Changbin’s hand and attempting to steer him away from the fight that was threatening to start at any given moment. “Changbin, he’s not worth it,” she whispers but the reminder falls short when another remark is thrown in their direction.

“That’s right, freak. Walk away. I can’t believe this school would risk it’s reputation just to get the son of the mayor in.” Boisterous laughter echoes the hallway upon the mention. Saeyeon feels Changbin tense beside her, unsure if it was from anger or from sheer embarrassment. He never liked it when anyone mentioned his background, even more so after the incident last July. “Seo Changbin-ah, mind telling us where Park Jaejin went too?”

Saeyeon turns to them, “We all know that was a suicide.”

“No, that’s what his father’s minions said. Can’t believe that fucker would kill just to get a higher position. Don’t you think Changbin’s following his own dad’s tracks?”

Slipping out of Saeyeon’s grasp, Changbin’s mind goes blank.

Changbin watches as the nurse’s eyes glances momentarily at his school ID laid on the table and back to the computer screen. She inputs a few more things before she finally returns the card. She says a few more remarks about picking fights and injuries that Changbin didn’t like listening to. Then, she finally dismissed him.

The hallways were, once again, devoid of people. The emptiness was much more comforting as opposed to earlier. If there was anything he hated in the world, it was being watched and that was what everyone was doing throughout the entire morning. It made him glad that he was being sent home. But he catches sight of a familiar mop of curly brown hair sitting on a bench by the quadrangle outside of the school clinic and he feels the obligation to approach.

“Lunch is over, you need to get going,” Changbin says when he’s right in front of the girl.

Saeyeon looks up from her phone, wide-eyed and unexpecting. It takes her a moment to fully internalize that it was—finally, after nearly an hour of waiting—Changbin standing before her. She shakes her head, “I don’t want to. Let me see it.”

She reaches to grab Changbin’s hand but the boy flinches upon contact and hides his hand deep in his hoodie’s pocket. “It’s just a bruised knuckle, I’ll be fine. Besides, I was sent home.”

“So, you’re leaving?” Saeyeon says as she rises off the bench, “Can I come with you?”

“Saeyeon, no,” Changbin shakes his head.

But she doesn’t listen. Instead she stands in front of him to block his way, which was ironic considering it was the exact same thing the arrogant guy did to get Changbin in trouble. “But I don’t trust anyone else in the game anymore. Besides you, anyway. And I’m thinking about what’s happening to our friends. And the way people won’t stop staring at us as if it’s really our fault even if it isn’t. Well, I think it isn’t. But I’m not entirely sure either. Do you think it’s—”

All of Saeyeon’s rambles fall silent when she feels a pair of arms wrap around her, enclosing her in a hug—something she desperately needed since the day started but never got the chance to ask for as she was unsure of who to ask it from too. But here she was, wrapped in Changbin’s embrace—feeling the first inkling of peace in a long while. And for a moment, she felt safe and she felt her thoughts slowly dwindle into nothing with every passing second.

A chuckle leaves Changbin’s lips, “You’re overthinking again. There’s a chance that they’re fine,” he says reassuringly, tracing circles on the girl’s back in an attempt to comfort her. “Little, as of today, but the possibility is always there. And we’ll figure it out once the game’s over.”

“If we’re both still here when the game’s over,” Saeyeon answers, breaking away from the boy’s embrace before flashing him a half-hearted smile.

The boy smiles, “We will be. Trust me. Get going already, you’re running late.”

He ruffled her hair, like he always does, before watching the girl trace her steps back to the building. Once she was out of sight, he eyes his knuckle—unsure how someone could put so much trust in himself when he isn’t even sure if he trusts himself.

“No one got eliminated?” Jisung’s eyes widen as he sees Changbin walk into the alleyway at sundown.

The rest were already up and ready to enter right as the boy approached. They all file into the warehouse when he’s finally with the rest of them. There’s a tinge of distrust in the air, evident in the way everyone’s oddly spaced out from each other today compared to most days.

“Funny how no one vanishes after the world finds out about it. It’s like they’re setting us up,” Changbin comments, pulling the warehouse door open before slipping in.

“You know what, the sooner we finish the game, the sooner they’ll be back and the sooner our names will be cleared. Now move, let’s get this over with,” you say impatiently, waiting for the rest to file in before you shut the door behind you.

The table in the middle of the room was the smallest it had been since the game started. The round thing seemed more like a fun-sized casino table now. The chessboard on the center table remained, only this time a bronze circle circumferenced it. The circle was divided into five with each division directly in line with one of the five chairs around the table.

A signature pad rested on each of the five divisions along with the special pen it came with which was used to scribble on the matte surface. In the middle of the chessboard sat a compass whose hand would occasionally steer from side to side, illuminating whichever division it pointed to.

“Good evening, players. On the previous night, a citizen was targeted by the Mafia. Thankfully, the doctor was there to save them. Congratulations on making it into the Last 5. Since the number of players have been narrowed down, we have also shortened your time of deliberation from 1 hour to 30 minutes. 10 minutes before the time is consumed, you will be asked to input the name of the person you wish to eliminate on the pad before you.

“From now on, we will no longer be allowing skips. Lastly, the booth is no longer available but the same mechanic applies. In the last 5 minutes of the meeting, you are obligated to write another name on the pad and determine that person’s fate for the remainder of the game—of course, depending on your role. Good luck and have fun, players!”

There’s a mixture of reactions from the remaining players; half were thinking the citizen would’ve been better off dead so they’d be able to at least narrow down the list of suspected Mafias while the other half thought they were thankful they had extra manpower to solve the case.

“Was Saeyeon the only one who got those stares from everyone?” Jisung asks and when he sees everyone else shake their heads he continues, “No? I guess we all had a rough day then.”

“Mafia, whoever the fuck you are, step up. Imagine how tired we all are. They’re looking at us like we’re fugitives and we’re officially prime suspects of our own friends’ disappearances. We can’t have that now, can we?” The exhaustion in Saeyeon’s voice is evident as she spoke.

A muffled whisper from Minho is overheard by Changbin, resulting in the latter to get off his seat in disbelief. “What do you mean by simulation?! Are you kidding me? Minho, our friends have been reported missing on national news. Why the fuck do you still think this is a simulation?”

“Lee Minho,” Saeyeon’s voice calls out from directly across Minho and he turns his head away from Changbin to stare at her. “What’s the real reason you want this game to keep going?”

The boy takes a second to reply. “As I said, just to make the most out of it.”

“Now, with our friends officially recorded missing, do you still want to make the most out of this game?” Saeyeon asks, a brow raised at the boy who only stared back blankly—he doesn’t reply. “Thought so. Then what’s stopping you from admitting you’re the Mafia?”

A smirk tugs at the corner of Minho’s lips, “The fact that I’m not the Mafia.”

“You’re shaking,” Jisung points out.

“I’m not.”

“You are,” Changbin raises his voice, catching everyone else’s attention. “Why didn’t you have the slightest doubt when our friends were disappearing? Why did you just shrug it off like you were sure they were alright?”

Minho stands up from his seat, the metal thing clattering behind him, “I still think that they might be alright.”

“Who the fuck would file a missing case report if they were fine?” Saeyeon asks, a hand raised in exasperation at the man.

Changbin looks up to meet his glare, “Why were you so sure? Is it because the organizers, whoever the fuck they are, told you what happened to our friends when they got removed because you are the Mafia?”

“They didn’t tell me anything because I have never talked to any of them. Why are you so insistent in putting the blame on me?!” Minho shouts back furiously.

“I saw you that day.” The voice calls from across the table. Your whisper was a head turner. Now, everyone had their eyes on you. “The day Hyunjin disappeared? What were you doing at that alleyway across the apartment complex Chan lived in?”

Jisung’s eyes widened upon realizing that the man they’d been looking at that day had been Minho all along.

“We were at Chan’s to check out if he really was gone and Jisung and I saw Minho from where we were sitting in the lobby. What were you doing there?” you asked again and the boy in question could only stare back at you with furrowed eyebrows.

“That same alleyway leads back here,” Changbin whispers, “to the warehouse.”

The entire warehouse falls silent at the revelation. Everyone had the same look of disbelief plastered on their faces. They’ve never had evidence this strong since the start of the game, or it had always been there from the start, on the day he showed them the flyer, and they were just too oblivious to notice anything. They’ve mistaken Minho’s enthusiasm to keep the game going as his own skeptic, arrogant behavior and assumed his unusual disappearances from class were due to his own mischievous ways. They all think it was stupid that they never bothered thinking outside the box and never questioned what role he might possibly be playing in the game. But that was everyone’s mistake. They’re all glad they figured it out before it was too late.

“You’re the Mafia aren’t you?” Changbin asked, staring at the older boy’s eyes

Minho mumbles something beneath his breath but says nothing else, pulls his chair back and sits quietly. The last few minutes are spent in silence. No one dared to speak until they heard the 10-minute mark announcement blare through the speakers. The signature pad’s light flickers open shortly after. Once they’re all through with the votation, the overhead light dims.

The needle inside the compass starts spinning, lighting up each division on the table as it goes. Everyone waits in anticipation for it to slow down, even when everyone’s sure where it would end up pointing. A minute passes and the needle finally drifts into Minho’s direction before finally stopping.

“Lee Minho has been eliminated from the game.”

From where Saeyeon was, she could see the way Minho clenched his jaw before acknowledging the announcement.

“Minho,” Jisung calls out to him but the former doesn’t bother replying. Instead he wordlessly stands up and heads for the warehouse exit.

Instead of feeling relieved that the Mafia had been caught, Saeyeon felt her heart sink at the sight of Minho walking out the door. After the heated argument earlier, she doubted if the boy would even want to hang out with them in the next few days. She couldn’t help but think that the game brought them further apart than closer. It was the last thought that crossed her mind as Minho shut the door behind him, leaving them in the silence of the empty warehouse.

“Noticed something?” Changbin asked, pushing himself up and off the chair and taking his bag with him. “No announcement.”

You nodded, “Right, they usually announce something when a Mafia remains.”

“So, that’s it?” Saeyeon asks as she follows the others on their way out the warehouse. “The game’s over?”

“That was anticlimactic.” Jisung commented, “But maybe there’s an award waiting for us outside?”

Jisung had barely touched the warehouse door when an alarm went off, startling everyone. Red blaring lights illuminate the empty warehouse and it only falls silent again once they’re all far away from the door.

Through the speakers mounted on the wall, a voice says, “Please write a name before you leave.”

vii. night seven.

Sleep doesn’t come easy for you that night.

There’s an uncertainty settling in the back of you mind telling you that the game wasn’t really over yet. Half of your mind is betting on the possibility that the organizers are only prolonging the game even when there were no Mafias left behind, yet a part of you still thought one Mafia was still around due to the lack of an announcement both in confirming if a Mafia did remain or didn’t.

But you had to wait until tomorrow morning to find out which among your hunches was right.

You drifted in and out of sleep endlessly throughout the night and finally settled in your awakened state when the sun started to rise. Nothing’s changed when you arrived at school that morning. At the gate of your campus stood the other three people in the game—your own friends that felt more like strangers than people you spent your years in high school with. Once you reached them, you headed in together.

Everyone side-eyed the group as you all walked by but you couldn’t care less of their judgmental stares anymore. All you wanted was to get the game over and done with. Even if it meant saying things that hurt to admit out loud.

You only snap back to reality when you hear the faucet running. “You keep spacing out lately, _____? Is something bothering you?” Saeyeon asks, rubbing her hands together beneath the running water.

You just shake your head, turning around and disappearing into a cubicle—like you initially planned to. You admit you’ve been an airhead the past few days, probably due to the lack of sleep from overthinking the game through. Or maybe it was because Jisung hasn’t spoken a word to you since the night you defended him from their friends’ accusations.

Which you thought, finally—after thinking it through the past two days—might have been a wrong move.

If you looked at it now, Jisung seemed less suspicious now compared to a few days ago. The boy has gone from being the most boisterous one in the group, to the least and then somewhere in between throughout the past week and something about the sudden shifting throws you off. From your perspective, he started seeming more controlled.

Or maybe he’d just become a lot better in pretending he wasn’t the Mafia. Or maybe he wasn’t even the Mafia at all. You weren’t so sure anymore.

You sighed once you finished your business, “It’s just I think I know who the Mafia is. God, I just hate having to admit this out loud.”

You were left unanswered but you figured Saeyeon just didn’t know how to react.

“Saeyeon?” you called out again.

You pushed the cubicle door open and stepped out. The comfort room is empty and you feel your heart drop to your stomach, standing frozen in the middle of the tiled room. It was still too early for anything to happen but things always came when you least expect it.

The faucet was still running, yet there was no trace of Saeyeon anywhere.

You met the boys outside of the gym at lunch time and filled them in with the details. Hearing your own words, you were finding your own testimony hard to believe. But you swear you were telling them the truth to the best of your ability but the look on the boys’ faces made it clear that they doubted you. Changbin had his jaw clenched, unconsciously gritting his teeth in utter frustration while Jisung on the other hand seemed numb and apologetic—almost uncaring.

The pain-staking reality of your situation stills all of you and you feel chills run up your spine even when you were bathing beneath the brutal rays of the midday sun. You could tell by the look on each of their faces that each of their minds were churning in their own accord, solidifying each speculation with the laid out evidence before them. Your own thoughts start ringing in your mind—how could I let that happen, how did she disappear right under my nose.

You refuse to say another word, heaving a breath in before walking off in the opposite direction—unsure of what to think, what to believe in and who to trust.

You all arrived separately that night—keeping a respectful distance from one another even as you filed into the warehouse.

2 of the 5 chairs were removed, leaving 3 seats that were in line with the 3 divisions of the bronze table. Finally, the chessboard started making sense to you. At first sight, one would assume it was nothing but an unfinished game of chess. But if one were to take into context the game of Mafia they were playing, it would seem more like a miniature representation of the events that took place.

Eleven pieces were on the board—as opposed to the 32 pieces each game of chess should supposedly contain. The remaining pieces were nowhere to be seen. All pieces on the board were white save for two, a toppled queen and a king. Two knights were on either side of the king and alongside the fallen queen were 6 toppled pawns and a bishop.

“The Doctor has been eliminated from the game,” a voice says through the speakers and it’s the only words spoken for the first five minutes of the supposed deliberation.

You kept both of your elbows on the table, hands clasped together while you rested your face against it. Your eyes panned between the two boys before you. You could tell by the silence that you’re all having speculations with one another. Funny how the game was supposed to better your bond as friends but you don’t trust a single person in the room with you. Not anymore, at least.

“Han Jisung,” you called out and it’s the first time the boy laid his eyes on you since that night. His eyes are devoid of any light emotion—the glint of happiness in them was long gone. “How does it feel like playing the game this long?”

Jisung doesn’t answer the question. Instead he chuckles half-heartedly, letting only a twinge of emotion escape through his lips before reverting back to his emotionless state. Your heart sinks.

“How could I be so stupid?” Jisung mumbled beneath his breath, “You told me you knew what role you played that night. Who else could figure out their roles on the fourth night besides the Mafia?”

It’s the look of doubt mixed with hurt and skepticism that pains you the most. It explains why he’d been acting off lately. He’d either excuse himself from a conversation that included you or ignored you altogether. At least now, you know the reason why.

When you didn’t react, Jisung continued, “And now you tell us Saeyeon disappeared without a trace? Really? How could she disappear without you even noticing?”

You sighed, this was something you feared would happen. You bit your tongue, regretting that you said anything in the first place. You thought things would have fared better had the boys only found out about Saeyeon’s disappearance when she doesn’t show up at the warehouse at sundown, rather than hearing it from you. Your attempt at being honest seemed more like you were digging your own grave.

“As I said earlier, I was in the cubicle and couldn’t see anything outside. And I promise you that I’m telling the truth,” But the look on the boys’ faces made it clear that they didn’t believe a word you said.

Changbin cleared his throat, “It’s your word against the circumstances, ______,”

You leaned back on your chair, feeling no need to stay in the game any longer, “Fine, vote me out and let the Mafia win, I don’t care anymore. Either way, whether I’m the Mafia or not, the game ends and we’re all done with this.”

You don’t argue any further, feeling too exhausted and drained from the past week to even defend herself. Why would you bother, anyway? There was no point explaining if their ears were deaf to whatever you had to say. You were all tired and the game would still end regardless of who they voted off.

Besides, you knew to yourself that you weren’t the Mafia.

So, who is it?

Your mind starts to wander and you let it, reviewing the events of the past week in your mind and paying heed to every detail you might’ve missed out. You recall how the game started, how every speculation of yours blossomed from the little actions of your friends that seemed out of the ordinary. You’d always been a hidden wildcard even when your friends always accused you of being biased whenever it came to Jisung. You always picked up the details that seemed to go unnoticed—like the instance you caught Minho at that alleyway when Jisung didn’t.

This game was a bit different. You’d peered off your rose-colored glasses for this one and strived at being a more competitive player this round. Maybe that’s how you noticed Jisung was off right off the bat. You noticed his eyes scanned your group of friends every time you’d gather outside the warehouse before the meetings at sundown—as if frantically checking if the person he’d written down made it or not. And it happened everyday leading up to today. And you thought the only reason Jisung was turning on you now was to keep his own identity as Mafia covered.

However, what baffles you the most is how Changbin was just seemingly playing along with whoever the majority suspected as the Mafia like he wasn’t the first person to make an accusation. On most Mafia games, he’d target a suspicious person and stick to accusing them until they eventually get voted off. But he wasn’t doing that now, almost as if he’d been feigning ignorance just to let the Mafia win on purpose.

Unless...

It’s not Changbin now, is it?

Funny how a single change in perspective made everything finally make sense. Your eyes pan to the boy to your right. Seo Changbin sat there with furrowed brows and pursed lips. He was everyone’s first bet at being the reliable one whenever you played a game of Mafia. The first to always crack the case, the first to point a finger, the one who always figured it out.

No wonder they’d all been thrown off the Mafia’s trail right from the start. Maybe it was because the Mafia threw them off himself.

Finally, you understood the importance of planting an idea inside a person’s mind. It was manipulation in the most subtle way and Changbin was maximizing his use of it throughout the entire game. He was a clever one and you were sure that Jisung’s actions the first few days didn’t escape his eye. Maybe that’s why he chose the latter as the person to cover his tracks—throwing the first accusation at Jisung and subconsciously tricking everyone else into seeing what he wanted everyone else to see. He is the Mafia, it isn’t me.

Anyone else could be the Mafia but it isn’t him.

His trick worked; no one bothered speculating him. Maybe because everyone viewed him as some kind of hero, being the first person to seemingly steer the game into the Citizen’s favor. Or that was what everyone thought.

Minutes pass and an announcement comes through the speakers, signalling the 10-minute mark before the deliberation ends. The lights from the signature pad before you flicker brightly and you pick up the pen to write your vote.

A conversation from a few days ago replayed in the back of your mind.

“Mafias never win,” you recalled what Minho said—feeling a tad bit guilty for securing his elimination from the night before. You should’ve known.

Saeyeon shuffled on her seat before sitting erectly then asking, “And in the case that they do, how do they even do it?”

At the other side of the room, Changbin stops tapping the table with his pen before speaking, “By putting the blame on someone else.”

And that’s exactly what Changbin was doing all this time. Everyone else had just been too oblivious to notice.

viii. endgame.

endgame. the part of the game where the King should come out and fight (with fewer pieces left on the board); the ending phase of chess.

“__________ has been eliminated from the game.”

The announcement echoes in Changbin’s head in a never ending loop. Etched along with it was the look on your face right as you exited the warehouse, seeming as if you finally caught on to what he had been doing all this time but figured it out a little too late.

To say he was proud of himself for technically winning the game would be an understatement. But the feeling of proudness doesn’t come at all. Instead, he feels a wave of exhaustion after being on edge for hours on end in the past 7 days. A gentle reminder surfaces in his mind and tells him that there was no way in hell he was playing a damn Mafia game again.

“Did we win?” Jisung asked with his eyes wide in anticipation. The boy looks around for any sort of indication that they’d won the game but there was nothing but the emptiness of the warehouse around them.

Guilt settled in Changbin’s chest and he wills himself to look away from the enthusiastic boy, giving him nothing but a shrug in reply.

Another announcement comes through the speakers, this time telling them they still needed to write a name down unto the signature pad. Jisung could only oblige, despite no longer feeling the need to do so. On the other hand, Changbin knew it was the last thing he needed to do to win the game.

“Bracelet can’t heat up now when it’s obvious who I’m writing down,” Jisung says, chuckling as he finishes writing the other boy’s name down on the signature pad.

Changbin lets out a nervous laugh. He never knew what truly happened to the people he wrote down. They just disappeared. A funny thought crosses his mind, Jisung just vanishing right before his eyes. This game was all sorts of weird right from the start. The disappearing friends, the dangerous metal bracelets and the weird way everyone around them moved. He figured that he wouldn’t even be shocked anymore if Jisung disappeared in front of him.

When he finishes scribbling Jisung’s name, the compass starts spinning. Changbin stares at the chess pieces around it, finally taking notice that the only remaining pieces were a white knight and a black king. As a player himself, he was quick to catch on that the pieces represented the players in the Mafia game. It was his way of keeping track of which roles the remaining players played. Pawns were Citizens, the Bishop was the Doctor and the two Knights were the Police who both should’ve caught on by now.

The needle of the compass lands idly on Jisung and he stares at it with furrowed brows.

A voice comes out of nowhere, startling the daylights out of them both, “The Police have uncovered the Mafia.”

“We’re still playing?” The already confused look on Jisung’s face contorts into a further confused one.

Changbin couldn’t help but laugh at his reaction, “Jisung, I’m the Mafia.”

The other boy’s eyes widened at the confession, jaw-dropping in disbelief. The expression on his face shifts a few more times, as if replaying the past week in his mind—trying to pinpoint any slip up the older boy possibly made that would arouse any sort of suspicion. There were none.

“No wonder you won,” Jisung says, nodding upon realizing.

He was about to say something else, another remark at how good Changbin was as a Mafia when he heard footsteps approach him from behind.

Jisung’s worst mistake was to turn around.

Changbin stares up at the masked woman who was walking up to Jisung but he never thought ill of it. He only assumed she’d escort Jisung outside. But she drew something from her belt and Changbin wasn’t sure what it was until he heard a click, right before a gunshot echoed across the room.

“Seo Changbin,”

Changbin heard a voice call out and he turned his head. The voice is faint, as if calling from the depths of his mind. Behind him, there’s nothing but the grey walls of the voting booth. When he turns his attention back to the front he sees himself sitting before the signature pad he needed to write on and the digital clock that told him the date.

The date was from 7 days ago—the Monday they started playing the game. He watched as the traces of Seungmin’s name slowly disappeared from the pad as the vote was taken in by the system.

“Can I leave now?” the other Changbin asks into empty air.

When his question is left unanswered he doesn’t bother waiting any longer and helps himself out. Changbin follows himself through the door. Unlike what he expected, he wasn’t met by the darkness of the warehouse. Instead, he’s met by the noisy hallway of their high school. Behind him, where the voting booth was supposed to be, was the men’s comfort room. The shift in environment leaves him disoriented.

From the corner of his eye, he sees himself pass by, following a girl into a classroom before shutting the door behind him. The girl pulls a chair from the back row and Changbin does the same, sitting opposite to her. Peeking through the window of the classroom, Changbin recognizes that the girl his past self was talking to was Taehee. For a moment the girl’s gaze lingers on him, as if she actually saw him standing outside. But it turned out she was only on the look out for anyone possibly following them.

“You’re one of the Mafia, aren’t you?” he hears himself say and the girl stills at the confrontation.

But even when she was fazed, Taehee shakes her head, “I don’t know.”

“But you think you are,” Changbin cuts her off, lowering his head in an attempt to meet the girl’s gaze. “I know you. You can’t stop worrying about Chan.”

“Why wouldn’t I be?” she raises a brow, “We’re in the same friend group.”

Changbin leans back on his seat, “In the same friend group or you wrote his name the other night and he actually ended up missing?”

Taehee’s eyes snap upward in an instant, eyebrows furrowed before retorting, “If this is your way of getting me to admit that I’m the Mafia, you’re stupid.” She leans forwards, hand pressed against the armchair of the seat she was sitting on to push herself up. Changbin raises a hand, attempting to stop her from standing.

“What if I tell you I’m the other Mafia and we can win this thing?” a playful smirk tugs at the corner of his lips and Taehee’s face contorts further. “Imagine winning as Mafias. We’ve always planned this back in junior year.”

At first, the offer seems tempting. Remembering a memory in the past where they’ve been picked as Mafias of the game—the only time the Mafias came close to winning the game together. But Taehee is reminded of the absence of their friends again. “You’re fucked in the head. You do realize that our friends are going missing?”

“I’m sure they’re doing fine. It’s a realistic game of Mafia. They’re supposed to be gone.”

The girl rolls her eyes, “I know, I know. But I have a bad feeling about it.”

“You’re thinking too much,” Changbin replies, “They told us it’s just a game.”

“Easy for you to say,” Taehee says through gritted teeth, slapping Changbin’s hand away and standing from where she was sitting. “If Saeyeon disappears out of nowhere, how would you feel? No texts, no calls, nothing.” The tension in the room rises as she holds his gaze, her fists clenched beside her, “Win this game by yourself. I’m going to find Chan. For fuck’s sake, write my name tonight if you want to.”

Changbin watches the Taehee walk past his past self, heading straight for the door and slamming it behind her. His gaze follows her as she walks by and he notices his surroundings changed, taking him to a different hallway—one that overlooked the quadrangle where he seems himself hugging Saeyeon; the last concrete memory he had with the girl.

Of all the names he’d written down throughout the game, her’s was the hardest. He’d contemplated it the moment he watched her walk away that day. He thinks eliminating her now would be better than ending the game with the both of them being the last players and having her slowly realize the Mafia had been him the whole time.

And besides that, it made him momentarily think the game was real—it wasn’t or at least he tried to remember that it wasn’t. He clears his mind, recalling the memory of being sedated and hooked unto the dream machine—the warehouse and their circle of friends; all smiley yet nervous with what they were getting themselves into. Changbin remembers this was nothing but a simulation.

Just a simulation.

He’s unsure why no one else noticed how the weekdays looped when they were supposed to have a weekend two days ago. How their actions affected everyone else’s in a way that seemed like everything revolved around them. But he figures that not everyone was observant as he was.

It’s just a dream, he reminds himself. As bad as it gets, it isn’t real.

Or is it?

“Seo Changbin,” the voice calls again and this time, it comes clearer.

Changbin opens his eyes and comes face to face with a woman in a Vendetta mask. His body still felt numb and his back hurt from sitting erectly for so long. The woman moves, removing the needle buried into his arm with one swift move. He looks around him and finds himself in a warehouse—the same warehouse they held their meetings in. He tried to move but his body still felt heavy, feeling his head throb and his muscles aching.

“Congratulations on winning the game, Seo Changbin,” the woman with the mask says in a calm tone which didn’t make Changbin feel that his win was worth celebrating. “Remembering you were sedated, huh? That was a good strategy to stay sane.”

Changbin mumbles a thank you before he shifts on the seat, “How long were we out?”

“Just 10 hours,” the woman answers.

“7 days in the dream was just 10 hours in real time?” he asks before he sees the streaks of sunlight peering in through the cracks on the warehouse windows, indicating that it was morning. “You seem to be packing up. Going somewhere?”

“Game’s over. What do we need to stay for?” the woman asks this time around.

“I don’t know? Other people who want to try this game out.”

The woman sighs, “It was just a trial and obviously we failed.”

“Failed?” Changbin asks, an eyebrow perking up in confusion. “The game was ridiculously realistic. Even my friends thought it was real throughout the game. Right, everyone?” Changbin turns to look around and only then does he notice that none of his friends were awakened yet. “Shouldn’t they be awake?”

The woman stares at him through the mask, “Oh, Changbin. Don’t you remember what happens when you die in a dream?”

“You wake up,” he answers.

“On regular circumstances, you do,” the woman walks away from Changbin, heading to the boy nearest to him. She raises Jisung’s arm, removing the needle out his arm too harshly and letting his body fall on the table with a loud thud, “But when you’re heavily sedated, you don’t.”

All color drains from Changbin's face. It takes him a moment before he turns his head and takes a good look around. Around him, his friends were all positioned in different manners but they all shared a common denominator—they were all lifeless.

“An eye for an eye, kid. Send your father my regards,” Changbin’s eyes return back to the woman standing at the warehouse’s entrance. Only then does he realize why the voice of the woman sounded too familiar.

She removes the mask and Changbin catches the eerie similarity the girl shared with her father—the previous mayor whose death hasn’t been investigated any further due to the new administration seated.

“Your family messed with the wrong people, Changbin. I would start running if I were you,” she says shutting the warehouse door behind her—leaving Changbin in the dark with nothing but the thoughts inside his head and the corpses of his friends.

"Reporting live from Seoul, we are at the Ilkyeong Warehouse that has recently been turned into a crime scene. Earlier today, workers from a nearby construction site discovered ten bodies seated around a round table in the middle of the warehouse. These bodies were identified to be the ten missing students from Seoul School of Arts. Initial investigations believe that the group participated in the usage of the now-illegal PASIV or the Portable Automated Somnacin IntraVenous Device. This device, once attached with a powerful sedative, allows dream-sharing between two or more people. Made known in the 1900s and early 2000s, it has been banned for use due to the occurrence of similar tragedies where people have never woken up from their dreams after taking the heavy sedatives.

“Seo Changbin, son of current Seoul mayor, Seo Inyeop, who was said to be a part of the circle of friends, remains missing and is the prime suspect of the case. There are currently no clues as to where his whereabouts may be. Citizens are advised to keep watch and stay vigilant. On the screen are the numbers you can contact if you happen to have any information that could possibly aid the authorities in any way. Lee Sojeong, Seoul."

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