Episode 4 | "Mingle"

EPISODE 4: "MINGLE"

The lights turn on.

The players wake up, rubbing their eyes, still tired. The frontman, through the speaker, greets the players a lovely morning…

The players got up for breakfast.

One by one, they lined up.

"Hm? Alcohol bottles and steak? They're spoiling us good" said Ju-kyun.

"Hah and I'm not even complaining, bro!" replied Si-nun.

Elijah and his group sat together on the corner, eating their food, talking to each other.…

"Hey Lily, do you want to know who you reminded me of?" asked Julie.

Lily replied, "Y-yes… I.mean, I've been dying to know."

Julie told her it was her dead sister. Lily teared up, she had never gotten such a compliment before. She cried and hugged Julie, trapping her with her warm embrace. Everyone giggled and Julie patted her head.

As Elijah was laughing with the others, she caught Calhil looking at him as he was eating, and then Calhil immediately looked away. Elijah sighed.

POV CHANGE

Rheon was eating quietly on the corner, just..very emotionally numb after all that happened. That was until Sai-chi came running at him and yelled, "Sir!"

Rheon turned around and Sai-chi sat next to him, eating his food.

Rheon had a cold face but deep down, he admired Sai-chi for having that bright smile despite being in a situation like this.

His thoughts were then interrupted when Sai-chi spoke up, "Hey sir, why do you think they gave us a better meal? And alcohol? Wouldn't that just make us drunk? Wah...They sure can be confusing sometimes."

Rheon nodded, with a silent "mhm".

Sai-chi noticed this, and looked at Rheon intently, and he smiled, "Ahh, you have a lot in your mind, don't you sir?...Well I have a lot in mine too, but I guess that's just how life really is..Lots of ups but more downs. But we overcome them! And I believe in you sir, you're actually so admirable..I want to be as strong as you because I'm actually training to be in the military, like you!" said Sai-chi, fixing his glasses after speaking.

Rheon's eyes widened upon hearing this..Someone..admired him...? For once in a while, he felt warmth. He felt confident. He finally gave Sai-chi a warm, sincere, genuine smile. Sai-chi's eyes lit up with excitement when he realized he had finally snuck in Rheon's soft side, he smirked and laughed and jumped, "I finally got you to smile at me!"

Rheon flinched from his sudden act, but he doesn't resist or complain..he just smiles again.

"Ahem, attention players. Please finish your meal soon, for the next game will start soon."

announced the square masked guard.

Sai-chi went from excited to disappointed, his excitement completely disappearing.

"Wah, so sudden..? But I just finished my meal.."

Sai-chi fell down on the bed, swinging his arms on the bed comfortably.

He bluntly said, "I hope I make it out of this next game alive..don't you wish that for your self too, sir?"

The both of them made eye contact, and Rheon was caught off guard by his sudden statement.

Sai-chi shrugged it off, saying "Ah..whatever..not like I have much to live for anyway."

Rheon's eyes widened, and yelled at Sai-chi;

"Hey! Don't you dare downgrade your self like that! You know deep down you're worth much more! So don't go around telling people those kind of stuff!"

Sai-chi was flabbergasted..he didn't expect Rheon to react so strongly from his statement. He then grinned and asked Rheon if he went through the same..

Rheon looked over to the corner, and said no..

Sai-chi knew he was lying, but he saw in Rheon's eyes he didn't want to talk about it, so he didn't force it and just laid down on the bed

As the two were just there, resting quietly on their beds.. Ashley tries to talk to Elijah to try and make a friend in her alliance;

"Hey..Uhm..How was the food.." asked Ashley.

"It was fine." replied Elijah.

Ashley felt as if Elijah wasn't putting in much effort to their conversation, so she confronted Elijah about it... Elijah was pissed.

"Because I'm not in the mood for chitchat!"

scolded Elijah.

Ashley was flabbergasted and was about to yell at him, but Sheila stopped her, she calmed her down, and let her breathe.

Sheila then approached Elijah and asked what had happened. Elijah told her everything that happened, and Sheila apologized for her sister's sensitivity.

"She may appear to seem like that, but deep down, she's very caring, loyal, and protective. So please don't think of her badly..thank you..", Sheila gave Elijah a soft smile, and Elijah just sat down on his bed.

A few moments later, a fight emerged in the dorm.

"It's not my fault you're a dumbass who can't take responsibility for his flaws!" argued Ju-kyun.

"What flaws?! I was just responding to your stupid question and now I'm the wrong one?!" defended Su-nin.

Sai-chi glanced over them and looked at Rheon, "I can't understand them sometimes..one moment they're bros, and the next they're enemies..".

Rheon nodded, "yeah..at this rate, their friendship won't last."

Sai-chi's eyes slightly widened from Rheon's words, and he looks at him intently, "You think so?"

Rheon makes eye contact with Sai-chi, and nods.

Sai-chi breaks the eye contact, and says "Well..Damn..a bit harsh but I hope that never happens."

As the quarrel was about to get worser, the square masked guard stepped into the dorm and shot the ceiling, drawing all attention to him.

"Attention players. Murder of other players outside of a game is restrictly prohibited. Breaking that rule will result in death. We keep everything fair in here.",

said the square masked guard.

Zahira stands up and yells, "FAIR?! YOU PUT PEOPLE WITHOUT THEIR CONSENT IN THESE DEATH GAMES AND YOU KILLED MY FRIEND, AND THAT'S FAIR TO YOU?"

The square masked guard calmly explains that it is reasonable but Zahira yells at him, and then the frontman announced that the next game was starting.

The players make their way to the arena..

and finally stepped foot into the next game.

'MINGLE'

"Welcome, players."

The players entered the arena, admiring how big and fancy the arena was..

"Your next game is Mingle. In this game, you will be given a specific number, and you will have to group your selves into that certain number and go into a room together. If you are missing people, or has too many people, or failed to go into a room within the time limit of 15 seconds, you will be eliminated."

The players were horrified after being informed of the rules.

The players then stepped onto the gigantic circular platform with carousel horses in the middle..and there, child-like music started playing, the lights went purple, and the platform started spinning..everyone was ready to get into a room, but Julie and Sheila were set on ensuring the safety of their teammates.

The music stopped.

The platform stopped spinning.

And there.."Group your selves into 3."

The lights started to flash purple and red—everyone was panicking and running around.

"Guys!! GUYS!!", Sheila yelled out to her teammates.

She led Ashley, Julie, and Lily into one of the rooms..

"Wait! Sheila! Take my place!" yelled Ashley

"No! Don't worry about me! I'll be okay..!" yelled Sheila.

Someone tried to dash into their room, but Julie quickly closed it and locked it and Ashley screamed, horrified and dead worried for her sister.

Luke gets Calhil and Elijah to go into a room with him but there was already a man in the person..Calhil snapped his neck and killed him, and Luke locked the door.

Elijah was frozen.

Sheila almost ran out of time to find a room, she was crying, but Rheon spotted her and called out for her.

Sheila turned around, seeing Rheon. With only 4 seconds left on the clock, Sheila ran with all her strength and speed to Rheon.

Rheon had teary and dead worried eyes.

Sheila made it into the room, and Rheon locked the door just in time.

Sai-chi was shocked on how fast the both of them were..

"W-wow..Woah..remind me not to get on either of your bad sides..b-both..both of you.."

Rheon and Sheila stared at him like he was some sort of weirdo, but Sai-chi just smiled awkwardly.

There were loud gunshots from every corner outside of the rooms.

And now, the rooms open.

The players get into the platform again, with Ashley scrambling and running in the crowd, finding her sister..She spotted her sister..but the speaker announced..Group your selves into 4.

Ashley ran to Sheila, but she trips over someone and sprains her ankle.

Ashley was limping on the ground, with Sheila having not a single clue.

Ashley tries to yell for her sister, but she was too busy trying to save the others.

4 seconds left..Sheila spots her and immediately carries her with all her strength and went to the room with two other players and locked it.

Sheila sighed, relieved...

Ashley was still crying and hugged Sheila.

Sheila asked, "are you okay?"

Ashley said she sprained her ankle..

And Sheila was dead worried. She knew she had to help her the entire game.

The rooms unlocked once again .

The cycle repeats.

But this time..they had to group their selves into six.

Rheon and Sui-chi got Ju-kyun to enter a room with them, but Ju-kyun refused to be in a room with Si-nun.

Rheon snapped, "DO YOU WANT TO LIVE OR NOT? YOU'RE PUTTING YOUR FEELINGS FIRST INSTEAD OF YOUR LIFE?".

Sui-chi froze..But they spotted two players, alone. A fierce, harsh twin brother, and the other, a soft, delicate being.

Si-nun and Ju-kyun nodded at each other and jumped the two, grabbing them into their room.

Zahara, who was supposed to join in their room, was furious.

She peeked through the peephole and asked the others if they could let her in.

"are you crazy? No! Find your own room!" replied Si-nun.

"Please there's no room left please!! Please!!" Zahira begged.

Zahira was crying, shaking the door, and unleashing a horrifying scream, before she finally got sh0t..

Sheila told the others to just go in the room but Ashley refused to.

"Just kick out the most useless person!!" yelled Ashley.

Sheila shook her head. Ashley was crying, not refusing to let go of her sister.

Julie asked Sheila to keep a promise. A promise that she'd stay alive.

Sheila promised her that.

Sheila managed to ensure the safety of her allies, but there's no room left for her..Ashley was crying through the peephole of the door, looking at her, crying and crying and shaking the door.

Sheila gives one last smile—but..

A girl grabs her hand, and drags her into a room.

And there, she was saved.

The rooms open once again. It's the final round.

they step on the platform, this time, Ashley refuses to let go of Sheila. She clings to her.

"group your selves into six."

Shouldn't be too hard right? But as Sheila was trying to find rooms, every room was already occupied...

They found a room but two of the twins were already there.

Luke told them to leave, but the fierce brother held tight to his twin, refusing to let go.

Luke held up his fist, but Julie tried to hold him back but Luke dragged the soft twin brother out of the room, the fierce brother tried to push Sheila out of the room instead but she locked the door, and the soft twin brother was crying through the peephole..

The fierce twin screamed in terror. His brother is now dead.

And as the speaker announced that the game was over…

the fierce twin glared at Luke and Sheila.

the surviving players left the arena, and made their way back to the dorm.

They were devastated, numb, and emotionally in pain..

"that was so..stressful.." said Sui-chi, having trouble breathing.

Rheon sat on his bed, looking down on the floor..

Sui-chi sat next to him.

Ashley hugged Sheila tightly.

This game formed a deeper bond between them.

Julie smiled softly at them.

"I'm glad we survived this.." said Julie.

"I'll continue protecting you guys." stated Sheila.

Calhil tried to talk to Elijah again, but this time..Elijah didn't act cold to him. He was still distant, but he still talked to him.

to Calhil, this was everything.

Calhil teared up and started apologizing to Elijah for everything.

Elijah..doesn't respond. but he just looks at him.

Later in the night, while the players were asleep..

the news about Rheon's "crime" kept spreading like a wildfire all over in the internet.

and a guard, Ji-Yena, asked if she could take a bathroom break..

they allowed her to.

But Ji-Yena had one thing in mind.

Find out the truth about this place and save Rheon.

She greeted the other soldiers on her way to the "bathroom", but she secretly sneaked into the office of Frontman.

The CCTV footages were all shot by Yena, so the guards didn't know who broke all the cameras around the Front man's room, so the guards guarded the Frontman even more.

Yena, having discovered the room where all the documents and files are kept, suddenly heard footsteps from behind.

She sprints quietly, and hides behind one of the shelves.

A guard was inspecting the room. She managed to stay hidden from the guard..

Or so she thought.

She was caught off guard when the guard was behind her.

They both wrestled, but when Yena heard another footstep coming in, she pulled out her dagger, and k1lled the guard.

She put her hand over her mouth, staying as silent as possible. The guard discovers the body, but Yena already fleed the scene and went back to her duty, from "the bathroom".

the guards are pissed. they don't know who's doing this, so they checked the players through the CCTV.

all the players were asleep in the dorm.

So the frontman ordered the guards to guard him more this time.

the guards obeyed his order.

Yena didn't succeed on finding the files and documents about this place, but she fled from the scene, and remained unsuspected.

the players were sound asleep, when suddenly…

The lights flicker. The speaker repeats two words. Lights. Out.

The players were awakened from the loud noise, but immediately got into alert mode from this.

Julie checked to see if her allies were still okay, and Rheon got in a defensive position..

And then the gate opened.

the square masked guard walks in.

Lights Out.