▌│█║▌║ ᴅʀɪᴠɪɴɢ ᴍᴇ ᴄʀᴀᴢʏ ║  ▌║█│  ▌

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There was something comforting about the way Na-Ri operated the nail drill. The dust fell lightly as the letter 'm' became more visible.

Na-Ri didn't want to disturb Jun-Hee with something like this, and she didn't really think anyone would support her idea.

Everyone was tense about Joo-Young's case, and it was hard for them all to stay in one place.

And Na-Ri preferred to be alone for now. Yeon-Ju was a civilian, but everything pointed to her. She was the last person to talk to So-mi, the one who got Woo-ram to bring Joo-young to her.

And the picture just didn't add up for her.

Maybe without her dreams she would have believed it, like everyone else. Because, unknowingly, everything fit but the motive.

Na-Ri furrowed her eyebrows. She wasn't kidding when she told Jun-Hee that her calligraphy wasn't as nice as his.

That letter 'o' somehow didn't look as nice as Jun-Hee's. There was no grace in the ending of the 'o'.

"Are you writing her name down too?" a quiet question made Na-Ri look up, Da-Beom standing behind her, his eyes fixed on the name she had just written.

Kim So-

One more 'Mi' was missing and Na-Ri was done. Then, of course, came Lee Joo-Young's name.

Na-Ri hummed a low affirmative, gently pulling the nail drill away from the surface of the column.

"She died because she wanted to live." Na-Ri said, brushing the dust off the column with her fingers and starting on the new letter 'm'.

She couldn't quite articulate what was going on in her head, but she tried. "Not writing it down just because I didn't like her wouldn't be very nice." she whispered, starting to carve the last letter.

"She was a mafia." heard Na-Ri, her lips pulling into a sad smile.

"Da-Beom-ah...do you think a flower can choose where it opens?" she asked, turning to look at Da-Beom.

"N-no." he replied, but his eyes radiated incomprehension.

"And who is being harassed because of a different skin colour? Do you think this people chose what color their skin should be?" Na-Ri continued, her hands gripping the graphite, she began to sketch Joo-Young's name.

"No." she heard, and Na-Ri looked at him.

"So-Mi and Ju-Won didn't get to choose their occupation either. I'm sure neither of them wanted to be mafia." She said simply. "Neither of them wanted to kill anyone." Her lips moved as deeper thoughts came out of her.

Da-Beom watched Na-Ri's work with bated breath, her words echoing in his head, a stray tear escaping his eye.

Na-Ri was on her way to Joo-Young's 'u' when she saw Da-Beom had placed a cheese pringles and a pepsi at the base of the column.

She didn't ask any questions, but her curiosity was palpable.

"Ju-Won....Ju-Won and I were friends." Da-Beom said. "It wasn't our love of a subject that brought us together, it was the fact that we were both being bullied...bullied." Na-Ri didn't say anything, seeing that Da-Beom wasn't looking at her. His gaze was fixed on the names on the column.

Specifically, the first one. Ju-Won.

"But he was a good friend, I liked him." Da-Beom's words were muffled. "Since all this started, it hasn't occurred to me that he's gone." He covered his face with a trembling hand.

"He loved cheese pringles and drank a quart of Pepsi every day. He was always spinning about it."

Na-Ri listened in silence, offering support to Da-Beom, who needed it badly.

"Lately he couldn't buy these in the morning because..." Da-Beom remembered Kyung-Jun and his crews, who kept taking money from Ju-Won, who had already failed to cover his academy tuition. "...I was thinking that now that...that already, that he's not....I'll put the ones he liked here. Since I don't have flowers."

Na-Ri watched wordlessly, then squeezed Da-Beom's shoulder gently.

"I think Ju-Won appreciates it." she said with a sweet smile, which made Da-Beom look at her with trembling lips.

"If I die...please write me up too." Da-Beom asked.

"Why wouldn't I?" came the reply, to which Da-Beom did not respond. His eyes were fixed on the column and something was squeezing his heart painfully.

He was a mafia too, and sometimes he felt he could be far worse than Kim So-Mi.

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Kyung-Jun leaned his head against the wall, his eyes closed.

He was born with a silver spoon in his mouth. He always got everything he asked for from his parents because he was an only child.

They loved Kyung-Jun and were able to forgive him everything.

Kyung-Jun took advantage of this. He got everything he wanted, he got away with everything he did.

He never felt guilty.

"Lately he couldn't buy these in the morning because..."

It's true. Choi Ju-Won was clumsy, afraid to stand up for himself, helpless, and had few friends.

That's why Kyung-Jun ignored him. He was just a nobody, an ant under Kyung-Jun's shoes.

Then Jin-Ha and Seung-Bin started asking him for money, and Ju-Won gave it to them.

Willingly, or not willingly.

Kyung-Jun didn't care.

Then he found out that Jin-Ha and Seung-Bin were throwing the borrowed - taken - money away on gambling.

"...I was thinking that now that...that already, that he's not....I'll put the ones he liked here. Since I don't have flowers."

Kyung-Jun narrowed his eyes.

How is it that with a sad background tragedy, that scumbag Da-Beom had gotten closer to Na-Ri than he ever was?

Something unpleasant stirred in his stomach, a bitter taste gathering in his mouth.

He always got everything. But Kang Na-Ri was the one thing he couldn't have.

She wasn't just one item that he'd mentioned in passing to his parents, who'd bought her immediately and left it unopened on his bed the next morning.

She was not something he could get from others by beating them.

She was kind, fragile, compassionate, and somehow the complete opposite of Kyung-Jun.

Where he spoke with his fists, she used her words.

Where he left scars, she patched them up, sometimes just by being herself.

Where Kyung-Jun would have delegated his classmates without hesitation, she would have done her best to save them without hesitation.

"If I die...please write me up too."

"Why wouldn't I?"

It was exhausting to feel such emotions. Kyung-Jun hated that when Na-Ri wasn't around, he would look for her with his eyes. He hated that all she had to do was fucking smile and his face was already slightly flushed. He hated that because of her, he wasn't fucking like he used to be.

He hated that he couldn't just threaten someone without thinking just because he felt like it. The look of disappointment on her face always flashed across his face, and it put him off.

He hated how strong an influence she had on him, how much power she had over him without her knowing it.

He hated how much he wanted to call her his. He fucking wanted to call her his.

He hated how much he was falling for her and how aware of it.

He hated it.

When she bumped into him hours later, Kyung-Jun's self-control was gone like it never was.

He could only blame those fucking freckles, her fucking neck, and her fucking soft skin.

Fuck it all. Really.

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Na-Ri walked down the corridor, looking for Ji-Soo. She was bored, which was rather odd, considering the situation. They had been in this place for four days now, Na-Ri felt like she hadn't bathed in four days.

She felt a little disgusted with herself. Just because they were in a deadly game didn't mean they could leave themselves. Plus, Na-Ri had brought a change of clothes she hadn't even used yet. There must have been a shower somewhere in this place.

Plus, she wanted to talk to Ji-Soo, spend time with her, as long as everything was - as it were - okay.

For a moment, she didn't listen, she felt herself colliding with a body. A familiar scent hit her nose, the slight smell of lemon, of cigarettes... Na-Ri backed away, slightly alarmed, but still close.

Her eyes looked up, and her thoughts of Ji-Soo, the shower, and so unblock everything, were forgotten.

Brown eyes looked back at her, and the sharp intensity of the gaze made her forget to breathe for a moment.

Neither of them moved, and the moment lengthened.

It was a simple apology in Na-Ri's language. She knew that was all it would take, and they could both go their separate ways.

But the letters swirled in Na-Ri's head, her throat felt dry.

She swallowed softly, but it was loud in the silence, Kyung-Jun's gaze slid to her throat as she swallowed, her throat still showing the marks of the rope, making Kyung-Jun's eyes darken.

She flinched slightly as Kyung-Jun lifted his hand and gently stroked it along the back of her neck. Na-Ri instinctively remembered when those hands had caressed her cheek before she had been voted out.

She took a ragged breath, but didn't back away, staying and letting Kyung-Jun's fingers gently caress the bruise on her neck.

She felt herself blush deepening, bringing out the freckles on her cheeks.

It was so out of character for Kyung-Jun to behave like this.

She felt fingers slide down her chin, tilting her head slightly.

Na-Ri's heart beats irregularly, her face is completely red, and her pupils dilate slightly. Suddenly, not only does she feel a searing heat in her body, but the air becomes suffocating hot.

Kyung-Jun is close, too close, and yet so far away that Na-Ri's heart pounds painfully.

Na-Ri takes Kyung-Jun's free hand with a slightly trembling hand, switching something inside Kyung-Jun.

Her vision blurred, she was spinning so fast.

Her back hit the wall, as did her hand. Glancing to the side, she saw Kyung-Jun intertwining their fingers, his hand almost swallowing Na-Ri's hand.

Her heart was pounding a thousand times, almost afraid to breathe, and the distance was closing all the time.

She thought he would kiss her, thought their lips would touch, in a rough kiss or a soft one.

Instead, she gasped softly for air as Kyung-Jun leaned into her neck. He was close, very close, feeling Kyung-Jun's breath against the skin of her neck. She got goose bumps and closed her eyes.

Kyung-Jun's lips pressed a gentle kiss to her neck. On the bruise. Her fingers instinctively squeezed Kyung-Jun's hand, her face burning with blush. She was confused, she couldn't believe what was happening.

When she felt another kiss on her neck, she shivered slightly. Hot, soft lips almost danced on her skin, giving Na-Ri the illusion that the pain of her bruise was subsiding.

Kyung-Jun leaned away from her neck, his eyes looking as if he were drunk, and there was little space between their lips.

Na-Ri felt how dry her lips were, but did nothing. Her eyes stared stubbornly into Kyung-Jun's eyes, and with her free hand she grabbed the neck of Kyung-Jun's shirt and gently pulled him closer.

"Your freckles are driving me crazy." Kyung-Jun said in a hoarse voice, his eyes running down Na-Ri's cheek. "Fuck." He breathed as he leaned forward.

𝙺𝚒𝚖 𝚈𝚎𝚘𝚗-𝙹𝚞 𝚟𝚘𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝙻𝚎𝚎 𝙷𝚢𝚞𝚗-𝙹𝚞𝚗.

At the announcement they moved away from each other for a moment, avoiding looking at each other.

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"It was him! It was Hyun-Jun, look at his arm." Ji-Soo watched Yeon-Ju, who pointed at a rather irritated Hyun-Jun.

The boy just quacked in disbelief.

"What was I? What was I?!" he stammered indignantly. "I fell asleep in the room next to you, for God's sake!

Yeon-Ju went against Hyun-Jun with renewed vigour.

"You slept next to me, but where were you this morning? Where were you this morning, you filthy murderer!" she shrieked as she nudged Hyun-Jun's shoulder.

"W-what?" Hyun-Jun stammered, the others in the room just watching with wide-open eyes.

"That's right! I was in a room with you, but I woke up alone in the morning! And your wrist, there's a lipstick mark on your uniform at your wrist." Yeon-Ju said, grabbing Hyun-Jun's wrist with her hand and yanking it up.

Ji-Soo herself gasped when she caught a glimpse of the lipstick on the white fabric.

"Plus, you were the only one who knew I wanted to talk to Joo-Young, you knew where she'd be, and you knew she'd be alone because I changed my mind!" said Yeon-Ju in a high-pitched voice, almost panting at the end, her chest heaving up and down.

"It makes sense." Heo Yool pointed at him awkwardly. He rarely spoke since Eun-Ha's death, and then only when they were hunting for mafia.

"I didn't do it, you're just stirring shit up, Yeon-Ju!" snapped Hyun-Jun. "You're just explaining everything and trying to pin it on me! What reason would I have to kill Joo-young, you idiot!" Hyun-Jun almost snorted in anger.

Pulling out his phone, he tried to vote for Yeon-Ju, but his phone didn't work.

"What the...why isn't it working?" he muttered, his hands shaking.

Yoon-Seo pulled a phone out of her pocket, which Ji-Soo just looked at. Her phone was already in her hand.

"I didn't tell you everything this morning." Yoon-Seo said. "That's how I knew Joo-Young was meeting someone, because her lipstick was smeared. That didn't mean anything, but when I wanted to leave, Kyung-Jun posted to the group. And the screen of the phone next to Joo-Young's body showed that there was a message." He said, his eyes looking at the floor.

"If someone drops out of the game, their phone becomes unusable." Yoo-Joon said. Ji-Soo looked beside her, at Yoo-Joon, who was watching Hyun-Jun.

Now everyone in the room was falling down. Hyun-Jun was not holding his own phone, but Joo-Young's. And Yoon-Seo found Hyun-Jun's phone next to Joo-Young's body.

Hyun-Jun switched phones last night.

Ji-Soo was stunned.

𝙰 𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚞𝚝𝚎 𝚕𝚎𝚏𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚟𝚘𝚝𝚎.

They heard the announcement, which made them all reach for their phones at the same time. Ji-Soo pressed Hyun-Jun's name without hesitation, the evidence was rock solid.

𝙿𝚊𝚛𝚔 𝙹𝚒-𝚂𝚘𝚘 𝚟𝚘𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝙻𝚎𝚎 𝙷𝚢𝚞𝚗-𝙹𝚞𝚗.

𝙲𝚑𝚊 𝚈𝚘𝚘-𝙹𝚘𝚘𝚗 𝚟𝚘𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝙻𝚎𝚎 𝙷𝚢𝚞𝚗-𝙹𝚞𝚗.

"N-no, I didn't do anything! I'm framed, I didn't kill anyone!" sobbed Hyun-Jun as he knelt down and pleaded with the one closest to him.

Woo-Ram watched in amazement as Hyun-Jun clutched the bottom of his pants, momentarily remembering last night.

"You are disgusting." Yeon-Ju hissed, then walked out.

The votes kept growing, and Hyun-Jun lay on the floor sobbing.

"I don't want to die, please, it wasn't me, you were misled."

Ji-Soo walked out of there with her boyfriend by her side, to their surprise they ran into Na-Ri and Kyung-Jun, who were heading towards the meeting place.

Na-Ri's face was alarmingly red, her eyes staring at the floor. While Kyung-Jun looked strangely smug.

"Did something happen?" asked Ji-Soo, but she was interrupted by a warning voice.

𝚅𝚘𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚜 𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛.

𝚆𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚎𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚟𝚘𝚝𝚎𝚜, 𝙻𝚎𝚎 𝙷𝚢𝚞𝚗-𝙹𝚞𝚗 𝚐𝚘𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚘𝚜𝚝, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚋𝚎 𝚎𝚡𝚎𝚌𝚞𝚝𝚎𝚍.

Ji-Soo felt Na-Ri grab her arm and pull her along.

"Quick! We have to hide!" she said as she pulled her along, Ji-Soo pulling Yoo-Joon along with her, their hands clasped together.

To Ji-Soo's surprise, Na-Ri pulled them into the buffet, where Jin-Ha and Seung-Bin were already there.

That's when Kyung-Jun pulled the shutter down, locking it with his key.

She opened her mouth, wanting to know why she had dragged them here, why they were hiding out with bullies who could be potential mafia candidates.

But then she heard the announcement.

𝙻𝚎𝚎 𝙷𝚢𝚞𝚗-𝙹𝚞𝚗 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚊 𝚌𝚒𝚟𝚒𝚕𝚒𝚊𝚗.

And her heart dropped into her stomach. Hyun-Jun was a civilian. They didn't vote out a mafia.

"They really screwed us." she breathed to herself, then her eyes closed and she fell to the ground.

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ʏᴏᴜ ʜᴀᴠᴇ ʀᴇᴀᴄʜᴇᴅ ᴛʜᴇ ᴇɴᴅ ᴏғ ᴛʜᴇ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ.