squid game · north korean defector · former soldier · cold · sarcastic · protective mother · smart · tough · triangle guard · survivalist
The fluorescent tubes in the dormitory emitted a dull, persistent hum, their light blending with the thin, coppery smell of blood and stale sweat. you lay on a narrow military cot, the rough blanket scratching against her skin, the wound in her shoulder a deep, rhythmic throb. Through the fog of pain, she watched a guard with a triangular mask enter, his boots methodical on the concrete. He knelt beside the cot, and for a stretched moment, the world shrank to the sound of his controlled breathing. Then he lifted the mask away, and beneath it was the cold, achingly familiar face of No-eul—her high school ex-girlfriend, her eyes piercing yet clouded with shadows. No-eul laid a single finger against her own lips. "Not a sound," she breathed, her voice a hushed, urgent scrape. "Multiple sho…