Chapter Text
That was the weirdest phone call Nam-gyu had in a while. The man on the other line didn't even give him time to respond; that was rude.. He put his phone aside and tried not to think about anything, but it's pretty difficult not to think about something like this: "What do they mean by 'Gray car arriving at 9 PM? (21:00)" That sounds like the start of a horror movie where people get kidnapped to a location and are forced to do tasks and play games to survive. That's the plot of his favorite series, although in his favorite series, the main characters were kidnapped without any car; they just kind of teleported into the game after some fireworks.
After some time, Nam-gyu suddenly realized that work is also at 9 PM (21:00): "Shit." was his only thought. After thinking for a while, he had an idea. Maybe he could say that he is sick and excuse himself from work? Yep, that is exactly what he did. He grabbed his phone and called his manager. After explaining that he apparently got a contagious flu and couldn't go to work for a couple of days, his manager gave him a week off. He relaxed for a bit and thought, "That's nice," before he realized, "FUCK, where do I get my drugs?"
Nam-gyu's life practically consists of problems. Being a 28-year-old addict wasnt easy. He tried to stop, but of course, he came back to it again and again; that's just how drugs work. They give you a safe place or at least an illusion of a safe place. And of course, drugs help you forget your problems. But still being a young-adult with no girlfriend, being in debt, and living in a one-room apartment isn't the life he wished for. Drugs were the one thing that made all the voices in his head go quiet and gave him time to relax.
One specific fact about himself which he hated, was that he never felt any attraction to women. He, of course, tried dating in his teens because that’s the normal thing boys do in their teens..right? But he broke up with every single one of them. He explained it with, “I’m sorry I lost affection” knowing pretty damn well that there wasn’t any affection from the start.
Until... Nam-gyu slightly blushed at the thought: “Thanos…” He was the only person for Nam-gyu to feel this weird warm feeling in his stomach when thinking about him. But “he”—that was the main problem: he was a male. Nam-gyu isn’t, and never was gay.
Perhaps..he had some fantasies about boys in his teens, but those were just dumb teenage fantasies, right? He wasn’t sure if he actually wanted to know the answer to that question. Nor did he want to know what that feeling towards Thanos meant. So he simply explained that warm feeling with, “He is my idol, so I look up to him and of course feel some kind of admiration.”
Nam-gyu picked up his phone and took a look at the time: 8 PM (20:00). In one hour, he needed to be at the location he had. He was still in his clothes from grocery shopping, so he didn’t need to change. However, the location was quite far from his home, so he decided to leave right now. It wouldn’t matter if he was a bit early. After gathering all his stuff, he went out and headed to the location. It’s half past 8 (20:30), and he stands at the location, smoking a regular cigarette while being on his phone scrolling on Tiktok. After 30 minutes, he sees the car; it stops right in front of him. He couldn’t look in the windows; they were completely black, and it was impossible to see anything inside the car. A person in a pink bodysuit and a strange mask with a circle on it came out of the car and opened the door for Nam-gyu. Suddenly, he was pushed into the car, and the door closed. Looking around, he saw many people just..sleeping?? Nam-gyu just now realized that he had trouble breathing. The car was filling up with gas, or something else which causes the nauseos feeling.Thinking about how he probably just got kidnapped into slavery, he lost consciousness.
Meanwhile Thanos
After giving away all the necessary information to the guy on the phone, Thanos moved on with his life and decided to visit a local bar. Why not, he thought; he had just received money from the guy in a suit, so he could afford it right now.
It had been just about 38 minutes, and he was definitely not sober—far from it, actually. He sat on a chair, talking to a girl who was sitting on his lap. He sighed, looking completely uninterested. The girl had long blonde hair and blue eyes, he found those eyes boring. There was nothing special about her or them; she was just another hooker. There were tons of girls like her.
Looking to the side, he let his inner thoughts take over. The guy from his concert... what was his name? "Nam-su? Nam-gyu? Oh right, Nam-gyu," he thought while zoning out. Only when he looking into his eyes..Thanos felt a strange yet pleasant sensation; only those beautiful and deep brown eyes reminded him of hot black Coffee without any sugar it's just something he likes without any explanation, just like Nam-gyu. He liked him without any explanation for it. And it’s not like he needed an explanation; Thanos just needed him.
Of course, he had girlfriends and boyfriends; it’s not like he is homophobic. Many people just assume that by his looks. Actually, he labeled himself as bisexual. But to be fair, he did keep his sexuality and homosexual relationships a secret because of his career; it would ruin everything. So, at all costs, he tried to avoid being seen doing such 'unholy' things, so it’s kind of understandable why many people just assumed.
But this guy at his concert… he is just different from all the people he dated and hooked up with. Ugh, Nam-gyu was the only one he felt something for when thinking about him.
That’s something new. The girl on his lap tried to kiss him, but he dodged her and stood up, walking away as if she were non-existent while she cursed at Thanos, saying something about how he is a manwhore.
Walking out of the bar, he looked at his phone and suddenly remembered that he actually should be at the location by 10 PM (22:00), and it was nine o’clock and 45 minutes right now (21:45). Until now, he even forgot that he had to be somewhere. Normally, he doesn't forget things that easily, but I guess the alcohol just messed things up in his head. Still, 'luckily', he remembered in his last 15 minutes.
He speed-walked to the location and waited six minutes for the gray car to show up while scrolling on Instagram. After five minutes, he sees the car: “Looks creepy as fuck.” It stops right in front of him, and a person in a pink bodysuit and a stupid-looking mask comes out of the car. Thanos, being Thanos, of course, made a couple comments about the outfit choice: “Yo, what’s up with the Halloween costume? Isn’t it like January or something, and what the hell are you supposed to be? If I am allowed to know, lol.”
The person ignored him, which Thanos didn’t appreciate, and rolled his eyes. They opened the car door for Thanos, and he stepped inside, seeing Nam-gyu? Sleeping?? He didn’t even see all the other people; they weren’t worth worrying about.
“Huh” was the only thing that crossed his mind right now. When suddenly, he gets pushed in by the dude in the mask, and the car door closes. “EY, what the fuck is wrong with y’all? What the FUCK is going on?”
The car slowly starts to fill up with gas. It’s becoming very hard to breathe, and Thanos suddenly feels really sleepy. His head feels heavy, and he’s just feeling dizzy. He falls onto Nam-gyu, trying his best not to lose consciousness, but it’s becoming really hard, and he decides to close his eyes just for a couple seconds… 1… 2… 3… and… 4, he becomes unconscious.
At the game
Nam-gyu wakes up in his bed, rubbing his eyes. "What the fuck..." he whispers, somewhat afraid, not knowing where he is or who brought him here. Looking around, he sees other people also waking up. There are quite a lot of people, around 300 or maybe even 400, and all of them have numbers on their tracksuits. He notices someone with the number 456, so there should be at least 456 people, or maybe even more, in here. All of them are moving toward the center of the room. He stands up. "These aren't my clothes? And where is my phone? Wait, they even took my keys? What the fuck!" He also walks toward the center, looking around, observing that many people looked as confused as he is.
At this point, Thanos is already in the center and checks his cross to ensure that everything is in place. When he accidentally spots Nam-gyu standing with his back to him, about 22 feet (7 meters) away, all alone, an idea crosses his mind.
"I have a fucking awesome idea."
He quietly walks toward Nam-gyu. When he is right behind him, he gently puts his hands on Nam-gyu's hips. "Oh hello... what is such a beautiful girl doing here all alone?" He waits for a reaction, which doesn't take long.
"WHAT THE FUCK. AGAIN!?"
Nam-gyu turns around only to see that purple-haired rat again. "Oh my fucking God, dude, it's you again!" Nam-gyu is in pleasant shock but tries to hide it. He didn't expect to see him here. Thanos, meanwhile, laughs his ass off. "Do you always react that way? Wait, wait, no, no, tell me how many times were you mistaken for a girl?" Thanos laughs like a fucking dumbass while Nam-gyu looks completely annoyed. Nam-gyu looks at Thanos and says, "Do you even know where we are?" Thanos stops laughing, and after calming down, he says, "No, do you know?" Still wearing that smirk on his face.
The big metal door opens, and nine people in pink bodysuits and masks come out. The one in the middle, with a square on his mask, welcomes everyone and explains that in the following six days, everyone in this room will play six games, and the winner receives a big money prize. From the back of the room, a woman with the number 120 interrupts and starts to get indignant about the fact that, at the beginning, it was said that these were ordinary games, but in the end, she and everyone in this room were kidnapped. After her speech, more people start to complain about how their phones were taken away and how the tracksuits aren't pretty enough.
Thanos and Nam-gyu are still standing together and being quiet until Thanos looks at his shoes. "What the hell? These aren't my shoes! Where are mine? They were limited edition. If y'all ruin them, oh my fucking God." He also started to complain. A man at the front of the room with the number 333 shouted at the guards about Cryptocurrency.
Thanos looked at him and tapped Nam-gyu on the shoulder: "Do you see that guy?" Thanos said, looking annoyed all of a sudden. "Ugh, isn't that that scammer YouTuber? He got me into real money debt," Nam-gyu answered. "You too? Man, I think..after this we should have a 'friendly' talk with him." After saying this, Thanos just looked away. Noticing the pretty girl with the number 196, Thanos smiled at her.
The man at the front still complained to the guards when suddenly the big screen behind them turned on. One by one, it showed people getting slapped in the face and then announced their money debts.
Thanos's turn arrived, and it showed him on a bridge, looking kind of pathetic. Nam-gyu looked at Thanos and tapped him on the shoulder: "Dude, were you about to do that?" Thanos stayed quiet for a while. "I don't want to talk about it right now" he whispered to Nam-gyu. Nam-gyu looked worried; he couldn't believe that this person in front of him—his own idol, the person he looked up to—had attempted that before. This was something that Nam-gyu just couldn't fathom. He would probably bring that up again just to make sure that everything was alright, or at least okay.
After all that, the guard with the square on his mask explained that now all of the players needed to sign some documents. All the players lined up, and one by one, all 456 people signed the same thing. Thanos signed everything and walked to the side, waiting for Nam-gyu.
Nam-gyu signed everything quickly and walked towards Thanos. "How about we say 'hi' to that crypto boy?" Thanos said with a smirk. Not giving Nam-gyu a chance to respond, he grabbed him, and they walked towards player 333.
"Hello there," said Thanos. Nam-gyu just stood next to him in silence, wearing a smirk on his face. "What, uh... what do you want from me?" nervously player 333 answered, kind of backing away. "I'll explain it quickly so you can understand. I was a 'fan' of your YouTube channel, and because of your Crypto nonsense, I lost money, and my friend—" That word echoed in Nam-gyu's brain—"here also lost some because of your fucking videos. So I am waiting for you to return everything."
Nam-gyu zoned out, thinking about how Thanos just called him a friend. It felt good, a bit too good; Nam-gyu decided to stop thinking about it before he got those 'weird' feelings. Coming back to reality, he saw that Thanos was ready to start a fight with the crypto boy. Pulling Thanos back, Nam-gyu tried to calm him down: "Dude, calm down; we don't want you to get on the news," he said, tapping Thanos on the shoulder.
They both walked away to their beds. It just happened that their beds were in the same place; just one was on the top. They sat down on Thanos's bed, and Nam-gyu started, "Hey, you good, man?"
"I'm fine, don't worry, bruh," Thanos said, acting like nothing happened. The guard announced the first game, and all the players walked through the big metal door. Nam-gyu looked a bit nervous, so Thanos decided to cheer him up: "Hey, don't worry, dawg; it's not like they’re going to kill us. Be calm, and everything's gonna be alright." Nam-gyu looked at him and smiled. Thanos's first thoughts were, "Fuck, do you have to be THAT cute?" but, of course, he didn't say anything. Now they were in a completely different place. "Is this like a photo thingy?" Thanos asked. The guards explained that if you wanted to play the games or win the prize, you needed to take a photo for the system. One by one, every player got their turn to take a photo, and finally, it was Thanos's turn. He approached the "machine," and a group of fangirls, along with Nam-gyu, headed over to him, asking for a group photo. Thanos, being Thanos, of course, said yes. After that, everyone started to pose, and Nam-gyu hugged him from behind, resting his face on Thanos's shoulder. Thanos felt that it was a bit too intense. He could hear Nam-gyu's breath and feel him cling onto him. To distract himself from homosexual thoughts about a "completely straight man" Thanos invited the beautiful girl with the number 196 to join the group photo calling her senorita. She ignored him. Nam-gyu initially didn’t realize that this was a bit too much; only after the guard pointed out that group photos weren't allowed and he and others walked away he realize that it might have been too much physical contact and that it might come off as... gay. Nam-gyu just hoped Thanos didn't notice.
Everyone took their photos, and the first game started. All players walked into a big area. Thanos still tried to hit on player 196 so that no one thought he was or might be gay, but she didn’t really pay attention to the rapper.
A voice announced that the first game would be...
"Red Light, Green Light."
Everyone looked confused. A kids' game? Really? Winning the big prize while playing kids' games seemed too easy.