─ I'll love you 'til the day that I die. Jang Deok-su x Reader. 𐙚⋆°🦢.⋆ᥫ᭡

୨ৎ── in which you and deok-su bond from the beginning of the games and cannot be torn apart, even when the glass stepping stones ultimately decide the fate for both of you in the end.

chapter 02. . . 𐙚⋆°🦢.⋆ᥫ᭡

୨ৎ ─────────────────────── ୨ৎ

“Please look into the camera . . . Smile.”

All the players had been led into a huge hall, full of bright and vibrant pastel-coloured walls and endless stairwells. The masked guards had you lined up near designated photobooth machines, as each person stepped forward in the queue the machine would take their photograph.

It was finally your turn. After arranging your hair and neatly putting it into place, you looked into the camera and smiled softly as it flashed at the right moment. You followed the given instructions and ascended each multi-coloured stairwell until you reached your first location: two green double doors.

─ I'll love you 'til the day that I die. Jang Deok-su x Reader. 𐙚⋆°🦢.⋆ᥫ᭡

୨ৎ── warnings and tags: fem!reader, major character deaths, swearing, blood, and violence are the usual squid game stuff. this is not a slow burn, but it will be posted in chapters as they will be quite long, please bear with me as this is my first time writing so it might not be the best. the ending is meant to be spoilt for the final chapter!

୨ৎ── summary: in which you and deok-su bond from the beginning of the games and cannot be torn apart. even when the glass stepping stones decide the fate for the both of you in the end.

୨ৎ ─────────────────────── ୨ৎ

You knew from the moment he introduced himself that you were hooked. The way he carried himself, his strength and determination to do whatever it took to win these treacherous games. Jang Deok-su.

You first noticed him a little while after you'd woken up. Opening your eyes due to the bright, harsh lighting and the faint, classical music playing in the background. You had no recognition of where you were, the last thing you remembered was standing at the location you were told to arrive at and then getting into a car, it only started to come back to you when you saw that your clothes had been replaced and you were now wearing a green and white matching tracksuit with the number 105 engraved into the soft fabric.

You sat up from the single bed you had been placed in, hoisting yourself up on your elbows. The unfamiliarity of the environment around you started to kick in and revive your consciousness, and you noticed that you were not alone. You gazed around the spacious room to see hundreds of people, some of them waking up in confusion and a couple roaming around trying to gather their bearings.

He caught your eye in passing, his popping muscles and the very obvious snake tattoo across his neck, the head displayed on the side of his jaw. He seemed to be unbothered by the whole situation with his quickly made alliances surrounding him, each of them talking to one another in hushed whispers.

Still, in a bit of a trance, you finally snapped out of it and got up to try and pull yourself together. You noticed that most of the others had started to huddle around the centre of the room also trying to make sense of what was going on. You made your way down the steps fiddling with your tracksuit zipper, a nervous habit, while you were making your way to join the gathering someone barged passed you nearly knocking you to the ground.

"Watching where you're walking!"

It was player 278. One of the men you had seen earlier from the gang, who were still deep in conversation on the other side of the room. He stared you down uncomfortably waiting for you to explain yourself as if it had been all your fault.

"You pushed me?" you tried to defend yourself, but you'd never been good at that. You didn't like confrontation, especially with a man who looked like he was enjoying seeing you shake and stutter like an idiot.

He smiled at you with a dangerous smirk. "Don't you think you owe me an apology, Sweetheart?" He deliberately stepped closer to you grabbing your shoulder harshly and shoving you, making you stumble back a bit in shock.

"HEY!"

You heard a rough, bellowing shout, it was so loud that the whole room heard it and immediately turned their heads to see the commotion as if you couldn't get any more embarrassed.

You slowly turned to see him walking towards the both of you, his gang not far behind, you noticed that he had the number 101 attached to his tracksuit, you then looked back at player 278 shocked to see that his face had quickly begun to pale as the man with the voice responsible stood in front of you both.

He looked better up close with his brown eyes glaring, not at you, but surprisingly at his lackey who was still standing behind you looking at him with fear. He glared at him.

"Is that any way to treat a lady, asshole?"

Player 278 looked taken aback by his tone and tried to explain himself. "Boss, she's a nobody…" and with a glare from the man still staring daggers at him, he quickly switched his answer. "It was an accident, boss, she was in my way."

He still didn't look impressed.

"Instead of standing there and looking like an idiot. Don't you think you owe her an apology?"

The rest of his gang started to laugh quietly behind him amused by the situation, but by the glare he sent their way they were quickly silenced, and by the deadly look still in his eyes, you both knew that it wasn't a request, but an order.

Player 278 looked back at you in no time, he was quick to put his hands together in a pleading position and started kneeling, spluttering out the apologies he wouldn't have even thought about just a few minutes ago. You looked back at him for a second but you had no words.

Instead, you turned to the obvious leader quickly nodding your head and letting him know that the apology was accepted.

"Get up and walk away."

And that was all it took for him to stand up, nod his head and scurry away to follow the others who had been dismissed, and for the huge crowd who was still watching the scene to turn around at once and mind their business, once again.

You still stood in shock, how could a man hold so much power over a group of people he had just met?

"What a fool, trying to get you to apologise."

He looked at you again with a smirk, obviously eyeing you up and down, catching your stare. "A pretty, little thing like yourself has no reason to ever apologise to anyone." By his attitude and flirtation, you could tell that he was a man who was very full of himself, you kind of liked it, it suited him.

"Thank you… for stepping in a defending me."

You had finally found your voice and sent him a small smile, a faint blush taking over your face. He looked satisfied enough and held out his hand. "Deok-su, Jang Deok-su." he introduced himself the smirk still drawn on his face.

After a few seconds you placed your much smaller hand in his, he gripped it gently with his noticeably larger one, more tattoos on his knuckles being revealed. You introduced yourself in return, noticing that he still had your hand cupped in his and had no intention of letting go, his eyes were still locked on yours and he was about to speak.

But all of a sudden the two metal doors near the centre of the room had slid open and you had both turned your heads to see that nine figures had entered, all of them wearing red suits and their faces hidden with black masks each decorated with a shape, the eight of them with the matching circles made room in the middle for the only one attired with a square, who stepped forward to address everyone.

"I would like to extend a hearty welcome to you all."

The masked figure's voice echoed across the room making you shiver with anxiety, you turned your head to see Deok-su with his lean arm leant against one of the bedposts, his face showing a mixture of confidence but also confusion, matching your own and the rest of the people here.

"Everyone here will participate in six different games over six days, Those who win all six games will receive a handsome cash prize."

"How are we supposed to believe you?" A man interrupted from the front and everyone had turned to look at him. "You suddenly put us to sleep, took away our phones and wallets, then dragged us here to this mysterious place. Now you show up and say you'll pay us handsomely for a few games? Do you expect us to believe that"

"We had to enforce those procedures to ensure the utmost security in bringing you here. We'll return everything once the games are over."

"How come you are wearing those masks?" A woman called out, again from the front of the room.

"We do not disclose the faces or personal information of our staff to the participants. It's for the sake of fairness and secrecy, please understand…"

"I don't trust a word you just said."

Another man had interrupted, and once again everyone's head turned to him. You were too near the back to see anything clearly, but you could still hear him.

"Enticement, abduction, condiment. After all that illegal activity, you give us these excuses without even revealing who you are. Give us one good reason why we should trust you."

"Player 218, Cho Sang-woo."

The masked guard lifted a control in his hand and pointed it at the screen that had been placed right above the doors, the lights dimmed and the screen turned on showing a clip of the man who had spoken up, he was playing a game of ddakji and after failing to flip the card, he got slapped across the face.

It brought back the memory of the same happening to you. The handsome salesman, who could see that you were troubled offered to play a simple game for money. You could feel your cheeks stinging just remembering it and you snapped out of it after the guard spoke again.

"Aged 46. Former supervisor of Team Two at Joy Investments. Embezzled money from his clients, invested it in derivatives and futures and failed. Current loss, 650 million won."

"Player 107, Kim Mi-ok, 340 million won in debt."

Player 118, Oh Yeong-uk, 1.02 billion won in debt."

Player 332, Jung Min-tae, 880 million won in debt."

The screen kept changing to show more of the players in the same situation and revealing their debts to everyone watching. You were silently praying they wouldn't show yours… but of course, fate had not been on your side.

"Player 105. Y/N L/N, 300 million won in debt."

Now every person in the room knew who you were.

With another player called out, everyone would turn their heads to try and find the poor individual, you found a dozen sets of eyes burning into you, making your face heat up in embarrassment. That was until you felt a presence near you. Deok-su had moved right beside you once again and glared at the strangers until they got the silent message to turn back around and mind their own business.

When the screen had paused at last, the masked guard continued.

"All of you in this room have crippling debts and are now on a cliff-edge. When we first went to you, you did not trust us either. But as you know, we played a game and gave you money as you promised. And so you trusted us and volunteered to participate according to your own free will. You have one last chance to decide."

"Do you want to go back and live out your pathetic lives running from creditors? Or will you seize the last opportunity we are offering?"

"Excuse me?" A hand raised from the middle of the room. A man spoke up, asking the question that had mostly been on everybody's mind. "Just how much is the prize money?"

The guard lifted the control once again but at the ceiling this time. An empty, bright and golden piggy bank was revealed, it began to lower down slowly so that the whole room could see.

"The prize money will accumulate in the piggy bank after each game. The amount will be revealed to everyone after the first game. Those who do not wish to participate, please speak up now."

The guards had finished their welcome speech and were now preparing the player consent forms for all of the competition to sign. They had instructed everyone to get into rows of lines across the room and sign their papers one by one. As you were trying to find a place in the back, Deok-su was quick to find you, placing his hand on your shoulder and letting it linger to gain your attention.

"Follow me Doll, I'm not going to let you wait in this line."

You hesitated but quickly came to your senses and agreed, and as quick as he had found you he started to walk off gradually through the middle of the lines, placing his hands in his tracksuit pockets with no care in the world until you caught up with him. You got to the middle as he stepped in front of you and sent a glare to a woman, making her move back quickly for the both of you to join the cue.

As he had let you go in front you turned around to face him, having to look up from the height difference. You sent him a quick, dimpled smile before you made your way up to the guard waiting, missing the look that he had sent back to you as you were handed the form.

PLAYER CONSENT FORM.

CLAUSE ONE: A player is not allowed to voluntarily quit the games.

CLAUSE TWO: A player who refuses to play will be eliminated.

CLAUSE THREE: The games may be terminated upon a majority vote.

SIGNATURE ──────

You signed the paper as quickly as you could sending a little bow to the guard, a silent thank you. As you made your way from the line, you heard a woman's voice come through the speakers around the room making everyone look up.

"The game is about to begin. All players, follow the staff's instructions and proceed to the game hall."

୨ৎ ─────────────────────── ୨ৎ

a/n: my first fanfiction! it’s taken me so long to write this but i’m so excited to get started with these chapters. i know not everyone is a deok-su fan, but he’s one of my favourites so i had to write for him. a massive thank you to @startaegi for all of her love and support. 𐙚⋆°🦢.⋆ᥫ᭡

go and support my besties first fic 🤍

ROH JAE-WON for Mite commercial

this is how i imagine favourite crime namgyu before his life fell apart 🙁

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