(POV Gi-hun)

"...I saw it exactly like this until now. Now...that I see you."

I totally froze, I couldn't believe I was hearing this right. I wanted to answer something, say something, but my mind was consumed by Young-il's confession. I had wondered what was up with this man, why out of all people in this game he caught my eye. So many things fascinating about him – beyond his ridiculously good looks – like the way he knocked out those two fighting dudes a few days ago like it was nothing. The sad story of his dying wife and child which turned out being a story from his past. And yet he was here, a man with no belief in the goodness of people, someone who gave up believing after experiencing such horrors.

And now he looked me in the face, his gaze all soft and his slightly moving t-shirt giving away his racing heartbeat. He truly was beautiful and I got completely lost in him. I thought about his words from just before: that we all need to escape reality sometimes – and that was just what happened every time I looked into his eyes. None of us broke the silence but it still wasn't uncomfortable; we were still staring at each other and I could feel the tension building up between us. Carefully I moved towards him and he did the same; none of us was thinking straight anymore (nothing straight about these two hahaha).

'He's actually going to do it', I thought, still expecting him to back off and make a joke out of it. Or was I expecting myself to back off? Maybe I should have, I clearly didn't come back to the Squid Games to start some kind of romance, above all with a guy. But I didn't back away, the contrary, I leaned in a little more and my eyes closed automatically, as his lips met mine. I felt fireworks in my brain, my blood was boiling and my mind racing – and out of everything I hadn't expected the kiss to be so soft and shy. A tough guy like Young-il kissed me like a teen would kiss his crush at the prom. Maybe it was because we were two men who probably didn't kiss another guy all their lives before. Still here we were, gently putting our lips together, until I felt Young-il smile into the kiss.

I had never seen him like this, he seemed happy. His smile widened and revealed those perfect teeth of his – gosh, he must've had a pretty skilled dentist! - and in his sincere happiness he also left an impression of vulnerability, something I would've never associated with him.

We both laughed shyly until he placed his hand on my cheek to pull my face to his again. I couldn't tell how much time we spent there kissing, but to me it felt like the most normal thing on earth, just as if fate had brought us here together.

A noise like a creaky bed almost made us jump; we instantly let go of each other and froze. For a few seconds there was nothing until we registered a movement in a bed nearby.

"Jung-bae?", I asked carefully. Right after my guess was proven right when Jung-bae climbed out of his bed. "Hi Gi-hun... Young-il... I was just thinking I could do the next shift keeping watch.", he said and approached us. I cleared my throat and got up, not noticing that Young-il's gaze bored into my back.

"Yeah, seems logic..." I coughed again, praying to all higher powers that Jung-bae didn't witness any of our past actions. "We... I should get going get some sleep." Slowly Young-il got up as well following every of my movements with his looks. Without a word he followed me back to our beds but I could feel his gaze precise as a laser in my back. I didn't quite know what to do - would it be awkward from now on? I fought the desire to join him in his bed and just turned to say good night.

"Goodn..."

"Gi-hun", he interrupted me. "Thank you", he paused as if he tried to find the right words, "for listening to me." I couldn't stop myself from smiling stupidly while I was trying to find an eloquent answer.

"You're welcome" 'Fail. Congratulations,Gi-hun, very eloquent!', I thought.

Young-il snorted out a little laugh and again his teeth showed, then he disappeared into his bed.