Nam Gyu

Se Mi and Nam Gyu won the games along with Jun Hee and Myung Gi. The four people had to split four hundred and fifty-two billion won. The total was one hundred and thirteen billion won each.

A week after the games, when everyone had already paid off their debts, Nam Gyu stood late at night on a deserted street near a crosswalk, staring at his phone while waiting for the green light.

And suddenly he heard the click of heels on the pavement. He didn't look up, because he realized it was a girl. She, too, stopped near the crosswalk and tried to turn on her phone. After a couple of unsuccessful attempts, she turned to Nam Gyu:

• Excuse me... Could you tell me what time it is?... A few seconds later, when Nam Gyu looked up, both of them were stunned. He recognized her. It was Se Mi, only now her nose was bleeding, dripping onto the rain-soaked asphalt.

“Se Mi...” Nam Gyu exhaled quietly.

The girl shyly lowered her eyes somewhere onto the asphalt, onto her black shoes, covered by black flared boots.

“Okay, it doesn’t matter how long it is... Could you help me?..” she asked, looking up at him again.

Nam Gyu, barely recovered from what had happened a second ago, could only put together a few words:

• Okay... Of course... What's the matter?..

Se Mi looked in fear at the place she had come from:

• I'll explain everything to you later, just... Can you protect me now?..

Nam Gyu's gaze followed the girl's eyes, looking intently at a certain alleyway, illuminated by only a couple of lanterns:

And suddenly, from somewhere in the alley, a man, about their age, ran out and shouted as if the girl owed him several billion won:

"You whore! I knew you had someone else besides me! That's why you can't even give me a child, you bitch!"

Se Mi instinctively grabbed Nam Gyu's hand, and he covered her with his back.

"How do you talk to a girl, asshole?" he shouted back.

"I'm her husband, I have the right! Let her go, let us talk!" the man shouted.

Nam Gyu didn't back down. He just covered Se Mi again.