Chapter 11: The Truth

Daniel walked down the sidewalk to the police station and collected his thoughts. It was now unusually quiet as he walked. His anxiety couldn't help but rise with each step.

He saw multiple flashes appear out of his peripherals and heard the excited chatter of the Watchers. He spared them short glances as he continued his walk.

He gripped his phone tightly as he was now in a light jog.

His phone when off.

Don't do it, Daniel.

A warning?

We don't like snitches.

Daniel shuddered. He was persistent though and continued his jog. Something was off. He felt as if he was being followed.

The station can't be any farther, can it?

Daniel sighed in relief when he saw a Seoul Officer car slowly drive down the street toward him. Most likely doing patrol. He flagged down the officer and ran the rest of the way to meet the car halfway.

"Can I help you, sir," The cop asked as he rolled down his window. Daniel looked around at the no longer excited Watchers.

"There's this... Game I've been playing that's dangerous. Someone got extremely hurt today and I'm afraid it could lead to someone's death."

"But, nobody's died yet?"

"No, sir."

"Nobody's doing anything illegal?"

"No, sir," Daniel muttered.

The officer paused. "This... 'Game', they playing too?" He pointed at the Watchers on the other side of the street.

"They're involved yes."

"Well, there's nothing illegal going on and no one has been reported missing or dead so, I don't see any problem with them having a little fun."

"But, sir-"

"If that's all, you have yourself a nice rest of your night." The officer rolled up his window and started driving down the remainder of the street. Daniel watched as the car made its turn down a different street and out of view from him.

He swallowed and turned his attention across the street.

"Snitch!" Daniel jolted.

"Snitches get stitches!" What were they, eight?

Daniel felt uneasy as he backed away and ran down the sidewalk. He heard fast footsteps behind him and felt his heart quicken.

He turned to look behind him but no one was there. He looked forward and felt a pair of hands yank him into darkness.

One hand was placed over his mouth so Daniel couldn't scream and another snaked around his waist to hold him.

Daniel started struggling against this person's grip and brought his foot down onto the other persons. The person let go of Daniel while muttering curses under their breath. They bent down and cradled their foot as Daniel steadied himself.

"What the fuck Daniel?"

Daniel turned to the familiar voice and saw pink hair sticking out of a black cap.

"DG?" Daniel watched as DG nodded his head.

"Sorry, didn't mean to scare ya' just, had to get ya out of the public eye."

"Why? No, screw why. What's going on? And don't even think about lying to me DG."

DG looked at the ground before nodding. "Gimme your phone," DG said as he held out his hand.

"What for?"

"Would ya just do it?"

Daniel sighed. "Fine."

Daniel placed his phone in DG's opened palm and watched him disappear into the darkness before re-emerging empty-handed.

"Where's my phone," Daniel asked.

"On a trashcan. You should already know what I did with it. You did it with Jay."

"I did that so we could talk without interruption."

"And it was good you did."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean your phone listens to everything you say now."

Daniel stared at DG.

"Why'd you lie to him?" DG asked.

"What? What do you mean?"

"About us. You said we didn't kiss."

"That's what you're concerned about? Seriously?"

"You kissed him for a challenge. You kissed me for a challenge. Yet, you lied to him when he asked. Why?"

Daniel sighed. Why was he asking this right now?

I should be the one asking questions here.

"I'm not sure. Something just told me to."

DG seemed to accept that answer. "Fine."

"Now, be honest with me. What the hell is going on," Daniel asked. He wanted to know more than anything. Why was he being called a snitch? Why did it feel like he was being followed ever since he left Zoe? What was up with the warnings given to him? How did it know his banking information? "What's your relationship with Jay? What's up with this Game and why has it led me to y'all?"

DG sighed, "Let me start at the beginning. Me and Jay knew each when we first started playing. Me, him, and another guy in Tokyo.

The Game challenged us to play together, so we did. It was fun at first. We went everywhere in Tokyo. We felt like little kids in a candy shop as we explored places we had never been. But, then we started to do dangerous shit. My bike? Stolen. Jay's bike? Stolen.

We thought that was it; the night was almost over. But, we were naive. The last challenge of the night was for the guy we played with..." DG grew quiet as he looked down at his hands. "They told us to go to the top of a building that was under some renovation," He shuddered at the thought.

Daniel placed his hands ontop of DG's shaking one's.

"At the top there was a tower crane." Daniel saw DG's grey eyes gloss over. Daniel had never seen such powerful emotions paint DG's face before.

DG pulled his hands away from Daniel and covered his face. He didn't want Daniel seeing him this vulnerable.

"No, don't hide from me DG, please," Daniel said as he gently placed his hands on DG's wrist. Daniel heard the man sniff before he slowly brought his hands down revealing tears that threatened to spill. Daniel intertwined their fingers as he urged DG to continue.

"He uh, he had to hang from it for 30 seconds."

"Come on man, give us your hand we'll pull you up!"

"I can't James! I don't want to move, I'm scared!" The wind seemed to scream at the trio from the roof of the skyscraper. James Lee was wedged between the metal bars of the crane with his hand outstretched. Jay Hong was right next to him holding onto the bars trying to support himself.

"Just reach for us please!"

The man went quiet, he was terrified but he knew he could trust his friends.

"O-okay, I'll reach for you." And he did. Tightening his grip on the thick steel bar he reached for his red-haired friend. Only, he wasn't as stable as he thought.

His hands were sweating as he removed one hand. His fingers brushed James' as his left hand slipped off.

The only thing the two could hear was their friends screams grow faint as he fell from multiple stories toward the ground. James didn't even realize he was screaming until he felt a hand grip tightly to his shoulder and pull him ever so slightly.

"Jay," He whispered at the male. Jays black hair whipped in the wind yet still covered his eyes by some sort of miracle. "He's gone."

"He fell off," DG muttered, "We were right there. We could've caught him.

After that, Jay and I went to the police. Safe to say they didn't believe us. We were deemed as snitches and our bank accounts were drained within seconds. We didn't think much of it at the time but, looking back at it, we should've seen the warnings from the start. We became its prisoners." DG looked at Daniel with an indifferent expression as tears fell down his face.

Daniel struggled to keep up with DG as he let go of his hand and wiped his tears with his thumb, "Prisoners?"

"That's the third option. The one that's hidden: Watcher, Player, Prisoner. The majority of Players fail or bail so they don't know about it. But, you snitched."

Realization struck Daniel like a truck. "So, I'm now a prisoner.."

DG sensed Daniel's panic and pressed his hands against Daniel's temples. "You can get through this. Just, follow your directions."

"I'm still playing?"

"No, with what's about to happen, you'll wish you were. I know you have no reason to but, trust me, please. I'll get you out of this."

"No, no DG. What is this?"

"The final round," DG pressed his forehead to Daniel's as he sighed. "While you were with that Zoe girl, the last player failed. Now there's just the three of us: Me, you, and Jay."

Daniel nodded. "But, why are we still involved?"

"It's the last round. If I manage to beat Jay with these last two challenges, I'll be in the final with you. Once I face you in the final, I'll make sure you win so you won't have to suffer anymore."

"What will happen to you if you lose?"

Daniel felt his shirt dampen as DG gently shook. He moved his head from Daniel's and pressed his lips to his lovingly. Something in Daniel ached and he reciprocated DGs desperate kiss.

Daniel felt the tears smear on his cheeks as DG deepened his kiss. Despite everything this man has revealed to him, everything he's done, Daniel couldn't help the butterflies he felt. It hurt. These butterflies had knifes for wings that tore at his insides as he pulled away.

"I'll die," DG whispered.

Daniel's world went still as the dark alley seemed to get darker. He heard the gentle breath of DG and the echo of water drops from broken water pipes around them. Daniel's breath quickened and his heart beat against his chest.

"Hey, hey," DG tried, "You get to live. Away from this. Away from everything."

"Away from you.."

"...Away from the root of your problems."

"DG, I've had a ton of problems tonight but, you weren't the cause of this. It's all my fault. I started this for the money, I thought I was helping but, I let greed overtake me." Daniel's voice cracked as he spoke. His voice was gentle as if he was afraid to break the fragile wall between them. "I don't want to be away from you. I want to get to know you, the real you. Not the you that this game portrays you as."

"I like you, Daniel.

When this night started, I hoped that you wouldn't have played with me. I wanted you to decline when you had the chance. But, you didnt. You stayed and something inside me didn't want to lose you.

I want to get to know you outside of this bullshit game. In a way, I'm grateful to the Watchers. I wouldn't have met you if it weren't for them." DG smiled at Daniel as his cheeks went red. Daniel would be lying if he said DG's confession didn't make his heart flutter.

Daniel pulled DG into a gentle kiss as he felt his face heat up. DG pressed his body against Daniel's, afraid to let him go as he kissed him back. He pulled away after a few minutes.

"There's something I have to do," Daniel said.

"What is it?"

"Don't worry, just trust me," Daniel said as he pushed away from DG. "Be safe." Daniel walked down the alley to get his phone and out the other side onto the street.

Daniel looked down at his phone and for the first time, the Game was offline. Daniel smiled to himself and went to his call log. He tapped on Zoes icon and placed the phone to his ear as it rang.

"Zoe? I need a favor."