Beneath the Mask - Frontman x Y/N

The first game is over, and all of the players are shocked—at least most of them. Player 230, Thanos, seems like the biggest jerk, acting like nothing even happened. Suddenly, Y/N feels a terrible ache in her knee. Earlier in the game, Thanos pushed her, trying to eliminate her. But she managed to catch herself, falling hard onto her knee. Now there's a bleeding, aching wound. All she wants to do is vanish from this place and go home.

While all the players start forming alliances for the next game, she decides to sit down alone on the cold floor of the dormitory, her pants rolled up as she inspects the wound on her knee. The harsh light above makes the metallic smell of blood even worse, but she keeps her head low, trying not to draw attention.

"That doesn't look good," a dark voice murmurs behind her.

She turns around, startled, and finds Player 001 standing tall in front of her, looking down. His eyes linger on the injury before meeting hers, then he crouches next to her without breaking eye contact for a second. His expression is unreadable.

"It's fine," Y/N says curtly, confused but also strongly curious about this man, pulling her leg out of his hand.

"Well, fine will not keep you alive in here, will it?" His voice is calm but direct. "Come on, follow me."

She hesitates. But as she glances around the room—still filled with hundreds of players searching for the smallest signs of weakness like wild animals—she sighs and decides to stand up, following him.

As he leads her to a darker corner of the room, far from prying eyes, Y/N stops and asks, "Before I go there with you, tell me your name."

He turns around and just stares at her for a few seconds. "Well, I will if you just tell me yours, little girl, hm?" he answers, as if he hasn't already stalked her player file and knows everything.

"First of all, I am not a little girl, and second of all, if you insist, it's Y/N."

"That's a beautiful name," he says. "You should be more careful in the next games, Y/N... I'm In-Ho."

Y/N doesn't even have time to answer as he pulls out a piece of fabric from his pocket. "Hold still."

"You carry bandages around without the guards noticing it?" she asks skeptically. He kneels in front of her and starts wrapping the fabric around her knee, stabilizing it.

"You learn how to be prepared in places like this," he says, his eyes flicking up to hers. There's something in his gaze, something that makes her heart skip a beat.

When he finishes, his hand lingers on her knee and another on her thigh, the warmth of his touch seeping through the fabric. "So as I said, try to be more careful."

She frowns, pulling her leg away from his touch. "Why would you care? You don't even know me."

He smirks, standing up and leaning closer to her, slightly pushing her body against the wall. His voice drops to a whisper next to her ear. "Maybe I want to."

The air between them grows heavy, and for a moment, she forgets where they are. His presence feels magnetic and makes her feel... comfortable, even though her instincts scream at her to run.

"You should stay close to me," he says, his voice serious now, still leaning in.

"And why would I trust you?" she shoots back, turning out of his hold, trying to appear confident.

He steps closer again, his breath warm against her skin as he says, "Because I haven't let anything happen to you yet, and I don't plan to."

She doesn't have time to ask what he means, as yelling erupts in the room. They both turn to see Thanos and his friend beating up Player 333. In-Ho turns around and leaves, leaving her in confusion.