Chapter Text
Eomma!” Gi-hun rushed after his mother. He ripped open the hospital door and hurried down the marble stairs. His mother's steps were slow and heavy, so Gi-hun easily caught up with her. It was already dark outside and Seoul was starting to light up with artificial neon signs and yellow window light.
“Eomma, where are you going? He said you needed to be hospitalised,” Gi-hun said, shuffling worriedly behind his mother, arm extended like he expected her to fall. Mal-soon refused to acknowledge his concern and continued forward.
“I’m fine.” She clipped and sluggishly swatted a hand at her son.
“What do you mean fine? You can't even walk properly!” Gi-hun cried, gesticulating at her feet in an almost childish way. His face scrunching up in a pout of worry.
“Forget it!” Mal-soon snapped over her shoulder, “You haven't been home for days! Going off and doing whatever. Now you show up and try to play the good son?”
Gi-hun swallowed guiltily and hurried up to her side.
“Eomma, don't be such a fool,” Gi-hun pleaded and grabbed his mother's arm to prevent her from walking further. “It will get worse if you don't treat it!”
“Then what? If I’m in the hospital, who’s going to pay our rent?” Mal-Soon rebuked. “Also, do you have any idea how much it costs to stay in a hospital, let alone the treatment?”
“You have insurance!”
This made Mal-soon halt. “What did you say? Insurance?” She turned around to face Gi-hun, “Don't you remember? You cancelled everything and used up all the money.”
Gi-hun looked away in remorse. The words, I’m sorry, sat on the tip of his tongue but they felt too insufficient to be said now. How could he? He had brought way too much pain in his mother's life, to simply dismiss her concerns like that.
“Please! Get a grip!” She cried. “Aigoo…”
They stood there for a moment, in complete silence.
“Gi-hun,” she sounded so small now. “I’m too tired—I'm too tired to go on. Let’s just stop here.”
Mal-soon began walking away. Gi-hun let her, caught resolutely staring at the spot where she had stood, forcing away the tears that prickled forth.
“Aish— I’ll get the money!” Gi-hun yelled after her, when he had finally gotten his roiling malaise under control. “I’ll get the money, okay?”
Mal-soon didn’t respond. She just rounded the corner of the street and disappeared. Gi-hun felt himself sigh dejectedly, bodying slumping in on itself, like a sail without wind. The events of the entire day finally came crashing down on him, and Gi-hun felt a keeling fatigue suffuse his entire being. The hospital security-guard was staring at him through the glass door with an apprehensive frown, as if trying to figure out if Gi-hun was a threat. Gi-hun scoffed with a dejected wave of his hand and started walking down the street.
What was he going to do now? The thought made Gi-hun groan and bury his face in his hands. He should never have voted himself out of that weird game, despite how screwed up that place was. Maybe he would have won it all, becoming insanely rich and able to do whatever he wanted. Then he could pay for his mother's treatment and maybe buy her a real store, like she had always wanted. He would be able to pay back those loansharks and maybe even his bank loans. The whole world could have been at his fingertips—if he just hadn’t voted himself out of the games.
Gi-hun groaned out loud and buried his face in his hands. He was so fucked. If people stared at him, clutching their children a bit closer or crossing to the other side of the street at the groans, Gi-hun never noticed, too caught up wallowing in his self-made misery.
The streetlight ticked green and roused Gi-hun from his disoriented ponderings. He faintly remembering walking to the pedestrian crossing by the road, but when had that been? His whole body ached, as if he had just run a whole marathon, but he knew he had only walked down the street. It must have been because of that place, Gi-hun mused distantly.
The streetlight clicked red again, snapping him back in his body, and Gi-hun realised that he had forgotten to even cross the road. It made him groan to himself. Had he always been so stuck in his head?
Gi-hun felt his pocket buzz, and after patting it swiftly, realised that it was his phone. He pulled it out, nearly dropping the worn android as he fumbled to flip it the right side up, and looked down at the cracked screen.
Eomma, it read, followed by a string of emoji's that Ga-yeong once had picked out. Gi-hun quickly picked up.
“Eomma? is everything alright?”
She never called him. Always claiming that she preferred just talking face-to-face.
“Gi-hun,” her voice was eerily quiet, “you need to come home, right now.”
“I– Is everything alright?” Gi-hun questioned.
“It's your daughter, she’s here,” Mal-soon responded, “Hurry.”
“Eomma— eomma?” Gi-hun called after her. He glanced at the caller ID and realised that she had hung up. The light ticked green again, but Gi-hun had already turned around, hurriedly walking away.
Gi-hun tried running the whole way back, but was quickly reduced to a panting, stumbling mess. He hadn't moved that much since before getting married and it showed. Still, he didn’t cease, the incessant push to get home to his daughter, kept him going. in the end Gi-hun arrived panting, sweating and stumblingly supporting himself against a wall. There they stood, crouched outside the gate. Gi-hun's daughter was pulled up in the arms of Mal-soon, who was softly caressing Ga-yeong's hair, as they both stared out into nothing.
Gi-hun's daughter leapt up as soon as she saw Gi-hun. “Appa!” she said, running into Gi-hun's arms, making the man stumble back slightly. Gi-hun huffed, looking fondly at Ga-yeong and brushed her hair back in place.
“Ga-yeong, what are you doing here?” Gi-hun asked gently.
“I wanna’ live here—with you,” she mumbled into Gi-hun's shirt. “I can, can't I?”
She looked up at Gi-hun with big, puffy eyes and Gi-hun swallowed guiltily. He smiled in an attempt to soften the blow, but immediately regretted it, when Ga-yeong eyes lit up in excitement.
“I’m not sure it's that easy, sweety.”
Ga-yeong's face fell. “What?” She asked, her voice watery.
Gi-hun felt his heart clench and he quickly crouched. He smiled at her soothingly. “I– I can’t just— I would love to,” Ga-yeong started to smile again, “—but it’s not that easy!”
“Why?!” Ga-yeong yelled, eyes filling with tears, and Gi-hun winced at her volume.
“Because— because, it’s just not that easy!” Gi-hun said. “It would have to be cleared by a judge, and— and your mother would have to agree! What’s wrong with staying with your mother anyway?”
This made Gi-hun's mother slap his arm. He had completely forgotten about her. “Don't say it like that!” She said, swatting at him.
Ga-yeong reeled back and stumbled back into Mal-soon’s arms, who laid a soothing hand on her back. A stray tear rolled down her cheek, but she quickly scrubbed them away, with a trembling sniff. “You don't want me…?”
“No—no, It's not like that!” Gi-hun hurried up to his daughter, grabbing her shoulder gently and wiped away the remnants of the tear from her cheek. “I would love to! I just meant, why the sudden change? Did something happen between you and your mother?”
Ga-yeong bit her lips nervously. “No, it’s not like that. I–” She hesitated again.
“Do-hyeok got a job in America,” she blurted. “and I was going to tell you before, but–but then I just couldn’t, because you just seemed so happy and I didn't want to make you sad!"
Gi-hun opened his mouth to respond, to tell her that he knew everything about her stepfathers new job and to reassure her that he wasn't made, but Ga-yeong didn't let him. The words streaming out of her faster and faster.
“He wants us all to move—and I don't want to. I wanna' stay here, with you and Halmanggu, and–and all my friends and school. And I know that it’s expensive to house a child, but you could always get another job, or-or I could get one myself to help! Then we could all live together!”
Gi-hun shared a look with his mother. They would never be able to afford to care for Ga-yeong with their current shared salary and even then, he would never be cleared by court with all his debt.
“It’s getting cold,” Gi-hun smiled superficially and smoothed Ga-yeongs’s hair down in place, “how about we go inside, hm? We could have some nice warm ramyeon?”
Ga-yeong seemed to have accepted the end of their discussion and nodded with a disappointed but polite smile.
“Alright. I haven’t eaten anything yet, anyway,” she said.
"You haven't?” Gi-hun's mother cried. “oh, you poor thing. Let's get you inside!” Mal-soon started urging Ga-yeong toward their house. Her steps were blocky and slow and Gi-hun quickly want to support his mother. Her quick acquiescent surprised Gi-hun, and he guiltily realised just how much pain she must have been in, all this time. Ga-yeong sent Gi-hun a questioning glance, but smartly kept her mouth shut. Gi-hun didn’t think Mal-soon would take kindly to Gi-hun “worrying” her grandchild about her sickness.
Gi-hun nearly had to carry Mal-soon but in the end he managed to get them all to their front door. He propped her up against the wall, before he hurriedly fumbled for his keys and locked up the door. It was then he noticed the card. Jammed in between the jamb and door was a familiar brown card, with recognisable black shapes on it.
Gi-hun felt his heart seize and he quickly hurried to cover the door with his body, so his daughter and mother wouldn’t notice it. Pretending to unlock the door, he quickly removed the card, shoving it into his pocket. He supported his mother as he guided them all inside, and wrestled Mal-soon down onto a small stool, with only minimal back pain obtained.
They had a quick meal made by Gi-hun. Mal-soon had tried to intervene multiple times, but the doctors had advised her to stay off her feet, and Gi-hun didn't want to risk anything. She was therefore shoved back into her seat every time she tried to help. After their meal, they settled in front of the television on their old, creaky couch.
Ga-yeong was fixatedly watching the screen with big eyes, sandwiched between Gi-hun and Mal-soon. Mal-soon was snoring softly, having fallen asleep from the toll of the day long ago. He should really call Eun-ji and inform her of Ga-yeong's well being, Gi-hun thought drowsily. Some sort of K-pop group was playing on the television and Gi-hun could actively feel his eyes dropping. Maybe he could afford to dose off for an second.
Then Ga-yeong shifted and accidentally shoved her elbow into Gi-hun side, shaking Gi-hun out of his drowsy state.
“Sorry,” she whispered, eyes never leaving the screen.
“It’s alright,” Gi-hun responded. The idols left the stage and a colourful mascot replaced them. Gi-hun noticed the exited gleam in Ga-yeong's gaze. It was a big clump bear-like animal, in a completely unrealistic yellow shade.
“What, you like this?” Gi-hun asked with a baffled smile, gesturing to the screen with a point of his hand. Ga-yeong smiled sheepishly.
“Yeah,” she said. “It’s their mascot, he’s so cute! He’s definitely my favourite.”
“I think he’s a bit wide,” he joked, smiling when Ga-yeong's giggled.
“He’s not, it’s fluff!” She hissed in a gleeful whisper. “Not as if you can judge anyway…”
“Hey!” Gi-hun exclaimed, in mock offense.
Mal-soon grunted in her sleep beside them. It made the whole couch shake and Ga-yeong shot him a look. Gi-hun, himself, bit his lip to keep himself from laughing out loud—a jolly spirit having settled over him. Ga-yeong tried too, but burst out laughing and quickly placed a hand over her mouth to conceal her high-pitched snickers. Gi-hun chucked, gesturing to keep her voice down. They shushed at each other, still giggling, until Mal-soon mumbled in her sleep again and started to stir. It made them freeze and Gi-hun felt Ga-yeong's hand settle in his. Gi-hun carresed her hand, and Ga-yeong settled against his shoulder again. It made him think of what could have been. If he had somehow gained custody of Ga-yeong and become a more present role in her life.
“What do you want, if you could choose anything in the whole wide world?” Gi-hun asked.
Ga-yeong looked at him with a quizzical look, “Anything?”
“Anything!” Gi-hun confirmed.
She settled back against him and pretended to look at the television, “I don’t know… if I could have anything… I would probably want the Chimmy plush…”
"Is that the mascot character from before?" Ga-yeong nodded with an excited hum.
“That’s all?” Gi-hun asked incredulously. “Nothing else?”
Ga-yeong shrugged, “I really wanted it for my birthday, but Do-hyeok said I'm too old for toys.”
Gi-hun felt anger well up in his chest. He had always respected Eun-ji's husband. He was well-off, punctual, refined—everything Gi-hun wasn't. It made sense for Eun-ji to marry him. But how he could even think of talking to Ga-yeong that way? It made him shake. She deserved to be spoiled rotten, and Do-hyeok easily had the money to do so. Gi-hun forced away the negative thoughts.
“Is there really nothing else?” Gi-hun asked instead. “Anything is possible in this scenario.”
“I guess that if I could have anything... I would want you to have a better job,” Ga-yeong said, voice lulled to a whisper. “And you would stop smoking, you always stink of smoke, and my classmate said that her grandpa died from that! And I would live with you and, and every morning you would drive me to school. And, and we would eat junk food, but not every day because that is bad for you and that would be something you cared about…”
Gi-hun felt his eyes sting, and bit his tongue to ground himself.
“But, but I don’t really need that. I'm fine with what I have.” She finished lamely, and glanced up a Gi-hun, who turned away and blinked aggressively.
“It's this damn weather—really makes my allergies act up.” He muttered. It fooled neither of them.
“Appa,” Ga-yeong began, but a shrill buzz interrupted her. It made them both jump, and Gi-hun scramble to locate the owner of the sound, to not wake his mother up. He found his phone lodged in a crevice of the sofa. He quickly grabbed it, looking at the caller ID. It was his ex-wife.
“Eun-ji, I was just about to call you,” Gi-hun said as soon as he answered the phone. He quickly got up and walked into the kitchen.
“I– why? Have you found her?” Eun-ji's voice was shaky.
“Yeah, she was waiting outside when my mom returned home.”
There was a wet gasp of relief and then the small mutter of: “he has her. She’s safe.” As if Eun-ji had leaned away from the speaker to talk.
“Alright,” she said, voice back to it's normal volume. “Tell her, Mom is coming to get her now.”
“Actually,” Gi-hun blurted. “How about i come by with her tomorrow? She’s saying that she wants to stay with me—Long-term, that is…”
“What? Let me talk to her,” Eun-ji demanded.
“Eun-ji—”
“Let me talk to her. Now.”
Gi-hun sighed but opened the living room door nonetheless, “It’s your mother,” he told Ga-yeong.
Ga-yeong got of the couch silently, gently taking the phone that Gi-hun had been holding out to her and retreated out into the kitchen.
There was a faint “Eomma?” and then the door closed fully. Gi-hun turned around, with a sigh.
His mother was awake now. Mal-soon was encased in the blanket Gi-hun had forced on her earlier, looking up at him with a troubled expression.
“What did she say?” She asked soberly.
“I don’t know, she demanded to speak to Ga-yeong immediately,” Gi-hun sighed. He sat down beside Mal-soon on the sofa with a thump. It creaked loudly in protest.
“It’s for the best, anyway. We can't support a child.” Mal-soon mussed pensively.
“I don’t know… I could almost imagine it,” Gi-hun huffed. “If I just found another job and we made the living room into her new bedroom—it could have worked.”
Mal-soon sighed, “We can't even afford our own rent, Gi-hun.” Or your treatment for that matter, Gi-hun thought depressingly.
“I know—It’s-it’s stupid,” Gi-hun said, waving his hand. “I guess I just got carried away with my imagination. Just… just forget it.”
“When do you not,” Mal-soon muttered bitterly.
Ga-yeong opened the living room door again and held out the phone. “She wants to talk to you again,” she said.
Gi-hun swallowed but got up and placed the phone to his ear.
“Hello?” He asked clumsily.
“Ga-yeong can sleep at your place tonight. If your serious about this—about her, we can meet up tomorrow, when I’m done working. If you aren’t, you better tell her now, before you get her hopes up.” Eun-ji said, her voice frigid.
“O-okay.” It was the only thing Gi-hun got to say before she hung up.
Gi-hun sighed and was about to pocket his phone, when he felt some hard and pointy in his front pocket. The card. He quickly pulled it out after making sure the living room door was shut. It was almost identical to the card he had been given by that businessman on the train station, only the number differing. If he wanted to become rich in this lifetime, this was probably his only opportunity. There was of course the question about, who had to care of his mother while he was away. She would never just stay put at home. But of course that would all be obsolete if Gi-hun came home with the money for the surgery, Gi-hun thought.
Then Ga-yeong's sweet giggle was heard from the living room and Gi-hun knew what he had to do. He ripped over the card, and ripped it again. He kept ripping at it until the stumps became too small the grip and the black number on the card become undiscernible.
That morning Gi-hun woke up early. He had given his bedroom to Ga-yeong and the living room curtains were flimsy and did nothing to block out the summer sun. He got up and quickly took over his mother's chores. It was the least he could do.
Gi-hun had prepared them all a quick breakfast and then—after having ensured that his mother would stay home and rest—he and Ga-yeong went outside to enjoy a bit of the nice summer weather.
“So, what do you want to do?” Gi-hun asked, “We have the whole world in front of us!”
He crouched down and spread his arm through the sky theatrically. Ga-yeong giggled and Gi-hun felt himself smile in response.
“Could we go to an amusement park?” She asked.
Gi-hun faltered. He didn't have that type of money. “Ah… I’m not sure, sweetheart. How about we do something else?”
Ga-yeong nodded, an understanding smile on her lips, though Gi-hun could tell she was disappointed. “Can we get some ice-cream instead, then?” She asked, so gently and thinly that Gi-hun almost teared up.
“Of course, sweetheart! Come, I know a neat place!” It made Ga-yeong crack a smile.
The neat place that Gi-hun knew was actually a paltry ice cream stand, but it was cheap and conveniently placed by a public park. They ate their ice cream in the shade of a tree, looking out over a lake. Gi-hun would break off pieces of his ice-cream cone and watch as the ducks scrabbled at each other for the wet, soggy pulp, and revelled in Ga-yeong’s giggle. They spent their day walking the lively streets and around noon, Gi-hun bought them both two cold beverages and a cheap lunch.
Some sort of foreign wrapped bread dish that fascinated Ga-yeong a lot more than it did him. They sat at the top of a hilly, asphalt road, enjoying their meal, sitting in a small, shadowy nook, at the top of the road. The view from there was amazing, though Gi-hun doubted Ga-yeong cared about that. She was busy eating the wrap like it was her last meal. It made Gi-hun chuckle, leaning back. His hand landed in a wet puddle and the scrambled to wipe it of on his pants, much to Ga-yeong's amusement.
When they had finished their meal and drunk the last of their sodas, they raced their empty bottles down the street, cheering on the brightly coloured tin cans. Ga-yeong's bottle hit the trash-bins first and she let out a excited whoop. Gi-hun laughed and clapped, happy on Ga-yeong's affront. After—when they had packed up—Ga-yeong insisted they pick up the cans, as to not litter. They were promptly side tracked at the sight of a stray cat. Feeding it store-bought, canned tuna they quickly had bought, they quickly attracted more cats. A fat cat and plumped down onto Gi-hun's lap and Ga-yeong giggled when it wouldn't budge. Then Gi-hun got a message from his ex-wife, shaking him from his happy reverie.
Meet me here. Bring Ga-yeong. It read, with a link to a hip gentrified café attached. Gi-hun had to drag Ga-yeong away from the small mob of cats they had congregated with promises to take them to a cat cafe later. They had to run, but they managed to catch a direct bus there.
Inside was packed and humid, and smelled vaguely of dust. A nice woman had offered up her seat to Ga-yeong before getting off. Ga-yeong spent the whole trip clutching onto her seat, as to not fly off at the aggressive bumps in the road.
Gi-hun bit his lip and glanced at the time again. With this pace, they would never get there on time, and the last thing he wanted was to give Eun-ji another reason as to why he was a unfit to be a parent. He felt a tug on his sleeve, and looked down at Ga-yeong.
“It’s going to be okay,” she reassured. Gi-hun smiled back at her, though it never reached his eyes. "I know,” he said and squeezed her shoulder.
The bus stopped with a start, almost sending Ga-yeong sprawling across the bus floor if it wasn't because of Gi-hun's secure grip on her. The doors opened with a hiss and the two shuffled off the bus.
The sun was still shining outside; an almost ironic contrast to Gi-hun inner turmoil. This was it. He would meet up with Eun-ji and that would be the last he saw of Ga-yeong before a restraining-order was placed on him, preventing him from ever seeing her again. It made him feel queasy. Ga-yeong was noticing his worry too. She would glance discreetly at him, never actually saying anything. Then, after Gi-hun had almost accidently walked out into traffic, Ga-yeong snaked her hand into his and squeezed his hand reassuringly. It made his heart swell.
They arrived at the café with only minutes to spare. The place was hip and modern, with neutral pastels on the walls and dark oak accents. It was a type of establishment that Gi-hun would never have dreamed of entering and it seemed like most males had had the same notion. He distinctly noticed the high amount of females inside, all chatting or taking pictures of the picturesque plates served. Ga-yeong, on the other hand, seemed to revel in the cutesy atmosphere, so Gi-hun swallowed his pride and ventured further inside.
They found Ga-yeong's mother at a more secluded part of the café, sitting at a dark oak table. Beside Eun-ji a vaguely familiar man sat, a laptop open in front of him. Eun-ji seemed almost surprised when she noticed them.
“Gi-hun, you came,” she stated, an astonished tone to her voice.
“Yeah, I said I would, didn't i?” Gi-hun scoffed, puffing up his chest. He knew he was a douchebag and a deadbeat at times, but did she really have so little faith in him? Gi-hun immediately regretted ever showing her attitude, when she angrily pursed her lips. Gi-hun recognised the look from back when they had been married, it was the look she made right before going off on him. He probably would never see his daughter anymore, he lamented internally.
“I mean—Yes…I did,” he quickly corrected. Eun-ji only responded with a sharp glare.
Then the man beside her cleared his throat politely; a weak attempt to relieve the tension in the room. Eun-ji breathed deeply and feigned on a smile. She gestured to the man beside her.
“This is Seok-won, my brother-in-law, and he’s a lawyer.” The man nodded in agreement. “I asked him to help us today.”
The man nodded, “Yes. While I'm not a family attorney, I'm still more than equipped to handle this, since it’ll only be a few online forms you’ll have to fill out.” The man explained, his lilt never leaving monotonous. “This form will give Eun-ji custody of Ga-yeong during all vacations, and you, Seong Gi-hun-ssi, during Ga-yeong's day-to-day."
“What?” Gi-hun exclaimed, startling the three others and making some of the other customers shoot judgemental looks, “Day-to-day? You’re alright with this, Eun-ji?”
“What I care about most is Ga-yeong, and if staying with you is what is going to make her happy then it’s what I'm going to do.” She smiled gently at Ga-yeong, who cracked a small, sweet smile back at her. "Now don't make me regret putting my trust in you, Gi-hun."
She narrowed her eyes and Gi-hun nodded, numbly licked his lips in search of words. He had never expected Eun-ji to agree so easily or take him seriously. Before he had the chance to speak again, the lawyer cut in.
“Yes. Now, if we could regain focus. The forms will immediately be sent to a judge for confirmations, since both of you are agreeing to the revision of your custody agreement. You should both expect to be summoned to court, since I don't imagine a judge will relish your previous record, Seong Gi-hun-ssi,” He slipped on his glasses with precision and concentrated back on his laptop. He clicked at it for a moment, before saying: “I will need your full name here.” He turned his laptop around so the screen faced Gi-hun. Gi-hun nodded wordlessly and wiped his palms on his jeans discreetly. He leaned over the table to quickly tap his information into the computer.
They slowly went through his petty information, Gi-hun answering one abrasively worded question after the other. There were multiple times where Gi-hun felt like he wanted to jump across the table and shake the man, if not, to do something worse. Every time the urge arose, he forced himself to think of Ga-yeong. He was doing this for her.
“Eun-ji told me you live with your mother. Is that correct?”
“Eh, I would more say she lives with me…” Gi-hun cleared his throat, face heating up in humiliation. Seok-won merely raised an eyebrow, as if to say, answer the question, will you? Gi-hun cleared his throat again, “But yes, that’s correct.”
The man nodded and typed something into his laptop. The sound from it ricocheted between them, and despite being in a crowded café, was the only thing filling up their silent, tense bubble. Gi-hun met Eun-ji eyes. It was a meaningful gaze, but Gi-hun never quite got to figuring out what it meant.
“And you have a proper room for Ga-yeong, should she move in with you?”
“Eh– Not at the moment… But I will fix that! Promise,” Gi-hun assured. He smiled at Ga-yeong, who had stopped tapping on her phone at the mention of her name. The man shot him a dry stare, almost as if he was judging him.
“Not exactly the embodiment of a responsible father, but I digress.” the man hummed, eyes never straying from his computer.
“You—“ Gi-hun snapped his jaw shut before he could say anything else, it resulted in a low pained hum instead. He forced himself to lower the pointed finger he had raised in his fervor.
“Seok-won,” Eun-ji admonished, placing a pacifying hand on the man's shoulder. She glanced over at Ga-yeong and noticed how she was shifting in her seat, peering discreetly over the top of her phone.
“How about you buy yourself something sweet.” Eum-ji suggested, and Ga-yeong, with some hesitation, left the table. It made Gi-hun sigh a breath of relief. He didn’t want his daughter to witness more of the situation.
“And your job?” the man continued. Then he faltered and looked up from his computer. “You have one of those, right?”
“O-of course,” Gi-hun said, forcing himself to keep the ire out of his tone. “I work as a chauffer right now.” The man nodded and typed something into his computer.
“And would that be enough for you to support both yourself and Ga-yeong?”
It wasn’t, and that was if you didn’t count his mother into the equation. Gi-hun swallowed and nodded regardless. “I think so,” he lied.
“And do you have any documentation that proves that you’re actually working?”
Gi-hun faltered and looked at Eun-ji, who looked just as taken aback. “I—I didn’t know I needed that with me,” he said nervously.
“Haven’t you gone through this procedure already?” Seok-won asked sharply with a raised eyebrow.
“Yes but—”
“But then you should know better.” The lawyer snipped.
“Is all of this really necessary?” Eun-ji cut in, to Gi-hun's relief. He really didn’t know how much more he could take, before he would try to strangle the man. “Last time, we just needed to fill some forms out. Can’t we just hurry up to that part?”
“I just need to ensure that proper documentation is in place,” the man explained, eyes softening as he looked at Eun-ji. “I'll be done in a moment.”
Gi-hun scratched at the wooden table, feeling like he needed to bolt out of that overzealous establishment and smoke at least a whole pack, to relax his nerves.
“So,” the man brought him back to the present, “you really can’t provide any documentation?”
“I–yeah—but I’ll get it!” Gi-hun argued. “If you just give me some time— I’ll have it by then.”
“I’m afraid I can't do that,” he said. “I need real documentation. If you can’t provide that, I'm forced to annotate you as unemployed.”
Gi-hun felt his jaw unlatch at the man's aggression. What had he ever done to him? Gi-hun looked at Ga-yeong, who was extensively examining the cakes that were on display by the café's display. Gi-hun snapped his mouth shut and breathed deeply through his nose. He needed to do this for her.
“Seok-won, please,” Eun-ji cut in, laying a soft hand on the man's shoulder. “Can’t you work with us a bit? I mean it’s not like we are any random clients.” she laughed, but there was a nervous undertone to it. “We're supposed to be family, right?”
Seok-won looked at Eun-ji for a second, gaze wavering slightly. Then he sighed and eased his glasses off. “Alright. I’ll refrain from mentioning where it is you work, Seong Gi-hun. That means you have a month to get your bearings in place and gather all the necessary documentation you’ll have to show the judge.”
The man started to pack his things together. “I must get going now.”
Eun-ji rised with a smile, “Thank you, Seok-won,” she said shakenly.
“It was no problem. Tell Do-hyeok I said hi, yeah?” Seok-won responded and Eun-ji nodded. He smiled and left. The moment he stepped out the door, Eun-ji slumped in on herself with exhaustion. It seemed Ga-yeong had also been waiting for the moment Seok-won left, because she flitted up to them moments after.
“Did it work? Can I stay with Appa now?” she asked, barely concealing the excitement out of her voice. Eun-ji faltered, sharing a look with Gi-hun.
“Almost,” she crouched down to face Ga-yeong. “We still need to wait for a judge to approve it.”
Gi-hun nodded, “But don’t worry, you can call me anytime you want” He forced himself to smile confidently.
Eun-ji hummed. “Now why don't you say goodbye to your father?”
The two left not long after. Ga-yeong had waved at him, before she had been ushered into a grey car, presumably Do-hyeok coming to pick them up. She continued to wave to Gi-hun through the rear window as they drove away, and so Gi-hun kept waving until the car was out of sight.
Gi-hun knew they already couldn’t afford the day with Ga-yeong, so he walked home. He didn’t mind walking, he told himself, he needed to clear his head anyway.
Turns out he did mind walking actually. The walk home had turned out to be much longer than Gi-hun had expected—several hours longer—and now his legs were aching and sore. As if that wasn’t enough, Gi-hun had been caught in unyielding pouring rain, without anything other than his hands to protect himself from the heavy waterdrops.
Gi-hun had long since given up on wringing his clothes dry, and was now steadily dripping rivulets down onto the damp sidewalk. It was hypnotising watching the rhythmic pitter-patter of the water droplets, dripping from his hair down onto the asphalt, and Gi-hun completely forgot about the world around him—that was until he bumped into somebody.
“Sorry... Sang-woo?!” Gi-hun asked incredulously. He leaned forward to get a clearer look of the man's face.
“Gi-hun?” Sang-woo readjusted the cigarette hanging from his mouth. “What are you doing here?”
“I was just,” Gi-hun lamely gestured behind him with a finger, “going home— What are you doing here?”
Sang-woo stilted, glancing down at the ground. He poked at a soggy cigarette butt with the point of his polished leather shoe.
“I’m going back.”
“You’re what?!” Gi-hun exclaimed. “Can you even do that?”
“They slid a card under my door. They must be surveying us.” Sang-woo took a drag of his cigerette, glancing at Gi-hun. “You're not re-joining.”
“How did you know?” Gi-hun asked surprised, eyes widening comically.
"Well you would be calling the card and waiting for your own car right now.” Sang-woo drawled, stepping backwards to create some space between them again. Gi-hun thought of the small heap of ripped up cardboard at the bottom of his trash. It only made him more sure of his discission.
Gi-hun huffed, “yeah, I don’t think I’m cut out for that, anyway. I have responsibilities now. Plus I was almost dead, just from one little accidental slip.”
Sang-woo swallowed and looked down at the ground. “Do you think I’ll survive?” He asked.
Gi-hun paused, “Do you want the truth?”
Sang-woo nodded.
“No,” Gi-hun said soberly.
Sang-woo nodded again, taking a drag from his cigarette again. They stood like that for a minute, before Gi-hun asked: “Did you ever tell her—about the money?”
Sang-woo looked away, staring off into the distance. “No. I can’t bear her knowing.”
“I'm sure your mother cares more about your well-being above anything else. You should hear her, always going on about her little Sang-woo, that used to love her cooking and who never cried when he scraped his knees,” Gu-hun huffed maudlinly.
Sang-woo rubbed his temple. “I-it's not like I have any other option.”
“Sure you do,” Go-hun reached out to pat Sang-woo shoulder before thinking better of it. He quickly lowered his hand before Sang-woo noticed, “You’ll figure out another way! You’re smart like that. You will work it out soon, I’m sure! Just like that one time we got caught shoplifting, remember? That shop by the park?”
Sang-woo smiled faintly at the memory. “Yeah… I had purple bruises from that bathroom window for weeks afterward.”
“Me too, and I lost my shoe on the way out the window—told my mother a street dog had stolen it..” Gi-hun chuckled quietly. “The point is, you're good at figuring things out quickly.”
Sang-woo huffed a laugh, a puff of smoke following his breath.
“Anyway, you can always stay with me while you get back on your feet. Your mother too, if you choose to file for bankruptcy,” Gi-hun said.
“…You would let me do that?”
“Yeah, of course,” Gi-hun smiled toothily, “Whatever the problem is, I’m sure we can figure it out together. Every problem has a solution!”
Sang-woo looked down at the ground, a troublesome experience on his face. “Do you mean that?”
“Yeah! Come on, let’s go back to my place and we can figure out where to go from then on.” Gi-hun said, placing a guiding hand on Sang-woo’s arm. “Together!”
Sang-woo hesitated for a moment, then he dropped his cigarette stub on the ground and stomped out the embers and looked Gi-hun expectantly in the face. Gi-hun smiled and slapped Sang-woo's shoulder.
Maybe life would turn around for Gi-hun now…