Chapter Text
Gi-hun’s eyes blink open slowly. The first thing his brain registers is the numbness in his body and the pungent smell of chemicals.
It takes him a second to let his memories catch up. He was.. he was supposed to be dead right now. He had sacrificed his life for Jun-hee’s baby. Why was he still alive?
His eyes finally started to look around the room he was in. A hospital room, by the look of it. And a darn expensive one.
Gi-hun’s gaze falls to his body, and he tenses slightly at the sight of it. Bandages were wrapped tightly all over him, and his right leg had been placed in a cast.
He understood why; such a fall would’ve been fatal. An IV drip was attached to his wrist, pushing what he assumed were painkillers (as he wasn’t feeling any pain from what definitely should hurt) into his bloodstream.
And finally, he turns to look beside him.
And almost flings himself off the bed.
Why? Because sitting right next to him, was the one and only Frontman, cradling Jun-hee’s baby in his arms as they both slept. He looked so.. innocent like this. His body would be sore after sleeping for who knows how long in that position.
Ugh- why did he even care if that bastard was sore? He’d lied to him, for god's sake. Gi-hun doesn’t even know if Young-il is his real name or not. Or if his whole story about his sick wife was true.
Gi-hun sighs, looking back down at the baby. She seemed.. healthy. So the Frontman was at least taking care of her properly, then. He wanted to take her from his arms, but he knew that he’d wake up if he did. He really couldn’t be asked to deal with the drama right now as well.
Suddenly, the Frontman’s body shifts slightly. Gi-hun watches quietly, his body freezing up to not bring attention to himself, and he quickly shuts his eyes to pretend to be asleep.
He hears a quiet groan, and the chair squeaking as the Frontman shifted his weight on it- before the sound suddenly pauses.
“Gi-hun..?”
Oh crap.
Gi-hun lies still for a moment before he huffs and opens his eyes again, wincing at the brightness as he looks back towards Young-il.
The expression he found on his face wasn’t what he was expecting. He looked almost.. relieved?
“You’re awake,” he grins, before quickly erasing the relief on his face. “I’ll go call the doctors.”
Young-il stands quickly, placing the baby into a cot that he’d only just noticed now, before leaving the room.
What in the ever living fuck just happened? Why was he so happy to see Gi-hun awake again?
The door opens again, this time Young-il had a nurse alongside him who quickly rushed up to Gi-hun.
“Mr Seong Gi-hun,” she to him, giving a friendly smile “It’s nice to see your awake.”
“Uhm.. thanks? What exactly happened?” he questions
The nurse’s face turned pitiful, and Gi-hun's curiosity just dampened even more. Was it that bad?
“You’ve been in a coma for around two months now, sir.” the nurse informs, taking a clipboard and pen out. “Could I ask you a couple of questions to make sure your memory is fine?”
Two months?
An entire two months had passed since the end of the squid games? And he’d spent the whole time sleeping?
“Sir..?”
“Ah- right. Yeah, it’s fine..” he says, realising they’d been staring at him. Young-il had a strange expression on his face.
“Okay. Firstly, do you remember what year it is right now?”
“2024. At least before I went into.. the coma.” Gi-hun tries to think back to the latest date he remembers.
The nurse asks him a couple more questions, writing down the answers he gives on the clipboard before giving him one final smile and leaving.
Leaving him and the bastard alone.
“..Gi-hun-“
“Don’t speak to me, Young-il. Or is that even your real name? Because you're so afraid to even show your true identity, coward.” he hisses, not even turning to look.
If he wasn’t so injured Gi-hun would’ve been choking the life out of him already.
Young-il, tman, whatever his name was, flinches before he exhales deeply, settling back down into the chair, the baby still curled up in his arms.
“I’m sorry.” is all he says after a moment. “My real name is Hwang In-ho.”
Oh. That explains things, then. Had Jun-ho known his true identity all of this time?
They sit for a while in silence, before the baby begins to wake up, beginning to cry loudly,
In-ho swears quietly before he stands, pulling out a bottle of milk from his bag. Gi-hun watches him as he settles back down, pressing the milk into her lips and letting her drink it.
It felt oddly domestic, sitting here watching In-ho feed the baby. This whole time, had he been taking care of her?
“Why do you still have her?” Gi-hun asks. In-ho’s head sharply turns up towards him, their eyes meeting.
“..I wanted to find what you saw in her,” he says carefully after thinking. “Why you sacrificed yourself over something so small.”
“Why are you so determined to keep me alive?” This felt like an interrogation at this point. But he had to know the answers.
“I can’t lose you.” In-ho mutters “Not now.”
What the hell did that mean?
The baby finally finishes with the milk, and In-ho takes the bottle from her mouth before putting it back away into the bag. He lifts her over his shoulder, burping her before he glances up at Gi-hun.
“Do you.. want to hold her?”
Gi-hun nods instantly, forcing his body up before he’s quickly stopped by In-ho with a panicked look on his face.
“Don’t- don’t get up. You could break the stitches.” In-ho breathes in deep, seemingly relaxing as he deems that Gi-hun wouldn’t attempt to sit up again. “Here.”
In-ho gently lowers the baby down into his arms. His arms tighten around her as soon as he lets go, eyes dropping to her face.
He swore to protect his baby with his life, and he would follow that promise out.
“You should name her,” In-ho suggests as he watches the pair with a fond look.
For a while, Gi-hun is silent. Naming a child that wasn’t even his in the first place felt.. odd. But then he remembers Ga-yeong; he was the happiest he’d ever been in his entire life when she was born.
“Geum-ja.” he finally says. Precious child.
“Player 149? Why her?” In-ho’s eyes widened a little, taken aback by the suggestion.
“Because she was the one I promised that I would protect Jun-hee’s baby.”
Gi-hun doesn’t pay much attention to In-ho after that, instead focusing on gently brushing his hands through Geum-ja’s short hair.
She’d grown quite a bit since the last time he’d seen her. Well, fair enough, she was only two days old. Her hair had begun to grow properly, and she could begin to lift her head slightly by herself.
It doesn’t seem like Geum-ja recognises him, although. Gi-hun isn’t all too surprised about that.
Around thirty minutes later, the door to his room clicks open and a nurse pokes their head in.
“Visiting hours are over now, sir.”
In-ho nods his head, standing from the chair that he’d been sitting quietly in the whole time, just watching. He turns to Gi-hun, taking Geum-ja from his arms.
“I’ll be back tomorrow,” he says, before grabbing his things and heading to the door.
He pauses slightly just before leaving, eyes turning back for one final look towards Gi-hun. And then, he leaves, disappearing without a trace.
Once he’d left, the nurse fully entered the room, this time holding a tray with rice and the classic red hospital jelly.
“Here’s your dinner. It’s not too much for now, so your body can get used to digesting food like usual again,” she informs him, placing the tray onto his lap. “Use the call button if you’d like any help.”
The nurse leaves, and Gi-hun sighs, picking up a spoon as he pokes at the jelly with it.
His mind keeps coming back to In-ho. How many days had he spent here with Geum-ja, sitting quietly by his side as he was in a coma?
Did he really care about Gi-hun that much?