Good Night

redoing this again because i sort of have no other choice

the long and short of it: hi im kari , im an artist / writer who primarily draws / writes for the squid game fandom ; ive been out of work for 3 weeks with no income coming in , and upon starting my new job today , i was informed that i was bold face lied to about the amount of pay i’d be receiving during my orientation and am subsequently looking to get my old job back. i fucking hate doing this , i hate to beg for money , but i am completely broke. i am willing to draw or write basically anything ( writing is subject to how familiar i am with the source material ) , and im even willing to negotiate on the prices if you deem them too high. i just need some cash to get me through until i can get my old job back.

Head Square In Charge, voiceover on tutorial: ... And as usual, make sure you watch the ENTIRE TUTORIAL BEFORE proceeding.

*In-ho scratches his head as Gi-hun inspects pieces of a half-disassembled mainframe they took apart under the control room*

Tutorial: Now, look for a black wire-

*In-ho pauses the video as he and Gi-hun look for it*

Gi-hun: Ah-ha! *yanks it out*

In-ho: Good. *hits play*

Tutorial: Do NOT disconnect it, and IF you disconnect it-

Gi-hun: Oh, sh😮! SH😱!

In-ho: Gimme that! *plugs it in*

*sirens start BLARING!*

Tutorial: -Do NOT reconnect it.

*they look at each other and In-ho facepalms while lays facedown on the floor*

Tutorial: If it's reconnected, the self-destruct sequence will commen—

*COMPUTER EXPLODES!*

~

*island in a fireball as the soldiers watch from a neighboring sandbar*

Back to answering asks....

Body worship!!

(There’s this one and another one like it—I’d forgotten about the emojis 😭😭)

Gi-hun doesn’t understand In-ho. He lies in that bed all day, his ankle chained, being fed and given water, and honestly, he’s really bored. In-ho always tells him they’ll be going home soon—he just needs to finish the logistical process on the island. Honestly, Gi-hun doesn’t care. Young-il tricked him, betrayed him, and now is holding him captive, using his friends as bargaining chips. Gi-hun thinks Jun-ho has stopped looking for him, and he just wants to escape that island—even if it means swimming.

But In-ho is still strange. Every night after a day’s work, he comes to bed with him. He’s never done anything with Gi-hun—at least not directly—but physical contact is inevitable. It started with his fingertips on random spots, then his palm, and finally his lips, as if he adored the man in front of him

In-ho kisses Gi-hun’s forehead, his eyes, cheeks, and lips; he moves down to his neck and up to his ear, sending shivers down Gi-hun’s spine. His bare fingers trace his shoulders, his prominent collarbone, his chest, circling his chocolate-colored nipples, along each rib, his slim waist, and his prominent hip bones.

Gi-hun struggled in the early days, which is why he was taking… something. He was sure it was a sedative, like a local anesthetic. His body felt like lead, too heavy to move, yet sensitive enough to feel everything. He had no choice but to accept In-ho’s caresses, to feel that bulge against his hip, touching him. And finally, when In-ho grew tired, they’d fall asleep clinging to Gi-hun, promising just a few more days before they’d leave that place, and then he’d finally take Gi-hun as his own.

Idk when exactly

But it's coming

Okay, let’s skip the context (since I didn’t come up with one) of Gi-hun being forced to be cared for by In-ho like a baby. Snacks, stuffed animals, toys, playpens—the whole shebang. But what about the language?

Until Inho starts spanking him every time he speaks Korean and Gihun fights back but he gets mittens on his hands and is locked in his crib.

Listening to Moulin Rouge and watching a video essay on The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas and just—

Hwang In-ho is one of the most feared mob bosses in Seoul. He inherited the title from Oh Il-nam, his mentor and one of the cruelest men to ever roam the streets. But, Il-nam was a business man first and foremost, so he had many operations throughout the city. Most were fronts for more nefarious businesses—laundromats, cafes and restaurants, a copy store. But one of his more well-known businesses in the underworld was a rather ritzy burlesque show. People from all over the country would come to see the people who performed their.

And the main star of this burlesque? None other than Seong Gi-hun. A man with soft, curly locks and the biggest brown doe eyes anyone had ever seen. He’d have all types of fans and callers every night. Il-nam seemed to favor the boy, but that didn’t make him any less cruel to him. But, even bald in the day, In-ho was fascinated by the star of the show. How kind he was to his other workers (dancers, bartenders, bouncers, you name it). He’d take on extra shifts of someone was tired to work, no matter how tired or worn out he was. And he was always protective of his fellow performers and if a particularly mean client came in, he’d shield them. Often ending up taking a few hits for them as well. In a world where it was better to look out only for yourself, Gi-hun wore his heart on his sleeve. In-ho was fascinated.

As it goes, In-ho would often pay to spend time with Gi-hun after some shifts. But he would insist the two just talk, give Gi-hun something of a break. Gi-hun was confused at first but grew to enjoy just spending time and talking to In-ho. In-ho would try and have a night alone with Gi-hun once or twice a week, just to see the star, talk to him, let him know he could rest. And slowly, Gi-hun began to fall for In-ho as much as In-ho fell for Gi-hun. But Gi-hun was up for the grabs, and an old friend of his, Cho Sang-woo, also bought some of Gi-hun’s time.

Eventually, Sang-woo offered to buy out Gi-hun’s contract and “set him free. And in a jealous fit, In-ho picked a fight with Gi-hun, and Gi-hun said that if that’s what ended up happening, In-ho would have to except it. Heartbroken, In-ho said he didn’t care what a “common whore” did with his time, and left. He didn’t go back to the burlesque again after that. But he heard through the grapevine that Sang-woo’s offer fell flat because turns out he was broke. But In-ho was to embarrassed to go back, thinking Gi-hun would want nothing to do with him after their fight.

Fast forward to after Il-nam dies, In-ho is going around to all the businesses he now owns. Making sure they’re running smoothly, fixing up those that aren’t, and cutting any loose ends he has to. He saves the burlesque for last, mostly because it’s become one of the most reputable places on Il-nam’s list. That’s because toward the end of his life, Il-nam made Gi-hun the manager and “Madame” of the house and Gi-hun has made the place not only profitable but safe for his employees.

Customers are actually screened before entering (a ridiculous notion when Il-nam ran the place), bouncers actually protect the performers instead of the customer, and any one (performers, bartenders, you name it) is allowed to say no to anything. Not to mention Gi-hun pays pretty well. In-ho is impressed when he finally makes his way there. The new performances are modern, but tasteful. Fresh blood for a dying medium, but always entertaining. The performers look up to Gi-hun like he’s the mother hen of the house, and he wears it like a badge of honor.

Eventually, Gi-hun and In-ho meet face-to-face after years of not seeing each other. It’s cordial at first, strictly business. About career advancements, life, the weather. But Gi-hun has always been curious and In-ho could never deny him anything, so the talks get more personal. They talk about their days, the performances, In-ho’s private investigator brother who won’t leave well enough alone and Gi-hun insists that In-ho should just talk to the kid already, they talk about some of the younger girls who came to work for Gi-hun, like the North Korean defector working to support her and her little brother or the young girl who was dumped by her trashy boyfriend and now works there to support her newborn baby, and how Gi-hun just adores them all. In-ho remembers all to quickly why he fell for Gi-hun way back when.

It just happens that In-ho usually spends his evenings there, at the bar, unwinding. Even when there’s not really a show there, he still shows up to the bar, still shows up to talk to Gi-hun, is just there. Gi-hun finds himself just as easily charmed as back then, but remembers that In-ho has bigger responsibilities now as head of the mob and what would he want with an old washed up performer like Gi-hun anyway? But one day, In-ho enters Gi-hun’s office and asks about purchasing someone’s time for the evening and, heart dying a little inside but knowing it’s just business and it’s about time In-ho buy sometime with a performer, he’s been coming here for six months now and just drinking whiskey at the bar, Gi-hun ask who he wants and how much he’s willing to pay.

Then In-ho asks for a night with Gi-hun. Gi-hun thinks he misheard, but In-ho just locks the office door and walks over to Gi-hun and asks “How much for a night with you?” Gi-hun blushes and says he’s not really available anymore, he’s not as spry as he once was, not as pretty, not as talented, and surely In-ho would want someone younger, who could satisfy him better. But In-ho says he doesn’t want another performer, he wants Gi-hun. Gi-hun just starts spitting out names of performers he thinks are In-ho’s “type” and In-ho just counters by saying he’ll pay a ridiculously higher and higher amount of money for Gi-hun with each name that he offers.

In-ho comes into the burlesque, intending to find the new manager, but doesn’t spot him. So he wanders to the bar and finds Jung-bae, who he recognizes as a good friend of Gi-hun’s. Now Jung-bae remembers In-ho and how he and Gi-hun parted ways but he can’t be out right rude to the man who owns his workplace so he remains coldly polite, which In-ho understands and appreciates a bit. The two get to talking, mainly about the girl playing piano by the back of the stage. Her name is Ji-yeong, she ran away from her abusive dad, and she works here after Gi-hun took her in (“Ever the bleeding heart, I see” In-ho thinks). In-ho says she’s good but since she’s performing she should be center stage.

But Jung-bae says she’s not performing. She’s just riffing until the actual performance starts. As he gets the whiskey he ordered from the bar, In-ho asks Jung-bae who is performing. Jung-bae says Gi-hun took the slot. In-ho is shocked (and not a bit jealous what are you talking about) and asks if Gi-hun still performs regularly. Jung-bae says he doesn’t, but one of their performers Jun-hee, called off cause her usual babysitter is sick, so Gi-hun took her slot for the night so she could stay with her kid. And then the lights dim, the spotlight shifts, and then In-ho sees him. Sees Gi-hun.

He looks amazing. Older, but aged wonderfully, like a fine wine. He’s still as long and lean as he was back then. The soft curls In-ho used to adore are gone, but his shorter hair and micro-bangs make him look so handsome In-ho finds he can’t complain too much. He’s got a little bit of make up on, some shiny lip gloss and a bit of glitter by his brown eyes, enough to accentuate his natural looks. And he’s wearing these tight, black leather pants, a sheer white shirt with a bit of floral pattern to it to hide enough to tempt the mind, the shirt itself is unbuttoned a bit, giving the audience just a peek of Gi-hun’s chest, and he’s wearing an old fur coat over his shoulders as a last minute accessory. It’s not like Gi-hun’s old burlesque outfits, not as risqué or revealing, but it’s mature and so perfect for Gi-hun now that a few people start wolf-whistling in the audience when the spotlight catches him.

In-ho spills some of his drink in his lap when he first sees Gi-hun. He doesn’t notice.

As Gi-hun performs, he starts by softly enough to tease, his voice matured over the years and worn rough by singing and cigarettes, but his voice is still as addictive as In-ho remembers it being. And the way he works the crowd in a different but still highly effective way. He starts with draping his coat across Ji-yeong’s shoulders, which earns him an affectionate eyeroll from the girl, before meandering his way down to the audience by the stage. He tossles some hair here, pinches a cheek there, he even steals someone’s cigarette and puffs some smoke into the patron’s face. The crowd is completely entranced, hooked into his performance. And then Gi-hun turns toward the bar with a friendly smirk, intending to raise a toast to Jung-bae at the bar, but falters when he sees In-ho.

He looks good. Really good. Unfairly good. He heard In-ho took over the mob that owns his burlesque after Il-nam died, and the man looks the part of the cold, calculating mob boss. He’s wearing this black suit that just oozes authority, his jaw is still as sharp as ever, his eyes as deliciously intense as Gi-hun remembers them being, and he just looks so handsome under the bar light. Gi-hun’s eyes widened a bit. He knew In-ho would probably show up at some point, see how things are running, but to see him here, staring at Gi-hun so intensely, it flusters Gi-hun a bit. He still continues the song, no problem, he’s a professional afterall, but his face has a noticeable flush to it, like he put on blush, but he didn’t.

Gi-hun finishes the song by teasing a few more audience members. Seductively pulling a tie or two, blowing some kisses, the simple stuff. Then he makes his way back to the stage and puts a bit of a show into walking toward the back curtain, making sure the crowd is staring at him as he walks away. It’s both harder and easier to do this part now that Gi-hun knows In-ho is watching him, staring at him in that intense way that used to drive Gi-hun crazy. Gi-hun feels a bit of an anxious flutter in his chest when he can feel In-ho staring at his ass as he struts back to the curtain.

As the song concludes and before Gi-hun disappears backstage, he turns and winks flirtatiously over his shoulder, technically to the whole crowd, but he aims it directly at In-ho, a sort of greeting, a direct acknowledgment that Gi-hun saw him there, and he welcomes him back, before telling the crowd to “Enjoy the show~” And disappears behind the curtain. Ji-yeong finishes her part, bows to the crowd, and then follows Gi-hun backstage. Back at the bar, Jung-bae applauds his best friend’s performance and finally turns to look at In-ho. He’s staring at where Gi-hun disappeared behind the curtain, eyes wide and jaw slacker, and he spilled his whiskey in his lap and doesn’t seem to have noticed. To spellbound by Gi-hun’s performance. Jung-bae can only roll his eyes because he knows what’s gonna happen before these two idiots even do.

And what inspired this update you might ask? Why me listening to this song and imagining Gi-hun singing it in this AU. You’re welcome 😘

Inho is having a bad day. It also happens to be his birthday—not that he would celebrate anything ever again after what happened last year, but still.

It’s raining and the traffic in Seoul is hellish. He took an unfamiliar route and his car broke down in front of a run-down chicken shop.

The owner offered him a place to rest, and a plate of freshly fried chicken when he noticed it was Inho’s birthday.