#sinu han

"By the way, Yeonhui," you said, sitting with your old friend at the table where Samuel already ordered two servings of jjajangmyeon[2], "where's that brat, Sinu Han?"

The air turned stale and you blinked slowly. "What is it? Did I say something wrong?"

The other girls and members of Big Deal hung their heads while Yeonhui rubbed her elbow. "He's… on a little trip."

"Is that so," you hummed, wiping your hands with the wet tissues from your purse, "a business trip, I'm assuming?"

"Yeah, something like that."

You grabbed a boiled egg that was served with the rest of the side dishes. "I knew it. Sinu's a goofball but he loves this street more than anything, I'm sure whatever he's doing, it's for Big Deal."

Samuel closed his eyes. Jake clenched his fists.

"Er, sorry, I'm acting like I know everything when I haven't even talked to him in a decade."

"No," Yeonhui replied, smiling softly, "you're right. Sinu's protecting us right now."

You finished peeling the boiled egg and placed it on Yeonhui's plate. "Tell you what, when he comes back, let's go out for drinks."

Yeonhui stared at the egg, holding back her tears before smiling at you. "Sounds good."

Jake turned to Samuel. "Hey, about that favor you owe me."

Samuel watched you talk and laugh without a care in the world. "Fine. Let's go somewhere private."

***

Of course you knew Sinu Han wasn't here. He was still stuck somewhere doing God knows what for the Workers. If you were a good friend, hell, if you were a good person, you would have begged your brother to free him.

But you didn't know where to start, you don't even remember what the Workers are. You just knew they were bad news.

Deep in your heart, you knew that you should have done more, but you've reached a point in your life where it was easier to just go with the flow. Besides, considering how much of the original plot remained despite your minor interferences, Sinu Han was bound to be liberated.

"Noona?"

Samuel's voice pulled you out of your inner thoughts and you blinked. "Huh?"

"Your seatbelt."

"Oh, right." You buckled up. "Sorry."

"It's fine," he said, starting his car. "I guess you're still on cloud nine."

"Y-yeah, I guess."

He smiled and pulled into the main road.

"…hey, Sammy, you said that you never really kept in touch with everyone, right?"[3]

His fingers on the wheel seemed to jerk, but his expression was unreadable. "That's right."

"I see."

"What's bothering you?"

"I just…" You drew circles on the center console. "I'm worried about Sinu is all. Yeonhui said that he was on a trip, but I can tell something's wrong. Do you… really not know anything?"

"I'm afraid not," he answered, eyes on the road.

"Okay…"

He briefly glanced at you from the corner of his eyes.

When he stopped at a red light, Samuel put his hand over yours. "Don't worry too much."

You met his eyes and he smiled.

"When he comes back, drink to your heart's content."

***

Weeks later, Sinu Han returned to Big Deal and into Yeonhui's arms.

It was so touching you almost cried yourself—almost.

"You're not going to cry?" Jake Kim asked, standing beside you as you watched Yeonhui tearfully scold Sinu for taking so long to come home.

"I think everyone's doing enough of that," you mumbled, looking over at the sobbing men and women of Big Deal. "Besides I haven't kept in touch in years, I have no right to cry for them."

Jake coughed. "Samuel's not with you?"

"He said he had business to take care of." It was definitely gang-related. As usual, you looked the other way and didn't ask any more questions.

"Sounds about right."

The others proceeded to surround Sinu, taking turns to welcome him home. You decided to stay back and Jake saw an opportunity.

"You knew my dad, didn't you?"

"How do you—"

"You thought I was him when you got drunk."

"Oh." You and your damn mouth. "Listen, it's not what you think. I'm not your sister or anything. I was just some kid he sponsored."

"My dad funded a lot of schools and orphanages, he also had disciples, but I never heard of him sponsoring a single person like he did for you."

"Did Samuel tell you that?"

"Samuel told me to go fuc—ahem, to go ask someone else."

"So you did a background check on me, is that it?"

"It wasn't a background check."

The day before he started the operation to rescue Sinu, Jake went to visit Minseon Kang.

He drove all the way from Gangseo, but now that he was standing outside his mother's gate, he found himself frozen in place and unable to ring the doorbell. He had a lot of things in his mind. The most important matter was Sinu Han. But he couldn't even rest without recalling everything you subjected him to.

The gate opened and his mother, half-asleep and irritated, told him to come inside.

Minseon prepared a pot of herbal tea and the two of them sat in the living room.

"To what do I owe the pleasure, my dear gangster son?"

"Gangster son? Mom…"

"You do not know how proud I am as a mother to see the son I gave birth to and raised become a common thug. Like gangster father, like gangster son... I guess blood really is fucking thicker than water." [4]

"Why are you upset today?"

Exhausted, Minseon answered with a question, "So, what brings you here at this ungodly hour?"

"Well—"

"You rarely call and almost never visit, but now you do and it's what, two in the morning? Truly, such a filial son I have raised."

"…I'll apologize properly, mother."

"No need." She poured him a cup of tea. "Well, son, what's the matter?"

"…"

"What?"

"I'm afraid you'll cut me off and say something sarcastic again."

"I'm done venting so go ahead and explain why you're here. It must be important since you drove overnight and visited me at two-ten in the morning."

Jake cautiously waited for his mother to start sipping tea before he spoke again. "I met a woman the other day."

Minseon stopped drinking and he hurriedly added, "It's not what you think! She's the nurse who examined me before I left prison—things happened and she got drunk and mistook me for Gapryong Kim."

"…"

"…"

Minseon put down her cup and sighed. "Drinking with the nurse who helped you, huh. Guess you really are your father's son."

"I swear it's not like that!"

"I'm kidding."

Somehow he doubted that.

He leaned closer and explained, "She knew dad and she's only a few years older than me. She talked like she and dad were close, almost like she was his daughter—and I know that's impossible—"

"You're right, it's impossible. You don't have any sisters as far as I know—" Her eyes widened briefly as if realizing something.

"What is it?"

"It's nothing." She shook her head. "You don't have any sisters, but I know exactly who you're talking about. You say that she's a nurse who's only a little older than you, right?"

"Yeah."

"It's probably her." Minseon poured herself another cup. "It was a surprise, actually. Your father and I seldom talked and he was never home, but one night, he called me. He sounded like a child on his birthday. He said he wanted me to meet someone—a young stray he picked up from the streets."

Jake made a face and Minseon chuckled.

"I thought he was going to acknowledge one of his illegitimate and put her name in the registry, but no, she really was a Japanese stray—didn't even speak Korean all that well. She wasn't afraid of your dad, but she looked utterly terrified of me, or maybe intimidated is the more appropriate term. She was cute, like a little kitten or rabbit. Anyway, your dad proposed that we adopted her—"

"!?"

"—I was shocked, so shocked that I couldn't even be angry. I was just so... shocked."

"…"

"She was cute, polite and clever, so I probably would have agreed to it after tearing your father a new one, but she rejected the offer before I could even talk."

"She did?"

"Isn't that funny? Countless children dream of having the legendary Gapryong Kim for a father, yet this little stray, the one kid he actually wanted, outright refused his offer. Do you know what she told us?" Minseon grinned like was about to share the greatest joke in history. "She told us it wouldn't be fair to you, our son, and to the other bastards your father sired."

"What…" Between your rejection of Gapryong Kim's offer and the realization that he really did have half-siblings, Jake was too stunned to speak.

"You made the same face your father did." Minseon put down the tea and reached for a cigarette. "A nameless girl who could barely speak our language showed more maturity and empathy than your father—if we really did adopt her, I wonder if maybe he would have changed.

"She claimed that she didn't want any trouble; insisted that Gapryong's funding wasn't charity or affection but payment for saving one of his men's life. She promised me that once she graduated, we would never hear from her again. She was precocious and made her boundaries clear—heh, she reminded me of…" Minseon's eyes glazed over.

"Reminded you of what?"

"…it's nothing. Forget it." Minseon lit her cigarette.

"Mother, please, I'm… I'm tired of being in the dark. I just found out that dad wanted to adopt a complete stranger, and that you would have agreed to it too—then I find out that I'm not his only child." He even found out that Sinu was sold to the Workers too late. "It's frustrating to always be the last to find out."

Minseon blew out the smoke.

Mother and son sat in silence before she finally relented.

"Your father and I had an agreement to never tell you the truth. It was his idea, I guess for all his scumminess, he cared for you in his own way." She sucked on the cigarette again.

"What was his idea?"

"Jake, we were never supposed to get married, we only did because married politicians were looked on more favorably by the public and I… well, I had my reasons. It wasn't love though, not for him, anyway."

"Mom…"

"Your father already belonged to somebody else. When she died, she took half of his heart with her." Minseon looked at the window and at the moon hanging above. "She took a lot of hearts with her."

Jake couldn't get over that conversation with his mother. Growing up, he never once saw her cry, not when the maids whispered about her husband not coming home, not when her so-called friends with whom she played mahjong would bring up Gapryong Kim's infidelity; but while describing the woman who took Gapryong Kim's heart to the grave, she looked like she was about to break down, like her own heart was taken too.

Just who was that woman?

"Jake?" You waved your hand in front of him.

"It wasn't a background check," he repeated. "I just spoke with my mom."

"No need to get defensive. Come on." You walked over to a nearby bench and sat down. You patted the space next to you. "I hope Mrs. Kim is okay."

"She's doing fine."

"Well, you asked Sammy and you asked Mrs. Kim, what is it you want to ask me?"

"…Mom told me that that basta—that my dad wanted to adopt you."

"Yes, it's true."

"Why didn't you let him?"

"I don't like debts and I didn't want to owe Gapryong Kim anything. We had a business relationship as far as I'm concerned. Paying for my studies and keeping a roof over my head is a small price to pay for saving someone's life."

"But if you were adopted then you could've had more opportunities."

"Let me ask you this: you're his son but you don't use his name or his money, why is that?"

Jake looked up at the sky and breathed out. "Okay, I think I get you now."

"Is that all you wanted to ask me? It's not everyday I'm willing to sit down and be interviewed, you know."

He was hesitant as he began, "…the other night…when you got drunk…"

"What is it?"

Your drunken rambling replayed in his head: "…s-speaking of that bastard, tell your son to stop hovering over me, okay? Sure he’s hot, but he’s too fucking big! I couldn’t walk for days ‘cause of that assss…hole…"

Jake pondered over it. You seemed to be… acquainted with one of his half-brothers. "I don't know how to bring it up."

You caught the way his ears turned red and you felt your stomach hollow out. "I-I didn't say or do anything that offended you, did I?" You didn't grope him, did you? You really needed to cut down on the drinking.

Before Jake could answer, Sinu appeared before the two of you. "Holy shit, it really is you, noona!"

"Hi Sinu. Still lively as ever I see."

He winked before bending down and whisper to Jake, "Samuel's been pining over her for years. Don't tell him but I'm rooting for you—ow, ow, OW! Noona stop it!"

You were pressing on his left hip. "You dislocated it, didn't you?"

Yeonhui gasped from beside him, "What?!"

"I could tell the moment I saw you walking over here," you said. "We should bring him to the ER."

"I'm fine. Anyway, Jake—ow! Stop it!"

"I'm impressed. The acetabulofemoral joint is the most stable joint in the body, whoever did this must've been super strong."

"You're impressed? I take it back, Jake, stay away—this woman eats men's hearts for breakfast—OW!"

[1] Yeonhui (and Sinu Han) and Reader are close in age—closer than say, Samuel/Jake and Reader in age. I'm keeping their ages vague, but Yeonhui uses "unnie" because our noona just has that cool big sis vibe, you feel me?

Also, for those who are unfamiliar with Yeonhui and Sinu Han, here is what they look like:

[2] Jjajangmyeon. Korean. Black bean sauce over noodles.

[3] Some backstory here:

When Noona still lived next to Samuel's family, the two of them collected trash around Gangseo together. Big Deal Street was part of their route, but after Noona left (sponsored by Gap Kim), Samuel didn't return until he was a middle schooler.

He did officially join Big Deal with Jake Kim (as per canon), but eventually left.

Samuel never disclosed his history as an official gang member of Big Deal to Noona. He told her that he knows Jake "from school" lol and Noona being Noona, chose to believe him.

[4] Minseon really did say this in the comic, by the way. 😂 Oh, Mrs. Kim, you deserve more than that fucker who called himself your husband.

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Disclaimer: The images used are screencaptures from Ep. 303, 306, 315 & 394 - Lookism, Webtoon.

My Baby Brother is the Strongest Character Masterlist

You had known Jake since childhood, having grown up with him alongside Jerry. You had mutual respect for each other, and even if you weren’t much of a fighter, he knew you could handle yourself if need be.

Jake cleaned his teeth with a toothpick while you walked beside him, your phone out, trying to call Sinu Han, who wasn’t answering. It was starting to irritate you that he wasn’t answering, I mean he didn’t have much to do, so why wasn’t he answering you?

Ahead of you and Jake, you finally see Sinu, along with a very tall and muscular man. Dare you say, handsome? (You do dare). They seemed to be fighting, but that was the last thing on your mind. You first had to complain to Sinu about him not answering your phone calls.

“Sinu, why aren’t you answering your phone? Seriously Jake, we don’t have to bring him with us do we?” You exclaim, redirecting the last question towards the man beside you, who seems to ignore you.

“We were gonna get rice sou-, hey what’s with the vibes here?” Jake says, dropping the toothpick to the ground as the stranger comes up and hugs him before saying “Found you” in a deep gruff voice.

The stranger was way better looking up close. Yep, you do dare say handsome. The scene however confuses you. Did Jake know this guy? Why were they hugging? It didn’t make much sense because you knew all of Jake’s friends and this wasn’t one of them.

“Finally, the last one” A deep voice breaks through your train of thought. This stranger is now hugging Jake to his side, holding onto one of the gloves Jake’s father, Gapryong Kim, left him. 

“Huh, last one? You mean father’s glove” Jake questions the strange man. You pipe up, giving your two cents on what was happening.

“They are nice gloves Jake, you have to admit that” This leads the stranger to finally take note of you. He makes prolonged eye contact with you as he brings a smoking pipe and lighter to his lips, where a smirk forms. Wait…you know that lighter, it’s Jake’s mothers!

“She said she would give it to me if I didn’t kill her son. Your mom requested to not shed blood amongst relatives.”. Relatives? It all clicked, they didn’t look identical but there were some similarities. The hair, the nose, that jawline, this was Jake’s half-brother, Gitae Kim!

“I’m gonna ask you a question. If I don’t like your answer I’ll kill you” Gitae states, thickening the tension that was already in the air. He wouldn’t actually kill Jake, would he?

“What do you think of Gapryong Kim?”. After hearing the question, Jake grabs Gitae’s shirt collar and looks up at him. Jake is already a big guy, but Gitae is ridiculously huge. He could crush you with one hand if he wanted to. I can only hope that Gitae hates Gapryong Kim just as much as Jake. I don’t doubt his strength, but I doubt he could fight Gitae, the man was quite literally built differently.

You weren’t listening but soon see Gitae pickup Jake like he is a baby. Holy Shit! That is the only thought that crosses your mind at what you are witnessing. That and how good-looking Gitae is, but that isn’t important right now (or is it?). You heard the man say something in what you guessed to be Spanish before saying something that sent a chill down your spine.

“The only one among his children. I didn’t like any of the other guys.” It was starting to make sense. He had the lighter and pipe, and that shirt and hat looked familiar to you as well. Was he killing his father’s children and collecting the parts of his father that were left to them! 

As soon as he put Jake down on the ground, his attention turned back to you. You held your breath as he walked over and towered over you. You had kinda hoped he forgot about you, but also, the aura this man held interested you. You wanted to know more about him.

He held his hand out towards you before asking in probably the kindest tone he could muster, that still somehow sounded emotionless “Let me use your phone.”. Your body moved on its own, placing the phone you’ve been holding in your hand all this time into his.

You saw him typing in something before a phone rang out. He pulled it from out of his pocket and declined the call. Then he returns the call from his phone to your phone. After pocketing his phone, he began doing something else. When he turned the phone back around, it was on a new contact saved as ‘Gitae Kim’.

“I added myself to your contacts, so make sure you answer when I message or call.”. In a state of shock, all you could do was nod at this information. “What’s your name?” Gitae’s deep gruff voice says. Is it possible to fall in love with a man like this after what you just witnessed? Anything is possible I guess.

“(y/n) (l/n)”. A smirk places itself on Gitae’s face as he reaches down to take the hat off his waistband. You hear Sinu, who has moved next to you whisper ‘I thought he hated romance?’ before turning to look at you baffled. 

“I hope to see you later,” Gitae says before turning around and placing the hat on his head. “I haven’t had this much fun in ages, little brother.”. With that, he walked away, leaving you, Jake and Sinu in shock. As the three of you stood there, looking at Gitae walking into the distance, you couldn’t help but speak what was on your mind.

“Jake, your brother is kinda hot”

“(Y/N)!!!!”

------------------------

I have to admit it is kinda hard to write an x reader for a character who hates romance. I did my best, even if the romance is barely there.