Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

October 31st, 1974. A child was born in Ssangmun-dong, Dobong-gu, Seoul, South Korea, in the hospital. He was named Seong Gi-hun. 

December 12th, 1975. A child was born in Ssangmun-dong, Dobong-gu, Seoul, South Korea, in the hospital. He was named Cho Sang-woo. 

On both days, the parents of these children recalled the intense storms that rocked the city of Seoul. The severe rainfall and extreme wind had exceeded past records by a large amount, and many in the area at this time called this to be 'God's reckoning.' However, it is clear that the storms on day were not a punishment from God, but rather the births of two men, soulmates forced on earth in an era who wouldn't accept them for who they were, who would drive them apart. And very cruelly, they would be reunited, but in life-or-death circumstances, where one will ultimately perish. 

🖤🖤🖤

February 22nd, 1978. Oh Mal-soon, the mother of Seong Gi-hun, decided to bring her son with her to go to Cho Mi-ja's fish shop. Mal-soon was of average height, and had strong, healthy black hair that she liked to leave out naturally. Her arms were muscular from doing lots of odd jobs to make money. Her husband, who was a carefree man that loved drinking and playing catch with his son in his spare time, also had worked different jobs throughout his life, and although they were mostly poor, they finally managed to make enough to move areas. After getting married, moving to Ssangmun-dong and becoming pregnant, she was fairly new and unfamiliar with the neighbourhood. However, thanks to Cho Mi-ja, who had lived there all her life, and the other neighbourly mums, she fit right in and became accustomed to the area. They became good friends and helped each other throughout their respective pregnancies (that were fairly close to each other.) Later on, as their children grew up, they often brought them around to play with each other since they weren't that far off in age. The two boys, Sang-woo and Gi-hun, also enjoyed playing games such as Squid Game in the park with other children, and they liked to spend time together doing ohter nonsense things that little kids do.

"Good morning, Mi-ja," Mal-soon said, holding groceries on one hand and her four-year-old on the other. 

"Ahh, hello!" Mi-ja said, excited. "I see you've bought Gi-hun with you, hello!" she pinched his cheek, leaving it red, and Gi-hun grimaced. 

Cho Mi-ja, in contrast to Mal-soon, was short for her age. She was kind-hearted, generous and loved to look after children. Although she generally smelled like fish most of the time, her house was clean (and small, like most of the houses on the street.) Her husband, Sang-woo's father, was of a similar height but he had an athletic build from a life of carrying things such as sinks, toilets, wood etc. They were required for his job as a builder, specifically one that did work on bathrooms.

"Say hello to auntie, Gi-hun," his mother urged. Gi-hun greeted Mi-ja and bowed.

"How's your husband?" Mal-soon asked, and the two friends made small talk

Gi-hun took this opportunity to let go of his mother's hand and walk into the fish stall. Although the shop was fairly small, there was lots of boxes and fish stock splayed everywhere, making it a perfect ground for hide and seek. Gi-hun picked out a hiding place, but didn't go there yet as he had to say goodbye to his mother first. Sang-woo hadn't come down yet, anyway.

"Well, I have to go to work now. Thank you again for looking after my son," Mal-soon said, handing the bag of groceries to Mi-ja.

"Aigoo, you don't need to give me anything for it. I don't mind looking after Gi-hun, you know our sons occupy themselves." she explained, trying to hand back the bag.

"It's fine, it's fine, take it. I'm off. My husband will pick him up later," she told Mi-ja.

"Don't worry about it, I'll drop him off. You husband will be tired after working all day." Mal-soon once again thanked her and said bye to her son, then went off to work. Gi-hun waved his mum goodbye and turned to his aunt.

"Auntie," Gi-hun said, pulling her dress. "Why isn't Sang-woo coming down?" His four-year-old brain was puzzled at the fact that he had been here for five minutes already yet Sang-woo hadn't even come down to see him.

"Ohh, I'm not sure. What is that boy doing? Sang-woo," she yelled out for him. Gi-hun dashed to his hiding place behind a crate of dried fish in the corner which managed to conceal him (kind of badly, as the top of his head was visible.) He giggled at his own genius, which wasn't very much as you can tell.

Finally coming down the stairs was Cho Sang-woo. Intelligent for his age, he was quite tall for a three-year-old and mainly took after his dad, contrasting to Gi-hun who was the same height as Sang-woo despite being older. Gi-hun mainly took after his mum and wasn't really the brightest tool in the shed. Sang-woo's hair was quite short whereas Gi-hun's bowl cut reached his eyes. Their differences were apparent, yet as people say, opposites attract.

 It started drizzling. "Eomma, is Hyung here?" Sang-woo asked. Mi-ja, who had realised that Gi-hun was playing hide and seek, told her son to look around and that he was nearby around the stall.

Sang-woo ran out from behind the table of the stall and looked left and right, trying to see whether Gi-hun was there. He ran to the corner of the street that turned left, but Gi-hun wasn't there. Sang-woo frowned, annoyed already. It didn't help that the rain started downpouring further, soaking Sang-woo to the bone. Since Gi-hun still hadn't revealed himself, he concluded that he must not be hiding out on the street in the rain, but rather somewhere under covers... like his mother's shop.

Sang-woo ran back to the stall, eager to find his hyung and get out of the rain. "Was he not there?" Mi-ja said to her son. He shook his head and looked behind his mother to see if there was a chance that there were any good hiding spots back there. And chance there was, for one of Gi-hun's shoes poked out from behind a short crate, instantly giving off his position. Large smile on his face, he sprinted past his mother to the corner and screamed.

"I FOUND YOU I FOUND YOU!" he jumped up and down in excitement, water dripping off of his clothes and head. Sighing exasperatedly but with a grin, Gi-hun stood up. "I FOUND YOU HYUNG," he yelled once more, making Gi-hun giggle. The rain drummed intensely on the ground, increasing more and more by the minute

"It was a good hiding place, right?" Sang-woo nodded, and the two boys continued to laugh with one another. Mi-ja looked at them, then at the rain, then at the boys once more. A bizarre, almost nostalgic feeling washed over her as her sons embraced and planned out their next game, and the rain carried on falling. She had seen this before, she remembered. A horrible storm on the day Mal-soon had Gi-hun - they barely made it to the hospital. Mi-ja, just after Sang-woo was born, being told by Mal-soon, who had baby Gi-hun with her in the delivery room, that it was ferociously pouring. Every time Gi-hun and Sang-woo were together, it was in some way, shape or form raining.

Was it just some weird coincidence that this happened every time? 

Some people believe that it is God's tears that come down to earth as rain. Mi-ja believed in this too - as a Buddhist, she didn't believe in coincidences. Everything is a part of God's plan. And although she didn't know what plan God had for the two boys, she could tell it was really something special.

🖤🖤🖤

Chapter Text

May 28th, 1980. It was hot out, and although Mal-soon kept her tiny kitchen window and the front door wide open, it did nothing to dispel the warm current that spread around her house. The shade from her roof did nothing to help soothe the burning sensation that covered her skin; luckily, she was still inside the house, unlike her husband who had gone out to work since morning and her little son who went to school.

Speaking of her son, she heard a familiar voice shout, "Eomma!" from outside. Sighing, she got up to go greet her son at the door. Finally, a large shuffle was heard from outside the view of the front door, followed by the growing sound of footsteps as Gi-hun ran to his mother. He had his backpack in one hand and a plastic bag rustling on the other.

"Eomma!" he said, affection poured in his voice.

"Seong Gi-hun, what have I told you about screaming and running home?" she scolded him, but the five-year-old just ran past her into the compact doorway, where he opened his shoes and sprinted inside. "This boy will be the death of me," Mal-soon muttered, closing the front door despite the scorching heat. As Gi-hun stood in the kitchen, Mal-soon took one good look at him and almost fainted on the spot.

"HOW DID YOU GET THAT LARGE SCRAPE ON YOUR HAND?" she yelled, worry pouring into her voice. "And WHY ARE YOUR CLOTHES ALL DIRTY?" She rushed forward and crouched, examining her son's bloody face and ruined clothes. Grimacing in pain and annoyance, Gi-hun pulled away from his mother.

"At break, the mean bully in our class pushed Sang-woo on the floor because Sang-woo was better than him at the game. So, I obviously had to punish him for that," his innocent voice and selfless intentions almost made Mal-soon melt, but she didn't think her son would act so selflessly. After all, Gi-hun had gotten his personality from his rotten father.

"Aigoo," she sighed. "You did a good job defending Sang-woo, but you shouldn't have started a fight! Especially in this heat," she exclaimed, still crouching. Seriously, why'd these shitty teachers make the kids go outside? she thought.

"I didn't start it, they did! They said that he's a freak, but he's not!" Gi-hun said, passion blazing in his voice. Mal-soon just sighed again, too tired to deal with this. 

"Does your aunt know? Did you tell her?" she asked. Gi-hun nodded.

"Me and Sang-woo walked home together, and I told auntie what happened. She said not to fight again and to next time tell the teacher," Mal-soon nodded and was impressed at Mi-ja's expert words towards the kids.

"She also gave me the fish you wanted me to buy," He handed her the plastic bag that was full of the fish they were going to eat for their dinner tonight.

"Thank you, son. You need a shower. I'll put ointment on your face once you've done it... nuh uh, don't go, I'm not done yet." Gi-hun sighed and walked back to his mum. He then received a slap on the head.

"Ow! Eomma!" He yelled.

"I agree with auntie, next time tell someone you idiotic child," she scolded. Gi-hun frowned. "If it happens again, your fathers will personally go to the school and give them a beating for you, so don't do anything yourselves," she winked and stood up, making Gi-hun's frown turn upside down. "Now go wash up you smelly child," she teased. 

Gi-hun obeyed and made his way to his bedroom to put his backpack away as Mal-soon plopped down onto her stool in the small kitchen and resumed preparing dinner with the newly bought fish. Then, she suddenly remembered she had something to ask.

"Son, come back here," she yelled. Gi-hun came running out of his room.

"Yes eomma?"

Mal-soon paused for a second, staring into her son's face. "If that horrible thing happened to any other child except for Sang-woo, would you have still defended them and picked a fight?"

Gi-hun pondered for a moment, staring into the ceiling. Then, he suddenly snapped back. "No." was all he said.

His mother was exasperated. "What?!" she questioned. "No?!"

"Eomma." he said, dead serious. "I don't care about the other kids. Because I fought the, no one will mess with him now. Sang-woo is mine." he stated simply, like it was a normal fact that everyone should have known. He sauntered away back to his room, leaving Mal-soon stunned.

"That kid is mental," she said out loud to herself. But honestly, she thought it was really, really cute.

🖤🖤🖤

Meanwhile, during this exchange with Mal-soon and Gi-hun, Mi-ja was closing up her fish stall. The weather made it unbearable to continue outside, and so she decided to call it a day. It didn't help that Sang-woo was hurt and bleeding from a fight at school. Right now, he was sat on a crate near the back, sulking with his head lowered. 

When Gi-hun dropped Sang-woo home, she nearly had a heart attack in seeing their conditions. Bloody and dirty... the reason why was much worse. Although Mi-ja was generally one to not hold grudges, she couldn't help but feel anger at the boys who had pushed at her son and insulted him. She didn't know all the details, as Gi-hun had to rush home with the fish his mother had bought and her five-year-old refused to speak. Finished packing up, she folded up the table in from and began closing up shop. Once she was done, she turned to Sang-woo.

"Sang-woo," she said softly, him refusing to look up. "Can you tell me what those boys did to you at school?" He furiously shook his head, still aiming his gaze at the ground. Mi-ja, who didn't like seeing her son in such distress, knew that as Sang-woo was a cheeky, stubborn child, he most likely wouldn't talk about it now. 

"Let's go inside and I'll clean you up. Oh, poor thing, you must be so hungry. I made your favourite," she said, ushering him inside.

After being given a shower, dressed in clean clothes, and given ointment and plasters for his scrapes, Sang-woo felt much better physically. However, the lingering thoughts of what happened at school still floated around his brain. He couldn't comprehend why that kid had been so mean to him; he had never said anything to him before or done anything that would warrant the abuse. Yet, he was pushed onto the ground in front of everyone and called a 'freak' who did nothing but 'be an annoying goody two shoes'. 

The insults were very tame and probably wouldn't have affected an older kid. But as a five-year-old who stood out as the youngest in his class and so a prime target for bullies? It hurt. A lot. He brought his knees up to his chest and hugged them, feeling glum and moody. But then, the vivid memory of what happened after came to him:

🖤🖤🖤

"That's what you get, freak!" A looming shadow stood over Sang-woo, who was on the floor, hands bleeding from having scraped it on the rough concrete. "All you do is listen to the teacher! It's soooo annoying. Stop being a goody two shoes for once!" The laughs of other kids, who had now surrounded them in a circle echoed in his mind as he breathed hard, vision blurring with tears. He saw out of his peripherals another kid come up to him and raise his arm high in a threatening motion. Sang-woo flinched and squeezed his eyes shut, waiting for the hit... but it never came.

"Leave him alone!" a familiar voice screamed. Slowly, Sang-woo opened his eyes and saw his hyung, Gi-hun, holding off the arm of the kid who was about to hit him.

"You got a problem, stupid?" The original six-year-old bully said, warranting laughs from other boys.

"Yeah, I do. No one messes with Sang-woo when I'm here," He yelled after pushing away the boy's arm, staring down the lot of kids.

A girl piped up, coming forward. "Why are you so protective of this wuss anyway, Gi-hun?" Murmurs of agreement filled the playground, and Gi-hun screamed to silence them all.

"IT DOESN'T MATTER. DON'T. YOU. DARE. TOUCH. HIM." Gi-hun had moved infront of Sang-woo now, who had managed to stand up and straighten amidst the argument. Sang-woo knew the other kids were probably making fun of him then, but he wasn't listening. Instead, he watched Gi-hun, enthralled by his actions of defending Sang-woo. 

"Just because you're the best at Squid Game doesn't mean you can boss us around!" A kid mocked. 

"If you want to get to Sang-woo..." he paused, narrowing his eyes. "You have to get through me first." 

A mix of surprise and terror filled Sang-woo. "Hyung..." he whispered, astonished at his best friend's actions. That was when the fighting ensued. It was 2 against 2, Gi-hun fighting off the main bully whilst Sang-woo punched the other kid as many times as he could with his small fists. When the teachers caught wind, they were stopped. But Sang-woo left school with a bruised cheek, scraped hands and bleeding knees, and Gi-hun left with a busted lip, bruised arms, bloody knuckles and no regrets.

🖤🖤🖤

The memory of Gi-hun protecting him made Sang-woo smile, and all the bad thoughts that had been plaguing him drifted away. As his mother laid dinner out and his father came home and yelled at him about fighting with other kids, he nurtured the precious memory of Gi-hun's act of protection just for him, and his face brightened straight away.