Chapter Text
3PM.
In-Ho hops into his car and drives off to No-Euls school. He didn't forget about the promise of picking her and Sae-Byeok up.
Soon, he finds himself in the schools parking lot, avoiding the spaces specifically meant for teachers. It happend the first time he picked up No-Eul from High School after enrolling her and it was pretty embarrasing. Luckily the teachers were chill and laughed about it. Still, repeating a mistake like that isn't something he'd do.
Not even a minute later the two girls show up, it's like they randomly spawned. At least they looked happy.
"Hello Mister Hwang."
Sae-Byeok greets him, who, despite her collected nature, still seems excited at the thought of coming over.
No-Eul playfully fights her by poking her.
"I already told you before, you don't need to do all that Mister stuff."
In-Ho has to hold back a chuckle at his daughters antics.
"Yeah, just In-Ho is fine."
Sae-Byeok simply nodded and No-Eul was giving her a "Told you so" expression.
The three of them get into the car. In-Ho at the front in the drivers seat. The two girls in the backseats.
Except for the music that was playing, the carride was filled with comfortable silence, until Sae-Byeok decides to say something.
"My dad's gonna pick me up at 8PM. That's okay right?"
He's what?
That means In-Ho's gonna see him again.
As much as he wants to deny it, the thought of that makes his heart skip a beat.
What is wrong with him?
Anyways, looking at Sae-Byeok through the rearview mirror he questions.
"Not a problem, does he know the address?"
"Yeah, I've already told him."
In-Ho just nods.
So he's gonna see him again before ever having texted his number. (Being fair he only recieved the card like 2 days ago)
The rest of he car drive goes by quietly, with No-Eul and Sae-Byeok whispering to each other. Something about "acting strange". He wasn't interested in finding out who the gossip was about. Worst-case scenario it was him, so ignorance was his best bet. (Yeah it was him.)
Opening the front door to his house, he holds it open for No-Eul and Sae-Byeok to pass through first.
"Now if you two need anything, just-"
Without letting In-Ho finish his sentence, the two girls beam up the stairs.
Wow.
"Alright then, I guess that's an awnser too..."
Flabbergasted, he leans against the walls of the hallway and thinks to himself.
Is there anything to be done?
Getting out of the police uniform was one thing, but then what?
Clearly the girls don't need him, not with the way they disappeared into No-Euls room, though he might consider bringing them some snacks later.
He could always start another book, In-Ho's always been a fan of books, since he was small.
Yeah, that's what he'll do, but not before taking off his uniform and switching into something more comfortable.
Brewing himself a cup of green tea, he sits down on the living rooms couch. A romance novel in his right hand, which is an unsual choice for him. For some unexplainable reason it felt right to read one today.
The main character is a 24 year old lawyer, who used to be childhood friends with the male love interest, a 25 year old prosecutor. Due to unfortunate circumstances they seperated in their early childhood, but reunited years later in a trial.
It's the first time In-Ho had read a queer romance, despite that, he enjoyed it. Their dynamic was written and the characters complimented each other well.
2 hours pass and he is still enveloped in the book.
Begrudgingly, In-Ho puts the book aside, enters the kitchen and looks for snacks.
1 bowl of shrimp crackers and 2 cans of Milkis, one strawberry flavoured, the other peach.
Carefully walking up the stairs with the goods, he knocks at the bedroom door.
"Yeah?"
No-Eul yells from the other side of the door.
"Can I come in?"
In-Ho asks.
"Sure."
While still balancing the food and drinks, he opens the door.
"I've brought you two some stuff, figured you'd be hungry."
Both their eyes widen in delightment.
No-Eul hastily grabs the goods, muttering a happy "Thank you!"
"What are the two of you doing, everything going all right?"
"Everything's fine, we were just finishing up some school work."
Sae-Byeok was the first to speak, she'd gotten more chatty since the first time In-Ho saw her, which is a good thing.
"Glad to hear that, I'll be down-stairs if anything comes up alright?"
With a nod he left as quickly as he showed up, seeing no point in bothering them any further.
Back on the couch, In-Ho continues reading the novel, getting lost in time again. He couldn't help it. Books were one of the things he considered a comfort-zone. Taking in information, painting a picture in his head based on words. It just made sense to him.
His thought process got interrupted by the beeping of his phone.
A text message from a number.
Gi-Huns number, saved in his contacts as 'Seong Gi-Hun'. (Wow, real creative there In-Ho).
It said:
"On my way to pick up Sae-Byeok, thanks for letting her stay over :)"
Of course he had to add that damn smiley. Compared to In-Hos lame response, which was just a thumbs up emoji, Gi-Huns messaging was candy. Sweet and wrapped up nicely.
Another notification bops up on his phone.
Another message.
"I'll be there in 10 minutes"
It was then that In-Ho bothered to check the time.
7:50PM.
Did he almost spent 4 hours on reading a book, with only a small break to bring up some snacks?
Yes he did.
Half of the book was already read and the protagonists kissed one time, even though they weren't even oficially dating. It was a cute moment, the prosecutor and lawyer were sitting in the back of the Cafe, hidden away from all the other people in the room. Despite the prosecutor being the more stoic of the two, he was the one who initiated the kiss.
.....
Is he imagining doing that with Gi-Hun?
.....
Yep, he totally is and honestly, it's extremly pathetic. Why do you wanna kiss someone you barely know anything about?
.....
The loneliness of losing his wife 17 years ago at childbirth must be catching up on him. It was tough at first. Raising his daughter, coping with the death of his loved one and working all at once, he just didn't have the time to feel lonely. Sure, Jun-Ho and his mom helped out a lot, but there's only so much they could do.
Now?
No-Eul was grown up and didn't need as much assistance anymore. Other then work and paying bills, there wasn't much to do for him.
When did this gap in his heart start to grow?
Has it always been there, if yes, why is he becoming hyper-aware of it just now?
It's not actual love he's feeling for Gi-Hun, he just wants to fill the gap his wifes decease left him with and that wouldn't be fair.
.....
The doorbell rang.
Must be him.
In-Ho gets up from the couch and opens the door, revealing a happy-looking Gi-Hun.
Politely, In-Ho extends an arm out as greeting, putting on his signature smile and Gi-Hun is more than willing to accept it.
Shaking his hand felt like a shockwave going through In-Hos body. A new, but not unpleasant sensation.
Rough around the edges, but still soft. At least that's how he'd describe Gi-Huns hands.
"Thanks for letting Sae-Byeok come over, she was so excited when she asked me about it yesterday."
"Not a problem at all, I'm just glad to see them get along."
Being upclose, In-Ho couldn't help but notice his rather fit physique. Not muscular by any means, but the mid-sleeved Gi-Hun wore, showed off just enough to be curious and yet enough to have a full picture.
After clearing his throat, In-Ho tries leading the conversation.
"Follow me upstairs, I'll bring you to their room."
With a sweeping motion of his hands, he indicates for Gi-Hun to follow him. Now that gesture could give off an arrogant vibe and going off by Gi-Huns slighty cringed expression it probaby did.
In-Ho internally face-palmed himself, he didn't mean to come off like that, he just found it easier to use his hands in some way while talking with other people.
Seriously, he never has those kind of miscommunication problems when speaking in meetings or something like that. Why was it privately so much more difficult?
Neither of them mentioned the small mishap verbally and In-Ho tries to read Gi-Huns body language to get his awnser, but he doesn't find anything. All the rules of social interaction he learned just didn't apply on Gi-Hun. On one side it's really frustrating, on the other side it made In-Ho want to learn more about him.
Standing at the door, he let's Gi-Hun knock at the door. Compared to In-Hos 3 knocks, Gi-Hun knocks 2 times. Remembering unimportant stuff won't fix your social failure In-Ho.
After opening the door, No-Eul urges Sae-Byeok to stand up, letting her talk to her dad.
"Dad."
Sae-Byeok already had those eyes that looked like she was about to ask for something.
"Sae-Byeok."
Gi-Hun counters, he didn't mind her asking for something, as long as she actually voiced it out.
No-Eul gave her an encouraging look, which Sae-Byeok returned with a slight glare.
"I wanna stay longer. Can we go home later."
Now the thing about Gi-Hun is, that puppy eyes were his biggest weakness. Countless times has he failed to play the role of a strict parent, just cuz Sae-Byeok looked at him with those damn eyes.
Not this time though. She had to be ready tomorrow morning for Gi-Huns ex-wife to pick her up.
"Sweetie, you know that's not possible-"
"Please?"
She added on a pout.
Damn this was difficult.
"You can come back another day, okay?"
The two girls were about to give up, until In-Ho intervened.
"If it matters, I wouldn't mind having both you and Sae-Byeok over for another hour or so."
He totally didn't recommend that to be able to spend some more time with Gi-Hun.
Okay yeah he totally did.
Gi-Hun looked at In-Ho, unconvinced.
"You sure? I'd hate to be a bother."
"No no no, you wouldn't be a bother at all."
In-Ho shot out, a bit too fast.
On top of that, No-Eul and Sae-Byeok look at Gi-Hun with a pleading expression.
"Okay okay fine, one more hour, but then we're leaving. Got it?"
The girls looked like two children having recieved a box of candy.
"Thank you thank you thank you!"
Both of them simultaneously say. It's the most emotion In-Ho has seen from them today.
"Okay come on, let's leave these two alone."
In-Ho began leading Gi-Hun to the living room, urging him to take a seat on the couch.
"Coffee or tea?"
He asks Gi-Hun.
"Oh no worries just a glass of water is fine-"
"No."
No? The hell is that supposed to mean? Gi-Hun didn't know either, at least based on the way his eyes just scream confused.
"Uhh what I meant is, you don't have to get a water just because it's 'the least trouble' for me or something like that, but if you genuinely want a water that's fine too I'll get you one-"
In-Ho started explaining too fast, only to be cut off by Gi-Huns laughter.
"Woah there calm down, didn't know you take hospitality so seriously. Make me a coffee then."
The laughter wasn't a mocking one, instead, it was full of warmth and lively fun, In-Ho would give everything to hear it again.
He began making the coffee and a tea for himself.
"Here you go."
In-Ho hands the coffee to Gi-Hun and sat down next to him on the couch.
Slurping on his tea, In-Ho had no idea what he should say. Despite that, he tried to make the akward start.
"So, what exactly do you do for a living?"
That was the worst start he could've picked. Remember the card he got from the first time they met? Yeah, he already knew Gi-Huns work must be related to cars. What a dumbass.
Still, Gi-Hun never questioned it and began rambling about his work. Apparently he even had his own garage. Successful, good-looking and Gi-Hun seemed like a wonderful person. It lead to In-Ho questioning on why the divorce between him and his wife happend. Obviously he wouldn't ask that now, it must be sensitiv topic and it's not nice to ask something like that so early on.
Even with the unstable start, their conversation quickly turned smooth. Learning more about each other. According to Gi-Hun, In-Ho seemed like the cat type of person, which was true actually, still he never owned one.
"You know, cats often find themselves into my garage. No matter what I do, those sneaky furrballs keep coming in like they pay rent. Maybe I could show you one day."
Gi-Hun basically invited him to his garage? If he says yes now, their relationship might enter a deeper level than In-Ho was willing to let it become.
Even so, "It's alright" is what In-Ho told himself. He won't let it become love, it'll just be a friendship to distract himself from his own emotional distress.
Kinda like a bandage. A fragile one, but a bandage nonetheless.
"Does this weekend sound good? No-Eul's gonna stay at her uncle this the weekend so I'm free."
"Yeah."
Gi-Hun began, taking the last sip of coffee inbetween his sentence.
"This weekend sounds good. I'll text you the specifics later."
The clock hit 9PM.
"Let's wrap things up here. I still have a daughter to bring home."
He speaks and In-Ho nods in response.
They go up the stairs, Gi-Hun takes his daughter and everyone says their goodbyes to each other (for real this time).
In-Ho wondered if he'd see any of the cats in the garage.
He'll find out once he gets there.