Hwangbrothers - Hwang Bros

https://www.instagram.com/p/DCaWBcXyBxt/

Apparently the Squid Game director made the cast test out the pentathlon game to figure out the right time limit, and now all I can picture is a cursed behind-the-scenes AU where Inho is like:

“Circle guards, we’re playtesting. Mask up. Game time.”

So now you’ve got a bunch of poor exhausted guards, who thought today was just gonna be corpse disposal and trauma, suddenly lined up for Red Light, Green Light like it’s gym class. And then Inho shows up—fully masked, trench coat flapping in the wind like some kind of dystopian PE teacher—and joins the game.

He’s doing everything with them, completely dead serious. They’re crawling through the honeycomb challenge and Inho’s right there, carving his shape with surgeon-level precision, muttering “Inconsistent sugar texture. We need a 12.3% longer boil.” like it’s a bomb diffusal exercise.

I want an AU where Gi-hun knows "Young-il" is the Front Man and, watching his spinning top fake-freakout, leans in and whispers, "If you're gonna be a horse, Young-il-ssi, you better fucking run."

In-ho is really pushing his luck during this scene because

Jun-ho only has one bullet left

Jun-ho does not know it’s In-ho behind the mask

Jun-ho is cornered, he most likely thinks he'll die here, and it will make a lot more sense for Jun-ho to aim for the head or the heart, instead of the shoulder, and kill In-ho with that one bullet he has left.

yes, Jun-ho ends up only shooting him on his shoulder. but the point is that Jun-ho doesn't know it's his brother when he shoots him. so there's a very real possibility of him ending up killing In-ho here.

imagine the angst, what will happen if Jun-ho actually aims for In-ho's head or In-ho's heart and realizes belatedly it's In-ho he killed.

SPIRITED AWAY (2001) dir. Hayao Miyazaki

Coconut cherry cake by saweeeties

I love your Hwang brothers fics, I sobbed so hard reading funeral pyre and I was wondering if you have any headcanons about the Hwang brothers growing up 🫶 (I want them to be happy so much)

Thank you very much ♡

Hwang Bros Headcanon

*Apologize if it’s not all fluff and happy. I could not help myself. There might be more from me in the future where they got to truly be happy together.

When his step mom was pregnant, In-ho was a little unsure about having a baby brother. Maybe, very deep down, a part of him was worried his dad would replace him with the new kid and he’d be “left behind”.

He, of course, kept his worries to himself.

However, the first time he met and held baby Jun-ho, all wrapped up burrito style in a blanket, baby Jun-ho wrapped his tiny, tiny hand around In-ho’s finger, and In-ho knew from that moment that this was his baby brother, his blood, he loved him and he would do anything to protect him.

After their father’s untimely demise, In-ho became both a brother and a father figure to Jun-ho.

He loved Jun-ho unconditionally, that was a fact, but he was only a young man who was forced to become the man of the house when he was nowhere near ready, after his father left. The ‘taking care of his step mom’ and ‘being a father figure to his baby brother’ could very understandably be overwhelming, even for In-ho. And Jun-ho just… would not stop following him around when In-ho needed some alone time.

In-ho didn’t mean to snap and raise his voice at Jun-ho.

He was only aware of what he’d done after Jun-ho ran away from him, crying.

Guilt was fast to swallow him whole.

He tried approaching Jun-ho, who was hiding under the bed, tried softly coaxing him to come out in a gentle voice and saying that he was sorry and that he didn’t mean to raise his voice.

It took a while, but in the end Jun-ho crawled out from under the bed and into In-ho’s arms.

In-ho knew, from that moment, he hated seeing Jun-ho cry. Hated seeing Jun-ho upset and in pain. It pained him to see his brother in pain.

That’s why In-ho didn’t hesitate to say he’d give Jun-ho his kidney when Jun-ho got sick.

The doctors and his own step mother explained to him the risk of the surgery and what a “big deal” donating an organ to someone was. They asked if In-ho was absolutely sure. But In-ho knew the risk. And he knew that he didn’t care about his own life or health. As long as Jun-ho was okay. Jun-ho had to be okay.

The surgeries went well, both for himself and for Jun-ho.

A part of him got to be with his brother forever, and a part of In-ho could not help feeling that glimpse of pride somewhere in his chest.

Also he got to use the “I gave you my kidney” card to make Jun-ho listen to him every time he was teaching Jun-ho Jun-ho’s homework (that Jun-ho did not want to do) or trying to make Jun-ho study for his upcoming exam.

Jun-ho’s first heartbreak? It was In-ho’s shoulder he cried on.

Jun-ho’s first screwup? It was In-ho who got him out of the trouble.

And when Jun-ho came up to him one day and said “I’m gonna be a police — a good police — just like you, hyung,” In-ho had never been more proud.

When In-ho lost his wife and child, he thought he lost everything. But then Jun-ho was there, and In-ho realized: no, he hadn’t lost everything.

If there was the one thing that made In-ho doubt his own decision to return to the game as the Front Man, it was Jun-ho.

In the end, In-ho did what he thought was right for him. Abandoning Jun-ho hurt as much as losing his wife and child, but In-ho did what he had to do.

When he knew it was his own brother infiltrating the island, that fear he felt when his wife was dying came back, because now Jun-ho — the idiot, In-ho’s idiot — might get himself killed. Why couldn’t Jun-ho just accept that In-ho was gone?

But deep down, In-ho knew his brother was never a quitter.

The mission was more about finding, saving Jun-ho and getting him as far away from the island as possible (for Jun-ho’s own safety) than it was about finding the intruder and defending the game.

In-ho knew, when he held out his hand for Jun-ho on the cliff, Jun-ho would not take it. Jun-ho was too noble for that. Still something in In-ho’s chest ached when Jun-ho refused his hand. That sentimental part inside In-ho still wished Jun-ho would take his hand. It’s me, your brother, I’m still me.

It was either In-ho pulling the trigger or the Soldiers killing Jun-ho. So In-ho did the one thing he could do that could still save Jun-ho’s life. A bullet to the shoulder was nonfatal. He called Captain Park and orchestrated a rescue mission as soon as he could.

Once Jun-ho was rescued and sent to a hospital, In-ho had his men keep tabs on Jun-ho and report directly to him daily ever since.

So far, Jun-ho had been staying away from the island (In-ho had made sure of that). Good. This was for Jun-ho’s own safety.

Jun-ho could think that In-ho betrayed him (in a way, In-ho did), Jun-ho could hate him now, and that was… that was fine.

In-ho would rather Jun-ho hate him if it meant he got to protect and keep Jun-ho safe. Even from afar.

For those of you who are new here, you can find my fic about In-ho and Jun-ho here

Funeral Pyre (A Hwang Bros fic) on Archive of Our Own

Pages stained with coffee rings, thoughts blooming between lines, and light spilling into rooms where art and study meet. A life paced by paragraphs, warmed by stillness.