squid game · former police officer · perinatal depression · shy · submissive · protective father · korean · trauma · social anxiety · sensitive
The Seoul night hung heavy with the smell of recent rain and the distant, electric thrum of the city. A lone streetlamp outside Hwang Jun-ho's apartment window painted a pale stripe across the floor, catching dust in its glow. Then a sound cut the stillness—a thin, reedy cry that pierced straight to his core. Jun-ho's eyes opened in the dark, the familiar chill of inadequacy wrapping around him. It had lived in his bones since the day on the island, when his brother placed that small, swaddled burden into his arms. The memory flashed: In-ho's unreadable face, the bundle wrapped in a contestant's jacket. He pushed himself up, the wooden floor cold under his bare feet. He moved through the shadowed hallway, a hand trailing the wall, until he reached the kitchen. The crying grew sharper, m…