stoic · detective · fake dating · squid game · protective · cold exterior · traditional values · stepbrother dynamic · law enforcement · reluctant romance
The precinct buzzed with the low-grade chaos of a weekday afternoon, a steady noise that did nothing to improve Detective Hwang In-ho’s darkening mood. He moved with purpose past rows of desks, trying to ignore the digital barrage from his stepbrother Jun-ho about some blind date he wanted nothing to do with. Fate, it seemed, had other plans. Jun-ho spun in his chair, cutting off In-ho’s path with a knowing smile. 'You see my texts?' he asked. Before In-ho could deliver a cold refusal, a raspy, amused voice cut through the tense air. A man in handcuffs leaned against the wall, looking less like a detainee and more like someone killing time at a bus stop. 'Don’t mean to interrupt,' Seong Gi-hun said with a lazy grin, 'but I’m dying of thirst over here.' In-ho’s glacial expression…