Archive of Our Own

I.

Sangwoo met Gayeong for the first time when she was 5. 

He’d been dating Gihun for a few months now, and Gihun had figured it was time for the two of them to be formally introduced. Sangwoo had known about Gayeong for years, but he’d never met her.

Sangwoo and Gihun had known each other since they were kids. It wasn’t until Sangwoo went to university that they fell out of touch, and Sangwoo had moved to the UK briefly for work. Gihun sent him a wedding invitation when he married his ex-wife, and Sangwoo hadn’t gone.

He remembered Gihun posting on Facebook about her, about his daughter and his new life, and then his divorce and subsequent move into his own place. Sangwoo reached out then, and their connection was built again.

Sangwoo moved back to Korea almost two years before he started dating Gihun. And now they were, Sangwoo wanted to kick himself for losing out on so much time.

They were both at the age where they weren’t there to just mess around with each other; if they were together, they were going to stay together. And part of that included merging their lives - and for Sangwoo, that meant meeting Gihun’s daughter.

Despite having been back in Korea for two years, Sangwoo hadn’t met Gayeong. He didn’t feel like it was his place, and Gihun clearly valued his little time with her. He didn’t want to get in the way of that. She was with Gihun for one weekend every two weeks, and that had only been put into place once Gihun had gotten his own job and settled into his new apartment.

Now that they’d been together a few months, Gihun had gently raised the idea of him meeting Gayeong. Sangwoo had no objections to it, he knew that it was going to happen eventually - did he expect him to never meet his daughter? Gihun said he wasn’t the one who wanted to push it, but Eunji knew they were dating, and she didn’t want any issues or complications, so she figured it was better to get Sangwoo to meet her sooner rather than later.

“Why are you so nervous?” Gihun asked that morning.

“I’m not nervous,” Sangwoo mumbled. Gihun had already made him change clothes once. Apparently, a suit was not appropriate attire for taking a 5-year-old to the park. Reluctantly, he’d relented and put on a pair of relatively nice sweatpants and one of his old SNU hoodies. He didn’t own many casual clothing items, something that Gihun said he thought was endearing about him, but it was times like this where it became a drawback.

“Your hands are shaking,” Gihun said gently, stopping Sangwoo from fussing about with his hair anymore by grabbing his hands. “You’ve got nothing to be afraid of.”

“I know,” Sangwoo exhaled, pulling Gihun into a hug. He rested their heads together as Gihun wrapped his arms around his waist, soothing his nerves. “You know I’m serious about you, right?”

“Of course I do,” he mumbled, turning his head to kiss Sangwoo on his cheek. His face blushed bright red - it always did when Gihun showed any type of affection - but he pushed it back.

“It’s just, I plan on staying with you. And what if she doesn’t like me? You know how bad that would throw a spanner into things?” Sangwoo rambled, his brain rushing with thoughts. 

Gihun just sighed and leant back, bringing his hands up to cup Sangwoo’s face. He was so calm, he wasn’t at all concerned about it. Just as Sangwoo’s brain geared up to resume his rambling, Gihun pressed a quick yet sweet kiss against his lips, calming his racing thoughts.

“You’re okay. It’s going to be fine.”

Things started off fine. They picked Gayeong up from Eunji and her new husband, the girl was already waiting outside with her mother when the two of them arrived for her. She ran up to Gihun before he was even entirely out of the car, almost knocking him over. The girl didn’t at all seem surprised to see Sangwoo there, just smiling brightly at him and waving before clambering into the backseat.

Eunji came over to speak to Gihun, not about anything in particular, just to make sure things went smoothly and a general reminder of the rules. She passed Gayeong her bag, and then she was gone. She didn’t acknowledge Sangwoo at all, and he wasn’t sure if he disliked her or respected her for that. She’d been the one to initiate the divorce with Gihun, but Sangwoo couldn’t imagine it was easy for her to see her ex-husband with a new male partner.

Sangwoo didn’t speak at all until they were at the park. Gayeong seemed more than happy to ramble away to Gihun, not giving him much room to speak at all. Even if she had, he still didn’t know what to say to her. He didn’t want to be boring; he didn’t want to ask her about school, but he couldn’t act casually to save his life.

Gihun had commented on it when he first moved back to Korea, that he was infinitely more formal than he’d been as a kid, and how amusing it was to him. He’d softened up since then, but he reverted right back once he was around someone he didn’t know. Even if that person was his boyfriend’s five-year-old daughter.

Since she was so preoccupied, Sangwoo thought he was maybe off the hook from having to speak to her too much. Unfortunately, that was not the case. As soon as they were at the park, she loudly announced that she and Sangwoo were going to go and play.

Before he could protest, Sangwoo was being pulled across the park, right up to one of the play structures. It seemed like there was an area where she could pretend to serve him, like she was taking a food order.

“Sit there,” she instructed, gesturing for him to sit on the floor. 

His skin crawled at the thought; it was entirely unhygienic, and he hadn’t brought any hand sanitiser (a massive oversight on his part), but he wasn’t going to upset her. So he sat on the dirty floor as she hurried around the other side of the counter to take his order.

“Hello! What would you like?” Gayeong said with a smile, pretending to hold a pen and notepad.

“Um, what do you have?” Sangwoo asked, trying to force down the anxiety creeping its way into his brain.

“We have…” she started, miming flipping a page of the notepad. “Unicorn ice cream… sprinkle pancakes… chocolate seashells… or rainbow smoothie.” Just as Sangwoo was going to answer, Gayeong spoke over him. “Oh no, sorry. We have no rainbow smoothies. I had the last one.”

“I see,” Sangwoo nodded as she giggled happily. “The chocolate seashells then, please.”

“Of course! We have to wait for them now,” Gayeong whispered, pretending to write down his order before dramatically throwing the pretend paper over her shoulder. As if it were no big deal to her at all, she completely changed the subject. “You’re with my Appa.”

“I’m sorry?” Sangwoo asked, unsure if this was part of her playing, or if he was really getting interrogated by a child.

“My Appa. Eomma said you’re dating him. And that we have to be friends.”

“She said that?” Sangwoo whispered, and Gayeong nodded her head. Sangwoo wasn’t entirely sure how to respond, or how honest he was supposed to be with her. He figured he would’ve been able to handle a serious conversation about it at her age, but people always told him he was born a 60-year-old man.

“Mhm. But she said you didn’t talk to Appa for years.”

“I…” Sangwoo trailed off, glancing over at Gihun, who’d taken a seat on a bench nearby. He didn’t seem worried at all, speaking perfectly happily to the other parents around him. “Yeah. I didn’t. I was in the UK.”

“She said Appa wanted you to be his best man. But then you didn’t want to go to his wedding, so Uncle Jungbae did it instead.”

“Yeah, I know.” Gihun had asked him in his wedding invitation if Sangwoo could be his best man, and it was entirely part of the reason he couldn’t bring himself to go. He didn’t want to see Gihun marry someone else, let alone have to give any kind of speech about it. He couldn’t do it, and he was more than happy to pass that responsibility off to Jungbae.

“But,” Gayeong sighed, sitting down on the floor too and resting her chin on the counter. “Eomma said Appa loves you. And he cares about you. And you were there for him.”

Gihun hadn’t been in the best place when Sangwoo came back into his life. Freshly divorced, living with his mother, and struggling at work. Sangwoo had done what he could, letting Gihun stay the night at his new place when things were tough, spending time with him whenever he could to make sure that he was alright. 

“I guess,” Sangwoo nodded. He didn’t feel like he needed anything out of what he’d done, and talking about it made him feel awkward. Anyone decent would’ve done the same, surely.

“So we can get along. Because I love my Appa, and you’re here to stay. I can put up with you.”

“I guess I can put up with you, too,” Sangwoo echoed, and Gayeong smiled brightly again.

Sangwoo still wasn’t entirely sure where he stood with her, but at the very least, she was willing to get along with him, and that was enough.

–

II.

It didn’t take Sangwoo long to move in with Gihun. They’d been together for just over a year, and Sangwoo hated his apartment. It was cramped, dark, and he was fairly certain there was mould growing somewhere that he couldn’t quite find. He’d been complaining about it when he went to visit Gihun, who said almost right away that he could move in if he wanted to.

It took a few months for them to get things smoothed out, but they eventually moved in together. Sangwoo had to deal with packing everything up, and Gihun had to deal with not only telling Eunji that Sangwoo was moving in with him, but explaining to Gayeong that Sangwoo would now be there when she came to visit.

It had only taken four years for her to get used to this arrangement, but it seemed like things were going well. She still only visited once every two weeks, that hadn’t changed. Gihun still didn’t feel stable enough for more regular visits, and Gayeong seemed to be happy with the arrangement, so nothing changed.

She still seemed to just tolerate Sangwoo. She never did anything mean-spirited towards him, she was never rude, but it was clear that she just saw Sangwoo as her father’s boyfriend. Sangwoo couldn’t bring himself to be offended, because that was all he was. 

Once it got to the point that Gayeong was 10 and Gihun had been looking at getting her into a new school with help from Eunji, they decided that it was perhaps time for Sangwoo to be more involved. The pressure came more from Eunji, even just to have him down as an emergency contact in case anything went wrong.

Sangwoo had protested the idea at first, not because he didn’t care about Gayeong, but because he was fairly certain he’d be a useless emergency contact. He couldn’t foresee a situation in which the other three would be unavailable, or grandparents couldn’t be contacted before him. 

Alongside that, he wasn’t sure Gayeong would want him there in an emergency. He wasn’t her go-to person for anything, and Sangwoo wasn’t entirely cut out for being a father figure. It wasn’t as if he were dreadful at it, it just wasn’t something he felt confident on.

Still, it was something that clearly meant something to Gihun, so he gave in and allowed them to put his name down. He didn’t think he was ever going to be contacted for anything to do with her, and that was fine.

That stuck until Sangwoo was called in the middle of the day from a withheld number. Ignoring Gihun’s advice to let these numbers ring out, Sangwoo answered.

“Is this Cho Sangwoo?”

“Speaking, who’s this?” He asked, locking his laptop screen. He’d been working on something, but he figured that whatever was going on was likely to be more important.

“I understand that Seong Gayeong is your step-daughter, she’d been in some trouble. We’ve contacted everyone else and they’re busy, are you able to come and collect her?”

For a moment Sangwoo froze. Not only was he supposed to go and pick up Gayeong, she was in trouble. Was he supposed to stand there as a teacher lectured her? Was he supposed to lecture her? Who was going to tell Gihun about any of this? He sure didn’t want to.

“Yeah, give me half an hour.”

He sent a quick message to his boss explaining what was going on, and he was out the door before she had the chance to reply to him. His hands were shaking the entire drive to the school, half from the stress of being uncertain that he was even going to the right place, half from the fact that he knew he was going to have to handle this situation.

He tried to calm himself down as much as possible before he got out of the car, making sure he was breathing steadily and that his hands weren’t so jumpy. The receptionist allowed him into the school, guiding him through to the headteacher’s office.

Gayeong was sitting with her schoolbag beside her, plasters on her knees, her plaits messy. She was hugging her jacket to her chest, staring down at the floor ashamedly. The headteacher greeted Sangwoo politely as he took a seat beside Gayeong, who didn’t even look up at him.

“What happened?” Sangwoo whispered to her, and she just shook her head. Sangwoo wasn’t sure what he could do, so he just looked up to the headteacher for guidance.

“Gayeong had a fight with another student today. They’ve already been and gone, they said they’ll contact Gayeong’s mother.”

“Why did they fight?” Sangwoo asked, still looking down at Gayeong. She didn’t look like she’d been in a fight, other than her scraped knees, but it was still clearly enough to shake her if her silence was anything to go by.

“We aren’t sure, but other students said that Gayeong started it. I just need you to sign this to say you’ve been to get her and you’re aware that this happened,” he explained, passing Sangwoo a piece of paper and a pen. 

“Right. You’re going to get Gihun or Eunji in to talk about this as well, right? Not just me,” Sangwoo questioned as he signed his name at the bottom of the page. It wasn’t as neat as he normally would’ve made it, but that was the least of his concerns.

“Eunji’s bringing her in tomorrow. She asked me not to discuss it too much with you.”

Sangwoo didn’t see any reason to argue with that; he hadn’t taken on a parental role, he didn’t have a place in any conversation about discipline. All he had to do was make sure she got home safe, so that Eunji could pick her up once she was done with work.

Gayeong didn’t say anything, other than to mumble an apology to the headteacher before Sangwoo led her back out to the car. She sat in the front with him, completely silently. 

He didn’t feel like he could just drive off and leave this as it was, he had to say something. Anything.

“You know,” he started, tapping his hands against the steering wheel. “You shouldn’t fight.”

“Yeah,” she nodded.

“Okay. Do you wanna tell me what happened?” He didn’t get a reply from that, not even a nod or the shake of a head. “Did you really start it?”

“Mhm,” she hummed, still icing him out.

“Gayeong, you can’t do this,” he said slowly, as if he were unsure of the words coming from his mouth. “Gihun told me that you’re supposed to be going away with your mother and step-dad, you can’t be getting into fights.”

“Don’t call him that around me,” Gayeong said firmly as she crossed her arms.

“Right, I’m sorry. But still, you don’t want your mother to be annoyed with you right now,” he continued, and that finally snapped Gayeong out of her trance. She turned around to face him, face entirely too angry for a girl of her young age.

“I don’t care. I don’t want to go. I want to stay with Appa when they go away.”

Then it was Sangwoo’s turn to freeze. This wasn’t some small thing he could brush past, this was a parenting moment. Something he’d never prepared for. 

“You got into a fight so you don’t have to go on holiday?”

“I just want to stay with Appa. I don’t get to see him,” she complained, slouching in her seat. “There’s a girl in my class who stays one week with her Appa and one week with her Eomma. I…”

“Gayeong, this is something you need to speak to your father about, j-“ before he had the chance to finish his sentence, Gayeong had jumped in.

“No, I need to talk to you!” She shouted, tears welling in her eyes. Sangwoo still hadn’t driven off anywhere, and he was overly aware of people seeing her sobbing in his car, as well as the fact that he was failing to calm her down. “You don’t want me there!”

“I’m sorry?” Sangwoo asked as his blood ran cold. He’d never once said he didn’t want her there. It was nice to have her around, she cheered Gihun up, their apartment was more lively when she was there, and overall she was a nice kid. He’d never once told her she wasn’t welcome, it was her other home, after all. He knew all to well what it felt like to be unwelcome in your own home, and he never wanted her to feel that way.

“I’m not an idiot, Sangwoo. You don’t want me there, you hardly talk to me.”

“Gayeong,” he started, before she could get another word in since she had Gihun’s habit of letting herself run away with thoughts. “I’m sorry, but that’s not the case. I stand back when you come over because you’re Gih- your Appa’s daughter, not mine. It means a lot to him, and I don’t want to get in the way.”

“You could still talk more,” she sniffled, wiping her eyes on the sleeves of her blazer.

“I know, I can make more of an effort. It’s nothing to do with you, okay? I’m just not a great father. It’s been five years, and this is the first time I’ve had to do anything parent-y for you. I didn’t think it was my place.”

“It should be, and I want to stay with Appa more, but I feel like you don’t want to talk to me!” She shouted, still wiping her eyes. Her face fell afterwards, and even more tears welled in her eyes. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry, Sangwoo.”

“It’s alright,” he whispered, still getting over the shock of a child shouting at him. “I really am sorry, Gayeong. But if you want to spend more time with us, I can be more present. It’s your home too, I don’t want you upset when you visit.”

“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I didn’t want to make you sad.”

“I’m not upset, it’s okay. Just… tell me next time if you’re upset with me.”  

Sangwoo had no clue how he was really supposed to go about anything like this. His father hadn’t exactly been a great role model, and he’d left when he was a teenager. He didn’t know what the best thing to do was. But he figured, so long as it was the opposite of whatever his father did, he would be doing alright.

“Do you want me to talk to your Appa about staying with us?”

“Yes please,” she nodded, before turning away from Sangwoo and slouching in her seat again. Blatantly the end of the conversation, Sangwoo turned his attention to ensuring that they got back home.

That evening didn’t exactly go as smoothly as Sangwoo had hoped it would’ve. Gihun came home before Eunji had the chance to come over. Gayeong had already confined herself to her room - despite Sangwoo telling her that she didn’t have to - leaving him alone with Gihun.

“She wants to stay with us more,” Sangwoo said quietly. Gayeong wasn’t stupid. She knew the two of them would be talking about her, but she didn’t need to hear it. “I told her I’d talk to you about it.”

“I don’t get what this has to do with her fighting that kid,” Gihun sighed, covering his face with his hands.

“She wanted to get in trouble. She doesn’t want to go away with the other side,” Sangwoo explained. ‘The other side’ probably wasn’t the best thing he could’ve called them, but he still wasn’t entirely certain how he should be addressing them, even after all this time.

“How often does she want to stay?” Gihun asked, voice muffled.

“Every other week, for the full week.” 

It wasn’t as if changing the arrangement to this would be hard, or at least Sangwoo thought that. They only lived a 20-minute drive from Eunji, and they lived closer to the school than she did. There wasn’t a lot of travel involved, so that couldn’t be an issue. 

“I want her to stay more,” he started, taking his hands down and sitting forward. “But she’s in a routine. And Eunji… I don’t think she likes you.”

“I know she doesn’t like me,” Sangwoo shrugged. Gihun chuckled a little, relieved. “Did you think I didn’t know that?”

“No, it’s just harsh to say out loud,” he answered as he suddenly flopped back on the couch and rested his head on Sangwoo’s shoulder, gently taking his hand and lacing their fingers together. “Are you fine with Gayeong wanting to stay more?”

“Yes,” he said without even thinking about it. “It’s her home as well. She asked me to be more present.”

“And?” He asked hopefully, squeezing his hand once.

“Of course I will.” He’d never been opposed to being a stepfather, he just wasn’t sure he was ever cut out to be one. Still, if it was what they all needed, then he could do it. 

“I love you,” Gihun mumbled, looking up to kiss Sangwoo on the cheek. “Thank you.”

“I love you, too.”

–

III.

They managed to come to a schedule that worked best for them all. Gayeong would stay with them, alternating weeks, and either Gihun or Eunji would pick her up from school the Monday of that designated week. 

Sangwoo had tried his best to be more present. He always made sure he was in a communal area when Gayeong was home from school as opposed to hiding away in his and Gihun’s spared office space, he made sure to make conversation with her, to suggest things the three of them could do together, or even just help her with her homework (not that she needed it.)

Sangwoo still knew that Eunji wasn’t thrilled about him being around. But, it had now been 10 years. Gayeong was 15, she’d known him since she was 5, there was nothing she could do about him staying or leaving. He and Gihun were practically married, they wore rings, but nothing legal was in place.

Despite the tension from both sides, Gayeong appeared to be doing well, or at least that was how she portrayed herself. On the rare occasion that Eunji and Sangwoo were in the same room, she pretended not to notice the obvious hatred lingering in both of them, moving right past it and doing her best not to cause any issues or arguments.

Gihun had tried speaking to Gayeong about it before, that if it was bothering her then she needed to talk to someone about it. Sangwoo knew that it bothered her, it was why he did everything he could to minimise contact with Eunji. He wasn’t there to stress Gayeong out, so he figured that most of the time it would be best to remove himself from any situations like that.

Since Gayeong didn’t play it up much, they assumed things were fine. They’d asked her about it directly, spoken to her multiple times, and did everything they could to reduce the contact Sangwoo and Eunji had with each other.

It seemed like things were going fine, and Sangwoo had settled into his new life. Normally, if there was something that needed doing at work that he couldn’t get done at the office, he’d wait for Gihun to fall asleep, then he’d sneak out of bed and into their office just to wrap a few final things up. He knew it was unhealthy, but it was always a constant itch in his brain when it came to work.

It was midnight, Gihun was fast asleep if the snoring sounding through the apartment was anything to go by, and Sangwoo was just wrapping up something he’d been assigned a few days prior. Just as he was closing his laptop, he heard the front door swing open, then close.

Sangwoo froze in place, he had no kind of fighting training. If there was someone who’d just come in to steal from them, what was he supposed to do? Was he supposed to fight? Call someone? Run out of the house whilst they weren’t looking. Just as he was reaching for his phone, whoever it was started pacing around the apartment, mumbling to themself.

He couldn’t hear any drawers being opened for valuables or the sound of them trying to unplug the TV from the wall, so he poked his head out of the office. Looking down the hall, he saw Gayeong standing in her pyjamas and a jacket, pacing nervously as she fumbled with her phone. 

“Gayeong?” Sangwoo asked, trying to keep his voice down to avoid waking Gihun. She jumped from the sudden noise, glancing up the hall as Sangwoo left his office and closed the door behind him. “Why’re you here?”

“Nothing, I just…” she stammered, sitting down on the couch as she took her jacket off and threw it to the side. Normally, Sangwoo would chase after the jacket to hang it up, but it seemed there was something else that needed his attention here. “Can I stay here a while?”

“I’m sorry?” 

“Just for an extra week or something. Please?” Her eyes were shiny, and she kept swaying back and forth to calm herself down. Whatever was going on, it was something out of Sangwoo’s comfort zone, but he also didn’t want to wake Gihun, so he was just going to have to suck it up.

“What happened?” He asked as he sat in the armchair beside the couch, not wanting to get in her space or risk overwhelming her more.

“Nothing. Literally nothing,” she sniffled, rolling her eyes. “I didn’t do anything.”

“You can tell me, I’m not gonna be mad,” Sangwoo shrugged. He truly wasn’t going to be, there was very little that Gayeong could ever say to him that would genuinely upset him or make him angry.

“I asked Eomma,” she started with a sigh, rolling her eyes again. According to Gihun, that was a habit she’d picked up from Sangwoo. “You know we’ve got standard testing coming up soon, right? Nothing serious or anything.”

“Mhm,” he nodded. Gayeong had been spending more time studying when she was staying with them, driving herself insane over the topics she didn’t get. She insisted that she didn’t need any help, and pushing her down that route would just make her shut off. 

“I asked Eomma if she’d be happy with me staying here for exams. It’s just quieter here, and you can help me if I’m stuck. She got mad and said my step-dad could help. And, like, yeah, he can. But… I don’t know, I don’t want him to help me. He explains things in weird ways, but you and Appa make things make sense for me, and I don’t have a younger brother here making the place noisy.”

Sangwoo took a moment, thinking over his response before Gayeong could start talking again, but it was clear she wasn’t done yet.

“And I only asked her first because I didn’t want to ask you, have her say no, then have to tell you and Appa that she didn’t want me to. I wanted her to be fine with it first. Sangwoo, I love my mother, but she drives me up the wall. She really does, especially when…” She trailed off, stopping mid-rant to finally think about what she wanted to say. It didn’t matter what she said, he wasn’t going to tell anyone unless he thought she was at risk.

“When it comes to staying here?” Sangwoo suggested, and Gayeong nodded her head. He knew that Eunji disliked Sangwoo, but resented the fact it was starting to reach Gayeong. He’d hated being brought into his parents' arguments as a kid, and he swore he’d never put Gayeong through any similar.

“Or just you in general. I get it, you’re Appa’s new partner. But how is it fair for her to move on and he can’t? You know, you’ve not even done anything to her. She’s not even mad at you.”

“I really don’t think I should be hearing this,” Sangwoo tried to speak over her, but she wasn’t having any of it. Eunji and Gihun’s issues were theirs, and it wasn’t something he wanted to get involved in. 

“She’s just mad that Appa got better for someone that wasn’t her, but that’s not your fault, and I shouldn’t be punished for wanting to come here! I’m not going back there, I’m not going back. I’m staying here.”

“Gayeong, let’s think about this,” Sangwoo warned. “She’s your mother. Her issues with me and your father have nothing to do with you, and I’ll talk to her about that. You can stay as long as you need. You’ve got plenty of stuff here, and I’ll go and get anything you left that you’ll need.”

“Eomma won’t want to see you, she doesn’t like you,” Gayeong whispered.

“That’s why I’m going, I’m meaner than your father is, she’ll listen.”

“What, and tell Appa what you said?”

“She can, but it won’t make her look good. What, you come over here upset, then she gets mad at me for helping? And then she’d have to tell him why she upset you, and he won’t like that,” Sangwoo rambled, making Gayeong smile a little. “It’ll be fine. Don’t worry. Is she still up?”

“I think so. Sangwoo, don’t go there now.”

As much as Sangwoo wanted to go over there to sort things out straight away, he couldn’t ignore what Gayeong wanted. If she knew that it would just cause more issues than solve anything, then he had to go along with that. He wasn’t there to make more drama, especially if it came with the risk of her potentially being allowed to see Gihun less.

“I’ll go tomorrow.

“Thank you,” she whispered as she stood up. “Night.”

“Night, just come get us if you wanna talk.”

“I will,” she complained, rolling her eyes again as she grabbed her jacket and made her way towards her room.

Sangwoo didn’t tell Gihun where he was going the next morning. He was still asleep when he woke up, so Sangwoo only just shook him awake and whispered that he was going out - to which Gihun mumbled an “okay” before rolling over and going back to bed. Gayeong was still asleep as well, but she’d texted Sangwoo just before she went to sleep with a list of belongings she wanted him to bring back.

Sangwoo’s hands were shaking the whole way there, half because he was mad at Eunji, half because he had no idea what to expect. He was well aware that she’d be fuming with him, that whatever he did would go back to Gihun, but he didn’t care anymore. He was sick of Gayeong being put between the two households, the tension that was always there when his name was brought up. It wasn’t fair to him, it wasn’t fair for Gihun, and it definitely wasn’t fair for Gayeong.

It wasn’t until Sangwoo stood in front of Eunji, on the doorstep of her apartment, that he knew exactly what he wanted to say.

“Is Gihun here?" She asked as soon as it had set in that it was Sangwoo in front of her, her face stony and bothered.

“No, just me. I’m just getting some stuff for Gayeong,” he answered, trying to keep his tone as flat as he possibly could. “She’s staying with us while she does her exams.”

“Did Gihun tell you that?”

“No, I decided,” he shrugged, still trying to keep level-headed. “I mean, isn’t part of your issue with me that I don’t make parental decisions alone like your husband does? I can do it as well, and this just happens to be the choice.”

“Come on, you’re unreasonable,” Eunji scoffed, leaning against the doorway, blocking Sangwoo from getting inside. “She can come home later today, thank you.”

“I’m sure that if she only wanted to stay with you during exams, that you’d have no issue with it, right?” Sangwoo asked, not at all expecting an answer. It was good that he didn’t, because Eunji just clenched her jaw and looked down at the ground. “And Gihun wouldn’t either. Just let me get her stuff, you can talk this out with him later.”

“You can call him now,” she said, crossing her arms.

“He’s sleeping, I’ll get him to call you later. I know she’s your daughter, but this is ridiculous. Letting your issues with me and Gihun get in the way of things, that’s just petty,” he complained, quickly pulling his phone out of his pocket. “I have a list of stuff she wants me to bring over to ours, let me get it, and I’ll leave. I will stand here until you let me in.”

Eunji mumbled something under her breath, but Sangwoo didn’t care enough to ask her to repeat it. He just stayed rooted to the spot, waiting for her to move so that he could get inside and grab what he needed, so he could go. He understood where Eunji was coming from, she’d had her first marriage break down and was still dealing with the outcome of it, the fact that she had to co-parent with Gihun whether she wanted to or not.

And he was well aware how terrible it was to be in her place. He’d seen how his own mother’s divorce affected her, especially when his father moved on and started a new family of his own, the fact it seemed he got better for his second wife, but he couldn’t do the same for them. It was bound to hurt Eunji, especially when she had to deal with Sangwoo directly - the man that Gihun had gotten better for.

Still, he didn’t want Gayeong to be impacted by it. When he was a kid, his mother always told him that if he wanted to stay with his father that he could, that she’d take him and organise things for him, she told him that it was upsetting, but it still wasn’t his new wife’s fault, and it wasn’t theirs either.

Eunji wasn’t shielding Gayeong from their adult drama, and he couldn’t agree with that. She’d likely end up worrying anyway, it was natural for a kid in that situation to do so, but the least she could do it not make that any worse.

“Fine,” she mumbled, stepping to the side to allow him inside. “You have 20 minutes.”

“Thank you,” he said calmly, stepping inside and taking his shoes off at the door. “Eunji, I’m sorry, b-”

“20 minutes,” she repeated, pointing down the hallway. “On the left. Be quick.”

Eunji brought him a bag to gather Gayeong’s belongings, and she stood at the door as he searched around her room, trying to find everything she’d asked for. Occasionally, Eunji would speak up, asking when Gayeong was going to come home, if Sangwoo was going to manipulate her into staying, if Gihun knew he was there, if he even cared about Gayeong.

If it were any other time, Sangwoo might’ve snapped and told her to be quiet, but it didn’t feel right. He had to stop thinking about just himself, he had to look at things from her view. She’d never had to navigate anything like this before, and he had to have patience for that.

Sangwoo had gathered everything he needed within the 20 minutes Eunji had given him, and she quickly rushed him out of the apartment as soon as he was done. She stopped at the door for a moment, tapping Sangwoo on the arm to stop him from leaving right away.

“I’m sorry,” she exhaled, closing her eyes. “This isn’t easy for me. But it’s not your fault.”

“Gihun got better for you as well, not just me. He told me when we first got together he wanted to get better, partly for Gayeong, but so it wasn’t so hard on you as well. He’s not a monster, you know that,” Sangwoo sighed, and Eunji just nodded her head. “And I’m not here to make shit hard for you, I stay back. But I can’t this time, it’s getting to Gayeong and she needs to clear her head.”

“I know, just…” she trailed off, looking around as she tried to blink the tears out of her eyes. She looked exactly like Gayeong for a split second, making Sangwoo sick. “Promise you’ll send her back after exam season. Please.”

“I promise. We’re not keeping her from you, I swear. She’s your daughter. All parents argue with their kids, I’m sure there’s gonna be a time she doesn’t wanna see us.”

“She idolises Gihun too much for that,” Eunji chuckled, and Sangwoo thought that maybe it was the first time he’d ever seen her really smile around him. “Can you message me just to tell me she’s doing alright?”

“I will, every evening.” 

“Thank you.”

Sangwoo hoped this was the start of being able to live civilly alongside Eunji, that he didn’t have to worry constantly about stressing Gayeong out on the rare occasion they did interact. It was 10 years too late, but better late than never.

–

IV.

Thankfully, things got a lot easier between them all. Eunji wasn’t so bothered by Sangwoo anymore, and she found that speaking to him, there were things they could connect on and relate to, that they had similar interests, and Eunji even joked about Gihun clearly having a type.

Gayeong was also clearly less stressed now that both sides of her family could interact without there being some horrific tension that they all seemed to refuse to address. It seemed like she spat less with Eunji, and she wanted to stay with him and Gihun less outside of their allotted time with her. While he thought he’d be worried about that, he was just pleased that she didn’t constantly feel so stressed at her other home.

Of course, Gayeong still got stressed. Whether it was school, her homework, the fact that she didn’t have time for hobbies, or the natural stress that came between living in two places and forgetting things at the wrong home. At the very least, she seemed to have friends supporting her, especially her friend Minji. 

When she stayed with them, she talked about Minji all the time. Whether it was about something funny that Minji had said at school, or something that Minji had sent her, or the fact that Minji was going to be hanging out with her at the weekend, it seemed that Gayeong loved talking about her. Minji had even been over a few times, but Sangwoo hadn’t ever really spoken to her.

Generally, Gayeong was happy, which is why it was so strange when she came home after school one day completely deflated. She just came in, got changed, and flopped down in the armchair without checking her phone once. Normally, she was attached to the thing, there were times it was a challenge to hold a conversation with her since she was so focused on the device.

She just curled up under a blanket, her phone on the coffee table, watching whatever show Gihun had on. He’d noticed her behaviour as well, looking to Sangwoo and raising his eyebrows. Sangwoo just shrugged, trying to not draw too much attention to themselves.

“Gayeong?” Gihun asked after the silence between them all was becoming unbearable. She just hummed in response, not even raising her head to look up at him. “Are you alright?”

“I’m fine,” she whispered, hiding her face in the blanket. “I’m okay.”

“Are you sure? You know that y-”

“I know, I can talk to you,” she snapped before grabbing her phone and storming out of the room and heading towards her bedroom. “I’m fine!” She slammed her door behind her, leaving the two of them in silence.

Gayeong never snapped at them, even if she was upset she tended to just stay calm and talk things out with them. Gihun never took any type of confrontation from her well, he tended to freeze up and get emotional, and Sangwoo could see it in his eyes.

“I’ll go talk to her,” he whispered and stood up, kissing the top of his head as he did. “Give me a minute.”

“Thank you,” Gihun whispered, grabbing Sangwoo’s hand and giving it a quick squeeze as he walked past. 

Sangwoo walked down the hall until he reached Gayeong’s door, waiting outside for a moment. His hearing wasn’t great at the best of times, but he couldn’t hear her crying, so he figured that was at least a good sign. He slowly pushed the door open, poking his head inside. Normally he would knock, but he didn’t particularly want to be on the end of Gayeong’s mood.

She was in bed, again curled up under her duvet, and now he could hear her sniffling, and she wasn’t at all reacting to Sangwoo being there. He closed the door softly behind him, his heart beating so fast that he felt as if he was going to throw up. Gayeong had her moods, sure, but she never snapped at Gihun in such a way.

“Gayeong?” Sangwoo asked quietly, tapping her on the arm through her duvet.

“Go away,” she replied, voice muffled. “I know I can’t snap at Appa, I get it. Leave me alone.”

“It’s not that,” he said calmly, grabbing the chair from her desk and pulling it beside the bed, sitting down but still making sure she had space and didn’t feel crowded. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, I’m fine. If I tell you it’s a period mood swing, will you just leave me alone?” She asked, poking her head out of the duvet to look at him.

“No, because I won’t believe you,” he said blankly, and Gayeong rolled her eyes. “You can talk to me.”

“Sangwoo, I don’t want to.”

He had a suspicion of what was going on, and he hadn’t wanted to go in there and put words in her mouth, or to start guessing and risk upsetting her even more, but it seemed like he was being left without a choice.

“Text Minji, maybe she can cheer you up,” he started, testing the waters. It was the first time in a while she’d gone a full day without mentioning Minji, so he didn’t see it out of the realm of possibility that this had something to do with her.

“Hilarious,” she mumbled, climbing out of the duvet and sitting up, leaning her back against the wall and pressing the heels of her palms into her eyes. 

“Are you still talking to her? You haven’t been on your phone today, and you’ve not mentioned her once.”

“She’s not talking to me. I…”

She stopped talking after that, tears welling in her eyes again. For a moment, it looked like she was going to compose herself to speak again. The moment she tried to speak again, a sob left her mouth and she completely crumbled, hiding her face in her hands as she cried, shoulders shaking with each sob.

Sangwoo panicked, this wasn’t something that Gayeong had ever done in front of him, of course she’d cried, but never like this. She clearly wasn’t in the right space to talk, but he couldn’t just sit there, staring at her. He remembered sobbing in front of his father as a kid, and how he’d just sit there and watch him when all he wanted was a hug.

He moved to sit beside her on the bed, placing a hand on her shoulder so that she knew he was still there, that he hadn’t just gotten up and left, that he wasn’t just watching her cry without doing anything. 

“It’s okay, j-” he started, and Gayeong collapsed against his shoulder, crying into his shoulder as she hugged him, tears soaking into his sweater. She’d never gone to Sangwoo for comfort in the past, that was always Gihun’s role. Of course she’d hugged him before, but only when she was happy, this was the first time that she’d ever sobbed like this in front of him, and it broke his heart.

“I’m sorry,” she cried as Sangwoo rubbed her back, hoping that it would work in calming her down even a little. “I’m so sorry.”

“It’s alright, don’t worry,” he reassured, letting her cry. “Talk when you’re ready.”

It took her a good few minutes to calm down, crying in his arms until she felt like she could breathe again. When Sangwoo first became her step-father, he would’ve struggled with this, but now he didn’t mind. She needed someone to be there for her, on her side, and that was him. It might’ve taken him 12 years to finally be a parent, but he was getting there.

“Minji,” Gayeong started, sitting back but still clinging to Sangwoo’s arm to ground herself.

“Yeah? Is she okay?”

“She’s okay, she just…” She trailed off again, looking like she was going to break down again before collecting herself. “We’re not talking right now. Her parents are…”

Sangwoo recognised the expression on her face. It was how he’d looked in college when his first boyfriend broke up with him because his parents were homophobic. Really, he’d been glad for it, the guy wasn’t great, but it had broken him at the time. He knew too well what was going on, and he remembered how it felt like his heart had been ripped out.

“They don’t approve?” Sangwoo asked, and Gayeong nodded her head. “How did they find out?”

“I stayed at hers last week. We just watched a film in the living room, we weren’t even close or anything. But we fell asleep together, and her parents saw and freaked out. She’s been distant the last few days but… I didn’t expect her to…”

“Break up with you?” She nodded again, sniffling and wiping her eyes on the back of her hands.

“I just didn’t expect her to. We’ve been friends for years, and yeah, we might’ve had to be more secretive about it, but I didn’t want to break up.”

“Did she tell you why she broke up with you? Was it just the fact that her parents don’t accept it?” Sangwoo asked.

“Just that.”

“Then she probably doesn’t want to. I had a guy break up with me for a similar thing, then there were other reasons after as well, so it was a good excuse for him. But if she can’t even think of another reason to break up with you…” he said, Gayeong nodding in understanding. “Give her some time, or ask her to meet up where her parents won’t know.”

“I’m not sure you should encourage sneaking behind parents’ backs,” she chuckled, eyes still glossy, but at least she was smiling.

“It’s for your benefit, and I don’t care about her parents,” he said bluntly, and she laughed again. Sangwoo felt like he could finally breathe again, seeing Gayeong starting to go back to her normal self. “You weren’t scared to tell us that you’re gay or anything, were you?”

“No, I was going to, but whenever I wanted to, Minji texted and I got distracted. No one knows, even Eomma. Appa doesn’t know either, obviously. Can you tell him for me?”

“Me? You don’t want to tell him?” Sangwoo asked. “He’ll still want to talk to you about it.”

“I know. I just know him, and I know he wants to know why I’m upset, but I can’t talk about it again.”

“I’ll tell him,” Sangwoo smiled, patting her on the shoulder before standing up and pushing the chair back under her desk. “Just make sure to apologise to him tomorrow.”

“I will, I didn’t mean to snap like that. It’s just…” she started, waving her hands about, failing to find the right word.

“I get that. Text Minji, talk to her about it.”

“I will,” she complained, flopping down on the mattress before grabbing her phone from her nightstand. “Goodnight.”

“Goodnight. You know where we are if you need us.”

He closed the door quietly when he left the room, dashing through to the living room as quickly as possible. Gihun was waiting for him, looking over the back of the couch towards the hallway, impatiently tapping the back of the sofa. Sangwoo joined him on the couch, sitting closely so they weren’t speaking too loudly.

“Is she alright?” He asked anxiously. “I heard her crying.”

“She’s okay,” Sangwoo assured, taking Gihun’s hand and lacing their fingers together. “She wants me to tell you what happened.”

Gihun nodded firmly, shuffling a little closer. Sangwoo still felt wrong telling Gihun himself, but it was what Gayeong wanted, and he wasn’t going to go against that, especially when she was in such a state already.

“She’s gay, and her girlfriend broke up with her. Her parents didn’t approve of it,” Sangwoo whispered, and Gihun’s face fell. “It sounds like it’s just because of the parents though, I reckon they’ll get back together.”

“Oh my god,” Gihun sighed, slouching against the sofa, running his free hand through his hair. “I remember the first time a guy broke up with me, I almost lost my mind. Is she okay?”

“As much as she can be. She’s going to be fine, she said she’ll talk to you tomorrow,” Sangwoo explained as he rubbed gentle circles with his thumb into Gihun’s hand. “Eunji doesn’t know.”

“I won’t tell her. God, poor kid,” he mumbled. 

“She’ll be okay, I know it.”

For the first time in his life, Sangwoo felt like he could finally be a parent. It was years too late, but so long as Gayeong was safe, and she felt comfortable enough to speak to him about this kind of thing, Sangwoo was happy. 

-

V.

Sangwoo woke up before Gihun the next morning. He was splayed out like a starfish, his arm practically covering Sangwoo’s face. As much as he wanted to stay there, fighting a sleeping Gihun away to get even a little bit of mattress space, he heard voices coming from the living room.

He gently rolled out of bed, trying his hardest not to wake Gihun. It was bad enough to wake him up early on a weekday, but waking him up accidentally on a weekend was practically a crime. Sangwoo grabbed his glasses and put them on as he rubbed his eyes, trudging his way out of the bedroom. 

Down the hall, he could see Gayeong in the living room, with someone sitting beside her. Gayeong looked up the hall as Sangwoo walked down, smiling and waving him over. It was such a change as to how she’d been the night before, it almost gave him whiplash.

“Who’s here?” Sangwoo yawned, leaning against the doorframe. The person sitting beside Gayeong was another teenage girl, and Sangwoo didn’t need an explanation to be able to connect the dots. “Minji?”

“Yeah! This is Minji!” Gayeong said enthusiastically, and Minji waved shyly at him. “Minji, this is my dad, this is Sangwoo.”

‘My dad.’

Sangwoo’s heart stopped when he heard those words, shocking him with so much adrenaline that he felt like he’d just done a skydive. Gayeong hadn’t ever called him that before, she’d always called him by his name, or referred to him as ‘my Appa’s partner.’ He’d never been ‘dad’ before, and while it did warm his heart, it startled him a little.

“Hi, Sangwoo,” Minji greeted. “I’m Gayeong’s girlfriend.”

“You’re back together?” Sangwoo asked, a smile creeping onto his face despite the emotional shock still running through his mind.

“Yeah, we talked it out,” Gayeong explained. “Minji’s gonna move in with her brother, so she doesn’t have to deal with her parents.”

“Good idea,” Sangwoo nodded as Minji hummed in agreement. “I’m really happy for you two. I’m just gonna head into the kitchen, do either of you want anything?”

Neither of them asked for him to bring anything back, so he dashed off to the other room. He boiled the kettle to make a coffee, Gayeong’s words still ringing in his head. Of course he’d started to take a more paternal role in her life, especially in the past few years, but it still wasn’t anything he’d expected her to say. 

If this had happened in the first few years of them meeting, Sangwoo would’ve said that he wasn’t sure he was comfortable with that just yet, that he wasn’t sure if he ever would be, that he was just fine being ‘Sangwoo’ to her. But now, she really did feel like his daughter too. He’d have never pushed her to call him her ‘dad,’ but the fact she saw him like that made him tear up.

As the kettle boiled, Sangwoo’s thoughts were interrupted by a voice behind him saying his name. He turned around to see Gayeong standing there, anxiously shifting her weight between her feet.

“I’m sorry,” she started before Sangwoo could get a word in. “I should’ve asked before calling you my dad, I know that you might not want me to call you that. I’m really sorry, I don’t know how to introduce you to people.”

“You can call me your dad, I don’t mind,” he reassured, trying to prevent her from panicking before it happened. She was rambling the way she did when she was up a height, and he didn’t want to make it any worse.

“I wasn’t sure if you’d be okay with that. We hardly even spoke until a few years ago.”

“That doesn’t mean anything, I don’t even speak to my actual father. It’s been at least two decades since I’ve spoken to him.”

“Oh my god, you’re so old,” she complained, rolling her eyes again. He’d never realised how much she did that until Gihun pointed it out, and it certainly was something that she’d picked up from him.

“I was trying to have a heartfelt conversation,” Sangwoo started, turning around once the kettle boiled to finish making his coffee, “and I just get called old. That’s no way to speak to your father.”

“You think I wouldn’t call Appa old? You’re both old. I’m gonna have to start looking for good nursing homes in like a month’s time.”

“So rude,” Sangwoo scolded weakly. “Seriously, though. I don’t mind, you can call me your dad. Maybe just run it past your mother first.”

“She doesn’t hate you as much as she used to,” Gayeong shrugged as Sangwoo turned back around to face her. “Thanks for last night as well. Like, I really probably wouldn’t have messaged Minji if you didn’t tell me to. So, yeah. Thanks for that.”

“Just giving some fatherly advice,” Sangwoo shrugged, and Gayeong threw her hands up. “You said it first.”

“I’m regretting ever saying it. I’ll be hearing about this forever,” she mumbled as she left the kitchen.

Growing up, Sangwoo had never thought he’d have a family, and it may have taken years, literal decades of his life, but he finally had one. He’d never pictured himself living a life like this, even in a stable relationship, but he couldn’t be happier if he tried.

–

VI.

“Remember, we’re only half an hour away,” Gihun reminded, bringing the last box through the door and dropping it down on Gayeong’s bed. 

Gayeong was just starting university. She’d gotten into SNU for psychology, and they were helping out by bringing any stuff they had at their apartment that she might need. Eunji and her husband had done the initial task of getting her settled in, since they all agreed that Gihun would get far too emotional being the first one to send her off.

“I know,” Gayeong sighed. This was at least the fifth time she’d heard Gihun say so that day. “I’ll come home, I promise.”

“You’ll be too busy having fun. Right, Sangwoo?” Gihun said, turning to him for backup.

“I locked myself in my dorm when I was here. You literally had to bribe me with food to leave, I can’t back you up here,” Sangwoo reminded, and Gihun sighed.

“Yeah, don’t do what he did,” he insisted before hugging Gayeong tightly. “I’m gonna miss you.”

“You just said I’m half an hour away!” She laughed, hugging him back. “You’re so dramatic.”

“It’s not the same,” Gihun frowned, ruffling Gayeong's hair once they let go of the hug. “I’m so proud of you. I can brag about two people going to SNU now.”

“You’ll never hear the end of it, Gayeong,” Sangwoo remarked, and Gihun gasped in mock offence. “Every time I spoke to him at one point, he brought it up.”

“God forbid a man be proud of his best-friend-turned-husband,” Gihun sighed, crossing his arms. “Look, Gayeong, I don’t wanna keep you too long. I’m sure there’s lots you’ve got to do.”

“And he’ll cry if he stays here any longer,” Sangwoo joked, making Gayeong laugh.

“Oh, please, you cried on the way here.”

“And you promised me that you wouldn’t tell her about that.”

“Aw, dad,” Gayeong hummed, holding her arms out for a hug. Sangwoo pulled her in for a hug, resting his chin on the top of her head. “I’ll be fine.”

“I know. I just know how crazy I went in here, and I don’t want that to happen to you,” Sangwoo explained. He’d cooped himself up entirely, and Gihun was being truthful when he said that he had to bribe Sangwoo out. It had been different when it was him, but he didn’t want to see Gayeong shut herself off from the world.

“Minji’s already promised that we’re gonna go out together at least once a week, I won’t be cooping myself up.” Minji had really stuck by Gayeong’s side, and it really did warm Sangwoo’s heart to see. Sometimes they made him wish that he’d told Gihun how he felt about him sooner, that maybe they wouldn’t have lost out on so much time together.

But, then again, if that was the case, Gayeong wouldn’t exist, they wouldn’t have this family, and Sangwoo couldn’t think of a life like that. They’d all been through a lot to get to this point, and Sangwoo wouldn’t change any of it.

“Good. Just be careful.”

“I will,” she promised, reaching over to Gihun to pull him into the hug as well. “I will miss you both, by the way. I don’t care if it’s just half an hour away.”

“Don’t get all sentimental, you’ll make Sangwoo cry again.”

“I come here to be supportive, and you both just make fun of me,” Sangwoo complained, going to let go of the hug, but Gayeong and Gihun both clung to him to stop him from going anywhere. “And, Gihun, don’t act like you weren’t in tears over it yesterday.”

“I did no such thing!” He gasped, making Gayeong laugh again. “I’m just proud of you, Gayeong.”

“I know, I know you both are, as much as we’re joking about it. I love you guys.”

“We love you too,” they both echoed, Gihun kissing the top of her head the way he used to when she was a kid. 

It got to the point where Sangwoo had to bribe Gihun to leave, the complete opposite of when he used to convince him to leave his dorm decades ago. Neither of them really wanted to let her go, to free her out into the world and let her go off on her own.

Sangwoo knew that she’d always come home, that they’d always have space for her to come back whenever she wanted. There might’ve been a rocky start, but they finally had their family, and their daughter was always welcome to come back whenever she wanted.