paths of fate and future - a jidal endgame fanfic

chapter one: saying goodbye is never easy

author's note: 

as a good jidal clown i was expecting way more of this ending, but i think this is the general feeling too. because han jipyeong basically carried the show on his back, i decided to write a little something where he gets the girl, the family, the happiness and everything else.

this is written after episode 15, no funky ass marriages and awkward friendships in here. let's go!!

see the end of the chapter for more notes, oomfs

xx

This is enough. Ji-pyeong thought for the fifteenth time since leaving Do-san's house with that forsaken money tree and the ugliest box in the world, containing his best memories and the roots to his first love as well.

After washing the stench of alcohol and the lingering feeling of failure, Ji-pyeong saw himself as it usually was: alone, in an enormous apartment with a hollow chest and a full mind.

Han Ji-pyeong was, after all, a good loser. One who conceded when it wasn't his time or space. As always, he accepted and moved on.

Being an investor required some tough skin and a tremendous amount of adaptability, but more than that, being an orphan made him who he was. Ji-pyeong hated tear-jerking stories, but his biography would quickly be labelled as one.

As a person who spent most of his years having nothing, going through life meant surviving hardships, denials and an infinite series of abandonments. He built himself over this brutally honest and straightforward persona to protect what he had, like a rock-solid shield who suited him just like the expensive suits in the bedroom's closet.

Taking things lightly and being carefree was a privilege he never had. He never dreamed of having it too. Since Ji-pyeong became too old to be a child in the orphanage, but still too young to be an adult in society, every day felt like life or death.

His survival mentality was a result of years based on insecurities, anxiety and forged maturity. Being seen as rude, closed and arrogant was a consequence of the choices he did to survive and thrive.

Yes, he sucked in the matters of the heart. Delivering a complement almost cost him a kidney, and being openly friendly could be considered as a declaration of love, but he did what he had to do to get through life.

Not everyone has a safety net to fall into when they failed. Not everyone had supporting parents to praise them on a stage over a cheated result in a competition.

And yet, a little love from an old lady with a failing hot-dog business was enough to crack his shell and show that love is more significant than some certainties. Enough to make him start writing letters to a stranger to bandage her heart a little, and get his own cured in the process.

Staring at the letterbox through humid eyelashes, if from the shower or the late tears, he didn't know, made him realise how far he had come with all this story. A short throwback was enough to show his growth, not only as a person but the development of his feelings for Dal-mi as well.

From denying every interest or memory related to Dal-mi to craving her attention and affection, the process itself had changed something intrinsically personal on Ji-pyeong. And maybe that was why he decided to concede for the immature, and yet sincere, Do-san.

He might have been the Do-san of the letters, but not the one Dal-mi wanted after all.

As this conclusion dawned on his mind, a new type of resolution flourished in his chest. He wasn't going to force himself on their narrative, fight for the girl and chase her was never his thing, the three years they spent together in an amicable and respectful relationship being a proof of that.