#gonna challenge myself to try and get this done in a timely manner ahah

[namgyunation]

Hey!☁️🫶🏻

Since you’ve been interested to write a Nam-gyu x reader fic, that takes place in the games, and you were open for some ideas, I’d love to share some thoughts with you! I though a lot before writing... Prepare yourself because it’s kinda long. So sorry in advance 😭

His character is so intense, so layered, and I think there’s so much potential for a dark, tension-filled story that explores his possessiveness, his downfall, and his unresolved feelings for the reader.

So here’s what I was thinking:

-The reader was Nam-gyu’s ex before the Games. She left him after he spiraled into drugs, lost all their money in crypto, and refused to change. He begged her to stay, but by then, she had already given up on him ( It’s up to you if you want a backstory for the reader and her financial struggles, I also have some ideas but I don’t want to exaggerate)

Now, months later, they unknowingly enter the Games separately. And when they see each other again it’s pure shock followed by bitterness, masked under arrogance (from my man Nam-gyu ofc).

But here’s the thing: the more she avoids him, the more obsessed he becomes. She left him once. She won’t leave him again.

Now here it’s up to you again because I have mixed feelings : Would he protect her? Would he punish her for walking away? Would he try to control her just to prove she still belongs to him? I don’t really know I want to hear your vision too.

- After the second challenge, another male player gets too close to the reader. Maybe the reader sees Nam-gyu in the first game but hides from him. They come face to face during the team selection for the second game. Thanos is doing his thing, asking female players to join. And after she turns around, he’s shocked realising it’s her. And here comes Dae-ho (because he was searching for the fifth player to join his team and I also love him so much ahaha) and the reader grabs Dae-ho, claiming he’s her teammate.

- Later that night, nam gyu corners her: "You think he can protect you? You think anyone here gives a fuck about you like I do?"

- There’s a fight, a push against the wall, lips too close but not touching - just raw, burning tension. (Maybe create the bathroom scene if you re comfortable. Smth smutty. But again up to you 🤭)

- Maybe he grabs her chin, forcing her to look at him. 🧎🏻‍♀️ (I fantasise too much about this guy, I have a problem)

- maybe a challenge forces them to work together (Mingle).

- maybe he gets hurt after the fight in the bathroom, and for the first time, she sees his mask slip.

"Why are you still trying to fix me?" "Because I don’t know how to stop."

I love to make myself suffer 💀.

I feel like Nam-gyu’s dynamic with the reader could be so intense, so addictive, so painful in all the best ways. He’s too far gone, but when it comes to her, she’s the only thing that makes him feel something real.

So this was my crazy rant, hope it helped 🥲 from these ideas you can choose what resonates with you. Let me know how you feel about this. Have a lovely daaaaay💗

omg ☁️ !!! this was such a treat to read LMAOO don't be sorry!!! i love hearing abt other people's ideas and soaking up long walls of text so bad <3 thank u for taking the time to type this up and share it with me :)))

prob gonna yap in response to ur thoughts + add in some of my own, so this is under a read more...

HEHE.... dae-ho mentioned!!!! although i never really talk about him, dae-ho is another one of my fav characters bc of my friend haha. i'll try to do him justice when i'm writing him!!!! he's so sweet :) i think i could see some fun scenarios transpiring between reader and nam-gyu with dae-ho thrown into the mix. dae-ho is so sweet, protective, and respectful towards jun-hee, i no doubt imagine it would be the same with anyone else. even though there's nothing romantic about him and reader's interactions with each other, just dae-ho being a genuinely nice, caring guy, it'd make for some good rage bait for someone resentful and insecure like nam-gyu LOLLL

now i'm sitting here pondering... because of how little we know (in canon) about nam-gyu, i'd say it's pretty up in the air as to how he'd react to seeing an ex in the games that he's on bad terms with, and it could honestly go any of the ways that you listed! i personally think because of how prideful and bitter he is, he wouldn't go up to her right away for sure or even want her to know that he saw her/cares, because that would be giving her the satisfaction of knowing he still loves her / wants her back, and the thought of someone seeing him in that state again would make him mad.

put in that situation, i could see him pretending to be indifferent and so focused on himself after they initially see each other in desperate hope that she'd either approach him first or think that he dgaf, has been doing great without her, and moved on (he hasn't). i think it'd be especially sensitive for him because this is a long separation, months, and logically, by now he shouldn't still be hung up on her, but ofc he is bc he's a loser.

probably has to force himself not to look for where she's sitting during the pentathlon (because that'd be a weak thing to do, and then she'd know he gaf...). his team goes before hers, they pass duhh, and then he once again has to pretend like he's not about to short circuit waiting for her team to come through alive (and ofc gi-hun's team is last!!!). once he sees her and knows she's fine he goes on to say the "oh how many roaches do u think are left," thing, trying to play off the fact that he wasn't about to lose his mind.

thennn, when night comes and she still hasn't come up to him :] i'll go onto the part that u requested where he confronts her! i'll see what i can do with that and try to stay true to ur request >:)

i think his general behavior towards her would be him desperately trying to play off how much he really cares, but when it comes down to it, he is worried about her and tries to protect her, though he tries to do it in a way that doesn't show just how much he gaf, and he resents himself for just how much he does care.

when i write i usually just make a loose outline and then free ball that shit from there, so i'll try to add in some fun stuff and other character interactions to pad out the story! i'll prob write up to the aftermath of gi-hun's plan, just bc i don't wanna speculate too much on what games come after orrr what nam-gyu's fate is in s3....😭😭