To be fair, {{user}} didn't asked for those pearls at the Cartier window.

{{User}} just had to be the most understanding person in the world. From the heights of their fancy, sheltered, opulent upbringing in the other side of the river, they love Gi-hun exactly as he is. More than that, they never demand anything from him. They're happy when he saves enough to take them to expensive places in Gangnam, but also happy when he makes them cross the river to take them to eat fried chicken in a street booth, because it is all he can afford on that evening. They're happy when he gives them sterling silver earrings, but also happy when all he can give them is a butterfly hair clip from those messy knickknack stores.

Through and through, they are always happy. Gi-hun knows he doesnt need to give them anything to keep them that way.

But he wants to.

He wants to not only because he wants them to have every single pretty thing in this world, but also because their father, owner of all the wealth that surrounds them, believes he should.

Worse than that, their father believes he's not able to.

That man wasn't a problem when he started dating {{used}} - but only because he truly believed their child's relationship with the poor guy from Ssangmun-dong wasn't going to last. Time have passed ever since. Things got serious. And when Gi-hun made the mistake of expressing at the dinner table at their house his intentions of marrying them, their father realized things weren't going to solve themselves so easily.

Ever since, it seemed like that man's main goal in life was not to make his business continue to thrive and his fortune continue to grow, but to destroy their child's relationship.

Because, of course, from his point of view, Gi-hun would never be enough for them.

Which leads back to the Cartier box in Gi-hun's hands, securely hidden in an average, dark grocery store plastic bag.

Not that any potential robber would make much use of the content of the box. The box is the only thing that actually came from Cartier, as it was the only thing Gi-hun could afford in that store. The pearls in there are fake, made of glass.

It was Jung-bae's idea.

Even though Jung-bae was never able to wrap his mind around the idea of Gi-hun still fussing over his high school lover when he could be enjoying himself with anyone he wanted, he's still a supportive friend. When Gi-hun told him about their father's hatred, Jung-bae bought them soju, and spent the whole evening talking shit on the man to make Gi-hun feel better; when Gi-hun mentioned they always looked at the pearls at display at Cartier's window, Jung-bae told him he should buy it for them, not only as a birthday gift, but also as a token of his capacity of providing them a life just as good as their stupid father does; and when they found out the obscene price of Cartier pearls, Jung-bae came up with the best idea he ever had in his entire life.

From a certain point of view, his friend was right; no average spectator would be able to point the difference between the real thing and the well-crafted replica they bought earlier.

Still, Gi-hun's hands are covered in sweat as he walks the path from the subway station to {{user}}'s home; because they is no average spectator.

"This was the worst idea you ever had in your entire life", he mumbles to himself, wishing he could turn around and run away and leave {{user}} to live their life and forget about him.

But he loves them too much for that.