THE PITT 1.08 • 2:00 P.M.

sangihun > 457

need more fics that capitalize off of whitaker being from nebraska. like, him explaining what the fuck runza is to santos. wearing old koolaid days shirts under his scrubs. him and langdon arguing over college football and how the huskers are definitely making a come back this year.

it’s incredibly likely whitaker used to party in cornfields in high school. someone please write him telling javadi how to shotgun a beer or something.

THE PITT (2025-)

@tinkerbelldetective requested Dennis Whitaker

Absolutely obsessed with your santos and Whitaker headcanons please keep them coming! I’ve gone through all the fics on ao3 already lol

thank you! it's nearing the end of the school year for me, so unfortunately i'm too busy to make much fanfiction/art for them even though i dabble in both.

here's more headcanons, because i can't stop thinking about them:

santos has a major sweet tooth. once or twice a week, she buys herself an iced mocha and a slice of strawberry cake from this cafe that's en route to the hospital.

whitaker's bible has a small lamb embroidered onto the front. it's one of the two belongings he still has from nebraska. the other is a sweatshirt from the university he did his undergrad at.

she has to keep an eye on whitaker at all times when they visit the local asian market because he's too busy staring in awe to notice what's going on around him.

whitaker is very obsessed with banana sauce. he puts it on everything once he's tried it.

santos gave him buldak ramen without telling him how spicy it was once. it was funny for about a minute until she realized that this white boy really can't handle spicy food. he tries eating the whole thing because wasting food makes him feel guilty. santos stops him after 3-4 bites because this looks like actual, physical torture for the guy. she still makes fun of him after, of course. while handing him the whole milk jug.

santos gets way too into his stories about animal slaughter. one time he had to leave in the middle of talking about how he dissected a rat when he was first curious about studying medicine and the first thing she did when she saw him again was demand to hear the rest.

everyone at the pitt be trying to fuck someone, meanwhile 2 rats are still missing

karma (악연) behind the scenes

ali "gi-hun's angel" abdul was sang-woo's angel, too.

not in the same way, of course.

...

to sang-woo, ali was this wide-eyed, clueless foreigner who was far too kind to be talking to someone like him. he's thankful for the simplest things, while sang-woo strives for perfection to the point of killing him. he said he lived in ansan. he says he'll walk. how can he say that? expecting sang-woo to what, let him? yes, sure, he can't really spare the money, but the idea of this relatively-puppy-looking guy wandering the streets until he finds his way home is not something he needs on his conscience at this time. so he gives him the money, and tells him to stop calling him that damn honorific. there's no need for that. when they get back to the games, ali's back. sang-woo makes a mental note of his strength when gi-hun points it out. he was willing to risk his life for others, too. those are good traits for an ally. sang-woo can make up for any lack of knowledge that might arise. they're a perfect team, when he thinks about it (oh, he'll end up thinking about it alright).

...

after the fight—when they were all banded together like a real team—they now sit to recover. ali looks embarrassed when he mistakes gi-hun's (their) hometown as his name. sang-woo asks for his, because he's a good ally friend. sang-woo hasn't had a friend in years. something about being in debt and going through depressive episode after depressive episode and not being able to look anyone you know in the eyes because how could you? after failing that badly? how could you?

it doesn't hurt like that when ali looks at him. sure, he feels the normal amount of guilt. ali thinks he's pretty kind for that move at the convenience store. he isn't; he knows he isn't. but ali doesn't look at him like gi-hun looks at him, like he's hung every star in the damn universe. ali thinks like that about anyone who treats him like a human. it hurts less, knowing that. sang-woo knows that in order for him to win, ali will have to die. everyone will have to die. he'll worry about that later.

... while they're on a night shift, ali shares his food with him. he's still thinking about the bus fare. why? he's already eaten. there's no reason for ali to starve. he splits it, though, because he doesn't want to refuse for another time.

ssajangnim. ssajangnim. ssajangnim. no one else ever corrects him. sang-woo doesn't know why. it's uncomfortable. he smiles when ali calls him hyung. he doesn't remember the last time he's smiled like this. a genuine smile. it quickly wipes off his face. he's here for money. of course, so is sang-woo. but sang-woo's here for his mom, mainly. he doesn't know why he was stupid enough to use her in his rabbit hole of debt. too late to lament that now. is ali here for his parents?

ali is a parent. he's got a kid. one. a one year old. sang-woo's going to vomit, his eyes prick with tears. he doesn't cry though, he never does. there's no way someone this... good is ever going to make it out of here. he's only taken out of his thoughts when ali asks him the same.

his reason sounds kind of pathetic now. he says it's about money, too.

...

the next game is duo-based. it's a no-brainer. ali's kind enough to look over at gi-hun. sang-woo needs to win. ali needs to win. they could do this.

the rules of the game are explained. sang-woo can't. he can't do this. he's not going to die.

ali's kindness isn't a virtue anymore. it's a liability. the clock is ticking. his flaws get glaringly bright like this. how do you not know what an even number is? sang-woo explains as patiently as he can. how is he winning. sang-woo was the intelligent one, wasn't he? he was the one who went to business school. hell, this is a guessing game. how the hell is ali winning? it's just like his debt. he's failing. he's failing at the one thing he's supposed to be good at. ali must be cheating. he has to be. sang-woo can't be failing again. he can't fail again.

the clock is ticking. sang-woo feels sick to his stomach. he begs, he pleads, he... he's looking at rocks. he turns to ali. he has a plan.

... "player 199, eliminated." sang-woo feels like he's being compressed by a machine. he breathes out and everything aches. he keeps walking. ... sang-woo's eating alone. funny, how most of his meals would be by ali's side. shared with him. shared with a friend. but friends come and go. he only knew ali for a couple days. it's not that special, he thinks.

his hands are shaking. ... he's fucking outraged at that husband. how could he not go on, huh? didn't he love his wife? didn't he care about her? how could he sit there, knowing her corpse is somewhere out there where he can't even retrieve it. he wants to give up the money? he wants to make her worthless? he grabs that man by the collar and gives him a piece of his mind. that night, he thinks about ali. really thinks about it. fuck, he was such a bastard. that man had a wife, a kid... things he'll never have. things he took away from him. kind, naive ali. he had more heart than sang-woo ever had, that's for sure. deserved more too. an angel, he remembers gi-hun saying. well, he doesn't have ali anymore. he tore those wings out when he betrayed him. he doesn't need an angel, in here. he needs to survive. he'll do whatever it takes. he can't fuck up now. he couldn't before, either. but not now. not after what he's done. ... player 069 is hanging from the metal frame, lifeless. was it what he said? no time to dwell on it, he thinks to himself, swallowing the feeling of guilt that blooms in his chest.

Managed to gif some of the instances where Beom-jun smiles/laughs and quickly cuts it off. I like that little detail about him.

they both have a kink for getting money. sick fuck x crazy bitch.

i can’t stop thinking about sang-woo’s suicide attempt. more specifically, little details surrounding that.

on the floor, we see a pile of cigarettes and ash, an empty bottle of soju, a trash bag filled with wrappers of what i’m going to assume are some kind of food or beverage… and shaving cream. which means it is more likely than not that sang-woo shaved himself before his suicide attempt. (he also does look cleanly shaved as well)

further more, when calling his mother, he’s not wearing the jacket of his suit. we see him put it back on. it wasn’t a spur of the moment decision; he willingly got in the bathtub with his suit on, assuming he was going to die.

so sang-woo made sure that even in death, he looked presentable and clean. he doesn’t want to be found a mess, because he’s meant to be better than a mess, and he wants people to think highly of him, even if he’s dead.

oh, the sheer irony of his actual death being messy.

look how far we’ve come.

—

also, it still breaks my heart that sang-woo was never able to tell his mother he loves her. while yes, he did get interrupted by the customer, i feel he also held back because of the things that had happened.

he’d basically jeopardized his mother because of his own wrongdoings, and he hadn’t really been the son she thought he was for the past couple years. that alone feels like a betrayal on its own.

and he’s basically drowning himself in shame and guilt that maybe he’s tricked his psyche into thinking “well, if you really loved your mother, none of that shit would have happened.”