FrontOfficer

FrontOfficer
Hwang In-ho and The Officer looking at each other through the CCTV camera
GENERAL
Squid Game
Character	Hwang In-ho
Character	The Officer
Canonical?	Fanon
Status of Relationship	Allies (Boss/Employee)
IN FANDOM
Type (?)	Slash
Also Known As	Inficer, Officer001, Frontman x The Officer, 001 x The Masked Officer, In-ho x The Officer, รหนฟม
Tropes	• Boss x Employee - Front Man is The Officer's boss and The Officer is Front Man's right-hand man • Battle Couple - Front Man and The Officer worked together to suppress the players' rebellion, with Front Man personally taking to the frontlines and killing players himself, while The Officer led the guards from behind the scenes in the control room • Dragon with an Agenda - Despite his loyalty to Front Man during the games, The Officer keeps certain secrets and personal goals from him for his own benefits

FrontOfficer is the slash ship between Hwang In-ho and The Officer from the Squid Game fandom.

Canon

Season 1

Little is currently known about the past relationship between Hwang In-ho and The Officer. Hwang In-ho served as the leader of the guards in the first season, and while The Officer was not part of the cast in Season 1, it is implied that he was involved in the organ harvesting operation during the 2020 Squid Games, with In-ho seemingly unaware of his participation.

It also remains unclear whether The Officer already held his position at the time or if he was initially an ordinary manager and was later promoted for unknown reasons.

Season 2

Hwang In-ho continues to serve as the Front Man, while the Officer is introduced as a new rank—a Black Square/Manager—who appears to be second-in-command. With Oh Il-nam gone, In-ho is presumably the new Host. As the games begin and Seong Gi-hun attempts to help the players, the Front Man makes the decision to personally join the games to prevent him from interfering. During "Red Light, Green Light", The Officer is already commanding the guards and leading the game by In-ho's orders.

Front Man and The Officer work closely during the 2024 Squid Games. With In-ho participating in the games under the alias "Oh Young-il" to keep an eye on Seong Gi-hun, The Officer temporarily takes his place, not only for the first game but for the rest of the games as well, overseeing them and ensuring that the guards do not mistakenly kill In-ho if he loses a game.

When the rebellion led by Seong Gi-hun breaks out, The Officer commands the guards to suppress the uprising while also preparing for In-ho’s return. In the final moments, he is seen alongside Front Man, who personally descends the stairs to execute Park Jung-bae.

Although The Officer appears to be loyal to his superior, he secretly conceals information about the organ harvesting operation from In-ho, casting doubt on the genuineness of his allegiance.

Fanon

Although this ship is not particularly popular in terms of the number of fanfictions written for it, it has a relatively good amount of fan art, primarily from the Thai side of the fandom. In fact, the ship is so popular there that its most recognized name is its Thai name, and nearly all of its fan art is created by Thai artists. Even non-Thai artists use the Thai tag (รหนฟม) for their posts because it's simply much more recognized than the English ones. So, in a way, you could say that รหนฟม is the ship's main name—at least for now.

Compared to 457, FrontOfficer does not seem to be as favored by Western fans, possibly due to the limited interactions between the characters so far. Still, many fans of the ship hope to see more of the dynamic between the leader and his right-hand man, anticipating a different side of In-ho when he is around his most trusted employee. Many fans who prefer FrontOfficer over 457 might be drawn to it because it often portrays a more vulnerable and less manipulative side of In-ho, sometimes as a bottom—something that rarely happens in 457 fan content—though occasionally as a top as well. Despite this, many FrontOfficer shippers do also enjoy 457.

Another reason why FrontOfficer shippers find this pairing so interesting is In-ho’s apparent trust in The Officer, despite his otherwise cold and ruthless nature. Even if their relationship is strictly professional with no personal friendship, the fact that In-ho was fine with revealing his face and identity to The Officer—and essentially putting his life in his hands—adds an intriguing layer to their dynamic. The Officer had plenty of opportunities to turn against In-ho while he was in the games, but his continued loyalty reassures some fans. However, others remain wary, believing that The Officer may eventually betray In-ho, especially given his personal goal of profiting from organ harvesting, which he keeps secret from his leader. This uncertainty is why some fans hesitate to fully embrace the ship.

Front Man x The Officer is Hwang In-ho's second (in terms of fanarts) or third (in terms of fanfictions) most popular slash ship within the fandom. It is sometimes shipped alongside Frontsales, or all three characters are paired together as the villains of the series (when No-eul is added to the mix, they will be Squid Family.)

As of now, the ship has only 16 works on AO3.

Fandom

FAN FICTION

Hwang Inho/Masked Officer (Squid Game) tag on AO3

TWITTER

รหนฟม hashtag on Twitter

inficer hashtag on Twitter