| SPOILER WARNING! This article contains spoilers from Season 2 |
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- Hyun-ju – “I'm going to Thailand. [...] Apparently some really beautiful people live there.”
- Young-mi – “You're beautiful too, unnie.”
- — One More Game
Hyunmi is the femslash ship between Cho Hyun-ju and Kim Young-mi from the Squid Game fandom.
Canon[]
Cho Hyun-ju and Kim Young-mi meet each other at a remote island where they are both participating in mysterious survival games that promise them a big prize that can help them get a big sum of money. The both of them interact for the first time during the second game, Six-Legged Pentathlon. In this game, each team consisting of five members will compete against the other. So the contestants were instructed to form teams of five players. Hyun-ju starts walking around to see if she can be accepted into a group. But all the ones she asks, reject her. Until she comes face-to-face with Young-mi, and they stare at each other for a little while. When Hyun-ju starts walking away, Young-mi stops her and asks her timidly if she wants to join her. Together, they keep looking for more people to join their group, and they eventually find other people who end up joining them and completing the five person quota. The game consists of the team members playing four mini-games and completing these games in under five minutes. Apart from that, the team has to cross the finish line in that time if they want to move to the next competition. Young-mi is initially terrified of playing, as she's seen that the consequences of doing so is to be killed. So when Hyun-ju notices her shaking beside her, she asks for her name, and they both introduce each other. Hyun-ju gently grabs both of Young-mi's hands and tells her some reassuring words to comfort her.
- Young-mi, when you spoke to me earlier, I could tell right away. I could tell how brave you are. So you've got to believe in yourself.
- —Hyun-ju's words to Young-mi.
With Hyun-ju's reassuring words fresh in her mind, Young-mi finds the strength within her to move on. The team develops a strategy to win the game that would turn out to be something really inspiring for the other teams as well. So, in the second round, Young-mi starts with the game called Ddakji. She struggles initially, but Hyun-ju once again helps her out and tells her to flip the side of the tile and then strike the other tile. Fortunately, the trick works and they move to the next game. Their team ends up winning the challenge and they can proceed together to the voting section of the day, alive. During the voting section, players have to choose if they want to stay and play one more game, or if they want to leave with all of the money divided between the survivors. As people vote and loudly argue with one another about which option is the better one, Young-mi breaks into tears and pleads for people to vote for the game to stop because she really just wants to go home and can't stand it anymore. Hyun-ju sadly stares at her from afar. And when the time comes for her to vote, she votes to keep the game going one more round, and looks at Young-mi and immediately lowers her gaze out of shame and guilt. Later on, as they sit on the stairs, Hyun-ju keeps looking at Young-mi, who has her back on her, lamentably.
However, she still listens as Hyun-ju shares her story and why she really needs the money, and explains why she chose to stay in the game. When she shares how she's being ostracized by her own family and marginalized and discriminated against at work, Young-mi has a sympathetic look in her eyes, as she listens intently. At one point, Hyun-ju shares her desire to move to Thailand and mentions there are really beautiful people like her there. So Young-mi interjects and says that she already thinks that Hyun-ju is beautiful.
As the day of the next game approaches, the players all go to the location together, and as Young-mi and Hyun-ju walk up the stairs, Hyun-ju apologizes to Young-mi for the way she voted earlier. Young-mi gives her a tender smile and tells Hyun-ju is all alright, since as long as they can win this game together, they can get out of there. The two of them share a hopeful smile together.
The next game is called "Mingle," in which all the players will stop on the platform in the center of the arena. Once the game begins, the platform will start to revolve. Shortly after, a number will be called out, and the players must form a group that matches this number, enter one of the surrounding rooms, and close the door within 30 seconds, or be eliminated. Instantly, although Hyun-ju and Young-mi stick with the group they've formed throughout the days spent there, Young-mi says that if it comes to the number called out being two, she wants to stick with Hyun-ju.
During one of the rounds, Hyun-ju and Young-mi run with their group towards a door but in all the chaos around them, they are separated. While the rest of the team makes it through the door, Young-mi is still on the way when barely ten seconds are left before the doors close. Before she can reach them, Myung-gi, another player, seizes the opportunity to occupy the place Young-mi had in their team, and he gets in the door and shuts it behind him, leaving Young-mi stranded outside, left to be brutally murdered. Everyone inside the cell is horrified to see this, but especially Hyun-ju, who is the first one to ask for Young-mi once she doesn't see her in the cell. She desperately tries to open the door and get Young-mi in, as she frantically calls her name, but Myung-gi tries to stop her. However, he doesn’t have to try for long as time runs out and the doors are automatically locked.
Young-mi is left outside alone, at the moment the doors are locked up and the guards show up to gun down everyone. In desperation, Young-mi approaches the little peep hole at the door of the cell and calls out for Hyun-ju, calling her "unnie" as she usually does. Hyun-ju keeps calling her name and tries to open the cell door, but she has to helplessly watch Young-mi die right in front of her eyes. She blames Myung-gi for taking Young-mi’s place, but he claims that even if he hadn’t taken her place, she still wouldn’t have been able to make it to the door in time. Furthermore, to excuse his behavior, he claims he has actually saved their lives. When the other players agree with his logic, Hyun-ju is forced to back down, but she is traumatized by Young-mi’s death, so much so that when the next voting happens, she votes to leave the game.
Fanon[]
Hyunmi has become a pretty popular ship as many people who enjoy like how Young-mi always recognized Hyun-ju for who she really was. After the second season of Squid Game aired, it garnered way more popularity right after episode 6, when Young-mi dies, as people within the fandom started calling this ship "doomed yuri," and comparing it to Jibyeok, from last season. People make parallelisms between Hyun-ju and Sae-byeok, and Young-mi and Ji-yeong like for example people comparing the Jeju Island promise (of Jibyeok) to the promise of eating at Geum-ja's place.
While another side tends to view them as having a sister-sister relationship or purely a familial bond.
Many people tend to recreate the "unnie" scene on Roblox for humor alongside the fork scene involving Thanos.
The ship currently has 90 works on A03. The ship's main rival is Hyunseok.
Fandom[]
- FAN FICTION
- Cho Hyun-ju/Kim Young-mi tag on AO3
- Cho Hyun-ju & Kim Young-mi tag on AO3
- TIKTOK
- Hyunmi tag on TikTok
- Hyunmi posts on TikTok
- 120 x 095 posts on TikTok
- 120 x 95 posts on TikTok
- TUMBLR
- Hyunmi tag on Tumblr
- Hyunmi posts on Tumblr
- 120 x 095 posts on Tumblr
- 120 x 95 posts on Tumblr
Gallery[]
Fan Art[]
- All art in this section is fan made, and must be sourced back to the original artist. It also must have permission from the original artist to be posted here. If your art is here without your permission and you wish to have it taken down, please inform an admin, so that we may delete it.
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| • Squid Game Ships ▴ Squid Game Characters ▪ | ||
| SHIPS | het | 555 • 07069 • DaeJu • Eulseok • ForkBee • GiSeon • HyuHun • HyunSales • Hyunseok • HyunSik • NyeoSu • Semigyu • Seminsu • Thanmi |
| slash | 457 • 324250 • Alihun • Aliwoo • Daeggyi • DaeHun • FrontOfficer • Frontsales • Juncruiter • JunHun • MathHun • SalesHun • Sangihun • ShyPills • Thanggi • Thangyu | |
| femslash | Hyunmi • HyunNyeo • Jibyeok • Semina | |
| poly | FrontSalesHun • Gihun's Harem • Red Flag Magnet | |
| family | Hwang Bros | |
| friendship | Gi-hun's Team • JeongWoo • SaeHun • SaeWoo • Thanos Team | |
| cargo | Front Man x Whiskey • Gi-hun x Umbrella • The Salesman x Gun • Young-mi x Door | |
| CHARACTERS | female | Cho Hyun-ju • Se-mi |
| male | Hwang In-ho • The Salesman • Seong Gi-hun • Thanos | |