Hello everyone and sorry for being so late! RL got a little in the way but things are looking up and I'm trying to build up a bit of a cushion again (Sandy and I had one, but then I was lazy during the holidays and well *insert sad face* ) BUUT! never fear your chapter is here!

So... it looks like Mondays will be our day now!

Thanks to Sandy for all her help, she is the awesomest person ever!

Chapter Six: Not the Worst Idea Ever

Since Soo didn't have anyone to ask for recommendations, Wang So offered to make an appointment with her sister-in-law's doctor and called her with the details.

That had been two days ago, and they had actually found themselves texting each other many times a day. It usually started with So asking her how she felt, but since Soo had been feeling perfectly fine so far, they usually just started to text about other things. Sometimes it took him a while, but eventually he would answer.

Soo still wasn't sure what he did for a living, but it sounded hectic so she appreciated his answers. Even if Woo Hee kept telling Soo always had a goofy smile after she got a text from So.

In any case, he had been able to secure an appointment with the doctor. Soo managed to shuffle her shift so she could take the afternoon off, and maybe check out some apartments after the appointment.

.

Wang So walked into Damiwon fifteen minutes before the hour he had told Soo he would pick her up. He took a seat in the waiting area, taking a moment to lean back and relax his muscles a little. He was finally getting over his jet-lag but he wasn't all the way there yet. Then he heard Soo's voice as she chatted with a young woman she was escorting to the exit.

"Just follow the order I wrote down for you, you'll be fine." Soo was saying. "If you have any doubts, you can always come back."

"Thank you, Ahgassi." The young woman – a girl, really, probably still in high school – said with a huge smile and ran out the door.

Soo waited until the girl had disappeared from sight before turning around, catching Wang So as he stared at her (which made him blush for some reason he wasn't ready to examine).

Smiling, Soo walked over to him. "I'm sorry to keep you waiting. I just need to clock out and change and I'll be right out."

"It's all right. I arrived early."

He often did that, Soo noticed.

With a nod, she dashed to the backroom where she changed quickly into her street clothes consisting of warm tights, a wool skirt and a nice, fluffy sweater. Soo paused for a second, looking at herself in the mirror… she couldn't imagine how she would look once she started to show.

But for now, Wang So awaited.

…000…

They almost hadn't made it to the appointment, and not because Soo had taken a lot of time to change or anything. Wang So knew it was entirely his fault. Apparently having her (and the baby) in his car made him drive like an old man. Who knew?

But in the end they made it and were given some forms to fill out while they sat in the waiting room. Soo went first, filling out all her medical history before handing the clipboard to him. He took in her information at a glance, noting her blood type and her birthday. How was he having a baby with someone without knowing that?

Well, now he knew.

Apparently, Soo felt similarly because she kept leaning in to look at what he wrote.

"Your handwriting is very neat," she commented very seriously, which made him laugh. He thought of the hours his father had made him and his brothers practice their calligraphy and hanja characters.

But before he could answer, they were called into the doctor's office.

There, Dr. Kim – whom So vaguely remembered from the time his niece and nephew had been born – sat behind her desk reading the forms they had filled and looking at Soo's blood test and general check-up from a week ago.

Then she took Soo's blood pressure and asked about what symptoms had she been experiencing. Then they did a dating ultrasound, which pinpointed the date of conception to the timeframe they had spent at the resort together.

"And this right here..." Dr. Kim pointed to a rapidly blinking spot on the black and white screen. "That's the baby's heart."

Hae Soo stared at the screen speechlessly as Wang So reached for her hand, giving it a squeeze and a comforting pat while she tried not to cry. Even he was getting a little misty eyed himself.

Doctor Kim, used to this reaction, just handed her a tissue and smiled at the young couple. "It's too early now, but in the next ultrasound you should be able to hear it."

If after that she found it odd that they asked for a paternity test, Dr. Kim didn't show. Instead, she talked them through the pros and cons of the procedures available and sent them off to the lab when they settled on the non-invasive procedure that took a little longer to process (and was more expensive) but didn't involve a needle being stuck into Soo's stomach to get a sample.

"Do you need me to drive you back to work?" So asked as they rode the elevator down to the underground parking after leaving the doctor's office.

"I have the afternoon off, so you can just drop me at the bus stop. I was planning on looking at apartments today, but I think I'll just go home. I'm a little tired."

"I'll take you home then." So said as they stepped off the elevator.

"Thanks." Soo agreed, then added excitedly: "Oh, can we stop for ice cream?"

In February.

"Sure we can."

In hindsight, So should have known Mu would find out. He had, after all, asked Uihwa to set up the doctor's appointment. And as nice as his sister-in-law was, the soul of discretion she was not.

By the time he got back to his office after dropping Soo off, Mu was waiting for him.

"Is something wrong?" So asked when his older brother pulled him into his office and asked his secretary to hold all his calls. "What's Baek Ah doing here?"

"Never mind Baek Ah." Mu said impatiently which made So's eyebrows rise as Mu's patience with his younger brothers was legendary.

"Okay..."

"I just talked to Uihwa a little while ago, she asked how your doctor appointment went. What doctor's appointment, I asked. Imagine my surprise when she told me you were meeting with Dr. Kim. What do you need a OB/GYN for? What's going on, Wang So?"

So sighed, not sure where to start and settled on being blunt. "I-I met someone when I was last in Japan. She's pregnant."

"She is saying it's yours?"

"Yeah, and it adds up," So said. "We are doing a paternity test anyway, but I believe her."

"You believe her? YOU BELIEVE HER?! AFTER WHAT HAPPENED WITH YEON HWA YOU BELIEVE IT WHEN A RANDOM WOMAN SAYS YOU GOT HER PREGNANT?!"

"I do." So answered, surprised by how easily that affirmation came. That left his oldest brother speechless. "And she's not some random woman. We are friends." Of a sort…

"I'm not sure 'friends with benefits' counts as friends." Baek Ah piped up, amusing exactly no one.

"You knew about this," Mu declared. Up until So had shown up, Baek Ah had been claiming not to know anything about anything.

"Not my story to tell," Baek Ah shrugged, completely unapologetic.

Wang So cut in before Mu got riled up again. "Look, Hae Soo is a good person and we are figuring things out. This is not a Yeon Hwa situation. You don't have to worry about me."

"That's good to know, little brother." Mu said tiredly and just a little sarcastically. "But have you forgotten you are up for the position of CEO? The board is voting in three months and you cannot afford to have a scandal right now."

"Since I'm not married and she's not engaged to any of my brothers, I think it will be fine."

"You could marry her," Baek Ah said idly. "The board does prefer old married men, and you can always get a divorce later on – divorce hasn't hampered any of the executives. Out of wedlock children… well, look at Yo."

Both older men turned to Baek Ah, and So had to admit he was right. If Yo hadn't screwed around with Yeon Hwa and still had the support of Park Mun Seong's family, there would be no question of whom would be CEO. So would have never stood a chance.

"That's not an entirely bad idea, Baek Ah. You do have a point," Mu said pensively. "It might even work if we spin it just right."

"Yah! Why the tone of surprise? I'm the Head of PR! Spinning things in our favor is what I do!"

"If I didn't marry Yeon Hwa two years ago just so I could be on the board, what makes you think I'm going to marry Soo-yah just to be CEO?" So asked.

Baek Ah looked at So like he was really quite hopeless. "That you actually like her?"

In another part of Seoul, Hae Soo sneezed three times in rapid succession.

"Someone must be thinking about me." Soo said, blowing her nose.

"Probably your baby daddy," Woo Hee said, dipping her spoon into the ice cream container Soo had brought home courtesy of Wang So.

"Woo Hee!" Soo protested. "Don't call him that."

"What? I'm becoming a fan. This gourmet ice cream is delicious. Maybe you should marry him! Then we can have gourmet ice cream all the time!"

"Woo Hee!" This time it was Chae Ryung admonishing their friend. "Soo-yah is not going to marry a stranger just so you can get pricey ice cream!"

Woo Hee rolled her eyes. "What? Soo-yah likes him and from what I have gathered, he's probably good in bed."

"WOO HEE!" Soo and Chae Ryung yelled at the same.

"I'm just saying!"

"There is more to marriage than liking someone and being good in bed together." Soo said.

"Yah... but is there though?"

-0-0-

It was interesting how an idea could take hold of one's mind. The first time Baek Ah had uttered the words "you could marry her," it had seemed too outrageous even to consider. However, the more Wang So thought about it...the more it made a demented kind of sense for reasons far more important than being CEO.

That night he had wandered around his house,—which he had purchased when he got engaged to Yeon Hwa… an engagement that was over before the paperwork for the house had come through – wondering how it would be to share it.

The moment the realtor had shown him this house, he knew it was the right one: the open space, the garden and everything else ; it was just perfect for him… even if it was a lot of space for just one person. Now, Wang So tried to imagine Hae Soo there too and he was surprised to find that he could do it easily. He could see her in the kitchen—which he never used—or on the couch watching TV… and it didn't panic him, none of it.

From a practical stance, So knew Soo was looking for a new place, and if they lived together it would be easier to share responsibilities. And he would actually get to be part of the experience and see his child once it was born.

And seeing her try not to be mopey about how her search was going… well, keeping Baek Ah's words out of his head was proving to be difficult.

"I didn't want to have to dip into the money I got from the bank… but it looks like I'm going to have to." She commented a few days later as they drove out to Dr. Kim's office to pick up the results from the paternity test.

"You know, I've actually been thinking about it- "So started hesitantly, "...And this is just an idea, okay? Just hear me out."

"Okay."

"I have a big house with lots of space. I thought that perhaps you would want to move in with me. You could have your own room and we could set up the nursery together, and I could help you out more. And you could save that money."

"I'm not going to mooch off of you."

"You can pay your own expenses, but I don't need you to pay rent and you could save that money."

Soo thought about it. "And it wouldn't cause problems with your family? You told me before that they're conservative and complicated."

"That they are," So agreed. "Actually, my brothers think we should get married."

"What?!" Soo said loudly.

"It's just an idea." So said offhandedly, but he was gripping the steering wheel a little too tightly. "Though it might have its advantages."

Soo glared at him. "Are you actually thinking of asking me to marry you?"

"I thought I just did."

"That's the worst proposal ever!" Soo said with an incredulous laugh and a bit of a huff. "I don't think it even counts."

"Look, we could be roommates; it doesn't have to be more complicated than that and we could get divorced later on once the baby is born and registered. It would be practical."

Soo took a deep breath. It was logical and practical, and with a baby on the way she was in no position to discard either of those things. And they both knew it.

Still, that proposal sucked.

-0-

Wang So's house was the kind that Hae Soo had only ever seen in dramas and magazines. It was big, a western style but with a more traditional garden—he even had both a pool and a pond!—and when he had said he had lots of space he hadn't been kidding.

It was also easy to see which parts of the house he actually used. The kitchen was updated but it looked unused – by snooping into his cabinets, Soo could tell that he didn't have many dishes or cookware and his fridge was empty except for a milk carton. The living room, with its massive TV screen looked more lived in, as did his office.

Upstairs, only two rooms were furnished: the master suite and a room across the hall from it. "This would be your room or we can move the bed to any other of the bedrooms," So said. Then he took her to a smaller room at the corner of the house, which received light from two windows. "I thought this could be the baby's room."

Hae Soo still couldn't believe she was actually touring his house. So had driven her here after they picked up the results from the doctor – which confirmed what they already knew – saying he just wanted to show her his place.

"What do you think?" So asked, taking them back down to the living room.

Soo was trying to keep a poker face, but it was hard. Not in a million years could she afford a house like this for her and her baby. Plus, it was a great neighborhood, it was safe, and it was a short commute to work—hell, she could probably get Wang So to drive her every day if she wanted.

So could see her wavering and started laying on it thick, telling her that her brother could stay over, of course, when he had leave from military, and that there was a cleaning service and landscaper, so she wouldn't have to do house chores, and so on.

"Come on, Hae Soo, marry me for my house and for our baby."

Soo sighed. She knew that if her baby was registered as legitimate, it would be better for him or her in the long run, and she guessed that being divorced was slightly better than being a single mother.

Then it hit her that she was actually considering it.

A/N: thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed it!

Melimelo: So and Soo would have fallen in love anyway, that's true, but the baby happily speeds things along ;) You'll see how very soon! So already sees Soo as his responsability but not in a bad way, more like in that he wants to take care of her because she's always going to be important to him, if that makes sense. :D

From next chapter (which will come on monday, I promise)

"Is this Kim Woo Hee?" A voice at the other end asked.

"Who is this?"

"I'm Wang Baek Ah. Wang So's brother?"