A/N: There will be 2-3 more chapters after this, plus an epilogue. Also, the last paragraph of this has been edited down a bit because of the T rating, but it is there. That is all I will say. Enjoy :)

"Good Morning, Harabeoji," Yi Jeong greeted his grandfather coolly as the old man entered his office, his gaze sweeping over a half dozen empty chairs and priceless antiques—minus the pitcher that had been smashed—until it landed on Yi Jeong, who had taken up residence at his grandfather's desk.

In his grandfather's chair.

"What's the meaning of this?"

"I have an urgent matter to discuss." Yi Jeong pretended to wipe a speck of dust off of the desk.

"Then sit somewhere else, and we'll discuss it," the old man grumbled as he made his way into the room, briefcase in hand.

"I prefer this angle, if you don't mind."

Setting his briefcase down on the coffee table positioned mid-way between the desk and the door, the elder So replied, "You'll sit in that chair when you've earned the right to."

"And you've earned the right to...do what? Play weaver of fate to everyone who passes through these doors?"

"Fate? What nonsense are you mumbling at this hour?"

Yi Jeong clenched his jaw and, along with it, the newspaper he held out to his grandfather as he stood up, spitting his next words out, "What nonsense did you rattle off to this reporter when you gave him this picture? And what's next? Where does it end? Will you have her accused of murder next? Embezzling funds? Prostitution? Look at you, reduced to attacking a common kindergarten teacher who wouldn't lift a finger against you even if she could." He scoffed. "Are you that afraid of Yi Seong Jae? Or have you grown so old and weak that the only way you can keep your golden empire afloat is on a bed of scandals and lies?" He slapped the newspaper down.

"Yi Jeong, now you listen—"

"No, you listen old man!" Yi Jeong leaned forward with his hands curled around the edge of the desk. "You have insulted the person I love most in the world in every way possible. You've reopened all her old wounds with your careless selfishness. You've slandered and humiliated her on every major news network. Her parents are grieving the death of her brother all over again. Is there no end to your pride? Is there no end to your mindless cruelty?"

"Everything I did was in the best interest of the family. This family."

"If this is your idea of family, I don't want any part of it." Yi Jeong pulled an envelope out of his breast pocket and set it on the desk next to the newspaper. "I came to give you this."

"Well, I certainly hope you haven't resorted to bribes."

"It's my resignation letter for the museum...and for you. Now you can have your desk back."

"I don't follow." The elder So's eyes narrowed.

"I'm leaving. Just like you disowned Hyung, I'm disowning you." Yi Jeong circled slowly around the desk and continued, "I've already instructed all of my belongings left in my parents' house to be moved over to my apartment this afternoon. Except for my car. You might remember my father bought that for me, and he said I could keep it. So you see, I'm finished. With all of it. And especially with you."

"You foolish boy, do you realize what this means?" he replied gruffly. "You'll be cut out of the inheritance. All of your funds will be cut off immediately. You will also forfeit your share of stocks in the museum."

"Fine."

"All of the artwork you so graciously donated to the museum stays here, even if you go, including the pieces you made in Sweden."

Yi Jeong nodded. He would have expected as much, even if the latter pieces hadn't still been under contract. He'd half expected his grandfather to try to cut a deal with him, to get him to stay a bit longer, but the old man still had his pride.

It was the only thing he would have, Yi Jeong realized, now that both of his grandsons had left him.

"Yi Jeong, if you walk out of that door, you will never be welcome back. Understand?" For a second, Yi Jeong thought he heard his grandfather's voice break, but his expression remained as stern and unforgiving as ever.

"I understand everything now." Yi Jeong strolled past him. "I understand how little you value your investments. And you say my father's bad with numbers."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"There's a lot of things you can take from me, Harabeoji, but you can never undo the twenty-five years you just wasted on making me what I am. Why don't you think about that while you're sitting alone behind your priceless desk?"

The office door thudded shut behind him.

"You didn't have to do that just for me," Ga Eul whispered, safely cocooned in the heat of his body as they sat on the floor.

"I didn't do it just for you." Yi Jeong kissed the top of her head. "You were part of it, but I also...I used to think that family—the kind you're tied to by blood—was forever, that no matter what they did you should always stick by them because of who they are, because their poison is in you too, just by being born to them. But you—and Jan Di—made me realize that everyone is their own person, no matter where they come from. And I think... I think that some people are so set on destroying other people that they can't be redeemed, not even by blood. In some twisted way, I suppose I'll always love my grandfather the way I remember him from when I was a boy. But as a man, I can't excuse him. I'll lose everyone I love if I do that. I'll even lose myself if I do that."

"But...what are you going to do if you leave the museum?"

"You make that museum sound like it's my death sentence." Yi Jeong had started playing with her hair halfway through the story. She doubted many people had ever noticed how much he fiddled with any available object when he got nervous, but with him being an artist, she supposed his constant need to occupy his hands made sense. The first time she'd noticed it, they'd been at Madame Kang's dinner where she'd announced Jun Pyo's engagement to Jae Kyung. Her phone had dropped to the floor, and when she'd ducked under the table to retrieve it, she saw him clutching his cloth napkin like he might twist the life out of it. At present, he let go of her hair and locked their fingers together and placed a kiss on her cheek, then another, then another.

When he moved down to her neck, she gripped his hand tighter and tugged on it.

"Yi Jeong, you still haven't answered my question."

Clearing his throat, he paused.

"I have an opportunity, but I don't know that you'll like it."

"What do you mean, I won't like it?...What is it?"

He cleared his throat again.

"One of my mentors...in Sweden...recommended me to a position as an assistant artistic director. There's some other contacts I have over there if that doesn't pan out. I could also do some teaching at the university I studied at. I know that might seem like I'm running. But to be honest, since I have the opportunity, it might be best for me to get away from Seoul until things calm down. I doubt I'll have many opportunities here for an artistic career if my grandfather has any say in it. I won't have my inheritance anymore or access to the family funds, but I still have money I made on my own, plus some stocks and investments. Anyway, it might nice...to prove I can do something on my own."

"You can do anything, Sunbae. I always knew that." Ga Eul squeezed his hand, but he avoided meeting her eyes.

"I know I won't be able to apologize enough to your parents for everything that has happened, but I hope I can prove to them how much I care about you by how hard I'll work in the future. Though...I'm not really sure how you would feel about...moving to Sweden." Yi Jeong lowered his gaze. "I'm sorry. I know that would be taking you away from your family, and it might be really hard for you adjusting. You can say 'no.' It's all right. I won't hold it against you. But I...I would like it if you came."

For a moment, Ga Eul didn't answer as she processed all the information he had just unloaded onto her. It seemed unreal that thirty minutes ago she had been set on never seeing him again, and now he was asking her to move to another country with him.

It also seemed unreal that her immediate answer, at least in her head, was yes. Even after everything, she wanted to be with him more than she wanted anything else in the world. Love was nonsensical that way, she'd concluded. She would never not be in love with him. She would never give up an opportunity to be with him if she knew that would make him happy, even if it meant giving up the rest of her life as she knew it.

Her hand trembled as it caressed his face, and finally he looked up at her again.

"Because I'm your soulmate?" she asked, half-joking.

"No. Because you're the love of my life. Soulmates or not, I want to be with you anyway."

She smiled.

"Sunbae, you really are an idiot if you think I'm going to stay here with my family and with my friends while you move off to some foreign country all by yourself." She dropped her hand. "I wouldn't be able to sleep at night thinking about how alone you must feel." She stood up and looked him over. "Besides, look at yourself! I bet you've hardly eaten anything in the past couple of days. There's no way you could survive in Sweden without your staff and without me too. You'd probably starve to death. Let me guess. You don't even know how to cook ramen."

"Is that a 'yes'?"

Ga Eul smiled again, wider this time.

"For once, Sunbae, you are correct. It's a 'yes.'"

Yi Jeong's face broke into a huge grin, and he stood.

"Saranghae...Gomawo...Saranghae."

She giggled as Yi Jeong pulled her into a crushing hug and squealed as he swung her around.

When he finally set her down and pulled back so he could look at her face again, Ga Eul reached up and grabbed one side of his open shirt collar.

"You're not wearing a tie today, Sunbae. You always wear a tie." She pressed her hand against his chest.

He didn't reply to her, but his dark eyes sparkled with intensity as he regarded her. Slowly, he leaned over and placed a gentle kiss on her forehead. Then another kiss on her left cheek, then the other cheek, then her nose, then her lips. He kissed her like that over and over again, in no particular order, one arm wrapped around her waist, until he finally found her neck and her throat and her fingers that had begun fumbling with the buttons on her blouse, and kissed her fingertips. Suddenly, her body felt hot and cold all over, and she knew that she wanted him to kiss every inch of her body, just like that, until there wasn't any part of her that he hadn't touched, that didn't belong to him and only him.

Grabbing his wrist, she pulled him behind the counter and out of sight of the windows. The cold hardwood welcomed her bare skin as he laid her down and stripped her, and she, in turn, welcomed his hands that wandered everywhere at once. First her blouse came off, followed by her camisole. She heard a thump as Yi Jeong tossed her bra into the darkness somewhere. He kissed her mouth again, hard, and his hands embraced her hips. She ran her fingers through his hair, and he ran his hands up her skirt, tugging her tights down and then her underwear. He nibbled on her lip, and her hands fumbled with his belt. His mouth closed around her throat as his warm hand rested on her inner thigh. She felt his tongue, his teeth roam over her chest. His fingers entered her, and she grasped his hair and moaned as his tongue ran over her breasts. Finally, he pushed himself into the space between her thighs, and in the sudden pain she felt like she was dying until another sensation suddenly took over and she could hardly breathe at all.