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Hae Soo

The sun shone over trees with wilted leaves and pines that grew strong in the coldest winds, glittering over the little pond in front of her home. No snow had fallen yet, but the sky seemed primed to release flurries soon.

Soo held the arm of a man taller than Wang So or her husband. She shook her head at him as he pulled giant pink bags from the trunk of his car. "For the princess and the dinosaur," he declared, grinning down at her.

Hae Baek Ah wore a designer suit with a scarf wrapped around his long throat. His hair was cut into a sleek, business-casual quiff and a pair of sunglasses were perched on his nose.

Soo walked her older brother toward her front door, chiding him for spoiling her daughters. "Every month it's a princess castle or more dolls or coats- stop spoiling them!" Her brother only laughed at her.

"Did Kim Eun tell you to say that so he'd be the better uncle? I heard he offered to buy Yoon a car," Baek Ah said. He and Soo neared the house and Wang So stepped past them to unlock the door and hold it open. "If Eun buys Yoon a car, I'm buying Mi a plane."

"You don't have enough money to do that."

"If I sell my stocks I will."

"Dad would murder you if you did."

On their itineraries, this strange instance of Baek Ah visiting her home was listed as a casual lunch. He brought gifts for her girls, gave her a bouquet of flowers, and kissed her cheek when he saw her. "How long has it been since we last had lunch? Two months?" Baek Ah asked as he kicked his Oxfords off and removed his sunglasses.

Soo slipped her house slippers on and shook her head. "We've been busy these days," she sighed, rubbing the back of her neck.

Chae Ryung appeared to quietly take the gifts from Baek Ah's hands as he peered around the house. Soo knew he was looking at the new Degas that had not been in the foyer the last time he had been at her house. "Where are my nieces?" he asked, putting his feet through the slippers Chae Ryung set before him.

Soo followed her brother to the new painting and stood by as he examined it. "They're at school and daycare," she said. "Brother, take your coat off."

"Hm… look at the brushstrokes. Stunning, really."

The two had lunch in the dining room, chatting about family as they had black rice and bulgogi. A plethora of colorful side dishes sat around their bowls and silver chopsticks shone over the dark table. Soo noticed the staff going about their daily activities- namely the way Wang So walked between the lounge and back door to continuously monitor the security building- but she kept her attention on her brother as they ate. "Mom almost had a stroke when she found out I got another tattoo," Baek Ah said with a sly smirk. Soo scoffed.

"You got another one?" Setting her spoon down onto the table, she frowned at her brother, trying to look through his white shirt for any sign of ink.

Artistically repressed in his youth, Baek Ah had begged their father to allow him to go to an art college. He had wanted to be a painter, but their father had refused, sending him to business school instead. Soo knew he still rebelled through his body, painting it with his works and inking his emotions onto his skin.

After his fiance had committed suicide a week before their wedding, Baek Ah had tattooed their wedding vows onto his side. Soo had been by his side as he lamented the loss of his love, sitting with him as an artist printed words of adoration and promise against his muscles.

Her children loved their uncle's tattoos. If he took them to the pool or the beach, they always took time to examine the intricate drawings that covered his back and chest, tracing them with their little fingers and giggling when Baek Ah said the crane on his back flew away at night to bring him good dreams and thoughts of his two nieces.

"Yeah, two peonies beside the crane- one flower for each of my nieces." Soo's eyes followed Baek Ah's hand as he pointed to the area around his left shoulder blade. "You know, there's just enough space for one or two more flowers," he said with a raised eyebrow.

Shaking her head, Soo gave a huff and leaned back against her seat. She felt the ruffles of her blouse crumple against the wood and dig into her back. "I don't know if Wook and I are going to have more kids," she said truthfully. "I want more, but it's so painful giving birth… plus I don't think he wants any more kids- he's been adamant that I stay on birth control."

Soo knew her brother wanted her to have more children because he himself would not marry or even consider having his own. Baek Ah held a hand up and Soo watched him run it through his hair. "If you don't want to be on birth control, then don't take your pills and use a condom." Baek Ah frowned at her, the planes of his face creasing. "Why does he have a say over your body?"

"He just wants to be careful." She defended her husband even though she felt the same way as her brother. Soo wanted a baby, but her husband seemed not to. "Wook is busy and I'm busy. If we added another kid to the mix, we'd…" We probably might come closer together. "I think we're good as we are."

"Right, but I want an entire army of Hae kids to follow me like ducklings. I'll be the mama duck and they'll be my little army. At least a baseball team's worth of my little sister's kiddies."

Soo laughed at her brother's antics. "You sound like Eun when you talk like that," she said, eating a piece of kimchi. "Oh imagine how much Mi will hate you when she finds out you're the reason she has to go to piano lessons every day."

Baek Ah waved his hand as if to blow the idea away. "She'll thank me when she's older," he decided. "Piano is great stimulus for the mind and increases mental capacity as well as hand-eye coordination. She's only gaining from this. Plus I buy her enough goodies to make her forget that her misery stems from me."

After lunch, they took tea in the living room and Baek Ah leaned back in his seat as he looked at a picture of Wook holding a newborn Yoon in his arms. Soo sat across from her brother as a maid set the table with small pastries and green tea. Baek Ah's thumb traced the lines of Yoon's scrunched face.

"She saved your marriage, didn't she?" he asked. Baek Ah crossed his long legs and rested his arm against the sofa, gazing at his youngest niece. "Baby dinosaur," he murmured.

Soo reached for the water pot and poured clear water into their cups, warming the jade ceramic. The liquid rippled and Soo nodded. "She brought Wook back to me," she said.

"He never should have left in the first place," snapped Baek Ah. He gently set the frame down and reached for his cup, tipping the hot water back into the water jar. Then, setting his cup down, he did the same for Soo's. Baek Ah's hand grasped the handle of the teapot and he poured them both tea. "Dad's angry, Soo," he sighed, sitting back. "You know why I'm here."

"The tax, I know," she replied quietly. Soo picked her glass up and blew steam away from its cusp, inhaling the soft scent that wafted towards her.

"You know I don't want to be the bearer of bad news." Soo glanced at her brother as he sipped his tea. They both sat impeccably, remembering the lessons they had received from their governess. Soo knew Baek Ah had been a better student than she. "But Dad says you need to get your husband on a leash. That tax on imports was a no-brainer. Why didn't it pass?" There was no contempt in Baek Ah's voice, but Soo noticed that he looked worried.

Shaking her head, she drank her tea. The hot water washed over her tongue, gently lacing the bitter and mellow flavors of tea within her mouth. "Brother, we don't talk about business anymore. Wook and I are…" She looked at him as he sat back.

"He's drifting, isn't he?" he asked. Baek Ah's expression hardened and his mouth pressed into a thin line. "Well, I wouldn't expect anything more from him."

"He's stressed because of work and with Dad breathing down his neck- you know how it is," Soo protested. She would defend her husband. Soo knew that Baek Ah had dealt with their father's business-related micromanaging for years, but she also knew that he harbored a dislike for her husband.

Her brother's eyebrows knitted together. "Right, but I didn't marry into our family. Wook married you, and Dad gave him power." Soo knew how Baek Ah jumped around his words in order to keep the staff from hearing. She also knew the true meaning of his statement and the very thought of it hurt her.

"He still goes golfing with the president." Soo shifted the conversation back to business as she placed her teacup back onto its saucer. The two pieces clinked together. "They seem as close as ever, but I don't know if Wook just didn't try hard enough to get the tax passed or the president shut him down. Either way, he didn't discuss it with me."

Baek Ah nodded. Soo watched her brother's shoulders rise and fall with a heaved sigh. There was a bout of silence. Dad won't be happy about my response, she thought.

"How are you these days?" Baek Ah finally asked. "I see you've gotten a new bodyguard. Wonder how long until this one quits?" He gave her a knowing look but Soo brushed it off.

"I've been holding up," she replied. "Wook and I are going through a rough patch, but I know we'll overcome it. We always have in the past. As for my new bodyguard, I find that he's a trustworthy man and that I am able to put my children in his care without worrying."

Baek Ah squinted at her, a peculiar expression on his face. "Really?" he asked, surprised. He scoffed and shook his head. "Hae Soo, you've changed. I distinctly remember you declaring that you'd protect your children and that you'd never rely on any bodyguard."

"I don't rely on him," Soo lied. She thought about Wang So's impact on her schedule and how, over the course of two months, she had grown to trust him as much as- or perhaps even more than- Chae Ryung. How he had managed to gain her trust was a strange question, but Soo assumed it was because he was a good listener. She would not fire her new bodyguard. Not when he was such a positive impact on the family.

They continued their business talks and Soo had a maid bring her tablet from her office. She drew up revenue charts and discussed the Foundation's monthly allotment of money from the main branch of the Hae Group.

"We gave Wook enough money to get a majority of lobbyists to shut up," Baek Ah sighed as he scanned over expense reports. "And the protesters are letting up now that we're implementing new-"

"Uncle!"

Soo and Baek Ah looked up from the diagrams on their tablets as Yoon ran toward them, still wearing her shoes. Wang So scrambled for the girl and caught her by the waist before she could reach the sitting room. Soo cringed when her excited daughter kicked the bodyguard in the chest as he removed her shoes. "Uncle! Uncle!" Yoon sang.

When So released her, Yoon sprinted for Baek Ah and was immediately wrapped up in his arms. "Baby dinosaur!" Baek Ah called, hugging the child. Soo looked over at Wang So as he handed two tiny shoes to a maid.

They met eyes and Soo gave him an apologetic smile. In return, he seemed to hide a chuckle behind an amiable nod. When Soo turned her gaze back to her daughter and brother, she saw Yoon tearing into the gift Baek Ah had gotten for her, removing a stuffed Tyrannosaurus and three dinosaur coloring books.

"Why three?" Soo asked, rubbing her forehead. "She already has enough coloring books."

"Hush, Soo, I told you I'm going to out-spoil Kim Eun."

"While you're at it, you might as well try and beat Dad."

"Oh Sister, you're naive if you think I'll ever be able to out-spoil our father. If I'm not mistaken, he's already set a lump sum aside for both girls to go to college and has even chosen what he'll wear to Mi's inauguration as chairwoman of the Hae Group."

Soo rolled her eyes at her brother's comment as Yoon babbled her nonsense to Baek Ah who nodded and listened intently, agreeing intermittently and inserting his own nonsense.

"T-rex big, and- and- it roar!" Yoon curled her hands as she growled at her uncle. She continued on an incoherent tangent, looking at Baek Ah with a solemn expression and explaining parts of her new toy.

Soo watched Baek Ah scoop her daughter off of the ground and sit her down onto his lap. "Do tell," he declared, fully invested in Yoon's tirade.

When Baek Ah carried Yoon to the piano room, Soo followed. She smiled as her brother opened the grand piano and sat at the bench, watching Yoon poke out Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. "Marvellous," Baek Ah declared, flexing his spindly fingers over the ivory keys. "Soo, she'll be a prodigy." The younger sister only shook her head as the sweet sound of Debussy filled the quiet house.

Wang So

$8,000 received.

$8,000 received.

Total Balance: $16,000

So stared at his laptop screen. The empty bank account he had created for this job was steadily filling even though the only contact he had received from his employers was a quick e-mail from a dummy account.

Elimination not required this month. Stay tuned.

He cared little for the names of those that employed him as long as they paid. So tried not to be biased in his jobs.

Staring at the bright screen, So sighed and flopped back against his seat. He had not touched any of the money in that account because it felt dirty to do so. So had never had any trouble spending his income earned from killing people, but this time, he sat at his desk and stared at his laptop. It felt wrong to even look at the rewards he received to slither into Hae Soo's house and wait until it was time to strike.

At the sound of a knock on his door, So slammed his laptop shut. "Yeah?" he called.

"We're going to play Hwatu, want to join?" asked Wook's bodyguard, his voice muffled. So cleared his throat.

"Yes, I'll be out in a minute."

He listened to the footsteps that led away from his room.

Reopening his laptop, So logged out of his bank account and disabled the proxy he had used to access the link. The Wolf Dog was no longer in Australia.

Opening one of the drawers attached to his desk, he removed a heavy plastic bag and stared at the silver coins that glinted inside it. "You've been gambling too much these days," he muttered to himself. He wondered if he meant it in the literal sense or how close he had gotten to the Hae-Hwang Bo family.

Undoing his necktie, So sat down on the floor of the living space and grinned, tossing his bag of coins. It collided with the ground with a dull thunk and So crossed his legs, rolling his sleeves up. "Alright, let's see how well you all can win your money back, yeah?"

Chae Ryung, Wook's bodyguard, So, and one of the maids sat in a circle with a folded comforter between them. A deck of Hwatu cards was shuffled and distributed while four beers were cracked and a bag of chips popped. There were strips of grilled squid courtesy of the cook, and another pack of beers sat by, waiting to be opened.

So had quickly found out that on Sunday evenings, after the main family was in bed, a game of Go-Stop was initiated with drinks, banter, and amiable gambling. Quickly integrating himself into the matches, So had realized that the staff was like a small family within itself. Coworkers mingled together and talked about their spouses, the main family, their dreams, and perhaps plans to marry their significant others. So felt guarded around his coworkers. He had little to tell them and little to gain from listening to their stories, but his affection for the card game brought him to sit with them each weekend. Though he had closed himself off to them, So knew that the others had already accepted him into their fray- that he was one of them. Oh if only they knew, he thought bitterly.

Sitting in the servants' quarters and playing Hwatu brought back memories of the men his mother would bring into the house to play, gamble with, and eventually fuck while her children were locked inside the single bathroom of their ratty apartment. However, those memories were overshadowed by the immense amount of wasteful gambling So had dealt in after his first kill.

Ten thousand US dollars had streamed into a bank account with only three hundred won inside it after So had killed a cheating husband outside a casino. He had gotten cocky- as twenty-five year olds were prone to do- and had tried to double or even triple his earnings at the Blackjack table. Is skill at Korean card games seemed not to translate to Western ones.

He had left Las Vegas with only enough money for a flight back to Korea and no means of paying off the debt he had racked up during his college years. So he had done the only thing he could do in a jobless market: he enlisted his services as a hitman to the gang that ruled his neighborhood. He remembered being accepted into the ranks with ease, and generally left alone except when people needed to be taken care of. By twenty-nine, So had paid off his debts, his parents' debts, and he had left the gang with no intention of ever returning.

The place he currently sat in, however, was not the smoky lounge of a stripper bar where he slapped down plastic cards and collected his prize of having a threesome with two nameless, faceless girls that belonged to the gang he worked with. This was a bright lounge with immaculate sofas that did not smell like cigarette ash and cum.

So sat with people who had never had dealings with gangs or murderers. The men he worked with did not have perfect aiming records from the military and the women were never indebted enough to be forced to sell themselves.

He preferred being around them. They were normal- clean.

Having lost the final round the past week, So played dealer, slipping the tiny red cards to each of the players. He gave himself seven cards before setting the deck down. He picked up his hand and clicked his nails against the cards before glancing at them.

"So," So began, slapping a card down and collecting three. He tallied his points as Wook's bodyguard sighed and snapped a card onto the mat. He collected two. "Why does Mrs. Hae hate her in-laws so much?" he asked, looking around the group. So knew his question was obvious, but he wanted to know if there was anything else to Hae Soo's avoidance.

"You've seen what Wook's mother is like. Wouldn't you hate her?" Wook's guard asked. Chae Ryung took one card and passed her turn, sighing as she tallied her points.

Picking his beer up, So paused as he took a sip. "I just thought there were other underlying factors. She seems too tense around someone who's been visiting for the past seven years." He tipped the can back and let the ice cold drink wash over his mouth.

The first round ended all too quickly and So collected one thousand won in coins. "Thank you, thank you," he said, smirking.

Chae Ryung was the next dealer. She spoke as she shuffled the deck. "She hates her mother-in-law because the woman's- if you'll excuse my language- a right bitch." So raised an eyebrow at the prim young woman who flipped the deck all too easily. He could tell Chae Ryung either came from a poorer background or had too much experience in shuffling Hwatu cards.

"Soo had a… a heartbreaking incident a couple years after having Mi and before Yoon was born," she continued. "She was devastated and Wook wasn't much help to her emotionally. His mother was even worse and completely saddled the blame onto Soo. Broke her so much- I think Soo was close to signing divorce papers just because she was so emotionally exhausted. I remember her old bodyguard telling me she would cry in the car almost every day, the poor thing." Chae Ryung held the deck out to So and he pursed his lips before tapping his index finger against the stack.

"Tuk," he said. Chae Ryung nodded and distributed cards.

"Imagine how emotionally wrecked you have to be to leave your husband behind, take your child, and live with your older brother for a month?" Chae Ryung sighed with a pitying shake of her head. "And of course, Wook's mother came every weekend just to see if Soo had returned. Whenever she came, she would rant about how Wook should never have married a rich brat- or something along those lines."

Accepting his hand, So nodded and looked down at his cards. So there were deeper reasons for Soo's hatred. He had not known.

His hand was fair, but not the best. Two ribbons, but nothing else that drew So's skilled hand towards them. He hoped the first layer of cards gave way to some ribbons.

Wook's bodyguard hummed as he tossed a card down. "I remember when the old hag would walk around the house and demand why this wasn't here or that wasn't in that place. She'd complain about Hae Soo from morning till night and then, when Chae Ryung brought Mi to see her father, she'd act as if Soo was the most wondrous person, asking how she had managed to create a child as beautiful as Mi."

Chae Ryung nodded as she drank her beer. "Mm, I know. Mi always asked to go home early because her grandmother was smothering her. Soo was always so happy to have Mi back beside her and I wondered why she even sent the girl to see her father, but I guess it was because Soo just didn't want to be with Wook."

"Two go," the maid said. She slapped her cards down and collected her points. "Stop." The maid gathered the pool and smiled as she counted out her coins.

Chae Ryung tossed the rest of her cards onto the pile and So did the same as he raised his eyebrows for her to continue. Nodding, Chae Ryung took a strip of squid off of the plate and began gnawing on it as she shuffled the cards again. "She cares so much for people that aren't her… She could have forced Wook to come to her brother's house, but she sent Mi to him so Wook didn't have to face Baek Ah."

Nodding, So absorbed the information set before him. Something bad happened when Mi was a toddler. It caused a rift between Wook and Soo. Soo took Mi and left Wook for a month.

From the current state of the family, So assumed the two had made amends and gotten back together. After all, they were still married and they had made Yoon.

He scooped his cards off of the blanket. And listened as Wook's bodyguard sighed. "I envy you, So," the older man muttered.

"Why?" So asked.

He met eyes with Wook's bodyguard before glancing away to flick his wrist and send a card hurtling down. It collided with the green blanket with a snap and So stacked his points in place, organizing his cards where they belonged.

After his turn, So returned his attention to Wook's guard, listening as the man continued. "You get to guard Wook's wife and children. Must be nice. No political dinners, no backroom deals." So blinked as he replayed the man's words in his mind.

"What?"

Chae Ryung shook her head. "Don't pay attention to him, So. He comes up with strange conspiracy theories because Wook sometimes meets diplomats or people of the opposing party."

The older man drank his beer and So narrowed his eyes. He doesn't look like a crazy conspiracy theorist… then again, if Wook is dealing in shady business, that might explain why I was hired. Politicians are the most mistrusting people… My benefactors probably told me to get rid of the family to teach other politicians a lesson. Pull the problem at the root and destroy the entire plant. That tax that didn't pass... Wook's party was the one that brought it up. That's probably why I was hired. But it didn't pass...

"I'm telling you, Wook is colluding with the opposite party. I may not have heard what they were saying, but there isn't any reason Wook should even be in the same room as those people. You think Wang Yo just wanted to have tea?"

So frowned at the sudden mention of his brother's name but said nothing. The maid rolled her eyes as Chae Ryung nodded. "Uh huh and pigs can fly. Come on- he may be a shitty husband, but we can all agree he's a great politician." Her rebuke was met with a glare. Wook's bodyguard scoffed at Chae Ryung before he tossed his cards down.

"I win," the older man shrugged. He collected his money and So shuffled the cards. "You know Wook used to cheat?"

Chae Ryung hit the old bodyguard's arm as So raised his eyebrows, his interest piqued. "Really?" he asked.

"Used to!" Chae Ryung snapped. "Not anymore!"