Attention, readers! I've been really busy these days and have a mind to stop posting on and solely post on AO3 because I feel that not a lot of people read on this site. So let me know if you'd like me to keep posting here because if not, then I'll stop. Thanks!

Hae Soo

It was frustrating how little So looked at her anymore. She could tell he was forcing himself away from her, and that annoyed her even more. If they met eyes, he glanced away. If she actively sought him out, he actively avoided her.

With her husband back in town, she could not call So to her bedroom, nor could she sit around with him, holding his hand and just talking about life. Wook was home and that meant she was a wife again.

Of course, Soo was not without her own tricks. She knew So felt just as connected to her as she did him, so instead of waiting for him to slowly figure out that no, she did not want anyone better than him, Soo decided to speed the process up by enticing him.

And what better way to do that than with tight outfits, ruffles in the right places, and accidentally dropping things that had to be picked up.

She heard him snap pens, listened to Chae Ryung gripe about the lack of writing utensils in the lounge, and quietly ordered more ballpoints just so So could snap them all over again. She was going to win this war, and if her boyfriend wanted to break all of the pens in the house, she would let him do it.

Soo hummed as she sat on the sitting room sofa. Her current method of enticement was a black pair of leggings and a loose top that was cut so low, she needed a bandeau instead of a regular bra. Her entire back was bared to whoever wished to see, and Soo had already seen the remnants of So's shattered pencil in the trash… but she had yet to catch him staring.

"Mr. Bodyguard," she sang into open air. It was a few seconds before So was beside her, his hands behind his back and his eyes pointing anywhere but her glaringly obvious breasts.

"Yes?" he asked. At this rate, Soo imagined the only way Wang So would make up his mind and come back to her was if she appeared in his bedroom, naked. She briefly entertained the idea before shooting it down. There was no way she would not get caught lurking in a place where she and her family refrained from ever entering out of courtesy.

"If the house suddenly caught on fire, who would you save first?" she asked. Soo wanted him to say he would save her, but she knew her partner was too smart to say that. She wanted him to show her what kind of facade he had erected between them.

"The guide book says I should protect you, but seeing as Mi is also in the house, my first priority would be her," So replied smoothly. Soo pouted when he did not even look her way.

"Mr. Bodyguard, do you like my outfit?" Soo laid onto the sofa, stretching out so he could see her fully. She held her arms over her head and tipped her head back, watching an upside-down image of her bodyguard. She bit her bottom lip, wanting to laugh at her own antics. "I chose it for you, you know. Do you prefer lots of skin or full coverage… or do you prefer me in nothing?" she asked.

Soo smirked when So coughed and turned his head away from her. She was getting to him. "If that's all you need," he stated, "I'll give you your privacy." He moved to go but Soo caught his hand before he could leave.

Holding his palm, she flipped over and gently tugged on his warm knuckles, dragging her fingertips against the veins of his hands. So took a step towards her and Soo looked up at his blank expression. His face was devoid of emotion, but Soo acted anyways, pulling him closer.

Foregoing her outgoing persona, she returned to normalcy for just a moment, wanting to touch and hold So even for a little while.

She caressed his hand before kissing the lightning-shaped scar on his palm. "I miss you," she whispered. She wanted him to know how she felt- how much she wanted him back.

His hand quivered and Soo let go. She leaned into his touch when his thumb stroked her cheek, his fingertips just beneath her chin. She looked up at where So stood, towering over her. Then, his touch was gone and Soo knew. His little sign was more than enough to act as motivation and she was prepared to do whatever it took to have him again.

She sat up after he left. Running a hand through her hair, Soo combed any messy parts that resulted from her rolling around. She breathed deeply before nodding.

"Okay," she whispered, steadying herself. She needed to return to reality.

She went about her day as usual, dressed in the type of clothing she had not looked at since marrying Wook. Soo could feel the staff sending her strange looks. Maids turned for second and third glances, the cook dropped a cutting board, and Chae Ryung almost ran into a wall.

Sitting in her office, Soo worked and occasionally glanced up when Yoon bounced into the room. She spoke with her daughter and listened to the little girl's rambling sentences as she went through documents and read over the charts on her desk.

She clicked her tongue at how much the Hae Group's lobbyists were using to bring more politicians into their folds. Wook himself was a powerful asset, but one person only equalled one vote in the president's cabinet and in Parliament.

Because the tax on foreign imports had failed to pass, Soo found herself at odds with the heads of other companies that vied to decrease the value of the Hae Group's stocks. Their shares would have gained so much from a tax on their competition, but the president had interfered, and the tax had been shot down.

She peeled her gaze away from her stock indexes as her secretary stepped into the office. Soo passed three folders to the young woman that worked for her. "Take those to my office at the main building and file them. Schedule a lunch for myself, my brother, and Mr. Song on Friday. I need you to send a mass email to everyone under my payroll. Wish them a happy new year and tell them I expect this year to be better than the last. Formal for whoever works for me in the Hae building and personal for my home staff."

Her secretary nodded, her head bowed over her cell phone as she typed Soo's requests. "I have the Giwa House on Friday at one thirty," she said. Soo nodded as Yoon crawled beneath her desk and sat against her feet.

"And the email?"

"Fellow colleagues, I am so happy that a new year has arrived. Thank you all for-"

"No." Soo shook her head. "Make it more formal and save the 'thank you' for last. Send me a draft and I'll go over- actually, I'll just write it. You go and file those and- oh! Gifts!"

Soo snapped her fingers and held a finger up. "We need New Year's gifts for the staff. A box of rice cakes each for the entire security team. Two boxes of chocolates for the maids. Um…" Soo opened a drawer in her desk and removed a folder of lists of past gifts. She flipped through pages of brands and price tags, searching for inspiration. "The gardener gets rice cakes as well… For Chae Ryung, I want you to pick out something nice from Mont Blanc. That and a bottle of white from my personal wine cellar."

Soo watched her secretary nod as she continued to type away at her phone. Chae Ryung was too integral to the family to lose with a misplaced gift, so Soo and Wook always made sure to thank their children's governess with the best presents. Chae Ryung had been the first person to join the house's staff, becoming a nanny when Mi was just a few weeks old. From designer handbags to first-class plane tickets for weekends off, Chae Ryung was well reimbursed for her pains in managing the house and teaching the children while also acting as Soo's second secretary and Wook's assistant, if necessary.

"And the bodyguards?" Soo looked up at her secretary's question.

Pausing, Soo realized she had forgotten about Wook's bodyguard and- most importantly- So. She wondered if there was a way she could give So something special without giving anything away. Would he like whiskey? Did he drink beer? She had never seen him touch alcohol… but she remembered him staring at cases of soju when they had been out together. He seemed to miss the taste of alcohol and Soo knew there were rules in place that prevented the staff from touching hard liquor.

"Get them each a bottle of aged soju. You know- that kind with the black bottle."

"Hwayo? That's well below the price range of even the security guards. The rice cakes cost much more than that."

Soo cleared her throat and nodded before slowly flipping through her folder again. "Then we'll get them each a bottle of whiskey along with whatever aged soju tastes best. Set a price range at half of Chae Ryung's gift."

Her secretary left with a bow and Soo cleared her desk before peeking under the table. She smiled at her baby dinosaur as the little girl hugged a stuffed shark, singing softly. "Yoonie, Mommy's going to call grandpa. Wanna do it with me?" she asked.

Yoon perked up and beamed. Soo opened her arms to her daughter and let her youngest climb onto her lap. She hugged Yoon close and opened a video call on her computer, checking her schedule to make sure the time was right.

Soo smiled when her father immediately answered the call.

Hae Ha Jin was a stern man with white hair. Soo wondered if he had just gotten home from work because he wore a suit even though she could tell he was in his office at home. It was the very room she and Baek Ah had run in and out of, playing at their father's feet or hiding beneath his desk and waiting- and failing- to scare him.

The chairman enjoyed punctuality over anything and always maintained dignity in everything he did. However, for as strict as he was as an employer and father, he was a doting grandfather. He had been unrelenting to his children when they were little, constantly pushing their studies and hiring more and more tutors for them to learn beneath. Soo remembered holding her brother's hand and whining to him about how they were the only ones at their school with six tutors each. Baek Ah had sighed and told her they were the only ones whose governess was allowed to hit them for insubordination.

But as soon as her father had laid eyes on a newborn Mi, he had melted. Soo remembered the moment her infant had wrapped the fearsome chairman around her little finger, turning the strict old man into a smiling father and adoring grandfather. The exact same scenario had occurred for Yoon as well. Soo knew her father was worse than Baek Ah and Eun combined when it came to spoiling her children.

"Hello, my darlings," the chairman called.

"Grampa!" Yoon shouted. "Yoonie's here!"

Soo laughed when her father pretended to be shocked, clapping his hands and declaring he had not recognized Yoon. "Look how big you are! Hwang Bo Yoon, you must be as big as Grandpa now! How did you grow so much?"

Yoon pretended to eat her shark and Soo laughed with her father when her daughter stuffed her face with imaginary meat. "Yoonie eats and eats," her daughter declared. "Yoonie's a big girl! Bigger than Mi!"

"Hi, Dad," Soo said. She smiled at her father and basked in his warm gaze. The old man cooed at his granddaughter before turning to his daughter with a grin. "How are you?"

The chairman pressed a hand to his chin and cleared his throat before glaring at something above his screen. "Your idiot brother bought me the wrong type of medicine for my cough, so now I've been hacking up a storm-"

"I bought you the exact medicine you told me to!" Baek Ah's indignant shout sounded off-screen and Soo laughed as her daughter shouted for him to show himself. "Soo, don't listen to him. I got him the exact medicine he texted me to get."

Baek Ah's face popped on-screen and he waved to Yoon who eagerly waved back.

"As I was saying," the chairman snapped, pushing Baek Ah's face away. He turned towards the clingy thirty-six-year-old man beside him and clicked his tongue. "Son, if you wanted to intrude on my special time with my daughter and grandbaby, then you should have bought me the right medicine!"

"Oh come on, old man! That's my sister and niece!"

"Uncle!" Yoon screeched. Her shout dragged the gazes of both men on the computer screen and she giggled when they stared at her. Soo let Yoon climb onto her desk and sit in front of the screen to show her uncle and grandfather all of her teeth. "Yoonie wants to play with you. Come to Yoonie's house!"

"What about Grandpa, Yoonie? Grandpa misses Yoonie so much!" the chairman declared. His eyes narrowed and his voice grew strict when he addressed Soo. "Hae Soo, where's my first grandbaby? Where's Hwang Bo Mi?"

Soo chuckled and shook her head, pulling Yoon back onto her lap. "Hwang Bo Mi is currently attending school. She'll call you when she's done. Dad, did you get the documents I sent you? I know my secretary got them to Baek Ah-"

"And Baek Ah delivered the files himself." Her father affirmed his words with a nod. "Along with the wrong type of medicine."

Soo smirked when her older brother threw his hands up in frustration. Her father asked again if Yoon missed him and the little girl promptly shook her head before smugly giggling when the chairman pouted. Soo smoothed her daughter's hair as she listened to her father and brother chat with Yoon.

"Soo, how is Wook?" her father asked. The chairman leaned back in his seat as Soo extracted a pen from Yoon's fist.

A rush of cynical thoughts flew through her mind and Soo hummed softly. "He's busy these days. You know- work. He just got back from Paris."

Her father's lips pressed into a fine line but he said nothing. Soo wondered what her father might think of So. Her bodyguard was the same age as Wook and worked a job that required a high level of expertise. He was smart, caring, and funny. Soo had never seen her bodyguard drink, but she imagined So was no lightweight. So and her father would get along well if they met.

"Tell your husband his father-in-law wants to have dinner sometime," her father said. "Bring the children and we'll all get together for a meal. I hear from Baek Ah you haven't fired your bodyguard? Good for you. I was worried I was going to have to step in after you got rid of the last one within two weeks. Do you remember when I had to fire your guard when you were little?" The chairman raised his eyebrows and Soo blushed. She glared at her brother when he snickered.

"It's good that you're protected," their father continued. "I hope this one stays. If you haven't fired him for this long, then I'm sure there's something about him that makes him better than the rest."

It took all of Soo's self-control not to blush. Instead, she inhaled sharply and removed another pen from Yoon's grasp. "No playing with Mommy and Daddy's pens," she snapped. "Remember when you broke one and got ink in your eye?" Yoon began to whine and Soo sucked on her teeth. "No, Hwang Bo Yoon."

Soo looked up when her father chuckled. "Who would have thought a troublemaking little girl like you would become a mother- and a strict one at that."

"I'm not strict. You and Baek Ah are just irrational," Soo said with a glare. She glanced down when Yoon slid off of her lap, demanding a pen. Standing, Soo picked her daughter up and sighed. "I don't care how much you love my kids- some things are off limits."

Yoon squirmed in her arms and Soo nodded, rocking her. "It's naptime, Dad. I have to put this monkey to bed."

"Not a monkey!" Yoon shouted. "Dinosaur! Dinosaur!"

"Say 'bye-bye' to Grandpa," Soo said, crouching so Yoon could see the screen again. She waited for the little girl to speak, but Yoon only glared at her grandfather and uncle before turning away from them. Soo smiled as her daughter buried her face against her neck.

"Bye, Yoonie! Grandpa misses you!" the chairman called.

"Have a good nap, Niece!" Baek Ah said. Both men laughed when Yoon began to cry.

Groaning, Soo ended the call and began rocking her daughter. "Is it time for a nap?" she asked. "Let's get Yoonie in bed for a nice, long nap."

"Don't wanna." Yoon shook her head and Soo nodded as her daughter complained.

"Alright. Then we'll just lay in bed and chat. Okay?"

"No."

Soo carried Yoon into her bedroom and kicked past the dolls that were scattered on the floor, almost stepping on a stray piece of train tracks. She unmade Yoon's bed and lowered her daughter onto the mattress before laying down beside her.

Yoon squirmed beneath the covers but curled closer. Her little hands played with the low cut of Soo's shirt, wrapping the soft material around her wrists. Soo watched as her daughter grasped her bra and pulled at it. "Yoonie wants So," Yoon said. "Yoonie wants So. Naptime with So."

Frowning at her daughter's request, Soo chuckled and closed her eyes, adjusting her clothing. "Mr. So is working. He's busy, so he can't have naptime with you."

Soo smiled when Yoon wiggled against her before lying still. She stroked her daughter's hair, feeling the soft fluff that would inevitably tangle and become a mess after naptime. They laid around for awhile and Soo patted Yoon's chest, checking her watch and watching ten minutes tick by.

When Yoon fell asleep, Soo crept downstairs.

She peeked into the sitting room where Mi was learning math from Chae Ryung. The two sat on the floor together, working through math problems. A stack of books sat beside Chae Ryung, prepared for use. Soo counted the books: two math, two science, one Korean, two English, and two history. She decided her father was right that she was a strict parent, but she knew it was all to make sure her girls grew well.

Mi toiled away over math problems and Soo watched as her daughter smiled when she got through a particularly challenging one. Chae Ryung patted Mi's head before flipping the page and explaining the lesson further.

Soo turned away from the sitting room when she heard the front door opening. Wang So stepped into the house and took his shoes off. He glanced at her and Soo paused, wondering if he would speak to her or even come near.

Instead, her bodyguard bowed and walked past her. As he stepped around her, Soo closed her eyes and inhaled, collecting whiffs of soft laundry detergent and cologne. He smelled clean and familiar, safe and warm.

She missed him.

Thank you so much to the amazing and beautiful, Krysyuy. You are awesome.