I'm back babyyy!

Kinda. I'm trying to write. It's a fun time, guys.

Anyways, sorry for the long wait

Wang So

So, I know it's been months, but I need you to come back. It's urgent. Please come to my home at your earliest convenience. I need to speak with you.

The text was short, and on his new phone the number unrecognized. But So knew exactly who this was. He had memorized her number forward and backwards.

Reading and rereading that single message that had popped into his phone while on the subway. His heart raced and his palms grew clammy as he held his phone and let his eyes skim over the message over and over again.

So, I know it's been months, but I need you to come back. It's urgent. Please come to my home at your earliest convenience. I need to speak with you.

Why did she want him back? What was the reason? Something urgent… were the children alright?

His mind raced as he jumped to as many conclusions as possible in order to emotionally prepare himself for whatever might happen. He wondered if Wook had found out about them. If she was calling him back to pass him to the police - no she wouldn't do that. Not after five months apart.

But, amidst the worry and anticipation that piled up and over-cluttered his mind, So could not deny how happy he was to receive word from Soo again. She might still hate him, but at least he could see her face one more time.

The cab dropped him off in front of Soo's home, and So exited the car in silence. A fall breeze fluttered around him like the first day he had arrived at her home. The trees in the neighborhood began to shift from green to orange, and soon it would be time to say goodbye to the warm months and welcome winter.

He approached the main gate and touched the stone wall with a familiar hand, knowing that his actions were being closely monitored by the security team he used to preside over. Everything felt so familiar, yet so different. A silent deadness hung in the air like a plastic bag ready to smother him.

Though he came with no ill intentions at all, So could not help but wonder why his fight or flight instinct kicked in. His nerves tingled and his fingertips jumped back and forth against the walls.

He rang the bell for the gate, knowing the codes he had used were long dead.

So remembered how he had first entered the house. Looking back, he saw a depraved, sad man with no morals and nothing to live for. There was nothing he wanted in his life before Soo.

No one answered the door. Instead, the intercom shut off and the gates opened. Intrigued, So pressed his lips together at the cold reception. He had not expected fanfare and warm welcome, but it was custom for someone to answer the door.

He stepped into the same driveway, a different man than when he had first entered.

Green grass and flowers slowly succumbed to the weather around the perfectly manicured front lawn. The pond cover was gone and fish happily swam about, but none of that interested So. He did not care about the two cars that were parked in the garage, or the maid that stopped collecting toys from the grass to stare at him. She knew his face and remembered him. Judging by her surprise, So assumed his presence was an anomaly.

As always, Chae Ryung waited by the front door to see him into the house. A grimace was etched into her features as she leered at him, and her black pencil skirt and white blouse were as impeccable as ever. So had to wonder what he had done to deserve such treatment from her, but she only gave him a little bow before opening the front door and allowing him in. "Mrs. Hae will greet you in the sitting room," she stated as stiffly as humanly possible, her Daegu accent still finding a way to grate on his nerves. So did not realize it was possible for her to have a stick shoved even farther up her ass than had been on his first day of work.

He ignored her as per usual. He had someone more important to see.

So took his shoes off in the house where memories of love and sadness were alike. He slipped his feet into the designer slippers meant for guests, and made his way to the sitting room without assistance.

The house was exactly the same aside from a new chair or a new scribble on a wall, courtesy of Yoon. So felt at ease in the large house that seemed to be empty of children and Wook. So had expected hugs from the girls, but he found himself quietly taking a spot on the sofa in the sitting room and thanking Chae Ryung when she set an ornate tea set from a maid before setting it in front him. The tray hardly made a sound as she placed it on the table, and silence pervaded the room as she prepared him a cup.

"Where is Soo?" So asked, not bothering to use her title. "Is she here?"

There was a sinking feeling in his stomach that involved Soo's husband, but So shoved thoughts of Wook to the back of his mind. Instead, he sat on the sofa and tensed. Until he saw Soo and confirmed it was she who wanted him there, he would remain ready to flee on sight.

"Thank you for coming on such short notice." A melodic voice made his heart falter and So acted on autopilot, immediately rising to his feet and beaming. Fists loosening immediately, he did what little he could do to emotionally prepare to see her. His chest ached as it released the repressed longing that had built inside him for the past five months. He wanted to hug her, kiss her, speak to her. Those long months had left his heart empty and desolate. All he wanted was to look upon her.

He turned to face the love of his life and faltered.

She was still so beautiful. Her wide eyes were hard with anger and worry, her soft lips pressed tight, and the smooth, pale skin of her locked jaw glowed. She was furious, but So could not acknowledge her emotions, for his eyes fell to the gray dress that wrapped around her belly.

Hae Soo was very pregnant.

So almost fell when his legs weakened beneath him, but he stood his ground and gazed at the woman he loved. He remembered how much Soo wanted another baby… and it seemed she and Wook had managed to conceive.

He did not dare hope it was his.

He met eyes with Soo, and So felt his smile waver. "I-It's nice to see you again," he uttered, finally finding his voice after ogling her. Soo's beautiful, wide eyes blinked and her hands rested on her wide stomach. "Con-Congratulations."

So sat down as Soo took the place in front of him, holding her back as she lowered herself onto the sofa. He could not take his eyes off of her. She was so close, yet so far. So bit back the melancholy and resentment that bubbled up his throat, forcing himself to smile and be happy. The woman he loved got what she wanted. Soo had wanted another baby, and now she was going to have one.

"Thank you," she murmured. Soo's hard gaze softened when she looked down at her belly and smoothed a hand over it. Her eyes returned to him and she glanced over him. "You look… thin. Have you been eating well? Sleeping? How-"

So gave her a sad smile and rested his elbows against his knees, leaning forward. His ex-girlfriend still worried about him, but he made himself take little comfort in those words. He would not let himself hope until she gave him a sign first. "Don't worry about me," he said to her. "Soo, I'm sorry we had to part on such sour terms. I really am."

He tried to discern her emotions, but Soo looked angry. So hoped to every god that her rage was not directed at him. He would not survive being thrown away by Soo again. He loved her too much and cared too much about her opinion of him.

"How are you?" she asked. Her hands rested against her belly and she paused to wince and rub a hand over the left side of her body, where So swore he saw her stomach move.

"I-" he let out. "I um… good. I'm good. Clean. Haven't been… doing much. Just cleaning up the old… um… old stuff." His cheeks flushed red and he looked down at his feet, blinking hard as Soo looked at him. "I'm done with the old stuff that I told you about. Working out, reading, you know."

When he looked back up at her, she did not speak. Instead, she reached for the second cup of tea and lifted it to her lips. However, Soo did not drink. Holding the cup in place against her bottom lip, she looked into it as if something unsettled her. Conflict arose on her lovely features and So worried him bringing up his past made her remember their grisly breakup. He quickly tried to change the subject to something safe - something that would let him stay in her presence longer. "How are the girls?" So asked. "It's time they came home from school, right?"

"I'd like to hire you for your… special services," Soo replied quietly. Her gentle hands lowered the cup and saucer back onto the table with the lightest of clinks, and her anger returned. So gaped at Soo as he processed her words. Did she want him to kill someone for her?

Instantly, his heart and mind both agreed. If it was for Soo, he would return to a life of depravity – but only for her. Only Soo could hire him. Anything she wanted – he owed her that much. He would go back just once and return for good. Just once.

He listened as she continued. "I assume you can find people as well?"

He nodded. His mind went on high-alert and he counted the lack of people in the house and Soo's angry demeanor. She spoke in hard sentences, grimacing with every word and holding her belly as if it was her lifeline. "Then, I'll be blunt."

The children are missing when they should be home. Wook is missing, but he's still supposed to be working. The children are missing. Both? One? No, Soo would keep one close if the other was missing. They're both not here.

Dual kidnappings? Planned. Ransom? Possibly? Ransoms take time and Wook would be home, worried sick if the girls were missing.

Planned kidnapping, three people missing, and Soo looks angry. Statistically, Wook is the kidnapper, but Soo is pregnant. Shouldn't they be blissfully enjoying time together?

So heaved a sigh and glared as he ran over the dirty possibilities that occurred in his mind. Mi and Yoon were in danger. The two little girls he had watched over for the greater part of a year were gone, and white-hot rage engulfed him as he realized someone had taken the children he considered his own.

So waited for Soo to confirm his words. "I need you to bring back Yoon and Mi," she said. Holding his head in his hands, So took a deep breath to calm his rage before looking up at Soo and nodding his head.

"When did Wook take them and how?" he asked, forcing his voice to remain low. Soo's eyebrows rose and she looked unsure for a moment, but So tipped his head in the direction of the closed door that he knew was impervious to noise. He did not want to risk anything with the people that worked in the house.

"How did you- nevermind." Soo's surprise was short lived and So watched her lean forward. "Yesterday. I got a message that he picked them up from school, but he never came home. It's been two days. They've missed school."

Nodding, So ran over points in his head. This was easier than the type of digging he had to do, but he was rusty from over a year of inactivity.

"Where are their passports?"

"Locked in a safe in my office," Soo replied. Her hands rubbed her belly and she swallowed. "He can't take them out of the country, but he can take them to any of the islands. They could be anywhere – my babies could be anywhere." She pressed a hand to her mouth and her shoulders rose and fell with heavy breaths.

So hated seeing her so afraid. He hated not knowing what Wook was capable of. The only solace he could hold onto was that Wook would never intentionally hurt the girls. He loved them too much to lay a harsh finger on them. "Hae Soo, what was Wook's behavior like before he took them? Was he acting different in any way?"

Her eyes locked onto his and So shivered at the intensity of her gaze. "He was angry. We fought because… because I asked for a divorce. He told me he'd take custody of the girls if we agreed to the divorce and… and I fought back and said I'd have full custody or he would never become president."

If his confidence rose at the word 'divorce', So did nothing to hide it. He silently bobbed his head and took in the new information. Angry people did impulsive things, and if losing his children to Soo made Wook angry enough to take them to God-knows-where without their mother knowing, then So needed to act quickly.

"They'll be okay. Wook loves them and he took them because of a custody battle. He'll keep them safe. He's a public figure, so he can't move around too easily. I'll find him, Hae Soo, and I'll bring your girls back, I promise."

"How much do you cost?" Tucking her hair behind her ear, she returned her hand to her belly and nodded to him. "Name your price. I'm willing to pay any amount you want when you bring my daughters back. Anything, Wang So. Name your price. I can pay you up front if you'd like."

Bowing his head, So thought about his usual method of taking half up front and taking half after the kill. Or, in the case of long projects, he took a monthly fee with a lump sum at the end.

But in this case, he shook his head and looked into the worried, brown eyes of the woman he adored. "Why haven't you called the police?" he whispered. "You're a public figure – the daughter of Hae Ha Jin – yet you're asking a former hitman to kidnap your kidnapped daughters from their father. The police can find them for you, can't they? Why are you asking me?"

Soo uncrossed her ankles and moved to cross her legs, uncomfortable at his question. "This is cruel of me to ask of you, but I'm doing it because I can't trust anyone but you to safely bring them home." Her voice was hard, betraying no doubt or uncertainty. So sat back against the cushy sofa and stared. His broken heart pieced back together, and suddenly, closure was only too tangible.

She still trusts me. She trusts me. She knows I won't hurt her or her family. She trusts me.

"I don't want any of this to get out," she continued. "The police are all government employees. Wook holds them in his hand and they'll never bring my babies back. I need you because you'll be quick and silent."

That was enough for him. So nodded his head and accepted the job.

"I'll provide anything and funds you need to find them," Soo said. She opened a drawer in the table and removed a pen and notepad. "Write down whatever you need and I'll have it brought."

So ignored the tools she slid towards him and spoke his needs instead. "I'll borrow one of your cars," So told her. "Will you let me into his office? I need to access his computer and any and all bank accounts he may be able to access. Does he have any places he can hide? His parents' home? A vacation house?"

Standing as soon as So allowed him full access to Wook's office, So followed her up the stairs as she explained that Wook could be at his parents' house, but that there were no vacation homes she could think of inside the country.

"Any tracking units in the cars?"

"I… I'm not sure."

He entered a vast office that he had once snooped around during his initial days upon entering the house. Dark mahogany wood created an elegant table that held platinum frames of the children. Bookshelves full of historical texts, legal manuscripts, legal journals, and the occasional photo album created the walls, and So felt more like an outsider than ever. But Soo walked past him to Wook's desk and he followed the path she carved.

She opened his computer with one of the girls' birthdays, granting So full access.

He dug through everything, doing his utmost to find any hints as to where he might be taking the girls. Bank records were the first thing So found, and he frowned at the number of purchases made on Wook's card.

There were so many in the past few days that he had no idea if Wook was trying to throw him on a wild goose chase or was just being obvious. So's eyes scanned over each one and he absorbed the data presented before speaking.

"He's not hiding…" Soo moved away from the window she leaned against and rushed to get a closer look at the screen. "One small bed, one toddler cot, two dressers, one regular-sized desk and one child sized desk…"

"He's taking custody of them," she hissed. Her hand curled into a fist on the table, manicured nails scraping against the expensive wood. "Bring them back to me. The girls will stay with me. Please bring them back."

He nodded his head. So worried for the girls as if they were his own, his heart growing heavy as he looked into Wook's online shopping records to see what address he had everything shipped to.

"I didn't know he had a place like this," Soo said when So pulled up the address in a map site. The site pinpointed the address as a high-end apartment complex not too far from where he worked. "When did he… fuck."

So turned at Soo's sudden use of profanity and frowned when he caught sight of her pressing a hand to her forehead, her eyes closed. "If he took my children to the place where he fucked his mistress…" There was an unspoken threat at the end of that sentence that So did not want to hear. Though he knew Soo was not vengeful, when it came to her children even he had no idea what she was capable of.

Turning back to the screen, So memorized the address and stood, having all the information he needed. "I need a car and a pair of gloves," he said. "I'll get them now."

Soo's eyes widened for a split second and she swallowed before speaking. "You're not going to…"

To?

"Wook hasn't… I don't want you to um…"

Oh.

So smiled and shook his head. He reached a hand forward, his heart skipping a beat when Soo did not flinch back. Resting his palm on her shoulder, So felt the warmth from her body as he gave her a small pat. "I'm done with all that, remember? I won't do any lasting damage. Just bring Mi and Yoon back home. 'Kay?"

He smiled down at the love of his life as she blushed scarlet at her own assumption. "I'm sorry I ever doubted you." Her voice was small but So heard every word.

He shook his head, smile never faltering. "I don't blame you. I'm sorry I gave you cause to doubt me."

Soo scoffed, a tiny smile forming on tense lips. "I was stupid to have doubted you. You of all people… I trust you with my life, remember?"

A rush of warmth filled So's chest and he nodded, taking his hand away from her shoulder. He wanted to hug her and thank her for believing in him and seeing him as a person, but this was neither the time or place. He had a job to do, and while he longed to stay by Soo's side and be with her forever, he knew his place.

Soo ordered Chae Ryung to allow him full access to the house and anything he may or may not need. She was to be hospitable and show him to everything he may need her assistance with. Chae Ryung's gaze was stiff, but So could see the middle fingers she threw at him with her eyes.

"Will he bring the girls back?" Chae Ryung asked Soo. "Why is he the one that's here and not the police?"

Soo held a hand up to stop the nanny as she accepted the car keys from Chae Ryung. So opened his palm to Soo's offering, taking the keys he had carried around every day when he worked for her. It felt nice to have his car back, but what mattered more was the fact that the needed to bring Yoon and Mi back without causing a scene, publicly shamin gWook or Soo, keeping the children calm and unaware, and getting them home before Wook called the police on him.

For a moment, he wondered if he should wear a ski mask or keep his face covered to prevent Wook from recognizing him, but then So remembered Mi's hatred toward strangers. Even the friendly and outgoing Yoon would cower if he broke into their father's place with a mask on.

"So is a former private investigator, that's why. Please don't ask me any more questions and remember your place." Soo's voice was calm and cold, and So remembered that it was Chae Ryung that had outed them to Wook.

The nanny walked away and So walked with Soo to the front door. He considered hugging her, bowing to her, or even just kissing her, but those all seemed wrong.

So, before he left, he tossed the keys from one hand to another before turning to look back at Soo. She stood a few paces behind him, one hand supporting her back and the other on her stomach. Distracted with worry, she gnawed on her bottom lip as her eyes met his but did not focus on him.

"You look beautiful, Hae Soo," he said. "Congratulations on your baby."

She looked away, so So did as well.