Hi everyone! I'm going to be taking a very important exam in two weeks, so I may not be able to post the next couple of chapters (depending on my schedule on level of focus). Thank you for understanding. I'll be back to normal Tuesday posting after this exam passes! :)

Hae Soo

It was unnerving how little she thought about her bodyguard. No- scratch that- it was unnerving how little she felt annoyed by him.

Soo peeked at Wang So through the mirror of her compact as she committed the social faux pas of adjusting one's makeup in public just to glance at him. Her middle school governess would have a fit if she saw Soo with a compact in her hand.

"A lady does not adjust her makeup in public!" Snap. A lash on the palms with a thin, bamboo rod and a thirteen year old Soo would bite back indignant tears for the rest of the lesson. But for all she had learned through being hit on the palms, apparently it had not been enough. Soo kept her gaze on Wang So.

A black suit tailored to his slim build; a gray, dress-code breaking necktie; shiny black shoes. His hair was parted on his right and he sat two tables away, his right foot propped against his left knee. He sat with ease, his eyes scanning the room they were in with the same lazy gaze an alpha lion would scour the savannah. He was in complete control of himself and his surroundings.

Soo did not know when and she did not know how or why, but unlike any of her past tails, Wang So was not a hindrance to her daily activities. He followed her but she did not feel stalked. He was silent but she did not feel lonely.

Maybe it was because he was more handsome than her past guards. Soo did not pride herself on thinking her bodyguard was handsome. She was married, after all, but there was something appealing about his feline eyes and sharp jaw. He was tall- the same height as her husband- but less broad and more lean. Even still, Soo knew that there was muscle beneath his suit.

She snapped her compact shut.

She could still remember how he had taken his coat off for her; how he had held her numb hands in his until she could feel her fingers again… but why? Why was he kind to her? Why did he care so much?

In the past, whenever she had fought with Wook and gone to her little stone shrines, Soo had never had another bodyguard do the same things Wang So had. If it rained, one held an umbrella for her as she knelt. If it was sunny, he stood behind her. If it was cold, he held his hands against his mouth and breathed hot air onto his own knuckles.

But not Wang So. In the freezing wind, he had taken his own coat off and put it onto her shoulders. He had knelt beside her and taken her hands in his. He had managed to make her trust him enough to divulge parts of her married life to him.

The compact made its way into her handbag and Soo snatched her lipstick away from Yoon before the girl could color all over her face in muted pink. "She takes after you doesn't she?" Eun chuckled as he sipped his frappuccino through its green straw. The star glanced over his mirrored sunglasses to raise his eyebrows at Soo. "I remember you loved makeup in high school. I was surprised your father didn't have to drag you kicking and screaming to business school. I was so sure you were going to be a makeup artist, but you willingly went and got an MBA."

Soo gave her friend a dry look as he pulled Yoon onto his lap and bounced her, pretending to act surprised when the little girl showed him how to unlock Soo's phone. "You don't password protect your phone? You realize you're part of a huge organization, right?"

"Eun, you're an international star and you don't lock your phone with a code," she snapped back. "And I was always interested in business. Makeup was and is a hobby I still very much enjoy."

She chuckled at the sight of Eun with Yoon on his knee. Him in a blue button down and white pants, his belt a sparkling rope of golden glitter, and her in a gray jumper with tiny penguins stitched onto it. They both wore sparkly shoes. Soo thought her friend matched with her daughter quite well.

"Soo, tell me something," Eun stated, his voice taking a serious tone. He flicked an Angry Bird on Soo's phone at Yoon's behest before staring back at the mother once more. His voice dropped in volume and he leaned close enough that Soo could see the white eyeliner on his waterlines. "When are you going to fire your new bodyguard?"

Narrowing her eyes, Soo scoffed and looked away from her friend. She pretended to pull at the crease of her blouse. It matched Yoon's jumper. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Come on, Soo, we both know you hate it when Wook gets you a bodyguard," the star chided, his voice ringing with truth. "All those drinks and you were ready to tell me about all those guards you bribed to leave… the ones you found new jobs for before they 'quit'? Does Wook not know that you're the reason each one left?"

Soo eyed her best friend and snorted. "I don't know what you're talking about," she repeated with pursed lips. "Those guards quit of their own volition. I had nothing to do with their exit."

"Yeah and I wear gel inserts in my shoes because I have back problems and definitely don't need to make myself look taller," Eun said sarcastically. He snorted when Soo's eyebrow quirked up.

They smirked at each other. "Exactly." She nodded. Beside her, Yoon mumbled something in words only she seemed to understand, babbling to herself as she played games on Soo's phone.

"Well, this one isn't the prettiest of your bodyguards," Eun noted. Soo wondered if Wang So was listening. She hoped he would not take Eun's words to heart. Her friend spoke brashly at times. "I mean, Glasses and Undercut were both ripped but Ponytail had the face of an angel."

Soo cringed at her best friend before shaking her head. "Eun, I have no words," she said with a laugh. "How do you remember all of my bodyguards?"

"I only remember the ones that stand out," her friend retorted. He sipped his drink and nodded when Yoon held Soo's phone out to him. "This new one…" He pursed his lips, "He looks scary. Like you never know what he's about to do. Does he scare the kids?"

"Don't be rude, he's actually a good person," Soo retorted. "He's also the most overqualified out of all of them." Why am I defending him? Soo thought. She cleared her throat and sat straighter.

Soo sneaked her cell phone from Yoon's hands as the little girl grew distracted with Eun's sparkling earrings. Thumbing a text to Chae Ryung, Soo asked her to pick Mi up from school. She listened as Yoon began chattering to Eun about dinosaurs, mispronouncing words and laughing when he corrected her. "Uncle Eun, I wanna be T-rex!" she exclaimed.

"If you're a T-rex then I'm a shark!" Eun declared, grinning down at the little girl. Yoon patted Eun's cheek with her little palm and nodded.

"We friends," she said solemnly. "Uncle Eun pretty shark."

"And Miss Yoon is a very scary T-Rex," Eun replied, kissing her cheek.

The little girl screamed when Eun tried to hug her, leaping from his lap. She ran around the table and Soo sighed at her feisty daughter. "Yoon, please sit in a chair," she said, watching the little girl dart around.

Yoon giggled and pressed her hands to her mouth before sprinting over to Wang So and hugging his leg.

Soo raised her eyebrows and So lowered his foot from his knee to smile down at the toddler. "Hello, Yoon," he said. Soo felt a shiver run down her spine at the baritone of his voice and she cleared her throat as Yoon grasped the leg of So's pants, singing a song.

Soo and Eun watched as So tipped his head from side to side and hummed along with the little girl, singing her nursery rhyme and tapping one foot to the rhythm. When the song ended, he calmly pulled Yoon from his leg and dusted her off before patting her on the head.

"Yoonie, Uncle Eun's going to get a cookie, wanna come and choose one with me?" Eun called. Soo gave Eun a thankful look as Yoon eagerly bobbed her head in agreement.

"Chocolate chocolate!" the girl sang as Eun picked her up. Eun's bodyguard trailed him as the two went to get more snacks.

Soo smiled at her bodyguard and watched as he tipped his head in a small bow. He was definitely handsome. Inexplicably handsome and good with children. Perhaps she would keep this bodyguard a bit longer.

When Eun returned with an armful of Yoon and an armful of sweet goodies, Soo sent her friend a glare before clicking her tongue at just how many snacks he had purchased. "You should never be allowed to babysit my children," she said. "Yoon could ask you for a car and you'd get her one."

"Don't be absurd, Soo," Eun muttered as he spooned pudding into his mouth. He tore a package of cookies open for the toddler in his lap. "I'd buy her two cars. One for me and one for her."

He laughed when Soo smacked his arm.

"You're ruining her appetite. She's not going to eat dinner and be hyper all day," Soo groaned. She shook her head at Eun as he shrugged.

Smiling, he deliberately handed Yoon another cookie. "I just have fun with my best tiny friend. You deal with the aftermath."

"Why are we still friends?"

"You can't stand your husband so you come hang out with me."

"Shut up."

The two picked at each other like they had in college and as they spoke, Soo watched as Yoon yawned and burrowed closer to Eun, rubbing her eyes. The tired girl's eyes closed and she sniffed before growing quiet. As quickly as she had grown hyper, after an hour of a sugar high, she was ready to take a nap.

Using her phone, Soo took a picture of her friend and daughter, capturing the image and smiling as Yoon fell asleep. She sent the image to Eun.

"How are things marriage-wise? Doing well?" Eun asked quietly. He rocked from side to side, holding Yoon close so she would not fall off his lap. The cookie in her hand was extricated before it was crushed within her chubby palm.

Soo pursed her lips before shrugging. "Meh, not bad, not good. Wook's been busy with the President these days so he's not around. I went to Mi's piano recital alone and had to explain why Wook had never been to any of her recitals."

Nodding, her friend patted her shoulder. "Marriage sounds like it sucks."

"I'm starting to think that it does," replied Soo. "We barely talk and when we do, it's either about the kids or about monotonous things like filing our taxes. But you know, we still love each other. There's just less communication."

Eun gave his friend a smile and hummed when Yoon drooled onto his shirt. "Maybe you should schedule a date with him. Just the two of you," he suggested. "Go out for dinner, have some wine, get a hotel room. You know, the works. If you don't want to leave the kids with Chae Ryung then I'll take them for the night."

Soo slowly nodded as Eun's idea sank in. Her mind whirred with schedules and timing, ticking through her daily activities and searching for a time when both she and Wook were free.

Unlocking her phone, Soo examined her calendar and exhaled through her nose. "Are you free next Friday?"

She quirked an eyebrow as Eun unlocked his phone and nodded. "Yeah, but only if you don't mind me taking the kids to a restaurant for the photo op." He beamed at her and Soo scoffed.

"You know I don't like it when we're in tabloids. I've spent quite a lot of money making sure my face and my children's faces aren't in the public eye. It doesn't help that we have to be present for Wook's political things, I don't want them to be in the spotlight."

Her friend only grinned as he shook his head. "I'm kidding," he chuckled. "I'll order in and turn on a movie or something. Maybe I'll steal some makeup from my stylist and play around with Mi."

The two parted ways after their weekly coffee chat and Soo carried her sleeping daughter as Wang So followed behind her. He held her handbag in his hand and hastened to open doors, walking beside her and making sure she never had to pause her stride. Soo was grateful that he was proactive in maintaining pace.

When they reached the car, Soo buckled Yoon into her car seat and sat back, phone in hand.

She pressed on Wook's image and held the phone to her ear. It was almost four, which meant Wook would be able to take her call.

Looking out the window, Soo sighed and listened to the dial tone until the voicemail message replaced it. The number you have called is not available. Please leave a message after the tone.

"Hi, dear, it's me…" She began but paused. I wanted to know how you are and what you're doing. We don't talk much do we? I want to be with you again. Don't you remember how close we were when we had Mi? Why can't we be like that again? I feel lonely without you. Soo gathered her thoughts before shaking her head to clear them. "I just wanted to hear your voice and tell you that I had lunch with Eun and he suggested we have a date night of our own. Call me, please. I..." She hesitated for the first time since she had first said those words to Wook. "I love you."

She ended the call and stowed her phone back into her handbag.

"Mr. Wang," she said. Soo knew when the bodyguard glanced at her in the rearview mirror. "Please take us home quickly."

"Of course, Mrs. Hae." His voice was deep and warm- almost sympathetic. Soo decided she liked her bodyguard's gentle tone. She felt that she heard his voice more than she did her husband's.

After a dinner of grilled pork and seaweed soup, Soo sat on the floor of her office, leaning against her desk with her laptop against her knees. The soft carpet crushed beneath her legs and she looked over at her children as they either read or colored, listening to their idle chatter. There was something about reptiles, something about princesses, and something about princess dinosaurs.

While both girls wore pajamas, no one wanted to sleep. Soo knew she would have to call time soon. If Wook did not arrive home in ten minutes, she would put the girls to bed by herself. More and more, Soo found herself in the position of having to tell her children their father would be coming home late.

Soo ignored the stock returns and monthly quotas her father had e-mailed her in favor of watching her girls. Yoon drew in her coloring book, scribbling against dinosaurs and laughing when she colored outside of the lines. Beside her, Mi read a book, slowly turning the pages and occasionally scooting toward Soo to ask what a certain word was.

"When is Daddy coming home?" Mi asked, tiredly rubbing her eyes.

"Soon, baby. Daddy will be home soon."

Her phone buzzed and Soo rushed to look at her screen. A text arrived from Wook and she unlocked her phone to read it.

-Running late. Eat dinner w/o me.-

Swearing under her breath, Soo closed her eyes and inhaled deeply, trying to still her rage. How many times had she called and asked where he was for him to only respond with a text? Dinner without him? Did he even know what time it was?

"Alright, girls," Soo set her computer onto her desk and moved to stand off of the floor. "Time for bed. Daddy said he's going to be late."

Herding the girls out of her office, Soo shut the door and followed them to their bedrooms.

In ten minutes, both children were in bed, so Soo started with Yoon's room.

Sitting on the walled bed, she gently patted Yoon's chest and hummed. Minute by minute, she watched as her daughter's eyes once again drooped shut. Making sure Yoon was tucked into her blue sheets, Soo kissed the child's forehead and turned her bedside lamp on. Looking down at the little nose that matched hers and the lips that were Wook's, Soo sighed and nodded. "Daddy will be here to wake you in the morning… I hope," she murmured. Then, she crept out of the room, switching the light off and watching the glow-in-the-dark stickers on the walls illuminate.

Next was Mi's room and Soo stepped in to find Mi sitting up in bed, waiting for her. Smiling, she shut the door behind her and walked past her older daughter's little vanity- a small replica of Soo's. "You're not asleep yet," she noted, smiling at her daughter.

Soo sat down onto the bed and held the blankets as Mi snuggled close to her legs. The little girl put an arm around Soo's thigh. "Mommy are you sad that Daddy isn't home?"

Raising her eyebrows, Soo sucked her cheeks in before shaking her head. Her hair sifted against her chin at her movements. "Why would I be sad? I have Mi and Yoon to keep me company when Daddy is busy." She dragged her fingers through Mi's long hair, touching the silky strands that tangled oh so easily. "Mommy isn't sad, Mi. Mommy is always happy to be with you and Yoon."

Soo sat beside Mi and brushed the girl's hair, waiting for her to drift away from reality and into dreamland. She thought about her husband as she noticed how much Mi had grown. Soo remembered when her little girl had been a baby.

Newly married and moved into a house too big for a family of three, Soo and Wook made the best of what their lives had become. They had slept with Mi in a crib beside them because Soo had been unable to let the baby sleep alone. Wook came home as early as Soo's father allowed him to, always eager to be with her and Mi. Still in the budding stages of his political endeavors, he had worked hard to build himself and always came home with a smile, ready to play with Mi and greet Soo with flowers or a long kiss.

They used to be ideal. Some would say they were fake. Soo wondered where her husband was. She wondered if he remembered when they were close.

She left Mi's bedroom once the girl had fallen asleep. Quietly stepping downstairs, Soo asked for a bottle of wine- preferably red and from the nineties.

A pinot noir from 1994 was delivered to her office and Soo leaned against her desk as she sipped her wine, examining the bottle that came along with it. Something French, something fancy. The label on the bottle was frayed and yellow, the ink smudging into blurred declarations of Chateau something-or-other.

Swirling her wine, she watched as the red- almost black- alcohol glided down the bulbous basin of the glass. Each sip brought notes of plum and Soo felt herself grow warm. She discarded her cardigan and shut her computer down.

The house was quiet without her two dinosaurs running around and Soo held her glass in one hand while carrying the bottle with the other. Even the staff were quiet. Perhaps they noticed Soo's glum mood or perhaps they had better things to do than gossip about their employer's husband coming home late… yet again.

She refilled her glass.

Through the house and into her bedroom, she walked, ignoring the rest of her daily schedule.

Soo drew a bath for herself and undressed, tossing her clothes aside and ignoring where they fell. A blouse and pants went one way and blue lingerie was tossed another way. She tied her hair back and walked over cold tiles, pausing when she saw her naked body in the mirror.

Beneath fluorescent lights, she was paler than usual and Soo could see the signs of wear on her body that had not been present in her twenties. There were stretch marks on her thighs and stomach- proof of her pregnancies. Her breasts were no longer as perky as they once had been, but she saw no fault in her average B-cups. She exercised enough to maintain a somewhat flat plane of a stomach, but even still, Soo knew she was not in her twenties. She wondered if her husband found fault in her body.

She shook her head at herself. "Stop it," she chided her reflection. "You gave birth to the most beautiful babies. You carried them with your body and you fed them with your breasts. You're not ugly. Wook is late because… he's working. This isn't your fault. He's a politician, what can you expect? He's out there serving his… country."

Her voice was strong but inside, Soo felt weak. She looked into her own brown eyes and then saw herself look away. Her pep talk raised only her spirits by a hair.

Turning the white lights off, Soo switched the bathroom's settings to dim yellow lights.

She filled her glass once more.

She dipped a foot into the scalding hot water that steamed above the frothy bubbles that mounded and spilled over the edge of the tub. Soo winced when the hot water lapped at her ankles… her calves… her thighs. She resisted the urge to scratch the searing heat away from her skin and she lowered her entire body into the water.

Sighing, she sipped her wine and leaned her head back against the rim of the tub.

The hot water lulled her into a dreamy haze, the dim lights easing her stress, and the wine fogging her mind. She grew hot but not in the way she would have expected.

Soo took a long sip of wine before setting her glass down onto the tiled rim of the bathtub. The quiet clink of glass on stone was followed by the slosh of water as she dipped both hands beneath the surface.

She ran her hands down her body, gliding over wet skin with her palms. Closing her eyes, Soo pressed her hands to her breasts, touching herself and exhaling when her fingers toyed with her nipples, the buds hardening even beneath the warm water.

Jolts of electricity coursed over her skin as she felt herself. She imaged a mouth against her breasts, hot and wanton. A tongue that flicked against her nipples. She thought about two large hands grasping her breasts, kneading them, teasing them. Those same hands caressed her body and kissed her skin.

Her moan echoed over tile and throughout the foggy bathroom. Steam covered the room in a dim cloud of muted colors, echoing the image of a Turkish bagnio Soo had seen long ago.

Her left hand remained against her breast and Soo lowered her right to where she ached and pined. Her fingers met the bundle of nerves where she imagined a different hand touching her. A middle and ring finger against her clit and she moaned, squeezing her breast as she rubbed herself.

Her sighs evolved and her hand moved. Away from her breast, her left reached below to meet her right. Her right continued to rub smooth circles against her apex and her left moved lower, inserting a finger into where she needed something to sate her. The first was followed by a second and Soo pressed against her hands, sighing in delight.

Each curl of her fingers brought forth a pleased whine from her lips and Soo imagined a deep voice calling her name. "Cum for me, Soo," he said. "Cum for me."

Her back arched as she let go. Moaning, Soo shivered beneath the hot water as her body coursed with released tension and her hands continued their ministrations until her chest rose and fell with small pants. The water sloshed, agitated as her legs shut against the hands between them.

Opening her eyes, Soo stared at the far wall and removed her hands from herself, tilting her head backwards until it bumped the rim of the tub.

She washed herself, avoiding her newly sensitive breasts.

She rinsed her hair and remembered how her locks had reached her elbows when she had first met Wook. Now, they stopped at her shoulders. Having small children made long hair a liability.

Soo stepped out of the tub and wrapped herself in a fluffy towel, her skin pink from the heat. The towel did its job of drying her body and a blow dryer finished her hair.

Snatching the empty wine glass from the tiles, Soo set it down onto her vanity and wiped her face with toner. She followed it with essence, ampoule, emulsion, and a night cream in the order she had been taught to complete her nightly facial routine.

Her body, once cooled enough, she rubbed down with lotion. The soft rose scent worked to make her tired mind even more lethargic.

Soo tossed her towel into the laundry hamper inside her closet while examining her options for sleepwear. There was a gown, sweatpants, silk, and lingerie. Nothing seemed to appeal to her.

Foregoing any layers, Soo sighed and turned the light off inside her closet. Around the bedroom and bathroom, she went about, extinguishing the light bulbs that impeded on her need for complete darkness.

Tiredly, she shuffled toward the large bed that beckoned to her. It was empty, but Soo did not mind once the cool sheets billowed down against her naked body, her cheek pressed against her pillow. Yawning, she switched her bedside lamp off and closed her eyes, peacefully falling into bliss.

Her final thoughts as she drifted to sleep were that the voice and hands she had imagined against her body, willing her to cum for him, had not belonged to her husband, but to another man.

She woke hours later when Wook's stubbled cheek pressed against her shoulder, his hand reaching for her breast and the smell of alcohol on his lips. Soo mumbled something under her breath, something along the lines of "where were you?"

"I'm sorry I woke you," he murmured, kissing her cheek. "Go back to sleep, dear."

Nodding, Soo turned to face her husband and curled against his clothed form, falling asleep almost at once. She was too tired to even wonder why he smelled almost cloyingly sweet- like perfume.