Wang So

So stared distastefully at the onslaught of precipitation that prevented him from going for a jog. It was raining again.

Already stretched and dressed in protective thermal gear, he had been ready to brave the subzero temperatures and sprint around the neighborhood before returning for a shower and a day spent with Hae Soo.

"Can't I have one day?" He glared at whatever god sat in the sky. "One fucking day, you ass."

One of the roiling clouds seemed to flip him off.

So shut the back door of the house and returned to the servants' quarters, stripping his jacket and headphones off. He pulled at the compression shirt that clung to his body, wondering how much trouble he would have to go through to remove the second skin.

He passed by Wook's bodyguard who stopped in his tracks. "Wang So, you're thirty-seven and you look like that?"

Pausing, So turned toward the older man, noting his wider waistline. "I work out," So replied simply. I also used to be- am, he frowned at himself as he mentally corrected his error, I am a hitman. I need superior strength and speed if I'm to be the predator.

"Wang So, I work out too," the older man scoffed. "I distinctly remember not looking like that when I was thirty-seven. Man, if your face wasn't so menacing, I'd tell you to quit being a bodyguard and go model swimsuits."

So watched his co-worker walk away, staring at the shorter man as he shook his head.

Returning to his bedroom, So stripped down and changed into his usual uniform of a black suit and pink necktie. The tie was something purchased after Mi told him his black, dress-code breaking ties were too boring. "Daddy's guard always wears blue ties, so you should do something like pink! I like pink and Yoonie likes pink, so wear more pink, Mr. So!" It was the same color as the lipstick Soo preferred.

For a moment, he entertained the idea of modeling swimsuits. If he learned to glare less, perhaps he might be able to land a job where he took semi-nude pictures for money.

Chuckling, So adjusted the knot of his tie before clipping it to his shirt with a silver bar. Soo seemed to like his smile. Perhaps others might like it as well.

He left the servants' quarters in hopes that Soo would want to go for a walk or leave the house in some way or form.

He waited in the hallway for her to arrive, knowing Wook and his bodyguard had already departed for the Blue House. So glanced around the desolate area, examining the painting that hung above Yoon's crayon scribbles on the wall. So did not know much about art, but he found Yoon's ugly drawing of a cat to be much better done than the strange, abstract swirls that curled around the canvas above, creating the distorted image of a bouquet of flowers on a table.

"Good morning, Mr. Wang."

He turned at the sound of a melodic voice and smiled at the sight before him. Hae Soo wore a thick sweater and leggings, her hair pinned away from her smiling face. She was beautiful, sparkling like the diamonds that graced her ears. "Good morning," So said in return.

"Did you enjoy your run?" So narrowed his eyes when he heard hints of teasing in her voice. No doubt Soo had already seen the weather from the morning report Chae Ryung provided.

"I enjoyed it very much," So replied. "In fact, I think the rain is much better for stamina. Makes me run faster." He held his hands behind his back and addressed the younger woman with a nod. "Where will you be headed today?" he asked as she chuckled, shaking her head.

"It's almost lunchtime, isn't it? I'd like to go for a drive," Soo decided.

Nodding, So stood back and removed the car keys from his pocket. "I'll be by the car," he replied. "Take your time."

So waited for Soo to return to her bedroom before tossing the keys into the air and catching them. It was not long before Soo joined him by the car. So reached for the door to the backseat but paused when she touched his hand. Her bare skin met his and So blinked at the contact. "I'm driving," she said. They met eyes and So nodded.

Slightly surprised, he sat beside Soo and watched as she took them backwards, waiting for the gate to open, then pulling out of the driveway. She drove with one hand, keeping the other on the gear. So realized he had never seen Soo drive during his time working for her.

They rode in silence and he sat back as she took a route he did not know. Rain fell around them and he breathed deeply, taking in the serene weather with someone whose company he enjoyed. "Where are we going?" he asked. The sound of his voice mixed with the steady patter of rain against the windshield and Soo tilted her head to the side.

"A place I used to frequent as a high schooler." So watched as she turned to smile at him. He felt as if he had not seen that smile in forever. He grinned back at her.

They parked in front of a small restaurant at the first floor of a clean building. With only six tables inside, it was almost too tiny to be considered a restaurant so much as it was a pop-up stand. The news was on TV and two older women worked the register and kitchen.

So followed Soo into the restaurant and sat down across from her at one of the little tables. His shoes squeaked against the wet floor and he watched Soo call for two bowls of spicy noodle soup. "It's raining, Wang So, we should have soojaebi, shouldn't we?"

Nodding slowly, So watched as Soo picked out matching pairs of chopsticks from the plastic box at their table, setting them in front of him along with a spoon. She did the same for herself. "I used to always come here when I was younger," she said, lacing her fingers beneath her chin. So watched as Soo stared out the window, her gaze far off. "Baek Ah would sometimes come with me, but he always had art class after school. He only skipped on the days they were using oil pastels."

So blinked at the portion of her past Soo offered to him. He took it without remorse, trying to hold onto her words. "I didn't see you as the type that would go to small restaurants in the rain," he said.

Soo only laughed. "During high school, I read romance novels and convinced myself that if I always went to the same noodle shop, someone would notice me and I would find my true love." So listened to her airy sigh. "My bodyguard demanded to know if I wanted stalkers because that was exactly how little girls like me got murdered- by being predictable."

Chuckling, So shook his head. "He's not wrong."

So watched Soo laugh with him, her hand pressing against her mouth to stifle her giggles. "He was fired after I managed to slip him and take a bus to Busan with my friends. As punishment, my parents took away my allowance, so I couldn't even come to this shop."

"She did anyways," the serving lady said with a chuckle, setting two steaming bowls of soup before them. She gently patted Soo's shoulder and So watched as the woman crossed her arms. "Racked up a hundred thousand won debt and then sent her brother to settle it. Eat up, dear, I haven't seen you for a while."

After the serving woman left, So picked his spoon up and stirred the clear broth, agitating the mound of spicy sauce coating the bottom of the bowl. He watched his soup thicken and change into a shade of dark orange. Steam curled upwards and So ran his tongue over his teeth.

When he tried the soup, a wash of spicy heat remained in his mouth, warming his body and leaving him satisfied. "It's delicious," he noted, scooping one of the torn noodles with his spoon and eating it. The chewy texture only added to the soft vegetables and spicy broth, allowing So to enjoy the rainy weather even further.

"Isn't it?" Soo asked. She huffed and shook her head. "I can't bring the girls yet because they can't eat spicy foods and Wook just doesn't like torn noodle soup." So watched as Soo used her chopsticks to pick the jagged noodles up and place two onto her spoon. "I'm glad I have someone to share this with," she said.

Smirking, So nodded. He looked down at his bowl when something prodded his shin. The side of Soo's calf pressed against his leg and So nudged closer.

"I went to the same high school as Baek Ah," Soo said. So listened with intent, setting his spoon into his bowl. He watched Soo tuck her hair behind her ear and continue staring out the window to where the car sat in the pouring rain. "He always tried to keep his friends away from me because they were secretly smoking behind the gym and didn't want me to know. Baek Ah thought I'd pick up their bad habits so he threatened each of his friends to keep away from me.

"I always thought he was just being mean because a couple of them were cute." So scoffed a laugh and shook his head. He tried to imagine Soo as a high schooler and ended up with the image of a young girl with long hair that popped her gum and talked back to teachers.

"I also went to the same high school as my brother," he stated. He felt himself grin as Soo turned towards him with raised eyebrows. "I'm three years younger than him, so my first year of high school was his last."

Soo nodded and So scooped another noodle into his mouth. He hardly remembered Yo except that his brother was first place in academics throughout the entire school. By the looks of the roads they had taken in life, Yo was also good at everything else. "He was much smarter than me."

"Were you close?" Soo asked. She crunched into a piece of radish kimchi and So opened his mouth for the other half.

"Ah," he said, elongating the syllable as far as he could. Soo gave him a peculiar look before laughing and setting it into his mouth. So immediately clamped down, biting onto her chopsticks.

"Ah! You're such a child," Soo exclaimed, tapping his forehead with her hand. She huffed as So released the metal, and he laughed with her, covering his mouth with his hand.

Munching on the radish, So shrugged his shoulders as the slightly bitter taste melded with the other flavors of his lunch. "We were never truly close after middle school. He was always busy with his studies and trying to earn extra money… I was too. We only shared a bedroom at home. Hardly ever spoke to each other."

Soo nodded and So felt her foot tap against his. He tapped back and gazed at Soo who betrayed no acknowledgement of their game of footsie. She showed no hints that his Oxford was currently sliding up the side of her high heel and gently touching the inside of her calf.

"I remember my first love letter was from one of Baek Ah's friends," she explained. "My brother snatched it from my hands and read it out loud in front of them. I was practically crying from embarrassment and when he found out who sent it, he tossed the letter aside and punched his friend in the face. I slapped my brother immediately afterward."

Soo shook her head and So laughed. "That must have been a sight."

"No one wanted to date me after that," she sighed with a tap of her foot. "They were so afraid of both Baek Ah and me that they stayed away."

In the brightly lit restaurant, they shared their stories and So found himself smiling without pause. He laughed at Soo's animated memories and told a few of his own, picking and choosing the better ones.

"So, Mr. So," Soo said. So raised an eyebrow at the nickname. "Let me see…" She pursed her lips and narrowed her wide eyes at him, creating an adorable pout. So smirked at the woman before him as she scrutinized him. "I think you were tall and awkward in high school. Except," she held a finger up before pointing it directly at his nose, "you were really popular because everyone liked your personality."

He looked down at his hands before shaking his head with a soft laugh. "If only," he sighed. "No, Mrs. Soo." He gave her a pointed smile. "I wasn't popular. I was the head of the book club and the star player on the baduk team. I was the exact opposite of popular."

Soo laughed, her foot sliding up and down his shin. He rested his elbows against the table and gazed at the woman before him. "You played baduk? What old-fashioned nonsense were you raised on? Even I didn't learn that."

"It's a cheap game played by the commoners," So said. He pointed a finger at Soo. "I assume you were the popular rich girl that could beat everyone at chess or jang-gi?"

"I wasn't smart enough for the chess team." Soo smirked at him. "I tried to join and they said I'd only bring their median score down."

They smiled at each other and So finished his soup while Soo swirled the remnants of her noodles around her bowl. "I think I'd like to hit another high school hangout of mine," she declared. She held the car keys up and let them jingle.

When So tried to pay for their meal, he was shot down by the woman at the cash register. "Little Miss High School Debt has a long standing tab paid every month."

"What?" he asked, uncomprehending.

"Your wife doesn't have to pay because she wires the money every month, dear," the woman said, slowly spelling out what she meant. So only nodded. He noticed Soo did not correct the woman when she called him her husband. He felt no need to do so either.

He sat in the passenger's side of the car and felt Soo's arm go behind his headrest as she backed away from the restaurant. Coughing, he glanced away from her so she would not see the way his face heated up.

Dammit, why do I feel like such a teenager?

They rode together and So hummed as he used his finger to write a poem onto the window. His fingertip glided over the wet glass and he wrote from top to bottom and right to left, remembering the Hanja characters he had once memorized from a library book.

"When the water has run dry, I sit and look up at the clouds." He turned and stared at Soo as she read the letters on the glass. "A Chinese poem," she noted.

"You can read Hanja?" So watched as Soo focused on the road again. He mentally slapped himself. Of course she can read Hanja, she was raised rich. She probably knows more languages than you.

Soo gave an elongated sigh. "Unfortunately, yes. My governess was adamant Baek Ah and I memorize the Thousand Characters and more. But anyways- that's a really nice poem."

"It helped me through hard times as a child," So remarked, shrugging as he remembered his past. "I like its meaning."

"I do too," Soo replied. "Though I doubt my hardships are anything compared to yours."

Before he could speak, So noticed Soo parking in front of a convenience store with a wide sitting area covered from the rain. She stopped the car and So stepped out first, opening his coat and jogging over to Soo's side. He felt the cold raindrops splash against his neck as he held his jacket open to shield her from the rain.

They jogged through the parking area and toward the raised sitting space. Soo laughed when So rubbed water from the back of his neck. He leaned down as her hand reached for his hair, dusting drops of water away. "So unnecessarily chivalrous," she sighed.

He waited for her as she entered the convenience store. Sitting on the dais, So made sure his shoes were neatly placed on the ground before he tucked his legs in. He stared out at the bleak weather and wondered why he felt so happy. Each crash of thunder only made his mood soar.

So flinched when something icy touched his ear.

"Gah!" He turned, ready to incapacitate someone, but froze when he saw a plastic container of banana milk inches from his face. So slowly accepted the drink and watched Soo kick her shoes off before joining him on the surface. She sat close to him.

"You must be really jumpy if a drink scares you," she remarked. So watched as she drank her banana milk through a white straw, leaving lipstick against the plastic. He noticed she had already poked a straw into his as well.

He sipped the sweet drink and sighed, enjoying the weather. From where he sat, he could easily smell Soo's perfume.

Ever so quietly, So glanced at Soo and noticed how close she sat to him. He swallowed and began moving his arm to wrap around her, trying so hard to remain nonchalant. His hand crept forward and his heart began to race.

Soo sighed and he froze, his hand mere centimeters from touching her. When she did not look at him, So swallowed and went for the kill.

Holding Soo by the waist, he pulled her closer until their thighs were touching. Her pants met his suit and her coat crinkled against his. She did not react except to lay her head against his shoulder. "I came here after school on sunny days and I bought myself and my bodyguard banana milk. I drank mine sitting here while he drank his in the car."

So took a second sip of his milk and recoiled at the sweetness. He released the straw and stuck his tongue out. So glanced down at Soo when she held a bottle of water up, unfazed. "I didn't think you'd hate that," she sighed as he accepted the second drink. "Is it all sweets? Or just artificial ones?"

So filled his mouth with the icy water and swallowed before shrugging his shoulders. "We never had money for sugary things growing up, so when I finally started making my own money, I went a bit crazy on foods I couldn't have. I got sick from eating sweets, so I just started hating them."

He felt Soo's hand against his knee and she gave it a gentle pat. Her middle and index fingers walked over his thigh and So leaned his head against Soo's. He breathed in the scent of her hair as her hand pressed to his stomach. Around them, the rain continued to pour.

"Soo," he murmured. So refused to call her Mrs. Hae when they were alone. Not when he wanted her to know how he felt about her.

"Yes?" So felt knots curling inside his stomach as he grew nervous. His hands felt clammy and he wondered if Soo could hear his heart.

"I'd like to have a relationship with you," he said, truthful to the bitter end.

It had been the thing on his mind ever since she had comforted him the day he had met his parents, holding him and making sure he was alright. From the time he had first kissed her, to their new year's kiss, to the very moment they currently shared, So knew that he wanted to be as close to Soo as possible, caring for her and maintaining intimacy with her.

There would only be two outcomes. Either he would begin a relationship with a married woman, or he would be fired and cut away from her. He left the choice to the person beside him.

So felt Soo's hand move away from his stomach and return to his knee. The warmth of her palm pressed to his leg and So blinked slowly, awaiting her reply.

"I've never brought Wook here," she stated. So wondered if she was ignoring his question or if she had not heard him. "I never felt the need to show him where I spent my sunny days."

He gazed down at her as she pulled away from him. Dejection gnawed at his chest and So watched as Soo glanced away. He wished she would come back to him. For her body to press against his once more… but he had blown his chance by asking her to go against her husband for him. And for that, So called himself a fool.

Then, her hand touched his arm and she sighed, bowing her head. So felt his heart leap as he waited for her response- whatever it might be. "I've never… cheated… on anyone before," she finally admitted.

The sound of the rain surrounded their silence and So nodded. "Was I too straightforward?" he asked. They sat apart- as if a barrier had been erected between them.

Soo shook her head. She looked up and So watched as she glanced out at the shower before turning back to him, her hair swinging. He noticed the way she pressed her hand to her chest, her fingers curling against her shirt. She was just as nervous as he was- if not more.

"So, I'd… I'd like it if you kissed me," she said, blushing furiously. Surprised, So tipped his head and felt a nervous smile overcome his usually stoic features. He dragged his teeth over his bottom lip and wondered if his relief was noticeable. "And I'd also like to… to date you."

Reaching forward, he gripped Soo by the waist and pulled her close once more. He heard her breaths and felt her heart beating through her coat. Her palms flattened against his lapels and she smiled. Cradling her cheek with his free hand, he watched her eyes flutter shut before closing his own.

On that gloomy Monday, beneath the rain heavy shade of a convenience store, Wang So kissed Hae Soo. His hands held her back and he felt hers against his neck, pulling him closer to her.

They kissed as the rain cleared, the sun rising from behind ominous clouds. Lips met in quiet, hiding from the watchful eyes of the gods.

So wrapped an arm around Soo and pecked her forehead, hugging her close.

He held her hand as they walked back to the car, his heart fluttering with a certain giddiness he had not felt for years.

So looked down at Soo; at the hand he held as he drove. He gazed into her bright eyes and nodded. Look at her, he thought. She let you have her. Look at what you can have. Look at her.

Thank you so much to Krysyuy~~

And Happy New Year!