Hello everyone! Here again, wishing you enjoy the next chapter!

I don't think I've mentioned but I'm not yet sure how long the story will be, I think that at least as long as 7 Days, probably longer, but there is no count yet. I do know where I'm going - more or less - so never fear!

Thanks to Sandy for helping me with the edits and to you for taking the time to visit.

To Melimelo: Thanks! I'm glad you liking the SoSoo interactions, I want to show that they are both smart and sort of trust each other. And yes, So will definitely want to be involved with his family now, ;) Thanks again!

To Guest: I'm sorry it seems to you like I'm just adding lots of plotlines from other fics, that's never my intention and if it has happened it has been accidental and probably just the result of the use of the similar tropes. I'll continue to write this story to the best of my abilities. Thanks.

Chapter SIX

Present Day

Wang Yo was ready to beat his younger brother to a pulp. Never mind that So was a black belt in various forms of martial arts...Wang Yo was furious enough. That was the thought that had kept him going throughout the day, as he and Mu picked up the slack on the second day So had just vanished.

He would never admit it, but he was also worried. Out of all of them, So was the one who had no life outside the company as far as anyone could tell. Yo couldn't possibly imagine what had caused this strange behavior.

Sadly, the beating he planned would have to wait.

"What do you mean, So moved out?!" Yo roared, pacing in front of Jung and Mu, who had come home with him to deal with their younger brother.

"It w-was… awful, hyung." Jung said.

"We all know what So is like when he's angry. No need to exaggerate, Jung," Mu said calmly.

"I'm not. You should see what he did to father's desk. I've never seen him like that," Jung said, pointing in the general direction of their father's office, which Wang Geon hadn't left all day. "On the other hand, I can't really blame him for it."

"Just tell us what happened," Yo urged. "Without taking detours."

Jung seemed to think for a moment. "So-hyung has a daughter, and because of father's meddling, he just found out now."

"Oh, fuck."

-0-

Having more or less settled things with Hae Soo, Wang So decided to actually go to work. It was either dealing with work or thinking about Soo and Seol all day so he decided to be productive. By the time both his brothers arrived, So had already been working for an hour, rescheduling meetings and dealing with whatever he could over the phone.

He was vaguely surprised to realize that Hwang Bo Wook had actually managed to fulfill his end of the contract Taejo Group had with him on time. So had totally forgotten that he had threatened him with legal action (So really needed to keep better track of those things).

"Oh, so you do remember you work here?" Yo asked sarcastically when they ran into each other outside the conference room.

"I can leave if you want me to," So said, turning as if ready to do just that.

"Stop it already," Yo snapped. "Are you attending the shareholders' meeting?"

"Why else would I be standing here?" So answered, reaching for his phone to turn it off but stopping when Hae Soo's name flashed on the screen. "Excuse me."

"The meeting will start soon," Yo said, annoyed.

So ignored him and answered the phone instead.

"I was going to call you later," So said into the phone before Soo could speak. "We have an appointment tomorrow at 11 A.M. Is that okay? Or do you need me to move it?"

"Eleven?" Soo repeated, her voice a little strange. "I-I think that's fine."

"Soo-yah, is something wrong?"

"Mmm—No. Well...something did happen today."

So listened, not moving or answering when the board members arrived and greeted him. He thought he couldn't be angrier at his father, but he had been wrong. He reassured Soo, thanked her for calling him first rather than jumping into conclusions and said he would pick her up from the National Theater at 10:30 AM the following day. He also told her not to worry.

-0-

Hae Soo had been shocked when she had been served with custody papers almost as soon as she had walked into the National Theater. Just the previous day she and So had agreed to try arbitrage, and now he was doing this?

"Seol's father is Wang So from the Taejo Group?" Madame Oh's eyebrows went up, reading the papers Soo had handed her.

Soo nodded. "I don't know what to think. It's not like him to just go back on his word."

"Then call him," Madame Oh suggested. "Maybe it's a mistake, or something else. Maybe it wasn't him," She added cryptically.

"All right," Soo agreed, thankful they had exchanged phone numbers the previous day. Soo bit her lip as she dialed his number, thinking maybe he was busy. But So picked up after the first ring, and started to tell her about an appointment.

That calmed her down a bit and when he asked what was wrong, she found herself babbling everything. So had gone quiet; and Soo could tell even through the phone that he was mad. "Don't worry about that, I'll deal with it," He said finally. "I'll pick you up tomorrow at 10:30, and we'll proceed with what we agreed."

"Okay," Soo hung up and took a deep breath. "He said we'll do what we agreed to and not to worry about those papers. I don't think he sent them. Who did it though?"

"I think I know. But don't worry. I'll handle it."

"So said he would do it."

"Just think of me as insurance," Madame Oh said with a smile. "I'll get rid of this, you just get to work."

-0-

Wang So took his place at the conference table and barely listened as various executives gave progress reports. They discussed profit projections and arguments broke around him. He was too consumed in planning his next move. So never thought he was a particularly vengeful person but he couldn't let his father get away with what he had done. Lines needed to be drawn.

And then, the perfect opportunity simply landed on his lap.

"According to our internal guidelines, it's now time to select the candidates for President," Choi Ji Mong, the company's General Secretary, announced.

As expected, Wang Geon proposed Mu and was supported by a sizable part of the board. Then one of the executives Yo had in his pocket proposed him as president, with the support of his own fraction of executives. Suddenly, another argument broke out.

"I think we need a third candidate," Wang Gyu's voice cut through the noise. Most people tended to see Eun's grandfather as a nuisance, but the old man was wily and surprisingly pragmatic. "Clearly the board is divided; we need more options."

"I don't think that's necessary," Wang Geon tried to interrupt but the idea had already taken hold.

As COO, So was the natural third candidate. He knew more about the internal workings of the company than any other executive and Wang Gyu quickly pointed that out, and was seconded by not an insignificant number of board members.

"Wang So has never shown any interest in the position, however," Wang Geon said. His meaning was quite plain: he did not want So in the running.

That sealed it then.

"Who am I to oppose the will of the board?" So said, his voice icy calm.

"Then you accept the candidacy?" Wang Gyu asked.

"It'll be my honor."

-0-

Less than half an hour later, the rest of the board was gone, leaving only Wang Geon and his sons.

"What the hell were you thinking in accepting?" Wang Geon raged.

"If you're wondering that, then you aren't as sharp as you used to be..." There was a deliberate pause, meant to make the next word sound like an insult: "...father."

"You will regret this," Wang Geon snapped before leaving.

"Maybe I will, maybe I won't." So replied cryptically, moving to leave as well.

"Did you see that coming?" Mu asked Yo once they were alone.

Yo looked up, surprised. Mu was six years older than him and had always been held up by their father as the shining example of what he wanted in a son. In his thirty four years of life, Yo could never recall Mu really talking to him out of his own volition.

"I knew he would do something," Yo said finally. "It makes sense that he did this."

"It does?" Mu asked, sounding genuinely confused. Mu had always thought he knew So fairly well as they had worked closely together since So joined the company.

Yo laughed, almost sounding like So. "Father's deepest wish is for you to have the company. So and I don't matter to him. If Jung had shown any interest in the company it would have been the same for him."

"I'm sure that's not-"

"True?" Yo cut him off. "He liked your mother better, simple as that. And anyway, So is just hitting father where it hurts him the most."

-ooo-

Twenty Years Before.

Wang Yo would never forget when he realized what a precarious role he had in the complex structure of his family. He had always known his mother was unstable, but after what his father referred to as "So's accident" a few of years before – when, in one of her rages, their mother had used a glass to cut six-year-old So's face – it had become clear to Yo that he couldn't trust his mother, no matter that she had always reserved all her vileness for her middle son.

When So had been sent off to live with their aunt and cousins, a part of Yo had been glad that his little brother was safer now. With So gone, Yo didn't have to hide him from their mother or be on the look-out all the time.

Instead, Yo learned to adapt to the contrasting expectations of his parents: his mother always pushing him to excel and his father always holding him back so he didn't overshadow Wang Mu's accomplishments. It was like painting inside of a canvas that had already been fitted with a magnificent frame, being constantly reminded not to step out of bounds.

Still, nothing had prepared him for the conversation he had overheard between his parents shortly after his fourteenth birthday. That night, he had gone down to the kitchen for a snack, as he still had at least two more hours of homework before he could sleep. He had been fixing himself a sandwich when the sounds of the front door slamming closed and his father's angry footsteps signaled that his parents were back from the dinner party they had attended.

"I don't know why you're so angry. This is a good thing," Yoo Shin Myeong's voice carried in the quiet house. "You've been after an alliance with the Kangs for years!"

The sound of shattering glass startled Yo, as did his father's angry words. "For Mu! I wanted Mu to marry into a family like the Kangs to support his position! What use is it for me if your son marries one of the Kang girls?"

"Yo is also your son, and you would do well in remembering that!" Yoo Shin Myeong yelled right back.

"Just like you should remem-"

"Don't even mention that hateful creature!" His mother snapped. Even the thought of So angered her. But after a moment, she continued in a more normal voice. "Besides, Minister Kang would have never consented to marry one of his daughters to the son of someone as low born as Ryu Sin Hye."

"She might not have belonged to a family like the Yoos, but she was a much better woman than a viper like you will ever be," Geon said. "Now, let's get something very clear: No matter who you make your son marry or what family you get to support him, he will only rise so far in MY company. The Taejo Group will be for Mu and no one else."

-00-

Present Day.

As a young woman trying to make her way into the ballet world, Oh Soo Yeon had learned a trick of two, but walking in like you owned the place and taking no for an answer was probably the best one. Oh Soo Yeon checked her appearance in the car before letting the driver open her door. Then she strode into the building like she owned it and before anyone could stop her, she was walking into the top floor.

She hadn't been in this building in over twenty years, but she still remembered where his office was. Taking a deep breath, Oh Soo Yeon readied herself for battle.

"Tell him Oh Soo Yeon is here; he'll see me." She said to the pretty, young secretary that had stopped her outside his office.

"I'm afraid it's just not possible to see Chairman Wang-" the secretary began to say.

"Your job, dear," Madame Oh said, politely but implacably, "is to inform him of his visitors."

The woman's mouth twisted in displeasure, but she did reach for the phone. Taking advantage of the secretary's moment of distraction, Madame Oh reached for the door and threw it open just as the secretary let out a shrill cry.

"You have a moment, I'm sure," Madame Oh said as her eyes settled on Wang Geon, barely sparing a glance to the other two men in the office; one being his eldest son Mu, and the other being Taejo's General Secretary Choi Ji Mong.

Wang Geon had the gall to smile at her. "Oh Soo Yeon, it's been a while."

"Not nearly enough," She answered with hostility as she strode forward which surprised him and he hastily nodded to the other two men to leave.

"You look old… but on the other hand, you never change." She added, reaching the desk and tossing the documents Soo had received that morning.

"What are you doing with these?" Wang Geon said, recognizing the stationary from the lawyer he employed for the things he knew his own internal counsel wouldn't touch.

"With the custody papers you served the mother of your granddaughter behind your son's back, you mean?"

Mu froze at the door and wouldn't move no matter how much Ji Mong pushed. Now it made sense why So had been acting like he had in the meeting.

"How do you know that girl?"

"That doesn't concern you. Just know that Hae Soo is not alone. I love her and Seol as if they were my own, and I won't let you hurt them. You have caused enough damage in this lifetime."

"I'm just doing what's best for my family."

Madame Oh laughed without of mirth. "That's rich."

"Oh Soo Yeon," He said sternly. "That child is a Wang and needs to be with her family."

"She is with her mother. She's getting to know her father; what other family does she need? You? Yoo Sin Myeong? With what we both know she's capable of doing?

"I can keep my wife in check."

"When have you ever been able to do that?" She questioned him. "When she disfigured your son? When she did this to me?" Madame Oh pointed to her leg and cane. "Or when she killed my baby? Because as I recall, you just let her get away with it. All of it."

"Father?" Mu's voice cut through the charged silence Soo Yeon's tirade left behind.

"I think it's time you left."

"I agree. But just know this: I'm not the naive girl you seduced nor am I the grief-stricken woman you cast aside. I've known you since before you were Taejo's Wang Geon and I will destroy you if you try to get near Soo and Seol again."

From the next chapter:

He turned to face her, and there she was, gorgeous as ever. "So, you are back.

Hwangbo Yeon Hwa smiled. "I'm back."

..

also, historically Wang Mu was the son of Taejo with his second wife from the Oh clan, but for purpose of this story I used the name of Taejo's first wife from the Ryu clan with whom he didn't have any offspring.