Hello everyone! Here we come with another little chapter! thanks so much to everyone for being patient and to Sandy for being so helpful and kind with the edits :)

Chapter TEN

Present Day

"Are you sure there's no one else available?" Woo Hee asked, leaning over the counter as Soo prepared tea for them, one day following her rehearsal.

"I thought Baek Ah was working out okay? I heard him play the other day, he's good! And he said he can keep doing it indefinitely."

"He's all right," Woo Hee said with a shrug, unwilling to admit that their esteemed Artistic Director was even better as a musician. "But he flirts with everything that moves, and the younger girls become distracted! It's annoying!"

"Mmm," Soo answered, noncommittal. That was not what she had heard from the other dancers. As rumor had it, Baek Ah only flirted with one particular dancer and the rest just giggled at Woo Hee's pretend obviousness. "I can talk to the other girls if you want, remind them not to flirt on company time or whatever."

"I don't think that'll help, but thanks," Woo Hee grumbled. "Just promise me you'll keep looking, okay?"

"Of course, I'm waiting to hear back from a couple of music schools that promised to check among their students."

"Thank you."

"It would help if you told me what the problem truly was with Baek Ah," Soo said innocently, sipping her tea like it didn't matter to her either way if Woo Hee talked or not.

"He stares at me too much," Woo Hee said, knowing it sounded childish.

"Not to state the obvious, but you are a performer."

"It's different when I'm dancing, then I don't mind so much. But… he does it all the time, he looks at me like he knows something I don't! And he's always late for rehearsal!"

"I will definitely tell him to arrive on time, and I'll keep looking." Soo promised while suppressing a laugh.

.

Though music had always been his first passion, Baek Ah had also been fascinated by the way music could be interpreted by using one's body to create shapes and steps that told a story. He had studied various dance styles as a child and teenager, and while he knew he wasn't talented enough to be an actual professional dancer, he was really good at giving instruction on what to do.

That was how he wound up working as a choreographer for the National Dance company – mostly for their contemporary branch – and later became their artistic director, where he had more of a say on which pieces they produced and how to arrange their music, which truly merged all his passions.

Still, it didn't take him long to realize that his credentials meant very little to Kim Woo Hee. It seemed like just the sight of him annoyed her, but by God he loved watching her move. She had both fluidity and determination, and it was just beautiful to see.

Lately, he had taken to sketching her, coming up with half-baked ideas for costumes, thinking how the fabrics would move… a harmless enough hobby as far as he was concerned.

"Uncle! UNCLE!"

Seol's voice snapped him out of his reverie. The little frown on her face – which was eerily identical to her father's – indicated that she had probably been trying to catch his attention for a while now.

"I'm sorry, Princess," Baek Ah said with a smile. "What is it?"

"You have to pay attention!" She admonished, tapping the clipboard he had given her the first time he had brought her to watch rehearsals with him. Seol would sit next to him and put on a serious expression as she watched, all the while doodling nonsensical things on her clipboard, demanding more paper every so often.

Looking up, Baek Ah saw that his dancers had all gathered and were awaiting instructions.

With a decisive snap, Baek Ah closed his sketchbook. He was determined not to think about Woo Hee anymore… or for the next hour at least.

-00-

Before meeting her father, Seol hadn't really thought much about it. Her whole life was her Umma, her Halmeoni and the big house near the beach where they lived. Then, one day her Umma had told her they were going somewhere new, and they had ridden the train for a long time… and suddenly they were in a big new place.

She still saw her Halmeoni almost every day, but now there were more people there too.

First her Appa, who always carried her around, watched TV with her, who had sat with her and taught her how to write her new name– Wang Seol. He would take her to the park and play with her and make her Umma smile.

Then there was Uncle Baek Ah, who played with her when her Umma was busy at work. And her uncle Eun, who always gave her candy and new toys that he built himself. And her Uncle Jung. And Soon Deok-ssi…

Seol's world had gotten a lot bigger now that she lived in this new place. Though she sometimes missed the beach, she wouldn't trade it for the world.

"All right, Princess, which one do you want?" Her Appa asked, holding up two pink backpacks. One was sparkly and had a unicorn horn, and the other had butterflies and flowers stamped all over. They were shopping for school stuff.

Seol pouted and pondered the question. "I like both?" She said.

"All right," So said, tossing them into the cart. "Just don't tell your Umma."

Seol giggled and nodded. She had also learned in a very short time that, while she usually had to plead with her mother when she wanted something at the store, she could just point and her Appa said yes. Even if her Umma later scolded them both for it.

"Don't tell me what?" Soo asked, coming from around another aisle, frowning as she read the school supply list that had been forwarded to her. The amount of stuff was ridiculous, even if she wasn't the one footing the bill.

"Nothing," So answered too quickly for him to be entirely innocent.

"This list is ridiculous," Soo said, deciding to let it go. "Seol doesn't need seventy two colored pencils for art class! She can't even keep track of twelve!"

"But they are pretty, Umma!" Seol said, pointing to the cart where So had already placed two boxes of the pretty pencils.

"She definitely doesn't need two sets of them!"

"You said she keeps losing them!"

"I meant that she needs to be a little more careful, not that you need to buy her more!"

"But this way, she can keep one box at my place and one box at your place, unless you want to move in with me, then…"

"Get the two boxes then!" Soo huffed and stalked off. So had been pushy lately about the whole moving in thing -like they hadn't only seen each other again after a five year separation! One second he agreed to take things slow, and the next… he bribed their child with expensive coloring utensils.

Seol looked from one to the other, before going to her father and tugging at his shirt so he would pick her up. "It's all right, Princess." So comforted her, pushing the cart with his free hand and following Soo into the next aisle, smiling after her. He would wear her down, of that he was sure.

.

The following Monday, Soo dressed Seol in her new school uniform, consisting on a drop-waist, pleated green dress, paired with a yellow collared shirt underneath, a green and navy bow, and a navy cardigan. It looked adorable, Soo had to admit. And at least she wouldn't have to agonize over how she was going to dress Seol each morning, even if she thought it was a little weird that kids that small wore uniforms. She guessed that was the way with private schools; Soo herself hadn't worn a uniform until middle school.

Seol stood still as her mother braided a band around her head, before pulling the rest of her hair up in a ponytail and finishing it off with some flower hairpins So given Seol when he found out she liked wearing her mother's hairpin.

"There!" Soo said, giving the ponytail a last tug as the doorbell rang. "And just in time, that must be So. Go get your things while I open the door, okay?"

Seol nodded and ran off into her bedroom.

Once she opened the door, Wang So stepped in and right into her personal space, pulling her in for a quick kiss.

"Good morning to you too," Soo said when they came up for air.

"Are you girls ready?" So asked, wrapping his arms around her and keeping her close.

"Seol is just getting her things," Soo said, allowing herself to enjoy his hug until Seol came back. So shouldered her backpack - he looked a little ridiculous with the sparkly pink backpack with a swirly unicorn horn attached, but he didn't seem to mind.

So took about a million pictures of Seol in her uniform outside the school, and fussed over her. He knew he was going a bit overboard, but this was the first "First" of Seol's life that he was around for, and he was going to make it an event.

Seol was loving it of course, smiling for the million pictures her father wanted to take before running inside with the rest of the kids. By that afternoon, a selfie So had taken of the three of them in front of Seol's new school was framed and displayed proudly on So's desk at work.

…00…

Kang Mun Seong stood inside Wang Yo's office, waiting for him. He had asked her to come, as they had to match up their social calendars as they did at the beginning of each month, but when she had arrived – almost an hour ago – his secretary had informed her that Mr. Wang was in a very important meeting.

Mun Seong had the feeling that the woman didn't like her very much.

In any case, she was shown to his office and told to wait. She sat in the chair and played with her phone a bit, resisting the urge to move about or touch anything. She knew he hated when she moved things from the place he had put them and would complain loudly if she so much as moved a pen out of place. Yo liked things his way.

There were almost no traces of her in this office. Yo always hired a professional to decorate whenever he got promoted and got a new office, except for the massive framed photograph of the Changdeokgung Palace's gardens that dominated the wall behind his desk. It was Mun Seong who had taken that picture…

-o-

5 and a half years before.

This was supposed to be a happy day for Kang Mun Seong. She had been one of ten students selected for the End of Term Exhibit and now five of her photographs were on display at the University Gallery and she had won an internship at a large publishing company.

But her parents had refused to go to the opening night, as even now that she was finishing her degree, they still didn't accept that she hadn't studied something more 'worthwhile' or worked harder at improving herself for her future husband. Mun Gong had promised to come but cancelled last minute.

And now she had to go out there and explain how her photographs were connected and what her vision was, and for the life of her she couldn't remember the words she had carefully planned for the last week.

This was going to be a disaster…

Wang Yo didn't know why his mother had insisted that he come to this function today. He had left the invitation to the University Gallery with his secretary and told her it was imperative that he went.

If anything, at least it gave him an excuse to blow off Yeon Hwa, who was getting clingier, probably sensing that Yo was about to break up with her for good.

Yo wandered around the large space, snatching a glass of wine from a passing waiter. His eye caught on one of the photographs of one of Seoul's Five Palaces – he never got them right – featuring a garden. And for some reason, he wanted it.

It wasn't until he had bought the original photograph – after bullying the exhibit coordinator – that he realized why his mother had insisted he come. When the artists were introduced, a familiar name rang out.

Yo looked at his little fiancée standing under the bright lights of the gallery in a flowing black dress that ended just above her knees. Her long black hair was brushed to the side, letting the diamonds on her ears sparkle. If memory served him right, she was 22 or so and while she lacked the refinement Hwangbo Yeon Hwa had had even at that age, she was pretty in an understated sort of way.

Yo listened to her halting speech about her inspiration for her pictures before she handed off the mic to someone else. At which point Yo lost interest and decided to talk to her for once.

Yo would forever remember the shy smile she offered him when he introduced himself. She could hold an intelligent conversation and didn't feel the need to talk about herself every other sentence – which was refreshing, actually, as Yean Hwa was more on the self-absorbed end of the spectrum.

They had spent the rest of the evening together and gone on their first official date the very next day.

0

Present Day.

Having completely forgotten his appointment with Mun Seong, Yo walked into his office to find her staring at the photograph behind his desk. Her expression was pensive and a little melancholy.

There had been a distance between them lately, and he knew it was he who put it there, but for some reason he couldn't seem to make up his mind. Yeon Hwa's proposition could be very beneficial to him and he knew it. Plus, he had always enjoyed Yeon Hwa's company – both in bed and out of it – and marrying her would be very advantageous. But if he married his old flame, what would happen to Mun Seong?

The broken engagement would be laid squarely at her door, which would make her the object of rumor and scorn. People would wonder why they never married, and she would be seen as damaged goods among Seoul's elite. Not to mention what her conservative father would do.

With so much history between them, Yo didn't feel quite right throwing her away, advantageous as it might be.

When his father had had his heart attack five years ago, it had been Mun Seong who kept him sane. She would show up at the hospital with food, rub his head when it ached, let him sleep against her while they waited for news.

Hell, the first time they had made love was when she drove him home after they had told them his father was out of danger. One thing had led to another and before he knew it their clothes were scattered all over his bedroom and they were rolling around on his bed.

And five years later, here they were.

"I'm sorry to keep you waiting," Yo said, startling Mun Seong a little.

"It's okay."

"Are you hungry? We can check our calendars over lunch."

"Sure," Mun Seong smiled.

As they walked out, they encountered a small person wandering around the C-suite. The little girl wearing the uniform from his old elementary school had dark hair and So's chin and ears.

"You're Seol, right?" Yo asked.

"Yes," She said suspiciously, looking up at him. "Who are you?"

"I'm your uncle Yo." He said with a friendly smile, crouching down so Seol didn't have to look up so much. "And this is your Aunt Mun Seong," he added, nodding toward his fiancée.

"Hi!" Seol answered and even did a small bow. Halmeoni Oh had always been very strict about manners after all.

"Seol-ie!" So's worried voice cut in. "What are you doing out here?"

"Appa!" Seol said happily, going to her father. "I'm hungry, Appa!"

"I know, princess, but that doesn't mean its okay to just wander off."

"I'm sorry, Appa." Seol hung her head in shame. She had had this conversation with her mother often enough to know that wandering off was not okay. She just couldn't help herself sometimes.

"Just don't do it again," So said, stroking her hair and waiting until Seol nodded before changing the subject. "And I just need to finish some calls and we'll go out to eat, okay?"

"If you're still tied up," Yo found himself offering, "Mun Seong and I were about to go to lunch. We can take her with us."

"Hyung… I don't want to impose on the two of you."

"It's no imposition, So-ssi," Mun Seong answered. "We'll be happy to."

"You can catch up when you're done. We won't go far."

Out of the corner of his eye, So could see his secretary waving frantically at him, and he could also hear Seol's tummy rumble. He closed his eyes for a second before making up his mind. "Then I would be very grateful." So leaned down to kiss the top of Seol's head. "Stay close to your uncle, okay? No wandering off!"

"Yes, Appa!"

So accepted the kiss Seol planted on his cheek before gently pushing her toward the pair. "I won't take long."

"Take your time," Yo said, putting a hand on Seol's shoulder. "I'll text you the address of the restaurant."

So nodded and went back to his secretary before the poor man sprained something from waving so frantically at him.

Yo watched So walk away, half surprised that he had actually agreed to leave his daughter with him. Then Seol tugged at his shirt and when he looked down, she lifted her arms and said "Up!" indicating she wanted to be carried.

Yo complied. "So, what would you like to eat?" he asked as the three of them walked toward the elevator bank.

Author's Note:

From next chapter:

It took some fast talking and maybe all of his skills as a negotiator, but Park So Kyung eventually managed to smooth Madame Oh's ruffled feathers. Enough to get her to come into the house and have some tea.
"Look, I understand you are a bit upset." He said, accidentally slamming the tea pot on the stove and making himself wince. "But It's up to her parents to decide what she's going to learn or not. Aside from my own daughter, So-yah is the most talented one I've trained. If he wants to bring his kid, I'm not going to stop him."