Hello everyone! I live still!

LOL

Sorry it took so long to update, I've been struggling a bit and with lots of work piling up - and I just remember I'm supposed to make a brownie for my friends' birthday tomorrow! LOL - anyway!

Here is the chapter, I hope you enjoy it! And thank you for your patience. And Thanks to Sandy for all the awesome.

Chapter Fourteen: Stop Pretending

Present Day

Soon Deok dragged herself to work on Monday morning, feeling like something very heavy was lodged in her stomach. Now this could just be the raging hangover she had or just plain old embarrassment over how she had behaved with Eun the previous night when he took her back home.

After her team had won, she had insisted on buying Eun a round of drinks at their favorite bar, and she might have overindulged a bit. The last thing she remembered clearly was that Eun had taken her home and propped her on the couch, while he roamed through her fridge and cupboards, trying to find some sobering medicine she assured him was there.

To keep her from falling asleep (he wanted her to at least take an aspirin), Eun kept chatting. Soon Deok felt his voice come in waves; it sounded a little funny as he reached up or bent down.

"Your birthday is coming soon," He said eventually.

"I know! Are you throwing me a big surprise party like last year?"

"If you want me to," Eun said. "But I thought we should go something together, just the two of us maybe? We could go on a little trip?"

"Remember when I tried to make you go camping before we started senior year?"

"Vividly," Eun mumbled. He had hated the whole experience but stuck it out for a whole night just for her, until eventually she took pity on him and agreed to rent a cabin for the rest of their stay at the camping grounds. "That's why this time I'm planning everything. We'll go somewhere nice."

"The camp was nice! And we even got to race your boats around the lake, remember?"

"I do." In fact, it was one of his favorite pictures he had of him and Soon Deok, taken when they were 17 or 18, in front of the lake, holding the toy boats he had built for them. All throughout their senior year of high school, he had had that picture as his computer's wallpaper. "I'm sorry to say this, but you have nothing in here to sober you up."

"It's fine, I'm not that drunk." Or so she thought as she scooted over to make room for him.

"Oh, really? How many fingers am I holding up?"

"Two. And that's for concussions, not drunkenness!" She laughed and tried to playfully slap his arm as she usually did. But her usually coordinated-self had checked out and she wound up flailing on his lap.

One thing led to the next and she found herself grabbing Eun's cheeks and pressing her lips to his. It had started innocently enough, until… until…

She didn't remember. All she knew was that she had woken up on the couch, covered by a throw blanket and in the clothes she had worn to the stadium, with a large glass of water and two hangover pills on her coffee table. Eun must have gone out to get them after she passed out.

And now here she was, sticking her head out of the elevator to check that the hallway that separated her office from HB Toy's HQ was empty and deciding to make a dash for it. She was going to sit at her desk to work and try not to think about what might or might have not happened the previous night – namely that she had forcibly kissed her best friend.

But her plan would never come to be. As she walked into her office, she found some more hangover medicine and a water bottle on her desk accompanied with a note from Eun saying that if she was feeling better, they should meet up for lunch.

Eun waited nervously outside Soon Deok's office at lunch time, not sure if she was up for going out since she hadn't answered his note – usually, she would have sent him three different texts by now. But today she was curiously silent. He still wasn't sure what he was going to tell her. Kissing her had only been his dream since he was about twelve and had seen her wearing the cutest hanbok at a school festival. She had looked so adorable that day, and his feelings had changed from thinking she was the bestest of friends, to the bestest of friends he also wanted to kiss.

But his friendship with Park Soon Deok was not something he was willing to risk, which was why he hadn't made a move so far, but last night she had made a move on him – and he had been more than a willing participant, to be honest – and now, it was a brand new world… or so he hoped.

"So… where do you want to eat?" He asked the moment she opened the door.

"Um, anything is fine. You pick," She said, shuffling uncomfortably and making his spirits drop to the floor.

"Oh. If you're busy...we don't have to go anywhere, I understand."

"No! It's not that. I-I'm just feeling very embarrassed." Soon Deok said, moving from the door and leaving it open, hoping he would follow her inside. She didn't want to have this conversation in the hallway.

"Because you got drunk and I had to basically carry you home."

"I wasn't that drunk, you exaggerate." She rolled her eyes. For a moment things were just as they always were, but then she got serious. "I basically assaulted you last night on my couch."

Eun laughed. "Maybe you were drunker than you thought if you think I felt assaulted last night."

"Don't mock me," Soon Deok said, refusing to look at him.

He decided it was high time to place all the cards on the table. Last night he had gotten a taste of the thing he had wanted the most in his life, and now he wanted to have it all the time. "I'm not mocking you. Drunk you is cute, and I've been wanting to kiss you for almost twenty years. Even if you fell asleep on me, it was the happiest I've ever been."

"I feel asleep on you? Did I snore? Drool?"

"A little, and no." Eun answered, coming closer.

"Oh, thank goodness." Soon Deok sighed, before her brain finally caught up to the 'been wanting to kiss you…' part. "Wait, what did you just say?"

Done talking, Wang Eun decided to be bold for once in his life, and much like she had done last night, Eun cupped her cheeks and brought his lips down to hers. And it was just as magical as he remembered, especially after Soon Deok got over the shock and started kissing him back.

.

Eventually, they made it out to their favorite noodle place. In a way, it felt a little odd to walk around holding hands and to sit close together... but on the other hand, it was great to be able to just reach out for a new kiss or lean against each other.

While they were eating, Eun suddenly sighed and chuckled.

"What is it?"

"I was thinking that at least now I can stop pretending I don't have Doosan Bears season tickets and making up friends that cancel plans as an excuse to take you."

"You have season tickets?! Do you know how many games we have missed?"

Eun laughed again at her indignation, already picturing the countless days she was going to drag him to the stadium and make him wait in line for snacks and get way too excited for her team.

It was going to be great.

0.0.0

Hae Soo's heart ached. She never imagined ever feeling so at odds with Wang So. Not when they were starting over and rebuilding their little family; but it had finally happened. The thing they had been ignoring since reconciling couldn't be ignored any longer.

Soo couldn't even remember how the argument started, something about So being annoyed that Soo didn't want to spend that Monday at his place (namely, that when he had shown up to pick her up after work, there had been no overnight bag like he had ordered her to have Sunday night). He had also been annoyed that Seol was spending the night with her halmeoni Oh instead of with them.

Then something about how he had bought Seol a tablet because "everyone else in her class has one!" without consulting Soo (who thought Seol was entirely too young to own something that expensive!).

"Don't say that I spoil her," he had said when he noticed Soo's expression.

"You do!"

"I'm just making up for lost time."

"I get that, but you can't use that as an excuse when you make unilateral decisions about OUR daughter."

"Well, it's never not going to be true that I missed the first years of her life."

"And that was MY fault?"

"If you had just stayed put at the apartment like you were supposed to, it wouldn't have happened."

"If your father wasn't such a psycho mail stealer, it wouldn't have been a problem."

There had been no answer to that and when they reached her apartment she had simply gotten out of the car and bitten her lip, trying not to cry, as he sped away.

No one would have called Wang Jung an observant person. He had sailed through life with a happy disposition and the belief that everyone would adore him, just because his parents did. As an adult, he had understood that his charmed existence came at a cost, mostly for his older brothers who shouldered the brunt of their parents' expectations. They had shielded him from the harsher realities of their twisted family dynamics and went along in spoiling him.

But now that Yo was always working and had little time to spare for him, and So was devoted to his newfound daughter (and her cute mother), Jung was left alone to his own devices a lot more. There was no one to distract him from the angry, hissed 'conversations' his parents had.

Jung quickly got sick of his mother wanting to plot with him (as she usually did with Yo) so he had taken to hiding out in his room, wondering if this was how So felt whenever he was allowed to visit the house as a teenager, and how Yo kept reminding him to stay out of their mother's way. Jung had never understood that. In fact, he used to think that it was something wrong with So and that Yo didn't want him around, but now he wasn't so sure.

He couldn't even call his cousins… Baek Ah was always babbling about one of the dancers at the company, and Eun's last Instagram update was enough to scar him from life (a selfie of Park Soon Deok and him, announcing their coupledom), he wasn't touching that with a ten foot pole… though he would admit that it would be highly entertaining to be a fly-on-the-wall when Master Park caught wind of the news.

In any case, he needed a place of his own. And maybe a girlfriend… but he would settle for being a bit reckless…

Wang So kept driving around, a little too fast to be entirely safe but at least his reflexes weren't failing. That was the thing about his infamous temper, rather than make him see red or cloud his judgement, he became sharper and single-minded. He was not stupid, though, and he knew that this was not something his temper would solve. Soo would just hunker down and get difficult if he pushed.

He loved her, but the woman was so stubborn!

And it was so unfair! He wanted to savor each moment with his daughter, get her whatever her little heart desired and, yes, spoil her. It was his right to spoil his princess! Plus, Soo really had to understand the realities of their life. He was a chaebol, Seol was attending a school for rich people. Certain things were expected, and he could afford them easily, so what was the problem?

So yes, he was angry. At Soo, at his parents, at the universe. And at Soo – he hadn't wanted to admit it before, but he did resent that she had taken Seol away, that she hadn't tried harder to contact him, that because she wouldn't share her problems with him… he had missed out on Seol and the happy life they could have had together.

It was in the middle of these contemplations that a call came through, which showed up on the ID. like a hotel downtown.

"Hello?" An uncertain voice asked over loud music. "Is this Wang So?"

"Yes," He said curtly.

"I have your brother here on the bar, a little undisposed. He asked me to call you."

"Stupid Jung," So muttered under his breath. "I'll be there. Thanks."

.

Much was So's surprise when he walked into the bar and the person he saw slumped at the counter was not Wang Jung, reckless idiot extraordinaire, but-

Kang Mun Seong was in the middle of her fourth Soju bottle when her sister showed up.

"I talked to mother," her older sister said without preamble. "She's… not pleased."

"That's an understatement." Mun Seong said, unconcerned. Midway through bottle number two, she had gathered the courage to call her parents and tell them she had called things off with Yo. Her father rained insults on her, while her mother yelled about her duty to the family and eventually – with the courage of a fresh bottle of soju - and maybe a shot or two of tequila (which Soon Deok had given her, a while ago, because she was such a good friend!) – Mun Seong had gathered the courage to hang up on them.

"It's not a joking matter! They are talking about cutting you off! Disowning you."

"More for you then, congrats."

"He's meeting with his lawyer tomorrow!"

"It's his money, he can do whatever the fuck he wants for all I care. I can take care of myself."

"With what? Your little photographs? Without a husband? Do you know how much this place costs?"

"So I just should put up with whatever way Yo treats me for the rest of my life just so I can have a nice apartment? Nice things?"

"I'm just trying to point out what's in your best interest!" Mung Gong yelled.

"Like how you were always the first person to tell me when Hwangbo Yeon Hwa was in the country? Knowing how much that stressed me and hurt me?" Mun Seong actually snorted. "Dear unnie, you're not fooling anyone. My failing to marry Wang Yo is the thing you have wanted the most since Yoo Shin Myeong decided she didn't want you for daughter in law twenty years ago. You can stop pretending and enjoy your victory. Now, please leave."

Author's Note:

In the next chapter we go back to the Yo/MS drama... and some other things with So and Soo and BA!

Yo smiled and smoothed her hair back, "So, when we get married, do you want to go back to one of those places or go somewhere new?"

"Somewhere new, definitely." Mun Seong said, dropping her head down. "Marriage is like a stopping point and a starting place at the same time, right? Even after all this time, if we ever get married it will be the start of… something."