A/N: I apologize for the delay in getting this chapter to you. I finished Draft 3 of my novel, and then I was waiting for feedback on it for most of April, which made me a little too anxious to write much. But the feedback was pleasantly positive, and here we are! :)

A week after Yi Jeong's unwelcome visit, things had settled down for Rang and Ga Eul. Ga Eul had returned to school on Wednesday, and the last three days of her work had passed uneventfully.

Meanwhile, Yi Jeong had pointed his remaining fingers at a mafia family that rivaled Woo Bin's, and revenge had been dealt swiftly. Jan Di had called Rang shortly afterwards—a brief call with a grudging note of approval. She'd even asked him why he hadn't finished the job, and he'd smiled. For a human, she was decently perceptive. Already, she'd informed him, plans had been made for Yi Jeong to go back to Sweden.

Rang was satisfied. For now.

There was one matter still to be dealt with, however. Yeon had been calling Rang for three weeks straight, and today Rang had finally texted back and given him a time and meeting place. Now he was pacing back and forth in front of The Snail Bride, debating whether to go in.

He knew he had to go in, of course. He couldn't avoid his brother forever, not like he could have in the past. That didn't mean he intended to make this meeting easy for him.

As he swaggered in the front door, past the Snail Bride herself, he called out for some of her best alcohol to be served. Then he made his way to the private room where he'd met his brother during Ji Ah's time as Imoogi. First, he'd enjoyed taunting him; later, he'd feared for Yeon's life.

When he entered, Yeon had a game of Go set out, the same as before. With his stoic appearance and his white dress shirt, some of his former godliness lingered about him. He was playing himself and didn't look up at Rang's arrival.

Typical.

Rang slumped down into the seat across from him.

"Have you been making trouble again?" Yeon moved one of the black stones. "I heard something about a potter losing his fingers."

Rang frowned. How did his brother know about that?

"Is that the reason you wanted to meet me?" Rang scoffed. "To scold me for not being as righteous as you?"

"I wanted to meet with you to tell you that I talked to Ji Ah's parents"—Yeon looked up at him for the first time—"and they've agreed to back off where Ha Eun is concerned. I also wanted to ask why you didn't come to me with the problem instead of dragging Ga Eul into it and then throwing a tantrum that made everything worse." His keen eyes bore into Rang, stern and reprimanding. Suddenly, Rang was nine years old again, and he hated it.

And what did that mean—he'd talked to Ji Ah's parents? Humans didn't talk to parents; they deferred to them.

"What?"

Yeon sighed; he drew a weary hand over his face.

"I'm saying you should have come to me first. Did you think I wouldn't care what my in-laws do when I'm not around?"

"When you aren't around?! Maybe you're too distracted to notice, but anyone with eyes can see how much they hate me. Even Ga Eul picked up on it the first time she met them."

"I know you're not their favorite person." Yeon sighed. "Surely, you can see why. But I didn't think they'd stop you from seeing Ha Eun. I didn't think they'd go that far."

"They hate me," Rang repeated.

"All right, let's say they hate you. I still don't see why you would think that outweighs the fact that you're my brother. You're closer to me than anyone. And if you want to see Ha Eun, you have every right to. That's why I've been trying to reach you for three weeks. But you're so hell-bent on believing I'll never be on your side!" Yeon swatted at his head, and Rang ducked away.

He stared at his brother, eyes wide with surprise. He'd expected Yeon to yell at him for being so rude to the in-laws; he'd never expected Yeon to scold the in-laws himself.

Rang had a dozen arguments prepared, but none of them fit this particular scenario.

He settled on, "Well, it's not like I don't have reasons for that."

"I thought we were past this." Yeon's voice was pained.

"Sure. You'd like that, wouldn't you?"

"What I'd like is a brother who's not an idiot. And a child."

"I'm not an idiot! Even when you choose me, you still choose Ji Ah. Like that time the juice lady sucked us in. You arranged it so you could save both of us. Why should I believe you would ever choose my side over hers?"

"Ji Ah has no problem with you. It's her parents who need some convincing. But let me present to your thick skull this conundrum. Me or Ga Eul? Who do you save?"

"What?"

"Hypothetically. If both of us were in danger, and you could only save one of us from dying, who would it be? Me, your only brother? Or your first love? Go ahead. I'd love to hear your answer."

Rang started to speak, to lean forward and make a snappy reply, but he soon sank back down in his seat. He sat there glaring at his brother.

Yeon or Ga Eul? Yeon...or Ga Eul? Logically, his brother should come first. After all, Yeon had saved him and raised him and saved him again, and despite their disagreements, he was overjoyed to have his brother back in his life after so many wasted years.

But Ga Eul…He could never just stand by and let her die. He didn't even need an explanation for that. He just couldn't.

"That's hardly a fair question," he protested. "You can take care of yourself. Ga Eul wouldn't even have a chance."

"Is that your answer?"

"No!"

Yeon smiled grimly.

"It's an impossible question, isn't it?" He picked up a white stone, twiddled it in his fingers, then set it down. "Can't you see just how impossible it is? Of course, I saved both of you. You, and Ji Ah. Of course, I want both of you in my life. This isn't an either-or situation. That's what I told her parents. The same way they accepted me into their family, they need to accept you too. I told them you don't mean any harm. You just like to appear that way, for whatever reason."

"I assure you, I do mean harm," Rang groused, crossing his arms, but his argument had no bite.

"Sure you do. Bedwetter." Yeon gave him a look that said he wasn't fooling anyone.

"Does this mean I can see Ha Eun now?" he asked, eager to move on to another subject.

"You can see her today if you want."

"Okay, let's go—"

Yeon pushed down on his knee as he started getting up.

"Sit down. We haven't gotten to the real point of this meeting."

For the third time, Rang slumped into his seat. The Snail Bride still hadn't brought his alcohol.

"What do you want now?!"

"When are you and Ga Eul getting married?"

Rang blinked, startled. Why would his brother bring that up so suddenly?

"Don't act surprised. I've never seen anyone so disgustingly besotted," Yeon continued, tutting as he waved his hand at Rang's figure.

"Besotted?" Rang scoffed. "Have you looked in the mirror?"

"I'm serious. What's all this wait for? Now you're just dragging it out."

Rang puffed himself up, adjusting his pink suit jacket over his striped shirt.

"Have you considered maybe Ga Eul is the one dragging? Humans move slower than foxes. I thought you'd know that."

"Sure. Ga Eul's dragging. That's why she practically lives with you."

Rang lifted an eyebrow.

"What? You think because I'm human I can't keep tabs on you? Think again. So what's the holdup? Scared of the wedding night?" Yeon gave Rang a smirk that didn't suit him and ruffled his hair.

Rang batted his hand away.

"Now that I think of it, I never got to give you that talk—"

"Ahnonono." Rang stuck his fingers in his ears.

"This might be hard for you, but don't forget to be gentle." He flicked Rang's forehead.

"She stays at my apartment! What do you think we do?! Cut it out. Or I'm not inviting you to the wedding." Rang slid his palms over his slacks, feeling a flush creep over his neck.

Great. He was blushing like a schoolgirl.

Yeon only smiled; he seemed to be waiting for something. Very patiently waiting. Annoying brother, annoying human that he was.

Once Rang had sat in this very room and called his brother pathetic for wanting to be human, for wanting something as pitiful as a first love. And now, here he was, needing to be human himself. Not totally, of course, but enough that he could charm Ga Eul's parents.

Her parents—that was the reason he hadn't married her yesterday. Or the day before that.

Scared of the wedding night, his ass. He was scared of all the nights after that when he'd have to sit in his in-laws' house and act like he belonged there.

Shit.

He hated confessing to this, but maybe his brother would have some advice on how to charm human in-laws. Whatever he'd done to Ji Ah's parents seemed to have worked. At least for him.

For once, Rang sucked up his pride and spoke plainly.

"I have to meet her parents," he admitted, glancing down. "But I don't know what to say to them. I'm someone with no parents, no education, no job, and very few references who would speak well of me. But I have to make a good impression, and I can't use any tricks. I promised her."

"No tricks, huh? Must be torturous for you."

"I'm serious. I can't screw this up!" He banged his fist down on the table, and the stones scattered. Yeon looked surprised, even alarmed. Flustered by his outburst, Rang glanced away. An awkward silence set in.

After a minute or so, Yeon broke it.

"If you're that nervous about meeting them, I think you'll be fine."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean? Can't you say something useful?"

Once more, a smirk tugged at the corners of Yeon's mouth.

"I've never known you to care what humans think about you."

"I don't!"

Well, Rang didn't. Not exactly. He didn't care about the parents' opinions so much as he cared about not upsetting Ga Eul. If he cared, just a bit, about his outburst with Yeon's parents-in-law, it was only because Ga Eul cared. If he wanted her parents to like him, it was just because they were an extension of her. And, as tempting as it sounded, he didn't want to steal Ga Eul from them. He knew how much she loved her parents.

"You care what Ga Eul thinks," his brother observed.

"Of course, I do. You think I'm some kind of jerk who doesn't care about my girlfriend's feelings? Even I'm not that rude."

"Then just think about that." Yeon placed the black and white pieces in their respective pots. "Ask yourself what Ga Eul would want you to do, and do that."

"Can't you see I'm already doing that? I'm here, aren't I?"

"Well, come on then. Let's go." Yeon stood.

"Go? Go where?"

"To practice speaking with human parents."

"Now? Today?" Rang crossed his arms. "Don't be ridiculous."

"Are you going to act properly or not?!" Yeon jerked him up by his collar. Despite his human weakness, the gesture caught Rang off guard, and he tumbled backward, catching himself on his elbow.

"All right, all right, fine!" Rang picked himself up, dusting off his jacket.

"I'll tell you what was told to me. Keep your answers honest and short. But in your case"—Yeon looked him over—"maybe not too honest."

"Dishonesty? I can manage that," he replied, following his brother out.

They arrived at Yeon's house in mid-afternoon. Everything was the same as Rang had left it. Ha Eun's things were scattered throughout the main living areas, in perpetual disarray. He heard Ji Ah talking to her coworkers or, perhaps, making voice notes to herself in her small office. The mouthwatering scent of the grandparents' cooking hung in the air.

The grandparents from hell. Part of him still wanted to hurt them just because he could. Because why not? He'd been hurt enough times, over and over, throughout his life.

But a stronger part of him—maybe the part of him that knew Ji Ah's parents weren't to blame for everything that other humans had done to him—wanted to see if he could live as part of a normal family. If he could stand to put his claws away, just for a little while.

He moved cautiously through the house, not trusting himself to say anything, until he got to Ha Eun's penned-in play area in the living room where she was crawling among her toys.

When she saw Yeon approaching, she smiled and started babbling nonsense, and Yeon knelt down and kissed her forehead. Rang sat down cross-legged on the floor, and she squealed and stretched her arms to him when he said her name.

"Ha Eun, you've gotten so big. You're going to be as big as your uncle soon."

"Ha Eun, don't listen to anything he says, okay?" Yeon gestured to Rang. "Appa will be right back."

Rang watched Yeon retreat into the kitchen, then leaned in towards his niece.

"He's just jealous because you like me better, don't you, Ha Eun?" he whispered to the baby, who was fiddling with the rainbow-colored fabric ball on her lap. She was wearing a white onesie printed with rabbits and carrots.

Suddenly, she grinned and launched the ball at him. Ha Eun had three teeth now. Another one had pushed through in his absence.

"Oh? Are we playing ball today?" Rang picked up the soft ball and tossed it back to her. It rolled and came to a stop next to her thigh, and she fumbled with it but got it back in her lap again. Rang scooted closer as she tossed it once more, and she laughed when it bounced off his knee. "Oh, no." Rang pouted. "You got me. I won't be able to walk anymore."

Ha Eun clapped and squealed with joy.

Gently, Rang rolled the ball back to her. In the background, Yeon was talking to the grandmother, their voices low but still audible. He tuned them out.

He and Ha Eun passed the ball back and forth several more times. Then she twisted around and crawled away from him, moving towards the couch.

"Hey, where are you going?" he called after her wriggling body. When she reached the couch, he understood. She pulled herself up, using the cushions to balance, and Rang smiled and crawled over to her. He lay on his stomach, watching for any sign that she might fall.

"Wow, my niece is getting so strong. Make sure you give your father a hard time when you learn to run around."

"What hard time?" Yeon clucked his teeth as he returned. He snatched up one of Ha Eun's toys: a stuffed white rabbit with stitched eyes. "Want to see something cool?"

"You're going to show it to me, regardless." He gave Yeon a tired glance.

"It's not something I'm going to do, you idiot. Watch Ha Eun." Yeon placed the white rabbit on the edge of the couch, just out of Ha Eun's reach. "Ha Eun, do you want your rabbit?"

A few unintelligible syllables burst from the baby's mouth. She strained to touch the rabbit, then moved towards it with determination. One tiny footstep, then another.

When she wobbled on her feet, Rang rushed to touch his hand to her back, but she steadied herself. Clinging to the couch, she took two more steps towards the rabbit. Yeon moved the stuffed animal, and she took another step. Eventually, they'd traveled a large length of the couch together, and Ha Eun was rewarded with the rabbit. Amid Rang and Yeon's collective cheers, she plopped down and clutched it greedily in her hands.

How could any creature be so adorable, babbling incoherently and using a couch to stand? Like Ga Eul, she must have bewitched him. It was the lingering fox genes. It had to be.

Rang poked her chubby cheek, imitating the sound of a bubble popping. He tried to ignore the look Yeon was giving him, the way he jerked his head towards the kitchen, but eventually, he succumbed. Rolling his eyes, he got up. He followed Yeon to his doom.

The grandmother was by herself today, tearing up pieces of cabbage by the sink. She turned when Yeon spoke.

Rang stiffened. He fought the urge to lock eyes with her and glanced down instead.

His eyes caught on the framed photos on the wall. One was of Ji Ah when she must have been only a little older than Ha Eun.

He saw Ga Eul in his mind's eye, reaching out to him over plates filled with chicken bones.

I know how humans think. I know what makes us sad and scared and angry. Time with our loved ones is one of the most valuable things we have. For you to steal that, it's not a small thing.

Rang swallowed, and then Rang did something he'd done very little in his very long life.

He offered a sincere apology.

Afterwards, eager to rinse the taste of the apology from his mouth, he drove towards the park where he often terrorized humans but ended up at his favorite clothing store instead. From the mother-in-law's sour expression, he surmised that his apology had gone down about as well as liquor on an empty stomach, but he'd made a proper one, and his brother was satisfied, and that was all he cared about.

A familiar saleswoman greeted him politely as he entered the store. She offered him a glass of wine and directed him to some suits in his usual flashy style.

"Mister Lee Rang, what can we help you with today?" she asked eagerly. "We just got in some new merchandise."

Rang sipped his red wine. He hadn't looked Ji Ah's mother in the eyes out of forced respect, but he didn't want to look at the saleswoman at all, and he kept his cool stare leveled ahead at the rows of immaculately pressed suits.

One breath in, one breath out. One more sip of wine.

Finally, he opened his mouth.

"I need a suit that says, 'I will be a good son-in-law. Please let me marry your daughter.'"

A/N: You can probably guess what's in the next chapter lol