Playing Games: prologue || one || two || three || four || five || six || seven
(drabbles) one || two
Heirs Love Letters
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Ye-Sol felt Myung-Soo slip out of bed around one in the morning. He rooted around his drawers by the light of his cell phone and she watched him pull out some sweatpants. He went into the bathroom but must have exited out the other door because he didn't immediately return.
She sat up and felt the empty space next to her. She should just go back to sleep. He probably woke up when she snuck out of the hotel room yesterday morning but didn't go after her. Ye-Sol swallowed and felt a moment of insecurity that she immediately dismissed.
They didn't disappoint each other. Their lovemaking was sweet and passionate. They knew each other too well to be awkward about it. She had all of Myung-Soo's dimples smiling down at her when he carried her into his bedroom. She hadn't restrained any part of herself from him.
But it was hours later and he wasn't beside her. Something was wrong.
Ye-Sol sighed and slipped out of his bed. She dug around in his drawers and found a clean undershirt and pulled it on. She hesitated at the bedroom door when she heard voices. Choi Young-Do and...had he brought his daughter with him? That sounded like So-Young babbling.
She cracked the door and was a little surprised to find that she was right. Young-Do sat on Myung-Soo's couch and his daughter was climbing all over him. What on earth was he doing here and why was So-Young not in bed? It was one in the morning!
Young-Do tossed a cell phone at Myung-Soo. "Let me tell you, confiscating a prosecutor's phone is not the easiest task to accomplish, especially when I had to have one of my security guys break into it. My lawyers are going to flip when I tell them."
"He took a picture of her." Myung-Soo's voice was oddly serious as he went through what appeared to be Lee Jae-Kyu's phone. His eyes briefly narrowed and she disliked it. It wasn't playful. Myung-Soo should always be allowed to be playful. "She deserves to know why. Who was she dancing with?"
"One of Tan's cousins. I blacklisted him and revoked his membership. Our esteemed prosecutor thinks he's running drugs through Night Sky. Whether or not it's true, I can't have even the hint of drugs in my club." Young-Do winced as So-Young pulled at his hair. Myung-Soo set aside the phone and held his hands out to the little girl. She scrambled out of her father's arms and into Myung-Soo's hold.
Ye-Sol's heart pinged and she had to swallow the tightness threatening to choke her. Myung-Soo was the only person So-Young would quietly sit for. She curled up in his lap and looked up at him with adoring brown eyes. At least So-Young didn't have dimples. Ye-Sol wouldn't be able to stop her imagination if she did.
Rachel’s labor with So-Young was so dangerously difficult that Myung-Soo had moved in with the Choi family to help Young-Do out. Ye-Sol minded Min-Jae for almost six months until Rachel was physically capable of mothering her children with just Young-Do. She insisted she was fine now, a year later, but the press and public hadn’t liked the way Rachel went back to work six months ago.
Ye-Sol wished they could see how hard Rachel pushed herself to make sure she and So-Young bonded. Or how Rachel taught Min-Jae to be gentle with his sister. Or the times Rachel read books to Min-Jae even when it was inconvenient. Rachel's struggle was never one Ye-Sol wanted to experience but she still envied her.
What would it be like to have a little boy and girl with Myung-Soo just like Min-Jae and So-Young to call their own? She had to violently shut those thoughts down. She didn't even let herself dream of children, let alone, consider them. What happened tonight with Myung-Soo didn't change that.
Her one hope in this moment was that she and Myung-Soo could survive the inevitable breakup and remain friends. She was allowed to be with him until that happened. She repeated that in her mind before falling asleep and she told it to herself now. She probably wasn’t allowed to marry him but she was allowed to…make love to him.
"Is she here?"
"Yeah." Myung-Soo ran his hand through his hair and smiled at So-Young when she started to babble at him. She laid her little head against his shoulder and Ye-Sol had to cover her mouth to keep from squeaking. "She stayed over to help me conceptualize one of Rachel’s projects so she's spending the night. You know how I can get."
Young-Do's eyebrows went into his bangs and he glanced over at the open guest bedroom door before flicking his eyes over to Myung-Soo’s room. Ye-Sol backed farther into the shadows but she was certain he saw her. Dammit. "Rachel hired you for the lingerie line? I thought she was going to go with someone inside the company."
"I think the phrase she used when she called was distinct lack of shame in my style." He bounced So-Young when she expressed some displeasure that Myung-Soo was talking directly to her father and not listening to her. Myung-Soo kissed the top of her head and murmured something too low for Ye-Sol to catch. Whatever it was had the toddler snuggling against him and closing her eyes.
Young-Do just looked relieved that So-Young was settling down as he ran his hand over his mouth. "Rachel just might kill you if you don't take full responsibility for Ye-Sol after...conceptualizing with her. You know how she feels and your mother is going to be unpleasant."
"I know." He looked down at So-Young and smiled when it was clear she'd finally fallen asleep. He handed her carefully back to Young-Do. So-Young didn't stir. Myung-Soo picked the phone back up and started going through it. "The first time after you and Rachel..."
Young-Do briefly closed his eyes. He reached out and put his hand on Myung-Soo's shoulder. "Don’t judge yourself by me and Rachel. You should be in there when she wakes up. She has tomorrow off. I’ll have Rachel text her a reminder.”
Myung-Soo wrinkled his nose and he actually winced. “Maybe don’t tell your wife just yet. I take all of Rachel’s threats seriously even if you don’t.”
Ye-Sol’s curiosity started to rise. Why would Rachel threaten Myung-Soo with anything regarding her? The few times she could get Rachel to smile always involved Ye-Sol mocking her one night stands. Rachel never gave any indication she judged Ye-Sol for sleeping with whomever the hell she wanted.
Young-Do laughed softly but stood. He took Lee Jae-Kyu’s cell phone back and stuck it in his pocket. So-Young stirred against his shoulder but a quiet murmur from her father settled her. “I think I know better than anyone how to take her threats seriously. This one is going to be just like her.” Any other man would’ve grumbled it but Young-Do just sounded ridiculously proud that his daughter was a fusser.
Ye-Sol backed away from the door as Young-Do left and climbed quickly back into bed. Myung-Soo came back a few minutes later and joined her. She curled into his side and laid her head against his shoulder.
“I’m trying to decide what I’m more curious about.” She draped her leg over his as he pulled her close. “The fact Young-Do brought you Prosecutor Lee Jae-Kyu’s cell phone and let you look through it or the fact he uses you to put his daughter to sleep.”
Myung-Soo chuckled and played with the ends of her hair. He pressed his lips to the top of her head. “So-Young stopped sleeping through the night a few weeks ago. Young-Do promised Rachel he would fix it. If I put her down she stays down, even if he has to travel with her.”
“Probably because you taught her how to sleep in the first place.” She was a little surprised to discover that Myung-Soo had removed his pajama bottoms before getting back in bed with her. She still had the shirt she stole on but he’d already found a way to push it up to her waist. She liked that he felt comfortable enough with her to do that. “And the cell phone?”
He was quiet for a moment. “I had to confirm a hunch. He took three pictures of you. He sent them to a contact before security took his phone. It was a private and unlisted number. Young-Do was able to get the number but not the name.”
The way he said it had her half sitting up so she could look down at him. The little light in the room created shadows on his face but her eyes were adjusted enough she could make out his grimace. She reached up and smoothed his hair away from his forehead. He pushed his hand up under her stolen shirt and teased it up her side. It was very distracting.
“What aren’t you telling me?”
“I recognized the number.” Myung-Soo looked away so she climbed over him. Ye-Sol braced herself above him and waited until he could meet her eyes. He brought his hands down to her hips and she wondered if he would avoid answering her when drew his hands down to her thighs. If he got his fingers between her legs she...
Ye-Sol pulled the shirt off and tried not to laugh when he blinked and then immediately focused his attention further up her body. She laid herself over him and stymied any distraction with a kiss. He was out of breath when he pressed his lips to her shoulder.
“It was my father’s number,” he said without lifting his head and she stilled. “I’m expecting a call from him the moment he looks at it. Prosecutor Lee got a picture of us together and sent it to him.”
Ye-Sol’s eyes stung and she tightly squeezed them shut to avoid any tears. “It’s too soon for them to find out.” She started to climb off of him but he rolled her onto her back and cupped her face. Even in the dark his eyes were gentle and his tenderness coaxed the truth out of her before she was ready. “I don’t want them to know yet.”
“It doesn’t matter.” He bent his head down and kissed the curve of her breast. A moment later he pressed his lips against her stomach. He took her leg and draped it over his shoulder. Oh. This was going to be nice. She was ready for him to distract her. It was better than confronting the fact that tonight was just tonight. “It doesn’t change how I feel. It doesn’t change what I want.”
“Myung-Soo…” She gave a soft sigh when he pressed a kiss against her inner thigh. “You know this isn’t going to last. Not if they won’t approve.”
“I know no such thing.”
It was fierce and confident and she almost believed him.
