#wei50-blog

[gwynne-fics]

Silver Lining: YoungSang, 21, “this, this makes it all worth it”

“this, this makes it all worth it”

Eun-Sang holds her baby close before looking up at Rachel. Her friend snuggles in beside her, (Young-Do has been edged out of the bed twice by Rachel), and gently kisses her cheek.

“I knew you would get here,” Rachel says smugly. “You are amazing.”

“Young-Do was amazing,” she argued as she looked over at her husband dozing in his reading chair. “He didn’t panic once. He was calm the entire time. Both him and Hyo-Shin.”

“What was Hyo-Shin even doing here?”

“Delivering wonderful news,” Eun-Sang whispered. Young-Do stilled and she knew he still hadn’t processed it. “Choi Dong-Wook ended up in the wrong cell with the wrong person. He’s dead.”

Hyo-Shin had done it. He made them all safe. She hopes, with all her heart, Young-Do lets his father go. She silently meets his eyes and he smiled at her, his own slightly wet.

“Jung-Woo needs to be burped. I’ll take care of it.”

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AHM: ChanBo, 7, “yes I did, what about it?”

“yes I did, what about it?”

Chan-Young’s wolf wanted to drape himself all over Bo-Na’s feet while she stared down his grandfather. The only thing missing from this conversation was a mark on his shoulder.

Instead, he just quietly sat beside her, and enjoyed the way she let her wolf stare down so many Elders who were displeased that she coupled with him in their den.

“Your pack does not have a birthrate problem.”

Bo-Na tilted her head and her eyes went red for the third time during this conversation. “That is not an answer to my question.” She paused and then said the thing that had Chan-Young’s tail wagging. “You have no claim to a grandson when you disowned his mother. You cut off your own bloodline. I've seen the consequences of forcing wolves to couple just to satisfy the older generation. It does not end well.”

Grandfather started growling and Bo-Na rose to her feet when his hair started turning white. Chan-Young stared whining at the amount of pure moonlight in the air because it was beyond rude what this old wolf was trying to do to Chan-Young’s mate.

He had no fucking right to submit Lee Bo-Na.

Calm down, his wolf said. She’s got this.

“I suggest you stop,” Bo-Na said softly. “You are just going to embarrass yourself. I am the granddaughter of an Alpha, age-mate to an Alpha, and my hair was white when I was born. Everyone knows my soul is joined to Yoon Chan-Young. This tantrum just shows how weak you are. If you are not careful, I will show him how to run you out.”

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AHM: YoungSang, 4, “that didn’t stop you before”

“that didn’t stop you before”

Eun-Sang speaks quietly and Young-Do knows she’s on a video call with her mother for the third time in six months. He’s trying not to hover. He’s actually two buildings away, but his wolf perks up at her voice and diverts his attention towards their mate.

Something’s changed.

He shoves his wolf down and listens.

“I’m glad to hear that, Omma.” She pauses. “I’ll talk to him about coming up for another visit so he can ask for your blessing himself. He’s very traditional. It’s important to him to do this.” Another pause and her tone becomes a little sly. “You researched those gifts, didn’t you. I told you he’s very rich. Very pretty and very rich.”

Young-Do highly doubts that is what changed Park Hee-Nam’s mind, but he doesn’t begrudge Eun-Sang teasing her mother. It means that she believes this will succeed.

Finally, his wolf says in relief. We can set a date.

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Ice and Fire: YoungRa, 17, “give me a minute or an hour”

The news of the accident rocks the message boards and sends Rachel scrambling because she knows both of the parties involved. An earthquake caused the electrical surge that took out power for the entire city. She’s with Young-Do when it happens and they look at each other in a panic.

The authorities can’t know it is one of them.

Young-Do tells anyone injured to come to Zeus Hotels and to give the concierge their message board handle. Rachel makes a list of clothing to have her assistant bring over. Between the two of them, they make nine safe havens for the people that need to be in hiding.

Young-Do takes her hand when she starts pacing and he catches her frozen tears before they make it too far down her cheek. “What’s wrong?”

“I haven’t heard from Quake. I met her last year. She’s been struggling to keep a job and won’t accept one from me.”

Young-Do gives her an odd look before he bends down and kisses her. “Give me a minute or an hour. I’ll bring her to you.”

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QR: MinChae, 23 “do we have to?”

“Do we have to?”

Eun-Chae is a bit surprised at the panic in her Min-Jae’s voice. She looks over to watch him start pacing before turning back to her painting. He’s quiet for a few moments before he sighs.

“Yes, Halmeoni. I’ll talk to Eun-Chae.”

She doesn’t look at him when he hangs up or when he comes and sits down beside her on the floor. He lays his head on her shoulder and is just quiet until she acknowledges him.

“Which halmoeni?”

“Chairman Lee. We have to apologize to the board before we announce the baby. She wants you there with me. She thinks it will help me and my mother save some face. I didn’t want you to have to worry about this.”

Eun-Chae bites her lower lip and sets down her tablet before turning towards him and taking his hand. “I want to help you save face. I think...I think the impression many people have about people like me, is that we’re too simple or stupid to understand the consequences of our actions. They don’t understand we can make choices out of our own desires. You never see us having love stories on television. Not with normal, pretty people like you. I was afraid of cameras when I was little. I’m not afraid of them anymore.”

“I know how strong and intelligent you are, Eun-Chae.” His eyes are wet. “I just want to be enough to protect you from all of that. I’m going to be RS International’s president some day.”

Eun-Chae softly kisses him. “And I will be your Eun-Chae when that happens. I can apologize to your board of directors with you. I need to look at my schedule. I just know it will be a bad few days before and after. I will need you during that time, too. Pull out your calendar.” 

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AHM: YoungSang, 29 “I’m doing this for you.”

Slow down, his wolf suddenly cut in. She’s confused and needs to know our reasons aren’t about us.

Young-Do was grateful for the insight. Eun-Sang had abruptly snapped at him when he told her that he intended to go to Seoul alone for the next set of negotiations with Kim Won. He also intended to spend some time with her mother.

So he gathered her up in his arms and held her until she was calm again. “I’ve given up on getting her approval. We’ve already set a date. You can give up.”

He sat her down on their bed and crouched down in front of her. He carefully held her hands and waited for the right words to come to him. “I have no intention of using your mother as a reason not to hold a human wedding. In some ways, her approval means a lot more to me than it does it you.”

Her scent shifted and he caught the faint traces of relief as her shoulders relaxed. Young-Do cupped her cheek and kissed her gently. He waited for her scent to settle before he continued.

“She was a very good mother to you and you recognize that. In some ways, this is the only thing you’ve ever done that she hasn’t supported. I think it is a bad idea to go into our mating without your heart settled with your mother.”

“Oh.” She wiped her eyes. “You’re doing this for me.”

He smiled and kissed her forehead. “I’m doing this for you.”

[gwynne-fics]

Blooming: YoungRa, 8 “Can you stay?”

Rachel is leaving work one night when she gets a call from Eun-Sang. She answers quickly, her stomach dropping, because the only reason Young-Do’s business partner would call her is an emergency.

“Yes?”

“Rachel, I’m not sure how much you know about Young-Do’s relationship with his father, but he had to go into Zeus hotels this afternoon. He texted me and said he’s not coming back today. Will you let me know if he gets home okay?” She pauses and then sounds very sad. “Sometimes he drinks and forgets to set his alarm.”

Rachel swallows. “Of course, I will. Do you know where he goes to drink?”

“Zeus has a rooftop bar. They never cut him off. I’m not on the list to get up there or else I would go.”

“I can get up there.” She goes back into her office and starts going through the cocktail dresses. “Thank you for telling me, Eun-Sang. I’ll text you when we get home.”

“Thank you, Rachel.” She hangs up and pulls out her most impressive business card. She changes her clothes and updates her makeup. Either her own name is recognizable enough or she looks like she could be an escort paid by his father. 

She arrives in good time and has her driver wait while she goes up to the roof. She is only stopped once and she gives the host her card. It only takes a few seconds to get her into the lovely space. Because it is a weeknight, it is slow and only a few people are around. Rachel finds Young-Do quickly and goes to sit down next to him. She waves the bartender over and points to Young-Do’s drink. “I’ll have the same.”

Young-Do looks at her and swallows painfully. “You look great. You look like you belong here.”

She shrugs and sips her drink. It is much harder than she expects. “What’s wrong?”

“My father just signed the entire company to me so the government can’t take it away from him while he’s in prison for corruption. I don’t know anything about hotels. I apparently, didn’t have a choice. There’s some law that says he can do that. Now, thousands of people are relying on me.” 

Rachel waves the bartender over. “We need another round. Does your new president have rooms here?”

The man was startled but gave Rachel the information as she texted Eun-Sang an update. She spent the next few hours matching Young-Do drink for drink before getting him into an executive suite to pass out. She stumbles around in her heels before she gets him to lay down in bed face down. She’s about to go out onto the couch when Young-Do grabs her hand.

“Can you stay?”

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QR: MinChae, 1 “It will be fun, trust me.”

Eun-Chae catches a wince on Min-Jae’s lips when Yoo Rachel suggests that he bring her to the next shareholder’s dinner. She honestly wasn’t listening to the details, even though she knew that now that her baby bump was getting larger, she needs to be seen at these events.

“Can Min-Jae make my dress?” She interrupts Min-Jae because he’s about to suggest something that will go against their agreement with his mother. It’s not a binding agreement, but Eun-Chae likes having Yoo Rachel’s approval. She thinks she sees more clearly why her father loves both her and her mother. 

They are very similar in Eun-Chae’s opinion.

The table is a little quiet and she dares to look at everyone before staring at her plate again. “If Min-Jae makes my dress it will be easier and I won’t embarrass him.”

“You don’t embarrass me,” he says automatically. She reaches over and takes his hand. “I do have a design that I think will look nice on her. I think it’s possible to use a fabric she can’t hear and have it photograph well.”

To her surprise, Yoo Rachel doesn’t respond right away. Eun-Chae risks a peek and thinks her future mother-in-law looks very thoughtful? Maybe?

“I don’t want our shareholders to pry into your relationship too much. We don’t know how the labor and delivery is going to affect you and they might start airing dangerous opinions. Your mental health belongs to you, Eun-Chae, and it should be your highest priority, even over the baby. It is okay to set this boundary with them. I will support whatever reason you want to give.”

“I think I can go to this party if there are only a few pictures. I like the clothes Min-Jae makes for me.” She takes a sip of her drink before giving an answer that will relax Min-Jae. “If the party is too much, I will tell Min-Jae I want to leave.”

Yoo Rachel gave a little sigh. “Alright. We’ll go with that.”

Later, Min-Jae is clearly still fretting, and he can’t sit still while she works on one of her bear and rabbit pictures. He’s supposed to be working in his studio, but she doesn’t mind too much when he works in hers. She is about to ask him what animal their baby should be when she decides to reassure him instead.

“It will be fun. Trust me. I can do this.”

“I trust you.” He finally sits down and kisses the top of her head. “I think our new house should have a large room we can work together.”